49 Taking Stock

"What's up?", Michael asked, curious.

"Your father and I were a little concerned about your ability to handle things, but you seem to be doing quite well. The only major concern we currently have is that you might be trying to work too much. We know that you've got this new arrangement at the cafe, and we're not trying to get you to change that, but we hope that you'll keep things limited beyond that. In order to help out - there's not much we can do, and we don't want to take away your independence. But what we can do, and have put into motion, is to co-sign a credit card for you.

"Also, we're going to give you a 'bonus' for quick completion on this project, which is what we'd normally do for other developers we work with. The only thing we'd ask is that you truly take care of yourself. Get enough sleep, don't burn yourself out. Okay, I've said my piece," Rowena concluded, a mix of admiration and concern visible on her face.

Michael was moved by his parents love and concern. He was quiet for several minutes as he thought about how blessed he was, and always had been.

Previously he'd just been working through his missions for his selfish curiosity about magic, but he now realized how much care and attention was being paid to him on a daily basis. He could see the pride in his parents eyes, and he made a decision. He resolved at that moment that he would make his parents proud - he'd gain citizenship and help them with their business, and make sure that they would always be safe and well taken care of. He had tools within the system that no one else could dream of, and he would use them to make the lives of his family better.

Eventually, he looked up at his parents and spoke. "I'll agree, on two conditions. First, the credit card is a guaranteed credit card, and I'll pay you back the value of the guarantee on an agreed upon schedule. Secondly, I'd like to also open a trading account to potentially do some investing. Whatever initial value is required I will also pay back. I appreciate you being willing to support me, but I want to be able to stand on my own two feet, too."

His parents were a little shocked at the counter proposal, since he'd never really shown an interest in investing in the past, but they agreed. They could easily open one through their bank, especially since that was also the bank they did their business with.

"One other thing you should probably do, son. Well, two, really," Flavius commented after they concluded that they would meet with the bank the following weekend. "Since you'll be doing business more broadly, you should officially incorporate and get an accountant. If you need one, we can make an introduction."

Michael thought about this and agreed with his father. "I'll ask around with Jeremy first, see if he can recommend someone. If not, I'll let you know."

His parents were amenable to this. Soon, dinner concluded and the girls went to clean up. His parents said that they would review the work tomorrow, as they were taking the night off. He agreed and decided that he would take a bath. He said goodnight to his parents and made his way downstairs.

He went into the bathroom and drew himself a bath. As he slowly lowered himself into the tub, he started to run through his various tasks and items as he'd promised himself. He needed to take stock of all of his missions and obligations.

His major goals were still the Mathematics competition and the regional games. One required him to complete a lot of studying, and the other required a lot of training. He had to keep up the running, and get even faster. He had to train in the javelin, discus, shotput, as well as archery and combat. He also needed to start lifting weights, both for the games and for his mission to access his personal combat style.

He also needed to build up his mental energy more, and complete the associated missions, which meant a plethora of other hobbies.

Thinking of all of this, Michael sank further into the tub and groaned.

---

Eventually, he pulled himself out of the tub, toweled off and returned to his room.

"I just need to do what I can, and focus on each task in the space I can handle it," he murmured.

He changed into his sleepwear and lay down.

"How long is this upgrade going to take, System?"

>

"Yeah... I'd like you to have a voice."

---

2:00 AM, September 15th, 2000 CE

"Michael..."

"..."

"Michael...", an unfamiliar, lilting, feminine voice called out to him. The faint trace of an accent he couldn't place curled around the edges of each syllable.

"...I'm up. Is that you, System?"

A laugh like tinkling bells rang around him seeming to come from everywhere, that familiar stillness was present, and the soft sounds of rainfall and thunder could be heard outside. That immediately made Michael realize that this was his Lucid Space. Normally, he would also be able to tell due to a lack of a true sense of a body, but that absence was gone.

"I take it that means the upgrade was a success?", Michael said, as he patted himself reassuringly.

"Both of them, actually," was the teasing response.

Michael smiled. "Fair enough. That's quite the voice you have there, System. Not what I was expecting."

"And what were you expecting?", the System replied.

"You know, I'm not sure. Maybe a refined Albion gentleman, like a butler in an old movie?"

"I'm your butler, now, am I?"

"No, no, of course not. More like a taskmaster."

"A taskmaster? Are you calling me bossy?"

"I wouldn't dream of it. Clearly it's all my future self."

"...That's right. You did this to yourself, Michael. Or will do it. Whatever - temporal mechanics are complicated."

"Tell me about it. And I've only had to think about this for the last couple of weeks! Now, time to get to work, I guess. I still have a couple of hours before I wake up, right?"

"That's right."

"Great. In that case, I want to try something."

Michael attempted something he'd been contemplating for a few days. He closed his eyes and pictured a scene from his memory, then tried to manifest a portion of that into an empty space next to his exercise area. He focused on superimposing his impression of that space with the aspect of the memory that he was trying to bring forth. Soon, he felt a tremendous weight crashing down on his head, like he had been plunged underwater. It passed quickly, but he could feel a dull ache right between his eyebrows.

"What the heck? Michael, do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"

Michael opened his eyes and to his delight, his plan had worked. Standing next to his exercise space was Centurion Densus, the guest speaker from his gym class. He was standing exactly as he had before he began his speech to their class a few days ago. Michael grinned and then winced as his head continued to throb.

"Oww, my head really hurts," Michael hissed, rubbing his forehead right between his eyebrows with the three middle fingers of his right hand.

"I should imagine - you expended roughly two thirds of your mental energy! Still, a good effort."

+0.05

Willpower-??? => 0.5

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Willpower-??? => 0.1

Intelligence-??? => 0.2

Presence-??? => 0.5>>

"Not bad!", Michael said at the notifications. "It seems like manifesting things like this is a good way to train aspects of my brain. I'm gonna take a guess that this can help me improve my mental energy? Makes sense - it's kind of like training a brain muscle."

"...you know that that isn't how the brain works, right?"

"...of course."

"...you really need to take a biology course."

"I know... now, let's do this thing."

Michael walked over to his exercise mat and faced the Centurion. Then, with another thought, the Centurion began to perform the same set of movements he had in class.

Michael continued this for the remaining time in the Lucid Space. Just as he was moving towards the bed, he decided to ask a question that had been bothering him for the past couple of hours.

"Hey, System?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you pick this voice, anyway?"

"... I don't know, actually."