It was over a week ago that Mikomi delivered the letter to his father that would change everything. The night that happened, Ryunosuke freshened up at home and jumped into his car. His destination was Onyx Technology Ventures. While Karoline forced Mikomi to use Sebastian as a scapegoat, Ryunosuke was still under the impression that an unknown person placed the letter in his mailbox. Thoughts of who this person could have been plagued his mind as he sped away into the night.

Ryunosuke nearly broke nearly every speed law as he raced back to his office. Burning the midnight oil wasn’t uncommon for him but this time it was different. He was so excited, he almost double-parked when he pulled into the parking lot. He jumped out of his car and zipped past the security guard at the front entrance, not even giving him the chance to receive a greeting from him.

Everyone had gone home earlier in the day feeling defeated by their setback but Ryunosuke was about to change all of that. He raced up to his office and picked up the phone. He started dialing one number after another, informing all of his management team to head back to the office immediately. After the final phone call, he sat in the chair behind his desk and pulled out the letter that Mikomi gave him. He stared at it in wonder as he still couldn’t believe that the answer had been delivered to him out of the blue as it had. If only he knew the truth behind it.

A half-hour passed before the door to his office opened. A half-awake Michael Murphy, the Project Manager for the A.I. itself, stepped into his office in casual clothes. Michael was a bit on the young side, in his upper 20s. He didn’t like the clean-shaven look and usually came to work with a full-face beard that was rather scruffy. His tone was rather rough and straightforward but deep down, he was a nice guy. Michael let out a big yawn and then scratched the top of his head, running his fingers through his black hair. His brown eyes were barely open as he tried to focus on his surroundings. Ryunosuke gave him the once over with a slightly peeved look on his face.

“What? You didn’t think I was going to come down here at nearly one in the morning wearing a suit and tie, did you?”

“I suppose not. Are there any others here yet?”

“Yeah, George and Cassandra are downstairs getting some coffee. For some odd reason, they think they’re going to need it.”

“So all that’s missing is Colin and Jared. Once they arrive we can start our meeting,”

No sooner than he finished, the door opened, and in walked George Warner, Chief Financial Officer, and Cassandra Ren, Chief Operating Officer. George was around five foot eight, sporting a thin mustache and short peppered grey hair, and brown eyes. Cassandra was around five foot four with medium-length black hair and hazel eyes. George, much like Michael, was wearing a simple t-shirt and blue jeans. Cassandra; however, was wearing a black dress and looked rather formal. She took one look at Michael and George and suddenly felt a bit out of place.

“Really, Cassie? It’s nearly one in the morning and you came into this meeting wearing business attire?” said Michael.

“How many times have I told you not to call me Cassie!?”

Michael threw up his hands in surrender as he slowly backed away from her. George cleared his throat to derail the sudden awkwardness. Michael had always had a crush on Cassandra but he never really liked to admit it. Besides, Michael was far from Cassandra’s type and stood about a snowball’s chance in hell. That didn’t stop him from trying from time to time, though. Cassandra and George grabbed their seats to the right of Ryunosuke’s desk while Michael took his on the opposite side of the room as a precaution. They only rested for a matter of minutes before they were joined by the last two remaining members of the team.

Jared Thatcher, the Chief Technology Officer, and Colin Schultz, Director of Programming and Information Technology entered the room each dressed about as casually as you could get. Jared was around six foot four and was wearing a light blue t-shirt and khaki shorts. His black hair was a bit messy as well as it’s more probable than not that he came here straight from his bed.

Colin was the smallest of the bunch only coming in a five-foot-three with sandy red hair. He could possibly weigh 150 lbs soaking wet. He was in grey sweatpants and a burgundy hoodie. Cassandra felt out of place as she eyed the two of them. Jared took a seat next to Michael while Colin sat in front of Ryunosuke’s desk, completing the half-circle. Ryunosuke held up the letter Mikomi had given him and prepared to address his team.

