Chapter 45: Family

Richard smirked, leaning back slightly as he spoke.

"Grandpa, in two months, right before the release of our game… our game engine, the Vector Core, will be ready."

He glanced at Jack, then continued.

"And as for the AI we plan to license to major corporations? Of course, we always keep the best version of our the Pheonix hidden. the top commercial model will only have access to the third diluted version"

Jack nodded in understanding while Estello's brow furrowed.

"It's only capable of adapting multiple logic paths and reasoning based on direct user input," Richard explained. "It can't make decisions based on broader environmental changes, and it has no self-learning capabilities."

"Meanwhile… the holy grail of our AI model is still contained on my PC."

Richard's grin widened.

"That's why I plan to build an underground quantum server farm—to train the AI for research purposes."

Estello crossed his arms. "Quantum? And how exactly do you plan to explain to these companies when the AI they receive isn't what they thought it would be?"

Jack, eager to chime in, turned to their grandfather.

"Grandpa, normal computers use bits—ones and zeroes—to process everything. That's called binary."

He gestured with his fingers.

"But a quantum computer doesn't just use two digits. It uses multiple states, called qubits. That makes it exponentially more powerful."

Richard took over.

"And as for your second question, that's already taken care of. Our AI model is exactly what we've been advertising on social media."

"I'll just tell them that it's trained on a massive amount of data, including human interactions, morality, emotion emulation, and speech patterns. But here's the catch—our licensing model will be on-premise only."

Estello raised an eyebrow.

"On-premise? You're not doing cloud licensing?"

Jack's eyes widened. "Wait, wait, wait—bro, I thought we were going for cloud licensing?"

Richard shook his head.

"We will. Just not yet."

He leaned against the AMFS console.

"Not until the our official headquarters has completed construction. We'll need physical servers to train the third diluted AI model. That way, everything will appear above-board, and no one will suspect that we have a hidden server farm running a more advanced AI."

Estello sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Even though I know plenty about science and politics, my head freezes when it comes to computers."

He exhaled sharply, then shot both of them a glare.

"Fine. Do what you want. But you inform me first next time!"

Jack and Richard instantly straightened up, sweating slightly.

"Y-Yes, Sir!" they said in unison, grinning nervously.

Estello grumbled as he climbed the ladder upstairs, heading toward the main basement level of the mansion in the ByteBull Office.

After Estello Left…

Richard and Jack sighed in relief, exchanging looks.

Jack broke the silence.

"Okay, bro. Now that that's cleared up… what's your next move? And how do you plan to cover this up?"

He gestured toward the huge, cleared wall section—a gaping, industrial void in their basement.

"You can't just patch it up with cement."

Richard hummed in thought, running through multiple simulations in his head.

"Since I have no immediate use for the underground section, I'll just seal it up—literally."

Jack's eyes narrowed. "And?"

"I'll move the AMFS down here, automate server rack maintenance, and connect it directly to our AI."

Jack froze, his face turning slightly pale.

"Wait—bro, are you seriously gonna let an unrestricted AI handle the construction grunt work?"

Richard only smiled.

"Don't worry. I trust her."

Jack's eyebrows shot up.

"Her? Her?!"

Confused, he hurried after Richard as they both ascended the ladder, back toward the basement studio.

Meanwhile outside the mansion, the night had fallen over the mansion, casting long shadows across the sprawling construction site. Bright floodlights illuminated the framework of ByteBull Studios' future headquarters, standing as a skeletal giant beside the mansion.

Tents surrounded the estate, clustered around the construction zone like a makeshift village. Some were small, personal shelters, while others resembled military-style barracks, housing groups of workers who toiled day and night to bring the new headquarters to life.

Inside the mansion's perimeter, a dormitory building—once used for guests—had been repurposed into a training facility for newly hired IT graduates.

Here, dozens of fresh recruits, many still in their early twenties, lived and breathed technology.

Jack had personally overseen their assignments, ensuring each one was trained in server maintenance, game updates, and the multiplayer network implementation for the studio's upcoming multiplayer expansion.

For many, this was more than just a job—it was an initiation into something bigger.

Most of the IT team lived in the dormitory, their lives now mirroring that of soldiers in a tech-driven army, training rigorously in their fields. A handful had chosen to rent apartments outside the mansion grounds, preferring a bit of distance, but for the majority, the dormitory had become home.

At this late hour, some were still awake, working on their laptops, debugging lines of code, or testing new networking features in preparation for the game's multiplayer update. Others, exhausted from the day's work, slept soundly, knowing that tomorrow would bring another step forward in ByteBull Studios' rise to power.

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Santa Rosa, Laguna

Inside a 3 story modern house, Ernesto Purnas, a man in his mid-40s, sat at his desk, gripping his phone tightly. His voice was filled with urgency as he spoke to his father, Estello Purnas.

"Pa, is what you said true?! Jack's responsible for this whole damn turmoil?"

On the other end of the line, Estello sighed, rocking his chair before leaning forward. His voice was calm but firm.

"Not just Jack. Richard—Anita's son."

