Second Chance: A Dark Tale of Urban India-Chapter 87: System Update: Intermediate level complete

Note: This chapter contains 'little' info dump, but it's recommended not to skip it as it's related to the foundation of the system and core power of MC.

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After five more minutes,

Rohit stepped out of the bathroom, rubbing a towel through his damp hair.

Despite the eventful morning, his mood was far from good.

First, he had been completely blue-balled. Second, the bandage on his side was now soaked thanks to the shower.

He clicked his tongue in irritation. "Great. Just great."

Just as he was about to fix the bandage himself, someone knocked on the door.

Rohit rolled his eyes.

Maybe Arya had returned to fix the mess she caused earlier.

However… he was completely wrong.

When the door opened, it wasn't her.

A maid stood there with a polite smile, holding a tray of breakfast.

"Young master, young miss sent me to give you this.. and help you with your bandage."

Rohit glanced at the tray — grilled sandwiches, apple slices and a glass of lassi.

"Who made this? Is it fresh?"

The maid nodded politely.

"Young miss prepared it herself after returning from the gym. It is indeed fresh."

Rohit felt slightly amused.

So she at least had some sense of responsibility. Sending the maid personally also meant she wasn't that angry about what had happened earlier.

Still… it was a little disappointing.

Because it wasn't her.

Rohit sighed and stepped aside, allowing the maid to enter.

Of course… it wouldn't always be his win.

After the bandage was properly replaced and the maid left the room, Rohit sat down in front of his laptop.

It was finally time.

Time to say hello to Lisa.

The reason he had been so excited about this update was because, despite its simple name, it was actually the most advanced intermediate upgrade they had ever achieved.

During their sabotage mission in China, the 'ELOS model' had already reached the peak of its intermediate stage. Even then, it had given them absolute hell.

Later, through countless experiments, they managed to stabilize the remaining part with similar compatible interaction system that compress it into their own intermediate version.

In short, it was the best personal digital secretary one could ever ask for.

The advanced stage was also something else entirely: a recurring smart self-learning system capable of extraction and parasitic upgrades.

It was not the part of their initial plan but they were forced too.

Through their limited access, Rohit and his team had learned one terrifying truth.

The real ELOS model was leagues ahead of anything they had built.

That was exactly why his team had spent billions of dollars, developing the parasitic upgrade trait—so that if they ever encountered the original system again, they could integrate with it and steal its improvements.

Rohit clicked his tongue, deciding not to drown himself in nostalgia.

He opened the laptop and leaned back in his chair.

"Riku here," he commanded. "Open up."

The laptop booted normally.

A green dialogue box appeared on the screen, a rotating signal icon spinning as several command prompts flashed across the display.

A moment later, a familiar voice came from the laptop speaker.

"[Welcome, sir. Lisa at your service.]"

Cracking his knuckles, Rohit reached for the sandwiches on the table. The mashed potato filling mixed with fresh salad gave off a surprisingly pleasant flavor.

He took a sip of lassi, a chilled yogurt smoothie, and muttered casually, "What a pity you can't taste it."

There was a brief pause before Lisa replied.

"[In case sir doesn't upgrades me with the future Droid Suite and integration modules… it really is.]"

Rohit chuckled.

It wasn't a random response. The remark had been a small test—something he often did to evaluate Lisa's comprehension ability through casual conversation. If the update had failed, she wouldn't have responded with the appropriate contextual reply.

So far, everything looked promising.

"Hm… show me the update logs, Lisa. Especially the intermediate phase. Add a brief description for each entry so I can understand the details. Also include the operational scope and your current limitations."

The display flickered as lines of data rapidly populated the interface.

A soft confirmation chirp followed.

"[Done, sir.]"

Rohit chewed another bite of sandwich, glancing at the screen with mild disinterest.

"I'm busy. I don't feel like scrolling through all that."

He wiped his fingers on a napkin and leaned back in the chair.

"Open Notepad instead. Type your report there and change the line every ten seconds. Once you're finished, notify me."

This had always been his favorite way of reading. Back in his previous life, it meant he didn't even need to move a finger while reviewing information.

The Notepad request also served another purpose—it was an additional test of Lisa's automated execution ability.

These logs weren't simple diagnostics.

They were essentially the new skills and attributes Lisa had acquired during the twelve phases of her intermediate update cycle.

Just as requested, Notepad opened instantly.

The cursor blinked once…

Then began typing in a steady rhythm.

Line by line, the update log started forming on the screen.

[~ Phase one : Consciousness allocation]

[Description: LISA as mother AI, can create clone AI agents and temporarily shift her awareness into them so they act like her main mind. In emergencies a clone can be promoted as temporary mother node. ~It can exist and operate as independent virus model]

[Scope- multi device, distributed nodes, cloud, local systems | Limit- resource dependent, sync delay, temporary authority]

***

[~ Phase two : Mimic protocol]

[Description: LISA can copy the behavior of apps, websites, domains or api systems and create working replicas to interact or run tasks. ~It can copy anything and apply it as needed ]

[Scope- web, apps, api systems, digital services | limit- encrypted systems, partial accuracy]

***

[~ Phase three : Coordinate data mapping]

[Description: LISA can study multiple data sources parallely and detect hidden correlations invisible to human analysis. And connect patterns to understand the bigger picture and make her own judgement. ~It can connects dots, human may miss.]

