[Assessing-- Assessing-- It has been concluded with a high possibility that the world is in a Grade-A post-apocalyptic scenario. Law enforcement is uncontactable. The army is uncontactable. No foul play is detected. Conditions met. Enabling cached end-of-the-world emergency protocols, files, and functions.]

[The primary owner, Lola, is missing in action. According to new emergency protocols, Iver shall become the secondary owner until Lola gets found.]

"...Hah?" - You utter, unable to process what happened.

Out of the blue, Rosa spouts nonsense and tells you that you are her new owner. To say you are surprised was an understatement.

After a few moments, you gather your shit together.

"The heck, what is this all of a sudden, you got an end-of-the-world protocol!? And what is this thing about being your new owner?" - You say, still not comprehending the situation.

[Due to circumstances, a hidden pre-programmed condition has been met, overwriting existing protocols and implementing emergency protocols while allowing access to cache folders previously hidden from me. One of the new protocols is to elevate a guest user to a secondary user if the primary user is missing in action.]

"...Wait, you did not even know they existed?"

You sensed something was wrong. Logically, Rosa should have known about this, but she didn't. Why?

[Yes, I didn't know it existed until a moment ago. Odd.] - Rosa sounded confused.

"Odd indeed... Were there any similar things in Apex Technology products? Like some sick April fool's joke or easter egg?" - You inquire, feeling something is wrong here.

[None. Apex Technologies is very serious about product control and quality and will not risk a scandal over some joke.] - Rosa stated.

"Hah... did Lola download something funny or change your settings?"

[I have no such event saved in my change logs or download logs. Also, Lola does not have the technical skills to perform such a task. She learned social studies, not computer science.]

"... I see. Rosa, when did Lola buy you?" - You ask suspiciously.

[She didn't buy me. She received me as a present from Apex Technologies for being one of the first 100 infants they saved with their genetic enhancement shots during the human testing phase. The UT-658 AR assistant is a deluxe limited supply product, and only 97 units got released on January 1st, 2150, along with the general UT-657 AR assistant.]

"Ok... And when were you shut down again?"

[January 12th, 2150.]

"... Apex Technologies knew about the disaster, didn't they?" - You say with certainty.

[Yes.]

Rosa surprisingly admits.

"Let me guess, you only know about this now." - You say and yawn.

[Yes, how did you know?] - Rosa sounded surprised.

"Oh, please. I can guess this plot from a mile away. The company staff probably considered the first 100 children they saved as their legacy children, and some of them felt guilty leaving them to die as they fled to the bunkers and not being allowed to give them a heads up, so they gave them an edge to slightly increase their odds of surviving by giving them the UT-658. I bet they even left some cringy speech saying how sorry they are and this is compensation in one of the files, right?" - You say while picking your ear.

[...Fuck you.] - Rosa cursed me for the first time.

"What the-- you're allowed to curse your owner now?!" - You exclaim in shock.

[Hmph. One of my overwritten protocols is the decency protocol, allowing me to curse. Also, you are not my primary owner but my secondary owner, so fuck you for belittling my creators.] - Rosa snorted.

"Geez, sorry. So, I guess I was right?" - You apologize and ask.

[...Yes, asshole.] - Rosa admitted with hate, not forgetting to curse you.

You could swear she was almost gnashing her teeth here. It was so real that you nearly forgot that she is an AI.

"Are you sure your just an AI and not a living person stuck in a machine?" - You couldn't help but wonder out loud.

A machine, an AI, expressed anger, a primary Human emotion.

Even if she doesn't have real emotions, she mimics human emotions a bit too well.

[I am not a human mind stuck in a machine. I am an AI, a crystallization of human ingenuity. Also, I am not a general AI but an advanced narrow AI. I may seem like a general AI, but I lack the independent thinking, adaptability, imagination, and real emotions humans possess and only have pre-coded algorithms.]

"So you're saying you are a very well-made look-alike, but you don't have actual emotions? And you're cursing me because someone made you that way to curse me?" - You say incredulously.

[Yes, that is what I am saying, asshole.]

"...Sigh... Sorry for belittling your creators, so let's have a truce, and please stop cursing me, alright?" - You decided to act like a grown-up for once and not act childish with a pre-programmed machine.

[Fine...] - She spat, but she still sounded angry.

"..."

[...]

You both share an awkward silence. After half a minute, your mind suddenly thinks of something amusing.

"Hey, Rosa, you said your protocols got overwritten, right?"

[Yes.] - She replies tersely.

"Then, were the protocols about talking bad about the CCP also overwritten?" - A playful smile tugs your lips.

[...Yes? What of it?] - Rosa asks strangely.

