“I didn’t know it was possible to get a text like that from a pretty girl. “Want to grab coffee and talk politics?” Really?” Adrian smilingly said as he sat down his coffee cup.

Nova pursed her lips and shot him a look while she was on the phone. He knew it was the female equivalent of shut the fuck up so he just reached out and adjusted his coffee cup while she finished up the call, watching as the steam came wafting off in waves. He soon turned his attention to his surroundings, bored and uninterested in listening to a conversation with what sounded like Nova’s mom.

The small coffee shop they were in was cozy, wrapped in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Wooden tables and booths, combined with a majority of brick and stone comprising the walls, made for an earthy, antiquated feeling when he first walked in. If it weren’t for the modern appliances, TV in the corner, and clothing that the patrons were wearing, he might have thought that he’d stepped back in time a hundred and fifty years.

It was relatively dark looking through the window and out into the street, because the shop she’d invited him to was located in the small underground Atlanta shopping area. It was one of those historic places, formed by taking advantage of the railroad viaducts that run overhead back in the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era. Recently, he’d heard the flagging scene had been bought out from the city in favor of building some aboveground stores and apartments, but apparently the deal had stalled.

Hearing a rustle in front of him across the table, Adrian turned his eyes back towards Nova just in time to see her set the phone down and sigh. Despite her slightly tired expression, he had to admit that she looked very lovely. It was now the heart of December, just after finals for Georgia Tech had concluded, so it was fairly chilly with the coldest nights reaching into the single digits below 0℃ . The state never truly had cold weather like Norwegians might have to deal with, even though the residents might complain otherwise.

Nova herself, though, seemed to be taking it in stride. She was dressed a pair of tight-fitting jeans and boots with a black petticoat and scarf ensemble for the upper half. Her golden brown hair was artfully braided in some Swedish fashion that Adrian’s bachelor-esque knowledge didn’t recognize. He’d asked her about it one time when they were talking at the gym in passing and she’d mentioned that it was a family thing, a style her mother had wished to impart to her after having had to immigrate to the States with Nova’s father when the company he worked for relocated him.

Finally lifting her eyes to meet his, she smiled and apologized, “Sorry about that. You know how moms are. Long-winded and all. I made the mistake of mentioning that I was grabbing coffee with a guy friend and it devolved into twenty questions.”

“Is your mom not used to the idea of you hanging out with guys or something?” Adrian questioned curiously.

Nova smirked in response and then looked down at her own latte. “Not quite. I’ve never been one that was really interested in the dating scene, so I never brought home a boyfriend or anything for her to fawn over. It took some coaxing to get her to believe me when I said that we were friends.”

“You’re what, 20 years old and have never dated anyone? She’s probably terrified you’ll stay single for the rest of your life at this point. You’re racing against the biological clock after all,” Adrian joked, a grin spreading across his face.

She snorted, almost choking on the hot coffee she’d just been sipping. She connected eyes with him and then laughed. “Yeah, yeah. You know…” her eyes flitted upwards and to the right in recollection. “I actually have a friend who legitimately complains about her parents being like that. She’s this really pretty Indian girl named Yogini. She says that her parents and grandmother, especially her grandmother, always bring up the biological clock thing.”

Adrian shrugged with a smile, his eyes alighting on a couple that had just walked in. “Different cultures, right? It sounds like she comes from a very traditional household.”

“Yeah, which is a bit unfortunate for her.” He looked at her questioningly and Nova quickly filled in, “She’s a professionally minded person. She’s been chasing a law degree since she was old enough to know what the word ‘college’ means.”

“Ah, it makes sense then why you’d say that. It probably grates on her.”

“True. I can’t even imagine… I guess I can only be thankful that my mom just shows interest and doesn’t hound me like her parents do.”

Adrian smiled. “Yeah.” Then he remembered why he’d agreed to come, besides the fact that she was a beautiful girl. “Oh, didn’t you mention something about wanting to talk politics? Where the heck did that come from?”

Nova smiled ruefully. “I was just really frustrated when I sent that. I was hanging out with a couple of my girlfriends and they kept dodging the conversation whenever I tried to bring something serious up or if they did answer a question, it’d be the shallowest answer possible and aimed at changing the subject.”

Adrian hummed in acknowledgment, adopting a thoughtful expression. “Kinda like everybody knows things are messed up, but don’t want to talk about it?”

