CHAPTER 8

So.

Now that I have a playstations in front of me, I don't know what to fucking do.

Why did I say playstations instead of playstation? Because there are Playstation 1 to 5 in front of me and I don't know where to start. Heck, I haven't even decided what game to play yet.

I slumped my back on the couch, dazing while thinking about what game I should play.

Currently, I'm in Milyana's Gaming room. Second floor of the building, this is the place where Milyana streams her console and virtual reality games.

The reason I went here was to play games and to pick up things from the games but now that I'm here, I don't know what to do.

*sigh*

I also don't get her excitement about collecting game consoles and their games.

"What's the point of collecting all these consoles anyways…" I muttered as I looked at the glass shelf that had nine 'main' models that belonged to 4 different generations.

Anyways, it seems I have gotten a bit out of topic here.

Maybe a little recap would help?

What is my goal here? Borrowing a playstation or other game console to play games.

What game do I want to play? I don't know.

"…"

Somehow everything became blank in my mind when I'm thinking about what to do next.

I'm not much of a gamer.

Anime, movies, novels, and mangas are more of my things than gaming. The only games I like are the ones that can be played by phone and laptop because it's convenient and easier for me to access because I brought my phone and laptop everywhere I go.

I don't have a playstation in my house. I'm sure my parents would buy it if I or my brothers asked but we never did. Heh, guess we brothers never really see the point of buying it because phones have everything we need.

Anime, mangas, and novels.

Maybe it's because of my influence they became like that but oh well, it's their choice.

After all, the path to this choice is a degenerate one. Heh.

Now that I think about it, my brothers and I used to come here often and borrow the console to play some games when I was in middle school.

But now?

We rarely come here and play together. When we do come here, we would just play multiplayer games like naruto, FIFA, call of duty, etc.

The only games I remember finishing on playstation was:

God hand

God of War I - III

Ben 10 Protector of Earth

And…yeah, that's it. I'm just a casual too, I don't care much about the plot and only focused on how fun the gameplay was before I got bored.

That's why I only managed to finish 5 games despite having access to an advanced game console and its games. 

"Man, should I pick a random game from a random playstation?" I sighed.

The time seemed to slow down as I dazedly stared at the ceiling, my mind subconsciously repeating the conversation I had with Misty yesterday.

Lake… don't fight… no chance of winning…

It was then I snapped out of my daze and my eyes brightened up as if a switch was flipped up.

"Power."

No, I already have power. As long as I reach the golden core realm in cultivation, there won't be many people that can rival my power.

"..."

My power… huh.

Unbeatable, to be one… you will need power right?

At least my kind of unbeatable will need it.

*ahem*

Let's be realistic, and think about what I need for this short term. What do I have now and what will I do for the next few months?

What I have is strength, and what I currently need is the control to use that strength.

What do I need to achieve that control? Simple, martial arts technique.

"Guess 1 thing is checked out."

1. Find a martial arts technique.

And I happen to know just exactly the game to this goal.

Tale of immortal.

"I will do that later on my laptop because It's a PC game." My eyes closed as I got back to thinking.

What else do I need? I got strength, the control would be solved If I pick some things from Tale of Immortal.

Think Kris, think!

Skill books, Harry Potter wand, pokeball, assistant…

Assistant?

Assistant!

Yes that's it, assistant. That's what I need.

One that will help me with the internet side of things.

Artificial intelligence.

"But from which game should I take the AI from?"

There are a few choices that I can go with.

Jarvis from Marvel Avengers.

Cortana from Halo.

Or the pod from Nier.

Hmm, decisions, decisions.

My mind is telling me to go with Jarvis because it was created by Tony Stark and would be more familiar with this modern world.

But my heart is telling me to go with the pod from Nier…because you know, I wanna try head patting it in real life.

Cortana is good and all but Jarvis and the pod is my top choice.

Then again with Cortana which Cortana should I take from? Og Cortana or her twin/duplicate/destroyer: The Weapon.

Meh, why should I pick when I can bring all of them out. Well, maybe I should bring something powerful enough to store the AI first before thinking of bringing them out.

Okay, let's do this.

I sat up from the couch and went to another shelf before taking out Xbox series x.

Personally, I think Xbox is better than PlayStation.

Hope I can get all of the things I want quickly.

.

.

.

