Desert City

"Unbelievable!" Emma shook her head, eyes discerning the new design of the city. She only managed a smile as a reaction. Not wanting to waste anymore time, she asked, "How long did Sy take to hammer this sophisticated blueprint into existence?"

"About 10-15 minutes. 12 if I recall correctly." David answered, while watching the yellow hair in his comms.

Emma was in her office in Logria's Administrative Department just a few kilometers away from the outer rim. It was only 20 minutes ago when she left Sy's apartment and something like this came out of nowhere within that short amount of time. She clasped her hands and rested both elbows on her glass table - a picture of Lily and Chris was displayed alongside the projected screen of her computer. She did not waste a minute and made a decision, "I'm going to assemble a team and I want you to be part of it, David."

"Of course, Ms. Losac," David timidly replied, before asking hesitantly, "are.. are you really gonna file for candidacy?"

"I am very much qualified in every aspect to run this city, David. Now, if you'll excuse me, I won't waste anymore of your time." Emma terminated the call. David scratched his head, feeling a sense of pride after talking to someone from one of the great families. The Fanicks were Logria's pride but they've been mostly away, and could not contribute much to their society. If Emma who came from another great family known for their great leadership would grace their poor planet with her inherent abilities, they might prosper.

David looked up to the second floor of the building, toward the apartment of the brilliant young man. He couldn't help but think that Sy was a genius but still did not have any clue as to how the government operated.

Unbeknownst to him, in contrast to the administrative sophistication of The Union, The Federation had a more lax implementation. Its High Administrative Office would send out the most skilled individuals to solve problems, implement projects and so on - and then all Federal Planets would work together to fund it. With The Trinity Federation's unmatched economic power, military might and talented individuals who'd do anything with all their skills to the advancement of the Federation, it would be an unrivaled sinew that will finish what was started with the greatest of quality - something that the Union sorely lacked, and such relax process would only instigate more corruptions.

Meanwhile, Emma did not show much surprise to Sy's inhuman ability. After all, she managed to eavesdrop his conversation with Mina about his faction of origin during the storm. The Federation was a superpower who cared none about its neighbours. With much of its population sporting the peak of humanity - their abilities compared to the lesser factions were immensely superior. Her only question was 'Why did Sy came to the Union?' A question that she did not dawdle for long.

Emma activated a projector on her table and a blue planet with swirls of white appeared. She had just learned from Sy's book the name in which people from long ago called it. She whispered, "..Earth."

-----

It was about time Sy fiddled with his System.

[Mission

Pioneer your second mech

Reward: 10 Pioneering Score]

[Mission

Use the special bonus in the Human Generator

Reward: 50 Pioneering Score]

He sighed and switched to the Human Generator function. The problem was - there was no problem. Just like his first upgrade which had a discount, the Human Generator was even more generous. It offered three designs with unlimited points, something he did not object since he could create however he liked. There was just a condition that the three designs would be generated in the age of 12.

This was a big problem. There were people he already knew and might suspect that something was off. But if they were generated as adults, that would be an even bigger problem - actually. Although he still did not believed that humans could be generated out of nothing, he had already witnessed the System miraculously supplying countless data directly into his brain, and boom! He was now a master in Construction-tech Level 1. What if three highly evolved women appeared in his room? That would create ripples of problems he could not imagine.

As such, he was less hostile to the idea of generated juveniles. He could just register them as nieces or distant relatives in Logria's Data Department, and the people he knew would be less suspicious. Although the function warned him that the generated materials would not retain the skills he assigned until they were in their adult stage, the juveniles were, after all; humans and could learn other things - a good investment for Sy.

Furthermore, each peak designs could generate 100 Generator Points a day, which then can be converted to 1 Pioneering Score. A good daily bonus as he lacked a steady source of Pioneering Score. Also, he wanted that +50 Pioneering Score reward from the mission log which could be completed by using the special bonus of the Human Generator. This would bring him closer to upgrading his Computer-tech to level 1.

Sy had no money back then and could not support these three designs. Now that he had 23,701,400 in his bank, he reconsidered.

'I should start designing the other two if I'm to use the special bonus.'

With that, he started working, naming the second design: Nasena.

'Gold hair with a more kinder attitude than Jinae, but just as cold.' Sy thought and smiled as he started molding the body.

Bam!

The door suddenly slammed open, startling the young pioneer. He immediately stopped his illicit work and turned to the direction of the disturbance. Under the light of Logria's star, a figure cast a small frame into the apartment.

Laira Runerie was heavily panting. Her clothes drenched with sweat as she helped herself inside, "Sy!"

"You should not go running outside under this heat." Sy adviced - a wise one.

"Hmph!" Instead of hearing the wise words, the teenager put her hands on her waist, and stood in a demeanor worthy of regality, "I managed to register you in the upcoming mecha tournament in the Starport's plaza as my mechanic."

Sy made a face as to why the Runerie was very proud of that achievement.

"They adamantly refused because they saw that you have no credentials in the database. So I said that you were Niel's colleague and they immediately agreed." Laira explained, a grin spread across her face.

"I see, Ms. Runerie. So, when will this mecha tournament start?" Sy questioned, adding another one, "What's the prize?"

"Tonight, 8 PM.." It took the teenager a moment before she answered the next, "A mech specialist was hosting this event. He said that he will reveal the prize when the tournament is over."

Sy contemplated. He had no interest in this tournament. But then, this event could boost the morale of the people of Logria after a devastating storm.

'Fine!'

[6:37 PM]

Glancing at the time in his gauntlet, he stood up and said to the teenager, "Well then, go and take a quick bath before we head to the plaza."

"I'm not a child!" She argued, before she gleefully exited the room and rushed to her own apartment.

Sy took some gears, and an extra helmet for the Runerie before exiting his apartment.

The desert planet needed 26 hours to complete a full rotation, as its sun was still on the horizon, sending out punishing rays of heat.

It was already 7 PM when Laira joined him in Niel's garage. He handed over the extra helmet when she hopped on the hover bike.

"I'm guessing that my role is not only a mechanic in this tournament, Ms. Runerie?" Sy asked as the teenager donned the protective gear.

"The tournament was for mech specialists and mech pilots, so, yes. You would need to be a designer, an engineer--"

Sy sighed and started the dual engines before she could finish and drove the hover bike out into the streets. As they sped up across the city, Laira kept pestering him to go faster. Well, of course, safety was always a priority. And with a high profile accompanying him, he couldn't afford for an accident occuring.

They reached the Starport within 30 minutes. Laira leaped down from the hover bike and secured her helmet on its small trunk. "Let's go!"

Excitedly, she led the way while Sy followed. Upon entering the entrance to the Three Towers, Sy halted and asked in curiousity, "The plaza is above?"

"Its a platform just above the waist of the towers. It's triangular in shape. Come on!" Laira waved him until they came to a huge hover platform hosting a lot of people. When the duo entered, the weight capacity of the machine was reached and it started moving upwards.

"I always like this one tower on this time of the day." Laira said as they reached a certain height and pointed into the reinforced glass windows overlooking the entire city.

With the setting star, the last rays of dusk shone upon rows and rows of stacked buildings stretching out into the prospect, the city seemingly sewed together by intertwining roads diving into tunnels and out, all gathered together by the huge city dome, and transitioning into the mighty red desert with the horizon already glittering of distant stars.