Koreh pulled out what looked like a small scanner. It was nothing more than a screen that fit into the palm of his hand, but the screen itself showed a wireframe model of the inside of the tower, along with several glowing dots along the bottom of the wireframe structure. In the darkness of the cold night, the brightness of the screen was enough to illuminate the whole area.
"All those glowing dots. Those are the bombs that we placed. It's still not enough to topple the place though," he pointed to the screen to show Sylvie what he was talking about.
"No way! Actual bombs!?" Sylvie needed to tone in down to stay in character, "I mean. Where did you find bombs? And that scanner?"
"Black market of course."
"Black market?" what was a black market? Sylvie had never heard of that,
"You really are naive aren't you?"
Sylvie frowned in response, Koreh was bad at not coming across like an asshole,
"In Zedek there are almost no restrictions on what you can buy depending on who you know and how much currency you have. I have no idea where these bomb originally came from, I don't need to know, they're all untraceable anyway." Although it was clear that the bombs were most likely stolen from the military.
"But how do you know how to use this technology, you're a- I mean, you-"
"It's just easier for me to understand and learn things now that I'm unlocked. I'm pretty good at figuring out how to use technology. Installing the bombs and synchronising them with this scanner wasn't too hard for me. I can use this little device to bit-test the bombs too, to make sure they're still responsive."
"I don't know what that means." Koreh really was smart, impressively so. Was is really possible for Block-4 and Block-5 Servs to be this smart?
No.
Stop thinking that way.
The Block system doesn't even exist.
So did that mean that every Serv had the potential to learn, understand, and modify? Was it the network that had been preventing them from evolving as a society all this time?
Sylvie didn't like thinking about stuff like that. It made her head hurt.
"Bit-testing is making sure the signal travels through all the bombs at the same time, so that I can blow the Tower up strategically. Ideally I'd like the bombs to go off in a certain order so that it won't damage the town when the tower collapses. I've been doing this quite often, fine tuning it, making absolutely sure." he smiled, "once the next batch of bombs arrive in a couple of days. We'll be ready to get rid of this place once and for all." he smiled, "our first step towards Serv liberation." Koreh looked up, the tower extended far into the dark skies above, "you know what those towers look like to me?"
"No, like what?"
"Like prison bars. We need to knock them all down Sylvie."
"This... this is a dangerous endeavour Koreh. The Serv military won't let that stuff fly. They'd happily kill Block-4 and Block-5s..." Sylvie might have to do that deed herself.
Kill Koreh.
She'd only just met him, but killing someone with such pure ambition, that weighed quite heavily on her soul.
Would she feel that way if she was still on the network? Sylvie didn't know.
Koreh shrugged,
"They can try to kill me all they want. I'm with some amazing people, we're all fighting for this to happen. And now you're with us too, an ex Block-3, a fighter. We'll protect each other."
"I see."
"Uh, don't get the wrong idea. I didn't bring you here just to use you as protection. I was serious about helping you." oh that was right, originally the deal was that he'd help her get more comfortable with being unlocked, like him.
Why did he even agree to that?
It was just a ploy, she'd made that request just to get close to the tower but now... it almost felt like he was helping her. She didn't know it, but all this time she really was having trouble understand what it meant to be unshackled from the network.
She needed help. She wanted clarity. She needed to be comfortable with her own thoughts.
"Thanks," Sylvie replied, sincerely, "but really, the Serv military. I think you're underestimating them. Maybe you should-"
"You'll understand once you start feeling them properly. The emotions that we feel. Until then it's hard to explain, why we're willing to do these things even if it might kill us. Plenty of people have already died, and I know they did with no regrets. It's because of them that we've progressed this far. Because of them that we decided to go with this bomb plan."
"What do you mean?"
"We've tried taking out the tower from the inside before. But the inside is a death trap."
"A death trap!? What do you mean?" oh no, Gobot had gone in without enough intel,
"The security system is brutal. No-one comes back alive."
"...Can you give me a moment, uh, I just need to check something."
"Huh?"
Sylvie scurried off into the distance, far enough so that Koreh couldn't see her in the blackness of the night. She couldn't be bothered to come up with a decent excuse, she needed to check up on Gobot.
"Gobot? Gobot!? Do you read me?" she transmitted a signal to him but there was no response, "Gobot are you safe? What do you see in there?"
Nothing at all.
"Gobot!"
"Calm down. He's fine." The Major intercepted the signal, "you can keep having your heart to heart with that terrorist."
"O-oh, Major. You were listening in?"
"Somewhat. I'm mostly communicating with Gobot though."
"Why can't I contact him?!"
"I decided to serve as his operator for this mission. You're busy gathering intel with the Block-5 after all. Right?"
"...Right."
"He's right about the tower. It's not what we expected, but Gobot's stealth skills, in addition to his increased intelligence, are keeping him safe. Just keep doing what you're doing for now. Get closer to that Koreh guy, it seems like he's someone we need to keep an eye on after all."
"Do you think he's dangerous Major?"
"Extremely."
"Because he's smart. Yes?"
"Exactly."
"Hey are you ok?" it was Koreh, he'd caught up to Sylvie, "what's wrong? Why're you running off like that?"
"I'll cut communication for now Sylvie. Keep up the good work." the Major cut out.
"Uhm. I-I thought I dropped something here. Heh heh." terrible excuse.
"... Dropped what?"
"Never mind, I found it."
Koreh crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow,
"You're an odd one." he chuckled, "you know that?"
"You're right." Sylvie smiled, "haha. I guess I am." suppressing her personality was a difficult job. Perhaps the most difficult part of the mission. But Koreh already knew she wasn't a Block-4. Maybe she didn't need to pretend anymore. Sylvie liked being energetic and over the top. She couldn't help but wonder what Koreh would think of the real Sylvie.
"Well, I've finished bit-checking the bombs. I think I've figured out where I need to place the rest of them. Do you... do you want to, I dunno, hang out somewhere in Tower Town?"
"Hang out?"
"Drinks or something."
"Oh um. Sorry, I'd rather stay here. Because. Uh." Sylvie hated how bad she was at thinking on the fly, Ava would've been able to instantly. He was sharp. Sylvie was dull as a doorstop. She needed to stay around for Gobot, she stared at the tower, "I'd like to stay here and look at that thing a little longer. It'll help with the satisfaction of when I see it fall two days from now."
"Wow." Koreh smiled, "I getcha. Well, in that case," he sat down on the ground next to her, "I'll join you."
"Oh, uh, alright." Sylvie joined Koreh and sat down too.
The two stayed silent for a long time as they observed the tower. It was an odd sensation, being with someone while doing nothing.
No interaction at all, and yet somehow them being there changed the experience entirely.
With Koreh sitting next to her, Sylvie could feel emotions in the air she'd never experienced before, somehow Koreh's ambition was floating around the air. When she looked at the tower she couldn't help but imagine seeing it topple too.
The Major was going to ask her to kill him. Without a doubt