Exhack
Inactive Member
ON, Prime City, Nepleslia Prime
The vest was tight. The gun's barrel was pointed right at its front, about 20 meters away. A flash, one hell of a loud bang! — and the vest hit the floor. And Raquel hit the floor with it. But as she stood back up and coughed inside Styrling's small arms proving grounds, she grinned and gave a thumbs-up. "Holy fuck, that hurt! ... but it works!"
"I'm sure all the big-armed men in Nepleslia will be thrilled at having yet -another- hand cannon out on the market." John tried to say, over the sporadic sounds of gunfire at the range. On his small table was a glass of whiskey, as well as a large notepad. On it was an extremely crude-looking rifle, as well as several designs for a buttstock for it. One even appeared to be a crowbar-like stock. "We need to expand ourselves. So far, we've been pushing out some pretty pricey designs." After a moments worth of thinking, John wrote "500 DA" next to the rifle he was working on, circling the number to confirm it as the possible sales price.
Raquel lumbered over, taking off the vest. "Hey, 500 DA for a bulletproof vest like this is fucking great! And it's stylish. Quit complaining."
"500 DA? Too expensive." John looked up from his work. "Why would someone buy a bulletproof vest...when he could buy a whole rifle for the same amount?" He held his design up to Raquel. "Folding crowbar-shaped stock, wire cutters and a bottle opener, here, on the barrel."
"People who want to survive being shot by the rifle." Raquel squinted at the design and raised an eyebrow at him. "You're delusional."
"After a hard day of shooting bandits on the farm, why would anyone want to waste time looking for a bottle opener for his beer, when there is already one on his rifle? Conversely, you could very well raid someone's farm with the wire cutters. And the crowbar stock offers for good breaking and entering capabilities, as well as being devastating in close combat."
" ... " Raquel shook her head. She wondered about John, sometimes. Wondered how hard he was dropped on his head. Not that she knew too much about guns, but she knew enough to know a bottle opener was ... silly. "Whatever."
"You know... I'm not really a fan of these experiments of yours. While it's really nice to see this sort of dedication from two of Styrling's finest, I'm not that great at delivering eulogies, and it would be a terrible shame if Raquel were to be the victim of our first workplace accident. " Foster told the two, having just arrived from a bout of his own experimentations. "And John, we might as well make a multi-purpose army knife. It would earn us extra coin by splitting sales."
"Nyeh." John leaned back and took a sip of the whiskey, by now watered down due to the melted ice in it. "You must agree, though. The poor peoples of every country would eat up such a rifle."
Raquel spun a chair around and took at seat at the ramshackle table. She smiled and put the vest in front of John — the rifle round hadn't penetrated the vest.
"Nyeh. What good is a vest when you have no rifle to shoot back with?" John waved a dismissive hand at Raquel, as he filled his glass back up.
Raquel frowned at him, her eyes narrowed behind her horn-rimmed glasses.
"I'm honestly at a loss if it is the fact that you came up with this idea, or fact that it makes some degree of sense to me that is more terrifying." Foster replied, sighing quietly under his breath. It all seemed a little ridiculous to him, but admittedly, this was probably one of the reasons he had taken on John as an employee. Things didn't have to make sense to be logical, sometimes. The thirtysomething Nepleslian took a seat after Raquel and placed a large rolled piece of paper on the table.
"Whoa. The big roll. Something nice to show us, boss?" Raquel took the vest off the table and handed it to a technician.
"What is this? The joints that the kids everywhere are smoking? They could use a .45 lodged in their brain." John made the motion of a bullet spinning in midair with the tip of his pointer finger, ending at Raquel's head.
Raquel's eyes narrowed, and her lips formed an unamused pout.
Foster unrolled the paper and gestured to a large map. His expression was excited, and almost a little smug, compared to his more practiced professionalism. "We need to expand, and diversify. Our last quarter was fantastic, and the banks are ready to finance us a little. Debt isn't usually company policy, but the interest rates are low, and I've amassed enough to buy a solid nine square kilometers. And build on it."
Raquel whistled as she listened and looked. "Nine square kilometers ... that'll be one hell of a proving grounds, if we get space for it. That guy I know that works with anti-armor units at KZ is looking for a gig; he'd come here if this happens, no sweat."
"Very good. This means we can produce even BIGGER guns, yes?" John was still looking down at his notepad, crossing out the crowbar/wire cutter stock and instead replacing it with a polymer stock, hollowed out to take survival tools.
