Jay awoke the next morning and lazily cooked some eggs and bacon for breakfast. He ate them quickly, quite happy with the meal and his access to hot sauce to pair with the eggs for the first time in days. After he was finished, he moved to the bathroom and took his medication, lamenting the fact that he only had about 6 days' worth of medication left. He considered his options, but doubted there would be a great way to get more of the medicine. Even so, with his new skills and the fact that he was far from the only one with a shitty artificial liver, he could probably break into a pharmacy and secure as much as possible.
His other option would be to somehow get his brand-new stolen liver implanted, but he wasn’t sure it would be possible. He could always check out a few of the nearby hospitals. After all, it had only been three days, and there had to be a few doctors still working for credits. He could also happily dip into his savings now. He wouldn’t have even considered it yesterday, almost certain there would be people hunting him, but after seeing his apartment still intact. That fear had almost completely disappeared. The fear that had not disappeared, however, was his inability to deal with doctors or hospitals. Ever since he had gotten out of his medical experimentation just to survive the days, he couldn’t stand the places. Too many bad memories. Too many pieces of himself that he felt like he would never get back. Sighing, he walked out of the bathroom and moved the dresser out of the doorway.
**Skill level increased: Lifting 4 - 5**
He left the building, keeping his obscuration up while moving through the building just in case. Standing on the sidewalk, he sighed deeply and resolved himself before turning toward a nearby hospital. If he didn’t deal with this now, it would only get harder as time went on.
He was surprised when he entered to see the place in such good shape. It was currently swamped, which he attributed to the constant fighting breaking out. He moved up to the front desk and waited for the man behind the counter to finish rifling through some paperwork.
“If it’s not life-threatening, please take a seat and fill out these forms.”
Jay nodded, taking the small tablet that was offered to him and sitting down. It was simple, for the most part--just general information about him, his lack of insurance and what was bothering him. Once he had it all filled out, he walked back up to the desk and handed the papers to the exhausted-looking man.
“Based on the information you provided, we can get that changed out in about two to four hours, if you're willing to wait. We will, of course, have to make sure it is not stolen. Since you don’t have insurance, we will need the payment of 20,000 credits up front,” the receptionist said, spinning around a small screen displaying the charge and a place for Jay to authorize it.
He placed his finger down and waited for the biometric scan, before wincing as he watched as the majority of his life savings disappear like they were nothing. He sat back down and clutched at his chest, reminding himself that credits were not as valuable as they once were. With his future plans, he was going to be rich, after all. Those thoughts stung a bit as memories of the last time he had dreams of striking it rich came to the forefront of his mind. Sighing and pushing them back down, he sat and began entertaining himself by messing with his Spirit Control while he waited.
Three hours quickly passed by as he gained three levels in his Control, one in his Armor, and two in his Obscuration. He was just about to experiment with fusing his Obscuration innately into his armor when his name was finally called.
“Mr. Jay Anderson, we are ready to see you now.”
He looked up to see a smaller woman dressed in a white coat staring at a tablet she was idly flicking at while calling out his name. Jay canceled his experiment and rose from his seat to go and meet the woman. She looked up from her tablet as he approached and nodded, clicking something, causing the door behind her to open.
“Please follow me.”
Jay obliged, walking through a long hallway of closed doors before the woman finally stopped, clicked another thing on her tablet. One of the doors opened, revealing a small operation room.
“Please change into the provided clothing and take a seat. A doctor will be in to see you soon.”
He did as he was told and took a seat, waiting patiently. Around ten minutes later, the door finally opened just as he finished dissipating his armor and was getting bored. He had almost begun to make shapes out of Spirit just for something to do. A man covered from head to toe in a sterilized suit walked into the room. He introduced himself and briefed Jay on the operation before a second man came in pushing a table with a few filled syringes into the room.
The next thing he knew, he was groggily opening his eyes. When he finally got them to focus, he saw a screen in front of him, noting the operation’s success, and the instructions on what to do with a few meds sitting on a small table next to him to make sure the transplant stuck. Feeling around where he knew the incision should have been, and not even finding a scar. He got worried for a few moments before he checked his status screen and saw that the implant was indeed successful.
