My Mutant System

5. System Unkonwn

Neo was startled by those notifications again. Suddenly he remembered the thing that he had read before he collapsed. Something called the mutant system. One thing that, so far, still hasn’t been explained by Corine.

“What’s happening? What are you waiting for? We have to hurry.” Corine looked back to Neo after she couldn’t hear any footsteps behind her.

Neo stared at her, thinking. Then, he decided to ask. After all, he somehow believed that Corine knew everything.

“Where can I get DNA essence?” he asked carefully.

But Corine didn’t give him an answer right forward. She remained silent and looked like she was battling with her own mind.

“What are you talking about? DNA essence? Did I make another mistake during the upgrade, causing you to start talking non-sense?”

The answer he got made him even more confused. But, before Neo lost his memory, in his past … he was already known as one of the brilliant HumanBot.

Neo was sure that the notification he got before passing out was different. It was not about the gloves, it was not about Transformer. But, from how Corine looked into his eyes … Neo knew that she does not have any clue about the question.

“No. I am good. Maybe just the side effect from the upgrade.” Neo decided to stop asking.

“I need to double-check your condition, Neo?” Corine took out a digital probe like a stick from her lab coat and touched the probe to Neo’s forehead.

Beep.

[Status: Normal]

[No errors found]

[No threats found]

“I don’t see anything wrong here. But …” Corine stopped for a while, she gave Neo a little gaze that he obviously didn’t like it. “Do you have anything to tell me?” she asked.

Now Neo found something that Corine doesn’t know. The mutant system or the DNA essence. Even though Neo still didn’t know what that was about, at least Corine, the weird yet superior Creator, didn’t know about it.

Neo would not tell her about the notification he got previously. Before he even activated the special weapon, he got it as a gift. He smiled lopsidedly before shaking his head. “I don’t.” Sometimes, it would be better to keep something a secret.

Corine couldn’t believe it, but she remained silent. She thought that was just another side effect of his last upgrade. The upgrade that she almost forgot to tell Neo.

“I have made some upgrades to your Bot system, Neo. But unfortunately, it cost your memory … unimportant memory in the past. It became a virus that causes those unnecessary biological complications every three months.”

“What’s virus?”

“I called it, T virus. Trauma virus.”

Although the name of the virus was a bit strange to Neo, the gaze Corine gave him was serious. It was not a joke.

“That virus attached to one of your memories box, the one that stores every past emotions. But don’t worry, I blocked it along with the past that you better not try to remember.”

Neo was a curious HumanBot, he wanted to know more. He wanted to ask more.

“What if I try to remember?” he asked.

Corine took a deep breath before moving closer to Neo and staring directly at his eyes. “You can’t. I locked the box with a self-destruction system. If you try to open it, it will destroy what’s inside, and the feelings you’ll get… probably would kill you. Boom.”

The way Corine’s explained was strange. It looked like she was threatening Neo with her knowledge. And it made Neo became skeptical. Thus, he just nodded in silence.

“I suggest you to never try. You would not survive.”

They continued to walk through the hallway until they arrived in front of a giant silver metal door attached to the wall.

“We’re here. Are you excited?” she asked, but Neo didn’t react.

Corine took out the analytical glove she wore before touching the door's surface using her right hand.

Beep.

[Fingerprint check, please wait]

[Access granted]

The doors were opened automatically. It also let out a strange white smoke from the other side until it opened completely. The gas blocked Neo’s sight for a second before his infrared eyes turned on automatically when the light supply was low.

It was a specialty that not all The HumanBot could have because it depended on how well the infrared-programmed DNA was expressed. From the smoke, Neo started to see what he didn’t expect to see.

On the other side of the door was a giant hall. But the thing that made Neo didn’t want to come in was the view, all the HumanBot was there. Stood in a perfect line as if they were ready to fight. They didn’t move. In fact, Neo would believe if Corine said that they stopped breathing at this moment.

“Let’s go. They are waiting for you.”

Neo followed Corine and walked inside the hall to face another 99 HumanBot. But, the next thing that made Neo know that something was wrong with them was that their eyes were empty. Although those eyes were entirely opened without blinking.

“What’s happening?” Neo asked, his voice sounding worried. He tried to find his best friend who could be stood everywhere on those lines. And, of course, he found him at ease. Using all his enhanced senses helped him a lot, but still, it made him tired.

“Mass upgrading. You didn’t think that only you received the upgrade, right?” Corine was about to laugh, but then she swallowed her saliva when Neo’s gave him a displeased gaze.

Neo, he could remember everyone and everything inside that hall as if they were not staying in the locked memory box that Corine mentioned before. He could remember everything, including how those HumanBot hated him so much.

Although he was the most hated HumanBot for them, Neo would never feel the same way toward them. In fact, he cared too much. He was happy for them because they didn’t have to experience painful surgeries as much as he did. He didn’t want to see the others suffering. His humanity was, after all, the highest among the HumanBot.

Seeing his friends like that made Neo got heartache. “Free them. Now.” He started to get the bravery to threaten Corine back.

It made Corine shocked, but she smiled, a proud smile indeed.

“Don’t worry, my dear, they are fine. You just need to call them right using the code.”

“What’s code?”

“Infinity. Say it loud. Make sure that everyone in this hall hears that.”

The more she talked, the more Neo didn’t like her, and he didn’t know why. It was just his feelings, probably. But humans believed in their feelings.

“Come on, say it.” She repeated.

Neo took a deep breath before opening her lips to shout, “INFINITY!”