Super Genetics

Despite what he considered advanced Presence Attributes, it became clear after a few hours that he could not brute force his way into the E-ranks. As much as he wanted to stick with his Metaphysical Analysis for as long as it would take, six hours passed before he felt confident enough to call the outer layer of the Skill firmly cataloged in his mind.

It was when he went to peel up that layer to begin examining the second, that he realized his assumptions had been fueled by hubris. While the mental strain of analyzing the outer layer had been relatively minor—his concentration being the only real bottleneck—once he started in on the second layer, the mental strain ramped up noticeably.

And that was because he had to continuously keep the first layer pried back, like levering up a heavy object. Which he could have done easily enough, he thought. But he also had to divide his attention between that and actually cataloging the mold for the second layer.

The effort proved too much after an hour, his aura quivering, his thoughts becoming sluggish. Still, he tried to keep pushing, but his mental grip on that top layer finally slipped and he snapped out of the Skill. He settled back into the couch with a sigh, his back aching, while a fierce headache stabbed into his eyes.

He rubbed at them with a moan. The sound of Silver shifting on the couch prompted him to peep one open, examining his grandpa through slitted eyelids. When he did, a flashing notification tried to pull his attention, but he was too tired to care.

“Well, that was certainly interesting,” his grandfather finally said.

“Oh?” Terry asked automatically, letting his eyelids shut—he was visualizing the top layer mold, burning it into his memory.

“Not like any Aura Skill I ever felt. A Distorter penetrates, invading like a virus. Amplifiers wrap around and magnify. Visionaries try and drown you in their Presence. But that…it was like you held a magnifying glass and were poking at every crevice and bump, one at a time.” Terry heard the man snort. “Don’t know how you did that for ten hours. My brain woulda fried after—”

His eyes shot open and he sat up with a grunt.

“Ten hours!”

Silver had a wry smile on his face at Terry’s outburst. “And thirty-six minutes. Impressive stamina, really.”

But he wasn’t listening to the man. “My dad’s gonna kill me!”

He pulled up their chat, wondering how he could frame his message to defuse the anger his father must be feeling. But when he opened it, he didn’t find a flurry of messages demanding him to answer or threatening punishment. The very last correspondence was Terry’s own message.

When he looked up toward Silver, his grandfather had an amused twinkle in his eye as he waited expectantly for Terry to come to some conclusion.

After a handful of shocked moments, he did. “You messaged my dad?”

Silver shrugged. “You were in the zone. Didn’t wanna break your flow and didn’t want your old man to worry.” He held up a finger. “He did say to message him as soon as you took a break, though.”

Terry nodded, preparing to turn back to the chat, when his eyes flicked over the notifications he had initially ignored.

Aura Projection: E3

Aura Control: E4 → E5

Aura Perception: E8

Presence Average: E5

Right beneath it was another set of Attribute notifications and he smiled to himself.

Aura Projection: E3 → E4

Aura Control: E5

Aura Perception: E8

Presence Average: E5 → E6

-

Aura Projection: E4 → E5

Aura Control: E5 → E6

Aura Perception: E8

Presence Average: E6

-

“E6,” he muttered. He couldn’t believe it—he’d jumped two more times in that ten-hour session. At this rate, his Presence Attributes would be in the Ds within the week!

Silver grunted and Terry looked over to see him shaking his head.

“You’re in for a world of hurt, kid.”

Terry frowned. “What? Why?”

“It’s coming too easy. Seen it before.”

He gaped at his grandfather. “Too easy! I fried my brain for ten hours to get those Attributes!”

Silver pointed at him with a knowing nod. “Exactly! Ten hours to go from E4 to E6. It’s a dopamine hit, Terry. Every time those Attributes update, you get a rush, right?”

Terry crossed his arms, feeling his defenses rise. Why is Silver trying to make me feel bad about advancing quickly? Shouldn’t he be proud?

“Yes, it feels good to rank up. So what? I’m s’pose to be depressed that my aura is advancing at a good clip?”

