Chapter 49

Chapter 049: A Path Different from One's Intentions (8)

The circumstances clearly favored Hee-soo, but he was not satisfied with that alone.

He spent two days making perfect preparations to persuade President Jin, then went to the company.

On the way there, Hee-soo asked Chief Jang,

"Chief Jang. Reporter Cho Yoon-hee says she's going to publish what happened in Mokpo."

"Really? Isn't that a good thing?"

"If that comes out, Father will probably worry."

"That's true."

"You want me to bury it?"

Hee-soo shook his head.

"No."

"Tell our PR department first so they can control the release."

"That might be better."

Chief Jang immediately contacted the PR department.

Whenever Hee-soo came to the office, the entire Strategic Planning Division went on alert.

No matter how flexible the work system was, if the boss was physically present, nobody knew what might happen.

So everyone came in and stayed ready.

No matter how often Hee-soo told them not to, it did not help.

By now, he had nearly given up.

The secretarial office phones began ringing nonstop as they tried to call in around fifty people.

The chief secretary came over and asked Chief Jang,

"What brings you in today? I wasn't informed."

"I don't know either."

"I didn't give them advance notice."

"I see."

"Go into the Director's office."

"He asked you to come right away."

"Understood."

Fortunately, Chief Jang had contacted them while they were on the way in, so about half the staff had already arrived.

The chief secretary entered Hee-soo's office and greeted him.

"Director, you've arrived."

"Yes."

"Sorry for making everyone rush around by coming without warning."

"I don't have time to speak with the people here today."

"I need to finish quickly and report to the fire station."

"Understood."

"What is President Jin doing?"

"He's at the company, right?"

"Which president do you mean?"

Suseong Electronics had many affiliated companies, so there were several presidents.

"President Jin."

"Ah, the CTO?"

"He's currently at the research lab."

"Can you set up a meeting?"

The chief secretary immediately checked the schedule on his tablet.

"Should I postpone all other appointments and make this urgent, or should I place it into an open slot?"

"I have one hour and thirty minutes before I need to leave for work."

"Set it within that time."

The chief secretary's face went pale.

"Understood."

"I'll report back in around ten minutes."

"But what is the matter regarding?"

Hee-soo handed him the prepared document.

"It's a plan to build an AI farm using the APU we produce."

"Understood."

"I'll deliver it."

The chief secretary left with the documents.

Chief Jang asked Hee-soo,

"What's this about?"

Hee-soo handed over another copy.

"A brilliant plan that could save Suseong Electronics."

"Really?"

Chief Jang looked through it.

He nodded.

"If this can actually be done, the impact would definitely be large."

"It's similar to the strategy used by Korean defense companies."

"Defense companies?"

"Yes."

"There are products better than ours."

"But if we can cover eighty percent of their performance at half the price, I think we may be able to overtake Endivia, especially if its products are tied up as strategic materials."

"Hmm. That's possible."

"To do that, we first need to determine whether this plan can actually work."

"And for that, we need government support because it will require enormous funding."

"So you need a guarantee that it's feasible."

"Exactly."

"I need Father to move."

"Dr. Jin will understand your idea well."

"Yes. I think so too."

When President Jin came out of the research lab, his secretary immediately followed him and reported,

"President, Director Choi is urgently looking for you."

"Hee-soo?"

"Yes."

"Why's that brat looking for me?"

"Here's the material."

President Jin took the document and smirked.

"Looks like the brat actually thinks sometimes."

"Tell him to come to my room."

"Understood."

After receiving the answer from the secretarial office, Hee-soo immediately went to President Jin's office.

"Doctor, hello."

"Wouldn't a conference room be better than here?"

"Why're you coming in late and making a fuss?"

"You think we've been sitting around doing nothing?"

"What?"

"Coming in late?"

President Jin's words hit Hee-soo like a blow to the back of the head.

He had thought there was almost nothing happening inside Suseong Electronics that he did not know.

President Jin's tone completely shattered that belief.

"We already built an experimental lab and have it running."

"It's a general-purpose AI platform, right?"

"That's right."

"We've been preparing it to link with the mobile platform."

"Father doesn't know either?"

"It's not important enough to take that far."

"And when has your father ever cared about things like this?"

"He likes it when we make money."

"How are the results?"

"Efficiency is terrible."

"There's a reason people use Endivia."

"If it's an AI chip for a special purpose, couldn't we design it ourselves?"

"You think that can be done in a day or two?"

"Anyway, it's true that we already built this kind of AI farm?"

"Yes."

"Then I'd like to redesign it for private use."

"Make your proposal."

"If it's good, we'll do it."

