“45 minutes up time! This is still less than I anticipated! Sigh”, said Dr. Paige as he woke up from the small bed he was sleeping in. He removed the helmet that he was wearing, and placed it on a small table, located just beside the bed.

Dr. Paige looked around the small room. It was crude, with cables and screens thrown about everywhere. There were probably more cables than screens, and the cables were coming into the room from the wall, where there was a small hole. He stood up and walked through the door, towards the next room.

In the next room, the source of the cables going into the bedroom was a spherical device, which had small white lines, converging on one point. The device had large valves where the cables were connected, and it was dark blue in color. It was suspended by four pillars, which were tied together crudely by thick cables. There was a logo of a robot holding a pie, which was the logo used by PI Robotics, the company he used to work at. Below the spherical device was a desktop processing unit, whose frame was quite large, with the letters ‘Spintel inside’, written on a pale blue label on top of the computer.

Dr. Paige looked around the room, and went straight to the corner where there was the Pirin robot, which looked dirty with mud and dust all over it. He touched the robot gently and then said, “I’m sorry Pirin. I couldn’t let those monsters sell you and make you do terrible thing to other people.”

He then turned to the other side and said, “Let’s start over again, Mr. Szech. Where can I find Lopez?”

In that other corner, there was a neatly dressed man; rather, he no longer looked neat with ruffled hair and a torn suit. He looked rather pathetic. He was teetering on the verge of unconsciousness, with a broken jaw, bleeding nose and a wound that spanned his forehead, etc. His hands and feet were tied up with computer cables, and he was suspended on one pillar.

“Y-you... won’t get away with...this!” declared the so-called Mr. Szech, stammering in his speech.

“Look, all I just wanted was Lopez’s location. You’ve been dealing with him all this while, how do you contact him?” asked Dr. Paige.

“I...I don’t contact him, Hartmann does. I...I just reported the technology...which...which he was supposed to...to buy”, he paused, as he caught his breath. He continued, “Please, let me go. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into. If they realize that I’m missing, you’ll be in big trouble!”

“Threatening me will not help your predicament, Mr. Szech. I’ve disabled the tracking device placed on your phone. Would you be kind enough to tell me how the Chief Executive of PI Robotics, Mr. Hartmann, has been contacting the mafia?” asked Dr. Paige.

“Like I said, I don’t know. All I know is that this is bigger than you and me. Even though you have the Pirin, the most advanced robot on this earth, it cannot save you from them!” said Rive Szech, as he spat some blood. He didn’t have anything to do with this! They had threatened to ‘deal’ with his son, but they had promised to take good care of him and his family if he agreed to give some inventions to the mafia. Now this lunatic had abducted him, and beaten him up, to get information out him. He didn’t deserve this!

“Who are ‘they’?” asked his captor.

“I don’t even know, but why do you think PI Robotics has been making advanced weapons all this time? Lopez is just a small fish compared to them, just like me, he’s just a small pawn. If you try to fight them, you aren’t going to make it out alive. They can find you...”

“You seem to be concerned more about me, even in your current predicament. So you’ve been making weapons to sell to neighboring countries, big deal...”

He was interrupted, “You don’t understand! That’s not their full power! Look, I know you want to stop technology from getting into the ‘wrong hands’. However, with just you and the Pirin, it’s not enough to fight against them. If you don’t let me go, they’ll kill my family. After that, they’ll come after you as well.”

Dr. Alan Paige appeared to be thinking about something. He knew Rive Szech was telling the truth, well, 89.9% of it seemed to be true. After graduating with his second PhD in Advanced Neurology from Granford University, John Kovakk asked him to join his newly found company, which he had called PI Robotics. With his friend Michael Avariz as the hardware specialist, he would become the software specialist, and create the most advanced AI ever made.

Thanks to his PhD in Applied Computer Science, he knew the software in and out, and thus mimicking how the human brain worked, he created Stephanie, the AI that would be used for the ‘brain’ of the robots. The two engineers appeared unbeatable. They first started making cleaning robots, then moved to smart home systems, and then finally, when the company was struggling, they made battle robots.

The battle robots were equipped with special weapons in order to ensure they would be lighter enough. When terrorists attacked the Tree Tower, Michael Avariz decided to quit working for PI Robotics, either making weapons or robots. He ended up retiring early, going to stay at Aloha Island, where he bought a small farm and stayed.

Dr. Paige stayed at PI Robotics for some time, and he decided to start researching on how humans could preserve their consciousness, by uploading it somewhere else. He spent a long time, going through books and studying the human brain. His first attempt at uploading a test subject’s brain left the test subject with brain damage. After several unsuccessful attempts, he finally realized what he had been missing.

However, before he could implement his research, he was summoned by the Human Resources department, and was fired. This could not have come at a terrible time, and to make matters even worse, he discovered that his research was being sold to the mafia! He didn’t know why the company would be selling such advanced technology to a bunch of airheads who only knew how to rob and kill people. This had touched his bottom line!

