CHAPTER 49 - EASTER EGG

Of course, all of that was only a preliminary plan. If Tony tried to tackle everything at once, it'd be easy to trip over his own ambition. Right now, his top priority was to finalize the design of Cortana AI as the official mascot of his [New World] studio, and introduce her to the world.

"So that's what you're planning! Not bad bro, you've got vision!" Natalie finally understood, giving him a big thumbs up. "But you're still missing one thing, you need to design a gorgeous avatar for Cortana. Only then will she really capture the hearts of people!"

As everyone knows, AI may just be a bunch of code, but the moment you give it a face, especially a pretty one, it becomes something else entirely.

These days, everything could be turned into a waifu. Cat girls, Bug girls, even inanimate objects... As long as they looked good, people would line up to worship them.

"That's true," Tony agreed, nodding. "But I don't need to handle that myself. I guarantee people have already started designing waifu versions of Cortana. All I have to do is sit back and enjoy their creativity."

"Let's put that theory to the test then." Natalie pulled out her phone and typed Cortana AI into the search bar.

Sure enough, forums and fan sites were flooded with fan-made illustrations of Cortana, each one more imaginative than the last.

"Whoa... there are tons of them!" she gasped, scrolling through the endless stream of artwork.

Some versions wore flowing white robes like celestial goddesses. Others strutted around in stylish bikinis, flaunting curves that defied gravity. The styles varied wildly, but all of them shared one thing in common, Cortana was beautiful.

"Oh no, this one's actually kinda spicy..."

She clicked on a popular post titled 'Bikini Cortana' and was greeted with a fanart of Cortana in a daring swimsuit, followed by a dramatic wall of text.

"Ah! Cortana! My Cortana! My fated goddess! The light of my life, the fire in my blood! My soul, my one true love! This alluring, noble, tsundere version of Cortana is like a thorned rose... a deadly poppy! The success of Subnautica wouldn't be possible without her!"

The comment section was on fire.

"Bro, chill! This is a fanart forum, not your confession booth!"

"That swimsuit's working overtime, huh?"

"The artwork's great, but honestly... fewer clothes next time please!"

"This is nothing. Go check out my Patreon. Some of the stuff there is spicy."

"We're just one post away from needing a intervention..."

Seeing the chaos in the comments, Natalie bit her lip and muttered, "Tsk, these people are hopeless..."

"What's wrong with that?" Tony grinned. "It's because of their thirst that they're so enthusiastic and creative! Lust is basically the engine of civilization!"

"Wow, that's a bit much, even for you..." she rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious," Tony insisted. "Look around online these days. Bring up any serious topic and people start arguing. But when it comes to fanservice threads like this, everyone's polite. They thank the artist, praise their skills, and wish them a peaceful life. That says something, doesn't it?"

"...Your actually make a weird amount of sense, and I hate that" Natalie muttered, defeated.

"Alright, Sis," Tony said, "do me a favor and post something on Twitter. Tell everyone that New World Studio is holding a design contest to create the official avatar for Cortana. The winning design gets a $100,000 dollars as a reward. Let's turn this into a marketing storm."

"You got it!" Natalie flashed an 'OK' sign and quickly composed the post:

"New World Studio is looking for creative people to design the official avatar of their in-game AI, Cortana! Submit your artwork now and stand a chance to win a $100,000 dollars cash prize!"

The moment the post went live, the comment section exploded.

"Wait, 100k?! These guys are loaded!"

"They're making a waifu out of Cortana? I KNEW it!"

"I finally get to see what my wife looks like!"

"I'm a fine arts major... IT'S MY TIME TO SHINE!!"

"Why bother? There's already a mountain of fanart!"

In less than five minutes, the post rocketed to the top of the trending topics list. Alongside it, other keywords like 'Subnautica', 'Sea Moth', and 'Alien Tower'.

"Wow, they really don't disappoint," Natalie said as she refreshed the comments. "Thousands of replies already..."

Even he was surprised by how many Cortana illustrations had made it there. Curious, he pulled out his own phone and browsed online. Sure enough, Cortana had taken the #1 search spot!

Countless artworks popped up, some classy, others... definitely not safe for work. There were even bizarre crossover pieces with Cortana and giant sea monsters like Leviathan.

"...These people need therapy," Tony muttered. "Seriously."

But it was a testament to the game's success. Even though Cortana was just a voice based AI with no canon appearance, she had already taken the fan community by storm.

Feeling adventurous, Tony clicked over to the 3D modeling section of the site.

"...Ugh." He frowned. "This is rough."

Compared to the polished 2D illustrations, the 3D models were blocky, lifeless, and downright awkward.

It seemed the 3D artists of this world were still lagging behind.

He rubbed his chin and muttered, "Maybe I should drop a Final Fantasy style model into the mix... Let these folks experience the glory of Tifa."

After all, no gaming platform was complete without a proper 3D waifu.

He was doing it for the culture. For the art. For the next generation of drivers.

Ah, Tony really was overthinking things.

Just as he was browsing twitter, a prominent @mention caught his eye.

It was from none other than the CEO of Tesla and the richest man in the world, Elon Musk.

"I've been playing Subnautica the past two nights, and I'm completely blown away. I love everything about it. Would New World Studio be open to selling the game? If yes, please contact me."

"...Well, that was direct," Tony muttered.

He wasn't the only one stunned. The comments under the tweet had already surpassed 10,000. Some people voiced their support, while others mocked the idea.

Either way, 'Elon Musk wants to buy New World' instantly became the top trending topic on Twitter.

Tony took Natalies phone then responded with a calm tweet from Natalie's account.

"Thank you for the interest, Mr. Musk, but New World is not for sale."

He was worth far less than Musk, but he had already reached a stage where money was no longer a major concern. More importantly, he couldn't allow New World to become the focus of global attention just yet. [A.N Means Global in non gaming scene]

"Alright, sis, let's go get dinner!" Tony said as he wrapped up the work.

"We're not ordering takeout today?" Natalie was surprised. They usually just had delivery for lunch and dinner.

"It's unhealthy," Tony replied with a grin. "Besides, I made a reservation at a restaurant last night. Already paid for it. Let's go."

---BREAK---

The two of them sat in a private attic room beneath a high glass dome, the food was... decent, not mind blowing. But the view overseeing the entire sea? Absolutely worth it.

"This is the good life," Natalie said with a soft sigh.

During their meal, Natalie received phone calls from both Google and Apple. They'd gotten her contact info from Twitter and wanted to discuss collaborations with New World.

But per Tony's instructions, she declined them all.

"It's too early to deal with giants like that," he warned. "They'll swallow us whole."

"By the way, Tony," Natalie said as they were finishing up lunch, "I think I'm close to finishing Subnautica."

"You're about to clear the game?" Tony blinked in surprise.

Natalie then explained that in-game, she had received a mysterious broadcast from a spacecrew called 'Sunbeam'.

Tony immediately gave her a thumbs up. "OH! Congrats, Sis! You actually triggered a hidden easter egg!"

"An easter egg?"

"Yep," Tony nodded. "Did you fall asleep on the island in-game?"

"I did."

"Thats it then! I set a hidden ending where, if you sleep on the island bed for more than 30 minutes, a ship called 'Sunbeam' arrives to pick you up and take you off the planet early."

"Woah, seriously?!" Natalie's eyes went wide. "I'm that lucky?!"

"Yeah, I can't believe someone actually found it! Never expected someone to sleep in game." Tony was equally amazed. "After leaving the the world, you'll get to explore other planets. And when you start your second playthrough, you'll unlock a powerful new feature like what happened for mulitplayer. It's called 'MOD support'."

"Mod? What's that?" Natalie tilted her head, confused.

"You don't know about mods?" Tony smiled. "Basically, you can add or replace anything in the game, items, models, characters, you name it."

In his past life, mods were a staple of single player gaming.

Players eventually grew bored of a game, so they modded it for new experiences. The most iconic case? The Elder Scrolls series. Thanks to mods, terrifying monsters were transformed into anime waifus.

Hence, The Elder Scrolls became affectionately known as 'Maidenscrolls'.

Another example, the women of Resident Evil. Originally dressed in tactical gear, modders stripped it all away, leading to a rather... draining experience.

And who could forget Tifa from Final Fantasy?

In the 3D modding community, Tifa is a religion. Thousands of mods exist for her outfits, or lack thereof.

"Ah... truly an era of digital gods," Tony sighed.

Normally, players start modding right after a game's release. But Subnautica ran on a unique engine, making it impossible for outsiders to mod.

Still, that didn't matter, Tony had planned it all along. He'd release mod support himself.

It was his way of giving back to all the players in this world.

"Damn... mods are amazing!!" Natalie's eyes sparkled after hearing his vivid explanation.

She wasn't even thinking about changing clothes for the female characters, no, she wanted to turn the terrifying Leviathan into a cute kitten or puppy.

That way it wouldn't scare her anymore.

"Let's go! Let's go home!" she suddenly shouted, jumping up from her chair, not even glancing at the remaining food.

"Huh? What's the rush?" Tony looked confused.

"I want to play the game! I can't wait anymore, I need to finish Subnautica NOW!!" Natalie yelled, already halfway out the door.

1731 Words.