Because of his fixations, Mark failed to notice the green arrow indicating the location of his grandfather. As he entered the room, Bart saw the equipment the young man was using. Now, the man was demanding an explanation. Mark had no way out; in his heart, he always knew that his secret could not be kept forever.
The young man was left with no other choice. He decided to explain everything somewhere where they could not be overheard. "Not here, Grampa, let's go to the white room. Bart decided to show a bit more patience. "OK, Mark, but don't think for a moment you will get out of an explanation. This time I don't plan to go easy on you." Bart left Mark's room. The man moved to the room he was using at the moment.
In the meantime, Mark went to the nightstan besides his bed and grabbed his VR headset. Putting it on, he found himself in the white room. While Bart arrived, the young man organised his thoughts. His half thruths methots were not going to work at this point. His grandfather will demand nothing but the truth.
After a few moments, Bart flashed into the white room. With his grandson in front of him, the man was not going to wait any longer. "Well, out with it, we don't have all day." The look he had was a sign that his patience was running out.
With a gesture of his left hand, Mark started a program. The white room changed to a cottage, and snowy mountains were visible through the window panes. He walked towards the living room and sat by the chimney. The young man was ready to tell his story.
After taking a deep breath, Mark made a hand gesture to his grandfather. "Come sit down, Grandpa. This is going to be a long story."
Bart sits down. In his mind, he was trying to tell if his grandson was about to tell the truth or just another lie. "Well, little Mark, stop stalling for time and let's get on with it."
Mark smiles at his grandfather. "Don't worry, Grampa, I'm about to start. ...It all began in the next war."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city. Inside a luxurious room, the boss from the Blazing Hand gang leisurely sat on a chair overlooking a beautiful view of the city. The man was dressed in a silk robe, and part of his tattooed chest was exposed. His red, glowing eyes projected a longing gaze at the view. Behind him, three female figures lay on the bed, their forms covered by silk bed sheets.
His contemplation was distracted by a knock at the door. Placing his aviator sunglasses on his face, the man screams at the one knocking. "This better be good, I'm busy over here."
The door opens, and Gin comes in. I'm sorry to bother you, boss, but we have an urgent development. The Riggans' Vultures are making moves. We have received word of an attempt to enter the gunsmith workshop. Also, there are constant reports of break-ins around Riggan's Point shops. They appear to be putting together an arsenal.
The eyes of the man were still gazing at the city. His mind stirred with ideas and scenarios. "We have to hit them first. How are we on hardware?"
Gin's mouth curved upwards. "Ever since yesterday, everyone has been cooperating with us. Your mere presence changed their minds. We now have a good amount of hardware. Also, the City Vipers want to cooperate with us."
The man clicked his tongue. "Since they are eager to help now that I'm here, let them show their sincerity by being the first to attack. We will use them to soak all the vulture's fire." He paused for a moment as his mind was shifting gears. "What about the new owner of the droid boutique?"
Gin decided to give his boss the bad news. "Well, there are problems with that boss. Checking the records, we found that the basement levels are legal now. I think they hired a very good cyber-head. It's as if the place was always legal."
The man's eyes glowed a bit stronger. "That means they got rid of our order. Now I really want to have a word with the new owner."
Gin related the information about the new owner to his boss. "Our cyber-heads got a lot of info on him. This boy is a bit of a celebrity. Turns out he was one of the people kidnapped by the freaks of the abandoned factory, he also won the biggest jackpot of the Berant city lottery, and last but not least, he built the first S-grade mech for the lower levels in A.M.S. history."
The Boss looked at Gin, and an incredulous look flashed for a moment in his eyes. "This fellow gets around. ...If he can build mechs, I want him even more. With a mech army, we can scale up our operation."
Gin's face suddenly darkened. "The boy has family we can ...invite over. Right now, he is living with his mother and a little girl he rescued from the factory fiasco." Gin showed photos of the people in question.
