R.E.D. Tiger Ch. 03

I moved my computer and the router over to his old desk and set it up. I remember him having a computer, an old Dell, but I don't know where it was. Maybe Lynn took it with her when she left because I know she used to do work on it. I also brought over the Bose stereo system I had gotten from Rose as a gift two years ago and plugged it up as well. I didn't really listen to music but I enjoyed a little bit of jazz every now and then and the surround sound it provided the t.v. with was amazing. After I 'd moved some more miscellaneous things from room to room and situated some stuff(putting underwear, shirts, pants, and socks in the appropriate drawers) I decided to tackle the closet. I was going to leave most of my clothes in my other closet but decided to move a few dress shirts and slacks as well as some of my shoes over here. After moving my clothes I knew I'd have to empty the safe that was in the back of my closet. I figured dad might have one in his closet so I'd just transfer the contents over there.

I went into my father's closet and made my way past his clothes in search of a place for a safe. I came across what could be a safe. I noticed a small indent in the wall kind of like one of those pressure plates and I pushed it down. The cover slid over and revealed a small finger print scanner and a red peripheral that I recognized as a retina scanner. Pretty high-tech for my dad but that only intrigued me more. If he was going through all this trouble then he must have something in here that was very special to him, maybe even things from my mother.

I hoped that I'd have clearance to get in because if I didn't I'd probably have to break it open and who knows what type of security was rigged up to it. Pushing my thumb into the scanner and lowering my eye so that it could also be scanned I briefly wondered just what if anything my dad was hiding behind all these locks. After being scanned I was relieved to see a message pop up. "Alan Thorton Confirmed" the screen said and then I heard a slight whirring sound which was probably the gears starting to function after all this time.

I was expecting a safe or something to pop out somewhere else on the wall but was veritably stunned to see the whole wall itself sink in and slide to the right leaving a small cavern in front of me. Cautiously I stepped into the cavern and found it to be a small hallway. The hallway was inside of the wall between this room and the bathroom and was just wide enough for me to walk through. If multiple people were trying to walk down here they would have to be single file which I guessed were for security reasons. If a group of people tried to rush you they could only come in one by one and any automatic weapon would probably make short work of them, hell even retreating would be near impossible. At the end of the hallway I found a little switch that when flipped turned on a set of lights throughout the hall.

Now I was face to face with a locked door that I had no idea how to get inside of. I tapped my foot in thought and the jingling in my pocket brought my mind to my father's keys with all the extra keys we could never figure out what they were for. Fishing the keys out of my pocket I tried a few of them and lo and behold one of them actually worked.

I don't know what I was expecting when I opened the door but a flight of stairs was definitely not it. I was already on the second floor so down was really the only direction I could go. The stairs had lights that activated in sequence as I walked down them and by the time I reached the bottom I was sure that I had passed the first floor of the house by now. I wasn't really sure where I was and plus the stairs didn't exactly go straight down they were more of a winding path so I could very well be under someone else's house, but the lack of noise I heard made me think I was probably in our backyard or an open plot of land. After finding another hallway and walking down that I was faced with another door and after finding the correct key I opened that door and stepped inside.

I found myself in a large circular room which was easily the size of an one floor house. Walking into the center of the room I saw what looked to be a giant supercomputer. I had only seen one before and that was at one of the nuclear research facilities I infiltrated in North Korea. What one was doing here I don't know but when I stepped closer to it the computer started to power up. A bunch of text popped up on the screen and it appeared the computer was doing some sort of self diagnostic. Luckily even after eight years of inactivity the computer seemed to still work because the screen flashed green and then a women's picture appeared.

"Welcome Master Alan."A feminine voice boomed,"It's good to finally meet you."

"Who said that?"I asked as I swiveled my head looking for a concealed person. The computer screen changed to a picture of the same woman smiling before the voice resumed talking.

