Chapter 7: Nous

Chapter 7: Nous

With the tutorial done, David was faced with a standard home screen. His wallpaper was still the same. It was underwhelming, but then again, he didn't edit the phone for this part. He edited it for something else.

[Would you like to activate our virtual assistant, Nous?] read a screen that just popped up out of nowhere.

Without any hesitation at all, David selected 'Yes' and immediately the screen disappeared as everything went quiet. David could swear that he heard ancient chanting and drums beating as a large amount of mysterious green particles appeared out of nowhere.

The green particles began to slowly gather on the same table beside his bed; they formed a pair of stands and then began to build from there. The chanting and the drumming became even louder as the building continued, and soon David could tell exactly what the particles were building.

"Holy sh*t, I have my own Cortana!" David said as the green human's body was finally completed.

The green being that had just been created stood at a height of at most five (5) inches tall and dressed in a bodysuit, but covered it all up with a cloak. Looking at it even closer, David couldn't tell if it was male or female.

[Good day, Master. How may I be of help to you today?] A non-binary voice was heard for the first time in basically his entire life.

David heard a voice; he couldn't tell which gender it belonged to. The LGBTQ+ were on the rise, but one could easily tell which gender they belonged to or initially belonged to before they claimed to be something else. A non-binary male will sound male, and so will the females.

A homosexual male or female would sound like a male or a female, then there was the transgender group, which was where the confusion started; however, it was simple. A transgender male would sound male until a certain point in their transition; the same is true for a trans female.

Of course, there were the occasional exceptions where a male sounded like a female, but even then, the two main voice types were still there, just switched up. However, this A.I. had somehow generated a voice that belonged to neither side. David couldn't tell exactly how impressive this was, but he knew that it was definitely impressive.

"Ah, yes, what do I call you exactly?"

[Nous, your Lordship] n-)o/(v.(e.-l..b/-I-(n

"What's with the lordship, master? I get the lordship? What's with that?"

[You are the editor? A being equal to the administrators in function and above the gods in power] Nous replied

"Thanks for shedding some light on that, but I don't want you calling me Master or Lordship. A simple 'sir' would be enough, you understand?"

[Yes sir]

"Good, I know you probably wouldn't tell me much, but what can you tell me about the coming event?"

[I am afraid such information is classified enough for me to not tell you.]

"Okay, how long do I have before the event? Then, do I have a few months, a year, or some days?"

[Following the guidelines provided, all I am allowed to tell you is that you have this entire year to yourselves.]

"So, I shouldn't expect any sort of supernatural event during this time."

[I wouldn't say a supernatural event; however, the event wouldn't start anytime this year. It could start at the stroke of midnight on the New Year, or it could be postponed to the next] day.

"Okay, then, so I have four (4) months to prepare for what's to come, right?"

[Maybe... Maybe not]

"Okay then? The first move would be to get rich somehow. I would prefer a legal method, so let's start brainstorming."

[Here is a list of industries that are doing especially well during this quarantine.] Nous said as it brought up a screen, and on it were some names and how much they made monthly during this year compared to other months.

"Entertainment was the obvious answer, but damn! 3.2 billion dollars in just one month," David said, even though he could see that the number given was for the entire country of the United States of America.

He looked at us and smiled. If he wanted to get rich illegally, there was absolutely no one who could stop him. All he had to do was take $100 from each millionaire out there and $1000 from each billionaire. In the end, he would be a millionaire without having any problems.

Said amount was big enough to boost his wealth but small enough not to even be noticed by these people. Even if they do notice it, they may dismiss it easily, and if they do plan to push further, David doubted that they could catch the Omniscient Nous.

However, since he wanted to go through legal means, All he had to do was come up with a good idea, and Nous would surely sell it enough for him to become a millionaire through it.

Since entertainment was the most popular thing, he had to target the thing that everyone would surely spend money on: games.

Gamers were loyal, and if they loved your game, then they would surely pay. He could attest to that since even he paid when necessary. He was good at the game, but if you wanted to be better, you spend that cash.

Apart from that, there was also the initial sale, which would set up everything for the company. If the game's presentation and everything else were good enough, then people would flock en masse to buy it, and with that money, you could improve your game further.

"Nous, which industry... Do you suggest I enter?"

[Even with good marketing and all, the streaming industry is too saturated, and there is only a 40% chance of you getting as much money as you want through it. [At least within these four months]

"I expected that," David thought, since between Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, and all the others out there, he would never be able to make his own streaming service stand out.