"Harold?! Are you there? Hey guys, can anyone hear me?!"
The longer the time dragged on, the more agitated Alex became.
'Of all the times that this kind of thing could happen, why does it have to have system downtime right at this moment?!'
He thought in utter vexation.
"As long as I crack the egg inside, you will consider it as a pass???"
Out of the blue, Alex asked Shantal that question.
Meanwhile, inside the facility where Harold's team was keeping track of Alex's progress...
Amidst the countless monitors that littered the room, a big one was specifically placed at the center. The team was gathered around it and they all had their attention focused on what was being played at its screen.
On the screen, the interior of Shantal's room was displayed, exactly just like what could be seen at Alex's perspective. Since the camera itself was attached to the contact lenses that he was wearing.
"Does he honestly think that we w
Meanwhile, back at Shantal's place..."Done."Shantal heard Alex say that before he cast her a look as though asking her,'Are we good?'"Have you gone nuts, Alex? How could you be so careless?!"Harold's voice echoed inside Alex's ears as soon as the system went back. It was clear of all ears to hear that he was not impressed by how Alex acted, and his disappointment was shared by his team."Now I am more convinced, that lad is indeed foolish."Samantha commented with a disapproving undertone.When they saw what Alex did, they all rose to their feet and shouted. 'No!' in unison. But of course, their warning came too late.The damage had been done and by how crude Alex acted in front of Shantal, they believe that there was no way that she would not start doubting his identity.After all, there was no way anyone would believe that an AI robot could act so foolishly like that."It's ove
"Is it just me or she really sounded like she was testing the water? Is she really starting to suspect as for real, this time?"Samantha asked her colleagues but no one answered her. Everyone else's attention was on the screen as they watched it with a batted breath.They all waited for what was about to unfold next and they wondered how Alex would react to that.Alex, on the other hand, was not sure how he was supposed to answer Shantal so rather than directly addressing her question, he threw her that same question and asked her back instead."How can you prove that you are a human?"Shantal smiled and nodded her head in satisfaction when she heard Alex's response."Hmm.. alright, that is a nice answer. A smart and creative robot, therefore I will give you a plus point for that. Other than the fact that you seemed to keep switching back to the Friend Mode, we are off to a good start."She said as she ticked something from the rubric
"You----"Shantal trailed off as she observed Alex with squinted eyes. She pointed the pen that she was using towards Alex and bit her lower lip."--- You keep on disappointing me. Poor coordination skills, I will deduct a point for that.""Look what you have done! We almost got caught, and 1096 got a minus point!"Rico berated Harold as soon as they heard Shantal's evaluation. For a second, they thought that the other party already found out about the truth. But thankfully though, she hasn't yet.With her face still sour with disappointment, Shantal gave the rest of the assessment a break.She felt her stomach growling so she decided to look for something to eat. Shantal opened her double door fridge, wide enough to allow her and Alex to fit inside it. Likewise, when Alex tried to sneak a peek at what her master has on her fridge, he almost dropped his lower jaw on the floor.Fresh seafood along with packs after packs of different ki
As they ate their food, Shantal could not help but notice the self-satisfied look that Jodi was throwing her over her cup of ramen. Also, there was this robot boyfriend of hers that kept on looking at Alex as well with a judging glare.After a while, Arvin said something to Jodi in Chinese, and for some reason, Shantal found his tone somewhat judgmental. She was not sure why, but she felt like Arvin sounded like he was looking down at Alex.She could not understand what the other party exactly said to Jodi since it was Chinese, but at the very best, she reckoned that it was also very hard to hide the condescending undertone used, no matter what the language was.Shantal did her best to ignore the entire thing, thinking to herself that perhaps she was just a bit self-conscious and overprotective of her clumsy robot."Don't you think something is off about him?"Jodi whispered to Shantal when she was sure that Alex was not listening."Not that
