Re: Life – Business & Technology - Chapter 100

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Announcement: Please check the glossary/characters auxiliary chapter for updated concept art!

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It was a typical working day at the Future Tech Headquarters, with everyone performing their daily tasks dutifully.

A young American-Korean woman wearing the classiest Future Couture dress, usually worn only by corporation executives, entered the software development offices where Bitcash, Instagram, Twitch, and other local dev teams were based.

Jessica Mirae found her corner office after a few minutes of walking, located next to Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger’s offices.

Instagram had only thirteen developers when Future Tech Holdings purchased it for more than $1.2 billion in 2012, and all of them moved to Austin to work in the most advanced headquarters in the world.

A Brazilian-American man in his late 20s noticed Jessica and greeted her good morning, as a sign of respect for one of Future Tech’s earliest executives.

Mike Krieger, the former CTO of Instagram, was a brilliant software engineer who mastered computational linguistics at Stanford University, a cornerstone subject in computer science involving AI, cognitive science, neuroscience, and programming.

If regular programmers could write code, Mike Krieger could write the language the code is written on like C or Java.

“Good day, Jessica. How was your morning homeschool?” Mike inquired while entering her office.

“It was boring, as usual, especially compared to our work here at Future Tech.” Jessica responded as she powered on her Infinity Workstation for the day.

“We’ve made significant progress on the multi-media platform meant to compete with Netflix and Apple Music. I’ve heard Mr. Dalton has been negotiating distribution rights in LA recently, so we’ll need to pick up our development pace in the next few weeks in refining the application, though I’m proud of what our team has accomplished already.” Mike explained.

“I’ve learned so much from you and Kevin the past year. I can’t thank you guys enough.” Jessica replied genuinely.

“It’s the least we can do considering Instagram’s recent success with livestreams and shorts, suggested by Future Tech. There are so many possibilities for our app now that the corporation is supporting us.” Mike stated honestly.

Vince Dalton spent plenty of his time and resources attempting to foster a team-oriented culture within Future Tech, aiming to uplift employees to achieve their full potential.

“Save some of the praise for your earlier mentors like Director Dollar and Patel. Instagram’s contributions to the corporation pale in comparison to BitCash and FT AI.” Mike humbly retorted.

“Don’t sell yourselves short. Contributions will be aplenty once the multi-media platform is released to the general public. Vince values the entertainment industry, so you don’t have to worry about Instagram’s place in this corporation.” Jessica replied reassuringly.

They proceeded to continue discussing short-term goals for developing the upcoming media platform before starting the workday like usual.

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A few floors down, Kyle, Rick, and Sarah were in their offices working with the Infinity Unreal Engine on the various VR and AR projects they’ve been helping Epic Games with for the past month since the Hypervisors’ release.

The twins were busy with the video and audio compositions while Kyle was scripting simple user-driven events using Unreal Blueprints for a few AR advertisements meant for Time Square and Shibuya Crossing.

It was the same node-based scripting language utilized by Everlife contributors in producing community mods like Battle Royale which was created by one of Future Studios’ newest game developers, Brendan Greene.

While 3,000 of the Future Studios devs worked at HQ, the rest were either at the Tech Campus or the Epic Games offices.

Future Studios successfully procured id Software from their competitor, Bethesda Softworks, for $1 billion after a long series of lawyers deliberating from both sides.

Bethesda was able to flip their 2009 purchase of id Software for a hefty profit and was more than happy with the deal as it wasn’t their only other video game studio.

John Carmack maintained his duties at id Software while he consulted with Taylor Miller at Future Tech VR, advancing the Hypervisor initiatives.

Carmack’s former staff were now entrusted with developing updates and expansions for War Online and Everlife alongside Future Studios and Epic Games.

A Caucasian-American man in his early 40s was writing initiative directions in an executive office on the dedicated floor meant for id Software developers.

[This is why I never sold live service games at id. Paying subscribers will always expect more from the devs, but I trust Vince’s vision for Future Studios.] John Carmack pondered as he reviewed the upcoming street-racing update for Everlife Online.

