Chapter 364 First Computer
Tired both mentally and physically, I decided to just skip dinner and sleep. Fortunately, the girls didn't bother me that much, so I got quite a long rest.
The morning came, and I woke up as usual.
After taking a short bath to completely wake myself up, I then headed to the dining area (which was usually the meeting area) and found all the girls already gathered, with lots of food arranged around the table.
"Good morning, everyone!"
It was a really good morning; after all, I finally gained more than 6 hours of sleep. Everyone also looked lively this morning, their faces glowing with bright smiles.
"We heard from Minerva and Hekate. You're planning to announce our engagements two days from now?"
Fatima approached, hugging my head from behind.
"But Master, you should've told us about the Cleaver Kingdom's princess beforehand. It's not like we'll get angry..."
Ember added with a tinge of sadness in her voice.
"Right, Leader! You shouldn't keep secrets from us! Just like how we're not keeping secrets from you!"
"Fang..."
It's not like I wanted to keep it a secret from them. I just missed the chance to relay the information to them and, honestly, forgot about it because of how busy I was. Well, it'd be boorish of me to defend myself here, since my being at fault is the same either way.
"Sorry, everyone. Next time, I'll make sure to relay the news faster."
Their smiles widened as I apologized, giving me a sense of foreboding.
"You think an apology alone is enough~?"
Fatima whispered close to my ears, tickling me with her warm breath.
"Don't you think it's unfair if you only do things for some and not for all?"
*Gulp*
I turned to glance at everyone, and the smiles on their faces from before now looked scary. Minerva and Hekate were covering their faces, and their ears were beet red. Those two... They must've been interrogated by the others and figured out what happened back at the office.
Looking at the current situation, it looks like I can't slip out at all... Welp, what's done is done.
"Before we start, let me say one thing."
I raised my hand, earning a questioning look from everyone.
"Please be gentle with me."
---
In the end, I came to the President's Office late and tired. However, it wasn't all that bad. Not because I had a "good time" with the girls, but rather because of the thing held in my hands.
"With this thing here, processing paperwork would be a lot easier!"
A rectangular box, a familiar shape from my memories. This was a prototype computer that Ember made!
The Power Plant that Fatima and the others created is now functioning 24/7. It was a little fast compared to my estimates, but who cares? What's the difference between a month and a few days, anyway?
For the electric lines, of course, it wasn't distributed through normal means. Using sustained micro portals that use Essence Crystals to regulate themselves, the electricity produced by the Power Plant could be distributed to the entire country without wasting kilometers of power lines.
Of course, for safety purposes, the portals were "locked" and couldn't change in size. It was even "encrypted" to prevent any other space-element monsters from figuring out the coordinates being connected. These features were done by none other than the best space-element user in the world. The Goddess of Space, Zeta.
Of course, it's still in the testing stage, so the first step would be to provide electricity to only the important facilities around the country. The castle was one, along with the countless government offices scattered around the country.
Other than that, Ember also distributed a limited number of prototype computers—a total of 10 copies—to important locations. One of the copies is this thing I'm holding.
"Hup!"
I placed it on top of the table, massaging my slightly stiff arms from carrying such a bulky object.
Although this computer skipped the CRT display and jumped straight to LCD, the entire package looked like a large CRT monitor. That's because the thing I asked Ember to make was an all-in-one desktop. She did manage to create a working sample, but as expected, she couldn't miniaturize all the parts in one try.
Setting it up was simple; just place it on top of the table, detach the mouse and keyboard from their holders beside the monitor, and plug it into a power source. Then, after pressing the power button, everything should work normally.
"Now, the moment of truth!"
The electric lines were already distributed, so I of course have one inside my office. I quickly plugged the computer in and pressed the power button with shaking fingers.
*Beeeeeeep!* *Beep!* *Beep!*
A familiar sound echoed as some colors started to appear on the black screen.
"Yes! It's working!"
For the Operating System, we have little to no idea about that. Ember had to study the phone artifact's OS first, then devise her own OS before implementing it into the computer. Of course, she couldn't create anything that amazing with little to no knowledge, so the current appearance was similar to a DOS System, with nothing but colored text appearing on the screen.
"It's far from what I'm used to, but I guess computer knowledge is backward compatible!"
Still, having a desktop would still be better. I wonder when Ember or someone else will reach that point?
Anyway, the first thing I checked for was the internet connection. Inside the big frame of the PC, the LAN cables use a similar technique to the power lines, passing through a micro portal to reach the main hub where the server is running. There, they're all plugged in 24/7, maintaining the connection with the lowest lag possible.
*Tack!* *Tack!* *Tack!* *Tack!* *Tack!* *Tack!*
I tapped wildly at the keyboard, entering the commands that I had read from the user manual Ember gave me earlier. After a few moments, I confirmed that the internet connection was working fine.
"Well, there's only 10 computers interconnected now, though."
Still, when the time comes that it becomes accessible to the public, I'm sure the whole kingdom will usher in a new age!
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