William sat in the darkness of his room as his eyes stared at the translucent screen only he could see. His fingers drummed against the table, and his foot drummed against the floor in a steady rhythm.

  [Current Available Points: 892]

  He'd gotten 400 extra points from the payment processor. While it was certainly innovative, it wasn't revolutionary. TheodosianWalls had produced him 45 points, which meant that despite him buying the technology, his own innovations would still give him points, even if it was built on the foundation of bought technology.

  He opened the Biotechnology & Medicine catalog and started searching. He looked through far future first.

  [Biotechnology & Medicine - Far Future (2030-2080)]

  [Telomere Extension Therapy - 15,000 Points]

  [Cellular Senescence Reversal Protocol - 22,000 Points]

  [Genetic Repair Nanobots (Early Gen) - 28,500 Points]

  [Age Regression Treatment (Partial) - 35,000 Points]

  [Biological Clock Reset Procedure - 56,000 Points]

  He frowned, but he didn't panic. He expected this. Of course, this type of technology is gonna cost a lot... Then, he considered the implications of this. Wait, this means that this type of technology would be discovered naturally between 2030 and 2080? Now that I think about it, that's plausible. Before I died, biotechnology was advancing exponentially fast. He shook his head. That doesn't matter. Even if he wanted to discover them himself, he didn't know jackshit about biotechnology. No, what truly mattered was the price. To obtain even the cheapest option, he'd have to innovate a lot of technologies.

  Think, William. Think. What would allow me to scale exponentially, not only in capital but also in points? He racked his brain for an idea. After a lot of thought, his brain landed on one thing. Smartphones. Smartphones were an era-defining product. From the moment the iPhone was announced, it became an important item in day-to-day life. It was, after all, very convenient.

  His sights were set as he remembered something he'd seen in the past.

  [Hardware & Electronics - Near Future (2000-2010)]

  [Primitive Smartphone Design - 800 Points]

  His eyes scanned the description.

  [Very primitive touchscreen interface, primitive app ecosystem, limited processing power, foundational mobile architecture.]

  He nodded. This was perfect. This included everything. He wouldn't need to research touchscreens separately. Everything would be neat. His one question was why this was so cheap while a standard touchscreen technology was so expensive. His hypothesis was that this would include only the very basics of the technology, while the other would teach him everything about the technology.

  He didn't really need the app ecosystem or the OS for the phone. He could take care of them himself. The only thing he really needed was the hardware.

  Pennyworth, can you calculate how much this would cost to develop?

  [Certainly, Sir. Calculating...]

  [Current estimate shows that development could cost from 200 to 300 million dollars.]

  He nodded. This was similar to his estimates. He remembered his net worth. He had around 47 million as liquid capital, while the rest was tied up in stocks. If he liquidated everything, he could get around 937 million in total, but that would be a waste. The development cost included infrastructure, R&D, etc. He could reduce R&D costs massively with the knowledge. As for infrastructure, that would be the real hurdle. He would need a hardware manufacturer. The best option here would be to buy a failing hardware manufacturing company. It would be the most cost-efficient... He shelved that. he certainly wouldn't be able to buy anything with only 47 million dollars. He had to be patient. By the end of the month, he would gain another wave of income from the OS sales. By then, he should have over a hundred million in liquid capital.

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  He calculated in his head. He'd spent 800 points here but gained even more. The System tended to count innovations separately. For example, despite being part of the OS, the system counted VM support, QFS, and UI/UX innovation as different from the OS itself. This would likely be the same here.

  William gritted his teeth as he remembered the sensation of knowledge being forcefully put in his dream. As much as he didn't want to do it, it was a necessary sacrifice to grow further.

  [CONFIRM PURCHASE?]

  [Primitive Smartphone Design: 800 Points]

  [REMAINING: 92 Points]

  He confirmed. He didn't see any subsequent notifications as his brain was filled to the brim, even more than last time. This time, the knowledge included hardware design, software design, and network design. It was simply too much. Still, he gritted his teeth and didn't let out a sound.

  After about fifteen minutes, the knowledge torrent stopped. He groaned and went to sleep. I'll review all this tomorrow.

  William was a young child. He was in a wild hyacinth meadow. The sun shone down with intensity, and the lake in front was stunning. He sat beneath a tree, his expression saddened. His two blue eyes looked at the lake and cried again. A young girl sat beside him. She was around the same age as him, 4 or 5 years old. She had purple hair. "Don't cry, Will. I'm here." She said.

  He continued crying. She comforted him and hugged him. He sniffled, "Thank you, H????????y???????a????????????????c??????????????????i???????????????????n????????????????t??????????????h??????????"

  She patted his head, "You're welcome, Will."

  He looked at her, his eyes wide, "You won't ever leave me... right? You'll always stay with me, right?"

  She smiled, "Of course, Will. I'll always be here with you. Even if you forget me, I'll be here."

  "Why would I forget you?" His eyes were wet.

  She softly explained, "It's natural, Will. Everything is forgotten with time. Even you will forget me someday."

  He shook his head, "I don't wanna. I'll always remember you."

  "Then, remember me."

  1999, April 5th

  William, once again, woke up with sweat on his back. He looked around. He was in his room. His anxiety began to calm...

  Why was I crying? He frowned. He looked to be around 3-4 years old in the dream. And his crying could signify a traumatic event happening. I don't remember any of these. And what was her name? I couldn't hear it exactly...

  He took a water bottle from the side and drank a little. The scene is very similar to my first dream. And ever since, I've thought about her unconsciously, I've been dreaming about her... Something's weird. Was this where my innate desire to be remembered came from? He wanted to analyze more, but he didn't have any clues to go off of. I guess I'll have to wait until I dream more... But dreams are unreliable. They are filled with symbolism and tiny details.

  He looked at the time. It was 10 am. Still a bit early. He shook his head and went to wash his face. After that, he did his usual routine.

  By noon, he walked into the kitchen. The kitchen smelled of eggs and toast. Sarah was at the stove, humming softly to herself. She turned when he entered, smiling.

  "Done with your workout, Will?"

  "Yeah."

  She turned and continued cooking, "Don't overwork yourself, Will. You're still young. You have plenty of time."

  He sat down at the dining table. "I guess so. But I enjoy my work."

  "That's not the same as enjoying life." Sarah set a plate in front of him. It was eggs and toast. "When was the last time you and Eve went out? Just the two of you, doing something fun?"

  He thought about it. "We went to that French restaurant for her birthday."

  "That was two months ago."

  "We've been busy."

  "Too busy for each other?"

  "Fair point. We'll take another day off next week." He admitted. It was slowly becoming, well, not a problem, but a small issue. Both of them wanted to spend time together, but they just had too much work. That was why they took a day off yesterday. Maybe he should rest at least once every week? That seemed excessive, no?

  Sarah smiled warmly. "Good. You two need to remember to be young while you still are. Life goes by faster than you think."

  He thought back. It was true. Time passed quickly, too quickly. He could still remember him being taken care of and being bathed by Sarah like it was yesterday. While it was embarrassing at the time, when he thought back, he missed those times. Not that I want to be bathed or dressed by her. Still, he missed simply spending time with Sarah. He missed spending time with Eve. He missed messing around with them. He missed not having to think about problems while around them.