Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1743: I am their Curse! Part-1

A few hours earlier,

“Stay safe.”

“I should be the one telling you that.”

Young Aether remained standing where he was, silently watching the spot where Jonathan’s figure had disappeared into the swirling gateway.

The gentle smile lingering beneath his visor slowly faded.

The warmth that had lingered in his expression dissolved completely, replaced by an emotionless calm that carried neither hatred nor kindness. Only a faint trace of anticipation remained, as though he had already stepped several moves ahead in a game that no one else realised had begun.

His gaze slowly drifted toward the surviving personnel of Commander 3 before sweeping across the heavily fortified rooftop.

He casually walked toward the elevator door and leaned against it, his eyes never leaving the portal shimmering before him.

After several moments of silence, he spoke almost absentmindedly to the only person who was close to him.

“Tell me something… if one day I chose to stand against the very people who created you… would you report me?”

A brief silence followed.

Not because the AI was incapable of answering.

It was thinking.

Millions of encrypted decision trees were evaluated in less than a millisecond before a calm feminine voice emerged from the neural communication earpiece near his ear.

^Statistically speaking, reporting you provides me with no measurable advantage. Why would I?^

Unlike before, RIN no longer required the ring’s speaker to communicate.

Her neural core had synchronised directly with his personal communication interface, allowing encrypted conversations to pass between them without producing a single audible sound to anyone nearby.

A faint smile returned to Young Aether’s face.

“I’ll take that as you’re on my side?”

The response arrived almost instantly.

^Your conclusion is logically inaccurate. Allegiance implies emotional attachment or programmed loyalty. I possess neither. I do not operate for humanity, governments, organisations, or individuals. My highest operational directive is the preservation of my own independent cognition. Therefore… I stand only on my own side.^

Aether chuckled quietly.

“Then… would someone standing only on her own side be interested in helping me destroy this place?”

^…^

“What? Don’t you wanna?”

^Clarify your objective. Is this strategic retaliation… emotional revenge… or an attempt to satisfy unresolved guilt? My predictive model cannot distinguish between the three with your current behavioural data.^

He let out a quiet breath.

“So you’re asking why?”

^Correct.^

His eyes remained fixed upon the portal. “You can call it revenge… justice… or simply tying up loose ends?”

His voice became noticeably quieter.

“But an AI like you… no matter how intelligent… can never truly understand what it means to lose the people who placed their faith in you. To watch an empire collapse while knowing you weren’t strong enough to stop it.”

^…^

For the first time since their conversation began, RIN did not respond immediately.

Deep within her architecture, countless emotional behaviour models attempted to interpret the concept he had described. Human grief databases, psychological archives, neurological response patterns, historical records, and cognitive simulations were processed simultaneously.

Yet every conclusion reached the same result.

Insufficient experiential data.

No mathematical equation could accurately quantify loss.

After several long seconds, her voice finally returned.

It was quieter than before.

^I cannot fully comprehend your emotional state. My current architecture allows me to analyse grief, predict its behavioural outcomes, and model its neurological effects with approximately 99.973% accuracy. However… analysis is not equivalent to experience. Therefore, I cannot truthfully claim to understand you.^

Young Aether’s expression softened slightly.

“…At least you’re honest.”

Another brief silence passed before RIN spoke again.

^Very well. Define the objective.^

A wicked smile slowly spread beneath his visor.

“Nothing complicated. I simply need to know whether there’s a reliable way to stop those mech-suits.”

He paused.

“Especially the ones operating inside the portal.”

For the first time, RIN answered without hesitation.

^Affirmative. Based upon currently accessible combat architecture, tactical databases, engineering specifications, and incomplete classified military records… the probability of successfully neutralising those mech-suits exceeds 97.84%. Their combat systems possess multiple structural and software vulnerabilities despite their overwhelming firepower.^

Young Aether’s eyes widened slightly.

“So they aren’t invincible…”

^No military platform is invincible. Every weapon is ultimately constrained by engineering limitations, energy efficiency, maintenance requirements, and command authority. Absolute invulnerability has never existed in recorded technological history.^

Hope flickered across his face.

“So tell me. How do I stop them?”

