Chapter 264 - 264. How Petty
Today was 15th September,
Bobby was back in the country. The reason being the biggest launch ever by his company. Today, they were going to officially launch the mobile phones, as well as the whole countrywide network, except Northern Ireland though, because when the company initially started setting up the towers the IRA blew them up. Thankfully, nobody was hurt.
The phones were, of course, very expensive. But, Bobby wanted the world to be excited about it, so he also created a bigger and thicker version of the mobile phone, this time it was much cheaper. The original, small and portable was 2899 pounds, while this new brick one was 500 pounds. Big difference. However, since the batteries were cheap, even these big ones could run for at least 20 hours with one charge.
He was also now trying to create an image for himself, make himself famous and be loved. So, he would be personally at the launch. Magnus had hired 2 MEDA wizards to be his permanent bodyguards. They were to deal with both muggle as well as magical threats.
The news channels on the television were having the time of their life, boasting that a British company had come up with this amazing new tech, better than anyone else in the world. Also, they were the first to roll out the whole network. FutureTek Communications was the only company in the United Kingdom that deals with communications technology.
The government was also excited about this, calling it the next big new thing since the discovery of the telegraph. Bobby didn't deny it though. He knew, that with this, the wireless technology will only continue to get better year after year.
~Maybe, one day we will be able to put a little camera on these phones and call other people with video of themselves in real-time.~ Bobby thought while sitting in his big car.
He had come a long way since the start of the journey. He thinks that the biggest turning point in his life was the day Magnus told him about his magical powers. Nothing remained the same from that day.
Slowly, Bobby also developed a firm resolve, that if Magnus had aimed to become the best in his world, then why can't he? And then he became a member of the Round Table. It excited him to no limit, he was in the fricking "ROUND TABLE". He even got to sit at the original table, see Camelot and experience the wonders of magic.
However, he believed that technology also had the capability to shock the magical world. Unlike magic that had a threshold, in the tech world there was no limit to innovation. As long as there are smart people, new things will keep on being developed. The current phone, which costs 3000 pounds today, might cost just 200 or even less. That is why Bobby was so invested.
Magnus had told him about his plans to make Britain bigger, as well as his Africa plan. So he was also slowly developing technology to help achieve these goals.
One thing he understood well was that if Britain wanted to become a world hegemon again, they needed a strong military. At this point, only the United States had the ability to make the best jets, military ships and more. So, he had spent good money on poaching talents from around the world and made them sign Magnus' provided contract papers.
Now, these highly intelligent people were preparing designs for Military armoured vehicles, boats, helicopters, tanks and even going outrageous by working on Aircraft Carrier. Bobby also helped them whenever he could.
He hoped that one day, they could have such an amazing military that no one would dare to make trouble anywhere. He didn't want Britain to turn into USA 2.0 however, who used their immense power for self-serving reasons, just hiding it under the pretence of bringing peace and freedom.
He believed in Magnus. And Magnus was someone who wanted peace just for the sake of it, with no strings attached. So, if someday some wannabe dictator rose up in a country, he'd directly receive a bullet to the head. If some terrorist organisation tried to take over a country, they'd become Dragon's food. No questions asked, no secret deals made.
"Sir, we're here, please come with us." The car arrived at the venue. It was the big open hall in FutureTek headquarters. Previously they were located in the building Magnus owned. But, now that FutureTek was so big, it needed much more space. So they had commissioned Emrys Construction to make them a whole new skyscraper. It was 80 floors high. However, soon Magnus got jealous and ordered that his building also be upgraded, now Magnus' building was 85 floors high. Bobby didn't give in and installed a tall pyramid on the top of his building, bringing the height of the two to equal.
However, the pyramid was made of military-grade glass panels and was actually Bobby's main office. It was beautiful as he could see the whole city from there in all directions.
Back at the party, some members of Parliament (MPs) were also invited, though they were not given much importance. Soon after the event started, Bobby went to the stage and unveiled all the products of the company, and also showed a live demo by calling one of his assistants sitting in the Liverpool branch. He gave a short review of how to operate the device, also the charges of calls. Bobby deliberately kept the cost at the same level as the landline telephone call. This was a deliberate move to urge people to buy these phones.
