3 Chapter 2: A Second Home

After finished with the academy registration, Maria brought Josua to Franca's Cafe for lunch. It felt weird that Franca's background was never really explored in the original reality's game, now that he's actually in the game's reality. He never knew of Franca's age, hence he couldn't make an educated guess as to when Franca's Cafe came into being.

'I suppose it's a given that since she's just there for giving Client Orders and some other stuff, she's not exactly a major character.'

He thought as he sat down on the opposite seat of Maria's. A teenage female Newman came to our table and began taking our orders.

"I'll be having the specialty set for the day. How about you, boy?"

Maria asked him without even looking at the menu when she made the order.

"Err... I'll be having this... Gratin, and an Iced Tea, thanks."

He said as the waitress took his order, albeit he slightly stuttered while saying it.

"Today's Specialty Set for Ms. Maria and Gratin and Iced Tea for you, correct? Please wait for a moment."

She said, bidding farewell to go to the kitchen. It was apparent that the waitress was actually Franca. And also, she's the chef-owner of the cafe as well.

'She certainly does have a knack for it, even at a young age.'

He pondered. From the conversations he had with the NPCs back in the game, they often complimented Franca's skills of being able to draw every single potential from the ingredients she cooks with, while leaving no wastes. And this time, from just this personal interaction, he could sense that it wasn't an exaggeration at all.

Around twenty minutes later, their dishes and drinks arrived on the table, delivered by another waitress. Franca had to take orders from other customers that were in her cafe.

.....

(While waiting for the orders to arrive...)

"Boy, now that you've joined the academy, you need to decide where you want to live."

Maria said to him, pausing for a moment before continuing:

"Do you have any place to stay in mind? Or do you wanna board at the academy?"

She wasn't planning on bringing him to stay at her place, so she immediately asked him on whether he wants to live by himself or stay in the dormitory in the academy complex. Though, she does plan to check on him every now and then after he made his decision.

"I have a room in the city, so I think I'll be staying there."

He said after pondering on how to explain it to her.

"You have a place?"

Maria immediately raised her brows. This was slightly outside her expectations. She then stared at him, waiting for him to explain himself.

"Let's just say that... I have some means. It's not so much I don't want to tell you, but rather, I really don't know how to explain it myself."

He explained, being frank with her to prevent her from having him to explain himself further.

"Fine, fine. I suppose it's not easy for you to say either."

She shrugged in resignation, knowing that if even he doesn't know how to explain it, how could she? She then turned her head and saw a waitress carrying their orders to their table.

"Ah, the dishes are about to arrive."

.....

Finishing the meal, Josua had a satisfied look on his face. It contrasted his usual, somewhat stoic face. Maria was amused by this sight of him. She was observing him from the first time the two interacted with each other. His face was, more often than not, stoic when in normal circumstances. But contradicting that, his face would be very expressive, to the point it was easily readable by anyone, when in certain situations, and it happens more than what some may think.

'A walking contradiction... What an amusing kid.'

Maria thought of his varying expressions, chuckling inside. After paying for the meal, they went to a shuttle stop.

"So, where's this place of yours?"

She then asked him while opening a map on the holographic display in front of her.

"It's around XX, near XX."

He said as he pointed towards a certain section of the residential space in the city area. Shortly after, the shuttle arrived and they entered the cabin. Maria inputted the designated address destination and soon after, the shuttle departed the stop.

.....

Dropping off at a stop in front of the designated location, the two then went inside and were walking towards the door of the room in question. After identifying his biometrics, the door automatically opened and the two entered the room.

The room was like how he had it prior to the update. The many things he had placed previously were also there. It was already fully furnished even before he got there! Maria was visibly impressed seeing this.

"Is this also one of your privileges for using that app?"

She asked him. While she had known that he could get onboard the ship (or rather, into this world) through the PSO2 game, she didn't know that it could do this as well. This kind of power isn't something that should be underestimated, especially it being developed by an unknown power from somewhere that's not known to the current ARKS!

"I don't know if others could do this as well, since I'm one of the first users of the game, as far as I know."

Josua frankly replied. While it was true that he could access the AC shop probably due to his unique circumstances, it didn't mean that the game that was developed by ESC-A couldn't be like this as well.

'Should look this up later...'

He thought as the two then left the sensor area of the door and it closed automatically after they entered the room.

It was like an apartment unit, but unlike others, he had access to three large rooms. Normally, free players back in the original game could only get a mini-room that wasn't expandable, and limited in the amount of things that can be placed. But if one were to be a premium user, they could freely customize and expand their room to the maximum of three rooms, with at least 30 times the capacity of placeable items.

"Putting aside that, you got a nice place here! Impressive!"

