Fire [TM]

A stand of scrubby trees broke up the flat desolation of the savanna in summer. Under those trees was a natural table of shale that served as the meeting place for the Red Bluffs tribe. Timothy had convened his Idea Group there and was presiding.

"What we need," Timothy said, mostly to himself as he paced around his collection of underlings, "is a real ball-busting breakthrough. Something to set us way the fuck apart from the rest of the pack." He scratched his back, annoyed that none of his team ever seemed to think on his plane.

Rudolph tentatively raised his hand. "We're doing great things now with the adze," he mentioned hopefully. A fraction of a second later he ducked the antelope horn that Timothy chucked at him.

"Pinhead! moron!" shouted the Red Bluffs CEO. "What the fuck is the matter with you? Adzes? I give a fuck about adzes WHY?!" Timothy aimed a kick at Rudolph's cringing backside.

"Adzes - shit." Timothy scowled and resumed his pacing. "We're up against Homo Ergaster, people. They fucking OWN hand-axes, hand-tools, hand-jobs, whatever handy-crap you can think of. Homo Erectus is not going to become Number One, and stay Number One, by watching other species taking a dump and saying "Oo! Homo Ergaster dumps like champs; let's do it too!"

"NO." Timothy stopped at the head of the table and put his hands on its surface, leaning forward dangerously to glare at his team. "I'm not talking about another tchotchkie. We don't need another gimmick. We need something big. Something revolutionary. Something that can change the world forever." He paused, making eye contact, ensuring he had everybody's attention.

"I'm talking fire," Timothy said, a faint smile curling his mouth.

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