'Trying to pull a patriotic guilt trip on me?'
Nick looked across the table at the executive and let out a light laugh. "Of course, Mr. Ford. As a deeply responsible American enterprise, our primary mandate is always to empower our own domestic industrial base."
"Over the last few fiscal quarters, backed by sustained economic momentum, specialized automotive manufacturers and independent EV startups have been springing up across the domestic landscape like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. Quite a few of them are logging some incredibly impressive operational velocity."
"On top of that, legacy Detroit powerhouses like the Big Three have radically revitalized their infrastructure over the past two years, systematically purging obsolete platforms to roll out cutting-edge architectures. You could say they've injected a massive wave of raw vitality into the domestic automotive ecosystem."
"As a fellow American, watching our automotive sector undergo this kind of industrial renaissance makes me incredibly proud."
Sure enough, the exact second Nick wrapped up his assessment, Vincent Ford's expression soured even further. Although Nick hadn't delivered a direct, explicit refusal to his patriotic appeal, the subtext of the statement made his operational attitude devastatingly clear.
To put it plainly: those sweeping, flag-waving corporate narratives were completely worthless at this table. The domestic landscape was crawling with highly capable automakers; licensing Militech's software stack to any of them would fulfill the mission of advancing American engineering. BYA Auto didn't hold a monopoly on national pride, and they certainly weren't the only game in town.
Realizing his psychological leverage had completely evaporated, Ford felt an intense, throbbing headache building behind his eyes.
It was glaringly obvious he had catastrophically miscalculated the depth of the kid sitting across from him. Despite his youth, this tech founder was a ruthlessly disciplined negotiator who refused to leave a single vulnerability open to exploitation.
"Let's take a quick ten-minute recess," Ford suggested, massaging his temples as he gestured toward his legal council.
Nick nodded smoothly, turning to the administrative assistant stationed by the door. "Let's push the recess to fifteen minutes. Have catering wheel in some fresh fruit and refreshments for everyone."
Once the boardroom cleared, Nick and Terry migrated down the hall to a private executive lounge. Nick extracted a cigarette, flicking his lighter as he sank into a modern armchair to reset his mind.
"Nicholas, if I had to read their body language, I'd say their corporate strategy cell has completely run out of cards to play. They should be stepping back into the room ready to show their real financial layout," Terry noted. The man speaking was Steve Zhihua, the recently appointed Deputy Director of Corporate Operations. At thirty-four years old, Steve had built a ferocious reputation as a high-tier Marketing Director for a silicon valley internet conglomerate before Taylor poached him with a highly aggressive, seven-figure compensation package.
For this East Coast operational sprint, Steve had brought his core corporate development team along, primarily to anchor the high-value contract negotiations. For instance, the multi-hundred-million-dollar procurement tracks with Aerospace Systems and North Industries had been entirely structured and finalized by his cell.
"These legacy corporate giants all suffer from the exact same institutional arrogance; they honestly believe they can just flex their manufacturing footprint and roll right over a startup. Do they seriously think Militech is some soft target they can squeeze?" Terry added, a disdainful, sharp smile cutting across his face.
Nick waved his hand, cutting through the aggressive rhetoric with a calm, analytical tone. "Look, at the end of the day, they are an independent American manufacturer building out an impressive supply chain. If we can accommodate their pipeline without violating our core engineering philosophy or compromising our intellectual property boundaries, we should absolutely find a way to make a deal work."
"Just like Ford pointed out, the consumer automotive market is infinitely massive. We don't possess the industrial scale to capture the ecosystem on our own; we need to source a highly capable manufacturing partner to act as our force multiplier."
"While BYA might lack the raw legacy capitalization of the Big Three, their operational agility makes them an absolute standout among independent EV brands. Linking our software engine to their production line is a highly lucrative strategic play for our firm."
"But let me make one baseline rule absolutely clear to the negotiation team: we must preserve total architectural sovereignty and maintain complete control over the update cycles. We cannot allow their legal team to lock us into a restrictive exclusivity cage, otherwise we are going to get ruthlessly squeezed down the line."
"Loud and clear, boss," Steve Zhihua replied, nodding as he made a quick adjustment on his tablet.
In reality, from Nick's strategic vantage point, executing a joint venture with an agile disrupter like BYA Auto was a vastly superior operational move compared to locking arms with a bloated legacy giant like the Big Three. At the very least, BYA wasn't suffocating under the toxic, bureaucratic corporate culture that routinely paralyzed old-school Detroit factories.
Furthermore, BYA had yielded legitimate, field-tested engineering milestones across the EV drivetrain and localized driver-assist sectors, whereas the Big Three's competitive advantages were still largely anchored in traditional internal combustion platforms.
Of course, beyond the domestic map, Militech could technically license its spatial navigation stack to tier-one European or Japanese automotive conglomerates, a path that would undoubtedly secure astronomical upfront royalty guarantees. However, looking at their current lifecycle—as a fresh, fast-scaling enterprise that hadn't established a baseline footprint in the automotive supply chain—it was tactically sounder to utilize BYA as a high-velocity incubation partner to lay the operational groundwork for their broader international roadmap.
