After hearing that sentence, Jack looked at the old man in shock for a second but then, his eyes turned cold as he said with a ridiculing smile, “Do you honestly expect me to believe you?” Hearing this, the warm smile on the old man’s face froze. He had not expected Jack to scream Grandpa and try to cling to him but he hadn’t expected such a response either.
The old man shook his head to get over the shock a bit and tried to say something but Jack’s cold words brought him back to reality. “I may be ten years old but my mental state is not nearly as gullible as a ten year old.” The old man put on a bitter smile as he remembered what George had told him about Jack’s past. They did not know much but what they knew, left them all feeling pity for Jack.
The old man then just let out a sigh as he asked, “What do I need to do make you believe me?” The old man was earnest in this regard and seeing this Jack raised a brow. Although he felt that what the old man had said was true, he just couldn’t accept this kind of a twist of fate. It was just something that was too good to be true. Jack then raised his head a bit again and said, “Well, first of all, you could get these restraints off of me. I am not asking you to undo my cuffs but these leather restraints.” The old man then glanced at Jack’s restraints and nodded his head and undid the leather restraints.
Then he helped Jack sit up normally on the bed and said, “There are a lot of ways to prove the blood relation between us, so would you like the whole process to be done under your own eyes?” This was the only thing the old man thought of that could possibly make Jack believe him. Although Jack wasn’t his only grandchild, he was the grandchild he was the most concerned about. Jack’s father Freddy was actually supposed to inherit the Phantom Ghost Pirate Group from him but when Jack was born, he had wanted him to grow up in a normal environment so he gave up the Leader’s position and decided to settle down on a backwater place on an industrial planet of Kriegrich Military Empire.
Although the old man did not like this idea, he had no control over Freddy’s choices, he was a grown man for god’s sake. Everything was good until five years ago, when all contact with Jack’s parents went silent. Nothing was heard from them and when they visited their home, it was also empty. From their neighbours they had heard that some military officials had come and taken them all away. Afterwards, Phantom Ghost Group entered a state of war with Kriegrich Military Empire. However, everyone from the Pirate Group were well aware of Freddy’s strength and none of them thought that Freddy had been imprisoned or killed by them.
They thought that he had taken Jack and Samantha, his wife, and gone deep underground and would surface soon enough. However, five years had passed now and there was still no news from them. That was until Jack showed up out of the blue with a body full of scars and a demeanour colder than a glacier. Only a few people knew that Freddy took the family name Lumi when he settle down so when Jack had shown up, George did not know that but when he reported taking in Jack to the Boss, the old man had been able to connect the dots.
Jack Lumi, ten years old, from the Kriegrich Empire, was taken from his family 5 years ago, the same time they lost all communication with Freddy and Samantha. However, he had confirmed that Jack truly was Freddy’s child when they did a DNA test when Jack was still unconscious. Until then, it had all been purely speculations and suspicions, however, after the DNA test confirmed it, the old man was certain that something major must have happened. For Jack to end up like that, it meant that either Freddy and Samantha were in a maximum regime prison or they had been killed. Hearing that the old man’s suggestion of the whole process being done under his eyes, Jack nodded his head.
He then said, “If you truly are my Grandfather, then I have a few things to say to you.” Hearing this, the old man raised his brow and asked, “What do you have to say?” Jack just smiled and said, “That will have to wait after you prove to me that you truly are my Grandfather.” The old man just sighed and rolled in a wheelchair from outside the room. He put Jack in the wheelchair and said, “So let’s go and get this over with.” Jack was startled and asked, “But it is currently in the middle of the night, can it be done at the moment?”
The old man pushed the wheelchair out and said with a laugh, “My Phantom Ghost Group is the most influential power on this planet. We are practically the Emperors of this planet and if I asked someone to do the tests at this very moment, a lot of people would trip over themselves to do it immediately.” Hearing this Jack was startled. His knowledge of the world was actually very little. Before going to the Island, he had been too young to understand it and when he had escaped, he had tried to familiarize himself with the outside world but he was soon tracked down, so all his efforts went to escaping.
