Tuesday, 24 December 2001.
Apple Headquarters, United States.
Most of Apple had already begun slowing down for the long end-of-year holiday. Even with how busy the company had become, there were still regulations, scheduled leave, and simple practical limits to how much work could reasonably be forced through during Christmas and New Year. Many ordinary employees had already finished their final tasks and were preparing for several days away from the office. The upper floors, however, were considerably less relaxed.
Steve Jobs sat inside one of Apple's private meeting rooms with an obvious frown on his face. Across from him sat Zanki Zagashira. Zanki technically held no formal executive position inside Apple, yet during the previous year the relationship between Apple and ZUSUGA had become close enough that his presence inside strategy meetings no longer surprised anyone important. What did surprise Steve slightly were the other two men currently sitting inside the room: Bill Gates and Seamus Blackley. The head of Microsoft and one of the most important figures behind the Xbox project had personally visited Apple Headquarters, and judging from Bill's expression, he had not come simply to exchange holiday greetings.
Steve leaned back in his chair and looked between Zanki and Bill before finally breaking the silence. "So it's confirmed. ZEPS 4 really will release next year."
Zanki nodded slowly. "Apparently so. Zaboru was vague about the exact release window, but the announcement itself is enough. ZAGE has publicly committed to 2002 now."
Bill Gates chuckled and adjusted his glasses. "That's concerning for you, Steve. For Microsoft? I'm not panicking yet. Xbox hardware is strong, online infrastructure is developing well, and I'm confident our machine doesn't simply lose to whatever ZEPS 4 ends up being." Seamus remained quiet beside him. He had expected the meeting to involve some level of strategic discussion, but Bill's willingness to immediately provoke Steve was considerably more direct than he had anticipated.
Bill continued almost casually, "And Project Eight is still progressing well. If acquisitions and development stay on schedule, we should eventually be able to push major first-party releases regularly. At least one significant game in most strong release periods." He glanced toward Steve and grinned. "Honestly, it kind of sucks to be Apple right now."
Steve stared at him. "Did you come here just to insult me?"
Bill laughed. "Not exclusively."
Seamus looked away for a moment. Not exclusively? Somehow that made it worse.
Zanki smiled faintly and raised one hand. "Please. There's no point in fighting each other yet. The real question is what happens after ZEPS 4 launches. If Zaboru follows the usual ZAGE schedule, we could be looking at anything from two to five months after January. Maybe earlier if they're further along than we think. Maybe later if he wants a stronger launch lineup." He leaned forward slightly. "So what do we do when it happens?"
Silence settled over the room before Zanki added quietly, "Should we do it?"
Seamus immediately frowned. "Do what, exactly, Mr. Zagashira?"
Bill waved one hand dismissively before Zanki could answer. "Don't worry about it, Seam. Nothing you need to concern yourself with right now."
Seamus glanced toward him. That answer did not make him feel better.
Bill continued, "For Xbox, we shouldn't overreact yet. There's still a chance ZEPS 4 is mostly hype."
Zanki nodded. "Possible. And I already made sure that possibility is being discussed."
Steve looked at him. "You mean the rumours."
Zanki smiled.
Bill chuckled. "Always quick to spread a rumour, aren't you?"
"I prefer to call it shaping expectations."
"You prefer to call everything something cleaner than what it actually is."
Zanki only smiled again.
The rumours had already begun moving through several gaming communities and business circles. Some suggested ZEPS 4 development was unstable. Others claimed ZAGE's secrecy existed because the hardware was not as advanced as expected. There were even whispers that Zaboru had deliberately announced a 2002 launch early because Microsoft's Xbox had frightened him. None of the stories needed to be completely believed. That was not the purpose. The objective was uncertainty. If enough people hesitated before accepting Zaboru's promises, then perhaps the enormous anticipation surrounding ZEPS 4 could be restrained. Unfortunately, the opposite seemed to be happening.
Bill turned toward Steve again. "Which is why I think Apple should seriously reconsider this entire console business."
Steve's eyes narrowed. "Here we go."
