The Genius System

Lassen sat at the edge of his hospital bed, his gaze fixed on the window overlooking the sleeping city. The cold glow of the neon lights bathed the room in a sterile hue, but he paid no attention to it. His arm was still connected to an IV drip, but he ignored that too. He had already decided he wouldn't spend another minute in this place.

The police chief entered the room, his dark coat still wet from the rain. His usually impassive face showed a hint of concern.

"Mr. X," he began, softly closing the door behind him, "how are you feeling?"

Lassen looked up at him, his voice calmer than it had ever been.

"Alive."

The chief was slightly surprised by the calm and cold tone in Lassen's voice. Since their first meeting, Lassen had always spoken in a light and carefree manner, as if nothing in the world mattered to him.

He thought to himself "This attack had a more serious effect on him than I expected. I'll have to report this to the Prime Minister."

The chief stepped closer, glancing at the softly beeping medical devices surrounding the bed.

"You can't imagine the chaos this incident caused. We've increased security around all your properties and are closely monitoring the borders. But you should stay here, at least until we're sure there won't be another attempt."

Lassen stood up slowly.

"No."

The chief blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm going home."

Lassen's tone left no room for negotiation.

"You can't. The doctors—"

"I'm fine. And I've had enough of being here. I've stayed idle for far too long."

The chief opened his mouth to protest, but Lassen raised his hand to stop him.

"Do your job. Protect me if you must. But don't waste your time trying to keep me locked up here."

A heavy silence settled before the chief finally nodded.

"Fine. But we're doubling your security detail."

Lassen didn't respond. He ripped the IV out of his arm with a sharp motion and called for the doctor supervising his recovery. The doctor tried to convince him to stay at least one more day under observation, but Lassen cut him off with a look so cold that the doctor ended up signing the discharge papers without another word.

---

A few hours later, Lassen was back home.

He walked through the doors of his villa like a king returning to his throne after battle. But there was no celebration—not yet.

Standing in his office, he watched the holographic screens light up around him. The dim lighting cast shifting shadows on the walls, adding to the tension that filled the room. His mind, however, was sharp and precise.

He signaled Alex, Adrian, and Elias to join him immediately. The icy tone in his voice made it clear to everyone that something had changed.

"I've been thinking." Lassen let the words hang in the air for a moment. "Until now, I've chosen to ignore the world. I stayed in my corner, absorbed in my books and inventions. I told myself that as long as I didn't bother anyone, no one would bother me."

He paused, his eyes piercing each of them.

"But that was just an illusion."

Adrian straightened slightly but remained silent.

"They tried to kill me." Lassen clenched his fists, his voice growing harder. "Not because I attacked them. Not because I was a threat. But because they were afraid of what I might become."

The silence thickened in the room.

"Well, they were right to be afraid." Lassen stepped forward. "I'm not going to wait for them to strike again. I won't hide behind walls and security systems anymore."

His gaze locked onto Alex.

"We're going to show them what it means to wake a sleeping giant. From now on, we are at war."

Alex instinctively gripped the tablet in his hands. His eyes scanned the holographic screen in front of him, displaying data streams, topographic maps, and satellite images of the enemy base. His fingers tapped nervously on the device's edge, but his voice remained steady as he spoke. Elias, on the other hand, simply nodded.

Behind him, 3D holographic models rotated slowly, showing the internal components of weapons and jamming devices. Adrian stood up abruptly, already placing a hand on his earpiece, his sharp voice issuing rapid instructions to his field team.

"Prepare everything. I want that enemy base destroyed by the end of the day."

The system immediately activated, and a wave of data filled the screens.

[Finally, some action. I was almost worried you'd go back to burying yourself under a pile of books.]

Lassen gave a cold smile, his eyes fixed on the hologram.

"Trust me, I'll make time for my books after this. For now, we work."

Alex projected a holographic map into the center of the room, spinning it quickly to highlight blind spots and possible entry points. Real-time data layered over the schematics—drone altitudes, active jamming zones, and enemy patrol routes.

"Main defenses," he explained, pointing to various sections. "Heavy-caliber auto-turrets on the outer walls, dual-layered electrified fences, and an infrared surveillance network. Their main generator is located underground, accessible through this maintenance tunnel." He enlarged the image to show a narrow passage marked by red lines indicating thermal alarms.

Lassen studied the hologram, memorizing every detail.

"If we take out the main generator, everything collapses."

Alex's voice tensed.

"But there's a problem. Relay antennas can operate on backup power for three minutes before shutting down completely. That's enough time for them to send an alert for reinforcements. We'll need to neutralize the relays during the attack."

Lassen nodded.

"Backup plans?" he asked.

Elias responded immediately, his tone precise and confident.

"Drones with thermal camouflage. They'll infiltrate past the infrared detectors, jam the sensors, and destroy the generator before anyone knows what's happening."

He displayed the drones' schematics, highlighting their features.

"Each drone carries a magnetic charge that disables electronics within ten meters. They can also deploy high-explosive charges to maximize damage. If anything goes wrong, I can manually pilot them to bypass obstacles."

Lassen nodded.

"Adrian?"

The bodyguard straightened, his gaze sharp as steel.

"My team is already positioned near the border. We've set up checkpoints and ground surveillance drones to track any escapes. Snipers cover secondary routes. Nothing gets through."

Lassen approved with a nod.

"Green light."

The system launched the drones, their engines humming softly. Real-time trajectories appeared on the screens as blue lines representing their progress.

[And here we go. Think they're praying yet?]

Lassen tilted his head slightly.

"Let them pray. It won't save them."

__________

The explosions thundered through the night, shaking the enemy base. Inside, Geria's spies and soldiers scrambled out of their barracks and command rooms—some still half-dressed, others already in position with their weapons raised. Alarms wailed, but they were quickly silenced as Lassen's jammers paralyzed communications.

In the main control room, a man in uniform, clearly a senior officer, pounded furiously on a console. The screen in front of him flashed red with error messages as data streams cut off one by one.

"What's happening? Report!" he shouted.

A technician, sweat streaming down his forehead, tried to reconnect the systems.

"We've lost contact with the outer defenses! The drones are detected, but… they vanish from the radar before we can lock onto their position!"

The officer cursed, slamming the keyboard.

"Impossible! Activate the backup system!"

"I can't! Someone's controlling our networks! We're being hacked in real time!"

The control room doors burst open, and two armed soldiers rushed in.

"Sir! Explosions in the southern sector! We've lost the generators and the auto-turrets!"

The officer's face went pale.

"Send a team to secure the entrances! Call for reinforcements"

"Long-range communications are down!" another technician yelled.

Chaos erupted as explosions continued to rock the base. Shadows danced across the walls, cast by growing flames.

"They're trying to bury us alive!" one of the soldiers shouted.

"Silence! We need to—"

His voice was cut short as another explosion shook the room, sending shards of metal flying in all directions.

The officer hit the ground, his ears ringing. He tried to stand, but another blast rattled the walls. He looked up at the screens just in time to see one final message appear before everything went dark:

"You struck first. You failed. Now it's my turn."

The silence that followed was broken only by the crackling flames and the groans of the wounded.

---

Back at the villa, everyone was on edge. This was the first time Lassen had done something that directly interfered with the world—and it was nothing less than a frontal assault on another country.

But the man at the center of it all had already returned to his old habits, lying on his couch with a novel in hand.

Adrian approached him.

"Is it over?" Lassen asked.

Adrian nodded. "They're paralyzed. No reinforcements detected. No one survived."

Lassen said nothing, turning his eyes toward the ceiling.

After a long silence, he looked at his three subordinates and said:

"This was just the beginning."