"Let's go!"

A portal opened up and John and Du flew through it. They found themselves surrounded by an ocean.

Du remained floating while John landed on the water.

Even Du realized something special instantly.

"This information... it is amazing!"

John laughed.

"You successfully passed the first level of school in the data universe. You also at the very least had your existence unraveled by artificial intelligence. This means your soul can interact with technology!"

"I suppose we can consider this a perk of experiencing life as a data lifeform."

What was John talking about? Well... In this world. Technology had become quite advanced. There were all sorts of waves of information traveling all throughout the world. Even without any tools... Both John and Du could 'feel' this information.

They were standing on an ocean. But at the same time an ocean of information was being blasted into their consciousness.

Du hadn't graduated from school in the data universe. But he had passed the first level. His thinking speeds could allow him to understand a hundred billion questions in a second.

John and Du weren't actively trying to sort through all the available information. But still... within the span of a minute they had seen the processing of millions of different request.

Things were encrypted and in a language they didn't understand.

John had learned EVERY language across a universe in the past. So he was quite good at looking at patterns and decrypting what should have appeared as nonsense.

Soon he could understand all the different languages of this world.

But Du was completely lost in this aspect.

John could feel multiple satellites in space monitoring the situation. But this technology couldn't see them on the ocean.

John injected the 'keys' of knowledge needed to understand this worlds language into the brain of Du through the formations in his blood.

"We will need to acquire identities..."

John asked Du his opinion on what method they should use.

"Can't we simply change the data and create our own identities?"

"I've already looked into it. It seems that while this world is advanced. Everything hasn't reached the complete stage of throwing away physical records. Their is actual birth certificates and such. As well as digital counterparts."

Soon John got an interesting idea.

"Money!"

"Money?"

"Similar to operation phoenix. We will attain true identities. By being reborn!"

"Operation phoenix? Reborn? How?"

Du was completely confused.

John rolled his eyes.

"I'm not actually talking about us discarding our bodies. That would be a bit silly and a waste of time... although... it is possible."

"Hmm...Nah."

"I'm immortal and you cultivate immortality. We can afford spending a few decades in order to enter society. There is no real rush."

John didn't feel like starting over. He had already done that enough. So what exactly was he planning?

John manipulated the spiritual energy within his barrier as clothes were conjured. He was wearing a white suit with a white mask.

"My secret identity! Destinatus..."

John looked at Du who was wearing daoist robes.

"You will need a secret identity as well."

Du was excited. Just what sort of legendary name would he acquire?

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Sutanides!"

"..."

John put his hand on Du's body as spiritual energy covered him and transformed into a black suit and black mask. It was the exact opposite of John's suit.

Du looked at his hands which now had equipped black gloves.

They flew in a random direction for a few days and finally saw a beach in the distance.

"Alright Du. It is time for you to use one of your cultivation techniques!"

"Finally!"

Du was happy to be of some help.

They flew directly to the beach and landed near some people sunbathing.

The people had no reaction at all. Du was using his spiritual sense to cover the area creating a mental blind spot among the humans here.

But they would still appear on cameras... So John at the same time moved his consciousness into all nearby surveillance cameras tracing back the servers and edited the raw footage removing all traces stored and changing the output so that even if someone was monitoring the situation in real time. They wouldn't see them at all.

John had gotten all the information needed from the waves given off by towers and technology as well as what was bouncing from the satellites.

John and Du casually walked through the city at a normal pace as people subconsciously avoided them. Wherever they passed. People felt like they had forgotten something. But weren't exactly sure what.

Soon they arrived at a bank.

John and Du walked in ignoring all security.

At the desk. Du cancelled his technique and the clerk jumped in surprise!

There were TV's at the counter showing the customers on camera so that they knew they were monitored. The clerk was confused as at one moment. Nobody was there. Then the next. Two people in a mask appeared.

They were like ghost! Even the camera's didn't capture them...

Not to mention. Who wore a mask while visiting a bank? Were they planning to rob them? Contrary to her belief. John spoke:

"I am here to withdraw money from my savings!"

"...What is your name?"

