2
Moving Forward
I guess I may as well get up and get a shower before work, I thought as I started moving around my apartment. I hope I’m not going crazy but there isn’t much point in doing anything about all this till I know for sure.
I hopped into the shower and started to focus in on the menthol feeling that stuck around after Mitsumi’s Discovery set me on fire. The feeling now was surprisingly pleasant, I never liked having cold hands before and if someone had asked me about a cold heart, I would have just assumed that they thought I was being bitchy because I suck at seeming empathetic, but this actually feels really nice. I never meant to be cold, but I didn’t really know how to deal with other people, and I never knew how to react when other people shared their issues with me.
The cool Mana feeling didn’t feel bad, but it did make the heat from the shower feel exceptional. I started to wonder about what Genie meant about new possibilities then and decided that the shower would be the perfect place to think about it. Once I finished cleaning myself, I started focusing more on that cool feeling and what it could mean, until suddenly ice cold water was pouring over me.
“Ah, Shit. What the hell?” I almost fell in my rush to get out of the shower and away from the stinging cold.
Did my hot water heater bust? I thought before being interrupted by the new System.
*Ding!*
MINOR DISCOVERY
You have Discovered the Skill Meditation. No Announcement is made for Minor Discoveries.
*Ding!*
GREATER DISCOVERY
You have Discovered Skills would you like the System announcement to name you as the initial Discoverer? Y/N
There's an option to not be named? I can’t believe someone would opt to have their name announced maybe that Mitsumi, whoever she is wants to be famous. As I was thinking about this, I found out that maybe Mitsumi was caught off guard like me by how little time the system gave to decide and didn’t respond in time as suddenly my name was announced to the world.
*Ding!*
GREATER DISCOVERY
The System Aspect Skills have been Discovered by Maxwell Rosen.
I was standing in my bathroom shivering and regretting my ADHD moment when Genie started making another announcement.
Wow, when I was spreading my System, I knew that Humanity would integrate well but I thought it would take more time than this for not only a Major Discovery but a Greater Discovery to be made. I’m adjusting the Technology Decay timer to only 10 days, Sorry everyone but you’re all so impressive I have to spare a little more energy for Discoveries it seems.
You should probably all thank Maxwell as I wasn’t expecting that little Discovery till well after the first animals started evolving. Although, If I was seeing things correctly Mitsumi deserves a little thanks too as it looked like Mana was an integral part of that Discovery.
*Ding!*
For making the Greater Discovery of Skills you have received the Title Father of Skills.
*Ding!*
MINOR DISCOVERY
You have Discovered Titles. No system announcement for Minor Discoveries.
*New Skill Meditation: Profound thoughts require profound thought. Slip more easily into a meditative state. Your mind is clear and your focus is everlasting*
*New Title Father of Skills: Increased ease receiving and creating new Skills. You are the Father of Skills*
That’s a lot, I thought as I reached into the shower to turn off the water. I grabbed a towel and stepped back into my bedroom while realizing it was a lot brighter outside than it should’ve been. A glance at my alarm clock revealed that while I was busy contemplating the way my Mana felt hours had passed and it was now 8:07 leaving me seriously in danger of being late to work if didn’t really start to hustle.
I ripped open my top drawer and decided it was the type of day that deserved my favorite briefs. There really wasn’t anything special about these briefs, they were just black with a rainbow waistband, other than that they were the same style and fit as all the other underwear I owned but they always made me feel just a little bit better about myself. I grabbed my socks from the same drawer and a Tie from the rack on top of my dresser as I rushed to my closet to grab a shirt and a pair of pants for the day.
I couldn’t help but take a moment to be a little vain as I looked at myself in the mirror. I happened to grab a short sleeve button down shirt with thick horizontal stripes in pastels, and a very well-fitting pair of khaki chinos. I’d been working out the last year since moving away from my hometown, as I tried to regain the pride that my parents tried so hard to force out of me. I felt proud of the progress I was making. My alarm clock caught my eye and reminded me that I had to go or I wasn’t going to make it to the subway on time.
