Chapter 8

• THE DE VIL ENTERPRISES
• The building was a huge one with amazing interior and exterior decor.
• The office buzzed with employees going about their daily activities.
• Others were seated with their eyes fixed on their laptop.
• Suddenly they felt a cold chill and they knew instantly that their Boss was in the building.
• "Good morning Mr Xavier." They greeted but he ignored them as usual.
• He walked briskly to his office and his secretary trailed behind him.
• He got to his office and he sat and his eyes went up to his secretary and she quickly bowed.
• Xavier sighed wondering why she was avoiding eye contact.
• "What's on the schedule for today?" He asked.
• Amber instantly checked the tab she was holding.
• "You have a meeting now Sir." She said softly.
• Xavier stood up, buttoned his suit and left, with Amber trailing behind him.
• ***
• Meeting Hall...
• At table could be seen at the middle of some men, who were dressed in black tuxedo's adorned with black Italian shoes. Bottle waters and laptop were placed on the table. A projector was placed on the wall displaying the details of the project.
• The men sat side by sides and the table separated them from each other, an empty chair was placed at the extreme end of the table, which was meant for the CEO.
• The people murmured wondering why Mr Xavier isn't here yet, they knew they'll be in a hot seat if they came late, so they came as early as possible.
• "Don't you think Mr Xavier is taking us for granted?" Mr Kelvin asked, he's a major shareholder in the company.
• "Watch your words Mr Kelvin, we aren't here for gossip." Mr Simeon warned.
• "Hmmm." Xavier cleared his throat as he walked into the meeting hall.
• They all stood up. "Good morning Mr Xavier." They greeted and he waved in response.
• On a normal circumstances he wouldn't have, but he just decided not to snub them.
• He went and he sat down on his seat. "What's our agenda for today?"
• "Sir, I and my team have developed something new and I'll love to present it." Mr Simeon said.
• "Alright." Xavier said , Mr Simeon stood up, he walked to the front of the huge projector, using the remote, he put their project on screen.
• He pressed play and started to explain the progress they've been working on during last month. "This project will use high precision lasers to penetrate solid objects, including water. This technique works better because when we fired these laser lasers, we only hit the object."
• Xavier raised his eyebrows, he didn't expect that kind of development. He had no idea what type of laser it was or how effective it would be. But he did enjoy hearing about this new technology. "Sounds very interesting Mr Simeon, do share the details?" He invited him.
• The project looked like a large globe, it was made out of glass and there's various colors scattered around the globe. The glass itself has been hardened and then coated with silver, a red dot was on top and there was another one above and below the red dot that was connected to the glass globe by wires.
• There were also smaller colored circles surrounding the center of the globe and the rest of the world. It wasn't the first time they used it, but this time it will be the first time they use it to shoot laser beams at the same surface. The beam would penetrate through the liquid, which would then explode with the force. It was supposed to work by destroying all the material inside the liquid and creating a vacuum outside of it to release the energy released within. If everything is okay, they can shoot laser beams anywhere.
• "We are currently in process of making the first batch of laser beams, which will be able to penetrate steel plate and penetrate concrete walls easily, but for now we need more materials in order to make it." Mr Simeon added.
• "That's quite fascinating Mr Simeon. Do tell us more about this project." Xavier replied interested.
• They all sat back down after hearing about the new invention. "Thank you gentlemen." Xavier thanked them, he turned to the projector and pressed stop. He looked around. "Do you mind if we continue with the briefing?" The board members nodded.
• "Very well, let's move on to our next topic."
• Xavier said getting up from his seat and walked towards a small podium in the back of the room. The projector began playing the slides of previous meetings and then projected a PowerPoint slide. Xavier began to speak.
• "As many of you know, the company's stocks are rising, due to the growth of our sales and investments in other projects. We are also expanding our business in Africa, China, Mexico, Russia and South America. So far our companies have produced enough products and money for us to expand overseas, even though that still remains to be proven." Xavier paused and looked at the board members, they' all nodding to encourage him.
• He continued. "And now with the help of our good friends on the Board of Directors of New York University, we are ready for an expansion phase. The Board will vote on whether we should increase our presence in Asia, Korea, India, Japan and Brazil. The vote should go without question, so as to make our presence known worldwide." His eyes scanned the faces of the board members.
• He saw Mr Kelvin raise his hand. Xavier raised his eyebrow, to see him asking questions, but he answered anyway. "Yes Mr Kelvin?" He inquired.
• "May I ask why you're putting the board' on the line?" "My question is valid sir, may I know what you're hoping to gain." Mr Kelvin said.
• "To create a better environment, to help improve the health and wellbeing of the poor, to promote knowledge and culture and to protect everyone. Is that not what a CEO does?" Xavier asked confused.
• Mr Kelvin smirked and looked at the board members, "I agree with Sir." Several of the board members agreed while others stayed silent. Mr Kelvin looked at Xavier and smiled.
• "Why don't we give Sir the floor." He motioned him to continue.
• Xavier cleared his throat before he continued.
• "Our plans for the coming months, shall include moving forward to Asia and Europe where you'll probably find our new venture successful. However, the reason for that is because our main objective is expanding globally. And we have decided to move our operations to Asia and Europe. I believe you know of Mr Rian, the Chinese engineer? Well he' been working with us recently in the Asia project."
• Mr Simeon stood up and moved behind Xavier.
• "Mr Rian's company has created several innovative devices that are going to be very useful in Asia. These include the light machine, the airship, the rocket and the hovercraft." He stopped and took a deep breath.
• "These technologies are already being used in China, Thailand, South America and Australia, so that makes things easier for us. With that, we will begin to implement the first Phase One." Mr Simeon pointed at the projector which has the slides of past meetings.
• He pressed the control again and the slide changed to the blueprints of the equipment.
• "For Phase Two our team will be working with different countries to construct and build the components of the devices." Mr Simeon said.
• The board nodded, looking at the blueprint that showed the three sections, the outer shell, the inner shell and finally the final assembly of the devices.
• The inner shells were white, the outside shell was brown, the inner part had a light green coloration, and then the final assembly consists of two parts. "Phase Three will take place in six weeks, during which time, we will start building the inner shell with materials supplied by Mr Rian. Once it is finished we will open the inner shell and launch a series of laser pulses from inside. Our initial test of the device will consist of two tests, the first is the shooting a laser beam at objects at a distance, the second one is using it as a weapon."
• "But what about the inner shell?" Someone said.
• "It is made out of an alloy called titanium, which is extremely strong. Therefore, the inner shell is made out of a stronger alloy and it will withstand much greater forces than the outer shell. We hope it will prove to be more effective." He concluded.
• After that the board members started discussing the project again, mostly about the cost, but also the benefits.
• The meeting went on like that until the sun started setting which means lunchtime has arrived.
• They arrived at a conclusion and Xavier couldn't be more thankful for how well the meeting went.