System Break

The suited lawyers filed out leaving Huan Xie with the directors of the Qi World Programme and a couple of key military personnel.

Xie sipped the crystal-clear water from his glass then placed it back down in front of him. "I do not want to interfere in your day to day operations, I invested in the success you've achieved."

A general grunted. "You won't be interfering in our operations."

Director Buxiu nodded. "Qi World 2 is strictly your testing ground general. We will not interfere and simply exchange information."

"Unless its classified."

The head of research shook his head. "With all due respect general we provide the platform and the interface. If you don't send us all your discoveries what is the point?"

The general grumbled. "The point is no one shuts you down and takes everything."

Buxiu gestured at the head of research to shut up. "My apologies general, of course if you deem something highly classified it cannot be shared. We wouldn't want information getting into the wrong hands." With his last statement he stared at Huan Xie.

The military personnel stood and left, with a nod but without another word.

Buxiu let out a long sigh. "Do not speak to a general that way, you need to be tactful and respectful to get anywhere. I expect better from you Huineng."

The head of research grumbled. "And I am down to one subject, how are we supposed to make further progress?" Then he turned to Huan Xie, "And do you plan to try and take my last alpha?"

"Don't you have hundreds of players now?" Xie asked.

"Rich brats don't make good testers."

"Why not? And why don't you start another test world if this information is so vital?"

Buxiu shook his head. "These worlds are incredibly expensive."

"I just invested billions," Xie said.

"They're expensive with another sort of currency. Your investment only helps us here where we can farm more, but that takes time."

Xie waved his hand. "That's beside the point. The twins and their friend just got you a new race. All on their own initiative, you should give us subject eleven as they requested. They can manage him and get more discoveries with his cooperation."

"What's his secret?" another director asked.

"If you want to know, give him to me."

The head of research shook his head. "He's invaluable, even for a foreigner. If he's disconnected from his pod he could die. It's a version one and highly invasive."

"Why didn't you give him a second gen?"

"He joined at the end of stage one. That's how it was with all of them. We had no idea he's be a genius."

Xie sighed. "We can mitigate the risk with the best surgeons on hand."

"Why?" Buxiu said. "The best way is to remove risk. Just leave him as he is. Why do you need him at your base? What do you have planned?"

"Base? It's my home. In order to get all his secrets, it needs to be done. There are more abilities you're unaware of. The twins know about them."

"Like what?"

"He has a bird that he communicates with. He uses it as a scout. They grow the forest; it expands using qi."

"We know about land cores and how they function, we have an overlay. But this communication with a creature is new. How is he able to hide it from the hud?"

The head of research frowned. "If he doesn't save it to his quickbar we can't see it."

"You lack control over him," Xie said, "Give him to me, we have influence."

The head of research thumped the table. "Fine. But now I have no assets in the field."

"You will have to be nice to everyone," Buxiu said. "But you can also enrol some dedicated beta testers to help you. You can have five. They can go to the capital and report to the chancellor."

"Who is the chancellor?" Xie asked.

"Me," Buxiu said with a smile. "I can place them with the most talented locals and use them in other ways."

"You're playing?"

The director shook his head. "It's no game. You'd know if you ever entered a Qi World."

Xie shrugged. "When will be ready for the next stage?"

Another director cleared his throat. "With the new investment we can ramp up production of the gen four pods. We can launch into second phase beta with ten thousand players at a much lower cost."

"How low?"

"Our stretch target is 20,000 USD per pod supply and install."

Buxiu nodded. "We need to charge at least 100,000 USD to make up for the overheads."

"That's a ninety percent reduction, impressive," Xie said.

"Most beta players pay a premium for a head start."

Xie sipped his water. "What about the new race? Will we release three races with the next phase?"

"That's more difficult. But a limited release at a premium is possible."

Xie looked doubtful. "With unemployment so high how can people afford these prices?"

The directors looked at each other in bemusement. "Sir, the robot labour tax gives anyone under thirty a guaranteed income. They can take a loan off this if they wish, and many have inheritances. With a world population at 9 billion we only have a small number of places. It will sell in minutes."

Xie frowned. "Then how can we ramp up? 10,000 is nowhere near enough."

"I thought you were leaving that to us since we've done such a great job so far."

"How many players can this Qi World accommodate?" Xie asked.

"50,000 would be its limit before we need another."

Xie glared at the directors. "Make the second phase 200,000 USD and ramp up. Make it 15,000 players. Now tell me do you have plans for more theme parks?"

Buxiu leaned forward. "Perhaps you want to accompany us during our negotiations with the gatekeepers. And you need to understand how we pay them before you start making demands. They don't take US dollars."

"What do they take?"

"Qi."