Nalia and her brother Jin had a long time habit of having breakfast together.
"Uncle will be at the company today. I can't wait to tell him about the NPCs."
"Do you have to tell?" Nalia suddenly felt nervous for her NPC friends.
"Of course, as the creator of the AI system uncle will want to know about any advancements."
"But what if he changes them, brother? I don't want to see a Tilly that doesn't love blacksmithing. That would be awful."
"You don't need to be worried, little Nal. Uncle created this AI program to be amazing and lifelike he won't destroy it for working properly."
Nalia felt a little embarrassed. She'd probably watched too many dramas with out of control ai wreaking havoc and technicians trying to alter or erase programs. After all, who was Uncle, he'd be the most excited about the NPCs growth. "En, I was over thinking things. Say hi to uncle for me."
"If you get a chance, come over for lunch at the company today. Say hi for yourself."
"Alright alright, I'll be free around 1:00. I'll text you then." She gathered up her stuff and headed out. Jin finished and left shortly after.
Nalia attended courses at a nearby college while Jin was working steadily at their family's company. The two hadn't mentioned to anyone in Dawn of Reason but in fact, their family's company had a lot of involvement in the development and funding of the game. Their Uncle Isen created the AI system in his spare time. The man's main work was secretive projects for various world leaders and he even had some military contracts.
Jin spotted his uncle right away. He was tall and had a rogueish temperament that always stood out glaringly when surrounded by businessmen in formal suits. "Uncle!" Jin went forward with big strides.
"Little Jin you're here today too? Excellent, I have a project." The man grinned mischievously.
The surrounding workers felt a headache coming. When this man brought a "project" it would cause chaos for weeks. It always ended in some amazing new product but the road to it was hell. The surrounding people looked worried, but Jin was excited. The two wandered off to discuss the details leaving the rest to scramble to prepare for the worst.
By the time Jin received Nalia's text about lunch, the two had laid out plans and assignments for many people.
[Perfect timing sis. Could you pick up lunch for everyone? I'll send the order to the usual place.]
[Will do. See you in a bit.]
The office was buzzing with activity when Nalia arrived with takeout for everyone. The grateful workers quickly surrounded her with thanks and handed out the food. Nalia took a couple of bags to find her brother and uncle.
"It became such a big deal?" Nalia felt her worry for the NPCs rise again with this much activity. "Uncle, brother I'm here."
"Little Nal look at you so grown up already."
The three had a happy and lively lunch catching up on each other's news. After lunch, uncle Isen was called away to answer some questions.
"Brother, why did the news of the NPCs cause such a big fuss?"
"Oh, I forgot. I hadn't even mentioned it."
Nalia was stunned for a moment. "Not mentioned it! Then what's going on with everyone?"
Jin quickly showed the notes and plans to Nalia. Soon she wasn't thinking about the NPC's in Dawn of Reason anymore either.
It wasn't until much later in the afternoon that Jin remembered to speak to his uncle about it. As expected, the man was ecstatic and dove into the game programming immediately.
The next morning when Jin returned to the office he was surprised to see uncle still at the terminal. He looked as though he hadn't left all night. "Uncle? Is there something wrong?"
"Not wrong. I'm just going over data. There is so much, I couldn't drag myself away. It's just so fascinating and wonderful."
Jin brought a coffee and a breakfast sandwich over for his uncle then he left him to his research. He knew once Uncle Isen was interested in something, nothing could drag him away until he was satisfied and left on his own.
There was still lots of work to do for the other project uncle had brought them. Jin gathered the office workers together for a meeting to answer questions and review progress.