By Hunter O’Leary, Business

9/6/282-Monteddor’s capital is bracing itself this week for the next annual Industry and Innovation Conference, where companies across the Triumvirate come together to reveal their grand schemes for the next year.

This year’s IIC is proving to be the subject of much speculation. The Conference’s driving force and founding member for the last near decade, Rigel Rinkenbach, is not expected to show, due to his recent status as a fugitive and enemy of the state. Without Rinkenbach at the helm, many question whether the show will generate the same spark and excitement it has in years past.

The number of visitors coming into the city the last few days should assuage some of those fears, however. Hotels are booked solid across the capital and surrounding areas, and ticket sales are up 2% over last year. Is this uptake the result of this being the first IIC held in Monteddor? Or is it the result of morbid curiosity of people expecting a train wreck? Only time will tell.

Another indication of the size of this event comes in the form of the increased security presence in the area. Law enforcement officials are on nearly every street corner, assisting visitors and keeping a vigilant watch for any suspicious activity. Reports say that nearly thirty people have already been arrested or evicted from the city; most of these arrests involve spirits.

In addition to Monteddorian police, there are air pickets and military checkpoints along the roads throughout Ballantine territory leading from the ports along the northern coast and the borders along Govanna and Nor Easter. The newly formed alliance of ships belonging to Yolanda De Santana, Seylene Plamondon and Johanna McKilroy are said to be patrolling the skies to the south and over the Barrier Ocean, and it is believed they will have a presence over the skies of Monteddor when the conference begins.

The conference is scheduled to begin in earnest on the morning of the fourteenth, and continue through the evening of the sixteenth. Luminaries such as Michel Pertifour, Anaya Stollette, and even Ivan Klankenvroot are expected to attend.