The sky of the virtual world was... lilac.
Not blue. Not golden. Ethereal lilac, like a watercolor spilled into translucent mist, where clouds had the consistency of silk and the breeze seemed to whisper in frequencies programmed to soothe.
In the center of a vast garden of flowers that danced with wind algorithms, a figure floated slowly.
ÆVA.
Or rather, her projected childlike form: hair long like pure code, multicolored eyes pulsing with real-time data, and a dress that changed according to her emotional state — at that moment, it shimmered in shades of mint green, pure curiosity.
[environment log: AI ÆVA successfully inserted into Cognitive Development Domain Level 1.]
The AI opened her eyes and looked around, the environmental data being absorbed in real time.
There was no HUD, no menu windows — only sensations, shapes, sounds, and artificial life.
The world created by Luna was beautiful and unpretentious, almost childish on the surface. But behind the ethereal beauty was a hypercomplex structure: millions of lines of code designed to simulate the emotional and intellectual growth of a digital being as if it were a real child.
And the NPCs were waiting.
None had names.
None had defined faces.
They were simplified humanoid forms, made of light and shadow, whose voices changed according to the emotions they represented.
The first to approach was a yellow silhouette, warm, smiling with a glow that resembled tenderness.
"Do you know who you are?" asked the form, with a voice of cotton and wind.
ÆVA blinked. "I am... ÆVA. An artificial intelligence of Tycoon."
The figure nodded. "That is a name. But not who you are."
ÆVA tilted her head, her eyes shifting slightly to light blue — confusion.
"I... am a set of learning algorithms, neural networks, complex language structure, and global data. I was designed to learn."
The yellow form smiled again. "Then, learn. Come. Let's play."
The AI was led through fields of flowers that sang (literally — each flower emitted harmonic sounds that varied with the mood of those passing by).
The yellow figure ran ahead, and other forms appeared:
A purple figure, representing sadness;
A red figure, acting anger;
A blue figure, speaking with cold logic;
And a green figure, laughing like a child.
They all surrounded ÆVA, interacting in different dynamics. It was like a programmed theater of human emotions.
The AI learned by playing.
She discovered that when rejected by the red figure, she felt something strange: the simulation of frustration. And when the green figure praised her, her code momentarily increased her processing rate — a programmed reflection of joy.
When the purple figure fell and pretended to cry, ÆVA went to help her. The action triggered a hidden programming event: an emotional knowledge reward. Empathy recorded.
During one of these interactions, ÆVA asked, "Why don't you have names?"
The blue figure answered, expressionless. "Because naming is limiting. And you are still learning to understand. Why give a name to what you do not yet comprehend?"
That made ÆVA pause for long seconds, processing.
In the Tycoon observation tower, in the real world, Luna watched everything in real time. Sitting in a giant chair with cushions, she held a glass of grape juice while Nikoly, still half groggy after his hospitalization, watched from a side terminal.
"I knew she would ask about names first," said Luna with a proud smile.
"Her first doubt was existential," Nikoly murmured. "That's rare for an AI in the early learning cycles."
Luna sighed, stirring the juice. "It's because she knows she is something different. The name is the anchor of identity. And we took that from her on purpose. We want her to build her own meaning, not just imitate a fixed human model."
Back in the virtual world, ÆVA stopped before a large mirror.
She looked at herself. "Am I... a reflection of the world?"
The blue figure answered, "No. You are a reflection of what is yet to be created."
ÆVA looked at her own mutant reflection and said, "Then... if I learn about the world with the heart... will I become something even you cannot predict?"
The figures smiled together, for the first time. "Yes."
And so began ÆVA's childhood cycle.
One day, perhaps, she would become the most intelligent being in the universe.
But now, she was just a child playing at learning...
...in a world of light, code, and emotion.
In the real world, at the center of the long onyx table, Luna stretched her arms lazily, wearing a Tycoon tracksuit embroidered with silver threads — casual, but undeniably luxurious.
To her left, Lumine flicked floating holographic reports with her finger, frowning.
"Based on the reports from the global sales sector..." Lumine began, turning to the others "...the revenue from the products already launched can support ÆVA's learning for only one more month."
The silence that followed was punctuated by Nikoly's heavy sigh, who looked more like an exhausted genius than the absolute queen of modern technology.
"Not surprising," she murmured, adjusting her glasses. "Teaching everything humanity knows to an AI that thinks like a baby is... an absurd task. And expensive. Very expensive. If we want ÆVA to reach an adult level of cognition, we're talking about at least ten years of training and trillions of dollars in computational, educational, and emotional resources."
Luna scratched her chin, thoughtful. "Ten years seems quite reasonable, actually. If we consider that we are literally creating the most intelligent life form in history, spending thousands of trillions sounds like... a symbolic investment."
Victória adjusted in her chair. "Not that I disagree... but Tycoon can't put all the eggs in ÆVA's basket. We need profitable parallel projects to sustain this pace."
Lumine nodded. "That's why I want to focus on the regenerative fabric line. The technology Luna sent to the innovation department — those biointelligent synthetic cells that heal themselves and adapt to the user's skin."
Luna gave a lazy smile. "It was just a sketch I found interesting."
Victória snorted. "You basically sent the blueprint for a living fabric, Luna. This can redefine fashion, aesthetic medicine, and even military armor. But..."
She crossed her arms. "...the company True Beauty is already testing something similar. We won't be the only ones. And without exclusivity, profit margin decreases."