Bill shrugged. "Look at the market. ZEPS 4 is coming. Sonaya is almost certainly preparing another machine. Xbox is already here. Where exactly does iPlay fit between ZAGE, Sonaya, and Microsoft?"
Steve remained silent.
Bill smiled. "Well… below us, apparently."
Steve's expression hardened. "You think Microsoft is already that important?"
Bill laughed. "Of course. Give us two years. By early 2003, I want Xbox to become the number-two name in gaming hardware. We overtake Sonaya first."
Steve scoffed, but Bill was not finished.
"Then 2005." His grin widened. "ZAGE becomes number two."
Even Zanki raised an eyebrow slightly.
Bill leaned back and said, "And Xbox becomes king."
Steve stared at him for several seconds before finally speaking. "You should leave."
Bill laughed. "Sure." He rose from his chair, straightened his jacket, and looked toward Steve one more time. "But before I do, there's something else."
Steve remained silent as Bill's smile faded slightly.
"Our alliance ends here."
Seamus's eyes widened. Even Steve looked momentarily surprised. Zanki, however, simply watched Bill carefully.
Bill continued, "Microsoft cooperating with Apple made sense while both of us were trying to establish ourselves against ZAGE's dominance. But now our interests are moving in different directions."
Steve stood as well. "So that's why you came here?"
Bill shrugged. "Partly."
Seamus stared at his boss. They had travelled all the way to Apple Headquarters just so Bill could insult Steve Jobs, announce Microsoft's ambition to defeat ZAGE, and personally terminate the temporary alignment between Apple and Microsoft. That was insane, even by Bill Gates standards.
Steve's voice became colder. "Then get out."
Bill smiled. "Merry Christmas, Steve."
"Get out."
Bill laughed and headed toward the door. Seamus quickly followed him, although he glanced back toward Zanki once before leaving. Zanki remained seated, his expression barely changing, but his eyes followed Bill carefully. For the first time that afternoon, the faint smile disappeared from his face.
Several hours later, Bill Gates and Seamus Blackley had returned to Microsoft's offices. The atmosphere was considerably quieter there. Seamus still had questions—many of them—while Bill sat comfortably behind a desk reviewing reports related to Xbox software sales, Project Eight development, and public reaction to Zaboru's End-of-the-Year speech. One report in particular remained open in front of him.
ZEPS 4.
Bill leaned backward in his chair and exhaled slowly. "We need to focus harder, Seam."
Seamus sat across from him. "Because of ZEPS 4?"
Bill nodded. For the first time that day, his tone became much more serious. "I underestimated Zaboru's words."
Seamus waited.
Bill tapped one finger against the report. "Think about what he actually announced. No specifications. No price. No exact date. No controller. No games shown. No hardware demonstration. Nothing." Seamus slowly nodded as Bill continued, "He walked onto a stage, said the machine would release sometime next year, made a joke about buying it… and that was enough."
Seamus understood exactly what he meant. Public interest had exploded almost immediately. Gaming magazines had begun preparing ZEPS 4 speculation pieces. Retailers were already receiving questions about reservations despite ZAGE not even opening pre-orders. Developers were discussing what the system might be capable of, players were dissecting every sentence Zaboru had said during the speech, and even Microsoft's own market analysts had recorded a noticeable surge in discussion surrounding ZAGE's next console. All from a vague announcement.
Bill looked toward the window. "That's enough to start the hype?" He almost sounded offended by it before chuckling quietly. "Clearly he's more dangerous than I thought."
Seamus frowned slightly. "Dangerous?"
"From a business perspective." Bill turned back toward him. "Zaboru doesn't need to explain everything anymore. People already trust the ZAGE name enough that he can create excitement with almost nothing." He tapped the report again. "That's power, Seam."
Bill continued, "Microsoft spent months positioning Xbox as the future. Online multiplayer, hard drive, strong hardware, PC-style architecture. We needed advertisements, demonstrations, interviews, developer support announcements…" He paused. "Zaboru says, 'ZEPS 4 next year. Just Buy It, Okay.'" Bill laughed once. "And suddenly half the industry forgets what we've been talking about."
