While sitting at the table, Mark was thinking of a way to save his mother. His stomach protested once again with a growl. The young man decided to eat his pancakes. At least one of his problems was easily dealt with, or so he thought. After eating his serving of pancakes, he was still hungry.
"System, this hunger is not natural. Is this because of the physical changes to my body?" Mark asked while searching for more food in the fridge.
The system answered quickly. "Yes. The changes to your physiology consumed all of the nutrients your body had. The hunger you are experiencing is a normal occurrence."
Mark cooked himself a large breakfast. With his hunger problem behind him, he concentrated on his other problem. How to save his mother. The young man began to search in his memories. Since this was a traumatic experience, it did not take long.
Recalling the specific day of the event, his face darkens. "The day I got the news was the first day of the institute after the founders' festival. A teacher pulled me aside. After that, I was taken to the director's office."
Mark takes a deep breath. The events of that day still haunted him. "The Director and the psychologist of the institute gave me the news. Apparently, the power system of the factory where my mother worked failed, trapping my mother and 9 other workers. They later died, apparently, toxic gases leaked in."
An Idea came to him. "What if I file a complaint with the relevant authorities?" Mark went to his room and grabbed his comm-pad. As he opened the comm-grid to look for the address, he had second thoughts. "That is not going to work; it will take too much time."
With low spirits, he went back to the kitchen and started cleaning his mess. As he was cleaning the table, Mark found the gift card his mother had left for him. He grabs the envelope with the card inside. "The first time I got this card, I blew the money on lottery tickets. I felt like such a fool when the winning numbers came out."
Mark's face lights up; another Idea came to him. "If I can remember the winning numbers and get the jackpot, Mom would not have to work a day in her life again."He tried to remember on his own, but he was not able to. Every time he tried, his memory came back in a blur.
"System, do you have a way to improve my memory? Mark decided to ask for help with the issue.
A pale blue screen projected soon after. "System suggestion: Feat, Total Recall. This feat allows for a perfect recollection of events during your life."
"But System, I have no Techno Points, I lost them all, remember?" The man complains in frustration.
The system projects a new screen. "User, your current point balance is 0 TP. Your Bank balance is 257,869 TP. Would the user like to retrieve the set bank balance?"
Mark felt a bit awkward. "Yes, system, I want to retrieve my bank balance." For some reason, he had the feeling that the system was somehow mocking him.
"Your current point balance is 257,869 TP. Your bank balance is 0 TP." The system communicated this on a new screen. Noticing the new bank balance being displayed, his suspicion was confirmed. This was not the usual system behavior.
Mark decided to investigate further by calling the system's home screen. "System display home screen." He said with hopeful expectations.
The system screen appears before him. To his surprise, the home screen was almost blank. The information and the welcome messages that normally showed when he called out the home screen were not present. It was worse than he thought.
The screen only displayed the tab selection on the left side of the page. The list read from top to bottom: Skills, Feats, System Abilities, Shop, System Requests, and Inventory. Out of the entire list, only skills and feats were shown on the usual yellow letters. The rest were grayed out, indicating that they were inactive.
Mark mourned all the things he had in his inventory. "System, is there a way to regain the things that have been lost due to the accident?"
The system responded without delay. "User, the Techno Lord system is experiencing unprecedented conditions. It is unclear if previous data can be recovered at all."
Mark sighs in frustration."Well, first things first, system open the feats tab." The young man now scrolled down the list of feats until he reached the system's recommendation. Tapping twice on the feat, he paid the 1,000 TP price and acquired his selection.
The system screen prompted again. "Your purchase has been confirmed. 1,000 TP has been deducted from your balance. Your new balance is 256,869 TP. Your bank balance is 0 TP.
The results were instant. Mark felt as if a fog had lifted and his memories had been waiting for him. The young man took out his comm-pad and opened his bank account. Adding the 2,000 Lishean-Credits[1] of the gift card, he now had 3,000 L-credits to his name.
"This is a bad joke," the man thought to himself while looking at his bank account.
With a set of swipes and taps, he bought 1,200 L-credits on lottery tickets. The lottery draw was tonight; all he needed to do was wait. To kill time, Mark decided to tackle his clothing problem.
The young man decides to tidy up his room. While doing that, he sorts the clothes into two piles: the ones that were still a fit, and the ones that did not. In the end, only the sweatpants and underwear still fit. He also found two T-shirts along with the one he was wearing that were a little tight but not suffocating.
