CHAPTER 39: ANTARCTICA
The following morning, at around seven am, thirteen people were already downstairs as Wallace made his way down from his room. He had been working all night without much chance to sleep, so he felt a little bit tired.
There were a few things that hadn't changed: he still needed sleep, even though it wasn't as frequent as before, as his body activities would start to slow down without sleep until he entered a state of induced sleep. The second thing was that his body needed food, and his appetite wasn't as much as before, because his body could sustain itself with just a little bit of food. However, he would start to feel hunger eating away at him from deep inside if he didn't eat well.
"Good morning," Antonio, Laura, Lucia, and the ten newly initiated humans greeted him.
"Good morning," he replied.
"How's your body?" he asked the ten.
"We feel strength unlike never before," they answered, delighted.
"I'll give you today to adapt completely and rest; you'll start your job tomorrow," he replied.
"Should we arrange for guards?" Laura asked.
"Okay, where are we going now?" he asked.
"We're going to the office; there are some things we need your help with," she replied.
"Antonio, have you prepared those things?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," Antonio replied.
They made their way out of the building into a Rolls Royce Cullinan, and the car started while two Mercedes Benz S-Class filled with guards followed at a distance, both in front and behind.
"Wake me up when we get there," he said, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.
He felt like he had only slept for a few minutes before he was woken up.
"Boss, we've arrived," Laura informed him, as they looked outside the window and saw a tall skyscraper with "Atelier In. Corporation" written on top of it. That was the business name of the Carlos family.
"Okay," he replied, getting down from the car as they made their way into the building, which had employees standing in the lounge, all bowing when they saw him enter.
"Should we prepare a meeting with the heads of our various corporations?" Laura asked.
"Hmm, that will be after your report," he replied.
"Okay," she said.
"Schedule a meeting in one hour," she told the person beside her.
They made their way into the elevator, specifically for him, and the elevator took him to the top floor, where there was only his office and suite.
They entered the luxurious office, and he sat on the couch. "Let's start," he said.
"Okay," she replied. "We've developed the latest armor, which we named the Solo Exoskeleton."
"It's called Solo because, with it, a man can be like a hundred soldiers. It has an exoskeleton that fully protects the body, just like Iron Man's, and the wearer won't feel uncomfortable, as every condition will be adjusted to the specifications of the wearer. It also reads information about the vitals of the wearer and won't hinder the speed of the wearer; it even adds more speed, as sliding rackets made to adjust to any kind of environment have been installed inside it."
"Since when has this been established?" he asked.
"We've done it three years ago, but the former family head thought that we neither had the strength nor the connection to keep ourselves safe yet if we decided to manufacture it," she replied.
"Do we have the strength now?" he asked.
"Yes, we can do this," she replied.
"But we don't need the money; rather, what we need right now is the power to make rules," he replied.
"Well, I'll think of something about that. Apart from that, what do we have again?" he asked.
"We have the latest version of bulletproof vest," she replied, as what looked like a foamy vest appeared on the screen in front of Wallace.
"This vest is like foam, but it's very light, and no type of bullet can pierce through it, not even machine guns. However, the wearer might die due to the force. It's only effective for pistol fights."
"Let's continue, then," he said.
"Apart from that, we've developed the Z-Gen fighter aircraft," she said.
"It's better and far stronger than the latest strongest fighter jet owned by the US, crowning them as the ones with the most powerful aircraft. The aircraft has the capability to carry ten disaster missiles that carry tons of explosives that can destroy a state and wipe it off the map, not to mention the countless mini-fighting missiles it carries. It also has the Chameleon camouflage ability in the cloud, due to the unique material used to make it, which allows it to meld into the sky, preventing lock-on from an enemy missile. Also, its speed and defense have been enhanced, as it has energy shields, just like those in airplanes," she said.
"The researchers who made these have been locked in a facility, with them not being able to walk out freely, due to the fear of them ratting us out, because we would be destroyed if any nation finds out," Laura said.
"Apart from that, we have the Monisseur flagship, a battleship that we've developed over the years, based on our research of energy fields. It has countless weapons on it, and it also has an energy shield. It was made with a metal that adapts well to water, making it able to move at a speed that far outstrips its weight," she said.
"These are all technologies that are like those for the next two generations. How the hell did you get your hands on this?" he asked.
"Well, it's from Antarctica," she said.
"The forbidden ground that all nations on Earth signed a treaty not to enter?" Wallace asked.
Antarctica is known for its mysteriousness, as till today, no one knows what's on it, because every nation leader of that time, when it was explored, all signed a treaty not to ever explore it again, and also not to talk about anything they saw there.
"It all started in 1960. The head of the family at that time had not even dreamed of starting an internationally powerful family. The family was just a rich family, and the head at that time went on an expedition that coincidentally led to Antarctica. That's where he stumbled upon ruined aircrafts that carried tons of special metals. He reserved the location closest to it and brought a warehouse where he transferred everything to. This is the reason we are able to have these groundbreaking inventions," she said.
"The forbidden grounds of Antarctica," he said.
"There are other things, but he dared not explore further, due to the unfavorable weather, till the government decided to explore it. But they did not go far before they all came together to sign a non-disclosure agreement. This further intensified our suspicion that there's something lurking in Antarctica, maybe it's another civilization that's far more powerful and advanced than that of Earth," she said.
"Looks like we will have to go there together," he said.
"When?" she asked enthusiastically.
"When you've finished settling down, and I also have some things that I have to go and do back in America. When I'm done with everything," he replied.
"What do you have again?" he asked.
"It's finished," she said.
"Hmm, just continue working underground for now, and look for countries that are on desperate terms in terms of warfare," he said.
"No problem, but do you want to collaborate with them?" she asked.
"You will know when the time comes," he replied.
"What about other reports?" he asked.
For almost thirty minutes, she informed him of the various businesses the Carlos family runs, both in and outside of the country.
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After an hour, they left the office towards a hall. She opened the door, and he stepped into the hall, where he saw men and women sitting on chairs surrounding a large table. They were the various leaders of the firms that the Carlos family owned, including the legal ones that the three families left.
They all stood up the moment they saw him. "Good morning, President," they all greeted at the same time.
"Good morning. You can have your seat," he said.
He also sat down at the head of the table. "Let's start with the introduction, then," he said.
Everyone stood up one by one to introduce themselves, and the introduction took up to ten minutes before it finally ended.
"The person who will be running things from now on will be my assistant," he said.
"You can report everything directly to her. She will make decisions and tell me about the more important ones."
"Clear?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," they answered.
"That will be it for the day, then," he said.
"Part one of my plans finished," he thought. "Time for the next phase, then."