__________Team Nicholas____________
Stepping through the teleporter, Nicholas and Bruce found themselves in what Bruce would call a techno hub, the city was brimming with technology from the buildings to the cars , even the dumpster had some form of technology on them.
"Impressive right?" Nicholas asked.
"Yeah, it's amazing, I wish there were places like this back home" Bruce replied.
"Well, the world's getting there, we should check in at our accommodations" Nicholas said.
"Accomodations?" Bruce asked confused.
"I know, you were expecting that we would have to fend for ourselves but we are brains, the others are brawns, besides, we are in a city even if we had to, we could still get a place to stay" Nicholas said.
Bruce went with him to a hotel called Electro Villa, they got a room to put their things.
"When you are done sorting out your things, let's go sight seeing" Nicholas replied.
"You are making this feel more like a vacation than a mission" Bruce said.
"Don't be a buzz kill, we have until noon tomorrow to check in where we are needed, for now let's enjoy the area" Nicholas replied.
"Well, when you put it like that, how can I say no" Bruce said.
Bruce felt more and more intrigued with every corner they turned.
"What does this place have that makes you like it more than your hometown?" Nicholas asked.
"Well, it's not really what they have, it's the advancement of what they have, the hover train back home is at least four versions behind what they have here, teleporters that take you from one edge of the city to another, look at the designs of their hover cars, I'm sure i can turn one into a spacecraft for short journeys, also the AI's in everything around here is just brilliant, it's probably smarter than half the people here" Bruce replied.
"I see your point, I'm sure they are places worst off than your hometown" Nicholas said.
"Yeah" Bruce replied as he recalled Brandon's description of his first orphanage.
"I am hungry, let's get something to eat" Nicholas said.
They found a nearby restaurant to grab some lunch, they sat at a table close to a window since Bruce enjoyed the city's view so much.
"Good afternoon gentlemen, what can I get you?" A waitress greeted.
"Something healthy and tasty" Nicholas replied.
"Like the steak salad" Bruce said.
"Okay, I will be back with your order soon" She said before leaving.
As they waited Bruce looked out the window, he wondered how Brandon and Alec were doing.
"Missing your friends?" Nicholas asked.
"Yeah, the last time I was away, I was so busy uncovering a conspiracy that I didn't feel their absence but now I do" Bruce replied.
"Well, at least you are in the same year as them but don't worry, I'm sure they will be alright" Nicholas said.
"Were you referring to your senior Levi?" Bruce asked.
"Yeah, he won't be here next year and he's my closest friend" Nicholas replied.
"I'm sure he will drop by to visit when he has the opportunity" Bruce said.
"I guess so, how long have you known Brandon?" Nicholas asked.
"Since we were kids, our homes aren't far apart" Bruce said.
"Doesn't Brandon live at an orphanage?" Nicholas asked.
"Usually I would be offended by such statement but I will let it slide this time, yes he considers that orphanage his home" Bruce replied.
"Forgive me if I overstepped, I was never really good at making small talk" Nicholas said.
"Well, at least you tried, Brandon would have to find somewhere to stay next year" Bruce sighed.
"Right, he's almost seventeen, he will have to move out of the orphanage" Nicholas said.
The waitress arrived with their order with a juice on the side.
"Thank you but we didn't order for the juice" Nicholas said.
"I know, it's on the house" The waitress replied before leaving to attend to some other customers.
"Well that's nice of them" Bruce said.
"At the risk of overstepping again, can't Brandon come live with you?" Nicholas asked
"He wouldn't agree to that, my parents once wanted to adopt him but he refused the, his reply was, I will visit as much as I can but I'm needed here" Bruce replied.
"But he will have to move out once he turns seventeen" Nicholas said.
"Maybe I can convince him to move in with us after he asked to move out, it's not the same thing as adopting him" Bruce said.
"Nice idea, I doubt he will have any way to refuse you this time" Nicholas replied.
They finished their lunch and continued their tour around the city, they took pictures of some special sights, explored some malls and had dinner at the seafood festival before returning to the hotel for a good night's rest.
The next morning, they took the subway to the outskirts of the city, Nicholas said that was where they were needed.
A new megacomplex was to be built there but they was a problem with setting up the network system and programming for the AI that would run the building.
When they arrived, Nicholas took Bruce to the head engineer for some introductions.