“Depressed? No,” Silver said. “But you should temper your expectations. Attribute growth and rank growth are on an exponential time scale. The first few ranks come easy, then less so, until you hit your first plateau. Most Awakened can hit E-rank in a couple months. D, maybe a year or two. C…I saw some really talented individuals stall out at C for a decade.”

Terry couldn’t tell if it was because his aura was in tatters or if it was just the mundane exhaustion of a ten-hour session, but he found himself feeling suddenly annoyed with his grandfather.

“What’s your point?” he demanded. “That I’m one of the ones that’ll stall out? That I’m some sort of faux prodigy that’ll burn bright and gutter out in the Ds or Cs?” He shot up to his feet, striding to the windows that overlooked the empty warehouse. His heart pounded in his chest, the heat rushing to his face as he stared out blankly.

He waited by the windows, expecting Silver to fire back, demand he change his tone, or react in some way that was typical of adults. Instead, silence reigned in the office for a full minute, giving room for the tension and anger to drain away until his own outburst felt increasingly silly and childish.

Silver was an S-ranker—and probably the first or second most powerful person in the world. Why would he try and tear down little old me? He cares about me, I’ve seen it myself. Which means he wasn’t trying to tear me down. He was trying to help me…

Terry took a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he sighed. “When my aura gets tired, I get a little cranky. It’s no excu—”

“No,” Silver interrupted. “I’m the one that should be sorry.”

Terry turned to look at the man, surprised to see a pained expression on his face.

“No, really—” Terry started, but stopped as Silver held up a hand.

His eyes looked distant, a painful memory clearly playing across them. After a few moments, Silver looked up, a shine in his eyes.

“I…” Terry was shocked to hear the tremble in the man’s voice. “I had a son, once.” His words were soft, barely loud enough for Terry to register. But despite the low volume, the revelation floored him like Silver had shouted it across Wichita.

“I had an uncle?” he asked softly.

Silver nodded, his lips turned down in a frown. “Ten years older than your mother. He Awakened not long after the Call, so we weren’t too far apart in ranks.” His eyes studied the stained carpet floor, distant and shining with pain. “He…he was strong and smart.” Silver glanced up for a moment. “Like you. His Attributes came quick and he hit E-rank within a couple weeks.” He smiled, soft and sad. “I was so proud. Then he hit the Ds after two months and that’s when I noticed the change.”

Terry moved away from the windows, coming to sit on the couch beside the man.

“I was a B-ranker at the time and he started comparing himself to me in every way. ‘You hit the Ds in six months,’ he’d say. ‘I did it in two.’ At first, I encouraged the competition. But then he was approaching the Cs, which meant his Midmark Quest…”

“Yeah?” Terry prompted gently. He felt like he knew where his grandfather was heading, but he was still held rapt.

“He wasn’t even fifteen when his System offered him the Midmark. That was when I panicked. I could tell from his demeanor that it was a Summons Quest. I demanded that he put it off, wait until he was sixteen…” He trailed off, his lips pursed in thought.

Terry could see what had happened next as clear as if it had happened to him. He knew how he would react.

“He took the Summons anyway,” Terry supplied. “Probably that same day.” Silver’s eyes darted up, shining with half-formed tears. “It’s what I would have done.”

Silver nodded, the tears finally slipping free. “There one day, gone the next,” he said softly. “Didn’t even get to say goodbye. The last thing I said to him was: ‘You’re a child. That Midmark is gonna chew you up and spit you out.’ He shouted that I was threatened by him, trying to hold him back. He stormed off and…I never saw him again.” He wiped at the tears, looking up at Terry and snorting. “God, kid, I haven’t cried in decades. Around you for a few hours and you already got me blubbering.”

Terry tried to smile at his grandpa’s self-deprecation, but the lump forming in his own throat made it feel hollow, forced.

Silver shook his head and stood up with a grunt. “Come on, Terry. I wanna show you something.”

Terry started in surprise, turning his thoughts from his long-dead uncle and all the ways the System had torn his family apart. “Okay,” he replied lamely.

He followed Silver out of the dilapidated office and down the rusty stairs. The massive warehouse expanded out before them, hollow, echoing surprisingly loud with their footsteps.

