The Tower of Lumen welcomed its creator.

  Walking through the corridor from the Ethers’ landing platform, Daniel Luna rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up from a sleep he had never truly fallen into. Though his body was in the real world, his mind still hovered between dreams. There were no thoughts. No worries. Only fragments of a failed dream flickering behind his eyes.

  As he approached the elevator, Daniel took a deep breath and pressed his finger to the call button. He hadn’t even fully awakened yet, but already felt exhausted. Sleep—and the futile attempts to find it—no longer brought any relief. It had been like this for so long that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt rested.

  The elevator rose to the top floor, and the doors slid open. He could have simply taken the stairs to the floor below, where his office was located, but right now, his mind could focus on only one thing: getting to the coffee machine as fast as possible.

  He stepped into the elevator and pressed the adjacent button. The journey was short. A few seconds later, the doors opened again. Daniel walked slowly toward his office entrance, placing his finger on the small sensor next to the door. A soft signal rang out—and Daniel Luna entered his office.

  His workspace wasn’t large, but the emptiness made it feel vast. A desk, a chair, two more chairs across from it, a side table with a coffee machine, a sofa, and a screen displaying red numbers. Daniel often worked so much that he’d sleep on the sofa overnight. Luckily, there was another door near the entrance—leading to a bathroom equipped with a shower. Sometimes he would spend weeks in his office, only descending to the lower floors for meetings and reports. He no longer knew where he spent more time—at home or here.

  Approaching the coffee machine, Daniel took a cup, placed it in the slot, and pressed the button. Thanks to his assistant Bruno Montero, the machine was always stocked with fresh coffee beans and milk. A jar of sugar stood nearby.

  While the machine prepared the drink that had long become his fuel, Daniel stepped into the bathroom to splash cold water on his face, knowing full well it wouldn’t help. He walked to the mirror and turned the faucet. Ice-cold water struck his palms. Pressing them to his face, he felt the chill bite into his skin.

  “It hurts,” Daniel thought. “Good. That means I’m still alive.”

  He looked in the mirror. Water streamed down his face, dripping from his beard back into the sink. Daniel Luna froze at the sight of his reflection. He looked at himself so rarely that he had nearly forgotten what he looked like. There were more gray strands in his long hair now. Even his beard had begun to turn silver.

  He looked into his own eyes. All these years dedicated to building and running Lumen had drained him. Day by day, he felt less and less of himself remain. The light that once filled his eyes—the spark that had driven him to create the corporation and later the city—was gone. He was neither alive nor dead. Daniel hadn’t felt anything in a long time, except the emptiness in his chest. It seemed that where his heart should be, a hole had formed—one that swallowed him piece by piece. A void that could never be filled.

  There was a time when Daniel Luna smiled constantly, laughed freely. He was always in good spirits and passed that energy to everyone—his colleagues, his friends, his loved ones. But so much time had passed that he could no longer recall what his own smile looked like. He forced the muscles in his face to move. Tried to smile. But what he saw in the mirror frightened even him. Empty eyes. A fake smile. Daniel had changed.

  He plunged his hands into the water again and pressed them to his face. So much had been done. So much—lost. But it still wasn’t enough. The world demanded more. The void in his chest demanded more. With every sunrise, Daniel felt another piece of his soul slip away. Every morning, he asked himself the same question: how much?

  How much more must be taken from him for things to finally work? He had already given everything. What else was there to give? And most importantly—could he keep the promise he had made long ago, before nothing of him remained?

  Thoughts bubbled up in his mind. The cold water had finally broken the dominion of dreams that had refused to accept him. Now, reality was settling back in. He stepped back and looked at himself—at his body. He had lost weight. His shirt no longer clung to his torso. It looked as though he had bought it in the hope of gaining weight, but never managed to do so. His pants had begun to sag—he’d had to tighten his belt by one more notch.

  “I’m tired,” he whispered to his reflection, which whispered the same words back to him.

  “Ugliness”—that’s how Daniel Luna described a world that had stopped being a home for anyone. “Our world is so cruel that it disfigures everything beautiful in a person. And people disfigure the world in return, closing the cycle.” And the world had done to Daniel the only thing it was capable of—it had disfigured his soul. With each new cycle, it tried to cut him open from the inside, again and again. And if Daniel had once resisted, with every new loop it became harder to fight back. He was ready to give in. To surrender to reality itself and scar the world in return.

  The only thing stopping him was a promise—one only he remembered. An irresistible force of this vicious cycle of ugliness faced a simple human word.

