《Imperfect power》chapter 19

Eric's POV:

Is this some kind of joke? I got the address, but... I'm in front of some Chinese-styled bar? The letter said that I had to sit at the third table on the left and make sure I don't pre-order anything.

As I take my seat, time passes, and a good-looking lady whom I'm definitely not checking out right now comes to me. A waitress, perhaps?

"Mr. Eric?" she asks.

"Yes, that's me. May I know who I'm talking to? I'd rather know the name of someone who has such a tempting smile." I respond with the addition of the usual. It wouldn't hurt, right?

"Your order, sir." she says, placing a plate of those cookies with messages in them.

I didn't order that, but on the other hand, I didn't introduce myself to anyone, so how did she know my name?

"Thank you. You know, if you have free time-..." Aaand there she goes. Did I just get ignored? Like, me? Ignored? Something's off. I'm pretty sure she's not a married woman since I didn't see a ring, and even on business, I'd still get that girl to sit with me. My mind powers don't work...

No, rather than that, she has no mind. As if she's not a human but an object, a machine? The whole restaurant, including other clients. All of them are machines. Who would own such an intelligent and realistic machine in so many models and use it to work as background people?

Guess I'll check the cookies. One says, 'gate' Just 'gate'? What does that even mean? That's a scam as hell... wait a minute. I break each fortune cookie and see more words: 'bridge,' 'down,' 'gold,' and 'upside.' My brain is itching...

"Goooollldddbriiiddddgeeeeee... Ah! Damn, Golden Gate Bridge! Upside down! Eric, you're a genius." I pat myself as a reward. There is no shame in doing that in front of robots.

That makes me curious. How realistic are these robots? I really want to check out what's under that skirt of hers. Aaaand her friends'.

"So, are you free right now?" I ask the girl from before.

"I have my work to fulfill." she responds coldly.

"And after your shift is done?" I lean closer.

"I do not possess built-in reproductive organs, Mr. Eric." AND THERE WE GO WITH THE WORST ANSWER SHE COULD PULL OFF.

POP

"Now, what does that upside-down mean?" I ask myself while looking under the bridge

"Stupid fucking robot." I whisper to myself while progressing along the entire length of the bridge.

"Wouldn't hurt to just lie that she's on some programmed period; I would get the hint." I continue to scold the programming. Who the hell makes a realistic-looking female machine that acts and works like a human and leaves them without a... nevermind.

There's something odd, I'll check it. I teleport from place to place, looking around every nook and cranny of this long-ass bridge. What is this shit? Who is stupid enough to weld a tablet to a bridge?!

[Please choose the difficulty]

"Oh my god, nooo..."

[Touch the screen to play]

"Another machine! And it wants me to play some ice tower ripoff!" It wouldn't be so hard to deal with if the tablet wasn't upside down!

[Level 9]

"Fuck yeeeaaah!!!" I'm slaying it. The controls suck though. Instead of moving the screen, I have to use the finger sliding on the screen.

[Game over. you stink]

"Naaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!! It's lag! Obviously!" The game turns off, and the screen shows me the next coordinates. This time it's some picture of a forest from a plane's view. Judging by the trees, river, sun positioning, and the type of birds flying around, I can clearly tell that I have no fucking idea where it is.

And so, I've spent the next thirty minutes teleporting into random areas above forests of this world just to find that certain spot. I am pretty determined at this point, and I want to get to the next point. I hope Angie and Jade are doing fine.

Jade POV: 

"Holy smokes! Who would be dumb enough to jump into the tiger's cage at the zoo?" Angie shouted as we passed through the crowd.

"Aside from all of our friends who are capable of doing this shit? I don't know." I said. "By the way, where's Lauren?"

"There's a child at the tiger enclosure!" some lady shouted.

"Who are you calling a child, you old hag?! Now come here, pussy pussy cat!" Now we know... Lauren must've jumped down and started playing with the kitty. I mean, I wouldn't be worried, but she's high as fuck.

"Lauren! What the fuck?!" I shouted.

"Imma pet that pusshy." she answered all tipsy. I had nothing left but to jump in there and save the tiger.

"Angie, you keep an eye on Christie, and I'll be right back!" I said as I jumped down. The loud splash echoed as I fell into the water surrounding the walls. Obviously, tigers jump really high, so they need some kind of moat.

I quickly got out, and the tiger approached Lauren. It might not be too late; just let it jump on me instead...

It was too late. Lauren was petting the tiger and rubbing its belly. The worst possible scenario just occurred... I JOINED IN!!!

"Hey! Aren't you feeling too ahead of yourself down there?! Don't let me come and get ya!" Angie was furious that she was left behind. After a few too many rubs, I took Lauren up while running away from zookeepers. Then all four of us ran from the zoo.

"Thank god you didn't try to get into the gorilla enclosure." I said.

"You think I'm stupid? That would be too traumatic, you know? Remember Harambe?" she reminded me.

"Ah yes, the death that shook the world and marked the disaster bringing us until the end of 2024."

"Exactly!" We continued with pure facts.

"By the way, we're being followed." Lauren said.

"Yeah, I know. Better pretend we don't know." I answered. There was a guy that kept popping out for a while now whenever we went.

We headed to the family bar and were about to order our food when he came in. The situation had gotten chilly for all of us. Then he got closer and pulled out a gun; there was barely any time to react, but we did it.

I caught the tip of his gun while Lauren grabbed his wrist to prevent him from pulling the trigger. Angie reached around his throat to hold him, and the gun was pointed towards Christine.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Angie asked, starting to choke him slightly. Then she quickly released him out of her grip, and he fell on the ground with the sound of metal hitting the floor. He was not a human.

Some beeping could be barely audible.

"It's a bomb!" Angie shouted, and everyone fell to the floor.

"Idiots! Run out of here!" Lauren quickly ordered people to get out.

"What do we do?" Angie asked.

"Uggghhh... Never tried it with a bomb of unknown size! I'll wrap around him, and you try to cover the remaining parts and make sure to hold as tight as you can!" I introduced my quick plan.

But then he started freezing to the core, more and more. He froze into the ground until he was surrounded by a block of ice.

"The bomb stopped."

It seems Christine helped us, huh?

"Thank you, Christie." I hugged her.

"What do you think, Angie?" I asked as she crouched and stared at it.

"I've never seen a machine like this before, and I don't know anyone who would be in possession of such an expensive product."

"Are you even supposed to know anything about it?" Ren asked, flustered.

"If you have a lot of potential enemies, you should at least do some research on who buys what," Angie answered.

"Dang it. Eric's not picking up again. We need him this time, and once again, he's out of reach," I said after trying to make a call to him.

"So what? Are we gonna solve it ourselves?" Lauren wondered while poking the iced machine.

"Well... We've recently gained another valuable contact." I smiled and picked the number.