Ves took a small break after finishing up the latest ch. After that, he stopped by the office to speak with Gavin about the competition.
"How is Dumont doing these days?"
"He’s very aggressive in trying to sell the Havalax." Gavin replied, and called up a projection of the ads that had popped up recently. "If you look closely, most of the ads emphasize the Havalax’s amazing price-performance ratio. The standard price has dropped to 50 million credits, but a number of buyers are taking advantage of discounts that can go as deep as ten percent off."
The aggressive promotion coupled with the heavy discounts and price cuts served to slow the bleeding of Dumont’s company. After losing a whole bunch of orders after losing the duel, the rival ch designer actually gained enough new orders to sell as much chs as he could produce.
"I guess a month is long enough for mories of the duel to fade. If you leave out its recent history, the Havalax is a pretty decent design, so I shouldn’t be surprised that its starting to sell again." Ves disgruntledly concluded. "Still, its production costs should be higher than the Blackbeak. I’m nearly certain that he’s making a loss if he sells his chs for 45 million credits."
"It’s not about making a profit at this point. Dumont is trying to make everyone forget about the duel by putting as much copies of his Havalax in circulation as possible. All the stories his buyers spread as a result will slowly push away the past into obscurity."
Clearly, Dumont’s strategy worked. He had essentially overwritten the collective mories of the public with a more positive ssage about his chs.
The revitalized competition forced the LMC to up their ga and boost their marketing. They already coordinated with Marcella to flood the Bentheim region in all kinds of promotions that raised the profile of the bronze label and silver label Blackbeaks.
The sad thing about it was that the LMC spent far more on these campaigns than what they got back from the E in licensing fees.
"That’s going to change in a couple of months." Gavin predicted. "The marketing is a bit heavy-handed because the public has only heard about your exclusive gold label chs, which are very hard to obtain. We still have to let the market know that there are cheaper and more abundant alternatives available."
Ves didn’t argue about the need to invest in marketing. He simply found it disconcerting to be throwing millions of credits away each day.
Still, unlike Dumont’s company, the LMC earned far more money than they spent. Much of it could also be attributed to their new contract with Marcella. She kept her word and devoted a lot of her own money in helping to promote the Blackbeak.
"By the way, Calsie’s been wanting to et with you. A lot has changed on this planet as well."
Ah. With all of his attention directed to Bentheim, Ves forgot about his backyard. He did hear a few things from his employees on how Cloudy Curtain felt a lot of pride for his recent achievents. Still, he didn’t hear too much beyond that considering he holed himself up in his workshop trying to finish his batch of orders as quickly as possible.
He nodded to Gavin. "Send her to my office. It’s about ti I received an update on the situation on the ground."
Ves took care of a couple of other matters, like feeding an increasingly radiant Lucky. He could clearly feel his pet had almost reached the point of saturation before he triggered another evolution.
"Eat well, but not too much, okay? I’d still like to cuddle you in my arms once in a while."
"ow!"
Lately, there hadn’t been many threats for Lucky to take care of. The security detachnt from Sanyal-Ablin easily took care of the occasional fans and crazies trying to sneak into the workshop. They also caught and disabled most of the microscoping spy drones sent in their way.
Fortunately, Lucky possessed keen enough senses to sniff out the remainder that proved to be too advanced for the workshop’s current security suite to detect. Ves held off on upgrading his security package until the company moved to a larger site.
Ves winked at his pet before heading to his office. The cramped office attached to the workshop building beca increasingly more crowded lately as the company started to do more than making and selling chs.
It gladdened him to see he built his company up to the point where it could be called a genuine dium ch manufacturer. If Ves factored in the E, then the goal of selling more than a thousand chs in the LMC’s second fiscal year would definitely be t.
"Ves! It’s been so ti since I last saw you."
"Haha, my apologies for that. I’ve been busy, as you know. Have you finished your studies yet?"
"Yup. I wasn’t able to rush my courses as fast as Gavin, but I’m all done now!"
"That’s great to hear. Even if Maisie Duval has taken over much of your duties, I still prefer to deal with soone I trust like you. I’ll be depending on you to keep an eye on our ho planet."
Ves rarely talked to his managers these days. Jake and Primrose kept everything running smoothly without his input, just as he intended. He didn’t wish to be bothered by trivial minutiae that his underlings could take care of by themselves. He was far more comfortable in the workshop than the conference room.
He only made an exception for Gavin and Calsie. They were around the sa age and they had been with him from the start, so Ves didn’t feel the need to watch his words around the two.
"Let brief you on what’s happening on the streets."
Calsie handed him a data pad that contained a mix of local news articles. They all profiled the the shift in public opinion with regards to Ves and the LMC.
"THE LIVING CH CORPORATION: A HOGROWN SENSATION - PUTTING CLOUDY CURTAIN ON THE MAP."
"TOTAL CH MANIA AS ENGULFED THE YOUNGER GENERATION! CH HATERS MUST GET LOST!"
"FRESLIN HAS OVERTAKEN ORINOCO AS CLOUDY CURTAIN’S TRENDIEST CITY - CH FANATICS FLOCK TO THE HOTOWN OF VES."
