[2 Broke Girls] Ch: 333 & 334 [The Great Technological Leap] (Patreon)

AN: Over 4.6k words.

[March 2009] [Titan HQ, New York] [Sixth Floor Strategy Room]

The sixth floor of Titan’s New York headquarters had been locked down before sunrise, and by ten in the morning, the strategy room looked more like the command center for a technology war than an entertainment-company meeting.

A massive digital wall covered one side of the room, displaying three logos beneath the larger Titan Interactive banner.

TITAN INTERACTIVENEBULA FORGE INTERACTIVEIRON LANTERN GAMES

A second screen showed engineering diagrams for Titan’s console, processors, memory modules, solid-state storage, motherboards, cooling systems, GPUs, operating software, development tools, and an entire hardware ecosystem that officially did not exist outside the people sitting in the room.

Alex sat at the head of the long table with a glass of water near his right hand. Rachel stood beside the main display with a tablet connected to the room’s presentation system, wearing a dark suit and the expression of someone who had already considered six ways every competitor might react.

The three gaming divisions occupied one side of the table.

Travis Owen represented Titan Interactive, the company’s primary game studio and the team currently building Mass Effect. He had several years of production notes spread in front of him and looked more excited than nervous because he already knew what Titan’s upcoming hardware could do.

Marcus Vale sat beside him as the public director of Nebula Forge Interactive, Titan’s science-fiction, futuristic action, military, and horror-focused development label. Their job at the present is to create No Man's Sky. Well, just pretend to create. Rachel had built enough legitimate history around Marcus that nobody outside the room would ever question why Titan trusted him with expensive projects.

Serena Holt represented Iron Lantern Games, which would handle fantasy, dark adventure, role-playing games, medieval worlds, supernatural projects, and titles such as Dragon Age. She had already developed a reputation inside Titan for asking uncomfortable questions before expensive mistakes happened.

Across from them sat the people responsible for turning Alex’s impossible technology roadmap into physical products.

Dr. Priya Raman headed Titan Graphics Architecture, where several teams were developing the Aegis GPU family and the dedicated hardware responsible for Titan’s real-time ray-tracing system.

Elias Mercer led Titan Console Systems, overseeing the upcoming Titan home console, controller architecture, thermal design, manufacturing preparation, and certification process.

Noah Bennett ran Titan Platform Software, which included specific systems, graphics APIs, drivers, developer tools, compatibility layers, debugging software, and the internal engine technology that would connect Titan’s games to Titan’s hardware.

Maya Chen headed Titan Systems Hardware, giving her responsibility for memory, solid-state storage, motherboards, power delivery, networking components, and the supporting hardware required to build complete Titan PCs instead of isolated graphics cards.

Victor Salazar sat beside her as director of Titan Thermal and Power Engineering, where his teams handled cooling systems, power supplies, heat management, acoustic design, and the unpleasant reality that futuristic performance still produced very ordinary heat.

Rachel waited until the doors were secured before touching the tablet, and the main display changed to a single sentence.

PROJECT TITAN WORLD

Alex leaned back slightly as he looked around the table. “Everybody here already knows we’re preparing something that’s going to make the current market look ancient, although only a few of you understand how aggressively Rachel plans to use it.”

Rachel gave him a calm look as she moved toward the display. “Aggressively sounds unnecessarily dramatic when strategically overwhelming works perfectly well.”

Travis smiled while folding his arms. “That sounds significantly more threatening when you say it that calmly.”

Rachel ignored the comment and brought up the first chart, which showed the current gaming market divided between consoles, graphics cards, PC components, operating platforms, game engines, publishers, and development studios. “Before anybody says the word monopoly inside this building, understand something clearly. We aren’t going to create one through illegal exclusivity, collusion, market blocking, forced bundling, or any other shortcut that gives regulators an excuse to crawl through our walls.”

Alex raised his glass slightly while listening. “I already made my Yoda speech about that problem, so legal has been warned.”

Rachel’s expression barely changed as several people around the table laughed. “Our strategy is simpler. We’re going to make Titan the most attractive choice in every major category, then allow consumers and developers to choose us voluntarily. If ninety percent of the market chooses Titan because our products are faster, cheaper, easier to develop for, and supported better, our attorneys can defend that position much more comfortably.”

Noah leaned toward the table while studying the chart. “So you’re building dominance through ecosystem preference instead of technical lock-in.”

