Chapter 116: System vs System

No one was sure what she was doing. And Valentina didn’t care. As far as she was concerned, she had won the wager, and that was all there was to it. What Valentina didn’t know was that they expected this.

The very day Valentina talked with Aiden, he told them. Of course, he didn’t say it out loud; they had their own way of communicating. They were unaware of whether Valentina could hear them.

As a precaution, Ember temporarily opened a way for the four of them to communicate through the contract. This cost a lot of CL, but was a good thing for them. They would be able to get the CL back.

Ember had been collecting CL from the people around them as well as themselves.

With that, they were able to have a conversation. Since Valentina was so confident in her ability to control them, she would allow it to happen. The problem of who to control came down to Luka and Cassandra.

Ember would be needed to snap them out of whatever the toxin did to them. Aiden was the one who needed to talk to Valentina, so either Luka or Cassandra would have to take the place of the controlled person.

After arguing back and forth for a while, they were able to come to a conclusion. What made it all the more crucial was that the system sounded while they were talking.

[Obtain a marker from the Dominance Lust System.]

[This marker will allow the Covenant Engine to open a back door to the Dominance Lust System. Creating the back door will allow the Architect to be aware of the Dominance Lust System’s movements.]

[Drawback: The Dominance Lust System will feel the presence of the Covenant Engine. The person with the marker must be ten feet from the Dominance Lust System.]

[Reward: 100,000 CL, 1000 AB]

A marker? How am I supposed to do that? Ember asked the CE.

[Each drone is equipped with a marker. The Aegis resists the marker.]

Though the CE was not forthright, Ember could understand what it was saying. It was the same as what they were planning. The only difference is that they wanted to make it a play. The CE wanted it to be real.

Aiden caught her abnormality, but continued the conversation with Luka and Cassandra. They were still discussing who would become the drone when Ember started paying attention.

“I need to talk to you guys,” her eyes went to Cassandra and Luka. “I have a way to find out what she is up to at all times. But it’s a risk. One of you will have to get rid of the Aegis.”

“I know I’m asking a lot, but I need someone to actually become a drone, and I need to be close enough to Valentina to make my plan work.”

Both of them fell silent. They were just arguing about wanting to take one for the team; rather than pretending to take one, they really had to.

“If it’s not acting, like we wanted, and really becoming a drone, I should do it,” Luka said. When he saw that Cassandra was about to object, he raised his hand. “Don’t. Don’t argue, I’ll do it.”

And with that, the decision was made. Luka became the drone.

And now, here they were in Valentina’s room with Ember’s hand on Luka’s chest. Her eyes were closed, not that Valentina noticed. Her consciousness followed the CE, or the CE pulled her with it. She wasn’t sure which.

Sounds fell away, and the only thing she could do was to watch and follow. She could see a pulsing red line. She and the CE plunged into it. They rode the information current straight to the Dominance Lust System (DLS).

Unlike the CEwhich had a calm presence. The DLS was something else entirely. It was a maelstrom of need. Though filled with information, it was also filled with the desire to conquer through sex.

This was the driving factor of the entire system. It had one objective, and that was to get people to have sex. Ember couldn’t understand why it would have such an objective. But if they were able to open the back door, they would.

INTRUDER, a voice boomed.

Ember knew what it was. Valentina’s system had spotted them. They had to work quickly to overcome it.

Because she had no idea what was happening, she could only watch the CE work. She saw tendrils lunging towards them and the CE darting out of the way. The CE drew a shield, blocking the tendrils as it continued to move forward.

In a counterattack, the CE spread its own tendrils. Both lashed at each other.

While the CE and the DLS were fighting, Aiden protected Ember. He knew she couldn’t be disturbed. His eyes went to Valentina, who was standing there immobilized.

As soon as Ember started her attack, Valentina stopped moving.

Cassandra was finally able to get the big guy to let her go. But he followed her every move. She walked over to Valentina and tried to touch her.

“Stop!” Aiden shouted. “Don’t touch her. We don’t know how it will affect, Em. We can only wait until they’re done.”

Valentina, who was not to be touched, was actually watching everything. She was a prisoner in her own body. Unlike the CE who had brought Ember in for the show, the DLS left Valentina outside.

She could see, feel and hear. But she had no way to do anything to any of them.

The CE and Ember worked together to defeat the DLS. A silver light began to glow under Ember’s hand. The light spread across Luka’s skin like a circuit board.

The CE’s and DLS’s fight was coming to a head. The CE geared up to give a strike to the DLS. It attacked a single point, attempting to destroy some of its structures and complete the back door.

There was no sound or explosion. The only thing to happen was the DLS’s retreat. The CE placed a sigil on the DLS. One that was inconspicuous and easily overlooked by the DLS, because it looked so much like its hardware.

Ember’s consciousness flew back to her body. The marker on Luka was also removed. She stumbled back when she was done. Aiden caught her.

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