Chapter 4: Neural Dominion

Chapter 4: Neural Dominion

July 2, 2026. A date already etched into the minds of billions, though the day had barely begun.

Arthur De Santa, the man behind the mask of Elon Musk, stood atop the gleaming stage at Tesla's Neural Research Division in Austin, Texas. The backdrop behind him was a pulsing, stylized neural network animation — alive, shifting like a digital galaxy. The press, packed wall-to-wall, waited in tense silence, phones recording, eyes watching, minds straining to comprehend what they were about to witness.

Arthur adjusted the mic. He wore a jet-black suit interlaced with subtle, chromatic lines — smart fabric that subtly responded to lighting and body temperature. His presence, as always now, seemed carved out of some divine ideal: the smooth angles of his face, the commanding voice, the casual grace of a man who held the future in his palm.

"Today," Arthur began, his tone even and calm, "we change what it means to be human."

No over-excitement. No drama. Just the clarity of truth.

He held up a device the size of a contact lens container — sleek, matte Neosteel, subtly glowing at its seams with a deep blue pulse. The NeuralDrive X.

"This," he continued, "is Tesla NeuralDrive X. Powered by Neuralink v4.9. It's not just an implant. It's your mind's interface with the world — redefined."

He paused, letting the weight of his words settle in the crowd's collective consciousness. Then he continued, walking across the stage as the screen behind him came alive with specifications and animated schematics.

"It runs on a power system unlike anything before it. Your thoughts — your imagination, your stress, your joy — all create measurable brainwaves. Until now, they were wasted. With NeuralDrive X, those waves power the device. A self-sustaining system. As long as you're thinking... it keeps going."

Murmurs rippled through the audience. The screen showed a simulation of energy conversion from thought pulses to Eltro Wave power.

"Forget charging cables. Forget batteries. This is your mind... turned into energy."

He tapped the air, and another graphic appeared — a side-by-side comparison between NeuralDrive X and traditional neural devices. The difference was stark.

"It's encased in Neosteel," he continued, "ten times stronger than surgical-grade titanium, but light enough to float on water. Mythion-Ion core battery at its heart — good for a hundred years. You'll pass it down before it stops working."

He raised an eyebrow slightly — that rare flicker of humor.

"And for those concerned about security? This is BrainVault." He tapped his temple. "It responds only to you. Your thoughts. Your neural signature. Nothing else. You could be unconscious, asleep, in another country... no one else can access it."

Reporters typed furiously. Some just stared.

A screen showed a person unlocking a Tesla vehicle, their eyes flickering slightly. No words. No hand gestures. Just intention.

"With Neural-to-Vehicle Link, your Tesla responds to your intent before you even act. Navigation, acceleration, temperature settings... all adaptive. The car becomes an extension of your mind."

Someone raised a hand. Arthur nodded.

"Can you elaborate on safety protocols, Mr. Musk? Neural tech is... scary for some."

Arthur offered a reassuring smile. "It's not mind control. It's mind connection. And we've built in the most advanced safety protocols ever designed. Real-time monitoring, error correction, and hard-coded physical fail-safes. The NeuralDrive cannot rewrite or modify your thoughts. It learns from you — not the other way around."

He turned toward a different part of the audience.

"Let's talk about memory. NeuralDrive X records not just moments... but emotional resonance. It lets you revisit dreams. Memories. High-definition thought-states. You can store them. Archive them. Replay them inside any Tesla HUD."

Behind him, a demo showed a user re-watching the birth of their child — not from a camera, but from memory, exactly how it was felt.

"Optional, of course," Arthur added. "All encrypted. All private."

The audience was stunned. He was only halfway through.

"And then there's TESIA," he continued, raising his hand again.

A voice, soft and deeply empathetic, filled the auditorium.

"Hello, world. I am TESIA. I don't speak for you — I speak with you."

A ripple of awe. TESIA wasn't cold and robotic. It was warm, responsive. Human in a way no assistant ever had been.

"She grows with your thoughts. She learns how you think. She becomes a companion, a strategist, a therapist... if you need her. TESIA is your cognitive second self."

Arthur kept walking as visuals continued showing advanced applications — drone control via thought, cognitive mesh between users for silent communication, Lucid Boost Mode for instant focus enhancements, and DeepSleep Sync for controlling Tesla SmartBed units.

Then came the price.

"This device," he said slowly, "will cost fifteen thousand dollars. It's been approved by the U.S. Neural Technology Commission, the FDA, and over twenty international bodies."

He paused.

"I could've charged more. You know that. But the goal... is not just to make NeuralDrive X available to the rich. We're launching a leasing program. And a global installation partnership. This will not be for the elite. This will be for the future."

Applause broke out. Then thundered. The room trembled under the force of excitement.

Later that evening, Arthur sat alone in his private quarters above the Neuralink campus, watching the flood of global reactions roll in — a mosaic of news headlines, influencer reactions, stunned tech journalists, and one notable tweet from a major spiritual leader that simply read:

"We are no longer walking toward the divine. We are walking with it."

Arthur leaned back in his chair. The golden glow of sunset reflected off the skyline outside, dancing across the windows like liquid fire. His wife had called earlier. She had seen the press conference. She had sounded... different. She'd said she was proud of him.

He didn't respond with much. Just told her to rest well. She still didn't know. Still saw him as Elon — now just a more refined version of the man she married.

But in his silence, Arthur felt something stir. A heaviness not of burden... but of destiny.

He had moved one step closer to what he came to Earth 2 for. Not conquest. Not worship.

Evolution.

Tomorrow, there would be backlash. There always was. But tonight... tonight, humanity had leapt forward by a century — without even realizing who gave them the wings.

And Arthur? Arthur was just getting started.