Toby would stand there in silence as he slowly pulled himself up from the bed. His eyes felt heavy as the alarm roared his arms and body somewhat tired and his stomach still had faint throbs of pain. Even as he rose Toby groaned, rubbing his stomach as he closed his eyes and simply sat there at the edge of his bed.
A sick and exhausted feeling weighed in his chest at his actions last night. Some sort of post-moment clarity falling over him and leaving him a sickly feeling he prepares for work. He would glance at the outline he had written down for the week. Picking it up he leans against the counter as he waits for his coffee to finish as he reads.
"So I was going to cover S.A's who had significant impacts upon American History. . .Apostle is too gruesome to talk about, everyone knows about Nova- That leaves Sheep and Headhunter," Toby's eyes would look over both. Which did he feel like talking about today? "I think Sheep would be fitting," He whispers to himself as he gathers his coffee
The ride there was silent. The System had yet to present anything but as he drove but he would glance down to the cup of coffee as the familiar feeling overtook his throat, "I wonder if I could- Inventory." His finger gently taps the cup of coffee.
ITEM STASHED. THREE SLOTS LEFT.
"Four inventory slots- Interesting I wonder if that scales with strength or something. What's the limits to that," He had already seen the System display some level of sentience or if not that intelligence at the very least.
STRENGTH DETERMINES INVENTORY SLOTS AND WEIGHT CAPACITY.
CANNOT STORE LIVING THINGS OR THINGS OVER 50 POUNDS.
He takes in this new information. When he reaches a red light he points his finger at the cupholder and simply focuses for a few seconds. He feels some vague shape in his mind and with some focus upon it the cup of coffee re-appears in his cup holder. Despite it all a small smile comes to his lips as he chuckles, "Maybe I'm lucky to have this power. How many others would give anything to have a superpower? Even one as blood-hungry as this one? I sure don't feel lucky I feel cursed."
Once he reaches the school he would put on his mask and pop some gum in his mouth. "I should grab some more from the store," He mutters one last time to himself before clenching his jaw. He would begin heading into the school, his eyes drawn to Alex who sits on the concrete near his door playing on his phone.
A small idea came to mind. His eyes would fall upon Toby knowing the boy would keep trying to play or read on his phone in class. He would begin opening the door as he says, "Do you know who Sheep was Alex?"
Alex quickly glances up from his phone. The fat child would shrug as he says, "A S.A?"
"Half right. She was specially-abled with weak power. The ability to cause people to get sleepy and for them to become more vulnerable to "Mob Mentality" in her presence. Do you know what she managed to do with that power," Toby would let a soft smile dance across his features. Some of the gloomy feeling is burnt away as he spots a curiosity rise in the boy's eyes.
A few seconds pass by before the boy turns to his phone and begins typing in something, "Since you need to google it I'll just tell you. She managed to stop Megaton from committing suicide as a young man in an overtly explosive manner. She managed to save a large chunk of New york and create one of the greatest Heros of her age with one of the weakest powers."
If the boy wasn't paying attention then this could at least get him to learn on his own. "Also if you have that phone out today in class it's getting taken away," The boy groans at that but remains silent as he follows Toby inside. Soon more students flood into the classroom to escape the bitter cold of the morning.
The classes ran smoothly and the system had remained unusually quiet today. Something Toby had paid no mind even as he groaned getting up from his chair and preparing to head out for lunch as the last students leave his classroom.
As he stands up he pauses as a familiar girl wearing a leather jacket would slip through the door right behind the last student. She would approach Toby before standing there in silence as she says, "What do you want? For last night? Just hurry up and ask or whatever. I can pay you back sooner or later just. . .Why did you help me?"
A piece of Toby ached at how paranoid and distrustful the child was. A sign of the child's origins and how her father had failed her as he simply smiles, "Get an A on this quiz and we're even. Now shoo I've gotta go heat up this microwave dinner." Toby would stand up and begin heading to the door yawning a bit as he stands at the door and fishes out his key.
Penny would pause and follow behind as she opens her mouth only for Toby to say, " If you really wanna know why I helped you Penny it's simple. To help one is to invite goodness upon yourself Penny. Just promise me to be more careful in the future. Now shush and go eat." It was easy for Toby to simply shove away his concerns and put on the small smile for others.
The one thing that utterly brushed aside the tired and dead feeling inside Toby was the feeling of making someone else's day or life better. Or to be someone that was aspired to. "Now do me a favor and forget about it. If you truly wanna talk, we can discuss Sheep and her encounter with the Apostle," He fires back at her not letting her speak. The girl seems to pause her lips closing as she stands there simply staring at Toby as he walks away.
But in truth Toby had been hurrying away because the silence of the system had finally ended leaving yet another dreaded quest.
TIME BOMB-
Wait for this quest to activate once the timer ticks down.
CONSEQUENCE: Cannot see the timer. Result of earlier actions.
Timer: ???
A heavy feeling of dread enters his chest. For a split second, he shivers pondering if his power was trying to affect those around him. Was it his power that had been making him more and more anti-social? Conditioning him to be more detached from his empathy? So many questions and so few answers as Toby hums gently.
But for now, all he could do was smile and prepare to talk and joke around with Jones. Maybe he should get into contact with some of his old friends from his hometown?