They walked another hundred feet in silence and Terry started to feel suspicious. There was nothing in sight for a thousand feet and the well-lit warehouse had nowhere to hide anything that wasn’t in the office. He was beginning to wonder if Silver was just repositioning to initiate another Travel, when the man stopped.

He turned with a flourish, his hands raised to encompass…something.

“Here it is. My Awakening gift to you.”

Terry made a show of looking around, checking under his feet and behind his back. “Is it an invisible superhero vehicle?” he asked with a cheeky tone. “I’ve always wanted a stealth car. We’ll call it…” He paused for dramatic effect. “The Terry-mobile!”

Silver snorted. “That’s a terrible name, kid. Nothing like my Gunjet.” He looked off whimsically. “Ah, I miss that thing. Sleek, powerful—” His eyes cut back with a twinkle. “—real chick magnet.”

Terry choked in surprise, holding up his hand to suppress the laughing coughs. When he’d recovered, he looked around with a shrug, his eyebrows raised as if to say, ‘where the gift at, old man.’

Silver’s hands went up again—higher this time—seeming to indicate the roof, the walls, the—

Terry’s eyes bugged out as he finally connected the dots. “No!”

A smile touched his grandpa’s lips. “It’s not invisible or anything.” He tapped a finger thoughtfully to his lips. “Though I can see about returning it if you don’t want i—”

“You can’t be serious!” Terry exclaimed. He looked around, eyeing the vast open warehouse. He almost felt guilty even drawing the conclusion he had. But Silver wasn’t exactly dissuading his assumption either. Spinning in a slow circle, he already felt his mind racing with the possibilities. “Are you messing with me?”

Silver walked up, putting an arm around Terry’s shoulder. “Nope. It’s all yours, Terry. Every powerful Awakened needs their first lair.”

[Feed Wichita] Quest Updated

Lair Acquired…

Calculating Next Step…

Quest Updated

Next Step: Form your team

-

He read those notifications with bated breath, not quite believing he had actually made headway. With a thought, he pulled up the Quest.

Quest Given: [Feed Wichita]

Grow enough food to supplement Topeka’s inflows.

Update → Step Completed: Acquire Lair

Update → Next Step: Form your team

Deadline: 274 days remaining until famine riots

Reward: Variable

-

“I’m guessing from your reaction, that was exactly what you needed,” Silver said wryly.

Terry turned back in shock. “How di—”

Warning! Revealing information about your Quests will result in consequences.

His jaw clamped shut at the sudden warning. But that didn’t detract from his enthusiasm or the knowing look in Silver’s eyes.

“Thank you…grandpa Silver.”

His grandpa pulled him into a hug and Terry let him, feeling spoiled rotten with all the loving embraces he’d been getting recently. Six months without a proper hug and now, he was getting multiple a day. Things had certainly taken a left turn since his Awakening—and for the better, if he didn’t count the run in with Dancer.

When they parted, Silver had a sad smile on his face and Terry pulled back in surprise.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Silver studied him for a moment, his gaze intense. Terry tried not to wilt under those eyes, but he found himself glancing down, then back again as he waited for the man to respond.

“I’m more than okay, Terry,” Silver replied after a few moments. “I’m happy to be able to know you. There was a time when I never thought I’d see another friendly face, let alone the spitting image of my daughter. It’s…eerie.”

Terry shrugged, not quite sure how to reply to that. After a moment, he settled on, “I’m happy to get to know you, too.” His eyes trailed to the space around him, not quite believing it was actually his. “What am I gonna fill this warehouse with?” he wondered out loud.

Silver also looked around, taking in the far corners, the tall ceilings, and finally turning his eyes back on Terry. “Fill it with whatever you need.” The emphasis on that last word had him double-taking toward his grandpa. There had been a double meaning behind that, he was sure.

What do I need? he wondered. The Quest said: form your team. I guess I need a team capable of supplementing the Topeka inflows. Earth and Light Elementalists would go a long way. A Catalyst that specializes in extracting radiation—or even a Traveler to import good soil. Yeah, right. The money it would cost to hire a Traveler capable of moving that much weight would be the cost of this warehouse times a thousand.

