Sam managed to hold it together as he sat in the rented car and his maybe real person, maybe robot chauffeur, took him home. He simply stared out of the window, watching the countless other cars as they drove past them – thankfully, aerial vehicles were limited to emergency services and governments (and those who had enough money to ignore the law) – thus, the sky was mostly clear for him to be able to stare into the distance over the cars.
As soon as he stepped into his home and closed the door behind, the latch locking with a surprisingly loud sound, he threw off his suit jacket somewhere, fell on his bed, his face directly on the pillow, and began to scream.
Sometime later, he let go of the pillow and flopped over on the bed, staring at the ceiling without seeing anything, his mind going a mile a minute.
The entire meeting replayed in his mind endlessly while he tried to make sense of it.
Sam never expected to act forever without anybody figuring him out but to have his actions laid out so neatly and the fact that the only reason Lara’s grandfather didn’t figure out anything was because he refused to entertain ‘supernatural’ or ‘extra-dimensional’ origins of Sam’s knowledge or impetus behind his actions.
Still, even with that, the old man figured out almost everything.
He bunched up his hand into a fist and slammed it on the mattress, which bounced off harmlessly.
‘Still, all is not lost. Observer effect says that one cannot observe a system without affecting it. The old man must know this. He would expect me to either change my plans… or keep them the same?’
“Aarrgh!” A groan of frustration left his lips at the sheer complexity of the thoughts. He really had no idea what to do with himself.
He lay there for a while, thoughts percolating in his head, thoughts chasing each other, plans being born and dying within seconds as he tried to make sense of his life.
In the end, what got him off his bed was none other than the pings of notification coming from his phone. It started with one, then one more a few minutes later, and then it rapidly escalated, a ping coming almost every second.
Groaning, he sat up on his bed and blindly reached for the device before looking at the screen.
Somewhat predictably, it was Lara who was blowing up his phone.
Instead of reading all the messages asking if he was well, he pressed the button, put the device to his ear, and with a quiet thud, fell back on the bed.
The call went through and he was greeted by Lara’s worried voice.
“Are you all right?”
Sam just grunted as an answer.
“Yeah, grandpa can be like that,” she admitted with an awkward chuckle.
Another grunt.
“Did he say anything… bad?”
Sam snorted before finally speaking up. “Bad? No. He was a perfect ‘gentleman’ aside from that stupid test of his…”
“Dominic?” Lara asked, and Sam could hear her perking up at the mention of her cousin. “He is so good. Went to one of his shows last month. So good…”
“Good for him,” Sam replied with a long-suffering sigh.
“So, if grandpa wasn’t mean, then what…”
“I didn’t say he wasn’t mean.”
“What?”
“He explained, not in detail but with intent, that he is keeping an eye on me and woe me if I do anything he doesn’t approve. Or something along those lines…” he explained, waving his hands in the air.
Surprisingly, Lara let out an impressed whistle.
“Damn! You must have impressed him then!”
That caused Sam to sit up. “What?”
Lara let out a giggle, clearly happy to know something Sam didn’t.
“Don’t tell him, but when he wants to help people, he tells them what he found out about their plans to make sure they can… refine them. It comes across as a little aggressive, but he only wants to help…”
“Lara. I’m pretty sure your grandfather threatened to have me vanished if I even sneezed at the wrong time…”
“Psssh, you’re just reading too much into it,” she replied nonchalantly. “Don’t worry about it!”
“That just makes me worry more, you know…” Sam admitted while marveling at how blind Lara was toward her own grandfather. Though, it was not unexpected. She probably never saw his serious side, only the more caring one.
Lara snorted again. “Well, how about we talk about the gala a little? Maybe that will take your mind off the ridiculous idea of grandpa having you secretly killed…”
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“Why? Did anything change?”
“No. We just have to coordinate our clothing, silly…” she explained with her own long-suffering sigh. “Seriously, both you and Dan have no idea about fashion. So! Listen up! Mistress Lara is going to teach you some color theory and flower language!”
“Joy…”
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Returning to the game came with the feeling of freedom as Sam jumped around in his enhanced game body, with the added paranoia that any time he exited the game, the old man’s people could be there, waiting for him.
He shook his head, sending his paranoid thoughts to the back of his mind, buried under the rubble of unwanted past memories, and refocused on the game.
The southern countries waited for no man!
Spending a few minutes to pet Lucky to get his mental energies up, he left his room to pick up the package from Liz’s workshop. Mostly some new ‘bottomless’ water bottles to be used in desert environments as well as a new compass and a few odds and ends.
However, on his way toward one of the side exits, he was waylaid by one of the servants helping Lucy with her paperwork.
“Sir,” she called out to him with a small bow, holding a letter. “Mistress Lucy received a letter addressed to you.” She handed it over and, without waiting for his reply, turned around and hurried away. Sam didn’t mind. He looked down at the high-quality envelope and sighed before opening it.
Another sigh left his lips upon reading it.
“Well, Lucky, it seems we have one more stop before leaving the country…”
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Riding on the newly evolved Lucky was a different feeling than before. The wolf became much stronger and robust, capable of carrying Sam without pause or being slowed down by Sam and his equipment’s weight.
