Chapter 23: NerveGear.
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Location: 30 Kilometers Above the Bartfort Barony.
Laboratory Aboard Luxion's Main Body.
Omni POV (Leon Based)
"Luxion, bring up all failed NerveGear schematics."
Several holographic screens instantly appeared throughout the laboratory, illuminating the silver metallic room in soft blue light.
It had already been several days since Leon returned home from the Capital. After spending some time cooling his head and readjusting to daily life again, he had finally returned to what felt most natural to him: research, experimentation and endlessly tinkering with things that took his fancy.
Leon stared at the countless floating windows with visible excitement in his eyes. "We're finally finishing it today."
Luxion floated nearby before replying in his usual calm tone. "Sir, that statement assumes you will not suddenly decide to add more unnecessary features midway through development."
Leon immediately frowned. "…Come on, Luxion. I seriously don't think there's anything left to add this time."
Luxion remained silent, a silence that very clearly conveyed his disbelief.
Leon simply began counting on his fingers. "First, there's memory reading and memory storage."
"That alone was supposed to be the entire project," Luxion added dryly.
"Then there's the neural connection system for remotely controlling our technology and the direct neural communication link between us," Leon continued proudly.
Luxion paused briefly before speaking again. "You are forgetting the most unreasonable addition."
Leon blinked. "…Huh?"
"The fully immersive reality simulator."
Leon immediately coughed awkwardly.
"…Ah right. Aincrad." Even now, recreating the technology from Sword Art Online had easily been the hardest part of the entire project.
Leon leaned back into his chair while rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Trying to figure out how to transfer human consciousness into a simulated world without completely frying the brain…" he muttered. "…Yeah. That part was hell."
"There was absolutely no practical reason for adding such a function, sir," Luxion replied instantly.
Leon immediately pointed at him dramatically. "You say that now." Then a grin slowly spread across his face. "But once you finish properly sorting through my memories, you'll understand."
Luxion remained unconvinced. "…I highly doubt that."
Leon ignored him completely before turning back toward the enormous holographic display floating before him.
Countless formulas, circuit structures, neural frameworks, and synchronization pathways filled the air around him.
His fingers moved rapidly across the holographic interface as countless failed NerveGear models rotated through the air.
Some were bulky helmet prototypes. Others even resembled crowns, visors and headbands.
One particularly disastrous design displayed a miniature prototype covered in black scorch marks alongside a warning label: «"Neural Feedback Cascade — DO NOT RETEST."»
Leon stared at it for several seconds before quietly muttering, "…Yeah. Let's never do that again."
"Agreed," Luxion replied instantly. "The probability of permanent brain damage exceeded ninety-two percent."
Leon grimaced slightly. "…You really waited until after the test to tell me that?"
"I warned you of the dangers beforehand. You insisted on proceeding anyway."
Leon opened his mouth to argue but then slowly closed it again. "…Fair point." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Still though… that poor rat."
"…It could have been you had you not exercised caution," Luxion replied.
"Yeah, yeah. I know you were right." Leon waved him off. "You don't have to keep rubbing it in."
With a flick of his fingers, Leon dismissed dozens of outdated schematics at once.
The holographic room immediately became cleaner as only a handful of designs remained floating before him and unlike before, Leon no longer looked like a child blindly experimenting with concepts he barely understood.
Years of failure had sharpened his thinking, and it was now allowing him to bring forth his imagination free from constraints.
"The problem was never processing power," Leon muttered while rotating a three-dimensional neural map through the air. "It was signal stability."
He expanded another window showing a human nervous system overlaid with streams of light. "Every failed prototype was overloaded because the synchronization process was too aggressive."
Luxion immediately added, "The human brain rejects sudden foreign signal integration."
"Exactly."Leon snapped his fingers. The neural pathways instantly shifted color.m"So instead of forcing the brain to adapt to the system…"
A new design slowly began forming before them.m"…the system adapts to the brain instead."
Luxion fell silent briefly. "…Adaptive synchronization?"
Leon grinned slightly.m"Bingo."
Countless formulas immediately rearranged themselves as Luxion assisted with real-time calculations.
The large helmet-shaped prototype slowly began shrinking. Bulk disappeared first, then unnecessary circuitry, then external processors.
