Corpo Age

Chapter 203: Promotion

When we arrived at the base of the space elevator, the first thing we did was head to the Elevate City Consortium office.

“Good morning, sir,” the receptionist greeted. “I presume you are Mr. Halls from the Halls corporation?”

“That’s corrected,” I nodded in reply.

“Perfect. We’ve been expecting you. Please follow the assistant bot here to the meeting room.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Just like before, a robot wearing the same uniform as the receptionist came out from behind the counter and began guiding us further into the building. This was where Thorne would stay behind with the rest of our guards while Claire and I proceeded down the hallway that led to the meeting rooms.

The entire place appeared empty, and we soon arrived at a fancy wooden doorway. My optics instantly analyzed it and informed me it was likely made of authentic wood that dated back hundreds of years.

Unlike the other meeting rooms I had been to for our other promotions, this meeting room was obviously on another level. That notion was reinforced when we stepped into the room. The walls and furniture were all made of the same material, highlighting the extravagant wealth of the consortium.

It made me suspect it could have been lab-grown materials, but considering the consortium’s prestige, it was more likely it was authentic. That meant everything here could’ve been retrieved from a dungeon at some point and were antiques.

I didn’t have much time to dwell on the subject, as my attention was drawn to the people in the room. One of them was a familiar face. A man by the name of Frank DeSantis. He was the one who had helped me with the procedure when I first incorporated the company.

The person beside him was a woman I had never seen before. Judging from her reserved demeanor, she seemed to be his assistant.

Upon seeing us enter, both of them stood up and greeted us.

“Good morning, Mr. Halls. I’m glad to see you so soon again.”

“Good morning, Mr. DeSantis. It’s a pleasure to be here.”

We proceeded to shake hands as we each introduced our aides.

“This here is Claire, our COO.”

“This is Rui, the official witness for this session.”

“An official witness?” I asked. “That’s new.”

“That’s correct, Mr. Halls. A witness is only necessary for promotions into D-Class and above. There are many details we will have to go through to ensure you understand the significance of this promotion. It isn’t just your annual fees going up and your tax rates go down like how we want some people to believe.”

I nodded along and allowed him to continue speaking. I knew he was referring to the perks D-Class corporations would receive. I had once heard from Joey that D-Class enabled my business to operate in space, but DeSantis wasn’t aware I knew that already.

“The particulars of the numbers will be sent to you now. Our partners here can go over them should they need. As for us, let us go over the broad strokes.”

“Go ahead, sir.”

“Mr. Halls, you may already know this, but our consortium is in control of this fine property that we’re in today. The new services you are able to access after this promotion are closely related to that.”

“The space elevator,” I stated, hoping to hurry along with his explanation.

“Correct. The space elevator. Our bridge to the unlimited resources of the new frontier. Starting from now on, you will be granted the right to do business with this new frontier. You may freely rent and buy properties up on Aegis and use the space elevator for commercial purposes.”

He took a pregnant pause to gauge my reaction.

“I see that you may already be familiar with what I have to say, so why don’t we skip ahead to questions while your partner goes over the details of these new services?”

Without daring to make eye contact with Claire, I nodded.

“I’m sure properties laws up on Aegis will be very similar to what we have here, but what about for spaceships and stations? I know many corporations operate their own fleet and space stations, but how would I go on about that?”

Frank DeSantis grinned.

“The ships should be similar to the aircraft we have down on the planet. Generally, leasing is the norm, but if you have security concerns in mind, it isn’t impossible to hire someone to construct your own spacecraft. Of course, the price will be much higher in that case.”

Seeing that I nodded, he continued.

“Now it is the space station that is a touchy topic. Officially, the consortium has no jurisdiction over these private stations or habitats of any sort. We only oversee Aegis and other larger settlements off-planet. That means you are free to do what you want with these space stations, but at your own peril.”

The message was clear. The moment we left their sphere of influence, we’d be out in the Wild West. Anyone could attack us, and they wouldn’t care. The consortium only cared for their business interests, not private squabbles between corporations that didn’t affect the bigger picture.

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I was sure if the conflicts affected the major trade hub and lanes, that it would be a different story. For the most part, it was as I thought. Ever since I witnessed the attack on Ferrumus Corporation’s space station, I knew space wasn’t a friendly frontier of dreams.

After that, I was given a brief overview of the territories the major corporations occupied and some basic knowledge and procedures on how to get things done. Space was a large place, so the territories didn’t matter that much, but the shipping lanes did.

There were dozens of large stations out there that formed a large trade network. Certain goods went to certain lanes. I listened carefully to how these routes were set up, as it would be vital to doing business up there. While space was enormous, the space stations themselves had limited capacities. It would be important to manage good relationships with the respective ports to secure our trade channels.

It took all morning to go over these topics before we were done. Thankfully, my optics recorded everything. I could afford to go over the details again at a later date, but Claire wasn’t afforded the same luxury. She went through the specifics of the new agreement in real-time, liaising with our legal department back in our compound to triple-check that everything was in order.

