Chapter 135: Finding the Fridge
Lucy's breathing became ragged.
When words like "Blackwall" and "Old Net ruins" spilled calmly from Joric's vocalizer, her spine stiffened instantly. Her fingernails dug deep into her palms, and the familiar taste of rust spread in her mouth—she had bitten her lip again.
Beyond the Blackwall... those fragmented memories suddenly became vivid: twisted data-streams, non-Euclidean code-abysses, and the entities screaming within the data-storms.
She was one of the few who had truly been there and returned with her sanity—or at least, she thought she had.
Arasaka's special training, those days spent as a "deep diver," made her understand the horror beyond the Blackwall better than anyone. Every byte of data brought back from the other side could carry undetectable corruption; every coordinate could be a lure pointing to destruction.
And this terrifying mechanical giant before her was not only discussing intelligence from beyond the Wall with casual indifference but could also precisely pinpoint specific AI entities...
Cold sweat slid down her spine. This wasn't a gap in technology; it was a crushing disparity in dimensionality.
It was even possible that this terrifying monster was a chassis controlled by a Rogue AI itself, collecting other Rogue AIs simply to devour their data.
She subconsciously took a half-step back, as if distance could protect her from the awakened nightmares.
Joric seemed completely indifferent to the hackers' reactions, adding in a flat tone, "There are also those 'Mr. Blue Eyes' who occasionally appear in the city."
He paused slightly, allowing them to process the implication.
"They are not a single individual, but a sequence of proxies controlled by a Rogue AI—specially modulated biological vessels, their original consciousness overwritten. These puppets blend into the crowd, observing, guiding, and even directly intervening in the course of certain critical events. Capturing one of them would also satisfy the mission parameters."
This addition made the already heavy atmosphere even more subtle and terrifying.
Compared to an AI hiding in infrastructure, an existence lurking within the population was far more chilling—you never knew if the seemingly ordinary passerby next to you was watching with non-human eyes.
Maine couldn't help but speak, his voice low. "Boss, everything you're listing... none of them are things our crew can handle easily.
"Dogtown is Kurt Hansen's territory. We have no idea what's buried underneath it. Delamain covers the whole city; moving against it means making an enemy of the entire transportation network. And this Mr. Blue Eyes... sounds like a conspiracy theory come to life."
He shook his head, thoroughly extinguishing any lingering lucky thought the team might have had about helping David choose the first path.
"Therefore," Joric's crimson lenses refocused on David, "your choice, evaluated from the perspectives of efficiency and safety, is the current optimal solution."
He accepted David's status as an apprentice, but he did not immediately begin teaching.
One of the traditions of the Mechanicus was that knowledge was never free.
"Since you have chosen the path, the first lesson begins with fulfilling an obligation," Joric's synthesized voice sounded steadily. Simultaneously, a data file was transmitted to David's personal terminal. "Remember, in the Omnissiah's temple of wisdom, there are no free gifts. Even an apprentice must exchange actual contribution for knowledge."
He paused briefly. The silence seemed to carry weight—this was a rule he had once lived by, and now it was David's turn to experience it.
"This file records an abandoned refrigerator unit located in the landfill outside the city. The lease has expired, and it has now been transported to the garbage heaps along with other waste." Joric's mechadendrite tapped the air lightly. "Your mission is to find this specific model of refrigerator in the landfill and bring it back here, intact and undamaged.
"The contents inside must also remain untouched. Opening it is strictly prohibited. This is the price for the first stage of knowledge."
David looked down at the blurry coordinates and the picture of an old fridge on his terminal, stunned.
"In... in the landfill... find a specific fridge?" He could hardly believe his ears.
He knew the landfill in Santo Domingo. It was a boundless ocean of waste, with new trash dumped every day.
Finding a specific fridge there would be like finding a specific grain of sand in a desert.
He had imagined all sorts of difficult and dangerous missions: infiltrating corporate facilities to steal data, gang shootouts, even facing Cyberpsychos. But this seemingly simple task made him doubt himself for the first time—could he really find a specific fridge in that sea of garbage?
This seemingly absurd mission was the first step he had to take toward the temple of knowledge.
And right now, that step looked so distant, so unreal.
Rebecca's eyes widened exaggeratedly, her voice pitching up an octave. "Hah? Find a fridge? Boss, are you serious? The trash in Santo Domingo is piled higher than Arasaka Tower! How the hell is he supposed to find that?"
Pilar nervously rubbed his metal scalp, making a scraping sound. "At least an AI has a general location... that fridge has probably been crushed into scrap metal by now."
Even the usually steady Maine couldn't help but speak up, his brow furrowed. "Boss, what is the meaning of this mission? If it's to test David, isn't there a more direct way?"
He couldn't understand why an existence capable of crossing dimensions would be interested in an old fridge in a dump.
Joric's response remained as calm as a machine reading outputs. "Execute the order. The significance of the mission is not within the scope of what you need to understand."
His optical lenses turned to David. "Find it. Bring it back intact. This is the cost for knowledge. Any damage will be considered mission failure."
These words shut down all questions. The moment David made his choice, he lost the right to bargain.
David stared at the blurry fridge image on his terminal. The image of the Santo Domingo landfill floated in his mind—mountains of waste, acrid smells, and the nomads scavenging for food. To realize the path to saving his mother started in a garbage dump... the realization felt absurd.
He took a deep breath, suppressing the complex emotions churning in his chest, and bowed his head to the dark crimson figure. "Understood, Boss. I will find it."
And so, David's apprenticeship began with a seemingly ridiculous mission.
The members of Maine's crew exchanged helpless glances, knowing full well that David was destined to be company to the trash mountains for the foreseeable future.
(End of Chapter)