BXBX NOVEL Chapter 65 - Government Funding
A beautiful woman with blonde hair in her late 30s called Ernest Moniz\'s business phone number, provided by one of her many industry connections.
Within an office at the Department of Energy in DC, a Portuguese-American man in his mid-60s was busy with his current national project. He was distracted by a random call from an unknown number.
[No one knows this number unless they\'re huge donors or very important people. I\'ll pick up just in case.]
"My name is Marcia Kemp. I appreciate you accepting my call." the voice on the other line said.
"Marcia Kemp? From Kemp-Jacobs, Future Tech\'s law firm?" Ernest asked inquisitively.
"Correct. Great, I won\'t have to waste time introducing myself. Vince Dalton was approached by an EU representative asking for help with their fusion reactor project in France. He claims our proprietary graphene technology is vital to their project\'s success and lowballed us for assistance." Marcia explained straight to the point.
"Thanks for being direct about this issue. Our national ignition facility in California failed in almost every metric in 2012, which pretty much placed the United States on the back foot in the fusion energy industry. How confident is Future Tech in applying graphene in newer designed reactors?" Ernest asked curiously.
"There\'s a reason why ITER and the EU want us to collaborate on the Tokamak Reactor. It\'s the one thing they require to succeed." Marcia replied in her negotiation mode.
[Fusion energy will unshackle our reliance on foreign crude oil and also benefit the green climate change initiative.] Ernest thought.
"How long would it take for Future Tech to start research and development for a new fusion reactor, then?" Ernest asked.
"We\'ve been investing in quantum, fusion, battery, and many other research projects in plenty of universities across the US. However, most of the promising innovations in fusion are currently at MIT, so I\'ll start there for recruitment. It should take no more than a month to assemble an initial research team based in Austin." Marcia explained in detail.
"The Department of Energy doesn\'t have much in terms of discretionary funds, but I\'ll talk to the President to approve your new venture as a military defense contract, in collaboration with my department, of course." Ernest offered.
"I\'ll be waiting for Secretary Hagel\'s response. But, again, I appreciate your time." Marcia stated.
Ernest Moniz wore his suit jacket and headed towards the Pentagon to discuss Future Tech\'s offer in detail.
After arriving from a quick car commute, he met with a man around the same age as him, the Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel.
"What a surprise to see you around here, Ernest. I heard from your secretary you wanted to talk about something important." Chuck said while shaking hands.
"Marcia Kemp, Future Tech\'s lead counsel, contacted me out of the blue an hour earlier. It seems the Europeans are interested in our domestic fusion technologies. We\'ll be conceding political leverage if we allow Future Tech to collaborate with ITER." Ernest explained.
"We\'ve already granted Future Tech $75 billion worth of defense contracts the past year. So if they\'re expecting more funding, tell them to look elsewhere." Chuck replied.
"Will the US military seriously allow foreign nations access to strategic assets like graphene and clean fusion energy? I call your bluff. Talk to President Obama; you won\'t regret it." Ernest said confidently.
"We\'ve spent plenty of time and money on fusion energy already, but I\'ll present Future Tech\'s case to the President. How much funding are we talking?" Chuck asked.
"ITER offered them a portion of $60 billion. Instead, we should negotiate using government concession agreements and contracts in exchange for a commercial fusion reactor within five years. Though Future Tech isn\'t too flush with capital right now based on how Vince Dalton likes to spend his money, they\'ll be swimming in cash after their 2013 sales skyrocket. So let\'s offer them something they can\'t buy with money." Ernest suggested.
Kemp-Jacobs received an initial agreement allowing the sale of specific fusion reactor components to allied nations. The Hive Mind manufacturing process will perpetually be owned by Future Tech, with the protection of the US government, which includes graphene production.
The federal government will fund the fusion reactor program for five years with $50billion and grant Future Tech further contracts if completed. Future Tech would also be exempt from taxes from its businesses in Afghanistan and other theatres of war and allow sponsorship of foreign employees to work in the US.
