The Silhouette and The Forge

Chapter 5

Authors note: As always, I own my oc but everything else goes to its respective creators.

I walk through the house trying to find where Uncle Furgus went to. He normally leaves a note on the fridge in the house if he is going out on business and I'm still asleep in the morning. But there was no note, so here I am checking around the cluttered house trying to see what he is up to.

I checked his room with the few possessions he had of his time in Vietnam and the sexy women in bikinis on the wall with some Indian and cowboy memorabilia he had around. I don't even attempt to check my Dad's room let alone look at the door, simply out of not wanting to bring up the memories of his passing and I know Furgus is the same.

Dad helped get him off the street and get his life going again even if it just was helping with the drug operation and acting as his muscle and protection. Furgus was always grateful for my dad giving him the chance to get back on his feet when no one else would help him. I walk back down the hallway to the living room and no sign of him watching any cowboy or war movies.

Not in the kitchen making his famous mustard sandwich. I swear he put's that stuff on everything, even his peas and green beans. That or gulping down some milk straight from the jug, and then when it's still in his mouth add some chocolate syrup to it for good measure.

I will never forget the first time I caught him doing that. I shake my head at that memory. I make my way out to the garage since that, or the basement are the only places that he could be by this point.

I unlock the door and make my way out there as I look around the cluttered garage with all the random things out here that just needs to be thrown away, but Dad and Furgus both said you never know when you will need it. And when you throw it away is when you are going to need it. I take my mind off remembering that as the pain it brings me knowing that Dad is gone and not coming back.

I look out the back door from the garage to see if he is in the back and still no sign of him? Where the heck is he at? I decide that before I go down into that creepy cold and dark basement which I know full well Furgus will try to scare me, I will check the front first. And it's not because I am afraid of it or whatever Furgus has planned.

I make my way through all the stuff that's in the way trying to not knock anything over as I make my way to the garage door through boxes, something covered with some camouflage netting of some kind. Between that and everything else in here. I manage to make my way over to the garage door and look out the window portion of it and see my Dad's old beat-up muscle car is still there.

Along with the motorcycle that Furgus uses because much like me, he refuses to use the car the same reason we can't bring ourselves to go into his room. As I am about to turn around, I have frozen in my tracks as something cold and hard is pressed against my throat at the same time a hand grabs the back of my head. "Gotcha!" I hear a gravelly voice filled with glee at having scared me.

"Fucking dammit Furgus! Why do you have to keep scaring the shit out of me?!" I yell to him as he lets me go and I turn around immediately. I am met with an old bald man, with his white goatee along with the wrinkles around his eye and laugh lines along his mouth. Uncle Furgus in all his glory.

Holding a thin popsicle he shaped like a knife, and he sticks it in his mouth while laughing at me. Wait a minute. "Oh, what the hell man!" I immediately reach my hand up to my throat feeling the sticky residue of the popsicle and Furgus saliva over my throat. "Will you stop scaring me with this soldier crap Furgus." I ask him with a growl in my voice.

"You want me to stop doing this? Come on now Daniel this is too much fun, plus it's stuff you need to know after all." He says while licking the popsicle all the while having a shit eating grin on his face. My eyes narrow at the blatant disregard of my complaints. After all, this is the third time he has done this, and each time almost giving me a heart attack. And he thinks it's fun.

Realizing I'm likely not going to stop him then I might as well get an answer as to why he is doing this. "Why would I ever need to know something like someone sneaking up on me with a knife? Furgus, all the people here use guns at least the ones you need to worry about. And I have you to help me if I get in over my head." I say as I glare daggers at him for getting that thing with his slobber on my throat as I try to find something to clean it off with.

He then gives me a judging stare at my statement and stays silent for a moment as I continue to try and fail to find something to wipe the gunk off with. "Daniel…" He trails off after saying my name as if he is trying to find the right words.

Sighing he continues, "You say that stuff now, and even though I do enjoy scaring the crud out of you kid, it's necessary and I am serious that you need to know this." He says to me with a solemn tone of voice as if there will be no argument on this.

I look back at him, forgetting all about getting something to clean myself off with as I get caught off guard by how serious Furgus is about this. "I know it looks dumb; however, this stuff is what got me through Vietnam Daniel, and sure most people these days don't use knives," He says this as he makes his way to the kitchen door, "But trust me. You will need this, and it will save you, Daniel, you know me and your… You know what we did, and we made enemies."

