The presentation on the second day of the conference failed to excite anyone. There were some solid presentations, but everyone was looking for something earth-shattering to follow up Professor Wang’s research. There was nothing of the sort on the second day. The highlight for me was the buffet.

The organizers had arranged a buffet meal with fruit and meat for all the participants, and I took full advantage of it. For all my complaints, the second day of the Conference of New Energy and Technology went by without incident. Outside the noisy crowd of protesters outside the university, everything inside the conference went off without a hitch and I could almost feel the relief.

I went back to the hotel, and a good dinner. I never knew reindeer meat was a thing but when I saw it on the menu of the hotel restaurant, I had to try it. It was surprisingly pleasant. The meat was lean, and I was told by the helpful waiter it was a very healthy meat to consume. No wonder Santa Claus is so fat. The old guy must be eating reindeer every day!

I had an early night, but sleep was hard to come by. The last day of the conference would decide everything, and I couldn’t help but be excited. Sleep eventually did come, but I still woke up earlier than usual. Liam Haraldsson’s presentation was scheduled in the late morning, and I didn’t want to be late.

When we got to the university, I was surprised to see that the crowd of protesters outside had grown bigger. As I murmured my surprise, Howard filled me in on the latest happenings.

It seems that Professor Wang’s research had found a big audience. Various news portals were reporting that many rich industrialists, billionaires, and politicians were looking to invest in Professor Wang’s research. Most of the investors were looking for the chance to live forever, but a sizeable amount of the investments was for the ‘mind prison’ idea. Some idiotic commentator floated an idea of transferring the minds of death row prisoners into machines before killing their bodies. She publicly stated that she believed this was more humane. Most people believed she is crazy. I shook my head in disbelief. No wonder the crowd had grown bigger. I am all for progress, but that was an insane idea.

The idea may work on the technical level, but anyone who believe locking someone forever in a machine is more humane need to have their head check. As the three of us got out of the car, I commented on the matter and Howard was in full agreement. As usual, Salma kept her opinions to herself.

When we reached the auditorium where the presentation was to be held, I was happy to see a crowd waiting. We were still early, so the crowd wasn’t that big. I decided to mingle. I may not be a people person but when billions of credits are on the line, I could fake it with the best. Due to the small size of the crowd, Salma didn’t stop me but both she and Howard stayed close. Standing in the crowd with two bodyguards behind me, I must have looked like some sort of bigshot. I know it was petty, but I couldn’t help but be proud of my bodyguards. Two years ago, they wouldn’t even have let me into the conference.

After a few minutes talking to the people waiting for the start of the presentation, I realized that most of them were there due to curiosity. There were few academics and most of the people were from the energy sector. They had never heard of Liam Haraldsson, but his claim of discovering a new form of energy had caught their eye. A few expressed doubts about his claims, but most were willing to wait till the presentation before making up their minds.

That was all I could ask for.

As the crowd grew, Salma pulled me out. I walked away from the crowd and went through a door further down the hall. Salma led me down a corridor before we reached another door. I went through and reached a lounge. Liam Haraldsson was sitting on a sofa with a piece of paper in his hand. Two assistants were with him and the trio was discussing the possible questions that could be raised by the audience during the Q&A. Haraldsson saw me and immediately got up.

I had seen images of the man before but didn’t realized just how big he was. Liam Haraldsson was a giant of a man. Well over two meters tall, he had steaks of silver in his hair and was wearing a suit. Haraldsson’s suit couldn’t quite hide the paunch below his wide chest, but he was an impressive looking man. I knew he has some cybernetics, but he looked fully human on the outside and after the waves created by Professor Wang, that could be a good contrast.

We greeted each other warmly. Haraldsson knew I was the one who came up with the plan and was quick to assure me that he was well-prepared. Without any prompting, Haraldsson gave me a run-down of what he was going to do. He had fifteen minutes to present, and there would be another fifteen minutes for the Q&A. It was far shorter than the time given to Professor Wang, but Haraldsson didn’t have the reputation Professor Wang had and the money of the councils could only do so much. A red light lit up and one of his assistants told us the crowd had begun entering the auditorium. That was my cue.