Status:
Name: Jay Anderson
Race: Human: (Level - 9)
Class: Light Warrior: (Tier - 1)
Innate Class: N/A
Spirit: 900/900
Stats:
Physique: 6
Reflexes: 10
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Intellect: 8
Charisma: 6
Willpower: 3
Tech: 6
Upgrade Points: 0
Cyberware:
Emotional Regulator - Rare - Excellent
Bionic Liver - Uncommon - Excellent
Synthetic Bionic Arm - Uncommon - Excellent
Skills:
Translation: (Level - 1) - Uncommon
Running: (Level - 7)
Pain Tolerance: (Level - 5)
Endurance: (Level - 3)
Basic Knots: (Level - 1)
Climbing: (Level - 2)
Basic Digging: (Level - 1)
Fire Starting: (Level - 3)
Cooking: (Level - 3)
Extinguish Fire: (Level - 3)
Sorting: (Level - 2)
Jumping: (Level - 2)
Cleaning: (Level - 2)
Multitasking: (Level - 4)
Communication: (Level - 1)
Nausea Resistance: (Level - 1)
Firearm Mastery: (Level - 1)
Basic Spirit Control: (Level - 10)
Basic Spirit Empowerment: (Level - 8)
Basic Spirit Armor: (Level - 6)
Lifting: (Level - 4)
Unarmed Combat: (Level - 3)
Basic Spirit Obscuration: (Level - 6)
Lock Picking: (Level - 2)
Misdirection: (Level - 3)
Class skills:
Basic Blade Combat: (Level - 1)
Basic Bow Combat: (Level - 0)
Basic Crossbow Combat: (Level - 0)
Basic Firearm Combat: (Level - 7)
Basic Shield Combat: (Level - 0)
Stealth: (Level - 10)
Basic Weapon Knowledge: Blades (Level - 0)
Basic Weapon Knowledge: Bows: (Level - 0)
Basic Weapon Knowledge: Crossbows: (Level - 0)
Basic Weapon Knowledge: Firearms: (Level - 6)
Basic Weapon Knowledge: Shields: (Level - 0)
Letting out a sigh of relief, he pushed himself off the chair and grabbed his meds, throwing them into his bag before changing back into his normal clothes. Smiling and walking out of the building with a sense of freedom he hadn’t felt in years, he traveled to a nearby park that hadn’t been caught up in the fighting and took a seat on a bench. Leaning back, he just relaxed for a moment before a strand of energy flowed out of his body and slowly rebuilt his armor. Luckily, with his Spirit increased due to reaching Level 9, he was able to fully cover his body with the invisible armor and still have enough left over that he could make it back home without passing out. Sighing as he pushed off the bench. He did feel strangely naked without his weapons, but there was nothing to be done about that. He whistled to himself, sticking his hands into his pockets. Casually strolling through the parts of the city that hadn’t been destroyed, he made his way back to his apartment.
A nice nap, then back to leveling, he thought to himself. He brought his Obscuration back up and entered the building.
As he did, he narrowed his eyes at a group of three men who all looked over to him. Not sure what to expect, he kept walking while keeping an eye on them. As he moved to make it to the elevator, Jay clenched his fist as the first man rose from his seat and blocked his path.
After looking at the man dressed in a plain gray T-shirt with black jeans for a moment, and seeing that he wasn’t going to say anything. Jay finally asked, “Can I help you?”
“Depends,” The man grunted out. He pulled up a tablet with a video of Jay moving the rubble out of the way of the cybernetics store. “That’s you, yeah?”
“Depends, who’s asking?”
The man turned the tablet around and flicked through it. “Someone you don’t want to piss off.” He flipped the tablet around again, now displaying a video of him and Phalanx leaving the store. “What’s your relationship to that kid?”
Jay shrugged as a smile crept onto his face, covering up the slowly rising nerves in his chest, but he pushed them back down. He no longer had a reason to fear these people. “He followed me into that store, and we talked for a bit. Nothing more, nothing less. Why?”
The man sighed and shook his head. “That kid stole something from me. Something I need to get back. So I would appreciate it if you would quit bullshitting and tell me where you two went.”
“Look, I have no clue what you're talking about, and I don’t have an association with that kid. If you really want more information, you should go talk to Regina--the woman who took over the bank about a thirty-minute walk from here. Seems like he's a recruiter for her, or something.” Jay moved to walk past the man, but he put a hand on his shoulder and shoved him back.
“We ain't done talking yet.”
“Look, I told you everything--”
“You expect me to believe that shithead walked into that store, helped you with that shiny new arm of yours, and asked for nothing in return?”
“Like I said, he took me to that bank to search for his friend, but it turned out weird. Didn’t seem like those people were in the business of kidnapping; that's for darn sure. So, I would love to help you, but that's all I know. Again, I would recommend you go talk to her.”
The man lifted his shirt, revealing a large pistol with blue energy running through it.
Jay’s eyes widened. Guns in general had been heavily regulated in the country for as long as he had been alive, and the man in front of him didn’t just have a simple handgun. He carried a plasma pistol capable of melting through even the thickest steel--something Jay had never expected to see in person.
“Why don’t you show us the way, then?”
Jay’s mind spun into overdrive as he considered his options.
**Skill level increased: Multitasking 4 - 5**
He was almost positive he couldn’t take a shot from that thing yet, even with his armor. However, he didn’t think going back to Regina’s was smart right now with the teleportation mage’s threat. If he didn’t get shot, though, there wouldn't be an issue. With a burst of Spirit-empowered speed, he slammed his fist into the man’s chin, grabbed the weapon, and took a step back to point it at the man. Now that he had a better view, he frowned as he looked it over. He nearly facepalmed.
“A water gun? Really?!”
The man laughed as he drew a 9mm handgun from the back of his waistband and pointed it at Jay. “Neat trick, huh? Haven’t had someone test that threat in a while. Ballsy, aren’t you? I can respect that. Tell you what? I'll give you one last chance to make the right choice here.”
Jay smiled as he sent a quick thought to Lan and got a confirmation before bursting into action once more. After all, an unempowered 9mm weapon wasn’t a threat to his armor, and he was honestly happy to let the man learn that lesson the hard way.
