Chereads / Nascent Divinity / Chapter 4 - The Problems of a Trillionaire

Chapter 4 - The Problems of a Trillionaire

Elsewhere in the solar system. In the skies above Pluto's north pole floated a tower covered in swarming space ships. This was new headquarters of the Tōbō conglomerate. In a room at the very top of the tower was the owner's office. And within a man was reading the reports of his most recent project. He was the head of the single most powerful family in the solar system, Armastus Bachjeien the fifth. A warm amber light desk lamp made the shadows on his face lengthen, creating an image of deep concern and focus on the document.

"Ferris." Armastus called out to the empty room. [Here sir.] A robotic voice spoke from his earpiece. "How long have I been here?" [You have been in this room for thirty three minutes and eighteen seconds.] The response was emotionless and dry. "That's not what I meant- Never mind." A knock on the door took his attention away.

"Come in." A young man walked in and politely put a coffee on Armastus' desk. "Sir, the new lab has been finished, so you're free to enjoy all of its amenities. The board is looking forward to any new creations of yours." Armastus looked up at the man and sighed. "Those pigs only care about profit. I guess I should expect them to not care about much else." The secretary seemed completely unfazed by the insulting remark he just heard, clearly used to the antics of humanity's brightest mind.

"Ferris, set the room to the 'lab work' state." Armastus whispered under his breath. [Right away sir.] Armastus stood from his chair and proceeded to the door, his secretary right behind him. As soon as they left the room began to shift, window blinds closed, lights turned off, and various screens around the area were set to idle. But at the same time something not under Ferris' control happened.

In the darkest corner of the room a shadow moved, then solidified into a boy wearing a windbreaker. Nezha walked over to the desk, pulled out a small paper note from one of his many pockets and placed it right next to the desk lamp. Then as silently as he arrived, he left, sinking back into the shadow.

"We're here sir." Armastus kept walking. "Sir?" Armastus looked up, then turned around towards his secretary. "Sorry, I was lost in thought." The two men entered the room. Twenty or so machines were placed on tables around the rather large room, and some machines were so large that they were installed directly into the building.

"Leave me to my work, I've got a hunch today will be productive." Armastus dismissed his secretary and called for Ferris again. "Today is the first day for our time scale where we have total quantum connections, yes?" [Yes sir. After today the use of PY-qubits in all machines is permitted by your preconceived schedule.] "Finally! I was tired of your dry interactions, and emotionless nature!" Armastus' whole demeaner changed, from an uptight businessmen to a vigorous young man brimming with energy.

He leaned over a table covered in screens and began to type rapidly, both hands writing different scripts on different screens, and his gaze focused on another in the middle. Then as if that wasn't enough he shook his shoulders slightly and his jacket fell away, then from the back of his shoulder blades a pair of robotic arms appeared, not like factory armatures either, full-fledged android arms, completely flattened against his back when he wasn't using them. This new pair of arms reach towards the air above the left and right screens, holographic models flickered into existence before them which he began to tweak and manipulate. This absurdly efficient work went on for hours.

"Good good." The fabricator infront of Armastus had just finished. The various arms of the machine pulled away from the finished product. An eight centimeter clean chrome cube with no discernable features at all. This took him thirty four hours to make. "Now that the failsafe controller is finished I can take a break."

Armastus pick up his jacket off the floor, dawned it and left to his quarters. His secretary was asleep on at the desk in the antechamber-like waiting room. As he walked up to his office door the secretary awoke. "Humph... Uh... Sir...-Sir!" "Denton, no one entered while I was away I assume?" "Of course sir, not a soul would dare anger you, much less dare approach you territory without proper cause." "Your use of the word territory makes it seem like I'm a mindless beast." Denton clapped his hand over his mouth, just waking up had loosened his social filter. Armastus opened his office doors and immediately narrowed his eyes. "If no one entered. Why is there a note on my desk?"

"Eh? I had only nodded off for a few hours sir. If anyone had entered, they would still have to either use a copy of your retinal scan or login to my computer and open the doors that way. And while I'm at it: What note?" Armastus glanced at Denton with slight concern. 'Post REM delirium? No, all my employees are screened thoroughly and used to odd hours' He stroked his chin for a moment. "Ferris."

[Here sir.] This time Ferris' voice spoke through the speaker system, startling Denton the secretary. 'He has a secret secretary! No wait, I'd recognize that dry dialect anywhere, it's an AI'

"While the office was in the 'lab work' state was there any disturbance at all?" [No sir, every frame of every camera remains constant.] Armastus' frown deepened. "Then when did the note on my desk appear?" 'Perhaps it was placed before we left the room. I didn't turn around after all.' Armastus was in a predicament. [There are no items on the desk that are categorized as: note, paper, letter, or mail.] A hint of fear flashed in the businessman's eyes.

He took a confident stride towards his desk, reached out and pick up the note. [Warning Sir! An item has appeared without notice within your office!] "Huh... There really was a note." Denton stared blankly, he was in a state of shock caused by a combination of a lack of sleep, surprise AI, and magically appearing papers.

Armastus carefully unfolded the paper and stared at the three words printed on it in rich black ink. "Enter stage right."

"Damnit! Damnit! DAMNIT! I was free DAMNIT!!!"