Bab 4: Chapter 4 - Wheatley
'Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me…' Jason internally groaned.
[Oh, so you *can* hear me! Brilliant! I thought we were having some technical issues there,] replied the voice inside his head.
'What is this? A surprise from Joe? An artificial intelligence attached to my soul? As if.' He internally scoffed at his last guess.
[I'm a bit insulted that you would call me something as mundane as "artificial intelligence". But then again, Joe *did* call me a repurposed System AI, and I *was* just a robot aimlessly floating in space before Joe found me. Both prove your point, but nevermind that! Let me introduce myself. I'll be your new soulma—wait a minute, that sounds wrong. I'll just uh… skip to the introductions, I guess.] He cleared his throat. [My name is Wheatley. Pleasure to meet you, Jason!]
'Uh… The pleasure is all mine...' Jason replied.
[Yes, yes. Now that the introductions are done, let me give you a bit of a rundown of why I'm here.] Wheatley said. [I'm another form of support Joe has given you. I have a lot of convenient functions that'll assist your fight against crime and Joe's assignments, so think of me as a permanent brain buddy! By the way, you don't have to hide your thoughts from me. As long as it isn't intended as a message for me, I won't be able to receive it.]
'That's good to know. A brain buddy, huh?' he pondered, his cold eyes continuing to observe the old man in front of him.
Joe's work drastically improved not only his physical aspects, but his cognitive capabilities as well, and it was strange the way he could have a full-on mental conversation in a fraction of a moment, his thoughts being so quick in real time.
He should've expected that when Joe mentioned having Deathstroke's "data" pasted onto him. That man's enhanced brain operated at peak efficiency, at least nine times beyond that of a normal man, and let him have control over every molecule in his body. Yet, Jason didn't feel like he had that level of control. Yes, he could definitely feel that he had more control over his body than before, but not to the extent Deathstroke achieved. Perhaps the changes caused by the "power-up" need more time to take effect?
'Can you tell me what made you activate?'
[Why, yes, I can! There is one primary cause. The cause being the people currently around you. You see, in the world you are in as of this moment, and *especially* the country you're in, strange situations or things that shouldn't exist somehow *do* exist. Joe calls these things "Anomalies." They are abnormal changes in the world's fabric of reality and strings of fate or is a product of one, like your universe's sudden death, for example. At least, that's what Joe told me. Some are positive Anomalies, ones that help in some way — if you look at it from a certain perspective —, but most of them are *quite* bad. Like really, really bad.
The people around you are part of a bad Anomaly's effects on this country and because of your close approximation with them before the main sequence began, the prerequisite Joe set for my activation was fulfilled. Basically, we work together to find and investigate these Anomalies, and if they're terrible for the world and humans in general, we eliminate them… or try to.] Wheatley explained. [Whoo! Sorry for the long explanation there. Joe told me he'd upgrade me so that I can actually help you, and it seems like he really did because I was using a couple of words I had *never* used before. I didn't even know they existed!]
'How will you help me find and solve these Anomalies like the one these people are in?'
[It's actually pretty simple. In this case, we just need to take out that fat human over there. Don't worry, killing him has a purpose, and his soul won't go to waste. I'll extract his essence and use it to track and isolate the source of the anomaly. That way, we'll be able to stop anything similar from happening in the future because the anomaly wouldn't exist anymore.]
'That's it? Alright.' Easier than he thought it would be.
[Actually, forget what I said. I just remembered what Joe told me, and he said that this anomaly in particular has existed in this version of Earth for thousands of years. Basically, what I'm saying is… It might take a *while* before I'll be able to track the source. And by that, I mean you might need to kill a lot more people like him. That's how I'm able to take their souls for analysis, by the way. Though I'm sure killing a couple dozen humans wouldn't be a problem for you, Mr. Red Hood.]
'… I have no problems with that. In fact, I look forward to it. As long as it's for a good enough reason. But tell me what Anomaly these people are involved in first. Just saying that it's a "bad" Anomaly doesn't really give me a good idea of what I'm dealing with here.'
[You are *absolutely* right. Well, to summarise things, fat human over there does the deed with the two female humans using unethical methods and they enter a state of… what was it again? Oh right. Stockholm syndrome, I'm sure you're familiar with it. But it's Stockholm syndrome on steroids. In fact, according to my data, it happens quite quickly in almost every similar situation in Japan. That isn't supposed to happen, right? Or am I just completely wrong about this?]
'No, you're right.' Jason's jaw clenched. 'That definitely shouldn't happen.'
From how the blonde girl commented on the old man earlier, it sounded like she knew him personally, or at least well and long enough to know that he's not someone you shouldn't be anywhere near of. Maybe he's someone related to her or someone she met through her friend. She also could've just worked here long enough to know how much of a deviant he is.
[So! Now that the debriefing is done, what's your plan, Jason?]
