9 An Expectant Gaze
"Is she awake?" It was the first thing Cody asked when he woke up.
"Please specify query." The room requested.
"Is my Mom conscious?"
There was a short pause. "Not at this time. Would you like an alert the next time Mom wakes up?"
Cody sighed. "Yes, please. Let me know even if I'm busy in the Sphere."
"Understood."
"Also, I want to save an hour of use today, and every day, in case she wakes up at night again."
"An alert will be sent when Sphere Usage Time reaches one hour remaining."
***
After breakfast, Cody headed back to the comms room. Passing by Mom's Sphere, he noted the solid lights, patted it twice and said, "Next time, Mom. For sure. I'll save an hour, like Cass."
He was early today. He'd logged in at first light. Even so, dawn and dusk at Initial Village SE-T3 happened an hour before Flora. People were already up and about.
"Usage time remaining?" Cody queried.
"Eleven hours."
"Eleven? Not ten?"
"Using your latest diagnostics, your personal Sphere has been further optimized for efficiency."
"Diagnostics can improve performance that much?"
"Performance is still running below standard efficiency levels due to new features and functions. At standard efficiency levels, usage time should be able to reach 12 hours."
"12 hours… With a lunch break, that should be enough to stay logged in past sunset…"
Speaking of logging in past sunset, Cody needed equipment.
"What's the best way to get skills and gear?" Cody asked, not really expecting an answer.
Surprisingly, Orb answered. "Legacies."
"What?" Cody stared.
"Legacies. Graduates from the Academy sometimes leave challenges and prizes of their own for future students to discover and win. These can include secret skills, special equipment, and commonly, credits."
"Where can I find one?"
"Error: Legacies are not available until Level 10."
Cody sighed. In the end, he was still going to have to do missions to access higher levels. "What are the missions available to me now?"
Orb opened a list. It had eleven missions on it, with buttons offering more details for these assignments.
Level 1
1. Bring 5kg of edible berries (3 cr). [Details]
2. Water Analysis Report (3cr). [Details]
3. Clean Up Village Warehouse (3cr + 1cr bonus). [Details]
4. Calculate Fuel Consumption (3cr). [Details]
5. Cook Sausages (3cr). [Details]
Level 2
1. Summarize the founding of the Federation of Free Worlds (Cr = Sc x1). [Details]
2. Fill a sealed test tube with pure oxygen (5 cr). [Details]
3. Collect 1kg of copper ore (5cr). [Details]
4. Show 3cm image of ant (5cr). [Details]
5. Build perfect cube wooden box (Cr = Sc x1). [Details]
6. Mix energy-booster stimulant, min score 7 (Cr = Sc x1). [Details]
Most of these were missions he hadn't done yet. Two of them, the berries and the warehouse cleanup, he'd already done before, but clearly, could repeat. Others were similar to missions he'd done before, but were a bit different this time (calculations and cooking).
"I guess I can't just keep cooking scrambled eggs…" Cody figured. "Now they want sausages."
Which didn't seem hard either. Cody had watched Cass prepare breakfast this morning. He'd even asked her why she poked holes in the sausages. He was fairly confident he could do the mission. Except… was it worth the time?
"Melinda already told me her secret to mixing a stimulant… It's just coffee. But how do I make it?" Cody wondered. "I'll need coffee beans… and something to boil water in…"
Best to ask the expert. "Open Comms. Audio Call to Melinda."
There was a short pause. Then, Melinda's voice came over what seemed to the empty air in front of him. "Yes, Cody?"
"What do I need to do to make coffee?"
"Just buy the instant mix powder at the grocery." Melinda advised. "Six credits could buy a pack of 20. By the way, have you seen Laila around?"
"Laila?"
"Silver-hair? A little shorter than me, likes to wear a wetsuit? Often hangs out with me?" Melinda sent over a picture. "Have you seen her?"
Cody inspected it. This girl seemed familiar. He'd seen her around yesterday, but… "Not today, I haven't."
