002.

The hover car has a clean and pliable design, and the bottomless black of the exterior has a cold, teal glimmer in the brightness of the flashlight. The seats are covered with what appears to be hand-stitched leather, and the car's interior exudes the faint yet uncomfortably penetrating smell of lilies.

The door closes with a light click, and the previously dark interior lights up with a dim green light flashing across the edges of the car's insides as the control panel brightens gradually. The youth makes a grimace at the sudden assault of the flowery odour and lowers the front windows before getting to doing anything else.

Adjusting the seat, the wheel and checking the system – those are all done in a matter of seconds, and even though Mo Caiyong could stay in the house for however long he wants after having disabled the alarms, he does not advocate for the unnecessary wasting of time, and the door of the garage is raised quickly, the dim light from the outside gradually filling up the air.

There seems to only be one problem.

Although the artificial intelligence of the car has been disabled and the door was opened successfully, the hover car still cannot seem to be started up without manually typing in a code of six numbers.

The touchpad with the numbers is also highly likely to have at least the most basic fingerprint reading function.

Mo Caiyong scratches his head as he glances at the screen, and he can't help but mutter a savoury string of curses under his breath.

The inner system could be solved, the breaking in all the same, could it really be that this was the detail he had neglected to plan out? Of course, Mo Caiyong is more careful than to make such a rookie mistake.

But it just happens that the six number code is impossible to solve in a short time, and it has to be personally set by the owner of the car right after purchase. The number is only used on rare occasions when it is absolutely necessary to do so, which is the reason why the fact that he doesn't possess any knowledge concerning this emergency code is quite understandable.

The youth reaches out, his fingers glazing over the lines of the plastic coating underneath the wheel, looking for those small, line-like shapes he hopes to find where they are supposed to be. Just as a small depression is found, a dazzling white rectangle with four black lines lights up on the smart panel, followed by a cold voice reverberating inside the car.

"AX28I64, 00S399. The emergency backup system has been activated, please enter the password to update with recent data or shut down. Repeatedly: the emergency backup system has been activated, please enter the…"

The sudden noise makes the youth shiver involuntarily, but he knows he can't make any rash movements at the moment. The main control panel of the AI has finally been exposed, and the remaining safety measures need to be dealt with as swiftly as possible. His brows furrow, and he takes no action to satisfy the system's request.

It is as if the backup system can sense that it's not being taken seriously, and the cold voice calls out urgingly, "Please enter the password in three minutes or less. Repeatedly: please enter the password in three minutes or less. If the password cannot be entered, touch the IUY chip to the blank sensor. Repeatedly…"

Repeatedly, repeatedly what? Even if he knows what the 'blank sensor' is supposed to be, he still doesn't have a chip, does he? Mo Caiyong squints his eyes as he fumbles with the panel. Other than this one last step, everything should be fine, after all, he had done all he could. If he is right, the car will start just fine even without the code and password. At this moment, he can only trust himself.

"The password is to be entered in two minutes and thirty-nine seconds. Repeatedly: the password needs to be entered in two minutes and thirty-five seconds. Repeatedly: the password needs to be entered in two minutes and thirty-one seconds. Repeatedly—"

"Would you shut the hell up?" Mo Caiyong really cannot take it anymore. He is so close to success, but this annoying voice...

"...Voice analysis in progress, repeatedly: voice analysis forty percent complete, repeatedly, seventy-nine percent complete. Voice analysis has been finished. Results do not match, identification failed. Repeatedly…'

"The password needs to be entered in ninety seconds or less! Repeatedly, the password needs to be entered in eighty-six seconds or measures numbered 437 will be taken. Repeatedly..."

Finally, just as there are only a few seconds left of the backup system's countdown, the main touchpad flashes blue, and a short tune signals the acceptance of the non-existent code. The corners of the youth's mouth curl up inadvertently, and the car is ready to be started.

Except.. There seems to be a small issue?

"Fuck." When started up, the engine makes only a pathetic, struggling hum. "There has to be a kill switch somewhere…"

"The time frame designated for filling in the password is about to end, repeatedly, the time frame designated for filling in the password is about to end!"

Mo Caiyong leans back in the seat as he tries to think.

Originally, all of TPQ's vehicles are made without kill switches, and only the most paranoid car owners like to install such thief-angering things. So where…

The youth feels the sudden urge to curse at somebody. You live in such a mansion with so many different layers of defence and still want to use such underhanded methods against this one! Isn't that simply wanting people to break in to tell them – oh, sorry, you thought you could, didn't you?

In practice, kill switches are generally installed in places that are convenient to reach, but not easy to find; meaning that it could be anywhere as long as… That's right, even if they can be hidden, even if they are close to impossible to find, they still have to be connected to a relay, and specifically one that, according to the user's manual, is positioned right underneath the fuse box!

Using the light of the phone, Mo Caiyong is trying to utilise those few fragments of memory from when he had read over the manual to pass time, which seems like an extremely wise and good decision looking back.

The dashboard's lower covering had already been taken off when he had been looking for the system panel, and the fuse box isn't difficult to find at this time. There is a thin tube leading away from it towards the centre console, disappearing beneath the covering. From here, the switch can be found easily, and the car starts up just fine.

"The time frame designated for filling in the password has ended. Measure number 437 is being taken, repeatedly—"

Mo Caiyong is not feeling half as annoyed before, and he even replies to the system as the car pulls out of the garage, "There is no use calling the police, darling."

As if in synch with his meaning, the voice sounds again, "Course of process has been interrupted, please check for any errors. Repeatedly…"

There is no new sound after that, and Mo Caiyong's expression relaxes visibly as he pulls into the traffic on a highway. Suddenly, the phone that has been staying conveniently quiet in the past few minutes flashes, and another message is added to the endless thread amongst the notifications.

The youth looks down, but doesn't reach for the phone, returning his gaze to the line of cars in front of himself after a mere glance.

Unfortunately, whoever the other party is, they do not like their texts being ignored, and soon the phone buzzes again. Mo Caiyong fumbles to pick up the call, putting it on speakerphone.

A loud voice fills the car, making the youth frown, "Yongyong, pearl of my heart, I don't want to alarm you, but where the fuck are you?!"