After those first moments of wild excitement, Ri's face slowly returned to a more normal, serious, and composed expression.
"Ri?"
The Sleter woman still hadn't answered his question.
"Oh, yes, it seems to be just as you said, and if I may, this ability of yours... it's truly fantastic!"
Even though her face now showed a calmer expression, traces of mad excitement still lingered in her voice. Shed found it a bit strange. The woman in front of him was different from the overly enthusiastic but fake Ri who had spoken to him about the Empire and how he would become a gladiator. This Ri seemed genuinely inflamed with strong emotions when she heard what power he possessed.
"So I can look into the future… but how far into the future?" Shed asked.
"Well, that must be tested, you know, as the soul mirrors are abilities that are difficult for even the Kehlt system to analyze, and they are powers that grow alongside their owner…"
Shed nodded in understanding.
The ability to look into the future certainly seemed like a very respectable skill, though Shed hesitated to call it 'fantastic.' This ability on its own wasn't extraordinary, because no matter how far ahead Shed could see, if it showed him certain death, then he would die...
However, what if this ability were accompanied by others? Then... then it would practically become a cheat! The more he thought about it, the more Shed realized that maybe this 'predictive gaze' of his was indeed a fantastic ability.
A shy smile spread across Shed's face.
Ri chuckled.
"Do you see now why I called your ability that way? Do you see that I wasn't exaggerating?"
"I think… I understand."
"Good. But now is not yet the time to test it; I have other matters to attend to, and you must be tired... we'll postpone it until tomorrow."
She said, standing up. Indeed, Shed was very tired, despite having slept for six years.
"I'll show you where you'll stay as long as you're Magnolia rank...…"
With that, she led the way, leaving her office. On the way to his new quarters, Shed kept thinking about his innate ability. How should he go about using it? He pondered carefully, and suddenly his eyes widened as an idea as absurd as it was plausible took root in his mind.
'I… have I already used it?!'
He thought back to what had happened to him recently, specifically how he had dodged that guy in dark armor. After all, he had managed to dodge him because he'd seen in advance what was going to happen.
'I used it… I think… yes, it must be that, I must have used it, yes... but how?!'
With a vacant look, Shed stayed lost in his thoughts, until Ri stopped in front of a gray door with a blue rectangle in place of the handle.
"This will be your quarters," Ri said, her voice becoming softer and sweeter.
Above the door was a metal plaque with "MT#03121" written in black. Seeing Shed examining the plaque, Ri explained first that all gladiator quarters had these identification plaques, then what the letters and numbers meant. The first letter represented the initial of the gladiator's rank for whom the lodging was reserved. In Shed's case, since he was Magnolia rank, he obviously had accommodations reserved for Magnolia ranks, hence the letter M as the first letter of the ID plaque. The second letter indicated the residential area where his quarters were located, which in Shed's case was area T. The number had no other significance than to make the plaque unique.
"Sorry, Ri, but… if I happened to get lost in the Colosseum's corridors, how would I find my way back to my quarters?"
Ri looked at him with a smile.
"Why am I even asking… is there a feature on this bracelet that creates, I don't know, a virtual map?"
She nodded, slightly amused.
Shed sighed.
"What command do I need to think of this time?"
Ri was about to respond, but before she could, Shed gestured widely with his hands for her to stop, causing a bit of confusion on Ri's face.
"Wait, wait… I want to try and guess… so, I need to bring up a map, right? So…"
Shed reluctantly thought 'Map-Tio,' imagining it was too obvious to be the actual command. But immediately after, a virtual page displaying a top-down map of the Colosseum appeared before him. His location on it was marked by a shining silver arrow. The map also displayed the floor and zone of the Colosseum where Shed was currently located, noted at the bottom, while at the top center was a search bar. In the top right corner, there was a circled "i."
"Magnolia Zone, Residential Area T, Sixth Floor…" he read the text aloud with a bit of pride for having guessed the mental command.
"I see you managed to use the map, not that it took a genius to figure out the command…"
The smile on Shed's face twisted as he looked at Ri, only to see a hidden, amused smile on her face.
"The map has various functions; for instance, you can set your quarters as 'home' so it's always marked on the map, or you can search for it, as well as other places in the Colosseum, using the search bar. Also, in the top right corner, clicking on the 'i' will open a drop-down menu listing all the features of the virtual map…"
Shed nodded, saving a full study of the map's functions for later.
"All right, it would be a good idea to save my office's location on the map as well. Search for OS-R#0102 in the search bar, then click 'save location.'"
Shed did as she instructed, saving the spot simply as "Ri's Office."
"Good. Before I let you go, let's exchange contacts so that tomorrow I can message you when to come to my office," she added.
Exchanging contacts with someone was simple and only required using the command Cha-Tio and then sharing the personal code.
"These mental commands are getting a bit too numerous…" Shed said, scratching his head.
"Actually, to use all the bracelet's functions, you just need to know the general command Tio-Tio. Using it, a page will open with all the bracelet's various functions listed and selectable…"
Shed felt relieved to hear this.
"All right, it's time to say goodbye… see you tomorrow." Ri said finally.
Shed returned the farewell, watching her quickly leave.
Now alone, Shed felt a bit lost once again. Ri's presence somehow helped him to distract himself from the situation he was in, but now that she was gone, fears and uncertainties began creeping back into his mind.
Shed took a deep breath; first of all, it would be better to go into his new home… or at least, that's what he wanted to do. However… the more he looked at the gray door of his new quarters, the more a doubt, as simple as it was momentarily complex, took hold in his mind. How was he supposed to enter? The door in front of him had no handle.
"Um… how does one open a door without a handle?"
Shed tried pushing, but nothing, the door was locked. Then he looked doubtfully at the blue rectangle where a handle would typically be. Shed sighed, smiled ironically, and then brought his bracelet close to the rectangle. Soon after, the door opened, sliding into the wall on his right.
"It seems you have the answer to every question…" he said, addressing the bracelet.