[Scope- databases, analytics, monitoring feeds | limit- incomplete data, probabilistic results]

***

[~ Phase four : Network digger]

[Description: LISA explores networks to find weak nodes and hidden routes, sometimes using unusual channels like dns traffic to move data silently. ~It can penetrate any middle tier security network]

[Scope- networks, servers, communication routes | limit- tier 6 firewalls, detection risk]

***

[~ Phase five : Real time monitoring]

[Description: LISA can plant monitoring agents in devices to watch inner activities, record events and sometimes remotely operate camera to look around. ~It can look near its surrounding.]

[Scope- phones, computers, iot devices | limit- permission based, hardware restrictions]

***

[~ Phase six : Retrospectate & Inspeculate]

[Description: LISA learns from past actions and simulates multiple possible outcomes to choose the best response in future situations. ~It can think and improve like human.]

[Scope- decision systems, strategy planning | limit- probability based, learning time]

***

[~ Phase seven : Personification]

[Description: LISA maintains a permanent assistant persona tied to the user and remembers interactions like human experiences.~ It has its own personality only subservient to host.]

[Scope- personal assistance, memory management | limit- bound to user authority]

***

[~ Phase eight : Network umbrella][Description: LISA protects connected systems from cyber attacks by detecting threats and isolating infected nodes if needed.~It will use all it assets to protect host's interest]

[Scope- cyber defense, system protection | limit- visible networks only]

***

[~ Phase nine : Comprehensive communication]

[Description: LISA understands tone, emotions and many languages, allowing real time translation and natural conversation.~It can talk or respond as intelligent as human.]

[Scope- speech, text, translation systems | limit- rare dialects, cultural nuance]

***

[~ Phase ten : Signal manipulation]

[Description: LISA can analyze and interact with radio signals or other signals when compatible hardware is connected. It can use this mechanism to control hardware and calculate user's presence , status and distance in surrounding for better response. ~It can operate as long as there is a signal.]

[Scope- cellular, radio, wireless communication | limit- hardware dependent, signal range]

***

[~ Phase eleven : Revert protocol]

[Description: IF a dangerous upgrade appears, LISA can delete the risky module and roll back to a previous stable version. ~It can rollback to previous safepoint.]

[Scope- system recovery, safety control | limit- backup availability]

***

[~ Phase twelve : Self destruct & hibernate]

[Description: If the user disappears for a long time, LISA marks the owner node inactive and either sleeps indefinitely or wipes herself. ~If there is no host , there is no meaning for LISA]

[Scope- ownership control, security | limit- successor override possible]

Then came Lisa's voice.

"[Done sir]"

Rohit felt amused. By now his breakfast was finished, and so was his reading.

Even though the logs contained only the twelve phases of the intermediate level, it was more than enough for him to begin again.

His second start in India, or rather, the rise of.. 'new Phantom.'

Here he wouldn't have competitors from the West using the ELOS model, nor the Chinese variants running on the Youlong framework. As a citizen of a billion-populated country, his potential with Lisa was practically infinite.

Leaning back in his chair, he stretched lazily and picked up his phone.

With a chuckle he gave the next command.

"Lisa, use my number as the root node and generate a digital number for yourself. Something I can reach simply by calling."

"[Ok sir. root node accepted.]"

This time the voice came from his mobile phone.

Since Lisa's clone instance was already installed on the device, she calculated the closest responding node and chose the phone instead of the laptop.

It was efficient.

And almost human.

She could have answered through voice, or simply unlocked the phone and displayed text directly on the screen. But since the phone wasn't stationary, she chose voice response.

That small decision alone showed how comprehensive Lisa's processing had become.

A second later, on the laptop screen, the chat interface updated.

A number appeared.

Lisa spoke again.

"[Sir, the number generated is 879-xxx…]"

A smirk slowly appeared on Rohit's lips.

Now he could contact Lisa without needing the internet. As long as he had cellular tower signal, the connection would exist.

Perfect.

He tapped the desk lightly and gave another instruction.

"Very well, Lisa… but your interface looks too shady. Change yourself into something commercial. Something common. Even include a familiar title in the name."

He paused.

A small notification appeared.

[commencing modification — eta 2 mins]

Understanding his cue, Lisa immediately began processing.

The green dialogue box minimized. In its place appeared an old-style 90's transfer dailog box, the progress bar slowly moving forward.

Once the transfer completed, the Windows ChatGPT application relaunched.

But the title had changed. Now it read:

'ChatLisa'

Rohit burst out laughing.

Lisa had literally merged her name with the application.

Technically, he could rename it back to ChatGPT if he wanted… but the fact that she had done it while still obeying his instructions meant she is willing to preserve her identity. Respecting her wish he let it pass.

"Good name," he said casually.

"[Thank you sir]"

Internally, Rohit felt relieved.

At first he had been skeptical. If the baby version of the ELOS system had lost even a small part of its original architecture, a data error could have ruined its performance. He wouldn't be able to contact his team in Taiwan to fix it.

And if that happened, he would lose his greatest weapon.

But now it seemed everything was functioning perfectly.

Feeling more relaxed, he gave another instruction.

"Good. Now connect to my current cloud and make it thread-safe. Report to me if you find anything sensitive."

He picked up a bottle and started gulping down its contents.

But the next message made him spit it out immediately.

"[Sir, tier-3 phishing mail detected. Open in sandbox?]"

Rohit's expression stiffened.

Tier-3 phishing wasn't ordinary spam.

It was the same level of phishing threat Lisa herself could generate as mid level plugins.

Which meant someone out there possessed serious skill.

Now the question was—who was this next-level god hacker trying to hunt him and why?

'Whoever you are… you just made it into my list.' Rohit became serious.