Chapter 12: In the scope
Another week passed, she had been stopping the progress of her money making AI, reducing the income of the stocks she had. All in order to get the blueprints she could still get. From what she knew, she still could get two more blueprints, three if she was lucky.
She had also been researching for anything related to the Durinn culture, right now there was only one country in the world that managed to keep that culture up to this day, it was in the Atalasian continent. The artic lands of the north also had this culture integrated, but they didn't belong to any country and were considered the wild people or tribes.
There were no resources in the artic lands, that's the major reason for it to be forgotten by the world, they also didn't have any intention of being part of the struggle of power and each population kept themselves afar from the others.
As for the country in the Atalasian continent, its name was Abegwia. It was the root of the Decros country and where they got all their strange symbols. Sadly, it had lost many wars over the years, getting its size reduced by a large margin from its former magnitude. According to records, it was the biggest country of the world at some point.
Now reduced to a simple country, there was not much material Charlotte could use to pinpoint how this peculiar culture came up with this medicine. She just studying it as a hobby, it helped to improve her temperament.
"Now that I think about it, I've not talked with Dord or Elly for some time… It'd be good if we get together, I promised after all."
Going to her phone, she opened the chat application they used to comunicate and typed in a group chat only the three of them shared.
"Charly:
Hey girls! Up to something?"
Seeing that they didn't answer fast enough, she simply sighed and told to herself that this was normal, today was Saturday morning and they should be busy with some things. She was the odd one for not working anymore.
After reading some more about the ancient Durinn's, She let the morning go by.
At noon after she had some lunch, Ellen answered in the chat group.
"Elly:
Hey lost lamb, what's this rare occasion?"
"Charly:
Hey! Im not lost! Simply bored…"
"Elly:
Oho? I thought you only wrote to ask for things!"
"Charly:
That's not true and you know it! ( ఠൠఠ ) "
"Elly:
Yes yes, so, what do you want? I'm quite busy these days"
"Charly:
Nothing, really, just wanted to see you"
"Elly:
Really?
There must be something right?"
"Dordor:
There surely must be something!"
"Charly:
Hi there Dordy
Nothing
Really!
Believe me!"
"Elly:
Then, what do you want?"
"Dordor:
How was your job?"
"Charly:
Good! I finished it some two weeks ago and now I'm doing nothing heh §ԾᴗԾ§
To get together and drink and fool around? Dunno what do you say?"
"Dordor:
Omg then you're doing nothing for two weeks and hadn't even contacted me!
How meanie!"
"Elly:
Yeah, to forget about us and only talk to us when you need smthng…"
"Charly:
I wasn't doing nothing! Just I get too immersed in my things and lost awareness of time…
But hey, im contacting you guys now!"
"Elly:
Yah, ok…"
"Dordor:
Ok! Then where?"
"Charly:
I don't know that many places
Elly you choose and we go there
What you say?"
"Elly:
Hmm Ill think about some good place and latter send you all the place, ok?"
"Charly:
Yes!"
"Dordor:
Okay~! I'll wait for it!"
After coming to an agreement, Charlotte continued to read while paying attention to her mobile.
Later in the afternoon Ellen send them the address to a pub that was in the center of the city, also saying to be there at around 8.
Charlotte arrived earlier thant the other pair so she waited for them to show their faces. She wore the red dress Dordives had given her, matching it with black heeled sandals she never used and a little purse that its only purpose was to carry some money and her ID.
Dordives wore a white camisole, a black short skirt, which only covered half her thigh, knee high boots and surprisingly, didn't come with a purse. She, for reasons Charlotte couldn't comprehend, was also wearing a beige hat.
"We're going to a bar or something like that, no? Why the hat?" Charlotte asked whilt tilting her head.
"Just wanted to, you know! You're astounding tonight!! Woa, you'll make a killing in there." Dordives said as she looked with stars in her eyes at Charlotte.
"It's too much… I normally dont't do this."
"And that shy demeanor to top it all is just perfect."
A voice came from behind Charlotte, it was Ellen's.
She was dressed the most normal out of the three. With black jeans, a pair of greyish-black tennis and a dark green shirt.
"Right right! It's just perfect! Hey, can I take you home?!" Dordives said while breathing roughly and approaching Charlotte with bad intentions in her eyes.
