[Global Airspace - 1 Hour After the Broadcast]
The world had stopped. Alex's broadcast—promising 0% taxes, free energy, and a futuristic utopia—had been viewed 4 billion times.
Every airline website on Earth had crashed. Ticket prices to the Mediterranean skyrocketed by 5,000%. People were selling their houses, their cars, and their stocks just to buy a one-way ticket to the nearest airport.
[New York - JFK Airport]
"Let me through!" a man in a bespoke suit screamed, waving a platinum credit card at the gate agent. "I'm the CEO of Apex Logistics! I need a flight to Italy! I need to get to Neo-Atlantis!"
"Sir, the airspace is closed!" the agent yelled back, overwhelmed by the mob. "The US Government has grounded all flights to the Mediterranean!"
[The Pentagon - Situation Room]
The General (Council Seat 2) watched the screens. They were red. "It's a mass exodus," an aide reported, voice trembling. "We are losing them, Sir. The top engineers from Silicon Valley, the best doctors from Johns Hopkins, the quantum physicists from CERN... they are all trying to leave."
"They are defecting," The General growled. "He is stealing our brain trust."
"What do we do?"
"Initiate Operation: Iron Curtain," The General ordered. "Deploy the Sixth Fleet. Blockade the ocean around Neo-Atlantis. Shoot down any unauthorized aircraft. No one gets in. No one gets out."
[The Mediterranean Sea - The Blockade]
A massive wall of warships—Destroyers, Aircraft Carriers, and Frigates—formed a ring around Neo-Atlantis. Fighter jets screamed through the sky.
A civilian airliner, Flight 707, carrying 300 desperate immigrants (including Dr. Aris, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist), approached the zone.
"Turn back immediately," the radio crackled from a fighter jet. "This is a restricted military zone. Turn back or we will fire."
The pilot of Flight 707 was sweating. "I... I can't turn back! We are low on fuel!"
"Locking onto target," the fighter pilot said cold-bloodedly.
[Neo-Atlantis - The Command Center]
Alex watched the blockade on his holographic map.
"They are trying to suffocate us," Alex said. "They think they can bully my guests."
"Sir," Luna said, hand on her blade. "Shall I deploy the drone swarm?"
"No," Alex smiled. "Drones are for fighting. We need a bridge."
Alex opened the System Store. He found the [Transportation & Logistics] tab.
Item: Hyper-Loop Bridge (Intercontinental). Cost: Too High.
Item: Sub-Orbital Transport Shuttle. Cost: $5 Billion.
Item: The Aegis Shield (City Defense). Cost: $10 Billion.
"Dawn," Alex ordered. "Buy the Aegis Shield. And buy the Teleportation Hub (Prototype)."
"Sir," Dawn paused. "The Teleportation Hub is experimental technology. It costs $50 Billion."
"Do it."
[Transaction Complete.] [Expenditure: $60,000,000,000.]
[The Miracle]
On Flight 707, the passengers were screaming. They saw the missile lock warning. They were going to die.
Suddenly, a beam of blue light shot up from Neo-Atlantis. It didn't hit the plane. It hit the space in front of the plane.
A massive, swirling portal opened in the sky.
"What is that?!" the fighter pilot yelled, blinding by the light.
The portal swallowed Flight 707. The plane vanished from the sky. It reappeared instantly on the runway of Neo-Atlantis International Airport.
The fighter jets were left circling empty air.
[Neo-Atlantis - Arrival Gate]
Dr. Aris stumbled off the plane. He expected to be dead. instead, he was standing in a terminal made of living crystal. The air smelled of jasmine and ozone.
Alex was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. He wasn't wearing a suit. He was wearing a simple white linen shirt, looking like a benevolent god.
"Dr. Aris," Alex shook the stunned scientist's hand. "I'm a big fan of your work on cold fusion. Welcome home."
"How..." Dr. Aris stuttered, looking at the portal closing in the sky. "You just bent space-time."
"The commute was getting too long," Alex shrugged. "I fixed it."
Dr. Aris looked around. He saw thousands of other immigrants arriving—geniuses, artists, rebels. They were all looking at Alex with absolute worship.
"Why?" Dr. Aris asked. "Why save us?"
"Because the old world values control," Alex pointed to the fusion reactor humming in the distance. "I value potential. Here, you have unlimited funding. Unlimited energy. And no laws to hold you back."
Dr. Aris teared up. "Where do I sign?"
[The Council - Aftermath]
The General stared at the blank screen. "He has teleportation technology," he whispered. "We can't blockade a man who can fold space."
Isabella V (Seat 5) took a sip of her wine. "We lost the scientists," she said softly. "The Brain Drain is complete. Now, he isn't just rich. He is smarter than us."