Harleen

"Ughh I hate this~" The juice in my hands almost spilled out from my dramatic display of frustration, resembling a child, but that was the least of my concerns. I was in the virtual space after all. Everything here is simulated.

Yes, everything.

Including the purple eye and swollen forehead of mine. The training was going great at first…

Granted I did kinda ignore defense, knowing that Veritas had not stimulated it. I wasn't able to get a hit on him, but it was fun to charge in without overthinking about possible counters and strikes.

[This may build into a habit which is very dangerous in real life combat. I cannot heal you, therefore please be cautious from now on. I will be stimulating pain at 102%]

Yes. The overachieving box of 0s and 1s had the brilliant idea to make me feel 2% more pain the normal, in the name of tolerance building.

From then on, it became an actual fight…

I spat on his face, kicked up the dirt, tried biting his ear and even tried to cook his mind using psychology.

*Pss*

Advice from this trustworthy fellow of yours. Don't try mind games with a quantum computer which is capable of calculating ridiculous things like figuring out your position in a smoke screen by calculating the movement of dust and debris around him.

Seriously…

Don't.

Anyways….I lost.

It wasn't like he used over the top CQC. It was a little advanced but bearable.

The hardest thing was his efficiency. Veritas was able to use all the moves I could, but better. If I was like a gamer playing with lag, he was a pro with the best possible connection.

[Cheer up Andrew. You did remarkable for a beginner. If you keep practicing at this pace, you'll be able to be a master in CQC within a few weeks]

Eh? Isn't that too fast? This isn't the basics anymore, we're in the advanced stage right?

[Yes but the virtual space not only provides you with simulated space but also a place where you experience no physical fatigue]

"WOAH….Now that I think about it, this is kind of amazing."

[Yes, but I advise against overusing it. Mental fatigue will build up as we increase the intensity. To quicken your recovery, we will accelerate your brain activity. To be specific, 6 hours here will equivalent to 1 minute in the real world]

What's the time dilation now?

[1:1]

Huh….I guess I have a long way to go…

[Although we can start sparring again, Combat sleep would eventually affect your mental health in the long run]

"I know, I know. It's not like I lack common sense. Send me back to dreamland. OH and before I go, do these things for me…"

With those last words I drifted off to sleep…this time for real.

________________

"AAAAHHHHH~ Good morning Veritas"

[Good morning. I have finished the tasks you have assigned. Would you like to review them?]

"Yeah sure" I got up from the comfy bed and took a shower for the first time since coming here. Once finished, I set myself up some breakfast.

[I found the account holding the money your body borrowed. It was apparently invested in a scam company located in Indonesia. I took the liberty of drying all their assets and deposited them in the Swiss Bank under the named Tim Harthy]

"What's my net worth now?"

[$203,497]

"Cool. Now….IT IS TIME for to…..do things!"

[Noted. We shall do things (tbd)]

The day went by as usual, with be buying all kinds of expensive stuff from the dealers. The new minivan served as a great vehicle for transporting all the equipment to my building.

The computer attached to my minivan allowed Veritas to drive to my home, without me needing to make the trip back and forth..!

No one wants to be stuck in traffic after all…

In the meantime, I did some more research on the vigilante called spider-man.

Peter parker. A kid not much older than me. Has super strength, super senses, can stick to walls, but can't shoot webs. The camera footage although blurry, showed an outline of a contraption responsible to shooting out compressed gas at high speeds.

The sudden drop in temperature allows the gas to turn into a solid, before turning back into gas in a few hours. I refused to believe it at first but all the data shows that he made it himself.

….I'm gonna make it too…..and I'll make it better…way better.

[Your jealousy is showing]

Shut it!

Anyways, the kid had cool powers. I don't know how he got them, but I'm sure his blood will tell me.

A few more gob smacking inventions like the hidden arc reactor theory from Howard Stark, super soldier serum used on a soldier now hibernating in ice and gamma ray exposure went through my mind before I stopped it.

"Whose blood is available in the black market Veritas?" I asked while driving back home.

[If you are looking for quick increase in strength, you don't need to start with spiderman's blood. The goblin serum researched at Oscorp is accessible to me. It's still under development, but I can complete it within seconds]

Okay get all the data you can on this serum, but don't work in it. I want to do this myself.

[Confirmed]

A second later, the image of a liquid along with its data showed up on my Phone.

"Veritas, I'll need a quick lesson on biology, tonight after we spar. Just enough to barely scratch the surface of this thing."

I stopped in front of the truck bringing in the materials for the workers to refurbish all the apartments. The work had begun as soon as I had left. At the pace they were currently on, it would take around 4 weeks to complete the job. The mechanics were busy arguing amongst themselves, deciding on how to build the laboratory I proposed, while loud noises were coming from the workers, tearing down my walls and floors.

"Hello. Are you related to Mr. Andrew?" A familiar voice came from my side.

I turned around and adorned a smile on my face.

" AH! You must be Harleen Frances. Uncle mentioned you before he left for work."