15. interlude: a Meeting

Step. Step. Step.

In an empty corridor, a woman was walking.

Step. Step. Step.

She was walking while checking the time on her phone.

Step. Step. Step.

With her head up, and her face serious, she was walking.

Step. Step. Step.

But then she stopped. In front of a door.

Opening it and entering, she entered a room. With a higher platform on the right. Where a meeting table existed, and chairs in front of a giant computer screen on the other side of the room.

“President, you are here.”

“Yeah. Sorry, I was late.”

“Nah, you are early actually. Others are still not here.”

“is that so.”

Entering, the woman called president took a seat and was greeted by a person sitting on the other side of the room, in front of the screen without even turning around.

But ignoring that, the president took her phone and started to type a message.

“president, is everything okay ?”

Turning around, the man looked at the president as if something is not right.

“hm? Ah, yeah. It is okay.”

“if you say so.”

Feeling confused the man turned back to his work.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

And the only voice that was reverberating in the room was that of the keyboard tapping.

Suddenly, the door opened.

“so~rry, we were late.”

And two women got inside. One apologizing with a smile, and the other with a frown.

“because of you, of course.”

The woman frowning spoke, and then turned to the president.

“president, can’t we fire her ?”

Sight.

As if tired and not interested in them, the president ignored them. But not giving up the frowning woman spoke again.

“please president, can’t we ?”

“how to mean of you, aren’t I, your partner ?”

“bullshit.”

“don’t lie.”

“I am not.”

And like that the two started bickering. Annoyed by such situations, the president spoke.

“Stop it, you too. Everyone is tired of your play.”

“it is not a play.”

“it is not a play.”

As if that had touched a nerve. Both of them stopped their bickering and turned to the president as if asking her to take back her words.

“I said to Stop it.”

And so, annoyed she yell.

“did I miss something?”

Hearing the voice, everyone turned to the side. In front of them was an old man entering the room.

“Just the usual.”

As if finally participating, the man in front of the screen spoke.

“Aah. Well, shit.”

As if understanding what he meant, and also knowing how annoying those two can be, the man responded.

“so how come everyone is late, today ?”

Trying to change the subject, the president raised her head from her phone and spoke.

“wait, what ?”

Feeling doubtful and surprised, the man took his phone from his pocket.

Looking at it for a second the man felt, confused. And so he asked.

“but it still early president. Not even an hour to the start.”

“e...”

As if caught by surprise, the president looked again at the clock in her phone.

Surprised and embarrassed, but barely showing it on her face, she spoke.

“ahaha, seem I was not in my mind.”

Feeling something weird, the old man asked.

“Are you okay, president ?”

“eh. Ah, yeah. I am okay.”

“if you say so.”

Feeling something wrong, everyone in the room looked at the president. But before they could ask.

“hm. Everyone is already here. How weird.”

A young man entered the room. Not even moving from his place. Another woman appeared behind him.

“Oi. Move.”

“wha. Don’t scare me.”

Putting his hand on his chest, the man entered the room. Following him, the angry woman took a seat.

Looking at them, the president was about to speak, when another person entered the room.

“Hi there.”

Looking at who spoke, everyone looked to the door. Where another man was standing.

“take a seat already.”

Feeling tired and bothered, the old man spoke.

“what the ...., okay, okay. No need to raise your voice.”

Looking at everything from the side, the man in front of the screen, stood from his place.

“you are late.”

And spoke to the last man.

“correction. You all are early today.”

Feeling that his answer was right, the man of the screen become silent.

“you are right.”

And answered in a low voice, while glancing at their president, that was for some reason looking at her phone again.

“ so should we start?”

And she, as if feeling his glance, spoke.

“I don’t see a reason not to. Everyone is already here.”

Spoke the old man.

“Good.”

Replied the president.

“So, I will start with the report.”

The man of the screen spoke.

“every drive is working, and all the owners have registered yesterday.”

“so is it a hundred users?”

Feeling curious, the cheerful woman asked.

“yes.”

As if not interested in speaking with her, the man replied in a one-word sentence.

“what about the UI.”

Not bothering with her employees’ personal problems, the president spoke.

“it’s working as expected. No problem observed.”

“I think it is going well.”

To the question, replied the frowning woman. And as if not wanting to miss a conversation, the cheerful woman spoke too.

Staying silent, and thinking, the president looked down to the table. But silence not lasting, the old man spoke.

“there were a lot of complaints though.”

“complaints ?”

As having her interest and curiosity picked, the president asked.

“yeah, complaints. Or more like whining. You know how new users are. Not passing a moment without making a report or message to the management.”

“it happens all the time, you should just ignore them. Except if you find something important, just look the other way.”

Listening to the old man speaking, and to the youth answering, the president looked thoughtful.

But then she spoke.

“be sure, there are no problems. We don’t want LSO to stop working. Losing users at this stage will be a big blow to the testing phase.”

“I know. We don’t have time to start all over again after all.”

Hearing the warning from the president, the old man spoke.

Then he turned to the last man.

“what about their opinions. Did they say something in the bullet-board ?”

“Nah. We are still late. It’s not even twenty-four hours after lunch, so we haven’t activated it yet. But we will get to it soon though.”

“well, the earlier, the better.”

Looking at the two men conversing, the president got lost in thought. And as if not able to take it more. The angry woman spoke.

“ hey, president. Enough, okay. What’s wrong with you today ?”

Hearing her word, everyone turned to look at the woman and then at the president.

But as if she didn’t hear her, the president was absent in thought.

“Hey, hey. President.”

“hn. W-what ?”

“Welcome back. Do you have something to share with us today ?”

“well.....”

As if not sure whether to speak or not, the president was not able to speak.

But as if collecting her courage, she opened her mouth.

“he is coming today.”

Hearing her words, the angry woman, the old man, and the screen man were silent.

“.........”

“.........”

“.........”

But as if not caring for this weird silence, the cheerful woman excitedly asked.

“hmm, who is it? is it someone from your friends, president ? .....

or is it your boyfriend ?”

As if getting angry, and annoyed, the president tried to speak. But before she could even open her mouth, the angry woman and the old man took the lead.

“shut your trap.”

“shut your trap.”

As if surprised and scared the cheerful woman got quiet.

“.....”

But no forgetting the question, the last man asked.

“so.... who is it president ? the person coming today.”

Looking at him with an unexpected gaze, the president straightened her back and spoke seriously.

“This company’s ..., no.

Utima corp’s CEO.”

She answered, but as if taken by surprise, the frowning woman asked.

“But aren’t you the last member of the family, president. Celestin Utima, the last inheritor of this Utima corp, right ?”

Looking at her speaking, the woman called the president... No, the woman called Celestin Utima opened her mouth.

“well, it is a long and complicated story.

But the CEO of Utima is not me. He didn’t appear for two years. And even before, meeting him was rare. But it is not me ....”

Taken by surprise the frowning woman, the cheerful woman, the youth, and the last man held their breaths with anticipation and waiting.

“his name is ......

Leo White.

The main inventor of the VR gear. And the one who created the SR Drive.”