~ Chapter 3: The First Job ~
[Cody’s point of view]
So, in this world, where superpowers, aliens, and supernatural abilities were common, there were those who excelled in them by a wide margin. It mattered not if you were psychic when the only thing you could do was read one mind once a day. Or if you were a supernatural, and the most you could do was pop up some animal ears and have better hearing than most. It was like having one extra trick to show off at a party, and that was it.
The true difference came from having an overwhelming advantage against a group of people of at least four or more in number. If with your ability you could take down one or more individuals in a single attack, then it made a difference. If you could lay waste to an entire neighborhood with your powers, most certainly you would earn some renown across the country or even the globe.
Thus, while heroes and villains were a dime a dozen, those whose names really stuck with people were few. For many of them, it was a nice part-time gig or even a good way to flex their powers.
This brought about another big problem with our current society. The more power one had, the more they felt the need to use it and release it. Most individuals became heroes or villains only because they had no choice but to find a way to release their powers.
It was a problem of modern society that everyone knew about but nobody knew how to solve it. We could only hope that the number of powerful heroes would be substantially higher than that of villains.
Mercya, for example, was a powerful superheroine who claimed to be an alien hailing from a world where magic was far more common and developed than it was here. According to her official file on the Azgardia: Guild of Heroes website, she could fly through the sky, was nearly indestructible, and at times wielded mystical magical powers that no one could understand even a fraction of how they were conjured.
Of course, weaknesses or private information were not out there and both the Supernatural Police Unit and the Federal Bureau of Supernaturals made sure to take down any such info that ended up spread around to the public.
Mercya was also one of the most mysterious superheroes, appearing only from time to time and only when there was something really dangerous about to happen. The villains hated her; some heroes were envious of her, while civilians worshipped her.
Mercya was also incredibly beautiful with her blonde hair, glowing green eyes, fair skin, and a suit that hugged her voluptuous curves to the point where a sane straight man found it impossible not to leer. Well, maybe I was exaggerating a bit on the last part because for two whole lives now I had had no girlfriend! Maybe I had some karma to pay for this?
Well, overall, Mercya was insanely powerful and remarkably beautiful. She was an idol and a role model for many. She was also someone whom I admired.
On the other hand, there were supervillains like The Grand Maestro, who was similar to her in some regards, but was less physically powerful and more magic-focused than tech-focused. There was also Stigmatrak, a villain who used tech to compensate for his lack of abilities, and then we had the typical heroes and villains who earned their abilities as a result of one freak accident or another or simply by awakening their S Zero genes.
Now, one of these heroes, with whom I had nothing to do for my entire life, was right here, in front of me, planted like a comic character on the sidewalk.
“Erm... are you alright?” I asked tentatively.
Pushing herself up, her glowing green eyes locked onto me like two mystical emeralds scanning for danger and evil intent.
I was harmless to her.
“I’m fine.” she replied as she got back on her feet.
“Alright... Erm, do you need anything repaired? I’m open for business.” I said with a wry smile as I pointed at the Shop Open sign.
Narrowing her eyes, she then asked, “You can fix stuff?”
“Yeah?”
“Even magical stuff?”
“Maybe? I think so, probably.” I replied, looking back at the box of spare Magic Parts. “Do you have anything you need fixed?” I asked looking back at her.
After looking me up and down, she furrowed her brow and then relaxed.
“I have this.” she made a device appear out of nowhere in her right hand.
It was a small watch-like device that had symbols I could not recognize.
As I looked at it, a small window popped up in front of me.
[Theorus Clock. Unable to analyze. Requires Technological Skill Level 2.]
I opened my mouth, about to deny the request, but then I remembered my reward for my first mission. I quickly opened it and then hit the claim button.
[Rewards Ready to claim: 20 Status Points and Technology Skill Level 2.]
I smiled. “I think I might be able to fix it. Do you want me to give it a try?” I showed her a polite smile.
She looked at her right-hand glove and tapping on it, a holographic watch formed. It was 6:12 AM. Looking back at me, she narrowed her eyes.
She’s not gonna zap me with laser eyes or something, is she? I wondered.
“Here you go.” she said, pushing the device towards me.
“One moment then, Miss Mercya, I’ll have a look at it and then tell you if it’s possible.” I declared as I picked it up.
[Mission: Repair the Theorus Clock. Accept: Y/N?]
I put the mission on hold and moved to the repair bench.
“Claim rewards.” I said as I got my first upgrade.
[Technological Skill upgraded to Level 2.]
I took another look at the Theorus Clock with my newfound ability, and new data popped up.
[Scanning...]
[Scan Complete. Repair Knowledge Acquired. Dismantling Knowledge Acquired. Fabrication Knowledge Acquired. Progress for complete understanding: 8%]
“Nice! I see now... Ah, this part, and this one... I think I can fix it, no, I’m certain I can! It’s not that busted.” I smiled and accepted the mission. Looking back at Mercya, who was looking at me from the window with curious eyes, I called out to her “I can fix it! Just give me a minute!”
With a single nod of approval from her, I immediately got to work.
From within the Repair Toolbox, I took out four tools that my newly acquired knowledge told me I would need: a stack of white magic paper; an object like a wand with three crystals embedded in the handle that acted like buttons; a spherical golden object with various runes and inscriptions on it that could pull apart magic circles and other inscriptions; and a highly advanced technological tool that was a veritable automated factory in one single handheld package.
