*sigh* 'What am I supposed to do? Damn it, I shouldn't have signed that stupid contract. It would have been better to try and take the risk by buying a normal helmet and risk it all within a month, rather than getting myself involved into this stupid mess.' Soren inwardly cursed, as he stared somberly at the cloudy sky, which was half covered by towering skyscrapers. For the first time in his life, he truly felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place and unlike previous times where he had gotten himself into similarly tricky situations, he had no way out of this mess and had to make a choice in a lose-lose situation.

If he chose to go full-time, he not only would have to close down the shop permanently, but he was unsure if he'd even be able to reopen the shop once more, but if he chose to take the other contract, it would be the same as having to close down the shop, since he would have to remove either the morning or afternoon shift, just so he would have enough time to fill the necessary amount of work time and have the ability to rest and he wasn't sure if the pay would be the same as the amount of money he would make during his afternoon shifts.

*ring* *ring* *ring* Once Soren heard the ringing sound, he quickly turned towards the bedside table on his left and grabbed his phone to check the number calling him, before answering the call in a calm and collected manner, as if his inner turmoil didn't exist in the first place. "Morning Pan. How may I help you?"

"Morning as -ell Soren. Have you opened your shop -et?" Pan asked casually, as there was a bit of static on her voice, since the signal in Soren's hospital room was barely serviceable.

"No, not yet. Why're you asking?"

"I wanted -o -ell you to come by my old man's shop so you ca- pick up your laptop. -e finished the r--airs around last night, so come get it now, or whenever you're available."

"Really? I thought it would take an extra week for the repairs, since your old man told me that the necessary parts wouldn't arrive until the end of the weekend."

"As it turns out, i- arrived a little -it earlier than expected. Anyways, come and pick up your laptop by the end of the afternoon, -herwise you'd have to wait unti- -he start of the next week to get i-."

"Um... Got it. I'll pass by the repair shop later, if my schedule allows it."

"Goo-. Catch you later." *click*

*sigh* 'I guess I could use a trip to her old man's repair shop. Certainly beats being stuck here thinking about a sh*tty offer.' Soren thought to himself, before calling the nurse to take off his IV drip and asking if he'd be able to leave the hospital. Thankfully for himself, he only needed a simple physical check from one of the doctors and he'd be free to leave, since he was told that AionTech took care of the rest of the procedures and payment. Once he finished the check, Soren picked up his phone and keys, which were at the hospital bed's bedside table and left the hospital completely.

Stolen novel; please report.

After leaving the hospital, Soren then looked for the nearest bus stop and slowly went through multiple bus lines, before making it to the repair shop after nearly two hours. The repair shop itself looked almost like a computer workshop, with various computers, laptops, chargers and other parts laying around on shelves and desks. Just as he was about to step any further into the shop, a coarse male voice stopped him and Soren turned his attention the source of the voice. "Wait a sec kid. Need to move something around quickly." The owner of the male voice was a tall, gray-haired individual with a set of dark blue overalls, covered in ink splotches, and a somewhat gruff and wrinkly face.

Once the owner of the voice said that, he came out of a side room and grabbed a nearby lone box, before going back into the room he came from. After hearing a few grunts and a soft impact noise, the man came out of the room once more and turned his attention towards Soren, before asking him. "So, what brings you here pipsqueak? Trying to ask Pandora's hand on marriage?"

"Mr.Valtez, I only came here for my laptop. Besides, I can barely provide for myself, so how would I be able to provide for someone else in the first place?" Soren stated tiredly, as he didn't like dealing with her father's overprotective nature and wanted to take care of this errand as quickly as possible.

"It's good to know that you know your place. Anyways, I've just finished installing the new RAM cards, so I'm now doing one final diagnostics test, so wait a few minutes so I can finish it and then you can have back your laptop." Once he stated that, he went back into the room he came out of and after a few minutes with a laptop in hand, before giving it to Soren.

"Thank you sir. Um... May I ask you something else as well?" Soren asked somewhat nervously, as he took his laptop back.

"It depends. Does this involve my daughter?"

"Um... No, it does not."

"Shoot away then. I got a few minutes to kill."

"Alright then... How should I go about this...?" Soren then tried thinking for the best way to word his question, before steeling his resolve and asking him with a calm and focused expression. "Let's say sir that you were given two job offers and were forced to choose one. One offer is a full-time job with a decent wage, but requires you to move near the company for an undetermined amount of time and to also give up your current company for the duration of your work. The other offer is a part-time job that doesn't give as much of a wage as the full-time job does, but it still allows you to keep your current company open and work. Which would you choose sir?"

"Hmm... It depends. If my company were in the red and had barely any clientele, then I'd have to choose the full-time job, but if it was doing well, then I'd choose the part time job and try to find a way out quickly, so I can put my focus on my actual company, instead of splitting my energy and attention between two different jobs. But then again, I'd still choose the part-time job, even if my company wasn't doing well in the first place, since this is something I've built up with my own two hands, blood, sweat and tears and I wouldn't give it up, even for all the money in the world."

"I see..." Soren stated solemnly, as his answer gave him an idea about his choice. Just as Soren was about to thank him and leave though, Pan's father started speaking in a solemn expression as well.

"I don't know all the circumstances of your current predicament kid, but as an old man in his sixties, let me give a piece of advice for you. Don't make a choice you'll come to regret in the future. Take it from an old man like me. You don't want to live with regrets for an entire lifetime. Now screw off kid, I got work to do."

After that, he was forcefully kicked out of the repair shop and Soren couldn't help but think if the choice of asking Pan's father for advice had made his choice easier or harder to take.