As I ran out the apartment and turned toward the stairs, the elevator in my building would take longer to get to my floor than it would take me to get to the bottom floor on foot, I almost ran into the buildings super, “Mr. Rosen, I’m glad I caught you!”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“I’m running late Jimmy, I really don’t have time to chat right now,” I said as I tried to shuffle by the super that was apparently looking for me. Jimmy is a surprisingly nice superintendent especially for a building so large, but sometimes I missed the brusque nature of my previous building’s super as I can’t stand small talk. I can’t bring myself to cut small talk off when someone else is trying to engage me in it though. Especially when the other person hasn’t actually done anything wrong and just wants to talk to me.
“I just wanted to let you know, the building’s owners decided to sell. All this Genie and System stuff has them spooked and wanting to retire so they’re rushing to get the building off their hands. I wanted to let the residents know so that everyone is ready for whatever happens if a sale goes through.”
I guess that confirms whatever I have been seeing is real. “That was a quick decision by them, Thanks for the heads up. And confirming I’m not crazy. Now, I’m sorry, but I really have to go Jimmy, I’m running late and I’m not sure what is going to be going on at work today with everything that’s already happened this morning.”
“Of course, Mr. Rosen, have a nice day sorry for the delay.”
I made it to street level in what felt like record time and stepped out into the brisk autumn air. I turned left right away and started jogging the block and a half to the subway entrance only to be caught off guard that the entrance is blocked off with a sign reading, “CLOSED DUE TO SYSTEM MESSAGES,” Adorning the blockade.
“Fuck,” I exclaim as I pulled my phone out to see it was already 8:25. It was usually a 30 minute commute with the subway ride. I tried to decide if I could make it on time by running the entire way but decided even if I were willing to show up to work sweaty there was no way I could make the run on time, I definitely can’t run that fast.
Deciding that ordering a car service would be worth it I pulled up their app and ordered a ride. Then I shot a quick text to my boss asking if she wanted a coffee this morning since the car would get me to work with plenty of time to stop at the Café next door to our office building.
OMG!! Please!
I have been up way to long already today
I totally forgot to grab water at the store yesterday, so I had no good water to brew my own today!!!
Stacy sent back three messages in a rapid-fire barrage, right away. I respond letting her know that I’ll grab it and have it on her desk before she’s out of her meeting with R&D.
YOU CAN HAND IT TO ME DIRECTLY CAUSE ALMOST EVERYONE CALLED IN TODAY!
CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU, SO HAPPY I WON’T BE ALONE!!!
Wow, I’m surprised at everyone’s work ethic, I wasn’t expecting everyone to take a day off, nothing has really happened yet, we only have 10 days to figure out how we are going to keep everything running and everyone decided not to show up, I ponder as I slide into the Sedan that pulled up for me.
“Hey bossman, still heading to work today?” the driver asked a little to familiarly.
Great, small talk, I thought while I replied, “oh yeah. Life keeps going right. Gotta figure out what the next steps are going to be and get a plan in place for whatever happens when the computers stop working.”
“Cool, cool,” the driver said and then let things hang for a moment before continuing. “Now I’m just asking ‘cause I saw the name on the ride request. Are you Maxwell Rosen? Like, the Maxwell Rosen? The one that just did that Discovery thing?”
“N-No. Definitely not me,” I choked out, probably unconvincingly. “I don’t even know how I would start to figure something like that out.”
“Oh, okay. I just thought that woulda been hella cool! You would be like one of the most famous people I ever met if it was you, like, everyone just saw your name, and I would be, like, the first person to see you since it happened,” said the driver. “I’m gonna brag to my family later anyway, since you got the same name. They’re gonna think this is so cool.”