"It was me, the computer. My official name is the Artificial Intelligence Demonstrative Application but you can call me A.I.D.A. for convenience."it said. This was mind boggling. Not only did my tech illiterate dad have a super computer he also had an artificial intelligence living on it. The main question though, was for what reason.

"So Aida, what is it that you do in here?"I asked. Long story short Aida could basically do anything besides bring the dead back to life. The only thing she had been doing for the last eight years however was managing my parent's wealth and estates they had left me. Things like investing and making sure all the products were being produced and that the businesses continued to prosper. She also told me that my father had built her from the ground up by himself.

"Really?"I asked her. Like I said my father wasn't exactly the best with computers or at least he led us to believe so."Is there anything else he left lying around?"I asked Aida. I didn't really expect anything else but there was no harm in asking, I mean what else could someone possibly want? To my surprise the computer began to speak again.

"Well the answer to that question depends on you"the computer said in a cold voice. One that was very different from the cheerful Aida I had been conversing with up to this point."My creator, your father, has left some things for you but he also installed a test to make sure you would be ready. If you would please direct your attention to the center of the room that would be much appreciated."

As I turned to face the center of the room I thought about what possible test could await me. I kinda expected a test of some sorts. My dad was never one to give things away, even when I was young he never just handed things to me.

In the center of the room there was a dais with a lever on top of it. The dais was really simple just a raised wooden platform but the lever was made of some sort of metal. I waited for the rest of the test to appear but nothing happened so I slowly walked to the dais and looked at it.

"The test is very simple, pull this lever from the platform and you pass. You have three attempts. If you fail you will be banned from this room for a month."said the computer. Although the test seemed simple enough I knew that I wouldn't be given three attempts if it was a simple strength test. I already figured that I wouldn't be able to pull it out on the first try, so I would use the first attempt to gain information.

Taking a deep breath I reached for the lever and gave it a tug. As I thought the lever didn't budge but I was still able to gain some valuable information. When I pulled the lever it was like my hand was being repulsed and pushed away from the lever. Even now a slight numbness was spreading through my hand.

The tingling sensation in my fingers reminded me slightly of when I was training with Felix and first started to use magic. When you first use magic you're body isn't used to the energy so you would have backlashes, which is close to what I was feeling now. I didn't really think that the lever was magically inclined but Felix had explained to me that all type of energy on earth could be replicated with magic. For instance fire magic could create thermal energy, water created hydro energy, light magic created solar energy, and wind could create kinetic energy. He had taught me a trick for using the magic in my body to drain the various types of energy and channeling it into my body. I figured I could do the same thing here. If I drained the energy off of the lever then it would be really easy to pull it out.

Once again I took hold of the lever but this time I waited until I could feel the repulsion energy flow from the lever. Closing my eyes I focused on absorbing the energy. Since I didn't know what type of energy I was dealing with then I was forced to bring it in in it's raw form before converting it into it's appropriate magic element. As I drew in the energy I could feel the energy flow into me. What I was feeling was pretty weird in the sense that the energy felt remarkably similar to magic in it's base form. I continued to siphon the energy and when I absorbed all of it something weird happened.

Since I had begun to collect the energy I had been letting it pool inside of me so I could find out where to put it, but as soon as all of it was absorbed from the lever the energy inside of me burst and I could feel it spread through out my entire body. When the energy had made a full circuit it raced up my hand and bathed it in an eerie white light. The energy pulsed and flowed around my palm and I could now feel my body producing the same type of energy as the mass flowing in my hand.

For some reason the energy felt really familiar. Not to me, but to one of my past lives. Looking through my memories I recalled the dragon's past and could tell that the energy in my hand was close to the energy that the dragons used for their magic. Felix had said that the magic we used was different from the magic that naturally magical creatures used. While we used mana, creatures like dragons, elves, and fairies, used something called madra. Which was basically mana on steroids. Much more powerful, raw, and pure... and now for some reason my body was producing it.

