"Jerry! Is it ready?"
"Almost, almost... damn machine!"
Thump! Thump! After a series of pounding sounds, the previously black screen flickered with static before gradually displaying footage. The camera faced a blonde-haired, long-waved, stylishly dressed female reporter in a gray suit and black pencil skirt, wearing an ID badge.
To her right stood a short-haired man wearing sunglasses, a red tie, and a black suit, with red "Λ" metal buttons on his shirt collar and cuffs. Behind them was a relatively wide street, indicative of a 1960s or 70s construction, given the traffic lights and buildings. Further in the background was a modern industrial park, distinctly contrasting with its surroundings and basking in the midday sun.
The cameraman, Jerry, gave a thumbs-up on screen and said, "OK, OK, we're ready!"
"Wow, fixed so quickly this time?" The female reporter, alerted, adjusted her clothes and hair before raising the microphone and saying, "Testing, testing."
"No problem, starting in five, four, three..." The cameraman didn't complete the countdown.
"Hello, everyone!" The female reporter smiled professionally, beginning her report: "This is your old friend, Robin Meade, field host for 'Seattle Midday News'!"
She gestured around, introducing the scene: "Today, we are in Accra, the capital of Ghana, known as the land of cocoa. We are here because of a widely discussed topic in Seattle: Atlas, a multinational giant based in our city, announced three months ago, on June 12th, that it would invest in Accra to build a large industrial park.
Subsequently, as many of you know, the construction of the Accra park created numerous jobs in Seattle, once again boosting our city's economy. However, everyone, including myself and our dedicated cameraman Jerry, is puzzled as to why Atlas chose to build a top-tier industrial park in a West African country instead of in Seattle, which could have provided more job opportunities for local residents. To clarify this, we have invited Shane Wang, the director of the Accra park."
Robin then moved the microphone toward the suited man and asked, "Mr. Wang, was Atlas's decision to build the industrial park in Accra an investment in Ghana, or...?"
"The reason is simple: natural resources," Shane Wang explained in a friendly tone, unlike the smiling reporter. "We understand the public's confusion and the many issues Africa faces. However, industrial manufacturing requires abundant natural resources, and Ghana is rich in gold, bauxite, manganese, and iron, with reserves among the top in the world.
After multiple on-site inspections, we decided to establish the park in Accra for manufacturing our products and some heavy industry operations. We haven't forgotten Seattle; otherwise, we wouldn't have recruited nearly ten thousand local residents to work here. Moreover, Atlas provides these employees with comfortable accommodations and salaries four times higher than the local average in Seattle.
Increased salaries will stimulate consumption, invigorate the Seattle market, and indirectly raise local income levels, creating a virtuous cycle. Despite Ghana's relative stability compared to the rest of Africa, even with some armed conflicts, our Atlas security team can protect the park and its workers without local military assistance."
"That's quite reasonable," Robin nodded thoughtfully and then asked, "Mr. Wang, could we take a brief tour of the park?"
"Of course, please follow me."
The camera crew followed Shane Wang to the park's main entrance, guarded by armed security with rifles, bulletproof vests, and helmets. Despite knowing Shane Wang's identity, the security guards still followed protocol, verifying his credentials and reporting to their superiors before allowing the group inside.
The areas visited by the camera crew were all above-board facilities like factories, cafeterias, and dormitories, never entering the core areas, such as the armory. Indeed, as mentioned in the opening statement, the Accra park announced its construction on June 12 and was completed by September 9, just ten days ago—a mere three-month timeline from project initiation to full operation.
Atlas's true purpose for building the park was to manufacture and test technologies obtained through the first space gate, such as powered exoskeletons and batteries that significantly enhance individual combat capabilities. Not hiding the park was a strategic move; with Atlas's scale, competitors would surely scrutinize them, and being secretive would only draw more attention.
The park also served as a cover for the ruins-based facility deep in the rainforest. Once the media attention subsides, paying them to shift focus and enforcing strict confidentiality measures would minimize the risk of exposure.
As for recruiting people from Seattle and the U.S. West Coast, it was about providing job opportunities and stimulating the market. Still, Atlas and Samuel Young harbored suspicions about local Ghanaian and African workers. Stereotypes of laziness, ignorance, violence, lust, and dishonesty were hard to dispel. On the other hand, the carefully selected newcomers and long-time employees, drawn by Atlas's high salaries and benefits, showed loyalty and respect for the hometown company, and after signing non-disclosure agreements, they feared the consequences of leaking information.
Meanwhile, at the core of the Accra park, in a three-story building resembling a school, inside one of its offices...
"Boss, my team and I have conducted seven comprehensive tests per your request, and each time the DNA similarity between you and the children exceeded 99.999%. The results confirm your parent-child relationship. It's time to accept reality."
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