In the teleporter hanger room of Military Base 1, a group of military officials stood at attention in front of the first teleporter against the wall, the same teleporter Hikiko Shizuka had walked through only last night. Leading the group was General Sac.
'She couldn't make it a single day without causing trouble could she?' He thought with a deadpan look on his face.
Instantly, the teleporter whirled to life, becoming a spinning cyclone of green light. A moment later, Head General Paul of Military Base 2, still wearing his black-and-white suit, walked through. By his side was his trusty secretary, Martha. However, rather than holding her normal clipboard, she was holding a basketball-sized wooden box in both hands like a wrapped present.
"Head General Paul of Military Base 2!" General Sac announced with a salute, causing the soldiers behind him to salute as well. "Welcome back to Military Base 1! Supreme Commander Oscar is ready to see you, now!" He replied, as he and his group walked towards the door leading into the base. "Follow us!"
Paul did as instructed, with Martha trailing behind him. General Sac led Paul through the winding corridors of Military Base 1, before eventually leading him to the same important-looking door flanked by guards that Shizuka had entered to speak with Oscar.
As they entered the door, they saw Oscar, leaning forward in his seat with his hands clasped on top of his desk. He had the look of a parent expecting to receive a report of an unruly child from a teacher. Paul walked forward, and sat down in the seat before Oscar. Oscar let out a deep sigh.
"What did she do this time?" He asked in a defeated tone. Paul raised his eyebrow in confusion.
"I'm sorry?" He asked. This time, Oscar had a look of confusion.
"Your message said you 'wanted to speak with me about something'." He replied. "I assumed it was because Sergeant Shizuka did something, and you're here to make a complaint."
There was an awkward pause.
"Shizuka has been perfectly fine." Paul said eventually, before glancing to the side. "...Aside from a rather unsettling outburst about what she'd do to a certain…'Vicky
Blade'…" Oscar sighed again.
"Yes, her." Oscar sighed, resting his hand on his cheek. "She's been…" Oscar paused, trying to find the right word. Paul raised his eyebrow.
"On the warpath?" He asked.
Oscar glanced at him.
"It's more like an inquisition." He replied. "Anyway, she's been like that since she returned from that mission. If she had it her way, every military squad would be out combing the universe for that…girl. However, I've informed her multiple times that would be a drastic drain on our resources."
There was another pause. Oscar leaned forward, now interested.
"Well, if this isn't about Shizuka, then was IS this about?" He asked.
In response, Martha placed the small box she had been carrying on Oscar's desk and opened it. As the interior was revealed, Oscar's eyes widened, for inside, was an ostrich egg-sized chunk of pure glathrium.
Oscar's gaze drifted to Paul.
"Where did you get this?" He asked, as he lifted up the chunk to examine it closely. Paul reached into his pocket, and pulled out a thumb drive.
"This is a clip from the security feed in my office." He explained, handing it to Oscar. "It'll explain everything."
Oscar quickly snatched the thumb drive and jabbed it into the top of his wristwatch.
Instantly, static appeared on the screen of his watch, before a video began to play. It was the security feed from Paul's office, capturing a clip of he and Tsukuru's meeting.
Oscar's eyes widened in shock, as he watched the translucent, light-blue pixels appear in Tsukuru's hand, clustering together into an egg-like shape. There was a flash that covered the screen, obscuring its sight. When the light faded, Tsukuru was holding the glathrium chunk Oscar now held in his.
The video then ended, the screen of his wristwatch returning to normal. Oscar stared at the empty screen for a few minutes, his brain seeming to lag in shock.
His head then snapped up to Paul.
"Are you telling me we now have access to an unlimited source of glathrium?" He asked.
Paul nodded.
"I have an arrangement with the boy." Paul explained. "He has agreed to produce another glathrium chunk, just like that one, every week."
Slowly, Oscar put the glathrium chunk back in the box.
"Have that boy put on the 'do-not-touch' list." Oscar ordered, causing Paul to nod, as if he expected that outcome. "I don't care if it upsets Truedream. I will not risk this opportunity slipping away from us!" He replied, as he pushed the box shut. "Also…" He said, looking up at Paul.
"Tell that boy's teacher that he is to be put on the roster for the Military Base Tournament, regardless of his Ability Level." He looked up at Paul with fire in his eyes. "I want to witness this boy's Ability in action. He might be an even better golden goose than his MOTHER was!"
Paul nodded. "Yes, sir."
Martha took the box off the desk, and the two of them walked out the door. Oscar watched the door as they vanished.
"Ten kilograms of raw glathrium every week." He muttered in shock. "That's forty kilos of glathrium a month. And we don't even have to lift a finger!"
Paul and Martha walked back down the winding corridors and back to the teleportation hanger. When he entered the room, he waved to the official in the guard room.
The guard waved his hand in acknowledgement, and pressed the button for Military Base 2's portal. The portal whirled to life, and Paul and Martha walked back through.
As they walked through, they emerged in Paul's office, a group of soldiers surrounding the portal. As they walked through, the soldiers cut the power, and wheeled the portal out of the room, and back into the storage room it was kept in.
