Loonatics: United

Compromised system

Episode 147: I thought I saw a pussy cat

"An AI…as president?!" Tech laughed out loud while shaking his head. "That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard." He stood up from the pilot seat. "Ah, humanity, always finding new ways to self-destruct."

"But how could it be so advanced? I mean, how can it make decisions on its own?" Akinyi inquired.

"You'd be terrified if I told you all of the progress we have made with AI." Tech replied. "It can be almost human at this point. Emphasis in 'almost'."

"So, is it like a computer program?" Randy inquired.

"Basically." Tech replied.

"How can we destroy it?" Ace asked while crossing his arms.

Tech sighed. "Well, it's complicated. We don't know if that thing is located in a server, the cloud, satellites or all of those combined. We have to return to Rojus if we wanna find out."

"We return to that planet, and we are toasted." Akinyi opined.

Duck chuckled. "Aw, are you afraid, pretty?"

"I'll show you what fear is when I kick your…" Akinyi got interrupted.

"Focus." Ace said with a straight tone, almost scolding them. "And she's right." He looked at the rest. "That thing has a huge army at its disposal, without counting those ships that almost brought us down. We have to match things up."

"How? As far as I know we don't have a robotic army just laying there to use when we want, or do we?" Rev glared at Tech with doubt.

"No, we don't." Tech scratched his lower jaw. "But…" He sighed and glared at Ace. "…there's a way to get it."

"Alright, how?" Ace inquired.

Tech scratched his nape. "Uhm…do you remember Sylth Vester?"

Ace raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"The evil robo-cat?" Duck chuckled. "You're kidding, right?"

Tech ignored Duck's comment and kept talking. "Sylth has this…business, he sells ships, parts, scraps, all of that stuff, but I've heard he also has robots, military robots."

Slam crossed his arms and snarled, saying he doesn't trust Sylth Vester.

"Yeah, me neither." Duck said.

"Neither do I, I mean we literally fought against him in the past why would we ask him for help?" Rev added.

"Do you have a better idea? I haven't heard a single proposal from you." Tech responded upset.

Lexi sighed and looked at her boyfriend. "Ace."

Ace was scratching his lower jaw, looking down. He let out a brief sigh and looked at Tech. "Where is he?"

"Come on, are you serious?!" Duck exclaimed. "Are we really even considering this?!"

"Duck…shut up." Ace looked at him with a straight face, then glanced back at Tech.

"He operates in Kummerc, it's not too far away from here." Tech answered.

Ace thought for a moment, then shook his head. "How will we even manage to pay for that? We need dozens of those things, possibly even more, much more."

Tech started to think, then let out a sigh and looked back at Ace. "Leave that to me. I have an offer he won't be able to resist."

"Hm." Ace thought on the idea again, hesitant. "Well…if no one else has other suggestion, I say we go to Kummerc and follow Tech's plan." With no more further discussion, Tech set the route to Kummerc on the ship's navigation system.

Kummerc was a planet where the steel and the concrete covered the majority of its modest sized surface, but small glimpses of desert could still be seen here and there. The moon was huge on the dark blue sky, the cargo ships from distant planets came and went incessantly. Inside a huge warehouse, between a set of industrial vehicles and a couple of robots of the same category, a gray furred male weasel was being beaten up by a group of men in black, tactical uniforms. The weasel received a hit on the snout with a crowbar, his face hit the ground strongly, blood came out from his open jaws as he groaned by the pain, moving weakly over the ground, with his white undershirt stained with blood, barefoot, with his legs trembling as he was only wearing a pair of black boxers.

"Enough, boys." A deep voice said, the hurt weasel heard his steps as an echo, looking up with a blurry sight. It was Sylth Vester, he had changed his cybernetic eyes for ones of a much higher technology, ones that looked exactly like real eyes, having chosen one of blue color and other yellow. He had also fixed his upper jaw, having also replacing that old metallic scrap to a prosthetic upper jaw that looked convincingly realistic, and worked just as the real deal. He had ditched his helmet, revealing his black furred head. Sylth had also changed his cybernetic suit to one that was completely black, without the huge gray shoulder pads, those having been replaced by smaller, black ones. "I really hope this made you understand what happens when scoundrels like you don't keep their end of the bargain." He grasped his neck strongly and brought him close to his face.

"I…" The weasel coughed while trying to get Sylth Vester's hand off his neck, uselessly of course. "…I understand, Sylth." He coughed.

"Hm." Sylth snarled and threw him to the ground aggressively, making him groan by the painful hit. "Alright. Send me what you owe me before sundown, plus fifty percent interest for wasting my time." He looked at his goons and gestured at the door that was behind them. "Give him back his clothes and take him to his ship." Sylth glared at the pond of blood and sweat that was on the floor. "And clean this crap."

Sylth exited the warehouse, walking casually on the landing platform of his warehouse. He took a cigar and a lighter from one of his pockets, litting it and starting to smoke it right after so. He just kept walking while enjoying his cigar, his ear twitched when hearing the sound of an upcoming ship, he turned his gaze a bit upwards and saw the Leviathan approaching. The ship landed carefully on one of the empty spots of the platform. Sylth walked towards it cautiously, holding his cigar with his snout in order to keep his right hand close to his holster, were a laser gun was stored. Just as he saw Ace exiting the ship, he took his gun and shot at him, but Ace managed to dodge the shot. "Damn it!"

"Sylth!" Tech and the rest had exited the ship as well, with cautious positions. "We just want to t…!" He received a shot right on the chest, falling to the ground while coughing blood. Sylth rushed away, still holding his cigar and smoking.

"Tech!" Akinyi exclaimed with great worry.

"I'm okay! Go after him!" Tech's chest was regenerating already as he was getting onto his feet effortfully.

Ace sighed while shaking his head. "Sylth."