  That promise had become the meaning of his life.

  But how many more cycles could he endure? How many more blows could he withstand before the world broke him? He didn’t know the answer. Although perhaps the numbers in his office did. One way or another, this confrontation was leaving its mark—etched in the wrinkles on his face, in the lifeless gaze, in words devoid of emotion.

  A sound signal pulled him out of a trance he had slipped into while staring into his own eyes. He blinked several times and turned off the tap. The cold water disappeared. The thoughts trying to reach him were left behind in the room when he returned to his office.

  Daniel picked up a cup of ready-made cappuccino, added three spoons of sugar, and while stirring with a teaspoon, turned around. In front of him were the numbers. A screen displaying them hovered in the middle of the room. 8624. Every day, every month, they changed. Anyone else would have been terrified. Would’ve trembled in panic. But Daniel looked at those numbers every day. They held no power over him. He wasn’t afraid of them. Yes, they were unsettling—but nothing more. They only showed him the truth.

  The thunderstorm outside was getting closer. Flashes of lightning lit up the window of his office. There’s no real winter in Ecuador. No snow, no ice. Only thunderstorms that batter the country daily. And it was in those storms—in the booming thunder, in the cacophony of rain—that the man could find a semblance of peace.

  Approaching his desk, Daniel Luna sat down in the chair, trying to relax. He took a sip of coffee. Instantly, he felt a surge of energy. But along with that energy came something he hadn’t felt in a long time. A gentle, delicate touch. It seemed someone had brushed his shoulder in the lightning flashes. Daniel closed his eyes, awakening memories. A time without pain, without anxiety. A time when he was happy. But the thunder pulled him out of those memories, as if nature itself refused to grant him even a fleeting illusion of peace.

  Taking a few more sips, Daniel placed his hand on the console built into the desk and pressed a few buttons. Two small platforms slid out from the wall, and a moment later, a screen materialized between them.

  The “Lumen” holographic unit was one of the corporation’s first technologies after construction of the city began. Early models were high quality but overheated quickly. Over time, Lumen improved the tech, and now a hologram could be projected for hours. Thanks to these upgrades, Lumen Central University used the unit to operate “Hephaestus,” the artificial intelligence that trains students.

  The man flipped through several channels until he stopped on a news broadcast, where a Lumen Beam employee was on air, the words “Breaking News” displayed at the bottom.

  Daniel remembered this woman. She was one of the first to launch a TV channel in the newly built city. Back then, there were only a few districts with two thousand residents. Now the city of Lumen had around half a million, and the Lumen Beam channel had gone international.

  Daniel turned up the volume when he saw the city of New York in darkness behind the anchor.

  “Tonight, the terrorist group ‘Legion’ struck again. A decade after the largest attack on the United Megafactory in Guangzhou—where five million machines were destroyed—Legion has launched another strike, this time against the Western Bloc, the United States. The attack unfolded in two phases. In the first, an AI-virus was deployed to cripple the nation's financial infrastructure. According to preliminary reports, the virus infiltrated the Federal Reserve System, several banks, and stock exchanges. It then deleted transactional data, overwrote databases with random values, encrypted access keys, and wiped backup copies. Furthermore, it damaged the SWIFT system, destroyed a portion of digital assets, and erased debt and credit records of over four hundred thousand Americans...”

  “What the hell...?” Daniel straightened up, barely managing to hold his cup.

  At that moment, the door opened and Daniel’s assistant, Bruno Montero, entered the office. The man looked about thirty-five, carrying a tablet and a cup of coffee bought near the Lumen tower.

  “Good morning, Daniel,” Bruno greeted him, glancing at the numbers on the wall. “Happy holiday!”

  “What? Holiday?” Daniel turned his eyes to the assistant.

  “Christmas...?” Bruno approached the director’s desk and sat in the chair opposite, setting the tablet down. “You forgot?”

  “Already...? But it was just—” It felt to Daniel like Christmas had only been a few months ago, but when he checked the date on the monitor, he saw the assistant was right. “Right... Merry Christmas to you too, Bruno.”

  “Thanks,” Bruno smiled. Like Daniel, he had survived hell many years ago—but managed to pull through. The fire of life still burned in Bruno’s eyes. “You’re here early... What are you watching?”

  “Couldn't sleep, so I came in early...” Daniel turned back to the screen. “It’s a shitshow.”

  “What do you mean?” Bruno tensed.

