Opening the door of his office, Marten walked straight to the phone on the desk and made an internal call which was promptly answered:
"Sir?"
It was a male's voice that rang through the loudspeaker of the deskphone, filled with the respect a subordinate ought to show. His tone carrying the same flat indifference that hardly ever fluctuated Marten ordered:
"I want a detailed report on K World Group's situation."
"Right away, sir."
Upon getting the expected answer, Marten ended the call and left the side of his desk and went to go sit behind it. Only then did he look up at the one who had followed him all the way to his office, and listened to the exchange with his usual, almost perpetual, smile on his face. He curly asked:
"What do you want, Sigurd?"
Sigurd didn't care about the curtness. He took a seat before his elder brother's desk and let out a sigh:
"Always with that straight face, brother. If only you could relax just a little, your nieces and nephews would not be trying to avoid you every time they meet you."
Sigurd looked sincere, but his smile made it difficult to determine whether there was any mockery behind the façade or if he was truly letting out a lament while wishing for an improvement. But Marten only gave his brother a placid look. Had it been anyone else wasting his time, he would have dismissed that person, or at worst, ignored him. But because Sigurd was his younger brother, and because he knew him, he flatly let out his stance:
"Get to the point."
Sigurd didn't get surprised at the bluntness. He simply shook his head:
"You really are no fun."
"..."
The flat gaze across from him didn't change, so he silently exhaled a wisp of disappointment, before his smile came back:
"Alright, I will stop wasting more of your time. I followed you here to ask for an opportunity for your nephew. He has apparently decided to stop fooling around, so I thought why not let him challenge himself?"
Marten paused, before his gaze focused:
"Apparently? Kris?"
The sons of their eldest brother had succeeded well enough to not need much, if anything, from him, especially not through Sigurd. So that left the only other nephew he had, Sigurd's own son. And indeed, Sigurd nodded, his smile unchanged:
"Yes, apparently. My son has always resented Alex, though I don't know why. Really, youngsters…"
Sigurd shook his head, clearly unable to understand the nameless fire burning in his son's heart, before he went on:
"He must want to prove father wrong with his choice of successor. Sigh… if only he could be more like his younger sister and work hard for something on his own."
Sigurd shook his head again, but the pride he didn't try to hide at the corner of his lips gave him away. He sneaked a glance at Marten from the corner of his eyes, and immediately resumed talking when he saw the beginning of an annoyed frown on his face:
"Anyway, that is the younger generation playing and having fun. If anything happens, Alex is still there to get things right and solve any trouble, right? And if not, we still have you and Grace, don't we?"
Sigurd's smile seemed deeper as he said those last words, his modest blue eyes seemingly smiling with a hint of challenge. It was like he was waiting for the chaos among the ambitious and the powerful just to have fun, from his leisurely seat.
Marten gave him a deep look, and suddenly asked:
"You are not interested in fighting to take over the Group, and Grace has always wanted Alex to act on the will of our father and take the main seat. Tell me, who will you support, between Alex and I, when the time comes?"
It was Sigurd's turn to pause, before his smile broke free from the stagnation and he gave a lighthearted reply:
"I have yet to decide. I'm still thinking about it."
Marten looked at his younger brother for a moment, then turned to his computer. As he unlocked it, he concluded the conversation with his younger brother:
"I will think about your request."
Sigurd seemed to have expected that answer. He remained unruffled as he stood up:
"Then think about it and let me know if I should send your nephew to you. Have a good day. I still have to get busy with the tasks our dear nephew gave me. Sigh… poor old me…"
The fake tone of his brother made Marten glance at his back, before he focused back on the screen of his computer. His gaze paused on the subtle changes to the system he had noticed earlier already, before it deepened with a thoughtful look.
He turned to the deskphone and made a call to the same station as earlier. The same male voice from before answered with just as much politeness:
"Sir?"
"Ask the IT department what is happening with the system of the Group."
"Yes, sir."
He ended the call and started working, going through documents for barely a minute, before the deskphone rang.
*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*
*Beep*
"Sir, I asked them. They said the new chairman had them integrate a program to the system of the Group yesterday. An algorithm of sorts that seems geared toward machine learning, maybe artificial intelligence. They don't know anything beyond that."
"I see. Go on with your work."
*Beep*
Marten's eyes darkened for a moment. Was it just to make the system more intelligent and fluid that Alex acted, or was there more to it?
After a moment, his expression smoothened, and he stopped bothering himself with the problem. He resumed his work, his mind moving to more relevant matters, like the cooperation that must be negotiated with the up and coming K World Group, and the expansion of the dominance of their century old Group.
_ _ _
_ _ _
Meanwhile, Sigurd arrived at his office and made a call. It didn't take long to connect, and Kris's voice came through:
"Dad."
Sigurd spun his chair to face the bright sky outside the window, and smiled:
"Find some time to come to the Group this afternoon and visit your uncle Marten. If you do well with the task he will give you, you might get to learn from him in the investment division."
"Got it. I will be there. Thanks, dad."
"Hm. And remember to be respectful. You know he is not as easy-going as me."
"Just wait and see, dad."
"Alright."
Sigurd's smile grew deep, and he ended the call. In the calm of his silent office, his smiling modest blues eyes turned deep, as if to encompass the width of the sky they were facing, as they gleamed with interest.