Tau and Epsilon

I truly did not expect this outcome. Of all things that I expected to happen, I didn't expect this. My friends, w-want to risk their lives to help me? I look up to the two best friends who I have known for years and can't help but smile. I don't know how I can ever thank them. To put their lives in harm's way just so they can help me. I don't know how I am supposed to feel about this. I now know one thing though, something that I wouldn't even have thought of until just now. These people are no longer just my friends, they have become far closer than that, they have become family.

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It takes us an hour but eventually after all the much-needed discussion of the future and all the acceptance of the fact that there is no going back after this, come to an end, we all agree to just take things as they come and begin to talk about the application itself. "I found it as a game on Steam so I guess we should look there first" I begin by explaining how I found it. I look to my friends for affirmation and Nathan begins to ponder for a moment and says "But what if it isn't on steam; it can't be that easy to find can it?" I didn't think of this possibility but I quickly come up with an answer.

"The 'system' or so it calls itself is able to talk back and forth with me like a person so maybe I could get it to install on to your phones, if all else fails then I guess I can only go this route alone." Liz clenches her fist and Nathan seems to think for a moment but eventually, he nods his head. I turn to my computer and start searching in an attempt to find the Steam page. After about 10 minutes of looking, I finally give up on it and try to explain the situation to my friends who, when I turn to them are searching their respective app stores for the name of the "game", "It's still on my computer but I can't find the steam listing anywhere." I say and Liz looks up from her phone and somewhat worriedly responds, "Same here, it's not on the app store I'm afraid." Nathan sighs and also looks up from his phone.

"There is only one other option." He says with a shake of his head. I turn to my computer and pull up the terminal it greets me as it usually would, I proceed to put in my password and turn to my friends. At this point, they are looking over my shoulders with great interest as the familiar blue and black globe pops up onto the screen. I navigate to the messaging icon and notice I have a new notification. "I have 1 more day until I have to take a mission," I say, reading the message out loud. Both of my friends sigh and I continue navigating the windows. I go over to the system contact and with a few taps of my mechanical keyboard, I send a message over to the system asking it to register two new operators. I hoped that by using the systems language that I could have it place the app on my friend's devices.

A second later I see a message pop up which reads "User suggested two operators. Sent a copy of MadHouse to (2) devices." I hear a couple of buzzes behind me and both of my friend's phones are displaying an install notification. "Waaah it really installed," Liz says surprised by the remote install. Nathan silently checks his phone and opens the app. I quickly explain that for the first time install they need to input a code name but on the second time around they need to type up a password. I tell them my own code name and they quickly base theirs around it. I turn to Liz and with a smile, I say "Welcome to the team Epsilon" I also turn to Nathan and likewise say "Welcome to the team Tau."

They both seem happy with their name choices so I feel happy as well. While we waited for their applications to load, I pulled the case from under my bed and showed them the things I had bought for my loadout this morning and they both showed surprised expressions. "Once we start working together, we would truly be like those special forces guys huh," Liz says as her surprise is replaced with a look of excitement. I never thought about it like that but it seems kind of cool now that I think about it.

Although I also find it cool, I can't help but warn my two friends. "At any moment in the future, we could die. It's okay to keep a lighthearted tone about the whole thing, definitely don't dwell on it but, be sure to draw the line between lighthearted and careless. I do not want to see any of us killed because of a simple mistake." I look towards my two friends with a serious expression and they both look back at me as if they understand. Nathan gives me a thumbs up and Liz smiles.

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"finished yet?" I ask while laying on my back staring at the ceiling. Nathan responds first, "No they are taking quite a while" He gestures to me with his phone so I look up and see the loading bar barely at 50% "Come on this is taking forever," Liz says grumpily. My stomach grumbles so I look up to my friends and ask them if they want anything to eat. They seem to gain a new purpose as they both shoot up and ask for different things. "Here, how about we order pizza," I say while pulling money from my MadHouse account. I figured out that I can withdraw my money as real-world cash or into a bank account as an untraceable source. Another thing I found while bored and looking around the app was that I could purchase different "enhancements" for my body, like a strength-building proficiency increase. From what I deduced it could be either an increase in muscle gained from a workout or it could mean that for a certain amount of muscle, I gain however many more pounds of strength.

Either way, there are several more upgrades but even the entry level ones are way out of my budget. My friends are looking at me like I'm a god so I order the pizza after asking them what they want on it and let them know when it would be here.