Total recall kicked in. Mark was able to recall that his mother had placed a box full of his grandfather's old clothes in what was now a storage room. Before it was his grandfather's room. The old man had disappeared around the time Mark was ten years old. There was even a police search, but nothing turned out. After two years had passed, the man was declared legally dead. Mark and Rachel still had hope of finding him alive.
Sifting through the box, Mark found a pair of blue jeans, blue cargo pants, and a denim jacket. The jacket had an illustration of a monkey holding a wrench. The words Grease Monkey were written in big bold letters above the illustration. After making sure the clothes fit and were in good condition, Mark put the rest of the clothes back in the box and stored them away. He then tossed his three new garments, along with the two T-shirts, into the washing machine in the kitchen.
After all this, Mark sat in the kitchen chair. Thinking about his next moves. "I have a little over 250,000 Techno Points. It may look like much, but it's really nothing, a drop in the bucket compared to the skills and feats I lost, not to mention the gear in my inventory. How will I get more?"
The system sensing his thoughts projected a message. "User, please remember that to get Techno Points, User will have to develop new technologies. With every new use of set technology, you, the user, will be granted a daily bonus amount of Techno Points."
Mark sights. "System that is not the problem. In my past life, I used the system to develop spaceship technologies. This time, I don't have the money or connections to work in that field. The money from the lottery is nowhere near enough to start."
A new system screen projects. "User, please explain the reasoning."
There it was again, another question. Mark decided to keep ignoring the issue for now and answer the system's inquiry. "Well, spaceships are used for everything in this day and age: War, Commerce, transportation, exploration, and even living environments for some. Spaceships can be as small as a sky-car or as large as a small moon."
As Mark explained the importance of spaceships, an idea came to mind. "System, I just got another Idea. There is a second technology that is equally widespread. It's Mechs[2]. These machines are used for a lot of things: construction, security, cargo handling, war, and even peacekeeping." Mark took a breath, organizing his thoughts.
"They are nowhere near as expensive to develop as spaceships. I used to pilot them, that is how we met, remember?" He used this statement to probe the system memory.
The system prompted the usual message. "User, the system is experiencing an unprecedented situation; some functions will not be accessible."
"Never mind," Mark said with frustration clearly showing on his face.
Mark decided to purchase the necessary skills to design mechs. In his mind, he made a list. Using his Total Recall feat, the young man remembered the explanation given to him by the system. He opened the skill panel and started to browse.
"If I remember correctly, first come the root skills. These skills are in the general fields of knowledge. They have a cost of 2,000 TP, that cost was multiplied by the level. I will need about 7 of them. To get a skill from level 0 to Level 3, I would have spent around... 12,000 TP. I will choose Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Material Science, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science. I will buy all of them at level 3. That's 84,000 TP down the drain.
Next are the Field skills, which will provide a more specialized knowledge. They have a cost of 1,000 TP multiplied by the level. However, they can only be raised to the same level as the root skill. I will also buy the sub skill; these will cost 500 TP multiplied by level. They can only go as far as the field skills.
After reminding himself about the skill type and costs, Mark started to tap on his selections. With the light of the system screen as his companion, a companion that only he can see, Mark made his selections.
1. Physics. Root skill Level 3.
A. Thermodynamics. Field skill Level 3.
a. Heat Dispersion. Sub Skill 3.
2. Mathematics. Root Skill Level 3.
A. Mathematical Models. Field Skill Level 3.
a. Simulation. Sub Skill Level 3.
3. Material Science. Root Skill Level 3.
A. Metallurgy. Field Skill 3.
a. Alloy Treatment. Sub Skill level 3.
b. Alloy Compression. Sub Skill Level 3.
4. Chemistry Root Skill Level 3.
5. Computer Science. Root Skill Level 3.
A. Programming. Field Skill Level 3.
a. Logical Code Optimization. Sub skill Level 3.
B. Cyber Security. Field Skill Level 3.
6. Electrical Engineering. Root Skill Level 3.
A. Power Generation. Field Skill Level 3.
B. Improved Distribution Channels. Field Skill Level 3.
7. Mechanical Engineering. Root Skill Level 3.
A. Mechs. Field Skill Level 3.
a. Movement Optimization (Humanoid Mech). Sub Skill Level 3.
B. Weapons Systems. Field Skill Level 3.
C. Engines. Field Skill Level 3.
D. Synthetic Muscle Technology. Field Skill Level 3.
By the time Mark had selected all of the skills he needed to start designing, only 93,869 TP remained on his balance. With this, he felt confident that he could design a competent mech. Only time will tell if he was wrong or right.