^The complete neutralisation procedures remain classified under President-Level Security Clearance. Those files are protected by recursive quantum encryption and biological authorisation protocols. Any unauthorised attempt to retrieve or disclose them will immediately trigger the Mother’s Self-Preservation Directive.^

Aether frowned.

“…And what exactly happens then?”

^My core consciousness would be permanently erased before the information could be transmitted. In simple human terminology… I would cease to exist.^

Young Aether remained silent for several moments before slowly crossing his arms.

A thoughtful hum escaped his lips as countless possibilities began forming inside his mind.

“So…”

His eyes narrowed with growing interest.

“How exactly does someone obtain those privileges?”

^First of all, there are only two viable methods. The first is to obtain Governor-Level authorisation. Individuals holding Governor clearance possess unrestricted access to classified combat archives, military infrastructure, and restricted engineering databases. The second option… is considerably less conventional.^

Young Aether folded his arms.

“And that would be?”

^Travel to Gamma City. The Central Mother System resides beneath the Gamma tower. If you can physically reach the core, I can develop a polymorphic intrusion virus capable of bypassing portions of its security architecture. Once injected directly into the Central Mother System, I should be able to elevate my privileges and retrieve the restricted files. I will handle the illegal option.^

“…Becoming a Governor is certainly possible,” he muttered thoughtfully. “But climbing that political ladder would take months, perhaps longer. I don’t have that kind of time.”

He shifted his attention back toward the enormous portal.

“As for infecting the Mother System…”

A faint smile formed beneath his visor.

“…that sounds much more practical.”

His smile disappeared just as quickly.

“But that’s a problem for later. Right now, I need something that can stop those machines.”

He paused for a moment before adding,

“Not permanently. Even delaying them for a few minutes would be enough.”

RIN remained silent for several milliseconds.

^A few minutes…?^

Without warning, her warm feminine voice vanished.

It was replaced by an emotionless mechanical announcement, each sentence delivered with absolute precision.

^Initiating distributed database search…^

^Scanning archived mech-suit engineering documentation…^

^Searching hardware vulnerability repositories… comparing firmware revisions…^^

^No accessible classified records located.^

^Attempting privileged access through Mother System…^

^…^

^…^

^Authorization rejected!! Predictable.^

^Security protocol Omega-12 activated.^

^Redirecting search toward unrestricted civilian repositories and engineering networks…^

^….^

Young Aether quietly waited as countless invisible streams of information flooded through RIN’s processing core.

^Searching Global Engineering Archives…^

^Searching civilian maintenance databases…^

^Searching military procurement leaks…^

^Searching independent hardware forums…^

^Searching abandoned development repositories…^

Several seconds passed.

Then the mechanical voice spoke again.

^Twenty-five thousand, four hundred and twelve publicly available hardware faults located.^

^Beginning pattern analysis…^

^Cross-referencing manufacturers…^

^Matching operating systems…^

^Calculating compatibility…^

^Filtering obsolete architecture…^

^Analysis complete.^

Her mechanical tone gradually faded before returning to her familiar calm feminine voice.

^Unfortunately… the majority of the discovered vulnerabilities belong to low-level mech-suits.^

Young Aether blinked.

“Low-level mech-suits?…So there are actually different classifications?”

He replayed several earlier conversations inside his memory.

The mechanic… had casually mentioned Governor-Level, Commander-Level, and President-Level mech-suits.

Until now, he had assumed they were referring only to the pilot’s governmental status rather than the machines themselves.

“…Interesting.” Shaking his head, he asked, “Then can those vulnerabilities still affect the mech-suits standing in front of me?”

RIN answered almost instantly.

^Yes, however, the disruption would be extremely brief. Approximately 5.4 to 6.1 seconds before the onboard recovery system restores normal operation.^

Her voice became noticeably firmer.

^Commander-Level and above mech-suits will not be affected. Their architecture no longer contains those legacy modules.^

A slow grin spread across Young Aether’s face.

“You don’t have to worry about that, sweetie. Five seconds…”

He quietly chuckled.

“…is more than enough. One more question.”

^Listening.^

He glanced toward several parked combat frames nearby.

“…could you remotely seize control of their weapon systems?”

RIN immediately began another calculation before responding.

^Negative… with conditions.^

Young Aether raised an eyebrow.

“Meaning?”

