Progress was progress, but slow progress was annoying all the same. Even with AI Jack's bountiful knowledge of running a company, it took several months to get Atlas to the point where its assets and resources were usable for one project, let alone three.
"Track the Warrior, find a way to free Jack and Angel from the Vaults, find out where the hell Fiona went…easy," Rhys muttered to himself for the third time that day. Today was a particularly bad day for no other reason than Rhys had woken up in a particularly rotten mood about it all. Some days, it would hit him harder than others — that waking up marked yet another day that Angel and Jack were stuck in the Vaults, slowly being cemented as the new Vault Guardians. Or, it was another day where Fiona was completely missing, with no one having heard a word from her since she and Rhys had headed into the Vault of the Traveler.
"We were kinda hoping you knew," Vaughn had stammered after their tearful reunion months ago, when Rhys and AI Jack had stumbled across Pandora in search of the accountant. "She's err…she's…not come out of there with you?"
Rhys was snapped back to the present by a familiar drawl:
"Yeah well, it would be a lot easier if you weren't being such a miserable REDACTED! about it," AI Jack complained, his voice rising to a booming shout that nearly knocked Rhys out of his seat. The program scowled, bringing one hand up to his throat. "Oh, for the love of crap, Rhys, what did you do this time?"
"Hey, you said I could remove a few words from your vocabulary bank," Rhys hummed, a smug smile tugging on the corner of his lips. "That was one of them."
"Yeah, I agreed to REDACTED! not REDACTED!" The frustrated artificial intelligence growled, though with each "redacted" he uttered, he was forced to yell the word for all to hear. Rhys could feel Vaughn glaring into the back of his head. The two of them had been quite excited to share an office at the newfound Atlas. At least, until Jack had figured out how to worm his way into the projector Vaughn had brought in. Now, he could make his presence known to everyone. "Wow, that's frustrating. I can't even complain about it. I'm…oddly proud of you, you dick," AI Jack concluded calmly, tilting his head to the side and fixing Rhys with a quizzical look that still held more than a hint of anger.
"Least it worked this time," Rhys countered, straightening himself in his seat and returning to his work. "Who knew coding 'delete asshole' could have so many consequences?"
"Literally anyone with a scrap of common sense, piss-for-brains," the digital ghost reprimanded him, the memory of the first attempt Rhys had made at altering his vocabulary shivering through his whole form. Jack then leaned over, poking an ethereal finger at Rhys' head that phased through his skull.
In the corner, Vaughn sighed loudly and dropped a handful of papers down on his desk in defeat.
"Just when I thought I couldn't be any more traumatized! You gotta half-share a story where you accidentally deleted Jack's asshole. Thanks for that, bro. I really appreciate it," Vaughn piped up, getting out of his seat and shuffling over to Rhys' desk, a digipad cradled in one arm. He gave the floating blue program a wide berth, having made little progress in accepting AI Jack's presence. Rhys couldn't blame him. They had made strides in the AI's attempts to be his own person, altering his code as the AI requested. But apparently, being a bit of a dick was just common ground between him and the man he was coded after. It wasn't unheard of for AI Jack to wind Vaughn up for hours by appearing on his computer screen and kicking files and documents into the recycling bin.
"Happy for you to change the subject," Rhys offered, smiling at Vaughn. "Please gimme some good news."
"Well, now you mention it…I might just have that. You know that energy spike we picked up a few weeks ago in Eridium Blight?"
"The one you had me running through the ECHO network to go look at?" AI Jack interjected, swinging upside-down between Rhys and Vaughn, making the latter jolt in surprise. "You wanna know what I run for? Nothing. But I hoofed it over there just for you, sport. You're welcome, by the way."
"Y-yeah, err…a-a-and you said there was nothing when you got there?" Vaughn stepped back a few paces from Jack.
"Honestly, the worst part. Out of breath and nothing to look 'cept a few Maliwan outrunners and tyre tracks in the dust."
"Do you even breathe?" Rhys asked, arching an eyebrow at AI Jack.
