39 Morning At Home

Dream Rise House.

Zed was asleep on the king-size bed. The curtains of the room automatically opened up, followed by the window. The sunlight fell on his face but he continued to sleep.

[[Sir, it is time for you to wake up]] Claudia's voice ringed inside the room.

"Claudia, five more minutes," Zed mumbled.

[[Sir, when you are an old man, you can spend your entire time sleeping. But now you are a young man with no time to waste. Unless you wish to miss the golden opportunities the life has to offer.]] 

"...You read too much of those nonsense inspirational books," Zed helplessly rose to his feet.

Being an advanced artificial intelligence, Claudia was installed throughout the villa and the underground laboratories. In fact, she was even installed on Zed's cell phone, smartwatch, and the vehicles owned by him.

Giving his secret of multiple identities, he couldn't trust a human to run his house or manage his daily affairs. This was why he spent a lot of resources and time to create Claudia on his own. He allowed her to have a free thought process which made her evolve with every passing day.

...

After freshening up, Zed arrived in front of the changing room.

The wardrobe consisted of hundred of outfits. Each outfit was tailored made with special materials to suit both Kiba's and Zed's abilities. There was a slight difference in their heights so the outfits were flexible enough to suit both forms.

Zed wore a white blazer over a light blue long-sleeved dress shirt with matching trousers.

[[I have created five bracelets based on the design you gave.]]

A drawer opened up, containing five identical silver bracelets. It was almost impossible to notice the electronic circuits embedded in them.

[[One of them is for you.]]

"I designed them for Felicity. She needs protection and not me."

[[Of course, they are for her protection. But that doesn't mean Zed doesn't require protection.]]

"I am Kiba as well..."

[[It goes without saying that Kiba doesn't need any protection. The same doesn't apply for Zed though. The bracelet is a worst-case scenario preparation for situations when Zed can't rely on Kiba.]] Claudia reasoned. It was impossible to detect there was a slight fluctuation in her tone when she explained this.

"I guess you are right," Zed grudgingly took one of the bracelets and clad it on his right wrist.

[[I am always right, sir.]]

Zed ignored her words and stepped towards the dining room where a humanoid droid was waiting for him. The droid offered a cup of coffee.

[[The breakfast is ready as well]] Claudia informed him.

"Thanks but I am getting late. I will have my breakfast at the academy canteen."

[[As you wish, sir]]

"Any progress on finding the identity of my 'caretaker'?" Zed suddenly asked. His demeanor turned serious while he sipped in coffee.

[[No. I have checked every database within the city and a dozen other cities. But there exists no trace of his identity. It was as if he was a ghost before he arrived here.]]

"Every time it is same," Zed muttered.

[[If he was alive we could have found...]]

"I made my choice back then so I can't revert it back, nor do I want to."

-------

*

Ten years ago.

In a ruined apartment somewhere in the slums.

A middle-aged man slept on the bed. His clothes were torn, reeking of alcohol and sweat.

Silently, a kid opened the door and gazed inside. There were barely any clothes on his body, which made it possible to see various wounds. His face was covered with dust and so was his black hair.

The only striking feature of his was his eyes, they were as blue as the sky. Cautiously, he tiptoed toward the middle-aged man.

The kid confirmed the old man was sleeping before taking out a knife. His hands trembled and there was sweat on his face but in his eyes, there was no hesitation. He mustered all the strength he could and stabbed down, aiming straight at the throat.

The man screamed and his eyes snapped open. He wasn't dead for the aim of the kid wasn't precise enough, but the wound was fatal nevertheless.

The man covered his wound with one hand while slapping the kid with the other. The kid fell a few meters away along with the blood-stained knife.

"Zed, you ungrateful bastard! I took care of you but this is how...cough," the man stopped in between as he coughed up blood.

"You take away what I earn and spent it on your drink! When I don't earn enough, you won't allow me to eat for days! Every day you will blame me for your sorry state and thrash me! You call this caring!?" Zed regained his balance and picked the knife before continuing. "If what you did is caring, then allow me to express my gratitude by sending you to hell!"

He charged forward, aiming the knife once again at the throat.

"I wouldn't have lost my powers if not for protecting you! I saved your life from them...you ungrateful bastard!" The caretaker landed a kick on Zed's face.

Zed coughed up blood but he showed no sign of fear. He somersaulted and then pounced on the caretaker like a wild beast.

"I hate it when you call me a bastard!" Zed pierced the knife on the retracing leg of the caretaker.

THUD

The caretaker fell down on the floor.

