AQOS

The smell of smoke lingered in the boardroom despite the pristine, air-filtering vents. Three men, seated in high-backed leather chairs, exchanged looks that carried the weight of their crumbling empire. It was April 2015, and the once unshakable tobacco industry was beginning to crack. Their profits dwindled daily, and the world had grown hostile toward the habit that had once made them kings.

One of the men, his face marked with the lines of years spent in smoky dens and behind closed doors, tapped a finger against the sleek mahogany table. “We’re losing ground,” he muttered, voice gruff. “Every damn day, another million down the drain.”

The youngest of the three, a sharp-eyed businessman in his forties, nodded. “It’s this obsession with health. Clean living.” He spat the words like they tasted bitter. “The public’s turning their backs on us.”

The third, slightly older, stroked his chin thoughtfully. “We’ve built empires out of this. We’re not losing everything to some fad.”

For a moment, silence filled the room, thick as the smoke that once did. Then, slowly, a grin spread across the oldest man’s face. “We don’t lose unless we stop playing. So we don’t stop.”

That was the moment they made their pact. The trio, bound by their shared greed, set in motion a plan that would bend the market to their will—no matter the cost.

Their strategy was ruthless, precise. They began swallowing up smaller competitors, acquiring e-cigarette startups and nicotine patch companies. For medium-sized businesses, the tactics grew dirtier. An offer here, a better one there—a game they called “Tidbit Offers,” where they dangled money in front of young entrepreneurs before pulling it away. The victim companies, watching their value soar and crash in weeks, had no choice but to sell at a fraction of what they were once worth.

But not everyone was easy prey.

Phil Gilbert stood outside his small office on a warm July afternoon in 2017, watching as a line of customers stretched down the street. The storefront bore the sign “TASF: Technology Ameliorates Smoking’s Future,” and the young inventor couldn’t help but feel a rush of pride. The world was finally starting to listen. His device, which heated tobacco rather than burning it, was a hit.

Inside, the shop buzzed with energy. Gilbert’s wife was working the counter, smiling at customers as they purchased sleek, futuristic devices designed to reduce the harm of smoking. Phil, black curls damp with sweat, adjusted the fit of his lab coat and leaned against the wall, watching the scene unfold. He didn’t realize that the biggest fight of his life was still ahead.

TASF was different from anything the tobacco industry had ever seen. By heating the tobacco to 350° C, it gave smokers the same satisfaction without the stench or the dangerous chemicals. It was, in every sense, the future of smoking—a way to keep the experience without killing the user. But more than that, it was a threat to the trio who had long controlled the industry.

At their next meeting, the trio had seen enough. The profits they had so expertly siphoned from the public for decades were slipping through their fingers, and it was because of one young inventor.

“He’s a nobody,” sneered one of them. “But he’s got the market in the palm of his hand.”

“We’ll crush him, just like we’ve crushed the rest,” said another, his fingers steepled as he leaned forward.

And so, the trio rolled out their next phase. First, they offered to buy Gilbert’s company, a friendly proposal wrapped in legal formalities. Gilbert refused, laughing off the attempt, confident in his product. Next came the panic. Rumors spread like wildfire—claims that TASF’s products were faulty, dangerous. Social media buzzed with doctored videos of devices exploding, fake news stories of people hospitalized. Gilbert fought back with transparency, backed by activist investors who believed in his mission. But the attacks took their toll. Lawsuits, public relations disasters—Phil felt the pressure mounting.

In the shadows, the trio watched, waiting for their moment.

It happened in November 2017. Phil sat in his workshop, surrounded by prototypes of his devices, when the cough began. At first, he ignored it—a minor irritation. But as days passed, the cough worsened. His wife grew concerned, urging him to see a doctor, but there was always more work to do, more tests to run.

And then one night, while testing a new device, Phil collapsed. His lungs burned as if they were on fire. No doctor could explain the rapid deterioration of his health.

Days passed, his strength fading as the cough tore through him. By December, his once vibrant energy had all but disappeared. His wife found him one morning, cold to the touch, the house eerily quiet without the rasp of his failing breath.

Two weeks later, a man with sharp eyes and a smooth voice knocked on the door of the grieving widow. He offered sympathy, understanding. He had watched Phil’s brave fight against the tobacco giants and wanted to carry on his legacy. In her grief and financial desperation, she agreed to sell.

As the man walked away, a cigarette in hand, he whistled softly, vanishing into the night, his part in the plan complete.

The takeover was seamless. Gilbert’s company, once a beacon of innovation, was folded into the trio’s vast empire. No one knew that the very device Phil had tested had been sabotaged, the tobacco tainted, the heat release altered just enough to burn. It was the final blow in a war he never knew he was fighting.

The trio, now armed with Gilbert’s technology, released a new product. AQOS—Against Quitting Ordinary Smoking. It was branded as an even safer alternative, free of the chemicals that once plagued the industry. What the public didn’t know was that the tobacco inside had been chemically engineered to create a dependency stronger than anything that had come before.

Now, in 2031, AQOS is everywhere, in every shop, every home. People think they’re choosing a healthier lifestyle, but the addiction runs deeper. The trio’s profits soar, while the world remains none the wiser. And Phil Gilbert’s dream of a healthier future lies buried, along with the man himself.