Richie pressed the "6" button and initiated the call. Bringing the handset to his ear, he heard nothing but silence—no familiar dialing tones like those of an ordinary phone. But soon, Arthur Weasley's voice came through the speaker.
"Hello. Lord Grosvenor, is that you?"
"Good afternoon, Mr. Weasley. Thank you for the prototypes—an interesting concept. Do you have any way of identifying the caller's number?"
"Good afternoon, my Lord," Arthur replied. "Yes, we enchanted the wizardphone so that the number of the incoming call appears on the display."
"Mr. Weasley, your boys mentioned that these artifacts work anywhere in the world. Is that really so?"
"Yes, sir," Arthur said. "They're based on Protean charms!"
"Mr. Weasley, tell me—can anything besides voice be transmitted?"
"Of course!" Arthur answered confidently. "We can create linked mirrors to transmit both image and sound. Or just sound, or even text, if several parchments are connected."
"And what about transmitting information simply as a stream of light?" Richard asked, his tone tinged with excitement. "Zeros and ones. A microscopic beam of light—or its absence. You can transmit images somehow, after all."
"Um…" Arthur Weasley hesitated thoughtfully before continuing. "I suppose something like that could be done. I just don't quite understand what you mean."
"Mr. Weasley, I need a large number of miniature devices capable of transmitting and receiving information in the form of directed beams of light or laser. This artifact will need to be compatible with Muggle computer boards. I'll ask some acquaintances of mine to send engineers to you. They'll be able to draft a detailed technical specification and explain the concept more clearly."
"Very well, Lord Grosvenor," Arthur replied. "I'll inform the workshop so they're ready to receive more Muggles."
"Thank you, Mr. Weasley. As always, you impress and surprise me. All the best."
Curious gazes from the Weasley twins and Hermione were fixed on Richard.
"Richie, what are you planning?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, yes, greatest of Lords," Fred said in a playful tone, "share your wisdom with your humble subjects."
"Gentlemen, lady," Richie said, giving each person in the compartment a slight bow. "Before you stands a future magnate whose invisible tendrils will wrap the entire world in a web of the Internet. In less than ten years, my satellites will orbit the planet, providing free Internet access to every inhabitant of Earth."
"Free?" Hermione asked.
"The Internet?" Fred echoed in confusion.
"The Internet!" Richard replied. "A treasury trove of knowledge. All the information known to mankind, accessible to anyone: books, films, music, photographs, newspapers, magazines, games. Though, of course, most people will end up looking at pictures of cats, arguing about trivial nonsense, and watching other people try to reproduce."
Hermione's cheeks flushed red.
"Richie, I know what the Internet is, though I'm not sure it's exactly like that," she said. "But why free? Is that even profitable?"
"Oh, yes, Hermione!" Richard drawled with satisfaction. "Incredibly profitable. Absurdly so. A narrow data channel—five hundred twelve kilobits per second—will be provided for free. That will hook many users. But soon they'll want more. And then, for a subscription fee, they'll be able to access a wider bandwidth."
"Five hundred twelve kilobits?!" Hermione exclaimed in amazement. "That's a lot!"
"Hahaha!"
Richard, a child of another world where even a gigabit connection was considered too slow, couldn't help but laugh. Once he calmed down, he explained:
"It may seem like a lot now. In ten years, it'll be just acceptable. In thirty, it'll feel painfully slow. In fifty, it'll barely be enough even for a ping."
Hermione couldn't hold back her question:
"But how could something like that even be implemented? Wouldn't it violate the Statute of Secrecy?"
"No," Grosvenor shook his head. "I'll simply create a factory producing 'secret' chips that won't be patented. Everyone will think my company manufactures unique technological products for high-speed data transmission. In reality, we'll be selling modems with enchanted chips. We'll just need to design safeguards so that if anyone tries to extract the miniature artifact, it self-destructs. That won't threaten the Statute of Secrecy, so wizards shouldn't care. The only real issue will be monopoly. Antitrust measures will surely cause me trouble, but there are always ways to get around them."
"Really? How?" Hermione asked.
Fred and George listened to Richard with shining eyes, as if he were the earthly embodiment of a god.
Richard didn't see any need to hide well-known information, so he answered honestly:
"Hermione, I don't know why you'd need this information, but the simplest way to bypass antitrust laws is to create several companies and set up production of the same goods under different brand names. Of course, you'll have to create the appearance of competition between these firms, but that's easy enough to arrange. Schemes for such financial manipulations have long been known, and proving violations is practically impossible."
"Master!" Fred dropped to his knees.
"Teacher!" George echoed, following his twin brother's lead.
"Teach us to become great businessmen like you!" Fred said.
"Yes, teacher, we beg you to take us as your disciples!" George bowed deeply.
"Clowns!" Richard said good-naturedly. "I'll be watching your behavior."
(End of Chapter)
P@treon: /SadRaven
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