Chapter 2 : Awakening Protocol
1222 Words
Stefano sat in the rain, alone, penniless, homeless, and with a heart shattered into a thousand pieces. Suddenly, an agonizing pain struck the back of his head. He clutched his head with both hands, groaning in agony. It felt as if thousands of needles were piercing his brain.
"It hurts! My head."
His vision began to blur. Amidst the darkness and the torrential rain, he saw a strange flash of blue light before his eyes. A high-frequency humming began to fill his ears, drowning out the thunder roaring in the sky. Stefano collapsed onto the cold asphalt.
On the brink of losing consciousness, he made a vow: if he survived tonight, he would make them all pay for every tear and every insult he had ever received. But the pain was too much. The world around him turned pitch black just as a cold, mechanical voice echoed inside his head.
[System initialization. Commencing awakening protocol.]
[Identity confirmed. Subject: Stefano. Status: Neural synchronization reaching one hundred percent.]
The voice did not come through Stefano's ears. It resonated directly inside his skull, sounding cold, robotic, and devoid of emotion. Stefano, still lying on the wet asphalt, tried to move his fingers, but his entire body felt paralyzed.
"Who? Who's talking?" Stefano asked internally. His breath was ragged, hitching as rainwater flowed into his mouth.
[I am an advanced neural interface. Project Overclock. God Chip Unit version 1.0 active,] the voice replied.
"What do you mean? I don't understand. I just want to wake up," Stefano whimpered. His head felt as if it were being split open by a hot blade.
[You are experiencing an extreme surge of adrenaline and cortisol. Emotional trauma has triggered emergency activation. Do you wish to disable physical pain?]
Stefano squeezed his eyes shut. Images of Vivianne’s insulting face and Julian’s triumphant smile flashed like bolts of lightning. "Yes. Turn it off. I can't take it anymore."
[Accepted. Commencing blockade of pain receptors in the spinal cord. Process complete in three, two, one.]
Instantly, the excruciating pain that had been ravaging Stefano’s head and body vanished. He could still feel the cold rain and the hard asphalt, but the ache in his heart and the soreness in his back were gone. He felt hollow, yet simultaneously incredibly alert.
"What happened to me?" Stefano asked, his voice sounding much more stable within his own mind.
[The experimental chip embedded in your parietal lobe has passed its dormant phase. I am now connected to every nerve, memory, and biological function you possess. I am your assistant. I am your system.]
Stefano tried to open his eyes. His vision was no longer blurry. Overlaid against the darkness of the night and the curtain of rain, he saw rows of neon-blue digital text floating in the air. The text moved rapidly, scanning everything in his vicinity.
[Environmental analysis initiated] the system voice sounded again. [Air temperature: twenty-two degrees Celsius. Humidity: ninety-eight percent. Subject financial status: Zero. Social status: Outcast.]
Stefano let out a bitter laugh, even though his body had not yet moved. "Even a machine knows I’m trash."
[You are not trash. You are NeuroCorp's most valuable asset, currently listed as missing. With this chip, you have access to the entire global information network without the need for external devices.]
"The entire information network? Does that mean I can see anything?"
[Correct. I can hack bank security protocols, scan anyone's personal data, and even predict stock market movements with ninety-nine point nine percent accuracy. Your brain is now functioning a thousand times faster than a normal human's.]
Stefano began to feel the power. Information started to flood into his consciousness. He saw the molecular structure of the falling raindrops. He saw the radio wave frequencies from the cell towers in the distance. He could even hear his own heartbeat, which was now thumping with a perfectly steady rhythm.
"Can you show me everything on Vivianne and Julian?" Stefano asked, his voice now sounding cold.
[Accessing public databases and private networks. Vivianne Vane: Heiress to the Vane Group. Julian Oldenburg: CEO of Oldenburg Capital. Records show a black-market transaction worth five billion dollars at seven o'clock tonight. Would you like to see the details?]
"Later," Stefano interrupted. "Right now, tell me: how do I get off this sidewalk without a single cent? They took everything from me."
[You have a remaining balance in an old digital account that went undetected by the Vane family. The amount is only fifty dollars. Would you like to use it as initial capital?]
Stefano frowned. "Fifty dollars? What can I do with that much? Buy a boxed lunch?"
[In five minutes, I can multiply that amount through binary options trading on a loophole in the currently unstable cryptocurrency market. Risk: Zero percent. Do you authorize access to the motor nervous system for execution?]
"Do it," Stefano said firmly.
[Warning. Using Overclock mode for the first time will drain your biological energy. You will feel extremely hungry after this]
"I’ve been used to holding back hunger for two years because I gave all my food to Vivianne. Just do it!"
Stefano felt a strange sensation in his fingertips. Without him realizing it, his hands moved on their own, reaching into his soaking-wet pocket. He didn't find a phone there, as Julian had already destroyed it.
[Mobile phone not required,] the system said. [I will project a virtual interface directly onto your retinas. Please focus on the red dot that appears.]
Before Stefano’s eyes, a holographic screen emerged. Only he could see it. The screen displayed rapidly moving graphs. Stefano’s fingers moved through the air as if typing on an invisible keyboard.
[Initiating first trade. Stake: Fifty dollars. Exploiting server lag on the London exchange. Complete. Current balance: One million dollars.]
Stefano’s eyes widened. "One million? In seconds?"
[Continue? The market is in a state of high volatility due to political news in Europe. I can exploit this.]
"Keep going. Don't stop until I can buy back the dignity they just trampled on."
[Initiating second trade. Stake: One million dollars. Buying long contracts on Ethereum assets. Selling in zero point five seconds. Current balance: Twenty-five million dollars.]
Stefano began to tremble, but this time it wasn't from the cold. He felt an incredible rush of adrenaline. This was real. This power was real.
[One more time, Stefano? Your nerves are starting to show signs of fatigue.]
"One more time. The big one," Stefano commanded.
[Initiating third trade. Utilizing cross-exchange arbitrage algorithms. Stake: Twenty-five million dollars. Complete. Current balance: Five hundred and eighty million dollars. Process halted to prevent detection by central banking security systems.]
Stefano fell silent. Five hundred and eighty million. That was more than the allowance Elara had given him over an entire year, money he usually used to pay the mortgage on a house that wasn't even in his name.
[Enough for tonight,] the system said. [Suggestion: You need to immediately seek shelter and high-protein nutritional intake. Your body temperature has dropped to thirty-five degrees Celsius.]
Stefano slowly pushed himself up. He stood under the pouring rain, staring at the majestic gates of the Vane family estate which were still visible from the alley where he had fallen. He no longer felt like a pathetic man. He felt like a predator that had just grown its fangs.
- Writer
