"What?" Kai's eyes widened. "My father?" He quickly began to follow Olaf who had started walking through the grassy fields of ground zero as though he was returning to imperial grounds. "Where are you going to!" Kai called.
"A secret passageway," Olaf replied. "It will take you to somewhere that will give you everything you want."
Kai started to worry that he was just following an insane old man to a weird place. "How do you know my father?" he asked. "Do you even know who I am?"
"Of course I do, you're Kai Halsten and your father is Ragner Halsten. I know this because I used to work for your father."
Kai appeared stunned. "What?"
"Okay now, let's go. The guards will cover the tunnels by 6 pm," Olaf said. Kai needed no more explanations, he quickened his pace and willingly followed Olaf into the undercity tunnels.
ᓀᓂ
A few minutes later, they were both inside the lower chambers of the High Tower. It was dark and everywhere smelled damp, the stone walls were cold and water was leaking from above.
"That's the door to your father's secret office," Olaf said. "President Kirk Randi didn't know about it, that's why it's still here."
"My father had a secret office?" Kai exclaimed.
"He had many secrets," Olaf replied as he pushed open the door. It revealed the office as a subterranean sanctum. The walls were sleek and glass-shimmering with blue technology and holographic diagrams.
Kai walked inside, awestruck as he gazed around. "All this belonged to my father?" "Yes," Olaf replied. "But we must hurry, we don't have enough time. I have to give you something."
"What?" Kai asked, still confused. How come this random man who he had just helped knew so much about his father?
"Yes, here it is!" Olaf picked up a box and handed it to Kai. "Take this, do not open it until you return home, and do not let anyone take it from you."
"What is it?" Kai asked, skeptical about taking things from the stranger.
"You will find out when you reach home, but first, place your hand on the box to make sure the system is activated."
"What?" Kai asked. "What are you talking about?"
"It's almost 6 pm, we don't have enough time. Place your hand on the box!"
Kai quickly did as he was told and as soon as his hands touched the box, a red light glowed through it and lit up the device. Suddenly a melodic robotic voice rang out.
-|DNA ACTIVATION VERIFIED|-
-|ASTRAL NODE IS ONLINE|-
-|SYSTEM HAS BEGUN ACTIVATING|-
-|AWAITING MANUAL OVERRIDE TO TURN ON SYSTEM|-
Kai was still in shock as he stared at the box in his hand. Was this an Astral Node? One of the most expensive items in the entire nation is in his hands? What was happening?
"Snap out of it, Kai!" Olaf shrieked, shaking Kai back to his senses. "You have to get out of here now. I have done my part and I have given you the node. Now you must go home and show it to no one! A new journey awaits you!"
ᓀᓂ
Kai hurried into Master Sven's cottage as fast as he could. He was panting so loudly and the box was still clutched tight in his hands. Once he caught his breath, he hurried to his and his sister's small slave room.
His sister, Astrid was lying on the bed with only a few tattered clothes on. Her skin was already red and swelling and soon the stage where it would start to rot was fast approaching.
Kai was excited when he entered the house but on seeing her lying sick on the bed, his sadness returned. She had been on that bed for the past five months since she got the F-X7 disease. Master Sven calls her a waste of money and resources and wants to sell her off but Kai begs, saying he will do both of their chores and work double the time just to make sure Astrid has a roof over her head.
Kai watched her with a heavy heart, wishing that he could take away her pain. She was only fifteen years old, and she had suffered so much. No one agreed to help fund her treatment, not even their master, Sven. All they had was each other.
Astrid's eyes slowly opened as she realized that her brother was with her. "Hey, Kai," she muttered weakly.
"Astrid," Kai replied. "Don't move, don't worry. I'm here now. I'm going to find a doctor to cure you."
"What doctor?" she coughed. "We don't have any money."
"It has been really hard for me, sis. But I think I've found a way. I found an Astral Node. Dad kept one in his office, it's a long story... what matters is that I'm going to join the STARLITE academy and they give free health insurance for the family members of their recruits. They will cure you for free, Astrid!" Kai smiled.
"That's nice," Astrid smiled wryly. "But you will need powers, won't you? You don't have any powers, Kai."
Astrid sounded worried. Kai didn't want to worry his sister so he did his best to calm her. "I don't have any powers for now, but I won't know for sure until I unlock the node. No matter how much power I have, I'm going to upgrade and level up and become stronger. That's what the academy is for right?"
Astrid nodded weakly and as Kai watched, she fell asleep again. The F-X7 was such a wicked virus, that it also caused its victim to sleep excessively.
Kai then set the box on the table, this was his chance to see what it was all about. He placed his hand on the buttons once again and it sang;
-|AWAITING MANUAL OVERRIDE|-
"Awaiting manual override?" Kai frowned. "What does that even mean?" He placed his hand on the buttons again.
-|AWAITING MANUAL OVERRIDE|-
"Damn it!" he swore impatiently, slamming his hand on the table. "I can't open a simple box that my father created. Hmph! So much for being a Halsten!"
A beep rang from the box.
-|PASSWORD CORRECT|-
-|MANUAL OVERRIDE SUCCESSFUL|-
-|SYSTEM IS UPDATING, PLEASE BE PATIENT|-
-|SYSTEM UPDATE IS COMPLETE|-
-|SYSTEM IS ONLINE|-
Kai watched in awe as the box shattered into tinier boxes and a red glowing glass object revealed itself from Within the Astral Node. But this wasn't like any Astral Node, this one looked expensive, unique, and powerful. He couldn't believe that it was all his.
He felt his head begin to ache and just then a status screen appeared right in front of his eyes.
-|USER: KAI HALSTEN|-
-|RACE: HUMAN|-
-|GENDER: MALE|-
-|LEVEL: ONE|-
-|EXP: 0/100|-
-|HP: 10/10|-
-|BEGINNING BONDING|-