Corpo Age

Chapter 123: The New Halls Corporation

“We have three ranges in this building, each with twenty lanes, allowing for our employees to brush up their aim on short to medium distances.” One of Claire’s assistants introduced as she gestured to one of the new buildings that was part of the new expansion.

I walked into the building after Claire and my auditory implant immediately picked up on the faint sound of shooting.

“Each floor has a range and an open training area. The training areas can simulate any urban layout using the most advanced projection technology available in the market that makes use of these modular smart blocks.”

We peeked into a large room and found it much like the room I had trained in with Thorne and our initial batch of security personnel in the early days of the company. With these facilities, we no longer had to book the training courses on third-party facilities and train without worry of leaking any intel.

I still remember when I had done the initial trial runs for the Shade on my employees in one of these training rooms. It felt like it was just yesterday.

The assistant proceeded to show us the entire building, all five floors of it, including a workout room, swimming pool, change rooms, saunas, sports gyms for our volleyball team, and even meeting rooms to discuss tactics. Once she was done, we moved on to the adjacent building.

The next building was our in-house medical facility. It was where we treated our injured, and also where we had our own cybernetic clinic to perform checkups and upgrades for my employees. It was only a three-floor building but should be more than sufficient.

No longer would we have to bring our injured to hospitals and clinics, where they could be tampered with every step of the way.

We then moved on to the other side of the compound. The training and medical were located on the west side of the main building, so we had yet to check out what was on the east side.

We walked along the new walls that we erected around our plot of land until we came to a large two-story complex. It seemed like a mini shopping mall, which wasn’t far from the truth. Instead of shopping for vanity items, it was a food market that was filled with various cuisines.

Having one mess hall was boring, or so Claire said, so we had this constructed. There were two dozen restaurants and coffee shops, but none of them were manned by an actual human. They each had terminals to order from which were linked to the specialized dispensers that would automatically make their food.

I watched as Thorne tested it out by ordering a bowl of ramen. Once he selected his order from the terminal, noise rang out from the back before an opening quickly opened to reveal a steaming hot bowl of noodles.

This is almost like a giant vending machine…

I took a small bite and immediately stopped. I had been eating out with the likes of Joey and Claire too much, that I had become a ‘gourmet’. My tongue had never agreed with this stuff made from synthetic ingredients, and only food made from authentic ingredients satisfied me. Previously, I had to force myself to eat what was available, but now that money wasn’t an issue, there was no way I would be eating this stuff again if I could help it.

Whoever popularized this synthetic stuff is one of the greatest scam artists in history.

We went around and tried out more food, and it seemed like my taste hadn’t changed all that much. My palate only agreed with the synthetic milkshakes and ice cream. However, with the authentic stuff available, I don’t think I’d be a repeat customer at this food market.

It was a shame it only had synthetic food since we had spent a pretty penny on this place, but we couldn’t justify the hassle of running an actual restaurant when we were so short-handed everywhere already. One of the disadvantages of our fast expansion.

If I wanted good food just for myself, it would be more cost-effective to just hire a private chef, anyway.

We may have spent a lot on these new facilities, but I had also learned from my past mistakes. I couldn’t judge things from the standard of my old world, otherwise I would be too lenient. That was why the food wouldn’t be free, and I would be charging my employees the market standard to supplement the operating costs.

Once we could eat no more, we headed up the stairs to the second floor and came into a dimly lit room filled with VR capsules.

Claire ran up to one of the pods with a hop to her step.

“Rollo, want to play? I swear I’ve barely ever played with you since we set up your VR pod.”

“I don’t think I have much time—”

“Come on, just for a bit! Think of it as an opening ceremony.”

“...Fine.”

I guess my programming session had to wait.

---

“Good news, everyone. Our talks with the High Gate Group have progressed smoothly, and we have made headways on a tentative agreement.” Joey proudly declared to his peers amongst the members of our alliance.

With the expansion of all our assets, they had taken the liberty of upgrading my holographic projectors as well. I could now even see Joey’s gleaming head from his projection.

“What are the details of the agreement?”

“They are willing to pay reparations for the fighting. And for Quantum Flavors, GrainScape Tech, and High Grain Corp in particular, they agreed to pay a fraction of their profits for the next year on top of a sizable amount if we agree to return the three bases we have recently captured in working conditions.”

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“I’m just glad the fighting is over.” Someone I wasn’t familiar with muttered, and I couldn’t agree more with him.

The meeting soon ended as they discussed and set the terms, preparing our negotiation teams to go into battle with their counterpart. I was glad I wouldn’t be part of the battle where they would be fighting tooth and nail for every fraction of a percentage. I don’t think I would have had the patience for it.

Once the meeting disconnected, I made sure to forward the new files I received to the finance team. There weren’t any concrete numbers yet, but it was decided that we would get a healthy chunk of pot for our efforts during the war. Our shares were more than double what most other corporations within our alliance would get, with only Authentic Corp’s shares being comparable to ours.