Hee-soo handed over the proposal.

"This is it."

"What's this?"

"Development of AI specialized for rescue operations."

"Really?"

President Jin carefully read the proposal.

But his expression was not very positive.

He tilted his head.

"Isn't this too specialized?"

"Will it be viable?"

"First, I need to know if it can technically be implemented."

"Why wouldn't it?"

"If we do it, it'll work."

"But will it make money?"

"Not for a while."

"But I think the same technology can be applied directly to combat environments."

"Combat environments?"

"Yes."

"I believe we need AI that can decide how robots should act when assisting humans."

"And I think disaster environments are the best place to train that kind of AI."

"Really?"

"In the end, the core task is finding people."

"Whether to kill or save them is a decision that comes after finding them."

"So you're going to implement this first on a mobile processor?"

"Correct."

"Since it's designed for mobile use, it already has low-power architecture."

"What scale are you thinking?"

"Analyze the behavior patterns of around ten people."

"Then control the movements of robots related to them."

"So an AI platform capable of controlling roughly two hundred robots according to different purposes."

"What kind of AI platform is that?"

"A few servers could control that much."

"The key is designing the platform so it can scale beyond that."

"Fine."

"That level isn't difficult."

"We'll do it."

"But are you going to develop the software yourself?"

"I have to."

"Then do it."

"You already have the Omniscient data sheets, so I don't need to worry about that part, right?"

"Assign people to me."

"Fast ones."

"Not civil-servant types."

"I want people who will charge through fire and water once they have a target."

"You ain't doing it alone?"

"If I do everything alone, when will it ever finish?"

"Hahaha. You've changed a lot."

"You used to be a lone general."

"When was I ever like that?"

"Hahaha. People change as they get older."

"That's natural."

"All right. Go."

"Then I'll take that as your approval."

"Use your own money."

"Don't even think about taking company funds."

"Hahaha. Fine."

"But when I place orders, make sure you actually give me production capacity."

"What power do I have when the future head of the owner family says it?"

"Since when did you think of me that way?"

"Always."

"Go."

"Yes. Please keep thinking that way."

Even after solving the problem, worry remained on Hee-soo's face.

On the way to the fire station, Chief Jang asked,

"Why do you look so worried?"

"I'm launching projects, but building the teams isn't easy."

"Work is always like that."

"Nothing new."

"By the way, did you meet Yoo Min-hyuk?"

"I did."

"He's smart."

"Really?"

"He's still an undergraduate."

"He has four semesters left."

"His grades are also very good."

"Of course, part of that is because he needs scholarships, but either way, he's clever."

Chief Jang was indirectly saying that Min-hyuk was not yet mature enough to recruit fully.

Hee-soo understood perfectly, and disappointment showed on his face.

Chief Jang continued.

"He does look like someone who could show great ability if we invest in him."

"Then we should invest."

"All right."

"I'll proceed based on your recommendation."

"Just tell him to work part-time."

"Part-time?"

"Yes."

"The research lab needs management staff."

"Even if he can't work full-time, having someone part-time would help."

"And he needs money too."

"If we give him a salary and housing support, that should be good."

"He doesn't attend school seven days a week anyway."

"He needs to study."

"He can study while working."

"Studying isn't such a big deal."

"If he can't even handle that much, then maybe we should reconsider supporting him."

"Understood."

"I'll make the offer."

"Bring him in by bundling everything I mentioned into one package."

"All right."

Dobong Fire Station Rescue Team Office.

The people on standby suddenly became noisy.

"Hey. Our incident is on TV."

"What incident?"

"You know, the building collapse."

"Why is that on the news?"

The broadcast reported that the building used by disabled workers had collapsed too easily because of poor construction.

Then it revealed that Assemblywoman Kim Ga-eul had exposed the issue.

Hee-soo watched the news without expression.

After about five minutes of headline coverage, the broadcast announced that Assemblywoman Kim would hold a press conference.

No terrestrial network carried the press conference live.

It was streamed only on YouTube.

When she revealed that a member of the National Assembly was involved, the comment section and live chat nearly exploded.

The rescue team members in the office also became furious.

"These damn lawmakers are using their connections to pull shit like this?!"

"Does that make any sense?"

"We almost died under that building!"

"Not just us."

"Everyone in that building almost died!"

"Damn. Gives me chills."

"Bastards like that should be torn apart the old-fashioned way."

The mood inside the office was almost identical to the comments online.

Hee-soo quietly left the office and called Chief Jang.

"Chief Jang."

"Assemblywoman Kim may be in danger."

"Move her to a safe house."

"Should I?"

"Then I'll contact the head of her security team."

"Yes. Please."