I remain quiet and solemn at what he is suggesting. At my silence and the look on my face he takes it as his que to continue, "I don't want to see you die before me, I'm old, you're not. You have your whole life ahead of you, and I won't be around forever. Think of it as my way of preparing you to ensure should something happen to me you can survive." He pauses, taking a moment to calm himself.

"Once you start getting better at knowing when you are not alone, I will show you how to do what I am doing to you now," this really gets my attention but before I can think further on it Furgus continues, "The stealth part you really need to know Daniel. I know all too well how bad you are in a fist fight." He says to me before stopping and really getting my attention with what he says next.

"And maybe if you get it down fast enough and show some initiative, I will take you to that gun range that I frequent and teach you how to use a pistol. If you do really good at the knife and stealth training, I will even let you use that good old forty-four of mine you like to stare at…" As he trails off my eyes light up at the chance to use one of the most iconic guns of all time.

"You serious?!" I ask with no small amount of joy in my voice as he looks back as he gets the door open.

"As serious as me making my famous omelets this fine morning." He says to me with a smile on his face as he breaks out laughing as I rush through the stuff in the garage to get to the kitchen in my excitement for the world's greatest omelets for breakfast. As I get to the door and step through it, I am met with a black abyss. I turn back around, and the doorway is gone. Where did Furgus and the kitchen go? Hell, where is the house?

As I am trying to figure out what is happening, I see lights slowly come into existence. Wait. They are not lights, they are stars. They are everywhere, and they slowly start to move. All of them slowly spinning around me as I am surrounded by all of them. They start to get faster as they continue to circle me, as if I am at the center of all of them.

As they continue to spin, I take notice that my clothes are beginning to be enveloped in darkness so dark that it feels like it is consuming everything around it. Even the light of the stars can't illuminate it. It spreads more and more, covering my whole body as I am nothing but a silhouette so dark that even the dark abyss between the many lights is far lighter in comparison to me. It's a darkness that is darker than black.

A gaping dark maw threatening to swallow up all that it can and still not be satisfied no matter how much it devours. And through it all I am calm, at peace even. Not showing any horror at what is happening to me or where I am at, instead I am more mesmerized by all the lights around me as I stare at them. Longing to reach out and take them, all of them.

As I stand there, in the void surrounded by this amazing sight it all abruptly ends as a massive expanse of white illuminates all in its path in the distant horizon of this place. Engulfing everything in its path, leaving nothing but an expanse of white as it swallows everything it crosses. As it reaches me, I am bombarded with a light so bright that even closing my eyes and covering them doesn't shield me from it, feeling that deep dark hunger take in as much of the light as it can.

But no matter how much it swallows and devours, the light is too much. As if I am the infamous Charybdis from legends. Forever having to drink sea water and never be satisfied, the dark can devour all it wants of the light, but it can only devour so much at a time.

As this struggle goes on, I see myself in the dwindling black abyss being pushed slowly back until I am the only thing of the dark remaining. It's not much longer that my struggles are fruitless, and I am swallowed up by the light. It is an eerie thing to be swallowed up by light as I drown in it.

Then my perspective changes from me drowning in an ocean of light, to watching my own body struggle at a distance. The darkened silhouette is slowly being pulled into the light. It starts at the feet and works its way up my legs. All the while my body struggles to fight it off. It's like watching a man drown as the sea drags him down to the depths below, and I keep watching surprisingly calm as I watch myself get consumed by the light.

As it reaches my head with a single arm waving frantically trying to grasp for anything to escape this fate, it envelopes my head and now I see nothing but light that burns my eyes and I feel nothing but agonizing pain despite watching at a distance outside of my body. As this pain goes on, I lash out trying to do anything to make it go away.

My eyes open immediately, and I set up out of fear at what just happened as I am covered in sweat, blinking a few times to the dark room I find myself in. I look around for a bit as I notice how hard I am breathing. I then realize it was all a crazy dream. I really should get out more often after I get off work and not watch so much TV, I think to myself as an explanation to just how weird and crazy it got. I mean seriously, I somehow ended up in a DC comics story.

