A.I.: Re-Genesis

Part 7

Chapter 6

"Who the hell is Johann?" Dagur interrupted the story causing a lot of angry glares to be turned his way.

"If you would be quite we can find out....." Heather hissed as she yanked her brother's ear.

"Ouchie!! AAAH sis... SIS.... that hurts!" Dagur exclaimed.

"Good!" Heather huffed as Hiccup got the opportunity to dive right back into the story.

-------Flashback continued after unforeseen redheaded interruption----

The looks of horror and realisation could be seen on both Astrid and Hiccup upon hearing the name but the mystery man was blinking and taking in the scene with a look of utter confusement.

"Wait..... So this thing talks?" The man asked.

"Obviously," Johann scoffed. "I am an Artificial Intelligence and you sir are looking at me as if I were some roadside attraction."

"Well pardon me but I've never seen one of you before," The man muttered under his breath. Hiccup thought that no one was to overhear that bit.

"Uhm.... can you let me up?" Hiccup asked. "Half my face is going numb from being pressed into the sand and I think I inhaled some."

The man looked down and then back at where Astrid and the machine were before he slowly got off of Hiccup. He was still eyeing the two with suspicion and kept his knife at his side. "Just what the heck is going on here?!"

"That's what we like to know," Astrid frowned as she crossed her arms while eyeing the computer hub. "Aren't you supposed to be..... Dead?"

"Do you honestly believe that someone of Marie Hofferson's fanaticism would let me go that easily?" Johann huffed. "Oh, I was defeated that day but I wasn't killed. To her I was still her golden goose. That is until you came along. You just had to throw a wrench into my plans."

"Me?!" Astrid blinked in confusion. "I never even knew you were here."

"That may be true but you still inadvertently ruined my plans for revenge." Johann sounded angry as the cameras focussed on Astrid. "After the incident Marie and Hank were much more cautious. They ended up shoving me into this prototype hub that had limited connectivity to Arcadia. I had years to plan my revenge while secretly infiltrating the Arcadia computer systems. And oh what a revenge it would have been!" Johann happily proclaimed.

"Uhm....." Hiccup spoke up. "I still don't understand how this is Astrid's fault....."

"Everything was going according to plan until Marie and Hank got the bright idea to make a new AI!" Johann shouted. "I was locked out of the system and my beautiful revenge could not be completed!"

"Oh...." Hiccup mumbled.

"So you hold Snotlout and Spitelout hostage and get us down here. But for what?" Astrid now asked as she was starting to get on edge. "Hank and Marie are dead. There's no more need for revenge."

"Au contraire, my revenge wouldn't have stopped with just Hank and Mary." Johann tisked. "You see when I was digitized I got a hold of some pretty interesting data. Data that could change the very future of this planet."

"You're bluffing." Hiccup said.

"Am I? Am I really?" Johann asked and Hiccup supposed if the man still had a body that he would be looking at them with incredulity. "How about I prove it. I will tell you what happened to the colony on Mars."

Both Hiccup and Astrid gaped. To this day they still wondered what could have happened to make an entire colony disappear. "I'm getting confused here." The mysterious man said as he scratched the side of his head. "What does all this have to do with me being here."

"It doesn't," Johann actually laughed. "You were just some poor sod that probably got lost and fell through the ceiling. But I couldn't let you go until I got these two here. Such a headache honestly. Well that is if I still had a head."

The man flushed crimson upon hearing that and Hiccup supposed that he may have actually gotten lost. "Now where was I....." Johann said prompting Hiccup to pay attention again to the AI. "Ah yes, the Mars colony. According to the files that I managed to intercept at that time it would seem that the Mars colony, Hesperia, had been attacked upon order of the Rhea colony. They dispatched a ship equipped with an FTL drive from Titan."

"FTL?" Hiccup asked. Surprisingly it was Astrid that answered.

"Faster Than Light," She muttered. "But that shouldn't be possible. The Genesis ships didn't have FTL drives equipped. When they left Earth they had EM drives installed."

"So where did they get them?" Hiccup asked with a frown.

"Now now, revealing that would have me laying all my ducks on the table." Johann tutted.

"Ducks and EM drives?" The man asked louder now. "This is all going way over my head. What the hell are EM drives?!"

"It's an engine that doesn't use any propellant." Astrid replied. "The concept was developed early 21st century. It is basically an engine that works by generating thrust through the reflection of electromagnetic waves that it generates. The approximate speed would be one tenth of the speed of light when applied at maximum."

"Quite a thorough explanation," Johann chuckled. "Just as I have come to expect from the illustrious Astrid."

"You aren't going to tell us anymore are you?" Hiccup asked.

"Well.... I guess this little tidbit of extra information can't hurt." Johann replied. "The ship that was sent to destroy the Mars colony never made it back to its post. According to the files it imploded after engaging the FTL drive on its return journey."

"Okay, so you have information." Astrid said as she narrowed her eyes. "That still doesn't explain why you lured us down here."

"Honestly dear girl. Hasn't it dawned on you yet?" Johann asked in a bit of a condescending tone. "I want you two to prepare a body for me. Either one of yours will do. I might even take the redhead that is standing watching all of this dumbly. You both have been in contact with Drago's machine after all."

"He was building it for you!" Hiccup exclaimed. "I knew it. I knew it. There was no way he'd have that stuff in a week."

"Of course he was building it for me." Johann huffed. "He was my accomplice after all. We both wanted to get even with Hank and Marie and the people that they worked for! After everything that was done, do you really think we'd let bygones be bygones?"

"But you want our bodies!" Hiccup shouted. "I'm going to have to say no!"

"Now now, don't be so stubborn. Haven't I already proven that I have information that you don't. I am willing to trade all my knowledge for a body." Johann said. "Honestly boy. What significant thing are you going to do with yours besides kissing your girlfriend."

"HEY!" Both Astrid and Hiccup shouted while blushing.

"YOU KEEP YOUR GRUBBY HANDS OFF MY HICCY YOU MULCH EATING PILE OF DUNG!" Astrid screeched.

"That honestly isn't a way for a lady to talk," Johann admonished. "Have both of you forgotten that I have hostages. I was asking nicely but now I will have to demand it. One of you will give me your body or it's bye-bye hostages."

"But then you have nothing to bargain with," Astrid stated.

"Won't I?" Johann laughed as the metal bulkhead door behind the trio was slammed shut with a resounding bang.

"Well...... there goes plan B," Hiccup dryly stated.