The spacious hall, seemingly designed for grand banquets, was filled with thousands of chandelier-like candles, meticulously arranged under the high ceiling. Below, over a hundred men and women of diverse appearances gathered.
They were scholars with some reputation in their respective fields, invited from all over the country by Umbrella Corporation. They had expected an interview, as indicated in the invitation letters discussing salary and terms of employment, but were surprised to find themselves brought here instead.
The hall was filled with self-service food and drinks. Soon, the initially reserved scholars began to relax, treating the event as a welcoming ceremony by Umbrella Corporation.
Murphy stood at the railing on the third floor, observing the bustling scene below. He counted the attendees, "108."
An auspicious number.
The time had come to begin.
With a wave of his wand, the hall's entrance door slammed shut. Then, with successive thuds, the other three exits and windows were magically sealed.
He had previously sent the Hazard Group's security team to guard the area two hundred meters away from the mansion.
Next, he cast a silencing charm downward, quieting the buzzing conversation. Then, he appeared on the stage below with a flash, and used the "Sonorus" spell on his throat.
"Ladies and gentlemen," his voice echoed through the hall, amplified.
"Firstly, congratulations. You are now employed," Murphy announced. "Welcome to Umbrella Corporation. The details about salary and terms, which were specified in your invitation letters, I won't repeat here. I believe a salary three times your previous ones should be satisfactory. But I need to reemphasize the confidentiality agreement."
"This is the company's most secure and core research facility, hence it has the highest level of confidentiality. As stated in the contract, once employed, you will work here in isolation for one to three years. Of course, we'll renew the agreement annually to ensure that anyone who wishes to leave can do so."
"However, after leaving this mansion, no one is allowed to disclose any research conducted here. We will take measures to ensure compliance with this agreement."
"Is there anyone who wishes to opt out? If so, you may leave now. What I'm about to discuss is company confidential. Once heard, you can't leave at will."
Murphy waited a minute, but no one chose to leave.
"Very well, you are officially employed," Murphy continued. "Now, let me introduce myself. I am Murphy Annon, founder of Umbrella Corporation and the owner of this mansion."
"I believe you're curious about the content of your research."
"If you've talked with those around you, you'll realize everyone comes from different fields. Among us are mathematicians, physicists, biologists, doctors, chemists, engineers, materials scientists, pharmacology experts, botanists, and even linguists, dancers, conductors, musicians, and writers..."
"Rarely are two people from the same sub-specialty. For instance, Mr. Cameron Snyder, a computer expert specializing in algorithms and artificial intelligence."
"And Ms. Maria Forte, also a computer expert, but her specialty lies in processor architecture and instruction sets."
"In addition, you have colleagues in computer graphics and visualization like Nezal Sosa, parallel and distributed computing expert Melita Strickland, and cryptography expert Tori Branna. I believe you've heard of each other's names."
"You are all accomplished experts in your fields," Murphy stated. "But frankly, your achievements are still a distance away from the very top."
A buzz arose among the crowd, but no one objected.
"Each of you, I have carefully reviewed your resumes. You are undoubtedly the most diligent and passionate scholars and experts. You lack neither talent nor inspiration, nor the spirit to strive. What you lack sometimes is just an important enough, and interesting enough problem."
"Our technology has reached an explosive stage, like a tree. Two hundred years ago, it was a bare trunk, where one could easily find a significant branch of problems. Anyone contributing to these branches played a foundational role in their field, worthy of being pioneers for posterity."
"A hundred years ago, most branches had names attached, and newcomers had to choose smaller twigs to delve deeper. Fifty years ago, and even now, technology has become a lush tree, leaving current researchers with only the minutest and most complex issues among the twigs of branches."
"Modern technology advances through the accumulation and breakthroughs of countless small problems solved by innumerable researchers. The era when a scientist or a single research could change the face of a field is becoming increasingly rare and difficult."
The audience listened to his speech without much reaction. As researchers, they were already aware of this issue in their careers.
Although they all dreamt of becoming great scientists who change the world, they knew it was difficult. So, they treated "scientific research" merely as a job, not much different from a nine-to-five worker.
"Perhaps you have accepted this reality, but have you ever dreamed of entering an uncharted 'blue ocean'?"
"In that realm lie endless unknowns, countless problems. Every step you take, every achievement you make, is like creating worlds! You are no longer insects struggling on minute branches, but giants and gods planting trees."
The scholars looked up at him. They had indeed dreamt such dreams, but no such vast unknown field existed in reality anymore.
Thus, their gaze at Murphy was filled with nostalgia for their childhood dreams, but also skepticism and wariness.
Such words were usually heard from pseudo-scientists and charlatans.
Yet, Murphy on the stage appeared extremely confident.
"Today, I will open the door to this unknown realm for you."
"But before that, please watch a little magic trick I'm going to perform."