"Stop it, or I won't be dressing like this again." Charlotte said like a strict mother admonishing her child.
The other two couldn't help but remain quiet with her choice of dress for tonight.
"But really, what's the occasion for this?"
"I just felt like it, you know, an urge. Heheh." She answered while being a little bashful, scratching her cheek.
"Had I known it, I'd have dressed properly… Sigh, let's get it on then."
Once the three were together they went inside and drank some beers, danced and chatted with each other.
She spent a good time with them and everything was okay, everything was good until that night.
That was the last night they spent together without worry in their lives. Dordives was marrying in a month. Ellen's fashion company was getting bigger and she was planning on moving to the capital, Gercy, some time in the future.
As for Charlotte, the next morning she woke up to a message in her phone:
"One week, miss hacker."
W-what?
It had no sender. She was dumbfounded when she saw the message. She couldn't believe someone had tracked her, they even found she was a woman and her mobile.
… It's fast… Way too fast.
What scared her the most was the fact that they told her she still had time, meaning they have been looking at her for some time, how long, however, she didn't know.
"I need to arrange it now, or else everything'd be for nothing."
She went to her desktop and modified her AI program. She had completed all the blueprints that could be done with the theory she developed, in total were 7 machines, meaning she was correct in her initial assessment. Each of the possible machines did a different thing, how different, she didn't know. All she knew was that they all used the mysterious fifth force.
At this moment she had exactly 73191,85 Gers. She would leave the AI running at full speed without any 'human' component.
This night, I'll buy everything to finish at least the first one. I hope it's not so late.
She thought with anxiousness in her heart.
She then went out to eat something in the street, she wasn't in the mood to prepare herself something.
After eating, she hurried back to her bedroom, meditating a little bit to calm her fears, she saw that in the mere span of an hour her stock values had increased 20%!
I can't be hasty, I need more.
She had the urge of trying to do it all right then and now, she was thinking of buying it all right now and then. But with how long it would take for the normal companies to make the problematic material, she would need something faster and more efficient.
My only choice is… Paversia.
She thought resolutely. She knew the price wouldn't be low, and so she needed as much as she could get.
First is contacting them.
She had kept Laurent's borrowed laptop, she forgot to give it back the day she stopped working for Treller and he never contacted her about it.
It was something minor to his company, maybe.
Right now, she couldn't care less about it. She started to get into the Paversia network, trying to figure out where the laboratory that she had seen the other day and made any kind of things a la carte was.
Finding it after some search on their private network, she sent a mail with a pseudonym name. She obviously hid the fact that she was an outsider.
She sent an email explaining what she needed and asking the time it'd take to fabricate it and the cost it incurred, as well as how to contact her directly. She found a chat app from Paversia, modified it to allow her as a normal paversian dweller and waited for their answer.
She didn't have to wait for long, she got an answer after fonly waiting for 30 minutes.
"James:
Hello, I suppose this is Frecks?"
"Frecks:
Yes indeed, is this the lab?"
"James:
Very well, I have some questions and if you answer them all, I'll do it."
Charlotte was starting to have cold sweat on her back. She gathered all the courage she could muster and continued.
"Frecks:
Ask away."
"James:
How did you get this information?"
"Frecks:
On the network."
"James:
This isn't an open page, how did you get it?"
"Frecks:
I know where to look for things, I can find what I want to find. If the answer is not enough, I can't do anything about it."
"James:
Alright. Now, what do you need it for?"
"Frecks:
Personal project."
"James:
Is it dangerous?"
"Frecks:
As long as I'm aware, it's not."
"James:
Then, if you're unaware of it, how potentially dangerous it could be?"
This… I don't know. She thought for the first time if her little things had any serious consequences.
"Frecks:
If used right, I suppose it can be very dangerous, how right it is, I'm not sure. It's only an experiment to explain a theory of mine."
"James:
What theory?"
"Frecks:
Cannot say in here."
"James:
Normally it'd be like that as any channel can be tapped, but this is a private channel, I can see everyone who's connected to it. Tell me, what theory."
"Frecks:
If you don't want to do it, then it's over for us."