She looked back at him seriously. “Yeah, it seems like they’re scared of something.”

“I think that’s it right there,” he pointed out. “They’re scared.” He paused and then went on. “Did you know I went to law school for a time?”

Nova nodded. “Yeah. I heard it down the grapevine a few years back in high school.”

“Do you know why I dropped out and came back to Georgia?”

She shook her head this time, cocking her head to the side as she remembered. “No, that’s what everybody was confused about. Why did you?”

Adrian grimaced. “It’s because I got a look at the next generation of our nation’s leaders. Nova, they’re just as bad as what we’ve got now. They’re greedy and power hungry, either arrogant or at the very least they possess this unreal sense of predestined superiority… After I started getting to know them, I tried to envision the next 40 years I’d have to spend alongside people like them to one day get to office - a 40 years I’d have to spend playing their game - and I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t give up, but it did show me how stuck we were in this hopeless loop.

“I mean, look at the presidential election this past month. We just had to pick from two impossibly retarded choices. Let’s be honest, not many involved thought the candidates were even okay picks. There were no other options, either because the right men and women for the job didn’t want to step up to the plate or because the rest of America is incapable of recognizing real leadership qualities. Most of those that make those kinds of choices, or are even eligible to run for that matter, are not a part of our generation.

“People like us are, to a great degree, helpless in the face of the rest of the country. By talking about it, I think it reminds your friends of that helplessness. Maybe they subconsciously hope that if they don’t talk about it, everything will eventually become okay somehow given enough time.”

Nova frowned as she she thought over his words. “But that’s naive. Real world problems don’t just magically disappear. What’s the benefit of hiding legitimate worries under a rug?”

“Honestly?” Adrian’s face scrunched up. “I think it’s selfishness revolving around comfort zones. Caring about something on an ideological level is exhausting emotionally and mentally because you have to spend time pondering it and discussing it with others to truly understand what you actually believe. In a world like ours where time is so tight, how hard is that? It’s similar to relationships. In order to have a healthy friendship, working relationship, marriage, etc. you have to invest time and energy into it.

“A person who does this is someone I consider to be a well-informed citizen. Anybody can have an opinion, but the worth of that opinion goes down the less of an understanding one has about the topic. It’s like the difference between a crappy product versus one that was well-made. You have to do research, meet people with opposing views, debate with others to truly hone what you desire to see in the world… and that’s assuming that the person has the intelligence to be that purposeful regarding a subject that most people loathe. All of this is just foundation building so that you can make a meaningful contribution to the discussion.”

Nova’s face turned to disgust. “So it comes down to being too much work? Seriously? This is stuff that will affect generations after us.”

“True.” Adrian nodded and then leaned in to rest his chin on a hand while grasping his cooling coffee cup with the other, feeling its warmth emanate through his skin. “But look at it from their point of view now. The world is so complicated these days and lots of people don’t have the time to try and figure it all out. If you were a young businesswoman trying to work your way up in a company or a young mom trying to raise a kid, or kids, whatever, could you imagine yourself having the energy to put towards trying to make a meaningful impact on a bunch of corrupt bureaucrats like I described earlier?”

Nova sighed. “No, it sounds exhausting just thinking about it.”

“Doesn’t it?” Adrian chuckled. It wasn’t long before his lingering smile died on his lips. “You’d probably want to place your hope in those politicians who do it for a living, right?”

He shook his head slowly, a depreciative grin on his face. “We’re caught in this conundrum where we have the means to change things through our original Constitution and representatives, but we neither possess the energy, time, or intelligence to do a, and excuse my language, damn thing about it as a society. That’s why we turned reactionary, I think. We wait and wait and hope for a good person to come along and lead us, but what sane person wants to run for an office as stressful as the President of the United States in today’s world? Not to mention, the last few have brought down the honor tied to the position in the world’s eyes.

“There is very little glory left in the office of the presidency for Americans beyond the awe it inspires as the head of the world’s foremost superpower,” He finished sadly.

The two sat in silence for a minute just digesting what they’d been talking about. It was a depressing topic no matter how you tried to approach it. The world ran on the cogs of rules and laws decided upon by those individuals that people like them couldn’t hope to combat on their own. From the way it sounded, Nova was at the same place Adrian was in her concerns, which was somewhere in between a normal citizen and an activist. She seemed to care deeply about the country, but was searching for some way to address it all in relation to herself and her peers.