Then somehow back in time to when Furgus was still alive and then in a swirling galaxy of stars before I got devoured by an ocean of light… At the thought of Furgus, I am saddened knowing that I am still all alone with no one to turn to. Trying to rid myself of those dark and depressing thoughts I get up off my oddly shaped bed?

The hell, I look down and see it's a pile of clothes… Oh shit, I don't think all of it was a dream. I head over to the light switch on the wall as it all starts coming back to me and as the light comes on, I can confirm it was all real.

As I am processing that everything that happened was all real, I remained calm and oddly enough accepting of it. After all, I have superpowers and apparently, those very powers provided two things while I was asleep. One of which is a crystal that can act as a hard drive for several super computers and the other is some smithing tools which I already have but at least I get some dwarven ingots from the Elder Scrolls so there is that at least.

Besides the powers, I also have a clean slate to live my life however I want to without anyone from my past out to get me or hound me for things I didn't do. Then I remember the last order I gave Light as I try to wake up fully. I better go check to see how well it has done. But first, I need to change clothes.

I may love these clothes for the sentimental value as much as I did for the looks of them, but I need something that doesn't have a lot of blood and holes all over it. So, I take the clothes off and fold them up and put them in an empty spot in the hallway so I can find them again easily when I get a chance to fix and clean them.

I then pick out a simple black t-shirt, with some jeans. I head over to where I haphazardly put my phone and wallet down without caring at all. I was exhausted after yesterday and I still am. Picking up my phone I check the time to see that it's about ten in the evening. Well, I slept the whole day away. But considering everything that happened yesterday and me getting my sleep disturbed as I get transported to a hell hole of a city, it is to be expected.

I get up and make my way over to a cart with a random can of soup and grabbed a bottle of water and start chugging it as I make my way out of the entrance hallway to my apartment. As I walk back into the apartment there is only one thing that I can think of. Light, you have really outdone yourself. I have no regrets now on having the Halo engineer work on cleaning my apartment because it looks like something that Martha Stewart would be envious of.

The dust is all gone, spotless. The couch is clean as can be and looks brand new, with no more of whatever the stains were on it. The coffee table is no longer warped and looks shiny and slick. Same goes for the wood floor, I see my own reflection in it! I decide to check something else as I close the doorway to my workshop and reopen it to see the shiny new bathroom that awaits me.

It no longer houses the foul and evil spawn that I dare not describe that will forever haunt my dreams of whoever would allow such a thing to exist in a bathroom. White spotless and shining toilet, a mirror that I didn't even know was in here because it originally looked like it was a part of the wall.

I knew that engineers from Halo were supposed to be ridiculous on what they could do but hearing and reading something compared to seeing the results with your own two eyes is a completely different story. Speaking of said engineer, I don't see it at all. Where the heck is it? That's when I hear a small noise coming from the workshop. Making my way back into it I see that Light is already cleaning up my 'bed'.

"Hey Light?" I say getting its attention as it stops for a moment. "You did a good job, once you get done in here, I need you to install a crystal I just got onto the supercomputer that was recently added. Once you get that done, upgrade that computer in any way you can and begin familiarizing yourself with it."

At my request Light does what is starting to be its signature nod as it gets back to working around the place. Now that that is all taken care of, I start thinking now that I have a clear head with me having gotten some sleep and no one is currently trying to kill me. I head back over to the kitchen to get a bowl for the soup and a bottle of water to rehydrate.

Just as I am getting the lid off the can, I am grabbing for another much bigger and brighter star. And this time I grab it. What I am bombarded with further shows just how random and weird my power is. I take a moment to myself as I set the can of soup down to review all the different underworld connections I have crammed into my head.

Ranging from secure communication channels to safe meeting locations, to the people I can do business with. And most importantly people that are loyal and won't screw you over so long as you don't bring trouble to them or sell them out. That is very convenient. That is trippy to get that out of my power.

After I calm down from my new gain, my attention goes back to the can of soup as I take my newly made engineer spoon and go to town. Ah yes the good old tomato soup, the breakfast of champions. Or would this be dinner? Ignoring that train of thought, I head back to the couch and take a seat on it and find it quite comfy. Alright, now what am I going to do?

