13 A Humiliating Question
The crowd scrambled for their lives in the stadium. Gunshots and explosions could be heard from a distance. Some of the college students led the way for others and helped them evacuate. "Please, take cover inside the building. Stay inside. There are armed men in the streets," one of the students said.
Yuri did not have any Magitek weapons on him and the Magitek Sword was in his inventory. "Akira!" he shouted.
He dashed to catch Akira falling off the stage. Five feet from falling to the ground, Yuri managed to catch Akira and the inertia made them crash into the metal platform. His back hit the small metal pillar.
"It's alright, son," Akira said. "Go help them. They need you."
''No... no... Akira. I'm taking you to the hospital," Yuri said. "For once, stop thinking about others and save yourself. You're going to be alright."
Akira grunted in pain. The .50-Caliber bullet hit his shoulder and damaged a huge portion of it. Almost all the muscle from his right arm was gone, and the only thing that kept his arm from falling off was the remaining bones and ligaments.
"We need to stop the bleeding. Shit! System. Forge Lesser Magitek Boots with Dexterity and Finesse Amplifiers and another pair with E-class Endurance Amplifiers!"
"I'm not a doctor but this is the only thing I can do right now. This is going to hurt," Yuri said. He took off his suit jacket ripped it and tied Akira's arm with as much force as he could to stop the blood loss.
"Aaarrrgghh!" Akira screamed in pain as Yuri tied the huge wound on his shoulder. There was so much pain that he fell unconscious.
The two pairs of Lesser Magitek Boots formed and Yuri wore them as quickly as he could and put the Endurance shoes on Akira.
[Yuri: Status Update]
[Dexterity: F -> E]
[Finesse: F-> E]
[Akira: Status Update]
[Endurance: F -> E]
"You'll be alright. I'll get you to a hospital," Yuri said.
He took off his shirt and masked it over his face. Then lifted Akira upon his back.
He leaped with the greatest force he could and jumped from building to building at great speed.
"AI. Where is the nearest hospital?"
[Artificial Intelligence Object Upgrade Will End In: 23:34:06 -> 23:34:04]
"FUCK!!!!" he shouted.
Yuri stopped on top of a 20-story building. There were smokes all over the city. Explosions and guns unloaded their magazines from every direction. People could be heard screaming and asking for help. Police, Ambulance, and Firetruck sirens polluted the whole area. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! No! Not again. Not again... Not again! Never again!" Yuri said. Memories of his parents and Gaia rushed to his mind. "FUUUUUUUUCK!" Yuri screamed at the top of his lungs.
[Emergency Protocol Triggered]
[Rushing AI Object Upgrade Available. Would you like to proceed? Note: Object may contain unpredictable properties]
"Okay. Just do it." Desperate to save Akira, Yuri did not care about the petty things right now.
[Upgrading Artificial Intelligence Object to Level 2]
Light particles appeared out of nowhere, spiraled together, and infused into a solidified object. In two seconds, it formed a naked human body the size of a two-year-old child. It lay on the ground and stood up after all of its parts had fully formed. It did not have any genitals or nipples. It was AI.
Yuri is still edgy and anxious and fell to his knees with Akira unconscious on his back.
"Help me. Please. Save Akira?" Yuri begged.
"Yes, master. I will do everything it takes to save his life," the AI child said.
[Error]
[Artificial Intelligence Quest Added: Save Akira's Life]
[Error]
Yuri looked at the screen message and saw the error messages. "Could this be because I rushed the Upgrade?" Yuri stood up and looked for other options.
The child got up and looked around, analyzing the situation. Its eyes had binary codes running programs and calculations.
"Akira's health points will reach zero in exactly 20 minutes and 40 seconds. The nearest hospital is 14 miles away. The estimated time of arrival on foot with E-class Dexterity and Finesse Magitek Boots to the hospital is 21 minutes. Initiating rescue operation now."
Using its Offensive Cyber Capabilities, the AI hacked a nearby news helicopter and with Autonomous Transportation Capabilities piloted it towards them on top of the building.
"What the heck is going on?" the pilot said.
"Where are you going?" the girl reporter next to him said. "The news station is that way."
"I don't know," the pilot said. "The helicopter is on autopilot or something."
The helicopter hovered near the building just right on the edge.
"Master. Please ask them for help to bring Akira to the hospital," the AI said.
Yuri looked at the child and took off his shirt. He gave it to the child to wear.
"Please help us," Yuri shouted as the helicopter blew drafts of wind in his face. "This man needs immediate medical help. Do you know where the hospital is?"
"Yes..." the girl reporter said. "Come on. We will get there in no time. Pilot! Head for the Tokyo Hospital as soon as possible."
Yuri carried Akira and the child to the helicopter. They arrived at the hospital in exactly 10 minutes and parked at the helipad on top of the hospital building.
He rushed Akira to the Emergency room. "Doctor! Where is the doctor?"
The nurse rushed to Yuri and guided him so that Akira could get medical help. They put Akira on a wheeled stretcher. Rushed to the surgery room, Akira gained consciousness and realized what was going on. He looked at Yuri crying in tears and said, "Go. Go..." He fell fainted again.
Reaching the surgery room, "Sir. Please stay outside," said the nurse. "We will do everything that we can."
[Error]
[Artificial Intelligence Quest Complete: You are now level.... level... 4... 4... Reward: Re...]
[Error]
"But I'm already level 4. Did I break the system or something?"
[Error]
[Secret Ability Unlocked: Reverse Engineering Capabilities Now Available]
[Error]
"Secret ability. It's broken. Literally."
Yuri turned to the surgery room door and remembered what Akira said.
Holding the child's hand, he lifted it like a father carrying his child and ran outside.
His phone had been vibrating and had received missed calls from Botan.
He took out his phone and called Botan.
"Yuri, where have you been? Are you alright? There is an ongoing war between the Yakuza and the Police. The government had already deployed the military but they haven't arrived yet."
"What's the progress? What are the police planning to do?" Yuri asked. He ran out of the building, pointed at a truck, and signaled the child to hack and drive it.
"The police are a mess right now. They are prioritizing the evacuation of civilians outside the city. Special Assault teams are handling hostage situations. And news says that they managed to kidnap the Imperial Princess but we don't know where she is located. They are going to use her as a bargaining chip to have their men released," Botan said.
Yuri and the child went inside the truck and headed to the highway.
"Alright. Bo, stand down for now and wait for my instructions. You wanted to save Japan right? This is it."
