The opening period for Lux Animation Studios passed, and the animators were no longer just animators—they had bee writers, producers, and directors. The creation of numerous ideas spread a collective euphoria throughout the pany. Uhe Lux pany banner, people began developing series that flowed in and out from various dires.

  Harmand Ssh made its dedebuteds, airing iernoramming block. The two els, Lux Kids and LuxToons, were being quite a magnifit aspect of the pany’s , with the series starting to blend in worthy ways. Another el, Lux Night, aimed at young adults, was set to unch. This third Lux Animation el brought a different perspective, making all three a powerful force. Lux Animation could now be seen as a work of els.

  -This is simply astonishing,- said Billy as he reviewed the nehic script for a children’s horror film. The stories were being incredibly imaginative. "Puzzle" follows five kids iigating an abandoned house on a hill, only to be trapped by a vilin—a man from the Victorian era who used to be a housekeeper, log them in rooms and turning the house into a byrinth of terror.

  The cept pyed with elements of being trapped in another world, malevolent i, and urban legends, just the right amount ht. This "soft" horror erfect for children aged 12 to 16. As a Halloween animation, it seemed to fit the season. There was also a pn to create films for every major holiday: Independence Day, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and Christmas. If they could make three or four films like this a year, it would be enough.

  -It's fantastic, but for now, we ’t set up a fourth film team,- Billy told Jared, the creator of Puzzle. -However, we work together to improve the script, design, and characters. A fourth team will be assembled soon. Some animators will move to the third floor for Lux Kids, and then we’ll open a fourth team.-

  The building was being cramped, despite its rge size. Billy uood that five floors might not be enough, but expanding to six was impossible for this space. They needed a separate building for the flix project, which was currently taking up much of the fourth floor. Some of the administrative staff would o move.

  -But we’re making it, right? - Jared asked, surprised.

  -Oh yes, it’s approved by me,- Billy said, signing off on the project. -Go up to the fifth floor and talk to Jim Gianopulos. Let him know I’ve approved it, and hire a horror scriptwriter and a historian for myths and legends. They’ll be in touch soon to help us craft a better script.-

  -Magnifit! This is su important opportunity... I don’t even know what to say... I’ve created a story!- Jared was ecstatic, practically bursting with excitement. He rushed off to the fifth floor like a child. The name Jim Waiit was almost legendary—something that only happened on occasion.

  Following him, numerous scripts were ing in, like a teacher being flooded with assigs. Billy was calling people in, and one of them was a former Disney employee who proposed adapting The Steadfast Tin Soldier, a cssic tale written in 1835 by Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows a boy who receives a box of twenty-five tin soldiers, but one is missing a leg due to a ck of lead during the casting process. This tin soldier falls in love with a beautiful paper ballerina.

  The tale is tender, a story of deep love filled with meaning. The script stayed faithful to the book, densing the story into toug, serene moments interwoven with cssical music, making it a sweet and reflective piece. The goal was for children to grasp the depth of the retionship. The ending softened aed two real people who ouched but lived forever in love.

  -I think this could work well for the first team, who have the most experience,- Billy said to Carl Wilson. - For now, let’s review the story. Refihe graphic script and storyboards with some of your colleagues. This will be year’s project. We’re currently w on Mun and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, so I think we start on this in Ju year.-

  Carl’s eyes lit up. They already had projects lined up for the year across all three teams.

  "Spirit – 25 points."

  "Treasure P – 25 points."

  Spirit nned for 1997, while the other two films from Group 1 were in progress. Group 3 was w on Treasure P, which had already begun produ. They were also discussing Narnia, aiming to release at least one Narnia movie per year.

  - year?- Carl asked.

  -That’s the pn. Our teams are fully booked. Finish your projects, and it’ll be your turn... I’m sidering creating a fourth team ohe fourth floor is ready. The fact is, you all keep growing, and your stant stream of ideas is more than we handle. But we’ll get there. After all, that’s the result of so many creative minds w toward a single goal,- Billy said, reizing how the animators now had the luxury of proposing their ideas.

  Iure, Billy knew he’d o create a third animation studio focused solely on series or cartoons. If Japan had made it sustainable, he could do the same. All it required was getting people more ied, and that called for visibility.

  ***

  The operational spaces were exactly what the former Hotmail team had hoped for. After their lucrative ission, they were now fag a new challenge: creating two websites, one for Lux Animation and one for Lux Games, and, of course, w on the Messenger project, which would eventually be sold to the highest bidder. That sale alone could gee hundreds of millions of dolrs. However, creating a chat service was far more plex than building an email system.

  The first hurdle was i ectivity—services were not yet optimized fh-speed, high-quality es. The sed issue was the ck of hardware optimization for applications like messaging. Despite these challehe team was w at full capacity, determio craft a visual experiehat could be realized ohe teical difficulties were resolved.

  The Hotmail identification system erfect foundation for user profiles and a unication service. Alongside that, the idea of emojis—attag different is to messages—was novel, creating aing way to unicate.

  -I think until we get a stable server and solve the stability issues, ung an application like this is still a dream,- said Aaron Walter, Senirammer and a key figure in the project.

  -That doesn’t matter. Let’s refihe app’s minor details. patibility is an issue, but managing it with HTML and solidating all the data will be our focus, - responded Gary Stradem.

  -I think if we use the new Java system, it could improve things. C++ is ineffit, and while Perl is one of the best nguages, it has its shortings, - added Martha, a senior develgliime betweeing Lux Animation’s website and w on Messenger.

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