Maria nodded with approval. She thought that she had to swing by and provide him with some help, but now it seems like it wasn't necessary. He really seems like someone who knows how to do things! He only lacks operational knowledges and theories that any ARKS operative would have.

"Thanks!"

He replied with a smile. Putting aside the fact that nothing much had changed, he now also have another place to call home! And, since he lives alone in his apartment back on Earth, it was easy to come forth and back between the two places without any suspicions! Not to mention, as far as to what he knows, none of the higher-ups in ARKS ever monitored the residence of its operative, with them at most contacting them without warning via comms or video communications!

'Good thing Luther didn't have the thought to spy on every single person. And he doesn't even monitor private residences!'

He thought after pondering about it for a while. This meant that he only needed to add something like a curtain to the windows to at least have some privacy from physical prying eyes. Though, he later recalled that there wasn't exactly anything that could stop Luther from barging into this place of his, since he just loves to warp everywhere without notice.

'Even if I, somehow, managed to get something like those spatial lock equipment, Luther would still be able to enter this place, since he (or the people under him) knows how to go around it.'

He further pondered as he gestured Maria to sit down on a sofa that was near the right corner of the window. After the two sat down on opposite sofas, Josua then decided to slowly disseminate of what other things he could do and of other info on Earth.

"As you're aware, this place is something that I gained access to from a certain privilege. Aside from just getting a place, it allows me to sell things at my own shop via the Visiphone, or trade with others who are like me. Though, for trading with people native to ARKS, I don't know if it's possible."

"Also, as I can enter this ship, I can also leave by pushing this logout bottom."

He said as he gestured to open the menu, which became visible. Maria furrowed her brows in thought as she saw his finger hovering above the logout button.

"This means I can freely enter and leave at my leisure. Granted, if I was immobilized, I wouldn't be able to leave. That's the only caveat though."

"I can also change my clothes and weapons at will. Mind you, the weapons in question are physical weapons that weren't manifested from my abilities."

He then opened his Looks menu and changed his clothing back to his home clothes. This also meant that he won't have any shoes, hence he plans to put a pair of shoes (and sandals) here and back in his room on Earth as well, once he got back later.

Maria wasn't surprised anymore by this. Considering everything she had already seen, it was a given for a system like that to have such capabilities. The room they're in right now is one of the testaments to that system's capabilities.

He would then spend some time explaining on more things regarding the systems of PSO2 from this reality. He hid some of the finer details, but he at least gave her some explanations that while it's similar to the truth, it was not, in case if the other scenario in his head was the case that's happening.

.....

(Meanwhile, inside the Mothership's core, just before Josua's arrival into the reality.)

Xion. The living, breathing planet. She contained every single ounce of knowledge from simple technology to the most intricate and sophisticated science that will ever be known. Her physical manifestation floats inside her domain. Her eyes were closed. None can enter her domain unless they were of her kin or have her approval and the key to enter.

It was clear that she still suffered from distraught, for one year ago, her only kin suffered a fate worse than death. And in order to prevent her from plunging into that fate, she sent her away to the future. She also erased memories and records about her, only leaving an ambiguous status on her kin: [The Second Generation Klariskrays had disappeared following her battle with the Dark Falz Apprentice on Ship 74.]

However, she suddenly felt something and slowly opened her eyes. She then sent her apparition to Ship 2: Ur. There she saw him, Josua, arriving for the first time. She foreseen his arrival, yes, but there was something different about him. As she peered into his soul, she was surprised.

"To think, this would ever happen..."

She muttered. She had indeed saw that while the Josua on the ship was the same one she had foreseen, but his soul... It's similar, yet different. She could feel that the soul had a different... Color. As she tried to predict once more on the outcome of the future, she had a tinge of surprise on her face. While most had largely remained the same, but on some parts... It had changed, but it was slightly different than what she had thought!

She observed him as he encountered Maria, went to the academy with her to register, showing off his ability in front of Regius inside the training field, going inside his place on the ship with Maria, and of their conversation. Obviously, she knew the things that he was talking about.

"It's more fun to not know the destination, huh... Kuku."

She chuckled before closing her eyes again, and withdrew her apparition. She was looking forward to the future that was to be different than what she had foreseen originally.

.....

Josua had just sent Maria off after finishing their conversation. As he was about to sit down on the sofa, he felt a flash of bolt coming from his guts.

"...!"

He had finally noticed that someone was watching him. But before he could pinpoint to the general direction of the source, it had already disappeared. It was more of a gut feeling instead of just his pure abilities, though more often than not, he would mistake it for his own abilities. This didn't meant that he didn't have the ability, though. It was just that it wasn't as strong as his own instincts.

'Was that... No, it's not Luther. He's not that free. Then, maybe...'