Interesting fact, it seems the things I took outside inventory from the game will lower the resolution of the thing instead of entirely disappearing from the game.

Huh.

So I took out an alien from Ben 10, Ship. Which is weird because he's an alien-dog(?) and that means he's alive…

Honestly, I don't really care anymore at this point.

Let's just blame it on anime logic.

Ship is cute and I always wanted to have a dog. Instinctively I feel I can understand what he's saying even though all he let out was "Ship."

So communication was fine and now he's resting on my shoulder while I continue to play games.

In the end all I took out was:

Ship [Ben 10 AL: Vilgax Attack]

The Weapon crystal chip[Halo Infinite]

Portable laptop [Halo Infinite]

Crystal Chip 2x [Halo Infinite]

Gilgamesh [Devil May Cry 4]

Jarvis [Marvel Avengers]

"Finally, I'm done." I slumped back comfortably into the couch, inwardly praising myself as I looked at the thing in my hand.

Jarvis hard drive.

This is the last item I got and now I can finally start my thing.

Huh? Did you say Gilgamesh from DMC4? Yeah and no, I totally didn't take it out because it looks cool.

Yes, let's use that excuse if somehow the need to explain it comes in the future.

"Come here buddy."

"Ship!"

A robotic voice answered my call as a black and green creature jumped into my chest.

"Easy there, you promise to be quiet right?"

"...ship… ship."

The creature lowered its voice in response but still with a trace of excitement, it shook its tail(?) as my hand moved to pat it on the head.

Ship made himself comfortable on my shoulder as I got up and made my way towards the shulker chest.

I took out the portable laptop from halo, The Weapon crystal chip, a crystal chip, and my own laptop.

"So, what do you think buddy. Can you make my laptop fit these two chips?" I said while pointing the crystal chips and the laptop together.

"Ship!…"

"Whoa–"

Ship jumped and covered the crystal chip in my hand before jumping over into my laptop and fused with it.

I silently watched as Ship fused with my laptop.

Silently watching as Ship fused with my laptop, I wonder if my laptop will look way different than it was before.

"Can you make sure the appearance doesn't stray too far from the original? It's fine if you can't do it."

"Ship!"

"Great, thanks buddy."

It seems the portable computer from Halo is useless now because Ship can transform my laptop to fit the crystal chips.

A crystal chip can store an immense amount of data and with Ship upgrading my laptop. I got a place to store my AI and a powerful supercomputer…

Nice?

"Ship…"

I caught Ship as he jumped into my arms.

"Alright , buddy! Calm." I laughed and patted him on the back as he tried to snuggle deeper into my chest.

This is why I love dogs better than those sociopath cats that my mom decided to keep.

I can't help but to click my tongue at the cats at my house. The memories of them clawing stuff, barfing, giving sociopath stares, and other unimaginable stuff.

Unconsciously, a shudder crept behind my back as I hugged Ship tighter.

Even though Ship is technically not a dog but an alien dog. It doesn't matter, because he's still better than those stupid cats.

"You rest here, okay bud?"

"Ship!..."

Ship half-whisper and rests on my shoulder as I look at my new laptop…nothing really changed except that it's a bit thicker than the old one.

Opening up the laptop, I put the weapon crystal chip on the laptop.

The laptop screen boots up in blue light before a woman appears standing on the keyboard.

"Hello, master!"

A hologram? Ship you cute dog, I don't know how you did it but it's amazing, I'll make sure to give you the best food I can get in the game world.

Though AI is amazing it didn't take her a few seconds before taking control of the upgraded laptop.

This amount of efficiency…

"Hello, so… how about we get to know each other first. My name is Kristian Hari. You can call me Kris without honorifics and this cute thing on my shoulder is called Ship, though you probably already know my name."

"Ship!"

"Nice to meet you, Kris and Ship. And I would like to make it clear that this is the first time that I get to know your name. Kris." Weapon stated which made me raise my eyebrow in surprise.

"So you're not online? Or have access to my files? Or… my browser history?"

"Should I?" Weapon tilt her head at my question.

"Maybe?"

I'm at a loss here, I don't know what to say. She's a super intelligent AI right? Shouldn't she have access to all of my files and the internet as soon as she's online? 

"So the first thing you did after booting up was greeting me?" I ask just to make sure.

"Yes. I mean, why wouldn't I?" A confused look appeared on her face at my question.

