Chapter 23: Chapter 23:  All quest complete! 

 

Ryan researched a little more about the mechanical leg. 

"To support the weight of the body is easy, but I need to make sure that they can move easily."

On the system marketplace, there were a lot of prosthetics being listed for sale. Those top tier prosthetics were all weaponised, and different from what he was going for. 

 "The creation is also fundamentally different, so I couldn't use it as a reference."

He kept searching till he found a cheap automail that was only for movement and helping people. " 'Edwards leg' is quite useful for my research. The price is also cheap."

He clicked it without hesitation and started to take apart the mechanical legs he bought the moment it arrived. 

That's how he finished the research for the artificial limbs. The next few weeks, Ryan continued to test the effect of the prosthetic and exoskeleton frames on a wider group of people.

The prosthetic test was going well and it could be released soon. But he had some troubles with the exoskeleton frames.

"Not because the technology had problems, but the target group for the frame has been using wheelchairs for so long, their leg muscles have already atrophied. They also needed time to readjust to standing position, before they could walk. " Ryan jotted down his observation for the group of testers. 

…

Amanda Walker is a 16 years old girl. She was in a car accident two years ago, depriving her from her senses in the lower body. She has been in a wheelchair since.

Despair and hopelessness was her everyday company. She wanted to be a marathon athlete, so she had been training since she was little.

" If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been like this!!!" she accused her mother while throwing stuff at her. She blamed her mother for the accident as her mother was the one driving. 

Why does her mother get away scot free while she lost her leg? She thought about it everyday.  

She knew it wasn't her mother's fault, but she couldn't accept the reality  – It was easier to blame someone for the misfortune that had fallen on her. 

The bastard who crashed the car while drunk didn’t even face trial because he claimed mental illness. It was only her. The one who suffered from the aftermath of the incident and the culprits actions to avoid responsibility. 

Her mother, Laura Walker, kept finding ways to cure her daughter. After hearing rumours about a new invention by Ryan Knight, the prodigy and the CEO’s son in the place where she works, she begged her superior to include her daughter in the trial program. 

"Please, I beg you, Put my daughter into the research.. She's suffered enough..! Please!" Laura begged while shedding tears. The team leader who was responsible for the volunteer was helpless as the test had already begun. Adding a new tester this late inside the schedule will spoil the data.

Ryan saw the scene while he was back from collecting data from the lab. A woman on her knees and the supervisor that keep shaking his head. 

"What's going on?"  he asked. The team leader explained about the situation.

Ryan nodded in understanding and held Laura's hand, pulling her up. "I have no problem with this. Your daughter can join in immediately."

‘It’s not like anyone can start testing at the moment. They all need to adapt to standing up first.’

Laura hugged him while crying and Ryan let the supervisor handle the process. The supervisor rubbed his head and followed Ryan’s order obediently, although he was reluctant on the inside. 

His whim resulted in an unexpected surprise!

After a few days, Amanda already adapted to the exoskeleton frame support, giving him precious data for the exoskeleton frame. Unlike the other people there, she has an undying effort to stand up again.

 Her action even caused the spirits of those inside the testing room to be ignited. 

Ryan could still remember how Amanda and her mother hugged each other while crying when she first stood up on her own. Amanda now could walk, squat, jog a little, and was enjoying the feeling of being able to do that again. 

But the exoskeleton frame couldn't support running for a long period of time for now.

“I need to make a few adjustments to motor skill, and calibrate the running movement.” Ryan muttered. 

“Will I be able to run again?” Amanda asked him with anticipation. 

“Yeah. I will make sure of that.” Ryan replied with a soft smile. Maybe not now, or maybe not soon. But one day, he will make sure he can help the people there. 

Gwen saw his interaction with the people that were picked for the test, and she could sense he had changed a little compared to how he was before. Now, Ryan didn’t even wear a mask inside a room full of people, but he didn’t realise it yet. 

After a few more tests, the product will be available for the public. 

“It's done!” The researchers claimed after seeing the data shown on the test. “WE did it!”

Ryan smirked seeing the effect of his speech toward the researchers and submitted his invention to the mechanic, finishing the quest.

[Quest complete. ]

Reward : basic power armour technology. (Halo 5)

RetiredMechanic: Your invention is so-so, but I know you did it on your own, so you get a pass! (Thumbs up!)

He received a blueprint and necessary knowledge to make his own power armour. He threw this to the back of his mind as he knew that RetiredMechanic only did this because he wanted him to fight Iron Man.

"But a few of the power armour technology can be used to upgrade the exoskeleton frame." 

Now there's no problem for Amanda to run with the frame. “So…it’s soon huh.” Ryan muttered dryly and started to tweak his frame again. 

