TROJAN

3➤A REASON TO CELEBRATE

Walter leans across the glass table, his meticulous gaze picking apart the holographic chip that performs its lazy, rhythmic pirouettes, his pupils sliding over its intangible, luminous features.

Although a million flamboyant thoughts crash through the swaying doors of his restless mind, shouting, screaming, screeching for his valuable attention, only one question rings out above the noise resounding in his head—

What if? What if? What if?

Every eight or so seconds, he eagerly jots down yet another fresh idea that germinates from the seeds of his imagination, the sharp tip of his pen tearing at the sheet of paper, the ink nearly burning through the flap of folio.

Despite being born into a modern world where technology occupies every single part of every single person's life, Walter still prefers the old-fashioned pen and pad instead of the virtual keyboard.

"You want the good news first or the great news?"

Walter's eyes drift away from the hologram towards Edigree Yuang, EURIEKA's conscientious statistician, who sits adjacent to him. He raises a greying eyebrow, carefully weighing the two options. "Good news," he concludes confidently, leaning back in his chair.

Edigree twirls his rotatable computer in Walter's direction. A jagged green line runs across the monitor in a spiking zigzag, reflecting the number of Neuro-Circuits that had been sold in Cyber City and a few other neighboring towns over the past three weeks. A series of yellow bars indicating the daily income generated from the total purchases proudly stands on the same set of axes.

"Our local sales have gone up by 280% since our official launch date," Edigree explains.

Walter jumps forward in his seat to study the statistics more closely. "Well, well, well... Would you look at that. This means we've received, what, forty-two more orders than what we first started off with?"

"Yeah, that's right," Edi mutters, impressed by Walter's mental math capabilities.

"Remarkable... What about the great news?" he asks expectantly.

Edi spins his computer back towards himself and pulls up a new tab displaying the predictions for the potential number of customers in the following years. "Well, if interested individuals continue to pour into our pockets at this rate, we'll have reached about 894 sales by the end of next year. The estimation, however, will be far higher as long as our selling rate increases."

Walter whistles in astonishment. "I believe this calls for a celebration."

"I agree."

"And what are we celebrating?"

The two men's gazes whip towards that familiar voice, where Sierra casually leans against the doorway of Walter's office, arms crossed, eyes curious, as quiet as a ghost.

"The successful sales of the NC," Edi answers.

"Ahh..."

"Perhaps you'd like to join us and the crew?" Walter offers. "After all, without you, the NC would've still been locked up in my cabinet of daydreams."

Sierra ignores the overly sweet statement. "Join you where?"

"Uh... the Silver Swan, maybe? Let's say, eight o' clock?"

Hiding her surprise at the expensive recommendation, Sierra shrugs. "I don't see why not."

Walter grins. "Wonderful. We'll see you tonight, then."

[514 words]