Copy & Paste Power in Modern World

Adam returned to his country in the evening.

He did not go straight to the apartment.

First, he went to the hostel.

The room looked the same from outside. The lock was still in place. No one seemed to be waiting near the corridor. Adam walked in calmly and checked the room with careful eyes.

He had not left anything important there.

Still, checking was necessary.

He checked the main places one by one. Nothing looked touched. Nothing seemed moved.

’Good.’ Adam thought.

He did not stay long.

After a short while, he left the hostel again.

This time, he moved through the city carefully. He did not take a straight route. He passed through crowded places and stopped near a shop window once to check the reflection behind him.

No one seemed to be following him.

Only after making sure of that did Adam go to the apartment where he had been making chips.

When he entered, the apartment was empty.

That was exactly what he needed. Adam checked his phone first.

There were several messages about chip delivery.

He had prepared many chips in advance before leaving, so the deliveries had not stopped fully. But as Adam looked through the numbers, he noticed something strange.

The demand was not rising the way he expected.

’Did Aster Core stop getting more orders?’ Adam thought.

The thought stayed in his mind for a moment.

Then he pushed it aside.

’No. Kenji and Senju will handle that side.’ Adam thought. ’If something is serious, they will tell me.’

Right now, he had a bigger job.

Adam looked around the apartment again. The place was empty enough for the work.

He opened his inventory and focused on the copied machine sections.

The four parts were there.

Each part was heavy in a way that was hard to explain. It was not about weight alone. It was about complexity. A machine like that was not a gold bar or a box of chips.

Adam wanted to try one thing first.

’If one part is in my inventory, can I paste a smaller piece from inside that part?’ Adam thought.

He tried to focus on a smaller section of the first copied part.

He imagined only one inner piece.

Then he tried to paste it.

Nothing happened.

Adam’s eyes narrowed.

He tried again.

Still nothing.

’So it will not obey everything I imagine.’ Adam thought.

That was a problem.

If he could not paste smaller pieces from inside the copied section, then he had to paste the four full parts one by one.

He already knew that would be dangerous.

Adam prepared as much as he could.

He took packets of oral rehydration salts and mixed them with water. He drank slowly, then took protein tablets and energy pills he had kept for this kind of situation.

His body felt a little stronger after some time.

Not enough.

But better than nothing.

Adam stood in the center of the apartment. He focused on the first copied part.

Then he pasted it.

The machine part appeared in front of him exactly as it had been. At the same moment, darkness covered his vision.

Adam fell unconscious.

When he opened his eyes again, the room was dark.

Several hours had passed.

Adam slowly pushed himself up from the floor.

His head hurt. His body felt hollow. For a few seconds, he did not even remember where he was.

Then he saw the first machine section standing in the room.

’It worked.’ Adam thought.

He sat still for a while. His throat was dry, and his arms felt weak.

Still, the result was in front of him.

Then he forced himself to move again.

He drank more water. He took another round of what he had prepared. After waiting until his hands stopped shaking, he focused on the second section.

He pasted it.

Once again, the section appeared.

Once again, Adam lost consciousness.

When he woke the second time, the night had grown deeper.

He did not stop.

He repeated the same process with the third section.

The machine grew larger inside the apartment.

Adam fainted again.

When he woke, the first light of morning was touching the windows.

His body felt like it had been beaten from inside.

Still, one part remained. Adam looked at the final section in his inventory.

’One more.’ Adam thought.

He stood slowly.

Then he pasted the fourth part. The final section appeared, and the whole machine unit stood complete.

Adam saw it only for a moment before his body gave out again.

This time, when he woke up, it was already afternoon.

Sunlight filled the room.

Adam lay on the floor for a long time before sitting up.

His throat was dry, and even lifting his head took effort. Still, when he looked at the machine, the pain felt worth it.

He had missed college again.

But he did not feel worried about that.

’Even if I do not go, the college will handle it for me.’ Adam thought. ’That is what money and influence do.’

He looked at the machine. The whole unit was there. The sight made his tired face loosen a little.

Now he could finally stop pasting chips by hand.

Adam slowly stood and looked around the apartment.

’I should hand this place to Aster Core too.’ Adam thought. ’The apartment, the machine, all of it.’

He wanted to separate himself from this work. He did not want to keep sitting here and pasting chips every day.

He picked up his phone to message them.

Then he stopped. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Out of habit, he took out the phone connected to Rovan’s updates.

Rovan had been one of his information lines. Adam checked that side from time to time, even when he did not expect anything.

The moment the phone came on, an email notification appeared.

Adam opened it.

The email was from Rovan’s side.

He read the first line. His expression changed. The message was short.

Your police asset is with me. If you want him alive, listen to me.

At the end, one name was written.

George.

Adam stared at the screen.