Seamus leaned back slightly. "So what do we do?"
Bill's expression became thoughtful. "We don't fight hype with hype."
Seamus raised an eyebrow.
"We fight certainty."
Bill opened another folder containing several internal market reports. "Right now, people assume ZEPS 4 will automatically be great because ZAGE made it." He pushed the folder across the table. "Our job is to make them question that assumption."
Seamus looked down at the documents while Bill continued, "Not through obvious attacks. If Microsoft starts screaming that ZEPS 4 will fail, nobody believes us. It just makes us look afraid."
"Then?"
"We let other voices do it."
Seamus frowned. "Analysts?"
Bill nodded.
"Journalists?"
Another nod.
"Developers?"
"Sometimes."
Seamus looked increasingly uncomfortable.
Bill leaned forward. "We create questions. Can ZAGE actually deliver all of these promises? Is the hardware too expensive? Are development costs becoming too high? Is ZEPS 4 trying to do too much? Will developers struggle with the system? Is ZAGE hiding problems behind secrecy?" Bill smiled slightly. "Questions are more useful than accusations."
Seamus slowly looked up. "And that's connected to Apple?"
Bill's expression changed, a faint grin appearing. "Yes."
Seamus immediately became more alert. "Why did we deliberately make Apple hostile toward us?"
Bill leaned back again. "Because eventually, somebody is going to lose badly. There will not be room forever for four major console manufacturers fighting for the same market: ZAGE, Sonaya, Microsoft, Apple. One of them is going to become the example."
Seamus's eyes narrowed. "You mean…"
Bill smiled. "A scapegoat."
Seamus's expression changed immediately. "You're planning to use Apple?"
Bill shrugged casually. "I didn't say that."
"You basically did."
Bill chuckled.
Seamus stared at him. "Boss… what exactly are you planning?"
Bill turned toward the window. Outside, Microsoft's campus remained illuminated against the winter evening. "Sometimes," he said quietly, "the easiest way to convince people a competitor's direction is dangerous…" He glanced back toward Seamus. "…is to let somebody else fail following it first."
Seamus's eyes widened slightly. Apple's iPlay was already struggling. Its sales were disappointing, third-party support was weakening, and its identity remained unclear. If Apple collapsed completely in the console market, Microsoft could potentially use that failure as evidence that simply entering gaming with powerful hardware, multimedia features, and a famous technology brand was not enough. Then Microsoft could position Xbox differently—not as another technology company invading gaming, but as the survivor, the company that understood what Apple did not, and perhaps eventually the only serious Western challenger remaining against ZAGE.
Seamus leaned back slowly. "You planned this before we even went there."
Bill only smiled.
"So ending the alliance…"
"Creates distance."
"And insulting Steve?"
Bill laughed. "That part was just fun."
Seamus rubbed his forehead. Of course.
After several seconds, he asked, "And if Apple somehow recovers?"
Bill shrugged. "Then we adjust."
Seamus looked toward the reports again. "And if ZEPS 4 really is as good as Zaboru claims?"
Bill's smile faded.
That was the question he had been trying not to think about. If ZEPS 4 simply turned out to be another strong console, Microsoft could compete. But Zaboru had deliberately described it as something different—not merely stronger or prettier, but something intended to change what people expected a game machine to be. Bill hated vague statements like that because vague promises could mean nothing, or they could mean Zaboru already had something genuinely disruptive hidden inside ZAGE Tower.
Bill eventually smiled again, although his expression now carried something much colder. "Then we fight harder."
Seamus studied him as Bill folded his hands together.
"Microsoft didn't enter gaming to become a side character." Bill looked down at the Xbox logo printed across one of the documents. "We're going to make Xbox number one." Then his eyes shifted toward the ZEPS 4 report. "And if Zaboru Renkonan stands in the way…" Bill chuckled quietly. "…then I suppose we'll finally see how good he really is."
Outside the office, Microsoft employees were already preparing for Christmas. Inside, however, the console war had just become considerably more personal.
To be continued.
AN : I planned to make Bill Really evil lol
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