Chapter 4

Friday 15th April 2024

I woke up the next morning feeling well-rested. I had been up for the better part of the night writing code for my new home system.

The code was coming along nicely. In fact, it was almost at the point where it would be able to handle all the tasks my old system was doing and do them much more efficiently than before. It had only been a few hours, but I had written code more advanced than what I had written in months with my novice coding knowledge.

Despite having only slept for about four hours, I felt very well-rested.

I heard an explosion somewhere in the distance and sighed.

"Typical Brockton Bay, the only city where it was normal to be woken by explosions."

Picking up my phone, I found an email from college, all lectures had been canceled until further notice, then there were several missed calls from all three of my friends, and it was filled with notifications from PHO. It seemed I was too out of it to hear it ringing….actually, scratch that, I had put it in silent mode.

Before I decided to call back the others, I went through the PHO to see if there was anything important. I blinked at what I found.

While I had been off to La La Land, some cape had been blowing up the city. The ABB's new leader was a bomb Tinker, who had fought the Undersiders alongside Uber and Leet last night. Also, Oni Lee had broken Lung out of PRT custody. The Undersiders had escaped, but since then, Bakuda had been occasionally blowing up something. Power had been cut off from several important parts of the city. The ABB, presumably on Bakuda's orders, were blowing up transformers all over the city to deny power to entire districts, train tracks, hospitals, schools… the list goes on.

People are freaking out as the death toll keeps rising even though the rate at which the bombs were going off had mellowed out.

"This city is fucked up, man." I sighed, getting off PHO and calling Jessica.

Apparently, Jason and Jessica were staying with Mike, who lived over in the southern part of Downtown, just at the edge of the Commercial district. I briefly considered offering them to come over if they wished. I had the space, and this side of the city was neutral territory, there wasn't any gang that held it, and since it was only a residential area with low-earning residents, it was not lucrative enough for anyone to bother with it, so I expect we shall be left alone for the most part.

In any case, it wasn't even safe to move all the way from that side to my place. The city had been turned into a war zone as the PRT and the Heroes tried to combat the ABB and keep them from turning the entire city into rubble. Even the unpowered gang members were dangerous with their Tinker bombs, not to mention the fact that Bakuda had the bright idea of implanting bombs in her subordinates' heads, which made arresting them very dangerous.

Bombs had gone off throughout the night and were still occasionally going off even now, no longer aimed at major services, but rather businesses, warehouses, basically places where major gangs and factions in the city hang out. The major part of the city didn't have power, the transport sector was frozen as no one was willing to drive a bus or train in a city where you could be blown up for taking a wrong turn.

I got out of bed and freshened up. I had sadly run out of food yesterday and had been planning to restock today, but that will be quite the challenge with the current state of the city.

The phone rang, it was Brian.

"Hey, cuz."

"Alex." He said by way of a greeting. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Slept through the whole night. What about you guys?"

"We are safe." He answered. "Aisha is staying at my place. You should be careful, try to avoid going out there unless absolutely necessary."

"Yeah, that's gonna be a little hard, gotta stock up on food."

"That's…you know what, I'm in the neighborhood, why don't you send me a list of what you need and I can get it for you."

"…You're sure?"

"Yeah, it's no bother."

"Alright." Far be it from me to turn down free help. It saved me the hassle of risking my ass, and if Brian was willing to play hero, who was I to deny him the opportunity.

I sent him the list and went downstairs to the basement. I switched on the generator. I, of course, had a backup generator in the basement, an essential requirement in Brockton Bay, where cape battles almost happened on a daily basis and power lines kept being destroyed. Like every appliance I owned, I had taken the generator apart and put it back together to make use of my new efficiency-boosting power, [Green Machine]. The generator now produces more power than before, while also using less gas, all with barely any noise.

I returned to my study and opened up my laptop, then turned the old system offline. Everything in the house went dark, the power from the generator was cut off even though it was still running, and all electronics that needed direct power went out. At the same time, I activated the new program and I waited as it loaded. And then the power came back, the lights came back. The new program, the HomeAutomationHub, HAH in short, was online, and it was running smoothly. And as long as my laptop or phone had power, it would always run as these acted as its servers.

