Booking Glory-Chapter 51: IndiSoft Product Launch - Part 1

"Hello, this is Rob Williams," Rob said picking up the phone.

"Hey, Rob, this is Brent here. Brent Walker," Brent’s voice echoed through the phone making Rob rub his head.

He wasn’t exactly sure how he wanted to react to Brent. Ever since he had delivered one of the limited edition T-shirts to Brent, Brent had been acting like a dog looking for playtime with him.

While he liked Brent a bit, it didn’t exactly extend to spending too much time with him and his computer-obsessed friends. Rob preferred to keep their interactions to a minimal level.

And as expected this was a Friday. It was only normal for Brent to call him and ask if he was coming over on the weekend to hang out with them. But, Rob really had other plans for this weekend.

"Ah, Brent, nice to hear from you. Listen, I would love to talk to you for some time, but I am kind of busy right now. If it isn’t anything important, we can talk sometime later. How about it?" Rob said trying to cut the call as politely as possible.

"No, no, no, nothing important. I just called to inform you something about IndiSoft. You wanted me to keep you posted on them right? No issues, we can chat sometime later," Brent said cheerily.

Rob felt like bashing his head. IndiSoft was the one thing he would like to discuss with Brent. But now, he had preemptively said that he had some work and taking time to talk about it would not look nice.

"IndiSoft, huh," Rob said rolling his tongue in his mouth. "Can you give a brief now? I will call you when I have some time," Rob said hoping it didn’t come off as too bad.

"Sure, it’s just the news that they are having a product launch this Sunday. It’s about that UI-OS. No big deal. Just wanted to know if you wanted to come with me for it," Brent said nonchalantly.

"Oh, I would love that. Are you saying they are launching their UI-OS this Sunday? Man, that’s big news right," Rob said trying hard to stop his mind from running a mile a minute.

"Nah, it isn’t that important. But, as a fellow computer speculator, I thought you would like to know about it. It is really a small ceremony with some industry insiders, coders, businessmen, other professionals, and a few press reporters participating. It isn’t something that someone must attend, but it is what it is, you know what I am talking about," Brent spoke absentmindedly.

"Anyway, I got an invitation and I was allowed to bring one more person with me. I thought you would like to go. None of my mates are interested in that. So, if you ain’t going, I am gonna have to throw this in a dustbin," Brent laughed causing Rob’s eyes to twitch.

"Don’t do that," Rob said hurriedly. "I am interested in seeing their UI-OS. I will make some time on Sunday."

"Why are you even that interested in this? You must have more knowledge about computers after hanging out with us. This stuff is for those prissy businessmen who walk around in suits," Brent spoke mockingly.

"Still, I would like to go there. So, hang on to that invitation, I will call you once I get free. We can hash out the details," Rob said patiently.

"Cool, you go do your thing. You need to come by this week, we are working on something that is way cooler than our other projects, I will talk to you about it on Sunday," Brent said obviously not willing to end the call.

"Sure, sure, we can discuss it when I call back," Rob said hurriedly when he realized that the signs of Brent going off on a tangent were starting to show. "I will call you back when I am free."

"Ya, alright,"

"Ya, ya, talk to you later Brent."

Rob cut the call and exhaled a large sigh. Talking to Brent was like wrangling with a weed in the garden. You never know where it is going to go next. But, this information was a huge surprise to him.

He had been keeping an eye on IndiSoft ever since he had heard about their latest product from Brent. And this information was not readily available to the public at all.

The general public had no knowledge about IndiSoft or their new UI-OS. They were keeping it entirely on the down low. It was even a miracle that Rob heard about it.

Only very few industry insiders outside of IndiSoft even knew about IndiSoft developing such a thing. And most computer professionals merely scoffed at the idea of making computers easier to access for the common people.

These professionals felt that it was the wrong direction of research just like Brent and didn’t pay much attention to the news about the product. After facing the ridicule of fellow professionals, IndiSoft wisely shut up and focused on developing its product.

This meant that there was basically no information to be found about IndiSoft or its product in the wider world. And this also indicated to Rob how well-connected Brent was in the computer industry.

He had never really thought that Brent had such great connections in the computer industry. The way Lawyer Walker introduced him, and him hanging around with a bunch of geeks made it easier to misjudge him.

Rob was glad that he got such an introduction. He was glad that he was able to easily connect with Brent. Even though he didn’t like spending his time in Brent’s office, he liked Brent personally.

So, he sent over the T-shirt as a goodwill gesture and to establish a firmer relationship with Brent. And now, Brent had paid back that gesture with a piece of very vital information.

Deciding to not wait any further, Rob started acting on that information. It had been three weeks since he had acquired the new contract and most of the money he had earned since then has been saved until now.

With the product launch happening this Sunday, he had less than a day to prepare for it. It was good that news about the product hasn’t been spread to the public until now. If he could capitalize on this, he would earn a lot more than some chump change.

So, without any delay, Rob called the one man he knew who could help him at this moment.

"Hello, Lawyer Walker? This is Rob Williams. I consulted with you regarding my employment contract a few weeks earlier," Rob said as the call connected.

"Shit son! Don’t tell me they kicked you out already?" Lawyer Walker said immediately. "I knew such an easy loophole must have a reason. I am afraid we can’t do anything about it, young man."

"No, what? No, no, Lawyer Walker, I didn’t call you regarding that," Rob explained hastily. "My job is going fine. I called you for another reason."

"Oh, then that’s great. I keep hearing about you from my blasted nephew a lot. He keeps saying that you are a great friend to him. So, I didn’t want the one good friend my nephew has to be in trouble this soon," Lawyer Walker laughed a little lightening the mood.

