"Okay," Dad said, still holding me in that bear hug. "You don't have to go to the Alexandria Academy."
I pulled back to look at his hazel brown eyes. "Thanks dad."
He ruffled my snow-white hair like I was still six years old. "No worries kiddo, but where do you want to go?"
That was actually a really good question - one I definitely didn't have an answer for. Before I could fumble for a response, he added:
"You know that you have to go to an academy before later being placed in the war effort, but since you're not learning to become a soldier, there is another way for you to go. You can do an apprenticeship while in the war effort." He paused, probably for dramatic effect. "Since you're adamant on studying engineering, I have a friend placed in the 13th quadrant who owes me a favor. He's retired from the war but stays there to fix battleships. You can go with him if you so wish."
Hold up. This was perfect actually. Since I had no access to the system, getting strong through conventional means was about as likely as finding a normal wheel in this universe.
So the best way to avoid becoming cannon fodder was through implants, and the best way to learn that was through engineering and anatomy. Thanks to Dad's influence, I already had the anatomy part down - perks of being raised by the cyborg surgery king.
"Yes dad, I want to go under apprenticeship."
He nodded, clearly pleased. "Well alright then, I'll have to contact him, but after I get his response we can go from there."
He started to walk away, but something nagged at me. "Hey dad."
"Yes kiddo."
"Why didn't you tell me about the apprenticeship before?"
The sigh he let out felt heavier than a neutron star.
"My academy years were some of the best in my life. This friend I'm talking about is one I made at the academy. I just wanted you to experience it as well."
My head dropped faster than my grades in my past life's calculus class. Great, now I felt like the worst son in two universes.
He must have noticed my guilt spiral because he quickly added, "But that doesn't mean that you have to follow my steps. You're already an adult by Alliance standards so you need to follow the path you think will give you the least amount of regrets. If not going to the Academy is your path, who am I to disapprove of it?"
"Thanks dad."
"What are you saying thanks for?"
I shuffled awkwardly. "For being such a good dad."
My father smiled that warm smile that made his eyes crinkle. "Don't say something stupid."
With those parting words, he headed out. He had to deliver the message through wormholes since we were in one of the central planets of the Alliance while the 13th quadrant was a casual few thousand light years away.
Once he was gone, I looked up at the ceiling. "Hey Minerva, what was the last project I was working on?"
As I said those words, I thought about what Minerva really was - an artificial intelligence spread across the entire Alliance. Every planet, city, and household that could afford it had their own little piece of Minerva, all supposedly protected by Alliance privacy guidelines. Unless, of course, you were about to accidentally blow up the human race or something.
There was something unsettling about having an AI watching your every move, even if it was programmed to protect your privacy. In my old world, we'd learned the hard way how quickly "privacy protection" could turn into "data collection." The fact that Minerva was in every home, every workplace, every public space... it was like having a friendly neighborhood spy that everyone just accepted.
[You were working on your technomancy implant.]
Ah yes, that implant. The one I - no, we - had been working on since age eleven. It was an ambitious project to control all machinery, regardless of walls or regulations. Looking back now, it seemed incredibly naive. Even with implants, talent, and whatever else I had at my disposal, it was way beyond my capabilities.
But that wasn't why I'd asked.
"Minerva delete said information from your code."
[I'm sorry sir, but did you say that you want me to delete all said information from my code?]
"Yes, I did."
[Understood]
This was the beauty of having a private Minerva - you could delete previously shared information, at least that is what we were told. The old Lloyd had been way too trusting of AI and technology, but in my world, everyone knew how little privacy actually existed. So my plan was simple: keep everything I worked on, did, said, or saw in another implant. One I'd make myself, with zero connection to any company or person.
I'd do the same for my other two implants eventually. Call me paranoid, but I didn't care how much they valued privacy - I wasn't taking any chances. The last thing I needed was some government AI flagging me as an anomaly because my brain patterns suddenly changed after the merge.
"Still even if I have memories I should try dismantling something, keep my hands in practice."
So that's what I did. While Dad was off at the wormhole service office, I kept myself busy dismantling and reassembling a plasma gun. The weapon itself was a masterpiece of engineering - a compact fusion core powering a magnetic containment field that could turn a tiny pellet of hydrogen into a bolt of superheated plasma. Each piece had to be handled with precise care; one wrong move and you'd either fry the circuitry or create a small sun in your bedroom.
I took it apart piece by piece, memorizing how each component connected.
Over and over I practiced, until my fingers could find each screw and circuit by touch alone. Every tool I used becoming easier to do so in my hands, with every dismantle.
Then came the knocking.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Lloyd you there? Can I come in?"
"Yes dad."
He burst in with a grin so wide it threatened to split his face in half. "Well it's decided - you aren't going to the academy. You are now the first ever apprentice to Ethan Turner."
I couldn't help but mirror his goofy grin. "When do I start?"
"You're leaving tomorrow for the nearest wormhole station."
Tomorrow. Just like that, my life was about to change again. No time to second-guess, no time to prepare extensively. Just pack up go to the somewhat frontlines, to learn how to become an engineer, to grow and to improve, I wasn't going to no Academy, I was going to make my own story.