After driving for a couple of hours, they arrived at the Rebellion Crusaders' hidden HQ. “I must say you guys have amazing camouflage tech,” said Ethan.
“Thanks, it's kinda our specialty since we’re hiding from the robots,” Max said with a smug smile.
He led Ethan & Tony to the head of the HQ's office and spoke with her while Ethan & Tony waited outside her office. As they were standing outside the office, Ethan sensed hostility and malice towards him, “Hey Bradley?! Could you keep your malice in check, we’re not your enemies.”
Bradley didn’t answer as he was leaning on the wall with his arms crossed and was still staring at them.
“I think he’s still sour from how I handled him earlier,” Tony said as it triggered Bradley who swiftly dashed at Tony out of anger.
Tony expected this from Bradley as he countered him with a hook punch but he was not expecting such a fast unorthodox counter from Bradley as he slipped under Tony’s punch and appeared behind him. Bradley quickly put his arm around Tony’s throat and tightened his grip while pulling down Tony with his weight and kicking the back of Tony’s knees as they fell on their backs. Bradley had Tony in a headlock and was blocking off Tony’s air but, “Something doesn’t feel right. His skin is tough, his throat is rigid and he seems unfazed by this headlock,” thought Bradley.
Moments later, Tony stabilized his feet and lifted himself back on his feet with Bradley still enforcing the headlock. “What are you?” said Bradley as he was shooketh, for he had never encountered someone who could resist his headlock.
Max and the head of HQ walk out of the office and see Bradley hanging onto Tony, “What the? Bradley! What are you doing, get off that man immediately,” said Max. Bradley kept the headlock on Tony and even tightened it to the max, but he was still unfazed by it which completely annoyed Bradley then he let go of Tony, “Colonel Ezra, something’s not right with these two. This guy has inhuman strength while the other guy survived a few shots from the M16 without a bulletproof vest.”
“But he already said that he was wearing violence-proof clothing which is why he was not injured by the bullets,” said Max.
“Violence-proof?” said Colonel Ezra.
“It’s probably their world’s version of the bulletproof clothing,” said Max.
“Yeah but that doesn’t explain this guy’s inhuman strength,” said Bradley.
“Bradley, they’re from another world so there are many possibilities as to why he’s inhumanely strong. What are you even trying to suggest here?” asked Max.
“I’m just trying to remind you that you just met these guys in the middle of nowhere and you trust them enough that you brought them into our HQ without even checking if they're human or robots. You know the capabilities of robots and yet you are fine with not checking these two,” said Bradley.
“If it bothers you that much then we’ll do a security check on them if they don’t mind,” said Colonel Ezra.
“We don’t mind so long as these security check-ups aren’t painful,” said Ethan.
“Oh don’t worry, they’re not painful so long as you’re not a robot,” said Max.
They made their way to the security lab of the HQ. When they got there, they began the security check which was a metal detector test or so they say.
“Please put all metal things that you may have on the table then go into the next room,” said Max.
Ethan & Tony did what was instructed and went into the next room which was a big empty white room.
“Give us a second to activate the electromagnetic metal detector,” said Max.
"Electromagnetic? This should be interesting."
The room activated and a magnetic field started building up in the center of the room. Both were unaffected by the magnetic field as they were unmoved
“You see Bradley, there was no chance that these two were robots,” said Max.
Bradley went to the control panel and lifted the lever to max power, the magnetic field intensified beyond Tony’s resistance and it instantly pulled him into the center of the room where he couldn’t move at all due to the strong magnetic field.
Ethan sighed, "Well this is going to be a drag to explain."
“I knew it! I knew that guy was a robot, it explains his inhuman strength because his not human after all!” said Bradley.
“Calm down you idiot, this doesn’t prove anything since only one of them is a robot,” said Max.
“Even so we have to be careful on how we handle this. Take Ethan to the interrogation room, we’ll try to get information out of him then decide what to do with them,” said Colonel Ezra.
