As the Adias company's mercenaries left behind the fortress, the construction has started on a new district of the city.

One of the most often used was the industrial area that would grant the company access to better and more diverse options in equipment that they could provide, and of course increase production. And in this way they earned more currency ingame and advertised their brand through products.

There were many kinds of districts companies could create, which would encourage continuous expansion for better and better rewards.

There was of course the industrial district, but there were others such as research, commercial, agricultural, governmental, tourism, etc…

All of these would grant different bonuses, such as the commercial district itself being the advertisement and a place for selling products, and the more such districts one company had, the more their advertisements appeared all across the gameworld where even 1 player was present. It also helped with spreading out the products, making them purchasable further away.

There is also governmental, which to the disappointment of many companies only affected politics with the NPCs. But why would you need to have good relations with them when you could just enslave some? At least that was the old way of thinking.

'Why do you need NPCs at all though?' one might ask, and the reason is that they boosted the effectiveness of the districts by working there, just like players could boost these too. Although not many players take upon themselves to work like that.

At least that's how it used to be, but for some reason many companies started investing into governmental districts, and there was just one reason, the AI update.

The company informed the companies in advance as to not lose their trust, but it was difficult to properly build these districts to be ready in time for the update since the developers got informed half a month before the release that these districts would be important and why. But some didn't even bother.

The Adias company did however begin the construction of such a district, and they didn't want to risk anything when it came to being able to build it, so they put all their available resources into completing as many as fast as possible and as securely as possible, even if it would be finished after the update was released…

After renting a teleport pad, Aiden and the others arrived back at their main base, which was a huge space station with many combat capabilities. It was in a nearby - take that with a grain of salt - planetary system.

As soon as Aiden got back on Gloria, which was the station's name, he hurried back to his own quarters, because the system signaled him that the completed AI has been relocated to his homepoint, which he set to this room.

It was neatly furnished like a bedroom with a few wardrobes, a table, some chairs and it even had a nice carpet. Courtesy of the player who designed this ship.

Despite the nice aesthetics of the rooms in the station not many used them for anything but as a place to withdraw their items from the cyber storage and a log-in point.

As he walked towards the door, it automatically opened and inside the lights turned on. He was about to open the storage to get the new AI when Aiden suddenly froze because he noticed two eyes staring at him.

It was a short girl with snow white hair and pink eyes. Her clothing very elegant and was also white with pink markings on it.

"Hmph, Took you long enough! I was getting bored out of my mind here." With that she turned away like her feelings were hurt.

Aiden was speechless not only because there was someone in the room which should be impossible, but also because seeing the cute girl caused him to hold his breath for a reason he couldn't understand.

She looked back at him with one eye open and suddenly a victorious smile appeared on her face.

"At least that reaction I like."

The smile stunned Aiden for one more second before he shook his head to regain his wits.

"Who the hell are you and how did you get in here?" He tried to muster a more fierce response, but couldn't manage.

"Oh, so that's how it is…" Her smile disappeared and was replaced by a sad expression. "I've been waiting here just for you, and this is how you treat me?"

"Okay, this isn't funny, tell me who you are or I'll shoot you right now."

Aiden quickly fished out his shotgun and pointed it at her.

"We've been through this already, you come home angry and vent it out at me!"

Aiden raised an eyebrow being truly confused at the sudden change in the conversation. "I warned you, tell me…"

"And I work hard each and every day, and the first thing you do is at your wife."

"Okay… What. The. Fuck. Is going on?!"

"Well no mister, next time you barge in without even saying hello, I'll throw you right out the door!"

If I find a hidden recorder I'll kill Sven! How the fuck does someone come up with this shit?!

"Okay, this is your final warning, if you…"

The girl facepalmed.

"Are you serious? Now I'm actually sad because you weren't joking. I'm your AI… Idiot."

… "What?"

*Sigh* "Sagittarius AI Model EX-812. Does that ring any bells?"

Seeing Aiden blink in confusion she sighed again. "Look at your friends list."

By now she was sulking again and pouted as she looked to the side.

Aiden cautiously opened the menu while keeping an eye on her. And indeed there was a new friend there and it simply read 'Sue'.

He clicked on it and the girl was highlighted.

