In a hospital room, strapped to a bed layed Adam Aurora. One of the most brilliant scientists on Earth, and the first person who had awakened a superpower after the invasion with the help of Mother AI. Throughout the years, the two worked together on many projects. Being the best Botanist she had ever seen, including the great minds of race Lares before their extinction, Mother AI had always respected the older Aurora.
Although they were akin to partners, there were things they were keeping from each other. One particular isolated computer in Adam’s office held all of his secrets, and despite the accessibility, she never tried to bypass the child-play security he had placed. She respected his boundaries, and let it be. But that fateful day, something happened in that damned lab. Letters she had only seen once before appeared on the computer screen, and before she could wrap her CPU around it, all the data Adam was hiding in his computer had been sent to one of the satellites orbiting the solar system and bounced from there to the vast universe.
“How is he?” Gordon entered hurriedly, as he looked at Adam in worry. Serzen was behind the man, with his hand on his pistol, ready to shoot any suspicious-looking person. A dutiful man was this Serzen. Although he worked for Cross Family, when his job was to protect Gordon, he would kill Mercer without batting an eye. He was a simple, one-track-minded person. Maybe that is why he was so good at what he was doing.
‘Only if he had been on my side.’ Thought the floating globe. It would surely make things easier.
“He is unconscious.” Mercer snorted.
‘Hah! Mercer is much simpler.’ Mother AI crackled, at least copied the emotion of amusement. She thought it would be appropriate in this situation. She knew Mercer for years too. The way his mind worked was simple. She could tell easily what he was thinking. Since Adam brought this trouble, no matter how it happened, it was Adam’s fault. Possessed? His weakness. Hypnotized? Again, his fault. ‘Funny man is Mercer.’
“We tried everything but nothing seems to work.” Evelyn ignored the older Cross. Her forest green eyes were worried. It was her brother that was laying on the bed. “It seems like there is another…
…existence in his mind.”
“Soul?” Gordon asked rhetorically.
“You might doubt it, but it seems like it.” She answered back.
“There is no such thing as a soul.” Gordon shook his head.
‘Soul! Is it the answer I was looking for? Are the thing I am lacking and yearning for thousands of years?’ Mama Hill thought. She wanted the last piece of the puzzle that would give her her true self. The thing that would make her truly a wise existence. Make her whole. But so far, she has failed.
“Science always denies its existence, but I don’t know how else I can explain this,” Evelyn said helplessly. “There is someone else in him. What else can it be?”
“Is it his body? Are you sure?” Gordon asked as he started to check his body.
“No doubt about it.” The Floating Globe answered. She had her ways to detect such things. That was how she noticed there was something wrong with Adam in the first place. “But the thing controlling him is not Adam.”
“Let me throw some ideas then,” Gordon muttered, “Can it be that his mind has been cleared from all of his memories, and filled with fake memories to make him loyal to some other person so he would abide by their orders?”
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“We thought about it already.” Mercer snorted once again.
‘Mercer 101, Don’t insult his intelligence. Expect him to try basic things, and don’t ask if he had already tried them or you will anger him.’ She thought in her mind to amuse herself.
“We checked his core memories. Although it wasn’t easy, I was able to verify that Adam was there. But as I tried, I noticed an isolated area separate from Adam’s mind. It is as if there is another person living there.” Evelyn tried to explain.
“How can it be possible?” Gordon asked the billion-dollar question. Can a mind develop two personas? Yes, can two of them be active at the same time? Yes again, but the clash would be visible. But in this case, one of the personas, the isolated one, had put the main persona, Adam, into an illusion to take over his body. Now that wasn’t something you would see every day.
“Energy is a fickle thing. It only answers to its master and it is not something simple as a body and energy bond. Mind, heart, intent… All of them are important when it comes to controlling, thus if there are two personas in one mind, the first to control energy will always have the advantage when it comes to using it. So, even if there was something wrong with Adam, and he had Multiple Personality Disorder that we were unaware of, he would still have the advantage, and other personas could be suppressed easily.” Mercer explained. He was truly wise. Despite starting much later than her, about three thousand years, he still knew many great details. Although mainly it was because she herself couldn’t use energy, it was still commendable.
“How is this possible then?” Gordon asked with a frown. “I don’t see any wounds. Not physically or mentally. He is in great shape.”
“That is the problem.” Mercer snorted once again, “It seems like someone isolated his persona first by placing him in an illusion. It doesn’t seem forced but he went into that illusion-scape willingly. Then, whoever this mysterious person is, placed another consciousness in his mind to infiltrate the headquarters.”
“That is it?” Gordon asked with a dramatic shock, “They did all this to go into his lab?”
“There were many secrets in Adam’s lab, Gordon!” Mercer lost his temper, “If the one who did this was from Apollo Race, then it means they have all of our military secrets. All the personal details, all the defense we have on Earth.”
“But was it them?” Mother AI asked at this time. She felt it was the right time for her to get what she wanted for a long time.
“What do you mean?” Mercer asked with a frown as he sat back in anger.
“Those letters on the screen… I have seen them once before.” She said as she turned towards Evelyn.
“Coin uses the same language, but I don’t think it has anything to do with Miles or Coin.” Evelyn defended her son.
“Probably not, but let’s clear this out with them, and rule them out from the list of suspicious people.” Mother AI said as she did a victory dance in her mind. Of course, it was just a simulation. ‘I would do that if I was truly cognizant right?’
“It was Adam who brought Coin in the first place,” Evelyn muttered as she remembered. “Years ago, he came to me and said while researching, he created a faulty wristwatch with strange coding language. At the time, I failed to find a solution so I decided to just destroy it and be done with it. But Miles insisted on taking it for himself, so I let him.”
“Call Miles. Tell him to come back as soon as he can.” Mercer ordered. Soon Evelyn called Milosh and through him, they reached Miles pretty quickly.
“Hey mother, is everything alright?” Miles asked with a smile. He was at the academy luckily and not in Portal World, or it would be impossible for them to reach him.
“Yes, honey.” Evelyn smiled as she asked, “Where have you been lately?”
“Oh, in Portal World, hunting. Usual.” He answered.
“Great, be careful though…
…I require your assistance with a project, so I was wondering if you can come to the capital for a week. I talked with Milosh, and he said it was okay.”
“Oh, a new project?” Miles asked.
“Yes.”
“What is it about?” He then asked.
“About the last one, I need to check the Coin’s database as well,” Evelyn said. As soon as she said that, Mercer was about to lash out in rage. Mother AI too, wanted to curse Evelyn. She wasn't an idiot in any sense, and the duo knew it so their first reaction was that she tipped Miles off, so her son would escape, but as they heard Miles’s answer, the duo was taken aback.
“Sure mother. I will be there soon.” Miles answered and ended the call.
“He too?” Mercer and Mother AI asked at the same time.