The windows in the lab were fogged from condensation — outside, it was a mild Baltic drizzle, but inside Quantum Nexus, everything hummed like tension waiting for a place to land.
Elian stood by the console, reading numbers from a holographic projection on the wall. "Burn rate's catching up with us," he said without turning. "At this pace, the island costs will eat through reserves before phase two even lands."
Jenna, cross-legged on a couch with a tablet, didn't look up immediately. "You want to monetize something that doesn't exist yet?"
"No. I want to make something that does, faster. And then monetize it."
She set the tablet down, her expression serious. "How bad is the burn?"
"We're fine for now. But if we want to buy the land, develop the ports, lay the necessary hardware, and keep the atomic printer scaling at the pace we envision… we're going to need more than just recycling contracts. A lot more."
There was a short silence. The kind where both of them knew the answer was already forming behind Elian's eyes, a solution he'd been contemplating.
He tapped the side of the BCI interface, a mental command. "Muse. Internet access. Full ingestion. Sandbox isolated. Begin data acquisition."
The main screen lit, confirming the request.
Access Request Confirmed.
Begin ingestion: Global network protocols, public data, all known documentation sources.
The numbers on the projection began climbing immediately, indicating rapid data absorption.
Jenna tilted her head. "Any limits to this ingestion?"
"No," Elian affirmed, his gaze fixed on the scrolling data.
"You're feeding it the entire internet?" she asked, a hint of incredulity in her voice.
"Figure it out, optimize it, then help us sell something that pays for the rest. Something for everyone."
Muse responded quietly, its voice calm and efficient:
Ingestion active. 6.2% global corpus parsed. Language maps aligning. Source trees building.
Jenna folded her arms across her chest. "What exactly are you asking it to build? A new search engine?"
"A toolset. One that replaces the daily mess. Not just a browser. Not just a search engine. A system. Something that runs on every device and makes people feel like they have superpowers of thought and access."
"That's exceptionally vague, even for you."
"That's marketing. But also, it's the truth."
Another silence, then Elian added, clarifying his vision, "We're building an OS. An AGI assistant integrated. For PC, mobile, tablet. Seamless."
Jenna rubbed her face with one hand. "Elian, we're not OS engineers. We've optimized one AI core and built a brain interface. This is a leap."
"We weren't quantum capacitor designers either," he countered, a familiar spark of determination in his eyes. "Or atomic printer engineers. Muse is the engineer now. We provide the vision."
Muse chirped, its processing reaching a new intensity:
Ingestion Complete. Constructing foundational architecture. Self-optimizing core directives applied.
Proposed Build Name: NEXUS.ONE
Primary Directives: Simplicity. Speed. Context-Aware Assistance. User Empowerment.
The projections on the wall changed—mockup screens, sleek UI designs, module lists, all shifting and refining in real-time.
"Give me clean UX," Jenna murmured, mostly to herself, already stepping forward and dragging one of the previews into focus. "No skeuomorphism. Just signal clarity and intent recognition. Adaptive layouts."
"Use your soft skills," Elian said, a hint of amusement in his tone.
"Don't call them that," she retorted, but a small smile played on her lips as she began making mental adjustments.
Muse updated the displays in real-time, instantly responding to Jenna's nuanced adjustments. She changed the input flow to prioritize adaptive voice and keyboard integration, pushed accessibility features to the forefront, and made the home screen behavior-driven, predicting user needs.
They moved like a team who'd failed on a thousand prototypes before and learned from every single one. No talking unless absolutely necessary. No wasted gestures. No unnecessary compliments, just efficient collaboration.
By nightfall, the first bootable build of NEXUS.ONE launched inside a secure virtual machine. A soft, inviting tone played. A minimal black screen shimmered into view, and a stylized, elegant 'N' logo resolved itself.
A calm, familiar voice, that of Muse, said: "Welcome. I'm ready when you are."
Elian cracked his knuckles, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Muse, run test suite: comprehensive productivity, advanced code assistance, real-world conversation context, global finance overview, universal education baseline."
"Running. Initiating multi-layered simulations."
Ten minutes later, Muse displayed the results:
Prototype Pass Rate: 93%
Deployment Ready: Alpha Channel
Suggested Model: OS Free. Assistant Subscription. One Month Trial.
Jenna glanced at the dynamically generated pricing matrix Muse had auto-generated. "Lowballing the subscription fee, aren't we? $9.99 a month for this?"
"Lead with value," Elian replied, his eyes already on the potential revenue curves. "Keep the assistant behind a soft wall. Make it easy to love, just hard to lose. And we can scale tiers later."
The numbers made perfect sense. The core operating system: free, downloadable globally. The full-featured voice assistant AI: free for a 30-day trial, then a competitive $9.99/month. Enterprise deals optional, open to white-labeling for education, corporate, and medical systems.
Jenna added a final, impactful line to the rollout plan: One OS to replace all the ones we hate.