Carson arrived back at his cube to find Jason pacing around the small space like a caged animal.  Tyler and Al were there also, fighting over a game on Al's PDA.  Jason stopped when he saw Carson and put his hands out in front of him.  "So what happened?"

            Carson grinned and pretended to tip an invisible hat.  "Success!"

            Jason put his hands on his knees and exhaled in relief, then jumped back up and shouted, "Score! Oh, man, I can't believe it."  He shook Carson's hand.  "Way to go, man.  I thought for sure it was a botched mission."

            "Yeah, great job, Dude, but why did you start freaking out?" asked Al.

            "After I put the capsule in her yogurt, I realized I forgot to turn it on.  I had to get it out to activate it, but that ruined my chance to put it back in again."

            "So how did get her to swallow it?" Jason asked, sitting on the desk and crossing his arms.

            "Well, she complained about being tired and run down, so I made up this story that I had this powerful new Asian herbal supplement.  She ended up swallowing it like any other pill."

            "Genius!  That's awesome," said Jason as he jumped back to his feet.  "Maybe she'll want more."

            "Yeah, and I think you're gonna need more.  You were right about her diet; she's a vegetarian.  All that roughage means the capsule is not going to hang around very long. As a matter of fact, you better give me the other one now."

            "Maybe you can slip her some Imodium to bind things up a bit," said Jason as he handed Carson the other capsule.

            Carson narrowed his eyes.  "Not in this lifetime.  That experience was nerve-wracking enough.  I'm lucky I didn't stain my wears."

            "So what'd you think of my performance?" asked Tyler.  "Did I knock ‘em dead or what?"

            "Anemic chocoholic?  What the heck is that?" asked Carson.

            Tyler shrugged.  "That's all I could come up with at the moment."

            "Don't worry, you were great," said Carson, patting Tyler on the back.

            "So let's see if this thing works," said Jason, sitting down in front of his computer.  He opened the envelope he received with the capsules and took out the logon information.  He started a web browser and typed in the intranet address and the account information.  The screen refreshed revealing a detailed map of the Omnivan plant.

            "Ooo," they all uttered in unison.  A small red dot blinked on one of the buildings in the map.  Jason clicked on it.

            "Check this out!" exclaimed Jason, pointing to a red dot on the screen. "That's Chandra's cube!  That must be her; it's working!"  Jason clicked some buttons on the side of the screen with his mouse.  "You can zoom in, zoom out..." he moved the mouse and the map receded, showing the entire Omnivan campus.  "I never realized how big this place is.  Man, it's like a city!"

            "Too bad it's shrinking," said Tyler, staring down at the game on Al's PDA.

            "What are you talking about?" asked Carson.

            "Haven't you heard?" said Tyler.  "There's another layoff coming, and it's the big one.  Everyone's talking about it.  They say every department's going to get hit hard, especially engineering.  We won't be exempt like the last one."

            "That's just a rumor, Tyler," said Jason as he continued to explore the map on the screen.

            "I kid you not.  I've heard this one from several different sources," replied Tyler.

            "Cool.  This map has symbols and everything.  Maybe now I can find the elusive executive bathroom!"  Jason clapped his hands together.

            "Hey, I've heard of that too!" said Tyler, looking up from the miniature video game.  Al saw his opportunity and snatched the game from Tyler's hands.  Tyler barely noticed, distracted by the opportunity to spread more gossip.  "They have this huge bathroom, and it's got a spa, a bar, and people who wait on you...  It's not for just anyone, though, just the elite."

            "That's nonsense," said Al as he punched some buttons on the PDA.

            "No, no, it's true," said Tyler, nodding his head.  "I worked for this guy who got transferred over to marketing, and he told me all about it.  Not many people know about it.  It's in the tower."

            "What's the tower?" asked Carson.

            "That's where all the corporate executives work," said Jason.  "Working in the tower is the pinnacle of achievement at Omnivan."

            Carson leaned on the desk and bent over to look at the computer screen.  "Show me on the map."

            Jason zoomed out the picture on the screen and pointed to a square.  "Right here in the northwest corner, right next to sales and marketing."

            Tyler put his hands on his hips and leaned back, stretching.  "Ah, yes, sales and marketing: where all the beautiful people work."

            "Lots of eye candy over there, that's for sure," said Al.

            "And the place is littered with HR alarms," added Tyler.

            "You and your HR alarms," said Jason, shaking his head.

            "Why doesn't Gruber work in the tower?" asked Carson.

            "Gruber is small change compared with these guys.  People who work in the tower are like movie stars, at least in a corporate sense.  They're well protected and don't mingle with the little people like us," said Al.

            "What do those guys do all day, anyway?  I mean, besides going to endless meetings?" asked Tyler, scratching his beer belly.

            "Those people all belong to the same club," answered Al.  "They're experts at getting ahead.  They're a lot like politicians, spending all their time and energy climbing to the next level."

            "You're such a cynic, Al.  Were you an abused child?" asked Jason.

            "Think about it, man.  These high level executives just bounce from one corporation to the next.  They get a huge bonus for signing on and a golden parachute when they leave.  They always seem to have the knack to move on just before disaster strikes; you ever notice that?"

            Jason locked his fingers and stretched out his arms, cracking his knuckles.  "The tower...  Yeah, baby, that's where I gotta go."

            "Forget about it, Jason.  You have to start very early to get into that club.  You need connections, the kind that comes from belonging to a wealthy family and attending Ivy League schools.  Did you go to an Ivy League?" Al looked over at Jason, waiting for a response.  Jason just folded his arms and glared back at him.

            Just then, a muffled beeping appeared out of thin air.  They all looked around the cube.  "Is that someone's pager?" asked Tyler.

           "Oh my God!" exclaimed Jason, reaching into his pocket.  He pulled out the black pager that came with the capsules and the beeping noise became much louder.  "Chandra's in the vicinity!"  He grabbed the mouse and zoomed in on the red dot; it was no longer in Chandra's cube.  He refreshed the screen and the location of the dot moved.  "She's coming this way!"

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