“I sincerely apologize for calling you all here at this late hour; however, when I returned home earlier this evening, my son notified me that this letter was left for me in my mailbox. It didn’t have a name on it so I was a bit suspicious of its contents. Upon reading it, what lay inside shocked me. Someone who knows about our A.I. project discovered its flaw and corrected it. The contents of this letter show the necessary code to make the A.I. function.”

Everyone began to talk amongst themselves. There was some hesitation and confusion on the collective looks on their faces. They were right to be suspicious as a letter like that just doesn’t pop up out of the blue. As they continued to whisper amongst themselves, Ryunosuke cleared his throat to regain their attention. Suddenly, the room quieted down and they all refocused their attention back on him.

“I looked it over, thinking that this must be a prank but everything seems to check out. Jared, Colin, and Michael. I’m going to give you copies of this letter. I want you three to analyze the contents and make sure that we are not being sabotaged. If everything checks out, then we are going to move forward with this information. Also, I want each one of you to discreetly question members working on the project. It is quite evident that this information’s source is internal. I’d like to meet the brilliant mind who deducted and rectified our issue. Needless to say, whoever is responsible should be rewarded, should this information check out.”

“We have a lot of work ahead of us but we’re going to do this one step at a time. Patience here will be the key to virtue. We need to set up a proper budget, time frame, scope, testing schedules, and the whole nine yards. I am eager to see this project come to fruition as I am sure all of you are as well. The completion of this project could very well make Onyx Technology Ventures one of the most globally recognized technology companies in the world. It’s exciting to think about it.”

Ryunosuke began to pace around the room. He put his hands behind his back as he began to collect his thoughts. He walked around for a few moments as everyone just watched him, waiting to hear what he had to say next. They, themselves, didn’t know what to think at this point. All they could do was continue to listen to what he had to say.

“To think, I started this company in my basement; tinkering with some old electronics. I was curious about how things worked. Transistors, diodes, capacitors, charges, currents, all of it fascinated me. Technology truly is a marvel of mankind and it captivated me to no end. I simply started repairing broken devices… televisions, microwaves, etc. As technology moved forward, I fixed walkmans, beepers, and more. I wanted to stop repairing… I wanted to start creating, so I did. I bought some breadboards, some circuit boards, and some parts, and I began experimenting. My first project was an AM transistor radio and it worked. I was amazed that I could make something that big companies could and it all began to snowball from there.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Ryunosuke looked out his office window, lost in his thoughts. Part of him was looking down over the parking lot to see just what it was he had built over the years. The other part of him was looking at his reflection as well as the reflection of his team members in the window. It put things into perspective for him as the scale and scope of the things happening around him began to settle in.

“Many years later, here I am. I look at this building every day… I look out this window and see cars lined up in the parking lot. I witness the hustle and bustle of my employees, each giving their all and I am always filled with that sense of wonder and amazement. Even now, I still cannot believe I have made it this far. Sure, I’m a lot older, I’m a lot wiser, and I certainly have financial stability but still, inside of me, I’m just that young kid that’s fascinated by technology. I have never once thought of myself as the owner of a company but much rather as a man who continues to do what he loves for a living.”

Ryunosuke closed his eyes for a moment and then turned to face his executive team. Each one of them was giving him their full attention as he looked at them with a smile on his face.

“I consider you all my dearest friends who have taken this plunge with me. Some of you I hired out of college and gave a chance because I saw the same spark in your eyes that I had in my own. Some of you I have known and have been friends with for a very long time... from the very start. This has been one hell of a journey and I am not just happy… I am proud to have you all with me for this next amazing step. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would do or experience something like this in my lifetime but here we are. Let us give ourselves to this project. Let us see this through!”

All five of them stood and gave Ryunosuke a round of applause. It was a riveting speech that came straight from his heart. The tone and inflection in his voice made every word of his genuine. Words when strung together merely form sentences, but for Ryunosuke… tonight his words became anthems. Anthems that stirred the hearts of his employees and his friends. While everyone was moved by his speech, Michael looked around while applauding and asked the one question that nobody else was asking.

“This means we can go home now, right?”

