[Chapter 178: Brian's Campaign]
Ocean Park Avenue, Twitter Building.
These days, the company's entrance was bustling with a stream of job applicants.
Glimr International had recomnded five managerial candidates, from which Hawke selected two. Jett Brown actively started recruiting individuals. Regular programrs and architects were mostly recruited directly by Twitter itself.
Hawke had no specific requirents concerning ethnicity or gender for other candidates, as long as they t the qualifications. Twitter would provide them the opportunity to showcase their talents.
After several days of recruitnt, over a dozen employees were brought on board.
Among them, more than two-thirds were n, with only a few won, which conford to the normal trends of company developnt.
It was well-known that having too many female employees in a company, especially in the office, could create issues.
Of course, there were also outstanding won among the hires.
...
During the Monday staff eting, Harland, the CTO, specifically ntioned a new hire: "One of our newly recruited female employees, Bella Sain, who previously worked in Silicon Valley, has proposed a new algorithm for user interaction that could potentially increase efficiency by 10 percentage."
Hawke asked, "Is it feasible?"
Harland replied, "We're currently testing it; she's highly capable and has a unique flair for creativity."
"Let's check it out after the eting," Hawke said directly. "Tell her that if it works, bonuses and promotions won't be an issue."
After the eting, Caroline planned to head overseas with her assistants to the English-speaking market. Hawke also exchanged a few words with her.
...
After the eting, Hawke followed Harland to the technology departnt.
Kasim was leading a team to test the new algorithm.
Harland introduced the developer of the new algorithm to Hawke: "This is Bella Sain, she joined us last week."
Bella was serious, simply nodding to Hawke, politely saying, "Hello, boss."
"Hi," Hawke said, giving her a brief once-over.
She appeared to be of Latino descent, with a lighter skin tone than most xicans. In the midst of the departnt's crew of greasy programrs, she could be considered beautiful, reminiscent of Jessica Alba. ṝÅNȱ𐌱Êꞩ
Hawke quickly redirected his focus. "Is the new algorithm practical?"
Kasim and Harland refrained from taking credit and let Bella respond.
Bella adjusted her glasses and, with a serious expression, stated, "There are a few areas lacking; it needs further optimization."
Hawke nodded.
Bella did not elaborate further, quickly returning to her workspace.
...
Hawke then went to the director's office and chatted with Harland and Kasim for a bit.
As he left, he stole a glance at Bella, who was intently typing away at her computer, lines of code flashing on her screen.
Hawke didn't understand code, so he soon left the tech departnt.
He casually swung by HR to check Bella's background. She was a Stanford graduate who had previously worked in Silicon Valley. Her prior company had encountered difficulties since 2003, causing a number of employees to seek new opportunities.
Bella was among those seeking other avenues.
This was all very normal; people looked for jobs primarily motivated by financial reasons.
"Drawing big dreams won't fill the stomach."
...
In the afternoon, Hawke received a call from Brian, asking him out for drinks that night.
The two had arranged to et at 7:30 PM.
Hawke got out of the office a bit late. As he stepped out of the elevator, he encountered a few overti workers from the tech departnt.
Kasim greeted Hawke, continuing his discussion on technical issues with the others.
Among them were two new employees, one of whom was Bella Sain.
She seed entirely focused on the technical discussion, actively talking with Kasim about the feasibility of another algorithm.
These thorough professionals acknowledged Hawke, offering polite nods or quick hellos as he passed.
He didn't disturb them, heading to his rcedes and driving to the bar Brian had ntioned.
...
It was a classy bar, nestled among skyscrapers in downtown Los Angeles.
By the ti Hawke arrived, Brian had already ordered a bottle of tequila.
He poured Hawke a glass, saying, "This Twitter thing you've been working on has been making waves online for the last couple of months."
Hawke replied honestly, "Without support from your family, it wouldn't have gone so smoothly; who knows, a month ago, so big shot could have swooped in to take over."
Brian clinked glasses with Hawke: "Here's to you, future billionaire!"
Hawke took a sip, noting, "Right now, it's all about burning cash, with minimal returns."
"What about advertising?" Brian understood so aspects of the business.
Hawke replied, "We haven't officially launched that yet; right now, attracting users and building loyalty is the priority. Jumping into comrcialization too soon won't be beneficial."
Brian quickly grasped what Hawke was implying: "So you're looking to bring in new investors?"
"That's necessary." For social dia to expand, significant upfront cash was needed. Hawke and the current Twitter couldn't sustain it alone.
He also needed to find a way to start generating inco.
Brian lanted, "Too bad my sights are set on politics."
