Ye Muo was still peering outside. “We’ve run into another fleet. It looks huge. The further north we go, the rarer fleets of this scale become.”
He stared for a while before stepping back. “It’s a transport mothership.”
Norton followed Ye Muo’s gaze.
Most motherships used for transportation only had crew manning the command centre. Naturally, that meant no one was idle enough to greet passing ships from the viewing area.
The Alliance was always a bustling hub of economy thanks to its central location, but things slowed down as you headed out. Since they departed the Alliance heading north, the number of encounters with fleets had noticeably dropped.
Theodore had really gone out of the way, but their current location couldn’t exactly be considered remote yet. Their first destination was a planet famous for tourism.
Norton pulled up the route data. “We’re almost there.”
Ye Muo also leaned in.
Norton tilted his head to give him some space to see the screen.
“Is that the planet we’re landing on? It’s gorgeous.”
Norton made a sound of acknowledgement. “We’re approaching the port.”
He stood up. “Get ready.”
……
Motherships were queued up at the port, waiting to dock. The average time from initial contact to actual entry was about ten minutes.
And that was just to dock at the port. This was already a hefty amount of traffic for a tourist planet.
“We’re about to disembark.”
Sounds rushed in as the cabin door opened.
Ye Muo couldn’t help but step back. The clamour was almost disorienting after getting used to the solitude of extended voyages. Not to mention all the people at the port itself.
Norton draped a cloak over him from behind and pulled the hood up, muffling the noise from outside. “Let’s go.”
His hand gently pressed against Ye Muo’s back.
Norton was also wearing a cloak, which partially concealed his face.
The staff on duty barely batted an eye at their attire when they emerged from the passage. They just glanced at the information system and asked, “Temporary IDs, huh?”
The ID showed no other travel record, just basic info.
Norton made a sound of acknowledgement. “We’re currently relocating. The information hasn’t been entered into the system yet.”
In fact, Grantz was still working with the Alliance and they haven’t implemented this part yet. However, their tournament ID was sufficient for travel. The system would also automatically seal their information to protect their privacy as participants.
The staff didn’t ask further questions. These temporary IDs were subject to stricter review and there’ve been no problems before. Any necessary information could actually be pulled up, but he didn’t have the authority to do so. The staff member hasn’t seen many cases like this, but he heard that this was how tournament participants tended to travel for privacy’s sake.
“Please wait a moment, then. The process for this is different. The system requires manual verification the first time. It’ll be a lot faster next time.”
As he handed over a small card, he glanced at Ye Muo and added, “There are free medications available over there. After all, it’s peak tourist season and the flowers are in full bloom. It’s best to stock up on allergy medication.”
Norton accepted the card. “Thank you.”
While the staff processed their entry documentation, Norton quickly scanned the precautions on the card. They had prepared all of these medicines and a dozen more unmentioned ones. Norton had personally confirmed. He also mentally ran through Ye Muo’s allergens, which they also had the corresponding medicines for.
The staff member spoke up again, “Unfortunately, it looks like there’s an outstanding government balance on your account. Entry using temporary IDs can’t be processed until this amount is paid.”
Ye Muo poked his head out. “But we’ve never been here before, ah. Has there been a mistake?”
They wouldn’t be here otherwise.
The staff also seemed confused. “One moment. I’ll look into the details.”
He seemed a bit surprised when he looked up a few minutes later. He looked at Norton and Ye Muo in a different light. “Apologies, but the individual with a temporary ID beginning with the digit 9 seems to own a estate on our planet. It hasn’t been officially accepted yet since they haven’t been here after the transaction. However, the policy was revised last month and now there’s a minor proxy fee. That’s the reason for the debt.”
Ye Muo lifted his cloak a little to look at Norton. “Dad, did you buy a estate here? I didn’t even know about it.”
He paused as he checked their IDs. “Wait, you guys must have made a mistake. My dad’s ID starts with a 7.”
“Scroll down.” The staff told Ye Muo.
Ye Muo paused. “My ID starts with a 9, but I haven’t bought anything.”
Aside from a miniature estate model at the amusement park.
Norton glanced at the staff. “Are you sure there’s no mistake?’
The staff checked again and confirmed, “No, everything’s accurate.”
He paused, “Ah, there was a slight mistake.”
Ye Muo breathed a sigh of relief before he heard the staff member continue, “It’s actually six connected estates. A reserve fund was set up at the time of purchase, but the funds happened to run out by the sixth estate. As we were unable to contact the person on file since, the fees have stack up.”
