6 Meeting

The events that took place did not go unnoticed by important figures of society. Be it politicians, religious individuals or giant enterprises.

Now, three of the greatest figures have found themselves in a secret room somewhere on Earth. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that hundreds of similar meetings were occurring around the globe.

Three men were seated facing each other, or better, they were looking at each other's holograms. Right, the cutting-edge technology had already developed to that degree, but it was only accessible to the wealthy few.

On top of the table, pictures of strange books could be seen.

"Let's not waste any more time and start the first topic of our discussion." Stated a bearded skinny man. He had dark brown eyes and a high nose. From his appearance and his accent, he should be from somewhere around Europe. "As you all may already know, after the strange weather phenomena, these mysterious books appeared everywhere. Have you guys verified this information, right?"

"Yes, Ethan." Another man answered. He had an oriental appearance and black short hair. His already small eyes seemed even smaller through the hologram, even though he wore glasses. "Some of my employees even thought that the books were a gift from me. Unfortunately, I can't take it back now."

The man sighed and continued.

"I don't want to be redundant in saying that books are something mystical. Apparently the rumors that they give people some kind of power are true, but I haven't tried it myself." He adjusted his glasses with his fingertips. "However, it looks like someone here was faster than everyone else, right? James?"

"HA! It seems that your Robotics Alliance doesn't like to be left behind, right?" The third man clapped his hands and laughed out loud. He had short brown hair and a strong chin. Like the others, he was past forty, but he wore a white shirt that highlighted his defined body, making him look younger. At the same time, his accent showed that he was American.

Before the oriental man could retort, James raised his arms.

"Peace, peace!" Yet, the mocking smile never left his face. "Actually, you should congratulate my son about that, he was lucky enough to get one book and you know he is a genius right? When he was only one year old. . ."

"Focus on the subject, James!" The first man, Ethan, interrupted him before he started to brag about his son - as he always did.

"Oh, okay." James scratched his head and adjusted his posture. "After the boy explained the book to me, I decided to buy as many as I could. I managed to get about fifteen before the crazy people in the government could act. Then I just had to bribe the right people and they stopped bothering me."

"Have you tried any?" asked Ethan bluntly while caressing his beard.

Tense seconds passed as James remained eerily silent.

"Yes! And holy shit it's marvelous!" He exclaimed, ending the suspense. "It's not instant power, it's not like magic in video games. The book is about something called Cultivation and how to absorb energy from the world to become stronger. I thought it was my son's joke but it's true. Apparently there are 9 levels of strength within what it calls the Body Tempering Stage! I'm not even at the first level, but my strength has almost doubled after a period of cultivation!"

"Astonishing, indeed." Commented Ethan momentarily lost in his own thoughts. "I'm going to assign some of my researchers to investigate whether there are any biological reasons behind it."

"I can give them a blood sample if needed." Added James.

"I've been told that the governments are taking action too, what do you think James?" Asked the man from Robotics Alliance, changing the subject.

"They surely do. But they won't be able to hide this from the general public for much longer, the scale of these events aren't something they could cope with!" James answered, his brows furrowed as he spoke.

"So, I think we should do as much as we can to secure these books and not get involved in the open." Concluded Ethan, at which the others nodded.

"Which now brings us to the second topic: the immense forest!" Ethan moved his hands and the hologram changed. "My satellites caught this photo."

As the holographic photo changed over the table, the group was able to observe a jungle made by a type of tree never seen before. It was clearly visible that the forest covered almost one third of the African continent. Its immense trees were even visible outside earth!

"Also, I got some reports that hordes of animals migrated into the jungle. I think that this issue is even worse than the books. Perhaps it won't take long before the governments take heavy actions!" Completed Ethan.

"Do you think that those events are related somehow?" Asked James, yet it was the asiatic man who answered.

"Maybe? I have a feeling they are somewhat related. Yesterday I sent some high-end drones but the result was disappointing, to say the least."

That immediately picked the men's interests. Robotics Alliance was a huge technology industry, always at the forefront of innovation and the two men could only imagine what these "high-end" drones were. But they said nothing and waited for an explanation.

"They were a part of a personal project but. . ." The man sighed, frustrated. "We lost connection as soon as they entered the jungle, I can't even localize it! As if they disappeared in thin air!"

"How is that possible?" Ethan asked perplexed

"I'm not sure, I hope that the place has super isolation for electronic frequencies because otherwise the next hypothesis is much worse." Seeing that the other two were anxiously awaiting his second hypothesis, he continued. "Perhaps the forest is an isolated place in itself, as if it is in contact with the Earth, but it is not part of it!"

The others were silent for a while, but in the end they decided to continue the meeting. Theorizing further without enough data would not make sense.

"I think we shouldn't be involved in the forest issue for now." Ethan concluded what was on everyone's mind.

"Yes, but I'm pretty sure they will ask for my tech nonetheless."

"Let's try to acquire as many books as we can. For now, Sakuma, you will be responsible for getting as much information as possible" Defined Ethan, the host of that meeting. "Use this moment to 'help' them, you know what to do."

Sakuma only nodded.

"The later we act, the more we'll have to spend!" Added James. "And you know I like it cheap."