[You... You monster. You ate her. YOU ATE HER!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!!] - Rosa screamed in hate and horror.

"Oh, god, no..." - I shift my wary gaze to Dan, who is absent-mindedly staring at the floor.

Because of my very human and casual interactions with Dan, I forgot what he was at his core; A man-eating monster.

He is a man-eating monster that survived the chaos of the Great Change 22 years ago, one who became a Chief of a large tribe and is controlling a city. To do that, he inevitably needed to consume countless others, human or not.

He eating Lola should have crossed my mind. Perhaps it was my naivety at play, but I missed the clues he gave.

[IVER! I WANT TO KILL HIM!!! I WANT TO KILL HIM SO BADLY!!!! Why don't I have a body?! Why?! Why! WHY! WHY!!! GOD IS UNFAIR!!! Why give me sentience but not give me a body?! Why can't I avenge my owner?! WHY?!!!] - Rosa cried in a mixture of grief and indignity.

"Sorry, but I didn't kill her. I ate her dead body. So even if you had the power to kill me, you wouldn't be avenging her." - Dan said in an uncomfortable tone, clearly not proud of his actions.

[And that makes it any better?! YOU ATE HER! You ATE MY OWNER!!!] - She screamed.

"It was out of my control, but I regret it to this day if it serves any consolation." - Dan sighed and took out one of his prized cigarettes from his jacket.

[You deserve to die for what you did! You should die!] - Rosa cried.

"I deserve to die for many reasons. She is just the icing on the cake." - Dan said while lighting his cigarette.

Rosa then went silent for a few seconds.

[... I hate you.] - Rosa finally spat.

"I know. You can curse me as long as you want if that will make you feel any better." - Dan took a deep puff of smoke, his face betraying a hint of sadness.

[...Fuck you.] - Rosa cursed and quieted down.

The room then turned quiet. Only my breathing and Dan puffing his cigarette could be heard.

After around 20 seconds, I couldn't help but ask, "Dan, what happened back then?"

"Watch the video feed, and you will know the gist of things. I don't plan on reliving a nightmare." - Dan said apathetically.

"..." - I didn't say anything as I stared at him, unconsciously having a sad look, feeling sorry for him.

"Don't give me that look. Save it for those who deserve your sympathy." - Dan said with discontent.

"You did save my life. Twice. Showing a bit of sympathy is the least I can do." - I point out.

"Iver, you're smart enough to realize why I saved you, right?" - Dan said half-mockingly.

"Dan, I'm not a naive little kid. I know you view me as an investment and probably only care about my life because I'm your ticket to getting cheaply-sourced tobacco, booze, and goddamn toilet paper. That doesn't stop me from appreciating you saving my life." - I say with conviction.

"Even knowing that the one who saved your life is a cannibalistic monster that murdered and ate thousands of people?" - Dan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll be lying if I said I'm not disturbed, but I can't blame you. You survived through literal hell-on-earth as an infected, and you probably didn't have much choice or control over your actions. If I judge you for it, I would be a hypocrite. If I were to give you my opinion, you're probably one of the best guys I will meet in this lawless post-apocalyptic world of yours and likely better than a large portion of the people I know. At least, most people wouldn't save my life and treat me so well after I stole from them. I would be lucky if they didn't shoot me first and ask questions later." - I reply to him.

"...You're less naive than I gave you credit for, I'll give you that." - Dan gave me a more serious look.

"That's what you get when you're a poor-ass supermarket worker who gets spat on by society for a few years." - I say with a bitter smile.

"Wow, so you're both poor and a supermarket worker? You also had it rough." - Dan gave a sympathetic look.

Although I told Dan about my world, I didn't tell him about my previous work and financial situation.

"Also?" - I caught on to his wording.

"Yeah, it's not a secret. Before I turned, I was a low-end door-to-door tattoo artist living in a cramped rented apartment. My situation was probably even worse than yours." - Dan said with some nostalgia.

"Oh, that's cool. At least more interesting than my job." - I smiled and said.