Shantal was no longer in the mood to have fun in the mall so after having lunch with Jodi and her robot boyfriend, Arvin, she bid them farewell."Oh come on, Shantal. It has been ages since we last went out together to have some fun. Can't you stay a bit longer?"Jodi insisted when Shantal told her that she planned to go home. The other party even hooked her arms around her cousin's shoulder and did her best to persuade Shantal against leaving.However, Shantal already made up her mind, and she was not someone who could be easily won over."I just felt tired. I think I need some rest."She said as an excused, and when Jodi heard that, her shoulders visibly dropped at the side."And here I am thinking that we could finally hang out together now that we finally found a common interest."Jodi muttered under her breath with an obvious tone of despondency.Alex, on the other hand, remained silent at Shantal's side. At the very
"Alex!"Shantal beckoned to her robot just as when she popped open the lid of her medicine bottle.He purposely turned his back against Shantal because he did not wish to see any more of her antics. However, at this point, Alex was left with no choice but to turn around again and face her."Yes, master???"Meanwhile, when Shantal how calm her robot answered her beckon, her features soften a little bit."Now I will test your morals."She said and went on rumbling about the source of her frustration."There was this cousin of mine that had been constantly rubbing me on the wrong side ever since we were little. She kept doing and saying things that annoy me.There was no need for Shantal to drop a name anymore. Alex could bet his wrist that the person she was talking about was probably Jodi.But Alex did not speak his mind right away. Instead, he listened to Shantal."Moreover, people around us constantly compared me
'Cough! Cough! Cough!'Shantal was coughing hard and was trying to heave the medicine out of her mouth. It was restricting her airway and she was starting to have a hard time to breath.As if on instinct, she tried pounding on her chest; hoping that it would help. Yet, it was to no avail.'Ahck... Kkk..'The other party made weird noises and in just a matter of seconds, she started to slowly fall on her knees. Shantal's hands were on her neck as she tried to breathe with her mouth.Meanwhile, When Alex saw everything unfold before his eyes, he quickly ran to her rescue."Hey! Hey! 1096 can't run like that! Stop running!"Alex heard Harold but he could only care less about it."But this is a matter of emergency."He heard Samantha butted in over his earpiece. Clearly, she was not against what Alex was doing."He was supposed to act li
For some reason, Shantal had been acting weird ever since they came back from lunch. He was not sure what truly transpired between her and her cousin, Jodi, but he was pretty sure that it did not go well."---And.."Shantal purposely trailed off, as she took another step closer to Alex. She raised her hand to his face and pointed at his temple"You are going to input my information in your head"After that, she placed her hands behind her back. Yet she did not take her eyes away from Alex, and she continued to speak to him."From now on, you need to focus on only me and follow no one else but me."After hearing all of that, Alex was at a loss for words. 1096's system was also not giving him anything, so to avoid the awkward silence that might follow, he was compelled to at least say something."Input?"He sported a confused face then added,"Input what in my head?""The first thing to input in your head is the hie
"Gosh it's good."Harold said when he got to taste how refreshing the drink was. When he looked at the other two guys, he saw them gesturing to their head but he did not give them much attention."Yes.Sam repeated the same thing with a voice and face devoid of emotion."Something needs fixing."Harold told Sam afterward and so Sam fought back to urge to do and eye roll before replying flatly to him."Okay."This time, Harold noticed that Rico and Michael still keep on doing the same thing so he asked them instead,"What? Is your scalp itchy.""No."The two answered in unison. Jodi on the other hand who was watching all of this farce unfold right before her eyes, could not help but let out a sigh."You sure are made for each other."She said to no one in particular and it was also as seemed she was only talking to herself."Anyway. Michael, I need you to go to Casterly."
"I am right here. Respect my existence."Michael insinuated afterward before he sarcastically added,"Do you guys want be to get you a room instead?""I should not have fallen asleep that night."He muttered to himself as he recalled the night Jodi asked Rico out for a date. He believed that if only he was not asleep that time, then maybe Jodi would also consider dating him.On the other hand, Rico seemed to be out of it and oblivious of him."Lover."The other party mumbled to himself as he observed the tarot card in his hand.'"I did not know this will happen. I feel so lonely."Michael muttered to himself out of despondency and while he was in the middle of self pity. Someone walked into the room.They though the one arrived was some random girl who was in full glam and obviously had just gone to salon for her touch up when it decided to have some coffee."Wow! I told her she would be pretty."