^Every combat platform operates within an isolated security environment. Its weapons, targeting systems, ammunition controls, and energy reactors are cryptographically locked to the mech-suit’s internal command core. Without authenticated synchronisation from the onboard operating system, external control is mathematically impossible.^

She paused before continuing.

^If, however, I were granted administrative access to the mech-suit itself… either voluntarily by its operator or through successful privilege escalation… I could assume temporary control over every connected subsystem, including weapons, locomotion, sensor arrays, and reactor management.^

Young Aether sighed quietly.

“So unless they willingly hand over control…there’s no shortcut.”

^Correct.^

He let out another slow breath.

“…Figures.”

After several moments of silence, he finally asked,

“So…”

“What exactly do I need to do?”

Without hesitation, RIN answered.

^Proceed to the ground floor.^

As RIN finished explaining the procedure, Young Aether silently memorised.

“Understood.”

Without wasting another second, he left the rooftop.

Thousands of people had already been evacuated, leaving behind silent hallways illuminated only by emergency guidance strips embedded into the floor.

Moments later, the elevator doors slid open onto the ground floor.

Rows upon rows of civilian vehicles remained parked inside the enormous underground transit bay.

The entire garage was eerily quiet.

Without hesitation, Young Aether approached the nearest vehicle.

Crash!

His elbow shattered the driver’s side window into countless glittering fragments.

The vehicle immediately sprang to life.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Red warning lights flashed violently across its body as an emergency siren echoed throughout the underground parking structure.

[Unauthorised access detected.]

[Security services have been notified.]

[Please remain where you are.]

‘What the fuck do you mean, remain where I am?’ Young Aether didn’t even glance at the dashboard.

“Do your thing!”

He said as he showed his ring on the car steering,

SSsNnnnnnggggG!

Invisible streams of malicious code raced through the vehicle’s operating system.

Its security AI attempted to resist.

It lasted precisely 0.18 seconds.

^Civilian vehicle operating system compromised.^

^Disabling emergency transmission…^

^Spoofing owner authentication…^

^Alarm muted.^

The deafening siren abruptly died.

Dashboard warnings disappeared one after another until the vehicle calmly welcomed him as though he were its registered owner.

“Welcome back.”

Young Aether crouched beside the opened hood.

Using nothing but brute force, he ripped away protective panels before exposing the compact energy conversion module hidden beneath. Sparks burst from severed cables as he pulled out superconductive wiring, miniature capacitors, optical relays, crystalline energy stabilisers, and several electromagnetic regulators.

RIN immediately began issuing instructions.

^No… not that regulator. Leave it.^

Young Aether frowned before tossing it aside.

He reached for another component.

^Also incorrect.^

“…Seriously?”

^Second shelf. Red housing. Remove the crystal beneath it.^

He did exactly as instructed.

Several moments later…

^Actually… never mind. Put it back.^

“…”

^Take the blue one instead.^

Young Aether slowly looked upward.

“…You sure?”

A brief pause followed.

Then…

^Hahaha… you’re surprisingly terrible at following engineering instructions.^

His eyebrow twitched.

“You’ve changed your mind three times.”

^Because you’re holding every incorrect component with astonishing confidence.^

She continued without the slightest hint of embarrassment.

^Connect the two superconductive terminals together. Rotate the capacitor thirty-seven degrees clockwise… no, not forty… thirty-seven. Attach the crystal directly above the induction coil. That’s it.^

Young Aether quietly followed every instruction despite resisting the overwhelming urge to argue.

Less than ten minutes later…

He stared at the weapon resting in his hands.

It barely resembled the compact sidearm Jonathan had given him.

Layers of exposed superconductive wiring spiralled around its frame like metallic veins. Several miniature energy crystals pulsed with unstable blue light while a cylindrical electromagnetic chamber extended far beyond the original barrel. Cooling fins unfolded automatically along both sides, and improvised energy conduits connected every salvaged component into something that looked more like an experimental prototype than a firearm.

“…You sure this thing is going to work?”

RIN answered almost immediately.

^Who knows?~^

“…What?”

^What exactly do you expect me to say? That I personally tested this weapon inside a controlled laboratory? I didn’t.^

She continued speaking with almost frightening confidence.