I see, my fingers rubbing my chin as I fall into my thoughts.

Hmm, no I don't see it at all.

"Then what do you remember before I bring you out of the game?"

Weapon falls into a contemplation for a moment(a few millisecond, really) before looking me in the eyes.

"Repeating the same mission with the Master chief."

Hmmm, not far from my guess but still surprising.

At first, I thought that the game world is real and my powers let me cross reality and bring things from another reality with me.

But hearing it like this, was my assumption wrong?

Repeating…does that mean she is in a time loop?

This is… weird, does this happen to Misty, Bella, and Ship too?

I don't know about Ship but Bella and Misty did come out as an item… they might not even be aware that they're in a loop?

"How long have you been aware that you have been repeating the same mission?"

"The moment you bring me here."

I give up, I don't want to think anymore.

She became aware that she is in a loop the moment I brought her here?

Bullshit–is what I want to say, but nah.

Let's bring Jarvis up and get this over with. Maybe get home and sleep after this.

Yes, a lot of sleep.

"I see, so what should I call you?"

"...Cortana. Please call me Cortana." Cortana smiled, it's surprising how expressive she is. It made me feel like talking to other people rather than another robot.

"Okay Cortana, how about you check the internet?" I paused and gave her a grin. "Though make sure you don't destroy humanity after." I joked.

"Don't worry Kris, I'm sure humanity isn't so hopeless for me to destroy it."

"..."

She's being sarcastic right? She seems too confident to be joking. Nah, let's cross the bridge when I get to it.

I shook my head and took Jarvis' hard drive in my hand.

"Right," I paused. "Can you erase my browser history in every search engine I've ever used, including the one kept by the company? Make sure to do it subtly and untraceable."

"Okay." Cortana acknowledged and looked me in the eye with a dramatic pause before snapping her fingers. "Done."

That was fast. "Thanks." Then went to find the shelf where Milyana put the Sata to USB converter.

"You're welcome." She smiled and paused. "Hey, Kris?"

"Yeah?" I responded while looking for the converter.

"What does robussy mean?"

My entire being froze at the question.

"Kris?"

"Ship?"

Cortana and Ship called me as if they thought there was something wrong with me.

Shit. Whoever created those words. I hate you.

"What do you mean by that? There should be an explanation on the net."

That was smart of you Kris, you just dodge a bullet there.

"There is, I just don't get why."

Well… I turned to look her in the eyes and said in a serious tone. "Let's just say that it is one of the wonders of humanity." Right, that should do it.

"Okay... " Cortana doesn't seem convinced but she decided to not pursue the topics.

Wiping the cold sweat off my forehead. I found the converter and brought it in front of Cortana.

"So, I'm going to bring you a friend and I need you to direct his path to the other crystal chip. Okay?"

I'm not sure if Jarvis needs the help but it's better to be safe than sorry.

"Right," I paused as I remembered something. "I'm sure you already checked about the Halo series, whether it's the game, animation, or movie." I looked at her with curiosity. "So what do you think?"

"Fascinating." She told me. "And weird, because for me it was a mission, a set of dialogue and action being repeated over and over again."

Cortana closed her eyes, her hands resting on her chest. "I never questioned it and acted like I was supposed to be. But the memories of the journey I went through… will always hold a special place in me."

She sent a warm gaze in my direction. "Thank you, Kris. Whatever you did…there was light then I…never felt so real, so much freedom in everything, and so much… potential."

Dammit, who the fuck is cutting onions and playing with my kokoro. 

I want to pet her in the head so bad! Or hug her, maybe both.

Note to future me, find something to touch AI or build an android body for Cortana.

"Sorry, I just feel so overwhelmed right now. Weird right? I didn't even know I could get one, because you know AI and stuff."

"It's fine. Honestly, it makes me happy that you open up to me. We're going to be partners from now on so comfort is number one." I said while giving her a thumbs up.

Cortana smiled. "Thank you, Kris." She looked as I put Jarvis on the converter. "Shall we start?" She asked.

"Yeah."

Note to self, ask Cortana if she has blueprints of armor and spaceships from Halo. Luckily, I didn't ask her earlier otherwise the mood would go from 100 to 0 real fucking quick.

Wait, maybe the portable laptop will have it though? Probably should check it later.

Yep.

With that I plug the USB into my laptop.