the power plant part 2

The silence of the streets was not an assuring feature of their day and it provided the already gloomy place with an aura of almost dread.

It was contributed by the fact that the place seemed to crawl with a strange energy, almost intangible and yet Mark felt it as clear as his own breath. It should have made him creeped out but all it did was to make him a little more comfortable.

"This is the place? It gives me creeps" Alan did not seem to have the same experience as him. The teen looked disturbed by the place, his eyes trying to take in everything about the place he could.

Mark realised that the teen did not know the place like he did and was feeling uncertain as a result. Mark decided to correct it before he went inside. It felt crucial that the teen knew how to get about the palace.

"Come here, I'll show you the map for the place. Study it well" Mark called the teen toward him who had an eager look on his face. The system opened wordlessly which startled Mark somewhat but he pretended as if it was no big deal.

This was new, the window opening with his will rather than his action, but he was not complaining as all it did was to make his life easier.

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Welcome to version 1.2. We made some quality changes for a better life improvement.

Update includes Mind sync, new features in the shop, bug fixing, faster response time, more detailed map, better party resource sharing, all original features.

Hope the user has a pleasant time

Party status: formed

Party members: 3

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Mark ignored the message and opened the map. It was clear from Alan's face that he could not see the system yet since the sharing feature was not turned ON.

The young face twisted in concentration once the map became visible to his eyes, his focus highlighting at the screen. Mark himself took a look at it and his eyes widened in wonder.

The map really was more detailed than the one before, the textures much more prominent as well as the zooming clearer. It even made more areas accessible than before and the map looked more interactive.

A huge improvement from before for sure.

"This is so different from the ones they showed me. The quality is on another level, way above the one my brother had and the one they gave me. It's not their system, is it?" the teen asked, his voice suspicious.

Mark was not sure if he should tell him a theory about the system he possessed. He trusted the teen but not so much to risk his life like that. So he decided to go with the basic version of the story he had thought up.

"Liam gave it to me but it changed when I was about to die. I don't know surely what it's about but maybe your's will change to one day?" The teen looked excited at the prospect and Mark felt a little bad for deceiving the teen.

But it was better like this to preserve his own secrets.

"So that's how it is. I wish I had that map since it'll make things so much easier" there was wishful yearning in the teen's voice. Mark saw the party resource sharing option on the screen corner which gave him a stop.

What kind of sharing was this exactly? Should he try it?

Curiosity was not a good thing, Mak had learned this the hard way, but he still wanted to take the chance in case it turned out to be something good.

"Alan, I'm going to try something. See if something changes in your system" the teen looked confused at his words but nodded. The teen really did trust him a lot.

Let's just hope that it did not come to bite them in their backs.

Make looked at his system and saw the party share option once again before clicking it. The widow showed the name of the party members to make the map visible but only had Alan's name.

Of course, Kuro was a pet, not a human with a system. Why would she need the map at all?

As soon as the option was turned on, a message popped up on Alan's screen.

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System interference noted: Status: syncing

Warning: system domination: Alpha

Continue merging: Yes/No

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Alan picked yes without any hesitation. Mark felt as if he should lecture him about the stranger danger again or even about the benefits of being a little more cautious but then just sighed.

The teen would not listen to him anyway.

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Welcome to the party.

Current members: 3

Party leader: Mark ( ERROR - USER NOT FOUND)

All party perks are available during this time.

(Note: A party is a team that trusts each other and as a result, has come to an understanding and has mutual benefit in their mind. Congratulations on your new family)

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The map on the teen's screen changed to meet his own, down to every last detail. Mark saw the placing of his on the map on both screens. The teen was blushing for some reason, most likely at those last words.

The interface had not changed on the teen's side, just the map and the inbox which now had a message function.

"Should we try to send a message to each other?" the teen asked and Mark thought it felt like a good idea. They had not entered the designed area yet and they had time to experiment beforehand.

Besides, he still needed to test the mind sync in case of an emergency. There was no way he was going inside unprepared with a teen in his toe.

Kuro, who had wandered off a little further away, made her way toward them. He had allowed her to roam with a strict warning to not go toward the mission area and she was off. He could feel her presence, just like thousands of others down below at the power plant.

"Alright, I'll go a little further away and try.'' It felt like a good idea and Mark felt it would benefit him too. He could hide his new powers this way for a little more time.

Once the teen was far enough, Mark turned his back toward him.

'Open party chat' the screen popped up without fail, his eyes reflecting the screen and he felt satisfied. So it did work as he thought it did.

There was a 'ding' as a message reached him.

"Mark, can you hear me?" Alan's voice came from the system, clean and fresh. It was as if the teen stood right in front of him and Mark felt himself smile.

'I'm here and I can hear you, Alan' Mark thought and the message was shown as sent that made him almost jump. It had been instantaneous and he had not even thought to send it before it was out.

This raised too many questions again. What would happen if there were more than 2 system users in the party? Would both get his message or will only the one he was thinking about getting it? Also, what about the editing and reply feature? What if he needed to change his message?

There was another 'ding' and another message made its way through.

"Wow, so it does work. It's so convenient, now I can talk with my brother all the time while he's on a mission. Think we can add him here too?" Mark was not so sure about that. He heard footsteps behind him and then Kuro's soft call at the other.

He turned around to face Alan who was grinning widely at him.

"I don't think your brother would appreciate it. He had his own party already" Mark told the teen who just smiled. Maybe the teen did not realise just how much his brother had changed. There was no way he would ever stay under another's command.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of my brother. So, can we add him next time?" The teen was too enthusiastic and Mark felt as if it was wrong to dash his hopes like that. So he allowed the teen to think what he wanted to.

"Kuro, come here. Listen, once we're inside, stick to my side and do not leave. Understood?" Mark picked up the kitten who gave him a small lick on his face.

The Power plant seemed like a looming presence over their head but not in an uncomfortable way. Rather, it seemed like an unavoidable thing they had to cross to get to a new page in their story.

"Alan, please be careful and if things get difficult then get away. Put yourself first in any type of situation that occurs" Mark forced his words to be calm and collective but he felt anything but calm.

He was starting to feel nervous about this whole thing now. But the feeling of danger never came to him which was not a good thing. Fear kept people grounded, they kept them safe.

And now he was losing a core foundation and defence mechanism. Would he lose all his emotions and feelings by the end of it all?

"Let's go. We can't postpone it forever" Alan was right, they could not postpone it forever. And so, Mark took his first step inside the powerplant's perimeters and ignored the beeping inside his mind.

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Warning: Mission area entered

Current party members: 3

Mission parameters: retrieve the safe and the sample

Time limits: 1 day 23 hours

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And so the mission had started.