[The infiltration attempt has been blocked.] Volcan reported.
Jake was an AI like Volcan, although of a much lower level. The best proof of that was that it could not detect Volcan’s presence despite him having dove into the boy’s NIM a while ago. Through it, he was able to dive into the cylindrical Exocore, putting it under his control.
He didn’t do much except mess with the sensors the lower-level AI had access to, preventing it from noticing Dante’s presence. That said, he still had the option to shut it down at any moment.
As Dante stared at the boy, letters began to appear on the small, monochrome LCD screen attached to the cylindrical Exocore.
[Finn? What’s going on? Who’s there?]
Ghost Mode was currently active, which means the simple AI was incapable of perceiving Dante’s presence. It was able to establish a connection with something that wasn’t supposed to be there, and that connection was severed right away. That means, although it has registered his existence, he was once again invisible to its sensors.
"It sounds a little distressed," Dante said, returning his gaze to the boy. "You gave it a personality but not a voice?"
He had heard him speak to it earlier, but it seems the simple AI is limited to text only.
"Get... get away from him," Finn growled.
"Him? Don’t tell him you’re one of those idiots who treat AIs like they’re people."
The fire turned on Dante, burning him as well. Volcan was far removed from most AIs, to the point that he seems no different from a normal person. It was a little difficult not to think of him as a person. But an average AI that doesn’t even have a basic speech function?
"What’s it to you?" The boy asked. "Jake is... Jake is my friend! I won’t let you hurt him!"
For a moment there, Dante almost cracked, the corners of his mouth rising ever so slightly as he suppressed a laugh. It shouldn’t have been that surprising, seeing as he was dealing with a kid.
Not just any kid, though. He was a skilled Diver with a knack for electronics and machinery. Such a high aptitude would have made it difficult for him to fit in with his peers, but then you find out he’s an orphan hell-bent on killing someone. Having normal friends was out of the question for him.
And there it was. One more thing to make the mirror clearer.
The desire to torture the kid had lost more of its strength, leaving Dante even more annoyed than before. It was a bit paradoxical. How does not wanting to beat someone make one feel like beating them even more?
Dante didn’t understand what he was doing. Why was he extending the conversation? He had already obtained what he came for, and with his desire for revenge waning, he had no reason to remain. Despite that, he didn’t want to leave yet.
"You still don’t get the situation you’re in, don’t you?" Pointing at the EPU, Dante said evenly. "Should I erase it now? The client won’t like a hostile AI in their new Exocore."
The thing about being a kid is that, no matter how smart they think they are, they always tend to overestimate themselves. Just because they’re capable of doing things other people struggle with, see things others fail to see, they think they are special, and that they can take on the world.
A part of growing up is understanding how truly powerless you are, and that the world could easily crush you and move on. The lesson was difficult to learn and accept, but without it, one was bound to make mistakes too big to be fixed.
Something told Dante he should teach the brat that lesson, but at the same time, he felt indignant about it, seeing that he was there to hurt him, to make him regret having crossed his path.
This was the second time in a single week that he had to deal with a kid who didn’t know how the real world worked, the third if he counted that one red-haired rich girl. It all contrasted the situation he was supposedly in, and that only added to the exhaustion he was feeling.
’I’m not a goddamn baby sitter...’
Suddenly, the strange annoyance gnawing at him grew stronger, and with it came a memory from the depths of his mind. He found himself going back four years, to the time when his entire life took a sudden turn.
The thoughts he thought, the emotions he felt, and the events he experienced. But more importantly, the people he met. All of it assaulted him at once, flashing in a blur that vanished moments later, leaving behind an illusory weight that pressed on his chest.
It wasn’t unclear how much time had passed, but it was more than enough for the kid to recover a bit. Dante only realized that he had spaced out when the brat found the courage to move. He was reaching for the bag, but not the handle, showing that he wasn’t trying to pull it away.
It wouldn’t have served him any good to take the bag out of Dante’s grasp, which meant that he was aiming for something else. When Dante saw that the kid was grasping a zipper and trying to open one of the side pockets of the bag, he slapped his hand away, stood up, then raised his foot and kicked him away.
Finn slammed into the drawers behind him and collapsed to the floor once more. Sparing him a glance, Dante scoffed and turned back to the yellow bag, opening the pocket the brat was reaching for. Inside was an item he had ignored before, but now that it was in his hand, he knew exactly what it was.
"Seriously, what made you think that tasing me a second time would be a good idea?"
In his hand was a black rectangular object with two silver pins jutting out like the sharp fangs of a nasty viper. There was a single button on the side. When he pressed it, tendrils of blue electricity flew between the two pins, accompanied by a faint crackle.
Staring at the dancing sparks for a moment, Dante glanced at the boy and let a sinister smile slowly spread on his face. Finn’s eyes slowly widened as he saw him stand up. A few seconds later, a horrid scream echoed from the sealed underground room.