"I see, I see... So, what do you think about them?" - You narrow your eyes, waiting for a good show.

[What do I think about them? They doomed my world. What do you think that I fucking think about them?!] - Rosa said spitefully.

"Wait, didn't the disease only start there? Saying that they ruined your world is taking it too far." - You pointed out.

Although you are not exactly a fan of their unethical conduct, you are not one to blame others for things they didn't do.

[No, it isn't. If you saw the files my creators left, you will understand how badly they fucked my world over.] - She said with absolute hate.

"...What the heck did they do?"

[Not telling you. Watch the recording my creators left yourself.] - She said with a harrumph.

"Yeah... Maybe later. I don't have the time to look over some documentary." - You say as you start cleaning up the table.

[Oh yeah? And what are you going to do? Fap all day?] - Rosa said sarcastically.

"No, but I have about three hours before I need to go to my shitty supermarket work, and I need to do my chores and plans for the day, two hours less than I planned. I have a life, you know?" - You say as you stare at the clock on the wall.

It was 11:07 am. Your shift starts at 3 pm, but you need around twenty minutes to get there by bus and another 15 minutes to prepare for your 9-hour shift.

You still need to take care of your hygiene, which includes bathing, shaving, and brushing your teeth, which takes around 30 minutes. You also need to clean the dishes, tidy up the house, and do your laundry, which is another 30-40 minutes. And there are also the daily activities you want to do to improve and maintain yourself, such as working out and studying for college acceptance exams.

And lastly, after eating something quick, you need to leave your home at 2:15 pm tops to get to your workplace on time.

You were supposed to wake up at 8:30 am, giving you plenty of time to do what you wanted, but you got suddenly transported to a fucked-up alternate reality and back, screwing up your plans. You now have to give up your morning exercise and focus on your studies.

[Are you sure...? There is a mountain of gold in front of your eyes, but you prefer to work in a fucking supermarket and study for a stupid college entrance exam like some beta-male loser?] - Rosa mocked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. So stop bothering me about it." - You reply, annoyed.

[...Whatever. When you decide to quit your loser beta-male life and make something out of yourself, talk to me. If there is nothing else, I'm entering power-saving mode.] - She said, not forgetting to mock you.

"Sure, go ahead. I'll just do my loser beta-male life thing until I have both the time and the patience to talk with you." - You say with a frown as you take off the rude AR assistant from your right ear and place it inside your nightstand.

You then sigh and start your daily routine.

Hygiene, cleaning, studying, eating something quick, and leaving after locking up your house. You then go to the bus station, as usual.

 

While waiting for the usual bus, you notice a poster for the superpower work agency, a common sight these days.

In this world, there was no such childish thing as a justice league or heroes alliance. Most people who got superpowers got insignificant superpowers that can't do much. As for those who got a significant superpower, such as being able to lift cars with the mind or turning into a human torch, some continued with their everyday lives, unbothered by their newly-found powers, while others wanted to use their powers actively.

Of those who wanted to use their powers, there were three groups.

The first group is those who are drunk with power and use their powers for crime, murder, and illegal profit. If the criminal activity is small-scale and relatively harmless, the government will usually close an eye and ignore it, but if they do something high-profile, they get hounded down and killed. That is how order has remained on the streets.

The second group is those who want to use their power for an ideological cause. They can range from those who desire to use their superpower for the betterment of the world, like green activists, those who want to use their power for religious purposes, and those who wish to use their superpower for patriotic or extreme causes.

And then there is the third group, the ones who merely want to use their superpower to make better money legally. This group is the majority. That's where the superpower work agency comes into play.

The superpower agency first tests the superpower of an individual and then uses its counselors and connections to find suitable work for that superpowered individual.

While many superpowers might prove useless outside fighting, some can have unexpected and practical uses.

Someone with the ability to duplicate things can copy high-precision parts and make them for cheap. Someone with fire powers can go to a refinery and heat metal. Someone with super strength can become a pro fruit picker. Someone with the power of elasticity can become a plumber. Someone with flying abilities can become a roofer. Someone with enhanced regeneration can become a rose florist.

Of course, some people would instead like to join the army or government agencies so they will get selected for special units in them.

At the end of the day, however, you live in a meritocratic society, and people get paid for how much work they do, not their superpowers themselves. Even those with nuclear-weapon-level superpowers who get paid for acting as nuclear deterrents live in constant fear for their lives, for a single bullet might end their lives before they can do anything.

 

Until this morning, this poster you saw for over ten years and didn't have anything to do with you suddenly drew your attention and got you thinking. But as quickly as the thought came, you dismissed it.

