Agent's Dog System

15.From Love To Hate

"Now that you're level four, you've earned a point. Where do you want to place it?" Reia asked Podbe. She suggested putting it into vitality, as the system menu had changed and now displayed the skill tree for unlocking abilities. "Remember, you weren’t very fast or resilient against those bunnies," she added. "Alright, go ahead and assign it," she instructed. After doing so, she informed him that a new ability called Hardness had been activated. "Hardness?" Podbe asked, intrigued. "Yes," Reia replied. "It’s an ability that helps you protect yourself from any kind of damage, whether it’s a blow, bullets, or fire. But since it’s level one, it only allows you to protect yourself for five minutes and consumes twenty mana points." "I see," said the dog, a little annoyed that it only lasted a short time. "Now, to reach level five, you’ll need one hundred fifty experience points," Reia explained.

While they were discussing the intricacies of the system, Elena and Aiden were finishing their large pizza. Once they were done, Aiden paid the waiter, and both left the restaurant. As they stepped outside, they bumped into an elderly man wearing black glasses and a beard, dressed in a white suit, accompanied by two muscular men in black suits who were as tall as skyscrapers, Aiden thought. When the boy accidentally collided with the man, one of his guards pushed him back, causing him to fall. Podbe, seeing this, began to bark, and even more so when he saw the old man. Reia wondered why he was barking louder as the man approached. Immediately, Aiden stood up and picked up Podbe, telling him to calm down and that he was fine; it was just a small push, but the dog kept barking. The man said, "You don’t know how to see where you’re going, boy, and that dog should be muzzled; I hate its barking." Aiden and the man exchanged serious looks, but upon seeing Elena, the man calmed down a bit. "Ah, it’s you, Elena," the man said. Elena apologized for the incident: "The boy and the dog are with me, Mr. Zeus, though, of course, they started it." The man accepted the apology but told her that the animal should not come near him next time and that the boy she was with should watch where he was walking. Again, she apologized, and the old man added, "Tell your father to hurry up with the task he owes me, or I’ll fire him."

The three individuals, including Zeus, began to walk away. As he moved, Zeus thought he had seen a familiar face when he looked at Aiden. "Where have I seen that gaze and that face before? It seems familiar. Could it be one of my...? No, I don’t think so, but it intrigues me," the man reflected in his thoughts. "I’ll need to make a quick stop," he thought, climbing into the back of a large car, not quite a limousine, black with tinted windows.

Aiden felt a bit annoyed with Elena for apologizing to that man when they hadn’t been the ones at fault. "I’m sorry," she said, "but he’s my father’s boss, and if I do something wrong, they might fire him because of me." Her voice cracked slightly, saddened.

The boy told her not to worry, that it was over. Glancing at the clock in the square, Elena saw that it was nine o’clock at night and said she had to leave. "It was nice seeing you today," she said. He was about to suggest meeting again the next day, reminding her that she had promised to teach him how to ride a bike, but she didn’t respond and simply said goodbye, running off in tears. The boy didn’t understand what had happened or why that man had scared her so much that she left like that after such a pleasant time together. He tried to follow her, but Podbe was restless in his arms.

Once the man had left, Podbe calmed down. Reia asked him what was wrong, what had happened. Aiden joined the conversation: "Why did you act like that?" Podbe didn’t know the reason for his behavior. Aiden thought it might have been because he had been pushed, but then his bark grew louder when he saw that man. "Your barks didn’t sound like an attack; they sounded more like barks of fear," he reflected. "I guess that’s why the system brought us here; we need to find out about that man," Reia commented. Aiden asked her if the system could identify who he was, like the internet, where you can find information if you have a computer or phone. "I’m not like the internet," Reia replied. "I’m more advanced. The problem is that I can’t remember some things until Podbe levels up and unlocks his full potential. Little by little, I’m gaining access to certain things, but I can’t connect to devices as if I were wireless or had a cable to plug into them; I don’t have ports. Besides, I’m in the mind of a dog," she scolded the boy. "Well, there’s no other option; we need to head back—it’s late, and Miss Adia will worry." The dog and the boy began their journey back to Adia’s house.

Meanwhile, Elena arrived at her home. Unlike the neighborhood where Aiden was staying, hers was lonely and neglected. She saw a large black car parked in front of her house. She suspected who it might be. She approached her home, a small one-story house with an ivory facade and a wooden door that was open.

Upon entering, she began calling for her father but received no response. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her from behind, lifted her up, and carried her. She tried to struggle and scream, but another hand covered her mouth before she could do anything, taking her to her father’s room. They set her down, and she saw the same man from before, Zeus, along with one of the men who accompanied him, and on the other hand, her father, beaten and bruised. Zeus said, "Calm down; I’ve only come to talk and see what your father is doing with the project he was supposed to deliver to me." He gestured to the other man to let her go. "Don’t make a sound, girl, and don’t even think about calling the police. I just want to talk to you, and maybe you can save your father, and I’ll give him more time to finish his work," the man said with a fixed and threatening gaze. The girl was stunned, unsure of what to do. Hesitantly, she agreed to listen. "It’s simple, girl: you need to bring me the boy you were with today," Zeus explained with a menacing smile. "Aiden," Elena thought. "What does he want with the boy?" she asked. "Nothing; I just want to take him to my company to run some tests. But I doubt he’ll come peacefully after today, so you’ll have to take care of it." The girl replied that it was the first time she had met the boy, and besides, he never left his dog’s side, and she didn’t know where he lived. "Use your charms, girl," Zeus responded. "They’ll help you accomplish the task, and remember, you’ll be watched." He laughed in a defiant and malevolent tone. The three of them left the house. Before leaving, Zeus handed her a phone and told her he wanted everything done by the next day, or he would return to finish what he had started with her father.

Once alone, Elena snapped out of her daze. She didn’t know what to do and thought all of this might be a dream. Terrified, she approached her father, trying to wake him. Seeing him in that state, she decided to fetch the first aid kit from the bathroom to treat him. She found a box containing gauze, cotton, alcohol and other supplies. She returned to where her father was and dabbed a bit of alcohol-soaked cotton near his nose. Her father rose from the chair, aching from the blows he had received, blood on his lips, and visibly frightened. He told Elena he was sorry for the scene she had just witnessed. She burst into tears and, between sobs, told him what Zeus had demanded she do. Her father expressed his regret, saying that because of him, she had also been dragged into the company’s plans.

Elena’s father was named Mike, a man in his late thirties or perhaps a bit older. He had separated from Elena’s mother when she was five years old, supposedly due to the constant work he had to do, as he had told his daughter. But in reality, what Elena didn’t know was that the company had intervened because her mother was a reporter who had gotten involved in the company’s plans, forcing him to tell his daughter that fabricated story. Mike had worked for Zeus for a long time at Radar Corporation, a company that appeared to focus on scientific and technological advancements but actually concealed other purposes. After treating her father and giving him pain medication, Elena faced a difficult decision: betray the person she had just met, but with whom she had grown fond of after the wonderful day he had given her—the first time in years she had felt happy—or save her father and herself.