"Have you heard about the 01.01 SALE???"
Squealed a girl, sitting next to her best friend when she saw that the other party was busy checking the page of an online store.
"Hell yeah! Of course, I do, and I'm super excited to check out my items."
The other party replied with the same level of enthusiasm.
"I see. You already marked the date and purposely delayed buying your goods so you could avail the big discount."
Another one commented with the same level of energy as the two other girls.
"Hey guys, I heard that there is actually far more important than the new year's sale this time..."
Another girl from the next table waded into the conversation when she heard what her colleagues from the other table were talking about.
They were actually at their work's cafeteria having their lunch and almost everyone present in the place at that moment was talking about the same thing.
"Oh, c'mon spill the bean!"
The first girl replied and it was obvious from the gleam on her eyes that she was excited to hear the news.
"Alpha Tech is releasing their sneakers!"
"Alpha Tech? Is that the same company that pioneered Android Partner?"
Another character who the author would not bother to name butted in.
"The one and only..."
"Oh shoot! I must get myself a pair of that sneakers!"
The same kind of conversation was also going on in various places, and it was not only limited to that cafeteria.
Apparently, everyone on the face of the earth was thrilled by the news of the new product being released by this said company, Alpha Technology Inc.
Meanwhile, at the marketing team of Alpha Technology Inc., a couple of days ago.
"Sir, the Astro Sneaker is about to be released next week. The goal is to break the record of our Android Partner product as the fastest item sold in an hour. But how could we do that?"
"Precisely my concern, Shereen. There is no doubt that people would go crazy for our AI robot, that is why it is no surprise that it was sold out right away on its first day of being released in the market. However, the Astro sneaker is different. We are not yet sure if it would receive the same fervent reaction from our consumers."
"Your concerns were all unfounded. An excellent marketing technique is all we need to compel our customers into buying our product at the speed of light. Here is my take..."
Xander, head of the marketing team, clasped his hands together and put them atop their glass table, before continuing,
"At exactly 12 midnight of January 1, at the luxury brand on our website, we will sell only 100 special editions of Astro Sneaker. As it is a special edition, we will number the sneaker on its midsole from 1-100."
As he was saying that, Xander fumbled on the remote and started presenting to his team the slide presentation of the marketing plan that he prepared prior to their meeting.
Confidence was radiating on his very presence, as though the other party was one hundred percent certain that his plan would work; that was despite the fact that they had never tried that strategy before.
"It is only available on our website. In other words, it is an exclusive contract. Number 1 will cost 10,000 dollars; Number 2 will be 9, 990 dollars. It will be 10 dollars less for each increase in number. Number 100 will be 9000 dollars. It will be the first system to differentiate the cost."
Xander paused for a while and looked at his team. Only after confirming that he had all their attention did he resumed from what he was saying,
"After one minute, shopping fanatics will be desperate to buy this sneaker on our website. Why? Because they will want to buy the lowest number at the highest price. Why again? Because once the sneaker was numbered, it will become the only pair in the entire world. That is the power of limited editions."
Xander concluded his presentation with his arms spread apart as though he was already claiming that success was approaching.
The whole team, on the other hand, clapped their hands in approval when they heard their leader's idea.
Alpha Tech sure had a great head leading their marketing team.
As they expected, people worldwide anticipated the release of the said sneaker.
As early as 11:55 pm, people were already in front of their computers. Everyone had their eyes focused on the screen, never daring to look somewhere else.
In 5..... 4.... 3... 2.. 1-----
When the clock stroke 12, the keyboard warriors gained their advantage
PLEASE WAIT A MOMENT.
The webpage displayed those texts on the screen as the consumers waited for the fruit of their effort.
After a few more minutes.....
"Ms. Shantal Norstorme, thank you for purchasing number one."
"YES!!!"
The girl almost smashed the screen of her computer out of utter excitement when she saw her order confirmation.
While others were wallowing at the sight of 'SOLD OUT' notice on their screen, Shantal on the other hand was celebrating to her heart's content.
"Son of a dinosaur!"Butler John was taken aback when he caught sight of Shantal's state. He almost spilled the tea that he was carrying on the tray due to his shockThe other party almost looked no different from a panda, with the presence of heavy dark circles around her eyes. Perhaps due to her excitement, sleep eluded her last night. As a result, her eyes looked like they were sunken."I can't sleep."She mumbled as she took the cup of green tea from Butler John."I could guess as much as that."He seconded the girl right away and then added,"Careful, it's hot---"But his warning was a second late because Shantal already scalded the tip of her tongue."This is hot!"Shantal squeaked as she put the cup down in a hurry. Some of its content spilled on the glass tabletop, but she could not care less."Just as how a tea should be."Meanwhile, Butler John retorted as softly as he could.