Rachel pointed toward him with the tablet. “Exactly, and I want that distinction understood by every department before launch. Competitors can exist. Developers can support them. Consumers can buy them. We’re simply going to make every one of those decisions increasingly difficult to justify.”

The screen changed again.

STEP ONE: WIN DEVELOPERS BEFORE WINNING CONSUMERS

Travis glanced toward Alex before turning back toward Rachel. “That part explains why you wanted the SDK accelerated ahead of the console casing.”

Rachel brought up a timeline showing developer-kit distribution. “Gamers don’t buy architecture diagrams. They buy games, and hardware without software becomes an expensive decoration under somebody’s television. Our first target is every serious studio capable of building something worth playing.”

Noah opened his own tablet and pushed several technical diagrams to the main display. “Titan SDK already has the first stable toolchain running. Developers will receive the Titan Ray API, the Aegis shader compiler, the Titan profiler, the asset-conversion pipeline, debugging tools, memory analysis, performance capture, and compatibility documentation. We’re also building import support for common production software, so teams won’t have to rebuild their entire workflow before touching our platform.”

Serena looked through the features before resting her hands together. “How much are we charging for the developer package?”

Rachel answered while advancing the slide. “Nothing for qualified studios during the first twelve months. Development kits will be subsidized, technical documentation will be included, and Titan engineering support will be available directly to approved teams. Smaller independent studios will receive a separate program with reduced certification costs.”

Marcus gave a low whistle while reading the support structure. “That’s going to make publishers very interested.”

Rachel looked toward him. “I want them interested before they understand how far behind everyone else is going to look.”

Alex smiled faintly while turning one of the hardware reports. “Developers shouldn’t spend eighteen months learning how to make one reflection appear correctly. Give them the tools, teach them how to use the hardware, and get their games running before the public can even buy the machine.”

Priya brought up a rendering diagram. “That matters especially for ray tracing because most current engines weren’t designed around dedicated intersection hardware. We can accelerate old rendering methods easily, although proper real-time ray tracing needs developers thinking differently about lighting, materials, reflections, and scene structure.”

Alex tapped the table lightly. “That’s why Mass Effect leads the demonstration. Travis already has the development team working directly with the new renderer, so the audience gets something built around the technology instead of a patched tech demo.”

Travis smiled as the main screen switched briefly to Shepard standing inside a reflective Citadel corridor. “The current internal build already has native 4K running on the engineering cards. Reflections, dynamic shadows, and the first global illumination pass are working, although we’re still tuning performance around larger combat spaces.”

Alex looked toward him with visible satisfaction. “You’re going to have the most watched game trailer in the world before people even know when it releases.”

Rachel moved to the second stage.

STEP TWO: CREATE DISBELIEF

A thirty-second countdown appeared beside the words PROJECT AEGIS.

Rachel enlarged the launch schedule. “The first teaser releases on March twenty-seventh. Anywhere between thirty seconds and one minute. And there won't be any hardware photographs, no price, no specifications, and no explanation beyond what appears on screen.”

Marcus read the proposed teaser notes. “You’re showing Mass Effect running in native 3840 by 2160 with real-time reflections and lighting, then refusing to explain how it happened.”

Rachel gave him a faint smile. “Correct. I want arguments. I want people accusing Titan of using prerendered footage. I want forum threads explaining why the video is impossible. I want graphics programmers writing essays about why nobody can do this in real time on consumer hardware.”

Alex laughed softly while tapping the table. “Then we invite the loudest skeptics to New York and let them touch the machine themselves.”

The screen changed.

TITAN TECHNOLOGY DAYAPRIL 10, 2009INVITATION ONLY

Rachel scrolled through the planned guest groups. “One hundred and forty attendees. Hardware journalists, game developers, graphics researchers, engine programmers, selected publishers, display manufacturers, VFX supervisors, technology analysts, and several people who’ll probably arrive intending to prove we’re lying.”

Priya folded her arms with growing amusement. “I want the graphics researchers near the front when we explain the ray hardware.”

Alex glanced toward her. “You’re expecting tears?”

Priya allowed herself a small smile. “Professional ones would be satisfying.”

Rachel continued while a demonstration room appeared on screen. “There won’t be a controlled prerecorded sequence during Technology Day. Every demonstration machine will run interactive builds. Journalists can move the camera, break lights, change viewing angles, fire weapons, walk in front of reflective surfaces, and deliberately try to expose rendering tricks.”

Noah added another window showing system telemetry. “We’ll display live frame time, GPU utilization, memory usage, resolution, and rendering mode beside every machine. Anybody technical enough to understand the data can verify what the hardware is doing.”