  “The U.S. was attacked last night.”

  “Legion?”

  “Yep...” A smirk appeared on the director’s face. “Legion, alright.”

  “Does it even exist?” Bruno took a sip of coffee. “Every attack leaves traces pointing to different blocs, different countries...”

  “No,” Daniel shook his head. “It’s a scapegoat. Each bloc attacks the other and blames the imaginary ‘Legion.’ In reality, it’s the same old Cold War. Legion is just for the public—to keep them afraid.”

  “Knew it,” Bruno nodded.

  “Wait,” Daniel turned up the volume again.

  “The second wave of the attack targeted New York’s power grid. It’s still unclear how Legion managed to breach the city’s systems, but after six hours, local authorities still haven’t restored electricity. According to the latest updates, the backup systems were destroyed as well. Public transport, hospitals, water supply, sewage, and heating systems have all ceased functioning. The entire city is without power...”

  "I think I know what this is..." Daniel extended. "The first direction is the collapse of the financial system..."

  "Also, fires are reported all over the city. Due to the communication systems being down, the fire departments can't receive reports about the blazes..."

  "Firebird!" the director of "Lumen" shouted.

  "Firebird?" Bruno asked. "And the first direction—what's that about?"

  "I know what happened."

  "So, things are really bad, huh?"

  "Very bad, many 'verys'," Daniel brought the cup to his lips and took a sip. "Today's attack on New York is a retaliation for Guangzhou and Omsk."

  "You think so?"

  "Nine years ago, the 'Legion' attacked the Unified Mega Factory in Guangzhou, China," Daniel spread his hands in the air, starting his story. "We all know that behind that attack was the Western bloc, probably the USA. They used electromagnetic pulse bombs. The whole factory burned down. All the machines were destroyed."

  "I remember that day," Bruno said quietly but immediately regretted it. He didn’t want his words to pull Daniel back to that moment.

  "After that attack, cloning technology was legalized," Daniel didn’t hear Bruno's words. "But... 'Legion' continued to attack both the communist bloc and the west. The Cold War, and so on... But two years later, the Omsk Magnetic Generator Complex in Russia was also attacked. Dozens of magnetic turbines were destroyed, and part of Siberia was left without electricity."

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "That's why Russia became part of the Communist bloc, as China began supplying them with electricity and restoring generators."

  "Exactly! And I kept wondering when China would strike back. And finally, it happened... the financial sector."

  "No way..." Bruno's eyes widened.

  "They created an AI virus and sent it to the USA. It infiltrated their systems and started deleting and encrypting everything. Right now, millions of US citizens have no money in their accounts."

  "What?"

  "Millions of citizens who had anything left after the Fourth Revolution no longer have any funds."

  "And the government can’t do anything because US citizens can't prove they had money?"

  "Exactly. Corporations got hit too, the virus deleted a lot of data from them as well."

  "You think there will be an escalation?"

  "Maybe. But on the other hand, they should've understood that China wouldn’t forgive them for the attack."

  "Will they turn a blind eye?"

  "I think so..." Daniel took another sip.

  "Why?"

  "Power, Bruno. Money is just a tool to gain power. Corporations in the Western bloc already have power—governments gave everything to them. So money isn’t as important to them... Well, it is important, but not that important," Daniel paused, thinking. "But for ordinary citizens, who became unemployed because of the Fourth Technological Revolution, or who work for corporations... and for criminal organizations... they’re done for. This attack will lead to an increase in uncontrolled crime, instability, fear, panic, and possibly riots. But as long as corporations are in power, they don't care about the rest. The attack hit them, but not enough to trigger escalation. But there will be a reaction. Also, worsening relations between blocs."

  "You think they'll involve the armies? People who lost everything will demand answers... and might go after corporations."

  "Very likely. Because according to the new laws, corporate technologies are part of the state. And an attack on corporations is an attack on the state, which means terrorism. Shoot on sight... Any attempt to recover the lost funds will be punished."

  "Shit..." Bruno muttered.

  "Exactly. But that can be survived. But Firebird... that’s something else."

  "I've never heard that name."

  "Firebird is similar to our AID."

  "Ah..." Bruno remembered.

  "You know about AID?"

  "I know it exists, but I wasn’t involved with that department. It was entirely a development...," Bruno suddenly fell silent, "...of the technical department. I didn’t receive any data."

