"Interesting…" Alex muttered with a smile. "But why are they reaching out in such a way?"
Alex had wanted to know more about The Order for the longest time and even suspected they were the ones behind his abduction. However, the note he had in his hand threw that theory out the window.
[Lord Alexander. We are glad you've made it back home. However, as things stand, we cannot remain in the shadows any longer.
[You are the one we've been waiting for, and we believe it is time you learn the reason we reached out to you many years ago. We await you close to the centre of the Milky way Galaxy. The Order]
"Their hands even reach into the heart of the capital." Alex couldn't help but mutter. "That could also mean they've been monitoring me all this while and I had no idea."
Of course, it was only an assumption, and a wrong one too. The Order definitely kept track of him during his early years after awakening. However, with Alex's sharp senses, that was an impossible feat.
"They indicated no date either. I will get to them once I finish visiting lord Zol." Alex turned back to the door when he sensed someone approaching and went to open the door.
"Lord Lucas." He welcomed the man with a smile and stepped aside. "I've been waiting for you."
"Yeah." Lucas nodded and stepped while Alex closed the door behind him. "I got held up a bit," Lucas said as he explained his situation.
He should have arrived as soon as Alex did, but he was promptly surrounded once the summit came to an end.
Everyone wanted to suddenly get on his good side. Those who knew him before became more welcoming and the others he only had a working relationship with began acting familiar.
"I see…" Alex laughed as Lucas explained his dilemma. "But you should have expected something like that, no?"
"Well, yeah… but still." Lucas groaned before taking a serious expression. "Also, I couldn't get anything substantial on the person you are searching for."
"I expected as much." Alex shrugged. "But anything will do at the moment." He gestured for Lucas to tell him what he learnt.
Alex had confided in Lucas about his abduction and implored him to find anything on the Jason fella. Unfortunately, just as he guessed, there wasn't much to find.
"Aside from the whispers of his name, not many people know him." Lucas moved to take a seat while Alex remained standing. "However, you're already aware that there are some independent forces out there, correct?"
Alex nodded and waited for him to continue.
"Well, the majority of those forces are the hidden powers of some of the leaders." Lucas looked towards the door as if expecting someone to be spying on them.
"Don't worry." Alex smiled at his actions. "I sealed this place the moment you walked in."
"Really?" Lucas didn't even sense Alex giving off any energy or the likes. 'Just how many secrets does he have?' he wondered silently.
"Yeah."
"Fine." Lucas sighed with visible calmness. "Whoever abducted you that time was probably working under orders. But finding out who is almost impossible as they leave no trace of having connections with them."
Forces like those were used for nefarious purposes that couldn't be seen associated with the leaders.
"It could be the three head leaders or any of the hundreds of other leaders," Lucas stated with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Alex."
"It's fine." Alex rubbed his brows in frustration. "Sooner or later, someone is going to make a mistake." He realized this wasn't going to be easy, but he will find a way.
Alex moved towards the window wide window on the side that gave a grand view of the supremely lavished building and surroundings.
'Those people better not create abominations from my cells.' Alex thought with a serious gaze. It was what worried him the most. Who knows what could come out of that?
'There's no point stressing over this now. I should stick to my plans.' He turned around to face Lucas.
"What about the other thing?" Alex asked. "Is it ready yet?"
"Of course," Lucas got up and straightened his shirt. "It's on my ship. You can check it out on our way to the facility."
Alex nodded and the two men stepped out of the room. It was time to visit Zol and hopefully find a way to awaken him.
.......
Xex had been offline since Alex returned from the veiled space. However, he didn't immediately try to get his AI back online as he wanted to make it an independent entity solely for him while still being able to connect with the empire's network.
Essentially, he wanted digital privacy.
On Lucas' ship, Alex and Lucas stood before a man, separated by a white table built into the floor. The man was a tech expert who handled the remodelling of Xex while still maintaining its primary code and character.
"Your AI system is ready as you specified, sir." The man said. "In this box contains Xex's code that can be directly implanted. It is a head chip that would enable you to see his digital interface—sort of like a system."
"Wonderful." Alex lifted his gaze from the box to the man. "You included a code for Xex to build a digital body, right?"
"Of course, sir." The man nodded. "Everything you asked for has been done. You no longer have to worry about someone trying to snoop around your system. Any attempts and you will be notified immediately."
Alex stared at the man for a moment and shifted his gaze to Lucas who looked back at him and nodded.
'He can be trusted.'
The message was clear. While the man had done what he wanted, who was to say he didn't leave his own mark? Of course, Lucas reassured the man wouldn't do that.
"Okay…" Alex turned back to the man. "How do we do this?"
The man took that as his cue and opened the box, revealing a small rectangular chip no bigger than a processor—very small.
The procedure to insert the chip into him didn't take more than five minutes. Once done, the man activated the chip and Alex felt a slight energy flow from the chip into his iris.
"Okay. You can open your eyes now."
Alex opened his eyes and was welcomed to numerous floating digital interfaces. The screens in his vision were blue and had multiple parameters detailing common things like appraising items, persons identification and more.
[Hello, Alexander.]
Xex's familiar voice brought a smile to his face. "Hey, Xex. Long time. How do you feel?"
[I feel… alive.] Xex said with a bit of fascination. [The upgrades are fantastic.]
"I'm glad you like it," Alex beamed.
He proceeded to talk about all the things he missed while Xex went over its new functions in the background.
Alex talked about his fight after returning to the veiled space and the enlightenment he gained.
[That is wonderful. I wish I was there to see it.] Xex replied. [You must be incredibly powerful.]
"Of course," Alex grinned, appearing like a crazy person to someone who didn't know what was happening.
Lucas signalled the man to return while he waited for Alex to do his thing. Time slowly ticked by and eventually, their ship arrived at the star system Zol was kept.
"Alex?" Lucas called. "We're here."