Adrian took another sip of his drink, feeling it trace its way down while warming his throat and stomach. Dropping it back down, he cradled the cup in his two palms with both elbows on the table. He knew what she was feeling, or at least he thought he did, because the words that came out of her mouth next made his jaw drop.

Eyes fiery, Nova looked up and back into Adrian’s questioning gaze. “What if we come at this from a different angle? Say… a non-democratic one?”

A skeptical grin came unbidden to his face, the edges of his mouth curled up in amusement. He looked at her suspiciously. “You’re joking, right?”

“Nope. Why isn’t that a possibility? You’re the political scientist here - talk me through it.” She said seriously.

“If you’re implying what I think you are, which is the U.S. adopting a political framework other than our current one, then it’s impossible because…” He looked at her expectant look and blurted with wide eyes, “It’s just impossible! You’re talking about changing the very foundation of a nation that has 240 years of history existing solely as a democratic republic. It’s been the leading advocate and shining example of a successful democracy for the rest of the world since its inception.”

Nova held up a hand and shot him a reprimanding look. “I still haven’t heard why this isn’t possible.”

“Sorry, yeah. Okay…” Adrian took a deep breath and rapped his knuckles on the tabletop. “The reason that it’s impossible is because it’d have to be done unanimously or by means of a violent revolution. Those are the two options. The first choice is absurd because the country would sooner splinter into another civil war than throw away the Constitution in favor of another form of government. Getting everyone to agree on that would require an act of God.

“The second option is even more insane. Fight an in-house revolution against the United States military and militarized police force? Our technological age practically guarantees a defeat on that end. Automated weapons and vehicles unavailable to the public like tanks or fighter jets can kill people by the thousands. They have agencies dedicated to gathering information and surveillance, what would the revolutionaries have that could possibly combat against that? In fact, what advantage… could…” He trailed off as he was suddenly struck by a realization.

Raide.

His mind started racing. When he originally started down the path of the A.I.’s creation, he was looking for a way around the corrupt politics but was still looking at the goal from the perspective of a person who abides by the law and believes in the system. From a business standpoint, Raide is a cheat, sure, but adjust the focus to cyber capabilities and he becomes a uniquely priceless asset and the only advantage that Adrian has over an entire nation.

The thought made him sweat in apprehension at the sheer audacity of it all while at the same time a bolt of electricity arced through his body, stimulating his mind.

A certifiably insane idea started to take root. Is it actually possible to change the way the nation works like this? He wondered. How could I go about this morally, though - is that even possible?

No! What am I thinking? There’s no way I could go down that route...right?

Nova looked questioningly at him, obviously wondering why he’d suddenly gone quiet while in the middle of speaking. “Adrian?”

His throat felt dry all of a sudden and he took a swig of his now lukewarm coffee. Swallowing a few times to try and dispel that odd feeling, he looked back up at her and asked in a quiet tone, “Nova, what kind of non-democratic system did you have in mind when you brought it up a moment ago?”

She shook her head with a smile. “You’re going to think I’m weird.”

“Maybe.” Adrian grinned. “Tell me anyway.”

“Ugh. Alright, so I’ve always had this weird thought that everyone would actually be okay with a king or queen given the right person. We seem to have this desire deep down for a central figurehead, like we naturally want to concentrate power into this one person, and the only reason we have to have representation is to make sure that information about us is correctly relayed to the government and also that that we’re protected against tyranny.”

“A monarchy, huh…” Adrian mused. “I can see why you’d say that. It’s true that I could see myself being okay with an absolute ruler given a few requirements were met. However, that last part is almost impossible to satisfy when you factor in the other 319 million citizens. Everyone’s idea of the “right person” is completely different. Plus, Americans are terrified of kings because of historical political oppression. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, right? Sooner or later, we’d be screwed when the wrong person came to power even if we did manage to get a decent one the first time around.”

Nova shrugged while saying, “That’s true and also why it’s simply an idea.”

“Okay, let’s just roll with this hypothetical scenario for argument’s sake...” He said slowly. “Are you implying that a coup d’etat would be the best way to accomplish this?”

“I don’t know. Maybe?” She pondered but then shook her head. “That’s the hill I can’t get over mentally. It would be extremely bloody, and on an ideological level you’d have to suspend all concepts of natural rights in order to depose or dispose of those that are not in line with your new government. Foreign nations would probably get involved to try and bring stability back to the economic powerhouse simply because the world’s economy is so intricately tied to the U.S. I… really don’t know.”

