Skill selection

(Miguel James pov)

'Whoa', I nearly lost footing while crashing on to the man opposite to me. "Hey, you okay kid. Sorry I wasn't watching where I was going", I heard the man whom I crashed into say with concern. You know sometimes manner of speech indicates a lot of things. It can explain a lot about a person, like his background, his profession or in this case his gender. It clearly sounded gay. And sure enough, when I looked at the man, I saw another main character of the show. Cameron Tucker. He is the stay at home dad and partner of Mitchell Pritchett.

"I am alright. I was zoning out and didn't see you there. My bad.", I replied back politely and then I noticed what he was buying. He was buying necessities that one should buy before going on a trip. "These are supplies for our Vietnam trip. Me and my partner are visiting Vietnam in three days.", he said after noticing my gaze. "Oh, that's wonderful. You guys have a nice trip.", I replied and walked past him with a smile. Now I know that the plot is yet to begin. 

Now I know that the couple are visiting Vietnam to adopt a daughter and if they are leaving I three days, there is at least a week before the actual plot begins. But suddenly a sense of confusion swept over me. Did it really matter. The Dunphys and Pritchetts are just normal people in this world. Plus, it's not like I can barge in there lives so as to get a front seat in their family drama. It's their privacy. It was sad to miss some drama but I have a new life and my parents are currently my priority. But on retrospection I never knew god had some other plans with me. But more on that later.

After the shopping session was over, we had our lunch and then returned back home. We had a lot going on tomorrow. My parents moved over here to run the dealership that they together bought. So, it was gonna be a total rush tomorrow for my parents while my schedule was pretty empty. But I had an important thing to do. Mastering a skill. Now that I have some privacy to myself, I can activate the skill learning ability. 

Now I can learn a skill per month and I should make it count. But let's just say I have had zero ideas about what to choose currently. I mean, even though I had infinite number of skills in front of me I was like a kid who visited the ice cream shop for the first time. While I was clueless, the AI spoke without prompting. "May I suggest something sir. I can sense that you are conflicted on selecting a skill. I have some suggestions that can help you sir. Do you want to take a look at them?". I was spooked. I mean I genuinely thought that the AI although intelligent, would need my prompt to speak or function. But now it seems that it does has some autonomy to it.

'Well, your inputs are always welcome AI', I replied back in my mind. Honestly, I really required a third opinion about which skill to pick from the vast array skills that I can possibly choose from. "Well Sir for beginners I have a skill called Enhanced Memory Recall that can help you improve your memory and make you near a near photographic memory person that would really help you in the long run. It can allow you to retrieve any memory from any point of your life, this or your previous one. I am pretty much sure Sir; it can help you in the long run. For example, sir, we know that your school is commencing soon and you really need to remember whatever you studied in your short life. So, Sir, this would be a great option". 

I was genuinely surprised. I never thought about that. Having a photographic memory or something similar to it will be a very good impetus to my future life. I can basically remember any lecture, notes and any textbook that I might have learned in my lives. Or I could just recall novels, lyrics of music that I have just seen or have heard in my life. But let us just say I am not so much sold on the fact that this would help me be like somebody from the movie Limitless. I know for a fact that photographic memory, as the Goddess said, I might have to hone it to an extent before I can actually use it to it's full potential.

Now I have a clear idea what skill that I should select. "I have decided AI, select the enhanced memory recall skill." Suddenly I felt a tingle in my brain that began to grow. It was as though some ants were crawling through my brain. I suddenly felt nauseous. I ran to the attached bathroom in my room to vomit. Everything that I ate for lunch came out as vomit. After what seemed to be an eternity, the nauseous feeling disappeared. I had a cold sweat on my back. I sat down on the bathroom floor to get some breath.

  "What in eight hells was that AI. I never felt like this when the memory was transferred.", I asked in a weak and panicked tone. I was expecting some physical discomfort. But it was not of this magnitude." Well sir, I am sure that the goddess might have mentioned why the skill acquisition function can be utilized once a month. It was exactly because of the side effects that you have a monthly accessing scheme in place. And sir there is a small correction. There are nine hells not eight." With that the AI went silent. ' Cheeky little piece of...phew it's better not to curse something that's autonomous and loving in my head.

If this was a sample of what I will have to go through every damn time I gained a skill, then I really, really have to make them count. But that aside I decided to try out my newly acquired skill.

I tried to remember the lectures that I listened to before as Miguel James. At first it was vague. But after a few tries it all began to flow in my mind. Every single class that Miguel attended till I occupied his body started flooding my mind as if a blockage was released. My mind had a newfound clarity that literally opened up new horizons for me.

I hurriedly unpacked my stuff and retrieved my textbooks for this academic year and began reading through it. To be honest I never enjoyed learning in my past or present life. But suddenly it was as though I have a newfound love towards learning. Probably this was what those geniuses felt like. Surprisingly, it seems that my learning pace has also been improved leaps and bounds. Perfect recollection meant that I was reading a portion only once and it was as if it was stuck in my mind. There was no necessity for me to look a second time. The textbook I took got finished in what seemed to be two or three hours. And mind it was not a small one. Then my marathon learning commenced. 

After a while, I heard my mother call me and my dad for dinner, breaking my flow of literally eating the knowledge from all those textbooks. 'Whoa, I didn't even feel the time passing.' It was nearly eight o'clock and I nearly learned for 4 hours straight without losing focus and sure enough I could recall the entirety of the textbooks that I just learned. I decided to go down to have something to eat. I was famished as the previous vomiting session had emptied my stomach. After having a sumptuous family dinner, I studied for a bit and then decided to get some sleep. 

I woke up the next day refreshingly. The tiredness from my trip yesterday had already vanished. I went down only to see my parents getting ready to go for their work. "Honey, go brush your teeth and get a bath. You are smelling young man. I have kept the breakfast on the table. Have it and you can explore the neighbourhood and don't coop up in your room the whole day. We gotta rush son", my mother said in a rushed manner and gave me a quick kiss on my fore head and rushed outside where my father was waiting. "We will be back by noon son." She said while closing the door behind her and my father gave me a wave before the door closed. I watched them leave for their work through the window. 

I did my morning chores and had my breakfast without hurrying. I put on a white t-shirt and a denim pants. After locking the doors, I stepped out to the open to finally explore Cheviot Hills, in its entire glory. But as said before, god didn't want me to stay out of the ongoing plots in this world and my entrance into it came in the form of the 10-year-old Luke Dunphy.