"Good day sir, we are from Blue River Academy, we were sent here as technicians to help with setting up the network and fixing the programming issues" Nicholas said.
"Nicholas, it's good to see you again and you must be Bruce, the Alphite Industries boy" The engineer replied.
"My name's Mark by the way, Mark Johnson" He added.
"Thank you sir" They said.
Mark led them to the main ICT room where the other technicians were working, as they arrived the technicians got up to greet them.
"Alright everyone, the mages are here be nice to them " Mark said.
"Good morning everyone, my name is Nicholas and this is Bruce, we hope to work with you to resolve the issues on ground" Nicholas greeted.
"Hi I'm Lucas, this is Raymond, Ian and Theresa, we are the primals sent to work here" Lucas, a guy in his early 20s said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you guys" Bruce said.
"Likewise" Theresa said.
"There some extra analysis pads you can use over here" Ian said.
"From the analysis on the pads, they couldn't set up the network because the AI running the program for the city's central network system keeps rejecting the programming for this megacomplex" Bruce read out.
"Yeah, we assumed it'd because they're might be a variation in the programming for the network terminal here but, the programming is too voluminous, we are not sure we have enough time to go through it all" Raymond said.
"I think we can help with that" Nicholas said.
Bruce's eyes lit up as he scanned through the programming.
"Found it, scrolling you to the location now" Bruce said.
"You are joking right?" Lucas asked.
"A comma, we have been having consistent headaches because of a comma!!!" Ian groaned.
"Not one comma, the next paragraph is filled with inappropriate symbols" Bruce said.
"Can you possibly help us remove them?" Lucas asked.
"Of course, I am still going through the rest of the programming" Bruce replied.
Once Bruce was done, he removed the mistakes and rescanned the programming just to be sure.
"It should work now, let's test it out" Bruce said.
"There won't be any need for that, I fixed it" A voice said.
All heads turned to the unknown individual that walked through the door, she had blue tinted hair, techno glasses on and an overly expensive fashion brand jumpsuit.
"I'm sorry, we weren't informed someone else would be joining us" Lucas said.
"Oh I'm not joining you, I fixed the problem all on my own" The lady said proudly.
"Really that's impressive" Ian said.
"Of course, I would not settle for anything less" She replied.
"Do you mind if we take a look at your programming?" Bruce asked feeling something was off.
"Sure though the engineer already has it running" She replied.
"Oh no" Bruce sighed.
"What's wrong?" Lucas asked.
The lights suddenly started blinking till they eventually started sparking and the lights went out.
They hurried outside, the whole city seemed to be having a sort of power surge problem.
"What happened?" The lady asked.
"You happened" Bruce replied.
"What how dare you accuse me?" The lady growled. she attempted to slap Bruce but he caught her wrist with no problem.
"You didn't fix the programming, you created a different AI and now the city's AI and the one you created are fighting for full control" Bruce said still holding her hand.
Nicholas just sat back watching the scene unfold, he knew who the girl was and why she was so arrogant.
Her name was Brianna Malone, her father was a major shareholder in various facilities around the city, she prances around with her father's wealth looking at everyone like they were beneath her.
"You didn't do it yourself, did you?" Bruce asked.
"I do-"
"Don't lie to me, I have already scanned your pad , the programming was sent to you by someone else and the person obviously didn't take his time on it and tampered with the AI's coding" Bruce said.
"Just fess up Brianna, you have been caught, Bruce let go of her, we have bigger problems to handle" Nicholas said.
"Nick, you are here, you heard him, let go of me" Brianna said.
Bruce made sure to jolt her a bit before letting go of her hand.
"Someone has to try rectifying the coding from here, I will get to the city's main central network system and hold the main AI back" Bruce said.
"Go, we will handle this one" Nicholas said.
"This isn't over" Bruce said looking towards Brianna who's hair was now messed up.
With that he sped off into the city, with the power issue, he couldn't used the train or teleporter.
On the way, he could see the citizens panicking as hover cars stopped working, trains halted in place and building electronics malfunctioning.
He picked us his pace, Infusing more lightning in his legs, to most they could only see a blurry figure breeze past them.
He got to the building but the guards in front refused to let him through.
"Listen I have to get in there and resolve the AI conflict going on, if I don't do something soon the power could go out and it wouldn't be good for the civilians in their hover cars and the train" Bruce explained but the guards refused to budge.
