Reliving the joys and adventures of the past, Mateo didn't notice when his mother ended her brief exploration of the CODE, which resulted in him being shaken by the shoulders.
"Teo, you've got a lot of explaining to do."
Donning on his calm unbothered smile which made Maria feel like wielding her flip flops as weapons once again, he started narrating his story, right from the moment he was playing a game on his phone on New Year's Eve till now.
Of course he only told her about things relating to the zombies, the CODE and his findings. Nothing about his personal life escaped his lips.
– An hour later–
After a full hour of listening to her son about how he was teleported to the same strange tunnel as her, how he killed reanimated goblin corpses and how he eventually died, met a higher being, got coerced by the said higher being to accept the strange entity which is the CODE, among many other things, Maria felt her brain was fried.
Alongside her tiredness she also realised something else, 'My baby boy is all grown up. Even though he doesn't tell us things anymore I understand. We just need to be supportive of whichever path he decides to walk on.'
Reading his mother's thoughts from her expression, Mateo smiled and decided to put her mind at ease.
"Don't worry mama, I'm fine and no, I'm not thinking of abandoning you guys or leaving forever or something– I'll miss your cooking way too much."
Allowing a warm smile to show her appreciation for a moment, concern quickly flashed on her face.
"Mateo, why do you think this happened to us? What did we do to deserve this punishment?"
Despite disagreeing with the situation being called a punishment he still gave an answer, more like a theory that had been formed in the past few minutes.
"I don't think it happened just to us. In fact I think it has happened to others and will eventually happen to everyone."
Taking her confusion as a sign to keep talking, Mateo propounded his theory.
"If you think about it, both of us were sent into that tunnel on our birthdays, and since we are the first ones in the family to celebrate, we are also the first ones to be chosen."
Understanding his theory a bit, she asked why they hadn't seen nor heard any news of the sort, for which he didn't have an answer.
"Wait, does this mean that Aliyah and sister Jamila are next?"
"Most probably. In fact I'm betting on them to experience what we did in order to make my theory valid."
Seeing her son's casual attitude, Maria was a bit disturbed but she hid it well after all, just a few minutes ago she had vowed to support whichever path he chose to walk on, even if she didn't like it.
"Don't you think we should warn them, at least about that purple miasma."
Slowly getting up he answered, "I don't see a problem with that, though I don't think it would be of any use either, seeing how dad didn't believe you earlier."
"Okay. Oh, you're leaving already. Wait a bit I'll cook something for you, you must be very hungry. See how lean you've become."
Laughing at how his mother was able to call his bulked body, lean with a straight face he hugged her and told her not to worry since he was staying the night, he just had somewhere to go to at the moment.
"Oh, before I forget, what stat did you get after spinning the wheel?"
"Stat? Wheel? Ah, you mean that thing, I haven't spun it yet, why?"
"Oh, no reason. Just curious. Text me when you spin it, yeah. Catch you later", he said as walked out the door to the sleek dark sedan waiting for him, giving his mum a wave as he sat in.
A few seconds later, he was off, the car purring like a satisfied beast as it raced down the asphalt road.
The short trip was unsurprisingly uneventful, allowing Mateo's mind to wander back to the conversation with his mum, while his eyes took in the beauty of the 6:30 am sunrise.
*ping*
Checking his phone he saw his mum's text.
messages.
[Mom] - *I got speed and after adding 1 point I feel so light. What did you get?*
Sending her a funny sticker first, he answered her question, even going a step further to explain how CONSTITUTION affected the body.
"Young master, we're here", announced the driver as he entered the parking lot of the motel.
The motel, with its faded ashen walls, letters missing from its display name, rusted roofing and visible bullet holes did not seem to be the kind of place worthy enough to accommodate anyone driving around in the BMW M7 they came with.
Heck it looked like the typical front for a shady business, or the hideout of some gang, the exact same thought Mateo had the first day he was driven here.
And he was right, it was the surface level base for the only gang in the area, the gang he was now a part off.
Getting out of the car door the chauffeur opened, Mateo walked down the familiar gravel path until he was now in the building.
Smiling at the female receptionist who was a lower levelled gang member, he took a turn to the right, opened a door that had [Restricted Access– For employees only] written in bold red on it.
After walking through a room filled with naked wires, pots and pans lying about, he reached a door which required his fingerprint to open.
After a few more minutes of walking and an elevator ride which sent him deeper into the bowels of the Earth, he reached his destination.
The official base of the Red Line gang.
Psyching himself up to deal with the usual chaos that welcomed him he was met with a surprising sight.
A lone man standing while others sat at different positions with no clear order.
The man was passionately describing something to his audience who were looking at him with a mix of mockery and dumbfoundedness.
Not wanting to interrupt, Mateo took his place beside a purple haired sexy young woman as he turned his attention to Jerome, the narrator.
"– I swear guys, there were about six undead skeleton Knights, all with their bastard swords swinging for my neck. I managed to kill about four before eventually succumbing to blood loss.
If it weren't for the fact that I was barehanded and I had fought more than a dozen skeletons earlier, these ones wouldn't have been a match for me."
Ending with a flex of his non-existent muscle and a dramatic bow, Jerome took his seat to the sound of applause and fake cheers as the purple haired woman took the floor after him.
Feeling someone staring hard at him, he looked around for a bit before finding Mateo as the perpetrator.
Scooting to his side he was about paying respects to him when he got interrupted.
"Happy birthday, Jerome."