Corpo Age - Chapter 143: Collaboration Opportunity (Patreon)

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Luford Perez - Sensorial Corporation

“What is the meaning of this, Luford?” Harold, the acting CEO, jumped up at Luford’s opening line. “We have already voted to go with my plan. You’re damaging our unity with this stunt you’re pulling.”

“Calm down, brother. The reason I have brought a new proposal today is exactly because your plan hadn’t gone as you outlined. You had been withholding some vital information about who we were up against, and now we have to pay the price of underestimating them.”

“I didn’t withhold anything! In the real world, outside of your lab, things don’t always go as planned. It is foolish to change direction so quickly and a sign of weakness!” Harold then turned to the rest of the table. “Don’t you all agree?”

“...”

Silence befell the room as the executives exchanged looks.

They were each smart enough to have made it to their position, so they could foresee the financial drawbacks of continuing with the current plan and the weakness it would project to their enemies if they changed their tune so quickly after one setback. 

Caught in the dilemma, they chose to sit back and take a wait-and-see approach, preferring to put such a difficult decision on the back burner and let others decide.

“Cowards! The lot of you!” Harold slammed his fist on the table as he slumped back in his chair. “Fine, let’s hear your new proposal, then. I’ll show you all how your plan is full of holes and mine is the most reliable one we have.”

Clearing his throat, Luford drew in everyone’s attention.

“In case anyone is unaware, the target we had been sabotaging at the behest of GrainScape Tech has recently identified us as the perpetrators. They have begun their retaliation by doing the same, tampering with our own products and we are on the cusp of a subterfuge war. If we continue in my brother’s plan, it is projected that we will take a serious hit in our reputation and our market shares will plummet as a result.”

“GrainScape Tech will be financing us during this time, so we’ll be able to make it through it without affecting any one of us,” Harold challenged.

“That may work in the short term, but the damage to our reputation will be unrepairable in a reasonable time frame. We’d be sacrificing our long-term prospects. That’s not even considering the reliability of GrainScape’s aid. We’d be at their mercy if they decided to leave us dry.”

“I’ve done my research on them and they hate that Halls Corporation to the bone for being the key reason for their recent losses. We can trust GrainScape Tech if it’s dealing with their hated enemy. Once those guys are dealt with, we can then worry about taking over their market shares! These issues can easily be averted.”

“Brother! Have you forgotten every lesson since young or are you purposefully rejecting our Father’s teachings? Never let a third party hold sway over our fate. You’re trusting GrainScape too much!” Luford raised his voice as he became more emotional at the mention of his father.

“That old man’s conservative thinking will only make us stagnate! We should—”

Several executives cleared their throats in unison before the oldest among them, Numen, spoke up.

“Let us remain on topic. Shall we?”

“Fine! Go ahead…Brother.” Harold enunciated the last word slowly while staring aggressively at Luford.

“I’ll get straight to the point, then. I propose we opt out of this conflict that is clearly not ours and make peace. We can then focus on expanding into the more niche markets to make up for our losses and be in a position to bounce back.”

“You imbecile! You think we can just stop a fight whenever we want?”

Despite the harshness of Harold’s rebuke, the rest of the room remained silent as they agreed with his sentiment.

“Yes actually. I’ve already spoken to the other party. They are willing to cease this pointless fighting and explore potential business cooperations with us.”

“Now you conspire with the enemy too? Tell me, Luford. Have you gone mad? You were just telling me a second ago that I was too trusting of GrainScape. Now look at you!”

That was a sore spot for Luford. He was placed in a position where he had to support the Halls Corporation because he was scared for his life. 

If they were really planning on screwing him and his company, there was nothing he could do when they had already implanted something nefarious into him. In that case, he would be faced with dead ends, no matter which direction he went.

That was why he placed his full trust in Halls Corporation, as there was no reason to consider the alternative. However, that wasn’t something he could articulate and convince the other executives with.

“No, I am confident the Halls Corporation isn’t lying, as there would be no benefits for them to do so. As a victim of our plots, they want to end this farce more than anyone. If anyone is still not convinced, you can join me in negotiating with them.”

The two brothers made their case after several more back-and-forths. It was then time for everyone to cast their votes to resolve the dispute. They had done this rodeo before and all knew they had to vote. What they didn’t expect was a tie.

Both proposals were filled with uncertainty and based on assumptions, so it was no wonder they were tied. According to their company rules, this meant they would hold another meeting in two days.

-----

“What does everyone think?” I asked the room.

They stared at each other before Leo was the first to speak up.

“They’re a mess, which means they’re vulnerable now if we want to strike.”

“Uhh, that’ll just push them to band together, no?”

I nodded at Claire’s words.

“Our true enemy, in this case, is GrainScape Tech. There isn’t much to gain from antagonizing Sensorial.”