"Sue?"

She finally smiled and said: "The one and only! The name comes from my AI name and model, I choose it myself." Sue posed proudly.

"So you are like a companion NPC?" Asked Aiden still a bit sceptical but he lowered his weapon.

She rolled her eyes, which were actually mechanical which he didn't notice at first, although it was hard to tell at first glance. "Well you know how to twist the knife in someone's heart, I like to call myself an AI or a person thank you very much.”

Aiden didn’t know what to make of this so he opened Sue’s profile. What made him surprised that she was classified as a player and had a username as well, being his old AI’s name. Her origin instead of earth - like every player’s - was empty.

There was also a new tab that players didn’t have access to on friendslists which was labeled as statistics. He was about to click it when suddenly… “Hey, don’t click that! No looking at my personal info!”

“What? But that’s just your stats.”

“Yeah… But don’t click it please.” She was blushing very hard and looked really embarrassed.

Aiden blinked totally confused at how… Realistic that reaction was but he shook his head trying to get the image out of his head. “Why the hell would me looking at your stats be bad for you, will something happen if I open it.”

Sue glared at him with a pout. “Yes… I will die…” ‘of embarrassment’ added Sue in her mind.

“Umm… Why the fuck is that a thing though? How do I know what you can do then?”

She blinked at him. “Can I ask you if you are actually serious when asking these questions, or is this some stand-up routine I’m not getting? Obviously you can just ask me.”

This hit Aiden’s pride and he was getting annoyed but he managed to keep his temper… For now. “Fine, then. What can you do?”

She gave him a mischievous grin. “Obviously the same thing I’ve been good at until now.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Her attitude was really starting to piss him off.

“Why, were you expecting something different?”

“I certainly wasn’t expecting a 12 year old brat replacing my favorite item in the game.”

“Excuse me, I’m actually 2 hours old for your information.”

Aiden couldn’t help but rub the ridge of his nose. ‘This is going to be fucking annoying.’ “Go to the inventory.”

She seemed very offended at that. “What do you mean go to the inventory? I’m not just some toy!”

“You are annoying, just shut up.”

“Oh, come on, let’s go and meet the others.”

“What do you mean others?”

Sue clasped her fist under her chin trying to stop herself from acting sarcastic again. “You should make up with Lily and Luna by the way.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Aiden was about to freak out but seeing Sue’s expression, which was just waiting for him to say something stupid, he remembered what he agreed to in the terms… Wait…

“Hold up. So you know ev…” But when he tried to find Sue she was already out the door like she always lived in this place.

“Oh my fucking god…” He grumbled as he followed the girl. “Stop, I don’t have the mental capacity to speak with anyone right now.”

“You can go and lay down for a bit if you don’t feel well. I’ll go introduce myself alone.”

“What I mean is that, I don’t want you to talk with anyone!” He could already hear all the idiots teasing him. He grabbed the girl’s shoulder to stop her.

She shot him a sly smile. “Too late.”

Aiden glanced up and noticed Sven walking towards them. “I fucking hate you.” He whispered as he grit his teeth.

“I love you too.”

“Hey Aiden, and new girl! Who is she, finally got a girlfriend?”

“Hi, Yeah we just started da…”

The death glare Aiden shot at her almost made Sue burst out laughing but she couldn’t stop snickering.

Sven looked on with an amused expression as he closed in. “Well that’s surprising, I didn’t know Aiden was hanging out with anyone. Sorry for the joke and I’m Sven by the way, Aiden’s best buddy. Nice to meet you.”

Aiden was still glaring at Sue and noticed a glimmer in her eyes so he quickly decided to introduce her himself. “She’s Sue, my AI apparently.” Sue tsk-ed.

“Wait what?” Sven froze. He blinked twice as he inspected Sue. “I can’t even tell! I totally thought you were a real player.”

“I’ll take that as a complement, nice to meet you as well.”

It seemed like he wanted to ask a lot of questions but his eyes jumped back to Sue’s shoulder. “By the way when I first noticed you two I really thought you were close. You’ve been holding her shoulder since we met Aiden.”

Like hit by lightning Aiden removed his hand from her shoulder and gave her a 'don’t you dare' look. To his surprise she was blushing like she was embarrassed.