"Well, I better go find her. Good luck with the coffee." Melinda departed
***
The workshop charged him 5 credits for renting a drinks mixing set. Most of those stuff, Cody couldn't even identify, but all he really needed were the kettle, the hot water, and the mugs. At least it came with a box of instant coffee satchets. That saved him from buying the whole 20-pack.
He failed getting more than 6 points with his first cup. His second cup, however, with two packets of instant brew tossed in, scored 8.
Meanwhile, Oren failed the 'energy-boosting stimulant' with a cup of tea. He only scored 5 even after three tries.
"Coffee." Cody hinted to Oren. "Coffee."
Then, Kenneth came out after scoring 12.
"What is that?" Cody and Oren asked simultaneously.
"This? It's a mix of two popular isotonics." Kenneth shrugged. "Nobody said you couldn't mix store-bought products."
Of course, buying those isotonics cost credits too. After checking the price, though, Cody found it was worth it. Two of the cheapest isotonics on the market together only cost 6 credits. Kenneth had earned twice as much as he spent on that mission.
"Is it repeatable?" Cody had to ask.
"Some missions are. Others vary on a rotation."
So if the stimulant mission rotated… it would eventually come back to it later… that would be the time to earn an easy 8 credits.
Meanwhile Cody checked the level 3 missions.
Level 3
1. List the most valuable trade goods of each inhabited star system of the GNF (9cr). [Details]
2. Supply 500g of invisible ink (9cr). [Details]
3. Collect 5kg of iron ore (9cr). [Details]
4. Retrieve Lost Drone from cliffside (9cr). [Details]
5. Cargo Hauling for Warehouse (Cr = Sc x1). [Details]
6. (Adv) Rat-proof Elder T's Cellar for at least a week (Cr = Days x1). [Details]
"Rat-Proofing?" Cody blinked. "And it'll need to last for at least a week? What happens if more than one person tries the same mission?"
"The level 3 Advancement Mission is similar to your personal space in that every student has his or her own unique space for it." Orb explained. "However, credits will be awarded as soon as the mission is completed based on Elder T's assessment."
"So it won't really take a week. Elder T is going to figure out how long it'll last, and that'll determine my score?"
"Correct."
That was when Laila showed up. She really was wearing a blue body-fitting wetsuit, like she was going scuba-diving or something, except this one came with a frilly skirt.
"Uh… Laila?" Cody hesitated.
"Yes?" Laila looked at him, eyes sparkling. With silky silver hair in a ponytail, wide blue eyes and a smile that nearly made him stutter, she made him feel uncontrollably shy.
"Melinda was looking for you."
"Oh. That's all?" Laila peered at him intently. Her gaze seemed almost like she expected something.
For some reason, Cody felt rather tongue-tied.
"Actually…" Cody scratched his head fumbling for something to say, something that made sense.
Laila waited.
"C-can I borrow your water analyzer?"
Laila looked disappointed, but she lent it to him anyway. Then she bade them a quick farewell and darted off to find Melinda.
Cody watched her go, feeling oddly disappointed himself and wondering why.
Kenneth, while passing by, whistled at Cody as she left.
"What?" Cody asked, surprised.
"Nothing." Kenneth shook his head. "Just… nothing."
Well. Now that he had an easy way to complete a mission, Cody went ahead and did the water analysis mission around the village. Tap water, stream water, rain water from a barrel, sap, dew, water from an aquarium, water from a flower vase, Cody's own sweat, spit and some sort of blood trail on the road. Probably all that was left of some poor critter that was hit by a car or something.
He handed it in to the workshop for the mission, and the 'scientist' NPC receiving it examined the results dutifully. "Nice, nice. Filtered water, fresh water, distilled and stored in a fungi-rich environment? Must be a rain-barrel. That's tree sap… and fresh dew, and this one has fish dropping traces all over it… this one's rich in plant glucose… are these your sweat, saliva, and blood?"
"It's my sweat and saliva." Cody admitted. "But that's not my blood. It's some blood trail on the road, maybe a roadkill trace."
"Roadkill?" the scientist looked at him over his pair of thick rimmed glasses. "That's unlikely. This blood didn't come from just any animal, young man. This blood is human."
