InterGalaxia (On Hold)

1.7

Lei Yang was pacing back and forth in the living room two days after the party. His television was blaring a news report about the Sawyer Conglomerate CEO, Edris Sawyer, and his disappearance two days ago as his own hotel headquarters after party. The reporter on the television was standing 500m away from the building, with the view of the building's entrance behind her back. Many other reporters of different news stations were seen gathered in a semi-circle around the entrance, at least 500m so that they weren't technically on private property; large bodyguards on either side of the front doors carefully inspected each person coming in and out of the building, holding their fingers to their earpieces to get confirmation whether the person was an employee or verified guest of the hotel or not. Those denied access either turned around in humiliation or put up a verbal fight before being forcefully escorted off of the property. 

Lei Yang was intently listening to the report before changing channels to another news source to see if they had any new information. Switching rapidly between channels to no avail, Lei Yang turned off the TV and threw the remote violently onto the couch only for it to bounce off. Slumping down into the couch, Lei Yang laid his head back and rubbed his temples. His eyes kept scrunching up in thought as he breathed in deep and slow before exhaling as smoothly as possible. "So, he goes missing the night of the party. We went home early but Chihong didn't contact me saying there was an emergency or that Edris needed outside help. He disappeared like a ghost... no evidence left behind. Hey, Xiao Gou, could the Company have contacted Edris? I mean, I'm sure that Chihong would have to notify the Company that he has switched Hosts or the Company has a line of surveillance set up in the Systems so that when Edris and Chihong had established a new connection, they would have been notified. I mean, didn't Drea or the contract say something about Systems being a middle man between the mercenary and the Company? Something like, the System can contact the Company on behalf of the mercenary as a way of detailing what the mercenary is doing? I mean how does that even work?" Lei Yang sat up at his new revelation.

 [Host, you are basically correct. Xiao Gou is placed with you as an enabler and a deterrence. We can help you in a number of ways but at the same time, we can be a limiter that is a constant reminder that you can't break the contractual oaths you made. We take a record of everything, everything, Host does in case it violates the contractual oaths. It can be used as evidence for or against the Host in case of these violations being made. In that case, you'd be put on trial and your actions contested or verified by the evidence your System provides the court]. Lei Yang nodded his head. Thinking for a while, he asked Xiao Gou another question. 

"As a native of this world, he gained the opportunity to sync with a System, does that mean he's either been erased for being a fault within the world storyline or been accepted as a mercenary as well?" Lei Yang spoke slowly, unsure of his hypothesis. Xiao Gou remained silent for a while. [It depends, Host. Since Host hasn't gotten a notification that the world mission has failed, Xiao Gou thinks that it's more likely he's been contracted as a mercenary. Xiao Gou did notice that Edris Sawyer had an unusually dense amount of soul force but Xiao Gou and Host can't know for sure until Edris returns. If he returns exactly one week after his disappearance...] Xiao Gou didn't have to say more than that. Lei Yang sighed and uses his foot to stretch out to the newspaper laying folded and upside down on the coffee table in front of him. Using his toe to flip it open and right way up, Lei Yang stared at the enlarged picture of Edris Sawyer, taking up the entirety of the front page, with bold white words underneath him; 'MISSING: Where did Sawyer Conglomerate CEO, Edris Sawyer, go? More on Page 2'. Lei Yang stared at the man's bewitching eyes. 

"Xiao Gou, when he returns, I'll have to try my absolute best to mask my spirit force" he determined. [Why?] it replied immediately, confused. "Intuition, it tells me that I really don't want this man to know that I own a System as well. My intuition has never failed me before" he simply replied. Xiao Gou remained silent. 

Approximately a week after his disappearance, Edris Sawyer returned from wherever he disappeared to. Lei Yang was watching the interview and could immediately tell that his decision to remain hidden was for the best. Edris had a different aura about him, something so strong that it translated into the video recordings of his interview, something that people with spirit force could recognise instantly. He was brimming with large fluctuations of spirit force, clearly unable to draw all of it within himself. Lei Yang hissed out between his teeth, the hair on his body sticking up like an animal that perceived a threat from a predator. Crossing his arms, sitting up straight and taut like a bow, Lei Yang looked like he was fighting the urge to run. The interviewer kept stumbling over her words as Edris sat back in his chair, chill as can be. Lei Yang ground his teeth, an unnoticeable trace of dislike colouring his eyes as he stared at the man on screen. 

The man in question seemed to feel his disdain as he rapidly turned to look into the camera lens like he was trying to find out who was disdaining him. Lei Yang sprang up abruptly and jumped back onto the couch in a squat before somersaulting backwards off of the couch to hide behind its back. Hearing a chuckle on screen, Lei Yang peeped his head around the side of the couch to look at the TV screen. The man was smirking like he saw something funny before focusing again on the interview. Lei Yang's heart beat a mile a minute, refusing to believe that Edris Sawyer actually saw him through the screen. Breathing deeply, he briefly flipped his middle finger at the TV and turned it off.

 Lei Yang still sat kneeling behind the couch back, nibbling at his thumbnail in anxiety. [Host, calm down. You just have to be careful when associating with him from now on. It looks like Chihong is fully integrated with him, you will have to get close to him so that you can complete the mission. You've got seven more months before the main storyline starts, concentrate on unveiling your plans] Xiao Gou tried to coax his Host. Lei Yang's body visibly relaxed. Slapping his cheeks with both hands, Lei Yang had a determined look on his face. "Alright, I need to get it together. Whether Edris has Chihong or not doesn't change what I have to do. First, I need to finish my studies so I can get into University!" he spoke aloud.