America 1982-Chapter 107 - 23: The Eve of Mobilization

"Holly walked over with a cup of coffee and sat down next to Tommy Hawk after he had been turned down by Charles. They looked out at the tranquil night scene through the garage door."

Jason had fallen deeply asleep on the desk with a half-eaten fry in his mouth after finishing the homework assigned by his teacher.

"A bit, but not because of Charles. After agonizing for two days, he apologized to me because he’s going to pursue a master’s in Applied Economics at Yale and then a doctorate in Political Science at Harvard. Eventually, he plans to join the Washington Center for Peace Studies, a think tank. His dream is to teach the President how not to be an idiot and prevent another Great Depression-like crisis from happening in the United States. His maternal grandmother was killed in a robbery by unemployed people during that time, so there would be an opportunity for him to become a national policy advisor to a President, and he’s willing to work hard for that," Tommy said, holding his coffee and gazing into the darkness outside.

He had tried to invite Charles Salmon, the chair of the SSD and soon-to-be senior graduate, to join his small company, but Charles had declined due to his already planned career.

"Charles is definitely the kind of person who will become someone important," Holly said, nodding in agreement after hearing Tommy’s words: "He’s bound to be successful, especially when his girlfriend still accompanies him to social gatherings with a smile, despite knowing well that he has dated and slept with five or six girls from BDP."

Charles majored in Sociology at Stanford, officially called Economics and Social Sciences. Most of the time, Charles, like all the other brothers in SSD, acted like an idiot. For instance, after losing a bet over a failed match, he ran to the statue of Stanford’s founder, not for punishment but a bizarre competition—a defecation race, where they took laxatives, held on for a long time, and then saw who could spray further...

Who could have imagined that perhaps a national policy advisor to a President of the United States had done such a thing in college?

But one way in which he differed from real idiots was that he could manage his studies and the fraternity in very little time, with abundant energy and self-discipline. He could resist temptations and remain sober at absolutely tempting parties, just to ensure that there was always someone in SSD who was sober enough to deal with emergencies and who always knew what to do and what not to do. He could handle all his responsibilities well, as if no trouble could bother him.

People like him would succeed in whatever they do. That’s why Tommy Hawk wanted to invite this fraternity member to join his company more than anyone else since its establishment. This guy was definitely the best candidate to manage the company. With him around, Tommy could just go to school, flirt, and throw parties easily.

But even after Tommy had frankly shared his plans, company prospects, and the promised 30% share of the company with Charles, Charles ultimately decided to dedicate his life to striving to become a presidential policy advisor, because that was his original intention for studying sociology and his dream.

The main reason I’m upset is Lotus," Tommy turned to look at Holly Kina beside him: "It’s been a week and they haven’t even made a call, even though I prepared a special edition in tribute to Mitch Kapor."

Holly stared into Tommy’s deep eyes: "What does that mean?"

"It means Lotus has a strong professional manager who could suppress Mitch Kapor’s curiosity about me. Just think about it, the software hasn’t been released yet. Mitch could have easily made a call, talked with me, and seen if there was a chance to buy me and my software, which looks like one of his followers created, for a small amount. But he didn’t. After a lawyer’s letter, it’s been all quiet. It’s a pure business move, indicating that they want to chew us up and swallow us whole," Tommy looked away, took a sip of coffee, and said discontentedly:

"Why didn’t I choose to leak it to Micro-Innovation? Of course, if I had, they would have operated in the same way - a lawyer’s letter followed by waiting to strike me a fatal blow once I sell the software. I thought since Lotus was founded just a year and a half ago, they hadn’t become capitalists so quickly, and there would still be opportunities for me to capitalize on. It’s a pity, otherwise, a call or a meeting from them would have been of great help to our Actor software."

In his imagination, although Lotus had made a sensational entrance, it still had a short operational history, and the company’s top tiers should be filled with nerdy programmers. As long as they saw his software, it would surely pique their curiosity, and they would want to talk with him. Then he could take the opportunity to stir up public opinion first, accusing Lotus of being hypocritical - talking about cooperation on the surface, but ready to sue him into oblivion as soon as negotiations failed.

