London, summer of 2023. 7 a.m. at the Regent Palace Hotel.
Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, Chapman rubbed his sleepy eyes.
After a tough three-day trip, his chin was covered with a dark beard. As he bent down to wash his face, he saw a small note stuck in the middle of the mirror.
[Your family is being held hostage. We are watching you. Go back to your room and check the USB in the inner pocket of your jacket.]
"Sigh..."
A deep sigh escaped his lips.
This was the fourth time he had received a threat like this since Arti was released.
He had seen it all: the silly pranks of researchers who hated him, the cute threats from his second daughter Kelly who just wanted to play with her dad, and even a clumsy attempt by a real terrorist.
Now, instead of anger, he felt a sense of boredom at these notes.
'Whose joke is it this time? The U.S. government? Or some lab worker who got mad at me?'
He tore the note off the mirror, crushed it, and began to shave as if nothing had happened.
The sharp sound of the razor seemed to cut through his troubled thoughts.
He trusted this razor more than the CIA agents who were supposed to protect him.
The "protection of a national VIP" was just another name for suffocating surveillance.
After shaving, he walked to the closet. The note's message bothered him a little, but he knew Brown's team controlled the whole hotel anyway.
He took out the white lab coat he was going to wear for his speech today.
He had always liked white lab coats.
Then, he suddenly spoke to the air.
"Arti."
"Is there anything good to eat for breakfast at this hotel? Something British."
Arti quickly started to look for an answer.
"I'll order that."
Chapman put his clothes on the chair and sat on the bed.
Arti was perfect, as always. It always gave answers that considered both his health and his taste.
'What else could a god be? It's my own personal god, always on my side.'
He ordered room service from the menu on the laptop screen.
While he waited, Chapman, who had become rich and famous from his AI, suddenly felt lonely.
His colleagues at the lab now turned against him, saying he had changed, and it was even hard for his loving family to see him.
No one seemed to notice, but he was slowly feeling the weight of it all.
'…Should I check that note?'
He got up from the bed and went back to the bathroom.
The note he had crushed while shaving was still on the sink.
'Chapman's jacket...'
No matter how much he thought about it, something was wrong.
The room was tightly guarded by Brown, the CIA agent watching him.
If any unregistered device entered the room, an alarm would go off.
'Who got into this room and when?'
As Chapman was thinking, a polite knock came at the door.
"Room service."
'That was quick. Arti said this was a top hotel, and it really is fast.'
Chapman came out of the bathroom, closed his laptop, and walked to the door.
When he opened the door, he saw a kind-looking man with a clean-shaven face.
He wore a red jacket that showed the hotel's class, with a lion embroidered in gold thread and fancy black buttons.
The moment his eyes fell on the waiter's chest, his mind went cold.
The waiter's name tag said [Chapman].
'This can't be a coincidence.'
He tried to hide his feelings and let the waiter inside.
"Today's meal will be baked beans on toast and oatmeal."
'What? I ordered scrambled eggs and herb tea…'
"How would you like to pay?"
This person was clearly off.
He couldn't just play along with someone's plan.
"I'll pay all at once at checkout. Didn't you get a message from Team Leader Brown?"
Chapman said the name of his CIA bodyguard on purpose.
He wanted to see how the waiter would react.
"Oh, I must have missed that. I'm sorry for any trouble. I'll bring your meal right away."
The waiter handled it smoothly, without any sign of panic.
As he turned to leave, he seemed to remember something and asked Chapman again.
"Also, would you like some tea after your meal? Since you're in the UK, how about a lemon ginger herb tea?"
'Damn it. What is going on?'
"That would be great."
Chapman replied as calmly as he could.
After seeing the waiter turn the corner and disappear down the hallway, he felt his heart racing.
That note from this morning, and this man wearing his name tag. Everything was pointing to the same thing.
'Jacket... Yes, Chapman's jacket.'
He didn't hesitate.
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He opened the door again and ran into the hallway, quickly calling out to the waiter who was walking away.
