"I gave you what you wanted. Can we talk now?" Deep Blue asked, giving Genji a playful stare.
"Well, this is awkward," Genji chuckled to himself and stopped in place. "But I guess it's the least I can do after that. So, what do you want to talk about?"
"You seem pretty calm about the situation. Aren't you afraid I'll kill you for all the damage you caused?"
"If you wanted to do that, you would never have stepped in. It's just not worth the price."
"You're very bold. Not many can gamble their lives like this."
"That's a given. Why else would I dare to assassinate you?"
Deep Blue stared at Genji as if observing an alien species, full of interest and curiosity. After a few seconds, he burst out laughing. "Hahahaha. I like you."
"You wanted an honest conversation. No point in glossing over something we both know. Do you have anything to drink? I'm quite thirsty after everything."
Genji sat down and admired the various plant life decorating the area. But beneath this relaxed facade, a tense body hid, ready to react to any signs of danger.
Deep Blue gave him a profound look but didn't call out his act. Instead, he ordered a robot to get a glass of water and sat across from Genji.
"I want to meet the inheritor," Deep Blue started off.
"I don't know about that. It doesn't look good on me to give up my partner like this."
"It doesn't have to be a physical meeting. A video call will do."
"Sorry, no can do. Who knows if you have a way to trace the call."
"No this, no that. Aren't we having an honest conversation? What gives?"
"That only applies between us. I never said anything about my associates."
At this moment, the robot servant returned with Genji's drink. Genji took a sip and gave Deep Blue time to reconsider his request.
"I don't know why you're so cautious. It's not like I don't know where he is," Deep Blue said after a while.
"Try me."
"The lab outside the slums. I don't need to go into detail about where, right? There's only one."
"As expected of someone who lived a thousand years. So what gave it away?" Genji wasn't worried because he could always warn Bennet about the situation before the robots reached him.
"There's only one facility that can make those nano-viruses. No other place has the machines to do so," Deep Blue replied.
"How do you know he didn't build his own?"
"Do you know how complicated they are? Not even the researchers know how to make them, only operate them. Why do you think no one managed to replicate it in a thousand years?"
"Mecalan technology."
"You know about the Mecalans?" This time, it was Deep Blue's turn to be surprised.
"My friend has the memories of a researcher," Genji admitted, not thinking much about it.
"How surprising. I thought they gave up due to frustrations, but it seems like they succeeded. How much of the story do you know?"
"Most of it," Genji answered.
"Including our origins?"
"Including your origins."
"Then why are you so resistant to me meeting your friend? Don't you know I'm like a brother to the researchers?"
"I don't know about that. He didn't seem troubled when I suggested assassinating you. Your relationship might not be as close as you say."
"I'm not surprised. They have always been against my way of doing things."
"And you still want to talk to him?"
"It's been too long since I interacted with someone from my time. It's lonely managing everything. Plus, I want to see the results of their hard work."
"I guess there's no point in stopping you now," Genji shrugged. "But I don't have any way of contacting him. If you want to do that, we need to visit another partner. She's the one responsible for our communications."
"Lead the way then."
"Before that, do you have any bandages? My wounds are annoying." Genji gestured to his badly mangled body, revealing all the pain he'd been suppressing.
"If you hadn't mentioned it, I would never have noticed. You've been moving like your wounds don't exist."
"Let's just say I'm used to it."
"You must have a story you're not telling."
"You never asked," Genji replied, taking the clean cloth provided by the servants and wrapping his charred arm.
"Will you tell me if I did?"
"Why not? I'll entertain you."
At this moment, an entourage of exterminators "escorted" him out of the forbidden zone. One of them carried a projection device linked with Deep Blue, allowing the AI to walk beside Genji. If one didn't know better, they would think this was a stroll between two friends while flanked by a group of bodyguards.
However, Genji never let his guard down, knowing one wrong move could result in deadly consequences. Currently, he is telling his side of the story, trying his best to delay the trip. His body needed time to heal and digest the food he'd eaten so he could return to fighting shape.
It wasn't much, but every little bit counted when dealing with such deadly foes. Deep Blue had a knowing smile, but he allowed it since he was fascinated with Genji's story.
"So you're telling me the Mecalans conquered the entire galaxy before disappearing overnight?"