The test was finished, and the product will be released after the new year.  All the people participating in the test were very excited about it. Tim started a media publicity campaign after Ryan confirmed his test completion and Ryan let the company handle the matter for the sales. 

One of the things Ryan loved about Tim was he didn’t join in the trend of making people's lives miserable. Tim didn’t ask him about increasing the price of the prosthetic and exoskeleton frame at all.

 In fact, he even established a few clinics all over the country that would handle the maintenance of the technology at a low price while paying the workers there handsomely.

Looking at the people's excited faces, Gwen said " You did another good thing.”

Ryan smiled softly and entangled their fingers together. “Let's go home now. I'm tired." He whined, causing her to giggle. 

He had been working non-stop for a few weeks. He wanted to rest for a bit.

"Maybe we can go on the vacation we talk about." Ryan persuaded her again. Only this time she said, "Sure, let's go!"

She had finished her work and it’s vacation time anyway. Ryan smooched her cheeks and asked, “Now?”

“....At least wait until I pack first.” She said urgently as she saw Ryan already started to prepare the jet. 

There was only one quest left before getting to Tier 2. Now it's all up to Kai.

Kai's POV

Fixing the clinic took more time than he thought. For an international organisation under 5 super powers, he expected more from them. 

"It seems that I thought too much."

The clinic reopened after a week. Actually, Shield can do better at fixing Kai's clinic, but most personnel were getting ready to fight the vampires, leaving him with the last of the bunch.

His clinic opened up at the same time Blade killed Deacon Frost with the blood anticoagulants in Buffalo – ending the plot for Blade 1.

Kai noticed that there's a few monitoring bugs in his clinic, and also his home. But he ignored it all as never once did he show combat skills that were higher than a normal peak human.

‘Maybe they'll think I had agent training or something, but never 4x stronger than normal human beings.’

Kai also noticed that they were trying to test him by placing a few bugs at easy to see places, but he just waved at them once in a while, causing the bugs to ‘mysteriously’ disappear whenever he left the house or his clinic. 

Barbara, the woman that was saved by him, has 3 months vacation time as she was injured. She had nothing to do at home, so she entered the logistic division to play.

She noticed that Shield had been monitoring the doctor who saved her after she walked in and joined in to monitor him. The one-eyed director orders were – " Find some information, incentive or other to get him to join SHIELD." 

But so far, all the information they got was useless.

Kai's movement was limited to his clinic, his home, the restaurant he frequently went to and… that's it.

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He didn’t have a messy social life, nor even a lover at all. 

“How could a man like him not have a lover?” Barbara muttered in dissatisfaction. 

“Bobbi, you’re still here? Go home!” Coulson walked in to see she was meddling with the mission and scolded her. Barbara didn’t acknowledge the order as she’s vacationing and kept reading the information they have on Kai. 

In his free time he played the piano Skye received from their neighbour upstairs when they moved away, teached self defence to the kid, cooking, and reading about medical information. He had an uninteresting life if summarised.

"But he's very handsome!" Barbara exclaimed in displeasure as she couldn’t understand him. SHIELD couldn’t even run a honey-trap mission as Kai showed signs of disinterest having a relationship with someone. 

Suddenly, she saw numerous agents coming into the room when she was checking the information. The room instantly became crowded and Barbara was swept away by the wave. 

Kai also has a little fan club in SHIELD's logistics and monitoring division. Everyday he will exercise at 6.30 in the morning sharp, and everyday there'll be many female spectators that come in at the same time to watch him flaunt his taut muscles. 

 

His perfect body glistening with sweat had caused many sleepless nights for the agents of Shield. And some of the male. Barbara looked at the people in disdain, ignoring the fact that she used the target’s shirtless, sweaty body as her phone wallpaper.

“Hmm…I need a date…” A researcher with a ponytail mumbled as her eyes were affixed to Kai’s workout session. She sipped her coffee and watched the entire thing while ignoring the job she needed to do. 

“JENNA. Where have you been! We need you back at the lab.” A male researcher said to the female researcher and dragged her away from one of her guilty pleasures. 

Kai didn’t care about the SHIELD’s movement, and had clients in his clinic as usual. It's been 6 weeks since the reopening, but he was still stuck in his progress. 

"It seems like after the speed run, I am stuck during the final boss fight." 

He didn't waver, and kept treating his patients calmly. During this time, he happened to encounter a particularly interesting case.

A thin woman brought her 12-years old son into the clinic. She told Kai about how his son used to be the best student in school, the best athlete, and so on. But now her son didn’t even want to leave his room.

He was always holding up in his room. She is worried that maybe there's something wrong with him. 

