Meanwhile in Conference... [Ark only]

[Christian Moynahan]

(tied into this thread)

As the Reier Technologies USA IPO went on, Christian Moynahan stood before a wide screen in his office, watching it closely, his hands tucked into his pockets. His gaze was inexpressive. The ticker ran along the bottom of the screen, while a reporter went on about J. Ira Reier and his background and his company and his success.

As a team, the Kilvayne Corporation and Ark Industries, plus the privately owned Constant Design & Development, could take Reier on, Christian was sure. But… the media and public opinion played far too much into business matters. And, stupidly enough, much of that was Christian’s fault. The public did not often look to business personalities unless they were outspoken or prolific, and Christian had been the latter. And, even for the times he had saved the nation, he was not certain how much longer his popularity would last.

And Reier was a new face. The public would be fascinated by him, especially with that accent and easy speaking voice of his, as opposed to Christian’s smooth but non-accented baritone and eccentricities. That gave Christian two objectives: to ensure that Ark continued to deliver publicly-relevant and innovative technology such as Project Dreamscape; and to quietly manage Reier’s fifteen minutes of American fame.

And ensure that they were only fifteen minutes.

Christian shrugged on his jacket and moved to the conference room, where much of the Ark staff had gathered, from the VPs to the interns. Many of them were taking notes and writing out equations. Likewise. Christian was running equations in his head. Lunch had been provided on several trays of sub sandwiches of various kinds, more than enough to feed the room; and a myriad of non-alcoholic drinks. Laptops were littered about along the main table and the side ones, and four monitors had been daisy-chained to each other, from a small computer; on these were displayed four different news channels following the IPO.

By now the markets had closed and Reier was making his closing remarks. Oh, he was being pleasant and courteous enough, but they all knew there was a storm brewing overhead. With an almost dismissive wave of his hand, Christian sent a small wave of energy to stop the current running to the monitors, which went black. The paresthesia in his hand was minimal.

“Reier speaks well,” Christian began, standing before his team now. “He’ll bring a strong game. He’ll place himself opposite me and try to outdo everything I’ve built in this country. But I have something he doesn’t: you.”

It may have wounded like a cheesy comment, an unnecessary compliment, but neither happened to be characteristic of Christian. He went on to explain his reasons for speaking so. “Dr. Kilvayne, Mr. Constant, and I chose and kept only the most brilliant minds for Ark’s turnaround. And I, for one, refuse to let one overseas brand take our progress from us.”

He glanced toward the formerly-live monitors. “You may have noticed how well Reier was doing. You may also have noticed that the Kilvaynes were doing better. People are afraid to invest in Reier against us. That’s a good thing. We have to keep it that way. We have to keep working and turning out unique products and solutions, and beat Reier before he can even begin.”

He made a little nod toward the main table. “Yes, I know what this means. More hours. More effort. More thinking, more imagination. But this team, this family of ours? Look around you. Each of you have your own talents. Most of you have done incredible things on your own.”

He gave a small grin and chuckle. “Imagine what we will do all as one.”

At that he tilted his head. “So, who’s ready to show these Brits who’s running this country now?”

[Archie Cane]

The drones all slave away, they're working overtime,
They serve a faceless queen, they never question why.
Disciples of a God, that neither lives nor breathes,
But we have bills to pay, yeah we have mouths to feed!

Archimedes Cane was not one to concern himself with Wall Street matters, but Reier was more than just a threat on the New York Stock Exchange. Reier was a threat in the race to making scientific breakthroughs that were the whole point of Archie working for Ark in the first place.
They were rivals for glory, and for gold. Archie was interested in making sure that Ark Industries remained in a dominant position in terms of researching and developing new technologies and making new scientific discoveries, to that end, they would need to recruit great minds ahead of Reier scouts.

This meeting would be where they strategized all the ways in which they could counter the new rival's attempts to beat them at the corporate game. Christian Moynihan, their CEO was going to lead the way in his usual style. Archie watched the speech that Reier was giving with a measure of boredom. He was more intently focused on the equations he was working on back in his workshop... and the prototypes he had in the works with Eugene and the other engineers. He was a scientist, not a businessman or an orator, after all.