They flew through the forest, Lucky almost gliding through the air. Sam thought he heard the crunch of lesser monsters when Lucky touched down on the ground, but by the time he looked back, they were too far away.
Arriving at the still unnamed fort, he took in the construction, the half-finished walls, guard towers, gates, and the countless people toiling around the clock to complete it according to Lara’s designs and plans.
He hopped off Lucky’s back, who turned back into a German Shepherd sized wolf with a small puff of mana, and strode toward the gate, flashing his identification to the guards.
Dodging people in the crowd, he headed for the pristine warehouse and laboratory – one of the few fully finished buildings – housing Fitzgerald and his research. Looking around, he could spot a few people keeping their eyes on the property, but a quick check with his mana found the signature of the badge belonging to Nowhere.
Ignoring them for now, he knocked on the door leading into the part of the building that housed the laboratory and waited while Lucky ran off to play with nearby children.
Not a few seconds later the door was opened by a maid wearing an extremely frazzled expression.
“No, you can’t rent this… Oh, it’s you, sir!” She started out angry, as if she repeated herself hundreds of times, only to turn into relief. She hastily bowed, then ushered Sam in, closing the door behind him.
“Problems?”
She let out a sigh as she automatically led him toward her master. “Many, sir.”
“Anything I can help with?”
She bit her lip and glanced around before she began to whisper as if afraid to be overheard. “The adventurers, sir. They keep coming! They either want to know what is happening or try to rent the place. I keep telling them it’s not for rent but they just keep offering more and more money! Why aren’t they buying houses if they have so much money?”
Sam reached out to pat her on the shoulder, hoping to be reassuring. “I get it. I’m going to talk to people and make sure you’re not bothered anymore.”
“Really?” she asked, hope shining in her eyes.
“Yup. Master Fitzgerald is my teacher. That’s the least I owe him…”
“Thank you, sir!” she bowed even deeper, relief radiating from her entire body. Then she straightened out and continued to lead him toward his objective.
The corridor they were walking in soon opened into the warehouse where, aside from countless stacks of materials, devices, and just straight-up trash, Sam saw some interesting things.
A small, delicate desk with a hand-knitted cover and beautiful teacups lined up, ready to be used, marked with a very familiar silvery crest.
A giant planning desk filled with a small library’s worth of paper, Fitzgerald hunching over them.
Finally, in the middle of the room, a highly magical, enchanted podium and on top of it, with the insides showing, a round device with a hole in the middle. Some pieces were missing, but upon comparing them to his inherited memories, Sam was pretty sure this was one of the prototypes for the gates used later in the game to travel.
The maid left him there, and he spent half a minute just marveling at his teacher’s creation before calling out to him.
“Master Fitzgerald! You called for me?”
The harried man’s head snapped back and Sam could see that it took the man a few seconds to recognize him. But when he did, his eyes lit up with excitement.
“Samuel! My student! Welcome!” he began chattering happily. “Yes! Yes! Very important!”
He turned away, not even waiting for an answer, and Sam had to stand there and watch as he dug out a box from under a pile of documents that looked important, but now were falling to the floor. He held out the box to Sam, and he took it carefully.
“They told me you’re heading south. Take this box and deliver it!” then he turned around, his attention already back on the plans, runes sparking into existence around him.
Sam looked down at the box, then back to his teacher.
“To whom, sir?”
A second of silence, then the man slapped his forehead. “Ahh, yes! The letter!” he exclaimed then withdrew a letter from his breast pocket. It was slightly rumpled but still closed.
“The address is here,” he told Sam before dismissing him fully.
Sam read the address and let out a sigh.
[New quest acquired!]
[Deli-Very!]
[You were tasked by your teacher to deliver a very important and mysterious package to an unknown address. If he doesn’t forget, you will be rewarded. Probably.]
[Time Limit: ???]
[Bonus:
1. Deliver the package to the correct person.
2. Do not let the package get stolen.
3. Do not let the package get damaged.]
[Penalty: ???]
----------------------------------------
“Are you ready?”
Sam adjusted his tie and nodded while glancing at Lara, resplendent in her black dress. Why they had to coordinate their clothing when she was wearing black, he didn’t know but he refused to ask.
Leaving his room, he entered the living room, where Lucy had set up a small situation room with several screens and devices.
Dan was standing around, munching on a sandwich and staring at his girlfriend who was twirling around, the bottom of the dress flaring out, showing off her legs.
With a herculean effort, Dan managed to tear his eyes off his girlfriend and looked at Sam.
“Why did I have to be here?”
“To help Lucy,” Sam responded simply while the aforementioned young woman nodded from the sofa.
“Uhh, sure…” Dan mumbled in an unsure tone.
Lara stepped up to him, got on her tip-toes, and kissed him. “I know you can do it!” Then she spun around, grabbed Sam, and began striding toward the door. “Come on! I want to see the look on their faces!”
Meanwhile, Dan stood there, sandwich forgotten with a dopey smile as Lucy giggled on the sofa.