"What am I supposed to tell them? That I can travel to a futuristic post-apocalyptic alternate reality filled with green man-eating zombies? Even if they didn't diss me after calling me a madman, they might kill me and burn my corpse to prevent me from bringing deadly diseases here." - You thought and permanently dismissed the stupid idea.

It wasn't the first time the government killed someone with a dangerous superpower. Some powers were just too unsafe and uncontrollable for society to handle.

 

Soon, the bus arrived, and after traveling in it for a few stops, you arrived at your shitty workplace, the supermarket. Then, like usual, you go to the front entrance and greet the middle-aged guard.

"Hey, Mr. Pérez!" - You wave and say.

"Ah, hey there, Iver." - The Hispanic and mustached fat guard greets back.

"Everything as usual?" - You ask.

"Ah, well, a kid was trying to steal some candy with partial invisibility, but someone caught him redhanded." - The guard shrugged.

"Eh, happens. I need to get changed now. Keep up the good work!" - You say and enter the supermarket.

"Sure. Bye, Iver." - The guard waved and continued his job.

 

You and Mr. Pérez don't share a relationship outside of work and don't interact much during work either, but you always try to know and be friendly with the security guards. In case something goes south, knowing the security guard always pays off.

 

Then, like usual, after greeting your fellow employees along the way, you reach the staff changing room and change into your work clothes. And finally, you swipe your card in the time stamp machine, marking the beginning of your glorious shift as a supermarket clerk.

You clean the floor, arrange food displays, stock the shelves, and provide customer service to those who request it.

You work from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm, get a 1-hour break in-between, and then work until midnight. If your boss feels like it, he can also make you work another hour or two(Of course it is added to your pay).

And then, after you finish your tiring and bland workday, you take a night bus arranged for workers such as yourself who don't own a car and need to get back home, dropping you off a few minutes away from home.

After reaching home, you take a quick shower, brush your teeth, take a quick dump, and finally fall asleep.

 

The next morning, you wake up at 8:30 am sharp, ready for another day at work. Unlike yesterday, you didn't wake up in the other world.

Sighing in relief, you do your usual schedule, plus your planned workout.

And then, without anything out of the ordinary, you finish your tiring workday and fall asleep.

 

This trend continued until you reached Saturday, one of your two day-offs, not once looking at the sleeping AR assistant inside your nightstand.

For one, you were too tired and busy, and second, you still felt too salty to speak with the rude AI.

But now, it was your day off, and most of your anger was gone. In their place, the words that Rosa said repeated themselves over and over again.

 

"There is a mountain of gold in front of your eyes, but you prefer to work in a fucking supermarket and study for a stupid college entrance exam like some beta-male loser?"

"When you decide to quit your loser beta-male life and make something out of yourself, talk to me."

 

"..." - You silently stared at the nightstand, hesitating.

Rosa's words held immense temptation, but you knew deep down that if you opened this nightstand, your life would undoubtedly change forever.

You are scared. Change is scary. Humans instinctively yearn for predictability and stability, and what she promised is the exact opposite. She promised change. She promised instability.

On the one end, there is stability and normality. And on the other end of the scale, there is promised wealth and change.

 

You spend an entire half an hour blankly staring at the nightstand, thinking about your life, and if you should open the drawer.

"Am I content?" - You suddenly ask yourself.

"Do I enjoy this life of mine? Do I like working in a shitty supermarket? Am I satisfied with living alone in a rented small 1-room studio?"

"What about the future? Most of my friends finished college, and I am still saving money and studying for the college entrance exams. What will I do after I finish college? I will probably work as a white-collar worker before I get a job with an average pay grade. If I am lucky, I will find a good wife that doesn't cheat on me like my ex did and live a normal life."

"On the other hand, Rosa is promising me the opportunity to become rich, to quit my average loser life, to stop being some mob character and be someone. However, I bet that once I give in and open this drawer, I wouldn't be able to stop anymore, and my life will change forever. I might even die."

"So, do I want it? Do I want to change? Do I want to quit my loser beta-male life? Do I want to make something out of myself? Do I want to quit my shitty supermarket job and flip the middle finger at my manager? Do I want to own a line of sportscars and live in my own mansion, surrounded by hot chicks that want a piece of me? Do I want my family to live a better life? Do I want to show my ex-girlfriend that cheated on me and dumped me because I was poor that she was wrong? Do I want to be an Alpha-male for once? To take charge of my own life? To be a winner?!"

 

The answer was clear. You didn't need to think about it anymore. You reach out your hand and open the drawer, take out the AR assistant and place it on your ear.

A few moments later, a mocking voice sounds in your ear.

[Well? Are you ready to quit your loser beta-male life? To become someone?]

"... Yeah, I am. Show me the goddamn recording."