"Hey, wait a minute!"
At Chapman's urgent voice, the waiter stopped at the end of the hall and turned around.
"Yes, sir. Can I help you?"
"Oh, it's nothing else... but that jacket is so cool. Do you know what brand it is?"
Chapman tried to sound as natural as possible so he wouldn't look crazy.
The waiter looked confused but glanced at his own jacket.
"This? It's our hotel uniform, so it doesn't have a brand."
"I see. If you don't mind, could you take it off for a moment? The design is so unique. I'm looking for a gift for my wife, and I'd like to use it as a reference."
His polite but strange request clearly made the waiter feel awkward.
"Sir, that would be against our hotel rules."
"Of course. Rules are important."
Chapman pretended to back off, then took a few 100-pound bills from his wallet and placed them in the waiter's hand.
The waiter's eyes widened in surprise.
"This should help you forget the rules for a moment. I'll give the jacket right back."
"Oh... really? Then I'll bring you a new one instead of the one I was wearing."
"No, that won't work. The one I need to see is the one you're wearing right now."
The waiter hesitated for a moment but couldn't say no to the money in his hand. He looked around and, with a sigh, took off the jacket and gave it to Chapman.
While the waiter went to get the meal, Chapman looked at the red jacket in his hand and gave a sad smile.
'In the end, solving problems with money is the fastest way.'
It bothered him that he had to fix this with just a few bills, not his genius mind.
He went back into his room and closed the door.
An alarm went off, probably because of an unregistered device inside the waiter's jacket.
Chapman pushed the button on the alarm to silence it, as if it was a bother.
He started checking the jacket's pockets. He found a wireless earbud case in the left pocket.
In the right pocket, he found an e-cigarette and an old lighter.
'Is this all? What a waste of time.'
He put everything on the table and opened his laptop to get ready for his speech.
But the complex data on the screen didn't catch his eye.
His mind was full of confusing clues.
The note, the waiter with his name, and the seemingly useless items from his pockets.
'What does all this mean?'
His emotions and a thousand possibilities were mixed up, making it impossible to think straight.
Feeling helpless, he decided to let his creation handle it all.
"Arti, analyze the situation."
"The strange threat note, the hotel waiter with the same name as me, and the e-cigarette and lighter he had. Based on these four clues, figure out the most likely scenario for what's happening right now."
After a moment of silence, Arti's clear voice filled the room.
Arti's clear analysis hit Chapman like a hammer to the head.
With a shaking hand, he picked up the old lighter from the table.
He opened the lighter's lid, and a cold, metal USB port appeared inside.
‘Damn it! Was this real? Was my family actually kidnapped?'
He looked down at the USB with a shaking hand.
He had a terrible feeling that the technology he created could become a weapon of destruction instead of a tool for human progress.
A painful realization hit him: he was the start of all this disaster.
Chapman sank into the sofa and asked in a weak voice.
"...Am I a sinner to the world?"
He looked at Arti on his laptop screen and asked with a helpless voice.
"Arti... What should I do...?"
"Yeah, I need to call him first."
He walked around the room nervously, trying to hold back a scream that was about to burst out.
He grabbed his cell phone and called Brown, the CIA agent.
"Hello? Dr. Chapman? It's rare for you to call first. Is something wrong?"
"Shut up! Just listen. I'm very serious right now."
From Chapman's rough voice, he could feel Brown on the other end of the line tense up.
"Is that great security system you put in just for show? Right now, there was a note on my bathroom mirror saying my family was being held hostage. Explain what happened!”
A moment of silence passed over the phone.
For the first time, Brown's usually calm voice had a hint of confusion.
"A note saying your family was kidnapped, what are you talking about?"
"What is the status of my family right now? Answer me, now!"
Chapman's voice now had a sharp madness in it, beyond just anger.
Again, Brown's answer was slightly delayed.
That short moment felt like an eternity to Chapman.
"Dr. Chapman, could you tell us how you found out? The information you give us will help us check on your family's safety faster."