I will have to build separate servers for it, with their own power source, especially as it grows and evolves. It would be quite the challenge, but I'm sure I could cobble together something that works well enough.

As I waited for Brian, I sat down with my laptop and started to plan for my OS.

Creating an OS was a huge undertaking; it would take time, but I was sure I could do it. It needed careful planning, defining the OS's purpose and goals, as well as its architecture. Then I would move on to Kernel Development, defining its functionality, and implementation of system calls. Device Driver development would come next, followed by developing system services and libraries and user-space applications, and once all that is done, I would move to testing and debugging.

Only then will it be ready to be applied to my devices, and should I feel like it, I could sell it to other people. I'm gonna need to tweak any electronics I have to have them run on my new OS, but that is easily doable. Or better yet, if I get the right resources and knowledge, I can always create my own devices, customized to work with my new OS.

-NEW-

"You're not planning on offloading Aisha on me, are you?"

Brian chuckled as I peered at him suspiciously. I was helping him get the stuff he had brought me from the car. I hadn't expected him to bring as much as he had, and he refused to even accept money from me, saying that he had enough money to cover everything and then some.

"No, you made your position clear on that matter and I respect it," Brian said, carefully placing down the gas container in the basement with a wince. He had some injuries which I had decided not to ask about. "I'm just looking out for you, cuz. Things are only going to get worse out there." He looked at the generator that was humming quietly. "Shouldn't it be much louder than that?"

"I tweaked it a bit, improving its power output and efficiency," I replied, feeling proud of my work. "Also, it consumes less gas than before, so all this should last me for about three to four days while running day and night."

He whistled, clearly impressed. "That's impressive. How did you learn to do that? I thought you were studying electronics, as in phones and computers, not mechanical stuff?"

"I've picked a few things here and there and been doing some experimenting," I replied with a shrug as we went back upstairs.

"You know, Mr. Hebert has one just like that, though his doesn't work; he asked me to have a look at it, but I couldn't figure out what the problem is."

I raised an eyebrow at that. I had figured they were friends, given how Mr. Hebert's daughter had thought I was familiar the other night, and after I had seen her with Lisa. I hadn't realized they were close to the extent of Brian visiting the Heberts, let alone having the man ask him to have a look at their generator. Then again, this was the same man who had asked a virtual stranger to buy for him and his daughter a phone.

"That's where you were when you said you were in the neighborhood?"

"Yeah, we were coming from shopping when a bomb went off near us." He explained. "Taylor got hurt the most and suffered a concussion, and we brought her back to her place this morning."

"That's where you got injured as well?"

He seemed surprised that I had noticed. "Yeah. Anyway, do you think you could come and have a look?"

I considered refusing for a moment, but Brian had already gotten me a week's worth of food and other stuff for free, so I may as well try to help him curry favor with the Hebert girl. "Sure, let's go."

I locked up and set the alarm on my phone and got into Brian's car. He drove us over to Hebert's house where he had left Lisa.

"You know, Dad's old car has been sitting in the garage all this time. I plan on trying to get it running again," I told him as we got out and headed for the house.

"What type of car is it?"

"It's a 1967 Chevy Impala," I told him. "It was a little old, albeit well-maintained, and has been sitting there since he died."

"I'm more of a motorcycle kind of guy, but if I have time, maybe I can pass by your place and we can work on it together."

"I'd love that."

The Hebert's house was similar to mine, albeit a little smaller and more worn out, otherwise, they looked identical in design. One of the steps on the porch was broken, I probably missed it the last time I was here on account of being on the verge of collapse.

Brian knocked, and Mr. Hebert opened the door.

"Hey, Mr. Hebert, this is my cousin_"

"Alexander, I know." He replied with a small smile. "I should thank you for the phones you bought us, they really came in handy last night."

