Even the other heads of department had a respect for Cicero. Her chutzpah. Her canniness. They admired her politicking, which they, for the most part, couldn’t be bothered to do. They were impressed that, at the end of her career, she could be bothered to do this. That she had the motivation.
And of course Cicero had the credentials. She had the CV. She was respected. Looked up to. She’d brought in millions in research money. She’d had a distinguished research career. She’d partnered with some of the best universities in the US. And she wasn’t just going to cruise to retirement. She wasn’t going to see out her last years doing the same old thing.
Cicero had a plan: the other heads of department had an intimation of that. Cicero horizon-scanned. She could see it coming at a civilisational level: the new control system. She knew it was nigh, the new control grid. She knew she needed philosophy to understand what was really going on.
Work in Progress 