A year later, in Batangas.

The Aurion Semiconductor facility had finally completed its construction.

The once-barren stretch of coastal land had transformed into one of the most advanced industrial complexes in Southeast Asia. A sprawling fusion of steel, glass, and precision engineering. The morning sun gleamed off the white composite panels that covered the cleanroom buildings, while the facility's signature blue-lit logo, AURION, stretched proudly across the central dome.

Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA, and Timothy Guerrero, the founder of TG Mobility Holdings, stood side by side on the elevated observation deck overlooking the main fabrication hall. Both men wore white cleanroom suits tied at the wrists and ankles, their hair tucked under protective hoods.

Below them, the enormous Class 1 cleanroom was alive with quiet, synchronized movement. Dozens of technicians in anti-static suits guided automated wafer carriers gliding on magnetic tracks. The hum of vacuum pumps and precision lithography systems filled the air.

"Unbelievable," Jensen said, his voice muffled slightly through his mask. "I've toured fabs in Taiwan, South Korea, and the U.S., but this…" He looked around, eyes reflecting the pale blue glow of the room. "This is world-class, Timothy. You did it."

Timothy smiled faintly, hands resting on the stainless rail. "We did it, Jensen. You, me, and every engineer who spent their nights making this real."

They descended the platform, flanked by a group of engineers and executives from both TG Mobility and NVIDIA. The floor beneath them vibrated subtly, the active air filtration system maintaining near-zero dust concentration. Through the glass walls, rows of EUV lithography machines from ASML stood like monuments to human precision, each one worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

One of the Filipino engineers briefed them as they passed. "The four production lines are now fully operational, sir. We're currently calibrating the third-gen 3-nanometer wafer process, with a projected yield rate of 92% within the first quarter."

Timothy nodded, visibly proud. "Keep that efficiency. No room for waste here."

Jensen chuckled. "He talks like he's still running a startup."

Timothy smirked. "Every empire starts like one."

They entered the Central Control Atrium, where holographic displays projected live data from across the facility, wafer production counts, reactor temperatures, yield analytics, and power efficiency metrics. A large digital screen displayed the banner:

Reporters and VIP guests were waiting in the adjacent reception hall, cameras flashing as the two CEOs appeared. A podium stood near a massive glass wall, offering a panoramic view of the fabrication complex outside. The air buzzed with anticipation.

A host from the Department of Trade and Industry took the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen, today marks a historic milestone not just for Batangas, but for the entire Philippines, the first ultra-modern semiconductor fabrication facility built entirely through private investment."

Applause filled the room.

Timothy and Jensen exchanged a glance before stepping forward.

"I will make my speech short because as they say, action speaks louder than words. I built my first gigafactory in Subic that is now producing hundreds of thousands of cars per year and with an ever-growing demand domestically and abroad. Now, we have come to dominate, along with my partner here, Mr. Huang from NVIDIA, the field of semiconductor manufacturing. The semiconductors that will be born here will power everything: from the world's most advanced AI systems to the very cars we design, the cities we build, and the technologies that will define the next century."

Applause filled the hall once more, thunderous and unrelenting. Jensen stepped forward beside him, his smile wide and proud.

"Timothy and I share a vision," Jensen said. "A vision of innovation that knows no borders. What we're seeing here, Filipino engineers, global collaboration, cutting-edge precision, this is proof that the Philippines can lead in the semiconductor race. Not just participate, but lead."

The crowd erupted in cheers. Cameras flashed as both men raised their hands, shaking firmly.

A moment later, champagne bottles popped. The executives from TG Mobility, NVIDIA, and several government agencies gathered around a long glass table where a commemorative plaque gleamed under the lights:

AURION SEMICONDUCTOR — INAUGURATED: JULY 18, 2027.

POWERING THE FUTURE, MADE IN THE PHILIPPINES.

As the crowd celebrated, Jensen quietly turned to Timothy, lowering his voice.

"I wonder, where is your Korean secretary?"

"You mean Ms. Seo? Well, she couldn't come because she is sick unfortunately. I'll come drop by to her place after this event. Now, about the promise that you made two months ago. Where you will introduce me to our beloved customers that will need our semiconductors."

"I haven't forgotten. How about we talk about it somewhere private," Jensen said, his tone shifting slightly from celebratory to serious.

Timothy nodded. "Lead the way."

They quietly excused themselves from the crowd and entered a glass-enclosed corridor that connected the main atrium to the executive wing. Jensen's assistant swiped a keycard, and the doors to the Executive Conference Suite slid open with a soft hiss.

Jensen loosened his collar slightly and took a seat across from Timothy. His expression was different now, less of the charismatic showman, more of the calculating engineer-CEO.

"Timothy," he began, his voice steady, "you're already aware of the race happening right now between the biggest tech companies on Earth, OpenAI, Google, Meta, Amazon, even ByteDance. What's coming isn't just competition; it's a technological arms race."

Timothy leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. "AI infrastructure," he said knowingly. "Data centers, clusters, supercomputers. Everyone's scrambling for compute."

Jensen nodded. "Exactly. Every major AI company is expanding capacity — not by hundreds, but by thousands of petaflops. Google's building new data fortresses in Oregon and Singapore. Meta just ordered another ten million GPUs for Llama-4 training. OpenAI's negotiating with TSMC and Samsung, but even they're hitting capacity walls. Everyone's desperate for supply, wafers, advanced nodes, anything below five nanometers."

Timothy smirked faintly. "So the world's biggest names are in a bottleneck, and we just built a foundry with the newest 3-nanometer process in Southeast Asia."

"Exactly," Jensen said, pointing at him with quiet intensity. "Aurion's yield rates and production scale are the perfect answer to that shortage. Once we hit full ramp-up, your fab will be producing chips faster than TSMC's secondary plants outside Taiwan. And since this region is geopolitically safer and closer to Asia's main shipping lines, you control a vital point in the supply chain."

Timothy's expression hardened. "You're saying they'll come knocking."

"Oh, they already are," Jensen replied, sliding a small tablet across the table. On the screen were confidential memos, encrypted communications from corporate representatives. "Meta wants a dedicated wafer allocation for their generative AI servers. Google's interested in our high-efficiency accelerator architecture. OpenAI, on the other hand…" Jensen's lips curved into a small grin. "They want exclusivity, direct access to the Aurion process for their next-gen compute modules."

Timothy whistled softly, tapping the edge of the table. "And all that means contracts worth…"

"Hundreds of billions of dollars," Jensen finished. "Per cycle."

He exhaled slowly. "If we play this right, we'll control the most valuable commodity in the digital world, computation itself."

Jensen smiled. "You're starting to see the big picture."

"So…how are we going to play this?"

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