"Possibly. I'm also looking at investing some time in new markets, but I won't refuse requests to work on what we're already good at." Foster answered, gesturing to a section of the map. "These will be the new testing grounds. At least a kilometer wide, and one to two in length. And by all means, we can always use a fresh face with some new ideas on the team."
"I'll tell him. He's in a Yamataian body though. I need the documents to get him a alien card." Raquel hung over the plans. "Hey, where's my new studio?"
Foster gestured to the rightmost section of a large complex. "This one, in the second wing of the main research complex. The accommodations will be larger, and better equipped." He explained, suppressing a bit of a smile. "I hope you find it to your liking."
"Hell yes," Raquel said, looking over the plan with a wide, toothy grin. "Mmmmmm mm! Momma's gonna cook up some goodies in thar, you betcha ass."
"I'm glad you feel that way. You might be interested to note... I'm considering devoting some of our manufacturing facilities to robotics." Foster said, allowing himself to finally smile. "It could be an interesting venture, and diversification may be one of our best options."
"Robotics ... you mean, self-defense robots?"
"That's very perceptive of you." Foster stretched a little, letting out a bit of a quiet yawn. "They'll be a cheap, reliable source of protection for businesses that can't afford good security. Don't expect them to act like commandos or brandish heavy plasma weaponry. Those technologies are expensive, and it would defeat the purpose of what I had in mind."
"Cheaper robots that can supplement human sentries ... or advanced enough to replace them?"
"I'd personally prefer the former. Taking jobs away from Nepleslians goes against the spirit of the company."
"Yes." Raquel rubbed her arm. "You got someone in mind to help make these new bots?"
"Not at the moment. A contest, or a recruitment drive might be options. Finding good talent will be key." Foster pulled his datapad out of his back pocket. "Until then, I'll be heading up development in that department."
"OK," Raquel said as John went off to find more whiskey. She sighed. "Do we want to enter the supplemental armor market, too? Something to compete closer with Stalwart?"
"I was considering we go industrial in that field, then try out some more combat-oriented equipment once we're established as in that market." Foster answered, as he searched for the appropriate files in his datapad. He chuckled quietly. "This is supposed to be peacetime, after all."
"Peace time. Bah. No one makes money then." Raquel shifted back into her seat. "So I suppose I can develop some sexy construction gear, huh?"
"That would be an interesting idea... and I trust you'll make them suitably rugged. Feel free."
Hell yes. I so will." Raquel grinned and flexed one of her biceps. "Anything else, boss?"
"Yes, actually. I'm hiring a full security complement, plus bots. You'll be the one to select the security staff for your department." Foster grinned, showing the woman a graph with the figures on the sales of her personal body armor. "And congratulations. Corporate love the Everyday."
"Holy shit! I'm a fucking star. As if I didn't know." Raquel put on her best tart accent and puckered smile. "I think I deserve a raise and a manservant."
"If you're willing to compromise on the 'man' part, I can arrange to give you an assistant. No wage, low maintenance and he'll do everything you ask of him."
"Everything?" Raquel's smirk was practically snake-like.
"Well... he wouldn't kill anyone, break any major laws or damage company property, but your every other whim would be his command. How do you feel about an assistant android?" Foster shrugged, wondering just was this odd person was thinking.
"Aw jeez, boss ... what a mood-killer." The woman laughed a little to herself, but shook her head. "My assistants are good. No problems. But as a tester, I'll take your 'mandroid.'"
"My fault for leading you on the first place." Foster sighed and tapped his left temple. "Well... the Medewerker won't necessarily be a 'male' design, as our main target audience prefers soft feminine synth over a metallic baritone. To be clear, I intend to give custom models to most of my original employees, as a show of good faith, you know?"
"I like it! Sounds like a great way to break into the sexroid market. Styrling Silver Sexroids. Has a nice ring, huh?" Raquel leaned back in her chair. "I'll be happy to test a female model, boss. It's OK."
"As a custom unit, you'll have options to choose from." Foster coughed. Despite being Nepleslian and male, it was painfully obvious that Raquel was much better, if not simply more shameless, at working the Nepleslian man's psyche. "That might be another interesting product to develop, but I'd rather we it separate from the assistant project, for now."
"I'll have to design clothes for them. What fun!" Raquel wasn't truly listening. "I'll get that fashion line I always wanted after all! Hohhh ho ho ho ho hohh!" She looked at Foster with a smirk. "This'll be awesome."
I'm always hoping it does. Foster thought to himself. "Just keep your head in the game, like everyone else. But do what feels right. With some luck and a lot of work, Styrling might could multinational."