  "Got it..." Daniel appreciated the honesty. "There were rumors that the Russians were developing some kind of weapon like no other. Some speculated about chemical weapons, others about biological. But the Russians realized that today, all of humanity is tied to technology. And any technology works because of electricity. Hospitals, fire services, the economy, even regular refrigerators at home... Everything runs on electricity. And in all those rumors, the name 'Firebird' kept coming up."

  "So, essentially—AID?"

  "Exactly!" Daniel confirmed. "We were developing AID as a counterstrike to a full-scale attack on Lumen and Ecuador. We always hoped that AID would never be used."

  "You think this is really... their Firebird?"

  "Absolutely. First of all, as far as I know, there are only two AI viruses of this type: AID and Firebird. Our AI is in the black archive. And if we didn’t attack the USA, then it was Russia. And most likely as an addition to China’s attack. The first wave targeted the financial sector... And then Firebird was launched."

  "Got it."

  "Secondly, in six hours, they couldn’t restore even part of New York’s energy grid. You’d think they were about to get everything running again... But there’s one very important thing—fires."

  "Fires?"

  "Yeah..." Daniel nodded. "Fires in homes, in offices, in regular buildings. When we tested AID in simulations, there were multiple fires in the attack zone every time."

  "Why?"

  "Because of how it works. And if I’m right, and Firebird is similar to AID, here’s what happened..." Daniel loved explaining everything, it was his way to distract himself from work. A storm hit the city.

  "Go ahead," Bruno checked the tablet on the table. There were a few notifications, but he wanted to listen to Daniel. Bruno had an idea about AID but didn’t know how it actually worked.

  "When the Russians launched the Firebird, its first target was the data centers in New York, and it began attacking them. The defense systems were activated — which is exactly what it had been waiting for. The virus acted like HIV: the immune system detects the threat and attacks, thereby exposing its vulnerabilities. As soon as the defense algorithms started blocking the Firebird, it infiltrated the data centers, using their computational power to replicate itself and launch attacking processes. The virus spread through software updates, network protocols, and zero-day exploits, hacking into the central automated energy grid management systems. Once it gained control, the Firebird began a sequential attack: it sharply altered the loads, creating wave resonance in the high-voltage circuits. By opening and closing networks at maximum speed, it caused avalanche-like voltage spikes. The entire infrastructure worked towards its own destruction," Daniel took a sip of his coffee. The cup was nearly empty. "The grid was spiraling out of control. The next stage — imbalance of phases. The virus switched phases in a chaotic order, increasing the voltage to extreme levels. The cables overheated, insulation melted, and substations exploded from overload. Electric meters, automatic protection systems, and load regulators were already disabled. And that was just the beginning. The Firebird switched part of the energy system to non-standard modes, forcing the city’s transformer node to generate unstable voltage. This killed all the electronics. Internal wiring overheated, a chain reaction of fires began," Daniel continued. "But the final blow came with the last strike. The virus took control of all connected industrial generators, overloaded them to failure, and switched them into short-circuit mode. This created a localized electromagnetic pulse comparable to the detonation of a low-power EMP charge. Within a few kilometers, everything burned: emergency generators, backup networks, isolated systems. As a result..." Daniel set the empty cup on the table. "New York became a graveyard. It can't be restored. All the wiring in the buildings burned out. The city is dead. And it took ten minutes."

  "Holy shit..." Bruno stared at the screen. The skyscrapers were sinking into darkness, only the fires lit up the streets. "There were ten million people there."

  "It's morning now. They'll wake up and see there's no power. A couple of hours later — panic. A few more hours — the first looting. By evening, New York will turn into a survival arena. The city will drown in chaos," Daniel kept his eyes on the flames in the skyscrapers. "And it's winter there."

  "Right..." Bruno swallowed nervously. "It's minus ten Celsius."

  "By morning, the temperature will drop even further. The entire heating system relies on electricity and gas. But the pumps are shut down."

  "The water in the pipes will freeze," Bruno took the last sip of his coffee.

  "And will rupture the heating systems."

  "Which means there will be no water either."

  "They'll melt snow... but sanitation will overwhelm the city."

  "And they won't be able to leave..." Bruno was watching the city.

  "Without electricity, the gas station pumps won’t work. There's nowhere to refuel."

  "When panic begins..."

  "They'll ransack all the supermarkets. Take food, water, medicine."

  "And when the supplies run out..."

  "Chaos will intensify. Murders, robberies. Then... cannibalism."

  Bruno slowly set the cup down.

  "And they won't even be able to call for help."

