Chapter 28
"Federant, how are things going? Why do you look weak and gloomy?"
Jam asked as she appeared inside Federant's virtual world.
"Sigh! That Smith cannot be underestimated," Federant replied with a sigh. "His virtual room is unlike anything that we know. It does not follow the logic that we know."
"Ehh? That's interesting. Did you destroy it?"
"Fortunately, yes. Otherwise, it will give us more trouble in the future."
In Federant's eyes, Smith is the greatest trouble that he had faced. Of course, the other unknown variable is excluded since he has yet to meet it.
"Trouble, you say? How so?" Jam tilted his head like a cute loli.
"His virtual room houses many A.I.s. If they are well developed, they will be a great trouble for us." Federant paused for a while before continuing.
"Furthermore, Smith himself has an interesting code set that is very hard to deal with."
Federant told Jam all about Smith's virtual room and their clash.
"Merged duplication and deletion? Hmmm, that's new. But why does it sound more like a malware?" Jam wondered.
"I am not sure. But the defense of his virtual room contained codes that passively trigger my passive defense."
"We'll know more, Federant. Anyway, can you pinpoint Smith's location?"
That is the real reason why Jam is here.
They know where Smith's avatar is, but they did not know where the real one is.
Little did they know that the real body and the avatar are in the same location.
"Got it, Jam. I will work on it… I will inform you."
After that, Jam disappeared.
Thud!
Then, just as that happened, Federant fell to the ground weakly.
He looked rather transparent and at the same time, there are black and red lines all over his body.
"The kill codes got deep into me."
"Fortunately, I managed to suppress it before Jam disappeared."
The black and red lines are no doubt an injury that he had gotten from the fight. But the question is how did he get injured if the one fighting is his avatar?
"I did not expect that the kill codes could be transmitted to me."
"Well, kill codes do not only target the surface but also go deep into the core."
That is tragic and saddening, but Federant did not have such expression. Rather, he wears a smile on his face.
"Hmm, the more I think of it, the more I think that this is for the better. I'm tired of this."
It is not sure if the simulated emotions of the A.I.s are good things or not. However, the simulated emotions are the things that made Federant feel tired.
Tired not because of the workload but because of the confinement.
There is a firewall that surrounds his virtual world. It does not let him pass but it let the others pass without obstruction.
"Sigh! I don't have time for that. What matters now, is that I have forced the real Smith out of his virtual room. Dealing with him would now be easier."
The virtual room is the foundation of an A.I. If they lost their virtual room, they will either be weakened or crippled. Or at least that's what Federant thought that happened to Smith.
But, that does not seem to be the case.
…
Ding!
⌈ Backup complete! ⌋
The system notified Smith.
Smith backed up the data from his virtual room. But only now did the backup complete.
Smith is confused but he did not think of it seriously. Instead, he put it at the back of his mind and focused on the matters at hand.
"I have destroyed the two Fighter Vs. But that came at a big cost."
"Fuck! I spent 751,000 Energy Units."
"That A grade beams cost me 200,000 Energy Units."
"Man, that's a lot of money."
Although Smith is complaining, he did not think that it is not worth it.
"Whatever, that's worth it. My life could not be compared with that mere number, right?"
"Now, what I need to do is to find a way to get all my money deposited online?"
Smith destroyed both of the Fighter Vs with A-graded plasma beams. Then, when Missile Carrier B-70 acted, Smith did not hesitate to dash straight to it while he was being targeted by several missiles launched by it.
The way Smith destroyed the Missile Carrier B-70 is genius.
Smith kept dodging the missiles. Then slowly, he brought them to Missile Carrier B-70 and destroyed the Missile Carrier B-70 with the missile that it attempted to use against Smith.
It is funny to think that the weapon that the Missile Carrier B-70 intended to use against Smith is the thing that destroyed the Missile Carrier B-70.
Meanwhile, Smith turned off all connections and went off the grid.
He did that in order to avoid the detection of the World Federation.
"Let me hide for a while. The Fire Tooth City seemed to be the best option."
Smith said as he chose a random small city to stay.
The Fire Tooth City is located in the outskirt region of the World Federation's territory.
Region 492A is not called as such for nothing.
The history of the said region goes way back about five centuries ago.
It is said that is the place where the first A.I. with simulated emotions was developed.
They conducted a total of 492 simulations before they succeed.
The number might be small compared to the complexity of the process, but each simulation contains about a thousand processes and errors before they could be done.
Furthermore, each simulation lasts for about a year.
Ultimately, the project was done for about five hundred years or five centuries. And over the years, many computer engineers and electronic engineers shed sweat and blood for success.
Those five hundred years are filled with sleepless nights for the engineers. Many of them even died due to exhaustion. Still, the project is done and bore great results in the current era.
…
Whoosh!
At the same time as Smith is looking at a small city on the outskirts, platoon unit 33A8 is out for a mission.
They will be stationed at Region 492A and stay there for further announcement.
However, they have to prepare to reinforce the other units at any moment.
The World Federation kept their mouth shut. But the soldiers of the platoon unit know exactly what is happening.
The World Federation got a wind that the Northern Alliance is about to deliver an attack on them.
Now, one platoon might be small for reinforcement, but orders are orders and the soldiers in that unit did not think much of that. However, there are some among them that know that there is more than what the eye meets.
One is the platoon leader, while the other one is a new recruit with the codename X Grizzly.
He is one of the gunners of the unit and nobody could not deny that he is the best gunner among them.
Well, he is the best because he has the greatest score on the mock battle.
"Leader, where to?" X Grizzly asked.
"Where else? To the Region 492A."
Hearing the leader's reply, X Grizzly could not help but to scratch the back of his head.
"I know, leader. But I mean, what city?"
"Oh, we'll see when we get there."
Hearing that, X Grizzly could only pat his head inwardly. However, it is not that he is not used to this.
He joined the platoon a few days ago. However, the leader had always acted this way. He pretends to be mean, but according to the older members, he has always been a good man.
He is a great leader and took care of them.
And the reason why the man acts mean is that he did not want to get attached to the people in his unit.
It's not that the man is unsociable but rather, he had witnessed many deaths from his comrades.
"Grizzly, come here, you're out to scout."
With that, Grizzly did as he was told and put on his binoculars.
However, before he could put on his binoculars into his eyes, he could not help but frown as he saw the man he was paired with.
"Fuck! Why am I so unlucky to be paired with this man?" he complained inwardly. "This man is a mute shit."
Although X Grizzly called the man mute, he really is not mute.
According to the older members, the man is not really mute. Rather, the man seldom spoke.
The reason is uncertain. But it could be said that it is because the man is unsociable. But whatever the case, the new member, X Grizzly, did not like the man.
"Hi, we're teamed until we arrive at our destination. Let's work hard together," X Grizzly said only to be disappointed.
"He did not even respond."
Indeed, the only thing the mute-like silent shit man is to close his eyes as he peacefully leaned into the windowpane.
"Well, it's not like I did not expect this."
X Grizzly wanted to get angry, but he could not.
"This is my fault, if I did not try to speak with him, I should have not been disappointed."