When they exited the hospital room Jack was in, he was greeted by 20 people armed to the teeth with with rifles, grenades and pistols. They all possessed serious and cold faces indicating that if someone who was not supposed to be in this hallway entered it, that person would be pumped full of lead. Seeing the old man, they all just saluted him and said, “Pirate Boss.” The old man smiled and then said, “You guys can all go home, there is not need for you to stand guard here you know.” Hearing this, the guards faces did not even change as one of them said, “How could we? If something were to happen...” The guard didn’t finish his sentence but looked at Jack with a tender gaze.
The old man just shook his head and said, “Okay, you can stay guard here. I will bring Jack to verify our blood relation through the DNA test.” After saying that, he gently pushed the wheelchair towards the elevator. Jack looked at the guards with a hint of surprise and suspicion as ten people stayed behind to guard the room and ten people formed a perimeter around them as if they were escorts. Jack however felt as though they were there to make sure he did not escape. He didn’t feel under protection but rather under custody.
After they entered the elevator, they exited on the second floor and the old man brought them to a Doctors office that had a middle aged man with green hair looking at some X-Ray films. Seeing Jack enter, he looked at him with a gentle gaze and said, “You are awake. How are you feeling?” Jack did not answer the green haired man but rather looked at the old man. The old man told the green haired man, “Jack wants to see the whole process of the DNA test to see that we truly are related and he truly is my grandson.” The green haired man slowly nodded his head as he thought that this was the case.
He had heard about Jack’s past and he personally felt that it would be extremely suspicious if he actually believed that they were related without any proof. That was also the reason he did not go home that night, he felt that Jack would awaken sometime during the night and something like this would happen. The green haired man said, “Okay, I will take a bit of blood form the both of you and then we will go through the whole process in front of your eyes.” Hearing this Jack nodded his head and the green haired man rolled up his sleeve and inserted a needle in his vein.
Since Jack’s clothes had been soaked in blood and torn to shreds by the old man when he stumbled upon him, Jack was currently wearing white hospital garments. The green haired man quickly took a vial of blood from both of them and put the two vials in the machine. Although Jack had a lot of knowledge regarding machines, medical apparatus’s were something that he knew next to nothing about.
Under Jack’s and the old man’s eyes, the machine worked on full power and soon two strips of DNA appeared on the computer screen and overlapped with each other. Soon, some parts of the overlapped DNA strips lit up and a box appeared on the screen. It read, “Test complete. DNA resemblance 25%.” Seeing this result, the old man and green haired man looked at Jack.
Seeing the slight confusion on his face, the green haired man explained, “25% resemblance indicates that there is a generation gap between the two of you. Usually in a test with parent-child blood, the resemblance is 50% and between a grand child and a grandparent, it is 25%. So, do you accept the results? If not, I can take any random person a compare their DNA with yours or with Boss’s as well.”
Jack just closed his eyes as he accepted the results. The whole process had been done under his eyes and the green haired man had even offered to run the tests with other people as well to prove that they had not tampered with the machines or results. Jack just shook his head and said, “No need. I honestly do not believe that you would go through this much trouble just to fool a little child like me.” Hearing this, the green haired man’s and the old man’s face’s flickered. Although they had not tampered with the machines or results, they had not expected Jack to accept the results this easily. The green haired man squatted down in front of Jack and asked, “Now then, we have proved that we do not mean you nay harm. So will you tell me if you feel better now or is there still some place that hurts or feels weird?”
Jack just shook his head and said, “No, I am fine. Although it is a bit painful to move my upper body, it is not something that disturbs me.” Seeing the frank answer of Jack, the green haired man felt pain in his heart. He knew better than anyone how painful those kinds of wounds would be. Although the puncturing wounds were done by rifles, the holes were small and in places that wouldn’t hurt much but the slash wounds on his back and stomach were something that should hurt like hell despite the many pain killers inside him. However, as long as he himself said it was fine, he could not do anything about it.
He then gently patted Jack’s head and said with a smile, “If you feel any discomfort, then let your Uncle know. I will do the best I can to help you out.” Jack tilted his head and looked at the old man. The old man just stated casually, “This green haired man is my second born son, Alex Uni. He is your Father’s brother aka. your Uncle.” Hearing this, Jack showed an understanding face and then nodded to Alex. Alex then turned towards the old man and whispered something in his ears. From the grim expression of the old man, Jack could tell that it wasn’t something pleasant. The old man then said, “Okay, keep monitoring it. If it gets any worse, act immediately.”
