Lost Radiance

Shota was nervous.

He hadn been out in public for quite some time. He was curious whether anyone would show up for the conference. So he spent the day at his desk, getting ready for the big day. He had a lot of slides prepared. He wanted to give as much information as he could.

After a couple of hours, he finished.

He left his office and walked to the elevator. He arrived at reception, exited the building, and headed to catch a taxi.

”Take me to Paradise Plaza, please. ”

”Okay. ”

After ten minutes, he arrived at the building.

He walked in and went to the reception desk.

”Excuse me, Ive been invited to the conference. Is it okay if I enter? ”

”Yes, you may enter. Please show your invitation. ”

Shota showed his invitation.

After that, he was led to the main hall where the conference was being held.

On his way, he ran into someone.

”Oh, hi, Shota! ”

”Hello, Professor Hiromasa. ”

The professor wore a simple black suit and tie. He had short gray hair and blue eyes. He was in his late 50s.

”Its good to see you again. ”

”Its good to see you too, Professor. ”

”Are you ready for the meeting? ”

”Sure, Im pretty nervous, though. ”

Professor Hiromasa laughed. ”Don worry! ”

Shota walked into the room and looked at the people already present. There were about 30 of them in total.

All of them were scientists from other companies.

He introduced himself to some of the men and women waiting there.

His name was finally called.

The lights dimmed; he stood up and started walking to the podium then he began to speak.

”Hello everyone! My name is Shota Kano. You may remember me from last years conference when I talked about the possibility of using the Radiance— ” The audience started laughing.

He was expecting this reaction, he patiently waited for people to stop laughing.

”For those who didn hear me speak the first time, I want to introduce myself briefly. My name is Shota Kano. I am a researcher for Paravel Electrics, and Ive been working on the project of using the Radiance to make a new form of energy. Well, Im here again today to talk about the results of the experiments we conducted in our labs. This is going to be a lengthy explanation, so bear with me. ”

Everyone listened intently.

He explained the idea behind the ”glove, ” which allowed humans to recharge the pillars energy.

He continued to explain how they created a prototype and how it performed in a lab setting.

”So far, weve discovered that there are two types of energy: the electrical energy that we can extract from them and the unknown energy. This mysterious energy seems to be a type of magnetic field or light that radiates from the pillars. We don know how it works, but we
e getting closer to understanding it. ”

He paused to take a sip of water.

”In the meantime, we found a way to harness the magnetic energy and convert it into electricity. This means that we are closer to understand how this type of energy works in its entirety. We only need to be able to convert electrical energy to this type of energy and well be able to recharge the pillars. ”

About half an hour later, Shota ended his presentation.

The audience applauded politely, as they usually did after presentations.

He got off the podium and left the conference room.

A person approached him and said ”Wow! That was fantastic, never knew you had such a creative mind, Shota! You
e the best! ”

”Thank you, Professor Hiromasa. ”

”I haven seen you in a while, Shota. Are you doing well? ”

”Yeah, thanks. How are you? ”

”Great! Im glad you came. ”

”Do you have any plans for lunch? ”

”No, I wasn planning on it. ”

”Come with me, theres something Id like to discuss with you. ” Professor Hiromasa led him to the canteen.

They grabbed a table and sat down.

”What did you want to talk about? ”

”You know, I thought the conference went great. Its rare to find someone like you who thinks outside the box. ”

”Thank you, Professor. ”

”Do you want to work with us? Ive got an opening in my team. ”

”Thats very kind of you, Professor. But Paravel Electrics its my home now, and I love working here. Im happy enough where I am. ”

Professor Hiromasa smiled and shook his head. ”I understand, but I can pass up the opportunity. Im willing to give you a raise if you accept. You won regret it. ”

Shota shook his head. ”I appreciate the offer, but Im happy where I am. ”

Professor Hiromasa nodded. ”Okay, I understand. You
e a good kid. but if you ever decide to leave Paravel, give me a call. ”

He shook hands with the man. ”Thanks, Professor. ”

The two men parted ways.

Shota walked to the elevator that led to the Paradise Plaza exit.

When the doors opened, he stepped out and saw a girl standing there looking at him.

She was wearing a beautiful red dress adorned with beautiful diamonds. She had long red hair, brown eyes, and a gorgeous figure.

But her expression was not what he expected. She had a sad expression on her face as if she was about to cry.

He was confused. He wondered why the woman was sad. He walked towards her and tried to smile.

