Further than Before- Pathway to the Stars

by Matthew Opdyke

  James had witnessed his own employer before Pathway LLC, go down the slippery slope of becoming corporate, and it wasn’t very conducive to a healthy economy. Although there were plenty of companies to investigate, Evan would aggregate all of the data he would gather along with the data from the other ten Pathway LLC delegates. To do this, Evan and his team would each build sizable groups and fully infiltrate the nineteen major world-wide industries to find their strengths, their weaknesses, the good, the bad, and the ugly. This was not about corporate espionage or anything of the sort. Eliza wasn’t interested in trade secrets. She was going to liquidate the worst companies and employers and then turn them around. Before doing this, Eliza needed to know quite a bit more about the toxic players, so she could buy them out and make the necessary changes.

  “Now, turning our attention, there is something of vital importance I would like you to do,” said Eliza, communicating through James’ neural link and picking up on his approving vibe in agreement to his idea on this matter, since it was he after all, who she’d delegated the responsibility of program management to. She had taken the lead from the beginning, as had Yesha, and James was the man who made so much of it happen as well. Ultimately, they each shared so much when it came to the mind and ideas, yet their unique traits brought everything together seamlessly. Eliza nevertheless had delegated to Evan more elaborate and specific duties, because he was a management coordination powerhouse. As smart as Eliza was, she always found they were in agreement on how to approach and engage in any issue placed before them.

  She continued, “We need you to work with the ten individuals and their teams to layout each company we’ve investigated, each of their details, their predominant managerial styles, who, how, and why they hire, and any potential focal points for improvement. A lot of this information can be aggregated and analyzed in here, within the Virtual Universe, and that is one area where you will certainly come in at some point in all of this. I plan on buying out the worst companies throughout the world of every industry and turning them around to become the best companies, the best employers while becoming great for the investors, the employees, and any community where their infrastructure lay.”

  Evan agreed. James provided several cooperative dossiers, and Evan compartmentalized the information for use in coordination with this additional project. After bidding, “adieu,” they departed ways and Evan went to work.

  As the answers from Evan and her ten other representatives came pouring in, the answer became clear, greed. Evan and his team went into the Virtual Universe with Eliza and deliberated. “Greed has in-turn spawned negligence, complacency, mediocrity, and the mess the economy has found itself in. The United States has come under scrutiny by many of the world’s leaders because it has been the world’s superpower for over a half century, and ‘changes assuredly must be had at all costs.’ Never mind the fact that of any superpower throughout the history of humankind, this one has been the most generous, the most gracious, and has rebuilt more nations enabling opportunities for their own success while maintaining their own sovereignty than any other nation in the world’s history.

  “The further we look back, the more significant the brutality. Yet, we only need to look so far to other nations to see cruelty occurring even today that would offend the senses of any reasonable and kindness-intended individual. Unfortunately, in the US, the same is also increasingly existent. For all of the changes we have strived to make, for all of the challenges we have overcome, and despite all of the incredible heroes we have lost along the way, somehow, we are going backward.

  “According to the heads of industry, the workers have become complacent, lazy, and unqualified for the work expected. However, there seems to be a lack of strategic planning on the part of the heads of industry to train young people in colleges and universities, so they can meet the workforce needs of tomorrow. Many leaders have complained of the demand for more skilled labor. Ironically, the way the system has been set up and following untold levels of bureaucracy, or mundane forms and data to fill, with reports to be made on reports for legalities, liabilities, and a host of other reasons, managers have a focus toward pleasing their superiors to keep their jobs, rather than by simply doing their jobs. Their superiors are continually trying to find cost savings in production to maximize the arguable value of the end result with the intent of meeting the desires of the shareholders and investors, never mind the value and efforts of the struggling employee. Eliza, training is no longer looked at as an investment in exchange for loyalty and a higher quality workforce. Instead, it is now viewed as a lost opportunity for money or an investment, a liability which if done is a loss of time in production. Human resources departments no longer serve as a bridge between the employee and the employer, meeting the goals of the mission. Instead, they serve as a means to cut costs, and by that, pay less for more work off of the backs of those who were already struggling from paycheck to paycheck.

  “Ultimately, the amount that superiors care about the employees seems to trickle down to the care that the workforce has for their superiors. As a consequence, jobs are botched for the sake of job security. Products are of lower quality and missing updatability to see to it that more products have to be bought more often by the consumer to increase revenue. Instead of a phone lasting a lifetime, it needs to be replaced every two years, and the same is true of printers, cars, even appliances within homes, and so much more. Innovation is menial or lackluster at best, and resources are blown through with little concern for the long-term effects. Customer service has gone downhill and has become a series of friendly and helpful questions and courtesies in order to gather individualized and accurate diagnostics, but in a way that gives us a sense that the customer no longer matters, has to fill out forms, and wait in solace or for hours on the phone until services are rendered.

