Made a Real Friend

As the days passed, Alex began to wind down his responsibilities as the owner of Portal. He was excited to start his college education and return to the company with fresh ideas and strategies to help it grow.

On his first day of classes, Alex found himself sitting in a lecture hall surrounded by unfamiliar faces. As he looked around, he noticed a girl who seemed to be as lost as he was. She had short curly hair and was frantically flipping through her textbook. Alex decided to approach her.

"Hey, do you need help finding something?" he asked.

The girl looked up at him, surprised. "Oh, hi. Yes, actually. I can't seem to find the page we're supposed to be on."

Alex took a look at her book and found the page she needed. "Here it is," he said. "I'm Alex, by the way."

The girl smiled. "I'm Pearl. Nice to meet you."

As the class began, Alex and Pearl found themselves sitting next to each other, occasionally whispering and exchanging notes. They quickly became friends, bonding over their shared interests in technology and entrepreneurship.

In their free time, they would work on small projects together, brainstorming new business ideas and tinkering with gadgets. Pearl was an incredibly talented coder, and Alex admired her dedication and creativity.

As the weeks passed, Alex found himself looking forward to seeing Pearl in class and spending time with her outside of school. He was grateful to have found such a great friend in the midst of his busy schedule and the chaos of running a company.

This was the first time he made a friend that felt like a real friend.

As the semester progressed, Alex and Pearl's friendship continued to grow stronger. They would often spend their weekends together, exploring the city and trying out new restaurants. However, there was one thing that Pearl was concerned about - Alex's tendency to spend all his free time on his computer. She noticed that he would often get lost in his work or in playing games and forget to take breaks or go outside. One day, Pearl decided that enough was enough. She barged into Alex's dorm room and dragged him out, insisting that they go on a hike. "Come on, Alex. You can't just sit in front of your computer all day. You need to get some fresh air and exercise," she said, tugging at his arm. Alex groaned, but he knew that Pearl was right. He had been neglecting his physical health lately, and it was starting to show. "Fine, fine. Where are we going?" "We're going to hike up to the top of that hill over there," Pearl said, pointing towards a distant peak. As they hiked up the hill, Alex felt his heart racing and his lungs burning. But he also felt invigorated and alive in a way that he hadn't in a long time. He realized that Pearl was doing him a favor by pushing him out of his comfort zone and encouraging him to try new things. After they reached the top of the hill, they sat down on a rock and caught their breath. Pearl turned to Alex and smiled. "See? Wasn't that worth it?" Alex grinned. "Yeah, it was. Thanks for dragging me out here, Pearl. I needed that." Pearl laughed. "Anytime, Alex. Just promise me you won't spend all your time cooped up in your dorm room from now on, okay?" Alex nodded, feeling grateful to have such a caring and supportive friend. As they made their way back down the hill, he realized that Pearl had not only helped him to improve his physical health, but also his mental and emotional well-being. She had reminded him of the importance of balance and taking care of himself, both in school and in business.

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Maxie couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. It wasn't like Tronc to just sit back and take a hit without fighting back. They had been in the industry for much longer than Portal and had a reputation for being ruthless when it came to competition. So why were they just letting this slide?

Maxie decided to do some investigating. She combed through industry publications, looking for any sign of Tronc's next move. But there was nothing. No new products, no major advertising campaigns, no strategic partnerships. It was as if they had just given up.

Maxie's curiosity turned to concern. Maybe Tronc was planning something big, something that could devastate Portal. Or maybe they were simply giving up on the domestic market altogether.

She couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing something important. Maxie decided to reach out to her contacts in the industry to see if they had any insight. She called up a few friends at other companies, trying to get a sense of what was going on.

But none of them had any information. It seemed that everyone was as mystified as Maxie was. It was as if Tronc had just vanished into thin air.

Frustrated and worried, Maxie decided to take matters into her own hands. She did some more digging, looking for any clues she could find. And that's when she stumbled across something interesting.

A small tech startup, one that had recently received a large investment from Tronc, was working on a new product. It was a next-generation battery, it was just like the one that Voltronix's made. Maxie realized that this could be Tronc's secret weapon, their way of taking down Portal once and for all.

Maxie knew she had to act fast. She called up Alex and told him what she had found. They both agreed that they needed to start working on their own next-gen battery, one that could compete with Tronc's.

But as they were discussing their plan, Pearl burst into Alex's dorm room.

"Come on, Alex! It's a beautiful day outside. You can't just sit in here all day playing on your PC. We're going hiking!"

Alex sighed, but Pearl was right. He couldn't let work consume him completely. He needed to take a break, get some fresh air.

Maxie smiled at the two of them. It was nice to see Alex taking a break and enjoying life, even if it was just for a little while. But in the back of her mind, she knew that they still had a lot of work to do if they were going to stay ahead of Tronc.

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Tronc Engineer department

The engineers at Tronc had been working tirelessly to replicate the double discharge made by the PV-17, the new battery technology that had made Portal a major player in the industry.Tronc enigneers have found a way to replicate the double discharge made by the new PV-17 but there was a problem it always brusted into pieces once it gets charged to full capacity, Despite their best efforts, they had been unable to replicate the technology in a safe and reliable way.

The CEO of Tronc had been putting intense pressure on the engineers to develop a battery by the end of the year, but the dangers associated with the exploding batteries had become increasingly clear. The engineers were at a loss, unable to come up with a solution that would meet the CEO's deadline without sacrificing safety.