"Thank you, Mr. Walker. I am really glad that you think so highly of me. And I had no idea that Brent has been talking to you about me," Rob said easing up a little.

"He can’t stop crowing about that T-shirt you sent. Don’t you know how much in demand that T-shirt is? You really lost a lot giving it to my wastrel of a nephew," Mr. Walker said chuckling. "Any chance you could swing me one?"

"Mr. Walker, I didn’t know you liked wrestling that much," Rob said surprised.

"Son, this is Longham City. Everyone here likes wrestling. I may not discuss it quite openly like most people, but I too grew up going to wrestling shows. So, it is only natural that I too want something like that T-shirt," Mr. Walker chuckled.

"Oh, in that case, I will try to see if I can swing you one," Rob said smiling.

"Don’t stress too much. I can always beat up my nephew and take it away from him. But, it would be much appreciated."

"No, no, it is not much of a bother. We do have a few shirts as promotional material and gift items. I will see what I can do about it."

"Ha ha... then it’s great. So, why did you call me if your job is going fine? You have no issues with the housing, right? I know that old coot. He won’t cause many issues."

"No, no, everything is fine on my end. I called you regarding the other advice you gave me when I came in with the contract. I want to invest in a company. However, I have no clue how to go about it."

"Oh, that. I assume that this would be a computer company?"

"Yes, an emerging computer company. I want to see if I can invest in them."

"Alright, drop by my office this evening. Say at 7 PM. There is a guy who usually does stuff like this for me. I will call him up as well. You both can meet and talk."

"Sure, Mr. Walker. I will be there at 7 PM."

"Alright."

Rob cut the call with a small smile on his face. He decided to see how much he had on his hand at the moment so that he could invest as much as possible in IndiSoft before their UI-OS took off.

While the people in this world might be skeptical about the product, Rob, who had prior knowledge from the other world, knew that this would be a big game changer in the computer industry.

The first UI-OS would probably do average just like how Windows did in his old world. But, if the company kept focusing on it and created better versions, then Rob would have a stake in this universe’s Microsoft.

And by regularly investing in this, he would be able to make more money when the UI-OS finally took off. This was his original plan with IndiSoft as well. But, to know the news of their product being released earlier than the market, just accelerated his plans.

Initially, he had been planning to save up a substantial amount before investing it in IndiSoft. But, with this advanced piece of news, if he moved early, he would get more profit both in short term as well as the long term.

With a smile, Rob looked out of his office window eager for the day to be over.

*****

"So, how was your discussion with Carter? Is everything settled?" Mr. Walker asked as Rob took his seat opposite to him.

"It is settled," Rob said smiling. "By tomorrow afternoon, Mr. Carter will buy me stocks in IndiSoft."

"Oh, that’s good. However, it doesn’t look like Carter is pleased with this state of things," Mr. Walker probed lightly.

"Well, I think that would be my fault. I may have given off a wrong impression at the start. I think I came off as someone who liked playing with stocks and looking for a quick buck. Mr. Carter was expecting me to trade in computer stocks, but later he realized that I was looking to invest for a long time."

"Don’t be sorry about that. Carter wants people to trade in stocks because he gets more commission from that. But, we need to see which one is right for us. And I bet he wasn’t pleased about the amount of money you put out as well," Mr. Walker snorted.

"Ya, he was expecting much more than the 30K I put out," Rob said scratching his head.

Frankly, even scrounging up that much had been a hassle for him. He had to ask for an advance from Mr. Gibson to even cough up that amount of money. Hearing that, Mr. Walker merely grunted.

"You know," Mr. Walker said after some time, "Seeing that you are someone interested in investing in the computer industry and your friendship with my nephew, I would have expected you to invest in his endeavors. But..."

Mr. Walker eyed Rob seriously and spoke a bit hesitantly.

"But... it looks like you don’t think much about the stuff my nephew is doing. I will be frank with you, one of the reasons I introduced you to him was that I wanted to see if you were willing to invest in his company. As someone who is interested in investing in the computer industry, even you don’t see value in my nephew’s work huh?"

Rob sat speechless not knowing how to answer this. To be frank, the thought of investing in Brent’s ventures never even crossed his mind. Now that he thought about it, Mr. Walker’s words made sense.

He wanted to invest in computers. Mr. Walker’s nephew was working on computers. So, if introduced the most probable situation would be him investing in Brent’s business.

But, such a thought never even crossed his mind.

"Don’t be shy. I need to know how things are actually with him. I don’t know anything about computers. I don’t have any idea about how to use them. I don’t even see a market in them, frankly."

"But, Brent is obsessed with it. So, I helped him start a sort-of company. I set him up with a place and helped him with some money to see him stand on his own legs. But, as I don’t understand anything, all I keep hearing from him is how he had made that progress and this progress. But, I am not seeing money come in."

"I need to know what is wrong with the shit he is been up to," Mr. Walker said looking Rob in the eye.

Rob felt like he had been put on the spot. His friendship with Brent was vital to him. So, he can’t throw him under the wheels at this moment.

However, Mr. Walker had helped him out a lot as well. Even when he was a homeless kid looking for a home, Mr. Walker helped him out. And even now, he wasn’t asking Rob to snitch on Brent. He merely wanted to know what is wrong with Brent’s business as a concerned uncle.

The problem was that Rob knew exactly what was wrong with Brent’s sort of company. And he also knew that Brent wouldn’t like him talking about it to Mr. Walker. There were some really fragile egos in there. So, Rob didn’t know what to say at the moment.

*****

A/N: Hey folks!

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