The vest was tight. The gun's barrel was pointed right at its front, about 20 meters away. A flash, one hell of a loud bang! — and the vest hit the floor. And Raquel hit the floor with it. But as she stood back up and coughed inside Styrling's small arms proving grounds, she grinned and gave a thumbs-up. "Holy fuck, that hurt! ... but it works!"
"I'm sure all the big-armed men in Nepleslia will be thrilled at having yet -another- hand cannon out on the market." John tried to say, over the sporadic sounds of gunfire at the range. On his small table was a glass of whiskey, as well as a large notepad. On it was an extremely crude-looking rifle, as well as several designs for a buttstock for it. One even appeared to be a crowbar-like stock. "We need to expand ourselves. So far, we've been pushing out some pretty pricey designs." After a moments worth of thinking, John wrote "500 DA" next to the rifle he was working on, circling the number to confirm it as the possible sales price.
Raquel lumbered over, taking off the vest. "Hey, 500 DA for a bulletproof vest like this is fucking great! And it's stylish. Quit complaining."
"500 DA? Too expensive." John looked up from his work. "Why would someone buy a bulletproof vest...when he could buy a whole rifle for the same amount?" He held his design up to Raquel. "Folding crowbar-shaped stock, wire cutters and a bottle opener, here, on the barrel."
"People who want to survive being shot by the rifle." Raquel squinted at the design and raised an eyebrow at him. "You're delusional."
"After a hard day of shooting bandits on the farm, why would anyone want to waste time looking for a bottle opener for his beer, when there is already one on his rifle? Conversely, you could very well raid someone's farm with the wire cutters. And the crowbar stock offers for good breaking and entering capabilities, as well as being devastating in close combat."
" ... " Raquel shook her head. She wondered about John, sometimes. Wondered how hard he was dropped on his head. Not that she knew too much about guns, but she knew enough to know a bottle opener was ... silly. "Whatever."
"You know... I'm not really a fan of these experiments of yours. While it's really nice to see this sort of dedication from two of Styrling's finest, I'm not that great at delivering eulogies, and it would be a terrible shame if Raquel were to be the victim of our first workplace accident. " Foster told the two, having just arrived from a bout of his own experimentations. "And John, we might as well make a multi-purpose army knife. It would earn us extra coin by splitting sales."
"Nyeh." John leaned back and took a sip of the whiskey, by now watered down due to the melted ice in it. "You must agree, though. The poor peoples of every country would eat up such a rifle."
Raquel spun a chair around and took at seat at the ramshackle table. She smiled and put the vest in front of John — the rifle round hadn't penetrated the vest.
"Nyeh. What good is a vest when you have no rifle to shoot back with?" John waved a dismissive hand at Raquel, as he filled his glass back up.
Raquel frowned at him, her eyes narrowed behind her horn-rimmed glasses.
"I'm honestly at a loss if it is the fact that you came up with this idea, or fact that it makes some degree of sense to me that is more terrifying." Foster replied, sighing quietly under his breath. It all seemed a little ridiculous to him, but admittedly, this was probably one of the reasons he had taken on John as an employee. Things didn't have to make sense to be logical, sometimes. The thirtysomething Nepleslian took a seat after Raquel and placed a large rolled piece of paper on the table.
"Whoa. The big roll. Something nice to show us, boss?" Raquel took the vest off the table and handed it to a technician.
"What is this? The joints that the kids everywhere are smoking? They could use a .45 lodged in their brain." John made the motion of a bullet spinning in midair with the tip of his pointer finger, ending at Raquel's head.
Raquel's eyes narrowed, and her lips formed an unamused pout.
Foster unrolled the paper and gestured to a large map. His expression was excited, and almost a little smug, compared to his more practiced professionalism. "We need to expand, and diversify. Our last quarter was fantastic, and the banks are ready to finance us a little. Debt isn't usually company policy, but the interest rates are low, and I've amassed enough to buy a solid nine square kilometers. And build on it."
Raquel whistled as she listened and looked. "Nine square kilometers ... that'll be one hell of a proving grounds, if we get space for it. That guy I know that works with anti-armor units at KZ is looking for a gig; he'd come here if this happens, no sweat."
"Very good. This means we can produce even BIGGER guns, yes?" John was still looking down at his notepad, crossing out the crowbar/wire cutter stock and instead replacing it with a polymer stock, hollowed out to take survival tools.
