After Peter left, Joe planned to initiate 'Project ARC', but plans sometimes tended to run on uncertainty. Joe couldn't outrightly begin his project because his body was failing him. He had the zeal, the intense fire of ambition burning inside like a stellar core; however, his physical fitness told a different story.
Despite long hours of sleep, the past seven days had taken a toll on his body, even as his brain's neural activity was boosted. As a researcher, Joe knew that for the mind to function efficiently, the body had to be in peak condition. He understood that the body and mind were one entity, entirely dependent on each other, and he regretted neglecting his workout regimen.
"What a bummer, but I'll set things straight from now on." While eager to dive into his project, Joe knew solid preparations were crucial. It wasn't worth dying from exhaustion like a typical Japanese salary worker—at least before they get isekai'ed.
Joe rested for the entire day, and the next morning, he woke up feeling more refreshed than he had in days. After his usual morning shower, he started devising his workout routine. What better way to work out than by imitating the best? Though he admired Goku, Joe ruled out his training regimen—Goku's Saiyan bloodline made his routines impossible for a regular human. (Rest in peace, Toriyama.)
"♪ I am only human after all. Don't put the blame on me~♪," Joe said in a sing-song voice as he considered the next popular candidate. It was Saitama.
A hundred push-ups, a hundred squats, a hundred sit-ups, and a 10-kilometer run—were what broke the bald character's human limits. Of course, plus consistency. Joe wasn't deluded to think that he could experience the same effects as Saitama's. The guy was a gag character, so it was impossible to replicate the magic. Saitama could bench press two black holes and sneeze Jupiter clean; there was no way Joe was going to take him seriously.
Finally, there was Sung Jin Woo.
"Tsk tsk, the player system. What better way to level up in life than being a player? If the Omniverse is real, then some bastards out there should be having their customized player systems or anything with gamer vibes. How lucky for them to always meet benevolent higher dimensional beings." Joe crossed his arms, thinking about those fanfics from his past life.
"But it is what it is." Joe shrugged nonchalantly as he decided to incorporate the shadow monarch's training with his own input.
"And so, my training arc begins." He cracked his neck and his knuckles. "I am extremely pumped up for this."
Before he started, Joe didn't forget his daily dose of NZT-48 paired up with coffee. It was almost a ritual. Joe couldn't live without it. In this new life, it seemed his purpose was to become a drug addict.
Joe committed to his training routine and bought dumbbells for his home workouts. As much as he would have liked to register for the gym, Joe felt that it wasn't worth it in the long run. With his current funds, he could buy all the gym equipment he required and even repurpose a room to fit his aesthetics.
Just like that, a week passed. From the training, he was awestruck by the extraordinary impact NZT had on the human physique. For instance, the ability to know which muscles to contract to be able to run more efficiently. Similarly, when he performed shadowboxing, he had an intuitive understanding of how to move his muscles and bones in the right way to maximize the strength of a punch.
Within just a week, he had already begun to see very noticeable gains.
Presently, Joe was looking at his own reflection. His physique looked more refined than his previous self. His body became toned, and the outline of five pairs of abs was highlighted under the dim light. Joe flexed his biceps, admiring how perfectly streamlined they were. But he had to admit NZT was a wonder drug despite its severe side effects on the common man. Who was he?
"My name is Joe... Joe Petersen. Two weeks in and I am still alive," Joe sighed as he performed Toji's infamous posture that brought his back muscles into focus. He then remembered one of Marcus Aurelius's quotes that says, "When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive."
It was truly a privilege to be alive in a world of hidden madness and lurking depths of evil.
"I don't feel depressed and my sleep has been good ever since I began working out. No existential dreams anymore. The Spartan program is truly beneficial." Joe grinned at his reflection once more before leaving the bathroom.
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His room wasn't the same as it looked before. Currently, it looks like Hephaestus's workshop with multiple electronics, tools, and drawings sprawled everywhere. His room's gradual evolution to a makeshift workshop/laboratory had begun the day he decided to create an arc reactor. It was an inevitability.
"No engineer or researcher needs a clean room anyway." Joe laughed it off a bit as he strapped on a sleeveless shirt. He then wore standard laboratory goggles.
Joe gazed at the DIY clock on the wall. "Oh, it's already nine."
"Oh boy, the inconsequentiality of time."
"Hmm..." Joe picked up a soldering iron, turned it on and off, and after making sure it was in good condition, he returned it to the workbench. Pfft, he had bought it 'used' on eBay. How frugal.
As Obadiah Stane once said, "Tony Stark made the suit using a bunch of scraps."