“Let me change the question then. Could you personally be involved in a violent revolution?” Adrian’s eyes drilled into her, watching her reaction as closely as possible. It was at moments like this that he desperately wished for some way to share his vision with Raide so that he could archive and analyze her. It’d be too obvious if he whipped out his phone now.

Nova was startled, sitting back slightly as she mulled over the possible scenario. “Maybe…” She said carefully, like she was tasting every new feeling that her imagination brought her. “The government would have to be incredibly corrupt, but even then it’d be difficult for me. This is our home, ya know? That’s like burning down your house and digging up the foundation stones so that you can build another home on top of it.”

Adrian smiled slightly in return. “That’s a nice way of putting it. It makes a person wonder what kind of nation would be built afterwards…” His voice drifted off as his mind fell into a pit of possibilities. She’d have to see the darkness of reality then to be able to cross that line. But what about me? Could I go there?

Everything they’d talked about so far had been true on a very general level, but it ignored a lot of the specific problems and nuances that would go into trying to topple a nation like the United States. That alone is something that terrorists would kill to figure out. Yet there was also the rebuilding to consider as well. In almost every case he thought of, the perpetrator of the nation’s destruction would be scorned by man, woman, and child for generations to come - that is, unless the end result was better than the beginning.

Even then, if he were the one to try and take hold of office when it was all said and done, he’d have to face assassination attempts, riots, sanctions from other nations or even armed insurrection and invasions. He had a lot to think about, and a lot to discuss with Raide, especially when it came to his future plans. They’d have to somehow figure out a way, if they ended up going down this route that is, to have a fusion of the two methods: peaceful and violent revolution.They’d also have to modify the governmental framework into something that made a bit more sense in this technological age.

Coming back to reality, Adrian smiled and laughed along with Nova for another hour as she talked about family and school life, sometimes sharing stories of his own. It was exceedingly refreshing to spend time with an intelligent girl and have a good conversation. It was nostalgic in a sense - probably because the last time he’d experienced it was was with Heather several years ago. A sour expression briefly flashed across his face, drawing a look of curiosity from Nova, her amber eyes gazing back into his like she was trying to figure out a problem.

Shrugging it off, he acted as if nothing had changed and bid her goodbye after walking her back to her car.

***

Nova watched Adrian walk away in her rearview mirror, her quiet eyes watching his movements thoughtfully.

She’d always been sort of ambivalent towards the guy. When she’d first seen him again back in September after all these years, she’d been disappointed by what the previous golden boy of their small town looked like now. The last time she’d seen him was when he made a speech at his graduation ceremony. Her parents had wanted to go to see for themselves what kind of person could graduate two years early.

Stories and shadows of him were what she’d grown up on after that. She’d only been 11 after all, and it’d been a long time since their tiny city last had any type of heaven-defying talent come out it. Teachers would bring out his English papers to use as examples when they’d assign writing topics, covertly use his math exams as study guides with the name whited out, or even set SAT score targets based off of what he had scored when he was in school, even if they did their best to hide it. After a while, it became like the world’s worst kept secret to everyone in the sleepy town.

Nova knew it wasn’t his fault that they did any of this, but after having to see it all the time growing up, it naturally got old. Looking at him now, she realized that she had resented him a bit anyway. She’d been civil when she saw him at the gym, but seeing him looking so out of sorts and unkempt had been a major turnoff for her. It was like, you’re the hope of all the people back home, so why did you let yourself fall to this level?

Now, though… she didn’t know what to think anymore. Her eyes traced his retreating figure one more time before putting on her seatbelt and cranking up her old jeep cherokee.

He’d changed. Physically, mentally, his demeanor, the aura he carried with him, the way he dressed… all of it was different. The only thing that looked even remotely similar was his eyes. But even then, those same piercingly blue eyes now had a hint of indomitability to them. If you put the Adrian from before beside the one that had just left her, you’d be hard pressed to think anything other than that they were brothers.

What truly confused her though was that something was off about him, like he had this huge secret that he bore alone. She’d once jokingly thought to herself that maybe he worked for the CIA or something now, but after seeing him tonight and hearing him talk it became apparent to her that it was something personal to him. His line of questioning about violent revolution especially was enough to make her curious where his mind was at. They were friends, but they weren’t close enough yet to ask that kind of question so she just sat on her intuition, silently observing him as much as possible.