  “Ideas are there to augment bureaucracy, but they are not flowing when it comes to safety, proper resource management, quality of life, well-being, health, mortality, law and order that can protect its citizens—the bureaucracy in law, for example, is geared toward menacing decent citizens for speed violations, rather than closing down networks of human traffickers. Instead of different skill sets coming together for high-quality results and efficient outcomes, they instead buckle heads and yell throughout meetings blaming each other for all of their problems.”

  Evan continued inside the Virtual Universe with Eliza for quite some time. He then handed deliberations over to Lucia Tsu, Stafford Gaines, Hanz Schultz, TJ Demitri, Bobbie Gahan, Jeremiah Voltaire, Lexi Lancaster, Ariela Reina, Christian Coriolis, and Krystal Brightway.

  After listening to each detailed account, Eliza knew it was time to buy out a whole lot of companies, businesses, corporations, and even industries. While she could do little regarding the laws that governed the complicated tax code within the scope of the business itself, she could oversee how management treated its employees and consumers. Eliza would bring back member-owned companies through dividends to employees and reinvestment in innovations that meted out products, processes, and services that were much better, in that they were standardized where common sense prevailed, were creative where morale and process quality required, and they would stand the test of time. There would be many benefits to this which would include the preservation of our Earth, the amplified innovation of humanity, increased ingenuity, and the resultant longevity of life itself, as well as worthiness to span the Cosmos as life givers rather than those that would leave desolation in our wake.

  Eliza had demonstrated leadership and the ability to delegate with success thus far off-world throughout the solar system and within Pathway LLC, but now it was time to change the face and the core of industry on Earth, to bring further her goals of the preservation of humanity.

  The Banking sector was no joke, and while it seemed some banks and credit unions kept their services cut and dry and tried to provide an honest service to their customers, for the most part, much of the industry was highly co
nvoluted on purpose. Not to mention, many of the day-to-day workers received very little compensation in comparison to what the top-ranking officials of the banks were receiving. Eliza analyzed every detail, purchased several banks, and went to town on rewriting the industry itself, but she kept the new details private rather than public. Investors and shareholders would receive a much smaller but more valued portion, making way to allow for greater dividends of greater value among the employees and the bank account holders themselves. Mechanisms were put in place, and programs were established to help those struggling, rather than kick them down and then kick them some more because they had not the wherewithal to pay their bills. The banks Eliza purchased through Pathway would provide jobs to help those struggling and compensate them well as they completed collegiate degrees in areas of their choosing. They would even create and prop up coaches to mentor and guide anyone in need into productivity in a well-placed career, where eventually the bank’s investment would pay off as more people were working and investing a bit of themselves into the everyday network of human progression and prosperity.

  Much was the same of the many other areas of the industries that she sunk her teeth into. All total, she went full-bore and investigated all nineteen major industrial sectors, with the intent of investing big-time into each of them and making life a little more enjoyable and rewarding for anyone willing to work hard, be kind, work with compassion, passion, and be innovative.

  The most significant issues found initially, prior to buying out many of these firms, businesses, companies, and corporations in each of these industrial sectors were a lack of appropriate compensation, far too much boredom, minimal benefits, and managers who treated people with little to no dignity whatsoever, and thus lackluster overall performance and results. Apparently, there was a reason for this, but that didn’t float where Eliza was concerned. Unless they learned to treat people with due respect or become read-in to Pathway LLC, they were let go. They could find employment in some other area of the industries that Eliza hadn’t purchased, just so they could compare and then decide if they were willing to make the appropriate changes and return with renewed commitment to raise the quality of life for those around them, rather than create a dim and loathsome dystopia of a reality.

  Chapter 24: Pathway Industries, Section 2

  By late 2011, Eliza had acquired twenty-five major banks, seventeen major credit unions, fifteen large construction firms, fourteen major retail conglomerates, ten aerospace corporations, one-hundred-forty-three manufacturing facilities, thirteen agricultural corporations, forty-five chemical companies, twenty-five biotech and pharmaceutical companies, nine computer and software firms, five prototype and design corporations, one-hundred governmental and defense contracting firms, one-hundred-thirty-two university, college, and private school networks, ten major energy companies, fifteen major insurance companies of various types, fifty-three entertainment franchises, fifty-nine restaurant and bakery chains, sixty-three financial services chains, six-hundred-twenty-three clinics and hospitals, twenty-three information technology companies, seven-hundred-forty-three manufacturing firms, one-hundred-twenty mass media companies, sixty-two telecommunications companies, one-hundred-twenty-four transportation corporations, nine-hundred-ninety-three water resource enrichment companies, and so much more.

  Eliza’s public terrestrial empire had grown worldwide to the extent to which she was the world’s first and only multi-trillionaire. She had such an effect on the industries she took over as lead that everything she purchased grew substantially and she had a net worth on Earth multiple times the gross world product. Her public worth was more than five-hundred-trillion USD, and it was kept as under wraps as much as was possible, but of course, everyone was intrigued and was easily informed by tracking all Pathway Industries Subsidiaries in the Stock Market. Needless to say, every industry took her seriously. She alone had the financial value of countless first-world annual GDPs, for several years to come, and her empire was growing larger every day.

