"Always an eavesdropper I see," I said to Mr. Han as he entered through his portal as usual.
He shrugged. "What else will an immortal being like me do for entertainment?" he replied.
"I don't know, do some pottery or something," I said. "Or try tennis. I heard it's a great sport."
"Bah! Not exciting enough," he retorted as he took his place on the bench. "So you gonna serve me some tea or what?"
"Help yourself," I replied and gestured towards the set that was already on the coffee table. "It's still fresh from when Maria made it."
"Ooh score!" he said and quickly poured himself some.
While he indulged himself with the snacks, I took my place on the armchair opposite of him.
"So, Mr. Han, how bad is it?" I asked with apprehension.
He held up a finger as he chewed his way through a mouthful. Then, he washed it down with tea.
"Oh, it looks very bad," he replied. "Minerva!"
"Yes, papa?" she said as she popped out of the sleeve of Mr. Han's usual Chinese robe.
"We're going to examine Andrew," he said. "Are your scanners working properly in this space?"
She paused for a bit with blank eyes. Then, she smiled. She sure acted different with Mr. Han around...
"All systems operational," she replied. "No problems here."
"Good," he said as he patted crumbs off of him. "Now, Andrew strip down."
"Pardon me?" I asked.
"We're doing a full body examination so strip down," he replied.
Then, with one snap of his fingers, the entire living room broke down like pixels on a computer and rearranged itself into a small operating theatre.
"Woah!" I exclaimed as the floor transformed beneath my feet.
"Oh. relax. This entire space is made of mana. If you just know how to control it, you'll be able to do stuff like this without problem."
After the room has completely reformed, I followed his instructions and laid face down, naked, on the bed.
"Alright, since Minerva already connected herself to your Mana Circuits before, her scans shouldn't take too long," he said then nodded for Minerva to start.
"Initiating scan," she said and hovered over me.
The scan was taking a bit of time. And with me not really having any topics to speak with Mr. Han, the room turned silent.
But of course, Mr. Han couldn't help himself and just had to open his mouth.
"So..." he started. "What was that with you and Maria huh?"
I cringed at the recent memory.
"Ugh, you saw how bad it was," I said.
"Yeah," he chuckled. "I never thought I'd see the day that Andrew Roberts would have trouble with the ladies."
"It's not... that..." I said then paused. "It's..."
Ashamed. That was what I was feeling. But if it was Mr. Han, maybe he could offer some insight to this whole situation.
After taking a deep breath, I continued.
"I dreamt about her Mr. Han. About Mozambique. About what happened there..."
Before he replied, he took a nearby stool and sat where my head was turned so we can see each other.
Then, he smiled with a mix of curiosity and empathy.
"I'm listening," he said.
I paused for a bit, piecing together what I wanted to say.
"I... don't think I'm over her. Over Blair," I started. "I thought that after some time has passed, I'll be able to move on. I went to therapy, I buried myself with work. Heck, I even went to Mexico to unwind! But everytime I slept, I always saw her face, her smile, how beautiful she was. And then... the regrets would come. Maybe I could've done something more. Maybe if I paid more attention, I would've known what she actually did. Or maybe... if I just joined-"
"Ok I'm gonna to stop you there," Mr. Han immediately interjected. "I can let you throw yourself a pity party, regret a lot of things, or stab yourself with a lot of what-ifs. But, if for once you thought that I'd let you talk about throwing away your values, your PURPOSE, for a girl, then you got me totally wrong."
"Then tell me what to do!" I exclaimed. "I'm not dense, Han. I can tell that even though this whole marriage was a sham, Maria's feelings for me are true. And I feel so damn guilty about it! She could've chosen anyone else you know? Anyone who's stronger or smarter, more cunning than I am. But instead, she chose me, a guy whose only redeeming quality is that he does his job properly. A guy who can't get over his ex-girlfriend who literally stabbed him in the back."
