The men guided him through the parking lot, and Elián noticed that there were many luxurious-looking cars everywhere.
They arrived in front of an opaque glass and metal elevator. A bald man with a trimmed beard pressed the button for the 19th floor without saying a word. Elián watched, fascinated, as the elevator ascended smoothly, emitting almost no sound.
Ding!
When the doors finally opened, Elián couldn't help but be surprised. The 19th floor was spacious, with glass walls that offered an impressive view of the city. Everything was so bright and polished that it almost seemed unbelievable that a place like this could exist.
"Mr. Hugo will guide you to the meeting room," the bald man said, as he and his companion stayed inside the elevator, clearly intending to go to another floor.
The elevator doors closed quickly with a soft slide.
A different man, dressed in a light gray suit and glasses, approached Elián with a smile that felt too calculated.
"Hugo Rivas," the man said, extending his hand firmly: "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Thomas," his tone conveyed a mix of enthusiasm and respect, as if Elián were a figure he admired deeply.
Elián didn't know how to react, but shook his hand in silence, saying nothing.
"It's an honor to have you here at Skyline Dynamics," Hugo continued, with an admiring smile: "It's not common to find business geniuses like you, Mr. Thomas. I've been following your achievements closely, and among all the financial consultants I've met, you are undoubtedly the most impressive," Hugo kept praising him, which made Elián uncomfortable. He didn't like that kind of exaggerated flattery.
Still, Hugo's words resonated in his mind. He didn't exactly know what a financial consultant was, but the respect they showed him made it clear that it was something important.
Hugo continued talking, his words flowing with unstoppable intensity as they walked.
Elián was no longer paying attention to his words, just nodding.
A minute later, they entered a large conference room, adorned with a long dark wooden table that dominated the space. Around the table, there were dozens of authoritarian-looking men, wearing impeccable suits, silk ties, and serious faces that seemed to be evaluating Elián with a mix of respect and doubt.
When Elián entered, the left half of the men stood up to greet him, while the others simply nodded.
There was a clear division, a palpable tension between the two groups. Hugo led Elián to the left half of the table, where the men who had greeted him earlier with respect were seated.
When everyone sat down, their gazes turned toward the person at the far left of the table.
It was an older man, with long graying hair and reading glasses. When he spoke, his deep, authoritative voice filled the room: "Now that we have Mr. Thomas with us, we need to address a serious problem," he began, fixing a steady gaze on each of the present men, "The stock market losses are affecting us severely. Our shares keep falling, and investors have lost all confidence. We need a solution urgently, or this could mark the beginning of our end."
Everyone in the room showed worried expressions.
The elderly man, noticing this, seemed about to speak again, but before he could, another authoritative voice resonated in the room.
"If we follow the path you propose, our shares will crash even further. With all due respect, I don't think Mr. Thomas is the solution to get us out of this critical point. The best option would be to sell Skyline Dynamics and let someone else take over this disaster."
It was another older man, his skin marked by deep wrinkles and a piercing gaze, "Edmund, you know I'm right. It's time to abandon ship," he declared firmly, before giving Elián a forced smile. With a cutting tone, he added, "What do you think? Wouldn't it be more sensible to accept reality? Just look at the charts from the past ten years; it's clear that continuing to push this company is a complete folly."
On a huge screen installed on one of the walls, a multitude of data was displayed, organized in graphs, figures, and complex statistics.
"The shareholders are terrified, and several are already considering selling their shares," the elderly man said, stopping to look at Elián, clearly expecting his response.
Just when Elián was about to say something, a sudden headache surprised him, forcing him to close his eyes for a moment. Edmund, interpreting his gesture as a sign of intimidation by the second shareholder and founder of Skyline Dynamics, intervened firmly: "Rupert, your attitude doesn't seem entirely appropriate right now. Before pressuring him, we should give Mr. Thomas a more complete view of the company's situation. Only then can he offer us a proper solution."
However, Rupert completely ignored him, keeping his gaze fixed on Elián.
At that moment, Elián suddenly opened his eyes. His gaze was fixed on the screen, and suddenly, something strange happened. The information seemed to flow directly into his mind, organizing itself with a clarity he had never experienced. Data on stocks, markets, and complex strategies made sense in a way that both scared and fascinated him at the same time.
It felt as if every number, every graph, whispered solutions to him, as if an invisible puzzle was solving itself in front of him.
