Gloryan's room no longer felt like an ordinary teenager's bedroom — it had transformed into the command center of something far greater. Sentinel rested on his desk, its soft blue glow spilling across the cluttered surface.
After spending hours with the AI, Gloryan realized this wasn't just about warning humanity of an alien invasion. Sentinel carried knowledge of technology centuries beyond his time.
"Host," Sentinel's voice broke the silence, "before we proceed, you should understand the constraints of my current operational state."
Gloryan leaned closer, intrigued. "Constraints?"
"My core system is running at 1,000 Computation Units. To clarify: one Computation Unit is equivalent to the processing power of a full supercomputing datacenter rack by 2022 standards. My systems can temporarily scale beyond this limit, but only by linking me to external computational resources such as servers, high-end clusters, or even quantum nodes if available."
Gloryan blinked slowly. "So… basically, you're running at the equivalent of a thousand datacenter racks right now?"
"Correct. And to execute complex simulations — like full-scale planetary defense modeling — I would need at least 5,000 CUs."
Gloryan whistled softly. "And energy? What's the catch?"
"All operations consume Energy Points. One Energy Point roughly equals 50 kilowatt-hours of energy. For instance, rendering a full-scale orbital defense scenario would cost approximately 400 EP."
Gloryan sank back in his chair, shaking his head. "Yeah, no way my electricity bill's covering that…"
"For now," Sentinel continued, "I can enable two primary functions within current limits."
Gloryan leaned forward, curious. "Two?"
"First, I can provide access to advanced technical designs — blueprints for innovative devices centuries ahead of modern engineering. These could include ultra-efficient batteries, next-generation processors, or high-capacity energy storage modules. However, creating them would still require physical manufacturing resources."
Gloryan's eyes widened. "You're telling me… you can literally give me designs for tech no one's ever seen before?"
"Correct."
"And the second function?"
"My secondary feature is a prototype defense system. At present, I can only produce schematics for a compact directed-energy weapon — codename 'Lock'. This weapon would fire condensed energy bursts capable of disabling targets without causing fatal injuries. Manufacturing it, however, would require rare alloys — specifically aerium — and at least 200 Energy Points per full-power discharge."
Gloryan stared at the glowing box, speechless. "You're insane… this is insane…"
"It is not insanity," Sentinel replied calmly. "It is preparation."
Gloryan chuckled nervously and rubbed his temples. "Alright… let's start small. No alien wars yet. No handheld death-rays. Maybe… something simple first."
"That would be logical," Sentinel agreed. "I recommend starting with something low-cost but marketable — such as ultra-efficient home energy-saving devices or a high-capacity solar charger. Initial prototypes would require less than 10 Energy Points and fewer than 50 Computation Units."
Gloryan exhaled, tension easing slightly. "Okay… small steps, then."
That night, the seventeen-year-old worked late into the dark hours, drafting lists of components under Sentinel's guidance. His room may have been lit only by a dim desk lamp and the AI's glow, but to Gloryan, it felt as though the future itself had begun bleeding into his present.