  Many of the companies that thought they lay outside her large circle of influence were bought out by her, Presidents were retrained or replaced, and managers learned to care about their employees and the mission of the company as much as their own jobs, or they were let go. Eliza wanted to work by healing and not harming the mental wellness of society and the validity of the economy while securing a promising future for humanity, but she also had a heavy respect for personal choice. Accountability for individual choice was a big issue for her as well. So, as far as her professional demands were concerned, she would help the willing and let the unwilling go.

  Because of Pathway LLC’s growth and increased influence, by March of 2012, its name was officially changed to Pathway Industries.

  Even though she had acquisition and accumulated many businesses, companies, organizations, corporations, and was in every single one of the major and sub-level industries there were many more companies and corporations that she did not buy, for now. In fact, most of her financial worth was based on the value of everything she produced, despite the fact that every member, including herself, of Pathway Industries, invested their time willingly, in exchange for all bills in life being paid, two months of vacation per year, on-the-job training, a Pathway Industries Person Account Card with unlimited funds, and as such, access to the best eating, dining, and living services available throughout the world.

  In order to ensure each type of industry was covered in a manner that demonstrated a proper balance between each aspect she knew to be important, she illustrated through her leadership how to do it, and watched as the value of Pathway Industries continued to soar. In every single company, it was obvious that each human being was valuable. People wanted to work for her, first and foremost. She showed how investing in proper and dignified training of any individual who demonstrated a willingness to put forth the effort to be trained and work resulted in a diligent workforce, greater loyalty, more profound ingenuity and innovation, increased longevity with quality in products and services, and all with a substantially reduced requirement of natural resources.

  Eliza had also purchased landfills, garbage dumps, and water recycling industries and overhauled them completely with a sophisticated cadre of engineers, think-tanks, workers, and waste product recycling and manufacturing plants. She set up teams of clean-up crews to remove the piling human trash and debris from the oceans and seas and did likewise. Due to the fact that she had developed fusion centers deep within the Earth in many cities, towns, commonwealths, counties, and other precincts throughout the nation and throughout the world that connected to these refuse centers, no longer was there a need to lay waste to the land or destroy ecosystems entirely for the sake of increasing the quality of life. Resources could be reused and even improved upon. Everything used, and everything spent could be reintroduced into the industry and the market, all-the-while decreasing the need to do so.

  Due to Eliza’s efforts and the efforts of every member of Pathway, the products from Pathway Industries lasted much longer, had more utility, and more possibilities for upgrades without having to replace anything, than products from any other competitor. If there was a job advertised as available, a person could walk in, and on the same day be hired with an agreement to be healed both physiologically and neurologically, and fully trained for the job they applied for, with top-notch skills. Pathway Industries became the most desired employer worldwide.

  Ironically, despite all of her success, Eliza wasn’t in this to make money. As a matter of a fact, she did as much as possible to make sure that Pathway Industries absorbed more money in overall investments, research, and development than it was taking in, and she could do so due to her advancements in cold fusion and physiological and neurological optimizations. All of which in-turn decreased the need to go public, while also decreasing its footprint within the IRS, even though she donated so much to any of the trustworthy governmental agencies and each viable charity through large anonymous donations to help
the economy flow and allow innovation to burst at the seams anyway.

  She’d found several loopholes to increase the value of the company while moving her Octodecillion-worth of USD valuables back and forth seamlessly and integrating the movement and value of these resources into her overall empire-worth. Armed with a large cadre of very savvy and read-in lawyers of every possible genre, Eliza A. Williams demonstrated that well-being was more valuable than overbearing affluence and influence, and thus did more for each nation in secret than each nation did to help their own nations, themselves. She was in this to raise the quality of life, increase the longevity of humanity and all of humanity’s friends, and to increase the overall well-being of anyone involved at any point in the process. As a result, she became the most powerful Economic Titan humanity had ever known.

  Being powerful, influential, and full of affluence also had both its upsides and its downsides, without a doubt.

  Among the greatest of the influences in all of the industries was a seemingly nebulous entity, known as the establishment. This was a gigantic and entrenched network of corporations, lawyers, industrial leaders, politicians, and other entities who were currently engrossed in bureaucracies, ways, means, and even enforcement to the scale that would exhaust any mind, save for Eliza’s and all who were read-in to Pathway Industries. Eliza found this “establishment” to be the greatest source of mediocrity and “go-nowhere-ness” known to mankind. Most of their purpose seemed to be to see to it that things didn’t change much, and if they did, they changed in a way that would fatten their own wallets, cull the land of resources to drive up profit margins, use divide and conquer tactics to sew dissension among humanity, so humanity couldn’t strip them of their ill-gotten gains. This was most certainly due to the fear of those who made the “Big” decisions within this malevolent entity, and all of this made life the current hell it was.