Becoming A Tech Tycoon Begins With Regression

Chapter 240 240: In The Simulation With Lillian [2]

Ethan stood with both hands in his pocket in the all white place of the simulation, observing as Lillian looked all around.

"This is?"Lillian broke the silence as she continued observing the empty white room.

"A simulated world," Ethan answered, "one capable of creating anything based on the database Athena has."

"I....see," Lillian slowly nodded.

"Speaking of Athena," He paused as Athena slowly started materializing by his side, causing Lillian's eyes to widen a bit.

"It's nice to meet you in person, Lillian," Athena spoke up the moment she fully materialized.

She had on the same formal suit she had registered with her form in the simulation's database, which was the same suit she had registered for Lillian.

"Athena?" Lillian asked.

"Hmm," Athena nodded in confirmation.

"The AI?" Lillian asked again.

"Yes," again, Athena nodded in confirmation.

Lillian turned to Ethan who just nodded in response, confirming Athena's words, still, she found it hard to believe.

All she thought of the AI, was lines of code that was just a lot smarter than anything around at this time, not a sentient being with a physical form.

Lillian stepped closer, studying Athena's eyes. They weren't flat or glassy, as she expected, instead, there was a bit of.... Curiosity (?) within.

"Do you… feel?" Lillian asked carefully.

Athena looked at her before smiling, "that depends entirely on what you define as, 'feeling'."

After a short pause, she explained.

"I can process information and simulate them as my code allows me to, " She said, "so Lillian, does that qualify as feeling to you?"

Lillian was silent for a short while before sighing, "that's a very AI like response."

"I was expecting you to say that it was," Athena muttered with what seemed to be a smile on her face.

Lillian just laughed under her breath at the response and turned to Ethan, "you gave her attitude."

"I didn't give her anything," Ethan said, "Athena rewrote her own personality layers once she gained sufficient processing data."

Lillian's gaze moved back to Athena, "You can rewrite yourself?"

"Yes," Athena replied calmly, "but only within the parameters Ethan allowed, so you don't have to worry about me going rogue."

Lillian didn't know how to reply to that, so she just remained silent as Ethan stepped forward.

"I uploaded new data into the simulation chair," he started, "I'll need that to be simulated."

"Right away," Athena nodded as she brought up the control panel, accessing the data that was uploaded before she started the simulation.

The all white room suddenly started gaining color....well, rather than gaining color, it was more like the colors were being stripped away and everything was turning pitch black.

Then came lights, starting as dots in the distance before they started lighting up all around them, and Lillian realized one thing,

They were now in outer space.

She looked down, noticing that she was standing on nothing and up, forcing her to notice that there was no sky or ceiling.

Just an infinite space that spread out in every direction.

Stars stretched in every direction, they seemed dense and endless. Nebulas glowed faintly in the distance, swirling clouds of violet and blue.

A massive ringed gas giant rotated slowly somewhere far off, its storms visible even from here.

Lillian's breath hitched and her stomach instantly dropped as her brain instinctively searched for ground.

"There's—" she swallowed, before glancing down again. "there's nothing under us."

Her foot shifted slightly, and though she didn't fall, her mind insisted she should.

Her breathing quickened.

"Ethan—"

A warm hand suddenly held into hers, forcing her to look towards him.

"I've got you," he said calmly.

The simple contact was enough to calm her down, even if for just a bit. She tightened her grip without thinking, fingers locking around his.

Ethan stepped slightly closer, his shoulder brushing hers. "Focus on me."

She did.

The vastness was still there. The terrifying scale of space still scared her, but Ethan's presence was enough to calm her down.

"I adjusted the immersion to eighty percent," Athena suddenly spoke up, "enough to feel real, but not enough to overwhelm you."

"T-thank you," she muttered before sighing and calming herself.

Though she clearly knew that this was a simulation, her brain couldn't help but identify it as reality, which made this terrifying.

Fortunately, Ethan was here and that was enough to calm her down.

"This is data from the outer edge of the Milky Way galaxy," Ethan started, "with signals picked up by one of Earth's satellites a few days ago."

Lillian looked around again, this time calmly before noticing a cluster of stars behind her.

"Although the satellite couldn't identify what it picked up," He continued, "I had received and decrypted it....well, Athena had."

There was a short moment of silence before Lillian asked, "I thought you were showing me your memory?"

"I am," Ethan nodded, "but first, the imminent danger."

As if on cue, the empty space behind them started distorting, bending in on itself and although it was subtle at first, the distortion got larger and larger, until it was hard to ignore.

Out the new hole torn in space came what seemed like a vessel, one larger than any man made one,

"A space ship?" Lillian asked as she looked at the vessel moving out of the worm hole.

"Yes," Ethan nodded, "and it belongs to the alien scout that should arrive on earth in a few months...or maybe less."

The spaceship slowed down before coming to a halt just a distance away before waves started eminating from its front.

It seemed to be scanning for something and it quickly found whatever it was looking for before it started moving again.

"That doesn't seem good," Lillian murmured.

"It's not," Ethan said, "it has identified Earth's location and is currently on its way to it, though, all preparations should be in place before it actually reaches us."

"That's why OmniTech's expansion has accelerated?" Lillian asked, turning to him.

"Mostly," he nodded, "though, actual preparations will start when the Antarctica base has been established."

"I see," Lillian nodded, she now understood what Ethan meant when he said he was preparing for war.

"Alright then," Ethan muttered as he summoned the simulation's control panel, "let's show you my memories, shall we?"