Alex leaned forward with clear approval. “Perfect. Once they realize the footage is real, I want the room to understand the second part. This isn’t a laboratory box that costs fifty thousand dollars.”

Elias knew exactly where that sentence was going. “It’s going inside the console.”

Alex pointed toward him with a grin. “That’s the part where somebody drops a notebook.”

Rachel changed the screen again.

STEP THREE: TITAN WORLD PUBLIC REVEALAPRIL 17, 2009

A dark silhouette of the console appeared beside an equally hidden graphics card and a full Titan PC.

“This becomes the full event,” Rachel said as she moved through the schedule. “Alex walks onstage, addresses the accusations surrounding Project Aegis, and then somebody plays the same sequence live. There won't be any cinematic excuses or hidden hardware.”

Alex looked toward Travis. “I’m thinking Robert plays the first Mass Effect section publicly. He’ll complain that Tony Stark should have gotten the armor DLC already, which guarantees half the press conference gets quoted before lunch.”

Travis laughed while writing something into his notes. “I can build a clean demonstration save around the Citadel and one combat encounter.”

Rachel brought up a comparison slide between contemporary hardware and Titan’s planned product. “Then we show the same environment on a premium 2009 PC and the Titan system. The current machine runs using traditional rendering at ordinary resolutions. Titan runs native 4K with the Aegis Ray Engine active.”

Priya leaned forward. “We need to explain ray tracing carefully because most consumers won’t understand why it matters from a technical description.”

Alex looked toward the rendering example before answering. “Use a simple room before we show the huge game scene. Chrome sphere, glass, colored walls, moving light, mirror, and one character walking through everything.”

Noah immediately understood the presentation. “We run the traditional approximation first, then activate Aegis Ray. Reflections become physically consistent, glass starts refracting properly, colored light bounces between surfaces, and moving objects affect the scene naturally.”

Alex smiled as he imagined the audience reaction. “Then I tell them the light isn’t baked into the environment. Their game is calculating it while they’re playing.”

Priya’s eyes shifted toward the specification chart. “Do you want us using the technical term ray-tracing cores publicly?”

Alex thought for several seconds before shaking his head. “Aegis Ray Engine first. We can explain that the GPU contains dedicated processing units for ray intersections, although regular customers need something they can remember without reading a research paper.”

Rachel changed the display toward the consumer lineup.

STEP FOUR: SELL THE FUTURE AT A PRICE PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY PAY

Three graphics cards appeared.

TITAN AEGIS 60TITAN AEGIS 70TITAN AEGIS 90

Priya tapped one of the specification blocks. “These names are placeholders until marketing finishes consumer testing. The Aegis 60 would already outperform every current enthusiast card by a margin that’s going to look ridiculous. The 70 becomes our high-performance gaming card, while the 90 targets enthusiasts, creators, scientific workloads, and professional rendering.”

Alex looked toward Rachel. “And we’re pricing the lowest card where ordinary gamers can actually buy it.”

Rachel nodded while bringing up the financial model. “Margins remain positive across the entire stack, and legal has already reviewed the pricing strategy. We’re going low because our production structure allows it, rather than selling below cost until competitors collapse. That difference matters if regulators start asking questions.”

Maya turned several pages of the manufacturing report. “Memory and storage are where we can make the complete PC platform even more disruptive. Current consumer systems are bottlenecked across several areas, so putting a futuristic GPU beside slow storage and limited memory would waste half the advantage.”

The display changed again as she spoke.

TITAN MEMORYHigh-bandwidth DDR modules.

TITAN FLASHSolid-state consumer storage.

TITAN COREBOARDSMotherboards designed around the Aegis platform.

TITAN POWERHigh-efficiency power supplies.

TITAN FROSTAir and liquid cooling systems.

Maya paused before advancing to the next slide, which displayed the one component no complete computer could function without.

TITAN-INTEL APEX PLATFORMHigh-performance processors developed through Titan and Intel collaboration.

Several people around the table leaned forward as the processor roadmap expanded across the screen. Unlike the rest of Titan’s hardware ecosystem, Alex had no intention of trying to build a completely new consumer CPU architecture from scratch within a few months. Even with the System providing advanced designs, manufacturing knowledge, compiler guidance, and architectural roadmaps, forcing an entirely unfamiliar processor platform into the market would create unnecessary compatibility problems.