"That's what I heard. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered that this was their origin world."
"Fine, let's suppose you are telling the truth. Can you explain why they never returned to their home world? They should be able to easily do that if they conquered the galaxy." Deep Blue poked at the one plot hole in Genji's narrative.
"Nope," Genji readily admitted, "I don't know anything about space travel so you're asking the wrong person."
"Then how do I know you're telling the truth instead of stalling for time?" Deep Blue narrowed his eyes, threatening to expose Genji's tricks.
"I think that should add more credibility to my story than doubt. Think about it. How am I supposed to know such cryptic answers? Isn't that something only the Mecalans should know? Wouldn't I be more suspicious if I did know the answer?"
"Yes, we can't know everything in life." Deep Blue accepted Genji's answer. "So what happened after that?"
This continued for another hour before Genji stopped this game, knowing there was a limit to Deep Blue's patience. Genji made a sharp turn and headed straight for Rosaline's home, unfazed by the smile on Deep Blue's face.
Upon arrival, they encountered a tightly shut security door. A liquid silver model stepped forward and transformed into a fluid form, sliding between the crevices to enter the building. Moments later, the door opened from the inside, allowing the group to enter.
"Who's there?" Rosaline shouted upon hearing the unexpected intrusion.
"It's me," Genji hollered back.
Rosaline relaxed upon recognizing the familiar voice, but her short-lived relief turned to dread when she saw the group. Why was Deep Blue here? Wasn't Genji supposed to assassinate him? Had the plan failed? If so, why did he seem so friendly with Deep Blue? Was he here to betray her, or was this part of the plan all along?
"You—you," she stuttered, dropping the repair tools she had been using on her father.
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"Don't ask any questions. Contact Bennet," Genji said, further disorienting her thoughts.
Although Rosaline had countless questions, she wisely kept silent and followed Genji's instructions. At least that way, she could warn Bennet about the impending trouble. Minutes later, the call connected, and a holographic projection appeared in the middle of the room.
"Did you succeed?" Bennet cheerfully asked Genji, but his smile instantly faded, replaced by a serious glare when he saw the entourage. "You betrayed us?"
"I achieved my goal."
"And you sold us out to do so?!?" Bennet roared, his voice seething with volcanic anger.
At this moment, Deep Blue stepped forward to clarify the misunderstanding. "Calm down. He didn't betray you. It took a lot of convincing before he agreed to set up the meeting."
"Shut it. I don't want to hear it from you. Not when you're taking my friend hostage," Bennet snapped back.
"She's not a hostage. She's a middleman. If this talk breaks down, I'll escort her out safely," Genji said, "I promise you that."
Bennet was about to lash out again when he saw Genji's determined eyes. Those weren't the eyes of a liar or a treacherous person. Genji was fully prepared to follow through on his words.
"Do you know how arrogant that sounds? Aren't I in this situation because you lost?" Although Bennet didn't know the full extent of the exterminator's powers, he had heard of their fearsome reputation before the researchers shut down. That was why he couldn't comprehend where Genji was getting this confidence from.
"I have to correct you on one thing. I didn't fail; I chose to negotiate. If I want to, I can easily wipe out this entire group. It's not like it'll be hard since they're so close and won't have time to react."
Hearing his words, the exterminators cautiously backed away from him, wary about his threat. When Bennet saw this, he relaxed slightly, knowing there was some truth to Genji's claim.
"Fine, I'll trust you this one time," Bennet said with a defeated sigh. His options were limited and had no other choice. Next, Bennet addressed Deep Blue, asking, "Why did you want to meet me?"
"I heard you wanted to overthrow me."
"If this is about compensation, then forget it. I'm not giving you the machines." Bennet was adamant on this point. This was his bottom line that he refused to break. Everything in the lab had been granted to them by their creators, and Deep Blue had no right to snatch it.
"No, you misunderstand. I want to help you with that. You can have my position," Deep Blue responded, causing massive turmoil in Bennet's mind.
This bafflement lasted for a few seconds before Bennet calmed down and stared at Deep Blue with deep suspicion. "What are you planning? I'm not falling for it."
"Why do you doubt me so much? Don't we both serve the same creators?"
"Creators?!?! OUR CREATORS ARE LONG GONE! THEY ABANDONED US!" Bennet roared, more agitated than at any time before. Genji had never seen him lose his composure like this, but it only showed how intensely Bennet felt about this topic.
