After adjusting the brightness of his room back to normal, Asher returned to his bed and sat down. He let himself fall back, the mattress molding around him as his awareness drifted inward, and his mind shifted into the Nexus Space.
As always, when Asher's mental form opened its eyes, he found himself surrounded by that endless white void.
With just a thought, his familiar trench coat, black shirt, and pants moved through the air and slipped onto his body, settling into place.
Things had definitely changed since he first discovered the Nexus Space.
Back then, he'd used anchored metal tables to build a makeshift platform, but with all the resources he had now, he'd gone ahead and constructed a solid floor instead. It stood out—a different shade of white than the surrounding void—and was tiled for a bit of style.
Despite its appearance, the floor was made from sturdy metal, built to resist corrosion, acids, and heavy impacts. Asher had assembled it himself. With his telekinesis in the Nexus Space, he could control ten different tools at once if he wanted, basically turning himself into a one-man assembly line.
There were almost no limits to what his telekinesis could move or manipulate here. After spending so much time inside the Nexus Space, Asher felt like he'd mastered his abilities within it.
The first was his telekinetic control; the second, his power to create projections of anything he could imagine. The only drawback was that these projections weren't solid, but they served their purpose. He could use them for recording thoughts he didn't want saved on any device in the real world, and they worked perfectly for running simulations.
Since the projections could take on the appearance and behavior of anything from reality, they were incredibly useful for testing ideas and visualizing problems.
After making his blueprints, Asher could use his projections to build them and watch how they worked in real time. It might have sounded impossible, but since the Nexus Space could predict future outcomes and objective truths, making a projection function properly was easy by comparison.
He'd also run plenty of other experiments, like working with liquids.
Just as with physical objects, he could only bring in as much liquid into the Nexus Space as he could physically carry at once. If he wasn't holding something like a bucket, he was limited to whatever he could cup in his hands.
Still, since he could keep repeating the process, bringing more and more liquid inside, it meant he could act like a drain. After all, rate and quantity weren't the same thing.
He could empty a pool almost instantly.
It was actually through his experiments with water that he made an unexpected discovery.
Even though the Nexus Space felt infinite, it wasn't. Some of the water he brought in had spilled over the edge of his platform. Since there was gravity here, the water just fell straight down.
At first, Asher thought it would fall forever into the white void, but after dropping a few meters, it started to collect, as if the void itself had a floor like a giant bowl. With more testing, he figured out the Nexus Space was about ten meters across, holding a total volume of five hundred and twenty-three cubic meters.
The endless feeling came from the "walls"—if you could even call them that—since they were perfectly smooth and textureless, with no shadows cast anywhere.
Now that Asher had sensed the Nexus Space growing and expanding, checking on its boundaries was the first thing on his mind.
He walked toward the edge of the platform he'd built and glanced up at everything floating above.
Items filled the entire upper half of the Nexus Space—everything from weapons and tools to equipment he'd built. The Vex-MK 1 was floating up there, along with a set of Insurgent Armor, Predator Pistols and ammunition, vibrational weapons, grenades, and all the other gear he had used—or never got a chance to use—during the mission against the White Fang.
Just as Asher was about to step off the edge of the platform, one of the extra tiles floating among the other items moved.
It flew down at just the right moment to catch his foot as he stepped forward. As he kept walking, another tile slid smoothly into place under him. The two tiles worked together, one always moving ahead, so there was never a gap beneath his feet.
This process repeated until Asher had walked about ten meters out from the platform, where he finally stopped.
"Before, when I reached this point, it used to be the end of the Nexus Space," he muttered, raising a hand toward the glowing white void. He didn't feel anything—no resistance at all.
Just as he suspected, the Nexus Space had expanded.
He ended up needing to take another four steps or so before he actually reached the new edge. Asher glanced down at the tiles under his feet, then back at the platform he'd left behind, doing the calculations in his head, recalling each tile's exact dimensions.
"The Nexus Space has grown to about thirteen point three meters across. That puts its current volume at around twelve hundred cubic meters," he mused quietly.
"Considering I killed nearly sixty White Fang during the mission, one Huntsman during the hijacking, another in the hallway, and Sinn, the Branch Leader, that's about eleven cubic meters of growth for each kill."
He paused, thinking it over.
