Artificial assistance

Kevin and Cassandra parted ways after exchanging a few more pleasantries. This little meeting which had started off as an unexpected date had suddenly turned into something far more interesting.

On his way back to the room, he instinctively looked at his wrist to check the time, but quickly realized he didn't have a Zen watch on him.

"I could really do with a watch. I don't even know what time it is," he mumbled to himself.

Almost immediately, a digital display appeared in front of his left eye, indicating not just the time, but the date as well. It was followed by an announcement from the interface.

// Time: 0700 hours

Day: Thursday

Date: 27/07/2070

Greetings of Autumn! //

'That's useful,' Kevin thought. He had only spent one day with the interface, but he was slowly beginning to get the hang of things. This interface was starting to feel a lot more like a smart Zen watch. Kevin had barely begun scratching the surface, and he could already tell there were probably a lot more hidden features deep inside.

For now, Kevin decided not to apply too poke around too much and headed straight for his room. Locking his door, he lay down on his bed to think about his upcoming journey to the surface. He didn't know if he could really trust Cassandra, but he was willing to take the chance.

As he lay dreaming of what was to come, his tired brain slowly fell asleep.

While Kevin lay asleep, his cybernetic interface kept charging automatically. Since it was a wireless charging panel, he didn't feel the slightest bit of discomfort.

After a few hours, a beeping notification tone, followed by a repeated interface announcement woke him up. Kevin opened his reconstructed eyelids and immediately a display popped up before him.

// System fully charged!

Current power level: 100%

Additional system features are available

Please confirm with a voice command to:

1. Activate environmental assessment

2. Activate auto assistance //

"Activate environmental assessment and auto assistance," Kevin said without a second thought.

// Environmental assessment enabled.

Scanning environment...

Location:

Technoria.

Subcity.

Residential District.

Living Quarters.

Depth: 0.5 miles below the surface.

Predominant structural composition: Concrete and glass.

Predominant population: Humans.

Ambient temperature: 260K

No hazards detected.

No weather patterns detected. //

The system's detailed environmental analysis left Kevin awestruck. It took mere seconds to scan his surroundings and give him plentiful data about everything. The GPS setting on this interface was insanely accurate, even though they were underground. But what really blew his mind was the fact that this cybernetic interface could even analyze the structural formations around him and warn him of hazards in advance.

For the first time, Kevin felt like this system was a gift and not a bane. If he still had a human body he'd probably be completely useless now. But with this advanced exoskeleton and a highly intelligent AI at his side, he felt confident enough to explore the surface.

As Kevin was about to jump out of his bed, he received a communication request from Suzy. It felt a bit strange that Suzy didn't actually come to visit him in person even though the lab wasn't that far away. He accepted the call nonetheless.

"Kev, are you up?"

"Yeah, good morning to you too."

"I'm sorry I couldn't come up there. There's been an incident at the lab." Suzy paused to compose herself and then added, "Someone tried to hack into dad's computer and access the blueprints for your exoskeleton."

"Did they get it?" Kevin asked, concerned.

"No, they didn't," Suzy replied. "Dad got an alert on his Zen watch the moment the culprit logged on to his account, and he immediately revoked access. But we still don't know who it was."

"Don't you have cameras there?" Kevin asked.

"There are no cameras inside the hardware lab, but the camera outside the door did pick up someone interesting. Come down here and I'll show you the recording."

Kevin replied in the affirmative and hurriedly made his way to the elevator. This time there was another person joining him inside, a gruff-looking man with wavy brown locks dressed in a military uniform and armed with a tactical sidearm which was presently holstered at his side. Standing at over 6 feet tall, he would've easily dwarfed Kevin if he still had his human body, but Kevin's exoskeleton matched his height. With an upside-down eagle tattooed on the right side of his neck and a strange string of unintelligible letters cut into his right forearm, he didn't look like the most amiable person.

They both made their way to the hardware lab without exchanging any words. Unlike the others in the Residential District, he didn't seem to mind the fact that Kevin was a cyborg. In fact, he seemed like he was least bothered about what was going on around him.

Gathered outside the hardware lab was a group of senior researchers, including Dr. Zhao, Dr. Stacey, Dr. Edna, and a few technical staff. The lab's Security Chief Tyler Brown was also present there along with Suzy.

Suzy and Tyler were discussing about strengthening the research facility's security by posting guards outside all the labs when the military guy cut in.

"Another security breach and no one seems to have any clue about the suspect."

Tyler was quick to turn around and make a strong response. "Why don't you let us do our job and you do yours."

"I wouldn't be here if you had been doing your job properly," the guy in the military uniform replied.

"You really haven't changed much, Shane," Tyler frowned.

Before matters could get out of hand, Suzy stepped in. "We are still carrying out investigations. There's no point in fighting among ourselves. We should look for more clues before jumping to any conclusions."

"Great, now a little girl's gonna teach us how to investigate," Shane scoffed.

Even though Kevin knew very little about what was going on, he couldn't just stand there and watch this guy behaving like a prick. "Just who the hell do you think you are?" he snapped.

Shane turned around and looked at Kevin. He made no attempt to hide his smirk as he cast a condescending sideways glance at him. "Big boy with a robot's body, how scary! Don't try to act tough, kid. You're nothing but a damn experiment, little cunt. I've served in Psionis for 4 years. Killed over a hundred mutants and plenty of tough guys."

Dr. Stacey heard that remark and was livid. She was about to take Shane to task when Kevin himself dug into the guy.

"So you're a tough military man, right? And yet you're hiding here with the rest of the civilians. That makes you a fucking coward," Kevin scoffed. "I killed all the Tracker Drones and the Neutralizer while you were probably shitting your pants in the bathroom."

"You little son of a bitch!" Shane pulled out the gun at his side.

Kevin was quick to react and instinctively grabbed hold of the guy's gun hand and slammed him against the wall. Pressing down on him with his left forearm, he glowered, "Don't fuck with me, asshole. You're gonna bite off more than you can chew."

Despite being in the service for several years and having received special training, Shane was helpless against Kevin's mechanical strength. He desperately tried to break free but found it impossible to push Kevin's arm back.

The system's cold, mechanical voice sounded in Kevin's ear as its artificial assistance mode finished assessing the current situation.

// Threat detected!

The user is engaged in hand-to-hand combat

Suggest use of lethal force.

Preparing to terminate hostile human! //