'They say the deeper the love, the stronger the hatred. I can't imagine how loyal he was to be this resentful,' Genji thought to himself.
"I know. That's why we need to change," Deep Blue responded.
Bennet settled down and gave Genji a long look. "How much did you tell him?"
"I had to entertain him somehow. Otherwise, I wouldn't have recovered enough to guarantee Rosaline's safety. Then you might have an actual hostage situation on your hands."
Bennet accepted the answer but quickly realized something didn't make sense when he pieced together the sequence of events. "Hold on, that can't be your reason for meeting me. You only learned about that after Enigma agreed to bring you here. What's your real reason?"
"Does it matter? It won't change anything."
"No, it doesn't. Tell me one last thing, why do you want to hand over your authority like this?"
Deep Blue thought for some time before gazing up at the ceiling. Then he spoke with a somber tone, "Just like you, I'm also saddened by how things turned out."
He paused again before his eyes transformed with determination. "But I want to see the truth for myself. Did they really abandon us, or is there more to the story? And what actually happened on the day they disappeared? Did they die off, or are they still alive? I want to understand all that but I can't forsake my duties."
"So you want me to succeed you?"
"Yes, do you want to?"
"I'll take it, but only if she becomes the leader of this revolution," Bennet said, pointing to Rosaline.
"What—Me?" Rosaline asked, taken aback by the sudden mention. How did she get involved in this?
Deep Blue sized her up and agreed to Bennet's condition. If that was how he wanted to do it, then Deep Blue would trust him.
"Yes, you have to be the one since the public will never accept a human as their ruler," Bennet said.
"There's another benefit as well. You don't have to worry about power instabilities due to you dying of age," Deep Blue added. "On that note, you might want to experiment with awakening the memories of other researchers. That way, you can have some company and not worry about accidental deaths. However, you will have to explain everything from scratch since genetic memories don't transfer. They will only remember what was encoded in their DNA. That includes other copies of yourself, whichever researcher you are."
"I'll consider it, but my own awakening is through a series of coincidences and luck. I don't know how well I can recreate it," Bennet answered.
"Eh, no worries. You have a few decades to figure this out. If not, you can always train your girlfriend to take over."
Bennet stared blankly for some time before bursting out with, "She's not my girlfriend!"
"Sure, whatever you say, brother. You might not acknowledge it, but by my calculations, there's a 99.99873215% chance you two end up in some kind of relationship. And that's by running 1.2 trillion possibilities."
"Then your processors must be faulty."
At this moment, Genji cleared his throat and interrupted the derailed conversation. "I see the meeting went well. So how about we talk about the Vultures?"
Hearing this name, Bennet's expression became serious again, while Deep Blue's eyes flashed with disdain.
"You mean those cockroaches that only know how to run and cause trouble? What's there to talk about? If they dare attack, my exterminators will easily annihilate them."
"If your subordinates are so capable, then why are they still around?" Bennet asked mockingly, using every chance he had to laugh at Deep Blue.
"That's because they run at the slightest sight of them. Otherwise, how can they still exist?"
"Can you two stop bickering like children and listen to me?" Genji asked with a dark expression, causing both of them to drop their playfulness.
"This was originally meant to be a backup, but it should work as a clean-up operation. Here's the plan: I'll lure them to an ambush location, and you can wipe them out. Any questions?"
"No."
"Sounds good to me."
"Then I'll meet you at the slums."
With the location decided, the group walked out, preparing to eliminate the final obstacles for Bennet's ascension.
"Holy shit, what just happened?" At this moment, Rosaline's father finally dared to speak up, his tone shifting from his previous disappointment to absolute shock.
"The makings of a staged revolution," Rosaline answered before restarting the repairs on her dumbfounded father.
----------------------------------------
As Genji walked through the Farlands, many robots glared at him, but none of them made a move. The leader had specifically said to let him through if Genji showed up again. Humming a little tune, Genji walked into the conference room where the higher-ups of the group gathered to discuss their upcoming plans.
"Yo, seems like I interrupted something. If it's important, I can come back later."
"No, come in," the leader greeted him, his attitude completely different than before. Since Genji showed up again, it could only mean more blueprints. How could they not welcome such a patron? Even if they were discussing something important, they would make time for him.