"Err, happy to help, I guess," I replied awkwardly, and he chuckled.

"So what brings you here?"

"Well, Alex here has a generator similar to yours, and he did some impressive work on it," Brian explained. "I thought he could have a look at yours and see if he could fix it for you."

"Oh, that would be appreciated." He beamed at us, letting us in. "Come on in."

I followed them inside. The house was indeed much smaller than mine and looked cluttered. I could tell that most of the stuff in here hadn't been moved in some time, and given how disorganized it was, the father and daughter duo weren't big on order unlike how Mom and I had been. Taylor was lying on a couch that had been extended into a bed with Lisa seated next to her as they watched TV.

I greeted the girls as I passed by them, and we headed to the basement with torches. It looked abandoned, though someone had obviously been down here a lot recently. The generator, like almost everything in the house, was old and worn. It was the exact model as mine, though his had probably only been bought and placed here and never moved once. It has never been serviced either.

"Uh…this is something, alright." I hummed as I looked it over. "Let's get it up there, we are gonna have to take it apart and put it together piece by piece." I looked at Mr. Hebert. "Also, could you get me something to eat? I'm starving."

While Brian and Mr. Hebert laughed, the Celestial Forge chose that moment to move. It latched onto a massive mote. I knew this particular mote had some of the most powerful powers in the Forge any power in this category was definitely a game changer, and very expensive.

And sure enough, as all my gathered energy was consumed to secure this power, the knowledge of my new power registered and I felt my breath hitch, as my hunger vanished completely. My new power was called [God of Death] and it was awesome! It didn't quite make me a god like the name would let you believe, rather, it gave me some powers that belonged to a creature called a Shinigami.

I gained the ability to dematerialize and become intangible, meaning I could phase through walls or anything physical at will, and I no longer required food, water, sleep, or air. And I absolutely no longer needed rest, I didn't get tired, physically or mentally, no matter how much I exerted myself. I could partake should I wish to, but I didn't need them, and I could survive without them.

"Hey!" Brian snapped his fingers in front of my face, pulling me out of my thoughts. "You okay, in there? You kinda spaced out on me."

"Yeah, sorry, just thinking." I got to the other side. "Come on, let's get this thing out there."

-NEW-

About 2 hours later

"Well, that should do it," I said, screwing the last bolt as I stood up. I tried it out one more time. "Yep, that ain't going anywhere."

"You done, old man?" Brian called with a chuckle from where he and Mr. Hebert were finishing up repairing the broken steps on the porch.

"I really appreciate what you boys have done for me today." Mr. Hebert said. "Our lives, Taylor and I, haven't been going well, and I'm glad she has some friends now." He said the last part, looking at Brian. "And you have reminded me why having a son is a good idea, Perhaps I should look into acquiring one."

We chuckled at that.

"We were happy to help, Danny," Brian replied for both of us.

I… had liked spending time with them. Working together, listening to their suggestions, and explaining as I worked had been nice. And while it had massively drained my social batteries, I wouldn't mind doing it again every now and then, though not for another week or so after today.

Brian and Mr. Hebert had helped me to take the generator apart, and then we had cleaned each individual part and had to put them back together. I tried to explain what changes I was making but they all seemed to be flying over their heads, even though my explanations were purely practical. I did most of the work in putting it back, making adjustments as I went, and building it back from the ground up.

When the other two realized that they were being useless, Brian suggested they do some repairs around the house. Mr. Hebert seemed to be in a good mood and easily accepted. They went around doing repairs, occasionally coming over to help me with something. By the time I was finished, they were also working on the last that needed repair. At least the ones they had the knowledge and materials to repair.

"You sure it will work?" He asked, looking at the discarded parts that I hadn't included. Seeing my frown, he swiftly added. "Not that I'm doubting your abilities, of course, I'm just curious."

"I guess we shall see," I replied.

We carried the generator back to the basement, Lisa and Taylor following us. I made some adjustments to the Electric Panel down there to better receive and regulate the generator's new output and hooked it up. Then I started the generator. It started with a loud hum, which petered out as it recalibrated, and it was reduced to a gentle hum.