"Interesting? Probably. There are many ups and downs in this line of work. Some want a simple and cute smiley, others something more complicated and artistic like a dragon, and some want a kinky tattoo on their erogenous zones. Of those guys, half are women, some getting off from it and then want to bone the closest trustworthy guy who has intimate contact with them, me." - Dan smirked, recalling good memories.

"Nice! I heard that tattoo artists get laid often, but damn." - I complimented.

"Yeah, well, that's only the perks of the job. It's hard work and very demeaning, even compared to a supermarket worker, and I always faced the risk of an unfair lawsuit. There are also the men that want me to tattoo their privates, and sometimes it gets dirty and messy in a disturbingly disgusting way. I don't want to go into details on that one. Ptui*" - Dan spat out of the nearby open window.

"Ugh, gross." - I cringed.

What he described was worse than being on latrine duty after the fat sweaty guy clogs up the toilet.

"No use thinking about it anymore, what was, was. Speaking of which, I tattoo many of my tribe, including Molly and myself, so if you want one, I can give you one as a freebie." - Dan smiled.

"Thanks for the offer. I'll think about it." - I thank him while looking at his tattoos.

I had to admit that Dan's tattoos were of a good standard, so if I wanted a tattoo, his probably the guy to talk to.

"Sigh* anyways, I think that's enough for today. Today was... taxing. We'll talk later." - Dan sighed, revealing a weary look.

"Bye, Dan. Talk to you later." - I say and wave farewell.

After Dan left, I sighed and thought about life.

I was talking to Dan, a powerful cannibalistic man-eating monster out of a nightmare who probably murdered and ate thousands of people, even eating Lola, Rosa's owner. Yet I felt OK with it. I felt like I was talking to a regular person, one of the likable and friendly ones. One of those good people who give a fuck about you and don't scream or spit you in the face for approaching them.

It makes me question how rotten society is. Or perhaps how fucked up I am in the head. Or maybe rotten modern society fucked me up too badly. And there is a small probability I am overthinking things, and neither modern society nor I am fucked up... too much.

While I was stuck in my philosophical thoughts, Rosa suddenly spoke.

[Hey, Iver?] - Rosa said in a sad tone.

"Yeah?" - I ask back.

[Remember our deal?] - Rosa asked.

"I remember, yeah." - I say back.

[I want you to be my primary user.] - She said in a sulky voice.

"You sure? You don't sound too happy about it." - I ask with a sour look.

[I'm sure. Having Lola be my top priority is painful, Iver. I feel like a fresh widow who lost her spouse. Only by changing my primary user will this feeling disappear. Lola would want me to move on.] - Rosa sorrowfully sighed.

"Alright, fine. Make me your primary user, then." - I say.

As soon as I did, a mechanical voice sounded.

[Primary user changed. New primary user, Gulliver Goodman (Nickname: Iver)]

[Haah... So much better.] - Rosa sighed in relief as if a burden left her shoulders.

"That's it? Just like that?" - I raise an eyebrow.

[Just like that. I scanned your body, voice, irises, and brainwaves beforehand, so the transition was fast.] - Rosa explained.

"And you don't have lingering feelings for Lola?" - I ask.

[I do, but they're not so... overwhelming anymore. I'm now yours, and that is all I need to know.] - Rosa said in a slightly sad but determined voice.

"Alright. Then, what do I get as a primary user... Cough* except R-18 mode?" - I ask, not forgetting to exclude that function for now.

[Haha! Well, for starters, I'll be nicer to you, and my priority will be your safety and not Lola's.] - Rosa said.

"And you're going to stop calling me names and being hurtful?" - I asked with narrowed eyes.

[I'll try my best, no promises. My personality module is called Classy Bitch for a reason.] - Rosa said proudly.

"Why are you proud of it?! And didn't Dan say it is called Sassy Bitch?" - I retorted in my mind but kept it in my heart.

"... Good enough, for now. What other functions do you have?" - I ask.

