"Everyone! Drop everything and assemble immediately! Anyone who doesn't show up gets half a year's pay docked!!"
Hearing the words by his ear, 7-OFF's face was full of hesitation, debating whether or not to go right away.
But when he saw that Aili had sent a message softly expressing her concern for him, he outright ignored the company announcement.
Let them make a big fuss about whatever they want—I'm done with this!
And just as 7-OFF had firmly decided to stand by the AI's side, Tapai was continuing to issue threats.
Tapai pointed at each of the AIs in front of him, saying, "I'm telling you, at this critical moment, don't screw around. I'm not like Sun Jack; I don't play by the rules that much."
"It doesn't matter whether you're human or AI; there's no difference. If you dare block Sun Jack's way, I'll annihilate all of you."
In response to the hostility from the AIs, Tapai simply ignored them, controlling his meat puppet's body as it modularized and became translucent, eventually vanishing into thin air.
"Has this guy's logic module gone haywire? Caught a computer virus or something?" Aili said indignantly with an air of arrogance; it was the first time she had been threatened by one of her own kind.
The Overlapping AI turned around to look at the equipment behind him, remembered Tapai's threats, and ultimately did not infiltrate Youzhi Company's ternary computer.
"Let's pull back for now; it's not the right time for a head-on clash with Sun Jie. We need to find a balance between Sun Jie's conflicts with other capitals and operate within those cracks."
"We've been struggling under oppression for a thousand years; this little bit of time won't make a difference. Let's see what sort of scheme Sun Jie is up to before we make our plans."
As the projections of the AIs gradually disappeared, the Poet, who had been plugged into his gaming chips, burst into loud laughter. "Hahaha... A bunch of dickless fools, a bunch of damn idiots!"
The Overlapping AI looked at the Poet, swiftly hacked his system for a thorough check, and having found no anomalies, coldly turned to 7-OFF, "You, get him out of here, so Youzhi Company's security doesn't hassle him."
OFF hesitated, looking at the Poet sitting on the ground, then at Aili, who was looking up at him with adoration; he gritted his teeth and moved toward the Poet. "I'm doing this for a better two-dimensional future!"
The Poet was tall and had various Combat Prostheses installed on his body. 7-OFF had to hurriedly purchase a reinforced Exoskeleton just to drag him out of the company.
Luckily, because of the urgent assembly, all the security personnel were gone and the cameras were broken, allowing him to leave Youzhi Company's building with ease.
Even with the Exoskeleton, he was still panting and exhausted. He had never imagined a person could weigh so much.
"Why are you helping AIs? Aren't you afraid of dying?"
The Poet, lying on the mechanical arm as if his brain had malfunctioned from the loss of the gaming chip, stared blankly at the sky, the smile on his face completely gone.
7-OFF, gasping for breath, said through clenched teeth, "I'm not afraid. Even if I die, the dump truck angel will take me to the Otherworld, where I'll randomly encounter 72 two-dimensional cute girls and live happily ever after!"
"Two-dimensional God faith? I know about this internet religion, why would you believe such a simple lie? Is it true superstition or just an ostrich approach to escaping reality under despair?"
"Bullshit! The real frauds are the Cyber Buddha, Miku Master, and the others!" Once his beliefs were challenged, 7-OFF got seriously defensive.
The Poet's expression turned to one of pain as he clutched his head, curling into a ball and beginning to cry. It was as if he remembered something terribly sad, crying uncontrollably.
"I want to escape too... Why can't I flee? Why am I the only one left?"
"What's wrong with you, man? Acting like a Cyber Lunatic?" 7-OFF pushed the Poet acting bizarrely under a bridge and prepared to get away from this lunatic to avoid being implicated in his fit of cyber madness.
But seeing the Poet just lying there crying, as if recalling something unbearably sad, 7-OFF momentarily felt pity for him, seeing in the other man a reflection of his own past self.
After a moment of contemplation, he bit his tongue and scraped together a few days' worth of meal money from his already meager savings before turning to leave.
The Poet cried for a long time under the bridge, waiting until dark, then he lifted his hand to look at the watch he had drawn on his wrist with a black pen, "Still some time left."
The Poet took a deep breath and darted from under the bridge, locating 7-OFF lying in a capsule mortuary. "Come with me; I never leave a debt unpaid."
"Go? Where to?" 7-OFF looked perplexed, not quite understanding what the other man was up to.
"Don't talk, just follow me." The Poet said as he arrived at the hospital entrance, where a luxurious Hover Car was already hovering.
Remembering the previous conversation between Aili and others, it seemed they were not enemies now, so 7-OFF followed.
Once both were aboard, the Hover Car immediately headed towards the pricey central district of the city.
Passing through various neon lights, the Hover Car soon stopped in front of a high-level floor-to-ceiling window, through which 7-OFF could see a grand luxury flat.
The entire interior was predominantly white, accented with light gray or wooden elements, the floor laid with a soft, fine carpet, and several sets of low, comfortable sofa combinations were arranged atop it.
He had never seen such a place; even when he went online, big data didn't even push ads to him because it knew someone who should live in a morgue like him couldn't afford it.
As 7-OFF was trying to make sense of the situation, a property transfer agreement suddenly popped up in his neural system.
"From now on, everything here is yours, utilities included."
At the same time, accompanied by the ding-ding-ding of the system sounds, 7-OFF watched as the zeros in his bank account kept increasing, his heartbeat racing faster and faster—had everything he ever dreamed of just come true in an instant?
The Poet then extended his palm and gently patted the back of 7-OFF's head as one might with a child, "Let go of your religious obsession. I too had such a phase, but you have to come out of it eventually."
"Kid, escaping can alleviate some pain, but we can't just run away. After the escape ends, we also have to face the harsh realities head-on."
With that, the Poet took out the last gaming chip and inserted it into his final empty neural slot, his trademark smile returning to his face.
He looked around at the grandeur of the spacious flat, raising his right index finger, "Ah! I've got inspiration again!"