Chapter 23: A New System Mission

Chapter 23: A New System Mission[New mission available]

The system’s holographic screen popped up in front of Ethan causing a light smile to appear on his face.

"Alright system, show me the mission." He said and the system screen immediately changed, revealing the mission.

{Missions}

Public Exposure

Objective: OmniTech cannot change the world if the world doesn’t know it exists. It’s time to build credibility and technological presence. You must publicly launch your first product (Sentinel) and secure your first real user base or client contract.

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Mission Details:

To complete this mission, the following steps must be fulfilled:

1. Product Launch: Create a public-facing platform (website, landing page, demo presentation) that showcases Sentinel’s capabilities.

2. Secure Client Usage: Have at least one business, institution, or verified organization adopt Sentinel for active use.



3. Gather Results: Collect initial performance feedback or analytics from the client/user base to verify real-world utility.

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Rewards:

Unlocks Tech Influence tracking

+10% free use knowledge and proficiency point

Multiplier Unlocked: x10 on the first 100 system points earned

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Would you like to accept this mission?

[Accept] [Decline]

"Accept," Ethan didn’t even hesitate in choosing to accept the system mission.

After all, it aligned with his plans so he might as well get a system reward for it.

Taking his phone from his pocket, he scrolled through his contact list until he came across Lillian’s, still saved as My Little Midas.

Tapping on it, he put the phone on his ear, waiting for her to pick up.The phone rang twice before Lillian’s soft voice came through the line.

"Ethan?" she sounded a little surprised. "Hey... is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything’s fine," he said, leaning back in his chair. "Just wanted to run something by you. Got a minute?"

"Of course," she replied quickly, the rustling sound in the background suggesting she was putting something down. "What’s up?"

"I think it’s about time we push Sentinel live."

There was a brief pause before her voice returned, "You mean launching it? Like... publicly?"

"Yes," Ethan confirmed. "My initial plan was to wait for Google’s response but that would just be us wasting time and not building an early user base."

Lillian didn’t respond immediately. He could practically hear the gears turning in her head.



"Okay," she finally said. "Since we’ll be a no name company for now, we’ll need a clean branding layer, secure hosting, some legal coverage... and maybe some marketing groundwork if we want to look professional right out the gate."

Ethan smiled faintly. That was exactly why she was COO.

"I’ll handle the server acquisition and making sure Sentinel works with every device ," he said. "I want you to handle the launch logistics, marketing, website and anything else important for this."

"I’m on it," she said, her voice steadier now. "Give me a week to finish the hires. I’ll have the landing page up and running by then. Want me to draft a press release, too?"

Ethan nodded to himself. He trusted her instincts. Lillian had a way of seeing potential where others couldn’t. That’s part of why he chose her

That was why he had entrusted her with the responsibility of hiring OmniTech Corp’s staff—a task she had accepted without hesitation.

"Yeah, a press release would be good," Ethan replied. "Just make sure it’s more focused on Sentinel and its capabilities, OmniTech will get all the publicity it needs once Google signs the deal with us."

"Got it," Lillian said, already sounding like she was scribbling notes and not even questioning how he was so sure Google would accept. "Anything else?"

"Yeah," Ethan said, standing up and glancing out the apartment window. "We’re targeting our first contract next. There’s still a while before Google finishes testing Sentinel’s demo and trying to replicate it."

"So I want you to start building a shortlist of small firms or medium-sized businesses with digital vulnerabilities. People who actually need Sentinel."

"I’ll compile a few candidates," she promised. "I’ll also dig into recent breach reports. If we manage to solve a real case publicly, it could go viral and attract more users."

The vulnerabilities they’d uncovered at Google might’ve made for powerful publicity, but OmniTech had promised anonymity. So that option was off the table.

"Exactly." He said with a smile, "I’ll start working on getting the servers and optimizing Sentinel for phones, and every other portable devices people use these days."

Ethan’s plan was simple, he would get it on every device people relied on—phones, laptops, and yes, even the newly emerging tablet market.

Thereby making Sentinel unlike any other cyber security software of this time and also granting him a lot of information from his user base.

Information that might come in handy during his rise.

Lillian, still on the other end of the phone, let out a soft exhale as she said, "Alright then, I’ll get to work. I’ll send you the shortlist in a couple of days and have a first draft of the landing page ready for feedback."

"Thanks," he responded.

"No worries Boss." It sounded like she was giving a salute, an image which made Ethan chuckle.

A couple of minutes later, they ended the call, both ready to get to work.

"First thing’s first," Ethan opened his laptop, "let’s acquire a server farm."



Acquiring a server farm was one of the most important steps to Sentinel’s launch, and another plan he had in mind.

It was like killing two birds with one stone.

The only problem was that it was going to be hard acquiring a server farm in just seven days.....but not impossible.

__________

While Ethan continued preparing for Sentinel’s launch, in another room of the same apartment, Isabela sat in complete darkness.

The only light that illuminated it was the one from her laptop screen, on which lines of code were quickly scrolling.

Her eyes were locked on it with intense focus as her fingers rapidly danced across the keyboard, typing line after line of code.

A progress bar blinked on the screen—74%, 88%, 97%...

Then it stopped.

ACCESS GRANTED.

Isabela leaned back slightly in her chair, a victorious smile on her face as she looked at the screen.

"I’m in."