“You’re good to sign, Rollo,” she finally said.

With her go-ahead, DeSantis placed a handheld terminal along with physical papers for me to sign. Once I did, the two consortium employees stood up and clapped.

“Congratulations, Mr. Halls. The Halls corporation is now officially a D-Class corporation. This is a huge step for your promising company.”

I had been warned that D-Class corporations were on an entirely new playing field. No longer would we be treated as a small company. We have entered the stage of middle-sized corporations. We weren’t at the household name level yet, but it was still a big step up.

As amazing as this is, I can’t help but be reminded of the twenty-five million annual fees we now have to pay. It is more than twice what we had to pay as an E-Class corporation. Still, this is something we need to do if we plan on expanding.

As I thought that, I couldn’t help but glance up at the sky, towards the new market we now had access to.

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After our paperwork was in order with the consortium, we spent some time frolicking around the spaceport. There was a gigantic luxury mall here and plenty to do.

As a reward for all her efforts, I agreed to go shopping with Claire. Naturally, that meant Thorne and the rest of our security followed. It was not the best decision.

“What do you think of this suit, you two? Is the color okay?”

I tried to urge Thorne to answer her, but in our brief exchange of gazes, I lost.

“Well, what kind of accessories do you have?” I reluctantly answered. “It’s best to coordinate the outfit with those, right?”

“Of course, I know that! That’s not what I’m asking. Hmm, now that we’re a D-Class company, maybe I should just get several colors at once. You guys should, too!”

“Claire…these cost tens of thousands each. That one over there is even more than a hundred thousand credits. They look just the same as the one we got.”

I stared down at my own clothes. I had gotten a tailor to custom-make my attire, and even then, it only cost several thousand credits per outfit. It was more than what most people made in a month.

“You should know more than anyone the importance of presentation, Rollo. As the owner of a D-Class corporation, you have to dress the part or others will look down on you. It’s similar to the deterrent effect you were talking about.”

I sighed as I recalled all my previous encounters with people of importance. The quality of their clothing completely escaped me, so I drew upon the memory bank of my cybernetics. Even with something to refer to, I failed to see the differences, but I kept that to myself.

“Look, you don’t have to be knowledgeable about the materials. Just at least wear well-known brand names.”

I glanced around the clothing store by the name of Ruper Tailors before surveying the other stores nearby.

“Ruper is a pretty good brand already. Probably among the best at this price point,” Claire clarified.

I quickly did a web search to verify her words and found that the Ruper company was one of the more popular ones among young corporate executives. There were several other brands that were more prestigious for the large corporations, and I only recognized one name among them. SocialCorp.

I knew they were the largest company around, which made me almost want to choose their brand, but I quickly decided otherwise. The more advanced the company, the more capable they were. Even with all my skills and unique advantages, I didn’t want to open myself up to them by using their products. I just knew too well how easy it was to embed something into your products. At the same time, their prices would definitely not be low.

Instead, I searched for companies that were more hyper-focused on the clothing industry. Their interests were more predictable, and their reputation was something they protected fiercely. While many larger corporations diversified their business, just as many of them stuck to their core competencies for obvious reasons.

At the end of my search, I realized Claire had made a good choice after all. That was because all the other options had prices that started from six digits, and easily moved into the seven or eight digits for a single suit.

“Fine, I’ll buy a few for these formal occasions.”

At the end of our shopping, I had gotten myself three new outfits. To be honest, I would rather be in my power armor, but there were events where I needed formal clothing. Events like the one we would be attending tonight.

As the hours passed, the late afternoon soon arrived. We decided to head to one of our scheduled appointments slightly early to rest. We sat ourselves down at a table located on the patio of a cafe, and I began going over the data from today’s flight test.

Everything seemed to have gone as expected, which brightened my mood. I just spent a lot of money, and it was good to see my investment in the aircraft hadn’t been a waste. Once the tests were completed, it could enter into service, enhancing our logistic company immediately.

As it was for internal use, it wouldn’t net us a huge sum of money all of a sudden, but the importance of a stable income could not be overstated.

Hmm, if I want to commercialize my skills in designing aircraft, I probably should stick to the mass market as I always had. Otherwise, it would be a struggle to fight for space against existing competitors.

Having researched the market extensively for both my cybernetic business and milkshake business, I knew the name of the game was to keep things affordable. It would expand my customer base, relying on the volume of sales instead of steep profit margins.

After all, third-rate companies sold products, second-rate companies sold their brand, and first-rate companies sold the market. It meant selling based on individual product profit margin was less profitable than selling a brand name. In turn, a brand name was less profitable than serving an entire market.

In the context of the aircraft market, my mind naturally went toward drones. Drones hadn’t been popular as the main force of combat, being relegated to a supporting role. That was due to their vulnerability to hacking and EMP attacks. However, their value was unquestionable. They could fulfill so many roles and were so adaptable that I struggled to settle on what I wanted to provide to the market.

Before I could deliberate further, the person I was scheduled to meet arrived.

I looked up and saw a small entourage surrounding a familiar bald man.