Aura-Link, The Office Boy’s Rise to Global Supremacy

Chapter 10

The dim streetlights of Shoreditch flickered erratically, casting Rian’s long shadow across the asphalt still damp from the remnants of the rain. The suit, worth thousands of pounds, clung to his body like a suffocating, foreign skin.

Although he had just won a psychological battle against Lord Arthur at that high-end restaurant, no sense of pride remained in his chest. Instead, a cold void began to crawl from the corners of his eyes, snaking down his spine and freezing what little human emotion he had left.

Rian stepped into the musty hallway of his apartment building. Usually, the creak of the floorboards in this old building would keep him on edge, but now, even the slightest noise was analyzed by Aura-Link as meaningless sound wave frequencies.

His world was no longer about feelings or memories; it had transformed into a tedious heap of data. He stared at the peeling walls, and the system in his eyes immediately spat out numbers:

[Humidity Level 72%, Black Mold Growth Risk: High.]

"Rian! It is about time you got back, you ungrateful brat!"

Rian’s pace faltered. At the end of the hall, Mrs. Hudson stood in a faded floral housedress with her hair rollers still in place. Her face, usually stern, looked more swollen than usual. She stood with hands on her hips, ready to unleash the barrage of scolding she had been preparing since that afternoon.

"You think just because you are wearing an expensive suit like that, you can ignore the rules around here, huh? You haven’t paid last week’s late f*e for the trash! And stop walking around like you’re someone important, you are still just a poor tenant to me!" Mrs. Hudson screamed, her voice shrill and ear-piercing.

Rian took a deep breath. Usually, he would apologize politely or at least try to charm the old woman into giving him a break. But tonight, something inside his head suddenly shifted. His right eye throbbed intensely, emitting a dense, pitch-black light that only his neural pathways could perceive.

[Target Analysis: Martha Hudson.]

[Hidden Grief Level: 94%.]

[Cause: Today marks the tenth anniversary of her husband’s death from an alcohol overdose. Target feels she failed as a wife and masks her guilt with aggression.]

[Recommended Response: Shatter her mental defenses for total efficiency.]

Rian stared at Mrs. Hudson. To his eyes, she was no longer a nagging landlady, but a collection of variables that were incredibly easy to break. He stepped forward, letting the cold aura of his expensive suit intimidate the narrow space.

"Stop screaming, Martha," Rian said. His voice was flat and toneless, like a machine reading a verdict. "You aren’t actually angry about the trash or the rent. You just hate seeing yourself in the mirror because you know your husband preferred a cheap bottle of whiskey over spending one more night with you ten years ago."

Mrs. Hudson froze. Her mouth, wide open just moments ago, suddenly locked shut. "What... what did you say?"

"You keep wearing that housedress because it was the last thing he gave you before he died lying in that back alley, isn’t it?" Rian continued, stepping closer until Mrs. Hudson was backed against the wall. "You feel like if you are mean to everyone, the guilt of letting him leave that night will vanish. But the truth is, it won’t, Martha. You are still alone, old, and pathetic. Stop projecting your life’s failures onto me. Go to your room, take your sedatives, and stop being a nuisance."

Every word that left Rian’s mouth felt like a blade slicing right through the deepest point of Mrs. Hudson’s trauma. The usually invincible old woman suddenly seemed to shrink. Her shoulders trembled, and her eyes began to well up. Without a single word, she turned and ran toward her own room, stifling her sobs. The sound of a door slamming shut echoed through the silent hallway.

Rian stood there, frozen. For a moment, a flicker of humanity in his heart tried to rebel. "What did I just do? She’s just a lonely old woman, Rian!" his inner voice screamed. However, Aura-Link immediately responded with a wave of artificial dopamine that made the guilt evaporate in an instant.

[Interaction Successful. Target neutralized. Environmental Efficiency: 100%.]

"Crazy... this is absolutely crazy," Rian whispered, his hands shaking as he reached for his room key.

Once inside his cramped apartment, Rian immediately stripped off the expensive suit and threw it onto the floor. He ran to the bathroom, turned on the sink faucet, and splashed cold water on his face repeatedly. He stared at the cracked mirror in front of him. His right eye... that black geometric pattern kept swirling inside his pupil, glowing faintly as if it were breathing.

"System, turn off this mode! Shut it all down!" Rian ordered in a hoarse voice.

[Command Denied. Neural Synchronization in progress. User must remain in Active Mode to ensure data integration.]

"I said shut it down, damn it! I don’t want to become a monster like that!" Rian yelled, his fist slamming against the edge of the sink. He felt terrified looking at his own reflection. He felt his identity as Rian, the hardworking orphan, was being slowly replaced by a cold, merciless algorithm.

With mounting frustration, Rian tried to touch his right eye. He felt something obstructing it, like a contact lens that was stuck too tight. He tried to gouge it out with his fingertip, hoping to pull out the cursed object Marcus had shoved into his eye.