"Only if it adds to a sob story," Jack replied, flipping down to his feet and wiping an imaginary tear away from the corner of his suddenly-doe-like eyes.
"Okay, w-well…it's been a few weeks and I've picked up a few weak pulses of that same energy reading a coupla times. And now, Maliwan's coming out with some crazy new elemental weaponry," Vaughn turned the digipad screen towards Rhys and AI Jack, letting them see the latest advertisement from the company. "Like, way crazier than before."
"And sllll-ooo-ooo-ooow as all hell, look at those specs!" AI Jack laughed, making to swipe the digipad from Vaughn's hand and failing. "Oh yeah…but yeah nah, that's just…that's sad. All that fire and lightning crap and you gotta wait even longer for it to show up after you pull the trigger? Dumb bastards."
"Yeah, look at those specs…" Rhys muttered, taking the screen from Vaughn. "It's slow, but even a pistol could take down a Rakk Hive if those numbers are right…what the hell have they come up with?"
"My guess?" Vaughn fidgeted with his glasses, turning terrified eyes to Rhys. "That first spike? I…I think your Warrior finally smashed out into the world. And I reckon Maliwan were there to capture it before we could."
With an employee count of seven, a lot of Atlas tasks fell on the desk of the CEO himself. Infiltrating Maliwan for a spot of corporate espionage was one such task, much to Rhys' disdain.
As he crept towards the gaudy, orange-and-cyan branded building, Rhys flinched as Jack's voice launched over his shoulder:
"Testing, one two, one two, can you hear me?!"
"I can hear you, dammit!" Rhys hissed, turning to look over his shoulder at the smirking AI.
"I was asking the security guards, pumpkin, y'know, just checkin'."
"Of course they can't hear you, you're in my head!"
"Man, if they heard you right now, they probably wouldn't even arrest you, you skinny little psycho."
"Look just…scout out for me or something. I need a way in," Rhys whispered, ducking for cover around one of the building's walls and scanning the area with his ECHO eye, the lens glimmering to life in a bright blink of gold. "God, how did Maliwan even know the Warrior would show up outside a Vault? The world hates me..."
AI Jack's lips pursed, and for a moment, it looked like he might do the impossible and do as he was told. Maybe he had developed his own personality after all. Maybe he felt sorry for Rhys, Rhys dared to dream.
Then, the AI jerked a thumb at the front door.
"Maliwan, dude. Famously bad security. Walk right up to the front door. Trust me, Jack's gotcha covered."
With a smirk and a set of finger guns, the AI disappeared, leaving a frustrated Rhys with no other choice than to inhale and straighten up.
"The front door. Just walk…right on up there. Got it."
Rhys' skin drew cold as the guards at the front gates stirred, firearms clicking in their hands though they didn't raise them.
AI Jack's voice rumbled through his head:
"Walk like you're a Maliwan employee, give it a little twitchy swagger, like your Dad didn't hug you enough and you have eleven siblings to outshine," AI Jack said. "Famously bad security. Seriously. Offline and online — most of Maliwan's guards are on other company's payrolls. They won't care so long as you look the part."
True to his word, the guards barely looked up as Rhys climbed the front steps to the doors. There wasn't even a human on the reception desk, just an eye scanner and a vacuum-sealed door.
"Great. Now what?" Rhys hissed, a hand coming up to his ear.
"Putcha hand down, dum-dum, you're not wearing an earpiece! God, way to make yourself look ten times more suspicious," AI Jack snapped, flickering in front of Rhys. "I've played around with your ECHO eye. Now, you're Gordon Cwesrole from Finances. Honestly, their online security—"
The program stopped. His head twitched, perking up as though he had heard something in the distance. He looked away from Rhys, eyes focussing on something Rhys couldn't find when he followed the AI's line of sight. For a moment, AI Jack's smug smile wavered.
"You...you ok?" Rhys prompted.
