Mark finds himself in a white room, but unlike the design space, this room has nothing. The sound of murmurs and whispers started to echo around him. A humanoid shape manifested before him. The figure was shrouded in a thick blue mist; the features were too obscure to distinguish anything. The whispers came from this ...shadow.
A feeling of calmness fell over Mark. He felt that this shadow had no ill intent. The young man tried to make out the whispers. They sounded like words in a different language, a language he had never heard before. Mark reached out to touch the shadow, but the distance between them seemed not to shrink.
"I can't hear you. Can you speak louder?" The words fell like echoes falling from his mouth.
A hand suddenly grabbed him. "Can you hear me now, Mark?"
Mark woke to find Rachel holding his extended hand. He was lying in his bed. "I'm awake now, Mom."
Rachel looked at the VR headset on the charger. "Mark, I know you are off the institute for a few more days, but don't stay up all night playing virtual games."
Mark yawned. "You are right, Mom." Changing the subject, the young man decided to ask about her decision. "What have you decided? Are you going to call Mr Hawk?
"Well, I will call him, but Mark is best not to get involved with these people. They are different from us; they have different values." Rachel explained, trying to deter Mark from getting in contact with the Investigator.
Mark, for his part, was trying to play matchmaker. In his previous life, the young man met his father after his mother's passing. He knew the kind of person his father was.
"I was thinking, this person has been looking for you for the past 19 years, and I am 18 years old. Is this person my father?" The young man asked the question that his mother feared the most.
Rachel was taken by surprise by the question. Her blank expression spoke volumes.
"Did he hurt you? because if he did, I would hate him." Mark stated, looking for his mother's reaction.
Her blank expression faded. "No, he did not hurt me. Marcus is a wonderful man. I was the one who left; if anything, he should hate me." Rachel's eyes softened when she spoke about Mark's father.
"So that's the reason I'm called Mark. You named me after my father." He took advantage of his mother tongue slip.
Rachel's eyes filled with worry. "Look, Mark, you are a young adult now, if you want to seek these people, ... it's your choice, but you must know there is a danger to them. Sometimes is best not to know."
Mark's mother, accepting that her son had a right to know his father, decided to give him a warning. "While Marcus is not a bad person, the people around him are nothing less than sharks sniffing for blood. They will do anything for Knowledge, wealth, and power."
Seeing his mother's expression, Mark felt a bit uncomfortable. "Look, Mom, I don't mean to make you feel this way. I promise I will wait for you to talk to them first."
Rachel changed the subject. "I left breakfast for you at the table," she said, kissing her son's forehead. "I love you, be good. I'm running a bit late for work." She left soon after.
When Rachel left for work, quiet filled the apartment. Once his mother had left, the young man went to the kitchen to eat his breakfast. His mother had cooked eggs Benedict.
After eating his breakfast and cleaning up after himself, Mark looked at the time, 7:35 am. He decided to finish his droid design. The young man goes back to his room and summons the system Home screen.
Opening the home screen of the system, he was greeted by a new message: "Your daily T.P. Bonus for today is 14,680 TP. Your new balance is 38,709 TP. Your bank balance is 0 Tp.
He looked at the numbers. "The McCain Reapers are selling like hot cakes." Mark lost no time accessing the system abilities panel. "I wonder if I can set up a trigger for the design space, as I did with scan."
A secondary screen projects. "User, to access the Basic Design Space, you can summon the ability with thought; no trigger is required." The message made him want to facepalm himself again.
"Thank you, System, I guess," Mark thought about the design space. In an instant, the soft white light surrounded him. The young man started his design run.
Mark used the blueprint he acquired from the repair shop as a reference. He used some of the same components applied differently. Other elements, like the material composition, he replaced entirely. He also added new features like a gravity backpack so that the droid will hover in the hard-to-reach places.
The software for the droid was made from scratch using his programming field skills. In the end, he finished the design in what felt to him like 22 hours. Coming out of the design space, Mark submitted the design to the system.
Design Name: Name Pending.
Technology Type: Droid, Utility (Supportive Technology).