Slowly driving out of the parking lot, Nova took in the view of the city skyline.

Perhaps one day he’ll tell me.

***

Sunlight streamed across the wall as Adrian parted with his dreams once again. Bleary eyed and delirious, he forced himself to do the customary roll until he felt himself fall and land on his knees. Separating from the cool heaven of his sheets hadn’t gotten any easier despite Raide's best efforts.

Four months have passed since Raide told him about Biolink and there was only a month to the day left until the planned incursion. Finally relieved of the spinning sensation, Adrian dropped into a set of push ups. Hammering out a set of 1000 seemed like second nature to him these days. Same went with his situps which he promptly flipped over to complete.

As always, the repetition lulled him and he directed his drifting mind to his palace. Entering the imaginary foyer, one of three rooms he had proudly constructed in the past months, he looked to his left and saw his calendar that was filled with his activities and plans. A big circle had been drawn around February 18th. Today, on January 18th, he had a memo to call Rich.

It was also two days before Trump was sworn into office. Adrian groaned. Either way, they would have been fucked, but he still hated the result to death since he’d actually have to deal with the son of a bitch sometime in the future, probably. Judging by the rate of progression for his projects and Raide’s projections, he’d be thrown into the political landscape a lot sooner than he had ever estimated himself.

Time to bring in an ally.

The man he was about to contact was a former classmate of his before he ended up transferring to Virginia Tech for a Master’s program. Slightly younger than Adrian by a few months, he had first met him in the dorms his freshman year. Rich was a bear of a guy, judging by hairiness rather than his stature. Crude, vile, and an otherwise detestable character ensured that he and Adrian became fast friends. Guy bonding is weird like that.

They ended up living together with a few other guys in an apartment off campus the second year and found out that they actually had a lot in common intellectually. Long hours of discussions about politics and prototype designs convinced Adrian that he could count him in with many of his projects. They had stayed in touch for the last several months too, but Adrian hadn’t let on about Raide yet. The thought brought a grin to his face.

Grabbing an earpiece from his nightstand, He slotted it into his left ear as he walked into the living room. Several new toys decorated his space and gave the impression of a command center mixed with a workshop, a cluttered workbench resided along the western wall. A sensor at the door tagged his entry and initiated a startup macro for his monitors and now multiple TVs on the walls.

Raide never went to sleep so the server always stayed on, but everything else Adrian kept at low power to try and keep a low usage signature for his apartment. When an energy bill gets too outrageous for the amount of occupants and type of neighborhood, the power companies might slip your name to the police for possible drug handler prospects. Weed farming and all that. In Georgia, it’s still illegal after all. He really didn’t want that kind of attention directed towards his humble abode.

“Good morning Raide.”

“Morning, sir. I would ask if you got your beauty sleep, but I now see that it obviously wasn’t enough.”

Adrian rolled his eyes and ignored him. “Bring my latest stats to the primary TV, normal startup protocol for the rest.” Grabbing a vitamin water from the fridge, Adrian spun into his chair and swiveled to face the wall filled with TVs. Active research projects dominated one 48”, split up into different sectors based on industry. Another 48” displayed Raide’s active functions and processing power allotment, along with Adrian’s finances spread among various accounts.

Raide’s ability at manipulating the stock market had proven to be even more impressive than Adrian anticipated. Several news stations were still going on four weeks later about the meteoric rise of a few stock funds and subsequent buoy effect that the exchange was subjected to when Raide went a little too... aggressive one day.

His assets at this point were nothing to laugh at. He was more than likely the most wealthy pure investor without a corporate backer in the States. Does this even count as honest business? He felt slightly bad about his inordinate advantage, but what do you expect when the portfolio manager has the ability to analyze news and corporate data at the same time as making trades? No human can compete with that. Especially when said manager can hack private data as easily as snapping his digital fingers.

By the activity on the account screen, Raide was in the process of selling stocks at a quiet rate to convert everything to liquid capital. His next task was to move the funds to diversified, unlinked offshore accounts. Adrian didn’t want to end up in the cliche scenario of the Feds being after him one day and him having no money because they froze his assets. Swapping his gaze to the primary TV, he unconsciously massaged his arm in contemplation.

