A heavy silence, thick with unspoken questions, filled the private research lab of Aegis Industries. Zaria stood still, her face still flushed from the shock and embarrassment of having her feelings read by Eidolon, while Zen was lost in a trance of new realization... Zaria's words, "creating a life," had changed everything in his mind.
Zaria saw the confused and heavy look in Zen's eyes. She decided to put her own feelings aside for now and pull him out of his complex thoughts.
"Alright... we can talk about that later," she said, trying to keep her voice as normal as possible. "But right now, you need to focus... because the good news I came to tell you is huge."
Zen blinked slowly, as if pulling his consciousness back. "Good news?... What is it?"
"About the 'location' for our project," Zaria said with a wide smile, finally getting to tell him. "I talked to my father... and the result is... he approved it, Zen! He's giving us the planet 'Aegis Terra-03 Null' to use as a base specifically for building the Runic Power Core!"
Zaria's words were like a giant wave crashing into Zen's confused thoughts. "A planet... an entire planet, Zaria?" he repeated, unable to believe his ears. One moment he was thinking about the "life" of a single AI, and now he had to process the matter of an "entire planet." The scale was beyond anything he could have imagined.
"Yes... an entire planet," Zaria confirmed. "And that's not all... I told my father that we would be starting our own new company to develop this technology."
Zen frowned. "A new company? This is too big... just the two of us..."
"The three of us," Zaria corrected. "How could we make a decision this important without the third member?"
With that, she walked over to the control panel and opened the long-distance holographic communication system. "We have to ask for Karess's opinion first."
Before long, the hologram of Karess appeared, but he didn't look too pleased. He was still wearing his Oni mask, but his background was chaotic, filled with flickering neon lights, and the sounds of announcements and a bustling crowd constantly leaking through.
"Damn it! Took you long enough to get through!" Karess was the first to complain. "Do you guys have any idea how crappy the signal is at this stupid warp station!? And now I have to wait another six hours to switch ships!"
Zen and Zaria looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry, man. It was really urgent," Zen said.
"We got the planet for our project... and we're starting a new company," Zaria said succinctly.
Karess's hologram froze for a moment, before he shouted in disbelief. "...WHAT!? A whole planet!? How the hell did you guys get a whole planet!! Isn't that a bit much for just three people!? And what's this call about!?"
Zaria smiled calmly, answering his storm of questions with a short sentence. "Help us think of a company name."
"A name? Something cool... How about Runic Core Industries? Sounds powerful," Karess suggested.
"Sounds just like your father's company, Zaria," Zen chimed in. "If it were me... it would probably be a simple name like Echo Labs."
"So boring," Karess immediately retorted.
As the three of them were thinking... a name came to Zen's mind... a name with a deep and strangely personal meaning.
"Solendel..." he murmured.
"Solendel?" Zaria repeated. "Does it have a special meaning?"
"It's a name I thought of a long time ago," Zen began to explain, his voice growing more serious. "It comes from combining two words... The first is 'Sol'... in an ancient language, it means the sun. It's light... knowledge, and a new beginning. Just like the Runic Power Core and Eidolon that we're about to create... it's the 'light' that will change everything."
He paused for a moment before continuing. "The second word is 'Dandelion'... a simple flower that can grow anywhere. And when the time is right... its seeds will float on the wind to take root and create new life in other lands. It's a symbol of hope, of a journey, and of passing on a will... just like us right now."
Zaria listened intently, her eyes sparkling. "A land where the seeds of hope... grow under the light of awakening... I love that name, Zen."
"Solendel Corporation..." Karess repeated the name in the hologram. "Yeah... that's a cool name... and the meaning is good too. Let's go with that!"
Once the three founders were in agreement, the once-heavy atmosphere lightened. Zen felt that the burden on his shoulders was no longer his to bear alone. He looked at Zaria and nodded slowly, a faint smile appearing for the first time since he had realized the weight of that burden.
Seeing this, Zaria grinned widely, before putting on a mock-serious face and saying: "Alright then... Mr. President of Solendel... our work has only just begun."