"What did you order this time?"Jodi asked as soon as Shantal was back in her seat."It's the limited edition Astro Sneaker that was recently released by Alpha Tech."Shantal answered back.Truth be told, Shantal did not exactly hate her cousin. It was just that she could hardly enjoy her company because of the constant comparison between them.After all, who would enjoy being compared to someone?She often gave Jodi the cold shoulder, but the other party did not seem to mind. She would always stick around regardless of how indifferent Shantal was towards her."You are really trying to live up with your name as the Shopaholic Queen, are you not?"Jodi could not help but leave a comment as she watched Shantal unboxed the item.Shantal, on the other hand only smiled back at her cousin and no longer say a word after that. She continued what she was doing and excitedly ripped the packaging apart as though a chi
"Come on, cous. What is there to be shy for?"The other party insinuated as she took the book from Shantal's hand."Fine, you're right."Shantal relented but not before letting out an exasperated sigh.Jodi was relatively more liberated than her when it came down to things like that. That was why it was no surprise to them when Jodi turned up to be one of those who gave in to the recent fad of buying robotic boyfriend online.She named it Arvin, and since then Jodi had been very open with her romantic affair of shacking it up with tin cans."For crying out loud, Shantal. We're adults now! This is the perfect time for us to explore new things. You love buying stuff anyway so might as well put it into good use."Jodi insisted as she deliberately browsed the catalogue beside Shantal."And when you said putting it into good use, do you mean buying an Android Partner? Nah... Not my thing."Shantal was quick to d
Due to her current preoccupation, Shantal failed to notice that her cousin was already eyeing her.Shantal was flipping through the booklet but always managed to end up landing on the same page, so Jodi decided to take a look as well.It turned out that Shantal's eyes were subconsciously drawn to one figure and one figure only. As such. Jodi thought that her cousin took a liking at that specific robot. Little did she knew that Shantal was only staring blankly at it, but not exactly looking.It was only when someone entered her room once again, did Shantal came back to present."Arvin, you're here."Jodi rose to her feet and walked towards Arvin. Arvin welcomed her with an open arm and Jodi happily snuggled next to him.With the way how Arvin used to stare at Jodi with those very convincing, affectionate eyes, Shantal almost forgot that Arvin was not as human as he seemed."Shantal, this is Arvin, and Arvin, meet my cousi
Shantal slowly unwrapped the box and when she noticed that Butler John was still hanging around with no intention of leaving, she deliberately told him to get out of the room."You can leave now. I want to be alone."She said without tearing her eyes away from the package.After spending the better part of two hours trying to get the box to open, the lid finally popped open with a loud gush of air.Shantal was caught off guard by this sudden movement and she fell back. She did not expect the lid to suddenly come alive on its own.The girl watched as a very tall man slowly stood up in a box. She stared at him with a dumbfounded expression and a mix of amusement.For a moment, Shantal thought that part of her brain frizzled and died because from her angle below, she was getting very intimately acquainted with her doll and that was not the purpose of it.Apparently, her face was placed directly across where the robot's groi
Right after rebooting her robot, Shantal left it and disappeared behind one of the doors. When she came back, she was already carrying a pair of jeans and a shirt."Change to this."She threw the clothes over the robot and instructed it to clothe itself because the thing was only wearing nothing but a boxer and a white tank top.The robot on the other hand did so easily. He took the clothes from Shantal while sporting a bright smile."By the way, my name is----""You have a name??!"Before Shantal could even stop herself, she already interrupted the robot from speaking and asked him back instead. However, her question sounded stupid even on her own ears."Of course,"The robot grin when it heard her asked that question."Don't you?"He added and smiled again but his eyes almost disappeared when he smiled widely."My name is---"Shantal was just about to introduce herself but all words t
Alex was just about to step out of his box when he suddenly tripped and lost his footing and seeing this unfold before her eyes, Shantal act according to her reflex.She was worried that the robot would end up injuring itself way before she could even have enough time to interact with it so she flailed her hands in an attempt to get a hold of Alex and prevent him from losing his footing.After that small mishap, Shantal let the robot seat on the sofa for a while.Regardless of how 'defective' it might be, there was no doubt that the thing still cost a fortune and she did not want anything bad to happen to it, or at least not until she signed robot insurance for it, if there was any of that sort, to begin with.At the same time, Shantal also could not help but notice that her Android Partner was relatively lighter compared to what she initially expected from a mass of walking metal that he was.Alex was simply so human-like that everything
"Please bear for it in the meantime. I will fix the robot as soon as I can and I'll notify you right away once it is done. We will issue a recall, and by then you'd be able to earn your share. The team will pay you nicely, rest assured.""You didn't tell me that I have to pretend as a robot when you asked me to be your character model before.""I know, Alex. That is why I am asking you a favor. Please, just this once. Okay?"The other party sounded static so it was hard to ascertain whether the owner of the voice was a man or a woman."How long do you think it will take before you could fix it?""A month at most but our target is within this week?"The other party replied but the tone used did not sound convincing at all and Alex heard that as well."Are you saying that I have to stay here with her for that long? You must be kidding me!"If it was not for his close friend asking for this favor, Alex would never agree to this ki