Aric was back for his breakfast on time, knowing that if he had been even a bit late, he would have faced dire consequences. He always bolted the door, and thankfully his parents respected his privacy. They never barged into his room, otherwise, they would have freaked out upon not finding their son inside.
After Aric came out for breakfast, he asked his father, "Dad, can you lend me 2000 rupees?"
His dad, who was busy chewing the poha early in the morning, stopped and looked at his son. "Lend? You mean give you 2000 rupees?"
"No. I mean lend. I will return the money as soon as possible," Aric hesitated a bit as he said this. This made his father laugh and ask, "Hahaha. Why do you need it? To buy a cricket bat and pads?"
"Something like that. But I want to give you back the money," Aric said. In his mind, he had all grown up, so asking for money from his father felt disrespectful to himself. This was the only way his mind could rationalize taking money from his father.
"Hahaha... Even if you don't return it, I will not love you any less. All I want is for you to get good grades and be happy," his father said. Avni didn't comment at all when she heard the conversation. After breakfast, Aric's father happily handed him 2000 rupees, and Aric was grateful for it.
"I am going out," Aric said after breakfast, not wasting a second to get out of the house.
"Come back early," Avni hollered from the back. Aric just took his bicycle and sped off. Today, he wasn't going back to Echorysia or Distant City. Today, he would finally take the step needed to establish himself in this world.
"Mira, are the documents ready?" Aric asked through the communicator.
"Yes, all the information is stored on that hard drive," Mira replied. Much time had passed since Mira had started its learning process. In most cases, any AI would find it very easy to manipulate stocks and make money or hack some corporations and be done with it.
But Mira was nothing like that. Any newborn AI was given specific codes that one couldn't easily break. One of the basic laws set for any new AI was that it should never break the laws of the land. In this case, Earth was the land, and Mira wasn't allowed to break the laws and help Aric reach the top.
Of course, there was a way to circumvent this: one could learn to make an AI from the interstellar world. But there, the rules for learning to make high-end AI weren't easily achievable, and one would have to pay a price to learn that knowledge. One could learn the basics of it, but with the basics, one couldn't hack any system in the universe as every system there was highly advanced.
Mira was a high-end AI, and thus the laws of using it were set, and one would have to destroy it to get past these laws. Aric was fine with the law. After all, if he took control over the internet so easily, it would destroy all of his fun. He would love the power struggle that would come soon.
He reached a café and printed the documents that Mira had made for him. These documents contained information that would be his first step toward taking control. After printing out 25 pages of information he had no idea about, he went to the international courier service.
His envelope was ready beforehand, and he inserted the 25-page stack inside. The manager checked the weight of the envelope, and it came out as 0.605 kg.
"Switzerland? You have a relative in that country? I heard this country is very beautiful," the manager asked when he saw the address on the envelope. Most of the Indians who lived in smaller cities and towns had a sense of community, and with it came a more intrusive sense of curiosity and lack of privacy. In any major city, no one would ask such questions.
But this was India. Not that it hurt Aric in any way, but the current Aric was annoyed by the question.
"I heard that too. I do have an acquaintance there and maybe someday I will go there. This is my ticket," Aric replied as calmly as possible.
"Hahaha... Then I hope this ticket of yours gets you an actual flight there," the manager said as he accepted the 1800 rupees for the courier service and the guarantee for it to reach the desired location in 10 days. Aric smiled and cycled back on the dusty and dry winter roads.
After experiencing snow, the dry road came as a boon for Aric as he had struggled through the thick snow the previous night.
"Mira, do you think they will accept the documents and check them?" Aric asked as he happily cycled through the streets.
"According to the reviews posted on their open website, the likelihood of this occurring is 76.23%," Mira replied through the earbuds connected in his ears 24/7.
"How is your learning going on? Can you legally manipulate the stocks?" Aric asked, wanting to get rich fast and then go for power.
"I am learning at the highest speed possible, but the internet here is slower than a snail. I am capable of legally maneuvering; however, following your current roadmap, attempting to do so now may lead to complications during your pursuit of power," Mira replied.
"So you mean to say in the future some people might use this against me?" Aric replied.
"There is a 56% likelihood of this occurring."
"Sigh. Whatever. I just hope those folks there read them and make necessary checks. It would help me set the stage," Aric mumbled. He went back home to his room. Yesterday's drama wasn't devoid of profits. He did get his hands on a runic circle, and he was kind of excited about it since this runic circle was quite precious.
At least for him.
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