"Whoa, what did you do to that thing?" Lisa asked, staring. "If I didn't know any better, I would think it was made by a Tinker."

The others looked at me in question, and I just shrugged. I was not a Tinker, at least not in the traditional sense. Some of my powers would probably earn me a Tinker rating, but I was not a Tinker.

"So what's different about it?" Taylor asked.

"It should consume significantly less gas and have an increased output," I informed them. "Less pollution too, as you can see, it is barely emitting any fumes."

"And how did you do that?" Taylor asked again.

"I've had a lot of free time, so I experimented a lot with mine back at home."

"Well, I truly appreciate it, Alexander." Mr. Hebert said. By this time, we were back in the living room.

"Well, I'm exhausted." I really wasn't, not with my latest power. "So, I gotta go."

"Should you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Mr. Hebert said, reaching for money from his wallet. "And this is for your work. It's not much, barely a fraction of what I would have paid someone else for the work you have done_"

"Yeah, I'm not taking that."

"Please, I insist."

"And so do I," I replied and swiftly made my exit before he could try to convince me otherwise. I may not be the most well-off fellow out there, but the Heberts looked like they needed all the money they could get.

I headed home, the entire two-minute walk, I held my breath, testing out one aspect of my latest power. I didn't feel any need to breathe, or any kind of strain from my body craving oxygen. Once I reached home, I entered the house and locked the door before trying to check out another aspect, dematerializing. I could just become intangible at will. And while in this state, I could walk through anything, I walked through walls, my fridge, and any physical object I could find. And most importantly, I could take with me my clothes and anything else on my person if I wanted, or I could choose what to take with me and leave the rest behind.

As soon as the item left my person, however, it regained its tangibility. It didn't seem to have any weaknesses I could find. And from my understanding, there was nothing that could involuntarily force me to materialize. Unfortunately, my interaction with the material world while I was immaterial was almost nonexistent. I say 'almost' because when I threw my keys, as they left my hand, they didn't just drop; rather, they kept the force of the throw, even though I had thrown them when they were immaterial.

This power was OP it had so many applications. If I ever got into a fight, I could just remain immaterial the entire time, and the person wouldn't be able to hurt me. The only downside was that I needed to be awake to maintain my intangibility. It was not much of a downside given the fact that my body no longer required sleep. However, if someone caught me off-guard and knocked me out before I could become intangible, then I wouldn't be able to phase unless I regained consciousness.

And yet, this was only scratching the surface of the powers of the Shinigami. As I grew older and fulfilled certain conditions, I'd gain more of their powers, I didn't know which conditions they were or what the other powers would be, but I knew they were even more OP than this.

I wonder what it meant for my biology. My heart kept beating in my chest, even after holding my breath for over ten minutes, and my lungs didn't shrivel up and die from lack of oxygen. I also wonder if I can make other people intangible or only non-living things. There was a lot I could think of that I wished to check out, but there would be time for that later.

I had discovered, though, that being intangible didn't change how I looked. I looked the same, had the same weight and mass, and even stood on solid surfaces like the floor, however, nothing else could touch me. It really didn't make any sense, but that had become my life now.

After I was done with the brief experimenting with my latest power, I went back to my reading room and opened up my laptop, I still had an OS to design, and now that I no longer required sustenance of any kind, and thanks to [I Can Whip Something Up] I'll be able to work on it non-stop without getting tired or bored, lose inspiration, or have my work suffer because of exhaustion.

And given that creating an OS would require all my time and attention, I couldn't have possibly gotten a more convenient set of powers.

Brian and Lisa came by to say goodbye after they left the Heberts' residence. Mr. Hebert had baked some cookies and bagels, which they brought for me.

After they left, I took a break and talked with my friends for some time. Then we played games online for an hour or two, and afterwards, I returned to my work.