  "The communication towers burned," Daniel glanced at his assistant. "There are employees of our channel in the city. They need to be evacuated immediately. As far as I know, the channel has a few Ether units at its disposal."

  "Yes, that's right..." Bruno grabbed the tablet and was about to give the order to evacuate the Lumen Beam channel staff, but stopped. "Shit..."

  "What's wrong?" Daniel straightened up.

  "Notifications. You were right... It's an AI virus," Bruno was flipping through messages on the tablet. "The Firebird, when it replicated itself, attacked everything connected to the network. Hundreds of thousands of attacks on the digital cores of the Ethers every minute."

  "And how's that going?"

  "The encryption withstood the hit..." Bruno looked up, as though seeing something around them that no one else could. "Maria's encryption system is truly unique... The Firebird couldn't infiltrate."

  "Good..." Daniel nodded. "Set up satellite communication with the Ethers directly and evacuate them..." He remembered the past. "And they were laughing at Maria. Too vulnerable to hacks... Yeah..."

  "‘The country's president has announced the evacuation of the city,’" Daniel was drawn to the voice of the girl on the other side of the screen. "‘Corporations from the Western Bloc have fully supported the evacuation efforts. Checkpoints will be set up at city exits to maintain order. Corporate military units have already been sent to New York to ensure the safety of the residents.’"

  "Oh no..." Daniel exhaled. "Goddamn it..."

  "What?" Bruno received a reply. The evacuation of channel staff was underway.

  "The corporations... They're not just there to ensure safety. And they came to help so quickly?"

  "You think..."

  "Think about it. Ten million people are left with nothing. If they scatter across the country... it'll worsen the crisis. Crime will rise even further. Someone will definitely shout that it's the corporations' fault. There's a high risk of a rebellion... They won't let that happen. This is a blockade of the city," Daniel saw the future of everyone still in New York.

  "Shit! But there are ten million..."

  "Well..." Daniel stared into the void, seeing the unfolding events that were about to become a reality. "They'll pull out their employees. Save the lucky ones. But the process will be so slow that people will start killing each other. They won’t even need to shoot them. Some will die from the cold, some from hunger. Some from diseases. Some will be eaten. Deaths have already started."

  "Already?"

  "Hospitals, Bruno... They don't work. Everyone who was in critical condition, who depended on life-support systems — they're already dead. The elderly... children... They won't survive the cold and darkness."

  "They'll perish."

  "So... A few million people will die during the blockade, thus preventing the crisis from worsening."

  "But the public..." Bruno was worried about those still in the city.

  "What public?" Daniel glanced at Bruno. "There’s no communication with New York anymore. We'll only get the information the corporations give us. We won't know what's really happening in the city. But... we can guess. In any case, the city is already beyond saving. It's cheaper to demolish it and rebuild it. As for the people... their survival depends solely on themselves."

  "Shit..." Bruno whispered quietly. But a thought appeared in his mind. A thought that scared him. The thought of the inevitable. "The numbers..."

  "Correct," Daniel glanced at the numbers on the panel in his office. "They’ve changed them."

  "Shall we start the recalculation?" Bruno felt a tremor in his hand.

  "Yes..." The director of Lumen nodded. "Let Maria intercept the power from Hephaestus, Atlas, Eve, and Demeter. And activate the acceleration protocol."

  "Okay," Bruno gave the order for the recalculation on the tablet. "It will take a few hours."

  "Fine," Daniel pressed his finger to the button, and the screen with the dead New York disappeared. "We shouldn’t think about them."

  "I know we shouldn’t," Bruno agreed, but still, he imagined the horror that the city’s residents would endure. And he knew that few would survive it.

  "Let’s talk about us, Bruno," Daniel stood up and took his cup to the sink. The assistant was preparing to talk about the plans. "How are we doing?" Daniel Luna returned to his chair. "New York is not our problem, and the people who will die there shouldn’t concern us."

  During his time at Lumen, Daniel had seen people from every angle. And what people could do to others. Was it the result of a deformed world? Or did people themselves wish to poison everything they touched? Either way, it had made Daniel cold-blooded. Now Daniel Luna thought only of Lumen, Ecuador, and the numbers on the wall. The problems of the Western or Communist blocs didn’t concern him, though he took their failures into account.

  "So..." Bruno began. "The Takeda Corporation postponed the meeting."

  "Hmm..." The Director of Lumen pondered. "Why?"

  "They didn’t give a reason. I don’t think it’s because of Christmas and the holidays."