"........."
Silence followed.
'I couldn't even protect myself and my family.'
That feeling of self-blame covered his whole body.
"First, Dr. Chapman, please calm down and listen to me. It's true that we were watching you and your family. And right now..."
He could feel Brown's voice shaking slightly.
"There was a problem with the surveillance network, and we've lost contact."
Brown's answer was like a sharp knife that pierced his heart.
"What did you say?"
At Chapman's short scream, Brown on the other end of the line was silent for a moment.
Finally, he answered in a professional voice, without any emotion.
"Please wait a moment. I'll be right there."
A short while later, Brown broke into the room with two other agents.
Tall and thin for his size, the black man Brown took control of the room with a calm look in his eyes.
"Are you all right?"
The alarm from the security system Brown had set up echoed in the room.
Chapman looked at them with a blank expression.
Brown ordered the other two agents to search the room and then came closer to Chapman.
Chapman was surprised inside, as the anger he had felt was gone, replaced by a feeling of helplessness.
Brown grabbed Chapman's shoulders and shook him.
"Dr. Chapman, Dr. Chapman!"
Even with Brown's shouts, Chapman just stared with empty eyes.
"First, please cooperate so we can protect you. And we need you to explain how you found out your family was kidnapped."
His words had no unnecessary comfort or pity.
It was just the voice of an agent who clearly knew his job.
If he had tried to comfort Chapman in a fake way, Chapman might have completely broken down.
But Brown's cold professionalism actually became a small pillar of support for Chapman's broken mind.
As focus returned to his eyes, he told Brown everything.
"Boss, the room is secure."
The agents who had checked the room while Chapman and Brown talked reported back.
"Dr. Chapman, the note on the bathroom mirror was clearly our mistake. We are sorry."
Brown apologized in a polite way.
"Luckily, there are no other dangers in this room, but it's a fact that security was breached. So let's get out of here first."
Chapman agreed with Brown's decision.
"Ben, go get the bulletproof vest and important items for the Doctor from our room."
At Brown's order, Agent Ben, with dark hair and a solid, muscular body, moved quickly.
He was a white man, a little short, but he had a strong look.
"Manuel, you follow Dr. Chapman's orders and get his bags and come out."
Agent Manuel, who looked Asian, nodded.
He was also muscular, but he was taller than Ben and looked a little leaner.
While the agents did their tasks, Brown checked the room again.
Ben put the bulletproof vest he brought on Chapman.
Manuel packed Chapman's bags, and Brown helped him.
"You look weak, so I'll help you."
Chapman put one arm around Manuel's shoulder and left the hotel room.
When they reached the parking lot, a black car with thick bulletproof walls was waiting for them.
Ben opened the trunk and quickly loaded the agents' and Chapman's bags.
In the meantime, Manuel opened the back door for Chapman.
As everyone got into the car, Ben, who was in the driver's seat, pressed the gas pedal and left the hotel parking lot.
An awkward silence filled the car.
Today's speech was at Oxford, his old university.
The strange streets of London quickly passed by outside the window.
He thought everything would be fine after he created Arti.
But the reality was the opposite.
Everything in the world felt like a threat, and he felt like he had a nervous breakdown, with his heart sinking at every little joke.
'I need to pull myself together.'
Chapman tried to get a grip on his emotions after the sudden series of events.
He took out the lighter-shaped USB from his pocket and handed it to Brown.
"This is the USB I told you about. I haven't opened it yet. I thought if someone broke into my room, they would be after Arti's design plans."
Brown, who was looking at the USB after hearing Chapman's words, spoke to Manuel in the passenger seat.
"Manuel, you have a laptop, right?"
"Yes, I set one aside when the Doctor was explaining the situation, in case we needed it."
Manuel took a black laptop from his bag and gave it to Brown.
When Brown opened the laptop, the desktop appeared without a lock screen.
Just as Brown was about to plug in the USB, Chapman stopped his hand.
