ANALYZING… FILE TYPE: Informal Text Communications PERIOD: Pre-Expedition TOPIC: Traxus vs. UESC Negotiation Strategy SUMMARY: Informal negotiations between Traxus and UESC representatives after a pause on formal negotiations. The point of contention involved supply logistics and construction of the UESC Marathon. This transcript is a small excerpt from eight years of communication between these two users. ================================================================== TOI_J.Samra: be reasonable. the interplanetary logistics are more than you can handle. UESC_N7181: We have alternative means of securing mass material transport to Mars. TOI_J.Samra: can you ping them at 3am for priority? UESC_N7181: Vulture. I owe you once and never live it down. TOI_J.Samra: four times. crater collapse incident, war criminal repatriation, defective riot gear… UESC_N7181: And the Olympus "gift basket." TOI_J.Samra: oh is that what we're calling it now? cute. UESC_N7181: It's what I told my kid. TOI_J.Samra: damn that's messed up. never sending you a gift basket again. UESC_N7181: It won't be necessary. Traxus isn't the only player in this game now. Everyone wants a stake in the Marathon. TOI_J.Samra: we're still the biggest, and logistical problems scale with size. you know that. so do i. UESC_N7181: This isn't about your ego. TOI_J.Samra: it's not my ego. nobody's budging on perpetual ownership of corp assets. lawyers would shoot me for trying. UESC_N7181: You don't own a ship by paying for and shipping the hull materials. That's outrageous. TOI_J.Samra: eh. labor theory of value is overrated. we own whatever legal says we own. UESC_N7181: The Martians will have all our skins for it. TOI_J.Samra: so? that's your problem. UESC_N7181: It becomes your problem if we don't deal with it right away. You think it's cheap to plant moles in MIDA? TOI_J.Samra: with how often I see riots in the news, are we talking shipping containers or sandwiches in terms of cost? UESC_N7181: Exactly my point. You don't know how much hostile labor management costs us on a daily basis. No numbers means no leverage. TOI_J.Samra: fair enough. how's this: gimme a ballpark estimate that'll put the fear of God in strategic accounting. worst case, the sticker shock reopens talks. UESC_N7181: Out of the fire with you, into the frying pan with corporate diplomats. I hate everything. TOI_J.Samra: don't grouse. for an account with your overhead, i'll make sure it's worth the trouble. beachside artificial view, elite suite, the works. UESC_N7181: Fine. I hate everything a little less. ================================================================== TYPE: TEXT [X]; AUDIO [ ]