Chapter 3

 Trenton woke up from a nightmare of that night covered in sweat and unable to go back to sleep began pacing his bedroom floor. 

 " Hosts' restlessness detected " the system declared. 

 "Argh shut it already! " he growled and on an impulse when out of his apartment on getting out side he began a round of jogging. The doctor had expressly warned him not to tempt God and take a few additional days rest. 

 " Aw hell" he muttered and turned left into a side street keeping a steady pace and recollected the conversation between him and the cops the previous week. 

 " Mr Renfield I'm detective O'Reilly and this is a colleague of mine detective Max, we heard of your attack and we're looking into the case but first we need your statement" he explained

 " well it happened rather quickly, I... I'm still coming to terms with it" Trenton replied and spent the next forty minutes describing the scene, the cop's notepad was filled with the gruesome details. 

 " well" the detective said picking his words " Mr.. Renfield I must say that I'm impressed by your... Um... Recollection its surprising what the mind takes in, am I right detective? " the other gave a nod. 

 " Well be assured that we will get to the bottom of this and you will see your brother again " he assured and they shook hands

 Then he remembered how he had contacted those detectives and found out to his utter dismay that they had an accident while they were on a case, his case! O'Reily was dead and Max was comatose and fighting for his life. 

 He knew instantly that Ariel studios were behind it, it was no accident if any one had any chance of bringing them down, it was him. He turned back on his heels and continued in the direction of home, he had to get some rountine back into his life and already contacted the office, they were still a little shocked when they heard what had happened to him and lots of flowers, canned soups and get well cards kept pouring in, he had called them to let them know that he was on the mend and resuming on Monday two days from now. 

 He got back home in a sudden rage and went straight into his room where he stood in front of a mirror and watched his reflection. 

 " Hey you there? " he asked gruffly. 

 " Affirmative Host " the system replied. 

 " Have you got a name?" He asked

 " Negative host, however you have the right to give me one" 

 " okay to make things easier for us let's call you Veronica, is that fine?" 

 " Affirmative Host! " she declared. 

 " Veronica " he said testing for effect

 " yes host " 

 " you want me to believe that you're indeed a system right? " he asked. 

 " Affirmative Host "

 " I've found a way! If you want me to believe all this then you might have to prove it"

 " how..."

 " Show me what you can do" he demanded 

 " Understood, initializing! "

 He felt a sudden shock wave like he had just touched a live wire and virtual words appeared in front of him. 

 " What the ..." He muttered breathlessly. 

 " Welcome host, you are hereby entitled to an AI defense suit of the tier one grade, permission to activate" she prompted. 

 " Do it" he answered and floated upwards vertically and slowly got covered in a robotic titanium suit and a retractable helmet. 

 " here is only form of defense until you unlock other tiers " she explained. 

 " Not bad, not bad at all" he admitted " but I have got one last request, I need you to get me every reliable piece of info you can about termination and Ariel studios..." 

 " that might take a while as the owners are very meticulous in their secrets" 

 " I don't care just get me the info I need, oh and if you could find a way to secretly get me signed in as a player "

 " That shouldn't be difficult just give me five minutes "

 " thanks, I've figured that I'm the only one who can stop this" he said determined and waited after deactivating his suit, keeping his eyes fixed on the visual numbers counting in front of him. 

 36% followed five seconds later by 

 37% and then

 38% damn! This was way too slow it was enraging to know that it was just almost sixty percent and a couple minutes separating him from the info he needed and his stomach as if already tired of the whole ordeal grumbled nah that can't be right what he needed was breakfast. 

 " Um Veronica could you just transfer the info to my desktop, I've got to ruffle up something to eat or else I'll be dead before I even begin" he joked. 

 " No problem host " she replied. 

 " Also if you wanna remain my system, you might need to drop that "host" and start calling me by my name" he said and walked down the stairs. 

 Tucking into an almost depleted plate of omelette and Kippers, the sourness in his stomach replaced by a satisfying glow he inquired about the info

 " Done Trenton and mailed to your desktop" 

 " thanks, what about getting me signed" he asked and moved to a table where his out dated desktop stood and began dancing his fingers a top the keys. 

 " Completed! Your player name is Cyber Soldier" she declared and Trenton gave a wry one-sided smile 'this was beginning to get interesting' he thought and continued navigating his way through the info he had and planned mailing some very incriminating details to the cops or even the FBI and all the while keeping his identity unknown, oh yes he was going to be the anonymous dragonslayer, Termination just messed with the wrong Renfields he decided with renewed vigor and concentrated on the details staring at him.