Re: Life - Business & Technology

Chapter 147 Modern Fame

Skylight Clarkson Square Private AV Pad, September 7, 2013.

Vince introduced Richard to his guests and friends who weren't familiar with Future Tech's New York branch director before entering the CAV.

The local branch dispatched transportation for Richard's use, so he flew separately to leave enough space in Vince's CAV for his friends and guests.

Kanye noticed not one paparazzi near the AV pad as they were boarding, which was unheard of in the tight city of New York, where the celebrity villains could easily snap photos of famous personalities in exchange for money.

He acknowledged the Future Security operators' effectiveness in maintaining Vince's privacy and security, then said, "I should hire your boys to keep those annoying cameras out of my business. It won't take long until I lose my patience and punch a paparazzi in the face, especially in Hollywood."

The young CEO appreciated the weirdly subtle compliment and informatively replied, "I'm sure you have plenty of money to splash on security. There's an extensive list of FS packages we provide to private citizens and corporations. I'll refer you to my good friend and FS Overseer, Marco, to accommodate your needs."

Future Security services were more expensive than your average bodyguard contractor because most FS operators received training and international qualifications to deploy auxiliary devices such as autonomous drones in public areas.

The cheapest FS package available to civilians included a qualified and fully-equipped operator wearing the Infantry Variant Armor, supported by one Dragonfly, with remote cyber security courtesy of nethunters working at a local Future Tech branch office.

The contract costs $10 thousand dollars or bitcash per day and stipulated a minimum agreement duration of one week.

It was a premium service that's usually reserved for extremely wealthy individuals such as royalty, influential political figures, and corporate CEOs. However, most of Future Security's operations revolved around Afghanistan and other contracts from allied governments.

Vince wirelessly shared an encrypted document to Kanye's Infinity Phone using his watch and explained, "There are a bunch of extra services on this list that may interest you. For example, celebrity house burglaries happen more often than you think, so I highly recommend the home security package."

Kim Kardashian overheard their conversation and interjected, "That is so true, Vince. I can't count how many times creepers have tried to steal jewelry from our house."

It was publicly known that her family suffered multiple robberies in the past and future, so she was very aware of the unfortunate situation celebrities experienced.

She was a controversial personality, that's true, but no one deserves to live a life in fear of robbers and other potential threats, public figure or not.

Vince allowed Kim and Kanye to review the list while he scheduled an impromptu NetServ meeting with Price, Anthony, Ralph, and Dollar in an hour to assess Jamie Dimon's threat.

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His good friends spent the short CAV ride getting to know more about their guests, most notably Kyle and Kylie, talking about Everlife Online. At the same time, Jessica, Rick, Sarah, Hailee, and Kendall discussed the rising popularity of new media like Twitch, Instagram, and the Infinity Channel.

Kylie loved playing Future Studios' newest video game and said, "I've been watching other people play Everlife on Twitch because of all the hype I see on Instagram Shorts. Those role-players have so many concurrent viewers; it's like they're on national television."

Kyle nodded in agreement and replied, "Everlife RP has been popping off on social media lately. Our friends, Jaden and Alice, are earning plenty of money by streaming RP gameplay every day."

Future Tech's innovations in modern social media and online content distribution have accelerated the growth of non-traditional methods of achieving commercial success.

The new age of information allowed more opportunities for regular people without connections to the TV, music, or film industry to grow their personal brands online and become valuable to potential advertisers.

Kylie understood the business was changing rapidly and jokingly said, "At this rate, I might have to start my own channel on Twitch, so I won't get left behind by these social media influencers or whatever they're called."

Kyle reassured her that joining platforms like Twitch, Instagram, and even YouTube was a valid option but wasn't necessary for her considering the success of Kylie and her family's TV show.

Hailee praised the celebrity sisters by saying, "I've watched your show since 2007, and it always delivers entertaining episodes."

'Keeping up with the Kardashians' was already a massive success in the reality TV scene but gained more popularity recently, thanks to NBCUniversal's cooperation with Future Tech Broadcasting.

Their TV show's Digital Media Unique Tag (DMUT) statistics suggested that most of its newest viewers came from foreign countries, most notably in the Americas such as Mexico and Brazil, probably due to the native Infi-AI translations and Voice-All features available on the Infinity Channel.

Kendall nodded and replied, "The money is good, but I feel like a monkey performing tricks for tips most of the time."

Hailee had been in the acting industry for a while and insightfully replied, "Unfortunately, that's the job. The director or producer tells us what to do on camera, and we follow. Fame has its disadvantages, sure, but we have it much easier as entertainers than most people. You won't believe how much Vince and his friends work, and they're even younger than us."

Hailee found inspiration as she observed how diligent Future Tech employees worked in Austin and aspired to emulate the passion they shared for advancing technology for humankind in her way, through music and acting.

Jessica interjected by humbly saying, "Please stop exaggerating, Hailee. We definitely don't work as much as the other developers and engineers."

What the Future Tech Softworks Junior Executive said was true in some sense, but she didn't count the on-the-job training and home school hours they endured throughout the week.

Kyle and Kylie joined in the conversation, then he honestly commented, "I can't complain because Future Tech treats us well, and I get to work with living legends like Tim Sweeney and John Carmack."

The young game developer had always been grateful to Vince for sharing his knowledge with him during their lunch breaks and after school before Future Tech became a household brand.

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While the kids were having a good time in the CAV, the adults, including Leah, Dr. Sera, and Paris Hilton, were talking about the after-party and its' fundraiser.

Leah found Paris much more down-to-earth than she expected and sincerely said, "Thank you for supporting our NGO. Your donation to Future Tech's relief fund will go a long way for our humanitarian efforts in Africa and other areas in need."

Paris humbly replied, "$5 million isn't much in the grand scheme of things, but it's the least I can do after Vince offered my family a deal of a lifetime. Though I still can't believe a hotel in space is possible, even after he explained it during our conversation earlier."

Dr. Sera chipped in the discussion by saying, "The concept of a hotel in low earth orbit is certainly achievable with Future Tech's current technologies, but it remains to be seen whether or not the Starship is safe enough for human travel."

Vince finished fiddling with his Infinity Watch and heard the doctor talking about SpaceX. He jokingly interjected, "Come on, have faith in my boy, Elon. He was very confident in passing NASA's trials during our last executive meeting."

Leah defended her counterpart by saying, "There's no point in speculating. We'll know for sure once SpaceX is certified for human flights in a few weeks' time."

Elon had been launching Falcon 9 Orbital Launch Vehicles like crazy the past year to keep up with Future Tech's demand for more satellites and garnered significant experience by doing so.

It was fairly safe for Vince to assume the Starship would pass its qualification tests and open a completely new market in his current life, Space Tourism.

Space tourism was a very exclusive industry that only people like Jeff Bezos with his company, Blue Origin, could practically operate in 2021 by selling seats in a spacecraft to wealthy individuals interested in experiencing the view from outer space.

Blue Origin's available services were far from living in a luxurious hotel with a view of Earth's majestic beauty. However, they were still compelling enough for people to pay hundreds of millions for one ticket.

Unlike Blue Origin, SpaceX had plenty of external and internal support from the US government and Future Tech to advance its technologies instead of relying on a wealthy individual like Jeff Bezos.

The Starship's test flight will be pivotal in Vince's and Elon's plans to travel further than the Moon and reach places humans have never been to before, like Mars or outside the solar system.

Vince's reassurance drove Paris to imagine a Waldorf Astoria Hotel amongst the stars in the sky until the CAV arrived at the after-party venue, The Rainbow Room, inside the famous 30 Rockefeller Plaza Skyscraper.

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