Chapter 9
Time passed quickly and before Ryan realized it, one week had already passed since the meeting at Nova Tech.
One evening Ryan was sitting at the dining table with his parents while eating dinner. His father suddenly started talking about the manufacturing of the Nova Handheld and the game cartridges.
"So," Ryan asked, "did you find a company to produce the handheld?"
His father nodded.
"Yes. Everything has been arranged in Japan."
Ryan looked surprised.
"Japan?"
His father explained,
"With the help of your grandparents we found a factory there. It used to produce electronic components but after the Plaza Accord many Japanese companies suffered huge losses."
The company was on the verge of shutting down.
"The owner wanted to sell the factory," his father continued, "and since everything was still intact, we bought the whole facility."
Ryan blinked.
"How much?"
"Three hundred thousand dollars."
Ryan was slightly surprised. Even though it was cheap for a factory, it was still a lot of money for Nova Tech.
His father continued explaining.
"The machines are old so we are upgrading them. That will take about a week."
"In total we have spent around five hundred thousand dollars."
Ryan's father sighed slightly.
"If the handheld and the Pokémon game fail… we might face serious financial trouble."
At that moment Ryan's mother spoke calmly.
"Don't worry too much."
"Even if it fails, our family can still handle the losses."
"But of course it would be much better if it succeeds."
Both of them were clearly nervous about the situation.
Ryan simply smiled.
"Don't worry."
"The game will definitely succeed."
---
The next day Ryan went to school as usual.
After class he spent time with his friends.
Rachel and Ryan were becoming closer every day.
They often walked together, talked together, and sometimes even fed the stray dogs near the school.
Because of this, Raj and Chandler were getting tired of watching them.
"Seriously," Chandler said one day, "you two are worse than a romance movie."
Raj nodded.
"We're starting to feel like third wheels."
Ryan simply laughed.
He had thick skin and didn't care about the teasing.
Rachel, however, became shy whenever they mentioned it.
---
That afternoon after school ended, Ryan and Rachel walked together toward the school bus.
The sky was slowly turning orange as the sun began to set.
After walking quietly for a while, Rachel suddenly stopped.
"Ryan…"
He turned toward her.
"Yes?"
Rachel hesitated for a moment before asking,
"Do you… like me?"
Ryan looked at her.
He didn't answer immediately.
Finally he smiled slightly.
"Yes."
"But not right now."
Rachel looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
Ryan simply shook his head.
"You'll understand later."
The two of them then boarded the bus.
For the rest of the ride the atmosphere was strangely quiet.
Eventually the bus reached Ryan's stop.
Just as he was about to get off, Rachel suddenly leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.
"I'll wait," she said softly.
Ryan stood there for a moment, surprised.
But inside his mind he was already thinking about something else.
Because the moment Rachel kissed him…
A strange "ding" sound appeared in his head.
Ryan froze.
A familiar mechanical voice echoed in his mind.
At that moment Ryan realized something.
His golden finger had finally arrived.