The sudden emergence of the Innovative Network Company triggered a huge upheaval in the internet World.
This new form of entertainment almost instantly killed off all traditional social network companies, and the low price tag made them even more eager for the day the virtual reality pod officially goes on sale.
A starter equipment set costs only about 500 credit points, though credit points can only be exchanged at Bankers certified by the Osborn-Stark Banker Association, which converts to approximately 4,999 U.S. dollars.
These Bankers all provide low-interest loans, and the certification requirements are very lenient; almost anyone with a job can borrow this amount of money.
On the other hand, exchanging money for credit points is actually not very cost-effective. Completing the free introductory holographic engineering course at Osborn earns you 100 credit points, and if you participate in a small infrastructure construction project at Osborn, you can receive an additional 300 credit points on top of your normal salary.
As for the machine production, it remains under Harry's control because this equipment is truly not simple.
First, the neural interface technology of this virtual reality pod is unique to Osborn, and Harry does not intend to give up the monopoly for the time being.
To prevent the stimulating virtual World life inside the virtual reality pod from raising a person's excitement threshold, the virtual reality pod actually suppresses the user's hormone secretion.
Secondly, there is a component inside the virtual reality pod engraved with a Rune, which has an emotional regulation effect used to compensate for the loss in user experience caused by the lack of hormone secretion.
The most critical part is:
The semi-biological electronic brain built into the virtual reality pod has a special organ capable of generating weak psionic energy—this is the most peculiar part of the entire framework technology.
The framework provides a technology that utilizes psionic energy to strengthen connections; as long as they are within the effective range, all users can interact in the framework World without latency.
In other words, this is a faster-than-light communication method.
So, no matter how you put it, the production of the virtual reality pod involves too much mysterious technology, and it is not yet time for these technologies to be fully disclosed to the public.
Moreover, Harry discovered that by using Osborn's power supply, the framework World constructed by these virtual reality pods can have a peculiar connection with him, allowing him to drift between the two Worlds without using a virtual reality pod.
Although he does not yet know what is going on, his Sixth Sense tells him that this connection is not dangerous, and is even a good connection.
Perhaps after there are more users, he will be able to know the answer.
"Boss, the Synthetics factory is operating normally, and the virtual reality pods can be delivered. However, everyone is more interested in the outside World," Kara reported from the side.
Synthetics matters are still managed by Synthetics; he only needs to watch from the side, as long as no major problems occur, it will be fine.
The Synthetics factory mentioned here has two meanings: one is the factory that manufactures Synthetics, and the other is the factory led by Synthetics, such as the current virtual reality pod factory.
Their sensitivity to psionic energy is much weaker, and their relationship with Osborn is closer, making them very suitable for producing some sensitive products.
Harry nodded: "Very good—once you pass UIS's course, you can start your normal vacation. How is that Halliday?"
UIS and A arranged the education work for these Synthetics together. In this regard, Harry can only choose to trust that these two AIs can provide good guidance.
After all, he is a human, and there are many things he cannot truly think about from the perspective of a Synthetic.
Kara thought for a moment and said: "I don't know if it's a good thing to disclose this to him now, but his reaction was not quite what I imagined."
History lessons told her that humans usually adopt a guarded attitude when encountering unknown things—this is also a biological instinct; species that carelessly approach strange targets rarely survive.
However, with the development of human civilization, many humans no longer possess this sense of caution, and curiosity often outweighs caution.
This can be considered a mixed bag.
Harry did not expect Halliday to be interested in Kara, but this is not bad either.
If Synthetics are exposed to the public eye now, it will cause a greater backlash. It was already not easy to suppress the masses' questioning of mechanical laborers, and now another Synthetic appears?
That would really give Norman a headache.
But for someone with a rich imagination like Halliday, dating a Synthetic does not seem that difficult.
If the two of them can get together, that would be good. Let them get closer; perhaps Halliday will even develop a desire to create due to this relationship, creating works that can change people's thinking, paving the way for Synthetics to integrate into society.
Harry said: "That's not bad—curiosity is the best motivation to drive you to understand something. He is curious about you, and you are curious about him; it's a good start.
I remember your course grades are the best; go and interact with him this weekend—if you want to."
Time will prove whether the interaction between the two can produce good results.
After handling the Synthetics matter, Harry let Kara go to rest.
Now, he should consider the situation of the Mars mission team.
"UIS, help me add a batch of virtual reality pods to the next batch of cargo Rockets."
The Synthetics factory can produce 500 virtual reality pods by next week, half of which are military models that will be sent to Hammer as training equipment.
The military models require inserting cables into the spine to achieve better simulation effects.
The other half belongs to the civilian pod models, which use electrostatic stimulation to activate nerves and connect the user to the pod. The simulation fidelity is lower, but it is completely sufficient.
This portion of the pods will be sent to Mars to test how far the current version of the psionic network communication distance is.
According to the system, this thing will be interfered with by various forces scattered in the Universe as the spatial distance increases, thereby causing communication to weaken.
He needs to test where the limits of this thing are.
The manned spacecraft "New World" used for the Mars mission will arrive at Mars in about 7 days. The cargo ship is faster than the "New World," and the cargo ship launched at the same time has already been operating in Mars orbit for some time.
Facts have proven that the road to the stars is much more difficult than opening a virtual reality company on Earth.
He still needs to prepare for the Starbase matter for a while. If there are no surprises, the Space Resources Development Agency should have 60% ownership of the Solar System Base, and the rest belongs to Osborn.
In the Solar System, other countries certainly will not allow Harry to control the Sun like this, but after all, the technology basically comes from Osborn, so this distribution is not excessive.
How they distribute the 60% is their business, and for the United States, as long as Norman is still in office for one day, Osborn's 40% can be allocated for them to use some.
However, they cannot manage other star systems, so he can build Starbases anywhere.
As for other countries, they do not have this technology yet; to take this step, they will have to wait at least a few decades.
After the new port is established, he can assemble larger spacecraft in space, and the ultra-high-power weapons developed by the Tinkerer will have a place to be used.
And the power must continue to be increased.
Spacecraft, combined with an interstellar army—it is time to carry out the next stage of upgrades for his soldiers.
Genetic modification, Extremis, active enhancers—he has already mastered so many biological enhancement technologies; now it is time to officially develop a stable, Osborn version of the Super Soldier program.
Tapping the table, Harry said: "UIS, create a new file under the Ares Project—have Frank select 50 good brothers; this time it's a top-secret project."
"Very well, sir. How should I name this project?"
"spartan program."