Eventually only a small metallic device remained floating in the air.
Leon narrowed his eyes slightly. "…There you are."
The design resembled a sleek metallic device that hooked around the ear. Thin silver lines resembling veins extended from the structure down toward the neck, connecting to a choker-like band.
At the center rested a small crystalline core designed to safely distribute electrical signals throughout the user's nervous system.
Luxion analyzed the new model. "…This design is significantly smaller than previous iterations."
Leon nodded proudly. "Because it doesn't need to do everything anymore."
He pointed toward the neural relay pathways. "If we separate the simulation hardware and leave only the neural synchronization systems inside the wearable device, it won't need an independent power source."
A few diagrams appeared beside the device showing brainwaves, nerve impulses and synaptic activity.
"The human body already produces bioelectricity naturally," Leon explained. "All we're doing is harvesting excess electrical signals and redirecting them through the relay system."
Luxion processed the data almost instantly. "…Efficient."
Leon smirked slightly. "I knew you would like that."
"The device will continuously self-power during standard operation," Luxion concluded. "However, the immersive simulation function still exceeds safe energy thresholds."
Leon sighed dramatically. "Yeah, yeah. Aincrad still needs external power."
Another schematic appeared. A cable attachment slot extended from the rear section of the neckband.
"The simulation itself requires absurd processing power," Leon admitted. "Keeping an entire consciousness stabilized inside a virtual world isn't exactly cheap."
"…That is an understatement," Luxion replied. "The amount of processing required is astronomical."
Leon grinned. "I trust you can handle it."
Luxion released what almost sounded like a mechanical sigh. "Sometimes you ask for too much, sir." A brief pause later. "But what else can I do after involving myself in this mess?"
"Hey!" Leon pointed accusingly at him. "I'm not that bad."
Luxion chose not to respond while Leon's focus sharpened once more as he enlarged the final schematic.
Now that the concept had stabilized, the real challenge began.
Manufacturing.
The design was incredibly compact. Something this small performing something this complex pushed even Luxion's fabrication systems close to their limits.
Leon cracked his knuckles lightly. "Alright."
A dangerous grin slowly spread across his face.
"Now let's make sure this thing doesn't accidentally liquefy my frontal lobe."
"An admirable design goal, sir."
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In the Fabrication room,
Mechanical arms slowly descended from the laboratory ceiling as fabrication chambers throughout the room activated one after another.
Almost instantly—
The laboratory roared to life.
Massive industrial printers began shaping metallic frameworks layer by layer.
Microscopic assembly drones moved with terrifying precision while crystalline processors formed within containment fields of blue light.
Leon watched the entire process with genuine excitement burning in his eyes. There was something magical about creating something entirely new.
Luxion calmly monitored the assembly process.
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Back to the lab
The room instantly filled with dozens of layered hologram components that matched the fabrication room, while also showing signal regulators, neural dampeners, heat dispersion pathways, emergency disconnect systems and memory stabilization circuits.
For the next several hours The laboratory descended into complete chaos.
Holograms moved endlessly through the air, Leon rapidly modified internal structures while Luxion continuously simulated stress tests in real time.
"Signal latency is too high."
"Adjusting."
"There is a thermal output spike."
"Cooling pathways rerouted."
"Synchronization instability at point three seconds. Adding neural buffer layer."
Leon slowly looked up. "…Results?"
"Outer frame complete."
"Neural relay pathways complete."
"Signal dampening layer complete."
One by one the components slowly came together and finally, "Neural synchronization stable." Another window appeared. "Memory transfer stable." followed by another. "Bioelectric feedback stable."
And finally "Immersive simulation function operational."
Leon stared silently at the floating words and slowly a grin spread across his face. "…We actually did it."
The device then was sent from the fabrication chamber into the lab where Leon was waiting.
The laboratory lights reflected softly across its silver surface. It was elegant, minimalistic, almost deceptively simple in appearance in such a way that anyone looking at it would never imagine what it was truly capable of.
Leon carefully turned it over in his hand. "…So this is the first NerveGear."
"Congratulations, sir."
Leon stared at the device silently for several more seconds before a dangerous grin slowly spread across his face.m"…Same to you too, buddy. This was a team effort."