Intel already possessed the factories, processor experience, motherboard relationships, enterprise customers, and global distribution Titan needed.

Alex wanted the future.

Intel already owned the road leading toward it.

Maya tapped the processor diagram and explained, “The agreement with Intel gives us a much cleaner launch path. Titan provides the architectural improvements, cache designs, memory-controller roadmap, power-management systems, advanced instruction extensions, and long-term manufacturing targets. Intel handles fabrication, validation, packaging, and large-scale processor production.”

Priya glanced toward the CPU specifications on her tablet before looking toward Alex. “Which also means Aegis GPUs won't spend their first year being strangled by processors designed for 2009 workloads.”

Alex nodded while studying the pairing chart. “That was the biggest issue. There’s no point selling someone a monster graphics card if the processor feeding it belongs to a completely different technological era.”

Maya changed the slide to show the planned consumer lineup.

Intel Titan Apex 5Mainstream gaming and productivity.

Intel Titan Apex 7High-performance gaming and professional workloads.

Intel Titan Apex 9Enthusiast, workstation, simulation, rendering, and scientific computing.

“The names are still provisional,” Maya continued while pointing toward the upper-end processor. “The Apex 9 platform will be excessive for normal users, which means Alex will probably want one in every machine he personally touches.”

Alex gave her an approving nod. “Finally, somebody in engineering understands me.”

A few people laughed before Maya continued. “The important part is compatibility. These processors will remain inside Intel’s broader x86 family, which means existing Windows software doesn't suddenly become useless. New applications can take advantage of Titan-specific instruction extensions over time, while older programs continue running normally.”

Noah leaned forward as the software section expanded across the wall. “That brings us to Microsoft, because the processor deal only solves half the compatibility problem.”

The Titan hardware logos shifted aside as another logo appeared beside them.

MICROSOFT WINDOWS CERTIFIED TITAN PLATFORM

Noah opened a second set of documents. “We’ve already entered advanced negotiations with Microsoft. They understand that if Titan ships completely new hardware without proper Windows integration, driver certification, DirectX compatibility, power management, scheduling support, and installation tools, consumers will blame both companies when something breaks.”

Rachel folded her arms and looked across the room. “Microsoft also understands that saying no would be remarkably stupid when millions of customers are likely to purchase these machines.”

Noah smiled slightly before continuing. “The deal gives Microsoft early access to Titan engineering hardware under strict confidentiality. Their Windows team will receive documentation for the Aegis graphics architecture, Apex processors, memory controllers, storage devices, motherboard firmware, and Titan-specific hardware scheduling.”

The display changed to show the operating-system support plan.

Windows XP and Vista Titan Compatibility Update

Windows 7 Titan Launch Support

Certified Aegis Graphics Drivers

Titan Storage and Memory Management Extensions

DirectX Compatibility Layer

Aegis Ray API Integration Tools

Titan Control Center

Noah looked toward Alex. “XP and Vista will receive full driver support because millions of systems already use it, though Windows 7 is where we’re focusing long-term optimization. Microsoft’s engineers are particularly interested in the storage stack because Titan Flash makes existing consumer drive assumptions look ancient.”

Alex gave him a faint smile. “They’re going to love us until they realize we just created enough performance overhead to make everybody complain that Windows is the slow part.”

Noah chuckled while switching to another diagram. “We’ve thought about that. Titan Control Center will handle GPU settings, ray-tracing configuration, processor modes, cooling profiles, storage health, driver updates, and game optimization without forcing normal consumers through twelve different utilities.”

Rachel nodded once. “Good. The consumer shouldn't need an engineering degree after buying an expensive computer.”

Maya returned the screen to the complete ecosystem.

MICROSOFT WINDOWS CERTIFIED TITAN PLATFORMOperating-system and software compatibility.

She looked around the room before adding, “That gives us a complete PC path without forcing customers into a closed machine. They can buy one Titan component, several Titan components, or an entire certified system.”

Alex leaned forward with clear approval. “That’s exactly what I want. Enthusiasts should be able to build their own machines, upgrade slowly, mix components where compatibility allows, and still use Windows normally. We win because our hardware is better, rather than because we trapped everybody inside some weird proprietary box.”

Rachel advanced the financial projections. “That distinction also helps legally. We’re partnering with Intel instead of trying to strangle the CPU market, and we're working directly with Microsoft rather than using software incompatibility as a weapon. Other manufacturers can still build Windows computers. Other graphics companies can still ship products. Consumers can still choose them.”

