All Chapters of Systems Made me Lord of the City : Chapter 41
- Chapter 50
61 chapters
A Whole New Jaded World
Chapter 41The guard shook with suppressed fury but he quickly holstered the baton, leaning down until his nose almost touched Adrian’s."You're lucky," the guard hissed. "But the experiments start tomorrow. And once the Master is done with your brain, I get the rest. I will have the privilege of beating the shit out of you for every word you said today."He straightened up, adjusted his vest, and glared at the nurse. "Finish up. Let's go."The nurse dropped the pills on the floor near Adrian. She gave him a look of profound pity, mixed with fear. Then she turned and followed the guard out.The door hissed shut.And then, the lights went out.The room was plunged into absolute, pitch-black darkness.Adrian sat in the void. He didn't take the pills. He crushed them into dust with his thumb.He stood up, feeling his way along the wall until he found the corner. He closed his eyes, though it made no difference. He needed to think.“Why is the System down?” The error message had said “Ne
The Metal Womb of Aethelgard
Chapter 42Adrian was frozen. Beneath him lay a nightmare industrial complex that stretched so far into the subterranean distance that the curvature of the earth seemed to be the only thing limiting its width. It looked dangerous just staring at it. "Well," Adrian whispered to himself. "I’ve seen some creepy basements in my time. The janitor’s closet at school, the sewers of Sector 9. But this? This is just showing off."Immediately, he called out to the system to do a background check of the perimeter. [ SYSTEM ANALYSIS: FACILITY DETECTED. ][ LOCATION: PROJECT LAZARUS HIVE - SUB-LEVEL 9. ][ DEPTH: 500 METERS BELOW SEA LEVEL. ][ ENERGY SIGNATURE: OFF THE CHARTS. ][ THREAT LEVEL: EXISTENTIAL. ]"Existential," Adrian muttered. "My favorite flavor."He carefully unlatched the grate and it swung open with a rusted creak that was swallowed instantly by the cacophony of the factory. Everything down there was noisy and loud and he was sure no one could hear him even if he started po
Who Said Bumble Bee?
Chapter 43 Adrian looked around to ensure the coast was clear. The scientists had moved on so he climbed up the back of the android and slid into the gap. It was tight and almost claustrophobic. The heat inside was intense, radiating from the bio-core. Adrian had to contort his body, wrapping his legs around the central piston and hunching his shoulders to fit inside the shell. He reached up and grabbed the back plating he had peeled open, pulling it shut behind him with a loud clang. Then all he could see was darkness after that. He was now inside the robot and peering out through the tiny gaps in the neck joint. "Okay," Adrian whispered in the dark playfully. "This is cozy. A little damp, but I can't really complain, can? The rent is cheap." He fumbled around for a few minutes and then located the motherboard which turned out to be a glowing green panel right in front of his face. At once, he pulled a small data cable from his wrist-comp and quickly plugged it in. [ CON
Black Widow-ish
Chapter 44The System came on right in time and notified Adrian of the upload progress. [ UPLOAD: 100%. ][ VIRUS: ACTIVE. ][ SYSTEM REBOOT: FULL POWER. ]The guard's eyes widened as he saw Adrian. "He’s in here—" the man started to scream.But Adrian was faster. He kicked the back plate with enough force to turn it into shrapnel. The heavy steel door flew off, slamming into the guard’s chest and launching him backward into a barrel of slimy cooling fluid.Adrian burst from the shell of the android and landed on the factory floor in a superhero crouch, debris raining down around him.It was almost like in the comic books. "SURPRISE!" Adrian roared and flashed a smirk. The Head of Security stumbled back, disoriented for a minute before raising his shock rifle. "Open fire!""System! Battle mode!"At once, the system responded. [ COMBAT PROTOCOL: ENGAGED. ][ WEAPON: IMPROVISED. ]Adrian grabbed the robot unit he had just vacated. It weighed easily a thousand pounds but he just li
Ghost in the Machine
Chapter 45Adrian decided to make an army of his own from all the robot parts in the train. So as the mag-lev train screamed through the subterranean tunnel like a silver bullet shot through the dark heart of the earth, inside the cargo container, the vibration was intense enough to rattle teeth, but Adrian Black didn’t feel it.He was too busy performing surgery on a robot. "Pass me the hydro-spanner," Adrian muttered, his hand extended.But at once, he heard the system chime. [ SYSTEM REMINDER: YOU ARE ALONE. THERE IS NO NURSE. ]"Right," Adrian grunted, grabbing a heavy wrench from a tool rack bolted to the wall. "I really need to hire an assistant. Joe is great with tacos, but I doubt he knows the difference between a neural-uplink and a spark plug."He was sitting cross-legged in the center of the cargo car, surrounded by the dissected remains of three Praetorian androids he had pulled from the crates. Sparks showered his face as he jammed the wrench into the exposed chest ca