Which brings me to another problem…how could I possibly pay my team?

“Well, couple things I can think of right off the bat,” he said, ticking up his fingers as he went. “I’d like to start assembling a team, but the supers in Wichita are all registered and not exactly happy that they’re stuck here on the Emperor’s orders. Could hire outside help, but don’t know where to start. Even more pressing is that I have no feasible way of paying them.”

The problem crystallized in his mind, everything falling into place. He looked up to see his grandpa watching him curiously.

“What?” he asked.

Silver shrugged, shaking his head. “Nothing, kid. Just watching how your mind works.” He waved him on. “Keep going.”

Terry felt a spike of self-consciousness, then forced his thoughts back on track.

“Okay, so if we work from the ground up, the most immediate problem is cash. I’ve got some collectibles that could be valuable, but the Wichitan economy is very much risk-on right now—people aren’t buying luxury items while their kids are going hungry. Which means I’ll need to provide a service of some sort…”

He wracked his brain, trying to imagine something he could offer that others would pay for. The warehouse is an asset, he realized. I could rent out a portion, wall it off, get some initial cash flow. But I still have to source the client, which is tough for a fourteen-year-old in a city locked down in martial law.

He tabled that idea, a flash of inspiration hitting him. I’m a super! Leverage that! Maybe I can rent out my personal services somehow? If I could analyze a really useful Skill…

His eyes cut up toward Silver’s face. He was too excited to stumble over the amused expression on his grandpa’s face, the words flowing out of their own accord.

“Most pressing issue is cash,” he said in a rush. “Two avenues I can see. One, leverage the warehouse, rent off a portion and collect. But space is relatively cheap—even in Wichita. Second option is I lean into my main Skill. If I could copy an in-demand power, I could rent out my services. That should be enough to bootstrap my operation and hire my initial team!”

He’d spoken with a single breath, finally coming up for air as he watched for Silver’s reaction. The man’s lips were pursed, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

“I could always seed you the cash, y’know?” Silver suggested.

Terry’s chest fluttered at the suggestion, then he immediately felt himself recoil at the idea.

“Absolutely not,” he said quickly. Silver’s eyes widened in surprise. “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. It’s just…” He indicated the warehouse around them, already feeling particularly spoiled. “This is too much as it is, grandpa. I’d…I’d like to do some things myself.” He cringed, looking off. “I hope I’m not sounding like a brat.”

Silver chuckled, though his tone carried a serious undertone. “Not at all, Terry. In fact, I respect you for wanting to make your own way.”

Terry let out an easy breath, feeling relieved that his grandpa hadn’t taken offense.

“There are some things I wouldn’t mind leaning on you for,” he added, looking up hopefully.

Silver smiled, arching a single eyebrow. “Oh?”

Terry nodded. “Yeah. First off, my F-grade Affixation isn’t something I can sell. And learning your E-grade Elementalist Skill would take too long for my purposes. I was wondering if you had something at the F-grade that would be financially viable? I could learn it real quick!” he added in a rush, already feeling bad for taking up so much of his grandpa’s time. I think, he said to himself.

Silver frowned, tilting his head in thought. After a moment, he shook it. “No, sorry. My lower rank Skills are metal-based. Nothing particularly valuable—” He smiled wryly. “—unless you wanna get into blacksmithing.”

Despite everything, Terry felt his stomach sink. Renting out a portion of the warehouse would bring some money. But enough to hire a handful of supers and fund an indoor farm? Definitely not.

Silver held up a finger. “But—” Terry’s eyes shot up. “—I do know where you can not only find your team, but also find a super you can pay that will let you copy their Skill.”

He furrowed his brow, trying to imagine where he could possibly accomplish both of those things.

“You do?” he asked a bit skeptically.

Silver’s white teeth beamed at him, his smile stretching ear-to-ear.

“I do,” he echoed. His smile took on a sly cast. “Have you ever heard…of Terraform’s Underground Market?”