I still have my deal with Jade which I do intend on keeping, but after that it's all up in the air. I could go to try and patent the drugs and knowledge I gained on the drugs from the Fallout series. Particularly the stimpaks and the addictol. However, I stop and remember I have no identity in this place. Which is one of the first things I need to fix.

But when I do get all the things I need for a new identity and other assorted bits of info for my life set up, I don't know if I should patent the some of the drugs that were from Fallout. Sure, I could make bank off it. The addictol I could most definitely use for that, since it wouldn't disrupt the industry it would be used in, and if anything would further aid healthcare workers with those who have issues with addiction.

But as tempting as it is for me to do that now, a part of me is hesitant. Not knowing of what consequences that would come from doing that. I know full well that there will be consequences of some kind, not necessarily from the drugs but getting the attention of people I don't want the attention of. Considering I barely survived everything that happened as soon as I got here, I have no chance if the powerhouses who exist here come for me.

For now, it's best I drop this train of thought and come back to it after I get everything I need and start having Light start putting some of my plans I have had into action once I shake off the drowsiness and it gets done with upgrading the bat computer. I get up and walk over to the kitchen after eating all of my soup and drinking all of the water and throw the can away and as I am getting ready to fill the empty plastic bottle, I am surprised by how clean the water is.

Well, I guess I will chalk that up to Light. Putting the now filled bottle of water, I take a whiff of an awful smell. Sniffing for a moment trying to find what is making that horrible smell, then I stop for a moment realizing what it is. Yeah, running all night and getting blown up along with my impromptu bath in dirty alley water tends to make bad smells. Well, I better go take a shower as I walk over to get some of the things I stole from that grocery store.

Not going to lie, having some nice hot water and some shampoo and body wash to wipe away all the grime has got to be one of the greatest feelings in the world. At least it does to me right now, considering how much grime I managed to get off me. Once I get done drying off and brushing my hair, I head back out and open the doorway to my workshop.

As soon as I am dressed in some new clean clothes that I didn't lay on top of, I immediately get to work in the workshop. I start with the guns I have acquired in the short time of me being in Gotham. Mainly the pistols. The assault rifle is nice, but it's too big to conceal and the fact that I don't know how to properly shoot it compared to a pistol is a big reason for me to not use it. After I knocked myself down using the shotgun, I am not tempting fate.

While I whittle the time away working on the pistols, I also make some much better throwing knives for myself. Once done with all of that, I start working on the varying different weapons for Jade, even experimenting around to see how good the other options I offered her could be and making some new variants of the trap discs.

Once I get done with what I have so far, I have Light further refine the designs I have so far for these. After all, Light is a supercomputer. Even with my current capabilities I am certain Light could make these even better.

As I am making my last touches on several of the weapons, I get up to go find Light to let him know what I need him to do for me when I go. I make my way back down the hall after putting most of the tools and materials away. Making my way to the new door that houses the bat computer I see its open.

As I am about to go through the open doorway, another star slips through my grasp. Heh, I am starting to get used to that. I look over to see Light rapidly taking apart the computer and its many components then doing different configurations for all of it in seconds. It was a mesmerizing sight to behold, but I unfortunately can't stay and watch this.

"Light I am going to be heading out before long and need some information off of the computer to do some things. I am going to need you to show me how to use this thing once you are done." At this Light puts the piece of the computer it was working on back in as it pulls out more parts and casually turns its head in my direction nodding while reconfiguring all of the pieces it has.

"Once that is all done, I need you to help me out with a job that I was working on. I made some weapons and tools for someone. The person these weapons are meant for are mainly meant to be of an Asian theme." At this he turns around and tilts his head at me, "If you need examples of what to keep them similar to in their design just look it up on the computer once I am done with it and I go over everything else I am going to need you to do."

What followed after this has to be one of the more embarrassing moments of my life once Light was done messing with the rest of the computer. This wasn't as bad as the time I spent learning how to drive from Dad, that still to this day is the worst moment of my life. But this wasn't far behind, thankfully Light didn't judge me for it especially when I asked him to slow down on typing things and using the cursor to speed up the process and helping me find out how to use this thing in a slower manner since I couldn't keep up.

