Luca DR
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Edge of apocalypse 50
🕑 Added 2023-05-29 16:40:33 +0000 UTCStealing the core of a building and replacing it with an AI built on a GPT-4 model – developed and fine tuned in less than two days – proved to be a monumental task. Taking the physical thing out of its socket and plugging the AI in its place was the easy part, easier than Samantha expected. What would not be easy now was leaving the Quadrangle without raising any alarms, all the while carrying a crystalline sphere as large as a human head and weighing at least thirty kilos.
The AI taking its place was bound to break down once put under scrutiny, but a backdoor conveniently built into its architecture will allow Samantha to know exactly when that happens.
As she stalked the corridors, carrying the great weight of the core and struggling not to show the growing fatigue on her face, she came across a man walking briskly past. He was wearing a jacket and tie, smoking a cigarette with no regard for the fact that he was indoors and the last time smoking indoors was allowed was decades ago. She considered stopping and telling him something, but her brain quickly made the connection and she tried to walk past, pretending she didn’t notice.
He did notice her, though, and when he stopped walking Samantha knew there and then that she was the reason he did it. She mirrored his action, spinning on her heel so that the weight of the core would swing behind her and be hidden from view. The string connecting the net that allowed her purse – stretched beyond its limits to fit the core – to not break under the weight of the thing dug into the bare skin of her shoulder.
She schooled her face, adjusting a lock of her black hair as not to show the growing condensation of sweat on her forehead.
The man with the lit cigarette stared at her, squaring her up. The two had never met before, but they both knew who the other person was. He was the Overseer, sent there by the HDF to, as the name suggests, oversee operations until it was decided that normal BSA activity could be resumed. His presence meant that the Handler (Samantha’s superior) was out of cards to play to protect her, and she was using up her last aces up her sleeve as well.
“You, exactly the person I wanted to see. What are you doing here?” The man said.
She fought the urge to clear her voice, throat dry. How long has it been since she wasn’t in full control of the situation? And yet, the thrill of excitement made her feel more alive than usual.
“Sir, I am still the head of the BSA. I am simply doing my job.”
“There is no need for you to be here. And you won’t be the head of the BSA for long, trust me. A committee will arrive soon to decide on that but, well.” He smiled, but there was no malice nor compassion. Only cold eyes regarded her above the thin lips.
“Regardless,” she said, slowly, carefully. “I will still be on site until the very moment I get removed from my position, sir.”
She made sure to add weight to the last word, staring at the man in the eye. She felt the weight of the core pull her down, but she willed herself to stand up tall, towering over the man thanks to the added height of her heels. A stable element of her every outfit, no matter how uncomfortable. He didn’t buckle nor show signs of discomfort, instead only looking at her with his expression growing increasingly bored. She almost wished she could punch him in the face, before the thought was purged from her mind and she reminded herself that she was better than that.
“Very well. But a word of advice: it’s better if you limit your activities to the more… mundane aspects of your job and leave the rest to me. There will be a thorough restructuring of this organization in the near future.”
She smiled at him as she nodded, turning her back to him and leaving the compound with quick but confident steps. As soon as she was out of view, however, she allowed herself to slump against a nearby wall and adjust the weight pulling her down. It felt much heavier now than it had any right to be, the damned core.
Something was off about her. She should have a good chat with her father, because the way she was growing softer and weaker by the day was in no small part worrying her. Not in physical strength, of course, but in the resolve of her character. Even as she stared down the Overseer, all she could think about was that should she get captured after a misstep, her son would be left all alone in the world. To survive an apocalypse that not even she was sure could be avoided. System or no system.
***
[New Quest: Coreful Setup.]
- The Quadrangle core is now in your possession, but after it was removed from its cradle it fell into a dormant state. It will need additional materials in order to be awakened from its dormant state.
- Retrieve 1kg of Plutonium-239
- Reward: Dodge skill video.
“Plutonium? Are you out of your mind?” Albert’s mother blurted out.
Albert had immediately informed her of the contents of the new quest as soon as she showed him the core, knowing full well that this time the system was not asking something easy of them. But, if there was a person in the world who could get their hands on such an exotic and dangerous material in a short amount of time, it was his mother.
He was still debating on where to deploy the core, but in the end his mind settled to doing so near Elvenhome, in the outskirts of the valley. His mother agreed only after he explained that he counted on having some sort of teleportation devices figured out by that time – basing their design on the study of the broken device that the Peer at the Leviathan quest gave him, when he asked his mother about the HDF, back at the diner.
Something about having to get his mother’s approval ignited his rebellious instincts, but at the same time the thought of having someone to defer to who was capable and expert was reassuring. Plus, he was quite glad that she was on his side, for he had no idea how he could come across some uranium by himself.
“Fine. It can’t be helped. I’ll see to it, but you will have to be the one to do the heavy lifting. Speaking of which, in preparation for that mission, I have a task for you.”
Albert hummed.
“First off: have you figured out teleportation?”
“Yes!” His eyes lit up like they always did when he talked about magic. “I can take stuff with me, but it increases the mana cost. A lot. Especially when I do it with the long-range mode.”
“Current limit? For the long-range.”
“120 kilograms.”
Samantha narrowed her eyes. “In total or of just cargo? Be specific.”
“Cargo. I didn’t count myself.”
“Good. It will be sufficient.”
“Can you tell me what you want me to do?”
A shadow passed over Mother’s face before it was replaced by a warm smile. Albert had no idea, but in her mind first came the frustration of having an underling question her orders, and only after came the realization that he was her son and not just another underling. All this added fuel to the fire that was her inner turmoil, which had not resolved itself when she left the Quadrangle and the bad encounter with the Overseer behind.
“Of course.” She said. “I have a contact. He works for Transit Global, a delivery company known for its sizable division specializing in handling... sensitive shipments. They require swift and discreet transportation for certain items that may not be entirely within legal boundaries. Your teleportation abilities would be invaluable to them. Naturally, before we can proceed with the actual exchange for the iron they've promised, you'll be required to perform a brief demonstration of your capabilities.”
A teleportation of goods in exchange for some puny iron? Albert was aware that elemental, pure iron was expensive, but this seemed a bit much.
“The iron is just the first step to build trust, Albert. If it was only iron we could just buy it online, but since the system has already demanded Plutonium, I am assuming that the strange requests will not end here. The first transactions are always to build trust, but with time you will get more powerful, and they will become more dependent on us, giving us bigger and bigger deals and so on.”
Ah, now it made sense.
“For the demonstration, or rather in preparation of that, you will take a nice and inoffensive trip to Singapore. This way you will have the location on the map available for teleportation. I already bought you the plane ticket. You will go to the address I give you and return as soon as you can.”
“…alone?” Albert asked, feeling something rise within.
“Yes. I still need to do some things and cannot come. Is that a problem?”
“No, just—”
“Take it as training, Albert. I won’t always be here to spoil you in the future. This will be a good opportunity to get used to some independence without any added danger. It’s just a plane flight, after all.”
Well, Albert thought, she wasn’t really pulling any punches here. She used to call him sweetie and pamper him at every turn, being a very loving mother that only once in a while happened to feel a bit distant because she had to work long hours. Now she was… strange. Like he was talking to two different people at the same time, without knowing which one will surface at any given moment.
This hadn’t been his mother telling him what to do. It was Samantha Cromwell, the woman who had decided to become his teacher and mentor who also happened to be – coincidentally and strictly outside of work-related matters – his mother.
