Chapter 6: 6. Ghost

[ACHIEVEMENT! First Time Travel! +15 SP]

Ignoring his system’s notification, Stray focuses on what is waiting for him beyond the time machine. It was certainly something as unexpected as…

“Dodgeball!”

Stray opens his eyes to the very same basketball court of Midtown High. Except for this time, it is no longer midnight, but the class hours. Surrounding him are a bunch of kids around his age, all playing dodgeball for PE’s sake.

Tilting his head to the side, Stray barely dodges the ball that almost hits him in the face. Lifting his left foot, Stray dodges the bouncing ball from his flank. The balls just keep on coming. Barely dodging the curve ball aiming for his waist by sucking his stomach in and leaning his weight backward, Stray kind of gets into the zone.

Stray’s Thievery (D) skill is acting up almost at a supernatural level as he performs quite the maneuver of grabbing two fastballs that seem to come from nowhere. With impressive accuracy, Stray returns the onslaught of balls the moment he catches them midair.

That was how Stray… was able to establish his reputation in the war in which he had no choice but to participate.

“Who was that guy?”
“He appeared from nowhere.”
“Damn, I didn’t even know we had a classmate like that.”
“Maybe he is from another class?”
“Those were some dope moves.”

Pretending to be one of the students by capitalizing on his gathered fame from playing dodgeball, Stray was able to form some clout with his temporary peers. It was as if they have been his classmates the whole time.

The psychological impact of his performance in the dodgeball game contributes much to his current psychic-like invisibility.

Stray spends his whole day like that as a normal student of Midtown High once more, trying to see and hear if there were any useful information he’d catch from the gossiping of his fellow students.

As the school bell rings, Stray hides in a place he knows no guards will come to patrol— the men’s room. With a pink laptop he ‘accidentally’ snatches off from some Karen, Stray connects to the generous 24/7 internet of the campus.

Today is February 2, 2010. If memory serves him right, the events of Ironman 1 will take place in this year. Stray doesn’t need to concern himself with that too much as his current priority is to rendezvous with his friends.

Stray doesn’t take time for too long as he catches up on a news article from the Midtown News website detailing a ghost sighting in Midtown High Robotics Lab. This cannot be a coincidence.

According to the online article, last midnight, a flying silhouette of a woman happens to wander around the Robotics Lab. There is a belief that it was the ghost of a dead woman who cannot get past the afterlife because of her great regret of not creating her best battle robot yet.

“…”

Stray needs some time to process what he was reading. As he scrolls down, eager to leave the particular awkward paragraph of the article, Stray sees this more awkward Ad about ‘Robot Wars’ which was infamous for its incredibly low ratings and exaggerated display of nerdiness.

“I think… It actually, kinda, looks cool…”

Stray clicks on the Ad revealing a chaotic amount of numbers, symbols, and jargon.

“…”

Stray folds the pink laptop and leaves the men’s room. Carrying the laptop in one hand, and a bag full of stolen stuff, Stray proceeds on his own merry way. With a lead already in his hand, Stray decides to check up on the Robotics Lab.

Arriving at the Robotics Lab, Stray uses his Appraisal (C) skill every chance he gets.

[Robot parts: Minor parts for robots in Robot Wars.]

[Desk: A normal desk.]

[Schematics: A robot blueprint.]

[Customized battery: Extra storage capacity.]

…

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After some time, Stray finally founds something worthy of his suspicion.

[Ceiling: There seems to be some activity behind it. A good spot for hiding.]

Above Stray is the plain white ceiling of the Robotics Lab. From one corner, he can see some gap in the panels that composes the ceiling. Stray drags a chair to the suspicious part of the ceiling. Using the chair as a foothold, Stray jumps and drags himself to the little gap in the ceiling. With a little force, Stray pries the ceiling open, letting himself inside.

“It is time to meet our ghost…”

Inside, Stray sees Morgan busily tending to her machines. The secret space in the ceiling is spacious enough for her activities. Morgan has some light, barely enough to illuminate the place, but just enough to help her not lose sight of her work.

After two years of normal school life, Stray was able to develop certain skills like Piano (F), Memorization (D), and Socialization (E). Stray’s Socialization (E) skill is telling him that there is a dreadful atmosphere surrounding Morgan.

It can’t be that she is still pissed about his stunt? Stray keep his inner thoughts to himself.

“What is it?” Stray softly asks with concern.

Morgan raises her head and looks at Stray. There is bitterness in her smile and a trace of guilt…

…

It annoys her to a great extent how Stray just made a fool out of her. Being hit by her own repulsor blaster is not a pleasant experience. Morgan’s repulsor blaster was an original work on her part. The anti-gravity tech was also her work. Though these techs are based on already existing tech, Morgan is proud to say that they are proudly her own work— a creation of her own hands.

Arriving at the familiar basketball court of Midtown High, the first thing Morgan did is search for a hideout. From her past timeline, she has this nice little place above the Robotics Lab. Returning to her familiar hideout, Morgan settles herself in her comfort zone. One by one, she arranges her tech before her, the arc reactors, the nano-tech cuboid, and some anti-gravity clamps.

The nano-tech and arc reactors are obviously not Morgan’s own making. It was her father’s. Morgan grabs the nano-tech cuboid. Her father had too little stash, so Morgan has to suck it up and use the hand she was dealt with.  It’s not much of a problem either.

Morgan after all is not confident enough that her computational power will be able to keep up with more nano-tech. The amount she is now is just the right amount.

With all her might, Morgan tries to conjure a laptop using the nano-tech. It is more difficult than usual as she has no assistance from her Artificial Intelligence anymore. Thursday, the AI, cannot come with her, because of some security reasons.

If Morgan does bring Thursday into this timeline, the said AI might risk her presence to Tony Stark, her father. It would be quite a heartfelt reunion if that does happen, however, Morgan is not that naïve.

Morgan is most certain that making contact this way will result in irreversible changes that she will greatly regret. In her mind, her father is a righteous man. If such a righteous man learns of his daughter’s neglectful escapade through time, the said man won’t hesitate to return her back to where she should be.

That’s why Morgan strengthens her resolve, that no matter what, she won’t return to her old timeline anymore.

Staying in the secret space in the ceiling, Morgan puts herself into a one-track mind of creating whatever tech she can think of using the limited resources around her. Her conjured laptop is a great help in her tech building and casual search of information on the internet.

Morning comes, and a day passes just like that.

Midnight once more, he finds his way to her, it was Stray.

“You know what? Why are you even here?” Morgan rubs her forehead in exasperation.

“I told you already, I want to shake Ironman’s hands…” Stray as if he cannot believe that Morgan cannot believe him, hunches his back down in defeat aware that it’ll take him a long time to convince Morgan of his true intentions.

Morgan seriously keen on not having contact with Stray transforms her laptop into an Ironman gauntlet. “Here, shake Ironman’s hand and go home…”

“…”

Stray shuts up, not sure whether he should laugh or cry. Why is this girl is so stubborn? Are you a ghost?

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