Despite the issues I had at figuring this out, I can't help the excitement that I am feeling since I am going to be using one of the most iconic supercomputers in nerd culture. The bat computer. But it's also far more than that, considering this thing more than likely has the accumulated knowledge Batman had acquired over his time as the Dark Knight of Gotham. Not to mention the insane processing speed it had to have before Light upgraded it with both the crystal and whatever else modifications Light made.

Even with the ability I had gained to figure out tech at a faster rate, this is going to take me a lot of trial and error to see all that I can do with it, thankfully I have Light to help me. Which is why I need Light to currently be the one to mainly use it, as I am right now, I have no way to use it to its fullest potential regarding what I need to do with it. When I have an in depth understanding of it and know how to hack among other things then I will. But not until then.

As I finally start to get a slight hang of how to use it, I stand there since I don't have a chair to sit in which is something I can fix later as Light floats next to me with a look of concentration. Now that I know how to somewhat use it, with Light's help I start looking up those secure channels alongside the contacts I have access to thanks to my most recent power gain.

Opening a map of Gotham, marking down all the areas that I now know as safe locations to do business. Though if they are currently safe is up in the air courtesy of the gang war. Thankfully I happen to have this wonderful supercomputer and Light to use it and be my eyes and ears around Gotham, so I know when danger is coming my way.

I still feel the need for more in my life, and as nice as that feeling I had making off with all of the money and loot from that grocery store was, the memory of the grenade and being chased across Crime Alley puts those thoughts to rest with how close I have come to meeting death on multiple occasions. If I am going on any criminal outings, I want constant eyes on me that give me a warning of trouble.

And I can see myself getting beaten easily by any of the heroes or villains that exist here, well maybe except for people like condiment man. Hell, who am I kidding, a regular thug off the street could do me in. Given time I could be a match potentially for the higher up capes no need to mention random guys off the street, and maybe one day Batman himself if I have to fight him. Currently I would rather pull a Jack Sparrow. In other words, a problem shows up just run away from it.

Dropping those thoughts as I am starting to get used to using this thing without Light having to guide me as much. I don't mind getting help, it becomes an annoyance when it's all the time. And there goes another star flying past my grasp as my mind comes back to reality.

But I do have a safe option for doing illegal business with both access to these criminal underworld connections between the safe locations for meetings along side the contacts to secure channels that you can trade information among other things. So, if push comes to shove, I can deal out drugs if I need to. Maybe even guns, but that is a bridge I will cross when I get there. As of now I find that debatable depending on how safe it would be to deal in that business. Then there is what my Dad made me promise him.

Never to do what he and Furgus did to make money. Which is selling out drugs, the guns are another thing entirely. But I like to think that he would understand why, though it feels hollow and empty when I tell myself that especially when I look at my reasons for doing this is to have so much money I would never have to work again and do whatever I want. To live the good life, the kind that you see in movies and TV shows where you have anything and everything you could ever dream of.

But for now, I need to start getting the apartment more fortified with whatever Light had done with it and make it livable. Not that Light cleaning it up wasn't enough. But I would like a bed to sleep on, so getting some sheets and pillows. Along with a TV or something for the living room for entertainment and to just relax.

Discussing my plans with Light about what I need it to do for me as it tells me of the different resources it will need to make what I need for this place. Once that is done and I have an idea of what Light needs, we get in touch with the contacts to set up a meeting to make a trade.

Looking down at my phone for the time, noting that it's nearing midnight as I wait for the contact to show up in an alley that has various different cameras on the streets that Light has hacked into and is observing for any danger to come my way. I'm currently about two blocks away from the apartment and despite the eyes in the sky that are looking for anything that looks like it will be trouble I still feel vulnerable.

Even with the added weapons I brought with me, I don't like how in the distance you can hear constant shots in the distance and how despite that there are still people on the street. Surprisingly more than I was expecting, but then again this is Gotham.

None of them tried to pull anything with me when I was making my way to the meeting point, and Light confirmed none of them made any attempt to follow me through the alleys as it texts me on my phone, but I still took my time going through alleys I didn't need to which led nowhere near where I needed to be. Just in case.

My attention is pulled to a non-descript van backing into the alley. Several people get out wearing plain suits covering most of their bodies. I can't make out any features on any of them with it being dark and the fedoras or whatever type of hat they are wearing doesn't help. One of which is walking forward while some of the others are opening the back of the van.

"Mr. Silhouette, I presume?" Says the man with a slight Brooklyn style accent.