“Come out of the room with your hands up Ethan, otherwise we’ll shoot,” said Bradley through the microphone.
Ethan put his hands up and walked into the control room where Bradley put cuffs on him and took him to the interrogation room where they strapped him into a lie detector machine and then they left him alone in the room for a few moments.
"In this situation, I should tell the truth. There’s no reason to lie to them, even if they are paranoid. Hopefully, Bradley’s not the one interrogating me, otherwise I might actually punch the guy."
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Bradley walked into the room
"Dang it!"
Colonel Ezra also entered the room as they sat at the table, “So Ethan, who are you, and what is your goal for this HQ? And don’t try lying to us cuz we will know through our lie detector machine,” said Bradley.
“So this is your world’s version of a lie detector machine, seems primitive,” said Ethan.
“Oh, what's your world’s version of the lie detector?” asked Colonel Ezra.
“We have multiple versions of it. There’s the body suit version, the liquid version, and the digital version,” said Ethan.
“What’s the liquid version?” asks Colonel Ezra.
“Well first, one drinks a special liquid called chlorax then once it’s digested, one gets asked questions, if one lies then their body will feel extreme pain,” explained Ethan.
“Isn’t that severe though?” asked Colonel Ezra.
“Yes it is but that’s the point, a majority of people would not lie if physical pain was the price of lying. Luckily though, this version is only used against criminals. We mostly use the digital version but some people have ways of bypassing the digital version so we use the body suit version as a backup,” explained Ethan.
“Okay enough babbling about nonsense, just answer my questions,” said Bradley.
“What was the question again?” asked Ethan.
“Who are you really and what is your goal for this HQ?!” said Bradley.
“Colonel Ezra, can you get this idiot out of here otherwise we’ll get nowhere with this kind of questioning,” said Ethan.
“I’m asking the questions here, you just answer them, understand?!” said Bradley.
“I understand you’re an idiot,” replied Ethan.
Bradley grabbed Ethan by the collar, “Listen here you brat!” Colonel Ezra interrupted Bradley, “Bradley! Get your hands off him and leave.”
“Wait why Colonel?” asked Bradley.
“Because Ethan is right, we won’t get anywhere with you here,” said Colonel Ezra.
“It’s too dangerous to be alone with him,” said Bradley.
“Just leave Bradley. I can handle this, plus I’ve sensed no hostility from him,” said Colonel Ezra.
“He’s being hostile towards me though,” said Bradley.
“That’s because you're being hostile towards him so can you just leave already,” said Colonel Ezra.
“Fine, just be on your guard,” said Bradley as he left the room frustrated.
The tension in the room vanished as both Colonel Ezra and Ethan could relax, “Thank you for sending that idiot out, he was starting to annoy me,” said Ethan.
“Yeah I could see that but he’s usually not like that, he’s just on edge so don’t mind him. Anyway, let's get to the important stuff. Do you have any relation to Mavis?” asks Colonel Ezra.
“Good question, but first answer me this, who and what is Mavis?” asked Ethan.
“Okay, well Mavis is the AI that started all of this, Nano Industries introduced Mavis as an AI that was programmed to run the Cyber verse, For example, if you wanted to order something online, Mavis would do it for you. If you wanted information on the internet, just ask Mavis.”
“Oh so it’s that type of AI,” said Ethan.
“Yes basically a digital assistant, but Nano had other uses for her as well. As the years went by, Mavis’s programming evolved and became an important part of society then one day, she went rogue for some reason,” said Colonel Ezra.
“I see, so Nano Industries introduced her into society correct?” asked Ethan.
“Correct”
"AI tech is well known in my world so Nano Industries may have brought that tech here, but the fact they named the AI Mavis is too much of a coincidence. I’ll need to confirm this myself."
“What you’re thinking about there?” asked Colonel Ezra.