  "Do you think they’re being poached?"

  "I’m not claiming it, but still... Japan is one of the strongest Neutrals. If they join one of the blocs... it will change the balance of power."

  "Hmm... Looks like they really are being poached. Doesn’t matter who," Daniel saw in his mind how the world was changing. And what would happen if Japan, led by the Takeda Corporation, joined one of the blocs. "Japan must remain independent. Damn it!"

  "What?"

  "I think we’ll have to tell them about the recalculation."

  "But... is there a guarantee they won’t tell the Western or Communist blocs? What if... this speeds up the process?"

  "We’ve already shared Maria, Atlas, Panacea, and Hephaestus with them. We shared the technology of multifunctional factories and installers."

  "For them, it looked like cooperation."

  "But in reality... I’m afraid we’ll have to explain why we did it."

  "Will they believe it?"

  "I think so. But the main question is—will they agree to stay independent?" Daniel looked at the numbers. "Contact Takeda and invite him and the specialists to Lumen. And prepare the recalculation presentation."

  "Okay," Bruno nodded. Then he opened his tablet. "There’s some good news too."

  "I love good news. Though I rarely hear it."

  "Thanks to the work of the technical department, the process of creating new clones has become faster and cheaper. The latest version of the cloning system allowed us to capture a few percentage points of the market."

  "Very good," the city of Lumen was under the assault of the elements, lightning flashing in the dark sky. "What else?"

  "The procedure for implementing the Perfect Laws has been updated. Now the process takes up to thirty minutes. And when the Laws are activated, the clones no longer have tremors."

  "Excellent."

  "Mr. Black has ordered a new batch of clones," Bruno reviewed the report.

  "Already? That quickly?" Daniel furrowed his brows. "What are they doing with them?"

  "You don’t know?" Even Bruno had seen those videos online. "There are websites showing..." Bruno tried to find the right words. "Deconstruction of clone bodies..."

  "Deconstruction?" The Director’s face twisted. "Disgusting!"

  "He ordered 200 models."

  "Even so? I guess the videos are popular... Well... if they’re paying..." Daniel thought of it as an acceptable evil. He was ready to do anything to achieve his goal. That’s why even something like cutting off the limbs of clones on camera was acceptable to him. "Let’s send the batch."

  "Yes... And thanks to the updated body creation process and the implementation of the Perfect Laws... I think the next batch will be bigger."

  "Got it. We’ll need to prepare. What else?"

  "Project Spiral..." Bruno answered clearly.

  "What about Spiral?" Daniel straightened up. Bruno knew this project was crucial for Daniel and for all of Lumen.

  "Project Spiral has also been updated."

  "And what’s the success rate?"

  "12 percent," Bruno answered.

  "Better than before."

  "Exactly," Bruno nodded. "And also... our guest will soon wake up."

  "So soon?" Daniel smiled slightly. "When? How long has he been in a coma?"

  "Today," Bruno read a message from the Technical Director. "He’s been in a coma for about a week."

  "I..." The man leaned back in his chair, as if the future had unfolded before him. For a moment. "I have to be there," Daniel stood up from his chair. "Call Ether."

  "Are you sure?" Bruno followed the Director’s example and stood up.

  "Yes," Daniel answered clearly. "If we’ve done everything right..."

  "Elizabeth will be there..." Bruno glanced at the man.

  "I know. I don’t care," it seemed that Daniel’s body filled with energy. A spark appeared in his eyes. Faith. Hope. So much time had passed, and the end was so close. He wanted to be there, in the complex on the distant island. He wanted to see the Guest wake up. "Since Takeda postponed the meeting, I’ll go to the complex. And you’re coming with me."

  "Got it," Bruno nodded, calling Ether to the landing pad. "He’ll arrive in a few minutes."

  "Bruno..." The man smiled for the first time in a long time. And it was a genuine smile, caused by something resembling anticipation. "If we’ve done everything right, and it works... You understand what that means?"

  "Yes, Daniel," the assistant smiled slightly. "The numbers will no longer matter."

  "Exactly," Daniel placed his hand on Bruno’s shoulder. "Let’s go... we need to prepare. All of us."

  "The preparation process has begun," the assistant glanced at the data on the tablet. "All departments will be ready soon."

  Daniel Luna led the assistant. They left the office and headed upwards, to the top of the Lumen tower, where one of the Ethers was preparing for takeoff. The light in the Director’s office went out. The storm raged outside the window. Only the numbers, glowing red, illuminated the office.