“Wait…” Sven squinted as he put a hand to his chin. “Are you trying to get back at me for always recording your drama or something?”

“Huh? Why would I?” Asked Aiden as he shook his hand as a greeting.

“I still don’t really believe she is an AI, you could have just made that up and this is all just a ploy.”

“Nah, no way Aiden would do anything like that, don’t you know him?”

“Then you are his sister and you planned this.”

“Didn’t we decide already that I’m his girlfriend though?”

“Okay, I don't get it. Explain." This time he looked at Aiden for help.

"She is an AI or an NPC at least. She is on my friends list but has a statistics tab."

"Really? That does seem weird. What do the stats say then."

"I don't fucking know, she will die or something if I open it."

Sven raised an eyebrow. "Won't you just respawn though?"

When Aiden shot her a questioning glance Sue sighed. "No, if I die I'm just gone forever. Before you ask, that was in the warning of the update."

Aiden clicked his tongue, he definitely should have read it.

"Wow, that's messed up."

"Yeah it is, I get a so called upgrade and what do I get? My AI can now talk and is a smartass…" Sue just rolled her eyes at that. "And if it's destroyed, it's just gone, no repairs or anything."

"You do know I'm right here."

"That's exactly the reason I said it"

"Are you a little kid or something?"

"I don't want to hear that from an NPC that was put in the game a few hours ago."

"That's actually racist to advanced AIs you know, we aren't NPCs. Many of us would beat you for saying that."

"Go ahead, try me."

"Umm… guys." The two of them turned towards Sven with a glare. "I forgot my camera mind if I go get it?"

"I swear that one day I will come to your house and format all your goddamn hard drives."

"What he said!"

"Shut up, at least try to come up with something different before opening your mouth."

"I'll have you know I actually had more than 275 ways to approach that situation and choose one which would annoy you."

"And I have more than 275 ways of telling you to shut the…"

"Sooo, yeah…" Sven quickly slipped between the two. "I think we should go and meet the others and introduce Sue here probably."

Aiden scoffed. "I might as well just go and sell her or something and get a normal AI."

Despite knowing that Sue was an AI, he looked at Aiden with a damn expression.

And Sue was…

She was just standing there frozen as if lightning had hit her. She had a depressed expression as she looked at the floor.

When Aiden noticed it he almost recoiled from surprise. The crestfallen girl looked so sad that it gripped his heart. It was heartbreaking just looking at her.

He did not understand how a virtual thing could have such an effect on him, he was starting to feel like be had killed puppies and kittens or something. 'What the fuck is this manipulative bullshit?!'

It took him a few moments to tear his gaze away. He clicked his tongue before saying: "Let's go meet the others."

"Ha! Got you!"

"YOU MANIPULATIVE PIECE OF SHIT!"

"Don't worry, I knew you didn't mean it, you are just like really bad at conversation."

"Tell me ONE reason I shouldn't throw you out of this station right now!"

Sven was so dumbstruck that he couldn't say anything as Sue started leading them to the room where they agreed to meet and discuss Aiden's new AI.

A few minutes later they arrived at the main hall of the station which was a large open area which was adorned to look like a mansion.

"... I know you love me."

"I think you have a very funny way of saying fucking hate!"

As they entered Aiden didn't realize for a moment that they were in front of about 50+ players, since everyone was interested in an advanced AI which was very rare in the game.

They all stopped talking as the three entered, although it was as if Sven was invisible with the two other in the center of attention.

Aiden was waiting for Sue's response but after seeing she didn't respond but looked at him with a sly smile, he looked around and the slightest of blushes passed his face.

Sue's smile turned genuine at that which she didn't let Aiden notice.

Being embarrassed he turned to Sven, who has been standing there quietly. After a moment's pause he got the signal.

"Hey guys! This is Aiden's upgraded AI! Her name is Sue."

This brief introduction was enough to turn the whole room into mess of noise in a few seconds.

"What? But she is clearly a player!"

"Yeah, isn't she just a new member?"

"She is so cute!"

"Damn it I need an advanced AI as well!"

"Did Aiden finally get a girlfriend?"

"Wow are you really an AI? I'm Nira by the way!" Nira was the first to approach them being Aiden's teammate.