The Boss looked at their photos. The golden color of the girl's eyes made him contemplate for a moment. "It's not a good idea to mess with this little girl. She has the same eyes as the Soothsayer. If we are going to take him, she can not be present. We must wait for the right time. Let's deal with the vultures first. Once the people's eyes are fixated on another thing, we will take our chances.
Gin turns to leave. "I will set it up, Boss." In his mind, he wanders about the boss's sudden change of heart. He was also intrigued by the person the man mentioned. Who was this Soothsayer. He or she had to be somebody powerful to give the Boss pause.
Back on the virtual cottage, Bart had an expression of disbelief. His grandson's story was unbelievable. "If I had not seen your ghost suit, I would not have believed you."
Mark corrected his grandfather. "It's called the phantom veil. And it's not a suit, it's an attachment for my armor."
Bart looked at his grandson. "You have to admit it's a tough story to believe in."
Mark looked at his grandfather with a bit of confusion. "Are you not worried about the alien tech?"
Bart looked at the young man with amusement. "Mark, humanity has used alien technology ever since the first contact war. At the moment, we only keep the top position in the galaxy for two reasons. Number one, Its our ability to propagate. Bart raises his hand, showing his index finger. Two, we used the aliens' own technology against them. He lifted his thumb to count the second reason.
Mark was surprised by his grandfather's reaction. In his mind, he had been getting ready for a debate over the use of the system. Not having to defend his point of view felt a bit awkward, but he quickly shook his head.
Bart decided to help his grandson with the system repairs. "So do you have a list of materials required for the repair?"
Mark thinks for a moment. "Well, I don't. The system always tells me when I'm near the required materials. It has never given me a list." He remembers the first time he started helping with the system repairs a few days ago. "Even though I asked, it has only shown me what it needs. I have never been provided a list.
Bart was a bit disappointed with his grandson's answer. "That is inconvenient. With a list, we can actively search for materials ourselves."
Mark looks at the time. "Grampa, I'm going to bed, I have to wake in a few hours." He knew his grandfather's doubts could not be that simple. If you have more questions, we can talk later.
Bart looked at the time on his own menu. "You are right. We have to meet with the J&H people in a few hours. Let's log out. But remember this conversation has not ended."
With a reluctant look, Mark logs out. He places his VR headset back on the charger and then changes clothes. Closing his eyes, the young man's consciousness fades.
As he opened his eyes, Mark found himself in the white space again. This time, he saw a chair covered in blue mist. He walked to the chair and observed it for a few moments. Interpreting the existence of the chair as an invitation, he sat down.
In front of him, an amalgamation of blue mist started to take different shapes. The young man had a puzzled look on his face. "Is this a puppet show?"
Mark looked at the show being presented to him. He saw a group of houses and humanoid mist shapes living in the buildings. "Is this an Anuviar village?"
As the words left his lips, the scene changed. The houses grew and became tall buildings. Objects flew around the buildings, going up and down.
Mark, getting the gist of it, understood that this was a way of communication. The young man decided to play along. "And civilization advanced."
The scene changed again. This time, the mist people grew, and their heads started glowing with a clear blue light.
The young man was a bit confused at first, but it only took him a few moments to understand. "The Anuviar evolved."
One more time, the scene changes once he deciphers the meaning. This time, Objects are shown ascending from the now-tall structures. Focusing on the objects that came out of the buildings, the puppet show starts displaying moons, stars, and planets.
Mark grasped the meaning quickly. "You acquired the capacity for space travel."
The scene changes to show the inside of the vessels. The group of Anuviars grew again, and the light coming from their heads increased in intensity.
Having deciphered the previous pictograms, this one was easy for Mark. "After space travel, you evolved again."
The mist formed another Marionette scene. This one showed a city amongst the stars. The anuviars from this pictogram had bright lights coming from their heads. They constructed a circular structure, and as they turned it on. A creature resembling a mass of red light with tentacles came out. The creature started consuming the surrounding Anuviars.
This time, it took him a while to interpret the meaning behind the marionette scene. "You constructed a portal to somewhere, and a creature came by accident? Mark remembered the white space description. "Were you exploring other dimensions?"
