Chapter 258: Chapter 258
The apartment... wasn't that bad if Ale was to be honest, she had been mildly disappointed when they didn't arrive at a house. That was the truth, but the outcome they ended with?
The apartment was fully furnished with all the amenities needed for a family to live there, and more importantly. It had five bedrooms, three of which were already furnished as they had explored together.
The first one, at the end of the hallway, the bedrooms were located, and with those, at the very end of the hallway that opened to that area was Alexa's room. How had they decided that you may wonder. It was quite simple, it had Alexa's name in the door.
Quite literally it had a small decoration with the words [Alexa] written atop of it, it was... quite exemplary use of decoration and the power of money, the room was filled to the brim with all kind of toys and plushies, the bed was made of some weird blob of water (A water bed as they say) and Ale was half sure that Alexa would puncture that within a few hours.
But a quick prompt from the local AI (Albireo was also in charge of this area it seemed) told her that the water bed didn't have water inside, and instead it was a combination of a smart liquid and some nanites to ensure there were no spillage.
The second room, the one that was immediately to the right of Alexa's room, had Miriam Eversoul's name on the door, and unlike Alexa's room, this one was of a simpler design; it only had a bed and a table with a chair.
It didn't seem to have clothing or anything, unlike how it had been with Alexa's room that had a closet full of clothes and shoes for Alexa to wear.
"Well, I don't know if I am happy that he respected my privacy or annoyed that he didn't bought clothes for me too." Miriam Eversoul said shaking her head.
"If it's ... I don't want to know what we will find in that one." Miriam Eversoul added and then walked to the door pointing to the room in front of hers.
The one that was to the left of Alexa's bedroom, why was that room different you ask?
"Alexanders..." Ale said as she put a hand on the handle to that door and attempted to open it, "...what?"
Only to find that the door didn't bulge, it didn't react to any attempt from Ale to open.
"... Did he give you a key?" Ale asked turning to Miriam Eversoul who was by the side looking all serious, "... I... don't think I should use my keycard here... It would be against the spirit in which he gave it to me."
Miriam Eversoul seemed to be struggling physically as she grabbed her right hand that had a golden keycard there, Ale didn't think that would work on this door, from what she was getting from the electromagnetic readings, this keycard wouldn't work here.
Mostly because as far as Ale could get, this door didn't use anytype of digical lock, instead it was a fully mechanical lock... One that Ale couldn't understand how it worked, as far as she was seeing this lock had multiple magnetized parts used to construct it. So to unlock one would need to demagnetize and remagnetize parts in a certain order, one order that Ale wasn't seeing at the moment.
"No, I should not... I should respect his privacy, more so if I want him to spend more time with you." Miriam Eversoul decided to pocket the keycard in the end, she still looked at the door with open curiosity, waiting as if Ale could open it.
"Don't look at me," Ale said shaking her head, "He didn't give me a key, or even tell me were I was coming."
Ale of course could prompt Albireo for answers, but decided to do that in a more private setting, perhaps during the next maintenance?
That... would be a thing to look forward to.
"Right," Miriam Eversoul said nodding at Ale, "Well, want to check the other rooms?"
They did, the fourth room they checked was similar to the one assigned to Miriam Eversoul, only this one had some books on genetics and a computer terminal set up already.
"I am guessing this one is for Vivian?" Miriam Eversoul said with a weird confused and almost amused expression on her face.
The fifth and last room, the one farther away from Alexa... Had a plaque ready to write in, another terminal with a chair, a mic, and a camera set up already, a simple bed, and a small refrigerator beside the computer.
"This one is mine," Ale said before Miriam Eversoul could say anything, "I am keeping it, mine."
Ale doubled down in her words, the personal computer would probably not be as good as the one she had, as it was not a hand-me-down from Alexanders. But the mini fridge? The bed set up near the personal computer?
The spacious area? The size of the walking space? It was perfect.
Ale had just enough room to put a couple of green screen behind her for whenever she was streaming, the room itself was small so isolating the external sound should be easy enough with a singular coating to the walls.
