[~20th February 2001~]
[~Vought Tower~]
Attention, Influence, and Audience.
That’s how the power dynamics of this world are determined, and I understood it earlier than anyone.
In a time without social media, supe children struggle immensely to get the attention of sponsors.
It was like a nightmare version of Disney, where any old man with a pocket full of cash could have a young girl in his bed at a snap, and she’d be mentally fucked by her parents to think that’s just how things work.
But that’s not always the case. They can gain popularity through beauty pageants, sports achievements, and community work, which takes years and years of effort.
I don’t give a shit though, because I don’t have to.
Since my tenth birthday, I’ve been a media icon. All it took was a few checks.
The New York Daily had my face on their front pages twice a week, while Time magazine featured me across the country twice a month.
Most of the coverage was about my charity work and community services for the church.
At least one major church in every main city of America had me as a sponsor, and I made sure to keep them afloat while they subtly spread my popularity.
Churches weren’t my only focus. I invested heavily in rehabilitation centers, hospitals, and veterans' homes.
My audience wasn’t limited to a specific age or race, except for one group: the teens, they were unique from each other, and I couldn’t exactly go around pleasing them all, but I had a plan for that.
What can I say? A rich, white kid doing stuff for poor people attracts attention.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep it up forever, and I didn’t plan to.
Arthur had the largest network of privately-owned prisons in America. While it provided a steady income, I wasn’t content; I craved more, so I made a few investments.
For appearances, I kept Elijah as the new face of Arthur’s company. Of course, nobody other than us knew who the real mastermind was.
Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, eBay, and especially Vought—I had a stake in all of them.
Y2K was a major boom for me because all those companies skyrocketed one way or another.
So, unofficially, I was one of the top billionaires in the country.
“Mr. Worthhigh.”
A young woman greeted us with a smile. She had a pixie cut, blonde hair, wore a white turtleneck and a black coat, with a mini black skirt that barely hid her inner thighs. She had this siren gaze fixed on Elijah.
I smiled as I watched him shake her hand. She bit her thick red lips as she held his hand a moment longer than necessary.
Obviously, she wanted to get him into bed to use him for his money. Even people without super senses could deduce that, but too bad for her—Elijah was asexual.
Years of sexual torture from Arthur had left my butler with a fear of the activity.
“And the man of the hour." She said, turning towards me with an amused smirk. I smiled back as I took her hand.
“Nice to meet you." I said politely.
“Nice to meet you too, Robert." She replied, pulling her ID to her hand. “I’m Rachel, and welcome to Vought Tower.”