"No just here to pick up the supplies for Silhouette. I take it you are Lorenzo?" I ask. When I made the username for the dark web where the contacts were, I took inspiration from the dream I had earlier when making the name for it. I don't know if that was a prophetic event that will one day come to pass or symbolic of what I am or will become or it was just a simple dream, all that I do know is that there is no such thing as coincidences.

I look him over, he has the same type of clothes as the others, a plain suit that looks like it would just casually blend in with the buildings and easily forget it. He has a small pencil mustache and olive colored skin. A bit on the scrawny side, but that doesn't mean much necessarily.

"That I am. I have the money you asked for," He pulls out a paper bag giving it a slight shake to show me it has something in it, "And the supplies your boss asked for instead of it all being cash. And where would the merchandise be?" He says while looking around for it. He doesn't seem to pry any further into who Silhouette is and why I'm here and not the 'boss'. I will take it, since this is very useful to have and at least my power doesn't seem to be getting me into trouble.

I head over to a couple of knocked over trash cans with their contents all over the alley. I step carefully between them and the trash as I grab a box that is set between all of it without touching any of it while being surprisingly hidden among the refuse. All the while Lorenzo has a blank look on his face as he looks at the box.

"I should have brought some disinfectant." He says with a deadpan tone while eyeing the box.

"Relax, I made sure the spot had no garbage it was sitting in. Not to mention if someone got nosy or I get jumped, the package would be fine considering how well it blended in with everything else along with everything in the box being sealed off just in case. That and I doubt most people want to get in that just to check a random box in Gotham of all places." I say as I carry the decently sized box away from the trash.

He eyes me for a moment before shrugging as I set the box down and take out a knife as he watches me cut open the box to show him what's inside. Once the flaps are open, he sees various types of drugs from Fallout all in the box sorted neatly inside of smaller bags. He continues to eye the drugs as I put the knife back in its sheaf.

I gesture to the paper bag in his hand, and he hands it over as I take the money out and count it. Five grand instead of what I could have gotten. The rest bartered for the supplies and resources I asked for instead of getting the full amount. Just as I am about to see the rest of what I was getting, I snag a star that forces a bunch of memories into my head of me programming automated conveyor belts to build parts as other assembly lines take these parts and make something out of it as it goes further down the hundreds of lines.

I snap back to the here and now, putting my attention back on Lorenzo as he checks out the drugs I had made for this trade. He takes a moment to look them over as he pulls them out and counts them. "If this was the usual drugs we deal with you would have gotten a lot more money for this, no offense." He says while eyeing the last of the mentats seemingly satisfied that the right amount is there.

"None taken. I understand that new drugs are a risk and that you need to make sure are not a scam." I say, as I speak honestly to the man.

"You have no idea. The big thing is that if these do as you said they do and are proven to be the real deal these are going to be in high demand." He says before pausing.

He then continues, "The big thing about people like me is that so long as you don't screw us over and bring us trouble, we won't do a screw job or sell you out. Just in case you think we will try to undercut you, we won't. Bad for business, and that's how people like us and so many others have managed to stay in this business with all the other big fish as competition." He says as he confirms that the knowledge I gained from that massive star was true.

As he says that I immediately head towards the small army of boxes and start opening them seeing all the supplies I would need to get everything setup for Light, such as a bunch of different electronics and parts among other various things that I had requested. Sifting through each one even though I know these guys won't screw me over considering the fact my power says they won't is more than enough for me.

Also, it would make me look bad if I don't check it over to make sure it's all there and look either suspicious because I know it's all there or just dumb. Just because my power got me access to these people doesn't mean they potentially won't question me on certain things such as knowing they won't screw me over, especially in Gotham of all places.

After less than a minute of checking it over and seeing it's all accounted for, I stand up and see Lorenzo walk over to me seeing that I am pleased with the deal. "Pleasure doing business with you, and hopefully we continue to do so in the near future if this all works out." He says while holding his hand out for a handshake which I don't hesitate on returning. Once that was out of the way he and his men all pile back in the van and make their way out of the alley.

The instant they are out of sight and I get confirmation with a text from Light that they are gone and I am in the clear of anyone being around here, I head back up the alley and open a door with my key and get a long cart out of the hallway and head back to load up the boxes and rush to get as much on it and back into the doorway as fast as I can.