“Reier speaks well,”


Archie had to take Christian's word for that. Rhetoric meant nothing to Dr. Cane. Theories and formulae were what defined his worldview. He had a gift for understanding particles and mathematical equations. Men like Lucius, Christian and this Reier fellow had a broader way of operating to the point that they were Renaissance Man types. Skilled in social graces, politically cunning, and they were scientifically brilliant. Archie was content with being a super-genius, he didn't need those other things. In his view, that made him the better scientist in the end. He was not dividing his attention, or spreading his energy thing. But he had to admit, Christian and Lucius were far more energetic than him to begin with. He knew his cousin hardly slept and he suspected the same was true of his boss. With Lucius in a coma, Archie supposed the geneticist turned CEO turned President was catching up on so much lost sleep. Archie had a weird way of looking at things, he would be the first to admit.

“He’ll bring a strong game. He’ll place himself opposite me and try to outdo everything I’ve built in this country. But I have something he doesn’t: you."

As Christian elaborated on how each person was a valuable asset individually, he couldn't help but agree with the larger picture the CEO was painting of the Ark heads. They were exceptional people, and this Reier guy didn't know what fight he was picking in the final assessment. Ark and the Kilvayne Corporation would come out on top, it was only natural. He was not inclined to the arrogance of his cousins Adrian and Lucius, but in this case, it was fitting. Reier was an invader, and this company had the home field advantage, so to speak.

“So, who’s ready to show these Brits who’s running this country now?”

"I for one reject our would be British overlords," Archie quipped.

[Fiona Kingsleigh]

The threat of competition had never scared Fiona.  She knew her own worth, and she knew that if Reier Technologies end up winning this so-called war and somehow send Ark Industries into bankruptcy, it would take a matter of days for another company to call and offer her a job.  Money matters, of course, but what Fiona cared more about was to be with brilliant people and accomplish fantastic things.  Ideas turn into reality, and those in turn would evolve the world.  Ark could do that, and in this time, she was more than happy to bunker down with at least some of her comrades.

Ever since Ark came under the ownership of Kilvayne Corporation, with Christian Moynahan at the helm, the word "competition" slowly disappeared from their corporate vocabulary.  Who would buy and place trust in any products not manufactured by Christian's Ark Industries and his associates?  No one, and in that atmosphere the drive to innovate grew stale.  Fiona wasn't at the meeting to get the news on how much of the market Ark was about to lose to Reier.  All she was interested in what how much money they will now pump into every Research and Development division.

While most people where gathered around the tables, eyeing their leader and awaiting his speech as the IPO came to a close, Fiona was at the snacks table with a pair of odd-looking glasses that came with earpieces on her face.  There were security cameras, laptop cameras, and even cellphone cameras everywhere in the conference room, and it was very little trouble hacking into all of them, giving Fiona the best view and best audio at all times on the screen of her glasses.  Once in a while, she would tap the side of her glasses to scroll through the devices enslaved to her somewhat spy-device.  The length Fiona would go through just to not be in a crowd...

"You know, this isn't necessarily a bad thing," said Fiona to the blonde woman flanking her, taking a sip of strawberry punch.  "If Reier wants to be here, they're not going away overnight.  This is a really good time to just take stock of what's worth spending time researching, and leave the obsolete products to the Brits."

"That's good!  You should go up there and tell everyone."

"What?  No, I don't do well with speeches."  Fiona always had good ideas, but rarely voiced them.  Giving ideas meant having to elaborate, and having to explain to different people the concept, in painful amount of details.  That's a lot of work, doing things so officially.  She preferred these little projects, like the Ark-Glass she was wearing.

"If we really want to win, we best put more focus on where we have the edge, both in research and in resources, like Project Dreamscape."

Fiona turned to face her friend, wanting to see that shocked and amazed expression from how much a techno-nerd understood about general business.  But, her friend was already gone, strolling down the aisle of the tables.