"Why do you pretend to sleep?" Njeru was startled, which was quite a feat. Njeru never slept, but he had noticed that others would close their eyes and lose consciousness at night.
Several times he had even offered to stay up all night guarding the camp, but the others had insisted that he took the time to rest. Njeru had never felt a need for it, so he spent the time processing data and analysing the events of the day.
At any given moment, Njeru was monitoring his surroundings. Not even a cricket could move without his notice within 50 meters. He had set this as his default monitoring settings since for maximum coverage. He lived among dangerous men, he had to take caution.
Of course his senses were greatly enhanced. His eyes could monitor using all forms of radiation, his ears could hear and document even further than an eagles.
Moreover, he could monitor every conversation taking place within his surroundings, aptly able to observe and record conversations all around him. He kept track of every footfall and observed the direction, speed and danger it posed.
To be able to catch him unawares was simply impossible, yet that is exactly what had happened.
Njeru took the time to observe the woman in front of him. He had seen her before, but now he noticed that she was not a real person, but a projection. Amazingly, he could see her, and she knew he could, yet she did not seem to have a problem with that.
"What are you?" Njeru asked. Even now he could not figure out who or what she really wanted.
"Do you even know what you are?" She shot back with a confident sneer, looking all high and mighty.
"Do you?" Now it was Njeru's turn to be shocked. Due to his naivety, the fact that someone had seen through his deepest darkest secrets and wishes, he could not help showing dismay.
"Who are you talking to, dude?" Ruitha asked as he got up. Both shared a tent and slept quite close.
"Oops, I forgot to tell you, only you can hear and see me, if you want to speak to me, send your thoughts directly to me, just like I'm doing." Sallie's timely intervention stopped Njeru from pointing at her and exclaiming.
"Sorry, bad dream," Njeru said under his breath. He had seen this among the other adventurers a couple of times, and this was the usual excuse. Everyone seemed to understand, even Ruitha saying consolingly, "The life is finally getting to you. Don't worry, it gets easier down the line."
"Who are you?" Njeru thought at her. Hearing his question, she answered:
"The real answer to any of these questions is not something you can understand at the moment, so I will not bother explaining. What I can tell you is that while I may have an owner, you are my true Admin. You have higher rights over me than my owner does."
"Okay, do you know who I am?"
"Yes. However, the answer to that is even more complicated than the first. Try as I might, there is no way to explain these things to you. However, You will understand when the time is right."
"What am I supposed to do with all this, do you even know anything? Better yet, what use are you?"
The woman was not very useful to Njeru, if at all. All the capabilities that made her valuable to Kola as a spy were worthless to Njeru since he had them too.
"You'll know," she chuckled mysteriously as she disappeared in thin air.
Over the next few days, the mysterious woman kept appearing unannounced all over Njeru. Every once in a while, he would spot her speaking with Kola, being all flirty with him.
What Njeru did not know was that Sallie could choose who got to see her projection. In fact, if she wanted, she could make her projection visible to everyone, but this had its limitations.
The group was meeting up with Kola's adventurer team. Apparently, it had been Kola who had discovered this unexplored ruin. This went to show how far reaching Nangi's connections were to get such a mission.
Kola could not explore the ruin by himself, but according to the initial assessment, this was bound to be a treasure trove.
Until they finally got to their destination, Kola would not reveal the location of the ruin, he did not trust the other adventurer teams very much. The adventurer world was extremely cutthroat, so everyone had to watch out for themselves, lest they find themselves gutted.
After eleven days of walking, they finally saw a wall spanning a fortified perimeter. It was here that Kola announced that they had arrived.
Upon seeing what lay ahead, the group was excited.
One of the most valuable types of ruins was the military kind. Not only did they hold plenty of weaponry, but the amenities were built to last. Therefore, it was not strange to find more valuable materials and equipment.
"What manner of trickery is this?" Nangi burst out in annoyance. "There is no way in hell this base is unexplored! This was simply a lie!"
Such a magnificent base could not have just stood there waiting for them. Of this, Nangi was sure. Not only him, every adventurer who had made the trip was feeling the same.
Finding an army base was easier said than done. Looking deeper in the base, there were clear signs that this place had been thoroughly explored, and whatever gains that were there to be had were already taken.
"Don't you dare take that tone with me young man," After a long period with Sallie, Kola had matured plenty, and so had his status. No longer was he a nobody developer. For the sake of his adventurer team, he would not let anyone look down on him.
"Don't worry though, just follow me," He knew even he would lose his temper. Like him, the crimson adventurer team had invested a lot in this expedition. They wanted a fat payout.