Sidekick by Carl Stubblefield (10 best novels of all time .txt) 📗

the last time. Gus caught sight of himself in the mirror as furrows on his skin appeared to tear, but there was no blood. He gasped, unable to even scream as the pulling sensation intensified. At last it was done and he dropped to the floor, collapsing.

Nick’s voice sounded. “Assembling Nanobot Interface Construct.”

“Reviewing a suitable framework based on scan history and personal preferences…” Nick continued. Once again Gus felt like he was losing a friend.

The voice shifted to Nick’s less formal style. “And you, Gus, you… you’re gonna miss meeeeeeee!” the voice sang, then faded and morphed into another.

“Evaluation complete, assessing suitable mentor framework…” Nick said with a slight accent Gus couldn’t make out at first. While it compiled, he took a glance at his new stats, putting his five points for level 20 all into Intelligence.

Agility: 57 (52+5)

Constitution: 61 (56+5)

Charisma: 33 (28+5)

Strength: 42 (37+5)

Perception: 41 (36+5)

Intelligence: 64 (59+5)

Luck: 42 (37+5)

HP: 1200/1200

MP: 1180/1180

Stamina: 1200/1200

Not bad at all.

“Tertiary nanobot interface construct will be patterned after Chiun.”

Who the hell is Chiun? Gus thought blearily.

“Next evolution is set at level 30. Don’t just lay there boy, stand like a man!” Nick ordered.

Gus rolled over and stood. “Who are you supposed to be?”

“Always asking questions and never learning. Perhaps it is better to be doing at this time.”

“Okay,” Gus mouthed slowly as he got ready as quickly as he could and headed down to the arena and started a brutal session of Adaptive Training. He was determined to include all of his new abilities, especially when the pillowbots adapted.

Except Chiun forbade it. Somehow, he even grayed them out, making them unavailable to use.

“A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.”

“Is that supposed to mean something to me?” Gus asked, throwing his hands in the air. “I need to be resilient, as strong as I can be. I don’t get jack for XP if I don’t use these new abilities. These supers are highly trained—”

“Exactly, and you know none of your fundamentals well. Reset!”

If Gus hadn’t known better, he would have assumed Chiun was the personification of Chop Chop, who was suspiciously absent…

“Fight!” Chiun commanded, and the pillowbots sprang to life.

Gus pushed himself until the arena went dark. He did have to begrudgingly admit that he was more adept at switching with his more familiar new skills and how to integrate them. He checked the time. It was still early, now all that was left was to let all of his bars refill and double check on his preparations. Despite Chiun’s quirks, things were falling into place. I love it when a plan comes together.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Hide Away

“Nick, if I erase some things out of the system, can you restore them at a later date?”

“Why?”

“I want to erase any maps and informational directories from the database, but it’d be nice if you could store these somewhere as a backup.”

“Ah, I see. In case you are tortured and are too weak to resist. Yes. This can be done. Direct search cannot be erased but they must know the exact name.”

“Yes, do that now! How long do you need?”

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”

“What the hell does that mean? I have both in short supply!”

“Thirty minutes.”

“Thank you. Can we encrypt something so that they can’t change any settings or access the control system?”

“No.”

“No, you won’t, or no, you can’t?”

“The manor is protected with redundancies that prevent lockouts.”

Gus tried to think up what else would hide vital information. Nick’s silence was deafening. “If you could help in any way, I’d appreciate it.” Still nothing. This Chiun kind of sucks.

“You are the first victim of your anger,” came the emotionless reply.

Gus shook his head and thought. He got some ideas but Chiun turned them all down. What kind of name is that, anyway? Something fluttered in his thoughts. Name. Could I rename a system so that it is not easily found after directories are missing, though?

“Please tell me I can rename some system folders so they’ll be harder to find.”

“That is… acceptable.”

Gus exhaled a sigh he didn’t know he was holding. “Okay, Gus, what would help me and hinder them?” His mind kept returning to the scanners. “I need a way to stay out of sight, but I would like to know where they are. Can I hide scanners and tracking so that I’ll be the only one to access them?”

“Just state the new name for the file for those processes,” Nick said sternly, like he was trying patiently to deal with a small child.

“Man-boobs.”

“Excuse me?”

“Man-boobs. I knew a guy who hid important stuff in a file named that because he knew no one would ever look there.”

There was a grumble of dismay. “Man-boobs it is.”

With that being done, there really wasn’t much left to do. Gus made his final run to the cafeteria and loaded up on blue, pink, and red gels before heading to the inevitable confrontation.

Gus made his way to the beach to meet Basileus and crew again. He wasn’t looking forward to the meeting, but he knew what he was going to do.

Basileus was waiting on his little dais, smiling with an expression that just begged to be slapped off his face. By all appearances, he looked like everyone’s version of a hero: handsome with perfectly-styled hair, impressive jawline, and the physique to complete the package. He was even sitting upon a throne of all things as he looked down at Gus, his outfit gleaming in the tropical sun. The effect was supposed to make him feel intimidated, but something seemed off.

Mercs stood around him like the little toadies they were, trying to look menacing and dangerous. A metal contraption that resembled a loader sat on the right side of the dais, and its arm extended out over the water. Aurora was gagged and bound by her hands hanging from this loading arm, suspended one-hundred-fifty feet above the water. She kicked and struggled as she dangled there.

“I am glad to see you are reasonable, Gus. We