Marcus looked toward the performance chart and gave a quiet laugh. “They can choose them, although after seeing these numbers, I’m not sure why many people would.”

Rachel’s expression sharpened slightly. “That’s their problem, which is exactly where I want it.”

The screen changed toward Titan’s display division.

TITAN VISION

Elias nodded toward the display section. “That solves another major problem because the hardware is going to outrun almost every normal television and monitor currently sitting in people’s homes.”

Rachel expanded the two flagship products.

Titan Vision 3232-inch native 4K computer display.

Titan Cinema 4646-inch native 4K television.

Alex studied the mockups before smiling. “That line is staying in my presentation. We built a machine powerful enough to make existing televisions the bottleneck, so we fixed the television too.”

Marcus laughed from the opposite side of the table. “You’re going to make every electronics manufacturer hate Titan in a single evening.”

Alex looked entirely comfortable with that possibility. “Efficiency matters when you're collecting enemies.”

Rachel moved the presentation toward the console.

Its working name appeared beneath a dark silhouette.

TITAN NOVA

Elias sat straighter as the room’s attention shifted toward him. “The Nova engineering chassis is stable. Controller latency is below our original target, thermal behavior remains inside safe limits, and our software compatibility layer is much further along than I expected at this stage.”

Alex rested one forearm against the table. “What processor are we putting inside the console?”

Elias brought up the architecture map. “A custom Apex-derived CPU designed with Intel specifically for Nova. It shares enough architectural principles with the desktop platform that game developers can move code between PC and console without rebuilding everything from the ground up.”

Noah immediately added, “That shared environment matters enormously. Titan Engine, our compiler tools, shader pipeline, physics libraries, and development SDK will target Nova and Windows PCs through the same general toolchain.”

Travis leaned forward as the implication became obvious. “Which means Mass Effect can ship on Titan Nova and Titan-certified Windows PCs without us maintaining completely separate development branches.”

Noah nodded. “Exactly. Platform-specific optimization will still exist, although the underlying development environment remains close enough that porting becomes dramatically easier.”

Alex smiled as he looked toward Rachel. “That also means developers have fewer excuses for terrible PC ports.”

Rachel gave him a calm look. “I’m sure somebody will still discover new excuses.”

"Well, Xbox and PS are in for a massive surprise. Their consoles would look ancient. Haaa... I love crushing competition," Alex said with a sinister smile.

Elias brought the manufacturing calendar onto the main display. “The final industrial design should lock within three weeks. Component production can begin immediately afterward, and we can build inventory through May and June.”

Alex tapped one finger against the table. “Give me the shipping date without corporate optimism.”

Elias checked the supply forecast before answering. “July third is realistic if Intel begins custom Apex production in April and Microsoft finishes certification on schedule. We can accumulate enough launch inventory to avoid immediate shortages in our major markets.”

Rachel glanced toward him approvingly. “I want purchase limits during launch month, identity checks on suspicious bulk orders, and agreements with major retailers preventing obvious warehouse-scale reselling.”

Alex remembered the Maleficent merchandise disaster and smiled. “You’re still emotionally damaged by fairy-horn scalpers.”

Rachel looked toward him without amusement. “People buying fifty units so children can’t find one at retail deserve every legal inconvenience I can arrange.”

The next line appeared beneath the console date.

MASS EFFECT: JULY 3, 2009

Travis stared at it for several seconds before slowly exhaling. “You’re tying the game directly to Nova launch day.”

Alex met his eyes. “You wanted people to remember Mass Effect. They’ll remember the first game that makes their expensive television feel outdated.”

Travis smiled despite the pressure settling visibly across his shoulders. “Then I’m going to need every testing team we’ve got between now and June.”

Alex nodded while pointing toward him. “You’ll get them. Quality comes before schedule pride, so if something serious appears, tell me immediately and we’ll fix it.”

Rachel moved the timeline toward Titan’s other studios. “Nebula Forge and Iron Lantern won’t launch major titles beside Mass Effect. We don’t need to bury our own flagship game beneath three internal releases. Both studios will reveal their projects after Titan World and release development footage throughout the summer.”

She looked toward both studio directors. “Keep the stories separate from hardware advertising whenever possible. I want Titan’s studios to feel like creative companies using advanced technology, rather than twenty-hour commercials disguised as video games.”

Noah tapped the software roadmap before bringing the discussion back toward the ecosystem. “There’s another issue we should settle before launch. If our development stack feels too Titan-specific, third-party studios might hesitate because they’ll assume supporting our hardware traps them inside our platform.”

