Hétóng Rén at the Crossroads
Ranell glanced down at his wristwatch. “It’s still early in Beijing,” he observed. “Let’s take a short break while I make a call.”
Back in his office, Ranell searched through his briefcase. Inside, he found a small, hard-shell eyeglass case with an image of a sinuous dragon embossed on the lid. “Use these to contact me if you have a change of heart, Dr. Ranell,” Hétóng Rén had said. “This is Chinese technology, very powerful, very secure.”
He removed an expensive-looking pair of glasses from the case and examined them. They were Extended Reality (XR) glasses. Hétóng Rén had explained how to use them, and Ranell also found a card with simple instructions in the case. He slipped on the glasses, activating them with a slight touch to a sensor near his temple. Then with a few swipes of his hand in the air, he placed the call.
“I’m very sorry, but that offer is no longer on the table.” Hétóng Rén sat across from Ranell in an office chair that looked wildly out of place on the gravel intersection of two country roads that cut through barren fields that stretched endlessly to the horizon. Overhead, dark clouds roiled ominously, and thunder boomed in the distance.
Combined with the small camera in the eyeglass case, the XR glasses Ranell wore seemed to project him to this meeting place. The effect was uncanny. It captured every detail of Hétóng Rén's impassive face. Even though his rational mind knew this was nothing more than a glorified video conference call, it felt like he was really meeting face-to-face in this strange, remote location.
The Chinese businessman would not reconsider purchasing the fleet of hybrid airships. “Why not? What’s changed?” Ranell tried to mask any trace of pleading. He did his best to feign indifference. He glanced up at the sight of lightning streaking through the dark clouds and wondered, how much of my true emotion does his avatar portray?
"Ah, Dr. Ranell," Hétóng Rén purred, “my employer has been keeping very close tabs on your financial situation with the bank. Most unfortunate.”
How could he know about that? Ranell’s avatar surely revealed his open-mouthed look of shock. I just learned about the situation myself a few hours ago. The dread he felt deepened into a dark suspicion. Just who am I dealing with here?
Fighting to regain his composure, Ranell stammered, “Well, uh, I see.” This was a mistake. I’ve got to get out of here.
“I, um, appreciate your time, Mr. Hétóng” Ranell made to stand up from his chair, but that moved his head out of the field of view of the camera on his desk, and his head seemed to disappear. He sat back down.
Next, he made to shake hands. He quickly realized their avatars could not physically touch and dropped his hand back to his lap. All the while, Hétóng Rén just watched impassively.
“Sorry, I’m not used to this technology.”
Hétóng Rén gave a slight nod of understanding.
“I guess I’ll just ‘sign off’ now.” Ranell moved his hand towards his temple, seeking the sensor to deactivate the call.
“Before you go, Josef,” Hétóng Rén leaned forward in his chair, “let me give you a different proposition to consider.”