Inside a large warehouse, dozens of men stood face to face. They were in two groups and everyone was carrying semi - automatic weapons. The atmosphere was tense as if a fight would break out if anyone makes a big move.
"You got what I want?" Asked an ugly man wearing a nice suit.
Beside him was a man with black suit holding a brief case. Which he opened, revealing the thousands of money inside the case. The ugly man grabbed a bundle of money and tossed it to the other man.
"Yeah, its good. Show him." replied the other man after flipping through the bundle of money. His name is Rick Sanchez, an arms dealer. Currently, he is in a middle of a deal with a new costumer who contacted him saying he needed weapons and body armors.
His men behind opened the two large crates that was filled with weapons and body armors.
"Excellent! You won't mind if I test it, do you?" asked the ugly man. He had a huge grin on his face. Seeing that Rick did not mind, he also signaled for his men to test weather the guns were good and the body armours were authentic.
Bang! Bang! Two gun shots echoed in the warehouse as the ugly man tested the weapon and the vest that was held by his subordinate. After a couple of minutes of testing, the other group were finally convinced.
"Sorry for that, brother." The ugly man apologized, seemingly embarrassed about what they did.
"No, no. Don't worry about it." Replied Rick. He had seen too many costumers like these people, and he was used to it.
Suddenly, the ugly man and his men made an unexpected move. The all fired weapons shooting Rick's men.
Due to the unexpected movements, Rick and his men were too late to react. Although they were already on guard, the unexpected move of the enemy was fast. THe only thing that that means is... they came prepared and planned. The enemy was here to kill, not negotiate.
Ricks men only held out for a minute before all their lives were snuffed out, except for him.
He was already tackled by the ugly man down the ground before he could reach out for his gun on his back.
...
Pa! Pa!
"Yo, Rick. You sure are a tough nut to crack. I'll ask again, where is the drive?" The ugly man already slapped him many times, but Rick doesn't seem to budge. He was tied on a chair and his arms were locked behind his back. His face was covered with black and blues. His lips swollen and his clothes bloody.
Bam! The ugly man seemed to lose patience as he launched a punch in Rick's stomach.
"Bwak!" Rick spat saliva as he bore with the pain. Before shouting, "I told you already, I don't know!"
"Really?" The ugly man suddenly smiled. "Rick... Rick Sanchez! Can you please not waste my time? As they say, 'time is gold' so tell me, where the hell is the drive?" His tone was slow and seemingly very kind, but anyone who heard him would go cold.
"I really don't know! I don't even know what you are talking about, what drive? I don't know no drive! FUCK!" With a scream, Rick shouted every word.
The ugly man was surprised by the sudden eruption of Rick. "Oh? Then I don't have any more use of you. On to the next guy."
Bang! Bang! The gun shots echoed inside the large warehouse.
...
Rick Sanchez's death was instantaneous. On bullet to the head, and another to the heart.
The ugly man and his men immediately left the warehouse after killing Rick, they did not notice a small white glow coming from his chest, it was not coming from his clothes, but from inside his body, right beside his heart.
It was originally a dim light but it slowly spread through his body making him glow. Then, slowly, the glow became dimmer and dimmer until it finally vanished. Everything returned to normal, except for Rick's body. It suddenly began to shrivel, like a man getting old very fast. It did not even take a minute before the only thing remaining was the skin on his bones.
...
'The Origin World System has successfully integrated with the soul of the host.'
Rick was suddenly jolted awake by the sudden sound that seemed to echo in his head. He was feeling groggy and was having a difficulty opening his eyes. His body seemed to be hurting all over and it felt like something was pressing on him, and it was heavy. Every little movement caused him to experience great pain.
Finally, after a couple of minutes, he could open his eyes, but when he opened it, all he could see was darkness.
Just as he was contemplating weather he was blind or something, a terrible smell suddenly assaulted his nose.
Cough! Cough!
He was familiar with the smell, it was the smell of death. The smell of blood and decaying bodies.
'Wha- What? Where am I?' His mind spun. It seemed that his head was working fine, and only his body was not working okay.
He immediately thought about many scenario's that he could possibly in.
'Was I buried? How could it be, I remember that man pointing a gun at my head and him, pulling the trigger!' Rick slowly recollected what happened.
'Body integration complete.'
'Scanning host... Scan Complete!'
'Updating Health Status. Severe injuries detected. The aorta is cut, hearing is not functional, eye sight is not functional, right leg is fractured, and the flesh is in state of decay.'
'Activating Automatic Body Repair. Body repair will be completed in- 59: 56: 21.'
After the series of notification, the so called system went silent. And Rick felt his opened eyes that could not see forcefully close by itself. It was like he was disconnected with his body, the only thing active was his mind.
Rick was surprised when he heard the voice. Upon hearing what the voice said, he was thrown into shock. If what it said was true, then he was really dead.
'Then how a I still aware of my self?!' He screamed in his thoughts.
...
'He-hello. Is any body there? I heard you talking earlier!' Rick shouted in his thoughts. Since he couldn't speak, he tried talking with his thoughts, and sure enough, there was a response.
'Hello, Host. Welcome to the Origin World System.'
'Hello. What are you?" Rick asked. He got a gist of what the so called system was, he just wanted to make sure.
'I am the Artificial Intelligence of the Origin World System.' It was a woman's voice, but it had no emotions in it.
'I mean... What is the Origin World System. Where did it come from, something like that."
'I don't know the origin of the System. I was just awakened a little while ago, the system commanded me to integrate with the soul of a being and help the host reach the peak of life.'
'Could it be... that you are the drive I stole from my boss's desk?' Rick contemplated. He stole the drive and run off when he had the chance. He did not access the drive, but he hid it in the heel of his boots for fear that the enemy might be able to track him down.
Why did he not give it to the ugly man earlier? It was because he heard that it was drive containing a virus that could shut down, access, or delete anything computer related in the whole world. At least, that was what he heard from his former boss.
Rick Sanchez was a marine. He served two tours in Afghanistan before leaving the corps. He was recruited by a man, his former boss, and became a mercenary for 3 years. It was then that he stole the drive and hid it for 3 years, knowing that it was a very dangerous item. He laid low for a year, building connections in the underworld, and finally becoming an arms dealer.
Why did he not just destroy it? Simple. Because if the drive really had that function, then it could serve as a deterrent force when he got arrested, there was a war, or anything bad that would happen to him. There was also a possibility that they could use this so called virus to take down a country, and as a former marine, how could he possibly do something like that. That would be a great sin.