Ch 3 Virtual Honey

Leon munched on a chip and said, “So Nova, what about that thing we talked about?”

“Yes sir, your idea about the AI you named Lumen, a slightly more advanced AI compared to this era’s Chatty and Deepy, with advanced text and speech capabilities that can read user emotions, it definitely can be done.”

Leon became excited.

“But here’s the catch, even a slightly more advanced AI will attract the attention of powerful players. So, I suggest we create a cover story, insert fake records into government and corporate systems, and set up shell companies first.”

Leon thinks for a moment “Hmm… okay, but can we do it without getting caught? I don’t really want trouble knocking on my door just like that…”

“It’s a piece of cake to infiltrate their domain, sir. I can access their legal databases and other official systems without triggering any alarms. Plenty of vulnerabilities make it almost effortless to move around undetected, I can guarantee it!” Nova said with her cold voice…

Then she continued, “We can pick some foreign country and make it look like a five year research project with multiple trials and errors that ‘accidentally’ led to success, and…”

“We could create deepfake interviews and podcasts, but I don’t think that’s safe, even if I make them myself, people are naturally skeptical.”

“They’ll spot subtle inconsistencies or wonder why it doesn’t match their memories. And in a competitive world, rivals will dig deep to find any flaws and use them against you.”

After pausing for a few seconds, Nova continued, “Or… we can still go with the five year fake research, but it’s just ‘fake.’ Powerful people will know it’s fake, but we don’t really care, we’ll just act mysteriously.”

“We’ll launch the app on a secure site so it can’t be shut down. Instead of traditional marketing, we’ll hack rich individuals’ phones to offer an exclusive AI assistant that predicts business trends for a million dollars a month.

The message will be simple: ‘Only three others have this. Say YES, and I’ll prove my value in three minutes. Ignore this, and watch your rivals get ahead.’”

Hearing this, Leon frowned. “I don’t want to shake up the world economy like that… It sounds scary. I mean, a lot of rich people could lose power, which would probably lead to many employees getting laid off. So… any other ideas?”

After a moment, Nova offered a milder suggestion. “We could just open a real business. Like I said, I can predict trends, but it’s not a guaranteed path to wealth. There will be competitors and unpredictable factors, so it’s a slower way to make money.”

“For someone like you, with little capital and just starting out, this isn’t the best idea. But for wealthy, powerful people, it could be a solid way to turn money into more money, using their resources to make it work.” Nova keeps giving suggestions and facts..

“Uh.. money really something huh.. Money can’t buy everything, but everything needs money.. Sigh….” Leon leaned more on his chair.. Don’t know what to say anymore…

Nova continues, “Another option is the stock market. We could tap into insider calls, monitor the dark web, access government or SEC data, and breach corporate emails. But it’s much riskier, we’d likely get flagged by regulators, so we can’t use your real accounts.”

Hearing all this, Leon realized that making money even with high tech AI isn’t that easy. Or rather, he wanted to get rich legally, without harming anyone, which turned out to be… D*mn hard!

Trying to calm his mind, Leon pulled out his phone and opened a social app. With every flick of his thumb, charming girls greeted him, chatting about random things.

He swiped again, and another girl was dancing, another swipe. Another girl eating ice cream, her mouth smeared, which made the viewers throw flowers and likes, which flooded the screen.

Then… wait, suddenly a light bulb appeared on top of Leon's head.

“....... f*ck! Why can’t I think about this! Hey hey Nova can you just make a charming girl no, a few girls, like twenty with different personalities that will attract man…. Hehehe…”

“wait… uhum… yes this is a good idea, just don’t make them too spicy okay.. I want something elegant, charming, beautiful… hahahaha!”

In the end Leon uses a rather devious way to trap men to spend on virtual girls….

He uses Nova to design many girls

“Hey, Nova make it like this, they must be beautiful from a human perspective.. I mean a wide range of people, as some have different kinds of taste.. Like skin tone, face shape, body shape, personalities, so make sure we include each of ‘beautiful’ women in the world!”