“Please help me doctor.” The mother asked. 

“I’ll see what I can do.”

After a while, Kai noticed that his mother was the one answering for him whenever he asked the kid a question.

"Ma'am, please step outside for a moment." He asked the kid's mother politely. 

Although dissatisfied, the mother complied with the doctor's order.

"Now that your mother isn't here, we can talk freely." Kai said to Jason. The kid still wasn't answering his questions and just sat there silently.

Kai built up the conversation slowly. He talked for about 15 minutes trying to get him to open up. When the kid was comfortable, he asked his questions based on his observations.

"I know I would feel overwhelmed if something did not go according to my plan. Do you feel the same way Jason?"

Jason nodded slowly. 

Kai was excited, but he didn’t show it. He finally had a response from the kid. That's progress!

"Did you feel in over your head from all the activities you had? Or do you hate your mother for putting you through it?"

Jason replied slowly in a tiny voice, "I don't hate my mother." 

Kai waited for him a while to continue.

"I just don't know what I'm doing. My mother is planning for my future but will it be as planned? I kept thinking about things that would go wrong.We are… from Hell's Kitchen."

Kai nodded and he heard about Jason's confession. He thought, ‘Sometimes, it isn't a good thing for children to be so smart.’

Jason felt overwhelmed because he's been over thinking about his future. He knew that since he lives in Hell's Kitchen, not many opportunities were open to him. Especially when he is the son of an immigrant. 

Even his mother who had worked hard all of her life, couldn’t escape her label and her living situations. She had to struggle everyday to provide for her family. That's why she could only bring her son to Kai’s clinic. 

"Jason, I have some advice for you if you want to hear it. " Kai asked him first before giving him his thoughts. Jason nodded slightly as he felt safe with the doctor.

“ It was a story I heard from my friend about The Horse, The Boy, The Fox, and The Mole. I always keep thinking about a quote that has helped me whenever I feel overwhelmed.

“A boy and a horse are in the woods. The boy says to the horse ‘I can't see the way through.’ ”

Kai/Ryan reminisced about the time in his previous life. In his previous world. Where he thought about killing himself every single day, just to stop struggling. 

“ The horse said to the boy, ‘Can you see the next step?’ ”

“And the boy said ‘... yeah.’ ”

“The horse said, ‘Then just take that.’ ”

That's how he lived his life before, and how he lived his life now.

"All this time we look at the goal, we look at the future, at the end game, we look at how long the journey is, and we feel overwhelmed. Instead of that just go.."

".. Right, I'm not gonna worry about that because that will come. With each step you'll get closer to that so I don't need to worry about how far away it is, all I need to focus on right now is… my next step. "

The quote that he kept by him his entire life before, now appeared again in his mind. Snapping out of his stupor, Kai noticed that Jason was thinking deeply about it. He gave him some time to do that and to process it on his own. They talked for a while and Jason kept replying to what he asked.

 After a while, Kai called the boy's mother back in.

"There's nothing wrong with him in the physical sense, but his emotions are in disarray. I will give you the number for a children psychiatrist that I hope you follow up on." Kai pushed the name card to the mother's hand.

Jason did change albeit a little compared to before he went into the clinic. He waved to the doctor goodbye before he followed his mother back home. His mother received some help from Kai and won’t have to pay much in the treatment for his son after this. 

After the patients left, he sighed a little. " "Compared to my previous world, this era doesn't care that much about mental health. I guess that's why many heroes and villains run around the streets. "

He wished that the kid's mother would go to the psychiatrist for Jason's mental stability, and get him the help he needed. 

Kai returned inside his clinic, calling his next client in. It was then he heard a notification from the trading system.

[Quest complete : Run a clinic in the chaotic area in your city. You need to SAVE at least 10 patients before the quest is completed. You need to spread the legend of TheDoctor in your area.]

Props : Intermediate medical knowledge, Intermediate medical kit, Medical licence.

Rewards : Perfect t-virus.

Progress: (10/10) Completed!

"How did this happen? Because of Jason?" he muttered. A thought appeared in the most far corner of his mind. ‘Or is it because of myself?’

Kai was excited. Even the main body Ryan was excited. He could finally enter the Tier 2 Marketplace. But the excitement was short-lived. "Now what should I do with this identity?

In another universe. There was a man who wore a lab coat and was surrounded by many cryogenic chambers containing clones. He messaged his friend using the Interdimensional Trading System, in a private chat. 

TheDoctor : The kid finished my quest.

RetiredMechanic : Are you sure about this? I give him a quest like that only because of you.

TheDoctor : I'm sure. It'll change the kid from how he is now, I have high hopes for it.

RetiredMechanic : I pray that you are right.

 

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