"Have a seat, gentlemen," Aron said. "I realize you've been brought here in a hurry, so allow me to explain. The empire needs talents, and the two of you were identified as the talents we require. Jeremy, out of the billions of imperial citizens, you were selected as the Minister of the Interior, and Youssef, you were chosen to fill the office of the Minister of the Exterior.

"The two of you, along with about fifteen million others, will be notified of their selection to fill roles as imperial workers today. Everyone from ministers," Aron nodded at the two men sitting across the desktop from him, "to janitorial staff will be receiving their notifications starting an hour from now. The two of you got yours early because yours are the most important positions we needed to fill, should you choose to accept the job I'm offering you."

The emperor paused to allow the potential ministers in front of him to digest the information. He waited in silence for the two of them to speak; he wanted his ministers to be considered, yet decisive, though, so he would not wait forever.

Jeremy spoke up first. "Your Majesty, thank you for the opportunity. I only have one question: how are you so sure that I'm the right person for the job?"

Aron smiled and replied, "For now, that's classified. If you choose to accept the position you're being offered, you'll be read in on all of the classified information in the Akashic Record. Until then, I'll have to refrain from answering that question."

"What about our families?" Youssef asked.

"You'll be offered housing here in the imperial Cube on Avalon Island, along with your immediate families. Otherwise, you can remain living where you are, at least until the mass move into the fortress cities, but you'll be assigned permanent Aegis guard companies to ensure you and your families' security. Here on Avalon Island, your safety is absolutely guaranteed, but elsewhere... not so much, unfortunately."

"I'll take the job, Your Majesty," Jeremy said. He was certain that he wouldn't be getting any real answers unless he took the job, so he had decided to take a leap of faith.

"As will I," Youssef chimed in.

"Great!" Aron said, then handed them two runic contracts that he had prepared in advance. After the newly appointed ministers signed their contracts, he felt the weight of them settle around him. Even though he could monitor them at every picosecond of every day, runic contracts-like the one he already had with his Minister of War, General Smith-were still safer; he would not allow anyone in the inner circle that hadn't signed their very essence over to him.

"Welcome to the inner circle, gentlemen," he said, then Nova handed them new AR glasses that she had just prepared for them. "First, these are your new AR glasses. Though I see you've already purchased pairs of your own, you'll need these to access areas in the Cube here. You can tour later, but for now, we need to introduce you to the AIs that help run the empire. After that comes a trip to the secure pod vault, where you can undergo your first round of genetic enhancements. Your families will be escorted to their local cubes to undergo theirs. You can meet them in the simulation and spend a few months relaxing there while you're undergoing the procedure. After that, you can get to work."

Jeremy blinked. 'Months?' he thought. 'I was right! There really IS a second layer to the simulation, one that isn't available to the public...!'

He chose to ask, regardless. "Your Majesty, you said 'months' in the simulation? Because all of the employees that were retrained and enhanced already only spent a week in the cubes... so either our enhancements will be more complex, or there must be a second layer. Am I correct in that assumption?"

Aron's smile grew as he listened to the question, then he laughed in pleasant surprise. "Yes, you're exactly right. There is indeed a second layer to the simulation. The one released to the public runs at a two to one time dilation rate, but the one you're about to access runs at thirty to one, or even higher.

"There are three levels. Normal, unenhanced humans, can only handle a thirty to one dilation. Genetically enhanced humans can handle fifty to one, and we have an implant," he tapped the side of his head, "that allows you to safely tolerate an eighty to one time dilation rate. The so-called 'blessed' can likely handle even more. I, myself, for instance, don't experience any issues with our deepest layer of the simulation, where time is dilated to a hundred to one."

Jeremy was stunned, and even Youssef, as steady and imperturbable as he was, found himself slack-jawed at the revelation of the layers involved in the simulation.

"Are there more layers, or is a hundred to one the limit?" the older man asked.

"When we opened up the public layer, His Majesty told the masses that it was hardware that limits the time dilation in the 'VR'. And that's the truth- there is indeed a hardware limit. But that limit is currently a hundred to one. With the computing resources we've devoted to the public simulation, we could've indeed pushed further, perhaps hitting the five hundred to one ratio, but for the benefit of the many, we chose instead to open a public version to keep everyone occupied and excited," Nova explained.

Youssef nodded. As expected, the emperor was a man of many secrets.

"There'll be time for more questions later. For now, it's time to begin your enhancements," Aron said. A pair of Aegis guards entered his office and saluted him. "If you'll follow these gentlemen to the secure pod vault, we'll get you started. You'll have plenty of time over the next few months to ask questions."

The new ministers nodded, then followed the guards out of the room, headed deeper into the bowels of the imperial machine, taking their first steps on their journey into the future.