Without clarifying anything, he directly pushed Jack out and back to his hospital room. The guards that had been standing outside the examination room, escorted them in a tight formation. These guards made Jack feel uncomfortable and the old man could see it clearly. When they entered Jack’s hospital room again, the old man lifted Jack from the wheelchair and put him on the bed. He did not want Jack to make any movements by himself and because of the pain killers, his coordination is also affected.
The old man brought the chair he had been sitting on before in front of Jack and said, “Do not worry about those guards. They are not here to keep you here at all costs but rather, if you decide to run away again, they would follow you and be your shield and spear.” Jack then tilted his head and asked, “But why? I know none of them and I presume none of them knows me either.” The old man let out a hollow laugh as he said, “They are all from the ship “Poltergeist”, the previous Captain of that ship was Freddy, your Father.” Hearing this, Jack thought of a possibility but before he could ask, the old man explained, “Freddy had certain charisma, that no one else possesses. He became the Captain of “Poltergeist” at the age of 15 and he was the Captain for a bit over 10 years. Every single person on the “Poltergeist” has blind trust in Freddy.”
He then took a breath as he shook his head, “When he first wanted to leave, the whole crew wanted to follow him but he refused them. He pointed another person as the Captain and left. However, after the loss of contact with Freddy and Samantha, “Poltergeist” is the ship that has been looking for them practically day and night.” He then looked at Jack seriously and said, “When you popped out, they all rushed back at the fastest speed possible and when they learned of your situation, they set up a perimeter around the entire hospital. This room is especially well guarded, this is all because of their loyalty to your Father and since there have been no news about him for the past ten years, every single one of them knows that he is either in a maximum regime prison or he is dead.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
He took a deep breath and continued, “The entire crew of Poltergeist was put together by Freddy himself. I do not know the story behind them but as with all other people, he probably pulled them out of the gutters and treated them as humans. They feel indebted to him but they can not repay that debt any more. So, they will give their best to keep you safe from now on. They will probably listen to no one else than you.” Jack was stupefied. He looked at the old man in the eyes and asked, “What makes a person as loyal as that?”
The old man also shook his head as he said, “I do not know but their loyalty to Freddy is extreme. I presume that the moment you heal enough to move around normally, they will ask you to take the position of the Captain.” Hearing this, Jack furrowed his brows and asked, “They would not do that right? To ask a ten year old to become a captain of an entire ship, isn’t that a bit too extreme?”
The old man let out a hollow laugh as he said, “It is not only a ship but rather an entire mercenary company.” Jack tilted his head and asked, “Huh?” The old man cast his head down and said, “Well, you see Phantom Ghost is divided into 4 different factions. The Merchants, Mercenaries, Government and Pirates.” He then closed his eyes for a second and collected his thoughts. He then continued, “Merchants have a huge network of connections that bring in work for Mercenaries, the resources needed by the Government or sell the loot obtained by Pirates. I am the Boss of the Pirate Faction but Freddy used to be the Boss of the Mercenary Faction. He made it that far all by himself so he earned the respect of the whole Mercenary Faction.” Jack thought about it but he felt something was very weird. Although his knowledge on all these matters weren’t profound, he had basic knowledge between the ruling regimes and such.
Actually, the old man was feeling extremely awkward talking about such intricate and complex things with a ten year old. Jack then asked in confusion, “If I stay here, am I obliged to join the Pirate Faction or Mercenary Faction?” The old man shook his head and said, “No, you can do whatever you want. If you want, you can join the Merchants Faction or Government Faction. If you want to just spend your days travelling, you don’t have to join any faction at all.” Hearing this, Jack was relieved. In all honesty, he had had enough of bloodshed and fighting. What he wanted the most was to hole up in a place where he could work on machinery and did not have to fear the Kriegrich Empire chasing him down and trying to bring him back or kill him.
The old man then stood up and said, “You do not need to worry about all of that for now. You just heal your body and rest your mind. I will undo the cuffs because I have said everything that needed to be said and done everything I could do. If you still wish to disappear, there is no reason for me to lock you in a cage.” The old man’s tone held a bit of sadness but he was helpless. If Jack wanted to leave, he could do nothing about it and if he kept him in custody like that, it would just make him feel disdain and hate towards them.
