The Research Department—that was the official name under which the Grosvenor Workshop operated in the ordinary world. The Workshop had a perfectly legitimate business address, a bank account, a Squib accountant, and a pair of Squib employees responsible for liaising with Grosvenor Junior—the company's "head office."
"Mr. Silver, have we received payment for the first batches of graphene yet? Could we put that money into circulation through the hedge fund and use it to profit from the pound's decline?"
"I'm sorry, sir, but no. The payments won't arrive until closer to the end of the year."
"Thank you, Mr. Silver. You've made my day. Please send the phone back to Duke Grosvenor."
In excellent spirits, Richi dialed another number. Hermione answered almost immediately.
"Hello?"
"Miss Granger, good morning. May I ask whether you're free at the moment?"
"Richi, hello!" Hermione exclaimed happily. "I was just about to head to the library, but we can meet first."
"That would be wonderful, Miss Granger."
"Richi, why are you being so formal?"
"Sorry, I haven't quite switched gears yet. I was just having a business conversation. Shall we meet on the last landing before the library?"
"All right."
A few minutes later, Richard arrived at their meeting place. Hermione was already waiting for him beside the windowsill, fairly glowing with happiness.
"Hello," Granger said as soon as she spotted him.
"Greetings, young lady," Grosvenor replied with a dignified nod. Resting both hands upon his cane, he continued, "My dear Hermione, allow me to congratulate you on this wonderful occasion—your birthday. Today you've become one year older. But that's hardly a reason to be unhappy. With every passing year, your beauty blossoms a little more. I sincerely hope you will always remain as sweet and charming as you are today. Please accept this modest gift."
The girl listened to Richard's little speech without so much as taking a breath. Her eyes were fixed on the small parcel wrapped in colorful paper resting in his palm with all the intensity of a hungry cat watching its prey.
She accepted the package with great care, then looked at Richard as though asking permission to open it. Richi responded with a gracious nod.
Hermione carefully peeled back the wrapping paper. Moments later, she found herself holding a neat platinum bracelet resembling the strap of a wristwatch. Even the clasp was nearly identical. The only difference was that, instead of a watch face, a gleaming black sphere—like a perfectly polished piece of obsidian—was set into the center. The girl happily fastened the bracelet around her wrist and admired it as the sunlight streaming through the window glinted off the polished metal.
"It's beautiful," she said softly. "Thank you, Richi. Is it silver?"
Richard shook his head.
"Platinum."
Hermione's eyes grew wide.
"But that's expensive!" she exclaimed breathlessly.
The corners of Richard's lips curved upward.
"My dear Hermione, aren't you even going to ask what this artifact does?"
"So it is an artifact?"
Hermione examined the bracelet all over again with renewed interest, running the fingers of her free hand across its surface.
"The wizard-engineers at the Grosvenor Workshop have named this artifact the Illusion-L. The 'L' stands for 'Library.'"
At that last word, Hermione figuratively snapped to attention like a hunting dog catching the scent of game.
"Library?" Her eyes lit up with excitement. "How does it work? What does it do?"
"Hermione, it's really quite simple. The witch or wizard wearing it merely needs to place a drop of blood on the black crystal. After that, a mental menu will appear before your eyes. You can summon it by thinking the command Menu, and dismiss it with Close Menu. A complete list of commands can be accessed by thinking Illusion."
"It stores a library?" Hermione interrupted eagerly. "You can read books from it, and no one else will be able to see them?"
"Almost." Richard barely managed to suppress a laugh; Granger's expression was simply too amusing. "This is a prototype equipped with a heavily stripped-down version of the artificial intelligence you helped develop last year. At the moment, the library is completely empty. The artifact has the ability to scan books. All you have to do is press the black crystal against any book you'd like to add. Within seconds, the entire volume will be scanned and stored in the virtual library. After that, you'll be able to read any book you've added whenever you like. Incidentally, the enchantments work even on most magically protected books."
Hermione gave him a crooked grin.
"Copyright? Never heard of it!"
"Precisely. Own it, use it, and enjoy it."
Hermione was on cloud nine. She was burning with impatience to try the artifact immediately, and two conflicting desires battled within her: the urge to sprint straight to the library and the wish to spend a little longer with her friend. Naturally, the whirlwind of emotions she made no attempt whatsoever to conceal did not escape Richard's notice.
"Oh, Hermione!" He rolled his eyes dramatically. "Go on to the library! I won't be offended. We can talk anytime—perhaps after you've finished playing with the Illusion."
"Really?"
"Of course!"
Overcome with emotion, Hermione threw her arms around Richard, hugged him tightly, and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.
"Richi, thank you! You're the best friend ever!"
"You're very welcome, Hermione. Have a wonderful day—and try not to suffocate from all the dust. Oh, and I'll be waiting for you outside the Hufflepuff common room this evening. I've prepared a cake. There'll be tea and plenty of guests."
"I'll definitely be there!"
After a brief moment of hesitation, Hermione decisively hurried off toward the library.
Richard was thoroughly satisfied. With a single gift, he had solved several problems at once. First, he had delighted a highly promising young witch and bound her even more closely to himself. Second, he intended to use Hermione to fill the virtual library. There was one small detail he had neglected to mention: every bit of information stored on her Illusion would be automatically copied to a server equipped with a far more advanced AI, housed in the Grosvenor Workshop.
(End of Chapter)
P@treon: /SadRaven
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