Birth of a Legacy

A secret meeting

"You think this will really work?"

"Liu Zhu Ren, I have run all the simulations. We ran it over TH-2 with the most robust model several times, had one of our US companies run it on Sequoia, and in Caltech several PhD students solved the clustering illusion, of course unknown to them, and here in Beijing we were able to enhance intended Pygmalion effects by a thousand-fold."

"Have a report ready by Friday, if the board agrees with your observations, we will move to interesting times indeed. Run simulations through-out."

"Even if we run over-budget?"

A stern look, deserving of a question without reason.

Zhu Ren had all reason to be nervous, if this would work it would set events into motion unknown to mankind and on a scale never witnessed. If it would fail, he would surely be tortured to death for treason. China may even collapse. A large prize demands a large sacrifice. In the elevator back up to his office he stared at his reflection. Lean and fit, hardened by his years of service in the navy and as always in a designer suit. His hair, now gray had a little black still. His eyebrows did not do that furry thing his father's eyebrows were doing. He could still pass for late forties, while in reality he was closer to sixty than fifty. His wife loves to tease him about it, and in the privacy towards the final floor he allowed a grin thinking of her.

He involuntarily blinked against the blazing light of the large hyper HD AMOLED screen running an add promising images sharper than life itself. Some glass cases showed their humble beginnings all the way up their newest VR devices. The next 'big thing' was not yet know to the public. You would not find it yet in these cases. It was however in Ren's mind. The face recognition software spotted him at the elevator and activated a simple script to unlock his office door. The view over Hong Kong was as always spectacular and Ren made sure that time he entered he celebrated as if it was the first time. The city lights reflected in the waters made him long for a ship and months at sea, but for him those day were over. He changed into his running clothes in the anteroom before he popped in front of his computer the last time today. Nothing that could not wait until the morning.

He ran along the water at first, then took a detour to the train station. To work he always went straight, but now he needed the sea air to clear his brains before sardine-packing into wagons. The ride was not too long, but fast. From here it was still 5k to his home but he loved the 20 min run, grab a quick bit of late dinner on the market by his house before he entered the home. His wife had a career of her own and the kids had already moved out. He was going to miss the regularity of days like this. He found his wife asleep in bed, the safest place in the world.

Friday, the day of the report. He listened to the POD-cast while practicing his golf swing. He asked several parts to be rewound and repeated, while asking for the 2D-projector to match the figure numbers and tables. He sighed. He could find not a single flaw. A perfect drive over the fairway, matched by his golfing robot on a golf course in Scotland, who was indifferent to the relentless rain there sealed the deal. He would call for a secret meeting of the board. He only hesitated a second or two before putting with Putter-buddy #2. Was he ready to change the world? A lifetime of following orders and giving made it easy. Things just clicked into place and he finish the final hole with a birdy. Four under par, not bad in the rain.

He took the sensor jacket off, put a clean dress shirt on and sat down the first time today. It required some coded messages from a one-time use hand held device, before he got several messages back in the right sequence and mode on several other one-time use devices. The board meeting was going to happen this Sunday, in Helsinki of all places. Time to pack, first stop Beijing, hotel, airport, Vantaa. Nothing a CEO would not do.

Sunday, day 1.

It was a rather uneventful day. When Ren came to the airport's military entry, his name was on a list and his Falcon 5X was waiting for him. No crew, just him. His training came in handy sometimes. The flight from Beijing to Vantaa took little over 7 hours, which made him 3 hours early. He parked his jet at the business flight center and after procedures took a nap in a GoSleep pod, awaking fresh one hour before the meeting. When he got out the head of the board of directors To Pak-Sin walked up to him and offered him a handshake, then proceeded in an American accent.

"How good of you to come. I have prepared a meeting room, come please. We are all highly anticipating your proposal."

Ren almost bowed, but did not. Pak-Sin was giving a show in case someone was watching. He spoke to him in American accent so they were here, a room was prepared. Checked for bugs, so totally safe. They could speak freely there. And they were waiting.

"Thank you for having me, it is very exciting that you have time. Trust me you will like what your will hear." Some fluffy business terms. Side by side they entered the room.

Pak-Sin closed the door and locked it. Ren looked around and betrayed his military background. In each corner devices masking their sounds, blocking transmission coming in. And going out. Around the table four men he had never seen before. For sure these were not the faces on the board of directors he met twice a year. These were the real men with power. Pak-Sin sat down.

"Please start." No introductions needed. Go time. Ren scraped his throat, the projector came to life.

"Gentleman. When you came to us to with the question to design 'the next big thing', the thing what would make China big and push large American brands out of the water, we scratched our head. When you then asked to integrate our to be invented 'big thing' into a gaming setting, we scratched some more. Simply because we invent, design, and produce screens."

Stoic faces all around. The dramatic build-up was lost on them.

"Then you told me why. Later it dawned on me that we operate at the level of interphases. Our research shows different brain patterns before a bright big screen or staring into a VR visor. We could not give you mind control, but we can give you something better."

A frown, two stoic faces, and one with a bit of hope. The driver, funders and the future leader of the world. Ren was sure of it now.

"We developed a strategic and tactical platform, a game setting, that interacts with the real world. Players can gain experience, make in-game money which in return can buy them enhancements in the game. At a lower level these are simple synaptic feed-back clothing, some jewelry. Later when the players gain more experience, we will offer bionic implants that will enhance their gaming experience."

The screen now featured pictures of clothing jewelry and a wide range of bionics.

"We have run models, and did a small trial of alpha players. Of course we changed the game and the setting. Here you see 12 men working in the R&D department of our company. They were assigned ordinary tasks, and we taught them a reward system using the same algorithms. Within 3 weeks they outperformed any R&D team in our company. Needless to say we implemented this for all our R&D units."

Graphs and more proof.

"Based on these settings we designed a game, a scenario and simulated the revenue stream enough to fund the wars that follow. In 3 months we are ready for launch, we start production of the new big thing tomorrow. We predict that within 2 years a global network of players will had enough mediocre actions leading to a weak America, Europe in economic ruin, and Japan requesting aid. We also project an additive hard-core community, unwilling to part with their bionics who are adopted to 'hooking-in'. Their warped look on the real world is a power we will use when the invasions begin."

The last slide a glossy logo and an inviting slogan.

"Gentleman I present to you Scramble."

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