Chapter 97: The Factory in Wales

Chapter 97: Chapter 97: The Factory in Wales

Chapter 97: The Factory in Wales

Two days earlier, Gareth Morgan had driven three hours from Wales to see it for himself.

He hadn’t announced the visit in advance. He’d simply called Daniel that morning and said he’d be at Sterling Industrial Works by eleven, and Daniel had relayed the message to Adrian with the flat resignation of a man who’d stopped being surprised by anything involving Gareth.

Adrian met him at the entrance himself.

"You didn’t have to come all this way."

"I said I wanted to see what we’re supplying." Gareth looked past him toward the factory floor. "I meant it."

Adrian led him through, past the machining cells and the assembly stands, until they reached the chassis.

Gareth stopped in front of it without speaking for a long moment.

The battery enclosure sat mounted within the frame. The first drive-unit housing waited beside the assembly platform, its surface still marked with the near-net forging process that Gareth’s own factory would soon be helping to supply. None of it looked finished. None of it looked, in any conventional sense, impressive.

Gareth walked the length of it slowly, the way Adrian had once watched him walk the length of his own factory floor.

"This is real," he said eventually.

"It’s a prototype."

"I’ve seen prototypes before. Most of them are drawings pretending to be machines." He nodded toward the chassis. "This isn’t pretending."

James, standing nearby, offered to walk him through the mounting points, and Gareth listened with the same careful attention he’d given his own equipment during Adrian’s first visit to Wales — asking about tolerances, about the forging process, about exactly what his own factory’s components would be asked to do once they were part of something like this.

By the time he left, he hadn’t signed anything.

But he’d told Adrian, on the way out, that he’d have an answer within the week.

The answer came two days later, and it was the reason Adrian was now standing in Wales himself.

---

The rain had stopped by the time Adrian arrived.

The factory looked different from the road than it had during his first visit. The building was still old, the paint still faded in places, and the loading yard still had more patched concrete than new surface.

But now Adrian knew what was coming.

Gareth Morgan met him at the entrance.

"You’re early."

"Seven minutes."

"That’s early for you?"

"Apparently."

Gareth laughed and shook his hand.

Daniel followed them inside carrying a tablet.

"I saw what you’re building," Gareth said. "That was enough."

"That’s better."

They walked through the factory floor.

The same machinists were working at the same stations. One of them looked up when Adrian passed and gave Gareth a questioning glance.

Gareth nodded toward Adrian.

"That’s the man helping us build the expansion."

The machinist looked at Adrian.

"You’re the billionaire."

Adrian smiled.

"That’s what they keep telling me."

The man returned to his machine.

Gareth laughed.

"Don’t expect special treatment here."

"I wasn’t planning to."

"Good."

They stopped beside the forging press.

Gareth placed a hand on the machine.

"This is the one I told you about."

Adrian looked at it.

"Thirty-one years old."

"Still is." Gareth’s hand rested on the housing a moment longer than the gesture needed. "Won’t be for much longer, mind. But not yet."

Gareth’s expression changed slightly.

"We’re replacing it with the new line."

"Completely?"

"Not immediately."

Adrian looked at him.

Gareth pointed toward the machine.

"This one stays."

"Why?"

"Because my people know it."

He looked toward the machinist.

"That knowledge doesn’t disappear because a newer machine arrives."

Adrian nodded.

"Keep it."

Gareth smiled.

"I was hoping you’d say that."

They continued toward the empty expansion area.

The space was still bare.

But the drawings were already pinned against the wall.

New forging equipment.

Heat-treatment systems.

Automated material handling.

Inspection equipment.

The beginnings of a production line.

Daniel opened his tablet.

"The financing documents can be executed this week. The first equipment deposits can go out immediately after."

Gareth looked at Adrian.

"You really are moving quickly."

"Only where moving quickly doesn’t create mistakes."

Gareth nodded.

"That’s the difference between you and Meridian."

Adrian glanced at him.

"You’ve dealt with them before."

"Several times."

"What did you dislike?"

Gareth thought about it.

"They always wanted control."

"Of the company?"

"Of the decisions."

He pointed toward the expansion drawings.

"They would have told me what to produce, who to sell to and which contracts mattered."

"And you didn’t like that."

"No."

Gareth smiled.

"I’m sixty-two. I’ve spent most of my life learning how to run this place."

Adrian looked at the factory floor.

"Then I’m not going to tell you how to run it."

Gareth looked at him for a moment.

"That’s why I’m signing."

---

The agreement was signed just before noon.

No cameras.

No announcement.

No champagne.

Gareth signed first, then passed the documents across the table.

Adrian signed beneath him.

Daniel witnessed the final pages.

Gareth closed the folder.

"That’s it."

Adrian nodded.

"That’s it."

The older man stood.

"You’ve just committed a lot of money to a factory that doesn’t belong to you."

"I know."

"Doesn’t that bother you?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because the capability belongs to us in a different way."

Gareth frowned slightly.

Adrian explained.

"If you build the capacity, train the people and become better at the process, Sterling benefits every time we use it."

Gareth considered that.

"And if you eventually decide you don’t need us?"

"Then you still have a larger factory than you had before."

Gareth smiled.

"You’re unusual."

"I’ve heard that."

"From people who like you?"

"Some of them."

They shook hands again.