Original Component: 48% T.P. Awarded: 4,800tp.
Modified Component: 47% T.P. Awarded: 470 TP.
Technology Impact: B. First use Bonus: 53tp/ Bonus will be added daily.
Special notes: 5% of the composition of the droid was taken from another design.
The system message came announcing his new balance. " Your new balance is 43,979 TP. Your bank balance is 0 TP."
Mark felt that the judgment was fair. "You have to give credit where credit is due. I did get inspired by the A.M.S. Droid." With that done, he decided to take a bath and get dressed. His trusty Denim jacket will accompany him today, too.
Without delay, Mark arrived at Riggans Point, getting out of the Sky-cab, the young man looked at the time on his comm-pad: 9:15 am. He had almost 2 hours before meeting his friends at Tina's Sweets. The young man, followed by his loyal hover Box, began his search.
Walking to the middle levels, he decided to go to the electronics stores and check for ways to boost the scanning signal of the system. If he didn't find what he was looking for, he would try the lower levels.
Entering his first of many shops, Mark saw the blinking red light at the corner of his sight. His face brightens. "Let's do this." Accepting the request, he walked with enthusiasm to the glowing items.
The young man lost no more time. He entered the establishment, finding a set of top-of-the-line comm-pads glowing red. Mark decided to buy one of each. That way, if people asked, he would say he was making brand reviews on the comm-grid. The young man also decided to upgrade his own com-pad, but kept his old model for sentimental reasons.
Browsing through the shop, he saw another artifact glowing red; this time, it was a mechanical dog covered in white and pink fur. It looked like a girl's toy. Without a second thought, he put the toy on the hover box and continued his shopping.
While moving to another shop, Mark spotted a Droid boutique. The store was closed, and the Droids displayed in the window shop were a bit old but still serviceable. The sign had a few letters missing, but it used to read Jackson Droids. A for sale sign hung by the door to he place with a comm-pad contact. Underneath, there was a message urging people to call for a property walk-through.
Mark decides to call the number using his new comm-pad. After a few rings, the voice of a man is heard. Even if his mother rejected the place, he could hire people to manage it.
Johnson Real Estate, this is Mr Johnson. How can I help you? The man answered his comm-pad in a professional manner. This man was also a fast speaker.
Mark answers. "Hello, my name is Mark Warren, and I'm interested in a walk-through for one of the properties you are selling." He looked at the Building once more. It's the droid boutique at Riggan's point.
The sound of keys tapping could be heard. "I see that you are in front of the droid boutique. That property has a prime location for a commercial establishment, and it even comes with a permit for light industrial production. The shop is being sold fully furnished and ready to start droid production." The man stops in the middle of his explanation.
After a long pause, Mark checks if the call was dropped. "Hello, Mr Johnson, are you there?" Mark started to tap and swipe on his new comm-pad. He entered the comm-grid site for his bank.
The sound of a person clearing his throat was heard from the other side. "Mr. Warren, I'm sorry, but before we continue, I'm going to need a few things. I need a legal Identification and a bank statement. That way, we, at Johnson Real Estate, protect our legal obligations. Can you provide what we ask?"
Mark smiled. He knew that Mr. Johnson's reaction was due to the way he looked. The young man expected this sort of thing. "Yes, I'm sending my ID issued by the Berant City Transportation Commission. Also, I'm requesting my bank to send you a statement. It should be arriving any moment now.
After a few moments, Mr. Johnson spoke back. " Mr Warren, we have received your documentation. We may start the tour now.
The door to the shop opened. A small drone greeted Mark at the door. A projection of Mr. Johnson came out of the little machine. The young man walks through into the sales floor. The place was well-kept. In the corner, Mark spotted a small cleaning droid sweeping for dust.
The shop looked like it had been closed for a few years. Some of the exhibition droids had a bit of mold. With his enhanced vision, he was able to see details most people would miss. All the while, Mr. Johnson was explaining things that Mark already knew.
