Isaac looked around, noting the silence hanging over the vale now that the battle was over. Evening was giving way to twilight as the stars above them began to emerge one by one.
“Looks like we made it through this one.” Isaac breathed a sigh of relief. “I guess you guys have more survivability than I thought. Still, it goes without saying that you should avoid direct combat where possible.”
“I’ll set about recruiting an army of NPCs and players to guard me and clear dungeons posthaste,” Arthur declared, spitting out blood.
“Not any time soon you’re not,” Isaac cautioned, stopping in front of the Resurrection Shrine. “Jace, take Art to the town Doctor so he can get patched up, okay?”
“You aren’t coming with us?” Jason asked.
“I said I’d show you the ropes, but I’m still not joining you or anything,” Isaac declined, handing Arthur over to Jason. “I’m not gonna stop you two, but I’m gonna take my time and come to my own conclusions.”
“That makes us rivals then, doesn’t it?” Arthur smiled though a grimace, easing himself onto his feet with his cane.
“Something like that, I guess,” Isaac grinned, holding out his fist. “And even if I decide to revert things to normal, no hard feelings, right?”
“None whatsoever,” Arthur agreed, bumping his fist against Isaac’s. “We all have our own goals, but I doubt it will be long before our paths cross again. Don’t hesitate to call on me if you’re ever in a pinch, okay?”
“Likewise,” Isaac grinned.
“Um… I’m here too,” Jason interjected.
“Try not to do anything that would end up ruining Art’s reputation.” Isaac laughed, bumping fists with him.
“I always make sure I have a stooge to frame for any of my crimes,” Jason returned, also laughing.
“You’re not exactly inspiring me with confidence here.” Isaac smirked wryly. “Just don’t die out there, guys. You’ll have a hard time running for any kind of public office if any proof you existed is erased, Art.”
“I only ever take calculated risks,” Arthur responded, opening up his game menu. “See you Thursday, in the other world.”
“Real world, you mean,” Jason corrected, already shimmering out.
With a final flicker, the two faded away, leaving the valley empty again.
“You have good friends, do you not?” a voice commented.
“Yeah, especially since we haven’t even known each other that long.” Isaac chuckled nostalgically. “We started out really as just the three loners in our circle, and then ended up hanging out with each other more and more as time went on.”
“Do you trust them?”
“Absolutely!” Isaac laughed. “They’re both completely crazy, even by my standards, but I guarantee that whatever they’re starting here in this world, it’s going to change it for the better. They’re not idiots, I’ll give them that.”
“I see.”
It suddenly dawned on Isaac that he was talking to someone. Spinning around, he found himself face to face with Tenshi.
“Perhaps what I was missing was that degree of trust,” Tenshi continued, her face expressionless as usual. “But putting that aside, for what reason did you sneak off by yourself? The others have already logged back on and are waiting for you.”
“H-how long have you been watching?” Isaac asked, still flustered by Tenshi’s inexplicable presence. “Actually, how did you find me in the first place?”
“To the first, since a little before the battle took place,” Tenshi responded. “To the second, I always have copies of myself placed on patrol around the area I am located in. One such copy saw you use the teleporter in town, and I reasoned that this was the only other destination you would have saved. I then had a nearby clone on standby follow you from a distance.”
“Yeah, maybe trust really is what you’re missing,” Isaac shot back, annoyed. “I just went to help my friends start out here, and didn’t want to worry anybody. I was on my way back now anyways.”
“I see,” Tenshi nodded. “The others are waiting, we should return.”
“I guess I’ll have to explain everything to them.” Isaac sighed. “I was trying to avoid this, now they'll probably think I'm a jerk.”
“I see,” Tenshi repeated, tilting her head as if thinking.
Activating their game menus, the two teleported back to the town square.
*******
Once again standing in the city square, the pair made their way back to the hotel district in silence.
"A penny for your thoughts," Tenshi eventually addressed the taciturn Isaac.
"I really don't know," Isaac muttered, kicking a loose pebble. "It's just... All this talk about using BRYZ to change the world is giving me a very bad feeling. Don't get me wrong, I trust Art and Jace 100%, I'm sure they've got nothing but the best intentions. I really do believe that. It's just..."
He turned to Tenshi. "If they can use BRYZ as a platform to cause a real-world uprising, what's to stop others from doing the same? Turning BRYZ into an RPG is one thing; I already feel guilty about that. But what if what I've done leads to something even worse, Tenshi? Something catastrophic? I just... Don't know what I should be doing right now."
"I see." Tenshi nodded understandingly. "But as you said, BRYZ as it is surely cannot last much longer. No doubt countless people are currently tasked with restoring the damage, correct?"
"Yeah, maybe you're right and I'm just overthinking things." Isaac sighed. "Thanks, Tenshi."
She nodded wordlessly, l leading the way.
Upon reaching the back of the hotel in which the rest of the party was staying, Tenshi wordlessly gestured to the window of Isaac’s room.
“What?” Isaac questioned. “Weren’t we going to meet with Marie and Charles?”
“You said you wished to avoid a long explanation, yes?” Tenshi asked. “Charles and Marie do not know you have logged back in yet, due to your offline status. If you return to your room via your window route and head downstairs from there, you will avoid having to explain.”
“Won’t they notice anyway, ‘cause you’ve been missing for the past while?” Isaac asked.
“One of my clones is still inside waiting outside your door,” Tenshi explained. “Further, I never mentioned to the rest that you had left your room. To their knowledge, I am still up there waiting with the rest of them, and you have yet to log in.”
“I appreciate it, but why go through the effort?” Isaac asked.