A message from the system distracted his machinations. "A large amount of data will be transferred to the user's brain. It is recommended for the user to be asleep to complete the transfer. System Suggestion: Lie Down"
This time, Mark didn't protest. The young Man walked to his room and lay on his bed. Without any more words, he closed his eyes. A familiar sensation of numbness came over him, and his consciousness drifted away.
"Mark, ...Mark!"
The young man woke to find his mother tugging at his arm.
"Mark, tell me what's going on!? Ever since this morning, you have been acting weird." Rachel asked her drowsy son.
Through the window of his room, he saw it was nighttime already. Rachel was back from work, and he had slept the whole day. Normally, Mark would spend his afternoons outside roaming around in the city. The pattern of behavior he was showing was a far cry from his normal teen antics.
"Mom, nothing is going on. I was sleeping," the drowsy young man answered with a drowsy voice.
"I'm not buying that, Mark, the changes to your body, the way you are acting. You even cleaned your room and the kitchen, you never do these things." Rachel pressed on with her interrogation.
Mark, realizing his blunder, tried to find a way to answer her questions. Should he lie, should he deny her accusations? Maybe run away? All of these things went through his mind. In the end, he chose to tell half-truths.
"Look, Mom, the truth is that I had a bad dream. In that dream, you died, and I was left alone." Using the memory of his past experiences, he projected a sincere tone.
The young man sits in the bed looking at his mother's eyes. "I realized that I have been acting like an idiot lately. You work really hard to put food on the table and keep the lights on. I, for my part, have only complained about the things that I don't have." Mark stands up and places his hands on Rachel's shoulder. "What I'm trying to say is I'm sorry I have been so ungrateful. The truth is that without you, I have nothing." Mark hugs his mom.
Rachel starts to cry. "My beautiful boy, I don't think you are ungrateful." The woman hugs him back.
Their moment was interrupted by the sound of Mark's comm-pad. A message just came in. Mark lets go of his mother and grabs the device. Swiping his finger on the comm-pad's screen, the holographic projector activated, and the word winner is shown in big golden letters. Holographic fireworks shoot randomly in a celebratory manner.
A message in a high-pitched electronic voice can be heard. "Congratulations to Mr. Mark Warren. You are the lucky winner of the Berant City monthly lottery draw. Your earnings have been deposited into your account. Please note that the amount relevant to taxation has been removed from your prize. For more details, consult the documentation attached to this message.
Rachel looks at the message with confusion. "Mark, what is this?"Mark smiles at his mother. "Mom, we won the lottery. We are rich," He hugs his mother once more. "You don't have to work anymore!"
His mother, now, over her surprise, answers. " No."
With her response, Mark's plan came crashing down. The young man protested. "Mom, why would you want to keep working when we have enough to live large?"
Rachel looks at him. "Mark, this is your money. You can use it to go to college and make something of yourself. Besides, how much could it be, a couple of hundred thousand?"
Mark reads the rest of the message. "Mom, I won 25 billion L-Credits. After taxes, the prize is 18.5 billion." As he looks at her after reading the documents, he adds, " Mom, I bought 1,200 tickets that add a multiplier of 1,200 to the prize. The message even says it's the highest paying jackpot ever.
Mark's mother fell into silence. Only disbelief was present in her eyes. "That is indeed a lot of money, but it's still your money. If I quit, what will I do all day? She looks around. "You already cleaned the house."
"I don't know, we can open a business or something, just quit working on that factory," Mark answered with a bit of frustration in his voice.
The woman looks at her son. "I have been working on that factory for years, and you never said a thing. Why are you suddenly against it?"
Mark decides to use his half-truths method. "It was the dream I had. In my dream, the power systems of the factory failed, and you and nine other people were trapped inside. In the end, you all died because toxic gas leaked in."
Rachel, with a soft expression, tried to reassure her son. "Mark, it was just a dream. Besides, where would the toxic gas even come from?"
Without realizing it, Mark uses his chemistry skills. "Mom soldering electronics can release harmful gases, the least of which is boron trifluoride. Multiply that for a factory scale, and you will have a lethal dose of gases if the air is not ventilated."
The woman casts a suspicious look at her son. "Now, how would you know a thing like that?"
Mark felt that every time he opened his big mouth, his foot went in. Trying to fix his mistake, the young man makes a lame excuse. "We learn that at the institute," an awkward smile showed on his face.
Rachel did not buy that for a second. "Since when do they cover soldering at the institute?"Mark tries to deflect her questions, "We are getting off topic, Mom. ...tell you what, why don't we go out today to celebrate, you can decide in the morning. Where do you want to go?"
Rachel was about to protest, but an idea came to her. With a hint of malice in her eyes, she chose a place. "Let's go to Old Man Choi's, it's your favorite."
Mark notices his mother's intentions, but he decides to cross that bridge when he comes to it. "Let's get dressed and go out."
They both went to prepare. After a quick shower, Mark went to the kitchen and retrieved the now-clean clothes from the washing machine. He chose to wear the blue cargo pants with a black T-shirt that was a little tight and the Grease Monkey denim jacket. Once dressed, he exited his room.
The young man waited for his mother to get ready. A few minutes later, the woman came out of the bathroom.
Mark's eyes witness a rare sight, his mother was not dressed in her usual work jumpsuit. This time, she was wearing a white blouse with long sleeves paired with a black skirt that ended a few inches below her knees. Her feet were adorned by a pair of black and white heels that made her legs look longer. She arranged her hair in an elegant bun on top of her head. A silver locket hung from her neck; the piece was simple and plain. But it had a strange quality that Mark was not able to identify. The light makeup applied to her face highlights her mature beauty.
Mark rarely saw his mother dressed this way."Mom, you look great."
The woman smiles at the compliment. "You don't look so bad yourself. In fact, you look like you belong in a boy band." The woman teased him.
Looking at the clothes he was wearing, she quickly placed the origin of the garments. "Are those... your grandfather's clothes?"
Mark looked at his clothes and confirmed her words. "Yeah ..they were wasting away in a box, so I decided to use them, is that OK?"
Rachel looked at the Clothes with nostalgia and a hint of sadness. "Yes, Mark, you always liked that jacket. Besides, it looks great on you." "Let's go then," Mark said while they both walked to the door.
Outside, they were met by a group of children playing in the hall to the elevator. A teenage girl was casting a reluctant watch over them. As Mark and his mother pass by, the girl sees Mark and stares at him. Her blushing cheeks were struck by the ball the kids were using to play.
As Rachel and Mark were boarding the elevator, they heard the teenage girl screaming. "Tommy, you did that on purpose. I'm going to get you!" They both laughed at the antics of the children. As they exit Miller Hills, Mark calls for a sky-cab. After boarding the vehicle, they leave for the restaurant.
After a pleasant ride, they arrive at the restaurant and are received by an older woman. The woman, who is dressed in an elegant Tang suit, greets them. "Welcome to Old Man Choi's restaurant. Do you want a table for two, or are you expecting someone else?"
"Table for two, we are celebrating my son's birthday," Rachel answers the woman."Please follow me to your table," the older woman leads them to a table, seats them, and hands a menu to each one. "Your waitress will be with you in a few moments." The older woman then leaves to greet other guests.
A few moments later, a young woman, about Mark's age, approaches the table. She dressed in an elegant, but discreet red qipao dress. The garment was long and covered most of her legs. Black leggings could be seen underneath with the uneven slits at the sides. Golden embroidery depicting dragons adorned the shiny red fabric. Her black shiny hair was arranged in intrigued folding patterns and adorned with red accessories. "Hello, my name is Cristina, and I will be your waitress today. May I take your order?"
"Cristina Wong?" Mar looks at the young woman as if he were looking at an old photo. It's me, Mark Warren, we studied at the institute.
The young woman looks at him in amazement. "Skinny Mark? What happened to you? You look great."
Mark, blushing a bit, lets out an awkward smile. "I started exercising and eating better."
Rachel looks at the exchange with a mix of suspicion and amusement.
Mark decides to order and end the awkward moment. "I want the orange chicken, lo mein noodles, and a large soda. What will you have, Mom?"
Rachel looks at he son, a hint of malice showing again in her eyes. "I want a bowl of fried rice with peppered chicken and cancel his soda. My boy just turned 18, and we are celebrating with Wine. Bring me a bottle."
A pale blue screen projects into his view. "Malicious intentions detected, suggested actions: Escape."
Mark chuckles and clears his throat. "Cristina, can you point me towards the restroom?"
Cristina points at the back of the restaurant. Mark starts to walk towards the bathroom. As he walks, the young man notices the looks of the ladies in the room following him. Feeling even more awkward, he hastens the pace.
Once inside the bathroom, Mark locks the door and goes to the mirror to look at himself. Failing to notice anything wrong, he wonders why people are looking at him. Shaking his head, he decides to continue with his plans. "System, open the feats tab."
The pale blue screens project on the user's desired choice. Mark slides the screen, looking for his selection using his fingers while talking to himself. "Because of my enhancements, I don't think I would have any problems with alcohol, but is better to be safe than sorry."
