THE MOMENT
"Oh, you're from Sharp Development," Richard smiled as he greeted the purple-haired guest. She wore a white leather duster with blue jeans and white leather boots, but she'd removed her hat as she walked in. If Victoria hadn't introduced herself as being from the most well-known corporation on the planet, he might've guessed it anyway from the abundance of white she wore, along with expecting a visit from them at some point. His company recently began pushing new philanthropic services to the public and part of him knew it would get attention from all the corporations, but especially Sharp Development. "Please," he gestured at the seat in front of his desk as he sat down in his own high-back chair. "How can Rich Corp. help your company?"
"Just asking some questions for now," Victoria smiled. "Tell me about the new services you're offering to the public. How did this new charity push come about?"
"Ah," Richard nodded. "Well, the story we'll be running in the papers is that I woke up one morning feeling tired of living in a dystopia. Even at the top, it's still a dystopia. And, of course, with the resources we have, doing some extra charity to improve things for everyone seems like the right thing to do. The truth is pretty close to that," he chuckled. "I realized that there is no end game for continuing on this path. If I want my company to continue to prosper, benevolence is the only way forward."
"You're not wrong about that," Victoria smiled, but she shook her head. "So, from here there are a couple of different paths available to you," she said. Rich tilted his head at her with a puzzled expression.
"You can keep doing what you're doing, on this new charitable path, somewhere else, or you can go back to being the greedy, selfish corporation Rich Corp. was before."
"I'm sorry?" He asked. "What do you mean somewhere else?" There was a lot more to question about her statement, but that seemed the most pressing thing to define.
"A different Earth," Victoria replied. "Sharp Development has branches on billions of alternate Earths, we'll be glad to move your company to one where you can be as kind as you like to your customers." Richard's mind went blank for a moment as he tried to process what she said. The most surprising part was that he wasn't in a hurry to argue the impossibility of the claim. He couldn't decide why but somewhere in the back of his mind, it felt true and real. Finally, after a few quiet moments, his brain realized he needed to say something.
"Wait, why?" he asked. He was apparently fine believing in the existence of a multiverse, and decided to find out the reasoning. "Sharp Development is the largest and has the best public reputation among corporations. I thought you all would be thrilled more people were helping add positivity."
"It's a good thing, in general," Victoria nodded. "Just not on this Earth. Sharp Development needs this Earth operating a certain way, and we need to maintain that."
"So that's just it? The most generous corporation is telling me i can't be generous too??" he asked.
"Not on this Earth," Victoria nodded again. "As far as most citizens here are concerned, Sharp Development is the only benevolent corporation there is."