"Welcome, and thank you all for accepting the invitation." Aron appeared in front of the group of people who were still wondering where they were and how they got there. They had no idea of what was going on at all.
The moment they noticed Aron's appearance in the room with them, they were so surprised that some of them even jumped out of their seats.
"Sorry about that," Aron said moments after Nova teleported them back to their chair. At the same time, she was generating a calming effect in their virtual minds.
"Was that magic?"
"How'd we get here?"
"Where is this place?"
"Why can I walk?"
"Where's my wife?"
The moment they calmed down, they started shooting question after question at Aron, who remained quiet throughout the interrogation. Nova tracked the questions being asked and organized them in descending order of importance for Aron to answer when the people in front of him ran out of questions to ask. Soon, they realized that Aron hadn't said anything in response and fell silent, waiting for the man to start speaking.
"Let's start by answering your questions before we get down to business, since we have as much time as we need," Aron said. He pulled up the holographic screen that was filled with the questions they had asked him moments ago and started answering them.
"You're within the virtual reality world I created, but your bodies are safe under the watch of the person who gave you the glasses in the real world. Your bodies haven't moved from where they were when you put the glasses on," he said, making more than three questions from the list turn green and vanish.
"Yes, your wife is safe," Aron said. A screen appeared showing the inside of Ryan's house, his wife sitting at his bedside as she watched the woman that had given him the glasses. The agent was just silently standing near her and watching the situation.
"How?" Ryan asked, surprised, when he saw the video feed of his body calmly sleeping in the same room that he—no, his consciousness—had been moments ago.
"As for who I am. Some of you already know me, and for those who don't, my name is Aron Michael and I'm the founder and owner of GAIA Technology, as well as a few other companies that'll soon begin operations." Those who hadn't known who he was now knew that they were meeting the fabled creator and founder of one of the world's most well-known companies.
Aron gave them some time to digest the information before he continued answering the remaining questions. The list of questions on the holographic screen before him turned green one by one as he spoke. After a few minutes of answering their questions, the screen in front of him finally vanished.
"Now that all of your questions have been answered, let's move on to the main topic," he said, then paused for a moment as he allowed for the focus of everyone in the room to return to him before he continued, "I gathered you here because I have a life changing offer for all of you... if you choose to accept it."
"What offer?" Jai asked. He just wanted to hurry up and accept, as he was sure that whatever Aron was going to offer would be a hundred times better than his current situation.
Feeling that he had gathered enough curiosity from them, Aron smiled and answered, "I want to offer each of you the position of president in one of my new companies."
When those in the room heard that, they couldn't believe their ears. It didn't make sense for him to need them to be parachuted into the top position in companies owned by one of the youngest multibillionaires in the world.
"Do your companies need a scapegoat? Is that why you're offering such a position to us? You want us to take the fall for you and receive punishment in your stead?" asked Robert, who was the second calmest person in the room—right behind Jai, who was ready to take any offer provided to him no matter how bad it was. It couldn't be worse than what he had now.
Aron couldn't help but laugh at that silly idea. Although the question didn't violate common sense, he hadn't expected to hear it at all.
"No, no, nothing like that at all," Aron said. Five holographic screens appeared at the center of the table they were sitting at, and on each holographic screen was a different name and logo.
"These companies are new, but have been registered and already have products ready to launch. I need people I can trust to helm these companies... and who can I trust more than those that're heavily indebted to me?" he said, and the screens that had only names on them started listing what they would be focusing on. Everyone at the table focused on something they knew that lay within their field of expertise, except Jai, who read all of the companies' details planning to agree to whatever he was offered.
"It seems like you already know which companies you'll be offered, so read the details and let me know if you agree," Aron said. Moments later, a thick folder appeared in front of each of the candidates and they wasted no time in opening them. They all read the content in their own folders, despite everyone in the room having already made up their minds to accept the offer. But it was still good sense to know the details before they took such a wild leap of faith.
Aron, seeing how they all reacted, smiled in happiness as he finally realized the real reason that Nova had specifically chosen them. It wasn't just their desperate living conditions, but also because they were good at their jobs. That was definitely something that a messy life could greatly affect. And knowing that these five in front of him hadn't let their lives affect their professionalism, he also understood that they were all obviously a cut above the average.
He said nothing and left them to read the folders in their hands in detail while observing their reactions. It was quite a fun pastime for him; he had developed the habit of watching people react to the things he gave them. That wasn't due to arrogance or a feeling of superiority, but simply because he found the reactions amusing.
And the reactions coming from them were definitely out of this world.
The files in the folders included the products each company was slated to release soon, and those were the primary cause of the surprise reactions among the candidates. They were each knowledgeable in their own fields, and the products they saw were hundreds of years, at the very least, beyond even what the most insane theorist could ever propose. That only surprised them even more.
After a few hours of reading with the caution of a surgeon, they finally finished and, with surprise on their faces, raised their heads.
Ryan immediately asked, "Is everything in the file true?" Contained within his folder was a medicine that could heal his condition in a matter of a few weeks, or even days, depending on the level of the cure he received.
"Yes. It's already been researched, and it will be one of your incentives if you accept the offer," Aron said, then turned to the rest and asked, "So what's your decision?"
Ryan kicked off the round of answers. "I agree!" He didn't care about anything else, since the moment he saw the medicine, he saw a hope of repaying his wife's love and care for him.
"I agree."
"I agree as well."
...
One by one, they each agreed to the offers in front of them and the smile on Aron's face grew bigger and bigger with every acceptance. His companies finally had presidents... or at least they would, after he settled their issues over the next few weeks.