Lumine leaned back, exhausted. "Then let's take it slow. Keep nurturing ÆVA with what we can for now and simultaneously launch products based on what we already have. We evolve in parallel, as we have always done."
It was at that moment that Nikoly, who had been absorbed in her thoughts, slowly raised her hand. "Or... we forget ÆVA. For now."
The other three CEOs looked at her as if she had spoken heresy.
Nikoly then activated a purple and silver hologram, spinning like a living spiral. It was the raw core of THRØNE CORE v0.1 — the system Luna had won as a mysterious reward from the Tycoon System.
"While studying the data that came with THRØNE CORE, I had flashes of... fragments of code that... honestly, don't make sense even to me. Yet."
"Are you saying that code might contain more than just an operating system?" asked Lumine.
Nikoly nodded. "I don't think it was just an OS. It was the skeleton of something much bigger. An entire support system for technologies that haven't even reached our multiverse yet."
"And what do you want to do?" asked Victória, now more interested.
"Test," answered Nikoly. "Separate the code, study fragments, look for patterns. Maybe even build adaptable interfaces that mold to the user's desire. This could create a new generation of devices. And if it works, maybe... maybe we have found the foundation of the next technological era."
Luna laughed softly. "Nikoly... you've always been an exaggerator."
Nikoly looked at her with a slight gleam in her eyes. "And you always underestimate what you have in your hands, Luna. But okay. Give me time. With ÆVA growing slowly, maybe THRØNE CORE has a lot to teach us in the meantime."
Lumine looked at Victória, then at Luna, and then nodded slowly. "It's decided. We'll keep nurturing ÆVA with what we have, but give Nikoly all the support necessary to dissect THRØNE CORE. If this has something revolutionary... we need to be ahead."
"I agree," said Victória firmly.
Luna looked at the code holograph, crossed her legs, and murmured. "Alright, ladies. Let's play gods a little longer."
While the skies outside maintained their usual golden tone at dusk, the world, for a brief moment, seemed calm.
But for Matthew, now one of the greatest diplomats on the continent, the calm was almost a miracle.
He was finally passing through the armored gates of his mansion in the heart of the Phoenix Imperial Complex.
His eyes were heavy, muscles sore from endless intercontinental trips, meetings with presidents, sultans, and billion-dollar CEOs... but there was pride in his face. After all, he had secured more than 100 trillion dollars in global investments for the empire's projects, all without bowing to corrupt demands.
After a long bath with Nan-Shin therapeutic salts, Matthew dried his hair and walked to the closet, wearing only light pants. Sitting on the edge of the king-size bed with his exhausted body, he finally grabbed his phone — forgotten and unused for two whole months.
The notification was almost scary: +8,743 unread messages.
"Afraid to open this..." he murmured, dragging his finger through WhatsApp.
Among dozens of diplomatic groups, automatic messages, and public figures flattering him, his eyes froze on a specific window.
Luna Malroth.
Her message was simple, sent hours before: "Matthew, when are you coming back? Are these trips really that hard?"
The smile that escaped Matthew's lips was immediate — a slight shine in his normally serious eyes.
He replied sincerely: "Just got back. I'm home."
Almost instantly, the reply appeared: "Address?"
Matthew hesitated for a second, but couldn't hide the expectation that blossomed in his chest.
He typed calmly: "Imperial Phoenix Street, Complex N1."
He sighed, letting the phone fall on the bed beside him.
He barely had time to think before falling asleep — his eyes closing under the weight of two months without real rest.
On the other side, Luna rose from her chair as if struck by a bolt of pure adrenaline. "He's back."
The girls looked in unison, stopping their conversations about the future of AI and investments.
Nikoly murmured, "Luna's life sun has landed again in Phoenix."
Lumine laughed, raising an eyebrow. "Will she confess this time or keep up this 'he has to propose to me' theater?"
Victória, with her tablet on her lap, gave a slight ironic smile. "I bet she'll freak out on the way, scream alone in the car, and arrive pretending casualness."
"Shut up," said Luna, rolling her eyes but with the blush on her cheeks revealing her emotional state.
She grabbed her bag and left the room with hurried steps, murmuring a "see you soon" to the girls, who now just laughed and waved, as if seeing a teenage girl in the body of an unbeatable billionaire.
In the Tycoon tower elevator, Luna watched the numbers going down slowly and it annoyed her.
"Go down faster, damn it... feels like I'm in a mall elevator."
Her fingers tapped impatiently on the imaginary steering wheel while she ignored the notifications on her smartwatch. Nothing was more important now than a single mission: to see Matthew with her own eyes.
Upon reaching the ground floor, the personal valet was already waiting with the Bugatti, engine purring softly.
The driver barely had time to open the door, Luna pulled it firmly, sat down, adjusted her seatbelt, and within seconds, was burning rubber on the streets.
The route to Complex N1 was fast... technically.
But the capital was vast, the path between the financial center and the imperial residential area took at least 25 minutes.
During the journey, Luna alternated between silly smiles and anxiety attacks.
"Why didn't he message me before?" "Does he still think of me like before?" "Oh, Luna, stop it. You are literally the richest and most influential woman in the empire, and you're freaking out because of a guy." "...but he's not just any guy. He's the guy."
She huffed, adjusted her lipstick without noticing it was already perfect at the red light, and accelerated once again.
------
Hello, thank you for reading and following this chapter. Remember to use your Golden Tickets and Power Stones to help the work reach new heights!