"THE POLITICAL WINDS HAVE TURNED! THE GREENS AND THE WHITE DOVES ARE AT WIT’S END!"
That last headline seed especially important. "Tell about the people at the top. Is the ruling coalition still thinking about raising taxes?"
"They shelved those plans for an indefinite ti right after you won your duel." Calsie reported. "You don’t have to worry about any new threats on that front. You and your company have pretty much beco the public mascots of our planet. It’s political suicide to propose any bill that hinders the growth of the LMC."
The LMC didn’t pay much taxes to the local governnt, so it didn’t actually benefit the local citizens directly. Maybe a couple of years from now, the LMC’s profits might reach the point where it represented a significant chunk of Cloudy Curtain’s GDP.
Still, the citizens mainly cared about pride. The LMC beca the planet’s standard bearer in a way the two major farming consortiums achieved. Calsie showed him plenty of indicators that noted this change of heart among the public.
"That’s good to hear." Ves nodded. While he didn’t need the public’s love, it certainly didn’t hurt to benefit from it. "What about the Pioneers? I’ve only been hearing good things from them lately."
Calsie had a strong connection to the Pioneers, so she should know best what went on with them these days. "The Pioneers recently beca embroiled in a power struggle. The old guard wanted to stay aloof while the younger mbers supported more proactive policies."
"I take it the latter won the power struggle?"
"Yup. Most of those stubborn old goats got booted out of the mber rolls by the new leadership that swept into power. So of them retired, but a significant chunk defected to the White Doves."
"Is that bad?"
"Not really." Calsie dismissed any worries. "Sure, they know a lot of secrets, but by now most of what they know is obsolete. The Pioneers have transford into a dynamic young movent now. And you can bet their main priorities is to see the LMC grow, thereby dragging the rest of the planet out of its squalor."
"That’s a bit strong, don’t you think? People are hardly starving on the streets."
"Neither are they finding any better opportunities. Lots of farrs are doing the sa work their parents did, who in turn have taken over the work of their own parents. Social mobility is practically glacial compared to the glitzy Bentheim!"
Ves beca a little worried at Calsie’s enthusiasm. "Bentheim isn’t the best role model for a planet you want to live on. The best cities like Dorum and Ansel cost a fortune to live in. So ti ago, I promised my cousin linda a penthouse in downtown Dorum. Do you know how much money I ended up spending? 15 million credits!"
"Still, the suburbs are-"
"It’s even worse there. Places like Haston have beco notorious for the breakdown in society there. It’s not a coincidence the Bentheim Liberation Movent initially rose up from that town."
"Look, Ves, that all sounds worriso, but Cloudy Curtain is not about to turn into a second Bentheim. With smart leadership at the helm, we’ll surely be able to swim past the rocks in the river."
"Aspirations like that have a tendency to be derailed." He shook his head. "Anyway, it’s not my business to ddle with the Pioneers. They have nothing to do with ."
"Your relations departnt doesn’t think so. They’ve been cautiously discussing so cooperative initiatives with the Pioneers."
Ves forgot about that. He ordered the relations departnt to maintain friendly ties with the local power players. Mrs. Duval must have taken that as an order to move towards an informal alliance with whoever was willing to play ball.
"Look, no offense, Calsie, but I don’t trust the Pioneers, even if they have a new coat of paint. It’s not in the LMC’s interests to get in bed with soone who can have a change of heart the next day."
"If you say so, sir."
This discussion went nowhere as well, so they quickly changed the topic. Still, Ves reminded himself to check with his chief relations officer and make it clear he wanted the LMC to remain neutral.
"What else is on the agenda?"
"There’s the plans to expand to a new site. Several architects in collaboration with Sanyal-Ablin have selected a suitable site further away from Freslin and drew up a final architectural plan."
Calsie handed out another data pad, this ti a thicker one with more enhanced security features. Ves actually had to authenticate his identity before he got to look at the drawings of the new manufacturing complex.
If Ves had to describe it, he’d call it ambitious. The schematics of the exterior defenses
reminded him of the star-shaped walls of the forward base on Groening IV. Sanyal-Ablin’s influence could be felt throughout the architectural drawings. Everything had been designed to survive and repel a minor planetary raid.
"I see that much of the most important production occurs underground."
"That’s correct." Calsie nodded. "As per your wishes, the surveyors have scanned and tested the terrain and found a site that provides a decent amount of buffer against limited orbital bombardnt. It will hold out for a week at least."
Much of the construction above the ground consisted of gleaming office buildings that Ves intended to serve as the LMC’s headquarters. Ves wouldn’t have to deal with cramped corridors anymore by the ti they moved into this new place.
Ves nodded in satisfaction after a couple of minutes. "I’m fairly satisfied with these plans. Still, it’s obvious that I’ll be paying a premium for all of this safety. What’s the price tag?"
"Well, the architects have loosely estimated that it will take at least 500 million credits to construct the barebones version of the plans."
"Half a billion credits!"
His teeth already started to ache when he heard that sum. Just when he thought he could catch a break and rake in the profits, it turned out that he had to give the money away again if he wanted to prepare for the future. The LMC desperately needed to move out of their increasingly crowded location.
User Comments
0 comments from readers