When I got back to my workshop, I found Claire already there, looking over my work terminal in curiosity.

“...So can you or can you not complete these documents for me?”

“Apologies. While I can, my current settings disallow me from doing anything outside of the virtual playbox.”

I stepped further into the room and cleared my throat.

“Rollo! Your ‘friend’ here is interesting. When are you going to have them join our company? I’m sure the finance guys would love to have them on board at the very least.”

“...I forgot to lock my terminal one time, and you’re sticking your nose into my projects.”

I let out a sigh as I pondered how foolish I was to have trusted my workshop’s security measures completely. It certainly wouldn’t do anything against someone who had access.

“Claire, I hope you already know this, but don’t tell anyone about this project.”

“Yeah, yeah. Even I know that the other corps would be breathing down our necks if they knew what you were making.”

“Good. Now, did you have any business with me or can I go back to my work?”

“No, I just want to try out the AI.”

“...Please get out. I can’t focus if I’m not alone.”

“Hmm…Maybe if you promise to let me test out the AI with you, I may leave you alone and take care of some of your workload for you.”

“...Fine, I’ll call you when I do the tests, though it’s way too soon for that. I still have to—”

“Okay, see you later.” Claire quickly took her leave.

I was left confused if I should feel agitated at her leaving while I was still talking or that she obediently left me alone.

Whatever, I still have so much to do and only five hours left until my flight…

---

Drew - Halls Corporation

A young man snapped his eyes wide open at the sound of his alarm. He swiftly got out of bed without hesitation and donned his uniform after a quick shower. Without pause, he left his unit on the seventh story and made his way down to the ground floor of the company dorm he lived in.

He could spot dozens of others who had already gotten a head start to their day and were walking around below. As the elevator went down, he glanced around through the window and took in the view of his company’s complex, and pride swelled up within him.

Nothing was sweeter than the fruit of your own labor, and I’m proud to say I have stuck with the company since its early days. It’s grown a lot in such a short time.

He exchanged friendly greetings with the people he passed on the way to the newly opened food market that was right beside their residence. He pulled up the map of the place on his optics and followed it to find the closest coffee shop. and ordered himself a cup of black coffee to prepare for the start of a new day.

He swiped his handheld terminal and glanced down at his balance while the machine poured his drink.

I know I should stay frugal in case anything happens, but I should have more than enough leeway after the next payday to buy that new car… right?

He deliberated on his options, despite knowing he had already made a decision deep inside. On his way into the main office building, he couldn’t help but hum a tune to himself at the prospect of buying his dream ride.

Thank you, Mr. Halls! I can’t believe I have saved this much money already. Well, then again, it shouldn’t be surprising with the company covering my medical and equipment maintenance fees. The food is cheap too, so I don’t have to budget that much each month!

He soon arrived in his office on the third floor and sat down behind a nameplate with his name and title of Senior Compliance Investigator engraved on it. He smiled when he saw the photo he had taken with his comrades when they had fought out in the wasteland. It was a memorable part of his career and one that let him reflect on how far he’s come.

“Let’s see what we have for today.”

Drew got to work and began booting up his terminal and going over the latest incident reports. He selected the one with the highest priority and marked it to let others know he was on the case. He then placed a call to one of the contacts listed in the dossier.

“Hi there, my name is Drew, from the Halls Corporation. Did you have some time right now to talk about the report you filed, regarding the malfunction of the Shade you had bought? …Perfect! I can come to you in twenty minutes.”

With an appointment set, he quickly grabbed his vest and went down to get his car. On the elevator, he almost pressed the button for the basement floors out of reflex, but swiftly corrected himself.

With the expansion of his company, a new parking lot was built outside the main building, with the previous one now exclusive to the Wraiths and other armored vehicles of the security department. He sometimes wondered why the garage was moved outdoors when several new underground levels had been excavated, but he knew better than to poke his nose where it didn’t belong.

He drove out of his company complex and soon arrived at a bar where he would meet up with the mercenary who was a client of their company.

“Hello sir, can you show me the malfunctioning cyberware that you indicated has been uninstalled?”

The man regarded him carefully before fetching something from his backpack.

“Here, you better refund me now!”

Drew quickly examined it, taking photos and activating different optics modes to examine the specimen in question. He even used his Argus to perform intensive scanning of its structural integrity before sending off all the data to the forensics department.

“Sir, can you send me a copy of your receipt?”

“Yeah, yeah. Everyone knows how anal you corpos are, so I made sure to keep it. Here.”

Upon receiving the digital receipt, Drew forced himself to keep a composed face, restraining himself from frowning.

“Sir, are you sure this is the only product you bought from our company?”

“That’s right, and I probably won’t do so again if you keep taking so long with my refund!”

“I’m sorry, sir, but we won’t be refunding you.”

The customer’s mood instantly turned for the worse as he stepped up and closed the distance with Drew. He leaned in, almost as if to kiss him, but his eyes had a clear glint of anger rather than love.

Drew couldn’t help but let a sigh escape him.