And the scientist replied: "I am not Tony Stark."
Well, the scientist wasn't wrong and his words were universal. Not everyone was Tony Stark. Tony Stark was his person. He was a brilliant genius for even doing something as crazy as creating a miniaturized arc reactor and an armored suit in a cave. That was a man who usually gave big middle fingers to normal conventions. But let's not forget that Ivan Vanko, a bonafide physicist, also created his arc reactor and ionized plasma 'whiplash' at home.
"Reed Richard's also an honorable mention, but he's leagues above the two." Talking about Reed Richards, Joe didn't forget to keep tabs on any news about the prolific individuals in the world. The supposed Fantastic Four seemed not to be around. They were probably on a quantum-related mission and you know how the Fantastic Four's mission tended to get 'cosmic'. Darn, how could a mission conducted by a man who built an Afterlife Transporter be simple?
Anyway, the Fantastic Four were the least of his worries, but the dangers they faced were something he had to be on guard against.
"Franklin isn't a thing, however, we have Wanda Maximoff somewhere in Sokovia. Hope she doesn't go cuckoo early in this timeline. Maybe being her therapist will make my life more positive." Joe muttered as he began dismantling the capacitors, resistors, and connectors on the table. They were all pawned from a nearby shop in his neighborhood. They were dirt cheap.
"Hmm, slowly..." Joe furrowed his brows in concentration as he began extracting small amounts of palladium. "Small drops of water make up a river" isn't that what the enlightened sages say? By the end of the extraction process, Joe had accumulated a significant amount of palladium.
He looked at the Geiger-Müller counter and nodded to himself. "The readings are within reason. The radiation won't be causing me harm."
That's the reason why he didn't even try to think about stealing some Tritium from the Osborns.
The palladium was going to serve as the core and it was cheap compared to Tritium.
"♪ He's a smooth operator. Smooth operator~♪" Joe hummed a song as he prepared to repurpose the old titanium alloy he'd scavenged from his collectibles lying around. It was going to serve as the repulsor casing.
He put the jewellery and watches into the small crucible and fired up the bunsen burner. Joe waited until everything had melted into liquid. The heat made his skin damp with sweat as some rolled off his skin and dropped on the ground.
Carefully using a pair of tongs, Joe transferred the molten metal from the hot crucible into a doughnut-shaped, heat-resistant container. Once cooled, he skillfully hammered it into his desired shape, his movements precise and controlled, his muscles contracting and relaxing with each calculated swing.
"♪ Smooth Operator~♪" Joe gave the new reactor housing a once-over before he directed his attention to the refurbished hard drives and speakers. Man, how he felt like Da Vinci on steroids with how everything was perfectly aligning themselves inside his mind.
For the stability of the reactor, Joe wanted to use powerful neodymium magnets, electromagnetized to provide the necessary magnetic fields. Some hard drives Joe had bought locally while some were taken from the all-purpose...dust bins. You'll be surprised by how much people like throwing away their things.
Joe customized the neodymium magnets, coiling them around the reactor housing.
For the power source, he planned on using lithium-ion batteries. In the final step, Joe began connecting them to the nodes set up on the arc reactor.
A blue light came to life. It was dim at first, but its brightness intensified with each passing second. The blue light looked ethereal as the miniaturized arc reactor hummed with energy.
Joe watched all of this with anticipation, his face glistening with sweat and tension.
"The Tesseract in the palm of my hand," Joe murmured in disbelief as he moved his face closer to the glowing doughnut. "I have virtually solved the energy problem."
'Oh, the blueness oddly reminds me of Dr. Manhattan.'
He could feel the heat radiating off the reactor and he dared not to move further. The deterrent was enough, or else he would get cooked.
"After all this, why do I feel...empty?" Joe spoke in an unsure voice, his eyes unfocused, as he leaned away from his creation. During the process, he had experienced a rush of adrenaline, fully becoming one with his tools, but now...
The feeling reminded him of that fateful day in his past life when he finally defeated Malenia, Blade of Miquella, after hundreds of deaths and enduring her taunts. After conquering an almost undefeatable, broken boss, then what do I do next? It was that type of rhetorical moment.
"Guess this is my post-nut enlightenment." Joe slowly shook his head, his lips stretching into a thin smile. "Did I just make thermodynamics my bitch?"
He then sighed heavily, like a wizened monk. "Seclusion is over and the first step of Dao Treading has been finalized. Next is the second step of Dao Realization — converting the reactor energy into electricity."
Joe was once a step closer to another major breakthrough!
…
[Word Count 1811]