I repeat the process over and over as I eventually come to a stop as I load up the fifth and last cart of supplies I got from Lorenzo as I start to push it into the entryway. The feeling in my chest of having enough supplies to kickstart my other plans is a warm and proud feeling.

Sure, it would have been nice to get a lot of money for it even if it's at a reduced price since the drugs are new and yet to be proven as a good seller, but I needed those supplies way more than the money. No need to mention that the drugs may have not gained me as much money as I would have liked, however that will change once people see that the drugs are legit.

The need for those supplies is further driven home since I would have had to walk around Gotham during this gang war without a car and have cash on me to purchase the supplies if I tried doing this without those contacts. That is just a recipe for disaster waiting to happen. So, I can take some pride that I am making my way in the world, one step at a time. It especially helps knowing that once Lorenzo and the others realize the drugs are legit, and since I am currently the only person who knows how to make them will make it all the better.

Now that gets my heart to pounding, just imagining all the money that will bring me especially since my power supplied me with contacts that won't screw me over. As I close the door to the entryway and make my way back to the apartment stopping occasionally to look at the phone as Light sends me texts of potential threats it sees on the cameras around my area. None of which thankfully are too close to me, though just being a few blocks from me still doesn't set my mind at ease.

I still hear the occasional gun shot off in the distance, but it is nowhere near the sheer volume of sound it was before when I was running for my life. Before I can muse any further on why the gunshots have calmed down so much, I am grasping for a star once more and I keep a hold of it as my mind feels like it has been set ablaze.

All manner of knowledge is jammed into my head at insane speeds, and I remember all of it. The kicker is that the knowledge comes with memories of me studying all these things, yet I know they are not mine, ranging from biology to advanced mathematics among numerous other fields.

And not just academic things, but practical as well such as memories of taking apart a car and putting it back together. As the torrent of knowledge goes on and on the inferno that engulfed my mind settles down and the pain fades away as my mind returns to me from the void of stars.

The pain is replaced with a calm mind, that is observing all these memories and thinking about each one as my mind sifts through some of them at a spitfire rate. After all of that I find myself on the ground on my hands and knees as blood drips from my nose, I get up unsteadily as I wipe the blood from my nose. Putting my hand against the wall of the building for support as I try to get my balance back.

After a moment of leaning against the wall I take a few tentative steps and see that I am fine, so I start making my way out of the area not wanting to be in this alley any longer than I have to. Reaching into my pocket I take out my phone and see several texts from Light as it texts show that it was worried about me. That… makes me feel nice knowing that Light seems to really care for my wellbeing. I text back that I am fine now and I'm on my way back.

That was a doozy of a power up, at least I got it when I was sort of safe. If I got that in the middle of a fight, I would have been in trouble. As I move on from the alley only when the texts from Light said if it was safe, and if any trouble was around. Constantly stopping to get an idea of what's going on around me was getting annoying.

As helpful as this has been, it's also incredibly inefficient. I can't constantly keep checking the phone and especially if I am in danger then I need something better that can give me a heads up without having it get in the way of whatever I am trying to do. Something to figure out and brainstorm with Light when I get back. For now, I am going to have to make do with this. After a considerable amount of time, I make it back to the apartment with no one trying to pull something with me.

Once I'm in the apartment I head to the bathroom after securing all the locks on the door. I look and see that I have a lot of blood covering my face which might have helped to make the people outside leave me be. Turning on the water I take liberal handfuls of water as I rub my face to get the blood off.

After a few minutes of me cleaning myself, I head out of the bathroom put my key into the door opening my workshop. As soon as its open Lights head is the first thing that greets me. He floats his way through the doorway and starts moving around me looking me over. Aw, he really does care for me.

"I'm fine Light, just a little lightheaded but otherwise I am fine." I try to calm down the Engineer, looking like it halfway worked since he stops floating around me in a circle.

Light's snake like head tilts slightly as it looks up at me. And now I have a feeling I need to indulge upon seeing that. Before Light knows it, I have booped his snoot with my pointer finger. Light's eyes slightly widen, and his head goes back in shock for a moment as it processes what I just did. I laugh at seeing the dumbstruck look on Light's face and how it reacted.