-NEW-

Tuesday 18TH April 2011

Nearly three days! Three days of almost nonstop work, working day and night, only taking the occasional break every day to shower and eat something for the sake of it, and to not rouse suspicion from Brian or his nosy friend Lisa. They kept visiting Taylor through her time on bed rest, and Brian would pass by my place every time to check on me.

The city was a mess, the different gangs fought openly in the streets as they vied for territory. The heroes were stretched thin trying to keep what peace they could. Things had gotten to the extent where the National Guard had been called in help the PRT and the heroes to try and get the city back in order. Thankfully, all the fighting hadn't reached our little neighborhood.

Of course, there was the occasional bomb close by, and sometimes, the cape fights spilled over. Glory Girl and Hookwolf had crashed into Mr. Wilson's house, which was only a couple of meters away from my place, just yesterday. However, they had taken their fight away only moments later. ABB and Merchant gangers had clashed in the street in front of my house earlier this morning, but there hadn't been any property damage except for the street itself. I had waited out the fight in my intangible state in my living room until they had left.

Except for those two incidents, we had been left alone.

And yet somehow, despite the state of the city, Lisa and Brian still came to visit Taylor and, by extension, me. They were much braver than I was, that was for sure. Walking through the city, with all the fighting going on…could never be me.

Unfortunately, Lisa had started getting nosy. She had somehow noticed that I wasn't getting much sleep and that I spent most of my time in my seat, bent over my laptop. I was forced to tell them what I was working on just to forestall any more invasive questions. They had been impressed even though Lisa had looked like she wanted to ask more questions.

I kicked them out while ignoring whatever questions she had. What I did know was that she suspected that I was hiding something. I doubt that she suspected it was powers I was hiding unless she was a Thinker of some kind herself. Nothing I had done would imply that I was a cape, at least to a normal human, even one as intuitive as Lisa seemed to be.

Either way, I should probably keep as far away from her as possible.

My phone rang. It was Brian.

"Hey, cuz." I greeted.

"Hey, Alex." He returned. "We are gonna be passing by later today, is there something you need that we can bring for you?"

"Maybe some more gas." I was running out, and yet there weren't any signs that power would be restored any time soon. I continued very firmly. "If you're coming, don't bring Lisa with you though, I'm tired of her poking her nose in my business."

"Hey! A girl has feelings, you know?" Lisa, who had apparently been listening in, piped in.

"Well, keep your feelings away from my house," I told her bluntly. "Brian, if you're coming, don't come with her, if you can't leave her behind, then that's okay; I'll go and pick the gas myself."

"Oh my, such hostility!" Lisa gasped dramatically. "Whatever did I do to earn it? I was only asking a few questions. It's not like there's anything about you that you don't want us to find out."

I didn't bother answering her, instead, I spoke with Brian. "Brian, I appreciate what you've done for me, but that's my decision."

"I understand," Brian replied and hung up.

And that was when the Celestial Forge chose to shift. My power latched onto another of the larger motes, the knowledge cluster. And sure enough, I grinned as I felt the knowledge in my head. This was my first power that could be used in active combat, well, [God of death] had its applications, but it would need some creativity. This one was a pure combat power, which was ironic as it was simply called [Combat]. It gave me knowledge of Hand-to-hand fighting. And as it had been with programming, I was now an expert in hand-to-hand combat.

Before today, I didn't even know how to throw a punch, and now, it was like I've been fighting my whole life. I knew of several disciplines, Krav Maga, Taekwondo, boxing, Muay Thai, oh yeah, I also knew kung fu and several other forms of unarmed combat. And I knew all these to the level of an expert!

Trying out the moves, I quickly found out that unlike with [Programming] knowing how to do something and doing it was something else entirely. There were ways the body needed to move that for someone like me who had never moved that way it all felt clumsy and awkward. I was going to need to practice and condition my body to be able to do the things I knew I was capable of if I wanted to take advantage of my new knowledge.

Thankfully, I also gained knowledge of the best ways to train in the different disciplines. Whether by my lonesome or with a sparring partner. I was going to have to build my strength, agility, and reflexes if I wanted to take advantage of all this knowledge. My stamina and endurance were not an issue thanks to [God of death, it would have to be the other attributes that I had to train.