[Now, this is a compelling offer, unlike the one Gaston proposed. Director Price won\'t be bugging me about getting Afghan AV pilots cleared to work at stateside company branches anymore.] Marcia pondered while reading her private emails.
She spent the rest of her day finalizing the agreement with the Department of Energy and Defense.
David and the rest of her lawyers worked throughout the day, ironing out all the small details for this potentially massive deal with the government.
Vince met with Andreas to ensure enough supply of the consumer-grade Infinity products like the Infinity console and Hypervisors for the planned release in June.
"I heard about our energy limit issue from Morgan and Patel. What has your division done so far to alleviate the problem?" Vince asked.
"Elon has ordered power station transmission lines and equipment with the funding you provided. We\'re focusing our production output on the power grid upgrades for Austin and LA." Andreas replied.
"How will this affect our targeted product release date?" Vince asked.
"It should take around a month to fully update the power systems at the tech campus and headquarters. After that, the rest of the upgrades we can gradually work on throughout the year." Andreas said confidently.
"Extend our private energy transmission system towards the Port of Houston in preparation for our naval manufacturing division. Let me know if you run into any issues as soon as possible." Vince instructed.
"Understood, Vince. I assume the blueprints from Hyundai C&E were helpful in your new maritime venture?" Andreas replied.
"Very. The information Anthony procured was the complete business data set from their decades of heavy industries experience. We were lucky, though. So we have to keep our guard up all the time to avoid the same thing happening to us. And feel free to join us for the E3 announcement." Vince explained before bidding farewell.
He then visited the robotics laboratory at the headquarter offices.
Vince walked in to find a gorgeous red-haired scottish-American lady in her late 20s tinkering with a power armor prototype.
"Good day, Heidi. How\'s work going?" Vince asked curiously.
"Hey, Vince. The spacesuit designs are relatively basic and straightforward, but Director Price\'s suggestions for the military version are another story." Heidi replied.
"Wow, the suit is enormous. Probably the size of two people." Vince commented.
"We\'ve miniaturized many of the components, but some parts like the exoskeleton base are bulky in nature," Heidi explained.
"At least it\'s not multiple stories tall like the Gundam mobile suits," Vince replied jokingly.
"Gundam, what? I could scale the armor to two stories large, but it would require too much power output from our current batteries." Heidi replied seriously.
"I\'m just kidding, Heidi. This size is big enough for our operators. Talk to Dr. Taylor Miller from Future Tech VR. Her team specializes in deep-dive experiences. She may be able to help with the control functions of the larger armor suits. You did great work in our Hypervisor program. I suggest you present a few features live on stage at E3." Vince stated.
"Thank you for appreciating my efforts, but I\'m not the type of person to do live presentations," Heidi replied.
"Come on, a pretty lady like yourself would make plenty of fans at E3," Vince replied.
"Are you flirting with me, Mr. Dalton?" Heidi asked in jest.
"That would be inappropriate, Ms. McGuire. But I do have a thing for red hair. Honestly, though, you can join us for the event if you want. Mom is renting a yacht for our entourage." Vince explained.
"If you were a few years older, it might have been possible. Regarding the E3 event, though, I\'ll think about it." Heidi replied honestly.
[I guess I don\'t look too bad for a 15-year-old] so Vince pondered.
Stats last time checked:
Future Tech current valuation - $300 billion
15 million BTC (currently trades at $1,000)
$10 Billion cash in Future Tech
105,000+ employees (FT AI, Future Studios, Hive Mind Manufacturing, FT Micro Devices, BitCash, FT VR, Future Tech F1, FT Investments, Future Arms, Future Med, Future Tech Robotics, Future Education, SpaceX)
20,000+ operators under Future Security
Personal Vehicles: Klassen Phantom, Agera R, Agera SFV, Boeing Luxury 787 Dreamliner
Five company collaborators (Epic, Koenegisegg, SpaceX, Tesla, Hyundai C&E)
Dozens of investments under Future Tech Holdings (i..e., Instagram)