Inside the universal simulation.

Twelve hours had elapsed since the creation of the new inhabitants, and the morning had finally arrived. The Lab city, shrouded in the perpetual glow of artificial daylight, slowly awakened as the sun raised.

The newly formed denizens, emerging from their dwellings, prepared themselves for the day ahead, heading to their respective laboratories and workplaces. Before setting out, they ate their breakfast that seemed to materialize out of nowhere which to them appeared as a normal thing.

Once they had finished their meal, they converged at the nearest public transport station to catch a ride to their destinations. The commuters, seemingly moving as a collective, boarded the communal transit system, eager to carry out their tasks and fulfill their roles in the vast simulation.

.....

Lucas, a material scientist, boarded a bus to travel from his residence to his work office.

Upon arrival, he disembarked and was greeted by a towering building with white capital letters that read "Fusion Research Lab," denoting its purpose as a nuclear fusion research facility.

With no apparent security measures in place, Lucas made his way inside and took the elevator to the 8th floor, where his lab was located.

After entering his office, he swiftly powered on his work computer and began working on inventing a material that could withstand the extreme conditions inside the fusion reactor.

The simulation of material structures on his computer was constantly in flux as Lucas adjusted the variables based on previous simulations.

As lunchtime approached, Lucas made his way to the lab's dining room to eat his food in solitude. However, his meal was interrupted when a man named Nolan joined him at his table.

"Nice to meet you, My name is Nolan," said the man as they sat down to eat.

"Lucas, nice to meet you too," Lucas replied, slightly surprised but not opposed to the company.

"I'm a technician in charge of printing, assembly and maintenance of various components. How about you?" asked Nolan.

"I'm a material scientist, I'm currently working on a material capable of withstanding the extreme condition in the reactor," Lucas answered back, introducing his profession.

"You said printing, what do you mean by that?" Lucas asked as that took most of his attention.

"Aaah, that is the new machine that arrived yesterday. If I remember correctly when you guys finish the simulation and finding the perfect material you are supposed to forward it to the fabrication department.

That department has been merged with us and whatever material you send we are capable of printing it perfectly using the new machine. That's what I meant about that," explained Nolan.

Following that they continued having small conversations throughout the lunch becoming very good friends.

....

Within the bustling city, there stood another building dedicated to nuclear fusion research - the "Fusion research Lab". Its golden nameplate shimmered in the sunlight, differentiating it from the white lettering of the other research facility.

Despite sharing a common purpose, the two labs had their own unique approaches to the same goal.

While Lucas was busy working on his material invention, the scientists in the golden building were quietly practicing their runes.

Each researcher was diligently focused on mastering their respective runes, which were fundamental to their work. Despite being involved in nuclear fusion research, the two labs were approaching their research in two different ways.

The facial characteristics of Lucas in this edifice exhibited a subtle dissimilarity compared to those on the opposite end of the building.

Presently, he was engrossed in practicing the rune of preservation that he intended to utilize on the material for his upcoming experiment.

...

A vast edifice stood on the outskirts of the city. The name of the facility, "Aviation Research Lab," was inscribed in bold white letters on the exterior.

Upon entering the building, one could observe engineers diligently sitting in front of their computer screens, striving to develop novel aircraft engines and aircrafts for diverse applications.

Their area of specialization made it evident that they previously worked in a research lab affiliated with Rolls Royce and Airbus.

...

As all of this was unfolding, Aron, who had just woken up from a nine-hour sleep, was observing the events with Nova. They watched footage from various research labs displayed on the screen.

Thousands of small screens were categorized into two distinct colors: blue screens displayed individuals diligently working on their assigned tasks, while golden screens portrayed people sitting cross-legged and practicing their runes.

It was evident that the blue screens were making more significant progress compared to their golden counterparts.

"Nova, how many ongoing research projects are there at the moment?" Aron inquired about the number of ongoing research endeavors within Lab City, which was currently being populated solely by individuals whose brain data had been collected from Europe.

[5,873, Sir] Rina promptly replied and conjured up a holographic screen displaying the categories of research projects.

Aron could select a category by pressing on one of them, and a list of research projects within that category would be shown.

[

Aviation

Aerospace

Defense

Food and Beverage

Technology

Energy

Engineering

Telecommunications

Chemical Manufacturing

Materials

Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

.

.

.

.

.

.]

Upon seeing the list of categories, Aron selected "Defense" and was presented with ongoing research projects related to military aircraft, helicopters, missiles, submarines, radar systems, communication equipment, and other relevant subjects.

He then clicked on the "Energy" category and was presented with a list of ongoing research projects related to fusion being conducted by various labs, utilizing different approaches such as Magnetic Confinement Fusion, Inertial Confinement Fusion, Magnetized Target Fusion, Z-Pinch, Dense Plasma Focus, Laser-Driven Fusion and many more.

After perusing through a few of the other categories, Aron turned to Nova and remarked, "It seems like most of these ongoing research projects could benefit from completing the brain data collection within America to speed up the process."

Nova nodded in agreement and added, [Indeed. This will also give us an advantage as all research data will be shared amongst everyone who needs it.

It will bring together all the brightest minds to work towards a common goal, resulting in a faster pace of research and development.

With some of my demigod-like powers, we can even create theoretical material that they come up with and have them reverse engineer them]

"When do you expect the earliest experiment to yield results?"

[Since everything can be simulated here, we expect the earliest experiment to yield results in a few months, whereas it would have taken several years outside of this environment.]

"That's good. What happens after they finish the experiment?" Aron wanted to know how Nova reprogrammed their thought process when she manipulated their memories.

[After finishing an experiment, they move on to the next iteration of the research, continuing in this way until all problems are solved and the research reaches a certain level of maturity. Only then will they move on to the next experiment,] Nova explained

"I hope they don't suffer from depression, as it could hinder their ability to come up with innovative ideas," Aron expressed his concern. The thought of having to conduct research repeatedly, improving it until it reaches maturity and then moving on to the next one, seemed like an endless cycle.

[Don't worry, their passion for research will keep them fulfilled, and to address the issue of loneliness, I'll be creating their ideal partners to keep them company,] Nova assured Aron.

She implemented this feature to prevent the researchers from losing their creativity, as everyone has their unique approach to generating new ideas.

"That's good to hear. Although they may not be real people, they are still created using their brain data, making them a sort of clone," Aron said in a sigh of relief.

"How long till we arrive?" He asked after a short pause.

[about three and a half hours]

"Remind me when there's only one hour left so I can log off," he said, then returned to watching the footage of the research lab workers intently focused on their tasks.

Aron continued to watch everything unfold for the next two and a half hours until Nova reminded him that he had only an hour left on his flight. He promptly logged off and spent the remainder of the flight in the real world.

He promptly logged off and spent the rest of the flight in the real world. Upon landing, he bid the pilot who spent quite some time shuttling him from one country to another goodbye, went through all the security checks and procedures, and then headed to the airport parking lot to retrieve his car.

After paying a parking fee of approximately 3000 dollars for having parked in the covered lot for more than two months, he finally left the airport to go home.

After spending a considerable amount of time traveling, Aron was finally driving back home. Although he had been in constant contact with his family, he still missed seeing his parents, especially his younger brother who loved to play with him.