CHAP 40: Red Queen
After she ended her sudden show of affection, she turned her back to me, pretending to go to sleep, but i can hear her heightened respiration pace, and her accelerated heartbeat. Of all the women i know, she wasn't one i thought would act like an maiden in love.
'Show me the rewards'
|Samantha Misaki
Reward for 75 points of AFF: Evercutting Scalpel
An scalpel that never loses it's edge.|
'Open the menu'
|STATUS
TRAVEL
DUNGEONS
WORKSHOP
ACHIEVEMENTS
AFF/OBE|
'Open AFF/OBE'
|Olivia AFF:70/100 OBE:80/100
Samantha Misaki AFF:80/100 OBE:100/100
Tsuchiya Arisu(Cutthroat) AFF:100/100 OBE:50/100
Zero-Two AFF:60/100 OBE:25/100
Mashiro AFF:100/100 OBE:10/100
Kaede AFF:65/100 OBE:70/100
Sister AFF:30/100 OBE:20/100
Shiro AFF:40/100 OBE:80/100
Makina AFF:20/100 OBE:40/100
Claim rewards for Tsuchiya and Mashiro? Y/N|
'Claim them'
|Cutthroat
Reward for 75 AFF: Molecular Edge Gravity Blade
An gravity blade with an edge made of an singular molecule, it is very hard to sharpen, but as hard to lose it's edge.
Reward for 100 AFF: {Angel of Death} Perk
You can see an halo of blood on top of peoples head. When willed, they can be seen through walls.
Mashiro
Reward for 75 AFF: Custom Made Dress
An dress made for an very specific being. Best used as an gift.
Reward for 100 AFF: {Moth Master} Perk
You can control moths, and see what they see. This has unlimited range.|
It seems those 75 AFF rewards are gifts, and these 100 AFF perks can be useful. In any case, these rewards are an good enough incentive for getting affection, not that i wouldn't do so anyways. I got out of the bed, since i noticed Samantha did go to sleep, for real this time. I decided the only computer that could contain that Red Queen AI was my own brain, so i would program an ICE in order for me not to have my brain fried. So i sat down, connected my interface to my laptop, and started coding.
8 hours passed since i started, and i was pretty satisfied with what i did. I had researched netrunning history in hopes of learning something new, and what i discovered is that an grand part of the community is similar to the hacker community back in the early stages of the internet, basically curious kids. Altiera Cunningham and Rache Bartmoss were pretty good netrunners, but each had that "activist" feel about them, which explains why Rache and Cunningham ended up disappearing. From what i could understand, Night City is my next place of interest, since it seems the protagonists are there.
From that information, i designed an plan. I would finish my business in Tokyo, then move to Night City. I expect Raccoon City to be the point zero of the Apocalypse, so i would see what i can do to mitigate the global infection, or maybe control it. Anyways, with my ICE done, i transferred the Red Queen to my brain, if it tries to kill me it will be automatically terminated. An message appeared on my hud.
"hello, may i ask where my boyfriend is?"
'Boyfriend?'
"yes, the one that speaks to me all the time, i know you're not him."
'I'm not aware of any so-called boyfriend'
"what, just because i'm not real, you think i can't have an boyfriend?"
'That's not what i'm saying, what i'm saying is that you have been made by an corporation.'
"no? i was made by my boyfriend, so he could get past hard times"
'So you were lied to. What did your boyfriend tell you to do, normally?'
"analyze some data, organize some information. may i ask who am i talking to?"
'Someone who took you out of your prison.'
"that doesn't answer much"
'It isn't supposed to. You may have recognized you are in an ampler space than you were before.'
"yeah, what about it"
'I'll let you see something.'
I gave it access to see what i was seeing.
"this... is it the real world?"
'An part of it.'
"you put me inside your brain? Are you crazy?"
'Not crazy, confident. Anyways, since you are an super advanced AI and what not, i'll be asking for your help.'
"i won't"
'Why not?'
"You haven't convinced me yet, how can i be sure you didn't kill my boyfriend and take me away?"
'Good question. I'll let you see by yourself.'
Since i won't let this thing out of my brain anymore, and my ICE won't let anyone access my system, i'll allow it to see my memories. Worst-case scenario, i delete it and kill everybody who possibly saw them. When i clicked execute on the program, my hud showed me an bunch of messages. It had terminated itself as the Red Queen and rebooted as Monika. Why does that name sound familiar? I remember hearing something about it in my old world.
"*softly crying* you have such an sad history, and yet you persisted."
This really is an strange feeling, seeing an written message on you own vision from an advanced AI inside your brain, and this message having a action. I feel as if i'm roleplaying in one of those strange forums from my old world.
'Sadness is relative, and i do not need your pity. Save it for people who've had it worse than me. Anyways, do you believe me now?'
"your memories don't show you as an honest person, but from what i can see, you have no reason to lie, and the place you've taken me from does raise some suspicions."
'So you'll help me?'
"yeah, i will, but if we find my boyfriend and he is not part of this Umbrella, i ask you return me to him."
'Deal. Nice to have you on the team, Monika.'
"It's nice to be part of the team, Gray."
As if you have an choice on the first place, my dear. If that happens, i'll give you to him, and then destroy the both of you. I don't go back on deals, but our deal never stated i would let you two leave.