Re: Life - Business & Technology

Chapter 42 - A New Year

(Sorry, The System on Nanite Chapter was supposed to be after this chapter. My bad, guys)

It was Christmas day, and most of the employees were taking the week off to spend time with their families.

Vince got his mom a personal Hive Mind suite used to manufacture clothing.

"I love it, Vince! Thank you. Your gift will make my creative design process more streamlined and more effortless." Leah declared.

Leah gave Vince a gift wrapped in a box. "This is for you, son," Leah said as she handed him the box.

Vince opened the large box and found a set of clothing neatly displayed.

"It's the new Future Couture business suit I designed. I wanted to give you the first one." Leah said.

The suit itself was made of the latest generation Future Couture fabric colored in blue and black. The design looked sleek and unique, incomparable to any other suit Vince had ever seen in both lives.

"I love the design. Thank you!" Vince exclaimed.

They enjoyed Christmas dinner before resigning for the night.

Aiya accompanied Vince to the headquarters the next day to continue working on the military systems needed the next month.

During his off time, Vince started sketching a design concept for a troop transport vehicle FS operators can use to parachute into combat.

[Afghanistan is a large country, and all my security operators are precious lives. The troops will eventually divide in the field to secure the province. I need to make sure that reinforcements can arrive in the thick of battle to relieve their comrades.] Vince thought.

His 3D concept design implemented features based on Felix's advice.

The vehicle was large and bulky. The main body was an elongated armored shell with heavy sliding doors on either side like a helicopter.

Attached at each corner were four large swivel arms with jet engines that powered turbofans providing propulsion to whatever direction the arm points.

[It's quite rough, but I think FT Robotics and Future Arms can make it work. After that, I'll just buy the engines from Koenigsegg.] Vince thought

The Future Security operators were content in using modified M4A1 rifles while Future Arms developed the new infantry rifles.

Vince turned on his AIM gaming computer and played the Alpha of the new game Future Studios is developing.

He wanted Future Studios to compete with the most profitable games in his previous life. A single-player game Vince enjoyed the most was Grand Theft Auto 5.

The prototype featured similar gameplay like driving around the city in a car and a deep story to experience. The primary difference is the visual quality and the modding features.

Users can play online on modded servers to enjoy community-designed custom mini-games or gameplay scenarios like robbing a bank.

The game will end up as a mixture between GTA 5 and Roblox, providing players unlimited replayability.

Future Studios hired top celebrities like Robert Downey Jr. and Dwayne Johnson for voice-acting the main storylines.

[The game is already playable, but it'll take another six months before it can be released.] Vince thought while playing.

A game editor will be bundled with the game to encourage people to create 3D assets and script events of their own making.

Kandahar was more lively than usual. The local Future Tech branch provided work and training opportunities for people interested in changing their lives. At the same time, the outreach programs recruited farmers to grow crops in the SpaceX hydroponic farming dome in exchange for good pay, fruits, and vegetables.

Future Security operators were deployed in the city to ensure the safety of Future Tech's assets. However, the Dragonfly drones did most of the work patrolling around the branch headquarters and farming dome.

Farukh was an afghan local who started working at the Future Tech training facility. All employees were allowed to use the LAN center to learn more skills and climb the ladder during their off time.

Farukh was busy reading Dragonfly maintenance documentation and tutorial videos provided by Future Tech.

[I'm making good money right now, but the drone maintenance job will pay five times more than working as a janitor. So I have to take this chance to give my family a more comfortable life.] Farukh thought.

The same situation was common once Hudson opened the Future Tech training facility. Locals could now contribute to fighting the insurgents from the backlines.

Future Tech also recruits soldiers but requires an extensive screening process. Only trained and trusted allied Afghan soldiers were allowed to apply for combat roles.

Kandahar's economy was visibly better than ever, and the US army was impressed by the positive difference Future Tech brought to the city.

The US soldiers were confident their new comrades in blue would succeed in their mission at Dehdadi.