"Origin"

"Last name?"

"Calamity."

The clerk was suspicious... but she entered the name into the system. It actually was a customer!

Soon she pulled up the records.

"Can I see your I.D?"

John reached into his chest and pulled out a wallet that he made with spiritual energy. He had created a fake I.D for this moment.

John was capable of creating atoms from spiritual energy. Making an I.D was child's play compared to the complexity of the human body.

You might wonder why he didn't just mess with the values of data in an ATM and cause it to shoot out money? Well, he realized he could do this.

But he wished to leave a footprint here.

In the future when he conquered this universe. He wanted the humans to realize there was a moment where he had invaded.

He was basically doing this for the fun of it. He found it a little nostalgic... as he had robbed banks in the past as Destinatus.

The clerk looked at the I.D and was speechless.

The name was 'Origin Calamity'. The date of birth had an infinity symbol. The portrait was also a white mask.

She couldn't help but think she was perhaps hallucinating. As the water mark was real.

"I'm sorry... but I'll need to-"

Du spoke:

"You don't want to do that."

She stopped mid sentence and went into a daze.

Du waved his hand and said:

"You want to process this transaction."

"I want to process this transaction..."

Soon the clerk began to handle it.

She however didn't have the amount John wanted.

John spoke:

"Take us to the vault."

She called her supervisor over.

He looked at the two man in the mask and immediately hit the panic button. Alarms rang off in the bank.

"The police are on their way!"

Obviously. John and Du could manipulate technology as easily as breathing. When the button was pressed, they allowed it to set off the alarms. But the police weren't actually notified. They just made it seem like the man was in control.

John said:

"Alright. Take us to your vault."

The man refused.

John reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a gun.

"I'm not asking!"

Du used his spiritual sense.

"Why not just have me control him?"

A voice appeared in Du's head.

"We don't want to seem too overpowered. Just enough action to set off alarms among the higher-ups."

"When we conquer this world. I want it to sink in that we left bread crumbs for them to track down."

Du didn't quite understand John's motives. But he followed his orders regardless.

The man in charge brought them to a vault.

John held out his palm and said:

"Wait!"

"Let me just reach around..."

He pulled a large bag with a money sign on it out of nowhere. Now the supervisor was thinking he was dreaming.

All of this was on camera.

But it had already been removed from the database.

If one watched the footage. They would actually see the clerk talking to nobody and the supervisor opening up the vault on his own initiative and putting all of the money into a suitcase.

Then looking up at the cameras as they shut off.

John laughed and said:

"Alright. I'm just fucking with you."

John threw the bag to the ground as it vanished to the man's surprise.

"Is this a dream?"

"No. I'll be clearing out this vault. That part wasn't a joke."

John pulled multiple suitcases out of nowhere and loaded them up.

The supervisor watched in confusion as this man's actions seemed to not make any sense.

John and Du walked out of the bank loaded with money as the alarms stopped and everything went back to normal.

It was a comical sight as there were a few briefcases full to the brim with money.

A self driving car pulled up out of nowhere and they got in and drove off.

Both Du and John were laughing. All of this wasn't necessary. But John really felt like having a bit of 'fun' in this world.

----------------------------------------

The clerk and supervisor waited for the police to show up. But they never did! They were then questioned and shown the footage themselves.

"That's impossible! There were two men. One of them even had a gun!"

The detective sneered.

"That's what your accomplice said as well... but if you look here. This is you loading the money into a suitcase. You then somehow shut off all the cameras. What did you do?"

"I'm telling you! It wasn't me. It was two guys in a mask. I even hit the emergency button to notify the police!"

"There was no emergency signal... tell us. What did you do with the money? That is over a hundred thousand dollars that has disappeared."

----------------------------------------

The supervisor sat in a white room with a straitjacket on. He was rocking back and forth and saying:

"It wasn't me..."

A woman was in a mental hospital muttering to herself:

"Origin... Calamity..."

She had tried telling others about her experience. But they just ignored her as if it was the ravings of someone who had gone mad. Even she doubted whether she had a psychotic episode or not...

Was what she experienced real? Why did this happen?