Chapter 3: Assistant Manager
Life did not really change that much for me.
Sure, I had more power.
Tom became slightly more clingy for 2 days and Steel definitely would take some getting used to, but all in all, it was the same for me.
I had also been controlling my Turbo Energy, and with the help of Steel I was able to mask it completely as well.
According to him, when I tried to control my energy or access my Turbo forms, it released Turbo Energy, but it was all in controlled output parameters set by him.
As long as Steel was near me, he was able to mask the Turbo Energy completely.
But I don't know if I can manage with a constant talking robot inside of my
Steel and I were already able to unlock Turbo-Strength Mode, which increased my base strength by another 10 times, making me about 50 times stronger than a normal human.
That was also the base of Turbo Strength mode, and the more Turbo Energy I let out the stronger the mode would become.
It also had an obvious increase to size, durability and toughness of the armor, but didn't impact my speed or dexterity in any way.
However I didn't particularly mind.
I had absolutely no intention of being a superhero like the flash or being a vigilante like The Arrow from Starling.
No, I just wanted to live a normal life and splurge on my cat, Toy and now talking robot.
Steel also said my genetics were boosted so I looked better and I had to say I did look slightly similar to Steel's old partner, Max.
Apparently, Steel had no clue about who Max or his father were, just like the memory problems he had on the show.
And we wouldn't actually know much, since Max-Steel the show was discontinued after season 1.
(Authors note: That is something unique to this universe, I don't want MC to know everything about his future powers and experiment a bit)
But we both did watch the first season of the show together over the weekend, so we were actively working to try and unlock some Turbo-Modes, like mainly, the Flight mode and Invisibility mode, since combined transport wouldn't be an issue for me anymore.
Was it wrong to use what is probably the most advanced technological species in the entire world to travel across the world? I don't know, but Steel didn't seem to mind.
"Tom, Buzz, we are heading out." I shouted, to hear no response from Buzz who was currently trying to fight the wither and lose.
The thing about being a Toy is, you don't have big hands to help easily move the controls and game efficiently, so Buzz had to grind even for the simplest of games.
When he would be distracted, Tom and I usually played Souls games.
Tom quickly came out from my room and looked at me pleadingly.
I raised my eyebrows suspiciously at the cat, confused as to what he wanted.
Steel also popped out of my chest and observed Tom while flying around the cat.
Tom then put 2 of his fingers together and made some small actions.
"Again?!" Steel asked in shock as Tom ignored the robot.
Understanding what Tom wanted, I couldn't help but sigh.
Tom had recently picked up a knitting habit, draining my wallet from a lot of money. Just yesterday, we all went to buy him things from the shop and he had already finished using it all.
Looking at me hesitate, Tom seemed to go into a pondering expression for a bit, before reaching into his pockets.
How did he have pockets? Ask Tom.
He then pulled out a black-leather jacket.
"You knit this?" I asked, as Tom nodded excitedly.
"How the hell did you make leather from Yarn?" Steel asked in utter confusion, as I could see smoke come out from his body trying to compute the magic Tom was doing.
Tom shrugged, as if asking if we didn't know how could he.
"Ok Tom I will buy you more stuff." I said, as I pat the cats head, who immediately jumped so high in excitement to have his head hit the ceiling,
He then flopped flat onto the ground and became a pancake.
Ignoring his antics, Steel and I bid him farewell while I began taking a bus to work.
"Do you regret it?" I asked Steel telepathically while I was sitting on the bus and looking out of the window.
"Regret what." Steel's voice responded instantly.
"Accepting the system's invitation."
"Are you kidding? Why would I say no, I felt like I had been trapped in a void forever, and, this is a whole different universe. I wanted to see what living would feel like." Steel said with passion.
Steel told me, just like Buzz and Tom did, that the system did not force them to join me, it had given them an option too.
And considering there is an infinite number of them in the wide omni-verse, the system probably eventually found 1 Steel that accepted the invite.
"How about now, after coming here? Seeing as my predecessor tried to save the world, do you think I am not doing enough?" I asked Steel.
I was approaching 21 years of age, and I had not even passed high-school or even the SATs, I simply began working since that gave me money to survive.
I didn't have a lot to afford the alien if he wanted to travel around.
