The Machine

One week passed since I started my travel.

Right now I'm in a pub in a town, eating a relatively good meal for a good price and a good beer.

What, I'm seven and I shouldn't drink alcohol, you say?

Sorry, I can't hear you! I'm sure it was because I'm hearing the strange sound of gurgling when you go through a person's respiratory organs with a spear.

By the way, boys and girls, don't drink until reaching 18 years... or whatever the adult age is in your country.

Anyway, the meal is not particularly exceptional, but it's good on the tongue and it's fulfilling as it should be.

And while the pub is not the best, there are a lot of people around here. A lot of rough men and their 'companions' if you know what I mean.

Whatever, it's not like it's my business. Unless they want to steal my money, kidnap me, or kill me I won't do anything.

My standpoint would be strange in the eyes of someone from my planet... or rather, for normal Japanese people. Damn them, it's not like it's an obligation to help others, why they meddle in others' affairs is beyond me.

Having to resolve your problems is what builds character, if you can't it's because you are either weak or flawed...

Do you want to be a hero of justice that saves everyone? Dream on, madmen don't want your help and you can't save normal people if you keep alive Hitler.

In a way, I'm also flawed. Maybe because of my current life, but I don't think I have any care for killing.

If I could choose between killing Hitler and giving him another chance at redemption, I would kill him without problems.

I could have become a bit of a sociopath, but I don't dislike it. 

Having regrets is something that could worsen my life by a lot. The fewer regrets I have, the better is it.

Anyway, I'm amazed at what my stats can do to me.

High INT and WIS... moving from talking about food to talking about moral dilemma... 

I don't dislike it. It only means I'm better than before.

...and that's where my internal monologue finishes... with my dinner.

I pay to the owner the correct price and ask about any tavern, hotel, or whatever can give me a bed for the night.

Luckily the restaurant itself possesses a few rooms that can be rented anytime.

They are a bit costly, but they are overall good. 

Moreover, there's no strong noise around, as the owner chased everyone who used the rooms for anything other than sleeping in the true sense.

...Owner, you are my hero. You don't know how much I suffered from other people sounds...

You can't sleep well if you know that the sexy MILF you encountered that morning is getting it from a brute with a terrific smile.

Ah... It's hard to be young...

And no, it wasn't a pun.

---

The next day, I went with a group of merchants to one city.

Yes, a city, unlike the town I visited before. 

More than fifty-thousands inhabitants and a clime slightly hotter than the nord Siberia where I came from.

The merchant told me that in two or three hours we would be at the entrance of that city.

And I was ecstatic. 

The reason was only one.

The [Programming] skill I have... I trained so much that it evolved to [Programmer]...

All for an idea it came to me... or rather, an idea I copied from Earth.

If there's something that my original world is renowned is the entertainment industry.

Films, theatrical performances, anime, music, and everything else.

There's so much that I think it's impossible for someone to watch everything...

And a lot of strange ideas were made to entertain everyone.

One in particular hit me. It came from an American TV series.

And as I was leveling up my [Programming] skill, I maybe thought it could recreate it in this world.

Fiction in Fiction

But, it was out of reach at that time... no, even if I had the evolved skill it was beyond me.

So I created a skill just for that.

[Person Of Interest]

And it doesn't have many fancy effects. It only gives me one thing.

An extreme disposition for programming and computer science.

So, as I created it I didn't wait and started to program what would be my greatest creation.

The Machine

A program that in the TV series homonymous to the skill had one job.

Predict and prevent terrorist actions by analyzing an immense amount of surveillance data.

An artificial super-intelligence made to protect humanity.

And something I want to recreate, or even develop even more...

After all, something similar was already made in this universe, even if it was more than fifty thousand years ago.

But, it was made thanks to the help of a peculiar element created specifically in this multiverse, while the Machine was something created by only two persons working with normal elements.

If I could create it here, would it surpass its predecessor?

I was curious... so much curious that in three years I didn't even gain a [Hacking] skill because I focused so much on it.

So, thanks to my cheat skills and also [Unit Creation] that permitted me to create and recreate infinite times something I created it... almost.

It is just a worse copy of the original. To perfect it I need double the time I spent on it... and about ten times more computing power than now.

Right now, it was 'sleeping' on my computers and memories in my [Inventory] as to upload it I need internet...

Something I didn't have access to before... something I could access the same moment I entered that city.

By the way, as for now it will only analyze pieces of information from Siberia and send me relevant information...

Yes, I made the Machine to help me find more Honkai Beast rampaging all around, and it's not even an additional function apart from the original.

After all, it is an A.I. made to help humanity.

Oh, and I registered myself as one of two creators.

After all, Harold Finch is someone worthy of recognition, even in another life.