"Well, if you say it like that, then yeah Maria's got the worst deal in the history of trade deals," he chuckled. "But you see, one of the perks of living another day is that you can be a better person than who you were yesterday. The past may have existed at one point, but what you have now is the present, and what you can look forward to is the future. So my question for you now is: what're you going to do about Blair?"
I paused again. I promised Maria that I'll deal with it. And when I do, hopefully I'll be able to figure out my response to her feelings. So right now, my mind could only think of one thing in response to Mr. Han's question.
"I need to find Blair," I replied. "I need to find her and look her in the eyes one last time."
"And when you do that, do you think you'll find your answer?" he asked.
I nodded. "I do."
He beamed, like a parent whose child just did something impressive. "Well, good," he said as he stood up from his stool. "Shouldn't be too hard to find her."
"Wait, you'll help me find her?" I asked.
"Dude, you're currently a vegetable," he responded. "Just focus on getting better first. And when you're fully healed, then I'll tell you where she is."
"Scanning complete, papa!" Minerva announced.
"Good timing. Please show Andrew how bad he's body's gotten," he said.
"Roger!" Minerva replied and produced two holographic images in the air.
One was an outline of a human that was filled with a branching image of what I assumed to be the Mana Circuits. And the other was of the same outline, but the branches were way more numerous and their color was a dull grey compared to the light blue of the other.
"Alright, as you know, every creature needs a Mana Circuit to perform magic," he started. "The one with the blue highlight is a healthy one. Mana flows freely through them and as a result, they can cast spells and such. Now, the gross-looking one's yours."
I narrowed my eyes at the two images. "Why the hell do I look like I have triple the amount?" I asked.
"Oh that's because of your Sylph genetics and from when I tweaked them in the Antarctica Dungeon," he replied.
"You what?" I exclaimed.
"You're welcome," he responded. "Now, they're too fucked up to heal, but Minerva found a way to replace them."
He nodded to Minerva who then pulled out a whole blueprint.
"Introducing the Synthetic Mana Circuit," she said. "Made from decommissioned higher beings, this artificial replacement should function as well as, or even better than, your current Circuit."
"Wait, wait, decommissioned higher beings?" I interjected. "Where the hell did you get these materials?"
"Gods have graveyards too kiddo," he chuckled. "But there's a catch though."
"Since we 'borrowed' the materials from the Celestial Plane, some higher beings were pissed at us and will hunt you down to retrieve them," Minerva continued. "Also, the Synthetic Circuits are naturally tougher than what your body can handle so your freedom of movement will be severely limited."
"Yep, that means no more backflips, cartwheels, hoverboarding, or even running," Mr. Han added.
"So, what? I'll get hunted by higher beings and just walk to battle?" I asked.
"Chakob has a plan for that so don't worry," he replied dismissively. "All you have to think about now is whether you want this or not."
He then put his hands on my shoulders and looked me seriously in the eyes.
"You can bow out of the mission, Andrew," he continued. "We can't do anything about your Mana Circuits, but we can repair your damaged nerves. You won't be able to be in SPD or cast magic but you can still be a cop and live your days as a normal person. And I know that you want to meet Blair again to get closure, but you can just forget about her and try your best to move on with Maria. The entire world doesn't rest on your shoulders, Andrew, so you can let it all go if you want."
I smirked.
I life without the mission. A life without supernatural danger. A house, a wife, maybe some kids. Ironically, that's what Blair and I wanted. And ultimately, it was a life that we could never achieve.
It was definitely tempting, but I didn't even have to hesitate to find my answer.
"Mr. Han, thanks for looking out for me," I replied. "But I don't think Maria would follow a weak guy who took the easy way out when it was offered to him."
Mr. Han smiled knowingly and patted my back.
"Good!" he said. "That's the Andrew I know!"
He then snapped his fingers and at once, the entire room changed into a full-on operating theatre, complete with medical apparatus and tools designed for complicated surgery.
"Gustave! Get those nurses in here!" he shouted in the air. "It's time to perform the very first Mana Circuit transplant!"