Chapter Forty-Three: What happens when one does stupid things
Friday,
12:15 P.M.
"I apologize on my oversight."
AST Base.
Tengu city.
Yes, the Author is fully aware that the phrase "a dimly lit room" has been used far too often…
but allow it one more time.
Inside yet another dimly lit room.
A holographic projection was just in front of a woman who stood before it.
Her expression at this moment was solemn, her head tilted down as if she were repenting for the mistakes she'd made.
But,
Maya blinked and lifted her head.
Despite saying that,
Even highlighting the fact that she was the one at fault, for some reason, the man from the projection was smiling.
Maya herself was unnerved.
At that, Maya nearly scoffed.
Brynhilde?
As if that one ever deserved such a name.
Removing a rival was easy, and the Anti-Wizard had simply done her a favor by accelerating the process.
It was just that she just didn't expect it to happen this soon.
'Strike the iron while its hot. I guess.'
Hearing those familiar names, Maya's eyes turned completely hollow for a moment.
"...Yes."
Just as she gave that answer, the projection flicked off, leaving her alone in the quiet room.
Promptly, she returned to a room, one that appeared as a makeshift office.
It was empty.
Rather, it was bare, more like an interrogation room at first glance, though the desk and chair were expensive.
There were also minimalist decors around like paintings and the rest, but that was about it.
Maya slumped into the seat.
"I don't want to! I just got here, and now I'm being sent away again? I can't leave Clair!"
She proceeded to throw a dramatic tantrum at herself.
Eventually, she collapsed over the desk, sulking with a childish pout.
It was the first time she'd ever been humiliated by an opponent.
"If my CR-unit were here, I would've had a chance…"
She kept pouting, muttering complaints under her breath.
She certainly didn't think she was on the level of Ellen or even Artemisia.
But with her specialized, dragon-themed CR-Unit, she would've at least lasted longer against him.
'…Onee.'
Her thoughts drifted toward that name.
Lysandra Sinclair.
Maya's capable nee-sama, as well as the mother of Morgan and Ashley.
Formerly a top researcher for DEM.
Maya had met her back then, working under DEM as a Wizard.
But Lysandra was her engineer.
And it was through her she was able to meet the Sincliar family, who somehow accepted her clumsy, scatterbrained self.
But—
'Why, nee-sama? Why did you have to leave us behind?'
The question surfaced for an instant.
A sorrowful expression, one she hadn't shown in a very long time, crossed her features.
"Haah."
Eventually, she shook herself free of those thoughts and made a swipe gesture in the air.
A digital screen formed before her.
"Now that I think about it… I still haven't finished that project."
She scratched her head, looking every bit the scatterbrain she was.
"Ah, that's it."
As if struck by divine inspiration, she snapped her fist into her palm.
"I'll finish it with Anti-Wizard as the model."
Her voice brimmed with enthusiasm,
Only for the excitement to drain out the moment she realized how difficult that would be.
Not only that, she doesn't know the formula
Deflating, she collapsed onto the desk again.
It was just then-
Knock knock!
"Who?"
"It's me, Commander."
A muffled voice came from the outside, prompting Maya to prop her chin on the table, looking towards the door.
"Come in."
Maya forced those words out of her lips before shutting her eyes tightly.
Click~
The door opened, followed by the creak of the door. It was Mana who slowly entered.
She stopped right in front of Maya's desk.
"How did it go?"
"Ugh... what do you expect, we are getting called back to Headquarters."
Mana blinked for a moment, almost in disappointment while mumbling, "I see," under her breath.
It was quite the letdown, since she was hoping to spend more time around Morgan.
Especially, since they hadn't returned since yesterday.
Yes, both of them hadn't returned back to the house.
"What about him?"
"Don't worry, he's fine."
Mana quietly nodded at that reassurance.
As things would have it, she didn't once encounter Nightmare, her nemesis.
More so, not even a speck of Spirit Wave so far.
If that were the case then, she too had no business staying here any further.
And her brother…
She also hadn't found her brother. It would be a miracle if she could encounter him that easily.
Even so, she still believed he was alive.
But that belief was the only lead she had left.
"When are we heading back?"
"Nngh... tomorrow. A private plane has been prepared already."
While saying that, Maya planted her face on the table, uttering muffled words.
Not that she couldn't understand how Maya felt.
Heaving a sigh, Mana slowly nodded her head before trotting away, leaving Maya alone in the room.