"I want to say something. Probably some people will call me arrogant, but today, I openly declare... THE AGE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY HAS BEGUN!"
*CLAPS*
The large hall erupted in applause. They were pretty excited by the prospects of this company. But, sadly, it was not a publicly-traded company, so no one could really invest.
Bobby ended the event and invited the few important guests, such as a few celebrities, MPs, nobilities and businessmen to a private party with no journalists allowed. It was time for Bobby to do some networking here.
...
Gringotts,
Magnus had come to the bank to put the book in his vault. He was quickly greeted by Novgor, the boss of the bank.
"Sir... you don't need to make a long journey to do such a small thing. We can store your items in your vault remotely. There is a deposit box." Novgor said.
Magnus rolled his eyes, "I have other things to do there too. Just send a goblin with me. I'm telling you, the more you stop me from making a direct lift to my vault the angrier I will get."
He left the greedy goblin. His days were numbered anyway. Goldruk had already started his work and was slowly taking over.
Magnus went through a long, slow journey to his vaults.
The goblin waited outside while he did his work. He put the book in a highly protected safe. Then, he went to the wand room and picked 50 new sticks for himself. ~Dammit, Merlin. Just let me use the staff, I'm using wands here like they're twigs.~
He cursed and came to the library. Here, he carefully picked a few Dark Magic books that were purely theoretical. He didn't want to take anything dangerous to the school.
After that, he picked some potions books for Ragnar. At last, just out of curiosity he came to a small glass box. There was a label on it, "DO NOT PUT IT ON"
Magnus, curiously just took the glass off and picked the object. It was a red mask, with large black patches for the eyes. Even the eyes were covered with a white cloth. "How can one see in this mask? Well, only one way to know."
He ignored the warning and slowly put on the leather mask. It was a little tight but fit perfectly. After feeling it was perfectly set, he closed his eyes.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA..."
"NOOOO... PLEASE! NOT INSIDE ME!"
"JUST KILL ME!"
"HEHEHE... IT'S BOIL BATH TIME!"
Magnus was horrified. He felt chills all over his body. There, in front of his eyes was not the vault. Instead, it was some kind of a red world. Everything here was either red or black. The soil, the land entirely was black, however, the sky and the light were red. For as far as he could see, he was seeing humans and various weird beings being cruelly tortured. Somewhere they were being boiled in oil, somewhere something too large was being pushed inside them. Some were getting their skin pulled apart, some were getting their eyes and mouths sewed.
"THIS... IS THIS...
"Welcome to hell. Mr Whoever is looking through my eyes. I am none other than your lovely Captain Delicious Pants, the Ruler of Hell, punisher of sinners and deflowerer of virgins... also a lover of my juicy old man."
Some quick words came to Magnus' head. "Is... Is this really hell? Then... God is real. Can you show me, someone, I killed before? What about that Oscar?"
"Woah... you're pretty cool about all this. And that Oscar, well he's getting his holes stretched. We're going to pass a bullet train through his back and out of his mouth. I know, that's impossible, but duh, I rule this world, I make the laws of physics and reality. By the way, shouldn't your head be like a blasted watermelon by now?"
Magnus got scared as soon as he heard them. He quickly took the mask off in fright and ran to the nearest mirror. He gasped in horror, his eyes were looking red as if they were cherries, ready to pop at any moment. Thick veins had also somehow shown themselves on his forehead.
"GOD! I nearly died just now. How am I such a fool." He cursed himself.
The Merlin in his head scoffed and scolded him, "As always, young blood. You saw the warning."
"But it didn't say my head would explode if I wore it. If that was written there I would have burned this thing." Magnus said, looking at the mask in disgust.
"Sadly, you can't. I have tried every way to destroy it, but it's indestructible. So, I just let it be. I never want to talk with that weird King of Hell. He gives me very... bad vibes. NOW! MAGNUS, YOU NEED TO LEARN TO FOLLOW THE RULES!" Merlin once again started to give him a lecture.
Magnus just tiredly muttered under his breath, ~Man, the Merlin is a portrait so much cooler.~
"WHAT DID YOU SAY? I CAN HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS!" Merlin roared in anger.
Magnus chuckled, "Are you jealous of yourself? Haha... how petty."
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