{ 8:30 PM | Avi's home | Slums, Zone Y }
A crying Maya finally fell asleep in Vikram's arm.
It had taken him a great deal of patience and explanation to calm her down. It was like he had gone back to taking care of his step-sister back in the Empire.
~Will you still love me when you find out that I'm but a ruthless criminal?~
He whispered in an inaudible voice while staring at her sleeping face.
He remembered his own past when both his step-sister and Casper were alive and they used to live together all the time.
He knew that he was fooling Maya. He also knew that he was just a parasite that had taken over the only person in her life.
But there was no way to reverse what was done.
He could only do right by her to pay back Avi whose body he had come to possess.
After putting down the dirty mattress in one corner and placing Maya on the makeshift bed, Vikram placed a brown sack on top of her.
~They don't even have a proper mattress or even a sheet to cover them in this cold!~
Every time he saw Maya's face, he felt his heart beat a little faster.
"Why would a young girl like you even think of dying? It is this world that needs destruction..."
Vikram was unaware of the irony of his thoughts.
He had killed so many sisters like Maya in his past life and there was no coming back from that kind of crime.
In that rundown shack, a fire was lit in his eyes. If it was anything like a shonen fantasy, Vikram would be awakening some hidden power like a dragon's wrath, but this was not that kind of a story.
The fire in his eyes was purely a reflection of the sand stove that was burning in the kitchen, albeit very lightly.
He gave a last meaningful glance to his now sister and exited the rundown shack with complicated emotions.
*****
{ Midnight }
"So I can use this watch to register for Shika license?"
He rotated his wrist right and left while gazing the mysterious watch as if to uncover the secrets of this advanced machine.
Vikram didn't know how to operate a 23rd-century device like the Dais watch.
In the Empire, they had only recently started using the Hindu numerals instead of the Roman one, and Vikram was now coming face with the reality that all advanced Machinas on this Blue Planet only used two of the divine numerals: 1 and 0.
Although he had read about all the advanced Machinas, Automobiles, and Firearms in the novel, it was a different matter understanding how they worked.
He spent a full hour trying to learn how the Dais watch worked.
It had a total of four basic functions: Identification and personal records, Banking and shopping, Community and social media, and last but not least, Shika-related tasks.
Selecting the fourth functionality, he quickly registered himself for the next Shika exam.
The date was scheduled for one day after tomorrow.
"So I have 24 hours to prepare for the exam. I'll need some weapons and basic potions."
He quickly chose the second function on the watch and landed on an e-commerce page with his UC balance on the top-right corner.
"I only have 5,340 coins left after spending 5,000 on license registration"
"... No wonder that girl got mad!"
"... If I hadn't received the 10,000 coins from that old man, I would not be able to even rent a decent house let alone appear for the Shika exam"
Vikram remembered from both his knowledge and Avi's broken memory fragments that the Shika exam tested a person's combat ability as well as their battle awareness.
Although, he was no saint when it came to fighting, that was only true against humans and not monsters.
Right now, not only was his body lacking due to under-nourishment, he would also need to fight mutated monsters and spend days in a completely foreign terrain with no statistical support.
The latter alone would be any general's nightmare in the battle.
"Let's find a house too, no General should have to live like this in this filth", he smirked in amusement when he thought of finding a new house to live in.
He quickly went to the housing section and a complete map of the zone appeared on top of the Dais watch.
He put some filters like "<1000 UC" and "with furniture" and the list of thousand houses reduced to a mere twenty.
However, all the houses in that range were either crappy or in a remote location on the outskirts.
The only decent house on the list was the highest one at 999UC, but then he noticed something strange about its reviews.
He checked the renting logs and was surprised at the long list of on and off status of the house ad.
"Looks like a haunted house!"
He was intrigued. Although, he didn't believe in ghosts, he knew better not to use his previous world's commen sense while judging Diaspora's events.
"Is there even an afterlife?", Vikram speculated.
Even though he knew of many mutations like "Spiritualist" and "Illusionist" that could imitate a ghost, they were far from the proof of an actual afterlife.
Feeling brave and confident, he booked a slot for visitation and went back to sleep.
He laid down beside Maya on the mattress as there was no other options.
Due to the overload from awakening, taking in many potions, and Maya's overreaction, it only took him a minute before he was deep into slumber.
*****
{ 8:00 AM | Next Morning }
Vikram got up after his 1 hour Prana Cultivation session and stretched his body. He was feeling confident about the new day.
Without waking Maya up, he went out to do groceries and it cost him a whooping 300UC just to buy some basic clothes and food from the local market.
He had also ordered a sword at 2500UC online which would be delivered late in the evening.
He was not expecting to spend so much on a mere steel sword, but apparently, the price of minerals was too expensive.
Plus, due to infinite monsters roaming around the planet, there was a huge scarcity of decent quality blacksmiths as everybody was busy fighting monsters.
"I will need to quickly earn some big cash! Should I learn to smith? I already know the basics"
His 10k balance was already close to declaring bankruptcy. If things went like this, he would be back in this shack by the end of the week.
**
"Oh, you are awake behna (sis)..."
Vikram teased Maya as he entered the house.
"Tch...", his face turned to that of disgust, but for only a second. He felt disgusted because of how he acted from time to time.
'How should I deal with Avi's influence, acting like I care is really annoying', he thought.
But as soon he looked at Maya again, his thought disappeared.
A sleepy Maya was still rubbing her eyes when she heard his voice and her eyes went wide like a saucer disc.
"Bhaiya, you didn't go to school today?", she asked abashedly, probably because she was embarrassed to look at her brother because of yesterday's incident.
"I already graduated! Now wash your face and come here. I bought food from the street"
Maya looked at the multiple parcels in his hand and her expression distorted. But then she realized that her brother had shown her 10,000 UC yesterday.
Even though she didn't like her spendthrift brother, she thought it was also nice to let loose a little.
"Okay", she blurted as she went outside their shack carrying a container of water and washed her face in the canal running directly opposite to their house.
'so smooth', she almost cried when she used the new towel. It was her first time in years seeing clean clothing like that.
**
"Hello is someone home?"
A crude voice called out from outside as Vikram and Maya were enjoying the Idli-Sambar made by one of the most famous restaurants in the slum.
"I'll check it out, you continue eating", he scolded Maya as she was trying to get up. She had already changed into new clothes and looked quite an angel.
Vikram had even brought medicine for the rashes and now her neck looked smooth with few blemishes than last night.
"Yes. Who might you be?"
A large 6' tall guy was waiting outside their door with a package. Even though the man was intimidating and half a foot taller than Vikram, Vikram looked straight into his eyes as he spoke.
"Are you Mr. Avi Dovici?"
"Yes," Vikram frowned as the man didn't introduce himself.
"Hello Sir, Please don't be wary, I was sent here by Mr. Boar to deliver this package."
'Oh, so he is a delivery guy for that old man? Right on time!'
Vikram took hold of the package and bowed a little in a respectful manner to give the man his thanks.
**
"Who was it, bhaiya? What is that thing?", she asked in anticipation.
Her brother was doing something weird again, and she felt like she had a responsibility to reprimand her brother if he was going to act so sporadically just because he had a bit of money now.
First the food, then the clothes, and now he was even home-delivering packages. She didn't want to get used to a full stomach and all the other luxuries. She believed it will only be harder when she would have to go back to their old lifestyle.
"Oh, nothing. I told you right, Since I was first in my class and saved a girl's life; I was given some rewards by the school. It is that."
Vikram had lied about the origin of money.