'I'll need to collect more information and evidence to see if he really is someone I should dispose of.' He grabbed the two large plastic bags filled with food and water.
The mental conversation felt like they've been talking for a minute or two, but it only lasted for about ten seconds in real time. The three were still locked in the conversation with Yui, now trying to pacify the disgusted blonde girl while the old man continues ogling the two of them discreetly.
Jason swiftly produced a small and attachable listening device from his ring, placing it under the edge of the counter.
Jason cleared his throat loudly, interrupting their conversation, causing the two girls behind the counter to swivel their heads in his direction and the old man to jump in fright. "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but can you point me to where the bathroom is?"
After the old man used it, he already knew where it was located based on the sound. He just needed to listen to them through the listening device and inspect the bathroom. He had a strong hunch that the loud thud from before the old man exited the bathroom wasn't because he slipped and fell.
"Oh, um…" Yui pointed behind him and to his left. "The bathroom is in that direction, just past the potato chips and the candy."
"Thanks." Jason nodded and headed for the bathroom.
Strange… Earlier, why did the old man jump as if a ghost spooked him when he cleared his throat? Did he not see him?
[Maybe he's blind or just has poor spatial awareness. You never know when it comes to humans and their faulty, fleshy bodies. And I don't mean to offend you, by the way. Since you're - you know...]
'None taken.' Jason shook his head and entered the bathroom, grimacing because of the bathroom's stench. It hadn't been cleaned yet and he could already smell the bathroom from outside, but it was much worse after getting in. Especially with an enhanced sense of smell.
Ignoring the smell, he produced an earpiece from his ring and fit it in his ear. The audio from the listening device was crystal clear.
<—swear he wasn't there before! It was as if a ghost had just popped up from nowhere! > The old man said.
Jason inspected the bathroom. It was a small, cream-colored space with white tiles, a single mirror and faucet. The toilet was a little farther back, past the faucet. Jason pushed its door open.
<What are you talking about? He was there the whole time. Are you sure you don't need to get your eyes checked, old man? > The blonde girl asked.
Jason looked up, searching for an irregular object attached to the high ceiling or somewhere on the upper wall. One would think something on the ceiling would be easy to spot, but people rarely look up, especially in bathrooms. He immediately spotted a small box of a similar color with the walls, about an inch in size, and the reflection from its lens was as clear as day to his eyes. It was directly above the toilet, taped to the ceiling. People using the toilet wouldn't notice it unless they directly looked up.
<I'm serious! I wouldn't miss a customer that noticeable, but I literally didn't notice him before he made a sound!>
[Maybe you're so sneaky that he subconsciously ignored your presence?]
'That's not how stealth works.'
<W-well, maybe you were just distracted? You *have* been more tired lately. > Yui suggested.
With a slight crouch, Jason leapt many feet off the ground, plucked the camera from the ceiling, and landed back without making a single sound throughout the process. Identifying the camera as a wireless one designed to deliver live-feed to a device, he placed it in his hoodie's pocket and took out a tablet from the ring with the Wayne logo on it. He traced the camera's signal back to the receiving device and hacked into it, using the signal emitted by the camera as a pathway into the main device. With it connected, the tablet now listed every other camera connected to the device the old man was using to look at the camera feeds, with multiple of them having different angles of what seemed to be the staff locker room for females.
<Maybe? I-I don't know anymore. I think I should ask for a day off from the manager.> The old man stuttered.
Jason guessed that the old man was using this as an excuse to take a day off. He sounded a bit too relieved when he said that. That was fine with Jason, though. Better for him to stay away and stop spying on the girls or anyone else. The cameras were clearly well made. However, their signals were only effective at a certain distance of around fifty-five meters, barely enough to cover the area needed for half of the store. But that could mean he's taking the footage home instead by using the cloud or another storage device, which is likely.
[So… is this enough for you to kill him?]
'It's enough, but he might have more footage stored somewhere else. First, time to get out of this damn bathroom.' Jason exited the bathroom and grabbed the plastic bags he placed outside the door before he went in, and made his way back to the counter. He picked up a box of watermelon flavoured gum on the way.
When he arrived, the old man was no longer behind the counter, leaving the two girls behind. But he could hear the movement of the old man behind the door to the right side of the counter.
"Gonna buy this pack of gum, too." Jason held up the pack of gum, drawing their eyes to it. He raised his other hand, the one holding a five thousand yen bill, and deftly grabbed the listening device as he raised it before putting it back in the ring. He then placed the bill on the counter.
"Keep the change," said Jason before placing the pack of gum inside one of the plastic bags. Five thousand yen isn't that much money, anyway.
The doors slid open with an electronic chime as Jason exited.
"Thank you and please come again!"
"Thank you and please come again!"
-===-
Note:
10 USD or $10 in the United States is about 1,300 Yen
If you're not familiar with Wheatley, he is one of the characters from the Portal 2 game.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone