During one usual evening, when Sol was in the bedroom reading his latest book on "Ores and Metals' Qualities and Characteristics", Alicia and Frank were sitting at the dining table, speaking as low as they could.
"Oh my goodness Frank!" exclaimed, but within a low volume.
"What is it now, Alicia?" asked Frank after taking another sip of his coffee. "Don't tell me!" *CLANK!* "Is it another rezacroach?!" he asked in shock and got ready to stand up in arms and fight!
"Sit down Frank, it's not about another rezacroach... It's about our son." Alicia solemnly said.
"Little Teri? What, is there something wrong with him?" Frank got worried after sensing the heavy atmosphere Alicia created.
"I can't believe it." Alicia simply stated.
"You don't believe what?" the suspense was eating at him.
"After we raised him for almost four years now, I still can't believe that he...."
"What Alicia?! He what?!" Frank was nearing a nervous breakdown!
"I can't believe that we have such a genius son! Our Teri is Heaven's sent! Our Teri is godlike!" Alicia yelled like a fanatic in her whisper.
"Of course he is!" Frank answered proudly, as if the reason their son was this smart were the excellent genes that he passed on to him; his earlier worry gone, leaving no trace of itself behind.
Alicia only gave him a scoff in response.
"Make sure he has everything he wants!"
"What? But Ali sweetheart, the books little Teri wants keep getting pricier and pricier." Frank complained.
"What did you just say?" Alicia asked with a dark smile on her face.
"!" Her eyes were shut in smiling slits, but Frank could still feel the murderous glare from them.
"Of course, my beloved. Our Teri should have everything he needs!" Frank said as if that was his intent from the start...
At four years old, Sol could finally bathe alone and was tall enough to see his own reflection in the bathroom's clear mirror by stepping on a short stool.
Watching his reflection with its youthful appearance staring back at him was still weird for Sol, no matter how many times he saw it.
His eyes, staring back at him, were light brown with a golden hue that shined bright when light covered them. Around their golden brown core, a clear white sea surrounded them, with no signs of his previous' life's cataract or yellow deterioration in them.
His dark, umber brown hair covered the top of his head without a single white hair or gap on sight. His roots were strong, and the hair kept growing with time.
His skin was rosy with the trademark baby fat still present underneath it, giving him the healthy and chubby cheeks his mother adores to pinch so much.
Perhaps it was time to stop thinking as if he was still Samuel Sol and start embracing his new name and identity as Theron, because that was who he was now. He wasn't a seventy years old man withering on his deathbed, but a four years old toddler on his growing period with a full life of possibilities ahead of him.
His studies continued undisturbed by his decision to fully embrace this new life of his in all of its meaning. Someone could even say it drove him to study even more since he wanted to amass more knowledge about the world he was born in.
At some point in his young journey of hoarding knowledge, he came to know about energy ores and metals from the third book of the series titled "Minerals and their Alloys".
Just like the two previous books of the series, its contents were all about ores or minerals and the alloys and metals created from them.
Theron learned of lots of ores who shared the same appearance and had many similar characteristics and properties with his previous world's counterparts, while there were also those whose similarities bordered being dismal at best.
Of course, what another world would this one be if there weren't some ores completely unknown to him? Even in this intermediary level book about energy infused ores, he found a handful of them of which his previous world didn't have any counterparts to compare them with.
The little ores and alloys collector inside him was constantly jumping out of joy with this new variety of collectibles.
Around the end of this book, he also came upon the subject of prosthetics. The alloy used in their standard production was affordable, flexible and durable, making it the most common and widely used material for that purpose.
It was smelted mainly from a new ore this world had to offer. An ore called ugor, which apparently, as mentioned in the book, was also a conductor material for the prosthetics' core's energy.
'That's got to be important...'
Theron made a mental note to ask Frank about this core and its energy as he apparently has them literally in his arm, so he should know something about them.
But Theron knew he had to go the roundabout way on asking him about it.
On the morning of one of the days Frank didn't have work, his mother went to the market for groceries, leaving just the two of them in the house.
Having already formulated a plan in his mind, now was the time to enact it.
He walked to Frank's left side, where he was sitting at the table drinking his coffee and reading on the morning news, and looked up at him in silence.
Frank felt his son's piercing gaze and immediately cold sweat started forming on his forehead. He had a feeling of foreboding of what was to come.
'Damn, he must have inherited his mother's cold gaze...Only the murderous intent is missing...'
"Dad, I don't get it. How can your arm move? Isn't it made of metal?" Theron asked as straightforward as he could, throwing the line.
By asking first about his prosthetic arm as a whole and not specifically for its core and energy, Theron ensures he won't draw any suspicion or doubt from Frank by asking something a four years old wouldn't be interested in or normally understand with his young mind, while at the same time he will learn more about the alloy material and its properties and pave the way for future requests too.
Knowing his father, he would tell him about the core and energy eventually, even if he had to lead him a little towards the topic.
So, with one stone a group of birds!
"Ooohh little Teri! So, you are finally old enough to be interested in this awesome arm of your father's?!" Frank asked in enthusiasm while flexing his prosthetic left arm, taking the bait.
The metal shone as to show its owner's pride.
"Yes, I am very interested!" added Theron, playing with the fish.
"Muahaha, that's my son!" and the fish was hooked for good.
The plan was progressing just as he envisioned it.