"Well, that's assuming every life is valued the same, and there's no variation… I'll have to pay closer attention next time the Nexus Space grows, just to see if anything changes. Still, this is promising." For most people, a few extra cubic meters might have just meant more storage, but Asher saw it differently.
There was a reason Asher hadn't turned the Nexus Space into a full workshop, and the main issue was power.
Dust crystals and powder were limited resources. They needed to be replaced, and the cost was high. Running an entire workshop inside the Nexus Space would require literal tons of dust, plus even more in reserve to keep everything running. On top of that, he'd need somewhere to store all the spent crystals.
Worst of all, dust created residue and smog.
Since the Nexus Space was airtight, any smoke would just build up, and the leftover dust residue would have to be constantly cleaned. All these problems added up, making the idea of a permanent workshop inside the Nexus Space more trouble than it was worth. But that could change if the space kept expanding.
"There are other ways to generate energy… most are just too inefficient at a small scale or need a lot more room. But maybe... a Magneto-Dynamo could work. I'd have to clear out plenty of space for the setup and wiring, but if the Nexus Space keeps getting bigger, I won't have to worry about cramming everything in anymore."
There were a number of alternatives to dust for power generation. The trouble was, dust was so effective that almost every other energy source had been neglected or underdeveloped in comparison. It wasn't like people hadn't tried other ideas—a dynamo was one example—but progress stalled because dust outperformed everything else by a huge margin.
Still, Asher was the exception. He could certainly think of a way ot make a Magneto-Dynamo work efficiently, at least for his own needs.
"It'll take about half a week to finish the blueprint, but that's fine. I'm not under any deadlines right now... though I probably shouldn't take that for granted." Even if things looked the same on the surface, both Atlas and Mantle were finally making progress in the right direction.
The White Fang had been stirring up the Faunus population in Atlas, using extreme tactics, and the people working behind the scenes to block reforms had finally been exposed or were already being dealt with. It wouldn't fix everything overnight, but at least it would slow down how fast things were getting worse.
With that in mind, Asher paused for a moment before leaving the Nexus Space. There was one more thing he had noticed.
The way the Nexus Space was expanding reminded him of those moments when the internal percentages of the Nexus Space's assimilation would tick upward, as if some new milestone was just within reach. He couldn't be sure—like so many things with the Nexus Space, it was more a gut feeling than anything concrete.
"Well, whatever it is, I'll have time to look into it next time the Nexus Space grows." With that thought, Asher let his consciousness return to his body. The world faded to black, and when his eyes opened again, he found himself staring at the ceiling of his room.
He let out a quiet sigh.
Sitting up, he got off the bed and finished undressing. Then he headed into the bathroom for a shower.
It didn't take long; in less than half an hour, he was done, clean, dried off, and wrapped in a towel. He went to his closet and picked out something comfortable to wear.
With nothing left to do in his room, he stepped into the hallway and made his way to his parents' home office. The walk was short. When he arrived, he checked his appearance once more and then knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Came his father's voice from inside.
"It's me. You wanted to see me?"
Right away, his mother's cheerful voice called out, "Oh, Asher, come in!"
He opened the door and stepped inside. His father was leaning against the front of the desk, looking over a document, while his mother sat behind the desk. She'd been working on something with the holographic computer projected from the desktop, but paused the moment Asher walked in.
Getting up from her seat, Asher's mother smiled and came around the desk, arms open for a hug.
"I feel like I haven't seen my darling boy in ages," she said, pulling him in and hugging him tightly. Asher didn't resist, even though her embrace was a little too strong.
"We see each other every day, though," he managed, his voice a bit breathless.
"Yes, but we've all been so busy lately. We hardly see you outside of dinner, with how often you're down in Mantle or meeting with the general." Asher's parents knew he was working with Ironwood and the military, so none of it seemed strange to them.
The only details he kept quiet were that he was developing weapons directly and joining field operations. Though they might not stop him over the former, he figured the latter was where they'd draw the line.
When Asher finally broke free from his mother's hug, he stretched and said, "Well, I'll have a bit more free time now. Most of my work with Ironwood is done, and even though there aren't any contracts on paper yet, he's more than ready to move forward. I'm pretty sure if I made an offer right now, he'd take it."
"That's good to hear. Contracts are actually part of why we called you in," Vance, Asher's father, said, turning the document in his hands so Asher could see it.
