I Talked to the Dog

In the dorm room that the brothers shared, they each worked on their own projects separately without talking to each other. Manley continued trying to imbue an object with his mana, but from what he could tell; the mana manipulation skill was too complicated an effect to impart without the object having mana or a consciousness to control it.

Roger was tinkering with his spider drone, trying his best to improve its movement speed. The controls were also a problem, he needed line of sight in order to control it affectively, not to mention the signal has a rather short range. Roger was getting frustrated with his lack of progress, by contrast he made more head way with Manley's conveyer system, which frustrated him even more.

"What are you grumbling about?" asked Manley.

"You wouldn't understand!" said Roger.

"Woh! Want got you all worked up, look you lost the girl fair and square."

"I don't care about that!"

"Like hell you don't, you've been extra bitchy with me lately."

"This…uhh…listen I was upset about that but not for the reason you think."

"Oh yeah."

Roger took a breath, then turned around in his chair to face his brother. "I…I haven't seen you in months, except when you were sleeping, and because of that I got to have my own life. I made friends, learned new things, got praised by my professor for my talent but the moment you come back it all changed. I thought I could show you the new me, be a big brother that you can look up to, like Rosie."

"That's why you invited me, ha…I don't mean to laugh, it…just knowing how it turned out."

"Why not laugh? I guess I will always be a joke to you and why not? I brought it on myself…"

Manley felt a little guilty and was taken aback by Roger's self-deprecation. "Listen…I am sorry okay; I know it must have been difficult for you being friends with me. I was so busy with my own stuff, I...didn't think about you, I am sorry."

"It's fine, I know you have your own struggles, and you care about me in your own weird way. I—"

"I do but that doesn't mean much, I can't do shit for anyone. I—"

"Stop making it about you! You see that's the problem you dominate everything, before I could even do anything you swooped in and took that girl out from under me. Do you even like her?"

"I think I do, but my feelings can't be trusted at the moment."

"I just…I don't know, right now I just want my Rek1 to work." Roger turned back around to continue working on his drone.

"What's wrong with it?" ask Manley.

"The electronic oscillator, is too large which throws off the balance, and the changes I made to compensate blocks the signal."

"What?"

"The electronic oscillator generates an alternating current oscillating at a radio frequency."

"Oh, well it sounds like you need smaller components that can achieve the same function."

"Obviously, thank you, that's real helpful—"

"I wasn't done, what you need is to create a market for these components so that their value increase, which means people will mine, manufacture and sell them."

"Again, very—"

"Still not done, in order to achieve that, consider investing your money in relay towers that can boost the signals of radio waves…"

"…"

"Not going to interrupt?" asked Manley.

"…"

"You're no fun. I assume another problem with your device is line of sight, so have you considered attaching a camera to it that can send you visual feedback of what it sees?"

"First of all, that would only add to the problem and second how would that even work? Also, what about the towers?" asked Roger.

"If you put your mind to it, I am sure you can make it work, ask your professor. The towers my dear brother will pair nicely with a recent invention, the television, so invest in that. More important though, is cellphones."

"Cellphones?" asked Roger.

"Cellphones!" said Manley.

"Stop doing that!"

"I don't know how it works but I am sure you will be able to figure it out in the future."

Manley already had most of his affairs in order and was just waiting for the deadline for his move to Clarks Knob. Roger's birthday was approaching but unfortunately, he wasn't going to be around for it, so he decided to spend more time with his brother which was the opposite of what Roger wanted. Whatever Orson had done to him, changed him in some ways but parts of him still remained the same. The change made it very difficult for Manley to kill what he knew were good or good intentioned people. This still wouldn't change the way he lived his life; it seems as though Orson wanted him to continue being a vigilante, but this is exactly why he didn't want to do it and wanted to kill innocent people just to spite him.

Fortunately for him this restriction is based on his own perspective so he could still kill an innocent person if for instance that person was unknowingly causing harm to others. Although the restriction itself was annoying enough that he just gave up on killing personally and pursued other paths to power.