There was a collective groan amongst George, Cassandra, Colin, and Jared but Ryunosuke burst out laughing. After that speech, many thought that Ryunosuke would lash out at Michael for such a comment but he was too elated and overcome with joy to be angry at anyone. After all, it was he who summoned them all here in the middle of the night so he had some understanding of their desire to go home and finish sleeping the rest of the night away.

“Yes, yes. We will start working on this later today. Everyone, go home and get some rest. I realize it’s late so you will all be excused until noontime. We’ll make this a short day reserved for analyzing this code. It shouldn’t take long for our engineers to confirm whether or not the code is authentic or not. Once the code has been analyzed, we will have another meeting the day after to discuss the results and to plan the next steps.”

With that, everyone walked up to Ryunosuke and shook his hand out of respect and excitement. Even though it was very early in the morning, the news of possibly finding a solution to their problem was enough to wake them all up. One by one, they exited Ryunosuke’s office, leaving only him behind. He sat back down behind his desk and opened the lower left drawer. He pulled out a strongbox and unlocked it. He placed the letter inside and relocked the box before putting it back into the drawer. He let out a bit of a sigh as the identity of the writer was one of the things he wished to know most of all.

“I only hope I can find out who wrote that letter. I know in my heart that this is the answer that will save us.”

Ryunosuke closed his eyes and put his head down. At what was becoming customary for him these days, he fell asleep at his desk. Morning came quickly and Ryunosuke was awakened by the sound of a cup and saucer being placed down in front of him. He opened his eyes and waited for them to focus. When they did, he looked up at a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a red business-style dress. It was Alice. In the original timeline, she was twenty-eight when Mikomi was the owner of the company. Here in this timeline, she was eighteen and a prodigy that was in her second year of college.

“Sorry for waking you, Mr. Saigo. I brought you some coffee. Cream and 2 packets of sweetener, just as you like it.”

Ryunosuke sat back in his chair and yawned. He reached out and grabbed the coffee with his right hand, slowly bringing it up to his lips and taking a sip. He sat back in his chair as he savored the coffee just a bit. He then took another sip and placed the cup back down on the saucer.

“Ahhh. This is going to hit the spot. Thank you, Alice.”

“Is there anything else I can do for you this morning, sir?”

“You don’t have to be so formal around me, Alice. Just talk to me like you would any of your friends. I may be the owner of the company and your boss but I’m still human just like you.”

“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”

Ryunosuke could only chuckle to himself. Alice may be a prodigy but she was still young and looking to make a great impression. This was a new job for her, after all. Typically, anyone would be on pins and needles when they first start a new job, especially in a corporation as large as this. Alice was no exception so even though Ryunosuke gave her permission to drop the formalities, it’s something she just didn’t feel comfortable doing just yet.

“You can take some time for yourself this morning, Alice. The others won’t be here until after lunch. I gave everyone the morning off because something amazing happened last night. We may have found the answer to our problem with the A.I. We were here pretty late discussing it. Today, we will determine whether or not the information we received is accurate. Needless to say, I’m very anxious and excited to know the results!”

Ryunosuke paused, gripping the coffee cup with both hands. His hands trembled a bit as he stared into the cup.

“I can feel it, Alice. This is going to be our day!”

“I’m happy for you, sir. If you need anything, please call me right away, sir.”

Ryunosuke laughed at the fact that Alice still couldn’t drop the honorifics when speaking to him. He simply gave her a nod. He brought the coffee cup back up his mouth and guzzled the remainder of it down. He let out a satisfying sigh and placed the now-empty cup back down on the saucer. Alice’s coffee was just as good in the other timeline as it was here and this world’s Ryunosuke was beginning to appreciate it. He sat back in his chair and commented to himself.

“She’s such a nice girl. I wonder if Mikomi is still interested in that other one. If not, maybe in a few years… “

Ryunosuke paused for a moment and then laughed out loud at his foolish thoughts. The fact that he just tried to play matchmaker struck him in such an odd way that he couldn’t help but laugh at himself for even thinking something like that.

“Listen to me… trying to play cupid with my son. Mikomi… I just hope you find someone for yourself one day...”