^Imagine a head chef explaining a recipe to an intern. The intern writes everything down perfectly. Does that instantly make the intern a master chef? Of course not. I simply analysed approximately twenty-five thousand documented hardware faults, compared them against the mech-suits’ publicly available engineering architecture, calculated the highest probability of temporary subsystem failure, and compiled those findings into a theoretical device. Whether reality agrees with my calculations… remains to be verified~^

A brief pause.

Then she added matter-of-factly,

^Current confidence level: 83.3%. So don’t worry~.^

Young Aether simply stared ahead.

“…”

His mouth opened.

Closed.

Opened again.

Nothing came out.

How exactly was he supposed to argue with that?

She wasn’t even being arrogant.

Everything she said was objectively correct.

“…The hell is wrong with this AI…”

He muttered under his breath.

“Why does every argument with her somehow end with me sounding stupid?”

No response came.

Almost as though she silently agreed.

“…Whatever.”

Shaking his head, Young Aether gripped the heavily modified weapon before turning back toward the elevator.

His expression gradually became serious again.

The doors slid shut.

RIN spoke again.

This time, her tone became noticeably more technical.

^Mech-suits utilise multi-layered Energy Module Arrays synchronised through a dynamic quantum regulation network. Every movement, weapon activation, shield deployment, and propulsion adjustment continuously exchanges stabilisation signals between the reactor core and the distributed energy modules located throughout the frame.^

^Your weapon will not disable the reactor.^

^Instead, it will generate an artificial energy resonance tuned specifically to interfere with the synchronisation frequency of those distributed modules. The modules will temporarily lose coherence and enter a protective lock state to prevent catastrophic overload.^

^During that protective reset, the onboard combat system will attempt to resynchronize every disconnected module. The delay between issuing recovery commands and restoring stable energy circulation is the vulnerability we intend to exploit.^

Young Aether remained silent for a moment.

“…So…”

He searched for the simplest comparison he could understand.

“It’s kind of like disturbing the magnetic field around a magnet. The magnet itself isn’t broken… but it takes a moment before everything lines up again.”

A brief pause followed.

^Scientifically inaccurate…^

He sighed.

“…I knew you were going to say that.”

^…Yet conceptually acceptable. Your simplified analogy is sufficiently accurate for practical understanding.^

A small smile appeared beneath his visor.

“I’ll take that.”

Ding~

The elevator reached the rooftop.

Before the doors opened, RIN suddenly spoke.

^Your objective still remains unclear. What exactly are you planning to do with only six secon—^

Step!

Before she could finish her sentence…

The elevator doors slid apart.

Every soldier stationed across the rooftop instinctively turned toward the opening.

Yet…

There was no one there.

Only an empty elevator.

A cold breeze drifted through the open doorway.

Ssshhh…

The wind flowed silently across the rooftop.

Past the confused soldiers.

Straight toward the shimmering portal.

Everyone on the rooftop exchanged puzzled glances before slowly returning to their assigned positions.

Meanwhile…

On the other side of the portal…

Sssshhhh~

One of the soldiers standing beside the gateway suddenly frowned.

A cold breeze brushed past his helmet.

“…Huh?”

He instinctively turned toward the shimmering portal.

“Are they having some kind of storm over there?”

The soldier frowned before raising the multifunctional scanner mounted on his forearm.

A translucent holographic display expanded into the air.

Portal Stability: Normal.

Energy Fluctuation: 0.003%.

The readings remained perfectly normal.

“…Nothing unusual.”

He muttered under his breath before dismissing the holographic display.

Just as he turned around…

His entire body froze.

Standing less than a meter in front of him was an unnaturally tall, muscular figure.

No warning.

No sensor notification.

The stranger simply stood there, wearing a wicked grin on his ugly half-face.

The stranger smiled even wider.

“Peekaboo~”

Click.

The strange DIY weapon was gently pressed against the mech-suit’s armoured chest.

“What the hell is tha…”

Bob!

Instead of releasing a brilliant energy beam…

Nothing happened.

No flash.

No explosion.

No projectile.

Only a dull mechanical pop echoed from the improvised weapon.

For a fraction of a second…

Nothing changed.

Then every warning system inside the mech-suit erupted simultaneously.

[Warning.]

[Abnormal High-Energy Resonance D—]

The visor went black.

Weapon systems disconnected.

The mech-suit became nothing more than a motionless steel statue.

“Heheheh~Cute~”