"Of course! Nice to meet you." She said in a very cheerful tone.

"Aren't you adorable? Can I pet you?"

For a moment she looked taken aback and blushed. "Okay, but please be gentle…"

"Oh my heart is melting!"

As she was being petted she turned towards Aiden who was glaring at her with a smirk.

He answered with a 'Why the fuck are you looking at me, I don't give a fuck' look.

This just made Sue grin instead of just a smirk so Aiden turned away while grumbling.

After that many others came to get a piece of Sue.

After a little while though Sue put on an embarrassed and overwhelmed look so Nira quickly cut in as she got in front of Sue. "Come on guys, you are scaring her!"

"Hey, that's not fair, you were with her the whole time!"

"It's not not about me, you swarmed poor Sue."

Sue used a very manipulative and extraordinarily cute way of saying "Thank you big sis."

"Oh no, I think I'm going to die! You can always count on big sis!" She suddenly hugged Sue who looked very abashed. Almost everyone Awed at that, though some managed to do it internally.

But this was not all, she has yet to use her ultimate weapon. "I don't want you to die sis." Her scared tone, tears and absolutely genuine expression of sadness basically just finished off everyone in the room.

It was silent for a bit before Sue was given the biggest hug of probably the galaxy ever and she was trying to signal that she couldn't breathe. "Oh I'm sorry Sue, I didn't mean it!"

Aiden was covering his face and when he finally felt it to be safe, he gave the galaxy's biggest ever glare filled with hatred to Sue.

"How could you speak with poor Sue like that, you should apologize right now."

Aiden was contemplating flipping them off, but decided to turn away while grumbling.

Sue had a mischievous glint in her eye and continued the ploy before someone stopped the ordeal.

"Excuse me, we should give our new friend some space."

Lilith came forward, though she did still have a little blush which quickly disappeared.

Aiden turned from glaring at Sue, to glare at Lilith. She ignored the glare as Nira and the others reluctantly and a bit embarrassed backed up.

"I am Lilith, the leader of this guild and I heard that you are one of our member's upgraded AI."

"I was his AI but now I'm more like his friend who is an AI."

Lilith raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, it's nice to meet you Sue, I hope your stay with us will be enjoyable."

"Thank you Miss Lilith! It's nice to meet you as well." She had to admit being called miss seriously for once felt fresh .

"I hope it's not rude to ask, but how are you so… realistic I think is the right word."

Actually not everyone was convinced she was an AI, but there wasn't really another way for her to be on their homebase, since at least Lilith would have to know if someone foreign was on their space station for security reasons.

"I heard that all advanced AIs act like real people."

"No way!"

"Yes way, there are already some videos about a few of them and they all have different personalities."

"Was the theory about the devs working with the government true?"

"Stop with that conspiracy nonsense, you know that this technology is being improved day by day."

"But just look at a video of them, or look at Sue, they are like actually real."

Sue smiled through all this and finally said. "The developers are working together with an outside group, but unfortunately this is all I can tell you."

"Whoa!"

"That's awesome, explains how they can read your surface thoughts."

Sven was also grinning with his recorder in hand which he got back from a sighing Sally. This was some juicy footage.

"I heard that advanced AIs were made in the image of their owner."

Some people laughed at that after looking at Aiden and Sue for a second.

"Nah, that's bull. One of the players who got the upgrade shared the things you have to agree to before it starts, and apparently they are made based on your memories."

Everyone once again looked at the two skeptically.

"What does that even mean?"

"Someone said that their AI was their dream type."

Now everyone looked at Sue who was smiling sweetly and then at Aiden… And they started whispering.

Lilith looked uncomfortable. "Is that true? If you don't mind me asking."

Sue blinked once innocently and then turned her head towards Aiden while keeping the same smile.

The whispering intensified.

"Obviously that's not fucking true!" Aiden denied while he was looking at Sue with scornful eyes.

Lilith sighed and the others continued "theorizing".

"I'm just joking!" Relief washed over Aiden for a moment… "I'm not exactly the ideal form."

That made everyone pause.

After a few moments Murphy spoke up: "Let me guess, catgirl?"

Sue silently tilted her head a bit while still wearing the same cheerful smile.