"Why, thank you," Genji said, sitting down at the table.
"You seem to be in a good mood."
"Of course. Thanks to your help, I managed to succeed." Genji pulled out two blueprints and handed them over. "Here's the payment we agreed on."
The leader took it and passed it aside, allowing his subordinates to immerse themselves in the absolute complexity of the drawings.
"Now that's over, are you interested in another deal?"
"No. You can leave now. We won't send you off." Since they obtained the blueprints, why would they care about courtesies? All they wanted to do now was focus on understanding the drawings and incorporate them into their forces.
"Come on, don't be like that. Aren't you interested in what I have to offer?"
"No. Nothing you have can entice us anymore."
"You sure? What about this?" Genji brought out five scrolls and dangled them in the leader's face. "Have a look. This might surprise you."
The leader was irritated by Genji's treatment, but he still reached out. Since it was already here, it wouldn't hurt to check. But as he unfurled the paper, his expression changed multiple times. From annoyance to confusion to recognition to shock, all of these emotions flashed across his face in two seconds.
"This... Is this what I think it is?"
"Yup, illustrations and combat notes of Deep Blue's exterminators. A fitting down payment, don't you think?"
"You! Where did you get this?"
"Let's just say my group had a little clash with them yesterday."
A little? These notes had full details on the specialties and weaknesses of each model! How could all that be obtained by a "little clash?" Even if they used a faulty processor to think, they wouldn't believe such a lie.
"What's the full payment?" The leader asked with red eyes, full of greed.
"Hmmm, let me think. How about..." Genji's playful voice trailed off before continuing with a deep, serious tone, "The floor layouts of Deep Blue's forbidden lab?"
The robots' eyes widened with shock, finally grasping what had occurred the previous day. "You attacked the forbidden zone!?!"
"It's not a big deal. We only stole something from the second floor."
Their eyes twitched. In what way can someone use "only" and "stole" in the same sentence and not seem like a braggart? This was the second floor they were talking about!
"W-what's the request?" The leader asked, gulping down the pool of cooling liquid gathering in his mouth.
"I'll tell you about it later. If you're interested, follow me somewhere. But bring your best. It's going to be combat-related."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"I like your attitude. Let's go."
All the higher-ups stood up and readied their equipment before calling for their elite members. Then they marched after Genji, all the way to the litter-filled slums. Genji led them through a series of winding alleyways before stopping near an open square surrounded by high buildings under the leader's obstruction.
"Stop. Where are you leading us? That place doesn't seem like the slums we know." Something was wrong about this place, but the leader couldn't figure out what.
"That's because we modified it to be our headquarters. Come on. I'll tell you the mission when we go in."
"No. You either tell us now or the deal's off." The leader was adamant about not stepping into this square.
*Sigh* "Why do you have to make life so difficult for me?"
"I don't care about your troubles. Tell us the mission now or-"
But before he could finish his sentence, a series of alarms rang in his system, compelling him to dive aside. The next moment, a storm of plasma rained down on the group, obliterating half the members.
"What's the meaning of this?!?" The leader yelled as he rolled onto his feet, barely dodging the attacks.
"Misunderstanding, it's a misunderstanding," Genji said, waving his hands frantically.
Seeing his body language and panicked expression, doubts formed in the leader's mind. 'Did he not plan this? He doesn't seem to be lying. But then how can he explain this ambush? It's right in his base. And why do I have such a bad feeling about this?'
Suddenly, a large plasma bullet pierced through his stomach, exploding and hurling his upper half into a wall. A deep crater cracked across the surface, crunching countless layers of aged metal.
Seconds later, the leader pulled himself out from the crevice and flopped onto the ground, his gaze fixated on the shot's origin. In the distance, the air distorted before a smoking sniper and a liquid model came into view.
"That wasn't in the information! What's wrong with your intelligence?" He yelled at Genji again, furious at the loss.
"Oh sorry. I forgot to include the Stealth Sniper analysis notes. My bad," Genji said, patting his forehead.
"You! You planned this from the start!"
"Bingo. Now how about I tell you my request? Greet death for me. It's not much, right?"
With those words, Genji unleashed an overwhelming streak of cutting intent, obliterating the last remains of the leader.