The shout came from a man in a velvet suit, representing a major planetary logistics firm. He was shaking the tablet so hard it looked like it might fly out of his hand.

"Clause 104, Sub-section D," the man said, his face turning a shade of purple that matched his tie.

"'While the hardware unit is provided at zero cost, Alpha-OS is required to operate the suit functions on a mandatory subscription model. The monthly fee is set at...'"

He choked on the number. "Fifty million credits per unit per month?!"

The hall went dead silent. Fifty million credits a month? And that was the cost per unit?

"And it doesn't stop there!" screamed a woman from a rival defense contractor, leaping to her feet.

"Look at Clause 712! 'Data Sovereignty'. It says, 'To ensure the safety of the user, Alpha Corp reserves the right to record and store all visual and audio data captured by the suit. This right is irrevocable.'"

"You want to spy on us?!"

"And look at the penalty for missed payments!" another voice joined the chorus of outrage.

"'Failure to pay the subscription within 24 hours of the due date will result in the Lockdown Mode, wherein the suit will solidify and become immovable until payment is processed. Alpha Corp is not liable if the user is in the middle of combat, flight, or using the bathroom during said Lockdown.'"

The uproar was deafening. This wasn't charity. This was a shakedown wrapped in a gift box.

Picollo, however, didn't flinch. He stood on the stage, looking at the angry mob with the calmness of a monk. He tapped the microphone.

Screech...

The feedback noise silenced the room.

"Please, calm down," Picollo said smoothly.

"How can we calm down?!" a tycoon complained. "You are giving us a free cup and charging us a million for the water!"

"Is your life worth less than fifty million credits a month?" Picollo asked, his voice becoming serious.

The question hung in the air.

"As you saw," Picollo gestured to his healed shoulder. "This suit can withstand powerful impacts. It can turn you invisible. It heals itself. It adapts to social situations. It is the pinnacle of engineering for the people of your stature..."

He walked to the edge of the stage, looking down at the wealthy elites.

"Our Boss is a man of principles. He said the suit should be accessible. And it is. Anyone can have the suit. But the technology?"

"The software that manages the nanomaterials? The uplink that processes the invisibility algorithms in real-time and makes sure that you don't use this to commit any crimes?"

"If you're worried about your privacy, then let me assure you. The data remains fully secure on your unit in encrypted form. Even we can't access that data without the units physically being present with us. Do you understand what I am implying?"

"It's nonsense! What's the point of everything? You're outright taking advantage of us!"

"Hmm..."

Most of the ordinary wealthy businessmen were still being loud, but there were a few who were growing more serious as they realized what was being offered.

Whether it was Fiona or any other outright wealthy trillionaire, they weren't really going to use these suits. It was at most to be used by their guards... And this recording functionality was quite useful in that case.

If anyone was suspicious about the movements of their guards, they could just bring those suits and have access to that data to verify if there was a traitor.

If the suit was given to the guards, then they could spy on the guards without outright telling them that they were being spied on to alert them.

"Now I understand why they didn't allow our security guards inside... So this was the true offering..." Fiona mumbled.

What these people worried about the most were betrayals. It was that peace of mind which was on offer today, along with the conviction that their guards could become even more effective if they protected them while being invisible.

"That's quite clever. We can make a policy that at the end of every month, these suits are to be returned for maintenance."

Fiona's brother smirked, also realizing what was happening. Alpha Corp was pretending that they were doing charity, while deep down, they were being very sneaky.

It wasn't charity. But it didn't matter to the truly wealthy. What was a mere fifty million to them? Quite a few of them earned such credits every few seconds.

"Then we can check the activity of every guard. Why just guards? We can gift these things to everyone important that we are suspicious about!"

Picollo shook his head. "That requires infrastructure. That requires maintenance. That requires... funding."

"It is a choice," Picollo said firmly. "You are free to decline. You are free to walk out of that door; we will not stop you. But shouldn't you finish reading the terms and conditions completely first?"

"There is a second set of alternative terms in case you don't want to go with the subscription model," he added, and the atmosphere finally calmed down.

After another hour, the guests finished reading the alternative set of conditions that could be selected in place of the first.

"This is... better?"

With the first set of scary conditions, everyone was so scared that even if the second set was also troublesome in its own matters, they found it pleasing to the eye.

The second set of conditions also granted the units for free. As for how many units were given to a guest, it was the sole discretion of Alpha Corp.

There was no subscription cost for those that selected the second option. Although, the on-device recording functionality was still inbuilt.

Once again, it was clarified that Alpha Corp couldn't see the data unless the physical unit was brought to them by the owner who needed access to the data.

There was only one small catch. Each buyer had to give something that they considered equivalent in price to the units. It could be rare materials, treasures, company shares, ships, or even something drastic like rights to a planet.

There was no forcing the buyers. They only had to offer something, and it was up to Alpha Corp to decide if they accepted the deal.

The subscription model which cost 600 million credits a month per unit? Or the barter system which removed the subscription cost for a lifetime at a certain cost?

This was the trick that Picollo had pulled. He never was serious about the subscription model.

That was just a manipulation tactic to subconsciously make the guests associate the product with a cost of 600 million a year. If one bought just ten units, it was 6 billion a year and 60 billion in 10 years.

Even Picollo wasn't foolish enough to think that such a model was going to be successful no matter how useful their product was.

Fortunately, by employing the dark tactics, he had increased the value of the product. And when one didn't have to pay with credits, it also messed with their sense of value.

For these power-hungry warlords, paranoid tycoons, and vanity-obsessed celebrities, vulnerability was worse than bankruptcy.

They wanted these items, and now they were going to bid for them against themselves.

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