Light's widened gaze softens before a determined look comes into its eyes as they all narrow. My laughter is cut short as Light decides to boop my snoot in return with his tentacle meeting my nose. I stand there for a moment as I watch Light with a smug look with eye smiles as he purrs in satisfaction.

"Alright, I will give you that. But relax Light, I'm fine. But the big thing we need to do now is start enacting our plans with the new supplies we just got and get ourselves setup."

My reassurance doesn't seem to affect Light at first as it continues to gaze at me after the smugness wore off with a concerned look. But Light seems to still be edging on caution to make sure I am not hurt. Which with my newfound knowledge when I focus on it, it is understandable considering any number of things could have gone wrong in my head.

Well, I guess I should concede to Light's point, "If you are really insistent on making sure I am alright then let's get on with this." At this Light seems a lot happier as I get a nod in return as its tentacle grabs my hand and pulls me along down the hallway to the Batcomputer. As soon as we are in the room my buddy has me stand next to it while he starts typing rapidly as a beam of light washes over my body scanning me.

The lightshow only lasts for a few seconds before stopping and the computer gives off a ping of what I am assuming is the results. Whatever results the Batcomputer gave Light seems to set it at ease as it visibly relaxes which I take as a good thing.

"See! I told you I was fine." I say with a smile on my face, only for a tentacle to come close to booping my nose as I step back before it can. I look at Light as it has a not too pleased look on its face.

As I am about to say more, I am trying to grab for another star only to fail badly at my attempt. Wasn't even close to that one. Well better focus on what needs to be done instead of goofing around, "Alright Light with us getting my health out of the way it's time for us to get underway with our plans."

At this Light stops halfway from trying to get my nose with its tentacle as it has a look of being caught with its tentacle in the cookie jar realizing it's time to be serious and we talk over what needs to be done.

Perks gained: -Memory Crystal (Five Star Stories) (100CP)

A backup memory crystal, strong enough that it could easily be used to instantly record live combat information to be replayed later. It could also be used for other mundane purposes, such as serving as the hard drive for multiple supercomputers.

-Raw Materials (Elder Scrolls Online) (100CP)

About 20 ingots worth of dwemer metal, a few honing stones, and a set of hammers and tongs. Used materials refill once a year. Not exactly powerful in the more high-tech settings, but being able to craft items out of a metal that never really rusts is something that won't ever go out of style. Or you could always just sell it off. This is almost 600 crowns worth of eternally respawning refined metal and smithing equipment just sitting on the ground after all.

-Black Market (Ben 10 0.1) (600CP)

What, did you think it was all about cars? It's great as a hobby but you've got to make some money. To do that, you've got some connections. Whether it's some secure communication channels or meeting places, you've got your fingers in the criminal underworld of the universe. If you need to buy or sell something off the table these are the guys you want to call. If there's some kind of commercially available weapon, gadget, or vehicle of dubious legality you need to get and have its IDs removed, they can do it for pretty reasonable prices. They're not so good at finding super rare or unique items, but just about everything else is fair game. Just as well, if you need something to disappear or be sold, they'll take it off your hands and you will never see it again for a pretty substantial amount of cash. Pretty weirdly loyal for criminal underworld types too...as long as you don't sell them out or give them trouble, they'll be happy to do business with you wherever, whenever.

-The Conveyors Will Run On Time (Factorio) (200CP)

Or you could let a computer do all the work. You have the programming skills needed to automate a massive assembly complex, having dozens, even hundreds of disparate machines working smoothly together. Your skill is enough to program 'fuzzy' logic into your machines. This is far from actual sapience, but they will know not to waste energy or compound problems by blindly following irrelevant, contradictory or self-destructive programming. Your defensive systems also work more intelligently, leading targets, prioritizing more dangerous enemies based on the current situation, and not being distracted by decoys.

-Living Library (Medaka Box Abnormal) (200CP)

Won't ever have a need to study again, not for school and god be willing, not for life either. You've got a quite literally perfect memory. You memorise anything on experiencing it with any of your senses once, even for a flash. There is no limit to how much memory you can store at a time and even instantly recall any information that you have memorised with no delay, as if you had already been thinking of it. Of course, given that you've lived with this for years now, you've long since memorised a vast amount of information, both academic, practical and trivial.