"That robot was sometimes human and sometimes a robot for me and that was why others who can't understand my situation mistakes me as someone who hallucinates and believe a robot as a human just because I am treating it just like one. But for my opinion, my situation was no different from those who loves their pets so much, they even considered them as their child and called themselves as furparents.""My emotions were input into that robot and that person. That is how this miracle happened. That fact completely changed the way I view things. This will be yet another scoop for the reporters present. Nordstorme Corp will go from financing mergers and acquisitions to investing in futuristic industries that involved human sensibilities. Just like what Alpha Tec Inc pioneered years ago.""This is your first change in business strategy in 15 years. Do you have anything mapped out?"One of the reporters raised a question just like what a normal press conference should
On the flip side, just like what Shantal assumed, Mr. Takashi with Mathilde's instruction called for an emergency meeting on that afternood. Which happened to coincide to the time when Shantal will hold her press conference.Moreover, since Mathilde would not be able to make it there since she was still held in prison, her secretary presided the meeting."We shall begin the emergency board meeting."Secretary Ye declared loudly and her voice reverberated in the room. Jiro was also there along with other board members."The agenda is the dismissal of Director Shantal Nordstorme and the cause is as you were all informed. An illness."She continued while everyone was silent and anxiously prayed so they could ever this meeting once and for all. On the contrary, Mr. Takashi was nodding his head on the side and though he was anticipating for this day come.Mr. Takashi nodded his head toward Secretary Ye to signal her to start it once and for
In there, Jodi found a list of shares under her name as well as a soft copy of memorandum of renunciation address to Shantal with her name on it and it was then that Jodi realized that her mom had already long planned about it ahead of the time.As it turned out, Mathilde was thinking of using her influence to oust her cousin out of the position.In addition, inside the flash drive she also found an old email account with records of bunch of emails and it took Jodi more than four hours to go through all of them.But by the time she finished reading the exchange of chats Mathilde had with her hitman, Jodi's eyes was bloodshot.It was unsure if this was cause by her prolong exposure to the screen or if it was exhaustion that was doing this thing on her body, but when she get up from her chair, Jodi balled her hands into a fist.She slammed the door shut behind her back as she left the office and on the screen, the last conversation
It was late in the evening when Jodi received a call out from nowhere. When she checked that registered on the caller ID, she was surprised to see Jiro's name.Truth be told, he was the least person he would expect to contact her. After all, the two of them never talked to each other for ages.Jiro used to be a good friend of hers as well. Just like how she and Shantal were cousins, Jiro and and Zorens were first cousins too so naturally all four of them get to know each other and as a child, they eventually became acquaintances in no time.Besides, since Zoren's parents were a family friend of the Nordstorme they often had an opportunity to hang around during their childhood.However, ever since the day Zoren committed suicide due to the incident regarding the Nordstorme controversy, Jiro also stopped communicating with them.So this made Jodi wonder what had come to Jiro to decide and phone her at this time of the night.But
"In other words, she wants me to become director and cover up all his shortcomings?"Mr. Takashi insinuated after his contemplation. He did not exactly declined the offer this time, unlike before. Although he also did not directly implied that he would do it.Nonetheless, Secretary Ye considered his response as a good sign. At least, the other party was no longer adamant at turning them down.So with the same insinuating manner, she answered him back."That would make it easier for you to do your duties once you become a director. All that was left for you now is to leave Ms. Shantal Nordstrome no other choice but to step down and abdicate the position of board directory to your hands.""Ousting her is not enough. He will just come back. We must make sure he loses the will to come back."Out of nowhere, Mr. Takashi declared with conviction and for a second, the secretary was taken aback by this.One moment, he almost drove her a
"You told Jodi about everything?"Mathilde asked her secretary as soon as the two of them were finally allowed to have some private conversation within the prison hall where she was currently detained. Panic was noticeably present on the other party's face when she raised her question. Meanwhile, the secretary remained silence yet that was all enough for Mathilde to guess her response and not long after that, her shoulders dropped on the side when the realization hit her."I guess she was bound to find out about it sooner or later."She muttered under her breath with despondent undertone.An exasperated sigh escaped Mathilde's lips afterward. But then, she suddenly tenses up when she recalled about something else.Leaning towards the other party all the while grabbing a hold to the iron bars, Mathilde looked around her warily first to make sure that no ears were on them.Only when she confirmed for the umpteenth time that no one was listenin
Adelaine Smith's P o V~~~~While Jodi and I were driving down the road looking for any sign of the robot, I received a call and when I checked who it was, I found out that it was Amanda so I accepted the call right away."Ms. Smith, the robot just got on the bus number 707."I heard her voice telling me the moment it picked her call"Great! Thank you for the information."I replied and not long after that, she hung up on her because I reckoned that it would be best if I could relay this news to the other search parties. In this way they would also know where to start looking. Of course, the first one that I tried to call was my lady boss. However, to my dismay, I was only redirected to the voice call feature of the phone.'The number you have dialed is busy at the moment. Please try your call later or leave a message aft