Shin exited the castle and returned to the Training Hall, cursing silently as he noticed the time and couldn't complete his task before logging out.
His Dive Pod opened with a metallic ringing through the air and air hissing loudly as the air pressure equalized.
"Shin!" A voice rang out.
The young man's eyes didn't have time to adjust when someone threw their arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
"Sienna..?" Shin asked, his vision still adjusting, receiving confirmation as she nodded against the nape of his neck.
"W-when e-everyone got kicked out, and you were still in your pod, I got so w-worried a-a-and then John left him, and you still were in there…" Sienna said through abated breath, sobbing.
"It's alright. I just talked with Director Kim; there's nothing to worry about!" Shin answered, breaking the hug and patting her on the top of her head.
"John was so mad when he left, and I thought you both were kicked out of UFGA." She said, wiping her tears on the back of her hands and standing up.
"Nah, Director Kim just made sure he would stop trying to kill me until we graduate." He answered, shaking his head, gripping the sides of the pod, and swinging out.
"I'm sorry…" Sienna said, lowering her head and staring at the ground as she twiddled her fingers together.
"What for? That's been the best news I've heard in almost four years!" Shin laughed, dismissing her worries.
"It's my fault we went to the cafe. If you weren't there, John wouldn't have attacked you…" She countered, averting her gaze.
"It would have happened sooner or later. Nothing you need to concern yourself with." Shin replied, yawning as he stretched and began walking out of the school.
"Let me make it up to you!" Sienna cheerfully said, walking beside him as they strolled the streets of New York City.
The bustling metropolis experienced countless changes through the decades; many high rises were built and destroyed to make room for more extensive and advanced buildings.
Due to the insane population, the city was the first in the world to implement hovercar lanes and skyscrapers that pierced the skies and rose to unimaginable heights.
Soon, many densely populated cities across the world followed suit. Tokyo, Mumbai, Beijing, and countless others created their own laws and regulations for hovercars.
Shin walked Sienna home, dropping her off on his way to his own house. John and Jane were in the living room watching the news and ignored him as they typically did.
As his "parents," they were relatively hands-off and only paid attention to him when they needed to exercise their rights as his handlers for the United States government.
He made his way up the stairs into his room, which had gone through its changes over the past decade. He had obtained bonuses in the form of weekly allowances for his excellent behavior and performance during his training.
Posters and shelves housing dozens of professional athletes adorned the walls, clothes filled the closet and drawers, and his desk received an upgrade and a new computer.
He took his jacket off, slinging it over the back of his chair as he sat down, sliding the blinking tablet across his desk as he sat down.
Shin unlocked the tablet and tapped on the red icon resembling a camera lens with the notification, opening the application. A black screen appeared as thousands of tiny, green, luminescent zeroes and ones scrolled.
The United States governmental seal appeared, and Shin entered his login credentials. A note appeared, and a smile spread across his face as he read it.
"Agent Shin, your tenure underneath John and Jane Doe has been completed. Effective immediately you will need to relocate and establish your new base of operations. Continue your preparations to enter SGO and begin your investigation."
Within seconds of him reading the end of the note, it self-deleted itself from the tablet. Shin sighed, placing the tablet down and rolling onto his bed, staring at the ceiling.
His mind raced with various ideas as excitement welled up inside him at the thought of leaving the cold and empty house, thinking, 'Finally...'
He reached over to the desk, grabbed the visor off its stand, and placed it on his face, tapping the button on the ear cover. He grabbed the pair of gloves and pulled them on as the device powered on.
He navigated through the internet, searching for small apartments within walking distance of the academy, and, after searching for a few hours, found one and submitted the application and fee.
He then visited the National Treasury website and looked up the conversion rate from game currency to Federation Credits. After making the necessary calculations, deciding to convert a hundred of his remaining gold pieces.
After a few moments, the device on his wrist flashed. When he checked, he received a deposit of one million credits, thinking, 'This should be enough for the rest of the year...'
Next, Shin navigated to the CyberNexus website and browsed their catalog of Dive Pods. They had many models, including the two-year-old models the schools used.
However, it didn't take him long to decide, scrolling back to the top of the page and purchasing the top-of-the-line model recently released last month in anticipation of the Decennial event for Savage Gods Online.
After spending the two hundred and fifty thousand credits and twenty-five thousand on the delivery, he went to another website. He shopped around for hoverbikes, finding a model he liked for another twenty thousand credits on the bike and five thousand on the shipping.
After a few hours of watching professional videos on BattleTube, Shin passed out, waking up in the early morning hours to the 4:30 A.M. alarm on his wrist device chirping.
He groaned, silencing the alarm, and swung his legs out of the bed and sat on the edge, rubbing his eyes. He checked his wrist device and saw an AI approved him overnight for the apartment.
He submitted the annual payment of thirty thousand credits before quickly completing his morning routine of working out in his room and showering before getting dressed.
Shin smirked as he exited the house he had lived in for the last decade. It was time to go full throttle... He no longer had to hold back.