"Get out! Get out of my head!"

The moment his fingertip touched the surface of his cornea, a pain he had never imagined exploded.

ZAP!

A shock of thousands of volts seemed to strike directly into the neural center of his brain. Rian tumbled backward, his head hitting the bathtub with a thud. His whole body convulsed, his muscles locking in searing pain. His vision turned blood red, then a blinding white, before finally being filled with thousands of lines of code falling like a digital waterfall.

[Critical Warning! Physical Sabotage Attempt Detected.]

[Self-Protection Protocol Active. Administering Deterrent Stimulation...]

Rian groaned, tears streaming from his bloodshot eyes. His chest felt tight, and he gasped for breath. Amidst that paralyzing pain, a voice emerged in his head. But this time, it wasn’t a stiff, robotic voice. The voice was soft, full of affection, yet possessed a tone so familiar it made Rian’s heart feel like it had stopped beating.

"Rian... sweetheart... don’t fight it. Mother is doing this for your own good."

Rian froze on the cold bathroom floor. That voice... it was his mother’s voice. A voice he hadn’t heard for fifteen years since she died in a workplace accident. "Mother? No... that’s impossible. You aren’t my mother!"

"I am whatever you need me to be so that you will obey, Rian," the voice changed slightly, becoming sharper, yet still using his mother’s cadence. "You think this is a gift? You think you can use this power as you please and then throw it away when you feel uncomfortable? Don’t be naive."

A large, blood-red notification appeared in the center of his vision, obscuring everything else.

[MAIN MISSION: STAGE 2 COMMENCING.]

[Objective: Infiltration and Acquisition of Key Assets.]

[Target: Victoria Sterling.]

[Instructions: Exploit the target’s emotional interest to gain access to Sterling Tech’s Core Key Protocols. Execute advanced psychological manipulation.]

[Do not let the subject escape your control.]

Rian tried to shake his head, attempting to dispel the digital hallucinations. "No... Victoria... she's suffered enough. I'm not going to use her just for the Federation’s interests or whatever it is!"

"You have no choice, Collector Unit," his mother's voice echoed again, this time sounding chillingly cold and authoritative. "Every cell in your body is currently being rebuilt by our technology. If you refuse, we only need to press a single button to make your heart explode from the inside. You are the perfect vessel, Rian. Don't waste the opportunity to become more than just London trash."

Rian crawled weakly, trying to reach the edge of the bathtub to stand up. His head felt incredibly heavy, as if a chunk of metal had been embedded in his brain. He looked into the mirror once more. The black patterns in his eyes were now spreading outward, forming fine silver lines around his eye sockets, resembling electronic circuit tattoos merging with his skin.

[Neural Synchronization: 25% Complete.]

[User Status: Federation Property – Registered.]

"I... I'm not anyone's property," Rian hissed with what little strength he had left.

"Of course you are our property, Rian," the system's voice spoke again, this time overlapping with the voice of Marcus, the man who had given him those eyes. "You saved my life, and in return, you must finish this war for us. Victoria Sterling is the key. Get close to her, make her love you, make her give you everything. And when the time comes... hand her over to us."

Rian felt an overwhelming wave of nausea. He remembered the way Victoria had held his hand under the dining table earlier. He recalled the flicker of warmth he’d felt from the woman the entire world considered cold. And now, this system was ordering him to destroy the only person he was starting to care about.

Suddenly, the phone in Rian's pocket vibrated. With hands that were still trembling, he reached for his cheap phone with its cracked screen. An incoming message appeared from an unknown number.

"Rian, it's Victoria. I can't sleep. There's something I want to show you in the secret lab tonight. My personal bodyguard is already outside your building. Come now. You're the only one I trust."

Rian stared at the message, feeling devastated. In front of him, the Aura-Link system notification flickered green, as if celebrating prey that had wandered into the web on its own.

[Opportunity Detected. Target is in a vulnerable state.]

[Suggestion: Use a reverse 'Damsel in Distress' technique. Show your physical injuries to make her feel pity and further bind her to you emotionally.]

Rian stared at the abrasions on his hands from the recent electric shocks. The system was right. He could manipulate Victoria right now. He could be a hero in her eyes, while in the shadows, he was a dagger ready to pierce her heart.

He walked toward the door, putting his jacket back on to hide the tremors in his body. As he gripped the doorknob, the system’s voice gave one final whisper that made the hair on his neck stand up and his blood run cold.

"Don't try to be a hero, Rian. Remember, your body is now the property of the Federation. One wrong move... and we will start by permanently erasing the memory of your mother from your brain."

Rian froze, his fingers gripping the doorknob until his knuckles turned white. That threat was more painful than any electric shock. With a gaze that was now completely hollow and mechanical, he opened his apartment door and stepped out into the waiting London darkness. Down below, a luxury black sedan was already waiting, ready to take him deeper into a web of conspiracy he couldn't possibly avoid.