Asher walked over, took the document, and saw it was a long-term supply and maintenance agreement, set for over three years. He quickly scanned the pages and took in the details before looking up.
"You're trying to buy more SU-P Drones from me," he said, glancing between his parents, both of whom looked proud and more than a little pleased.
His mother was the first to answer, "That's right. I couldn't make it to the meetings myself, but your father sent me the transcripts and all the details. Your drones have been a huge success in our security protocols and shipment plans."
His father added, "The preliminary rollout has already made a difference. If we fully integrate the drones, we're looking at a thirty-four percent drop in logistical losses and a forty-seven percent increase in route efficiency next quarter. That kind of improvement, this early on, is almost unheard of. You've really outdone yourself, Asher."
Hearing that, Asher glanced back down at the document and nodded.
"Well, I'm glad to hear it."
The contract itself was straightforward, but the scale was impressive. To fully integrate his drones across all of Frostvale Enterprises' security and logistics divisions in Atlas and other regions, they planned to purchase five thousand units. The pricing stayed at Ⱡ650,000 per drone, which meant the total projected revenue was Ⱡ3.25 billion.
Naturally, there were a few conditions. He'd be paid twenty-five percent upfront for each batch, with deliveries spaced two months apart.
The first batch would be five hundred units, the second would be seven hundred fifty, and the third would be a thousand. After that, every batch would stay at a thousand or more units until all five thousand had been delivered.
For each batch, he'd receive fifty percent of the payment when the drones were deployed, and the last twenty-five percent thirty days after deployment, following a QA sign-off.
In addition, the contract required quarterly software updates and action within seventy-two hours whenever a security concern was found. They also expected a ninety-nine percent uptime guarantee for the AI and network, and any technical issues would need a response within forty-eight hours.
It was a standard contract—strict but reasonable—and it made it clear his parents were taking this partnership seriously.
Asher took a moment to think over the numbers.
Production costs for each drone used to be around Ⱡ300,000, he mused. But with the deal I struck with Whitley, dust has never been cheaper. Now I can bring the production cost down to about Ⱡ240,000 per unit. The normal sale price is Ⱡ750,000, but with the bulk order, it's Ⱡ650,000 each.
That's a total profit of Ⱡ2.05 billion overall after deductions. Even just the first batch brings in Ⱡ205 million, and the initial twenty-five percent alone comes out to Ⱡ41 million after deductions.
That was more than enough money to get started, and with the military contracts he planned on coming in, Asher knew his income would only keep growing.
With that in mind, he tossed the document onto the desk and gave a nod.
"Well, I don't see any problems with the terms."
His father let out a short snort.
"Of course you don't. Did you think we'd try to swindle our own son on his first official large-scale contract? That hurts," he joked, glancing at Nillia, who joined him in putting on an exaggeratedly wounded expression.
Asher smirked.
"Hmm, I don't know. Sounds exactly like something you two would do—just to see if I'm actually paying attention, or if I'm just trusting you to guide me through everything."
Vance paused, thought it over for a second, then nodded.
"Yeah, we probably would pull something like that."
"But it would be entirely your father's idea," Nillia added, as if she'd never dream of tricking her beloved son.
"Twenty years of trust, and I get thrown under the bus for a single comment," Vance said with a shake of his head, while his wife tried to stifle her laughter.
"Well, lucky for both of you, I'm not signing this contract just yet. Or rather, I'll need it revised before I can sign anything," Asher said suddenly, earning confused looks from both his parents.
"Revised? What's wrong with it?" Nillia asked.
Although they couldn't do it to the detriment of their own company, since it was Asher, they'd made sure the contract was as fair as possible to both sides, refusing to take advantage even if most companies would.
"There's nothing wrong with it. I just want to sign as my company, not as an individual." Asher watched his parents' eyes light up with interest—they'd been curious about his plans for a business of his own for a while now.
He saw his father about to ask a question and cut in, "It's not ready yet. I still need to finish setting everything up, but it shouldn't take more than a week."
With all the resources at his disposal, getting a fully registered company, at least on paper, would be quick work.
Vance nodded.
"Alright, one week then. We'll make it official." He looked at Nillia, who smiled and nodded as well. They still had their share of worries, but both seemed genuinely happy to see Asher taking this step.
As for Asher, he figured it was about time he started shaping the world himself.