"Is this true?" An elderly man, his hair streaked with gray, asked as he gazed intently at the group seated around the grand conference table. His voice, though calm, carried an undercurrent of urgency.
The room was filled with the top executives of the country's most influential companies, a gathering that would surely shock the public if word of it got out. But what was even more palpable than the significance of the attendees was the tension in the air, thick enough to cut with a knife. Every person present wore a deep frown, evidence that whatever brought them together was no small matter.
"It seems to be," someone replied after a pause. "If they're running ads for it, then it's likely true."
"Are we just going to sit by and let them do as they please?" The elderly man's voice rose, his frustration leaking through as he slammed his hand on the table, causing a few nearby to flinch. "If this VR game and Pod are real, everything will change. They'll dominate the market, and that's putting it lightly."
He shook his head in disbelief. "First, it was an AI that outperformed everything currently available. Then, a gacha game that skyrocketed to the top of the charts in mere weeks. And now—now it's a fully immersive VR game *and* the technology to support it?! How is it even possible for a company like Kurt Technologies, which is barely a year old, to do all of this?"
His eyes swept the room, waiting for a response before narrowing them at Hughes, a senior executive sitting at the far end of the table. "Does anyone here know who owns Kurt Technologies?" he demanded.
Hughes, calm in contrast to the elderly man's barely controlled fury, nodded. "I do. I had a private investigator dig into them a few months ago. The report was... interesting."
He tapped a button on his phone, passing it across the table. As the elderly man glanced at the screen, his brows furrowed, only for his expression to break into incredulous laughter.
"You've got to be joking. Hughes, is this for real?" He asked, handing the phone back, eyes still scanning the room as if waiting for someone to tell him it was a prank.
"It's true," Hughes confirmed, nodding solemnly. "That's the man behind Kurt Technologies."
The elderly man's face darkened, his voice dropping to a near-growl. "How is he this young? Where the hell is he getting all this tech from? You don't just invent this kind of technology out of nowhere. Is it possible he's working with a foreign government—Russia? North Korea?"
A few murmurs of agreement rippled through the room, but Hughes shook his head. "That would've been my guess, too. But no. We've combed through every piece of information we could find on him, and nothing came up. No affiliations, no suspicious ties—no dirt. It's like he came out of nowhere."
"That's not possible," the elderly man muttered, leaning back in his chair, brow furrowed in thought. "He must have connections. Nobody climbs this high, this fast, without some serious backing. And what worries me is how rapidly they're advancing."
"Agreed," Hughes interjected. "But right now, the best we can do is focus on their products. We need to gather as much intel as possible on this new VR game and the Pod. We should prioritize getting our hands on one—test its capabilities, learn what makes it so unique. Then, if it's as revolutionary as it sounds, we act."
"And by 'act,' you mean buying into the company, I presume?" another executive chimed in.
Hughes hesitated, then shook his head.
"No. I think someone gave it to them."
The room erupted into hushed murmurs, the tension escalating as they processed the implications. Someone giving Kurt Technologies that kind of power—that kind of technology—was more terrifying than if they'd developed it on their own. It meant there was an unseen force at play, someone pulling strings from the shadows.
"Who?" asked the younger executive, his voice tight with concern. "Who would have access to something like that, and why give it to a company so new?"
Hughes didn't answer immediately, his lips pressed into a thin line. "That's what we need to find out. We've been looking at Kurt Technologies through a business lens, but I think it's time we consider other possibilities."
The elderly man frowned, his instincts screaming at him that something was very wrong. He couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the beginning of something much larger—something that could turn the world upside down. He had seen enough in his lifetime to know that power, when concentrated in the wrong hands, could topple entire nations.
"Let's not jump to conclusions," another executive interjected, trying to bring some semblance of control back to the conversation. "For now, we gather more intel. We reach out to our contacts, find out what they know. If there's a shadow player behind this, we'll uncover it. But we need to be smart about this. If Kurt Technologies is as dangerous as we think, we can't afford to move recklessly."
"Agreed," the elderly man said, his voice steady but grave. "We'll tread carefully, but we *will* find out who's behind all of this. And if they pose a threat to our interests—" He paused, eyes narrowing. "—we eliminate them."
The words hung in the air like a death sentence, sending chills down the spines of everyone in the room. They knew the stakes. This wasn't just about money or market share anymore. This was about survival.
"I want daily updates," the elderly man continued, rising to his feet and straightening his jacket. "And Hughes, you make sure we have eyes on the VR Pod as soon as it hits the market. I don't care how much it costs—buy one, steal one if you have to. I want it in our hands."
Hughes nodded. "Understood."
As the group began to disperse, the elderly man lingered by the window, staring out into the night once more. The city looked calm from up here, but he knew better. There was a storm coming, and Kurt Technologies was at the center of it.
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The question that plagued him now wasn't if they would survive—but how?
He really hopes everything goes well. He doesn't know what he would do if it doesn't.