And the mini fridge was a heaven-sent.
Ale could already see herself doing a couple endurace streams and marathons. It would be perfect.
But that would be for whenever she had free time, for now? For now she needed to do something more important, "Ready to check on the rest of the apartment? We already have bedrooms after all."
Ale and Alexa didn't share a bedroom, not that it would be an issue, whenever Ale was sleeping, Alexa would be out and about, and the same could be said about Alexa. So having a room to use whenever the other was outside was pointless.
Ale felt that there was something wrong with the set up, but couldn't be sure what it was about, the rooms were in a branch of the apartment. One room for Alexa, one room for Miriam Eversoul, one room for Alexanders, one for Ale and one for Vivian Kellet.
Ale was not sure what Alexanders was thinking when he decided in that set up, she could understand him wanting a room here, he probably was doing it to annoy Miriam Eversoul or to give them a reminder that he was watching or something.
Actually was he? Watching?
"Say... I know that this is a super secret project or something," Ale said turning to Miriam Eversoul as they returned to the living room area, it was a normal set up with some sofas some furniture and a big TV screen on a wall, it had a dining area to the side and a kitchen at the far end, very average setup.
"Yes?" Miriam Eversoul said walking towards one of the doors that they hadn't checked yet, "What about it?"
"So the security... I guess it must be quite thorough," Ale said as Miriam Eversoul continued searching the place.
"Oh laundry room, kinda expected him to have one of those weird tunnels he has in his office for dirty laundry, but he put a normal washing machine and dryer huh." Miriam Eversoul said nodding at the machines she had found.
Ale had... never actually used those? Alexandra did do some experiments with those when changing clothes, unlike Ale, Alexandra did change clothes and had quite the wardrobe...
So Ale knew how to use them even if she hadn't used them.
"I will not need to do rounds for the laundry or search one nearby." Miriam Eversoul said sighing in relief, "What about the security? You don't have to worry, they would need enough firepower to kickstart the fourth world war if they wanted to get you."
...There had been world wars? No wait, why fourth? How the heck had they survived that many world wars?!?! Excuse me?
"No, not that." Ale said shaking her head, "I don't think anyone thinks I am around... Or well, they will probably know now that [Eleanore] knows, but that is besides the point."
Ale didn't worry about that, if they came they would become fuel for her own personal evolution, and for Alexa's growth.
"No, my question is more... private." Ale said, walking towards Miriam Eversoul and motioning for her to kneel down or bend over so she could whisper into her ear, "Do you think that Alexanders has surveillance inside the apartment?"
Ale of course hadn't detected anything, but unlike how she had searched within the room where Alexandra's body was, she had merely done a cursory investigation to see if she could get an answer or a ping from any device within the apartment.
So far, she had gotten answers from the refrigerator, the machines within the laundry mini-room, and the stove. Also, an extra reaction from the door and the camera embedded within the door, but that one pointed out the apartment.
"Of course no-" Miriam Eversoul started speaking, only to stop midsentence, "... He shouldn't."
And then stopped moving and frowned as she continued thinking hard, "The contract and the rules he set up for Aquila should prevent him from doing so." Miriam Eversoul continued and moved on around the living area till she focused her sight to a crystal sphere set up on the ceiling. "ALBIREO, how much surveillance do you have within the apartment?"
That was one of the devices that hadn't returned the full ping to Ale, it had responded to prompts and queries, but Ale hadn't managed to get visual or sensory data from the device.
"The surveillance within the apartment is up to average standards within city-wide surveillance." Albireo answered promptly from the half crystal ball that was embedded to the ceiling.
Ale had seen a few of those crystal spheres in their walk, and also within the laboratory they had been before, but she hadn't thought much about them then, or now.
Or at least not till now.
"Is Albireo watching us from there?" Ale asked, she was sending a prompt for clarification to the AI too as she asked Miriam Eversoul this question.