It was too much; a torrent of knowledge so overwhelming it almost caused him to collapse. Finally, unable to contain the avalanche of ideas, as if his mind sought to release the accumulated pressure, he spoke without thinking twice.
"Skyline Dynamics, despite being a benchmark in consumer technology with products like smartphones, smartwatches, and smart headphones, as well as virtual assistants, faces an obvious problem: it has lost relevance in the international market due to its overly elitist approach," Elián pointed to the screen, highlighting a graph that clearly illustrated the company's decline over the years.
Though he didn't understand more than 99% of what he was saying, the words flowed from his mouth with surprising ease.
"Your devices are of high quality, even excellent, but they fail to capture the attention of wealthy consumers, who seek more exclusive and personalized options. To overcome this crisis, you need to rethink your strategy and target a broader audience, repositioning yourselves as an innovative and accessible brand that can once again lead the tech sector."
He paused, ensuring everyone was paying attention, and continued: "First, we need to redirect our marketing strategy towards younger generations..."
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, Elián had been talking for over an hour!
The two older men exchanged glances, surprised. Their faces reflected a mixture of astonishment and relief. They weren't fools; they knew that if they followed Elián's strategy, not only would they avoid bankruptcy, but Skyline Dynamics could even overcome any obstacle and achieve unprecedented growth since its foundation.
"It's... brilliant," Rupert muttered, his disdain for Elián completely fading away.
Edmund nodded enthusiastically, already visualizing the enormous benefits that strategy would bring: "I knew that, among so many geniuses, you were the brightest gem, Mr. Thomas. I hope we work together for a long time."
Elián simply nodded in silence. When he finished speaking, it was as if his words had disappeared into the air, as he didn't remember anything he had said.
At least, it was all over, and that gave him a sense of relief.
Clash!
Just when it seemed everything was going to conclude, the door suddenly slammed open, causing everyone to turn immediately, surprised.
The two men who had accompanied him in the elevator burst into the room quickly, their faces tense and a clear urgency. They slammed the door shut with a loud bang, securing it quickly before approaching Edmund and Rupert. They whispered something in their ears, and instantly, the old men's expressions changed completely. Their faces hardened, their eyes fixed on the door, as if they couldn't process what they had just heard.
It was clear: something was wrong.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Suddenly, the sound of a strong knock echoed on the door, followed by a second and a third. It was as if someone was knocking desperately.
The looks in the room were filled with confusion and alarm.
"I-Is it a terrorist attack!?" one of the men asked, his voice trembling as he took cover behind a chair.
The two men drew their guns, shakily pointing them at the door. The metallic sound of the weapons coming out of their holsters made everyone in the room tense up even more. At that moment, the gravity of the situation increased exponentially; everyone knew that things had just escalated to a much more dangerous level.
The air grew heavy, charged with palpable tension.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
The knocking continued, growing louder and more frantic, until suddenly, it stopped completely, leaving a deathly silence that took over the room. No one moved, as if the slightest gesture could trigger a series of irreparable problems.
As for Elián, he didn't stay still. He quickly headed toward the windows, the farthest place from the door. If something happened, at least he would have a little more time to react.
"!"
When he reached the window, he looked down at the streets of the city. What he saw left him completely frozen.
The city, that bright and clean world, was now descending into chaos. On the streets, people were running in all directions, terrified. Cars were crashing without stopping, and buildings were on fire, filling the sky with black smoke. But the worst of all were the people... those who were falling on others, ripping chunks of skin and flesh with terrifying brutality. They were biting with hellish ferocity, dismembering their victims without any mercy.
"What the hell!?" Elián exclaimed, unable to contain himself, breaking the tense silence that had filled the conference room.
Everyone in the room looked at Elián, confused by his sudden shout. However, when they saw his gaze fixed on the windows, they all slowly approached, intrigued by what could have caused someone as impressive as Mr. Thomas to lose his composure and curse out loud.
"That... that can't be real. Am I dreaming, or...?" Hugo spoke with a trembling voice, his face as pale as a ghost, as his legs wobbled under him.
"Are those... people?"
"This isn't possible... the streets are burning, the people... the people are..."
"What... what's happening out there?"
The two old men, already aware of the situation thanks to what the two guards had told them, watched the scene with disbelief. According to what the guards had told them, people were losing their minds, killing each other, but what they were seeing now surpassed anything imaginable. The massacre was brutal, irrational, and so bloody that it defied any logic.
Everyone in the conference room was immersed in absolute panic, unable to react or make decisions.