"Possibly. I'm also looking at investing some time in new markets, but I won't refuse requests to work on what we're already good at." Foster answered, gesturing to a section of the map. "These will be the new testing grounds. At least a kilometer wide, and one to two in length. And by all means, we can always use a fresh face with some new ideas on the team."
"I'll tell him. He's in a Yamataian body though. I need the documents to get him a alien card." Raquel hung over the plans. "Hey, where's my new studio?"
Foster gestured to the rightmost section of a large complex. "This one, in the second wing of the main research complex. The accommodations will be larger, and better equipped." He explained, suppressing a bit of a smile. "I hope you find it to your liking."
"Hell yes," Raquel said, looking over the plan with a wide, toothy grin. "Mmmmmm mm! Momma's gonna cook up some goodies in thar, you betcha ass."
"I'm glad you feel that way. You might be interested to note... I'm considering devoting some of our manufacturing facilities to robotics." Foster said, allowing himself to finally smile. "It could be an interesting venture, and diversification may be one of our best options."
"Robotics ... you mean, self-defense robots?"
"That's very perceptive of you." Foster stretched a little, letting out a bit of a quiet yawn. "They'll be a cheap, reliable source of protection for businesses that can't afford good security. Don't expect them to act like commandos or brandish heavy plasma weaponry. Those technologies are expensive, and it would defeat the purpose of what I had in mind."
"Cheaper robots that can supplement human sentries ... or advanced enough to replace them?"
"I'd personally prefer the former. Taking jobs away from Nepleslians goes against the spirit of the company."
"Yes." Raquel rubbed her arm. "You got someone in mind to help make these new bots?"
"Not at the moment. A contest, or a recruitment drive might be options. Finding good talent will be key." Foster pulled his datapad out of his back pocket. "Until then, I'll be heading up development in that department."
"OK," Raquel said as John went off to find more whiskey. She sighed. "Do we want to enter the supplemental armor market, too? Something to compete closer with Stalwart?"
"I was considering we go industrial in that field, then try out some more combat-oriented equipment once we're established as in that market." Foster answered, as he searched for the appropriate files in his datapad. He chuckled quietly. "This is supposed to be peacetime, after all."
"Peace time. Bah. No one makes money then." Raquel shifted back into her seat. "So I suppose I can develop some sexy construction gear, huh?"
"That would be an interesting idea... and I trust you'll make them suitably rugged. Feel free."
Hell yes. I so will." Raquel grinned and flexed one of her biceps. "Anything else, boss?"
"Yes, actually. I'm hiring a full security complement, plus bots. You'll be the one to select the security staff for your department." Foster grinned, showing the woman a graph with the figures on the sales of her personal body armor. "And congratulations. Corporate love the Everyday."
"Holy shit! I'm a fucking star. As if I didn't know." Raquel put on her best tart accent and puckered smile. "I think I deserve a raise and a manservant."
"If you're willing to compromise on the 'man' part, I can arrange to give you an assistant. No wage, low maintenance and he'll do everything you ask of him."
"Everything?" Raquel's smirk was practically snake-like.
"Well... he wouldn't kill anyone, break any major laws or damage company property, but your every other whim would be his command. How do you feel about an assistant android?" Foster shrugged, wondering just was this odd person was thinking.
"Aw jeez, boss ... what a mood-killer." The woman laughed a little to herself, but shook her head. "My assistants are good. No problems. But as a tester, I'll take your 'mandroid.'"
"My fault for leading you on the first place." Foster sighed and tapped his left temple. "Well... the Medewerker won't necessarily be a 'male' design, as our main target audience prefers soft feminine synth over a metallic baritone. To be clear, I intend to give custom models to most of my original employees, as a show of good faith, you know?"
"I like it! Sounds like a great way to break into the sexroid market. Styrling Silver Sexroids. Has a nice ring, huh?" Raquel leaned back in her chair. "I'll be happy to test a female model, boss. It's OK."
"As a custom unit, you'll have options to choose from." Foster coughed. Despite being Nepleslian and male, it was painfully obvious that Raquel was much better, if not simply more shameless, at working the Nepleslian man's psyche. "That might be another interesting product to develop, but I'd rather we it separate from the assistant project, for now."
"I'll have to design clothes for them. What fun!" Raquel wasn't truly listening. "I'll get that fashion line I always wanted after all! Hohhh ho ho ho ho hohh!" She looked at Foster with a smirk. "This'll be awesome."
I'm always hoping it does. Foster thought to himself. "Just keep your head in the game, like everyone else. But do what feels right. With some luck and a lot of work, Styrling might could multinational."