Communique...

"Sir, we've got a major problem down here," the Overseer for Mental Creativity's voice said bluntly through the intercom system.

"Yes, what is?" Control asked, surprised somewhat to hear the long-silent voice of the Overseer of MC. The Overseer had been rather active during the previous year up until this past March, when the onset of another Great Crisis had placed a large drain on resources.

The Controller listened patiently as the Overseer cleared his throat. Control regarded the Overseer in a friendly mindset, mostly because of the Overseer's past endeavours which had provided times of increased productivity and great positive benefits to the Collective as a whole.

That the Overseer had been silent for so long had not gone unnoticed, but that was also to be expected. He knew the situation as well as the rest of the Collective. Crisis management came first, Collective maintenance second and creative endeavours third. The Controller had taken note that the rest of the Collective was rather tired and could stand a little diversion.

The Overseer could be heard to be sucking in a deep breath. The news he had was grave, his words having been chosen carefully for maximum impact. He was never one to beat about the bush.

"We're dead, or rather, we're dying down here," he stated flatly.

The Controller sighed to himself. This was not going to be an easy conversation. "What's your situation report?"

"Our SitRep is this, sir," the Overseer replied, "We're down 76.2% here in regards to manpower and resources. Quite frankly, the staff we do have are working practically non-stop in supporting the departments of Maintenance and Treasury."

The Controller considered this as he glanced at the Master Report and frowned slightly. "You're absolutely right on that, OMC. We've had to shunt those resources to maintain survival of the Collective. You know how it's been these past six months."

"Six months, Hell, try the past decade," the Overseer snorted, "it's not been exactly a walk in the park for us now has it?"

'He has a point there,' the Controller admitted. The Collective had been under assault from one Crisis after another throughout the past ten years, so it wasn't any wonder that this state of affairs hadn't gone unnoticed. Lately, the overall morale of the Collective had sunk to a new low. Change was needed, a distraction at the very least.

The Controller began to tap gently on his desk as he pondered possible solutions to this new situation. He was always open for suggestions though.

"What do you propose?" the Controller asked, hoping for a near miracle of sorts.

"A Great Project, Controller," the OMC chirruped grandly, "One that will harness the collaborative efforts of not only our society but those of our allies.

The Controller considered this for a moment, "Something along the lines of that Historical Preservation project we completed almost three years ago?"

"Something like that, sir," the Overseer replied, "Except this will require the cooperation of allied governments as well as those of our own."

"Go on, I'm listening," the Controller said, succumbing to his own curiosity.

The Overseer could almost be heard to be tap dancing on the line. This idea finally had merit and could possibly boost the Collective from the, well, collective funk that they had been in.

He drew a huge breath and launched into his explanation, "We contact the representatives of our related allied governments and attempt to pool our multimedia and creative resources in an attempt to create a lasting monument to the remaining Great-Ancestor, who as you know, turns 90 this year."

"What?!?" the Controller spat in disbelief, "You can't seriously be thinking of creating such a thing in time for his birthday, are you? That gives us only two months!"

"We can do it," the Overseer gruffed, "if we work together."

"I can think of one or two of our 'related allies' that quite possibly would have nothing to contribute to this project," the Controller sighed, referring to certain governments that had long since severed diplomatic ties with the Collective, "Have you talked to State about this yet?"

Silence floated across the ether. The Overseer for the Department of State was well renowned to have a stubborn streak that was famous around the world. Usually in State's mind, once ties were severed, they stayed that way until the offending government apologized. It may not be the best policy to have for a diplomat, but there were times when the only other alternative was open war.

"I ran it by him," the Overseer muttered, "He wasn't too keen on the idea, but was willing to extend a hand out for an effort of this magnitude. The worst the other government will say is 'no', right?"

"Assuming the other government replies at all," the Controller mused, "What about the Ancestor and her sister? Are they willing to support this Project?"

"I talked to Communications about that. Both have sent back replies supporting our endeavour."

"I see," the Controller nodded absently to the air, "Well, I don't see why we can't, barring any unforeseen unpleasantness, naturally."

"I'll tell the members of my department to give me a list of resources and manpower that we'll need from the Collective," the Overseer's voice was ecstatic, "We won't let you down."

The Controller chuckled "You rarely do, OMC, you rarely do. Let me know what resources you need from our allies as well and I will have State draft the appropriate communiques for me to sign as necessary."

"Will do," the Overseer agreed wholeheartedly, "It feels great to be back, sir."

"Good luck, OMC. With two months to finish this beast, you're going to need it!"

The line fell silent and the Controller reached for his scheduler. He actually found a free weekend around the time of the Great-Ancestor's birthday. Perhaps the Controller might present the completed Project to him directly. If nothing else, it'd be a good excuse to finally take a couple days off.

For now, there was a ton of work to do...