The program looked at Rhys then, eyes clearer than Rhys had ever recalled. It took a moment to realise the cause — sincerity. He hadn't ever seen it in the AI's expression before.
"You're...we're busting this thing outta here to find out how it breaks outta Vaults, right? To save Angel?" The AI asked suddenly, moving forward as urgency tightened his tone and hunched his body. Rhys couldn't help but stagger back at the rawness of his display, thrown off by Jack's almost pleading voice.
"Yeah, of course. Jack, what's happening? What's wrong?"
"Nothing," the other snapped, floating away from Rhys and folding his arms. "Just, y'know, feels like me doing all the work here. Making sure it's worth it. For me."
"A-alright, ahhh, yeah. Wrangle the Warrior, figure out its powers, bust Angel and Jack outta the Vaults."
"Hurry up and get scanning then, REDACTED!" AI Jack yelled, disappearing once more. Frowning and wondering what the hell he'd done to upset the AI, Rhys leaned in to the eye scan, heart hammering in his chest as he trusted the AI on nothing but his word.
"WELCOME BACK MR CWESROLE," the door trilled, hissing as it unlocked and let him in. Rhys slipped into the building, trying his best to blend in with the crowds of corporate-beaten employees and appear as though he knew the place well. The former came naturally to him.
"Jaaack, little help?" Rhys muttered from the side of his mouth. "No map, no direction here?"
For a while, Rhys was met with silence. He couldn't believe AI Jack had picked now to have a sudden sulk. But then, the program's voice crackled through his head. Something sounded off, as though AI Jack were speaking to him through an old ECHO device rather than within his brain augmentation.
"Err, y-yeah keep—left at the HR cupboard and—one elevator with access to the CEO floor. You're gonna need me to get it open so hur—"
"Jack?" Rhys whispered, head turning down to try and shield his mouth from watchful passer-bys. "Jack, are you okay? Breaking up on me."
"I'm fine, it's just—like, BAD security not NO security—get in the elevator to the CEO floor—"
He didn't know why, but Rhys found himself picking up the pace more than he should for keeping a low profile. Something in the AI's voice didn't sit right with him. Worse, it didn't sit right with AI Jack.
He sounded scared.
Rhys had only heard that once before, the memory snaking in front of his mind's eye as he rushed blindly through Maliwan's winding corridors: his showdown with the corrupt program, bloody and violent, tearing out his ECHO eye, ready to crush it and Jack out of the universe for good, seeing true fear flutter over AI Jack's face...
Please, don't send me back there! It's not like they say, there's nothing...absolutely nothing.
A blur of a door plate told Rhys he was on the right track, and he bolted left past the HR cupboard and towards grand cylinder of orange and cyan, two opaque glass doors at the front.
"Jack, I'm here, I'm at the elevator. Now what?" Rhys asked, falling into the closed door and starting to jab at the buttons at the side of it in vain. The screen above the number panel flashed red and the doors remained resolutely shut.
"Now...I bust 'em open-open-open now I bust them open for y-you-ou-ou..."
Rhys started, whirling around to try and locate where Jack's fractured voice was coming from. Then, fading into view, the dim blue figure of AI Jack emerged from thin air. The man was hunched over, and Rhys' heart sank to his gut as he saw fragments of the AI breaking away like dust in the wind even as he watched.
The AI looked up at him, a tired smile twisting one corner of his mouth.
"I...I guess they f-f-finally up-upgrrrr-rrrzzzz-graaaaded," the AI glitched and choked, the image violently distorting.
"Jack!" Rhys yelped, clamping a hand over his own mouth, remembering where he was. Lowering his voice, he hissed: "Get out of there! C-come back, I'll hack it—"
"N-nnn-no! Th-this f-firewall is something else, pumpkin. If it g-gets in your systems, y-you'll go haywire a-a-a-and then we'll miss our shot t-t-toooooo finally get this lava-ba-ba-bastard and s-sssszzzzzzz-aaaave Angel," the AI protested.