Just as he had fished out the key for the cuffs, Jack slowly shook his head and said, “No need to undo the cuffs. If you take them off, I will never be able to rest.” Jack’s face held a bit of helplessness but the old man was confused as he asked, “Why? You feel like you can’t resist the urge to escape if you can use your abilities?” Jack then gestured for the old man to sit back down and asked, “You heard about my abilities from John and the rest?”
The old man was startled but nodded his head slowly. Jack then exhaled a deep breath as he said, “I lied to them. I am not a Dual Ability user but rather I have one ESP Ability called [Dream Engineer].” Hearing this, the old man was even more confused and wanted to ask him something but Jack beat him to it and explained, “My eyes are not called [Eyes of Destruction and Creation] but rather they are part of the [Dream Engineer]. [Dream Engineer] has three functions and due to that it is ranked as a SSS Grade Mechanical ESP Ability.” The old man was now serious as he listened to Jack.
Seeing the old man attentively listen, Jack continued, “The three functions of the ability are named: [Eyes of Assembly and Disassembly], [Engineer’s Mind] and [Part’s Production]. [Eyes of Assembly and Disassembly] are like I described to John and the rest however, is is not only limited to blueprints. [Part’s Production] isn’t only limited to metals, it allows me to also manipulate plastics and rubber. If you put a giant hunk of metals, plastic and rubber in front of me, I could create a completely working Speeder.” As Jack’s explanation continued, the old man’s face showed more and more surprise. He had not expected such a perverse mechanical ability. He thought to himself, “From the description of the two functions, it is already a very perverse mechanical ability that every Mechanic, Engineer or Researcher would yearn after.” However, when he remembered that Jack had one more function called the [Engineer’s Mind], cold sweat started flowing down his back.
Jack continued, “[Engineer’s Mind] is a double edged sword actually. When used in synchronisation with [Eyes of Assembly and Disassembly], it can remember any piece of technology or architecture out there. It will record everything in my mind and I can access it at any time possible. However, the drawback is that I get absorbed in different things very easily.”
He slowly shook his head and explained a bit more, “The main function of [Dream Engineer] is exactly the [Engineer’s Mind], all other functions are only supplementary to it. [Engineer’s Mind] is the ability most yearned after by every Mechanic, Engineer or Researcher because it makes the ESP-ers mind just like a computer. It allows me to record everything I see and make intricate calculations with my mind. It also allows me to make a blueprint of every piece of technology I see. The more functions of it I see, the more precise the blueprint will be. However, the drawback is that every little thing can trigger the [Engineer’s Mind] and make me fall in my little world.” Hearing this far, the old man was thoroughly stupefied.
He now understood very well why this ability was ranked as a SSS Grade Mechanical ESP Ability. If you provided every single blueprint you had to him with exact details on all of the functions and then just provided raw materials for him, he could come out with one overpowered invention after another. However, from Jack’s explanation he realized that it also had it’s drawbacks. Any single thing can trigger the [Engineer’s Mind] and it did not choose a time or location for it. If he got absorbed in the middle of combat, it could be fatal for him. If he was in a safe place, where no one could hurt him, it was the best ability in terms of inventions and otherwise mechanical tinkering. However, if you placed him in a fight, any little trinket his enemies or allies had might trigger the ability and make him fall into his own little world. If he does that, he will discard all safety and he might die without even knowing what happened.
The old man looked at Jack in suspicion and asked, “So, you are afraid that you will trigger the [Engineer’s Mind] making you absorbed in something?” Jack seriously nodded his head and the old man asked in curiosity, “Why did you decide to tell me your real ability? You could have just kept it hidden, no?” Jack looked out of the window when the old man asked him this question. Jack then then let out a sigh and said, “Remember I said that I have a few things I need to say to you if I truly were your grandson?” The old man realized something and then said, “Yes, I remember. So what you wanted to tell me was this?”
Jack looked at the old man and said, “This was one of the things, the other was to ask a favour from you.” The old man tilted his head lightly and asked, “A favour?” Jack then nodded his head and said, “The reason I told you my real ability was because I need your help to find someone. And to find her, I need materials, with the Merchant Faction’s connections, it might not be hard to find the materials I need.” Hearing the word “her” the old man’s eyes lit up as he asked with a wide smile, “You need me to find your little girlfriend?”
