| Winter Vault |
|
"Mr Murdoch, or may I call you Donald ?" "Jesus !" For some reason he held his case up to his chest and backed away slightly. "It's alright, Mr Murdoch. I'm Moira." "M-m-my personal assistant ?" He moved to the side slightly. The metal statue had a woman's face, but if he moved quickly enough he could see that the side of her (?) (its ?) head was metallic. It was almost as if the face had been projected on to the metal. "All MSP's have a Moira or a Malcolm as their personal assistant. It saves expenditure on human assistance and valuable office space. "She held out her hand. "I am Moira Indi 4. Welcome." "Thanks," said Murdoch, shaking hands slowly, expecting an ice-cold grip, an ice- cold, vice cold grip, but the handshake was warm and perfectly normal. "We must hurry. Parliament is almost open. We will talk on the way. There are important matters to deal with." "Sure, go ahead." "First, your salary. As an independent, opposition MSP your annual salary is £300000 per year. Would you like that in one lump sum or twelve monthly instalments ?" Murdoch stopped, words seemed to stick in his throat. "I get £300000 ?" "I know it is disappointing, but you have to realise that had you been a member of a mainstream opposition party you would have been entitled to £400000, or £450000 if you were a Liberal Democrat coalition member. Labour MSPs get £500000, of course." "Of course." He couldn't stop grinning. "Uh, £300000 in one lump sum is fine." "I will arrange payment." "Great, my bank account is - " Moira held up a silvery hand. "I know Mr Murdoch. "I know almost everything about you." "Everything ?" "It only takes a fraction of my memory. 1000 bytes to be exact." "Is that a lot ?" "I am sure I will have to allocate more memory now that we are working together." Murdoch looked back towards the reception. "I had expected some reporters." "I am afraid we are not major news. We must hurry, Mr.Dewar will be speaking soon. Once he is finished there will be a vote on some government legislation. Did you access the stick you were sent ?" "Ah, the stick. I'm afraid Bodger got that as well." "Your dog." Murdoch brightened. "Hey, you do know some things about me." Moira ignored his remark. "I cannot enter the chamber with you. My energy matrix conflicts with the virtual array." "The what ?" "You will be sitting next to Jarek Nowinski of the Scottish Nationalist Party. I am sure he will act as your mentor for today." Moira stopped. "I cannot continue, Mr Murdoch. You must go on alone. Good luck." |