The A.I

Chapter 4: Armor Ability|Speed

Have an early Easter gift from me in the form of a new chapter involving you! I hope you enjoy this chapter and stay safe during these hard times. Read On!

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I groaned as I sat up in my bed. It was the next day and I had school. As much as I wanted to save the world from an evil A.I, I still had my education to deal with. At least summer break was just around the corner giving me plenty of time. I head out the door just for Delta to appear while I rode my bike to school.

"It is imperative that you look for the other A.I. Should Sigma and Agent Maine get to the next one, they will grow stronger." He says.

"Yeah? Well I can't do that shit until I'm not in school. I understand that time is small but I'm not an adult yet." I said gruffly. "You don't need to get all bitchy about it. What's so fun about school? I think it sucks." Epsilon says.

"If you want to be silenced for the rest of the day, continue to tell me that I'm being irresponsible choosing a life than risking my own attention the fucking moment! Its already bad enough that people are discussing the situation and have no idea of how much trouble they're in. But there's also the people who know what's going down and aren't doing shit. The fucking military let alone the police, will be mowed down by Maine and its up to me to stop that from happening. How fucked up is that?" I asked sarcastically.

Once I was in range of other people, I thought to the three A.I in my head. 'Offline now.' I thought. When I didn't hear their voices, I sighed and went about my day with school. When my friend F/n sat down with me during lunch, they whispered to me.

"You realize that if the Meta is here, the Reds and Blues could be too, right? I really want to meet Caboose." F/n says. I rolled my eyes but glanced around the cafeteria. Everyone was practically staring at their phones and chatting about all sorts of things. But I know in the past weekend, so much has happened and there's going to be mass murder if people get in Sigma's way.

"You know, you could've told me not to bring up RvB. You haven't talked about it all day, which makes me concerned. Did you suddenly start hating it after the Meta made himself known to the public?" F/n asked. I groaned and shook my head. "No. You wouldn't understand. Besides, I'm going to do some traveling this summer. If things go well, then I'll tell you in the end. If I'm alive, that is." I muttered the last part.

F/n didn't catch it but reached into their pocket and pulled out a necklace chain with an odd charm on it. "I found this yesterday and since I'm not a fan of wearing necklaces, I thought you'd like it. The charm has an odd symbol so I figured someone lost this a while ago with how dirty it was." They said.

I take hold of the necklace and studied the charm. I couldn't get much visually but it felt familiar somehow. The feeling of knowing and not knowing about it irked me. "By the way, can I borrow your bike after school? I've got no ride to my evening shift at 7-Eleven and I live two miles from it. I'll get it back to you tomorrow and I'll throw in ice cream during lunch tomorrow." F/n says.

Perking up, I face F/n. "You promise? I got that bike for my past birthday. Its my only way of freedom since I don't have my permit or license yet." I said. "Don't worry. I promise." They said. I sighed at the response knowing that they'll forget to bring it back the following day. Not like I was any better remembering to do certain things and forgetting the day of.

By the time school let out, I was walking over to the nearby gas station to get myself a slushie or beverage of any kind. "Why do you need to get yourself something to drink immediately when you get out? Don't you have a water bottle or something?" Epsilon asked.

'Look, I didn't bring one to school today. Besides, it'll be summer break soon and finals are in two weeks. One day without water can't hurt-' my thought is cut off when I hear a familiar growl. I focus on reality and I can see someone coming towards me swift but also gruffly. I started to back up until I was against the slushie machine. A fiery orange figure appeared and a sound escaped my lips.

"Sigma." I breathed quietly.

Just as quickly as I figured who it was, the Meta started towards me. I dodged in time to see slushies explode out of the now damaged machine. "Could use some ideas. Epsilon, Delta, you two have any to share before I'm mincemeat?" I asked.

"The charm from your friend had a familiar symbol engraved on it. Perhaps its from Project Freelancer." Delta says. "Then analyze the god damn thing. The Meta is destroying this place." I said sprinting towards an exit. "I will do what I can." Delta says.

"In the meantime, Epsilon, you got any ideas so we can escape?" I asked. "Like I would know! If you're such an expert on our universe, then you should already know that the Meta has kicked my ass before. All because of Wash revealing to Alpha and then trying to take me back just so he could get out of jail. Every time I've faced this guy, I've nearly died if I didn't have idiots who thought of the dumbest ways to get out of trouble." Epsilon says.

I get to the closest exit and turn to find the Meta hot on my ass. "Fuck." I muttered bursting through the door. I start dashing across the parking lot towards a nearby woods I've explored once. Ducking under branches and earning scrapes and scratches in the process, I continued to get as far from the Meta as I could.

"You acquired an armor ability from Project Freelancer. This is the speed unit the Meta must've had before we were all brought here from our universe. Activating it is dangerous as you are not trained and aren't wearing armor like the Freelancers were." Delta says.

"Tell that to the fucking universe making it possible for me to have you two in my head. I don't have armor yet, I still have A.I talking in my head. Where's your logic now?" I spat in pain. I was done with running but I didn't have a weapon to attack with. And even if I did, I'd be dead before I could attempt to swing/fire it.

"Fire up the module, D. We need to make distance between us and Sigma. He's already aware of my appearance. We need to go now!" I said. "Y/n, I get that you're escaping the Meta in the woods but, Delta has a point. We don't know what could happen to your body if you used it. It could damage your muscles for all we know. Its too risky." Epsilon says.

"The moment I received Delta, I already knew what I was signing up for. If it means stopping Sigma, then fuck my muscles. Activate the speed module, NOW!" I shouted. Then all I felt was wind and pain erupting around and in me.