Chapter 10 - Storm

Under the enhanced focus and knowledge from the system, Sam emerged victorious the following day, a completed code for Cryptoglare displayed on his screen.

"Cryptoglare is ready," he muttered to himself, a hint of satisfaction in his voice.

He ran his hands through his hair, basking in achievement.

However, there was no time to lose.

He immediately redirected his attention to his next daunting task, coding Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

"This is going to be a marathon, not a sprint," he mused aloud, opening a new window on his screen to start laying out the foundational codes.

-

It was calm. The kind of calm before the storm.

There was a subtle tension in the air within the calm, the anticipation of an unseen storm looming over them, even as they continued to watch the success of the Orion Translation App grow.

The calm, however, didn't last long.

An alarming notification popped up on Sam's screen: the Orion Translation App had been removed from the Play Store.

The message cited "malicious code that could potentially harm user devices."

"What?" Sam exclaimed, startled. "Malicious code? That's absurd!"

Eva, hearing the distress in Sam's voice, hurried over.

"What happened?"

"They've removed our app from the Play Store," Sam said, a hint of anger seeping into his voice.

"They claim we have malicious code."

-

A flurry of activity ensued on Chirp, the leading social media platform.

Users expressed shock, dismay, and anger over the abrupt removal.

"@OrionTranslation has been removed from Play Store! This is unacceptable!"

"What is this about 'malicious code'? I've been using @OrionTranslation without any issues. This smells like corporate sabotage!"

However, not everyone was as supportive.

Many echoed the concern about malicious code, quickly boycotting the app.

Others took it as an opportunity to attack the fledgling company.

"Knew this was too good to be true. @OrionTranslation banned for harmful code. So much for the 'next big thing.'"

"No surprise here. The big guys won't let a newbie like @OrionTranslation steal the show."

In essence, the ban had dealt a significant blow to Orion Enterprises.

The smear on their reputation was like a death knell ringing through the industry.

Yet, amidst this storm, Sam remained composed.

While the storm raged on, more users took to Chirp to express their opinions.

"I can't believe @OrionTranslation got banned. I was just getting used to it. Back to my old app, I guess."

"@OrionTranslation banned? I thought this was our answer to language barriers. What a letdown!"

Yet amongst the flood of negative responses, a few still defended Orion Enterprises.

"I've used @OrionTranslation since day one, and my device is just fine. This reeks of sabotage by the big tech giants."

"I stand with @OrionTranslation. It's a revolution in translation technology. This ban is just a tactic to suppress innovation."

"Big tech feeling threatened by @OrionTranslation? Let's stand against this corporate bullying!"

These Chirp responses reflected the polarized opinions of the public.

The sudden ban was causing an upheaval in Orion Enterprises' reputation.

The calm had been shattered; now, it was about sailing through the storm.

Sam looked at the various responses.

His calm demeanor hid the whirlwind of thoughts in his mind.

Yes, this was a challenge, but it was one he was ready to face.

-

Back at NovaTech, the executives were relishing the situation.

"Well, it seems our little problem is taking care of itself," one executive said, a smirk playing on his lips as he swirled a glass of whisky.

-

Meanwhile, there was an atmosphere of relief in the struggling companies that once felt threatened by Orion Enterprises' innovation.

"We might just avoid bankruptcy after all," a startup CEO murmured, his eyes scanning the headlines about the ban.

-

Back at Orion Enterprises, Eva was visibly shaken.

The woman was pacing the floor, her brow furrowed with worry.

"Sam," she started, her voice laced with anxiety. "What are we going to do?"

Sam, on the other hand, was calm.

He sat there, coolly observing the situation, his mind already processing the possible outcomes and solutions.

"Eva, We'll overcome this."

"But Sam-" Eva began, only to be cut off by Sam's reassuring smile.

"Eva," he said, looking her straight in the eye.

"Trust me."

-

Sam quickly switched his focus to the Orion Translation App.

"Eva, I'm going to rework the app," Sam said, his fingers dancing across the keyboard.

"Is that possible?" Eva asked, looking at him with wide eyes. "And how fast can you do it?"

Sam only offered a determined smile in return.

He was already deep in the intricacies of the app's code.

After a long coding session that lasted well into the night, Sam finally leaned back in his chair, a satisfied grin on his face.

"Eva," he called out to the worn-out woman dozing off on the nearby couch. "I've done it. The Orion Translation App has been revamped. It now has live text-to-text, text-to-voice, and voice-to-voice features."

Eva blinked sleepily, then jolted awake as Sam's words sunk in. "You did all that in one day?"

"That's not all," Sam replied with a playful smile. "I also made an embedded source code to work with the pen translator from Vocalex."

He received a look of stunned disbelief from Eva, which only made his smile widen.

Sam knew they were far from out of the woods, but at least they had made some progress.

-

Having made significant progress, Sam felt it was time to loop in his partners.

Picking up his phone, he dialed the first number on his list, Darren Gibson, the representative from Vocalex.

"Sam," Darren answered, his voice tense. "I've seen what's happening. I'm worried about the fallout."

Sam was quick to reassure him. "I understand your concerns, Darren," he replied calmly. "But trust me, it's all temporary. I've already reworked the Orion App."

"You have? That's...That's fantastic, Sam! But, the backlash -"

"We'll face it together," Sam interjected. "In fact, I've already coded an embedded source for your pen translator. I'll send it over. Let's get this technology out there."

Before Darren could respond, Sam continued, "And about the API pricing, it remains the same. In fact, I'll only take 30% of the profit; consider it a discount."

He could hear the relief in Darren's voice when he replied, "That's...more than generous, Sam. We're in this together, indeed."

Sam moved on to the next call, his words of reassurance and partnership plans echoing similar conversations with his other partners.

-

Having assured his partners, Sam dialed another number.

This time it was Michael Durant, the Head of Technology Relations at the Atlantic Union.

"Sam," Durant greeted a hint of surprise in his voice. "I was just about to call you."

Sam chuckled lightly, "Seems like I beat you to it, Michael."

Durant's tone was sympathetic, "I heard about the incident, Sam. It's an unfortunate situation."

"Unfortunate, but not the end," Sam countered, determination clear in his voice. "I wanted to discuss our partnership further, Michael. "

Durant was intrigued, "I'm listening, Sam."

Sam took a deep breath before laying out his proposal, "I'm offering you a significantly discounted price for our government projects. I need your support in this storm, Michael. "

Durant was silent for a moment, weighing the proposal. "That's a generous offer, Sam. We're with you in this. We will help you."

With Durant's assurance, Sam hung up.

He turned to the servers, adding more power and configuring them to handle the anticipated influx of users.

As the day ended, Sam made a statement.

-

On Chirp.

@OrionEnterprises: Bring it on!