"If I am not there to help you, your life would turn into hell! You haven't even awakened your abilities..." The caretaker tried to reason now that he has lost what little strength he had due to his injuries.

"If I wait for my abilities to awaken, then I'm sure you will never give me an opportunity to strike you like today. As for my life becoming hell...it is already hell!" Zed lifted the knife above the chest and stabbed it into the heart

"You...are cold-hearted like your mother. Everyone in your family is the same!" The caretaker died after uttering his final words.

Zed fell down on the floor, exhausted. A moment later, he vomited on the floor. It was his first killing and just the thought of his actions made his body tremble...

*

----------

In the present, Zed remembered his first killing with an amused expression. He has killed many people without batting an eye, but the first killing gave him a sleepless night.

At that time, he hasn't even awakened the mutant powers he was born with. Now though he has gained powers that the world could never imagine.

"Times have changed."

He wanted to know the identity of his caretaker not because he wanted to find out about his own parents. The reason was to find those who tried to murder him after he was born.

The caretaker has mentioned dozens of times about how he lost his powers trying to protect him. The caretaker has also claimed how Zed's mother promised him a lot of money and resources for protecting Zed but in the end, she went back on her words.

Instead, in the process, the caretaker lost his powers.

Zed didn't know the entire details of his birth but he knew someone has tried to kill him moments after he was born.

From the attitude the caretaker showed and the words he spoke in his drunken state, Zed was sure the caretaker was a powerful mutant before he lost his powers.

For someone like him to work for Zed's mother can only mean that she was a very powerful and influential figure. The people who tried to kill him should be equally powerful as well.

"Do anything it takes to find the identity of the caretaker so that I can track my origin. I have a score to settle," Zed commanded.

[[Sir, you should move on with life. Why focus on the past when you have the present?]]

"Claudia, I don't really care about my origin or my parents. I just want to kill those who tried to kill me after I was born," Zed replied with an ominous smile.

It was his rule to never forgive anyone who tried to harm him, no matter what. This was why he didn't spare Lisa even after she agreed to become his slave.

So, how can he forgive someone who had tried to kill him? Sure, he didn't have any memories of his birth and the attempted murder, but that didn't change the reality.

[[I will increase my search range.]]

"Good. I will upgrade your hardware later on which should help."

Zed let out a sigh.

Revenge was one of his objectives in life but it was nowhere as important as his dreams. He would rarely ask Claudia about the progress she made in her search.

He wasn't the type to spend his entire time on things like revenge because life has given him far more important things to care about.

Claudia knew about this, and hence brought a topic her master truly cared about: beauties.

[[I have added the contact details of Meghan Adley from the card she gave you. Would you like to call her?]]

A virtual screen appeared in front of Zed, showing pictures of Meghan in a bikini.

Zed no longer thought about revenge but focused his attention on the pictures of Meghan. The pictures were life-like, making him feel as if he was watching the real her.

"Not today."

[[Are you sure? She is very hot, and fits your taste.]]

"Haha, I will contact her two days later."

[[Understood.]]

"Book a room in advance though."

[[Judging by her pictures, you will be spending a lot of time with her. So should I reserve the room for a week?]]

"That would be great," Zed replied with a smile. He was confident Meghan wouldn't disappoint him given the attitude she showed yesterday.

"Damn...I almost forgot!" Zed said as he recalled the events of the party.

[[Yes?]]

"Claudia, add two tasks to my schedule before I forget them."

[[What are the two tasks, sir?]]

"The first task is my date with Carole. It is on 14th December at Close Horizon."

[[I doubt you will forget the date even if I don't record it.]]

"Well, it took me a lot of effort to convince her so I don't want to take any risks."

[[I have added it to the schedule. What is the other task?]] Claudia enquired.

"I am invited to judge Miss Delta pageant. The dates are not out yet so watch out for them," Zed answered.

[[Understood, sir. If I may say, I certainly don't understand why you are invited to judge.]]

"Are you doubting the capabilities of your master? I have a lot of experience in judging beauties!" Zed remarked with a confident smile.

[[Sir, I can never doubt you, but I think you might be having a misconception on the meaning of judging a pageant.]]

"Misconception?"

[[Yes, sir. A judge has to evaluate the contestants based on their style, conduct, personality, etc.]]

"...I certainly know that."

[[You know, sir? Please accept my sincere apologies. I thought your idea of judging was limited to judging the beauties without their clothes.]]

"...."

[[I further believed you will be having a misconception of judging the contestants based on their performance in bed.]]

"....."