Fuuuuu…. The Mistificator assaulted his body from all angles as he stared at the slimy, unkempt wall of the bathroom.
Doing his best to keep his disgust in check, he tried to make the hazy memories his.
He was Jace, a Scrapper…A fancy title for a guy who lived like a vulture, harvesting cybernetic implants and whatever else he could from the several unfortunate casualties of life in the outer city.
Not even 30 yet, but a dad to the cutest 5-year-old ever, but he was Rex, too.
A guy who had been expecting 300k dolls when he woke, but rather had to come to terms with the fact that he now lived in a world, where goblins, orcs, and demihumans were a real thing, among a number of other ridiculous things.
Citizenship came in tiers, and magic, or better yet, Ether Tech, was a real thing.
Even superheroes or A.K.A spellcasters were not a thing of myth; they were very much real.
Those that naturally awakened to this were known as Hexers, and they had the ability to twist the laws of reality, and then there were also the wealthy who could purchase M-Cores to mimic this or even install ethernetic implants that turned them into something more than human.
BASIC WATER ALLOWANCE AVAILABLE TO YOUR RENTAL PACKAGE HAS BEEN EXHAUSTED…The digital control of the Mistificator butted in mid-thought.
TAP ON THE GLOWING RING, TO ACCEPT AN ADDITIONAL CHARGE OF 50 CREDITS TO YOUR RENTAL SMART CONTRACT…TO TEMPORARILY INCREASE ALLOWANCE LIMIT FROM 50 TO 55 LITERS FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
"Eehhh!" Jace cursed as the mistificator, ceased with lather still on his being, the central button of the digital control pulsing green, inviting him lovingly to increase his limit.
His Nanobracelet came alive.
Not relying so much on muscle memory, he was able to bring up his credit balance.
| 233 Credits
Nahhh…. Spending more than 20% of his current portfolio to rinse soap was an expense he could avoid.
He pulled some tissue paper off the dispenser installed beside the…possibly smart toilet, and got to work.
He was pretty familiar with poverty; he was a pro at that shit.
He was comfortably refreshed soon after, no paper crumb stuck to the entirety of his being.
"Triple A execution, I daresay," He praised himself excitedly.
Then his eyes caught the shadow hanging outside the bathroom door, waiting for him to reemerge.
Adea
His world.
He wasn't in a hurry to get back out there.
Was he Adea's dad? …Definitely.
He was Jace, but he was also Rex.
"Damnnn!!!!!!" He screamed out loud, hopefully getting some of the tension off his system.
"Hey, Halo," he called. Three dots appeared in his vision.
"What am I?"
A Human
.
.
.
"Come again?"
…
A Human
Ehhh, I must be asking the wrong thing, Jace concluded, but highly doubted. The damn thing could respond to his thoughts after all, how could it be wrong?
How am I not in 2047? He mentally prompted Halo to ensure it wasn't because he was asking orally that she was taking his questions too literally.
[Analyzing Prompt…] | A digital interface came alive in his vision.
[Prompt Analyzed…Query Invalid] | "What the fu–"
[Generating Compensatory Reply…Reply Ready] | Jace's brows arched up, curiously.
You have indeed made a very thoughtful observation…It began.
And is indeed showing signs appropriate for an exceptional survivalist.
Identifying the key inconsistency in your current reality is indeed a step in the right direction to further strengthen your acclimation to your new reality.
Having identified this inconsistency, you can focus on improving your current state of being.
Addressing your current low credit status, and even the low energy value of your organic frame.
"That's not even what I asked," Jace debated, but Halo was all in on its thing now.
Would you like me to propose possible steps you can take to address these immediate challenges?
"No!... Why am I in an era named after public relations?" Jace changed his prompt.
Another round of glazing. Jace didn't give up.
He went about it like a junkie.
Halo didn't budge.
She synced with his nano bracelet…
Proposed possible jobs he could pursue with his current skill set to improve his income.
Developed an Isekai appropriate Stat Screen.
Explained to him how processing at higher cycle ratios rapidly depleted his bio-energy.
Proposed a possible solution while on it.
She went about doing everything but the one thing he needed from her. If he had kept on it, he might have solved world hunger at some point, if that was still a thing..
No, it very much was. His current credit balance reminded him of that.
Accepting Halo's refusal to leave glazing and give him a reply, He wore his Bear-themed PJ onesie…a papa bear match with the one Adea wore.