Charlotte was scared right now, way too scared. To be talking with someone from Paversia was a crime in itself, she couldn't help but shiver at the thought.
"James:
Ok, as for how long it'll take, it depends on how much you're willing to pay."
"Frecks:
I need it as fast as possible."
"James:
The fastest it can be ready is in two days, the delivery will be anywhere you choose. The price, 500000 FC."
Looking at the price, she couldn't help but frown.
What is a FC!? Is that the monetary system of Paversia? I don't know how to convert it to Gers! Damnit!
She started looking in the web of Paversia so she could understand the value of that coin compared to her own.
After a minute of looking, she found it had roughly the same value as a Ger. Albeit a bit less, she needed to take into account the fees and how the illegal value of the FC coin was going to up the price.
Damnit! It's too costly!
"Frecks:
How is the transaction done?"
"James:
Personally. We give you the matter and you give us the cash, upfront. We don't trust the web to do this kind of thing."
Fuck.
"Frecks:
I need it delivered outside, how to do it?"
"James:
Outside? As in a formal country? That's hard, it'll duplicate the price, and depending on the country, it'll be trice the value."
I'll be damned.
Charlotte thought with a frown.
"Frecks:
Gercia, Masta province, the city of Monnimoyas."
"James:
That's easy enough. A million. Or the equivalent in that country, I believe it's Gers on all that continent."
"Frecks:
I'll give the one who delivers it a device that can duplicate any amount in a day."
"James:
It's interesting, but we don't trust it enough."
"Frecks:
I'll give you a blueprint of a device similar to the one I'm trying to create."
"James:
And the one that duplicates the money."
"Frecks:
I thought you said you didn't trust it"
"James:
We don't trust it, but we can do some interesting things with it, don't you agree?"
"Frecks:
Right. How long will it take?"
"James:
On Friday it'll be there, I'll contact you that day so the transaction can be successful."
"Frecks:
I'll be waiting then."
"James:
Alright, take care, miss Frecks."
"Frecks:
You too, Mr James."
Once the conversation was over, she sighed in relief. It lasted no more than 10 minutes but she had never been that tense before.
Once she regained her peace of mind with some meditation, she went to her desktop and stopped her AI. Now she had more important things to do, withdrawing 50 thousand Gers of the money she had made, she started to buy the other less problematic materials.
As she needed them as fast as possible, she took no notice of how costly they became. Spending 40 thousand in the process, she would get all materials before Friday and would start constructing it that very same Wednesday when the first parts arrived.
"Now, there's no going back."
She said to herself as she started to meditate in order to calm her rushing mind and heart, once again.
Closing the application he seldom used, a man wearing disheveled clothes and a black lab coat got up from his chair, he sneered at this last client of his.
"Heh, miss Frecks, you should be more cautious with someone you don't know. Giving us the city where you live, even if we already knew it… Right, Touyah boy?"
He asked as a young man in his twenties approached him.
Touyah was dressed with a black T-shirt and greyish pants, his head was completely bare, withou a hint of hair, and had a scar in across his face.
"Yes, but she can't help it, from what we've gathered, she'd always lived in peace, not knowing of the true dangers of the world."
"But she was too hasty, no? Not even a day has passed since you alerted her."
"Sir James, the hastiness can be also mean that she knew what could possibly go wrong and made some preparations."
"Indeed, she even contacted us, what a joke, the ones who found her are the ones getting her pleas of help."
"I found her yesterday, I'm no planning on divulging her whereabouts, but it shouldn't take more than two weeks to find her."
"You think she's something special?"
"If not, how'd you explain she was able to hack Necox as if nothing, and stay away from trouble for so long? Even if someone found the leads, it'd take months, even years, to track her, and then she'll be long gone. Even if it could be replicated, there's no chance of succeeding anymore, their precautions are over the roof."
"Ha-ha yes, if it was someone else, that is. You did a splendid job guiding the others teams. Now that they're on the right track, she's no time. Maybe she'll come here?"
"If she does that, what will you do, sir?"
"Hmm it depends, if what she does with this machine of hers is enough to move me, I'll guard her, the same as you. Now, let's do this exotic thing."
"Yes."
Once they went out of the room, it became eerily quiet, as if there was no one there to begin with.
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