They moved to the back of the shop, the production floor, where a large space was occupied by two industrial-grade 3D printers. One of them looked to be in good order; the other one needed repairs. Mark's eyes caught every detail, from the state of the machines to the spots the cleaning droid missed.
The second floor of the building had a large warehouse where materials and unsold droids lay collecting dust. The old machines were outdated but could be refurbished and repurposed. In his mind, Mark was using his skills to calculate the value of the equipment so far, which was around 145 million L-credits.
The third level of the building was the living quarters of the previous owner. The apartment was spacious and fully furnished. This part was top-notch. Apparently, after the previous owner passed away, some relatives renovated the place to increase the value. Mark decided to set a price ceiling around 500million L-credits. After all, the location of the shop increased the value a lot.
The young man prepared for a bargaining Battle. "I have seen all I need to see. My decision will rest on the asking price. So how much?"
Well, Mr Warren, you are in luck on that front. The current owner is asking for 400million L-credits. Keep in mind that the property is worth a lot more due to the location.
I see, it's a fair price. Or it would be if not for the broken equipment and outdated stock of the warehouse. The place is clean, but cleaning is not the only thing that needs to be done in a place like this.
Also, while there are two 3D printers, there are no assemblers. This means that the droids were put together by hand, which lowers the quality. To start producing, I will need to get the equipment up to par. I will make a counteroffer offer 380.
Mr. Johnson seemed surprised by the young man's technical acumen. I see you are not clueless when it comes to fabrication. As I said before, the Location is the most valuable part of the property. I can make a small adjustment due to the state of the machinery. How about 385?
Mark smiled inside. "That price is acceptable. When can I expect the property to be handed out?"
The paperwork can take a few days. I say in a week at most. You will need to come in person to our office for the signing and payment. Mr Johnson sent Mark all the instructions for the procedure.
After exiting his new building, Mark continued his shopping spree. The building affair put Mark a little behind schedule. But he managed to get all the stuff the system needed. After going to a quiet corner, Mark offered the Items to the system. This time, the system only took the things it needed and nothing more. Leaving the hover box a bit empty.
To cover his tracks, Mark purchased some trinkets and more clothes. When he arrived, the three teens were waiting for him in front of Tina's Sweets.
"It's about time you showed Marksman!" Steve talked with his usual loud manner.
Livia sights. "It's not a good thing to keep people waiting, especially a girl."
Alex greeted the young man with a wave of her hand; she was the only one who was not upset. Livia even saw the hint of a smile.
After seeing the faces of his annoyed friends, Mark gave them a peace offering. "Sorry, everyone, I got distracted. Why don't you let me treat you to anything you want as an apology?
Their faces soon changed. Livia and Steve started to cheer, and Alex nodded in approval. The group entered the pastry shop in high spirits. Mark was the first to sit. Alex rushed and sat beside him, leaving Livia to sit beside Steve. Livia did not mind sitting beside Steve; in fact, she was planning that all along. But she noticed Alex's rush to take the spot.
After eating some sweets and goofing around and having a great time, the young man and the teens decided to have a strategy meeting about their game session.
Livia was the first to ask. "What are we doing today? I want to use my harpy before dealing with the cafeteria."
Steve also wanted to run some modes. "How about doing a Warlord Battle?"
"I vote for operations, I hate the mess of warlord battles," Mark voiced his vote. Alex, who was seated beside him, nodded in agreement.
Livia looked at Alex, seated next to Mark. Her woman's intuition started to tingle. She decided to ignore the signs for now. "Let's go for a party duel, we have two fliers, a rifleman, and a colorful decoy."
"Hey, I recent that," Steve protested
In the end, they decided to toss a coin between operations and warlord battles. Heads for Warlords, Tails for operations. As Steve tossed the coin, the four of them went silent.
As the coin hit the table, heads came on top. "Yeah! In Your Face!" Steve screamed at the coin.
Livia giggled, finding Steve's antics a bit funny.
The other teens accepted reluctantly. The game plan was to play a Warlords game, followed by two operations and ending with a four-versus-four duel. After deciding what to do, Mark paid the bill, and the four of them left for the Pit.