Nina sat at the far end of a long conference table, watching as Aaron presented his new game to the seated business partners.
The partners were Urik Gorbachev from Rostov Software systems, a Russian software company, Zhao Zedong from Xi Ho Enterprises, a large Chinese software conglomerate, and Kazuya Honda from SEGA Japan.
Each of them also had an attractive female personal assistant.
Urik had Tatiana Zazlav, a statuesque blond, blue-eyed Russian woman in an ivory white blazer and pencil skirt complimented by a black silk blouse and black pantyhose.
Zhao's PA was Yiyi Ling, a demure and petite Chinese girl with straight black hair wearing a shimmering black qipao dress.
Finally, Kazuya's personal assistant was Tomoe Tachibana, an equally petite Japanese girl who looked almost like a school girl in her black blazer, crisp white blouse, black pleated skirt and black pantyhose.
Different feelings coursed through Nina as she observed the efficiency of the other PA's, their alluring appearances, and their almost servile obedience to their respective bosses.
Another unsettling element for Nina was the game Aaron was presenting.
It was a 3D RPG remake of Master of Arcadia. The first extremely controversial 2D Visual Novel that catapulted Sirius Software's success.
The 3D graphics engine of the RPG remake, changed the 2D sprite turn based combat into slick, stunningly detailed, and viciously violent 3D boss fights.
Nina felt waves of anger and revulsion course through her as she watched the strong, muscular male main player character, slice and mow down hordes of enemies filling the presentation screen with blood and entrails, while beautiful, alluring female NPCs submissively bowed in defeat.
"Do you really like this sort of game?" she asked Tatiana who was closest to her.
"Yes, it is quite impressive. And the player character is very strong and hot" she said with an exotic sounding Russian accent, a blush creeping into her skin.
"But don't you think the women in the game are portrayed unrealistically?" asked Nina, unable to believe that anyone could find the stylized, muscular, misogynistic male player character 'hot'
"American girls! What? Don't like sexy game girls, yes?" scoffed Tatiana causing the other personal assistants to giggle and Nina to flush in embarrassment and fury.
"That concludes the presentation of Sirius Software's newest game. Master of Arcadia - The RPG, ladies and gentlemen." said Aaron as the conference room screen turned off, and the lights came on again. "Now let's talk strategy" he said taking a seat next to Nina.
With a massive effort, Nina held her tongue and regained her composure.
"Xi Ho will handle the Chinese localization and publishing in China and the Chinese-speaking territories of the Asia-Pacific region." said Zhao giving Kazuya a pointed look.
"SEGA will still retain main international English language and Japanese publishing rights" pushed back Kazuya.
"And Rostov Software Systems will handle Russian and Eastern European localization and distribution" rumbled Urik.
"And finally, I insist on both a digital and physical media release." said Aaron, causing Zhao and Urik to look at him in disbelief.
"Discs? In this day and age? Will the game even fit?" asked Urik skeptically.
"While we do have the manufacturing capability, volumes are low and costs are high" said Zhao cautiously.
"Aaron Zakhrov is old-school despite him being young enough to be our son" chuckled Kazuya, breaking the somewhat tense atmosphere that had formed during the divvying up of distribution rights.
"The base game will come in within the 50 gigabytes of a dual layer Blu-ray. Our servers at Sirius Software will host the game files for patching and download of course, but the Blu-ray version will be playable even without internet access. The DLC should fit on another Blu-ray and once released, you can offer a collector's box set" said Aaron.
"You think there will be enough of a fan-base to warrant the costs of physical media production?" asked Urik, still skeptical.
The game was impressive, but not so groundbreaking that he was willing to incur losses on the increasingly less common and more expensive Blu-ray releases.
"I know my fan-base. Physical media will sell. Even now, there is a healthy sales volume from SEGA's physical media sales" said Aaron as Kazuya nodded in agreement.
"The original game was released on both DVD and Blu-ray. The demand for the physical copies skyrocketed as protests for the game to be banned from Steam took off. With this new remake, there is a high chance that Valve would finally cave in to the demands for it to be banned" said Kazuya.
Urik shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Rostov Software Systems just signed an investment deal with the vultures at BlackRock. I'm afraid we no longer have the infrastructure to manufacture physical media" he growled.
"Xi Ho and SEGA can allocate capacity. I'm sure you gentlemen can reach a mutually beneficial deal" said Aaron.
"I think 10% from each would be a good start" said Urik, but Zhao shook his head.
"I think we'll expand our facilities, using a direct investment deal with Rostov. No need to waste all that BlackRock money" he said slyly.
Excitement lit up in Urik's eyes. "If that is the case, Rostov will have direct half ownership of that extra capacity." he demanded.
"But Urik! Wouldn't that lower your ESG score now that you are invested with BlackRock?" asked Zhao, secretly glad that the Chinese government had stepped in and protected his company from BlackRock.
"I never wanted those vultures in the first place! My cowardly board of directors went behind my back on that! This will give me an equal, if not greater cashflow and a clean break from them." snarled Urik
"In that case, Rostov, SEGA and Xi Ho can invest in a multilateral expansion, that will give you boys more flexibility and collateral." said Aaron.
"That's a very good idea. I think that will minimize the risk to all of us" said Kazuya.
Zhao and Urik mulled it over and then nodded in agreement.
"I think that's a good outcome" said Zhao as he, Kazuya and Urik shook hands on the deal.
"A lot is riding on your new game, boy. I hope you know what you are doing" said Urik to Aaron. He was surprised and impressed that Zhao and Kazuya would actually risk expanding Blu-ray manufacturing capacity based on Aaron's game, a testament to their trust in the young man.
Aaron nodded stoically. "I have faith in my games and my company Mr. Gorbachev" he said neutrally.
"Very well, I think that concludes our meeting. Shall we have lunch before we disperse? I've heard that this hotel serves an excellent porterhouse steak" said Kazuya.
The other partners nodded in agreement and stood up.