Chapter 505 - Ritz Gala (1) (1/2)
Aleksis didn't respond to Nicolae's proposal at all that night. She didn't want to carelessly decide when she hadn't completely found her heart. She knew the Alchemists were married once an entire lifetime, and she didn't want to hurt Nicolae by saying that she was willing to marry him even though she still couldn't accept him.
Nicolae said nothing more after that. He enjoyed looking at the sky while hugging the girl, while Altair and Vega sat embracing each other under a thick blanket. Nobody spoke until the aurora dance slowly disappeared in the darkness.
”Let's go home,” Nicolae invited the three. He helped them get down from the car hood one by one. After everything was ready, he drove back to the beautiful house by the lake he had bought for their trip this time.
Upon their arrival at home, they immediately rested and only woke up when the sun was right overhead. The savory smell of a delicious breakfast woke Aleksis, Altair, and Vega up from their slumbers.
When the three of them came out of the bedroom, they saw that the breakfast table had served various kinds of breakfast dishes that made their mouths water.
”Wow… They look really good,” said Aleksis. She and her two children immediately took their seats at the dinner table and prepared themselves for the sumptuous breakfast.
”It was snowing just now,” Nicolae said. ”We probably won't be able to go anywhere today.”
”It's okay. I can teach the children to play Go or read books. We managed to capture the aurora last night, after all,” Aleksis merrily replied.
”Ah... I'm not very good at playing Go, but if you need a partner to play with, I don't mind,” Nicolae said.
”Of course,” Aleksis nodded.
”I received a message from Terry to try out the new Virconnect 4D technology,” Nicolae scooped the soup into each bowl and placed them in front of Aleksis, Altair, and Vega. After that, he poured coffee into Aleksis' cup and fruit juice in the twins' glasses. The three of them said thank you and began to eat breakfast.
”The virtual connection technology? We've tried it,” Aleksis commented, ”Not bad. I heard that many people now prefer to have vacations through Virconnect rather than going out on their own.”
”Of course. Travels are expensive these days. Many would choose Virconnect as an alternative to save money.” Nicolae nodded in agreement.
Aleksis was aware that her family was undoubtedly wealthy and could have whatever they wanted in this world, so they weren't interested in innovations such as Virconnect and Holodeck.
Ordinary people who were not as rich as her family, on the other hand, had to feel satisfied with everything that was synthetic. Virconnect allowed them to experience things only the rich could do or enjoy.
The rich would go on vacation to the real beaches and enjoyed sunbathing under the tropical sun, while ordinary people would see the beach through the traveler's Virconnect channel and hope that the same sun they see one day could really give their skin the healthy tan.
The future will be full of substitutes and all things synthetic. Human servants will be substituted by robotic ones, fresh meat will be substituted by artificial meat, and even dishes from organic vegetables will be substituted by canned vitamins and protein, as they were costly.
”Many are making new businesses out of it. For example, they'll also come to Iceland and sell the aurora package through Virconnect 4D. When they manage to find an aurora, like we did last night, guests who would like to enter their spaces on Virconnect and watch the aurora could pay the fees requested and get access to the same experience. Just imagine it. How nice would it be to be able to enjoy natural wonders like the aurora borealis in the other hemisphere without having to leave home and incur expensive costs to travel to Iceland?”
”You're right. It sounds interesting,” Aleksis agreed. ”Then why did Terry ask you to try Virconnect tonight?”
”He wanted to show off, I guess. This time, he was nominated for the top 10 most eligible bachelors in the world...” Nicolae couldn't hold back his laughter. ”I know he's a competitive guy, but this is a bit too far.”
”Do you think he'll win?” Aleksis inquired. ”Who are the nominations?”
Nicolae took out his phone and researched the latest news. ”Quite a lot... I don't follow this news. The only reason I read it was because Terry kept sending me news links back and forth to show off.” He lampooned. ”There's the world's youngest president from Malta, the crown prince of Sweden, and the leader of Rhionen-Meier Industries, which this year topped Forsythe's 100 Most Influential Men because of his Virconnect product...”