Eiji's Thoughts on Chiyoda Division
"For those of you who don't know, I've lived on earth for 38 years. ...Yes, 38. For those of you that know math, that's approximately 19,972,800 minutes. Not half of a century, but more than a quarter, at least. And for those of you that also don't know this, I've been CEO and president of Sigma Inc. for 16 years. That's 8,409,600 minutes and counting. Not as long as I've been on Earth, but it's still longer than most."
"And you know what life lesson I've discovered from living on Earth all those minutes? It's a very simple lesson that my father told me when I was just a kid, but it's a lesson I've always kept very close to my heart. And it's this: 'You cannot please everyone'. And you know something? My father was absolutely correct. You can't please everyone.
"During my tenure as CEO, I've had to deal with a lot of backlash from people who either don't like what I do, what I say, the decisions I make, the people I choose to associate with, the way I run my business, to whatever excuse they come up with to dislike me. And you know, after the car accident that caused me to lose my leg, I've learned that, more often than not, it's better to try to bury the hatchet whenever you can. Life's too short, after all. Any one of us can be dead tomorrow or the next day. It's better to go to bed at night with a clear head and a clean conscience."
"It's for that reason that whenever I make an enemy or an adversary, I always try to nip the problem in the bud right then and there. I'm not one of those people that like to keep a grudge going, provided of course, your dispute is with me, and me, alone, and doesn't involve any of my friends or family. If there's an issue you have with me, then please, let's have a sit-down and talk about it. You'll have a chance to get everything you want to say out in the open, and you have my word both as a gentleman and as a CEO, I won't interrupt you until you are thoroughly and completely done with your speech. If we leave the discussion with no more problems, good. If we leave as partners, friends, or even just as acquaintances, even better. And if you still have an issue with me after we are done talking, that's also fine. Because at least now, I know what the issue is and where we both stand."
"...It's for that reason that I cannot understand exactly what the problem with this man is." Eiji holds up a photo of Fusao Ise, the CEO of Wonder⇓anD Sound Systems. "For some reason, this man seems to be hellbent on causing me and Sigma Inc. no end of trouble. And the sad thing is, I don't even know why! I've asked him on numerous occasions to let's sit down and talk things out, but he always refuses. If he had such an issue with me, that's fine, but lately, I've received word that he's been spreading negative publicity about PROFILE, which I dislike."
"Fair warning, Mr. Ise: whatever beef you have with me is between us. Leave my company and my platform out of it. Because trust me, you don't wish to know the kind of things I could dig up about Wonder⇓anD Sound Systems. Give that some thought, Mad Hatter."
"One of Wonder⇓anD Sound Systems' employees, if I'm not mistaken. From what I've heard, he seems to have quite the vendetta against Ginza, though I'm pretty sure his anger is directed more at a certain priest." Eiji rolls his eyes. "I swear if I had a dollar for the number of people that man has managed to piss off..."
"Besides that, I don't have too much of an interaction with him. I'm hoping he hasn't been buying into Fusao's talk about PROFILE. I'm not sure if he has one or not, but if he does, he doesn't seem to use it much. But regardless, I'm interested to see what a 'mad scientist' will come up with in the D.R.B."
"He seems to be a very interesting young lad. Like Masa mentioned, he doesn't seem to be entirely... human. Not that there is anything wrong with that! After all, I hope to see a future where transhumanism is the norm. I'd like to sit down and have a talk with him about that, but I don't know if Mr. Ise will allow that, which is a shame. Besides that, Oki claims that he knows this young boy from somewhere, which is a bit of a surprise. Truthfully, I've been doing my own research into finding out exactly what became of Oki in those two years that he was gone. Is it possible that during that time he became acquainted with this young man? Hmm, how mysterious..."
Eiji sighs as he lights himself a cigarette. "It seems as if there is no shortage of opponents wishing to combat Ginza. I know that I'm partially responsible for that, though. One of the many consequences of being a CEO is that you have no shortage of enemies. And in the D.R.B., that is equally important, as many people are just waiting for their chance to take advantage of your weakness and exploit it."
"...I have to say though, this may be one of the few teams that I am actually looking forward to fighting. As I stated, I like to have a sit-down with my enemies, so we can get everything out in the open. And if I know Mr. Fusao, he has a lot he wishes to say... to me. So..."
Eiji takes the cigarette out of his mouth and stubs it in his ashtray. "...Let's hear exactly what you have to say, Mad Hatter."
