[I didn't expect you to be a sly person, Jeremy Grayson. You cleverly lured the enemy to kill Connor and stole the information too.]
"Although you surprised me as well Axela that despite being a genius AI, sometimes you can't read my thoughts."
Jeremy provoked her intentionally expecting to see how far she could react like a human.
It would give him an insight about her programming and intentions, after all an AI popped out of nowhere was suspicious.
[So you are implying that I'm useless, huh? Fine, I will see how long you can last without me.]
"Haha, hey, hey...did I tell you how much indebted I am to you?"
The sugar tongued man knew how to talk to women and that's why Jeremy was involved in various scandals.
[Is this how you praise a woman?]
"Are you a woman though? I thought you were just an AI."
He smirked while walking towards the shelter home, he had nowhere to go now and to stay low key was his priority.
[I still have a gender okay!]
"Okay, okay. Stop hopping in my head, it hurts."
Jeremy entered the housing and flung his arm out to do identity verification. Axela had already changed his system fully and updated it with each proceeding identity.
He succeeded in getting a room and the first thing Jeremy wanted to do was take a bath. The room was high tech and comprised of every basic necessity, although Jeremy belonged to the noble class.
"Now lets see what we got."
Jeremy hopped om the bed and comfortably waited for Axela to play the recorded files.
[I have transferred the files into your memory, it will play in one minute.]
A sharp pain hit his head again and the vision got blank before a stream of light emerged, Jeremy couldn't believe what he saw the folders were digitally present in front of him.
"There are so many folders, jeez!"
He swiped his hand in the air and skimmed through the files to find some interesting title.
Soon with little effort Jeremy came across a folder entitled with his name, he paused for a moment and gulped. Something was stopping him maybe a prior hunch that the realization would definitely hurt him.
[Go ahead! Why are you reluctant now?]
Jeremy opened the file and read his case in which he was presumed dead, and his earned reputation was smeared intentionally.
He already knew this information but one statement disturbed him.
*Subject 45001 has gone rouge!*
"I have seen a file with this number before."
He immediately skimmed back again and found the folder with the same title.
[Seems like a record of some experiment.]
"It seems so. But even if it's an experimental record then why did Connor have it? He was an ordinary cop."
Axela was equally blank on the particular question, same as Jeremy.
He shook his head and without thinking further opened it only to see a list of names and tag numbers. Jeremy found his own name in the list on the top with that tag number 45001.
"What the heck is this? Subject? Rouge? Are we under some sort of specialization?"
Jeremy yelled in his head angrily which made Axela scold him for hurting her ears.
Her digital image was floating besides him in that black void where Jeremy was stranded along with the files. It was his subconscious brain where they both were chatting and Jeremy could see Axela.
[Mm. There is no other record related to this list, it seems that Connor was appointed to keep an eye on the movements of these people.]
"Fuck! Now what?"
Jeremy groaned and turned around in rage he could not grasp the thought, it was unbelievable for him that he was a part of an experiment.
[I'm sorry you have to go through this Jeremy Grayson. But no matter what you will do now, I will be by your side.]
Axela placed her hand on his shoulder although Jeremy couldn't feel any warmth from her. But it calmed him that there was someone he could trust now, Axela saved him and had stood by his side in dire need.
"I have to dig in this information. All these names are from Connor's police station and a few are related to the detective profession. If I somehow find a way to contact them then perhaps I can observe what kind of experiment this is."
[...]
Axela expected a warm gesture from him but instead Jeremy's investigation mode had clouded his senses. He has been going through an identity crisis and wanted to find answers, after seeing the familiar names he was desperate now.
•••
Whereas a storm has been stirred in the agency that somebody was out there, and had been targeting the people related to the experiment.
"Chief, how should we proceed now?"
The man had been keeping an eye on the cameras of the whole city and didn't find anyone suspicious.
"I have no idea which wall I should bang my head!"
The chief was still waiting for the orders from the dead guy, all the information was passed to him regarding Jeremy's disappearance.
He was also filled in with the emergence of the anonymous person but no response came from him. Because nothing was found in their databases which made everyone confused.
And yes, it caused them the fear of the unknown too. Because now the slim possibility of their horrendous experiments getting exposed had appeared.
The chief was still immersed into his thoughts while the employees were doing their jobs like machines. Just then a beep resonated in his head and he opened the message on his wrist.
'A giveaway system?'
He received the order of arranging a competition which was supposed to be open to rich, nobles and commoners.
The people will undergo a verification and the sessions of trials, it would be easy to track down Jeremy by splitting the crowd.
But perhaps Jeremy would seize the opportunity to sneak into the system once again.