“I believe I mentioned it earlier,” Tenshi turned to leave. “But I am endeavouring to have more trust in you, and Charles and Marie as well. I decided to trust that if you were leaving without a word, it was for a good reason. And so, I assisted.”
“Thanks, Tenshi,” Isaac smiled. “And I promise I’ll let the rest of you know the next time I take off.”
Tenshi waved in acknowledgement over her shoulder as she walked off towards the town center. Turning back towards the hotel wall, Isaac stretched in preparation.
“It’s gonna be way harder getting back up there than it was getting down,” he assessed ruefully. “I should probably be quiet about it too; SNEAK!”
All sound from him now nullified, Isaac pulled two daggers from his pack, and imbedded them into the wood of the adjoining stable wall. Next, using them as footholds, he clambered onto the roof of the building, gauging the distance between him and his open window.
Finally, steeling himself and breaking into a run, he leapt off the roof, grasping for the room’s overhanging sill. Fortunately, his hands found their mark, and Isaac pulled himself up into his room moments later, dequipping his weapon and travel clothes. Lastly, opening his menu he deactivated SNEAK and set his status to “online”, stepping out the door.
*******
Tenshi was waiting for him in the hallway, just as she had said.
“It took you long enough,” she whispered, following him downstairs.
“It’s not like YOU had to find your way through a second-storey window,” Isaac retorted.
Downstairs in the lobby, Charles was leaning against the wall next to the doorway going through his skill tree, and Marie was sitting down in the corner of the room curling weights. Upon seeing Isaac, both of them ceased their activities and went over to greet him.
“What happened?” Marie asked, dequipping her barbells. “Did your N-LiFe run outta juice on you?”
“I ended up carrying you back to your room,” Charles explained. “If I’d left you out there, some street urchins would probably have pawned off all your equipment.”
“Sorry about that,” Isaac apologized. “Little sister troubles.”
“Ah, gotcha.” Marie nodded. “Siblings can be a real pain, huh?”
“Oh? You’ve got siblings?” Isaac asked. “How many?”
“Seven of ‘em,” Marie said in an exasperated voice, ticking off her fingers. “Two older, four younger, plus a baby due in a couple months.”
“I feel your pain as a middle child,” Isaac nodded comfortingly.
“I think we’re losing sight of why we’re all meeting like this,” Charles interjected, looking at the time on his menu. “I have an early shift tomorrow, so the quicker we wrap this up, the quicker I can turn in for the night.”
“Right, Tenshi mentioned you had something to discuss,” Isaac nodded, turning to look at her.
“More accurately, she has something to explain to us,” Charles replied. “Don’t you, Tenshi, or whatever you are?”
Tenshi nodded slightly, and stepped forward. She paused for a moment, then turned to look at Isaac.
“Do you know what Project InTone is?” she asked him.
“More like “was”,” Isaac corrected her. “’Course I know what it is. It’s the subject of literally hundreds of online debates, memes, and conspiracy theories. It was Lynx’s second major AI project, with the focus on autonomy. It was scheduled for a major reveal multiple times, but people still weren’t over their first AI project, MezzoForte. Who doesn’t know about it?”
“Well, ah, me for one.” Marie raised her hand sheepishly.
“Heh, normie.” Charles scoffed.
“Really?” Isaac raised an eyebrow. “I guess it was more popular with the internet crowd in the first place. Still, the MezzoForte incident was huge, even if it happened before I was born. Long story short, a major Lynx shareholder had his mansion’s electronic security system, appliances, and everything run by Lynx’s most powerful AI. Unfortunately, something went wrong and his house caught fire, triggering no alarms and also mysteriously locking all doors and windows. The entire household died long before the firefighters were called in.”
“Yeah, and Lynx had to take full responsibility, after it was shown that the cause was a malfunction in the AI,” Charles cut in. “As the AI was connected to all the systems in the house, none of them were able to activate, resulting in the deaths of the residents. They called it a case of putting all your eggs in one basket.”
“Right, and that was a huge black stain on Lynx’s whole AI operation,” Isaac continued. “Over the years afterwards, they announced that they were reviving the whole idea under the new name of Project InTone, but a name change and a fresh coat of paint wasn’t enough to erase public fear. They never managed to gather the revenue they needed for the venture, and project InTone died before it was even born.”
Isaac paused, then continued. “See, there were a lot of rumours buzzing around that Lynx covered up a major part of the incident. For instance, both the cause of the fires and how they started simultaneously across the house remains a mystery to this day. A lot of folks on Ribbit suspect something more sinister than just negligence and malfunctioning AI.”
“More sinister?” Marie probed.
“There’s a large group of people that believe that in addition to being responsible for the shutting off of the security functions, the AI started the fires itself,” Isaac explained. “Being connected to all the electronics in the house, it would have been very easy for it to turn on the stove, oven, and toaster with nothing in them, crank the furnace, shut off the ventilation, and lock the doors and windows, among other possibilities.”
Isaac noticed Marie staring at him wide-eyed with disbelief, and backpedaled his statement. “Naturally, there’s no proof for any of this, but you know how the internet gets with theories,” he quickly explained. “Either way, Lynx could never escape the glaring suspicion of the incident, hence the failure of Project InTone.”
“Okay, I think I get it, but what does that have to do with you, Tenshi?” Marie turned to look at her.
“Simply put, Project InTone was never canceled, but was continued by a small group of researchers and shareholders, unbeknownst to the majority of the populace and company,” Tenshi answered. “I am one of Project InTone’s semi-final models of autonomous AI, JP-TEN-004, or ten-shi1, at your service.”
1In Japanese, “4” is pronounced “shi”, hence TEN-4 being able to be read as “Ten-Shi”
ns3.17.179.20da2
然後按「加至主畫面」