Which would have been all fine and dandy except for the large swirling mass of madra that was still sitting in my hand. I tried to draw it back in but to no avail. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed another platform raising out of the ground to my left.

"Quick grab a hold of this."said the computer. As I walked closer to the new platform I saw another piece of metal only this one was some type of stick about five inches long. Following the computer's direction I grabbed the stick and watched in amazement as the madra flowed into it and began to change the stick.

What before was a small metal stick now was an ornate object which looked suspiciously like a sword's hilt. The pommel was a phoenix made out of gold and with flaming wings made out of rubies. The grip was a pristine white with gold inlay that wrapped around the white in a candy cane pattern that led to the guard. The guard was basically a large dragon's head. The outsides of the guard were the dragon's scales and eyes while the middle was one big gaping dragons mouth with little gold protrusions for teeth. I assumed that the blade came out of the dragon's mouth but there wasn't one present.

I looked at the sword hilt with awe. I had never seen anything thing as decorate as this but I doubted it would be much good in a fight without a blade. Lifting it up so the computer could see it I asked.

"Any idea what this is?"

"It appears to be a hilt of some type of sword sir."the computer replied back in a smart voice. Seeing as I already knew that much I guess the computer didn't have much information on the thing.

"Step forward sir."it said breaking me out of my thoughts. I walked up to the computer and out slid a small, clear square."You really are quite remarkable sir. I bet your father that you wouldn't be able to pass the test on the first try. He said that you would and that when you did I could give you this but if you didn't then I could keep it."I took the clear square and looked at it skeptically and was about to ask what it was but the computer cut me off.

"Let what happened earlier be a lesson to you. You can't just release madra without doing something with it. You won't be able to re-absorb it so be careful when using it, especially large quantities."it warned. So what I was feeling earlier was madra. But how did my dad know about it. I was getting a feeling that Samuel just might have been right about my folks after all.

"What did my father know about madra?"I asked the A.I.

"Oh so sorry sir. I can't answer that until you pass the second stage of your testing."

"Well let's get it over with."

"Oh dear. I'm afraid I haven't made myself entirely clear."the computer said,"There's a second part of my mainframe in a computer in you mother's castle in London. You'll have to take the test there and then you'll be allowed complete access to my database."Man this was really getting weird. In the span of three days I know had three different reasons to go to London. I needed to meet with the companies Felix had left me, learn about my mother, and now take some sort of test. It felt like I was a fly on the web of fate and I was slowly heading towards something. I really couldn't do anything about it now so I focused on the problems at hand.

"You said I would then have full access to your database, what do I have access to now?"I asked. The computer outlined that I had full control of most of it's basic functions as well as complete control over it's actions. It would still manage the different companies that my parent's had owned but would now need my authorization before it made any large purchases or acquisitions. I also had partial access to the computer's library which was filled with plenty of stuff but most importantly filled with tomes on controlling madra that my father had written. I told the computer to send those things to my cellphone. I would read them in my downtime and hopefully get a handle on using madra. I knew that I would stick to mana until I got a better hold of it. I also was now owner of many technologically advanced items that would begin to be shipped to my house from safe houses my dad stored them in.

"Speaking of technology,"I said holding up the small square,"want to tell me what this thing is?"I asked.

"Why yes. That is very simple. Take the square and put it anywhere on your skin."I complied by placing it on my exposed arm." Now pour a bit of madra into it." I focused on bringing the madra energy my body was producing through my body and into the square on my arm. I felt the madra flow into the square and then saw the square fade and meld into my skin.

"What just happened?"I asked the A.I.

"Ok. Now here's the real cool part. Think of anything you want to wear."Looking skeptically at the computer I began to focus on a set of clothes. What I really missed was my black "13's" jacket I wore in the military. It was a long fluttering coat made of lightweight fibers and extremely durable. Under it I always wore a black reinforced shirt and some dark cargo pants. It was the perfect outfit for infiltration missions and I missed not having it. I had closed my eyes to get a better mental image of the outfit and was shocked when I opened my eyes to see myself garbed in the outfit.