He fisted and relaxed his hand over and over again, cracked his neck both ways.
He had a daughter to care for, no matter how nonsensical and unreal his life currently felt.
Scratch that, He rapidly conceded, when those bubbly green eyes looked into his as the bathroom door slid open.
"Hey, Honey pie," he greeted. She smiled.
Damn, Jace swore as a flood left his heart, feeling him with warmth, that greatly trumped the lukewarm mist that he had bathed in.
He knelt, she came closer.
She smelt like chocolate milk and forest mist…Like the good life.
What now?, His mind panicked as she kept her eyes in his, expectant.
"Taking your bath yet?" he blurted the first thing that came to mind.
"Dad…it's not even morning," She protested, drawing closer and letting her cute head bop his and then pulling on his fluffy bear hoodie.
"3-AM is morning already, tiny Holmes," he defended. "But it's not the time a tiny pub should be having their bath."
"I am not tiny," Adea pouted angrily. "I am big and strong like Lady Violent."
"Lady Violet eehh.." Jace echoed as the memory came back to him.
One of the Omega Angels, the powerful cyborgs developed by Omega, the godlike AI that currently ruled over humanity, and were meant to help maintain peace and order.
Lady Violet, as she should be called, was a Hexer Cyborg with the aspect of space, and she was a hit with kids, mainly because she was among the most active Omega Angels, considering the benefits of her Aspect.
"Yesss, lady Violet," Adea agreed excitedly as she stood up and began to run around with her hands behind, Swooshing from place to place, trying to mimic Violet's signature [Void-dash]
"Heyy!, so fast," Jace praised. "And I am Father T-Rex," he declared as he stood.
"The OG Green Hexer that can turn into a Dinosouar and.." Jace dashed towards Adea, intentionally making his feet land heavier as he chased after the [Viod-Dashing] mini Omega Angel.
"...and can catch you puny cyborg with my underformed Tyrannosaurus hands." He declared as he lifted her off the floor and let her feet dangle in the air… Her laughter made him embrace the tiny bear and peck her tiny head.
Yhh… he definitely wasn't just Rex anymore, these many emotions were all so new to him, he didn't feel this much for anything, not after that..
Grrrrr…His empty stomach growled, making Adea fall into another bout of laughter.
"I have to do something about that," Jace said as he dropped his cub on her feet
She marched behind him as he made his way to the kitchen.
The mini kitchen of the self-contained housing was a disaster.
Mismatched futuristic utensils chugged in at every corner with no obvious structure, empty plastic and paper packets littered everywhere.
"Definitely have to do something about this," He grumbled as he opened the squeaky cabinet that held the Protein bars.
Nothing.
"I ate the last one," Adea announced in a breathy rush, smugly, as she climbed onto the countertop.
"Yes, you did," Jace said in between another tummy growl, as the memory of him teaching her what time of the eve to eat the protein bar, if he wasn't back, came back to him.
"So flakes it is then," Jace consoled himself as he opened a new cabinet that held three paper-packaged cereals, each holding five servings.
He pulled out one and tore it open, as he studied the kitchen and the self-contained housing as a whole.
A large central space that housed a large bed, a wardrobe, a single sofa, and clothes and trinkets scattered around everywhere… The toilet and bathroom were built into the same space, and the Kitchen compartment remained as messy as it was.
Former him, didn't really have a strong definition of hy… Pffttt. He spat out the flakes that had melted in his mouth instantly and tasted like spoiled milk and wet concrete.
"This is terrible!" He explained to Adea, who was happily munching on the ones she took.
She didn't seem to mind as she took another fistful of it to chew on.
Jace studied her like she was an extraterrestrial lifeform, which, of course, whoever could enjoy eating this was.
"Honey pie, you deserve much better than this," He consoled her as he searched the cabinet for anything else to eat.
The only thing left was a cabinet holding dozens of noodles labelled Vita-Noodles…That doesn't sound interesting.
"Dada," Adea called.
"Yes, Sweety Pie."
"You keep saying pie," Adea quizzed. "What's pie?"
"What's pie?" Jace echoed back, shocked!.
"What's pie?"..." Yass, What's pie?" Adea validated.
"An essential crucible of being, one of the seven basics for a good life, an ever-changing wonder of life."