”Hello, ” Shota said.

The girl didn reply. A tear fell down her cheek.

He felt something inside him.

In a blink, the girl was no longer there.

He was in shock. Did I imagine it? Was it a ghost?

He asked himself, He looked around, but no one else was there. He turned around and walked to the nearest cab.

***

The next morning, Shota was in his office at Paravel Electrics.

Professor Kondo knock on the door of the office.

”Good morning, Professor! ”

”Morning! Have you heard the news? ”

”No, what happened? ”

”Im leaving the company. ”

”Why? ”

”Because Ive decided to retire. ”

”Retire? Are you crazy? You
e the best scientist in the world! ”

”Maybe I am, but I feel like Ive done everything I could do. And after all these years, I think its time to relax. ”

”Now, Shota. Ill leave you in charge of the department. Don disappoint me. ”

”I won . ”

Professor Kondo left the room and Shota returned to work.

Every day he worked on the gloves and the research.

He hoped that someday he would be able to reach his greatest desire of creating a device that can provide unlimited energy.

He was determined to achieve that goal.

***

The days passed quickly.

Shota was growing impatient. He needed to finish the project before the professor retired, otherwise he wouldn be satisfied.

He focused on the project as much as he could and spent most of his free time in the lab.

Time flew by.

One day, he received a message from Professor Kondo.

”Shota, its time for your promotion ceremony. Come to the lobby at five oclock. ”

He took the elevator down to the ground floor and walked through the front door.

He entered the reception and was greeted by the staff.

”Good afternoon! ”

”Welcome, sir. ”

”Please go right this way. ”

As soon as he stepped into the banquet hall where the ceremony was being held, he saw Professor Kondo sitting at the table.

”Nice job, Shota. Im proud of you. ”

”Thank you, Professor. ”

”Now, lets start the ceremony. ”

The chairman of the board stood up and spoke.

”—and welcome all of you to todays ceremony of promoting our dear colleague, Shota Kano, to the level of First-class investigator. On behalf of the board of directors and everyone at Paravel Electrics, we congratulate you on your achievements and wish you success in all future endeavors. ”

Shota thanked him and bowed politely.

The president of Paravel Electrics rose from her chair and made a speech. ”Shota, congratulations on your promotion. We
e all proud of you! Heres your certificate. ”

Shota smiled widely.

Professor Kondo got up from the table and announced his retirement.

”Ive enjoyed working with you over the years, Shota. Thank you for everything youve done. Now, Im stepping aside, so that someone younger can have the chance to shine. ”

”Thank you, Professor. ”

”Guys, Shota will be the boss now so be nice! ”

The crowd laughed.

Professor Kondo shook hands with him. ”You were always a good worker, Shota. Im sure youll do fine. ”

He bowed respectfully and returned Professor Kondos handshake. ”Thank you very much, Professor.

”Shota, if you ever need anything, just come to me, and Ill help you however I can. ”

”Of course, Professor. ”

”Is anything youd like to say before we adjourn? ” asked the chairman.

”Yes, thank you all for your kindness and generosity. Ill try to make sure the company continues to grow. I hope we will continue to enjoy working together. ”

All the guests applauded.

”Thank you all! Lets eat! ”

After the party, Shota went back to his office and returned to work.

He tried to focus on the project as much as possible.

He needed to finish it soon.

Over the next few weeks, he managed to create an Activation Module that allowed electrical energy to interact with a Radiance stone. However, the module required a lot of power. So he needed to find a solution to this problem.

He tried different options and eventually came up with the idea of using the ”gloves ” that he created earlier. He installed the activation module and attached it to the glove. The system worked perfectly. All they needed to do was to convert the electrical energy to the unknown energy type.

Shota was ready for the final step. ”We
e almost there! ” he told himself.

”Just a little more effort and well be able to test the device. ”

He was so excited that he couldn sleep properly, so he stayed up late trying to solve one last issue after he fell asleep.

During the night, Shota dreamt about the mysterious girl. She was walking through a forest. She seemed lost. Suddenly he heard screams. They were coming from the forest.

The girl turned around and looked straight at him.

Her expression was strange.

He followed her into the forest. Suddenly, there was a flash of lightning. The thunder shook the earth. Lightning struck nearby, and the area lit up as if it was day.

The girl ran into the woods and the earth started to burn. Some trees caught fire, causing huge explosions. The sky was turning dark and stormy.

A bolt of lightning struck the ground near the girl, and she vanished.