“Then should we wait and see? I’ll have more people monitoring their movements in the meantime.” Lucy added.

“No…That’s too passive. I say we help out our friend, Luford a little. I’ll let him know.” I said, pointing to the ongoing projection of the man in question.

-----

Luford Perez - Sensorial Corporation

Two days passed by in a blink of an eye.

The sabotage retaliation from Halls Corporation intensified exponentially overnight as numerous new cases of malfunction flooded in. Everyone at Sensorial was tense since their management couldn’t even decide on a direction yet.

The second meeting happened in such a tense atmosphere.

“Our operatives report that Halls Corporation is starting to feel it. They may be handing out ample compensation, but words about their defective products have started to spread. This is proof my plan is working!” Harold took the chance to speak first.

“And is there any concrete proof of that? I don’t think any of us have received such a report.” Luford interjected. “Instead of spouting such vague claims, I have negotiated something substantial.”

Luford took a pregnant pause as he glanced at everyone in the room.

“The Halls Corporation has agreed to end hostilities for the next week as a gesture of goodwill to us. They want to show us that they are willing to talk with us.”

“This has to be some ploy, Luford!”

“We can just wait and see. They have nothing to gain by doing this if they really don’t want to negotiate. It is better than your plan of bringing us into a war of attrition that relies on another corporation to win it for us.”

And so, a week passed. Halls Corporation still found occasional cases of sabotage, but overall, the subterfuge had calmed down.

-----

“That we have come to a tentative agreement, then,” I declared while offering my hand to the acting CEO across from me.

“Yes…Thank you for your understanding, Rollo. Our Sensorial Corporation appreciates it and we look forward to working with you.”

While I knew Luford was sprouting pleasantries, that meant nothing. It instantly reminded me to talk about cooperation with them.

After this incident, it became apparent our corporation had a stark weakness due to the limited amount of time since our inception. Our finances were too reliant on a few products, which meant any issue with one product line had an oversized impact on us. 

There was a reason other businesses were quite diversified, even if they focused on a single field, but that was something they had built up over time. Our meteoric rise had been too fast and our foundation couldn’t keep up.

We didn’t even have a handful of products in our catalog.

“Actually, I have another matter to discuss with your company, Luford.”

“...What is it?”

“I was wondering if you’re open to collaborating with us to design more products. I see your company has a strong foundation in optimizing, testing, and producing detection systems.”

“Yes…but let me get this straight. You want to co-develop products with us despite our recent hostilities?”

“Yeah, that is what I mentioned previously.”

Luford blinked blankly at me, as if he couldn’t believe my words. I wasn’t sure what surprised him so much, but I really wanted to make use of their resources to help push more products out. While it would be a joint venture and our profit margins would go down, the reach and quantity of products, with their help, would make it more than worthwhile.

After all, I didn’t have unlimited time. I didn’t have the time to spare to work on new projects that made use of the same application of technology as the Argus. My two big projects of power armor and AI already have me preoccupied.

What you can’t handle yourself, you outsource.

“Luford? Do you think this idea is something we can further explore?”

“You will be sharing with us the technology to minimize the radiation and other harmful elements from powerful active scans that your product makes use of?”

“Yes, and you will be adapting that to the various needs of the market, expanding our catalog. I’m sure there’s no shortage of demand, right?”

“...Yes. At the very least, the spacers would be interested in it for their space stations and mining ships.”

“Perfect! We can set another day to discuss the specifics. I’m glad to have made a friend like you.” I patted the man on the back.

He deserved it after all the hard work he had to do to convince his company to follow his plan.

I made my way back to our headquarters, and just as I was about to resume my work on the power armor, Thorne dragged me back to the meeting room. 

With my attempt to stay away from the meeting room for at least half a day failing, I let out an exaggerated sigh and glanced at all the familiar figures in our meeting room. Every seat was filled, and their occupant’s attention was directed at me.

“Okay, everyone. Sensorial should be playing nice now. I won’t micromanage our PR team on how to recover from the damage the sabotage has caused, so I guess it’s time for us to address the real issue.”

“GrainScape Tech. I had already notified Vin to make the prep work, and Lucy has just redirected any spare intelligence personnel to the NNA continent,” Claire reported.

“We can’t attack directly them as per the agreement we signed under the West Coast Agroindustry Alliance.” Our legal expert warned.

While the law meant nothing to corporations, contract agreements were a different matter. They were enforced directly by the Elevate City Consortium. They were known to enforce these contracts strictly to deter constant escalation that may engulf others if left to its own device, which wasn’t good for business.

“I believe we discussed how the peace agreement we signed only encompassed direct fighting, right?” I looked over at the legal guy, who nodded at my questions. “Time for us to look at the alternatives, then.”