He thought of one candidate with the most likely possibility of pulling something like observing him without him noticing or them getting noticed.

'Xion...'

He had mixed feelings about her. Not out of spite, but rather that he just had no idea on how to change her eventual fate. Unless he does something drastic, like killing Luther, and change the future too far, there's little that he could do to actually save her.

"It's not like I can do much about it. I suppose I should go back for the day."

He muttered as he opened the menu and pushed the logout button. His body was then surrounded by blue light and the next time he opened his eyes, he was back in his room on Earth. He left his room and then got a couple of pair of sandals and put them inside his room.

'I should check how well did this universe's me in other stuff...'

He thought as he opened his banking app on his phone. As he checked the balance in his bank account, he was prompted to input the PIN number. He gambled and inputted the PIN number he used back on the original reality for his bank account. Whether it was due to some fuckery by higher beings or just pure coincidence, the PIN number used by the him of this universe was actually the same as his from his previous reality.

'Plot convenience... Wew.'

He said in his mind as he then saw the balance displayed on his phone screen. His eyes twitched at the sight of the numbers in front of him.

"You mother... I COULD'VE USED THIS BACK IN MY PREVIOUS REALITY!!!"

He shouted in anger and envy. He had mixed feelings about the him in this reality. Not only this guy maintained a well-balanced, trained body, and has his own place, he's damn loaded to the boot! And this wasn't just simply loaded, he was overflowing with cash, to the point of even reaching the number he had dreamed of if he could win a lottery back in the previous reality!

Not even mentioning other stuff that screwed him over, this guy had already graduated and even had inheritance from his grandparents, whom in this reality had lived long enough to see him grow until the end of elementary, left a lot to him!

What the hell?! Where's justice in life?! Why did he have to be in a timeline where his life was shit, while the him in this universe got it great for him?!

He was fuming only for a short while before calming down. He knew that life was never fair. He was just reeling from the sheer amount of difference between this reality's him and the current him from the original reality.

.....

(Meanwhile, inside the office of the head of the Void Research Group)

Luther was sitting at his desk. He continued to try and peer into Xion, trying to understand her so that he could claim the omniscience from her, and essentially becoming akin to a god in a sense. When a file was registered to the ARKS cadet academy, it was also forwarded to him by one of his subordinates working undercover in the academy's administration. He only looked at it for a little before pushing it aside.

"Next time, don't bother me unless it's interesting."

He sent a message to that subordinate of his. It seems that Maria's way of covering up Josua's capabilities was enough to dispel Luther from gaining interest in the young man. While Josua had hoped it would fool Luther, he didn't thought that it would instead cause Luther to think of him like those cannon fodders of operatives of ARKS!

Nothing was more important than his goal. Such small things were beneath his notice. It was not just mere arrogance. It was completely justified! 30 years ago, when ARKS fought against the Dark Falz [Elder], they barely managed to seal him at a heavy cost! ARKS was in tatters, and Luther used that as a chance to usurp and control ARKS from the dark.

"My Xion... I will be able to understand you one day... And when that time comes, I shall claim omniscience from you!"

He said with a grin on his face. His dark energy only slipped out a little before being reigned in once more.

His negligence of Josua would later be paid dearly, as his plans would be countered by that very person he thought was beneath him. But this is a story for another time.

.....

Josua then thought of another thing. He had only manifested real-world guns. But he had yet to try manifest weapons from other series that he had played. He had one series in mind, and was interested on how it would function, since it would be manifested by Aether.

"Well then... Let's try it."

He muttered as he focused a certain sidearm from a certain series as the image. The weapon slowly formed on the palm of his right hand. And after a short while, it was finished.

Mass Effect's M-3 Predator.

He went to the balcony and tested out this new gun. For the uninitiated, the difference between normal guns and those from the Mass Effect series is that they're essentially railguns with near-infinite munition and only heat dissipation being the issue.

Pang pang pang pang!

He shot multiple times into the air, aiming at a empty space with no buildings in sight. While it's loud, compared to what he knows of typical guns from the real world, it's slightly less in sound volume. After firing a few more shots, with the total shots being around 21, he then basically 'reloaded' by discharging the thermal clip via pulling the gun slide.

"Yep. It's as convenient as the games' depicted it. Good thing I don't have to reload it, only having to do this every once in a while."

He nodded in approval, satisfied with the performance of the gun. He dematerialized it and then left to the kitchen, making himself some food for dinner. It was already around the evening at the time he finished testing his new gun.

While some of the neighbors from the lower floors were alarmed by the gunshot sounds, they thought it was probably some workers that were installing something or some construction work.

Little did he know, that both Earth Guide and Mother Cluster were beginning to notice him from this point onward. They would send a couple of observers to keep an eye on him. But it would still take a while before they find out anything that he did.