Chapter 669: Suspending Service?
Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_
Under the user agreement, the Phantom helmet sold by Future Technology and the a.s.sociated services such as G.o.dly Land and virtual reality community were all online content provided by quantum computer servers.
If Future Technology stopped providing virtual reality service, then the entire virtual reality network would be halted. Everyone who logged onto the Phantom would be staring at a white cube while faced with unusable applications.
They couldn’t even surf the web!
If somebody wanted to restore the virtual reality network, they would have to get a quantum computer first!
With a company like Future Technology that produced both the hardware and content, it was scary when the company decided to act ruthlessly. You’re researching my equipment? Then I’ll stop providing the content as well! It’ll be available as soon as you’re done the investigation.
If Phantom could only be used to play games, Jiang Chen wouldn’t dare to pull the plug. If it was just a console, it wouldn’t be a big deal to live without it and wouldn’t influence the country at all, but after a year of development, Phantom’s functionality was no longer just a “console.”
Perhaps one year ago it was, but it definitely wasn’t now.
When the virtual community functionality was introduced half a year ago, the immersive virtual reality technology began to expand into people’s social networks, personal lives, and even work. A lot of private enterprises used the chatroom function as a tool for remote conferences. A lot of educational inst.i.tutions even used the virtual community as a tool for remote education…
Just in a year, people were already accustomed to living with virtual life. People reserved their waking hours for their family and real-life friends and s.h.i.+fted their internet-surfing time to after they slept to connect their dreams with the virtual world. Once they woke up from their REM sleep the next morning, they would be ready to tackle the day again…
Now that Future Technology announced the temporary suspension of the virtual reality service, it meant all people’s previously-established habits would be broken.
With the release of the news, UA netizens immediately became rattled.
Without virtual reality, some people even developed amnesia – they felt something was missing during their sleep. Before, they could sleep with the press of a b.u.t.ton. Now, they had to resort to old-fas.h.i.+oned methods of manually falling asleep on their beds. Some people who really couldn’t sleep had to put on the helmet, press the b.u.t.ton, and stare blankly at the white cube out of desperation.
Life without virtual reality was torture!
And the Department of Justice who launched the anti-trust investigation immediately became the public’s target.
“Fu*k the politics behind this!”
“Get rid of protectionism, screw the capitalists! Give us virtual reality back!”
“There’s definitely some shady businesses behind this. Let me guess how much was paid to the Capital.”
The Capital desperately tried to explain to the public that the anti-trust investigation against Future Technology was within reason. However, Future Group’s lawyer stated that an anti-trust investigation against a company formed less than two years ago with a product less than a year old was unprecedented.
The legal representative Brown Kerning, responsible for the defense against the Department of Justice, sent out a tweet and mocked his opponent.
“This is probably the most interesting case I’ve worked on in over ten years of working. My defendant didn’t even manage to digest the market share, yet they’re suspected of preventing other companies from entering the market?”
The tweet led to tens of thousands of retweets and even led to heated debates on talk shows.
Obviously, the UA public wasn’t buying the anti-trust investigation.
Therefore, the Department of Justice was withstanding a great amount of pressure to collect evidence and prepare for the prosecution.
But before events developed further, with intentional guidance from Future Technology, disability organizations, Black rights activists, obesity patients and all kinds of people went on a ma.s.sive protest.
“Using Phantom, it was the first time I saw color in this world. Although I know it was fake, it couldn’t feel more real to me. It was the first time I saw my wife. Although she wasn’t as beautiful as I imagined, I still love her… Now with Phantom, I can only stare at a blank wall. Future Technology opened the window and also closed the window for their interests,” a blind individual protested in front of the camera.
“There’s no racism in the virtual world. I can change myself at my own whim, but you took away my ability to do that, so I’m here protesting against you,” an equality rights activist said.
“Give virtual reality back to us! At least in the virtual world, no one cares about my weight nor does anyone call me fat behind my back! No one mocks me and says: ‘Hey, Cook, have you been on a plane before? How many tickets did you need to buy?’ This isn’t funny!” A 400-pound, obese individual yelled in front of the Capital.
In a country where political correctness was above all else, if a disabled person criticized the president, the president not only had to apologize, but even the media would continue the criticism. Some people even jokingly said that a lesbian, colored person had a higher chance of being hired because once rejected, the company would be suspected of discrimination.
But needless to say, most people bought into it. Although it was far-fetched to unite virtual reality and discrimination, Future Group did an excellent job of driving public opinion.
Political correctness took politics as hostage.
With the one-sided public opinion, the Department of Justice had to withstand pressure from the Capital.
Therefore, the Minister at the Department of Justice, Lincoln, had to put his differences aside and spoke with Jiang Chen.
“The investigation is a separate thing. Can you resume service?”
Jiang Chen said with a serious face, “No! We’re actively cooperating with your country’s political system. Before the anti-trust issue is cleared from our name, we won’t do anything that could tamper with the law!”
The poor minister was about to cry as he explained: “The anti-trust investigation doesn’t mean you can’t operate; you just need to temporarily suspend the sales of Phantom in UA!”
“No! Our virtual reality network is part of the technological services provided by Future Technology. To avoid interfering with the evidence-gathering process, we’re willing to suspend our service to abide by the rules of the law!”
Lincoln said with irritation, “What kind of logic is this? Who demanded you to do this?”
Jiang Chen said with a stern voice, “Don’t be like this, Mr. Minster. We are a company and suspending service means we’re losing profits. We feel more urgency than you for this incident to be resolved! We’ll wait for the decision and I hope you can patiently wait for us to resume our service.
Lincoln was dumbfounded.
It was like the sun had risen in the west; since when did corporations ask government agencies to wait patiently? Weren’t they supposed to be the ones who said that?
As soon as Jiang Chen hung up, he couldn’t hold his laughter in and burst out laughing.
“You’re laughing? Now that Phantom sales have completely halted in UA, what are you going to do?” Xia s.h.i.+yu rolled her eyes at the hysterical Jiang Chen.
“Don’t worry. It won’t be long before sales explode.” Jiang Chen made an explosion gesture and smiled at her. “The suspension of virtual reality service doesn’t only put pressure on the Capital – it also serves as an advertis.e.m.e.nt for our product.”
“The cost is quite high.”
“What can you do? Sucks for us to fight B City Consortium.”
“I’m worried that if the Capital can withstand the pressure of the controversy and continue the anti-trust investigation to the end, we’ll be the ones losing since they’re a government agency and we’re a for-profit company,” Xia s.h.i.+yu hesitantly said.
“That’s impossible because B City Consortium can’t withstand this anymore. They’re the root of the anti-trust investigation. As long as they accept defeat, the Department of Justice won’t persist,” Jiang Chen said without hesitation
He smiled and continued.
“And the most critical thing is that our product is irreplaceable.”
Even if they temporarily lost some revenue, no one would be able to replace Future Technology.
That was the trump card Jiang Chen was depending on!