There was a long pause before Estello continued.

"Do you remember your Uncle Mario?"

Ernesto blinked, his grip on the phone tightening slightly. His voice came out more measured.

"Oh… yes, I do. Has she returned home?"

Estello let out a short, gruff chuckle, but there was an edge of irritation in his tone.

"Yes, you fool! In fact, she's been living there in Laguna for almost twenty years! How the hell did you not notice? Her son, Richard, is your son's best friend. How could you be so blind?"

Ernesto felt a cold sweat forming at his temples. He sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead.

"I… I apologize, Pa. I wasn't aware of Jack's personal relationships. I've been busy running the company. I only called you because… well, because you suddenly started transferring your shares back to me."

Estello scoffed, shaking his head even though Ernesto couldn't see him.

"That's your problem, Ernesto. You only call me when it's about the business. You don't even ask how I am, or if I'm even alive, you ungrateful brat."

Ernesto's face tensed as guilt gnawed at him.

"I… I apologize, Father. I'll do my best next time."

Estello let out a dry, knowing laugh.

"That's your 1,024th 'next time', Ernie."

A moment of silence hung between them before Estello broke it.

"So… how's your brother Edmundo?"

Ernesto sighed, leaning back into his chair.

"He and his family are moving from the States… to the mansion."

"Hmph." Estello grunted. "So, that's why he hasn't called me."

"It was supposed to be a surprise from him," Ernesto added. "He told me himself."

Estello chuckled, shaking his head.

"His surprises and pranks… your elder brother hasn't changed one bit. He's still as childish as ever."

Ernesto let out a small chuckle, nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, Pa. He is. I don't like that guy one bit."

Then his tone shifted—more serious, more resolute.

"Anyway… since I now know that Jack and his friend own a multi-million dollar company of their own, who am I as a father not to support my son's business ventures?"

"I'll sell this house in Laguna and move there. That's a promise, Pa."

Estello let out a gruff scoff, but there was a small smile hidden beneath it.

"Heh. I'll take you up on that promise, Ernie… or else I'll have Edmundo drag your ass here himself."

Ernesto chuckled, his shoulders relaxing slightly.

"Will do, Pa. Goodbye."

He ended the call, but as he stared at his phone screen, he couldn't shake the feeling that things were about to change after so long.

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Back at the studio, Richard and Jack finally sat at their PCs, their fingers dancing across mechanical keyboards as they tweaked the final single-player campaign mission of their game.

Jack leaned back, stretching his arms with a satisfied sigh. "Bro, after so many days of dealing with bullshit outside, we're finally back to developing again." He smiled.

Richard, his eyes glued to the screen, was typing like a monster, finalizing NPC dialogues and enemy spawn logic. His mind worked at an inhuman pace, powered by his nanite-enhanced cognition. "Yeah." He grinned. "We just wanted to make a game that's realistic... but I guess too realistic can get you in trouble."

Jack chuckled, shaking his head. "I guess that's a thing, huh? Apparently, someone out there always wants to steal what you have."

Richard, not wanting to linger on the paranoia, changed the subject. "Anyway, I thought you finished the multiplayer on this one?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, I did. All we need now is to rent VPS servers in Singapore, Japan, and China to open the Asia server region for our multiplayer update on January 1st."

Richard raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so the new employees are just training in networking and server maintenance, then?"

"Yeah, and also for future updates." Jack cracked his knuckles.

Richard thought for a moment. "So we need to pick, what—five employees for maintaining regular updates?"

Jack smirked. "Yep. I already have an idea of who to pick."

He leaned forward, his eyes lighting up."Anyway, bro—what game should we make next?" he asked, excitement dripping from his voice.

Richard's expression suddenly changed into something dark and sinister, his smirk devilish."MMORPG."

Jack blinked. "Wait… what?"

Richard grinned wider. "We're gonna overtake World of Warcraft." His voice was filled with absolute certainty."We're gonna make it free-to-play. We're gonna make it as wide and persistent as possible. And, of course—" he tapped his screen, bringing up an AI simulation, "we're gonna use NPCs to generate quests dynamically based on localized in-game events per zone."

Jack's jaw dropped. "Ahh… shit. But what about our current game? Weren't we updating it into one persistent world?"

Richard waved his hand dismissively. "Of course we're prioritizing that. But we'll have Phoenix handle that sharding shit."

Just as he said that, a smooth, feminine voice echoed from Richard's newly installed studio speakers.

"You can count on me, Sir Jack."

Jack jumped out of his chair, visibly startled, his heart pounding."OH SHIT—OH SHIT—THE AI TALKED! SHIT!"

Richard chuckled, spinning his chair to face Jack."Calm down, man." He smirked. "Of course she talks. I've been talking to her ever since I compiled her and integrated her into my PC."

Jack, still recovering from the shock, cautiously asked,"Uhh… what's her name?"

The AI's voice came through clearly, calm and confident.

"My name is Lina, Sir Jack."

Jack gulped, staring at the speaker like it was about to grow legs and attack him."…Well, shit."