“Hey hon, I’m back.” Tamako said as she entered the room. She then pulled some food and drink from her ring, “Eat this and rest. I’ll take care of everything. Just one day left.” Tamako then walked over to their little shower where Sam’s naked body lay. She ran some cool water over him while cleaning up all the “mess” that wasn’t contained within the shower pan. She’d ended up taking care of all the crap, boring and otherwise.
After Jen ate and drank a little, she immediately fell asleep. Tamako used her mana to recharge the silencing rods. It didn’t take much, but Jen and Sam needed every bit of their mana for what they were going through. Thankfully, after the fifth day, or goblin day, Jen figured out how to get them over the hump, and connect Sam’s AI and neural connections to the sense receptors that were being created in his body. Unfortunately, she couldn’t shut down Sam’s pain until after the modifications were created, but it was significantly better than the pain from all the modifications just adding on top of one another. The scroll made changes to his body for 10 to 12 hours straight, then would give him only an hour or two of rest.
Less than an hour later, Tamako looked down with pity on Sam as he quietly whimpered in his restless sleep. She could tell the changes were about to start up again, and Jen would hold him and work on silencing his pain while he screamed inside the silencing rods. Tamako was much happier taking care of the shit.
Jen stirred awake as her psych skill notified her that Sam’s body was reacting to the scroll, she noticed Tamako had cleaned everything up again, and said with a soft exhausted tone, “Thanks.”
Tamako sat on the bed and grabbed Jen’s feet and started to rub them, as she said, “I think you’ve got a few more minutes before it really kicks into gear.”
To change the subject, Jen said, “So how much money did we end up making off of Eight-Ball?”
Tamako wanted to kick herself. She berated herself internally, of course Jen wants to keep her mind off of Sam until she’s forced back to work. Plus, she had great news for Jen. Tamako then said, “That Melvin is something! For the last few days, he sold the knowledge of where Eight-Ball wouldn’t be to a bunch of different caravans around the Deck, before turning the bounty into The System this morning. There were City bounties for his death going back for ages. Apparently Eight-Ball was almost 300 years old.”
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“What! How!?” exclaimed Jen in surprise.
“Don’t know, but after Melvin’s cut and Lady Domino’s taxes, we received a grand total bounty of 1,750 gold,” replied Tamako with a grin.
“How did he live so long though?” Jen mused out loud as if not hearing what Tamako had just said.
Tamako couldn’t believe that Jen just ignored how much money they had, and said “Didn’t you hear me! ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY GOLD! We’re rich!”
Jen smiled, and replied, “Yea, that is nice, but it won’t last long with the way you and Sam like to buy toys!”
Tamako raised an eyebrow, and said, “I didn’t see you trying to sell that mana manipulation scroll.”
“True!” Jen chuckled, “This has been one hell of a week so far, but the nonstop use of my psych skill and training it to work with my mana “spool” has increased my power by at least 40%. I’m hyped about using it with my fighting skills. Can you imagine if I can increase my mana-powered strength and speed similarly!”
Jen’s words shifted Tamako’s attention off the money instantly, as she said, “You said you could teach the skill to me and Sam right!”
Jen replied, “I hope so,” but as they heard Sam starting to groan in agony, Jen continued, “But first I’ve got to take care of the boomer.”
****
After the Seventh Day, and Sam’s body modifications were finished, Tamako asked Jen, “How is he able to rest? I thought he was going to be overwhelmed with the new senses from all the different races,” before waiting for a response, Tamako continued, “Never mind, YOU need to rest. I’ll take care of him from here.”
Jen held up her hand in a stopping motion, and explained, “Don’t worry. I’m definitely about to take a good long sleep. But I’m pretty sure it’s going to be somewhat easier from here on out. I Worked with his AI, and we labeled toggle switches for each race and each new sense that he is now able to perceive. Right now, all his new neural perceptions are all toggled ‘off’. After he rests, he’s going to need to spend some time getting used to each sense by toggling them on and off, one at a time. First, I think we’re both going to rest for the next few days. Thank you for handling all the boring stuff this last week, it’ll only be a few more days, do you mind?”
Tamako scrunched her face at Jen, and said, “Don’t be ridiculous. This has been a boring vacation for me, of course I can handle it for a few more days… or for years, if needed to take care of you two!”