Technical Difficulties

Rivalry

Two companies were developing a new type of power source, or battery, to be used instead of the current. These two companies were named Snowtech and Sparkfire, and they were in a deep rivalry. Both had decided to start work on the project at very similar times, and ever since they started research one year ago, they had been neck and neck on the project. In fact, the CEO's of each company also had some personal fallouts before this even started, further increasing the tension between the two businesses. The leaders were Julian Alberts, Sparkfire, and Thomas Snow, Snowtech. They had previously had a fallout over another project, and as a result had ordered their employees to do as they wish, fighting the opposing business to be the first to get the product out to the world. Some of the workers in these companies disagreed in this, but not much could be done to avoid the manipulation given by the bosses. Most of the research had already been completed, a working and solid theory already present, and prototypes were due to be created within a few weeks, both companies, as per usual, fighting to be the first to make it happen.

A particular employee of Sparkfire was Barry Allen, who was one of the main designers and engineers of the company. However, he, in particular, didn't enjoy the whole rivalry thing between the two companies. He was a personal believer that they would get everything done much quicker and easier if they were to simply work together, however, Julian would never allow that. He so happened to not get along with many people, with Barry being one of them. The thing with Julian was that he was rather selfish, only wanting what was best for himself and the worst for his enemies. But at the same time, he was the CEO of the company and no one could really bring this up without losing their jobs.

Barry was currently at work on the blueprints for one of the designs, working with co-workers Oliver Queen and Ronnie Raymond. They had almost completed the digital design, planning to print off a 3D shell just for tests of strength and size, etcetera. They had been working on it all month, perfecting the design under the strict rule of Julian. It was certainly hard and stressful work, however, they had got it done within the short time limit.

"Everyone, I want the prototype on my desk by this time next week. No excuses!" Julian shouted through the speakers that had been planted throughout the office building by him. 

"Well, that's not going to be hard work at all," Oliver replied sarcastically, as the three turned back around to their computer screens, sighing as they rapidly worked for the next few hours of their work day.

The company run by him often had many situations like this, being forced to go through much more work than their pay really covered. It was rumoured that Julian kept a lot of the company's income for himself, only giving a small share to all of his employees. As a whole, he was a fairly unfair and corrupt leader, but as explained before, still somehow managed to get the job done.

Sparkfire had achieved many things in the past, including the development of a new LED screen, now used in practically every device needing one, as well as an advanced filtering system able to filter down particles much smaller than any previous filter. They were an extremely widespread company, able to develop a highly varied amount of products, very similar to their mirror image, Snowtech. 

Barry wasn't the only to realise the actions of Julian, however, in fact, most workers in the company noticed it, three previous members actually writing a petition to remove him, but they were immediately fired from the position, and rumour had it that they actually moved for a job at Snowtech, but were immediately kicked out from the interview when it was discovered that they worked at the rivalry company, which is a large indicator how much the two companies despised one another. 

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The other company, Snowtech, was appropriately named after the CEO, Thomas Snow. They too had achieved many great things, which are now very commonly used in everyday life by most. His daughter, Caitlin Snow, who also happened to work there, was in a similar position of work to Barry, being one of the main designers and engineers of the company. She had been appointed the head of this specific project, however, her father still treated her the same as any other employee, and not as his daughter. This could be understood in a work environment, however throughout Caitlin's entire life, her father had always been very strict with her. He often ignored her, refused to help her as a child due to 'work stuff', and just generally wasn't a particulary good parent. This, however, was something Caitlin kept very tightly to herself, not risking letting anyone else know, as it would one, most likely lead to rumours which could ruin the small reputation she had, and two, her father possibly firing her from the job. Currently residing in a small apartment downtown, as she was forced to move out during college and no longer allowed to live in her old house anymore by her father. Her mother, on the other hand, had died a few years back, which only made her father's behaviour and treatment towards her worse.

Working in this environment wasn't easy for her, all things considered, she often felt fairly alone back home, as she did live alone and all. So it would be nice that she could have contact outside of her home, and that was somewhat true, she did have some close friends at work, most noticably Felicity Smoak and Iris West. However, with all the work that was forced upon her as the head of the project, it was very hard for her to ever get any free time.

Thomas Snow was much less strict and manipulative that Julian, however in comparison to the work he forces upon his employees, he was worse in his own way. These two companies were both incredible and awful in their respective ways, however, they still functioned to complete whatever they were set with, treating it as a massive rivalry. A race. A race to the top.

There was another factor that would come into all of this, however. Due to the fact that they were working on the same project, they were forced to have meetings once every three months. And as imagined, these meetings were never exactly the best of places to be in. Arguments, debates, etcetera always flew through the room constantly, only stopping once the four hours were over. Almost all of these were caused or started by one of the CEO's, whether it be purposefully or indirectly. Most of the time, the employees tended to simply stand by and watched, only participating when required. Booked for tomorrow, the next meeting was almost certainly going to go down the same way as usual. 

Snowtech and Sparkfire had been fighting for years, and unless something was done about it would almost certainly continue to for a while to come. Although realistically, the best thing would be to form a union, preferably work together to complete this. But, more realistically, this was unlikely to happen with the current circumstances. They were working under a manipulative system, led by two people who perhaps weren't fit for the job. 

Barry had been assigned to be one of the main speakers at the meeting tomorrow, which is something he secretly didn't want to do, but again, had no real choice. As well as this, as head of the project, Caitlin had similarly been assigned to display their project to the opposing team. Both had never met previously, so both could only hope that it would go well.