As the presenter finished her introductory speech, loud cpping resounded through the big event hall. Every Alpha Dynamics Techshowcase was a major event, especially for a mega-corporation.

  The products it would unch would affect countless people in all territories, no matter where they lived. Even more so, the fact that they pulled the original date for the showcase forward by a few months to mirror GenoTech’s showcase greatly increased popurity and interest.

  Meanwhile, Leon’s gaze remained passively interested, occasionally looking over at Tara, who occasionally sipped on her diluted cocktail drink with a frown. Apparently, mixing a fruity soft drink with a bitter alcoholic beverage wasn’t much to her taste.

  Leon chuckled quietly at the sight of this, but Tara, having somehow heard him over the loud noise in the event hall, quickly shot him a warning gre.

  Shutting his mouth, Leon soon returned his attention to the stage where the female presenter continued talking.

  “Tonight, Alpha Dynamics is introducing one of its new fgships, the backbone of what makes devices, gadgets, and software bearing its name unrivaled in the current tech industry. However, before we get to the main event, let’s take some time to introduce some new projects that have been underway for a while now.”

  Next, the presenter called up multiple development leaders who introduced different new devices. Each session spanned roughly fifteen minutes, stretching over two hours until the eighth one.

  Nudging his side with her elbow, Tara tried to get his attention as she smiled sarcastically at him.

  “This is sooo interesting, Leon. Please don’t tell me that it’s over soon.”

  Leon rolled his eyes in return. “Almost done, only the main event should be left.”

  Right after he said that, the beautiful woman walked up once again to the podium after the prior group left. She was visibly smiling as she finally announced the st project, the reveal everybody has been waiting for.

  Many upper-tier executives of hundreds of major companies have come here simply to find out what the rumors regarding Alpha Dynamics’ newest project have been all about. What made them so confident to directly compete with GenoTech by announcing their frontrunner on the same day as them.

  “For our st event, Alpha Dynamics would like to congratute one person in particur.” The presenter paused, taking in the rising expectant tension in the hall. “Without this person, this project would probably never have seen the light of day.”

  As her words filled the event hall, Leon grew more and more tense. He didn’t get direct instructions on what would be happening during the announcement, but he assumed the attention would be overwhelming nevertheless.

  “That’s why, on this special night, I’m honored to introduce you to the person who made Alpha Dynamics' newest trademark a reality. Who brought the revolutionary Vulcan System to life. Dr. Jim Irvine!!!”

  The crowd erupted in loud cheering and cpping, filling the entire hall with a noise that surpassed all other project introductions from the past two hours as Dr. Irvine, the man he grew increasingly close to over the past year, walked on stage in his perfectly pressed suit. He waved twice to the crowd as he took his position at the podium with a polite smile.

  Meanwhile, Leon was sitting motionlessly in his chair. The tension left his body as quickly as it came, repced by a morbid feeling of weightlessness that left him shell-shocked.

  ‘What?’ Leon’s mind short-circuited as he stared straight ahead.

  ‘Huh?’ He started looking to his right and left with confusion on his face, stopping at Tara’s face, who was equally clueless. Leon only told her that something he worked on would be presented tonight, but he didn’t give her any close details. His expressionless face, however, was saying enough.

  “Erm, is this supposed to happen?” She asked, slightly unsure what to say. Leon didn’t reply to her question and just looked back on stage where Dr. Irvine was giving his speech.

  “First of all, I can’t tell you about how long I’ve been waiting to give you all in this room the results of what can only be described as countless hours of work without sleep. After all, Vulcan itself is not just another tech series. It’s an overhaul of everything that makes up Alpha Dynamics. The key to absolute cybersecurity for everybody who holds a device from Alpha Dynamics in their hands.”

  These were exactly the words Leon used to describe Vulcan to Dr. Irvine when he asked, but seeing the man in question rattling off the script he gave him, made Leon feel empty inside.

  He should be standing up there right now, giving that speech. He should be allowed to present the project he’d been working tirelessly on for months. During the night, he squeezed in extra hours at the b after most people had left, just because he couldn’t find any other spots in his tight schedule.

  Squeezing his wrists tightly, Leon’s arms began shaking as he watched the promo video being pyed behind Dr. Irvine as he continued talking.

  This was absurd.

  Vulcan was his creation. The Vulcan AI, which the system was originally based on, was his creation. Nothing of this would be possible without him.

  Hell, every single team member who was supposed to work on it left because they didn’t think it was feasible or even possible to finish it. Leon built up the entire thing on his own from the beginning to the end.

  And yet, another person was taking credit for what they could have at least done the decency of giving an honorable mention.

  “What’s this?” A sudden voice pulled Leon out of his thoughts as he turned his head to the two people sitting next to him. They were looking at a public livestream of the GenoTech showcase that was happening right now. Both of them had a shocked expression on their faces as they looked at the screen.

  “How is this possible. GenoTech’s stock just skyrocketed.” The first person, a female voice, said before the male directly adjacent to Leon added. “Their new Android model exceeds all expectations, its AI showing more potential than investors believed. It seems Alpha Dynamics won’t be able to keep up with them, even with their new Vulcan System.”

  Leon listened to their conversation with an expressionless face, turning back to Dr. Irvine, who was introducing all the new applications that Vulcan offered to customers.

  Somehow, in a corner of his mind, this apparent loss against GenoTech’s androids made him smile.

  Turning towards Tara, he leaned closer to her ear and whispered.

  “Let’s go. There is nothing to see here anymore.”

  ……….

  The next morning, Leon took a hover car to get to Alpha Dynamics HQ as quickly as possible. He even skipped all his morning csses just because he didn’t want to waste any more time to confront Dr. Irvine as soon as possible about the shitshow that went down yesterday.

  When he arrived at the b, however, he was interrupted by the number of workers taking apart the Vulcan servers in all operational rooms before unloading them in rge crates.

  “What the hell?” Leon mumbled to himself, stopping a passing worker who carried a piece of the power supply network.

  “Hey, what it going on here?”

  The man wearing a blue one-piece worksuit and basecamp looked him up and down before opening his mouth. “We’re taking the Vulcan servers and offshoring them to another facility at the edge of the Central Territory.”

  “Why?” Leon was confused, but the man simply shrugged.

  “I don’t know. We got the order from resource management, but it probably comes from high up. I’m just doing my job.”

  Afterward, the man quickly went on his way as Leon moved from one room to the other, seeing the same situation py out everywhere. The Vulcan System and all its hardware were being disassembled and taken somewhere else.

  The only thing that remained in pce was the command console in the first room, which was only relocated to another pce in the building. Seeing all this py out right in front of his eyes, he finally couldn’t take it anymore.

  “This is bullshit.” Leon cursed, making his way over to Dr. Irvine’s office. He needed some answers, and the only one he could get them from was the man in charge of the whole boratory.

  ……….

  ‘Many scientists in history built their achievements off someone else’s work.’

  ~~Dr. Benjamin Harper’s Memoirs~~