Rachel answered while bringing up the licensing policy. “Then we don't trap them. Titan Ray API documentation will be public. Our development tools can export toward other supported systems where technically possible. Developers keep ownership of their games, and technical assistance won't require lifetime exclusivity.”

Marcus raised his eyebrows. “That’s unusually generous for a platform launch.”

Rachel gave him a thin smile. “I don’t need chains when performance does the persuasion for me. If developers release the same game elsewhere and the Titan version runs at higher resolution, better lighting, faster loading, and more stable performance, every comparison video becomes free advertising.”

Alex laughed while glancing toward her. “That might be the most evil version of consumer-friendly policy I’ve ever heard.”

Rachel’s expression remained calm. “Friendly behavior becomes remarkably useful when your competitors can't match it.”

The final market map appeared across the wall.

NVIDIA.

AMD.

Sony.

Microsoft.

Nintendo.

Intel.

Major PC manufacturers.

Component vendors.

Game publishers.

Retail chains.

VFX houses.

Research institutions.

Display manufacturers.

Rachel walked toward the screen and folded her arms. “Here’s where everybody needs discipline. Intel and Microsoft Windows are strategic partners for this launch. We need Intel’s manufacturing strength and processor ecosystem, and we need Microsoft’s Windows platform because billions of dollars in software compatibility can’t be rebuilt overnight.”

Alex nodded while looking toward the Microsoft and Intel logos. “We compete where we compete and cooperate where cooperation makes everybody richer. I’m not stupid enough to start unnecessary wars just because Titan has good technology.”

Rachel touched the tablet, and NVIDIA and AMD moved into a separate highlighted group. “Those two are different because they directly compete with Aegis. Even then, nobody publicly attacks them, celebrates their stock problems, or says Titan plans to destroy them.”

Priya looked toward the performance projections. “Even when the launch effectively makes their current product roadmaps obsolete.”

Rachel glanced toward her. “Especially in that situation. We publish benchmarks, give reviewers independent hardware, maintain supply, support developers, price products profitably, and let customers reach their own conclusions.”

Maya studied the AMD and NVIDIA logos before speaking carefully. “They’ll immediately ask how we jumped this far technologically.”

Rachel’s expression remained unreadable. “They can keep asking.”

Victor leaned toward the table. “They’re also going to recruit every engineer wearing a Titan badge.”

Rachel changed the display toward the employee-retention plan. “Critical personnel receive better compensation, project bonuses, stock participation, security assistance, research freedom, and clear advancement opportunities. Nobody gets trapped by contracts beyond normal protection of confidential technology.”

Alex gave her an approving look. “If someone genuinely wants to leave, they’re free to leave. I want people working here because Titan gives them the best place to build something meaningful.”

Noah glanced toward the Intel partnership line. “Intel’s engineers are going to face the same recruiting pressure once people realize how advanced Apex really is.”

Rachel nodded once. “Their side of the agreement includes separate security and retention provisions. Intel understands what they’re sitting on.”

The competitor logos faded while Titan, Intel, and Microsoft remained connected at the center of a larger ecosystem map.

Rachel brought up the long-term projection. “By the end of 2009, I want Titan synonymous with high-end gaming performance. By 2010, I want developers designing around Aegis capabilities from the beginning instead of treating them as optional features. By 2011, I want Titan hardware inside gaming PCs, professional workstations, VFX facilities, universities, research laboratories, and enough living rooms that every competitor has been forced to rebuild its roadmap around us."

Alex’s expression changed slightly as he studied the complete hardware map.

Titan wasn’t introducing a slightly faster GPU or another console generation. The System had given Alex a development path toward technology inspired by a world nearly seventeen years ahead of 2009.

Rachel changed the display back to the launch calendar.

MARCH 27: PROJECT AEGIS TEASER

APRIL 10: TITAN TECHNOLOGY DAY

APRIL 17: TITAN WORLD REVEAL

MAY 29: AEGIS GPU FAMILY + INTEL TITAN APEX LAUNCH

JUNE 12: TITAN MEMORY, FLASH, COREBOARDS, POWER, FROST + TITAN VISION

JULY 3: TITAN NOVA + MASS EFFECT

Alex clapped his hands once as he stood up. "Everything must go exactly as planned. I don't want any leaks or all that shits. Everyone will give their 100% and make this a success. And, after the success, everyone will get a big bonus cheque and every department will get an increased budget. So, do your best. That's all for today."