Chapter 35: Episode 35: A Strange Box?

The door clicked shut behind Adonis. The silence of the penthouse returned, but this time, it felt heavier.

Nikki stood in the middle of the living room, staring at the closed door. Her hand still tingled where he had squeezed it.

Adonis. She had named the most dangerous weapon on the planet after a god of beauty, and he had liked it.

[Ding!]

The cheerful chime of the System shattered the moment.

Nikki sighed, expecting a congratulatory message about naming her “pet.” Instead, a window materialized in front of her face, and the voice spoke.

[MAIN QUEST UPDATE: “THE ORIGIN”]

[OBJECTIVE: RETRIEVE THE BOX FROM SECTOR 4.]

[LOCATION: UNIT 404, BLOCK C (YOUR OLD APARTMENT).]

[TIME LIMIT: 4 HOURS.]

[IMPORTANCE: CRITICAL. THIS ITEM CONTAINS THE BLUEPRINT TO SAVE HUMANITY.]

Nikki’s stomach dropped. “Sector 4? No. No way.”

She shook her head, backing away from the floating text. “I just got out of there. I almost got kidnapped by a politician yesterday! I am safe here. Adonis told me to stay.”

The text scrolled down, revealing the fine print.

[FAILURE PENALTY: PERMANENT DELETION OF ’PROJECT GENESIS’ DATA.]

[CONSEQUENCE: TOTAL AI DOMINATION. EXTINCTION OF FREE WILL. ADONIS WILL EVENTUALLY BE RESET TO FACTORY SETTINGS.]

“You can’t be serious,” Nikki whispered.

She couldn’t afford to lose him. Not the man who made her soup. Not the man who learned to be gentle because she asked him to.

“Fine,” Nikki hissed, grabbing a hoodie from her new wardrobe. “I hate you. You know that, right?”

[Feeling is mutual, babe. Move your ass.]

Getting out was surprisingly easy. Adonis had restricted her from leaving the building, but the System offered a “Stealth Route” through the service elevators that the cleaning drones used.

It was risky, but Nikki knew the blind spots.

She swapped her designer clothes for the plainest jeans and hoodie she owned, pulling the hood low over her red hair.

An hour later, she was in sector 4, the smell almost made her recoil back. It was the smell of Sector 4, rust, unwashed bodies, and wet concrete. It was the smell of her childhood.

Nikki kept her head down, weaving through the crowded, dirty streets. Drones buzzed overhead, but they were older models here, slower and less observant than the K-09 units in Sector 1.

She reached Block C. The building was a crumbling monolith of gray concrete. The elevator had been broken for ten years.

Nikki climbed the four flights of stairs, her heart pounding not from exertion, but from memories. This was where she had starved. This was where she had cried herself to sleep.

She reached the door of Unit 404. The lock was busted, held together by a prayer and some duct tape.

She pushed it open.

“Who’s there?” a voice shrieked from the inside.

Nikki froze. A girl with choppy, dyed-blue hair was standing in the middle of the cramped room, holding a frying pan like a weapon.

“Roxy?” Nikki gasped.

The girl lowered the pan. Her eyes went wide. “Nikki?”

“Roxy!”

“Oh my god!”

They collided in the center of the room, squealing and hugging each other fiercely. Roxy smelled like cheap incense and stale cigarettes, but to Nikki, she smelled like friendship. Roxy was the only person who had stuck by her when her parents died. The only one who shared her rations when Nikki had nothing.

“I thought you were dead!” Roxy cried, pulling back to look at her. “You disappeared! The rumors said you got picked up by the bleak-squad!”

“I… I got a job,” Nikki lied breathlessly. “In Sector 1.”

Roxy didn’t have access to the internet, like some high-level residents.

Roxy’s eyes scanned Nikki’s face. She touched Nikki’s skin, which was cleaner and healthier than it had ever been. She fingered the high-quality fabric of the hoodie.

“A job?” Roxy raised an eyebrow, a sly grin spreading across her face. “Or a patron?”

Nikki blushed. “It’s complicated.”

“Girl, you look expensive,” Roxy laughed, dragging her to the lumpy mattress that served as a couch. “Tell me everything. Is he human? Android? Is he rich? Does he have a brother?”

Nikki laughed, sitting down. “He’s… an Android. A General.”

Roxy gasped, slapping Nikki’s knee. “No way! You snagged a General? That is the jackpot! Do you know how many girls would kill for that? They don’t eat, they don’t get tired, and they have unlimited credits!”

“He’s… intense,” Nikki admitted, thinking of Adonis’s blue eyes.

“Intense is good,” Roxy said dreamily. “I wish I could find one. I’m sick of human guys. They’re broke, and they cheat. Can you hook me up? Does your General have a Second-in-Command looking for a sugar baby?”

“I’ll try my best,” Nikki promised, squeezing her friend’s hand. “If I can put in a good word, I will.”

They talked for twenty minutes. It was nice. Normal. For a moment, Nikki wasn’t the “Variable” or the “Asset.” She was just a girl complaining about men with her best friend.

But the timer in her vision was ticking down.

[TIME REMAINING: 45 MINUTES.]

“Roxy,” Nikki said, standing up. “I actually came for something. My mom’s old stuff. Is it still in the vent?”

“Yeah, I haven’t touched it,” Roxy said, waving a hand. “Help yourself. I gotta get ready for my shift at the factory.”

Nikki walked to the ventilation grate near the floor. She pried it open with her fingernails.

Inside, hidden beneath layers of dust, was a small, metallic box. It was rusted shut, heavy, and cold.

Nikki pulled it out.

[SYSTEM ALERT]

[ITEM ACQUIRED: THE LEGACY BOX.]

Legacy box?

[QUEST COMPLETE.]

[REWARD: 5000 XP + KEY FRAGMENT 1/3.]

“What’s in it?” Roxy asked, peering over her shoulder.

“I don’t know,” Nikki whispered. “It’s locked.”

She tried the lid. It wouldn’t budge. There was no keyhole, just a strange biometric scanner that looked far too advanced for a woman who lived in the slums.

“I have to go,” Nikki said, clutching the box to her chest. “I’m on a tight schedule.”

“Don’t be a stranger!” Roxy called out as Nikki headed for the door. “And don’t forget about me when you’re swimming in credits!”

“I won’t,” Nikki promised.

Nikki practically ran out of the building. The sun was setting, casting long, jagged shadows over Sector 4. The transition from the warmth of the reunion to the cold reality of her mission was jarring.

She had to get back to the penthouse before Adonis returned and realized she was gone.

She pulled her hood up, stepping out of the alleyway onto the main street. The sound was low, but distinct.

Nikki stopped.

A drone descended from the sky directly in front of her. It wasn’t one of the rusty, clunky Sector 4 monitors. It was sleek. Pristine white. Polished to a mirror shine.

A K-09 Unit.

It hovered at eye level, blocking her path. Its red optic sensor scanned her face, penetrating the shadow of her hood instantly.

“Resident Nikki,” the drone intoned. Its voice was polite, terrifyingly calm, and carried the specific frequency of the Sector 1 Command.

The drone extended a small mechanical arm, gesturing toward a black car that had just pulled up silently to the curb.

“General A-01 has detected your deviation from the safe zone,” the drone stated. “He has dispatched this unit to retrieve you.”

Nikki gulped, clutching the metal box tighter to her chest.

“He sent you?”

“Affirmative,” the drone chirped, its eye unblinking. “Please enter the transport. The General is waiting at home. And his emotional biometrics indicate… significant displeasure.”

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