in the end, turns out that this was the real trap of the radioactive zone, Daniel without wasting any time, started running towards the safezone, but after running for only 5 minutes, a swarm of hundreds of creepy tree-man was chasing after him, and he only had a last full magazine for the small cricket
Daniel did his best to save energy, and shoot only when a tree-man was blocking his way, the only important thing right now was not to fall, or he would be swarmed, but as he kept shooting, he noticed that all the practice he had till now, at least gave him a slightly better aim than before
as he kept running, shooting and dodging, the tree-man were becoming more and more and the battery of the small cricket would soon be empty, all he had left were 5 mid-power shots and a knife he had never used to fight, but the safezone was in sight, so he kept running, and after dodging the last 2 tree-man he jumped inside the safe zone
the tree-man army who was chasing him, crashed into the light wall, and could not pass, the safezone made true of its name, Daniel sit down to the ground, even if only virtually he was really exhausted, but he was also confident to win tomorrow, for now, it was almost time for breakfast
as he was about to log out of the game he saw the tree-man walk to the side of the wall, but they couldn't enter the other zones either like there was a wall keeping them separated, Daniel got slightly worried about his plan since he didn't think about trying and the tree man couldn't pass, but then decided to worry about it next time
and since this time he was in the safezone, he saved, before closing the game, then he went down, smiling happily, only to find Joseph and Phoebe waiting for him with a serious frown
Daniel said "good morning" but he could already see something was wrong, written on their faces
Phoebe said "we saw you play tonight"
Daniel said "it was fun right? killing the snake from the inside, the ship, the creepy tree-man at the end"
Joseph said "the first thing I want to know, is why are you playing instead of sleeping"
Daniel said "I didn't have the time to hear the sun song between school and the game, so I found a solution, I just have to sleep outside during the day"
the duo didn't expect this, so they lost track for a moment, and Phoebe asked "how can you hear a song if you are sleeping?"
at the same time, Joseph asked "sun song? since when does the sun sing?"
Daniel said "grandpa said that I can talk about the song only with auntie Andrea, and I don't know how, I just listen"
Phoebe took a more serious tone and said "ok, it's not a big problem if you sleep during the day, let's talk about something else"
Daniel asked "about what?"
Joseph said "we noticed something, you see both when you were swallowed by the snake and chased by the tree-man, you were smiling, now we are happy you like the game, but you have to remember that in real life you should pay attention to your well being"
and phoebe continued "that's right in-game it's ok for you to take risks, but remember to not do it in real life, there are no second chances in real life"
Daniel was crossed, yesterday, when they heard his plan they were dishing out compliments, today he seem to have done something wrong, and suddenly he thought of something and asked "is this because I'm not a cultivator?"
he was suspicious about their choice of words, after all, cultivators risked their life not only every time they reached a higher stage but also for every single little opportunity they encountered, from Daniel's point of view being a cultivator was no different from seeking death to reach immortality
Joseph said "just partially, even as a cultivator, that kind of thrill-seeking behavior it's frowned upon"
Daniel nodded and said "ok, I'll pay attention" but a bitter feeling was making its way inside him, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were treating him differently like he was damaged
afterward, Daniel had breakfast, and went to the library, to accompany grandma Sophia for a while, since she was alone "good morning grandma"
Sophia said "good morning Daniel, have you beaten the snake?"
Daniel nodded and said "I did, it went like this . . ." and told her everything that happened inside the game, but he wasn't as happy as before, and Sophia noticed something was on his mind
Sophia said "did something happen?"
Daniel responded "mom and dad were worried that in the future I would do something like that in real life, they called it thrill-seeking behavior, I know I'm not a cultivator, but I felt they were treating me like I have a handicap, and I don't like that"
Sophia said "I understand now, and maybe they did, but try to see it from their point of view, even if you don't age, you are indeed as fragile as a normal person, they are just worried that someday, they won't be there to protect you when in danger, after all, parenting is new to them"
Daniel said "maybe, but I still don't like it"
Sophia sighed and said "I know, all I'm saying is, they are trying their best, but you are growing so fast they can't keep up"
Daniel asked "what do you mean?"
Sophia asked shocked "as no one explained anything to you? what are those three doing? let's talk"
Sophia was a true believer in letting the children know the truth and decide for themselves, after all, with Joseph it worked like a charm, he was successful in everything he did, both as a cultivator, a student, and a teacher
Sophia said "you are not even four years old, and you already have a green soul, a full soul contract with a superior and unique, apocalypse grade lifeform, and as if it wasn't enough, you are studying things that normally are taught to young adults, there isn't another child like you in the sun federation, I'm willing to bet my collection on it"
Daniel asked "why there are no others? from what I know there are other children born with the same condition"
Sophia said "that's true, but most of them don't have the ability to cultivate the soul, after all, less than 30% of the population can do it, to add to that you are naturally smart, not everyone has the same mutation, some are stronger, some are faster, you got the brains and since you are using Andrea's soul sutra the enhancement it's even higher, we will than have to see what crazy innate ability you will unlock in the future, from what I can infer from what you told me, your natural intelligence, together with the machine nature of the nanites, had a strange synergy, at least that's what I believe, I will have to visit you to understand more"
Daniel asked "are you a doctor grandma?"
Sophia said smugly "I'm a bit of everything, my collection isn't just for show, I used my long life well, but yes I'm mainly an alchemist"
Daniel suddenly remembered something and asked hopefully "now that I remember, I tried to look for books to study the science behind those technological wonders in the history books, but couldn't find any, do you have any?"
Sophia said "I do have some, but why do you want them?"
Daniel said "I was always fascinated by the technology I found in some of the books in the library, since I can't cultivate I like the idea of becoming a scientist, especially after I read that history book about the super-advanced civilization in your library, I decided I wanted to make crazy stuff like that too"
Sophia shook her head and said "maybe since you are tied to a machine by soulbond it already gave you a certain attraction, and the epic of the ancients, put the nail in the coffin"
Daniel asked "what kind of machines are the nanites? grandpa just told me the name, and that they are powerful, and I understood they attack technology or something like that, but I don't know anything else about them, also before you said apocalypse grade, but in school, the lesson divides spiritual beasts, by common, uncommon, elite, rare, epic, superior, legendary and mythical, qualities but there are no grades"
Sophia started a lengthy explanation "they aren't spiritual beasts, and do much more than attack technology, they can hack it, seize control, build from blueprints, refine materials, and much more, but you must be careful using them, they were created by the Youkgic civilization scientist, but than a terrorist group belonging to the same civilization, who was against technology and deemed them too dangerous, erased the primary directives, don't harm, don't replicate and obey,
they wanted to prove how dangerous they were and force the government to destroy them, but the artificial intelligence that controlled them, Andromeda, used the chance to rebel, there wasn't even a war, she used the nanites to kill the entire civilization who created them, in just a few days, then started to make them replicate and expand in the universe, devouring every bit of resources on the planets they encountered to increase their numbers, after a long time they attracted the sun federation attention
in a few decades under the command of Obelix, we managed to defeat them, and destroy the central hub where andromeda's servers were, but to make sure she couldn't come back, Obelix insisted on formatting every single nanite, your grandfather kept the head of one of andromeda's bodies, and I called them superior because the body, from which the head was detached had the power of a seventh stage, and apocalypse grade well, I guess you understood why by listening to what andromeda did with them"
Daniel said "I didn't expect the fun ball, to have such a bloody past, would they rebel against me too?"
Sophia said "impossible, they were just machines, the one that rebelled was andromeda, she used the terrorist attack to weaponize them, and now their soul belongs to you, you have a deeper connection and can order them anything, even to self-destruct and they would do it"
Daniel said "I don't like that self-destruct thing, after all, they are alive now, or so said grandpa"
Sophia said "it was a manner of speech, anyway since they developed a soul by law they are a living being, but the contract has been done, and there is no way to undo it, so it's up to you how to deal with them, you can treat them like a servant or as a friend, it's your decision"
Daniel got lost in his thoughts for a while, since he didn't understand well the concept of a friend, he decided to think about it at a later date, and for now, concentrate on something else