Madi and Claudia emerged from the black stretch limo before a nondescript four-story building. Madi furrowed her brow.
“Okay, I’m stumped. Why are we here?”
“We’re here for a momentous occasion!” Claudia exclaimed.
“And what’s that?”
“Isn’t it obvious? We’re taking our first look at the new PetraTec world headquarters!”
Madi frowned. “Seriously? Did you even run this by Gwen or Erik?”
“Too late for that,” Claudia replied. “It’s already a done deal. You can thank me later.”
Madi gasped. “What the hell, Claudia? How much did you pay for this place?”
“Twenty million,” Claudia answered without batting an eye. “If you allow me to elaborate on what we bought, you’ll understand the appeal.”
“Okay, sure,” Madi replied, rolling her eyes. “I’ll humor you.”
“Splendid! Right this way, my skeptical friend.”
Claudia unlocked the front door and led Madi into a large lobby with marble floors.
“Imagine a dozen nude statues here to greet our visitors,” Claudia remarked with a wave.
Madi nodded. “Okay, I could get behind that idea. What is this place anyway?”
“It’s a defunct technical college,” Claudia responded. “This main building has four floors totaling 40,000 square feet. It’s mostly offices, classrooms, and labs but also has a cafeteria, gym, and locker rooms.”
“That can’t be everything,” Madi said. “Not for twenty million.”
“Oh, certainly not,” Claudia replied, waving her hand. “This is just the beginning. Let’s continue.”
She led Madi through the lobby, down a hallway, and out a backdoor. Behind the main headquarters to the north stood two large industrial-style buildings.
“These are open inside and 28,000 square feet each, so both combined are about the size of a football field. One will be our production floor. The other will be our product storage facility.”
“Damn, Claudia!” Madi exclaimed. “You think we need this kind of space? PetraTec is just starting, after all.”
“Absolutely!” Claudia responded. “And we have room to grow here. The entire property is 160 acres—mostly woods—with an option to buy three adjacent parcels. That would be a square mile altogether.”
“Wow! You don’t mess around, do you?”
“I most certainly do not. Go big or go home, as they say. Like I told you when we first met, PetraTec has far more potential than you realize.”
“Okay,” Madi said. “I’m on board. When can we move in?”
“Four weeks. I’ll have the main building spotless and fully furnished. And I’ll move the biomolecular converter into the building on the left. That’ll be our production floor. Speaking of which, I believe we need a catchy name for that device. Any ideas?”
Madi thought for a few moments before replying.
“How about Perseus? He used Medusa’s head to turn the Kraken to stone. And we’ll be using Perseus to turn people to stone. Seems fitting.”
“I love it!” exclaimed Claudia. She gestured to the three buildings around them. “We’ll fill this place up within two years. I guarantee it.”
“Well, I’m glad we have such a visionary CEO,” Madi remarked. “Never stop dreaming, Claudia.”
“That goes for all of us. Believe in the vision, my friend, and we’ll make it happen.”
As Madi turned back toward the main building, something to the east caught her eye. She squinted in the sunlight.
“Hold up. Is that a football stadium?”
“Oh, yes! It’s seen better days, but the bleachers can hold a thousand fans. The technical college had a team back in the day, though it was disbanded several years ago.”
Madi furrowed her brow. “Hmm, I see. So, what are we going to do with a neglected stadium?”
Claudia laughed. “I’m sure we’ll think of something.”
“Yeah, I suppose. Is there anything else on the campus I should know about?”
“Not yet,” replied Claudia with a twinkle in her eye, “but I’m certain there will be soon enough.”
Four weeks later, Madi entered the main lobby and gasped. The marble floors were perfectly polished, and two marble nudes stood in the center. She recognized the man and woman as their very first test subjects.
Madi continued across the lobby to a young woman seated at a reception desk. As Madi approached, the woman looked up and smiled.
“Good morning, Ms. Douglas! And welcome to PetraTec HQ. I’m Sarah Whitmore, your new receptionist. It’s wonderful to meet you!”
“And you, as well, Sarah. Please call me Madi. We’re not formal around here.”
“Sure thing, Madi. The others are already here. Erik and Claudia are meeting with two guests while Gwen is on the production floor transforming a group of subjects.”
“Oh? How many subjects?”
“Twenty.”
Madi’s jaw dropped. “Seriously? Where did we find twenty subjects already?”
“The guests brought them along on a bus when they arrived earlier. It was quite a sight to behold on my first day: twenty naked people walking by on their way to be transformed.”
Madi looked at Sarah. “Are you okay with what we do here?”