I first grabbed the wand and pressed the bottom crystal, which caused the watch to store its Magic Energy in the crystal. It filled up all the way to the third crystal. Then, I grabbed the sphere and pulled apart a magic circle that was invisible to the naked eye and floated freely around the device. I passed the circle onto a piece of magic paper and set it aside. I then grabbed the handheld factory and a bunch of arms popped out, which started to take apart the cover by unscrewing and tapping on very tiny parts.
It’s like the whole thing is one big puzzle box... I thought while ignoring the messages that popped up in my system window.
After taking apart the cover, I had access to the arms and dial, but those were just an illusion created by the inner disc. I took another piece of paper and pulled off the inscription and set it aside. Now I could see the intricate parts of the inner device.
“It’s definitely bigger on the inside than it is on the outside...” I said as I realized that a spatial rune was probably carved on the bottom of the watch’s casing to keep it together.
Normally, when you start to repair a watch, you begin by taking it apart from the back. The big, obvious screws make you think so, however, in this case, those were projected illusions just like the cover.
This thing was not a watch; it was an information storage device, a locator, and a supercomputer all in one. Seeing how Mercya was letting me fiddle with it, she either trusted that I would know how to fix it or had no idea in the first place that it would be this complex. I was never interested in the gossip of heroes and villains, so I did not know what was said about them.
“Sometimes, I wish Wikipedia existed in this world...” I mumbled as I took apart the unnecessary pieces and moved others to the side.
If I had a wiki to look at, it would make my life so much easier, but in this world, information of any kind was a treasure trove. An information dealer was an actual job.
“Should I make it? Nah, I’d end up dead by the end of tomorrow... but if I could... why not?” I mumbled to myself.
“Make what?” Mercya asked suddenly, and my hands stopped.
Turning my head to the left, I saw her still standing there, unmoved, her glowing green eyes like priceless emeralds still locked onto me with an almost innocent curiosity.
“Erm... I was thinking about making a worldwide library that made general information accessible to everyone... A library written for everyone by everyone.” I replied.
“That...” she tilted her head to the left “…would be interesting to see... Why don’t you do it?”
I shrugged “I’d be dead before I finish it. I mean, look where I am right now. Not exactly swimming in money, and in this world... a single villain or pissed-off hero could end my life.” I showed her a wry smile “Information is priceless... and some folks would rather hold it than share it... regardless of the help it could bring.” I turned my attention from her back to the device.
“Sounds noble.” she remarked.
“Sounds careless too. A good idea without proper preparation will be buried under the pile of uncertainty, envy, and greed.”
“...”
For the next twenty minutes, as I worked, she remained silent. During this time, I dug deeper into the intricacies of this device. Building a quantum computer became clearer to me, while at the same time some technological ideas began to pop up in my head, however, I was still very far from even attempting to replicate even a single gizmo in this whole thing. Rather than saying I could understand how it worked, I simply had the clarity that the principle might actually work given the correct circumstances.
As for how I was repairing this advanced piece of technology despite having no idea how to replicate it or even properly understand it... well, I could only give that credit to my skills.
At 7:31 AM, after changing three Magic Parts, two Exotic Parts, and four Technological Parts, I was able to fix it. Reassembly took me no more than seven minutes.
[Theorus Clock: 27% Repair Knowledge. 44% Dismantling Knowledge. 12% Fabrication Knowledge.]
The total was ridiculously small compared to my phone, which had over 50% on all categories.
“It’s done.” I announced as I got up from my seat and stretched my arms and back.
“It’s done?” Mercya asked, blinking twice.
“Yes. Erm, didn’t exactly take me a minute, but a lot more, sorry.” I showed her a wry smile as the Mission Complete pop-up appeared in front of me.
I pushed it to the side and offered the device back to her.
“You... really fixed it?” she took the watch and with a gentle touch looked at it.
“Yeah, that thing is amazing. Thankfully, it was within my ability to fix.” I said, smiling.
“You know what it is?” she asked, blinking twice as she looked up at me.
“Yeah, a Theorus Clock, a supercomputer beyond what we have on Earth, fueled by magic, welded together with science and filled to the brim with the knowledge of an entire civilization, if I’m not mistaken.” I scratched the back of my head.
“Yeah... it’s... a gift... and memory... Now, more...” a soft smile formed on her lips as she looked down at the watch.
“Well, now that my job is done... well...” I scratched my cheek with my finger. “About the pay...”
“Yes.” she nodded “How much?” she asked.
“Well, I’ve just set up shop here, so... for now, how about you just think of it as owing me a favor? In the future, if I get in trouble, help me out?” I smiled.
“I would have either way. Give me your bank account. I will send you some money for this.” she said and pulled out her phone.
“Erm, sure...” I nodded and then took out my phone.
In that moment, my screen turned purple and the price of my service popped up alongside a checkbox: $102,304.44
I did not do that... I thought.
“A magic payment... All right.” she then reached out and touched the checkbox.
The text then changed to: Transaction Complete. Thank you.
“I had no idea my phone could do that...” I reacted in amazement.
“I will be going now, however, if you need help from the Azgardia or if you wish to register with the government, please call me. I’ll help you out!” she smiled and with a wave of her hand sent a purple magic string towards my phone.
“New Contact: Mercya...” I read aloud.
“Have a good day, erm... What should I call you?” she asked.
“Huh? Erm, Syntax... You can call me Syntax.”
“Syntax... not bad. I’m Mercya.” she smiled and then flew away, cutting through the sky that had just been illuminated by the sun’s morning rays.
I stood there and looked at her until she was out of sight. Then I closed the window and walked back to the crafting table.
“Damn, what a night...” I said and shook my head.