Paul pressed his finger on his watch, opening a com link.
"This is Head General Paul." He replied, speaking into the screen. "An emergency meeting will be held this evening in the meeting room. All Generals and Sergeants are required to attend." He took his finger off the screen, ending the communication. The communication went out to General Nathan, General Duke, Sergeant Leo, Sergeant Faye, Sergeant Shizuka, and Sergeant Dillon.
Back in the library, Quinn and Vorden stared at Tsukuru due to his last statement.
'I can't believe he just said it!' Quinn thought in disbelief. Vorden raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"'A System'?" He asked. "What's that?"
Tsukuru smiled, before tapping his temple.
"Essentally, it means I perceive the world as if I was a video game character." He replied. "I see things as if I was looking through a video monitor, I have Levels, XP, HP, and other stats that denote certain characteristics, and I even have a special 'Inventory' that lets me put things in a storage space that only I can access." He explained.
Quinn's eyes widened at that last part.
'Wait!' He thought. 'I can't do that!' Tsukuru smirked, before continuing.
"And…one of the most…convenient features of my System is a built-in 'scanner' function." He replied. Vorden, raised his eyebrow.
"Wait, what do you mean, 'scanner'?" He asked.
In response, Tsukuru placed his open palm onto the desk. A System screen appeared in front of him.
[Skill Video Creation has been activated.]
The familiar sound of electronic interference that appeared when Tsukuru used his ability could be heard, and translucent, light-blue pixels appeared under his hand, and began to spread out across the table. The pixels bunched together forming a square. The flash of light occurred, but most of it was blocked by Tsukuru's hand. When the light faded, he had a piece of white, computer paper under his hand. Another System message appeared.
[-1 MC. MC: 19/20]
Tsukuru then lifted his hand, and the same System message denoting the activation of his Ability appeared.
[Skill Video Creation has been activated.]
The sound of electronic interference was heard again, and the pixels reappeared in his hand. They clustered together into a cylindrical shape. There was a bright flash of light that blinded both Quinn and Vorden.
When it faded, Tsukuru was holding a No. 2 pencil. Another System message appeared.
[-1 MC. MC: 18/20]
"Here, I'll show you what I mean." Tsukuru replied.
He leaned over the piece of paper with the pencil in his right hand. On the page, Tsukuru saw a translucent outline projected in his vision. Like a stencil or a tracing machine. It seemed like the System knew what he wanted the draw, and was showing him where to draw the line.
Vorden and Quinn watched in amazement, as he began to draw. On the left side of the paper, he drew a sketch of their other roommate, Peter, drawn as a 2-D anime character. The two looked down at the image in surprise.
"Not bad." Vorden muttered. Tsukuru continued to draw.
"When I look at something, a digital 'vector' appears over them." He replied. "On people, this usually appears over their faces."
He drew a small circle in the center of Peter's face, with smaller half-circles spreading out from it in random directions, in the formation of a "wheel" in the center of Peter's face.
The two stared at the drawing in rapt attention.
"A line then extends from the vector, usually from the left." Tsukuru continued, drawing a line extending from the left of the wheel. "It then goes upwards…"
Tsukuru drew the line changing directions at a 90-degree angle.
"Before attaching to a square." He replied, drawing a square that met the end of the line. "This square shows a close-up image of the thing I'm looking at." He explained, drawing a close-up of Peter's face in the square. "Finally." Tsukuru said, causing the two to snap from looking at the drawing to look up at Tsukuru. "Information is shown below the square."
He wrote something down underneath the square. When he was done, he leaned back so Quinn and Vorden could see it. It had three lines of text that read:
Name: Peter Chuck
Race: Human
Ability: None
The two stared at the text for a moment, before Tsukuru spoke again.
"The only Ability that doesn't follow this pattern is yours, Vorden." Tsukuru replied, catching both boy's attention. "Your information is displayed…slightly different."
Hearing this, Vorden raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Tsukuru began to draw on the right side of the paper. He drew a sketch of Vorden in that same 2-D anime style.
Like with Peter, he drew the "vector" over Vorden's face. However, this time, the line extended to the right of Vorden's face. Tsukuru looked up at them.
"When there's multiple people being scanned in my vision, the second person's image and info appears to the right." He explained. The line extended upwards to another square, where Tsukuru drew a close-up of Vorden's face.
Underneath, he wrote four lines of text:
Name: Vorden Blade
Race: Human
Ability: Copy
Ability Capacity: 1
He paused for a second, then continued, this time writing at a slight indent, as if he was writing bullet points. "As the last Ability you copied was mine, and you seem to only be able to hold one Ability, I'll assume mine overwrote Erin's Ice Ability." Tsukuru replied, as he wrote two additional lines:
Ability 1: Video
Ability Level: 1
Tsukuru looked up at the two. "Also, when I look at an object, the text from my scanner instead lists that item's name and a small description." Tsukuru explained.
Vorden took the piece of paper Tsukuru had drawn on, and looked at it.