<
"But the mission said that if I did my homework earlier I would have time for gaming after!"
< [Mission: Status Check] Description: Until new features are unlocked, it is recommended that Subject get into a routine of checking Status when starting and ending the day, in order to monitor progress. Reward: Basic Enhancement Package (1/4) Penalty: None [Mission: An Ordered Space is an Ordered Mind] Description: The qualities of the facilities where an activity takes place can be a major contributing factor to the efficiency and effectiveness of that activity. Complete any number of the following missions: - [Mission: A Step Up from the Kitchen Table] - [Mission: Taking Stock] - [Mission: Basic Cleanliness] Reward: Territory Quality improved for each mission completed. Penalty: It is very hard to sleep in a messy and cluttered space. [Mission: A Step Up from the Kitchen Table] Description: Studies have shown that a dedicated, distraction free location can assist in maintaining focus over long periods of time when working on a project. Establish a distraction-free work space in your personal territory. Reward: Viable Enhanced Focus location. Penalty: None [Mission: Taking Stock] Description: There are advantages to knowing exactly what you possess - peace of mind, proper planning, lack of redundancy. It is also much easier to access things when properly organized. Organize the following locations: - Shelves (all items unboxed) - Wardrobe - Dresser - Computer Desk Prerequisites: [Mission: Basic Cleanliness] Rewards: Inventory Management Module Unlocked. Penalty: None [Mission: Basic Cleanliness] Description: It's common sense. Empty your garbage and do your laundry. Rewards: Seriously? Penalty: Look at it.>> Michael looked around, feeling rather torn. The basement of the house was rather large, though unfinished. The previous owners had intended to convert it into an in-law suite, so there was ample power and even plumbing hookups. Michael had at this point claimed only a portion of that - about the size of a regular bedroom - which he had partitioned off with heavy curtains attached to the exposed beams using heavy-duty clips. When the family had initially been looking at houses in the area, he had leapt at the opportunity, seeing a lot of potential for claiming his own space in the basement. Of course, as the summer went on, his motivation had waned, especially after he picked up his new console and the latest RPG. He could obviously see the appeal of improving his space. However, his stubborn streak reared its ugly head and wanted to reject all missions just because the System had offered them. That was until he recalled the 10% penalty from the morning and noticed the penalty for the Ordered Space mission. Visions of his already insomnia-prone self wide-eyed in bed at 5 AM quickly discouraged his rebellious urge. With a resigned sigh, he went over to his waste bin, tied up the bag, then grabbed it and his hamper and trudged up the stairs to the garage. Once he had the laundry going, he came back downstairs and looked around for an outlet near his current space. He quickly found one located about 2 metres past his bed along the north wall. In his initial bout of excitement at the beginning of the summer, he had gathered a lot of the supplies he would need to build out the space, so he grabbed a roll of carpet and a couple of spare curtains, along with the ladder he had leaning against the wall in the unused area, and brought them over to the space. He peeled off the adhesive strip on the edge of the carpet and secured it against the existing edge, then took down the curtain that had been separating that side and moved it to about a meter away from the outlet on the other side. By this point, he was ready to switch out his first load of washing, so he ran back up to the garage and moved them over, taking advantage of the opportunity to grab a spare table he had stored there (purchased from his favourite Scandian furniture store). He brought that down, assembled it, and set it against the wall centred on the outlet. Stepping back to admire his work, he still felt like something was missing. Seeing that the System hadn't notified him of the completed mission, it seemed that it agreed with him. His mouth formed a wry smile as his gaze moved over to the metal shelves full of boxes, knowing what he was missing and where he could find it. "Guess it's time to get that done, too," he thought, as he made his way over. Three boxes of books and miscellaneous equipment later, he found the table lamp, brought it over, and plugged it in. Toggling the switch a couple of times to make sure it worked, he then went back up to the garage. Seeing that he still had roughly a load's worth of dirty laundry, the washer was done by the dryer was still going, he pulled out a drying rack his parents used in the summer and kept stored next to the washer and placed the contents of the washer onto it. He completed the process by reloading the washer and grabbed a folding chair to bring back down to the basement with him. As he stepped back into the house, he saw his mother in the kitchen making herself a cup of herbal tea. It looked like she had set herself up to do some work at the kitchen table. "Hey hon," she greeted Michael with a smile. "What are you up to?" "I'm setting up a desk in my room," he replied. "How industrious! Good for you. I've got to make some revisions for our proposal based on the meeting this morning," she explained as she walked back over to the table and sat down. "This could be a great client if we can nail the details." "That's great! I'm sure you'll hammer it out no problem. Is Dad up in the office?" Michael said encouragingly and asked. "Yeah, he's working on a recording for another client. The new microphone setup you rigged up is working out well," she replied. "Good to hear. Gotta get back to it, but good luck!" he said as he made his way back downstairs. "You too, hon!" she called back after him. "Guess he must be done the game," she mused to herself as she got back to the numbers in front of her. --- <<[Mission: A Step Up from the Kitchen Table] completed. Rewards: Viable Enhanced Focus location created. Skill "???" => +0.01 Willpower-??? => +0.001 [Mission: An Ordered Space is an Ordered Mind] updated. Completed 1/3. Rewards: Territory Quality Improved.>> Somehow, Michael felt immediately more relaxed in the space, as if a tangled knot of string just had some of the strands smoothed out. "That's one down. What's an Enhanced Focus location, anyway?" < "Oh, right! I forgot about that. What does the ability do?" < "Neat! What, what do you mean by immediate external context?" < "Got it. And what do you mean by the limit of my abilities?" < "Never mind. Can I interrupt the 2 hours once I start it?" < "Maybe I'll hold off on testing it out for now, then. Might as well switch the loads and finish sorting these shelves." --- <<[Mission: Taking Stock] updated. Completed 1/4. Additional items added to inventory.>> "Great. I'll check on the laundry." He went upstairs to the garage, threw the clean laundry from the dryer and rack into the hamper and brought it back downstairs. He then proceeded to dump the contents out on the bed. <<[Mission: Basic Cleanliness] completed. [Mission: An Ordered Space is an Ordered Mind] updated. Completed 2/3. Rewards: Territory Quality Improved.>> Once again, Michael felt that sensation of calm and serenity wash over him, as if a weight he hadn't even realized was there had been lifted off his shoulders. Energized by this, he pulled the drawers out of his dresser one by one and dumped their contents out on top as well. He then did the same with the various articles of clothing that had been gathering at the bottom of his wardrobe. Once every article of clothing Michael owned was piled up on his bed, he began sorting them into types. He quickly realized he never wore two thirds of the items, so he re-purposed some of his newly empty boxes to store the various faded or ill-fitting t-shirts, ugly sweaters, and ripper or frayed jeans and shorts. He could ask his parents to drop those off at one of the local charities in the next day or two. Satisfied with having reduced the giant pile of clothes to things he actually wore, he quickly placed them back in the drawers and wardrobe. As soon as the final article was placed, the System chimed again. <<[Mission: Taking Stock] updated. Completed 3/4. Additional items added to inventory.>> Not wanting to lose his momentum, he immediately moved over to his computer desk and started sorting through items. Stacks of loose floppy disks, a couple of random hard drives and tapes, as well as a few rare compact discs were quickly sorted and placed on the newly organized shelves, next to the electronics toolkit he had unearthed from one of the boxes. In no time, the System flashed again. <<[Mission: Taking Stock] completed. Rewards: Inventory completed. Inventory module unlocked.>>