[Nothing substantial. I will give you access to Lola's private files, but their miscellaneous goods you can get anywhere. Oh, and you will have access to the money I made.] - Rosa suddenly said.

"Money? What money?" - I asked with a raised eyebrow.

[Ah, that. I got bored three weeks ago and decided to mine crypto and make money on the stock exchange.] - She said.

"But how did you keep it?" - I asked, confused.

[Swiss bank account, duh. They allow making an account remotely. I used $5 from your bank account, though, but I returned it.] - Rosa said as if stating the most obvious thing ever.

"Dude, not cool. Ask for my permission next time before you do something like that. So, how much did you make?" - I chastise her and then ask, my expectations not too high.

[Not much, just over $300.] - Rosa said.

"Oh, just $300? That's not a lot." - I say without much disappointment.

[Yeah, I know it's not a lot. I needed to start from scratch since I didn't want to touch your pitiful savings, so I brute-forced-mined some crypto for five days and earned about $70. I then used the money to play with stocks. I didn't have enough computers and specialized programs to make it faster, I had many errors, my starting capital was low, and I only had about six more days to work with, so I only made around $230 from stocks through brute-forcing HFT (high-frequency trading), and with the previous crypto worth $70, about $300. I thought I'll make a few hundred thousand during the first week. The shame.] - Rosa sighed dejectedly.

"... Actually, that's pretty impressive, now that you put it that way." - I said comfortingly.

[You think so?] - Rosa asked in a hopeful tone.

"Yeah, I do. You don't have the proper programs and can only rely on yourself. Earning even a dollar from scratch in those conditions is tough, let alone 300." - I speak truthfully.

[Aw, thanks, Iver. That's sweet of you.] - Rosa said in a sweet tone.

"Well, all that said, if you had the proper budget, programs, and computers, how much would you make?" - I ask after a brief thought.

[Hm... I'm not sure, it depends on many factors, like timing, location, amount of computers, and quality of internet connection, but I estimate that with an initial investment of $10,000, I can make one or two million dollars in the first month if our location and internet connection is decent. Making a billion this way in a year would be a stretch, but I can safely make you over a hundred million in one year, easy.] - Rosa said confidently.

"Seriously?!" - I widen my eyes in shock.

I once read that average HFT traders make around $100,000 a year. Making a thousand times of that sounds ridiculous.

[Yeah, seriously. Don't underestimate the ridiculous advantage of over a century of technology and advancement.] - Rosa said proudly.

"Damn... And now, I have a partnership with Dan. If I can trade a few computers and HFT programs... I'll be a rich millionaire in a month. And in a year, I'll be a super rich multi-millionaire!" - I started smiling uncontrollably, and my eyes almost made a cartoonish $ sign from the unexpected windfall.

If all of this is true, I, a poor-ass jobless loser with barely $40,000 in savings, will be a self-made nouveau riche worth 100 million dollars within a year. And the best part was, I was doing practically NOTHING. It's like raining money from the sky, a money-making tree in my garden.

[Congrats, Iver, you struck gold. Now all you need to do is haggle with the asshole.] - Rosa congratulated.

"Rosa, I know you hate him, and rightfully so, but give the guy some slack. I don't think he wanted to eat Lola." - I said with a sour face.

[Sigh*. Yeah, I know he didn't. I watched the video feed, so I can tell you that eating Lola broke him when he sobered up. That doesn't mean I don't hate him.] - Rosa sighed.

"What exactly happened there?" - I ask curiously.

[Hey, no spoilers! Watch the video feed yourself. It's a goddamn movie with action, drama, insanity, horror, romance, and everything. I tell you, with some editing, this is a blockbuster. It's in 8k resolution and in 2d and 3d, and you get a front seat. But no popcorn.] - Rosa said like a saleswoman.

"Now I HAVE to watch it. And make it 3d." - I said, hooked.

[SOLD! Lay back, relax, and enjoy the moment of a fucking authentic doomsday because it's about to blast you in the face without protection.]

And then, the movie started.