The next morning, Aster stood in front of a skyscraper. Glass reflected the morning sunlight across its enormous surface. The structure towered over the surrounding skyline, rising so high that it seemed determined to challenge the heavens themselves.
Large silver letters decorated the front.
Lumen Enterprise
Beneath it sat a smaller line.
We Illuminate the Future.
Aster adjusted the hood of his hoodie and walked inside.
"Morning."
At first, nobody paid much attention. A young man in casual clothes entering the lobby wasn't exactly unusual. Employees, visitors, clients, and researchers passed through the building every day. A few people glanced his way, more confused than anything. Some wondered how someone dressed so casually had managed to wander into one of the most secure corporate headquarters in the world.
Then someone recognized him.
Several employees froze. One dropped a folder. Another nearly walked into a wall. Conversations abruptly died. Someone whispered something that sounded suspiciously like a prayer.
The lobby erupted into whispers the moment he walked away. Most employees had never actually seen him before. They knew the name. Everyone knew the name.
Aster Collins, founder of Lumen Enterprise.
Stories about him circulated constantly throughout the company. Some claimed he personally designed half of the technologies currently under development. Others claimed he simply threw money at problems until the laws of reality gave up. A few insisted he wasn't real and that the company was secretly run by a board of executives pretending he existed. Those theories had become significantly harder to maintain now that he was walking through the building wearing a hoodie.
Recognition spread quickly through the lobby. Several employees found themselves staring longer than intended. The founder of Lumen Enterprise looked nothing like they had imagined. Considering his reputation, many had expected someone older, sterner, or at the very least dressed like the owner of a global corporation. Instead, Aster Collins had arrived in an ordinary hoodie and carried himself with the relaxed confidence of someone who had absolutely no intention of impressing anyone. The fact that this casually dressed man was responsible for a significant portion of the company's inventions only made the sight more confusing.
Several others nodded in agreement. Nobody understood it either.
The elevator ride lasted less than a minute. It landed on a floor that had an Executive Research and Development Division written on plaque. The entire floor was reserved for the company's most ambitious projects.
The moment the elevator doors opened, the atmosphere changed. Researchers moved quickly between departments. Engineers discussed designs across glowing displays fashioned using magic and technology. Magical formations pulsed softly throughout the facility. Every person on the floor looked busy. Then they noticed who had arrived. The entire lobby became quiet.
Several seconds later two men appeared from opposite directions.
Wyatt Jones and Noah Davis. The head of their respected departments. Both arrived at roughly the same time. Both expecting Aster and were looking worse for wear.
"Sir!"
"Sir!"
Both men came to a halt, glanced at each other for a moment, then looked back at Aster as though silently confirming they were seeing the same thing. Aster simply smiled.
"Good morning guys."
Noah immediately pointed toward a nearby hallway.
"Come with us, sir. We'll start the tour here."
The tour began with the first laboratory occupied by nearly an entire wing of the floor. Rows of magic circles covered the walls and dozens of researchers worked across multiple stations.
At the center sat several strange devices resembling reclining chairs connected to crystal-lined machinery. Mana flowed through engraved channels running along the framework, feeding into a series of crystalline processors and containment arrays unlike anything found within the Witching Hour.
Aster immediately recognized them.
Countless sketches. Countless revisions. Countless prototypes that had ended in failure. For years, the design had existed only as notes, blueprints, and increasingly absurd presentations that had left engineers questioning his sanity. Seeing the machine standing before him in physical form felt strangely surreal.
His smile widened.
"It's functional as you said?"
Wyatt nodded.
"Functional, sir."
Noah looked proud.
Aster walked closer. The researchers quickly stepped aside to give him way. At the center of the room, several individuals lay within the reclining devices. Crystal-lined machinery surrounded each unit while streams of mana flowed through carefully engraved channels beneath them. None of the testers appeared asleep. None appeared awake either. Their bodies remained motionless while their minds existed somewhere else entirely. Inside a world that should not have existed. Aster stared at them for several moments before turning toward one of the observation stations nearby.
Aster slowly approached one of the displays. One of the developers quickly brought up an observer feed. The image wasn't a recording. It was a live view.
A vast forest stretched before them. Trees swayed beneath a gentle breeze. Sunlight filtered through leaves. Birds crossed the sky while animals moved through the undergrowth. A river wound its way between the hills in the distance.
Everything looked real.
Not realistic but literally real.
The people inside those chairs weren't merely looking at a forest through a screen. They could feel the wind brushing against their skin. Hear the rustling of leaves overhead. Smell the damp earth and fresh river water. Taste the fruits hanging from the trees. Reach out and touch the bark of a tree and feel every groove beneath their fingertips.