Another group of people took notice of Kandahar's rebuilding efforts, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

In a dimly lit room inside a non-descript cave, rugged men were meeting.

"Their new troops have these flying machines that can scan entire areas for concealed weapons and bomb jackets." one insurgent said.

"The new soldiers don't look like newbies. I'm sure most of them have fought in the Middle East before." another insurgent added.

"We'll have to plan our assault carefully. My intelligence source provided some information about our new enemy, Future Security. Their presence in Afghanistan is their first military contract. We kill them, and they'll never come back." the insurgent leader, Ashkan, said.

"Ashkan, how many men should we mobilize for the assault?" one of his men asked.

"1,000 men should be enough. I will take my time planning the attack while you train our soldiers. Then, we'll hit them next month." Ashkan declared.

Mid-January 2013, Future Tech HQ

Vince met with Andreas, the executive director for Hive Mind Manufacturing.

"Andreas, how's the aerodyne vehicle project going?" Vince asked.

"The Robotics and Arms divisions were able to polish your design these past few weeks. Future Arms added features such as anti-missile chaff and an M320 30mm chain gun mounted at the front and rear." Andreas replied.

"The FAV-1 can transport two gunners, ten fully armed operators, and can reach top speeds of 100 mph on flat ground. One unit costs $10 million to produce in-house." Andreas added.

"When can we equip Future Security with FAV-1s?" Vince asked.

"Hive Mind manufacturing can produce ten units before the Dehdadi mission starts, without disrupting production of our other products," Andreas replied.

"That's good to hear. Thanks for the update, Andreas." Vince said before leaving Andreas' office.

Vince visited Heidi's office on a different floor.

"Heidi, I heard from Andreas you did quick work of designing the FAV-1." Vince stated.

"Future Tech already had the necessary technologies to make it work, though Koenigsegg had to design a new jet engine. Christian was quite happy to create the turbofan engines." Heidi replied.

"We'll be renting troop transport planes for our first mission in Afghanistan, but Future Security needs a way of traversing the desert faster than the FAV-1 and with a heavier load capacity for transporting supplies," Vince explained.

"We can design a VTOL vehicle close to the size of a Chinook Helicopter. It can be less armored than the FAV-1, reducing weight, and utilize larger Koenigsegg turbofan engines for faster speed." Heidi suggested.

"That's a fantastic idea! I want the new vehicle able to carry a FAV-1 underneath like how Chinooks transport M1 Abrams tanks. You can ask help from Kevin if needed." Vince instructed.

"That should be no problem. Designing vehicles like these don't require much aerodynamics like regular planes, So we don't even need to consult with Future Tech F1 aero engineers for help in designing them." Heidi replied confidently.

"I trust in your capabilities, but contact me if you need anything," Vince said before leaving Heidi's office.

After the Christmas season, more veterans and private military operators started joining Future Security. The screening process took a few weeks, but another 5,000 operators joined the training camp at Austin.

Future Security's already trained troops were slowly transferred over to Kandahar to get ready for the mission in Dehdadi.

Future Tech rented US military C-5 Galaxies and C-17 Globemasters for a low price to transport their personnel overseas.

[This mission will decide how lucrative Future Tech defense contracts will be in the future.] Vince thought.

Stats last time checked:

Future Tech current valuation - $300 billion

15 million BTC (currently trades at $1,000)

$80 Billion cash in Future Tech

11,000+ employees (FT AI, Future Studios, Hive Mind Manufacturing, FT Micro Devices, BitCash, FT VR, Future Tech F1, FT Investments, Future Arms, Future Med, Future Tech Robotics)

10,000+ operators under Future Security

Vehicles: Klassen Phantom, Agera R, Agera SFV, Boeing Luxury 787 Dreamliner

Five company collaborators (Epic, Koenegisegg, SpaceX, Tesla, Hyundai C&E)

Dozens of investments under Future Tech Holdings (i..e., Instagram)