Hawke spoke seriously, "I'm looking forward to colluding with you and leveraging traditional skills."
"I know; you excel at high-stakes business warfare." Brian's past collaboration with Hawke had proven that; that was why he sought out Hawke again: "Do you rember the thing I brought up last year?"
Hawke responded in a mock-serious tone, using sarcasm: "You an the AIDS testing initiative?"
"Hey, buddy!" Brian exclaid, curling his fingers to knock on the table, the conversation derailed: "Do you have any idea? I haven't gone out to see any won for five months!"
Fired up, he continued, "Do you know how I've managed during these five months?"
Hawke nodded, "I'm sorry, man! Just before I ca in, I saw an adult shop across the street. After we finish drinking, you should go buy a fleshlight..."
Brian continued to glare at him.
"Alright, I'll cover the cost," Hawke brazenly said. "I heard they even sell dolls."
Brian insisted, "I don't need any of that stuff."
Hawke rebutted, "No, you do." He anticipated Brian's next statent: "You're preparing for your mayoral campaign in Covina, right? Don't go ssing around with won. Watch out for traps; if any sexual scandals co out about you, you'll be finished."
"I thought you had forgotten about what we talked about last year, you helping campaign for mayor of Covina." Brian hadn't planned to let Hawke work for free; he knew how to get Hawke's creativity flowing. "After the family dividends ca in earlier this year, I haven't touched it, just to afford your hefty salary."
Hawke said candidly, "It's a fair trade; I provide labor, you provide the funding."
Brian nodded seriously, explaining, "To my knowledge, the Governor's Assistant's Office in Sacranto sent soone to Los Angeles specifically for the Covina mayoral election."
He detailed further: "Los Angeles has always been a deep blue city, with almost all satellite city mayors belonging to the Democratic party in recent years. This ti, I'm also aiming to break this deadlock. But the Democrats won't give in easily; our last attempt in Sacranto weakened our position, leading to Governor Gray Davis nearly entering a recall election..."
Hawke inquired, "Is his opponent Arnold Schwarzenegger?"
Brian replied, "If the recall goes through, Schwarzenegger takes the helm; if not, Davis remains the governor."
He continued, "The people Sacranto sent are mainly there to thwart my campaign and reclaim so dignity after the previous failure. They might just use simple and crude tactics against us, like last ti."
Hawke chuckled: "Then you need a doll even more."
"No, what I need is you," Brian quickly poured more tequila into Hawke's glass: "We ss with them, they'll ss with back; without you strategizing, I wouldn't feel safe at all."
Hawke thought about the trouble he'd caused and refrained from downplaying his abilities: "I'll likely beco a target for retaliation too, so I should be cautious."
Brian rebutted, "I'm the shield taking the hits; they'll likely co after first."
Hawke contemplated before stating, "This must be entangled with your Covina campaign. Gather all the related material on the Covina campaign; the more detailed, the better. Get it to as soon as possible."
Brian took a sip of his drink: "Okay."
Hawke continued, "Make sure your bodyguards follow you around 24/7; don't let anyone take you out."
"I've got a team following always," Brian reminded him. "You need to be careful too, don't get caught."
This drinking session didn't last long; they barely finished a third of the tequila bottle.
...
Brian had prepared thoroughly; by the next morning, he sent detailed information directly to Hawke's office.
Hawke wasn't overly busy, so he took the ti to go through the material Brian had sent carefully.
Brian's main competitor was a man nad Owen Nester, who happened to be Covina's current mayor, a mber of the Democratic party and already serving his second term.
Cities across Arica operated differently; so had a city manager system, where the mayor was appointed by the council, often just a figurehead.
So towns even appointed cats or dogs as mayors, purely for symbolism.
Los Angeles practiced a mayor-council system where mayors were elected.
Covina was generally like Los Angeles but had so differences.
For example, one could run for mayor after living in the town for three years.
Also, adults over 18 who have lived there for at least two years have the right to vote.
Similar campaigns traditionally focused on promoting the candidate's image while disparaging the opponent.
Hawke barely hesitated in focusing on diminishing the opponent's image.
He grabbed a pen and marked the critical points in the materials.
...
On the second floor, at the tech departnt, interviews were still taking place.
Harland and Kasim served as interviewers, handling the sessions due to the nurous technical questions involved.
In the tech departnt's open workspace, several programrs busily worked.
Bella Sain, typing away on her keyboard, paused briefly.
She removed her USB drive from the computer, temporarily locking her screen, and stood up to head to the restroom.
Once inside a stall, Bella took out her specially prepared perfu from her bag and sprayed so on.
This had an aphrodisiac effect.
*****
/Sayonara816.
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