Suddenly, the mist turned into a humanoid form. Mark could hear the murmurs and whispers, but could not comprehend their meaning. While the meaning of the words eluded him. These carried a sad tone. He remembered the System ability he saw while looking for the voice modulator, Universal Translator.
Big Brother, ...Big brother wake up!
Mark opened his eyes and saw Melly's face. She was really close to him. A bit startled by this, Mark tried to get up reflexively and accidentally knocked Melly's forehead with his head.
Melly complained, rubbing her forehead. "Ouch! ...Big brother, be more careful, that hurts."
Mark got up while rubbing his own forehead. Silly Melly, that's your own fault. You were too close."
Melly stops rubbing her forehead. Her golden eyes looked at Mark. "I was hearing a voice in your head. It was a pleasant voice. Was that your friend?"
Mark was a bit surprised that Melly could hear the voice of the system. "Melly, were you able to understand the words?"
The girl with the golden eyes shook her head. "No, but she sounded sad."
The screen with the daily bonus showed up. Your daily bonus is 152,624 TP. Your new Balance is 220, 443 TP. Your bank balance is 0 TP.
Melly remembered the reason she came to the room. "Anyway, Big Brother, Rachel wanted me to wake you up. The people from the security company are here."
Mark inquired about Melly's doctor appointment. "Melly, you had that doctor's appointment, right? What did the doctor say?"
The girl answered. He said that while my eye looks bad, it's nothing serious. The eye will be clear in a few days. He made me swallow a pill with little robots to monitor my blood. But he found nothing wrong."
Mark looked at the time. It was 10:30 am. He hurriedly got dressed and combed his hair. Mark met the consultants in the living room of his house. Rachel and Bart were already there waiting for him. They spent two hours discussing their security needs. In the end, they agreed to a monitoring system in the shop, but not in the house.
After learning the capacities of the cyber-heads the gangs used, Mark decided against droids. Human guards can not be hacked. In the end, the package they chose would provide armed guards and surveillance in the shop. Mark also decided to get some bodyguards for Rachel and Melly.
Around 12:30 p.m., his friends arrived. He took Melly and his friends shopping. Mark made a stop at Cooper Appliances. He decided to purchase the good quality 3D printer and assembler combo they had there. He also arranged for the shop to take the old machines from the workshop for a discount on his new equipment.
After that, they made a beeline for Tina's Sweets. Here, they took their time. Being Melly's first time, they decided to order a selection of sweets to find her favorite.
The girl sampled the sweets before her. She could not decide, as she loved the taste of all the sweets before her. They all had a great time. After visiting Tina's Sweets, they returned to Mark's VR arcade. This time, Melly wanted to join them.
Mark, seeing the girls interested in their activity, pondered if she could even pilot a mech. "Melly, we are going to play a game with mechs. Do you know what they are?"
Melly's eyes light up. "Yes! Ruri from Star Blazers has one. I want one just like hers."
Mark scratches his chin. "That is a bit of a tough call. Ruri's mech is a space-faring mech. I don't think it's a good Idea to start with those. They have a high learning curve." Mark thinks for a moment. Why don't we start you up with a simple mech first and paint it in the same colors? Once you master that one, we can keep upgrading your mech until you get to the one you want.
Melly was developing a bit of a spoil personality. "But why can't I have Ruri's Mech?"
Mark patiently explained. "Melly think of it like this: when you first start to move, you first need to crawl, then you need to walk. Once you know how to walk, you can then learn how to run."
Melly pouted in the cutest way. "OK, but I at least want one with Ruri's colors."
Mark spoke to his friends next. "If you want, go to the workshop before me. Once I help Melly with the basics, I will log in to the workshop."
Steve and Livia decided to go ahead. Both of them wanted to tend to their respective areas. Alex tugged on Mark's shirt.
Mark looks at the teen. "Do you want to help me with Melly?" Alex nodded her head. Mark smiles at her. "OK lets start." All of them picked their pods and logged into the white room.