I woke up in the morning excited to explore my new Power, and the first thing I want to do is try and separate my [Adaptive Mind] from my physical mind. In the past I had only been able to do this at Evo 2 of my Power, but after sleeping on it I thought that maybe it was possible to achieve this through the Cloud.
I noticed yesterday that the only two way connection that I had to the Cloud was to my mind. So today I decided to try and forge another two way connection to my Adaptive Mind. I wasn’t 100% certain that I would be able to do this, but it couldn’t hurt to try, after all my power said so.
Before I started messing with my mind though, I went through my morning routine of taking a shower (which every room had) and getting dressed in the same prison clothes that I wore every day. I still had time before breakfast, so I sat down in the middle of the floor of my room and dove into the Cloud with my mind.
Arriving in the Cloud with my mind I went over to the editing area which I had glossed over yesterday. I wasn’t exactly sure how to make my Adaptive Mind become a two way connection, but I figured that if I messed around enough at the editing area then I would at least find out what didn't work.
Mentally stepping into the editing area I felt a rush of information assault my mind that my Adaptive Mind had protected me from yesterday. I was overwhelmed by the massive amount of detail coming to me all at once, but I didn’t shut it off this time, instead I just waited for my adaptive mind to do what it did best.
It took a few hours to get an initial grasp on all of the information I was receiving, and even then it was only the same as understanding the most common words and phrases of a new language. I decided to stop my training and eat my breakfast that had been delivered to my room almost an hour ago at this point. Thankfully the food tray had a simple enchantment to keep the food warm, so I was able to enjoy a warm meal despite my tardiness.
After finishing my meal I was about to return to my training and had a simple thought wondering if I had anything important to do today. Suddenly the Cloud quickly sorted through the storage area and pulled up an old memory and showed it to me. I was surprised that the Cloud had reacted to my desires without me fully understanding it yet.
Taking a closer look at the memory that it had pulled up it was more like a jumble of fragmented pieces of memories that all referenced one thing. The thing that they were referencing was small bits of conversation that I had heard in my past talking about a valuable material. If I were to look at each conversation separately, then I would just dismiss these memories because there wasn’t enough information to do anything with. But the Cloud also pulled up other seemingly random and unrelated information along with these memories of conversations.
Looking at everything that the Cloud had shown me combined, I came to realize something that I would have never put together on my own. Realizing this I immediately put aside my Power training and decided to instead look for Genesis in The Archives.
-Genesis-
Today I was exploring the confusing and winding corridors hidden within the seemingly inconspicuous shelves of The Archives. I was searching for an artifact that Radiant had told me about that could help me develop my mental strength, and it was stored within these winding halls of The Archives.
I was currently using 4 of my copies to search through the confusing corridors. At the same time I was attending school lessons with my real body and being terribly bored in class. With my final copy I was reading a book in the main hall of The Archives to relieve me of boredom.
While I was busy reading my romance book I saw Radiant walking towards me in the carpeted seating area. I quickly switched the book in my hand to one about mental defense and casually looked up at Radiant when he sat down in his usual spot.
“Radiant, good morning.” I tried to sound casual hoping that he didn’t see what I had been reading.
“Good morning Genesis.” He started rubbing his chin like he always did when he was thinking about something. I had no idea why he did that when he didn’t even have a beard, but maybe he learned it from his Dad or something.
After a moment he seemed to gather his thoughts and spoke, “Hey Genesis, you remember when I told you that I would ask you to do some small things for me when I told you I would pay for your expenditures in The Archives?”
“Yes, I remember. Although you haven’t asked me to do anything yet, so I was beginning to wonder if you were just saying that.”
“Well I’m going to have to ask for your help with something.”
“All of a sudden? What do you need help with?”
“Well there’s something that I want to invest in, but I’m currently not at liberty to invest in it myself. So I was hoping that you would be able to invest in it and reserve some of the profits for me. Of course it is your money so I won’t take all of the profits, just a portion of them.”
“Well I can’t invest too much, but you’ve never given me bad information before so I’ll try and do what I can.” I closed my book and leaned forward, “So what’s this investment opportunity you have in mind?”
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Radiant put up his hand in a placating gesture, “Don’t worry it’s not a risky investment. Even if things don’t play out exactly like I think, there won’t be any losses on your part.” He stated, “What I want you to invest in is the company Brilliant Textiles. They’re a small clothing company.”
“A clothing company?” I interrupted him, “Why would you be looking into a clothing company?”
“It’s because I have some good intel that says they’re going to make it big soon.” He got an excited smile on his face, “You see the company has been developing a new revolutionary type of fabric.
“Based on the information I have, Brilliant Textiles is going to unveil this new fabric at Vander IkˈSentrik’s annual Presentation Party”
“They’re going to show it off at Ik’Sentrik’s party? I thought that the things presented at that party were already owned by one of the noble houses. If they’re able to show off their product at that party, then how would I even be able to invest in them?”
