Sirius Zero: Building A Corporate Kingdom After Being Expelled
Chapter 26: Breaking old ties and Laying foundations

Chapter 26: Breaking old ties and Laying foundations

Aaron awoke to several messages from his bank.

"Holy Hell!" he yelled unable to contain himself.

With a deep breath and massive effort, he contained his excitement and calmly knocked on Andre’s bedroom door.

"Hey Aaron what’s up?" asked Andre sleepily opening the door.

"Master of Arcadia just grossed forty million," said Aaron.

"What the hell? We didn’t even market it!" yelled Andre.

Aaron’s phone buzzed with a group call from Harry, James and Mario.

"We went viral," he said answering the call.

"We did more than that! It’s all over YouTube and mainstream gaming outlets!" said Harry excitedly.

"It’s not all good press though, lots of them are slamming the art saying it’s misogynistic," grumbled James.

"That’s SJW snowflakes for you. Pay them no attention," said Mario.

----

Andre entered the loft with a Japanese man in tow. "Gentlemen, this is Mr. Kazuya Honda. He represents SEGA," said Andre, introducing the man who bowed politely.

"Hello Mr. Zakhrov I have heard that you are the mastermind behind this game," said Mr. Honda with a heavy Japanese accent.

Aaron nodded. "I thank you for your interest Mr. Honda, but we are still students. I cannot speak for my colleagues, but I wish to finish my education. I cannot commit to a sequel or a contract for any other games at this time." he said

"I understand Mr. Zakhrov, and we are not looking for an obligation at this time. We wish to acquire the rights to publish and localize your game for the Japanese market,"

Aaron thought for a moment. "Very well, SEGA will have exclusive publishing and localization rights to Master of Arcadia and any other future projects Sirius Software develops for the Japanese market. However, we retain all source code and intellectual property rights. SEGA will also manufacture and sell physical media for our games in both the Japanese and International markets. Does that sound good?" he asked.

Honda’s eyes widened at the mention of physical media.

"That sounds excellent! Mr. Esposito and I will handle the paperwork." he said shaking Aaron’s hand.

----

"What the hell do you call this?" demanded Sarah Clarke slamming a tablet showing screenshots of Master of Arcadia in front of Ivan in the staff room at MIT.

"None of my business. Aaron Zakhrov has been legally emancipated. I have no responsibilities over what he does," said Ivan.

"Do you have any idea of what I can do to you?" hissed Sarah.

"What? Are you going to whip me half to death like you did Michael Eddington? Go ahead, I daresay I deserve it for abandoning my precious son when he needed me the most," said Ivan bitterly.

Sarah raised her hand to strike him, but it was caught by a large, hulking man in a black suit. "Sarah Clarke. I am inspector Duncan from Interpol. You are under arrest for human trafficking," he said in a British accent, twisting her arms behind her and into handcuffs.

----

"Talk about poetic justice," chuckled Andre putting down the newspaper. The headline was that Senator Clarke had been arrested by Interpol for running a massive human trafficking ring in Europe and Africa.

He looked at Aaron. "Would you like to reconnect with your parents? Now that Sarah Clarke has been arrested, there is no further need for estrangement," he said.

Aaron shook his head. "Ivan and Annette seem happy with their daughter. I will not disrupt their happiness," he said.

----

"Aaron, are you sure you want this site as Sirius Software’s headquarters?" asked Harry, nervously looking around the eerie abandoned lead mine, Aaron had just spent nearly 4 million of Sirius Software’s game revenue on acquiring.

Aaron casually brushed dust and cobwebs away from a small metal table and placed his laptop bag on it. "I’m thinking ahead Harry. This mine will be the perfect spot for our in-house nuclear reactors." he said.

"Are you living under a rock or something? We’re barely making any new sales from Master of Arcadia. How are we going to get the cash or even the permits?" asked Mario.

Aaron gave Mario a long stare. "Small modular reactor." was all he said.

"Wait, you want my prototype modular heavy water reactor? I was laughed out of the room when I presented that proposal to my professors!" said Mario incredulously.

"So what? They were renewable lobby obsessed morons anyway. So are you in or out?" asked Aaron.

