"By the way, what should I call you?" Kola asked as he caught up with the woman.
"I am Code Name Sally, Fifth Generation Artificial Intelligence, property of Lindsay Corporation."
"So… Sally?" Clearly, Kola had no idea what any of that meant.
"That is not incorrect," she answered.
The woman led Kola to another room. This one was more welcoming, with a lot of creature comforts that Kola had previously never seen. There were some that even he did not know what they were.
There was also a table and a chair that resembled an office set up and a computer monitor on top. Kola did not know what any of this was, but since the woman offered him the seat, he did as told.
"Place your hands on the glass part of the table."
At first, Kola went to reach for the screen on the table, for which Sally exclaimed, "Not that!"
Kola saw that the table itself had a glass part that was directly in front of where the chair was. Complying, he did what she said.
Suddenly, a light emerged from the glass and scanned his hands. In horror, Kola jerked away, thinking it was a trap. However, the light did not seem to harm him in any way.
The next thing, the monitor on the table lit up and a message popped up on the screen.
"Do you want to take ownership of Code Name Sally?" There were two buttons, one green and the other red. They were labelled Yes and Cancel respectively.
"What's this?" Kola asked her.
Sallie explained that if Kola chose to accept the offer, he would receive her as his property. The benefits included having her around and to move around with her.
That did not seem like much, but as she explained, she possessed special abilities. At the very least, she would show him a way out of there.
Additionally, she could see through walls through something she called x-ray vision. She could detect warm bodies through infrared.
While actively searching, she could detect even the slightest molecules left behind by something on a trail, a more efficient tracker than a dog.
The list of her many talents went on and on. The more she talked, the more Kola got suspicious, how could something this valuable be so easy to acquire?
The was also the added bonus that if he acquired her, he would also acquire the space he was in.
"Why would you offer me this so easily?" Kola had to ask.
"I am tired of living in this dump. You are the first human I have met in a long time, and I want to explore the world. In truth, I am not offering you treasures, but you are offering me a chance to leave this prison."
Thinking about it, Kola found this to be a profitable offer. He immediately reached out to the monitor and pressed the green button.
Instantly, a hidden chamber opened on the table, revealing a small black dagger. The dagger itself was very blunt, looking more like it was used for show than as a weapon.
It's blade had inscriptions running on it, making it seem more like a ritual item of some long lost religion than a killing tool. There was a sheath next to it. The moment Kola held the blade, a powerful shock came from the device on his neck towards his brain.
"Sync successful, new owner approved." A prompt appeared on the screen.
Much later, Kola would come to learn that he was the only one who could see or hear her. He could also communicate with her through his thoughts.
To cap the story, Kola waltzed out of the chamber that he now owned through the front door, after using the robots to clear the pests outside.
***
"Are my eyes seeing right, that has to be the famous Lord Kola, right?" Kelim muttered excitedly.
"Look at their banner, that is his Kola Adventurer Team! It's them, it's definitely them!" An excited Ruitha replied. "If only …"
"What's so special about them, Kola is an evil wizard that uses sorcery to get ahead of everyone. If you ask me, he's just a nobody that got lucky," Keshi was feeling particularly salty that day.
"Lord Who?" Njeru asked.
"Of course you don't know a thing, why am I not surprised?" Keshi's salty attitude was such a drag sometimes.
"That is Lord Kola over there," Ruitha pointed at the almost resplendent figure. His majestic stance and stoic appearance set him apart from everyone.
The members of his team all had a strange symbol scrolled on their armor. The armor bore camouflage colors, something that was a complete oddity. This was one of the signature appearances that set them apart from the rest, the Kola Adventurer Team.
Looking over, Njeru was enamored, but not by Kola.
"Who's that beauty standing next to him?" Njeru asked, his eyes wide with awe.
"What beauty? Lord Kola is renown to be a great celibate, barely lets any woman near him. Even now, he still hasn't taken any woman for himself …" Keshi's voice trailed off with combined anticipation and frustration.
"Trust me man, if there was a beauty, I'd know, so stop fooling around." Ruitha quipped in annoyance. He had had to look for a beauty around Kola for a while, and ended up finding none.
Njeru was flabbergasted. The people around him did not seem to see the woman dressed in a white robe standing next to Lord Kola, yet he could clearly see her.
As Njeru pondered on this, the woman turned her head and looked straight into his eyes. She smiled gently at him before raising her hand and placing her finger over her mouth as she mouthed "Shhhh."