"So, I need lots of money, then I will hire some mercenaries then bam power!" said Manley.

"Why are you telling me this, more importantly why are you following me?" asked Roger.

"I don't have class, I am compelled to give a shit, and it annoys you," said Manley.

"You know there are better ways to deal with your issues than taking pleasure in other people's pain."

Manley stopped mid step and stared intently at Roger.

"What?" asked Roger.

"Where did you get that psychobabble from?"

"My Professor is very accomplished in the field of psychology." Roger had a very respectful tone when speaking of his professor. He admired the man's genius and often seek him out for advice. "Why don't you write home?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Manley.

"I often write letters to my parents letting them know how I am doing."

"You expect me to write a letter! I would hardly even text them if…how do you know I don't write?"

"My folks…when I write—"

"Dammit, they've been talking to each other…I will just pen a bunch of nonsense then send them out at different times then."

"You can't do that, your parents worry about you, just take the time to write them properly."

"What? They're not a needy girlfriend, what do we have to talk about? It's not like anything happens in their lives, I am not having a conversation that I don't want to have in person through snail mail."

"Well, you could at least check in on them properly," said Roger.

"If I wanted to know about them, I could just ask the dog. In fact, I will do that right now." Manley activated the chat to ask the puppy he left with his parents how they're doing.

"Hey dog? Yeah, I don't care what your name…okay Hanley how are my parents? Hmm… that's good. Okay thank you dog." Manley disconnect before the dog could start barking at him. He could understand the animal perfectly but when it started cursing, all he could hear were barks.

"That was weird," said Roger.

"Yeah, talking dogs—"

"Not that, when you started talking in the…what did you call it…chat, I couldn't hear anything. Actually, I could hear it, but I couldn't remember it, I just see your lips move then have this odd feeling that I know what you're saying but can't remember any of it."

"That's interesting, talk in the chat, let me see. Not to me you idiot, someone else."

"I…who else can I talk to? You do know I can't understand dogs, right?" asked Roger.

"Oh, shit…Rosie, talk to Rosie."

"Hello, can you hear me. No, you're not going crazy, this is Roger…I will explain later. So weird right." Roger looked at Manley in anticipation, Manley stared back at him.

"I understood all of that, I think if I tried, I could've listened to Rosie on the other end. Well, I just fucked that up, could you explain to Rosie what's going on…oh there is someone else called Pinar. He is going to need some pills from Rosie so get them in touch, bye." Manley ran away so he didn't have to deal with the mess he made.

Roger rushed after Manley who couldn't get far because Roger with his longer legs was slightly faster, at least for the moment.

RUNNING LV7 Gained

"Oh, no you don't, you deal with your own—"

"The dog said that my parent's have a new kid, but more importantly he talked to the other dog and your mom is pregnant." As Roger paused to digest the news, Manley made his escape but this time he was successful.

The group of Manley, Lemuel, and Professor Dell were getting ready to leave. All of them gathered hours before they were to set off. The supplies that they needed for the trip were already sent ahead, and for the most part was just waiting for them when they get there.

"This research is estimated to take…I would say five years, yes. That is in large part due to the progress already made by student Hill. This research should earn you both your doctorates." Professor Dell was very proud of his two-star pupils.

"That is good news professor, but I am more excited at the potential discoveries we will make." Lemuel was more excited than anyone. The one thing that brought him joy was his research, but money has always been an obstacle. He even had plans to drop out of the university because he couldn't afford to continue his research and his scholarship was soon coming to an end. This project that was dropped into his lap was a godsend and he intended to take full advantage of it.

"Yeah, what he said." Manley was pissed because he just found out that the trip was going to take longer than he thought because the I-95 and I-78 highways are still under construction. He was still excited; this was an opportunity to advance his skills and get rich with the help of Lemuel. The professor had already done his part in getting them government aid.

The group loaded up in a van and made the trek to Clarks Knob. Manley exited the vehicle and looked out at the spreading greenery and distant mountains. From this high up he could see the world spread out before him and he couldn't wait to grab hold of it.