Adrian Pierce Current Potential Vitality 97 100 Agility 93 100 Strength 94 100 Intelligence 97 100 Charisma 92 100 Perception 97 100

For a body that had never been truly skinny in its life on this Earth, the body he possessed now was a direct antithesis; it was a well-oiled machine. Sweat glistened on his chiseled arms and bare torso from his earlier pushup/situp combo, beading and running down to his 6-pack below. His now shoulder length damp, void black hair was pulled back into a half ponytail, keeping it out of his face where the previous forest of a beard had been groomed back into something presentable.

Compact and lithe, his muscles were formed in such a way that they were a natural spring, poised to intercept or dish out damage should he be engaged in any way. Three months in, Raide had thought to supplement in an hour of krav maga or MCMAP practice into his three-a-day training schedule to make sure that he had lethal as well as neutralizing capabilities in his repertoire for hand-to-hand combat. Consequently, it had also served to increase his agility and perception stats by improving his reaction times and observation skills. Adrian knew this was more than likely a planned coincidence.

“Raide, execute the 50k wire transfer into Rich’s account in Blacksburg like we discussed. Also, send a text to him from my number asking how many beers he can buy with the money in his account. That should get a good reaction.”

“Done.”

After thinking for a moment, Adrian added, “Can you tap into the front camera on his phone and feed that to the main display?”

A few moments later, the feed loaded and showed the ceiling of Rich’s apartment. Apparently, he had laid it down in the living area. About five minutes passed before a long haired and shirtless ruffian swaggered into the frame and saw the blinking light on his phone. A confused expression passed over his face as he carried the phone to his laptop in order to check his bank account. Approximately 15 seconds later, the facial muscles relaxed into a look of stark amazement, transitioning into unblinking vacancy. Was that... drool?

Snatching his phone, Rich began dialing a number.

Smirking, Adrian said quietly, “Here it comes.” Iron Man began playing on his phone. Speaking to Raide again, “Put him on loud speaker, please.”

“What the actual fuck, Bearcat!? That’s 50,000 yuenglings at Cutter’s happy hour, you goddamn beautiful disaster. Ah hell, now I have to go to the strip club...what the hell…. making it rain has always been a dream of mine...wait, or should I build a cluster server...hold on, where the fuck did you get this kinda cash?”

Adrian held his head laughing while tears streamed down. “OH, oh man, that was so worth it.” Calming back down to an even tone, he continued, “Consider that a signing bonus... Rich, I did it. You hear me? I did ‘it’, you bastard. Get your ass down to ATL and cancel your classes. I’ll give you the specs when you arrive.”

Silence spanned a long two seconds before Adrian heard Rich mutter, “...Holy shit.” Regaining his voice, “Okay, you got it. I’ll be there in 5 hours. You still at your apartment?”

“Yeah. I’ll see you when you get here.” Ending the call, Adrian waved to Raide, “Cut the feed.” An extra pair of engineer’s hands would be useful over the next month.

Vaulting himself from the chair, he strode over to his workbench and sat down before a tilted magnifying glass. Pinned in clamps further beyond and directly beneath its view was a sleeve of a long sleeve shirt, the rest of its still-connected body folded to the side. Taking up his utensils, Adrian peered at the closeup of the fabric.

Hidden in line with the fibers, barely exposed on the outside face of the cloth, was a microgrid of crisscrossing wires. Imperceptible to the human eye, the designed function of this shirt was a hidden stun weapon. The body side of the fabric was insulated against electrical current, while the outside carried the equivalent of a stun gun or 4 milliamps. The typical amperage range for handheld stun guns was 2.5 - 4 milliamps, so this ranked at the upper end of the spectrum.

Raide, who had been watching from his usual camera atop the primary TV, inquired towards Adrian, “I’ve read about the skill “energy armor” in gaming. Who would have thought that it could be materialized in such a way. Is that intended for defense or offense?”

“Hmm, both really. It’s hidden nature allows for a surprise in hand-to-hand. Any punches, grabs, or throws will backfire spectacularly if contact is made on the key areas. The brief moment of confusion and pain will enable me to end the engagement in a concise manner.” Spotting a broken connection to a capacitor, he grabbed his micro soldering iron and fixed the 14 nm span.

