Sweet is Chai's best and only friend that can see past his overachieving stupidity. Then they're hunted down by Vandelay after Chai's surgery goes completely wrong and makes him a defect.
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*~{Sweet}~*
I lied on the pink couch, a saddened look on my face. Peppermint, Velvet, and Chai were arguing about the meeting incident.
"Not even an apology, Chai?" Velvet demanded. "For... gettin' the job done?" Chai said with a smile. "Are you THAT dumb!? Now they know us, know you two aren't acting alone!" Peppermint hissed.
"And..."
"Ugh! Secrecy is blown! We have to rethink our whole plan!" Velvet exclaimed. "There was a plan?" Chai asked confused.
"WHAT?!"
"OK. I... might... have been on a power trip. I'm SORRY! But you got your data, right? Spectra?" Chai admitted.
"The data that said Vandelay can basically mind-control you?!" Peppermint snapped. "I wasn't really listening." Chai replied.
"How does Sweet even put up with you?" Velvet mumbled. "Excuse me?!" Chai growled. "Stop it! Just... check this out." Peppermint said nodding towards the computer.
I walked over as Chai sat down on the other couch and 808 walked up with a plug and hooked it up to Chai's arm.
"It syncs with project Armstrong and Legwork interfaces." Peppermint said. "Try it on yourselves!" Chai scoffed.
Peppermint and Velvet tapped their enhancements. "These aren't Armstrong or Legwork tech." Velvet said and began typing something into the computer.
"You got smudges on my arm... Gah, it's not coming off." Chai mumbled. "And with just a simple command." Velvet said and hit a button on the keyboard.
Suddenly Chai shot up and began saying monotone nonsense. "Don't you think- that you were right all this time, and I'm a stubborn loser and doesn't deserve Sweet, also Peppermint and Velvet are WAY cooler than me."
808 knocked the plug out a Chai returned back to normal. "Grroh, yo, what the!?" Chai looked at his arms in confusion.
"Still doubting?" Peppermint asked while Velvet smirked. "But YOU made me say that. Couldn't Vandelay have designed this for, you know, research or something?" Chai said still in denial.
"Chai, only you wouldn't find this suspicious... The point is, they CAN, and we need to stop that." I said walking up to them.
"Well, we wish you good luck-" Chai began before I turned off the lights. "Chai~ You wouldn't leave your best friend behind would you~? Especially after you gave our friends away... right?" I said with a creepy smile.
"But... I have no idea how to get of this island without Sweet, aaaand feel a little responsible for messing things up." Chai laughed nervously.
"Great!" Peppermint said turning the lights back on. "I'm not leaving until we sink this stupid AI." I said confidently and Velvet nodded happily.
"You're both hearby members of our organization!" Velvet said. "Cool, cool... our own little weird indie three-piece..."
Velvet sat down on the couch next to me. "You okay?" They asked an I nodded. "You seemed troubled since we came back, did you... recognize one of the bosses?" They asked.
I sigh and nodded. "I-I won't bug you about it, I know someone else who doesn't like to talk about that stuff." They said looking over at Peppermint.
Chai sat next to me on the opposite side of Velvet. "Alright, let's get this over with." He said with a wave of his hand.
Peppermint nodded and pulled up the small comic she made to tell us what to do.
P: Alright, mission report! So according to the files I stole, Spectra is a multifaceted cognitive AI algorithm.
C: I see...
P: You know what? Let's keep tech talk to a minimum. Anyway...
V: Spectra is an AI, an AI development happens in the R&D branch. And the R&D branch is deep below the island, using magma as a natural power source for development experiments.
C: That is not good.
S: Actually it is. All that lava down there is a natural and environmental friendly resource.
P: Sweet's right. Also being underground let's us potentially avoid security.
C: Okay, sure. Anyway, who's this guy?
S: He looks like a villain from GiGi's Outlandish Escapade.
V: That's the head of R&D, Zanzo. He runs the whole branch from the AI labs.
C: Which means we'll probably run into him... He looks insane!
P: Reviews from Workers aren't too hot on this guy. He's a perfectionist.
V: Scrap and build until it's right. You build it, he scraps it.
C: Creator complex. But that hair...
S: Neural interface?
P: Yep. His ideas are everything, so he modded himself to directly input his concepts into the work pipeline.
V: Anyway, we sneak in, hack his computer, download and destroy Spectra, and get out.
[~]
"Guys, are you there yet?" Peppermint asked us. We dropped out of the vent and onto the ground. Immediately I started sweating.
"Oww... Yeah, I think we found it."
"Holy smokes... Someone turn the heat down." I said when I got up. "Uhh. How do I get down there?" I said noticing the grapple points but no metal to stic onto.
"Got it!" Chao said grabbing me and grappling over to the points while holding me. "For gods sakes, warn me whenever you do that!" I snapped.
"No promises. Besides you're cute when flustered." He said slyly before realizing what he said. "What?" I questioned. "NOTHING!"
Okay, it might've been the heat, but my face was significantly warmer. "Well we probably don't need to tell you this, but... don't step in the lava." Peppermint said.
"Ugh. Give me some credit here." Chai said. "Didn't want to take any chances." Velvet said making me chuckle.
We jumped through the area, avoiding the deadly drops into lava and dodging security when the intercom came on.
"We're on the lookout for any suspicious individuals. Human, messy hair. No need to panic... but if encountered, please run away and contact security."
"Oh and Keylim has informed me if you encounter the purple haired one, restrain her and bring her to security. He would like to speak with her himself."
"Oh no..." I mumbled. "What does the co head of Security want with you?" Velvet asked. "Yeah, he seems suspicious." Chai looked at me with apparent suspicion in his eyes.