"Ok. You were right. That is fucking cool, but how?" I asked. The computer went on to give me some really complicated answer that had something to do with nanobots and all other types of things that I didn't understand. It was times like these that I remembered why I was a soldier and not an I.T. guy. The main point was that I could change into any outfit just by thought and that said outfit would be teeming with nanobots that would protect me from most physical harm. Bright side was that I could probably take a bullet or two, downside was that I doubted it provided much protection against magic, vampires, and werewolves but only time would tell.

"Alright what else do you have for me Q?"I said in my best James Bond voice.

"Well if you would step this way I want to show you-"said the computer using a synthesized Q voice.

"Sorry to interrupt Master but Rose is home and I don't think it would do good for her to find you stepping out of a closet."chimed Aida's voice as a small monitor showed Rose's car pulling into the driveway. I looked at my phone and it was already eight o'clock, almost four hours since I started moving into my new room.

"Yeah thanks Aida."I said as I ran out of the room,"Oh and add this account into the ones you manage."I told her as I rattled out the account number for the host collective. I think I actually heard wonder in her voice when she asked,

"Where did you get all of this money? Excuse me if I'm crass but DAMN."

"Well Aida you have your secrets and I have mine."I grinned back and then took of into a run up the stairs. As I was running up the stairs I noticed my black jacket fluttering behind me and with a thought I changed my clothes into something more house appropriate. Okay this thing is REALLY cool.

"Alan I'm home."I heard Rose say as I bounded from inside the closet.

"Alan? Where are you."she asked. She must have been at my room because when I reached the hallway she was coming out and looking trying to find me.

"Hey Rose. I'm right here."she kind of jumped when I started talking but turned around and smiled at me anyway and gave me a big hug. She asked me what I had been doing in there and I told her that I decided to move into the room.

"It's just time for me to move on."I said to a stunned Rose.

"Well that's good to hear. It seems like I wasn't the only one who had a surprise waiting for the other person today." She said.

"Surprise? What do you mean surprise?"

"Don't you worry about it. Just close your eyes and follow me."she said as she led me to the stairs and walked me down. I didn't know what Rose had planned but when we reached the first floor I heard an audible intake of breathe in front of me and then lots of giggling and whispering. Apparently Rose and I weren't the only two people in the home. I heard a whispered "go on" from Rose to the mystery person and then I felt something barrel into my chest. I quickly wrapped my hands around the object and opened my eyes to see Angela face pressed into me.

"Angie!!"I said shocked. She wasn't saying anything and I looked over to Rose who was just standing there with a smile on her face.

"Alan! I'm so happy to see you."Angela blurted as she wrapped her hands around me for a hug. On instinct I hugged her back and I had to say it felt good to be holding her. Me and Angie had never gotten along so I could count the number of times we hugged with one hand, and I wouldn't even need my thumb. After hugging me for a couple of seconds she stepped back stood there awkwardly with her hands in her jacket sleeves and rocking back and forth like a shy child.

For once I got a good look at her. I don't know when the last time I actually looked at Angie. I mean I could've described her if she was missing or something but it's not like we'd had a lot of contact since she moved in with Lynn. When she graduated she was making too much of a fuss for me to really get a good look at her but now that I did I had to say she was stunning.

She had dyed her brown hair into a sort of dirty-blonde color or maybe she just had blonde highlight(I don't know much about hair) and had cut it so that it fell to the top of her shoulders instead of down her back like Rose's. She was very slim as always because she had ran track when she was in highschool and probably still did. She had smallish breast maybe a high B at best but it fit well on her small frame. Her eyes were a nice stone gray which I'm assuming she got from her father because Lynn and Rose both had brown eyes.She noticed my staring and slowly wiped a tear out of her eyes.