I Hate Systems

'If it is really true that the two System Hosts don't know the existences of each other. Then…' Compass Carburettor thought, 'I should be able to drive a wedge between them. But, it shouldn't be explicit to the extent they become antagonistic to each other. A Quest would arrive from their respective Systems to prevent that.'

'It should be something that is brewing within them that I would be able to take advantage of only once. But, that should be definite.' A scheme brewed within his mind as Compass Carburettor continued to scale up the mountain.

After some time passed, he put on a worried expression, "Did Krager get lost?"

"He's been on this mountain enough times to never get lost." Neena snorted, evidently expressing her displeasure.

"Now, now, he's not that type of guy." Compass Carburettor smiled wryly, waving his hand in defence, "Maybe he sprained his legs and is now resting somewhere. We'll be able to find him once we reach the top."

"I'll keep a lookout around us," Rhizen interjected as his eyes trailed over the path and the slope below.

'Hmph, Compass is too naïve.' Neena snorted mentally, 'It seems Krager came here for some reason. And once the chance presented itself, he abandoned us to go on his own.'

'I felt a strange sense of danger when I met him before.' She thought, 'He's dangerous. When I get a chance, I should get rid of him just to be on the safer side.'

She then gazed at the back of Rhizen, thinking, 'But first, I should get rid of him. I can think about others once I complete the Quest.'

As they continued to walk, the trio passed by the group that had started fifth. For a moment, the group looked at them in surprise, wondering when the first group had slowed down so much.

But soon, the trio overtook one group after another, eventually crossing the second group as they continued to trek up the mountain.

Since it was around 10:00 AM now, most of the groups had stopped to eat some breakfast before moving on. Using this chance, the trio overtook them, gaining a lead on them.

"Let's eat now." Compass Carburettor said after a moment of thought, thinking that a food session was the best time for him to sow seeds of discord.

"Alright," Neena and Rhizen nodded in response before they found a comfortable boulder to sit upon. Taking out their lunches, they ate in silence.

Upon seeing the atmosphere that wasn't as much jovial now, Compass Carburettor sighed mentally, understanding that he couldn't talk about Krager unnecessarily. It would become apparent that he was trying to wedge friction between them and Krager.

"Oh yeah, have any of you visited Deison city recently?" He suddenly asked, causing the other two to look at him in confusion.

"I've visited there a couple of months ago. Why do you ask?" Neena replied, her curiosity evident.

Putting on a smug look, Compass Carburettor took out a picture from his bag, "One of my friends from there found this circulating on the internet. He sent me this picture."

Saying so, he took out the picture of a Pomeranian. It was obviously the one that made headlines on the news recently. He had obtained it from Dr. Gregesh.

Obviously, he was told to not circulate it to others. But, the ones before him were special in that one was the main character of this world while the other was a System Host whose objective was to kill the said main character.

Of course, he had a reason for showing it to them in the first place.

"This…!" Neena's eyes widened in shock as she stared at the image, saying, "Is this…still a Pomeranian?"

"Probably," Compass Carburettor nodded, watching Neena stare at the image curiously before shuddering in response.

"It's a fake," Rhizen said suddenly, pointing at a couple of locations, "See the obvious difference in lightning here. There's also a motion blur near its tail, which would have only been possible if it was alive and had been wriggling its tail. But, the image is of a dead creature. Someone good at photoshop had worked on this."

"My friend said it was real though," Compass Carburettor frowned, clearly acting like he was irritated at his claims being refuted.

"Give me 30 minutes and I can make an even more realistic image." Rhizen retorted, "There's already the images of the Yeti being circulated around the internet. Most of them are fake that's done using photoshop."

He then shook his head, looking at Compass Carburettor, "Unless you received this image from an actual scientist, it's bogus."

'This guy is probing me.' Compass Carburettor understood immediately, sensing that Rhizen was aware of what was happening, and probably even more than himself. And now, after stumbling upon another clue, he was probing for information from him while refuting the claims.

Based on Compass Carburettor's exhibited character, he would obviously blurt out some sensitive information that would allow him to get some clues.

'Is he really a System Host? This guy has actual brains.' Compass Carburettor was subtly surprised as he put on an irritated expression, "No, I can guarantee that this is real. The one that sent me this image works in the gov…"

He then abruptly shut his mouth, looking irritated as he took the picture from Neena's hands and placed it within his bag. He then gobbled a couple of mouthfuls of his food before getting up, slinging his bag on his back.

Followed by a click of his tongue, he walked away, "I'll be going first."

"You shouldn't have refuted him that hard." Neena chided Rhizen, "Now he's kinda sulking."

"Haha, sorry, my bad." Rhizen smiled wryly, "I'm just not good at this."

Even though that was what he said, his thoughts were elsewhere, 'It seems more and more people are beginning to sense the changes. Even though Compass said the picture was circulating the internet, that should be a lie. Obviously, he has connections with the authorities.'

'He has been trying to hide it, but his actions, mannerisms, body language, etc. are all evidence that he's from a prominent family. He should have come to trek this mountain in hopes of stumbling upon a similar mutated creature to brag about with his friends later.' Rhizen thought, calmly finishing his food as he too got up. 'Unfortunately, he's underestimating this issue.'

At the same time, Neena had finished eating too, getting up like she didn't mind the actions of Compass Carburettor. But in her mind, she was conversing with her System, 'Is the picture real, System?'

[Yes]