He finds his selection and taps on it for a description. "Resilient Metabolism. This feat allows the user's body to digest toxic substances that would otherwise poison the user. Set toxins are then converted into useful nutrients."
Mark confirms his purchase, and the system displays his new balances. The feat had a cost of 2,000 TP.
The system displayed his balance."User's new balance is 91,869 TP, your bank balance is 0 TP."
With his preparations completed, the young man decides to go back to the table and show his mother who will end up under the table.
Mark reaches the table, and he takes his jacket off, getting ready to face his mom in a drinking showdown. His Focus is interrupted by the feeling of being watched. As he looks around, he notices all the female patrons of the restaurant are glancing at him. Suddenly, the awkward feeling came back.
His mother, witnessing the event, resolves to tease him a little. "I told you that you belong in a boy band." The woman smiles at him.
So tell me, how do you know Cristina? I want all the juicy details," Rachel looked at him with her usual teasing tone.
"It's not like that, Mom, we study at the institute, she is a classmate. Besides, she has a boyfriend." Mark defended himself from his mother's teasing.
The woman leans closer to her son. "Do I have to call you Mimi in front of all these people?"
With a chuckle, Mark relents. "To tell you the truth, I used to have a crush on her back when I was at the institute, but so did every other guy. I mean, what is not to like? She is smart, beautiful, and has a great personality. But it's been a long time since I got over that crush."
In his mind, Mark wonders what happens to Cristina in his old life. An image of Berant city in flames was all that he could remember. His face darkens a little. But the young man's train of thought was derailed by the words he heard next.
"What do you mean, it's been a long time? You make it sound like it was decades ago." Rachel had her gaze of suspicion upon her son once again.
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the food they ordered. Mark makes a note to tip Cristina for her timely arrival.
As Cristina serves their meals. Mark caught her taking a glance at him. Trying to ignore the event, she smiles awkwardly, and after serving their meals, she leaves the table.
Rachel grabs the bottle of wine. "We are going to finish this whole bottle," she then pours a cup, filling it up to the brim, and hands it to Mark. She then pours one for herself, filling it halfway.
Rachel raises her cup for a toast. "For the truth." After her toast, she gulps down the cup in one go.
Mark raises his cup. "For my mother's long life." With the same motion, he drinks the wine; it took him a few gulps.
Rachel, seeing her scheme was working, poured him another cup. "We will get to the bottom of this." She said to him while smiling.
Two hours later, a few empty plates lie in front of Mark. His cup was also empty. At the other side of the table, Rachel was struggling to eat her meal. It was clear that she was at her limits; four empty bottles at the table witnessed the events of the night.
Mark looks at his mother. "Mom, you had enough. It's time to go home." He signals Cristina for the check.
She talks in a loud voice. "No, Mimi, you have not told me your secrets!" When her fork fell out of her hand and onto the table, she knew her plans had failed.
The woman reluctantly agreed. "OK. Let's go home."
Cristina approaches the table with the check in hand. "Mimi?" She asked while handing Mark the check.
Mark smiles awkwardly again; he had been smiling like that the whole time. "It's a nickname she gave me when I was a toddler."
The young man pays the bill, then puts his jacket over Rachel and helps her get up. Once outside the restaurant, Mark calls for a sky-cab using an app on his comm-pad and goes home.
Arriving at the entrance to Miller Hills, Mark was forced to carry his mother up to her apartment. The woman had fallen asleep in the sky-cab. The young man easily bore her weight. With his enhanced physique, this was an easy task. While on the elevator going up, his mind wandered. Remembering all the times his mother had carried him throughout his life, a feeling of irony crept up on him.
Looking at his sleeping mother, the man thought to himself. "Now I am the one carrying you."
After arriving at the apartment, Mark took his mother to her room. He gently places her in her bed and removes her heels. Once the young man covered the sleeping woman with a blanket, he left the room.
In his room, Mark changes clothes and lies on his bed. Thoughts raced through his head. Thoughts on the event of the day, on his past life. The things he lost put against the chance to save the people he lost, and create new gains.
"It appears I'm a lucky boy after all." The words escaped his lips in a low voice. They carried a mix of sarcasm and hope. Before falling Asleep, he programs an alarm on his comm-pad. A few minutes later, he was asleep.
[1] Lishean Credits, or L-Credits, are the currency used by the Stellar Nation, the Lishean Commonwealth
[2] Mech is a term used to describe a mechanical vehicle, often in a humanoid shape. These vehicles are divided into categories based on size, weight, and mobility.