Chapter 147: Enemies to Allies

Chapter 147: Enemies to Allies

“What do you think if we split the components into smaller models, but have several of them linked? It would increase redundancy and allow us to alter the exterior like this for a more stable structure.” I asked the man beside me.

Luford, the acting CEO of Sensorial Corp, had paid my workshop a visit to explore possibilities of cooperation. Our talks quickly descended into a group design session as we looked at gaps in the market and ways we could address them.

“That...isn’t commonly used outside of cybernetic models. The costs and production difficulty increase quite a bit when we do it that way. The overall power reduces too—”

“That’s true when you compare them in tip-top condition, but we have to account for when the device is damaged. Sensors are the eyes on the battlefield and I have no doubt many combatants go for the eyes first if they can.”

Our discussions were fruitful, and we managed to pave the groundwork for the birth of another product. However, I mainly acted as the consultant and helped steer the direction. Then, Luford would be the one doing the optimization and testing, as his company was better equipped for it.

They had a sizable R&D department that could even handle up to four projects at a time. So it was quite beneficial for me to offload the majority of the tedious work to them in exchange for sharing the profits.

It would allow us to quickly push out several products. No longer would our company suffer from a small product catalog and be prone to the slightest of market disruptions.

After seeing off Luford, I returned to working on my solo projects in peace, or so I thought until an alarm reminded me of my next meeting.

Thankfully, it took place virtually, as the other party wasn’t in Elevate City at the moment.

“Joey, how have you been?”

“Quite good, actually. I have recently successfully partnered up with the Stellzen Group, a B-Class corporation in the hospitality industry. They will be able to help me expand my restaurants off-planet.”

“Oh, how did you manage to do that?” I didn’t bother to hide my furrowed eyebrows.

“Don’t worry, Rollo. I didn’t decide to become a vassal to another corporation. I simply gave them some of my company’s preferred shares.”

“I see...”

I did recall this coming up when I did my research back in the early days of forming my company.

There were no stock markets in this world in the traditional sense that I was familiar with, as trust was quite scarce here. It didn’t help there wasn’t a monolithic organization that could enforce the rules as well.

Instead, preferred shares were traded between corporations. They were shares that had no voting power over the company and only gave dividends. While there were still areas that could be exploited, preferred shares were still popular when interests aligned between parties.

“How about you, Rollo? I heard you’ve recovered from that hiccup of yours.”

“Thankfully, yes. Now I can focus on other... pursuits.”

“Anything specific in mind?”

I definitely wasn’t going to share any of my confidential projects, but there was one thing that had been on my mind recently.

“Actually, I was thinking of starting up a dessert chain, specializing in milkshakes. That should be in your domain. What do you think?”

“Milkshakes...I don’t have too much market research data on that. I wouldn’t advise it if you’re looking for profits. The drink and dessert industries are quite...volatile. They depend heavily on ever-changing trends too much. And trends...just look at the alcohol industry and you’ll know. They used to be a big market, but then SocialCorp introduced their Cloudpuff and flipped the entire alcohol industry upside down.”

The vague image of the small box I’ve seen at some corpo parties came to mind. It was like hookah from my previous world, but one inhaled it instead of smoking it. It was apparently a fad among upper-class corpos and a healthy alternative compared to the other vices.

Not sure why they would suddenly care about their liver when they can just easily get a replacement, though.

“Well, it’s more of a hobby project. I don’t plan on making a fortune from it.”

What I left unsaid was that it could aid our intelligence department. With our catalog expansion on the horizon, it didn’t mean we could let up on counter-intelligence. The problem with setting up a network was that it wasn’t cheap or easy to do. Having more stores in various cities would be useful as a base of operation.

“While I likely will go with opening a chain in several cities, do you think there is potential for opening a separate brand catering to the upper class?”

“Hmm...I would have to say no. Not unless you have connections in that circle to affect the trends.”

“...I see.”

Well, it was just a thought, anyway.

“Maybe you should attend more social events with other executives. You’ll benefit a lot from keeping up on the latest fads and gossip.” Joey advised with a thoughtful look.

“...Sure.”

“However, it may not be so easy to be invited to the gatherings among more influential companies until your company reaches at least C-Class.”

“...”

Great, that’s helpful...

Musculoskeletal:

211

Neural Reflex:

65

Visuomotor Coordination:

87

Endurance:

59

Sensory Perception:

127

Upgrade Points:

0

Upgrades:

Stealth +7Hacking +5Cybernetic Engineering +10Stealth Technology +10Software Engineering +10Electrical Engineering +10

Enhancements:

SAID: Zenitech Sebastien v2

Bio-Coprocessor: SocialCorp Lightning II

Optics: Mirage Tech Clear-Sights mk.12

Cyberarm (Left): Nova Tech Heracle Mk. 3

Cyberarm (Right): Nova Tech Heracle Mk. 3

Auditory: SocialCorp Echo IV

Vocal: SocialCorp Orator III

Cardiovascular: BioGen Lifepump 5

Sensory: Halls Corp Argus Elite Custom

Additional Processing: Halls Corp Custom ST

Miscellaneous: Halls Corp HSU Custom Shade

I was very close to the next vital level that I needed before completing the AI project.

All the work I’ve been doing on it made me realize all the amazing things I could do with a functional AI. I stared at my screen depicting all my cybernetics and took in the realization it was possible to create all my cybernetics in-house if I had an AI who could help me speed up my projects.

It was a big undertaking that I didn’t believe I had the capacity to do before, but once I unlocked the sleep learning cassettes, I could shore up any knowledge I needed when working on future projects.

I even thought up a new framework that had always eluded me when I first received all my cybernetic knowledge. The reason Thorne’s cyborg body was special was how many organic parts he retained for normal human functions. His cybernetics parts were designed with numerous safeguards to prevent unsafe levels of hazardous materials from affecting his body. It was like how our Argus was superior because it allowed for high-powered scans without frying the internals of its users.

My knowledge allowed me to do this while keeping the synergistic advantages of cyberware.

There was an enormous difference between someone with a cyberarm and one with both cybernetic arms and a spine. In the former scenario, the cybernetic had to be fine-tuned to prevent it from overexerting itself and hurting the other parts of the body.

The human body moved together, and while cyberware designed tried to account for the balance and support as much as possible, they had to resort to a one-size-fits-all solution.

Thorne’s case wasn’t common, as full body replacement was decidedly more popular simply due to ease of implementation, and how much more synergistic the effect was. Drawing from this conclusion, I realized if I designed a complete set of cybernetics while taking into account how each piece worked together, I could create an interconnected system without any of those limiters, which would make it much more effective than a group of random parts.

It would bring me and my people closer to the power of a cyborg without resorting to full-body replacement. It also brought our actual full-body replacement users up to another level.

The slim but powerful cyborgs from Ferrumus Corp came to mind. I could finally see the path toward attaining comparable power.