All five senses existed within that artificial world.
For the people inside, there was no difference between standing in that forest and standing in reality itself.
One of the lead developers stepped forward.
"We got it working as you can see, boss."
Aster raised an eyebrow.
"To what extent?"
The developer immediately brightened.
"The world engine, Blueprint, is fully functional now."
That alone caused several researchers nearby to straighten slightly. The developer quickly led them toward one of the observation stations, displaying a man being observed by a bird coded to be a drone to gather data.
"We've prepared a test environment as demonstrated."
A live feed appeared above the console. The world itself was simple by design. Rolling hills covered in grass stretched beneath a clear sky. Trees swayed gently in the breeze while flowers of various colors dotted the landscape. A small river wound its way through the valley, reflecting sunlight across the water. It wasn't a game. It wasn't meant to be. It was a proof of concept. A world created entirely through Blueprint, the engine used to create such worlds.
"The environment remains stable during extended dives," the developer explained. "We've already run multiple tests."
He pointed toward several occupied VRain units.
"The testers are inside right now. Just told them to frolic or enjoy the clean breeze."
Aster looked toward the reclining chairs. Their bodies remained motionless. Their minds lay elsewhere. The developer continued, demonstrating more of the machine.
"Visual feedback is stable. Audio feedback is stable. Touch, smell, and taste have all been successfully integrated."
His voice carried a hint of pride.
"All five senses are functioning properly."
That earned Aster's full attention.The developer immediately switched to another set of readings.
"We've also managed to maintain full immersion for significantly longer periods than expected.". The developer sounded almost offended by how well it had worked. "The system also monitors the user's physical condition while they're diving. If they need food, water, sleep, or a bathroom break, VRain immediately notifies them."
He pointed toward one of the status displays.
"We didn't want people accidentally starving themselves because they got too invested in whatever world they were exploring."
Several researchers nodded towards Aster, emphasizing the devs points.
"The alerts become increasingly difficult to ignore the longer they're postponed. Users can safely disconnect at any time. You'd be surprised how quickly testers forget they have bodies."
Aster studied the numbers for a few moments before looking over them again, his smile widening as he did. The department collectively relaxed. Aster smiling generally meant nobody was about to get yelled at.
"And the power supply? Is the other tech finished?" he asked.
The developer grinned with fervor.
"That's the best part."
He pointed toward another section of the laboratory visible through reinforced glass.
"The other division finally solved the power issue as you requested."
Several researchers nodded proudly.
"The current prototype can continuously supply the VRain units without the massive power requirements we originally expected. The reactor absorbs ambient mana and converts it into usable energy for the system."
Aster followed his finger toward the distant reactor. His smile widened even further. Two departments. Two separate projects. Now working together exactly as he had envisioned years ago. The VRain could dive into worlds created by Blueprint .And the Mana Reactor could keep those worlds running.
Aster stared quietly. Years ago, the idea had sounded absurd. A place where people could fully immerse themselves inside a constructed reality. A place where imagination could become something tangible. Sure, other virtual reality existed but this? This goes further beyond those stuffs. One of the researchers nervously approached.
"We have volunteer testers running simulations now as we showed but..."
Aster turned toward him.
"But?"
The researcher sighed.
"They just don't want to leave just yet. Even I'm stunned as to why. We haven't even made it entertaining. It's just plain old nature."
One of the nearby researchers laughed.
"He claimed the fishing was more relaxing than the real thing. The idiot nearly ignored every warning the system threw at him."
Another researcher rubbed his face.
"What surprised me wasn't that. Somehow he crafted a fishing rod out of wood."
Aster blinked.
"Inside the simulation?"
"Inside the simulation."
"Did we teach him that?"
"No."
"Did we even tell him it was possible?"
"No."
The researcher frowned.
"The man entered a technology test and immediately became a fisherman."
Aster blinked. The room burst into laughter. Noah buried his face in his hand.
The laughter grew louder. Aster felt oddly proud. If people were already trying to avoid reality in favor of the simulation, then they had clearly succeeded.
"This is what I've been wanting," he said, looking toward the displays showing the virtual world. "A world filled with many possibilities. Not just a laid out path."
He smiled. The tester had been given a simple environment to explore. Instead, he had decided to become a fisherman. Nobody had instructed him to do it. Nobody had designed a quest around it. He simply saw a river and decided that was what he wanted to do and that was to fashioned a fishing rod out of branches to fish from the abundant river. If people were already finding their own ways to enjoy the simulation, then they had clearly succeeded.