"Yes, and the usual standards is full monitoring, isn't it?" Miriam Eversoul said glaring at the device on the ceiling, "You don't have the authority to have that much oversight in private houses."
That seemed counterintuitive, didn't it? Ale didn't think it was wrong... Or well, she did think it was wrong to have that degree of surveillance upon the normal populace, but she had hoped they wouldn't put them under that same degree of surveillance since she was living with Miriam Eversoul.
"That is correct, unless there is an explicit authorization, this system is unable to peer within the residential areas." Albireo answered as thus. "In the spirit of answering the question that wasn't asked. This residence is within the area of surveillance as the family head of this unit has submitted a blanket permit to all of his residences."
A blanket permit? So the person in question was mad enough to allow himself to be monitored 24/7 by the Saintsworths? What kind of madman would-
"Ah... Just to confirm, but the person who was stupid enough to give that type of blanket permit was Alexanders wasn't he?" Miriam Eversoul asked with a grimace on her face, as if she already knew the answer.
"As you have surmised, Master has a blanket permit to be under surveillance 24/7. He is one of few that is under such configuration and has it open to all of his belongings." Albireo answered as thus. "If you desire to change the configuration of this residential unit, please contact your local administrator and seek his authorization or permission to modify the local rights, as of now, the configuration can't be changed."
Miriam Eversoul looked as if she could commit murder within a second or two, so Ale took the smart decision to hide behind a table. What could help her with that? She was not sure, but all her knowledge as a watch-along streamer told her that one must always hide behind such pieces of furniture for maximum protection.
Who was she to question such knowledge?
"I am so sorry Ale," Miriam Eversoul said turning to Ale, "I forgot to ask him why or how had he set up the privacy settings, to be honest not many give these things as much leeway as he does. But then again, he is the administrator of the system, so he doesn't care that much."
"Wrong." Albireo chimed up without someone asking her, "The main administrator of this system is the Aegis Lighthouse of Behavioral Intelligence & Research Environmental Oversight. After that, only Lady Sapphire can access the data stored within my servers. Not even the facility owners or family owners of the residential units can access this data."
"Right," Miriam Eversoul said, shaking her head, "You expect me to believe that Alexanders, the paranoid bundle of suspicion and distrust, created Big Brother and didn't leave a backdoor into the system?"
"Leaving such opening would create a way for the High Council to have access to my data, as such danger was greater than the risk tolerance limits set up, the backdoor was patched."
"... The backdoor was patched?" Miriam Eversoul said aghast, "... So the little shit did leave a backdoor, but it was patched?"
"And he let it happen?" Ale asked surprised too, she didn't know that much about the man, but she was surprised he had let that slip. Alexanders didn't look like the kind of person who would allow such a thing.
"Lady Sapphire told Master of the 'Mistake' and how she had fixed it, so it was deemed fixed by Master. She also instructed me to only grant him access if he asked for it with a specific string of words." Albireo added, Ale could imagine the AI bowing her head as the purple woman told her in a not uncertain way to fix that breach of security.
"And that string of words is...?" Miriam Eversoul asked, Ale could almost hear the curiosity slip by out of the older woman.
"That is classified," Albireo said in an even tone. Ale could swear if it had been her, she would have laughed, "Do know that no one will see the video or surveillance, and while the common areas will be recorded, your private area (Bed area and bathroom/shower) will not be recorded if you so desire."
"OF COURSE I DON'T WANT YOU RECORDING ME WHILE ASLEEP OR IN THE BATHROOM!" Miriam Eversoul screamed at the crystal sphere while throwing a salt container at it, "... Also the same goes for Ale."
Ale didn't really mind the extra surveillance... more so if Alexanders wasn't able to check on it, but why was it that important that they banned access to video recording in the bed and bathroom?
That would be the area with less activity. What were they supposed to record there? Ale sleeping? Ale taking a shower? Alexa playing with rubber ducks?
"Should I let Alexa out then?" Ale said to Miriam Eversoul, "We have checked most of the apartment area, so it is safe enough for her to be out."
It was time for Alexa to check their new [Home].