Sure enough, the moment the recess concluded and the teams reconvened around the conference table, Vincent Ford's corporate posture underwent a total transformation. The calculated posturing and subtle psychological warfare were completely stripped from the room; instead, the boardroom atmosphere shifted into a highly collaborative, productive rhythm as both sides began actively hammering out the granular engineering details of the contract.
Nick's aggressive pushback during the opening rounds had been executed purely to break the executive's leverage; he had never genuinely intended to shoulder a standalone automotive development track within his own labs.
Attempting to engineer an automotive-grade Level 5 autonomous platform in complete isolation would certainly maximize their long-term IP valuation, but the operational strain would systematically cannibalize their R&D budget and bleed their engineering headcount white. More critically, Militech possessed zero structural experience managing automotive hardware validation, meaning their teams would be forced to build vehicle telemetry testing models entirely from scratch—a move that made zero economic sense.
Therefore, the path to market required securing a partner that wielded massive manufacturing muscle paired with a mature, existing autonomous driving data pool. Only through that kind of industrial symbiosis could both engineering groups cross-pollinate their strengths, bypass standard developmental bottlenecks, and accelerate the commercial rollout of a finalized smart vehicle package.
Following forty-eight hours of exhausting, high-intensity contract markups, the legal teams finally synthesized a definitive framework for the joint venture. Although a handful of low-level logistical details still required minor deconfliction between the secondary operational divisions, the overarching structure of the partnership was legally locked down.
The two enterprises authorized the immediate creation of a co-managed, state-of-the-art Intelligent Automotive Research Lab, to be physically constructed within BYA's primary advanced manufacturing and production complex in Austin. The mission statement of the facility was absolute: co-engineer and validate the next generation of smart vehicle architectures.
Naturally, the division of technical labor within this framework was strictly delineated. Nick's engineering cell retained absolute ownership over the R&D of the core intelligent control systems, automated routing models, and neural network updates, while BYA Auto directed its massive industrial capital toward the development of the physical vehicle platforms, drive-by-wire hardware integration, and structural safety chassis.
By actively backing each other's developmental sprints and networking their respective engineering pipelines, both firms were positioned to field a fully validated, production-ready technical prototype ahead of schedule.
"Nicholas, it is an absolute honor to forge this partnership with you!" Under the intense glare of dozens of high-end media lenses, Vincent Ford handed the beautifully bound, executed joint-venture agreement across the podium to Nick.
"Likewise, Mr. Ford. Let's build something historic." Nick accepted the corporate folder, simultaneously sliding his own signed master agreement into the executive's hands.
Immediately following the exchange, the two principals locked hands in a firm, commanding handshake, triggering an absolute wall of synchronized applause and blinding flashes from the assembled press pool.
This entire media circus had been meticulously orchestrated by Vincent Ford's public relations apparatus, transforming the signing ceremony into a high-visibility marketing event designed to generate massive consumer hype and elevate BYA's stock valuation ahead of their upcoming product cycle.
Although Nick harbored a deep personal aversion to standing under a dense canopy of flashing press strobes, he recognized that a milestone corporate signing of this scale demanded a public-facing executive presence, forcing him to bite the bullet and play the part.
The signing ceremony smoothly transitioned into a streamlined, high-stakes press conference. As the primary technology partner anchoring the venture, Nick took his position at the secondary microphone directly adjacent to Vincent Ford.
Because the media pool had been entirely curated by BYA's PR team, the initial Q&A block was heavily biased toward the automotive giant, with reporters firing off macro-level industry questions directly to Ford.
Nick was completely content to let the executive dominate the floor; he had zero desire to hog the spotlight, finding himself more than comfortable acting as the quiet, supportive partner while the automotive prince commanded the cameras.
However, it quickly became evident that he had radically underestimated the tech press's obsession with Militech's explosive growth trajectory. After tossing a handful of perfunctory, high-level questions at Vincent Ford, the investigative tech reporters instantly pivoted, aiming their massive camera lenses and directional microphones squarely at Nick's podium.
"Mr. Nicholas, does this sweeping joint venture with BYA Auto indicate that Militech Technology is officially planning to launch its own independent line of consumer motor vehicles?" a senior tech editor asked, leaning forward over the media rail.
Nick shook his head calmly, speaking into the microphone with absolute clarity. "Let's be clear about our roadmap: Militech remains a remarkably lean, hyper-focused technology firm. We currently lack the heavy industrial infrastructure—and frankly, have zero corporate intention—to penetrate the capital-intensive world of automotive manufacturing."
"Our core competency lies strictly within the digital landscape. What we are doing here is deploying our specialized software capabilities to assist established, tier-one manufacturers in clearing their complex algorithmic and functional R&D bottlenecks."
The tech editor's analytical instincts were incredibly sharp; he instantly isolated the hidden engineering subtext embedded within Nick's calculated response and fired off an immediate, aggressive follow-up. "You specifically highlighted 'areas where your firm is proficient.' Does that phrasing confirm that Militech is actively porting its industry-leading conversational AI engine into BYA's upcoming consumer vehicle cabins?"
"Furthermore, rumors are exploding across the defense sector that your firm validated a groundbreaking suite of high-velocity autonomous navigation models at the recent Pentagon showcase. Can you confirm whether this new joint venture with BYA is designed to adapt those exact military-grade autopilot frameworks for civilian highway grids?"