Leave The Monster Alone

"No way. This is a big no-no. I can not allow anyone to do this foolish thing as long as I am here" Liam seemed to put his foot down. He felt like the only responsible person in this group so he had to be their voice of reason as well. He did not want them to get themselves killed or worse, to be arrested and put his reputation at stake.

But the other two seemed to have made their mind already and Mark felt obligated to keep an eye on them. Otherwise, there was going to be chaos they could not afford and Liam understood that fear as well. That was the only reason he did not stop Mark.

As much sense as Liam made, he was overruled one to three in the end. Mark could not help but feel a little sorry for the tired man. He who early deserved better than this. But since he was an opponent right now, Mark chose to keep his silence. 

"We need to find a strong enough computer first and a comparable gear. Used or not, it does not matter to me. I will overwrite the commands in it anyway." Mark did not get most of the technical stuff, but he did understand what the other was saying. In short, he will help them get back inside the game and take out the AI.

"Can something like that even be done? I was not aware that our opponent would let that happen" En was worried about the success of this plan and Mark understood that worry. He would have been worried as well if he did not know the identity of the person at his side. As it went, Rao was able to get them inside safely.

"You don't need to worry about this. No one knows this AI better than me. I can trick it into helping us out" Rao sounded confident, his eyes shining with the overflowing confidence he felt. Mark just hummed and saw as the other two eyes widened. They were finally catching up to what Rao was saying.

"Are you sure you want to tell this to us? It. Makes me want to have you arrested." Liam hissed, his voice thin and airy. There was a danger to it now that made Mark shudder. He had never heard another sound like this. Has Liam always been this dangerous?

"I don't know what you are talking about. I am not going to deny or approve anything you say since it would get me in trouble. Believe what you want to but you will not get a confirmation for me so you will have no evidence against me" that was an undeniably clever way to get around and still be able to pass on the necessary information.

Mark would have felt annoyed had he been in Liam's shoes. The other looked ready to kill Rao at any given opportunity and he was not the only one who was looking ready to kill. En had his fist clenched tightly as well and his eyes screamed murder. Mark had a feeling if he was not there then Rao would be dead by now.

"I feel like you should not have revealed anything. They are not likely to trust you now" Mark did not trust the man himself but he was also aware that Rao would be the best bet to get out of any tricky situation. He was the one most experienced with this AI after all. If someone knew how to get around it, then it had to be Rao.

"Well, the cat is out of the bag now and it was not like I could hide it forever. Our goals are aligned right now so I will provide any help I can and put our differences aside. I don't want to see this world collapse either." There was since from the other side. Rao was right. This was not the time to fight among each other but against the common enemy.

"I hate to say this, but I will cooperate with you this time. There is no time left for us to play around so it is better for everyone if we are corporate right now. You will be brought to justice after the situation has been dealt through" there was finally an agreement between all the parties present. It did not rock solid, but it would have to do for the time being.

"Now, as I was saying. I would need a strong computer core along with a waste supply helmet that could get inside the game. Only no one should be able to go back but I can buff them as much as it is possible to do so. This way we can even the ground" it would be curious to see who would be elected to go back inside and Mark had a feeling that it was him who would be selected which was more than okay with him.

"I do know where we can get this computer, but we will do it very quickly. The Central Administrative headquarters had the best computer thought in the whole city. I can sneakers in there since they are in a panic over the situation as well" that solved one of the core problems they were having.

"I also happen to have a spare type helmet left which we can use to run the program. I hope it will still work. This is the last one left in the stock." And there was a solution to the other problem. Things seemed easy when all of them were in harmony and content to help each other out. Not that they were not doing this already.

"Since the game has reset, most of the data is unavailable to us again but it does exist in the save files we have. We will need to choose the appropriate time to send someone back. What do you think the best time would be?" There were so many missed opportunities that Mark thought of but which one would be the best to capitalise on it?

That was not the only problem they were going to have. Since they were using the saved files, there was a chance for them to be corrupted or the data could get mixed up as well. This was another big issue they would face and Mark I was afraid of what the outcome would be should such a thing happen. Rao did not look worried at all and that was the only relief Mark felt over the situation.

"Now that we have a plan as well as a solution to your biggest problems, we need the time frame. We cannot delay this operation any more than a week. The AI has already breached the central wall of this security that keeps this place afloat. It would not be long before it has control over it as well" that situation did not look pretty. Even Mark, who was essentially an outsider, could see how this would affect them in the long run.

"What a mess. We solve one problem and another emerger. A week is not that much time to arrange something of this grand scale but I'll see what I can get us" this was the part where they were all dependent on Liam and it was nostalgic of Mark's starting days. He agreed with the outcome that was achieved and now stood there awkwardly.

"Do you both have any place to stay here? If so then I would like the address. I trust Mark but you" he glared at Rao, "I do not trust at all. I am also afraid you would put Mark into unnecessary trouble if you left you on your own" so they would be kept in check. Mark did not mind this arrangement from the other side.

And neither did Rao for that matter. Liam pulled him back into a corner to get more information out of him and Mark watched as they went back and forth with their conversation. He was not sure if you wanted to know what they were talking about or did not want to know.

"So, your real body was in this world as well. Were you just not aware or did you not want to tell me?" En asks a question out of the blue and Mark jumps up in sudden fright. She had forgotten that the other had even been there.

"I didn't even know myself until today. It was a surprise when I woke up to find Rao at the corner of my vision. I am still trying to adjust to this arrangement." And make sense of it all. It still did not feel real and the feeling of wrong was still there, strong as ever. En hummed in reply. Mark was not sure if En believed him or not.

"Let's go home now. Will get more chances to talk about all this later." Mark agreed and bid the other side farewell.. Now it was him and Rao again.