Getting A System In A Modern World

54  Going To The Island

Few minutes earlier...

Silas just finished a match and was about to get into another matchmaking when he got a message from LUNAR. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

{We've arrived, sir. The plane is about to land.}

"Ok, thank you, LUNAR," Silas said, and immediately closed the game. He woke up from sleep-gaming and took off the Gear.

He placed the Gear beside him on the bed and looked around him for a moment, before he slowly pushed himself up and sat on the bed, and started assessing his body's condition.

He wants to know if there's any adverse effect of such long usage hours of the Gear.

After a scrutinous search, Silas found no changes and nodded with a smile.

Just as LUNAR had said, using the device while unconscious was no different from sleeping.

All the matches he played felt like a dream even though he knew it was real. It felt like it was all just one of those wet dreams a game addict would have.

Just so surreal to be believable!

He also noticed that he doesn't feel any tiredness or mental fatigue even after playing the game for more than eight hours. He also doesn't feel the heaviness that one would experience after sleeping for such a long time.

Silas smiled at this as he slowly stood up from the bed, and made his way to the cabin.

Getting to the cabin, he chose a chair and took his seat, and looked out of the window of the aircraft.

"The Gear is even crazier than I thought it was," Silas said with a sigh.

"LUNAR, thank you for making the games. You're the best."

{You're welcome sir. Actually, videos of your gameplay have gone viral on the internet and you're now very popular. You're now among the most searched on the internet now,} LUNAR said.

Silas was not surprised when he heard this. Infact, it was something he expected to happen with how he was playing carefreely and how massive the COD's player base is.

He's not scared of becoming popular or anything. It's not like one can actually know his true identity from just looking at his in-game username or his avatar. What he's actually worried about is the original game maker trying to contact him.

'*Ahem* Narcissistic.'

"Ok, thanks," Silas said, and stood up from his seat, and started walking towards the aircraft's entry door.

Just like when Silas wanted to board the aircraft, the aircraft's door opened automatically and Silas stepped out, and climbed down the air stairs.

When Silas' feet touched the ground, he looked back at the aircraft in surprise. This is the first type that he has ever taken a plane and he must say that he really enjoyed the flight with how smooth the ride was even for a self-driving aircraft.

"LUNAR, have you made the necessary preparations?," Silas asked as he made his way to the terminal.

{Yes sir. A room in a hotel close to the island has been booked, and a car has been prepared. You also don't have to worry about Immigration, everything has been taken care of,} LUNAR replied.

"Thanks. The sun is already out. What time is it now in Venezuela?," Silas asked, as he looked at the bright clear sky.

{10AM.}

Silas was surprised when he heard that. Actually, he didn't research anything before he got into the plane and during the flight, it was just him playing a game.

"What time is it now in Oakland?," He asked curiously.

{6AM.}

"4 hours time difference. The meeting is by 12PM, which means I only have two hours to get there."

"How long would it take to get to the island from here and from the hotel you booked the room?"

{1 hour 49 minutes from here and 45 minutes from the hotel.}

"It seems I'm almost running late. Best to get out of here quickly and make my way to the island."

Silas walked into the airport through the terminal and made his way directly out of the airport without waiting at the Immigration Area, Baggage Claim, Custom section or the Arrival area.

He did so because he doesn't have any luggage to collect and because LUNAR had taken care of everything that needs to be taken care of.

Silas walked out of the terminal and a middle-aged man standing in front of a BMW 7 Series walked up to him.

"Mr Silas, I'm Mr José, your designated chauffeur," The man said as he shook Silas' hand.

"Mr José, please take me to Bahìa Dorada," Silas said, as he got into the back seat of the car.

"Yes sir," Mr José said, and got into the driver seat before starting the car and driving off towards the location given to him.

Mr José had already been informed that his client was in a hurry, so he knew better than to delay or ask questions.

Bahìa Dorada is a port city located to the northern part of Caracas. It's not a very popular port as it's rather small and the reason why Silas is going there is because it's the closest to the island where the meeting is being held.

Silas looked out the car's window as his thoughts drifted to his plans.

"LUNAR, if ELLA, the Gear and Pod is to be released to the public, how long do you think it will take the best research team on Earth to be able to reverse engineer them with the current and improving Earth's technological level?," Silas asked.

{ELLA would take them more than ten years while the Gear and Pod would take more than a thousand years to replicate perfectly but a cheap copy can be produced in about 300 to 500 years,} LUNAR explained.

Silas smiled when he heard this. He didn't believe that it would actually take Earth that long to bring out an AI like ELLA but he believed what LUNAR said about the Gear and Pod.

"What about you? How long do you think it would take them to create one like you? Be generous," Silas asked with a smile.

{Being generous, I would say about 100 years or more,} LUNAR said.

Silas' smile widened when he heard this. He wonders how the Silicon Valley guys would react when they hear this.

"I guess I have nothing to worry about when I release the product to the public but I will have to prepare myself for the hungry hounds at the top of the food chain. I'm very sure the biggest tech companies won't take it calmly. I also have to prepare for the political part of things," Silas said to himself.

'Ughh... All I just wanted was to save enough money for college and improve my quality of life.'

Though Silas said that, he didn't feel any emotions other than happiness and anticipation towards the world's reaction after he releases the device to the public.

"System, if I should sell the Pod and Gear bought directly from the store, would I get system points for it?," Silas asked the system internally.

[Yes.]

"How many?"

[5% of the item's cost in the store.]

"That means for the Gear, I will get 1750 system points for each one of them sold and for the Pod, I will get 13,600 for every one of them sold?,"  Silas asked in confirmation.

[Yes.]

"Ok. What if I'm to recreate the item and sell it, how many system points will I get after selling it?"

[You will get the amount of system points that the item was evaluated for after its recreation.]

"Explain."

[After recreating an item bought from the store, it would be evaluated and you will be rewarded a certain amount of  system points according to the evaluation the recreated item received. If you're to sell the item, you will receive the amount of system points it was evaluated for every time the item is sold,] The system explained.

"So, assuming I recreate an item and it gets 30,000 system points after evaluation. I will get 30,000 system points every time the recreated item is sold, correct?"

[Yes.]

'That's convenient but how long will it take me to recreate an item? Will I even get such high system points after it's evaluated?'

These thoughts and more filled Silas' head. He was still lost in his own world until he heard Mr José informing him that they have reached their destination.