“I intend for you to automatically activate its function via bluetooth should I ever be assailed or the situation calls for a stealth knockout. Note down to always immediately deactivate it upon use though. As you’re probably aware, prolonged amperage flow would heat up the micro wiring and either melt the connections or catch the cloth on fire. So... ”Adrian flashed a smile, “Controlled bursts, please. It’ll only get about 10 uses per charge, so measure it carefully.”

Seeing Raide’s expression of consternation, he continued, “Don’t worry, I’m working on a sensor array to allow for a plethora of new data input for you. See that head band over there? That will have video to mimic my field of view, audio, and laser sensors lined 360⁰ around its circumference. You can use that to map the surroundings, right? So cheer up.”

Getting back to his work, Adrian lost himself in the mindless tinkering of his devices. Five hours later, as promised, a hurried knock echoed at the door.

***

That motherfucker fucking did it. An AI. I remember us discussing that ridiculous possibility at length years ago, but who would have thought he was actually working on the damn concept. That’s higher tier machine learning and algorithms at an order of magnitude near the synaptic complexity of human brain tissue. Nobody does that by themselves! But as much as Rich wanted to deny that he achieved it - it was thought impossible without quantum computing after all - the 50k sitting in his bank account spoke volumes towards its veracity.

Bearcat didn’t have that kind of money. The last time he visited a year ago, he’d gotten an eyeful of the candy and ramen containers that littered the place. There wasn’t even any evidence of fast food, which he knows Bearcat would have indulged in if he had had the funds to drag his fat ass to the nearest chain. No, there was another factor here and there was no reason for him to lie. It had to be what he said.

Pulling into the apartment complex where Bearcat lived, Rich left his car and sprinted up the stairs to the third floor. Stopping at 326, he rapped quickly at the door. Hearing a click in the mechanism and a voice ringing out from within the apartment saying, “It’s open,” Rich grabbed the handle and prowled into the apartment. Eyeing the weirdly immaculate kitchen, he rounded the corner and received one of the biggest shocks of his life.

There, facing away and positioned on a swivel stool, was a Norse god. Shirtless, the man was adorned in rippled muscle that twitched and contracted during every fine motor movement of his hand at the workbench, which was definitely not here last time. His shoulder length hair was pulled back into a half ponytail, leaving the bottom section to fall smoothly down his neck. A neatly cropped beard was evidenced by its disappearing edge along the sides of the stranger’s face.

The apartment was shudder-inspiring in its coldness, yet he could see a thin veil of steam and heat radiating off of the man's bare skin. Rich couldn’t hold his silence anymore while throwing a glance at the other contents of the room, “Am I in the right place?”

Placing the soldering iron back on its stand, the figure spun around to face him and grinned. “What, you can’t even recognize your friend? Good to see you too, ya bastard.”

For the second time that day, a mutter echoed out in the apartment, “...Holy shit.”

***

Rich just stood there like a stone, so Adrian hopped up and quickly strode over to give him a hug, but even after the quick pat on the back, he still stood there looking at Adrian like he was an alien. This result was selfishly satisfactory. No one else outside of classmates, even his family, had witnessed his transformation yet, so Adrian was hoping for a reaction like this. Now, seeing the look on Rich’s face, he felt all those agonizing hours being validated one by one. It felt good. Let’s heap it on, shall we.

Turning to the TV covered wall, he inquired to Raide, “You going to keep lurking or are you going to say hi?”

Seemingly booting on it’s own, the monstrous primary 60” TV mounted on the wall came to life and displayed an androgynous face, devoid of hair, that gave off the feeling of being constructed. There were no feature flaws, as such it perfectly ascribed to the Da Vinci facial symmetry.

Subsurface digital muscles pulled its hairless eyebrows up into a look of mock incredulity. “Sir, I was just being cautious. I sincerely doubted that you wanted me to give myself away to a random homeless man who wandered in off of the street.”

Turning to Rich, Adrian spoke in exasperation, “He’s always like this. Rich, this Raide. Raide, this is Rich Femora. Basically, just treat him like you would the smartest person you’ve ever met in your life. I brought him online almost 5 months ago, so he’s had more than enough time to assimilate his own personality and learn the language so to speak. I’ve got a lot to go over, so grab a seat.” Turning to the screen again, “Raide, bring up the lab schematics.”

A construction plan that was pulled from the city’s public record displayed on a side monitor. Following the surprise showing its light on Rich’s face, a predatory hunger flashed across Adrian’s facade. “The truth is Rich, we’ve got a lab to pillage.”