He began to move over to the lift control panel, reaching out and phasing his hand through the buttons. The AI bared his teeth and hissed as though it scorched him.
"Jack, but...but you—"
"I'll h-hack this open and it'll s-s-send you send you send you straight to the CEO floor. I can bring down the-the whole bring down the whole security system once I'm in. Got a-a-about three minutes before th-the firewalls gets me. Wherever the Warrior's being held, however they-they-they located it, that's where-where-where where you'll find out," AI Jack pressed on, refusing to meet Rhys' eye.
"No, c'mon, just...hurry and hack it then jump back into my head, it's easy, right?" Rhys pleaded, almost laughing, sure that the AI was just being dramatic.
The smallest, saddest of smiles danced on AI Jack's face for a heartbeat, then it was gone.
"It sp-spotted me at the fr-front door when I raided their files for that eye s-sc-scan data, cupcake. A-a-lready had me ma-ma-marked as a virus then and there."
"W-well, let me help you!"
"Oh, look at Rhysie...a reeeaaal hero, ready t-t-t-to give Handsome Jack a s-s-second ch-cha-chance," the AI mocked, hand still stuck in the control panel. The screen was flickering green and red so rapidly it made Rhys' eyes sting.
"I thought you were working on that yourself," Rhys pointed out, words tumbling from his mouth so quickly he almost tripped on them. "That was the point, right? You're not Handsome Jack, you're your own Jack! We were gonna work on that, get you a fresh start! We already messed around with your code and you've even started being nice to Vaughn! Kinda!"
"Rhys...I'm—I'm I'm a program," AI Jack replies, bitterness forming around him. "I'm stuck however I'm coded, whether th-that's you or Nakay-y-yama. I'm not finding myself...I'm not choosing to be better...I'm just re-coding my behaviour processes..."
"But you chose to ask me to help recode you! Because you wanted to be better! That counts!" Rhys interjected. "Just...g-get out of there, I'll hack it myself. I'll be fine!"
"No! Don't you g-g-get it, moron?" The AI turned on him then, caught between anger and frustration. One half of him was glitching, fading and jarring blue then purple, pink then green, pixels blurring and stealing the finer details of his face. "I was coded to be a replicant of Handsome Jack at-at-at Handsome Jack at his worst. Selfish, narcissistic, megalomanic. And whatever I change my-my code to, I'm not working at being a better person, I'm just following my-my-myyyy coding. But the real me? The living guy? He's human. Humans get to change and, and humans get to change and, humans get to change and I've seen Jack slowly changing 'cause of you, pumpkin. Man, even Handsome freakin' Jack is making an effort for you. I can't change, not really, not...not like that. It doesn't take effort to ch-change my co-oooode so it doesn't mean jack-shit. I...can't ever be my own person. Not really."
Something crackled around AI Jack's wrist, dragging a startled gasp from him. Rhys jumped forwards, hands gliding through the ghostly form of the program.
"That's not true!" Rhys whimpered, wrestling his rising panic with his need to keep his voice down. "You've changed! And not just because of your coding, I mean, look at you! Look what you're doing! You're helping someone other than yourself!"
AI Jack scoffed.
"Yeah? I-I-I guess. I...I hope...I never find out if you're right about that or not, Rhysie. C-cause if I did, I'd stop doing this—doing this—doing this right now. I'd stop being a hero-hero-heeee-rrrr-oooo right now. Rather...stick around with you than delete myself saving this stupid world."
"Then come back! I'll hack it and whatever it does to my cybernetics, we'll figure it out. I've worked with bigger headaches, trust me. Jack...Jack, please. Please don't..."
The screen above the button panel landed on solid green, the light steady and bold.
Rhys' heart stopped.
AI Jack looked at him, and Rhys could now see that half of his face had been erroded away already by the vicious security system.
"Go be a hero, pumpkin," AI Jack smiled as his whole form crackled and splintered like glass. Before Rhys could cry out, reach out, do anything at all, the program crumbled into countless shards of light, breaking up and flittering away into nothingness.