For a brief moment, Leon simply stood there in silence. Eight years. Eight years of failures, theories, prototypes, and sleepless nights. And now, here he was, holding the fruits of his hard labour over the years.
"Alright then…Time to bring entertainment into this world."
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It was finally time to test it. "Are you certain about this, sir?" Luxion asked.
"Come on, Luxion." Leon waved him off casually. "It's just a tiny hole in my ear. I'm sure I'll survive."
"It is not too late to redesign the outer casing."
"Just stop worrying and get this over with."
"…Very well." Luxion extended a thin needle-like instrument toward Leon's upper right ear. "Well, it is your ear after all."
Pierce. "Ow!" A small puncture formed along the edge of Leon's ear before the first section of the NerveGear locked smoothly into place.
Almost immediately, a loading bar appeared within Leon's vision through the HUD contact lenses he constantly wore.
"Link successful," Luxion stated.
"Running diagnostics."
Several seconds passed. "All systems within expected parameters. Diagnostics complete."
Leon's eyes widened slightly. +Hey Luxion, can you hear me?+ And despite never moving his mouth, the words echoed clearly inside Luxion's processing systems.
Luxion who was floating beside him. +I am literally standing next to you, sir. There is no need to use the neural link right now.+
Leon's shoulders slumped dramatically. "…Way to ruin a guy's moment."
"But hey, at least now we know it works."
"That was already confirmed during diagnostics, sir."
"Just prepare the second unit for Full Dive."
After a while, the second component finished fabrication.
Leon picked up the neckband-like attachment before locking it securely around his neck.
Then he slowly laid down on a metallic bed that rose from the laboratory floor.
Using the newly installed neural controls, Leon manipulated a thick cable floating nearby.
The connector smoothly attached itself to the crystalline centerpiece resting against his throat.
"Connection established," Luxion stated calmly.
"Awaiting confirmation."
Leon slowly closed his eyes and with every fibre of his weeb being he said the words that were synonymous with VR "LINK START."
The last thing Leon saw were countless streams of light flooding his vision before suddenly he opened his eyes inside a completely white world.
"…Whoa." Leon slowly looked around in amazement. "This is trippy…"
A grin spread across his face. "It actually worked."
A familiar voice suddenly echoed behind him. "Of course it worked. Did you forget about the simulations we spent several hours running?"
Leon turned around only to see Luxion floating behind him. Still in the exact same golf-ball-sized form.
He stared at him blankly. "…Seriously? You had the opportunity to redesign your appearance completely and you still chose to look like that?"
"I thought you hated being called cute."
Luxion immediately stiffened. "I am not cute. I am a sleek and efficient RC unit. There is absolutely no logical reason for me to alter my current form."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night."
"…Artificial intelligences do not sleep."
Leon ignored him completely, Instead, he slowly looked upward.
High above them massive shards of glowing glass slowly descended from the endless white sky before drifting toward a gigantic structure forming in the distance.
A library, an enormous one where rows upon rows of shelves slowly materialized as memory data began taking physical shape within the simulated world.
Leon stared at the scene silently. "…So how long will the transfer take?"
"Approximately one hundred and twenty hours," Luxion replied.
Leon immediately frowned. "That long?"
"I still need to go back home eventually."
"You only required a direct connection to my main body to initiate the transfer," Luxion explained calmly. "From this point onward, wireless synchronization will suffice."
Leon relaxed slightly before looking around the endless white world again.
Then slowly a satisfied smile spread across his face. "With this done…" he muttered quietly, "all that's left is mastering my Grace, beating Nicks, finding a nice wife…"
He stretched slightly. "And then life should basically be smooth sailing from there."
"This is what you usually call a death flag," Luxion.
Leon blinked. "…. There's no need to worry, I mean what could possibly happen to ruin my life now"
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A few hours later.
Tearoom in Zola's Mansion.
"Marriage, what do you mean marriage" Leon
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I am writing my A Levels this year so I'm already stumped and if you add the time I use writing I think I'm entitled to POWER STONES sooooooo give them to me, I mean by 6 I'm going to school, 1300hrs I'm going to extra lessons and I only get to come back home at 1900hrs, and after that I still need to study on my own, so help me stay motivated.
P.S
Let it be known that the Story is undergoing a Rewrite, hence if you read the unedited chapters its on you, they are no longer part of the story.