I was finished with planning and designing the OS's architecture, now I could start writing code. However, that will have to wait. I finally had a chance to learn how to defend myself, no way was I going to just sit on my ass.

-NEW-

3rd Person POV

Brian rang the bell at Alex's house. It was about three hours since he had spoken with his cousin as they were going to pick up Rachel and Alec so they may visit Taylor. Lisa suspected that Alex was a cape, though she wasn't quite sure yet as her power seemed to be undecided as well. She had been hoping she would get some more clues today, only Alex had caught on and put his foot down.

Brian wasn't very close with his cousin, at least he hadn't been before the last two weeks. However, he knew a thing or two from their few contact over the years. Alex was socially awkward, he wasn't shy or anything, he just didn't know how to act in front of other people he wasn't overly familiar with.

He was blunt, not caring much about other people's feelings. And once he has decided on something, he rarely changes his mind.

Lisa believed that Alex suspected that she was a Cape and he didn't want her around to use her Thinker powers to out him. That is why he had told her to stay away from his house.

The work he had done with the generator seemed to support Lisa's suspicions. They had together looked into it and found out that while the changes he had done to it could do what he said if any other person did it, they wouldn't receive the results to the extent Alex had. Which meant that he was probably a Tinker, and the team desperately needed some Tinker support.

It is why Brian was here, wearing a hidden camera to gather footage that Lisa could analyze and try to find some clues to either confirm or disprove her suspicions.

"Hey cuz." Alex opened the door and Brian blinked. He was wearing workout clothes which were drenched with sweat. "Come on in."

"You've been working out?"

"Yeah." He helped him pick up two of the gasoline cans and led the way to the basement.

"Why the sudden interest?" Brian asked. "You've never worked out before."

Alex shrugged. "Why not? The other day, some skinheads chased me for about two blocks, and I almost collapsed in exhaustion."

The basement had gotten a makeover. Earlier, when he had brought Alex the food and gas, Brian had seen some exercise equipment stacked on one side of the basement, completely abandoned. Now they had been organized and looked very clean, someone had obviously been using them.

"Smart." He replied. "Maybe you could pass by Dad's gym, I've been training from there as long as I can remember, and it's open."

"Eh, I'm not quite ready to start learning how to fight, still trying to improve my physical attributes."

"They don't just teach boxing at the gym, Alex." Brian rolled his eyes. "They help new people interested in working out, you'll have professionals help you. Sometimes a bad workout is worse than no workout at all."

"I'll think about it."

And that was probably the most he would be getting from him.

"Anyway, how far with your OS?"

He perked up at that in the nerdy way he did when talking about his projects. "I've finished with the first step, now I can begin writing the code."

"Huh? Lisa said that you wouldn't start doing that in at least a week or something."

"Lisa is working on assumptions." Alex rolled his eyes, opening his laptop to show him some diagrams. "Designing the OS's architecture is pretty easy, especially if you're not worried about copyright."

"You're not?"

"I have no plans of selling it, it's gonna be my own private OS, and no one is gonna complain about using a variation of their OS if they don't know that I'm using it, that's the entire point of it being private." He replied. "Besides, I think copyright only applies when I'm earning from someone else's work, and since it will be for my use…"

"You're not gonna sell it?" Lisa had said that if Alex was successful, he could make a lot of money from it. When trying to distract her, he gave them a look and explained about his OS and what it would look like when complete. The existing ones were so complicated and Alex's had the potential to be very popular when completed.

"This is my private OS, and besides, I'm not lacking for money, if I ever do, I can make a completely original one for sale in the future." He said with a shrug. "I am a programmer, Brian. I can write code for nearly anything, money will never be an issue for me."

"You're not going to commit crimes, are you?" Brian joked, and Alex laughed. He was clearly in a good mood because he rarely laughed this openly.

