"So, you actually had a solution? Tell me already!" Nicole's eyes lit up the moment she heard Wise's words, and she stood up in excitement.
"The solution is actually pretty simple, but it needs your approval first," Wise said.
"I agree!"
"That was quick... Alright then. The hacker mentioned earlier that the contents of this safe are about as valuable as the Rosetta data. Having it would let us move freely in and out of the Hollow, but if we take it, your commission might not be completed, so..."
Before he could finish, Nicole interrupted him with a calm but firm voice.
"Come on, our lives are already hanging by a thread. Giving up a little reward to stay alive is a fair trade, no matter how you look at it. So stop talking and just do it!"
"Alright, then I'll open it."
Wise entered the password, and with a soft click, the safe unlocked. Inside, a layer of red velvet covered the bottom, and at its center rested a black chip.
"This is the thing that was in the safe? How do we use it?" Nicole asked, stretching out two fingers to pick up the chip.
She turned it over in her hand, inspecting both sides. Finding nothing unusual, she handed it back to Wise.
"We'll only know what's special about it once we take a look," Wise said, then used Bangboo's tiny hands to insert the chip into Eous's body[1].
After a brief moment of data loading, a mechanical female voice echoed inside Wise's mind. If he listened closely, it sounded like a contract being formed.
Now that leaving the Hollow was no longer a problem, Wise faced a new challenge. With Phaethon's account deleted, keeping everything running would be difficult, especially since the electricity bill had suddenly jumped to five times its usual amount.
With no high income left, he needed to find another solution. Fortunately, he could exchange Emotional Value for money, which would be enough to cover the expenses for a while, since converting everything would total around 28 million Dennies.
While Wise was lost in thought about these matters, he didn't realize that his strange condition had already made everyone around him deeply worried.
When he suddenly collapsed, Belle panicked. For a brief moment, she even considered giving him CPR, but after checking carefully, she realized he was only asleep. Relief washed over her, though her heart still pounded in her chest.
At the same time, Anby, who had just left the Hollow, was frantically calling Nicole, urging her to hurry to the Video Store after noticing Eous twitching uncontrollably.
Nicole immediately sensed the urgency. Without asking any questions, she slammed her foot on the accelerator, racing through the city as several red lights flickered one after another.
Moments later, Wise finally stirred. His mind slowly returned to reality, as if waking from a forced pact with Fairy.
"Brother, you're finally awake[2]! That's great!" Belle cried out in pure relief and threw herself into his arms.
Her usual tsundere attitude vanished, replaced by the warmth and tenderness of a worried sister.
"Cough, cough... Belle, It's not good if you keep pressing on me like that," Wise said helplessly, though a faint smile tugged at his lips.
He wasn't hurt, but having such a beautiful girl pressed against him made it difficult to stay calm. The warmth of her body and the soft sensation against his chest were testing his composure.
So, he tried to gently push her away, but his hand accidentally brushed against Belle's chest.
She didn't seem to notice, but Wise froze the moment he realized what had happened. Panic surged through him, and he stayed completely still. With her pressed so close, even the smallest movement could make things worse.
"Belle, please... can you let me go? It's hard to move," he said awkwardly.
"Hmph, Wise, you're really insensitive! I was clearly worried about you. I should have recorded all your embarrassing moments just now!"
Belle puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms as she stood up, thinking he was implying she was heavy. Her pout made her look more like a sulking child than someone truly angry.
"Alright, alright, my bad," Wise said with a small sigh. "Can you at least tell me what happened while I was unconscious?"
Though still frowning, Belle began explaining what had happened during that time. Of course, she conveniently left out the part where she'd considered giving him CPR.
"I see... and what about the chip? Did it cause any strange reactions?" Wise asked, feigning ignorance.
Belle's expression changed immediately, as if she had been waiting for that exact question. With a smug look, she gestured for him to follow her to the computer.
"Hmph, Brother, don't freak out when you see this. Ahem... Fairy, please respond if you can hear me."
[|System startup complete, I am a Type III General-Purpose Integrated Artificial Intelligence, development code: Fairy. Hello, my dear master.|]
- Fairy[3] -
(T/Note: The use of [| |] represents Fairy.)
"Hello, Fairy."
Hearing the voice greet him, Wise replied out of habit. But then he paused.
Wasn't this supposed to be an artificial intelligence? Why did it sound so flattering?
[Ding! Host, please don't be suspicious. The charm points granted by the system affect all intelligent life forms, objects, and even artificial intelligence.]
'Well, that explained it.'
After hearing the system's words, Wise stopped questioning it. Since he would be the one paying the electricity bill from now on, it made sense for the AI to try to please him a little.
Still, the flattery felt a bit too obvious.
[|My wise[4] and handsome master, you don't seem very surprised by my existence.|]
"Hey, why don't I get those titles? But Brother is handsome and wise!" Belle complained, sounding a little dissatisfied.
However, Fairy didn't seem to care.
[|Denied. As an artificial intelligence, I treat both the master and Assistant No. 2 equally. It's only that the master's charm makes me naturally address him that way.|]
"Aah! I can't stand it anymore, you flatterer!"
[|Denied. I am not flattering, only stating the truth. Even assistant No. 2 cannot deny this.|]
"You! Ugh, fine..." Belle muttered, realizing she couldn't really argue.
After all, her brother was undeniably good-looking.
"Alright then, if I'm assistant number two, who's number one?" she asked, folding her arms.
[|Answer. It is your Bangboo, Eous.|]
"What? That's it! I can't stand this anymore!" Belle shouted, rolling up her sleeves and preparing to punch the HDD system.
"Belle! Calm down! Don't smash the HDD!" Wise panicked, quickly stepping between her and the machine.
Seeing Belle's stance, Fairy immediately lost the courage to provoke her further. It quickly shifted its attention back to Wise and began answering his questions as honestly as it could.
But most of the key questions could not be answered by Fairy due to insufficient permissions.
At the very least, it could help them quickly rebuild their Proxy account in the Inter-Knot.
"Alright, Fairy, as a mature artificial intelligence, the electricity you use should be earned by your own effort. You wouldn't want to be shut down because of an unpaid bill, right?"
[|Affirmative. Master, you are absolutely correct. However, based on your statement, I have also detected some content that is not suitable for minors. According to that content, your next action should be to—|]
"Cough, cough, Anyway, I'm counting on you from here."
- - - -
To have access to more than 15 extra chapters, go to:
[-p -a -t -r -e -o -n . com/DysFiction.]
To make a don@tion go to [ ko - fi .com /dysfiction ]
- - - -
[1] Of course, it went in through the forehead.
[2] Skyrim Memes here!
[3] IMAGE
[4] Ha!