Damsel Under Stress

Merlin nodded. “That much is true. Very well, we will wait before using Miss Chandler for that aspect of the investigation, but please make certain you’re making decisions based on business reasons rather than your personal feelings.” Owen, still blushing furiously, nodded as he kept his eyes on the table. Merlin acknowledged that with a nod of his own before continuing. “Now, those are the strategies for dealing with the potentially less-than-seemly aspects of our opponent. What can we do to face this from a business standpoint?”



Mr. Hartwell, the head of Sales, smiled his plastic smile. “Have we ever considered opening our own storefront or doing veiled advertising like that? Until now, our only way to promote ourselves has been through the products themselves, and we only recently started putting marketing messages on the packaging. Now that we appear to have real competition that’s marketing at this level, I’m not sure we can afford not to step it up a notch or two.”



“Or would that be playing into his hands by legitimizing his claims?” I asked, thinking out loud. “He seems to have cast us as IBM in the IBM versus Apple saga. He’s even stealing old Apple advertising slogans. His company is fresh, new, and innovative, while we’re old, stodgy, and resistant to change.”



“That’s not entirely untrue,” Minerva Felps, the head seer, muttered under her breath.



“What was the outcome of this legendary battle?” Merlin asked.



I supposed in a sense that it really was a kind of modern warfare, so I didn’t bother correcting his assumption. “Both companies are still in business. IBM changed its business model, but not really because of Apple. Apple still has a limited market share. The real victor in all of this was Microsoft, which has the dominant operating system. I’m not sure any of that applies to our scenario. Oh, and as far as I know, none of those companies was literally evil, destructive, or aiming for true world domination. Well, not that anyone’s been able to prove.”



“How would us responding to their efforts play into their hands?” Mr. Hartwell challenged, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes narrowed.



“For one thing, it would take a lot of money, and if we try to compete on that level, it could just end up hurting us without helping much. I don’t see how he can sustain this level of exposure for very long unless he rakes in some serious sales. He’s got to have a big source of funding.”



“If the connection you believe you’ve observed is correct,” Merlin said to me, “we may know where he’s getting his funding.”



Every head in the room turned to look at me. “I was at the offices of Vandermeer and Company last week, helping a friend with something, and I noticed that they had one of the creatures I usually associate with Idris there, apparently working as some kind of bodyguard. I’ve seen that particular creature several times, always attacking me when I’ve been investigating Idris. It’s possible that they’re in league with Idris.”



“Those Merediths never have been up to much good,” Minerva Felps muttered. “I’ve always wondered what happened to the missing Vandermeer heir that allowed them to take over.”



“He was turned into a frog, then disenchanted, and now he’s dating my roommate,” I answered. “But he’s not a frog anymore. That’s why I was at their offices. I was helping him scope out the situation so he could see about getting his family business back.”



“I wonder if this is who’s been pulling the strings all along,” Owen mused.



Mr. Lansing spun his pen around, which was an impressive feat with frog flippers. “Possibly,” he said. “Or else it’s someone who saw Idris’s potential.”



“Minerva, have any of your people noticed anything?” Merlin asked.



“We’ve seen some portents, but we’re still trying to analyze them. Things are hazy enough that I suspect we’re being deliberately blocked. We may send someone to wander by the store to see if any of the signals are stronger there, and I’m planning a big meditation session tomorrow, but I don’t anticipate any earth-shattering revelations to come from it. Still, you never know.”



Ethan looked over at me. “It’s Philip you’re talking about, the one who was enchanted?” I nodded, and he said, “Maybe I should meet with him and see what we might be able to do legally. If we can prove who he is and get him back in charge of that investment firm, maybe we can cut off Idris’s funding.” He frowned for a moment, then added, “I’m assuming that there are magical channels for handling this sort of thing, where saying you were turned into a frog is actually a valid claim and won’t land you in the loony bin.”