43 Coming to Terms

After that, Michael could hear a high pitch whine as if something had just burst next to his head. His ears were ringing and his head started pounding. It was very reminiscent of the first day he'd received the System. He quickly checked and thankfully confirmed that he didn't appear to have a nosebleed.

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"Hey, kid. Not sure how long it's been since you last heard my voice since this one is a recording that could be triggered out of sequence. If you got it in sequence, that's pretty good. If you got it in the first six months since our first chat, that's even better. Your head is probably pounding right now, right? Congratulations, you've just unlocked a data set."

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"It seems like the System had an opportunity to explain that the payload we could send you was limited, so only very specific information that would be hard to gather for you personally or with the resources you currently have has been stored within the System's personal data sets. This means that this data is priceless. You absolutely can not let anyone know that you have it - though since you're still hearing these, you definitely haven't tried to tell anyone else about this. *Chuckle* If you had, you'd already have suffered some permanent brain damage and we wouldn't be having this conversation, nor would you still have the System."

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"You're pretty good at computers, so you can think of the System that you received like a 'minimal install' - you know, a live-booting device that has enough stuff on it to get up and running, and then figure out how to get the rest of the stuff it needs. So as you gather more resources and capabilities, the stuff the System can provide will only get better and better."

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"Well look at that. Congratulations! You managed to complete both the first tier of an Extra Credit Mission and a Personal Territory Upgrade Mission in the first 6 months, and you never forced the System to use the Stick other than in the example. Since you're following along well, I'm going to unlock a little something extra for you. Keep doing well without triggering the Stick and there might be more in your future. Don't say I never gave you anything!"

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Michael stood stunned as the flood of new information passed through his mind. The ringing faded after a little while, but he hadn't moved from the bottom of the stairs where he'd first received the notification from the System. He moved over to his bed and sat down on the edge to process what had just happened.

"So... I guess it's a good thing I didn't refuse any missions, eh System?"

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"You know, I thought about it a couple of times. Sometimes everything is just so overwhelming and all I want to do is stop and play video games or pig out on junk food and watch TV."

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"If I had, or if I had skipped the morning workouts, I wouldn't have gotten any of this stuff though, huh?"

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"...I wouldn't even have known what I was missing."

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"...Why does it feel like I'm being trained, sometimes? Trained for something I'm not allowed to know about?"

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"I KNOW, System! I know. I'm sorry. Just, give me a few minutes ok?"

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---

Several minutes later, Michael walked back upstairs and poured himself another glass of water, which he quickly finished. As he was still the only one at home, he decided to get a change of scenery, and a breath of fresh air, and made his way to the park nearby.

It took him about 15 minutes to walk from his house to the park, and he was in no hurry. He was taking his time and trying to think through everything that had happened in the past couple of weeks, starting with the biggest question - Why?

All he knew was that 'something' had happened, and apparently whatever it was was so bad that sending a piece of software back in time to a high schooler was the best solution. That means it was some type of scenario that even AI and Time Travel technology couldn't fix! What kind of problem could it possibly be?

For some reason, he was being trained - trained how didn't seem to be specific, as a lot of the missions seemed to be based on his own decisions. The only general theme seemed to be that he had to be stronger and overall better than he would have been otherwise.

The future him, if he chose to believe that, was apparently someone with access to crazy technology - if that was who he was going to turn into in the future based on how he was already going to live his life, how big was the problem that even that kind of person couldn't solve it?

More importantly, how was cleaning his room and doing well in high school athletics supposed to make things better? What was the goal?

By this time he had arrived at the park. He found a bench along the water's edge and looked out across the waterway and watch the sun as it began to set. He decided to think about things from another point of view.

Whatever the reason he had been given this thing, he now had it, and other than being a bit bossy, there had been no downside. In fact, all of the abilities he had received - the status screen, the timers, steps, guidelines, enhanced focus, and lucid space - were all incredibly beneficial.

"It's really almost like a cheat," he thought, smiling wryly.

Was it unfair of him to use these abilities in school? He thought about this briefly before casting the thought aside. He wasn't competing with anyone else - well, other than in the upcoming literal competitions. But so far, his abilities hadn't given him a leg up other than the work he himself was putting in to things. They were more like having a better support team.

Those well-to-do familiar, the ones with a rich background or military histories like the top 5 in his gym class - they all had personal combat styles and tutors and trainers helping them every step of the way. In a sense, the System was just his own inheritance, except instead of coming from his ancestors, it came from himself. It was more like borrowing against his future success!

"Does this mean that some time in the future, I'm going to have to send the System back to myself in order to close the loop? Do I need to develop AI and Time-Travel technology, or will they just pop up some time in the future and I can just take advantage of them?", he frowned as he considered the implications of his understanding.

"That doesn't make sense, though, since if that were the case, lots of people would be floating around with Systems in their head. Though come to think of it, I have no way of knowing that that isn't the case. After all, apparently trying to tell other people about it would potentially leave me brain dead."

His frown deepened for a moment before relaxing.

"If that was the case then I'd have even less of a reason to feel guilty about it. At the end of the day, it comes down to how we use the resources at hand, right? And if the only cost of the System is that I can't slack off as much as I would like, that's not that bad of a downside at all!"

His face brightened a bit as he came to this conclusion. The sun was just dipping down below the horizon, and the sky was a beautiful mix of orange and pink. He felt energized and was ready to get home and start sorting things out.

He stood up from the bench and admired the view. He also looked around at the rest of the park - for a Friday evening, it was pretty bare. There were a few individuals sitting and reading at some benches, and some kids playing.

"This might be a good place to try practicing yoga, or the internal martial art, if I'm looking for a change of pace," he mused.

With a stretch and a sigh, he started to walk back home.

He didn't notice a pair of eyes watching him from nearby, nor did he hear the scratching, croaking voice mutter as he faded from view.

"A bit interesting..."