The conference room lights dimmed slightly as the projected schematics of NEAR v1 hovered silently in the air. Raen stared at the rotating structure—every servo, every panel, every circuit node marked with precision. Still, he could feel the weight of what this single machine represented.
He turned toward Saelyn and Nyra, crossing his arms.
"Alright, real talk. What's the cost to build just one?"
Saelyn tapped a panel on her tablet. "With current supplier rates, reinforced alloys, onboard processing units, AI-compatible architecture, precision actuators... we're looking at 500,000 Lux per unit."
Raen's eyes widened. "Half a million Lux?! For one?!"
She didn't flinch. "We're building a self-replicating system from scratch, Raen. It's not off-the-shelf tech."
Raen ran a hand through his hair. "Damn…"
He turned toward Nyra. "Okay, let's say we somehow make ten of these. What's the full damage?"
Nyra stood, calculating without hesitation. "That's 5 million Lux total for ten units. Assuming no scale discounts."
Raen whistled, low and sharp. "And how much do you think we should sell them for?"
Nyra smiled, walking to the projection. "Here's the catch—we're not selling these like basic industrial bots. These are Builder Units. Capable of making anything you program them for."
She pulled up a mock sales slide:
Product: NEAR-Series Autonomous Builder UnitTarget Markets: Defense, Aerospace, Deep Earth Mining, Space Infrastructure, Disaster Recovery, Megacorp R&DBase Sale Price Recommendation:10 million Lux per unit.
Raen blinked. "Ten million?"
Nyra nodded. "Each. And we're being modest. You're not selling a tool—you're selling a revolution in production."
Korin leaned in. "They won't be buying a robot—they'll be buying independence from factories, labor costs, and lead time."
Saelyn folded her arms. "We're not targeting consumers. We're targeting empires."
Raen paced for a second, gears turning in his mind. Then he stopped, facing the team.
"Alright. Then we build one."
He pointed to the schematic.
"One NEAR v1. We make it perfect. We let it show the world what it is—and what it can do. And if it walks off that expo stage and people still don't understand?"
He smiled darkly.
"We'll let it build ten more—right there."