Strange Rumors -OPwk2 (Layne Yr)

*encrypted*

Dear Admiral Layne Yr,

It has been quite some time since we've spoken. I hope this message finds you well. I'm happy to report business is going well and profits are up. Your recent acquisitions are heartening and provide even greater potential for profit. All good news on that front.

Business talk aside, I write to you today because I have heard the strangest rumors revolving around you recently. Crazy rumors in fact. While normally I ignore rumors, especially about you, this one is so crazy that I have to ask about it. You see, I've heard silly rumors before, like that you are so hidesouly evil and must be destroyed because you take baths in blood, roast little bunnies on a stick for amusement, use men as playthings, and, most amusingly, are a worshipper of the dead.

I've always considered much of the hate towards you as a mix of distrust of a powerful woman, latent desire and or admiration of you, fear of the unknown, and overarching warmongering. So, again, I generally ignore what they say about you. However, I heard a rumor so overwhelming that my staff is freaked out and threatening to strike. They say that you're planning to sacrifice the entire population of a planet for some nefarious plot to become immortal, ascended, or some other form of super powerful. The purpose, in this case, is irrelevant. Its the fact that people are convinced that you are going to kill 400 million of your own people is what's concerning.

This rumor is a PR nightmare (no pun intended). A rumor of this magnitude doesn't come from out of nowhere, and if we don't handle it, business will dll apart. What's going on and how do we fix it?

Yours sincerely,
Su Maehl, Executive Chairman
Maehl Holdings

Dearest Su,

I have looked into the ritual you describe. Yes on a planet in my territory 400 million colonists did just technically sign their lives away. It happens all the time in the Kasanthian Federation. A person gets fed up with being alive and signs up to be converted into a Vampire, or other form of sentient undead. I personally don't do it, but how can I judge them for being tired of being alive.

I have gotten a technician to put together something called an electronic optical storage device. It holds all the signed forms. You will surely note not a single one was forged or altered in any way.

Luckily we have a policy of policing the vampires on our planets. I hope you don't hold it against us.

As for PR Nightmare, maybe I could put a broadcast together to help you with this PR Nightmare you are faceing.

Tell your staff to be less prejudice. I will not tell my subjects they MUST live if they desire an unlife as a Vampire instead, and neither will any closeminded beings.
If you want I can send you paperwork, for your staff, on sensitivity training on the living-impaired.

Grand Admiral Layne Yr

Dear Grand Admiral,

I would love to get together a team to do a proper sensitivity training for employees. I think it would work wonders for morale. And if it doesn't, then at least we can keep the video on file... in case the need arises.

With regards to proof or verification, I trust your word. I feel significantly better knowing that you are not sacrificing your people against their will, and have gone great lengths to ensure that you have consent from everyone involved. Knowing that, I am sure the rumors were over blown anyway.

I feel much more confident regarding the state of things and feel perfectly comfortable continuing operations without further ado. Thank you for taking the time to respond. Client relations are important to us, and I hope to continue this mutually beneficial relationship.

Yours Sincerely,
Su Maehl, Executive Chairman
Maehl Holdings