March 1, 1991.
Just after Murphy turned twenty-two, after more than two months of hype, the product launch of Umbrella Corporation's subsidiary, the new star in the electronics industry—ZiZi Technology—finally began.
In Hall 3 of the Birmingham International Convention Centre, the space was transformed into a huge conference hall with over three thousand seats set up, attracting electronics product distributors from around the globe, major media outlets, and even friends from companies like Intel, Apple, and Microsoft.
People eagerly awaited to see what the Umbrella Corporation's project, which cost nearly ten billion British pounds, would turn out to be.
To ensure the effectiveness of the launch, Patrick even spent three million British pounds to assemble a gigantic screen, 30 meters wide and 12 meters high, made of one thousand five hundred LCD screens, almost covering the entire backdrop of the stage, setting a world record.
Just connecting these screens for synchronous operation required eight servers equipped with ZiZi Technology's latest chips, and a special program was developed for synchronous refresh of all screens.
In fact, the total budget for preparing the launch was as high as ten million British pounds, all for the presentation of one product.
The launch was set to start at 18:00, and by 17:30, it was already full.
A countdown was the only thing displayed on the huge screen, jumping down second by second.
"Hey, Paul." A bald muscular man tapped the shoulder of a suit-and-tie American who had just sat down next to him, "Paul Otellini?"
The latter glanced at him, "Steve Ballmer?"
"Intel is also interested in this company?" Steve Ballmer, the bald muscular man, teased.
"Microsoft isn't the same?" Paul Otellini replied, tilting his head slightly to the side, "Look who I see, another Steve."
Steve Ballmer looked in that direction and saw a young man with short hair, wearing a white shirt, sitting there, his gaze deep and focused on the stage.
"Steve Jobs."
"He's here too."
"Of course, he would come. After all, the style of this launch gives me a vibe of Apple. But they don't have such a good big screen. Oh, this screen is amazing! I think Intel's product launches should also have a screen like this."
The two chatted about some industry anecdotes and discussed Umbrella's massive investment in ZiZi Technology, both expressing shock at Umbrella's bold moves.
"Patrick really doesn't seem like a Brit; he's more like an American who grew up in Silicon Valley," Paul Otellini commented. "No Brit would make such a bold move, jumping from the pharmaceutical industry into an unrelated field like electronics."
"It's said that all of Umbrella's decisions are made by the mysterious founder, Morpheus Annon, and Patrick is just the nominal president of the corporation. He owns less than 10% of the company's shares."
"Media rarely covers that Morpheus guy; he might be the most low-profile tech company founder."
"Hey, Paul, want to make a bet?" Steve Ballmer suddenly said, "I bet a hundred dollars that today's launch will turn into a disaster."
"Microsoft doesn't have high hopes for Umbrella Corporation?"
"Umbrella is indeed impressive in the pharmaceutical industry. But in electronics... they're being too optimistic. Heard their desktop system was developed in less than a year, based on a brand new CPU architecture and instruction set, isn't that a joke?"
"They claim their chip technology is very advanced," Paul said, "I'm also skeptical, but they're holding a launch, so they can't be bluffing with nothing, right?"
"I guess they just put together some hardware from others, maybe cobbling together a system with Linux, designing a good-looking case, perhaps copying Apple's style," Ballmer said, pulling a crumpled bill from his hat, "A hundred dollars, bet or not?"
"But I'm also not optimistic about them; how do we bet?"
In fact, Intel wasn't that they didn't see potential in Umbrella Corporation; they just really didn't want another competitor.
"Buzzkill..." Ballmer was about to put the bill back in his pocket when suddenly a hand held his arm, "I don't have dollars, can I bet in pounds?"
Saying that, the person took out two fifty-pound bills and threw them into the hat, "I bet today's launch will be one of the greatest in the history of the electronics industry. Gentlemen, care to bet with me?"
The two Americans, hearing the British accent, looked at each other, "May I ask who you are?"
"Morpheus, just a nobody."
17:59.
The countdown suddenly changed to 60, then quickly to 59, then 58, with each number jump accompanied by a trembling animation.
As the numbers decreased, the shaking became more intense. At the same time, a deep drumbeat started softly and grew louder, gradually turning into a faster drum sound.
As other sound effects joined, it became a pressing symphony, drawing the attention of everyone in the hall to the stage.
The music got faster and more rousing, but as the countdown reached 10, it suddenly turned red, and another clear countdown electronic sound started, while the music faded, leaving only the final countdown in the hall.
Suddenly, the lights in the center of the hall dimmed dramatically, leaving only weak lights on the periphery.
Then, a vertical white line appeared on the dark screen of the stage, like a crack in space, dividing the dark space of the hall in two.
With a sound of pushing doors, the white line widened, revealing that the dark part of the screen was actually two giant doors.
"Boom!" With a sound, the doors were suddenly pushed open, and after a blaze of bright light, the intensity gradually decreased to a deep blue.
It seemed like a sky, or an ocean, or perhaps the deep night sky.
Beside the deep blue backdrop, a giant red and white umbrella-shaped logo emerged.
Umbrella.
At the small podium next to the giant screen, Patrick, wearing a loose T-shirt, appeared there without anyone noticing when.
He waved his hand to the audience.
"Welcome, welcome everyone, friends from all walks of life, welcome to the Umbrella product launch," Patrick said. "And to our friends from competing companies, welcome to you too, and I hope you won't hate me too much after this."
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