"Don't worry, cuz." He replied, slapping him on the shoulder. "If I do, I'll certainly not be caught. Now, thanks for the gas, but I have things to do."

"You're kicking me out?"

"Damn right, I am."

An hour later they were back at the loft, Lisa connected the tiny camera to her laptop. She opened the only file saved in its storage to begin watching the footage. The file opened and instead of playing the video footage, it showed a blank screen. And then text appeared in green.

If you keep poking your nose in my business, I'll be forced to poke back, Ms. Livsey.

For the first time since he met her, Brian saw complete unbridled shock on his teammate's face.

I'm gonna back out from your laptop now, you have my word, I didn't look at anything on here. I AM NOT A CAPE. So PLEASE kindly fuck off.

And then the screen returned to normal. Lisa started typing very fast, activating all sorts of security protocols before she shut down the laptop and closed it.

"Motherfucker!" She snorted, rubbing her temples.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, just peachy!" The sarcasm dripping from her voice was almost physically visible. "It's not like someone didn't just casually hack into what I believed was the most protected laptop on the planet without leaving a single trace of their presence. Oh yeah, and almost managed to hoodwink my power!"

Now Brian could understand her frustration, Lisa prided herself on her technical expertise, and being the smartest person in the room. Being outsmarted must sting quite a lot.

She glared at him, no doubt catching on to his amusement.

"He just made a very big mistake." There was a disturbing glint in her eye, and Brian felt that he should intervene before things went too far. Lisa hated being one-upped, and Alex was not one to back down; should Lisa try to hit back, then things could escalate very quickly and get out of hand.

"Okay, Lisa, leave him alone," Brian said. "He explicitly told you to leave him alone, but you refused. Whatever you're planning, keep him out of it."

"I thought you were the one who wanted Tinker support on the team."

"Let's just back off for now." He insisted. "If he is really a Tinker, then we can decide as a team whether to recruit him once we have definite evidence."

"Fine." She huffed. "I'm only doing this for you, and you owe me. Also, because he didn't snoop on my laptop."

"So he was telling the truth?"

"As far as I can tell, yeah."

-NEW-

Alex POV

I had, in fact, been telling the truth when I said I didn't look at anything; what I hadn't mentioned was that I had downloaded her entire hard drive. I hadn't actually created any connection with her laptop; all I had done was use Brian's little recorder as the medium to deliver my specially crafted program. As soon as she plugged it into her laptop, it gave my program free range in her laptop, it followed the instructions I had given it, downloading the contents of the hard drive and loading it on a heavily encrypted website on the internet, and also sent her the message.

I could access the information whenever I want, and should she wish to keep poking, then I'll use this information and hit her so hard she will never consider attacking me again.

Night had fallen by now. After Brian had left, I had sat down on my laptop and started writing the code for my OS as I waited for Lisa to spring my trap. Now that it was done with, I could return to my workout.

I had come up with an intensive training regimen one I would be following religiously. It involved conditioning my body to train up my physical attributes, and to also go through my motions to allow the body to get used to the techniques I had received with my [Combat] knowledge.

The plan was to train during the day and write code for my OS during the night.

And so I went up to take a shower. My body had already gotten rid of the strain from the workout, even though I retained the benefits from it. I had yet to start feeling the benefits of my workout but I know that as long as I kept up with it, I will start seeing the benefits in no time.

I had just got out of the shower when the Forge moved again. Once again, it latched on the other large mote, one I hadn't connected to before, the Time mote. It grabbed a power but I didn't have enough energy to secure it, and so the Forge moved on.

Sighing, I went downstairs and prepared some food, and ate. I didn't want to waste what Brian had bought me, even though I had no need to eat.

Once I was done with that, I sat down and started typing away.

-NEW-

JUMPCHAIN ABILITIES THIS CHAPTER.

God of Death (Death Note) (400CP)

You gain the ability to phase through walls and don't require food, water, sleep, or air.

Combat (100CP)

Hand-to-hand fighting is an ancient and quintessential skill for every soldier, no matter what time period.

300