Malfunctioning Utopia

Chapter 63: Lending a Hand

At the Hotdog Bar, Sun Jack explained his current predicament to the group.

These people had been through life and death together several times, so Sun Jack decided to trust them—at least partially. He omitted details about being an ancient human and the space station but shared everything else.

“This is my problem,” Sun Jack began. “I’m facing two possibilities: either I’ve lost my memories, or they’ve been tampered with—or worse, my entire memory is fabricated.”

Sun Jack had come to terms with the situation: no matter what, he needed to figure out the truth about himself.

Four Ai was the first to speak. She exhaled from her e-cigarette, leaned slightly toward him, and teased, “So...who’s Hilda? Your ex-lover? That name works for both guys and girls, you know.”

“F*** if I know! If I did, why the h*** would I be here asking you lot?” Sun Jack snapped. The more time he spent around Four Ai, the more insufferable he found her—always prying into gossip and drama.

“I could have the Followers of God spread your information to see if anyone in The Metropolis recognizes you,” suggested the Father.

Sun Jack hesitated. The suggestion was indeed practical, but there was a problem—what if his memories weren’t fake? What if he really was an ancient human from a thousand years ago?

Wouldn’t broadcasting his presence be too high-profile? It could attract corporate attention, which would spell disaster.

Noticing Sun Jack’s hesitation, Song 6PUS grabbed AA’s hotdog, took a bite, and chimed in, “Oh, come on. What’s there to hesitate about? What, you think someone here actually cares about where you two come from? When you first got to town, I noticed you acting all shady, like you were hiding something. I even posted your info on the dark web to make a quick buck.”

“You did what?!” Sun Jack and Tapai recoiled in unison, staring wide-eyed at Song 6PUS in disbelief.

“You sold our information?!”

“Yep. But relax, nobody bought it. I even listed it for 0.1 @coins, but nada. I tried several forums, and still, no one cared. So, you see? Nothing to worry about.”

“You son of a b****! I knew you were scheming something the moment we got here!” Furious, Sun Jack grabbed Song 6PUS by the collar and yanked him forward.

“Whoa, easy there, bro! Nothing came of it, right?” Song 6PUS protested with a look of mock innocence.

“Yeah! Lucky for you it didn’t sell! If someone had bought it, we could’ve ended up dead!”

As the two bickered, the others stepped in to break it up.

“The damage is done. What do you want now? You’re not gonna kill me over a little thing like this, are you?” Song 6PUS leaned back, almost sprawling across the table.

Sun Jack stared at him, thinking it over. In the end, he decided to deal with it the way people in this world did. “Compensation!”

At that, Song 6PUS’s face scrunched up, and he held up a single finger. “1 @.”

“Are you trying to throw scraps to a beggar? You posted our intel on the dark web for sale, and you think 1 @ is enough?”

“Come on! You guys aren’t worth anything! I thought you might be fugitives with bounties or something, but nobody even bothered to ask about you. 1 @ is generous!”

At this point, Tapai jumped in, his voice full of righteous indignation. “The f***, Song? Not only did you sell us out, but now you’re insulting us? The price just went up!”

After much back-and-forth, they settled on 19 @coins as compensation. However, Song 6PUS didn’t have the money yet and promised to pay after their next job.

Realizing that his physical description and details had been floating around the net since he landed, and nobody cared, Sun Jack decided to lean into it. He handed his information to the Father and King Kong, asking them to look for traces of his presence in the city—both online and offline.

“Don’t just focus on me. If you find anyone researching memory alteration, let me know too,” Sun Jack added, biting into a hotdog.

The taste was strange—synthetic, and not in a good way.

Ding ding ding!

Song 6PUS tapped his glass with his colorful plastic teeth. “Alright, since we’re all here, I’ve got something to discuss—about that nuclear reactor core we snagged from Steel Heart.”

The mention of their last big haul caught everyone’s attention.

“How much did it sell for?” Tapai asked.

“It’s tough to move,” Song 6PUS sighed regretfully. “Father was right—selling a nuclear reactor is no small task. Most buyers won’t offer much for it.”

“I asked around, and the highest bid I got was 15 @. So, what do you all think?”

“15 @? Are you kidding me? That thing’s worth no more than my cybernetic eye?” Sun Jack felt cheated—after all the risks they’d taken to snatch it from Steel Heart.

“You’re not skimming off the top, are you?” Tapai immediately questioned.

“Bro, do I look like that kind of guy?” Song 6PUS retorted.

“Yes!”

“This time, Song 6PUS isn’t lying,” the Father interjected. “I was there during the negotiations to ensure he didn’t run off with it. They really wouldn’t go higher than 15 @.”

Everyone sighed in disappointment. After all the trouble of getting their hands on the reactor, it was disheartening to see it valued so low.

“What now? The buyers are waiting. If we’re selling, we should do it soon. That thing’s a liability. Keeping it in my house makes me lose sleep,” Song 6PUS urged.

Sun Jack thought for a moment before proposing, “It’s still a nuclear battery, so selling it for just 15 @ feels like a waste. Why don’t we keep it and use it ourselves?”

“Use it? Bro, none of our prosthetics require that much power. You want it? Fine, I’ll sell it to you for 15 @.”

Ignoring him, Sun Jack glanced at Tapai and sent him a private message. “Could we use it to upgrade you?”

“Aren’t you saving for surgery?”

“Forget surgery. I need to figure out if my memories are real or not first. What’s the point of fixing something that might not be mine? I’d rather invest in boosting our strength.”

Tapai ran some calculations before replying, “It’s possible, but this level of modification is beyond what I can do myself. Who would you trust to handle my upgrades? My internal systems are from a past era. If someone sees my inner workings, they’ll know I’m not of this time.”

Sun Jack felt a pang of regret. If they could use the reactor to enhance Tapai, he could be turned into a walking fortress—another Steel Heart. With such a protector by his side, making money or staying safe would be infinitely easier.

“I can’t handle it myself, but you could install it on yourself,” Tapai offered.