Chapter Text
From the Black Archives, a meeting between Warren Kepler and Marcus Cutter in his primary office at Goddard Futuristics HQ, just days before Mr. Kepler and his crew are expected to embark on the Urania.
Status: Classified.
“Now Warren,” Cutter said. “Alana is cleared to come with you on this mission, but I’m not so sure about Daniel.”
“You don’t think he’s fit for the job.” It wasn’t a question, but rather a thinly veiled accusation. Ordinarily, people didn’t take that tone of voice with Cutter and live to tell the tale, but Kepler wasn’t an ordinary person and neither were their circumstances.
Placing a hand on his shoulder, Mr. Cutter chose his next words carefully. “Daniel is very…hands on, but he’s not exactly someone I’d want with me on such a high stakes operation.” Kepler grit his teeth, holding down fury, but Mr. Cutter didn’t seem to notice as he continued to speak. “I mean look at his record Warren, he’s a loose canon, a liability we can’t afford and we can’t have those now, can we?”
The words “No, Mr. Cutter, sir.” were on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t bring himself to say them. His mind was back at a bar years ago, where he had “stumbled” across Daniel Jacobi, who had told him about how he lost his job due to an explosion that he hadn’t caused. Sob stories like his were a dime a dozen in his line of work, but Jacobi’s words had struck a chord with him, almost to the point where he wanted not to do what he had to next. Still, after all they had been through, he was glad he had left the business card there, for if he hadn’t, somebody else from Goddard surely would have, and they might not have been so polite about the recruitment process.
Cutter continued. “Alana has my full recommendation, but Daniel just isn’t at that level yet. Think about it Warren, do you really want to take a loose can-”
“With all due respect, Mr. Cutter, sir,” Kepler interrupted. “Mr. Jacobi has shown nothing but the utmost dedication to his job and to his team.”
“But–”
“When things go south, I know I’ll be able to count on my loose canon to hold down the fortress. Mr. Jacobi is my right-hand man and he’s staying on this mission, I won’t have it any other way.”
Mr. Cutter paused, the weight of Kepler’s words sinking in. He let out a deep breath, then plastered on a smile. “Well, I see there’s no changing your mind on this.”
“No, Mr. Cutter, sir.” the words came easy now, unflinching.
“But,” Cutter’s grip on his shoulder tightened and his voice lowered. “The second his presence hinders the mission objectives, I trust you know what to do.” Kepler stayed silent, keeping eye contact with his boss. Cutter removed his hand from Kepler’s shoulder and the smile was back. “Well, I’m glad we had this talk Warren, it’s always a pleasure seeing you.”
“You as well, sir.” and with that, Kepler saw his cue to leave. As he reached for the doorknob, Cutter called back. “Remember Warren, bigger picture, it’s always been about the bigger picture.”