"Hey Bruce, are you there yet?" Nicholas asked through his Smartwatch.
"No, the guards won't let me in" Bruce replied.
"Hey guys, it's Nicholas from Blue River Academy, you have to let that guy in before the AI battle causes the transportation sector to lose it's power supply" Nicholas said through his Smartwatch.
The guards still seemed hesitant to let Bruce pass, he looked left and right, seeing no other guards in sight, he zapped the two unconscious and made his way through.
He found the main ICT room, walking in he could see the city technicians struggling to make heads of what was happening.
"Step back everyone " Bruce announced.
He placed his hand in the keyboard panel, his eyes glowed up.
"Get ready Nicholas" Bruce said.
Bruce poured his spiritual energy into the panel, as he did , his consciousness was transfered into the Computer interface.
He found himself in an empty wide space, looking around, he could see two pixelated figures struggling with each other.
"I hope my affinity still works in here" Bruce said.
He leaped into the air and slammed right in the middle of the two figures temporarily separating them.
The two figures got back on their feet ready to charge into each other again when Bruce shot streams of lightning at the both of them knocking them back down.
"Stop, this is all just a simple misunderstanding" Bruce said.
"Step aside interloper, this battle does not involve you" the 1st figure said.
"You are green, meaning you are the main AI, listen, the red AI wasn't supposed to be an intruder, someone mistakenly altered his coding" Bruce explained.
"Then I must make him submit" The green AI replied.
"No, my friends are already working on that, I just need you two to stop fighting before the transportation sector loses power" Bruce said.
"No, I will not be silenced" The red AI yelled.
"Oh shut up you" Bruce said slamming it into the ground with a lightning fist.
"You are relatively young to be this strong, are you using an avatar?" The green AI asked.
"No, this is my real appearance, I just got a power boost" Bruce replied.
"Oh I see" The green AI said.
"Bruce, it's done, we have fixed the coding and the programming" Nicholas said through the smartwatch.
The red AI then turned green and fused with the main AI.
"Thank you interloper, for your help I give you this gift, use it wisely" The green AI said as it touched Bruce's forehead, a flow of energy could be seen flowing from the AI into Bruce.
"Goodbye interloper, we hope you visit again" The green AI said.
Bruce opened his eyes to find himself back in the ICT room, the lights were back to normal, there were no more sparks and power fluctuations.
The technicians applauded and thanked Bruce for his help resolving the issue.
"It's my duty to help" Bruce said.
The two guards from the entrance burst in through the door pointing their weapons at Bruce.
"Hey guys, sorry about zapping you, I needed to fix the problem" Bruce said.
With the intervention of the other technicians the guards lowered their weapons.
"We are sorry for not believing you, we were. just on edge as things started going haywire" The first guard said.
"You were just doing your job" Bruce replied.
With everything resolved, Bruce took the subway back to their worksite join Nicholas and the others.
"Bruce, you were amazing" Nicholas cheered.
"Sure" Bruce said as his eyes became heavy.
"Bruce, are you alright? Bruce!!!" Nicholas called as Bruce fell to the ground.
A few minutes later, when Bruce opened his eyes he was in the medical bay, Nicholas was currently scolding Brianna.
"Hey, what time is it?" Bruce asked as he sat up.
"It's 1pm on the dot" Nicholas replied.
"Are you alright?" Nicholas asked.
"Yes, I was just exhausted from running halfway across the city" Bruce explained.
"Well them let's going, we could grab lunch on the way to the hotel" Nicholas said.
"Could I join you guys?" Brianna asked.
"Girl if you don't get out of here right now, you might end up being the turkey on a pet beast's thanksgiving dinner" Bruce said sternly.
"You heard him Brianna, don't come near us again" Nicholas said.
They left a shocked Brianna at the medical bay to get their lunch, the megacomplex was completed but Bruce and Nicholas stayed and helped them set up other things.
After breakfast the next morning, a package came in for them.
"What are these?" Bruce asked.
"Souvenirs, sometimes when I am sent on missions to human inhabited areas, I order souvenirs, I got a box for you too" Nicholas said handing a a box to Bruce.
"Well, our ride is here" Bruce said.
Packing their things together, they left for the ship waiting for them.