“You’ve got it wrong Genesis. You see, the person who owns the business was invited by Vander Ik’Sentrik to attend the party as a guest because he’s a friend, their business isn’t owned by a noble.”
“They’re not owned by a noble? If Vander Ik’Sentrik is their friend then wouldn’t they already be investing in the company?”
Radiant nodded at my question, “Yes he is investing in the company, but he actually isn’t a major shareholder, and he's underestimating the value of this new material that they’re going to be showing off. So if you come in and start to invest in the company, then you’ll be able to get in before the company gets really big.”
“How great is this new material that you would be so confident about this investment?” I understood everything Radiant had been saying so far, but there were still some things I wasn’t sure about.
“Great question.” Radiant seemed to become animated by my question, talking with a little more energy in his voice, “This new material is lightweight and is able to change colors, on its own, based on a magically linked chip reader. So if the chip in the reader was programmed with a picture of a house, then the fabric that’s linked to the chip reader will show that image of a house on it. Although the change isn’t instant and takes about thirty seconds to fully complete.”
“Why would that be so great? Screens can already rapidly display images and stuff. Why would this slow fabric be used instead of screens?”
“You’re thinking too narrowly Genesis.” He shook his head, “The fact that this is a fabric that’s lightweight and can change what it looks like is key. Think about the different applications. It could be used by adventurers to change to different camo to match the environment. It could be used by the government for military purposes. It could be used in the film industry to save money on costumes. There’s so many different possibilities.”
“Oh, I see.” I was a bit embarrassed that I hadn’t thought of that, so I quickly changed the subject, “But if this material is so great, then why wouldn’t Mr. Ik’Sentrik invest more into it?”
“That’s because the use of the material is still in the early stages of development. But after it’s shown off at the annual presentation party then others will start to see the value of this material even if Ik’Sentrik doesn’t. So you need to invest in this before it gathers too much attention and gets out of your ability to invest.”
“OK, I understand now.” I tried to display an air of confidence as I said, “I’ll make sure to get the biggest share I can.”
“Great, thanks for doing this for me Genesis. I would do it myself, but that’s kind of impossible for me at the moment. I’m just glad that I can get your help in my place.” He nodded his head towards me thankfully and then said, “Did you have any other questions?”
“Yeah actually.” I felt a bit anxious now that I thought about what I had to do, “Wouldn’t Mr. Ik’Sentrik be suspicious of someone suddenly investing a large amount into this company?”
“Hmm, yeah they probably would.”
“What am I supposed to do about that?” I quickly followed up with, “I’m not saying that I’m afraid or anything. I just think that he might interfere and stop me from being able to invest in the company.”
“Don’t worry about it too much.” Radiant sounded confident as he said, “Vander Ik’Sentrik is an adventurous person so he likes other people that are adventurous too, especially someone that’s young and adventurous. So all you have to do is make it clear that this is your first big investment and you’re being bold and taking a big risk in this investment.
“With the fact that you’re young and you’ll be using your own personal money to invest, then he shouldn’t make any problems for you. After all, Vander Ik’Sentrik won’t think that you know anything about the new material, and will just think that you’re an adventurous young kid. Plus they have bigger things to worry about than their stake in a small company that their friend owns.”
“You know Radiant,” I started to fidget, “Sometimes I forget that you’re only twelve years old. You’re so good at everything you do.”
“Well I’m not great at everything I do.” He looked up like he liked to do sometimes when he was thinking, “I have two, maybe three, areas of expertise. Other than those I’m actually not great in other areas.”
“What? C’mon, you’re great at magic, you’re smart, you’re good at planning, you know how to deal with people. There’s so many things you’re great at. Compared to you I look like I can’t do anything right.” I sighed heavily with all of my copies and even my real body, which drew the eyes of those around me in class, making me a little embarrassed.
Radiant looked away from the ceiling and directly at me, “That’s not true Genesis, you’re great at lots of different things. I doubt I could do some of the things you’ve done even a fraction as well as you can. Take your family situation for example, you’ve managed to not only keep your position in the family but also made your family acknowledge your capabilities. I can’t handle personal relationships even close to as well as you can.”
My cheeks reddened in the real world and I had to hide my face behind my books. “Thanks Radiant, for saying that, and for everything.”
“No problem.” Radiant smiled and then completely ruined the moment, “Just remember that forty percent of the profits are mine. Always remember that business is business, and friendship is a completely separate matter.”
“I’ll make sure to remember.” I laughed lightly at his lack of tact.
He wasn’t lying when he said he can’t handle personal relationships that well, but I’ve known him for long enough to know that he means well. Besides, he was the only person I knew that I could be myself around. Maybe it was because I knew that he was better than me, or maybe it was because of everything he had done for me as a friend. I wasn’t exactly certain myself, but I was glad to have him as a friend.