‘Right, please go on.’
‘On Wednesday we have a video-call planned with a big investor from the East Coast.’
‘And?’
‘Jo, we need you there. No-one can represent our project as well as you do. And they will be flattered by seeing you there.’
‘You know though just how much I like all these rounds and finance issues.’
‘I do, Jo. But you do understand it’s the right thing to do, don’t you?’
‘Sure. I’ll see what I can do. Please send me the details.’
‘I will! Let’s keep in touch.’
Ozzie was lying in her favourite spot, on a leather couch near by the window, and from time to time she was checking whether her master was still there.
‘Jordan, you ask us for one billion more. Would you please tell us about the current stage of the project?’ The participants’ glances were carefully studying Jordan from a big panel in his study.
‘First of all, gentlemen, we were never intending to ask anything from you,’ continued Jordan. ‘Not me, that’s for sure. What we are ready to offer you is to take part in our project. It will—I shall not be afraid to sound trivial—allow you to become infinitely richer. If you want to—please invest your money. If you don’t—that’s fine: I don’t believe we will get troubles with funding either way. Next, even if I do start telling you how our working process is organized, what we do, how we do, and what purpose exactly each stage serves, you will understand nothing in it—and this includes the so-called experts you hired. So please allow me to give you some advice—get rid of them. It will only benefit you financially.’
‘The idea that Jordan is trying to get across, gentlemen, is the following:’ Beg turned his microphone on. ‘We are interested in working on with your foundation and sure enough we are ready to inform you on the current stage of the project from time to time. Isn’t this the very reason of our meeting here today. However, the field in which our company specializes is too specific for us to be able to present our work to you in a precise fashion. That’s why we will have to limit ourselves to some general information, not going into excessive details—I agree with Jordan, they will clarify nothing at all.’
The foundation representative continued after a brief pause, ‘No-one on our side is expecting friendly meet-ups with you. But we would still like to insist on staying within certain limits while communicating. Furthermore, we are talking about significant investment, and so I hope you will agree, gentlemen, that we are well in our right to understand what we are investing in and what for. Jordan, would you please tell us the general information on the project in such a way that would let even us understand what it all is about.
‘No problem! Beg and our team have prepared a couple of slides which we are ready to demonstrate,’ Jordan began the shared presentation for the meeting participants.
A video appeared on the screen, showing a lab in the main campus of the IQC. There was a big black cube in the middle of the room, and on each of its faces there was a brilliant shiny IQC logo. The camera was showing the cube from all sides, flying around it.
‘Here, please, have a look at our prototype of a fully functional quantum computer,’ Jordan extended his hand toward the screen and stopped in that position.
‘That’s just amazing, Jordan! my congratulations! what a success!’ noted the representative after another pause, not even attempting to hide his being sarcastic. ‘You keep having fun, Jordan—at the very least I am very happy that you are in such a good mood today. Yet, what is all this about? What is this cube? What stage is the project at? Let’s get to business.’