"Are you building a game studio or a nuclear power company?" asked James.

"I can’t believe that you boys are about to graduate, and still don’t understand the concept of vertical integration and grid independence." scoffed Aaron, as he walked around the mine shaft, checking the walls with his flashlight.

"Wait. Let me get this straight. You want to build a nuclear power plant inside an abandoned lead mine to power a game studio HQ?" asked James, his voice rising to a squeak.

"You can pretend to be Lex Luthor all you want, but Sirius Software isn’t Lexcorp! Heck, you barely have enough cash left after you blew $4 million on this dump!" snarled Harry.

Aaron gave them a smirk, pulled out his laptop and showed them a map of the mine and the surrounding area:

"This land parcel is four square kilometers. This here is the abandoned lead mine that we’re standing in." he said, pointing to a section of the map.

He zoomed into another section and said: "This area here is a lead contaminated groundwater source, and an uncontaminated aquifer over here."

"OK, so we have a lead mine and a water source. What does that have to do with a game studio?" asked Harry, still confused.

Aaron pulled up the schematics for the small modular reactor. "We stick four of these puppies here in the mine, and hook up the groundwater source to a heavy water distillation plant. Poof, we have an always-on power source for the render and server farms." he said.

"And where are you going to get the Uranium from? The local hardware store?" scoffed Mario.

"From the appropriate channels. Just like everyone else Mario." countered Aaron.

Andre pinched the bridge of his nose. "I need a stiff drink. Or maybe lead poisoning. Do you have any idea the kind of legal and political red tape this harebrained idea of yours is going to need to cut through?" he thundered at Aaron.

Aaron gave a smile that sent a chill down Andre’s spine. "That’s where you come in Andre. If you boys are on board, we can spin off new nuclear, energy and construction companies that you can have full reign over, with Sirius Software being your first client, and this being your first project." he said.

"You’re still going to need super-villain levels of money and political clout to pull this off, which you don’t have boy." blustered Andre.

"That’s why we’re going to do this in phases, and use the new companies to secure venture capital funding on their own merits." said Aaron.

"Phases?" Mario asked.

"Phase 1 would be to secure this mine and start working on the small modular reactor. Once you demonstrate commercial viability, you can secure funding for production, so money in your pocket Mario." said Aaron.

"And I suppose phase two would be to build the water treatment plant and the heavy water distillation plant?" asked Harry.

"Can you think of a better construction project to sink your teeth into Harry?" asked Aaron rhetorically.

"And I suppose tying both those phases together would be the build out of a local energy grid?" asked James.

"But of course. And what better way to prove that you’re the best energy company in the business?" asked Aaron.

"Stop! Stop!" shouted Andre, holding up his hands. "Aaron, I’m just an IP lawyer. You’re going to need a full-blown legal army and maybe even a few senators and congressmen in your pocket to pull this off. I can’t help you with that." he said.

Aaron just gave Andre a predatory smile. "I’m sure I’ll be able to find at least one senator and congressman smart enough to see how this project would act as an economic and industrial force multiplier." he said.

Harry, James and Mario went into a long huddle, while Aaron nonchalantly packed away his laptop. After several minutes of deliberation, they broke and then nodded together.

"All right, Aaron. We’re at your disposal. But if this goes south, we want a clean escape plan." said Harry.

"In that case, we’ll make the new companies private limited liability companies, and Sirius Software will be the sole shareholder initially, and will still have a 90% stake regardless of who decides to put venture capital in. Andre, can you do that?" asked Aaron.

"Well, it’s your money, and your neck on the line here, so fine. I’ll do it" grumbled Andre.

"Good. Then incorporate them as Sirius Energy, Sirius Construction and Sirius Nuclear. And get the paperwork done by the end of the week." said Aaron.

"Yes sir" said Andre, rolling his eyes.

"Harry, I want a full Environmental Impact Assessment, and come up with blue-prints for the reactor facilities with Mario. James, I want a power grid plan as well. Let’s get the design phase done before graduation." said Aaron.

"Yes sir" said James and Mario, seriously, as they all piled into the minivan Andre had rented for this "inspection" trip.