Leon’s eyes lit up with excitement… just like that, a strange man’s laughter echoed eerily through the night.

The small screen in Leon’s security room turned into a live show, displaying multiple girls, each beautiful with her own unique charm, and none of them selling anything NSFW, as it seems illegal… just a tiny portion of skin like all the other girls online..

With that twenty ‘girls’ suddenly flood the social media… and Leon can imagine how they can attract their ‘victim’.

Leon designed each one differently. Each specialized in a different category, a beautiful tan girl with sport attire running.

Another one look calm and elegant, playing a piano while singing… next, a beautiful, rich woman who only knows how to spend money here and there, which makes people envy…

The last one was a beautiful writer who interacted with her viewers on a Twitchy platform.

Leon designed her so she liked to write random novels, but what drew attention was her surroundings.

A cramped, shabby room, this makes her look miserable and pitiful, perfect for reeling in the big fish. It was fresh… yeah.

With a dark circle, Leon designs each girl to trap every type of man… uhum…

“Right… in today's society not only man can be targeted with this kind of honeytrap.. Soooooo let’s make some handsome hunk tooo yeaahH!!”

Then another twenty handsome male made their debut on social media…. Gentle barista, fitness trainer, dancer… singer… rich business man, and so on…..

“So, Nova, what do you think? How likely are they to make money for me?” Leon asked, feeling tired as he lay down on his bed beside the CCTV monitor.

“Sir, out of these forty virtual influencers, if just four or five go viral, we’re talking big money, from ads, merch, dating sims, paid DMs, livestream donations, fan clubs, brand deals, even scandals. We could pull in around $200,000 to $350,000 a month.”

Hearing this, Leon's sleepy eyes open wide….. “d*mn! I am rich! Hahahaah!!!”

But Nova continued, “Building a stable income from these virtual influencers will likely take at least a year, maybe longer. Even with perfect looks and AI driven content, growing a loyal audience, securing brand deals, and monetizing takes time and effort.”

Hearing this, Leon stops his laughter and drops dead again on his bed….

“So… how about this month ?” Leon asks while closing his eyes.

“Based on my prediction, the initial phase will take one or two months, bringing in around $2,000 to $5,000 a month by the third month.”

“If things go well, by one or two years onward, we could be making between $300,000 and $500,000 a month.”

Leon sighed. Yeah, it could make him rich, but it would take time. He couldn’t enjoy the ‘financial freedom’ right away. That’s the price to pay if he wants to make money the legal way.

“Right, better have the kids sell something else… maybe food? That could help make the orphanage more financially stable too….”

“Wait, why am I suddenly acting like the orphanage director when the real one’s out every morning and doesn’t come back until late?” Leon thought bitterly, remembering the director’s constant absences.

“Haaaa… might as well just sleep… wait, I’m still working! I’ve got at least one more patrol to do… d*mn…”

Leon stood up, grabbed a flashlight, his security baton, and his phone. Then he picked up three more flashlights, switched them all on, and placed them wherever he could hang or hold them.

Two flashlights dangled awkwardly from the belt loops of his pants, one clipped to his shoulder, and another held tightly in his hand.

Just like that, a brightly lit ‘lamp post’ roamed through the dark, dim orphanage. Fortunately, no other kids were sleepwalking, and Nova’s updates remained normal as Leon chatted with her the whole time. Everything seemed safe.

“Good… yeah, good,” Leon muttered as he returned to his room and collapsed onto his chair, fatigue weighing on him. Even with all the bright flashlights, he still felt uneasy.

“Damn kids… I need to do something about them. No more horror movies, and I’ll have to be stricter about their bedtime… Gah…” He groaned.

“Maybe I could give them sleeping pills… but I should probably check with a doctor first. That sounds dangerous.. I don’t know if kids can take sleeping pills every day…” Leon sighed tiredly.