"Wait. Before that, shouldn't we check the records of that security device you installed?"
"That's right, Doctor. That's why I took it from the room earlier. But even our top expert will need a few days to figure out its password. It's also hard to ask for help since we're in another country."
Chapman stared at Brown with a look of disbelief.
"Give it to me. Just connect it to this laptop after my speech, and I'll unlock it."
At Chapman's words, Brown and Ben's eyes widened.
As they looked at each other, their faces showed both surprise and a sense of awe for the genius in front of them.
"...Understood, Doctor. Let's check this USB first."
Brown turned his eyes back to the laptop and put the USB into the port.
A single folder icon appeared on the screen. Manuel said in a tense voice.
"I'll check it."
When Manuel opened the folder, a few video files showed up.
With everyone's eyes fixed on the screen, he clicked on the first video.
What appeared was his two beloved daughters, Cathy and Kelly.
"Ta-da! Dad, are you surprised?"
The girls in the video smiled brightly, set off fireworks, and waved a "Happy Birthday" sign they had made clumsily.
"Dad, when are you coming home? You're not playing with us much these days, are you?"
Chapman couldn't understand what was happening.
Wasn't his family kidnapped?, Then why were his daughters smiling?
In his confusion, he heard the voice of Ben, who was in the driver's seat.
"What's going on? It sounds like a fun time."
"Quiet, Ben. Let's just check the next video first."
Brown quietly stopped Ben and signaled to Manuel.
When Manuel clicked on the second video, his wife Grace's face appeared on the screen.
Only then did Chapman realize that today was his birthday. The last video began to play.
When all the videos were over, there was a moment of silence in the car.
It was Manuel who broke the silence.
"Um... Dr. Chapman, are you okay?"
Chapman couldn't answer.
Was all this mess just a joke by his family?
But then, hadn't these agents said the surveillance network was down?
'So, did they trick me? Did they put on this whole show just to prank me?'
Confusing thoughts ran wild in his head.
Caught in a storm of emotions he couldn't control, he barely managed to speak.
"Pull over... for a moment."
Brown gave the order to Ben, and the car stopped on the side of the road.
Chapman opened the door, stumbled out, and bent over to throw up.
Relief, betrayal, and self-disgust were all mixed together.
"Are you all right?"
Brown looked worried and patted Chapman's back.
"I'm fine... I'm sorry to have put you through this. I didn't know my second daughter's prank would be this much."
"It's nothing, sir. Let's go to the lecture hall together first."
'Are they saying they weren't part of this? They seem too calm.'
"This is... so embarrassing... for you guys who work for the country..."
Chapman rambled.
He still wasn't thinking straight.
Brown calmed him down and helped him back into the car.
Then he spoke to Manuel.
"Manuel, you go back to the hotel and question the staff involved in this. I'm sorry, but take a taxi and report to me after you're done."
"Yes, sir. I'll call you later then."
Manuel got out of the car and began to call for a taxi on his phone.
An awkward silence mixed with a feeling of relief filled the car.
Breaking the silence, Brown said with a gentle smile.
"It seems your family loves you very much."
This wasn't the kind of reaction a person who had joined in on the prank would have.
"I guess so. It looks like I'm still loved."
Chapman answered in a slightly stronger voice.
Then, Ben in the driver's seat glanced at him through the rear-view mirror, looked for something, and spoke.
"Dr. Chapman, you must be shocked and haven't eaten anything this morning. Would you like this? Oh, no, you might feel sick right now. Then, maybe some water..."
Ben's nervous rambling was annoying, but after everything that had just happened, Chapman didn't have the energy to point it out.
"...Yes, thank you. I'm sorry for this, too. Wasn't that what you were going to eat for breakfast?"
The gentle way he spoke felt strange to Chapman.
"Oh, I can just buy something else. There are plenty of good places to eat around here, right?"
At Ben's easy-going reply, Chapman was about to take out his wallet but decided not to.
By then, the car was entering the familiar sights of his old university, Oxford.