Jack looked at the old man in all seriousness and said, “She was my partner on the Island. When we escaped, we got separated and I would like to ask for your help in finding her.” The old man lost all his joking demeanour as he asked, “She was your Partner?” Jack nodded his head and said, “Yes, on the Island, we teamed up in order to raise our survival chances. Since in the end a maximum of three people were allowed to live, the maximum number of people in most teams was three. Me and her were a tag team, I took care of the planning and long range fire while she took care of intelligence gathering and close quarter. By relying on each other, we survived this long. If we had been alone, it would have been hard for either of us to survive this long or escape for that matter.” The old man seriously nodded his head.
Jack did not hesitate to run with such serious injuries that almost cause his death. For him to feel concerned for his partner, it showed how deeply they relied on each other. The old man asked, “What do you need?” Jack then listed all of the materials he needed and the old man wrote down everything. What surprised him was that Jack even said the minimum amount of materials needed. When he was done, the old man looked through the list and said, “These materials will not be hard to find. I probably have most of them in stock as well. It will take about two or three days to get all of them, however, what do you need all these materials for?” Jack then smiled and said, “To create a Tracker.”
“A Tracker?” The old man’s eyes furrowed. Jack then explained, “Before we left the Island, I gave her a pendant that has a built in tracker. I told her that I would find her with it’s help. As long as she still wears the pendant and it is not destroyed, no jammers can disrupt it’s signal. However, to track this signal you need a specialized tracker built just for finding the frequency the signal is transmitted on. You won’t be able to find it even with the best military grade tracker.” Hearing this, the old man looked at Jack like he was a monster.
He then asked, “Where did you get the blueprint for this kind of a thing?” Jack then cast his head down and said, “From Mom’s collection. Usually, she put me on her lap when I was small. She mostly created one blueprint of an invention after another and I, who was usually sitting on her lap, accidentally recorded all those blueprints.” The old man just lowered his head as well. He knew very well that Samantha was a peerless genius when it came to technology. She usually pumped out one invention after another. The old man raised his head and looked at the window. Just as he did that, the sky started brightening and the first rays of sunlight came across the horizon. The old man then just sighed and said, “Okay, get some rest for now, I will find all those materials for you. You need something else as well?” Jack thought about it for a second and then said, “I need a Galactic map as well. One that can be linked to other devices.”
The old man nodded his head and then said to Jack, “Okay, I will bring all the things you need in the next few days. You should get some rest in the meantime.” Jack nodded his head and then the old man left the room. After Jack was left there all alone, he kept gazing out of the window and just let out a bitter laugh as he said, “What a weird twist of fate this is. Just as I was being transported back to that survival island, I got accidentally got rescued by my family. Although they seem to all care for me, trusting them will not be easy for me….”
He then just laid down and closed his eyes as he mumbled, “I wonder how Hedi is doing, did she get out safe?” Without forcing himself to stay awake much longer, he quickly fell asleep.
On a planet far away from the one Jack was on, a little girl just woke up on a small bed. The girl had chestnut brown hair and brown eyes. On her hands little were various scars and as she jawned after waking up, she went out the door. When she reached the kitchen, the young woman who was making food, looked towards her and asked with a smile, “Good morning Hedi, you woke up early again.”
The little girl then looked at the young woman making food and said with a smile, “Good morning.” The young woman smiled to her and then gestured at the table. “Sit down, breakfast will be done soon.” The little girl nodded her head and sat down at the table. She then fished out a pendant form under her clothes and as she stared at it, the young woman let out a chuckle, “You still waiting for your little boyfriend to come?” Hedi pursed her lips in response to the young woman’s teasing and pouted, “How long will it take him to find me? Dummy Jack.” Hearing this, the young woman let out a little laugh as she put a bowl of porridge in front her. She then said, “Give him time, you don’t know where he is right? He may already be on his way here.”
The little girl glared at the pendant for one last time before putting it back inside her clothes. A merry laugh came from the doorway as a middle aged man walked in. The middle aged man looked at Hedi and said, “Don’t worry about it, men keep their promises. If he promised to find you, then he will find you, no matter how long it takes.” Hearing that, the little girl nodded her head as she said with a smile, “Mhm.”
The middle aged man let out a merry laugh again as he said, “Come now, let’s the eat breakfast that your Big Sis made.” After saying so, he took a spoonful of porridge and said, “This is really good. Your future husband will truly be a blessed man.” Hearing this, the young woman blushed and said, “Dad!”
Hedi however just laughed lightly. It seemed like it was a usual every morning conversation.