Meanwhile
2:43 PM.
Inside a cafe
Right after Morgan and Kurumi had visited Nia, he had left them for the appointment he currently had.
A quiet coffee café.
The air was rich with the scent of fresh brew, the interior mostly empty save for a few people.
A floor-to-ceiling window separated the inside from the outside, giving one a beautiful view of the streets.
Coupled with the decor of flower pots that lined the window.
A peaceful, almost serene atmosphere.
"So ...?"
Right now, however, seated in front of Morgan were two people: a male and a female.
"Good day, Sir Morgan. I'm the one who contacted you. My name is Para Abellum."
The man spoke first.
Sleek black silver hair with glasses, wearing a black suit, white inner, with a wristwatch on his hand.
He slid a card across the table, which Morgan glanced at before holding.
"And, I am Elaine McFaren. The scientist who worked on that impractical project of yours."
Much like the male.
She dressed in a fitted suit, one that struggled to fit her figure, coupled with glasses framing blue eyes.
.. and long black hair tied into a ponytail.
"In a way, you can say we are DEM defects, along with Dr. Elric, whom you know today. We were also involved in helping you secure
Morgan leaned back on his chair.
He could make one guess or the other.
"The old man told me about the two of you. So let's skip the fluff and get straight to it."
Morgan didn't see any point in dragging things out.
"Fufufu, just as expected of Maya's kid."
Elaine lifted her glasses slightly, meeting Morgan's eyes with an amused smile.
"It seems you're already somewhat aware. So yes, let's move on to why we're here."
She then pointed directly at him.
"Morgan Sinclair, we need you. You ingenious brains and designs."
Here it begins.
Morgan thought.
But he didn't even have to think about it.
"I refuse."
That was his immediate answer.
It wasn't as though he wouldn't need their help later on, he would.
But that wasn't the problem.
They were overestimating him.
He wasn't some prodigious inventor whose ideas can single-handedly reshape technology.
All he ever did was sketch possibilities, speculate its possibility and theoretical framework.
It was basically bullshit concepts that made sense to him, and felt could work.
It was Beta who made everything possible through her calculations and simulations.
Sure, he could accept their offer.
And with Beta, he could optimize their research on Realizers.
But...
"We already expected your rejection."
Abellum replied with a somewhat weary smile, while the woman let out a sigh.
However, they were not willing to give up.
The expression on their faces, which still looked resolute, told him so.
"There's no denying it, DEM's technology will advance. And at some point, you'll need support."
Picking up the ceramic cup on the table, Abellum took a sip from it before placing it back down.
His fingers entwined, pushing his thumbs together, with his head hung low.
"Just from Avalon alone, we discovered that Realizers could be used as chips to power everyday life."
"We even used them to run a test. A system capable of simulating an entire sandbox version of Earth."
"And more than that. It can simulate all life activity within it."
Isn't that crazy?
Morgan staggered, almost startled.
A flash of surprise crossed his face for a moment as he stared at the male.
The insane amount of processing required to do such a thing was insane in itself.
It was like running a virtual application that mirrors reality, and if that were the case.
Wouldn't things like full dive virtual reality become an actual thing?
"...Virtual Reality..."
Morgan's hand shot onto the table as he leaned forward, staring at the two of them.
Both replied with nothing but knowing smiles.
"As expected, you really are smart."
Elaine answered with a smile.
It wasn't that Virtual Reality didn't exists.
But when he thought about it very well,
With the high level of technology in this world, they've only focused on Augmented Reality.
It wasn't that a full-dive system was impossible.
But rather, no one had ever poured their entire research capacity into making it a reality.
And more than that…
With a system capable of simulating everything, there wouldn't even be a need for programmers.
No one would have to design environments or mechanics.
As long as the system ran, it would generate an entire functioning world.
But at the moment…
They had only simulated a simulation of it because of Avalon.
With Beta's help, whose processing speed was nearing quantum computing, it should be possible.
And—
'…If this continues, we could create something on the level of Accel World… or even a fully simulated universe.'
No, beyond that.
It could predict and reproduce future outcomes through pure calculation.
Worse, it might even propel Beta to become a system like Zea Satellite or Ark, or even reach the singularity.
The realization made him pause.
He slowly sighed with a somewhat nervous smile playing on his lips.
For the first time, Morgan truly had to stop and think.
'I… never even considered this. I guess this is what happens when one does stupid things.'