Chapter 296 To Keep A Promise
The reaction to GAIA Tech's launch was enthusiastic, and online orders started pouring like there was no tomorrow. Since Aron could produce as many as he wanted, he didn't set an amount of them to be sold in the first batch and allowed anyone to order as many as they wanted. Scalpers, who thought there would be a limited number of them, were initially especially thrilled... but would soon learn their mistake as it became apparent that there was no limit to the orders that would be accepted.
Aron and Rina entered the presidential suite of the hotel and logged in to VR to hold a meeting with Ryan and Sarah, the latter of whom was still in Eden, to discuss their tasks.
Rina immediately went and hugged Nova, then turned to Aron and said, "The patent application was approved an hour ago, but as you asked, they'll only make it public a week from now."
Aron smiled.
"But why'd you want me to delay the patent being made public for a week?" she asked.
"There's a few companies that I wanted to have a hope of filing the patents before us. They wasted a few million before realizing that we already applied for them."
"Also why did you only apply for a patent on the graphene chips and nothing else from the tech?" she asked. If it were her, she would have patented everything in order to protect it.
"Because they can't replicate those even if they wanted to, or even hypothesize how they were made. During production, we mix in a material that they can't detect yet, creating invisible layers on top of them that would make it impossible for them to accurately discover the composition of the materials, or even figure out exactly how it works," he answered. He couldn't reveal that the parts were mixed with mana, so it was a happy coincidence that since they couldn't detect it anyway, they would just think that it was an anti-piracy process they had yet to discover.
"How's the ordering going?" he asked as he looked at Nova.
[five million orders and counting have already been received since we opened ordering on the Zeus One and Olympus, and the number is still climbing. Sales for Pneuma are being held up by regulatory bodies and I expect those delays to clear up in a week or so. Biogen is being well received by brick and mortar purchasers and should be on store shelves within two weeks, but online ordering is anemic since the public hasn't been exposed to it yet,] Nova said, popping up a screen with current sales and future projections over the conference table in the meeting room.
"Looks like orders will start picking up after the first buyers test and review them, since many of the things seem unbelievable for the tech at the moment," Aron said. He was sure that many people were still skeptical and weren't convinced by the GAIA Tech event. They would only commit when they were completely assured of the worth of the products.
"On that end," Ryan interjected, "Our marketing team at Asclepius has started an ad blitz and we should start seeing online orders of Biogen picking up over the next few days. If we could've done it earlier, sales would've already started, but we had to wait until after the conference because there's a limit to the amount of disruption one market will bear and we can't offend the 'experts' by skipping them in the process if we want optimal sales."
[I'll ensure the reviews spread to as many people as possible when they start buying it,] Nova said, finally showing the level of influence she'd gained since Pangea became the most-used social media app across the globe.
After a bit more discussion, they logged out of VR. Aron and Rina boarded the waiting convoy and headed toward the Waikiki airport, while Ryan and Sarah went back to their own tasks.
It was time for the lovebirds to keep their promise.
...
The next day.
Aron's private plane had landed at LaGuardia and unloaded him, Rina, and his security detail. Rina's presence got them through security in a manner that only a Rothschild could and they were on their way to the Rothschild family compound to introduce Aron to Rina's parents. That was the most important of his objectives for being in the US this time; it wouldn't be fair to anyone if his girlfriend knew his parents while he had never met hers, after all.
He had a very happy smile on his face as he surfed Pangea to waste some time during the drive. Reviews had been coming in and the public was still enthusiastic; the buzz generated by the launch event hadn't faded over the past week, but had instead grown. Especially after the initial positive reviews had been purposefully spread by Nova, causing a virtuous sales cycle for the Zeus One and both Olympus models.
...
"Your family is really extravagant," Aron said when he got out of his car at the Rothschild family head's mansion. The drive from the front gate of the compound to the mansion was ten minutes long, and that was despite the speed they were driving at. It was a testament to the size of the property.
"The compound isn't even a quarter as big as Avalon Island, and you call us extravagant," she teased back. Aron's private island was truly massive.
"Yep, I can't really complain," Aron chuckled. It was enough to calm him and he returned to his usual demeanor as they were escorted inside the mansion where her parents were waiting for them.
"Mom, dad, this is Aron. Aron, these are my parents, Herschel and Virginia Rothschild," Rina said when they entered the mansion and found her parents waiting for them in the living room. Her mother moved to hug her, showing she was closer to her than her father.
"Welcome," Herschel said to Aron and extended his hand for a handshake with a neutral expression on his face.
"Thank you," Aron said as he shook Herschel's hand with a smile on his face. His towering body overshadowed the older man, but he still came across as non-threatening.
"Let's move to the dining room," Virginia said, breaking the awkward silence between Rina's father and her boyfriend. It likely would have gone on if she hadn't interfered. She hadn't expected her husband to be unable to maintain a polite conversation, which showed how he was feeling deep inside.
