novelraw Chapter 629: It’s Friday.
Chapter 629: It’s Friday.
As he held his arms up to shield his eyes, Finn suddenly remembered that he was currently in mid-Dive, which meant that he wasn’t truly looking with his eyes, meaning light couldn’t possibly blind him. By then, the sudden burst was already over, and the surroundings began to dim, leaving only only a small speck of light, one that represented a normal file.
"Guess I cracked it after all." He muttered.
"Pfue!" Jake pretended to spit. "I could have done it in half the time."
"Someone is salty." Finn teased.
"Wanna get your ass kicked!?"
Ignoring his grumpy friend, Finn swam toward the spec of light, holding his golden trident in both hands just in case. His attempts at caution was undermined by the thought persisting in his mind. AIs were prohibited from solving the puzzle, which means it was meant for humans. But most people would struggle to solve it if they had days to spare, let alone three minutes.
Floating before the speck of light, Finn swallowed, making him realize how dry his throat was. Hesitantly, he reached out, not by his hand, but by his mind, and gave the file a tap.
Screens jumped out at him like confetti, spreading out and stacking over each other. The outburst was enough to blast Finn away, but his yellow friend was there to catch him.
"A virus!!?" Jake extended his tentacles and transformed each of them into a sharp edge.
"Wait!" Finn stopped him before he could ruin things. More than a hundred screen had appeared from that single file, so it wasn’t strange to mistake them for a troll malware. One only needed to look at what they displayed to know that wasn’t the case.
Carefully, Finn swam back toward the screen. He skimmed through the contents of the first one then moved it aside. Before long, he was completely absorbed in his study.
"Are these... schematics?" Jake asked.
"Yeah..."
Finn answered absentmindedly, bringing a frown to his yellow friend’s face.
"So? What is it for?"
"I’m not sure..." The boy replied. "Some parts seem to be missing, and the rest is just a mess..."
"Did the file get corrupted?"
"No, I don’t think that’s it..."
Staring at the collection of screens for a few more seconds, Finn erased the dazed look on his face and spread his hands out, collecting everything into one neat stack. He then compressed them between his palms, turning them back into a single speck of light. Jake watched in horror as his fishman friend took the speck and tossed it into his mouth. Once he heard the swallowing sound, that was when the reality of what happened struck him.
"What are you doing!!!"
Before he could answer, two tentacles grabbed Finn’s mouth and spread it open. His yellow friend was about to shove a third one down his throat, and the horror forced him to act.
"Hey hey HAY!!! The hell do you think you’re doing!!?"
"Why the hell did you copy it it into your MLP!!? We have yet to check if it’s safe!!!"
Jake was perfectly reasonable in his concern, but that still doesn’t explain the insanity of what he was about to do.
"Chill, there is nothing to worry about... probably."
"Probably!!?"
Scratching his head, Finn found himself going through the files in his mind, as if trying to confirm something.
"I think... it’s another puzzle." He said after a while.
There was nothing that clearly states it is, but something about the missing parts and encryption felt like a challenge, and Finn had already decided.
"You... you aren’t thinking of accepting it, are you?"
Looking at his yellow friend, the boy let the corners of his mouth slowly rise.
~[ ]~
Dante’s mouth opened as wide as his jaw would allow, and the yawn he let out was the longest he had in a long time. His condition wasn’t so strange, considering he had been the winner in his battles against the sandman for the last few day. The absence of physical exhaustion allowed him to work normally through it all, but his brain could no longer take it.
Seeing that it was already 19:00, he decided to go up to his office and get a well deserved night of sleep. Unfortunately, he was well aware that it wouldn’t be anything like that.
"Remember to take a shower." He glanced over his shoulder. "Even with the filters on, I can still smell your stench."
Sprawled on the arena floor, Riot struggled to lift his arm then raised one finger. The cuts and bruises covering his body showed that today’s training session was especially intense. Oliver must have dragged his body up somewhere, and that just shows how far Dante had pushed them that day.
Of course, Dante had pushed himself the most. The only progression he made was toward a full blown crash out, and because of that, chilling and pretending that everything was fine was slowly turning into the very fuel that threatened to explode.
Just as he opened the door to the first floor, Dante found himself facing his Tenebrosan lieutenant. A wide eyes Carlos stared at him for a brief moment before his eyes narrowed.
"I knew it."
Confused, Dante opened his mouth to ask why the sudden grumpiness when something clicked in his mind, allowing him to remember something important.
"Ah..." A nervous smile pulled on the corners of his mouth. "It’s Friday, isn’t it?"
"That is correct."
The confirmation caused Dante’s shoulders to drop, and as if he lost all strength in his body, he began to hunch over as if folding in on himself.
"Can’t you handle it this time?" He said. "I’m really not in the mood for parties tonight."
The Red Oni Club’s grand reopening. Somehow, it slipped Dante’s mind entirely, even though he was served more than one reminder throughout the day.
"Sorry boss," Carlos said. "This is one of those things we can’t do without you."
"Fine, I get it." With a resigned sigh, Dante dragged his feet to the second floor. "Get everything going. I will take a quick shower and come down."