I tried to respond normally and keep the conversation going while the driver chattered away, but by the time we got to my office building I was struggling to even give minimal answers. I quickly stepped out, thanking the driver and rushing to the coffee shop next door to order myself a nice chain coffee shop style caramel macchiato and a black coffee with two shots of espresso for my heathen boss.
The barista handed me the two coffees I ordered, and I headed to my building. As I pushed open the door to my office lobby, I paused for a moment to observe a bizarrely large pigeon in an otherwise normal looking group of birds. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pigeon that size before. Is that what genie meant when she said that animals would grow, too? Seems a little too fast for that
I continued into the building and boarded the elevator alone. There wasn’t time for me to keep being distracted.
As I stepped off the elevator into our fifth-floor office space I was shocked to see that at least 85 percent of the office decided not to show up today. Maybe everyone is just running late because of the subway closure, I thought hopefully. I walked to her office and handed my boss her sludge and she basically shrieked at me, “Maxy! I am so excited you are here; I swear I thought I would be all alone in our office block today. I would have stayed home too, but the CEO reached out to let me know that if I didn’t show up today, I may as well not show up again. So, here I am, and I was going to be so lonely if no one else showed up, I was going to spend all day bothering Linda over in accounting. I’m already pretty sure that she hates me so that would not have gone over very well. And not only did you make my day by showing up, but you even brought me the most delicious nectar of the gods!”
I cringed as Stacy finally paused to take a breath and a drink of her “Nectar of the God”, although calling the atrocity in that cup such a thing made me feel ill.
“Didn’t you say you didn’t have any water to make coffee today? It feels like you’ve already had too much caffeine today. Also, there is no Linda in accounting, we’re in accounting.” I asked as Stacy lowered her cup back down.
“I said I didn’t have any coffee, not that I didn’t have any caffeine silly,” Stacy responded. “I’ve been working out more lately, and since I was already up because of those crazy messages this morning, I went to the gym early! I don’t know if you have ever been to the Iron Ladder over on 51st? They have this sport drink that some people tried to sue them over a few years ago, apparently it has like, way more caffeine than the recommended amount per serving and some old lady thought it caused her husband’s heart to explode. But like, it tastes really good, and I have been so productive already this morning, but that stuff just doesn’t hit the same as coffee. Too sugary!”
“I’m going to go ahead and take that from you. You can have it back after lunch, if you haven’t had a panic attack by then,” I snatched the cup and held it out of her arms reach.
“Excuse me just ‘cause you’re my favorite cousin doesn’t mean you can discriminate against me for being short! Give me that back, you’re not my mom.”
“Do you want me to call Aunt Terry and tell her that you’re trying to make your heart explode?”
“Ugh, Fine. No need to call her. By the way, her and my dad are having a big family dinner Sunday. Jerry and his family are driving up here from Tampa and Sara managed to get a red eye for tonight so she’ll be back tomorrow morning. Mom wanted me to ask if you would come, She would have but she figures since we work together I could ask you so she can keep calling and Checking in on the rest of the family.”
“I’ll be there, if anyone needs a place to stay I have an extra room still, I kinda gave up on finding a roommate since everyone who’s responded has been weird.”
“I told you, you were offering it too cheap. Normal people are all going to assume you’re a weirdo trying to lure them in,” Stacy laughed. “Anyway, let’s get to work. We need to print everything…”
“What do you mean we need to print everything?”
“Well, this morning, the CEO didn’t actually yell at me, but he did say that if what the message said is true then we need to have backups of all our files. So, we need to print everything, and ideally organize it. I figured I can get everything printing and you can start organizing it.”
“You’re joking, right? I should have called in; this is going to be the longest day ever.”
“Now you see why I was so excited when you text this morning to say you were coming in! Anyway, I already have all the files for clients starting with the letter ‘A’ printed, you are going to need to collect things from all the printers on the floor. I’ll be in my office if you need anything!”
I grumbled as I walked to my desk to set everything down before starting my first circuit of the floor for the day. Soon I was lost in a haze of paperwork as I got to work organizing by year and client.