This time the agreement was official.

---

The drive back to London was quieter.

Daniel sat beside Adrian in the rear of the car, reviewing the signed documents.

"There’s something I don’t understand."

Adrian looked at him.

"What?"

"You were willing to spend tens of millions helping Gareth expand without owning a single share."

"Yes."

"But last year, you were buying companies."

"Last year I was trying to build the foundations."

"And now?"

"Now I know the difference between owning a capability and controlling the company that possesses it."

Daniel nodded slowly.

"You’ve changed your strategy."

"Not completely."

"How?"

Adrian looked through the window.

"I don’t need to own everything."

The road stretched ahead.

"I need to make sure the things we depend on are strong enough to survive."

Daniel smiled.

"That’s probably going to save us a lot of money."

"Sometimes."

"And sometimes?"

"Sometimes it’ll cost more."

"Then why do it?"

"Because cheap systems break."

Daniel laughed.

"That’s going on a wall somewhere."

"Please don’t."

---

They arrived at Sterling Industrial Works shortly after three.

Adrian went directly to the prototype workshop.

The battery enclosure was still secured inside the chassis.

The drive-unit housing sat beside the assembly platform.

James was underneath the vehicle structure with two engineers.

"How’s it going?"

James rolled out from underneath the chassis.

"Gareth sign?"

"Yes."

"Good."

James stood and wiped his hands.

"We’ve got another problem."

Adrian smiled.

"Of course."

James pointed toward the mounting area.

"The drive-unit housing fits."

"That’s good."

"It doesn’t fit with the cooling line we designed."

Adrian looked at Miriam.

She was standing beside the engineering station.

"The housing changed," she said.

"By how much?"

"Only slightly."

Adrian gave her a look.

"That’s not an answer."

She smiled.

"Enough to matter."

James brought up the updated model.

"The revised forging process changed the wall thickness in two areas. Nothing structural. But the cooling line now sits too close to the housing."

Adrian looked at the drawing.

"Can we move the line?"

"Yes."

"Then why is everyone looking worried?"

James pointed at another section.

"Because moving it changes the route to the rear cooling manifold."

Adrian looked at Miriam.

"And?"

"That means we either redesign the route or move the manifold."

"Which is easier?"

"Neither."

Adrian nodded.

"How long?"

James thought about it.

"One day for the new routing. Maybe two for testing."

"Do it."

James smiled.

"You’re becoming predictable."

"Is that a problem?"

"No."

He turned toward the engineers.

"Let’s get the measurements."

Adrian stepped back.

This was what the prototype was supposed to do.

Find the problems while the cost of fixing them was still small.

---

By five, the new cooling route had been drawn.

It required fewer bends.

That was an unexpected advantage.

Miriam looked at the new design.

"Actually..."

James looked over.

"What?"

"This is better."

Adrian smiled.

"How much better?"

"Lower pressure loss."

"How much?"

"Maybe seven percent."

James stared at the model.

"So the problem improved the system."

"Not the problem," Miriam said. "The redesign."

Adrian nodded.

"Remember that."

James laughed.

"I’ll try."

The team returned to work.

---

At six thirty, Adrian received a message from Sophia.

I found somewhere for the five days.

He stopped walking.

Where?

Her response took nearly a minute.

Portugal.

Adrian smiled.

When?

Next week.

He looked at the prototype workshop.

Next week.

The vehicle programme would still be running.

The supplier negotiations would still exist.

The factories would still need decisions.

He typed:

All right.

Her reply came quickly.

That’s it?

What else should I say?

I expected at least three objections.

Adrian smiled.

I’m learning.

Good.

He put the phone away.

Daniel happened to see him smiling.

"What’s that?"

"Nothing."

"That’s suspicious."

"Go home, Daniel."

Daniel laughed.

"Fair enough."

---

That evening, Adrian stayed at the factory until almost nine.

The workshop had become quieter.

Only a few engineers remained.

The chassis sat beneath the overhead lights.

The battery enclosure was mounted.

The first drive-unit housing waited beside its mounting position.

The cooling system was being redesigned.

It was nowhere near finished.

But the pieces were beginning to belong together.

Adrian walked around the assembly slowly.

He stopped near the front of the chassis.

For months, he had talked about building a vehicle.

Now he was looking at the beginning of one.

His phone vibrated.

He expected another work message.

Instead, it was Sophia.

Five days. No business.

Adrian replied.

I remember.

And no checking your phone every ten minutes.

He looked at the phone.

That’s going to be difficult.

Then practise before we leave.

He smiled.

I’ll try.

Wrong answer.

Adrian laughed.

He put the phone away.

---

At 11:59 p.m., the System appeared.

[Daily Check-In Available.]

Adrian tapped the notification.

[Day 97 Check-In Complete.]

[Reward: £16,000,000 Liquid Capital.]

The money transferred immediately.

Adrian closed the System.

Today had added another supplier to Sterling’s network.

The Welsh expansion was now moving forward.

Prototype 01 had gained its first major integrated mechanical components.

A problem with the cooling route had turned into a better design.

And somewhere between the factory floor and a message from Sophia, Adrian had agreed to spend five days away from the companies he had spent so long building.

He looked at the unfinished vehicle one last time.

Tomorrow there would be another problem.

There always was.

But the machine was taking shape.

And so was the company behind it.