John launched the beta version of Everlife Online 1.1 but on a regular 4K display instead of the Hypervisor. His online character spawned in a luxurious apartment bought using in-game currency which supported the beta vehicle garage.

Official server players are able to buy in-game currency from Future Studios instead of grinding the different game modes, but it was a different story for users who preferred the hardcore role-play private servers where cash was purely from game activities.

The role-play community of Everlife Online had been clamoring for an official race solution instead of the janky options the private servers were using the past month.

The game update mixed elements of Future Tech F1’s race simulator but adjusted for each licensed car available in the game, including performance analytics. This was important because the update focused on upgrading owned vehicles in Everlife Online and racing street and track courses with friends.

Unlike the many race mods already available on the Infinity Marketplace running on private servers, the update would fully integrate the underground racing concept featuring a co-op story campaign inspired by Fast and the Furious.

[The cars feel physically authentic and should be ready for release soon, though we have to test all types of consumer racing rigs for compatibility issues.] John pondered while racing against AI cars in-game with a controller.

John then tested how the law enforcement AI performed during illegal street races and found them too aggressive which would have to be recalibrated through the Unreal Blueprint system.

[That issue shouldn’t be too difficult to fix with the help of Sweeney’s team at Epic.] John thought while upgrading his character’s LaFerrari in the garage.

Similar to licensed vehicles, the update featured licensed vehicle components from manufacturers ranging from BC Coilovers to Garrett Turbo Chargers which affected the vehicles’ performance.

[Tuner cars like the Toyota Supra in the game will become much more popular with version 1.1, for sure.] John thought as he saw the abysmal upgrade options for the LaFerrari.

Boutique manufacturers like McLaren and Ferrari don’t often support aftermarket products, which balances the gameplay for slower but more upgradeable vehicle choices in Everlife Online.

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Across the Colorado River, bystanders could clearly see the newly built Future Tech Human Resource offices right in the center of the Tech Campus.

Working on the highest floor was one of the busiest men in all of Future Tech, the Chief Operations Manager, Hudson.

The Caucasian-American man who left Microsoft to pursue a more impactful role at Future Tech, definitely found what he was looking for.

Though Vince’s corporation didn’t employ as many people as Walmart, Hudson had to deal with a higher proportion of professionals which required more care and attention than minimum-wage workers.

[The corporate-funded employee programs are expensive but quite effective.] Hudson thought while reviewing poaching statistics from their competitors like Apple.

Almost all Future Tech employees decline lucrative job offers from large companies like Microsoft, Samsung, and Sony because of all the privileges available to them working for Vince Dalton.

Perks like free housing, education, and plenty of opportunities to climb the corporate ladder were too much for Future Tech employees to sacrifice.

[This situation is completely different from my market research on developer turnover.] Hudson pondered as he moved on to his new assignments.

For most companies, it was the norm to fire the entire workforce and replace them with cheaper, but less proficient staff, the opposite of Vince Dalton’s strategy which focused on self-betterment instead.

Hudson assumed he’d learned everything he needed to know to properly run a company’s operations, but spending more time with Vince made him realize things can be done differently, you just had to try.

As one of the first people to assist in Future Tech’s growth, Hudson wasn’t surprised by the corporation’s quick success. They were revolutionizing what it meant to be a corporation, one that lifts its community up and moves forward together.

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Stats last time checked: (This area will be revised in future chapters!)

Future Tech current valuation – $300 billion

15 million BTC (currently trades at $25,000)

$13 Billion cash in Future Tech

105,000+ employees (FT AI, Future Studios, Hive Mind Manufacturing, FT Micro Devices, BitCash, FT VR, Future Tech F1, FT Investments, Future Arms, Future Med, Future Tech Robotics, Future Education, Epic Games, 60% of SpaceX, 10% of Tesla, 10% of Koenigsegg)

20,000+ operators under Future Security

Personal Vehicles: Klassen Phantom, Agera R, Agera SFV, Boeing Luxury 787 Dreamliner, The Longhorn, Flyga

Collaborators (Epic, Koenegisegg, SpaceX, Tesla, Hyundai C&E, Disney)

Numerous subsidiaries under Future Tech Holdings (i..e., Instagram, Twitch, Big Hit Entertainment)