"I don't see anything wrong with how you have lived life. Everyone wants different things, and if you want to laze around and do nothing, that is also fine." Steel responded, clearly unbothered that my life was rather boring.
But it did hurt a bit when he said I was lazing around. I worked so many different jobs till, just today, I was promoted to the position of assistant-manager in one of my work areas.
It paid enough for me to be able to quit all my other jobs, so now I only had to work a single shift a day.
I feel like I earned where I am, but at the same time I get what Steel meant, I didn't actively try to push for anything more than some comfort.
"I sense something approaching us at supersonic speed." Speed said, while I was in my thoughts.
"What? Is it the Flash?" I asked, since Steel did research about the world the past 2 days and knew who the Flash was.
"Yes, but based on his direction, he seems to just be passing us by." Speed said, and as he finished, I saw a red-streak run past the bus I was on.
"How did you know that the Flash was running this way?" I asked him.
"I am not too sure, but there was a slight synergy of Turbo energy and whatever he is using to run." Steel said.
"Wait, if you can detect him, can he do the same?"
I felt utter disdain from Steel, as he then said sarcastically," Please, I am a higher life-form with extreme technological capabilities far beyond this planet. A human cannot detect me unless I want him to."
"Alright alright, all hail lord Steel." I said in mock praise as I got off of the bus and walked towards Jitters, where I worked as the newest assistant manager.
The previous assistant manager was injured from the blackhole 6 months ago and thus I was promoted, as the shop was re-opening soon.
"Lucas! Thank you so much for coming." Said, as a person walked towards me.
"Pleasures mine Sally, thanks for the promotion, I will not let you down." I told the manager of the store as I shook her hand.
"Well when we had a shortage of staff I just knew I could use that as an excuse to promote you. They passed on you too many times due to your young age." She told me with a slight smile.
Sally and I always had a nice professional relationship, and she always looked out for me, ever since I started working here from 5 years ago.
I did apply for this promotion 2 years ago, since I was the only person who rarely called in sick and was almost never late baring a couple of occasions.
I worked my ass off here, sometimes even doing double shifts, and I was passed up on promotions since higher-ups always thought I was too young to take care of actual responsibilities.
That made me work other jobs at night as well to be able to afford rent and having some leeway with money.
And I was lucky that Sally was on my side, since at least I had gotten the job now.
"Lucas, here's your new assistant manager bag and apron. We suspect a massive rush since it is the big reopening day. I have to go to the corporate headquarters for some book keeping so call me if you need anything." Sally said, as she passed me the keys to the shop.
I said my goodbyes and saw that everything looked good in the shop.
Staff eventually came soon after and so did the customers.
We had banners and a new drink named after The Flash, so a lot of people did come in today.
A lot of the customers I recognised from when I worked here before, just like the man in front of me today.
"Hi Barry, what are you having today?" I asked, as I was meaning the register.
"Lucas, Hey. Can I have 4 of the Flashes please." He said while searching for his wallet.
"Don't worry man, this ones on the house." I told him, perk of being an assistant manager. That and, Barry's step sister, Iris, had helped me a lot when she used to work here, so I tried to be nice to the West family as much as possible.
"Thanks man, Iris is right here if you want to say hi." Barry mentioned, pointing towards a group of 3 sitting near the entrance of the store.
"I will do so in a bit." I said as I registered their order and then went over to their table.
As I was walking over, I was able to recognise the 2 people there as frequent customers, but I never memorized their names.
"She's cute." Steel said from inside my head.
"Which one are you talking about? And don't aliens have different standards of cuteness?" I asked him.
"I am talking about the blond one your friend is currently talking to, and yes, I was referring to the fact that she is cute from a human standpoint." Steel said, as he pointed his observation out.
I turned around to see Barry currently talking to what seemed to be a new detective based on her badge.
She was wearing office attire clothes, but still something that would allow her to run around at a moment's notice.
Her hair was tied into a messy bun which made her jawline and beautiful blue eyes all the more appealing.
"I think her name is Patty." Steel said, since he was eavesdropping in their conversation.
"Steel stop being a creep." I said, as I reached the group that was sitting on the table.
"Hey Iris." I greeted them as I reached them.
...
Authors note:
You can read up to 10 chapters ahead if you want to on my p#treon.com/Fat_Cultivator