As he came back to his lab to pack his belongings, he saw how happy the younger engineers were, when they were discussing and showing off their newly made robot, PI RIN 8420. He wondered what would happen if this advanced battle robot, which was invulnerable to guns, grenades, dynamite and most weapons suddenly fell into the hands of terrorists. The image of the Tree Tower popped up in his head, and he felt a slight chill.

Being a collaboration between the Cyber Division, Weapons Division and the Robotics Division, this meant those kids had done a lot of work. He applauded their efforts, but when he figured out that, this work would still end up in the wrong hands, he decided to make sure it wouldn’t. After stealing the robot, he uploaded a virus he had stolen from the Cyber Division and implanted a listener onto the network. This means he’d get information being passed around in internal emails, and all technology being made etc.

What he had to do now, was to find Hartmann, the Chief Executive of his former employer, PI Robotics. However, he knew that, even with the Pirin, he wasn’t invincible. Thus, he made a decision. He would get help from the other kids. If he properly explained how bad the situation was, he was sure they would come and help him. He could even talk to Aaron Moss, the kid he once mentored, who had moved to work at Ava Technologies. Aaron was a bright kid, in terms of technology he was a genius.

After talking to the kids, he would then install software upgrades, rewrite the drivers for weapons interface and upgrade the plasma model on the Pirin. Any new technology that would be made at PI Robotics, he would steal it and upgrade the Pirin with it. Besides, he was sure that with the EMP installed on the Pirin, if push comes to shove, he could use it to shut down all electrical devices within a 10-meter radius. This way, he could escape with minimal harm. What he was worried about, was the fact that the other party might have an EMP as well. If this was used on him, he would lose consciousness, leaving him vulnerable. He’d need to install a backup system that would automatically reboot his consciousness if the Pirin is shutdown.

He sighed as he turned to Rive and said, “How long do we have before they start coming after us?”

Rive showed a look of surprise before saying, “We? What do you mean us?”

“You said that they would kill your family, and then come after me. How long before that happens?”

“At most 48 hours”, was the reply.

This meant that he had to work fast. He walked over to the computer, and connected some cables to the Pirin.

********************

In a dimly lit room, hidden in a secret chamber somewhere, there were four people sitting around a circular table. Among these four, there was a middle aged man who had brown hair and a bushy beard, followed by a beautiful lady, then an old man with gray hair and lastly a young man with a neat black tuxedo.

The old man began, “Nightingale, care to report on the matters with Sky Haven?”

“There hasn’t been much going on recently. Other than the assassination of Derik Avariz, all missions have been going perfectly well”, the woman spoke.

“Who gave the order to assassinate him anyways?” asked the young man, who appeared to be around the age of twenty-five.

Nightingale rolled her eyes at him and ignored the question. The tension in the room grew up by a slight amount. The bushy bearded man coughed a bit before speaking, “We have run into a slight problem. Avariz was the one sponsoring production of the plasma weapons. Since his assassination, the board has refused to sponsor the development of the hyper-canon. If this keeps up, Griffinia and the Misis will start to blame and target us.”

The old man sighed deeply, before speaking, “Nightingale, what have you done?”

“I didn’t have an option. He knew my identity as Nightingale, so I had to dispose of him to keep him from gaining leverage.”

“So why did you marry him then? You really are cold and heartless!” spoke the young man.

Nightingale looked at him with a bit of anger. Sparks flew in the air between Nightingale and the young man.

“It doesn’t matter now. Gilgamesh, how is the printing of the federal reserve notes coming along?” asked the old man.

The young man coughed a bit before answering, “The Griffinian government has requested that we adhere to the signed agreement. Other than that, those fools are in our pockets!”

“Mind your language Gilgamesh!” said Nightingale.

“What have I said that’s wrong?” asked young Gilgamesh.

“That’s enough you two! This isn’t a nursery if you need babysitting!” shouted the old man.

“Yes grand elder”, replied both Nightingale and Gilgamesh, with sullen expressions.

“Now, onto the matter at hand. Let’s use the funds from the Griffinian banking system to fund the weapons development. Nightingale, you need to recruit as many new assassins as you can and train them. We’ll provide the funds you need for the recruitment and training process. By the way, Aerys, would you please explain the fiasco that has been happening at PI Robotics recently?” said the old grand elder.

The bushy bearded man replied, “According to Hartmann, they made a very advanced robot that could hack anything, and is pretty much indestructible. However, a former employee who was aggrieved after being fired stole it. They have tried to track it but it seems like he has removed all tracking devices. After stealing the robot, he started looking for Lopez, and he ended up blowing one of the warehouses in the Southern District. He also kidnapped our informer.”

“I see. If that’s so, Nightingale, activate Blue Rose and make sure you retrieve the robot. Get rid of the informer as well, he’s proven to be a liability!”

“Yes grand elder!” replied Nightingale with enthusiasm.