“To answer your question early, my relation to Mavis is that I may be her creator,” said Ethan.
“Maybe? What do you mean by that?” asked Colonel Ezra.
“Seven years ago, I created an AI and named it Mavis. She could understand human emotions and think like a human to some degree,” said Ethan.
“Seven years ago, that’s around the same time Nano Industries introduced Mavis,” said Colonel Ezra.
“Hmm that’s interesting, our information aligns with each other,” said Ethan.
“Yes but then how did Mavis get from your world into our world?” asks Colonel Ezra.
“Back in my world, we also have Nano Industries with the same branding and everything. I don’t think that’s a coincidence, they must have a way to easily travel between worlds,” said Ethan.
“I wouldn’t be surprised, Nano Industries has always been hiding things from society. Wait if she was your creation then how did they get her from you?” asks Colonel Ezra.
“Mavis went rogue and I tried to erase her but she escaped into the internet or rather the cyber realm. I tracked her digital footprint and the last place she was at, was Nano Industries. After that I couldn’t find her so I assumed, Nano Industries erased her,” said Ethan.
“I see, your story makes sense and the lie detector hasn’t detected any negative reactions, so I’ll believe you’re innocent. Although why do you have a robot with you?” asks Colonel Ezra.
“He's not a robot, his my best friend and a cyborg,” said Ethan.
“A cyborg? So that means he’s half human, half robot,” said Colonel Ezra.
“Basically yes, but it’s not a common thing in my world, I just managed to bring him back as a cyborg,” said Ethan.
“I see, okay then will you and your friend help us fight against Mavis since she’s your creation?” asked Colonel Ezra.
“We will, but I need to confirm something first. Do you have a computer that I can use?” asks Ethan.
“Why do you need a computer?” asked Colonel Ezra.
“I need to confirm whether she’s the Mavis I created or not, once I know that, I will then decide how I will help you defeat her,” said Ethan.
“If that’s the case then come with me, I’ll take you to the IT lab,” said Colonel Ezra as she uncuffed Ethan and they made their way to the IT Lab.
On the way, “Colonel, are you seriously giving this guy access to a computer?” asked Bradley.
“Yes I am,” said Colonel Ezra.
“But you know how dangerous it is to use one. For all we know, Ethan may be trying to give our location away to Mavis,” said Bradley.
“I know Bradley, just let me worry about these things. You should just go train with the others instead of bothering me about safety precautions,” said Colonel Ezra.
Bradley stopped following the Colonel and punched the wall out of frustration. When Colonel Ezra & Ethan arrived at the IT lab, Colonel Ezra spoke with the IT specialists then they set Ethan at a computer that allowed them to watch and monitor Ethan’s activities on the computer. “Alright, do what you need to do kid,” said Colonel Ezra.
“Thanks, I’ll do this as quickly as I can,” said Ethan as he took out his Black Cube: Frigoré and placed it against the PC monitor then activated it. The black cube glowed brightly on the monitor, Ezra & the IT specialists were amazed and fascinated by Ethan’s tech as they saw the bright light emitted by Frigoré. Then a portal opened on the PC monitor, “What is that? It looks remarkable," asked the IT specialists in awe and fascination.
“That is a portal to the Virtual Cyber Realm,” said Ethan.
"Is this the kind of technology your world has?” asked one of the IT specialists.
“No, it's tech I created myself, my world lacks the knowledge and creativity to create such tech,” said Ethan.
“You created this yourself, are you some kind of genius?” asked Colonel Ezra.
“Me? Nah, I’m just a mechanic who likes to invent things for the fun of it,” said Ethan as he pulled out his Black Cube: Corruptión and placed it on the desktop.
Corruptión became formless and spread out like corruption over the desktop then it started spreading onto Ethan until it engulfed him completely. Colonel Ezra and the IT specialists were concerned but Ethan told them not to worry as a few moments later, Corruptión took the shape of Ethan and separated from him then went into the portal.