"In essence, my little Padawan," Jace concluded his lecture. "Pie is simply portable joy."
"Is pie a tech piece?" Adea asked in confusion.
"Nahhh… Pie is neither implant, armpiece, nor gear." He corrected. "It's ever-changing goodness."
"Wow," Adea gasped excitedly. "I want pie, Dad."
"And pie you will have love," Jace declared confidently, before the fact that there was nothing in this kitchen apart from Flakes and Vita-Noodles hit him.
"We will have to hold on…on that." He corrected sharply, before Adea could push further on the topic.
She pouted in defiance.
Jace fell head over heels for the ploy, defence to Adea's cuteness…[0%]
"We will see if we can get pie in the morning," he promised.
'It's morning already," Adea debated further.
"Yhh," Jace concurred. "But it's 3 am, Mini-violet, you should actually be sleeping, not buzzing around."
"Adea can't sleep if dad's not there," She argued further.
Dada's lips arched upwards. "Come here, Padawan," Jace declared as he picked her up and planted pecks on her cheeks, before letting her be, so he could start devising an action plan to make the self-contained housing look more livable in his standard.
"Get on top of the bed," he instructed Adea. "I need to make everywhere look bonita, before we leave for our pie."
"What's bonita?" Adea questioned as she jumped on top of the bed.
"Bonita means pretty in vibrant tongue."
"I want our house to be bonita," Adea agreed excitedly while bouncing up and down on the bed.
"Yhh," Jace agreed quietly, taking a deep breath and pushing back his hunger for a while.
He would reward himself adequately too, with the outing.
He might actually be looking forward to it more than Adea, he realized in between thoughts as he got to work.
There was a small robot vacuum in the corner. Once brought to life at the expense of [3 Credits], it began to handle the sticky and all smudged up Vinyl flooring
Jace focused on decluttering and bringing some sense of conformity to the space. He identified the dirty laundry and threw them into the mini laundry machine for a charge of [7 Credits].
All these amenities came preinstalled with the studio space, but charges were applied with each usage, with direct debit to Credits under his universal OD Tag.
Adea explained excitedly what she had been up to during the past day while Jace did his thing.
Seeing the space get a new life grounded him further in his new reality.
"Dada, do you know the six types of hexers?" Adea asked in between reciting what she had learnt in the basic education examination programme for the day.
"Yes, I do," He answered smugly.
"Blue Hexers for the genius and mind type."
"White for the reality-altering hexers, Red for force hexers, green for organic-altering hexers, golden for time hexers." He listed. "And..?"
"And Violet for space hexers." Adea finished up for him.
"Little Einstein," Jace praised.
"What's Einstein?" Adea questioned…Jace facepalmed.
"We will need to work on your culturization, little padawan…But for now, go change out of your PJs, let's go grab a bite."
"Yayy!" she rejoiced as she began to pull out torchlights in garment form.
"Nahh…" Jace pleaded. "We are not going to grab a bite with you dressed like a nightclub signage."
A negotiation so fierce, it will put presidential debates to shame ensued for the next couple of minutes.
But Jace emerged victorious; even a five-year-old could feel the style radiating in his proposed fit.
Bright Green plastic-coated hoodie, with a hidden compartment to hide her mini pistol, black leggings, patched with chromatic stickers at the places where wear and tear had gotten the better of it.
Military-style boots that were actually softer and lighter than they looked… and a backpack containing a flake pack and water pack, just in case.
He swapped his Bear-sama onesie for a matching green-themed denim jacket, a dark undershirt, cargo pants, and some real beast of a boot.
Miss Puri Yo's dagger was hidden in a sheath affixed to the inside of his jacket, very much easily accessible if need be.
ATTENTION TENANT, The keypad blared behind them as they left.
CURRENT CREDIT BALANCE WILL BE INSUFFICIENT TO RENEW THE SMART RENT CONTRACT IN 53 HRS…PLEASE RECHARGE ACCOUNT WITH SUFFICIENT CREDIT TO AVOID EVICTION.
"You hear that, baby girl?" he whispered to Adea's ear as he lifted her up. "That's the last time that keypad will mock us."
"No more paycheck living from now on," He assured her as she looked him in the eye with those divine gems.
He had an AI in his head; if that couldn't give him a leg up, what the hell else could?
"Dad," Adea called.
"Yes, Sweetie pie."
"You are weird."