The next day…
People strolled through the streets of Rush city early in the morning. All awaited the finals that were to be held tomorrow. People talked amongst themselves, divided as to who would win both matches. In a restaurant, Janus sat at a table, staring at the final matchups.
[ Unarmed league finals: Janus Gates vs Yuri Akito
Armed league finals: Cain Rodrick vs Leo Vincenzo]
He sighed and closed the laptop. Lifting his head, there was one man seated in front of him – Yuri. Janus leaned back, crossing his arms.
"The finals are tomorrow… it looks like our rematch is about to happen."
Yuri chuckled. "Yeah…it still feels like the group matches happened yesterday but…times flies, I guess."
"Can't say I don't agree." Janus nodded. "But what drove you to this point?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean… what motivation did you have to go this far into the tournament?"
Yuri heaved a long, heavy sigh. He recalled his memories before he became a chaos incarnate.
"Before all this chaos incarnate stuff…I wanted to be a singer."
"A singer?" Janus tilted his head.
"Yeah… it might seem corny but I've loved music since I was a kid. I mean I go to the studio every other week to record a new song." Yuri stated.
"Where did you post them? Did you have any viral hits?" Janus leaned forward.
"I posted them online. Got a couple thousand views – nothing much." Yuri said in a bittersweet voice.
Then, he posed a question to Janus.
"What did you pursue before becoming a chaos incarnate?"
"Computer science – wanted to become a software engineer." Janus replied. "I also made a few apps but haven't released them. They were part of the curriculum."
"Software engineer? Haven't those jobs been like…taken over by AI?" Yuri blurted.
"Yes, AI does the coding but we still have to check the design to see if it meets our standards and check for any errors. The application fails sometimes and it's a whole headache to get it working again." Janus groaned.
"What do you think the most advanced AI is?" Yuri inquired.
Janus couldn't but burst into laughter. He looked at Yuri, a smile spread across his face.
"Are you stupid? We're in the home of the most advanced AI in Human history."
Yuri raised a brow. "Really? What's its name?"
"Mythos – the main AI for the EOC. It's a hyper advanced AI which can perform a multitude of functions." Janus pulled up a holographic screen. "See this panel."
"That looks like something straight out of a novel." Yuri replied.
"Yeah, this is Mythos Holo. There's also Mythos Re, Mythos Mu, Mythos Ma, etc. The main AGI is Mythos but it has separate 'personas' that work in different fields so it can be as efficiently as possible." Janus closed the screen.
"Why don't they just use separate AI for everything?"
"It's simple, really." Janus stated. "The reason for that is… Mythos is also quite the helpful assistant."
"Huh?" Yuri blurted.
"The reason they don't use a number of different AI is because then, they wouldn't be able to gather data efficiently. More than anything, Mythos is the assistant of every enforcer – except for black ops. "
"Oh, so they can just pull up any kind of info they want because it's already stored in the main Mythos."
"Yes, instead of asking different Ai's each time, they can ask one." Janus nodded.
"Dang man…. that's rad." Yuri leaned back.
Janus chuckled. "Haven't heard that word be used in a while."
"But why doesn't black ops get to use it? Aren't they also enforcers?" Yuri questioned tapping the table.
"How do you not know this?" Janus groaned.
"Come on, please?" Yuri clasped his hands.
"Black ops…they are part of the EOC but generally they work for their own country. Special ops enforcer are protectors of humanity – they fight not for their nation but for the human race."
"I know that buts still why don't Black ops get Mythos?"
"The EOC did give it to the black ops – once, around the 22nd century, I believe and that went horribly wrong. Minister used political leverage to get info – especially from Paragonia. Then, hackers were able to tap into its database because the black ops didn't use a separate space to store the data." Janus drew a sharp breath. "Paragonia had a major breach while Rome and Ashland were somewhat able to contain it. Then, the supreme commanders decided to pull it from the black ops and center it only in Rush city."
Yuri leaned back – amazed.
"Dang…Mythos is seven-hundred years old…?"
Janus chuckled in amusement.
"The world is full of surprises, Yuri."
***
In the streets of Rush city, between the crowds of people, a certain gray-haired, green-eyed young man walked through – Cain. Passing by multiple buildings, he glanced at each one of them like a machine. Eventually, he reached a building with a massive label on top which read;
[MUTATION RESEARCH FACILITY]
He pulled out an old flip phone and marked its location as such.
"Almost mapped everything…"
He stared at the map he had created of Rush city. The stadium, recovery facility, hotels, restaurants, shops and more were labeled on the display of the classical flip phone. He strolled through the last bits of city. After a few minutes, everything had been properly mapped out. Then, he tapped its buttons and called someone. After a few seconds, someone picked it up.
"Hello, my dear Cain. How do you do?" An unknown voice spoke.
"Ah, Father!" Cain smiled. "I've completed it."
"Amazing! We're almost done here as well." The man said in a cheerful voice. "Also, did you make it to the finals?"
"Of course, I've made it." Cain continued walking.
"Good – Good, my child. I'll call you later, the hat is still being prepared. Goodbye." The man said.
"Goodbye." Cain replied.
The call ended and Cain tucked the flip phone in his pocket. He stretched his arms and continued to stroll through the streets. It felt like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Suddenly, he halted. In his vision, he saw his next opponent – Leo, buying ice cream.
"One vanilla." He said.
After buying one, he stepped forward but stopped when he saw Cain. The two locked eyes.
"Want some?" Leo offered his ice cream, breaking the silence.