Chapter 183: Hivemind [ 3 ]

A retailer in the front row straightened up, eyes wide with curiosity. “Wait, are you saying we’ll finally have one system for everything, POS, inventory, and shipping? No more juggling multiple platforms?”

Damian nodded confidently. “Exactly! One seamless ecosystem. No seams, no stress.”

The screen shifted to reveal an admin panel that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie,, a high-tech air traffic control display. A grid of drones buzzed across the screen, each one showcasing vital stats: Battery levels (92%, 87%, 64%…), Maintenance alerts (Rotor X-12 due for service), and Weather impacts (Drone #881 diverting for storm).

“Our ground teams won’t be chasing problems anymore; our app predicts them! That drone at 64% battery? It’s already scheduled for charging right after this delivery. And the one needing rotor service? The parts are ready and waiting at its next stop!”

A red “Manual Control” button pulsed gently on the screen like a heartbeat.

“But don’t worry,” Damian continued with a reassuring smile. “Humans will always be in charge. If something goes truly wrong…”

He tapped the button, and suddenly the view switched to a live feed from a drone’s camera. “You can see through its eyes, take manual control if needed, or even chat directly with customers through its speakers.”

Luke stepped back up to the podium, tapping his tablet to dim the displays as he posed an important question: “Now, how does all this translate into profit?”

Slide 1: Customer Premium Features

Just 2.99 Unixreds/month gets you:

30-minute delivery windows (compared to the usual 2-hour wait).

Personal delivery concierge services

Carbon-neutral shipping

Slide 2: Merchant Services

5% per transaction includes:

Dynamic pricing (charge more for those rush deliveries!)

Customer behavior analytics

Automated returns processing

Then suddenly, Damian’s tone shifted; he spoke softly yet passionately about his family legacy. “My uncle spent thirty years in logistics and came home frustrated, not because technology failed him but because human errors kept getting in the way. Customers missed deliveries; warehouse teams mislabeled boxes; drivers got lost.” He placed his hand over his heart.

“This isn’t just about replacing people; it’s about liberating them from the tasks that machines can handle more efficiently.

Imagine a world where technology empowers us rather than sidelines us.

Picture this: a cheerful bakery owner, her face lighting up as she watches a drone gracefully deliver fresh bread right to her doorstep.

She smiles, knowing that her next shipment of flour is already on its way, thanks to smart notifications that keep her business running smoothly.

“This is what we’re building,” Luke declared, his enthusiasm palpable in the air. As the audience erupted into applause, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

His gaze drifted to the back of the room, where the mysterious man in gray had vanished. But there it was on his tablet: an alarming alert flashing across the screen.

’Unauthorized access attempt: HiveMind Admin Portal.’

With a swift motion, he covered the screen, heart racing. What did this mean for their vision?

———–

The applause gradually faded as Luke Croft wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

The stage lights glinted off the faint scars crisscrossing his forearms, each one a testament to a story lived.

“Alright, folks,” he said, grabbing a half-empty water bottle and taking a long swig. The plastic crinkled loudly in the now-quiet auditorium. “Who’s got the first question?”

Hands shot up like startled birds taking flight. Luke pointed to a woman in the third row, clad in a navy pantsuit that likely cost more than his first drone prototype.

“How does it handle icy conditions?” Eleanor, VP of Northern Logistics, asked with an air of authority.

Luke grinned and tapped his tablet. The screen lit up with security footage from their Manitoba test site last winter. “Watch this.”

The video played in slow motion as a Drone descended through a swirling blizzard, its rotors caked with ice. Just before landing, the entire drone pulsed with an enchanting blue glow.

“See that? We borrowed this trick from arctic beetles! Micro-vibrations at 42Hz shatter ice buildup instantly.”

He rubbed his left wrist absentmindedly. “It took us 73 failed prototypes to nail down that frequency, burned out more circuits than I can count!”

Eleanor’s eyes narrowed skeptically. “What’s the power drain?”

“Less than 1% per de-icing cycle,” Luke replied with a cheeky wink. “And guess what? Those beetles don’t charge royalties!”

“What’s your failover protocol?” asked Frank, a grizzled operations manager whose grease-stained fingernails told tales of hard work.

Luke’s smile faded slightly as he walked to the edge of the stage and sat down casually, legs swinging like he was at a campfire gathering.

“Frank… can I call you Frank?… ever seen one of those old power grids fail?”

Without waiting for an answer, he continued, “It’s like watching dominoes fall, a cascading disaster! But HiveMind operates differently.”

Suddenly, the screen split into hundreds of live feeds showcasing drones across North America.

“Each unit is independent,” he explained passionately. “Lose connection? They keep flying on last-known instructions! Lose GPS? They navigate using cell tower triangulation! And if they lose power?”

He tapped his temple confidently. “They’ve memorized every rooftop charging pad within 50 miles!”

Frank grunted skeptically. “Sounds expensive.”

Luke hopped down and clapped him on the shoulder enthusiastically. “Cheaper than losing your entire fleet to one solar flare!”

“How do you stop drones from being shot down?” asked a fidgety security consultant, his eyes darting around the room. Tension hung in the air like a thick fog. Luke let out a resigned sigh, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared to dive into an explanation.

“Check this out,” he said, tapping on his tablet.

The screen lit up with footage of a drone releasing what appeared to be shimmering glitter over a suburban backyard. “This is our year two prototype. Some kid in Dallas thought it would be hilarious to take potshots at it.”

He continued, “Now we coat all packages with smart dust. If someone tries to mess with them? Boom! Your phone blasts nursery songs at full volume until the cops show up.”

He paused for effect, grinning mischievously. “And trust me, it’s non-negotiable volume!”

Laughter erupted in the room, but the consultant remained stone-faced. “What if they use jammers?” he pressed.

Luke’s smile faded as he replied, “Then their jamming signal becomes our homing beacon.” The atmosphere shifted; everyone could feel the weight of that statement.

A woman with weary eyes, clearly a corporate lawyer, interjected, “What about privacy laws?”

Luke rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. “Look, we’re not peeking through windows or anything creepy like that. But…”

He pulled up a map displaying delivery routes and pointed out clusters of activity. “If HiveMind sees the same porch pirate hitting six houses in an hour? You bet it’ll alert law enforcement before they strike again.”

The lawyer opened her mouth to respond, but Luke cut her off smoothly. “And just so we’re clear, all footage gets auto-deleted after 72 hours unless flagged for review. Even I can’t override that.”

She nodded slowly, jotting down notes as she processed this information.

“Now,” Luke said, shifting gears as he noticed a young man in thick glasses raise his hand eagerly. “How do you train the AI?”

A spark ignited in Luke’s demeanor as he walked backstage and returned with two sodas in hand, tossing one to the kid like it was game day. “Best question all day!”

He popped open his can with a satisfying hiss and continued enthusiastically, “We hired fifty ex-mail carriers and had them play video games for six months.”

The screen flickered again to show elderly postal workers donned in VR headsets skillfully guiding virtual drones through intricate courses.

“Meet Margaret,” Luke said, pointing at a grey-haired woman laughing joyfully in the footage.

“She taught our system more about human behavior than any algorithm ever could, like how nobody’s home on bowling league nights.”

Applause erupted throughout the auditorium as people began to appreciate the innovative approach.

“Alright folks!” Luke beamed at the audience below him. “Any last questions?” His enthusiasm was infectious as he scanned their faces for one final inquiry.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep