Order 73 ~DNF~

𝟘𝟟

𝒢𝑒𝑜𝓇𝑔𝑒 𝒫𝒪𝒱

Leia turns around with surprise plastered in her wide eyes. As do I.

As soon as I see the glint of blonde hair in the doorway, I shield my face with one hand, turning in the chair just enough that he can't see my face, but I can see what's going on. Because of course he's here, in the one room out of three hundred he could have chosen from. The only thing I can hope for at the moment, is that Dream just says a few things and leaves before he sees me. Good fucking luck.

"Look who decided to turn up," Leia rolls her eyes and he shoots her a winning grin.

"Better late than never." He shrugs, standing next to her. Leia was quite tall with her three inch heels, but she looked tiny in comparison to Dream, who was essentially a small giraffe with two legs missing.

I only say small because I've met Wilbur.

Everyone seems to process what was going on at the same time, shocked whispers reverberating off the walls. I don't blame them. They weren't exactly informed that we were going to meet the CEO, who was a growing celebrity in the tech industry. I would have escaped to a bathroom a long time ago if I had known.

I just try to extinguish the urge to smash my skull against the table and end my misery.

"Well," Dream claps his hands once and the entire room fades from whispers to silence. "You've obviously got the coolest program of the bunch."

Chuckles echo through the room but Dream pays it no mind, expression neutral with focus on the presentation on the screen. Even my three companions from the doctorate program are entranced, prepared to catch every word dropped from his mouth.

But he doesn't, instead giving the floor to Leia, who takes it without protest. The room deflates just a bit, but quickly diverts their rapt attention to his companion.

"Observe." She gestures to the screen, showing a bunch of reviews on DreamTech's latest product. "These are just a few of the many positive reviews from specialists we received from the last few months."

Someone clicks through the slide, different images sliding into view as she mentions them. "Resolution has been improved, devices are more comfortable than they've ever been, and of course, our CEO's and his team's biggest breakthrough, a multiplayer interface on a larger scale than anything ever seen before."

The college kids are almost vibrating in their seats in excitement as they applaud, grins on every face. I watch Dream who still looks impassive, as though Leia listing off his accomplishments wasn't a big deal. He flicks his eyes down to his arm, adjusting his gleaming cuff-links with an unhurried hand.

"However," Leia waits for the slide to switch. "There's still many problems yet to be solved. One of which–"

"Hold on." Dream raises his voice and she nods, allowing him to speak. "We're supposed to be teaching them right? They won't learn if we spoon-feed them everything. Someone give me some ideas, what's a problem that needs to be solved?"

I look the other way as Dream scans our faces and watches as a third-year slowly raises her hand, eyes wide with second thoughts as he nods at her.

"Budget?" She asks softly. "VR equipment is expensive. With the amount of advancement your technology has, it's got to have a high production cost, therefore a higher sale price."

"That was well phrased." He pauses. She glows with pride, smiling down at her shoes. "However, there is little to nothing we can do about the cost. There are only a few parties who are reliable enough to get the resources we need for our products. Their price is the final price, and we have to make a profit. DreamTech doesn't settle on cheap materials."