SCC Chapter 1 Reed and Lily(1)

FCY 437, 2nd Month, Day 7, 11:35PM

The passage of time is an immutable fact. There are some small voices within the scientific community that claim that time might not be a dimension, but an illusion. Though, He, Mumaso Reed was a believer that time passes. If it was an illusion, then that meant that the universe itself too, was nonexistent.

Ten whole years... A decade. It had passed while he had been in closed door cultivation related research. Though not much had changed outside the transparent shielding, doubling as the window to his small sanctuary, his office, there were some changes that had happened, like the massive construct above the city. The night was its ally, making its hull increasingly hard to make out, but it's most prominent feature that gave it away were the three massive engines releasing a large volume of photons within the white spectrum that were almost making it feel like it was day time.

Time had surely gone by, yet his modest office had stayed the same, with dark surfaces interspersed with scribbles of white that painted an enchanting picture, yet also serving as energy conduits for the hidden machines.

Mumaso Reed floated away from the window, with his feet, just a few inches from the ground. A thought-no, a desire had just popped into his mind, one which always pertained to a particular drink that he loved.

With just a mental communication, a hidden compartment was revealed just behind the black wall, filled with five sealed glass bottles of an emerald liquid with flecks of gold floating within.

A smile lit up his visage as he took out one of the bottles, opening it fast enough that his hand blurred, then took a long drink, with over half the contents going down his throat. The sound of lips smacking echoed within the room before he plopped down onto a chair behind his desk and swiveled around to enjoy the golden sparks that appeared within his vision, akin to stars in the sky.

A few minutes later, the high passed, and he gazed at the remaining liquid within the bottle, desiring to take it all, but ultimately gave up with a click of the tongue, returning it to the hidden compartment, before once again appearing behind his desk.

(Paul!)

Upon his mental order, a beam of light fell down onto the floor just beyond the table, through which, particles of matter started appearing, then multiplied until they transformed into a silver body with blue pupils.

"Mr. Mumaso Reed, welcome back from your seclusion."

"Thanks, Paul. So, what has been up in the world since my seclusion?"

Mumaso Reed asked. Even though this hadn't been a cultivation retreat, where he would have had to cut off most of his senses to the outside world, he had still made sure to ignore anything short of urgent from reaching his ears.

"567 events have happened. I am going to send the relevant data."

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And with that, Mumaso Reed was brought up to speed on the state of affairs.

"When is Mr. Taylor expected to leave seclusion?" Mumaso Reed hadn't found anything particularly noteworthy within the packet of data. There had been some interesting things, but they hadn't been enough to require his attention.

"Unknown."

Mumaso Reed narrowed his eyes at the synthetic being upon that answer. The main brain most definitely knew that definite time. But pushing won't give him anything, so he let it go.

"My wealth, how much has it grown by in these ten years?" He asked in anticipation, having pushed the other matter to the back of his mind. He really wanted to meet with the man in order to discuss his latest theory... Plus, Taylor was the only potential test subject he had ties with. 

"The share value has grown by almost 40%, branches have been opened in every state of the Federation, and over 90% are using the product."

Joy blossomed within his heart at those figures, but not enough to elicit a cry of surprise as he had also expected atleast that much. After all, he was the only one with the knowledge on how to make the product, not to mention the fact that it was needed by every single cultivator if they didn't want to run out of lifespan.

"Now that I am out of seclusion earlier than expected, is there a task that needs my attention?" Mumaso asked, only for a minute vibration from a particle in an inconspicuous location within his office to attract his attention.

"Before you say anything, you can go back for now." Paul, the synthetic body for a cloned awareness of the Federation AI acknowledged before his body turned back into individual particles and rising to the ceiling.

A few minutes were expended by Reed as he waited and scanned to make sure that the awareness of that AI had gone away. He was certain that it knew why it was being sent away, but that was the pact it had made with the Federal Government. All Nascent Soul beings were outside of its jurisdiction, especially in relation to monitorings.

Reed had sent a transmission about the end of his seclusion to the particular bunch on the other end of that quantum signal just after exiting his seclusion, even before he had appeared within this room. And considering the fact that they had contacted him just minutes later, then there must have been a situation, one that should definitely need his attention.

After schooling his features into a stoic mask, he accepted the query, upon which part of his mind sunk into an illusory realm. When his attention was finally steadied, there was the urge to roll his eyes, which was stifled instantly.

Since meeting this person, he had had many such moments. In this woman's dictionary, simple, boring and normal, were the three words that apparently didn't exist.

"Boss! How could you not have told me that you were about to enter seclusion?! Do you know how hard it was to leash those imbeciles?!"

Reed had known that this was going to happen. So he wasn't surprised at the outburst.

"I just knew you were the right person for the job."

"Mr. Boss! I need a raise! In the past decade, your ranking has finally managed to break into the top three!"

"Hoh!"

"I am not going to divulge anything before you promise-no, an oath!"

"Latniss, I don't have time for this. Many other trivial matters await my attention." Reed tried to convince the woman, who had edited her avatar to become pink, just like the general theme of the illusory realm, from the flowers to the star in the sky, thereby having made that color the only spectrum of visible light apart from the shadows, which were portrayed in an orange color.

"Reed, how long have we known each other? I can read you like the back of my hand. Your little maneuvers won't work on me."

"Okay. Okay. How much do you want!?"

"1 billion."

"Hey! Hey! That's clearly a scam! Latniss! Be reasonable! A fuckin' billion!?"

"Reed! Reed! Reed! Hear me out here. You have to compensate for my emotional damage too! It takes a toll on the mind! Have you met Declan?! Of course you have. Then you must understand the effort it takes to handle him!"

A grimace appeared on Reed's face. How could he not understand the problem child that was Declan. He was always in rage mode. Anything could set him off, not to mention the fact that he wasn't one to abide by orders.

"But a billion is still too much. You clearly want to fleece me. 100 million. Don't even try to bargain for more."

"Okay! Thank you, boss."

Reed cursed inwardly. He had been played! Ten million should have been more than enough to keep her happy. He massaged his forehead. It was always a war when trying to handle her, not to mention the rest of the gang.

"So, what was important enough for you to reach out this early?"

"There have been some movements from you-know-who."

"..." He raised an eyebrow, with his expression taking on a serious tint.

"Whats his target? And, can he be stopped, or whatever he wants, be intercepted?" Reed's voice came out deeper than ever, with his eyes taking on a sharp glint.

"Its a person. I have no idea how, or why she appeared on his radar, but apparently, he has been initiating contact multiple times."

"Who's the person?"

"Someone going by the names of Lily Toba, a matriarch of a clan in Indonesia." The answer caused Reed's face to warp.

"No. I didn't hack into her private messages... What we picked up were rumors from the people high up."