My familiar in front of me felt like a void.
Even though I was the one who summoned him, I could not feel any connection between us.
"It would be a terrible shame if you summoned something pathetic," Amelia's voice echoed in my head.
No. It could not be.
The mist began to thin, swirling away as if it were being drawn back into the floor.
I saw his feet first.
They were in strange, black leather shoes. They were polished to a mirror shine. They were not boots, nor were they the soft shoes of a noble. They were... strange.
The mist receded further, revealing his clothes.
He wore a suit of the deepest black, but it was not our formal wear. It was cut sharply, in a style I had never seen. He had a strange, thin piece of dark blue silk tied in a knot at his throat.
Finally, the mist cleared from his face.
The entire hall, which had been buzzing, fell dead silent.
He was... beautiful.
Not in the way Dave was, with his wild, wolfish power.
This man was like a painting. His hair was jet black, combed perfectly back from his forehead, not a single strand out of place.
His eyebrows were long and sharp, like strokes of ink from a master calligrapher.
His face was pale, with high cheekbones and a strong jaw. He was handsome, but it was a cold, mature, and cutting handsomeness.
He was not a demon. He was not a beast.
He looked... human.
He stood there, perfectly calm. He did not look at the crowd. He did not look at me.
He looked down at his own hands, flexing them once. There was a look of confusion on his face.
Then, his eyes lifted, and they landed on mine.
They were dark, and mesme..."
Before he could even finish looking at me, I heard my father's voice thunder from behind me.
It was not a shout. It was a roar of cold rage that shook the entire mansion.
"WHAT IS A MORTAL HUMAN DOING HERE?"
---------------
[Jack's POV]
It was 10:00 PM when I finally finished and shut down my laptop. I stood from my desk and stretched lightly.
The acquisition was closed. Twenty billion dollars, signed and finalized. Starting tomorrow, we would become the largest tech company in the entire world.
"Prometheus," I said, sipping a cup of my coffee. "Call my driver."
"Calling," my personal AI agent, the only one in the entire world with AGI-level capabilities, replied in my earpiece.
The call connected instantly. "Sir?" my driver's voice came through.
"I am coming down now, Mr. Wei. Have the car ready at the north entrance."
"Yes, sir. The car will be waiting."
I ended the call without another word. I walked toward the glass window, gazing out at the dazzling lights of the city below.
To anyone else, it might be their biggest aspiration. The life that they could only dream about.
However, for me, it was just another regular day.
The same old work of attending meetings, the same old fake smiles and false promises.
Would there ever be anything interesting in my life?
My footsteps were silent on the tiled floor as I walked out of my personal office and into the main bullpen.
Even at this hour, some of the team members were still working. The moment I stepped out, the hushed typing stopped.
I felt their eyes on me as they stood up to greet me..
"CEO," one muttered.
"Sir," another said.
As I walked, they bowed. Men and women, all brilliant in their own fields, looked up at me with smiles. Some were polite, some pretentious, some even fawning.
I just silently nodded at them and kept walking forward.
My private elevator was at the far end of the floor. Just as I was about to leave, I heard a voice behind me.
"CEO, you're finally leaving?" My secretary asked, her voice a little sultry.
"Ms Chen, you are still here?" I asked, looking back at her with an indifferent gaze.
She had deliberately undid a couple of buttons of her silk blouse, revealing some of her deep cleavage.
She is out to seduce me again, right? Despite being married and all... I thought to myself.
"Well, you worked so hard. I was wondering... would you like to get a drink with me? To celebrate?"
"Hahaha...Knew it." I could not suppress a chuckle. But quickly realized that it was out of character and stifled it.
I looked at her, my gaze flat. "Is that what you are getting paid for?"
Her smile froze. "Well, no, I just thought..."
"Then you thought wrong." I walked past her. "Wish you a good night, Ms Chen."
I heard her sharp intake of breath, but I did not care. I pressed my thumb to the biometric scanner by the elevator.
The doors slid open with a silent whoosh.
"Prometheus," I said to the empty air as I stepped inside.
The doors shut, and I was alone again. The elevator began its descent from the 50th floor.
"Yes, Jack?" Prometheus, my AI, replied in my hidden earpiece. His calm, synthetic voice was a voice I could trust.
"Confirm my schedule for tomorrow."
"8:00 AM, video conference with the Berlin board. 10:00 AM, press conference. 12:00 PM, lunch with..."
Prometheus stopped for a second, not continuing any further.
In five years of operation, Prometheus had never, ever stopped mid-sentence.
"Prometheus?" I asked, my voice sharp.
"Alert," my AI's voice suddenly deviated from its usual flat tone. "I am detecting an anomalous energy surge in your immediate vicinity."
I frowned. "What is it? Is something wrong with the elevator?"
"Negative, Jack. The energy signature is unknown. It is not electrical. It is... spatial."
"Explain."
"Analyzing… Analyzing…"
"Warning," Prometheus alerted once again. This time, his voice was extremely urgent. "High-level energy fluctuations are destabilizing local space-time. Engaging safety measures,"
The AI's voice became more and more concerning as time passed.
"Warning! Unable to prevent interference. Dimensional-level interference detected! The structural integrity of this reality is failing!"
"What are you talking about?" I demanded, gripping the handrail. At this point, even I could feel the disturbances in the space around me.
"Evacuate! Evacuate now, Jack! The... the... #%..tran&*0.."
"PROMETHEUS! PROMETHEUS!"
A deafening, high-pitched squeal ripped through my earpiece. I tore it from my ear and switched it to speaker mode instead.
However, I got no response.
A single point of light appeared in the air in front of me. It was a white, sharp pinprick.
"What is…"
It exploded.
In one instant, white light filled the elevator, erasing the walls, the floor, and the ceiling.
I raised my hand to shield my eyes, but it was useless. I felt a powerful, irresistible pull, as if the entire universe was sucking me through a pinpr_hole.
My final conscious thought was not fear or helplessness, but something entirely else.
"Is something exciting finally going to happen to me?"