Like A Dark Horse
Chapter 46Suddenly, there was a loud consecutive pop sound as every lightbulb in the station exploded simultaneously, showering the mercenaries in glass. In a few seconds, it was pitch black. "Can't see! I can't see!" someone screamed."Night vision!" Wilson roared. "Switch to thermals!"But before they could toggle their goggles, Adrian was already moving.He leaped from the train car, landing on the roof of a Red Scorpion sedan."System! Gravity Well!"He stomped his foot and the roof of the car collapsed inward as if crushed by a giant invisible hand, flattening the vehicle’s frame."Get him!" a mercenary shouted, aiming his rifle."409! Bowling ball!" Adrian pointed.The headless android charged out of the train. It didn't have a head to aim, but it was guided by Adrian’s will and the rage of the prisoner inside. It curled into a ball, literally folding its limbs, and rolled.It was a ton of metal moving at sixty miles per hour. It smashed through the line of mercenaries, sendi
The Broken Monster
Chapter 47For about half an hour, the stolen Red Scorpion truck rattled over the potholes of Sector 4, its tyres groaning under the weight of three half-assembled, fully-sentient androids in the truck bed.Adrian gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles slowly becoming white. The adrenaline that had fueled his escape from the Hive was beginning to curdle into exhaustion. He was a Lord, a General, and a Vigilante, but right now, he felt like a fugitive running on low gas. "System," Adrian muttered, glancing at the rearview mirror where Unit 409’s headless torso was visible, swaying with the motion of the truck. "What is the status of my... passengers?"[ STATUS: STABLE. ][ ENGRAM INTEGRATION: 88%. ][ NOTE: THE PRISONER SOULS ARE RESTLESS. THEY WANT BLOOD. ]"Tell them to take a number," Adrian said, swerving to avoid a burning trash can which was a remnant of the Butcher’s earlier rampage. "We have a schedule."He couldn't take the androids to the front door of the Black Estate. I
Binary Eye
Chapter 48The massive, seven-foot cyborg collapsed onto his knees with a ground-shaking thud. The impact cracked the pavement of the driveway and Joe hissed, muttering about the cost of building maintenance. Slowly, the Butcher slumped forward, planting his remaining hand on the ground to hold himself up, like a knight bowing before a king.Adrian stopped, his fist raised. "What are you doing?""Stop..." The Butcher wheezed. "Please, stop."Adrian frowned and kept his distance, looking skeptical. "Is this a trick? Get up and fight.""I'm not here to fight," The Butcher’s head hung low. "The link has been broken after I fell at the factory..."Adrian lowered his hands slightly. Silas had said there was a corpse inside the suit. A convict. Was it the convict speaking?"Who are you?" Adrian asked.The Butcher looked up. The red light in his eyes dimmed, turning a soft, dying white."I was a man," the Butcher rasped. "Once."The cyborg reached up with his shaking hand and clawed at his
Flying Room Service
Chapter 49When Adrian arrived at the so-called Sky Garden, he realized one thing. The Sky Garden wasn’t a garden. It was a hanging fortress somehow disguised as a cloud.Suspended three thousand feet above Aethelgard by massive anti-gravity turbines, it was literally a floating platform of glass, steel, and bio-engineered ivy. It was where Mayor Sterling kept his secrets, high above the ground where the common man couldn't just barge in and find it. Even the cops would have a hard time finding a place like this. Talk more about breaking in.Adrian looked at the fortress and only one thought came into mind. “I'm going to become a pilot today," he smirked. “Mummy would be so proud." Then he smiled and asked the system to do the job. "Can this thing fly?” [FLIGHT COMMAND REGISTERED][SHORT TERM ANTIGRAVITY INITIATED] At once, Adrian heard loud whirring and the truck began to levitate. “Woooahhh!" He yelped in shock and excitement and grabbed the steering wheel a little tighter ev
Black Belts Bleed Too
Chapter 50When Adrian arrived, Sector 1 was the historic district. There were cobblestone streets, gas-lamp style neons, and buildings that looked like pagodas made of chrome.The Gilded Lotus stood at the end of a quiet alley. It looked like a high-end martial arts studio for bored billionaires. The sign was quite funny, a gold leaf on black wood.Adrian didn't barge in this time. He adjusted his tie, which was miraculously still intact, and pushed the front door open.A bell chimed softly.Inside, the air smelled like over fragranced incense and polished wood. The floor was lined with tatami mats and the walls were lined with racks of swords, katanas, broadswords, rapiers.It was empty.Adrian sighed in exasperation. He didn't have the time to waste here. "Hello?" Adrian called out. "I'm looking for the Anonymous Sponsor. I have a return receipt for a broken cyborg."No answer.Adrian walked into the center of the room.[ SYSTEM ALERT ][ AMBUSH DETECTED. ][ DIRECTION: EVERYWHE