I'm The King of Business & Technology in the Modern World

The sun was already up by the time Matthew and Angel arrived at the facility the next morning. The gates opened automatically as their SUV approached, revealing the hum of early operations already in motion. Workers moved crates using forklifts, engineers were huddled in groups by the testing bays, and contractors walked briskly between buildings, some still glancing around like they weren't used to the place yet.

Matthew stepped out of the SUV and was immediately greeted by a junior coordinator, clipboard in hand.

"Sir, the Batangas shipment of titanium just arrived. Customs delayed it overnight, but it's finally here. Dr. Vasquez already has her team unloading."

Matthew nodded. "Good. Tell her I'll swing by after the meeting."

He turned to Angel, who was reading something on her tablet. "Any word from Fort Hanley?"

"They've scheduled the initial operator interface sync for next Tuesday. Special Forces team is arriving in Manila this weekend. Embassy's handling the rest."

Matthew grunted in approval and started toward the admin wing.

Inside the main briefing room, Daniel, Watanabe, and Dr. Vasquez were already waiting, seated around a rectangular table with their respective reports open in front of them. The screen at the far end displayed a live map of the facility, highlighting areas in yellow for critical operations and red for bottlenecks.

Matthew walked to the front and clapped his hands once. "Alright, we've got four and a half weeks. Let's walk through where we are."

Dr. Vasquez went first. "Machining components are 80% in. Still waiting on two shipments—one from Osaka and one from Germany. Both should arrive within the next ten days. We'll be cutting it close, but it's manageable."

Matthew turned to Daniel.

"Titan OS is stable," Daniel said. "We've locked in Version 1.0. Training modules are being installed in the VR rigs today. Once the first ten are calibrated, we'll run full diagnostics before packaging."

Watanabe followed up. "Neural sync calibration booths are online. We'll begin test fitting the suits with Filipino operators this week before transitioning to the U.S. team."

Angel looked up from her tablet. "I've scheduled the final supplier audits. Our DND contact wants to do a walk-through next week for transparency. We're on the radar now—expect cameras, eyes, and questions."

Matthew nodded. "That's fine. We've got nothing to hide."

The room went quiet for a moment. Everyone knew what was on the line. The success of this first batch wasn't just about delivering on time—it was about credibility. If they slipped now, they'd give ammunition to every critic and rival waiting for them to stumble.

"We execute," Matthew said. "No delays. No excuses. If something's off, report it immediately."

The team nodded.

Meeting adjourned.

—

By midday, Matthew was in the prototype testing area, watching engineers work on one of the calibration platforms. A half-assembled Titan Mk-I unit stood in the center of the room, cables and sensors hanging from its limbs. The room was hot from the heat of the equipment, but no one complained.

"Everything on track?" he asked one of the engineers.

"Yes, sir," the man replied. "We're doing a dry run of the calibration sequence this afternoon."

Matthew gave him a nod and walked to the observation window, where Angel had just entered with coffee.

"You need to eat," she said, handing him a sandwich.

Matthew took it but didn't respond immediately. His eyes were still on the suit.

"I keep thinking," he said, "how long before someone else builds their version of this?"

Angel leaned beside him. "Maybe a year. Maybe five. But even if they do, it won't be this good."

Matthew smirked. "Let's make sure of that."

—

That night, the team didn't go home.

The facility had quarters for overnight work. Cots, bunkrooms, basic showers—it wasn't glamorous, but it was enough. Half the team chose to stay, including Matthew.

In the dimly lit breakroom, he found Daniel alone, microwaving something that smelled like instant noodles.

"Burning the midnight oil?" Matthew asked.

Daniel shrugged. "Figured I'd stay and keep the diagnostics running overnight. Can't sleep anyway."

Matthew leaned against the counter. "You nervous?"

Daniel gave a small laugh. "Only every second of every day."

Matthew smiled. "Same."

Daniel looked over at him. "Hey… when this is all done, what do you think happens? Like, when Titan's in active deployment, when we've got hundreds of units in the field. What then?"

Matthew was quiet for a while before answering.

"We keep going," he said. "Build the next one. Improve. Anticipate what comes next. We're not just building suits, Daniel. We're building the backbone of a new kind of warfare. A new kind of defense."

Daniel nodded, then grabbed his cup of noodles. "No pressure then."

—

The next morning came fast.

By 7 a.m., the entire team was back on the floor. U.S. military observers were scheduled to arrive that afternoon. The first complete Titan Mk-I unit had been assembled and was now undergoing final movement checks.

Dr. Watanabe stood beside the test pilot, a lean man in his thirties wearing a black bodysuit wired for neural sync.

"You ready?" she asked him.

The pilot gave a thumbs-up.

Inside the observation room, Matthew watched closely as the suit powered up. The sync readings appeared on the screen—neural response, servo motor timing, core temperature. Everything looked good.

The pilot took his first step.

Then another.

Then ran across the test track, stopping and pivoting with almost zero delay.

Angel crossed her arms. "Looks smooth."

Matthew smiled. "It is."

They didn't clap. They didn't cheer.

They just nodded, took notes, and moved on to the next checklist.

The real celebration would come after delivery.

—

Later that evening, as the sky over Metro Manila turned gold, Matthew stood on the rooftop of the facility with Angel. They didn't speak for a while. Just watched the lights of the city blink on one by one.

"You ever think about how much has changed?" Angel finally asked.

"All the time," Matthew replied.

She glanced at him. "And how much more it's going to change?"

Matthew didn't look away from the skyline. "That's the part I'm counting on."

Angel smiled faintly. "Good. Because there's no going back now."

Matthew nodded. "I know."

Behind them, inside the facility, ten Titan Mk-I units were nearly ready.

Soon, the world would see the first wave.

And Matthew Borja intended to make sure it wouldn't be the last.