“Absolutely! I love it. I’ve always been into science and sculpture. I never thought I’d work somewhere that combined the two! I’m in my happy place here.”
“Okay, great. I figured I’d check. So lovely to meet you, Sarah. I’m going to crash that meeting now. I want to find out what’s going on.”
“Sounds good! See you, Madi!”
Madi climbed the stairs to the fourth floor and entered the executive conference room. Claudia and Erik sat on one side of the oak conference table while their two female visitors sat on the other. Everyone turned toward the new arrival.
“Hey, Madi!” exclaimed Claudia. “We were just talking about you.”
“Good things, I hope,” Madi replied. She turned to the guests. “Nice to meet you. I’m Madi Douglas.”
“Camille Carrington,” said the redhead before gesturing to her Latina companion. “And this is Luisa Rodriguez.”
Madi nodded in response. “I heard you brought some gifts this morning.”
“Oh, yes!” Luisa replied with a grin. “Just a sample of what we can do for PetraTec.”
“Well, it’s certainly an impressive sample.” Madi turned to Claudia. “Mind catching me up?”
“Certainly! Camille wants to be our VP of Marketing, while Luisa has her eye on VP of Recruiting.” Claudia flashed a grin. “Luisa sourced all the subjects, and Camille already has buyers lined up for all twenty!”
Madi’s eyes opened wide. “Really? That’s fantastic! Both of you are hired, as far as I’m concerned. Keep up the amazing work!”
Claudia and Erik nodded.
“It’s unanimous then,” said Erik. “We already got a yes vote from Gwen. Welcome aboard!”
“Thank you!” Luisa exclaimed.
“I can’t wait to get started!” added Camille.
“Excellent,” said Madi. “While you four finalize the paperwork, I’m headed to the production floor to ogle the hot naked people. See you around!”
Madi stepped onto the production floor and marveled at the scene before her. Seven statues stood off to the side while Gwen fired the Perseus at a nude man. The rest of the volunteers waited patiently for their date with immortality. As the man’s bare flesh faded to marble, Gwen waved to Madi.
“Hey there! Welcome to the party!”
“Thanks, Gwen! Looks like the partygoers want to get stoned, eh?”
“They certainly do. My jaw dropped when they stepped off the bus earlier. I feel like a kid in a candy store!”
“Oh, I believe you. And by all means, please continue. I love to watch.”
“Will do! Next, please!”
Fifteen minutes later, twenty nude statues stood along the wall of the production floor.
“Well, that was certainly fun,” Madi remarked. “Did Luisa happen to mention how she recruited all these people?”
“Yes. Half are from an adventurous modeling agency. She recruited the rest of them from local gyms. Believe it or not, these hard bodies were just a day’s work for Luisa.”
“Damn! That’s impressive.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” Gwen replied. “They don’t mess around. I’m thrilled to have those ladies on board.”
“That makes two of us,” said Madi. “Well, four of us, if you count Claudia and Erik. Oh, that reminds me. Do you know if they hired anyone else today?”
“No, but they’re interviewing candidates for some leadership positions: General Counsel, VP of Public Relations, VP of Engineering, and Chief Scientist.”
“Excellent! We’ll need all those people for sure.”
Gwen smiled. “This is finally happening, Madi! I lost track of how often I’ve pinched myself this morning expecting to wake up from this beautiful dream.”
“Yeah,” Madi replied with a grin. “You and me both.”
The two women continued to talk excitedly about PetraTec’s future as they examined the new statues. Claudia was the real deal and had the connections to transform her grand vision into reality. They had numerous challenges ahead but were confident in overcoming them. A lot was happening very quickly, but one thing was sure: the art world would never be the same.
Copyright 2024 Olivia Zoe Quinn
Photo by Michał Franczak on Unsplash
Story notes
I hadn’t planned on turning “Angel of Stone” into a series, but I realized PetraTec needs an origin story. Since the first installment starts at the beginning when Claudia joins the team, it seemed like a convenient jumping-off point for telling the whole story in this re-imagined series called “Rise of PetraTec.”
I’m also rebranding some of the existing StoneSport stories (“Golden Ember” and “Mist Opportunity,” for example) into a new series called “Age of StoneSport.” I have many more competition formats to explore, some petrifying and others vaporizing.
I also plan to unify a few of my related story worlds into a literary universe with an eclectic cast of characters and a rich tapestry of transformations. I adore all the stories in my head and can’t wait to share them with you!
Article Tags: Female · Male · Nudity · Sci-Fi · Statue · Stone · Volunteer