"I guess after they buy this week’s newly released issue of ’Seeking Pleasure,’ they will be even less likely to consider collaboration or acquisition. Tommy, the magazine put our ad between the ads for call girls always ready to serve and Cupid Entertainment Company looking for female PRs. What a great spot our ad got - it’s like a patch of psoriasis, perfectly covering the centerfold girl’s t**s," Holly said with a lowered voice, sounding a bit weak:

"So Lotus didn’t take you seriously and is still going to proceed with the plan you mentioned before? Selling to the consultants’ ’whores’?"

"Of course, they’re suppressing their curiosity, just waiting for our official launch to hit us hard, right? By then, for Actor, it will be ’show no mercy, not even to animals.’ Tommy Hawk drained his cup of coffee and looked up into the night outside:

"If we don’t sell, how can they make a move against us? Without making a move, how can we let those companies know that our software is more efficient? Without making a move, how can we get the investment? Without making a move, how can we incite employed women in California to send regards to the relatives of Lotus’s founders? By starting boycotts in the name of various women’s rights? And then give the capitalists a legitimate excuse to support women, abandon the inefficient Lotus, and force their people to use our OSS? If they don’t know how to use it, they can even have a good reason to fire them and hire cheaper women to take over."

At this moment, Tommy Hawk almost seemed to shine in Holly’s eyes, this guy, the same age as her, calmly asked these questions with a tired but confident smile on his face.

He really was a born bastard from the countryside, the software industry has never seen anyone do this before; traditionally, the founders of both large and small software companies were nerds, obsessed with technology. But Hawk was different, his software’s core functionality was copied, with only the user experience heightened to extreme levels - which to traditional programmers who liked to change the world with creativity was considered negligible. Yet now, he was poised to use this copied software, combined with a series of strategies unheard of by Holly, to snatch market share from the industry.

For her, the amount of work she and Jason White did was actually much more than Tommy’s. Jason was busy compiling training guides, while she was busy using her feminine advantages to try to make connections with various media entrenched in Silicon Valley. If it wasn’t for the prospect of gigolos and cash waiting for her, if it wasn’t for Tommy’s plan giving her hope for the company’s potential, she would have left a long time ago. She was only nineteen this year, but had to let this bastard teach her how to dress maturely and sexily, outgoing and cheery, full of charm while chatting with those journalists, dropping some computer industry news to maintain relationships.

But as long as Tommy Hawk was clear about how to plan the company’s development, that was enough. She was very worried that Lotus Corporation’s retaliation would catch Tommy off guard, because Tommy was the initiator of the company. She and Jason were mere implementers of Tommy’s will. Now Tommy told her that regardless of whether the other party responded, they could proceed with the original plan, and he seemed confident, which comforted her.

"At some point just now, I was actually a little bit jealous of Renee," Holly stared at Tommy’s profile and said with a smile, "Men are really more charming when they’re focused on their careers."

Tommy didn’t pay attention to Holly’s compliment: "That manager was very smart; he made the right decision. It’s just that I have read one more science fiction novel than he has, which introduced an interesting concept called the Dark Forest Law."

"What kind of law is that?" Holly, feeling somewhat reassured by the lack of fluctuation in Tommy’s voice, curiously asked.

"It’s a cruel law that once you know it, you no longer want to look up and admire the night sky. At this moment, the software industry in the United States is like the universe in that story, with only the slightest goodwill towards each other. Any communication could expose one’s weaknesses and be exploited by the opponent. For us at Actor, we are like the insignificant Earth humans in that story," Tommy put down his coffee cup, took out a cigarette, lit it, and said.

Holly shrugged her shoulders: "So, I have a question. It seems that there aren’t many women participating in our training, plus the members of the Stanford booster club, and they are far away in California. I mean, Lotus is in Massachusetts, which is close to your hometown, so how can we start a trend?"

Tommy stood up and headed for the door: "I need to go back to my dorm; I still have homework unfinished. See you tomorrow. Oh, and cover Jason with a blanket or something, don’t let him catch a cold. The company can’t afford and doesn’t allow a sick person right now."

"You haven’t answered my question yet," Holly asked regretfully.

"Guess why I spent a lot of time doing various stupid things to join the Fraternity? Just to go to parties every week and sleep with a girl?" Tommy Hawk, standing in the night, turned his head to look at Holly, who was bathed in the warm light:

"Every university has women’s organizations, and every university has the Fraternity. That means every university can have Fraternity training rooms to help women who are eager for a job. My proposal has already been sent to the national headquarters of the Fraternity. Otherwise, why do you think the calm and rational Charles struggled for two days before regretfully refusing an invitation from a small startup company?"