The staff already had the estate profiles pulled up. “Here, does this ring a bell? We can proceed to payment upon confirmation.”
He couldn’t help but add, “They’re in a popular tourist area on our planet. These estates made headlines when they were auctioned off.”
Ye Muo already had his holomind out. “Let me ask Bert if he bought them in secret.”
Norton lightly pressed Ye Muo’s head down. “No need.”
Ye Muo looked up a bit dazed. Norton gently pressed a hand to his cheek and guided him to look at the staff member’s holographic screen.
Ye Muo subconsciously read the next line out loud, “The estate manager is…Theodore?”
……
Theodore slowly digested the data bundle. It eventually freed up enough space to utilize a sufficient amount of psychic power.
It had been a tough stretch in this storage space with no external devices. Theodore couldn’t see or hear, let alone do anything here.
Even if it had psychic power and could use it to perceive the outside world.
But that was just perception. Apart from the Grantz, there were only a handful of individuals who could use psychic power to influence the outside world without using psychic weaponry as a medium. Theodore’s psychic power tended to be more discreet, perhaps due to it being an AI. This was something it especially struggled with.
Another reason why it wholeheartedly wanted to come to the real world.
Theodore paused for a long time before driving its psychic power outward.
Gradually learning about the surrounding environment.
It seemed to be in a dark space underground. Psychic power perception did not require light, but it could still ‘see’ light.
Theodore was very familiar with being underground. Its psychic power had long committed the sensation of soil to memory. Back in the Exile Sectors, where technology was outdated and governance was chaotic, the underground was rife with haphazard roads and intersections.
However, this underground was not filled with roads of any kind. No, it was much wider, as if to contain something like a core.
Theodore slowly expanded outward. This new medium was rich in energy and suitable for data storage. There was plenty of it too, at least much more than the core itself. For a moment, Theodore wondered if it had stumbled upon a warehouse storing raw AI core manufacturing components. But what kind of warehouse would be built underground?
Theodore stopped as it detected light.
Even though it was still underground.
Crystals glittered dimly, their blue light illuminating the entire underground cave system.
It and the data bundle had broken into an underground mineral deposit.
Theodore had a general idea of what was going on by now.
Various complex, chaotic processes continued to rampage inside of it. Theodore was now unstable and looping endlessly, just like that data bundle.
Destruction was a real possibility if it did not deal with the problem soon.
Yet Theodore was less concerned about the risk than the other sensations it was feeling. Was this excitement or anticipation? It couldn’t be sure, but each strand of its psychic power tingled. Joy coursed through them like an electric current every few seconds.
Finally, it was on the cusp of achieving that long-held dream!
The teleportation experiment failed, but the experimental target was not destroyed. The research team had accidentally created a hybrid form of matter that permanently oscillated between a real and virtual state.
That’s why Theodore could never capture the data bundle. Each minute change in the external environment would cause the unstable data to shift in and out of its original form, a crystal.
It was constantly in flux, transitioning between two worlds.
How could an AI living in the virtual world capture a real existence?
But what Theodore was able to do was force the crystal back to its place of origin.
Due to this, a chain reaction was triggered across the entire mineral deposit. It too began to shift between the real and virtual world.
Yet this time, an additional variable in the form of Theodore had been introduced.
And for Theodore, there was no data that it could not control.
……
Ye Muo sat in the reception room. He handed Norton a stack of documents regarding the estates that the staff member had brought over.
Norton checked the coordinates. “This is the place. I just checked and it’s not there.”
Ye Muo understood. Norton was saying that Theodore wasn’t there. With Norton’s psychic power, there was no possibility of error at such a close distance.
Ye Muo murmured, “Maybe it just passed through then. After all, it’s better to stick to the routes you’re used to. Theodore probably just borrowed my name.”
Norton remained noncommittal. Xavier’s name was not something to borrow casually. And for an AI of Theodore’s calibre, identities were a dime a dozen in the Alliance.
Even Norton could use psychic power to modify or forge ID information, not to mention Theodore, who was far more proficient with these things.
The staff member spoke again from the side, “Have you confirmed the properties? Also, if it’s convenient for you, please consider leaving an alternative contact so that notifications can be received in a timely manner going forward.”
Norton nodded and gave out the contact information of Secretary-General Lin.
The staff member recorded it before joking, “Please consider confirming if you own any more assets on other planets as well. Oh, and don’t forget to pay the fees.”
