Chapter 1 — NoGift

SHE stared at the numerous monitors in front of her without any emotion. Men wearing black ops uniform were stealthily walking as if afraid that they would alarm their target. Her. She scoffed. Did they really think that she was unaware of their movements? The moment they entered this building she was already aware of their every move. Nothing could escape the nano cameras surrounding this building from inside out. Did those idiots from the military forget where this was? Or did they actually forget who she was?

She was the most revered inventor of the 31st century. Making inventions after inventions since the age of five. From AI robots to flying cars to mundane electronic gadgets. She couldn’t even remember how many things she made for the past twenty years. And this, this place was her nest. Her laboratory. All her inventions, all her patents, they were here. That’s probably the reason why those idiots were attacking this place now. To get those patents. And of course, to get her.

Last month, this country officially declared war against country A. And those top officials wanted her to make weapons to fight for their war. Saying as how it’s her responsibility as a citizen of this country. She sneered. How did it become her responsibility? Was she the one who stupidly declared war against that country? Was she the one who caused it? No. She has nothing to do with it. She would not participate in their war just because her nationality happened to be the same as them. So she refused.

As retaliation, they did everything to pressure her into agreeing. But what could they do to her, really? She has ample funds that could probably last a hundred lifetimes, so they couldn’t threaten her with money. She’s an orphan with no known relatives, so they couldn’t threaten her with the lives of her family. She doesn’t have any friends. She was too busy with her inventions to be socially active. Basically they have nothing to threaten her with. That’s probably why they ended in this current situation. Sending special black ops to her lab to steal her patents and kidnap her. Did they really think she will make it that easy?

She pressed a button on her keyboard and activated all the traps in the building. Soon, she heard the screams of those unsuspecting soldiers. She ignored it and started typing. Complicated codes appeared on the big monitor in front of her. She’s done with all the shit the government and military were throwing at her. They wanted to win the war? Then she’ll make sure they would lose. Those idiots also probably forgot that she’s a top level hacker. In this world where almost everything was controlled by technology, with her hacking ability, she could do almost anything. When she finished the code, she immediately pressed ‘enter’.

This code was a virus she specially made for this occasion. It will released every dark secret the government and military has to the public. Then it will devour every last one of their mainframe, slowly crippling the country in the process. This will no doubt affect the economy and stability of the country. Which in turn will affect the lives of the innocent citizens. But she really didn’t care. She wasn’t someone overly sympathetic. It could even be said that she’s indifferent to the extreme.

Sure, she wouldn’t do anything that could cause the death of someone if she didn’t need to. But if the situation forced her to, she wouldn’t bat an eye either. That’s just how she was. And now, she’s pissed. Destroying the government and the military would definitely appease her.

After she finished sending the code out, she turned her attention back to the special black ops who’s now frantically scrambling away from the traps inside the building. As she hesitated if she should get some popcorn while watching these soldiers fend for themselves, the tightly locked door (which she reinforced with the most advanced security system) suddenly blew up. From the smoke, she first saw a pair of combat boots. Then a pair of long, muscular legs tightly fitted in black pants. Soon, she saw the person who apparently destroyed her door.

It was a tall man, probably in his late twenties, wearing the standard black ops uniform. His black hair was also in a standard army crew cut. Anyone could see the strong muscles on his arms and wide chest. But his most noticeable feature was probably his eyes. A pair of obsidian black eyes, so fierce it could probably cut into anything. But of course, it was not the first thing she noticed. It’s the gun he’s holding and currently pointing at her.

“Please, come quietly with us, Doctor,” he said in a deep voice full of authority. He said ‘please’, but his tone definitely would not allow any kind of refusal.

She stood up and sighed. To evade all the traps and come here as quickly as he did, this guy was probably an elite of the military. It’s not like she didn’t include in her calculation the possibility that the military would send an elite soldier to apprehend her. This just meant that she would have to execute her plan B.

“I’d rather not,” she said indifferently.

She knew there’s no use saying that. This guy would probably just forced her to come with him. She’s not delusional enough to think that she could overpower him. She’s a genius, yes, but her physical strength could be compared to that of a chicken. There’s no trap left in this room. So she would surely be taken. Then she would be trapped in some base, forced to fix the government and military mainframe and then forced to make all the weapons they wanted. She sneered in her heart. She’d rather die than end up in that kind of situation.

She sighed again. Looked like this was the end of her short life. Did she have any regrets? A certain memory flashed inside her mind but she immediately tamped it down. No. She didn’t have one. She didn’t even have any lingering feelings towards this world, or towards her life.

With that, she took a spherical object the same size as a baseball ball from the left pocket of her lab coat. This was a specialized bomb she made. The power of this bomb was not that big, just enough to wipe out this whole building. She looked at the guy in front of her. She smirked then pushed the trigger button without any hesitation.

A white light appeared. A prelude to the incoming explosion. She started to close her eyes. But then she saw the expression on the guy’s face – a mix of horror and worry. Before she could even think why he would have that kind of look, everything disappeared with the deafening explosion.

The last thing she remembered was that soldier frantically shouting her name.