The entire department laughed, and Aster laughed with them before bringing his hands together in a single clap that echoed throughout the room.
"Okay! You guys did good. Everyone in this company is getting a raise."
The room froze before erupting into cheers that echoed across the laboratory. Someone actually started crying. Noah looked visibly relieved, while Wyatt nearly slumped from exhaustion as the tension finally broke. The tour moved on. The next department was focused on something entirely different. At the center of the laboratory stood a machine surrounded by enough safety measures to make any reasonable person uneasy. Aster's interest immediately sharpened. The reactor, the one powering both VRain and Blueprint, hummed softly as invisible currents of mana and aether flowed into it from the atmosphere. The machine continuously absorbed that ambient energy, converting it into usable power for systems that, in the Witching Hour's terms, rivaled spellwork itself.
Unlike the previous division, this laboratory felt far more serious. Researchers moved carefully. Protective barriers covered multiple sections of the room. Several emergency shutdown arrays remained active at all times. Nobody wanted to discover what happened if the prototype malfunctioned.
At the center stood the reactor. The machine itself was surprisingly elegant. Several crystalline chambers surrounded a central core, pulsing like an atom and with its electrons and protons circling. Aether flowed toward it continuously. Invisible to ordinary eyes. Perfectly visible to magical sensors and those who are sensitive to it.
The readings displayed across nearby screens caused Noah to smile. Aster immediately noticed.
"Good numbers?"
Wyatt laughed.
"Good numbers?" He pointed at the display. "It's been running for three weeks straight. No interruptions. No cooling cycles. Nothing."
That was not normal. Not even close.
Aster looked at the readouts, then looked again. The output, intake, and conversion all held steady without fluctuation. His smile slowly widened. Around the room, the researchers instinctively straightened. They knew that expression. It usually meant Aster had just thought of something dangerous. Fortunately, this time, he seemed too pleased with the results to turn it into a problem.
"For years humanity has burned things for energy." He looked toward the reactor. "Wood, Coal, Oil, Gas." His gaze remained fixed on the machine. "And now we're turning Aether into energy."
Nobody corrected him. Technically the explanation was wrong. Nobody cared. It sounded cooler.
It converted cleanly and stored without issue. Aster watched the readings, checked them once more, then smiled.
"You told me there was progress. "He pointed at everything. "This is practically done."
Several researchers exchanged nervous looks before Aster shook his head, and the collective relief in the room was almost tangible. The tour continued for hours through laboratories, research divisions, and experimental projects, with each department revealing something new, producing results, and somehow exceeding expectations.
By the time the tour ended, Aster looked happier than either Wyatt or Noah had ever seen him. Years of investment. Years of planning. Years of secrecy. Finally producing results. The feeling was difficult to describe. Eventually the three returned to the Executive R&D lobby. Aster folded his arms.
"Good work."
Neither Wyatt nor Noah responded immediately. The simple praise hit harder than either expected. For years they had worked under impossible expectations. Impossible budgets. Impossible deadlines. Impossible projects. Most corporations rewarded success with meetings. Lumen Enterprise rewarded success by immediately attempting something even more ridiculous. Yet despite everything, Aster never took credit. Whenever investors praised him, he redirected attention toward his researchers despite being the one who started the projects. Whenever journalists asked about breakthroughs, he talked about the engineers. Whenever a project succeeded, bonuses somehow appeared before the celebration even started. The company had grown loyal because of that. Not because of money. Though the money certainly helped. Aster genuinely wanted them to succeed. And everyone working there knew it.
The words were simple. The effect was not. Both department heads visibly relaxed. Aster looked toward the surrounding researchers.
"If any of you need magical references, books, records, research materials, whatever." He shrugged. "Tell me. I'll prepare more."
Several people blinked. Aster continued.
"I have access to the largest magical archive in existence."
Noah immediately started writing something down. Aster chose not to ask. Some things were better left unexplained.
A few minutes later, he headed toward the elevators, the entire floor watching him leave. The doors closed, and silence lingered for a brief moment before a notification appeared on nearly every employee's device across the building: company-wide salary increase approved by the Founder. The reaction was instant. The building erupted, cheers spreading from floor to floor as internal networks flooded with messages. Someone started celebrating before lunch, while another immediately called their family.
Meanwhile, the man responsible stepped out of the building and walked down the street. Hands in his hoodie pockets. Looking completely unconcerned. Behind him, an entire company celebrated. Ahead of him, a Subway to eat.
And for the first time in years, Aster Collins felt that things were finally moving fast enough.