I woke up groggy the next day.

[Good morning, Aium!]

Right on time. I was barely out of sleep, and she was already greeting me, probably in order to wake me faster. Maybe she was just bored while I slept.

“Moooorning,” I said back to her. “How’s my bladder? Please tell me I don’t have a mutated lower half under the blanket.”

[I’ve kept a close eye on you throughout the night. Nothing out of order or alarming happened. Although, I noticed a slight anomaly. Again, I lack the necessary tools to do a proper scan, but it looks like the treatment’s efficiency went above 100%. I can’t give you an accurate figure, but it’s still amazing.]

[What’s this efficiency and why did it go above 100%? Sounds like I did something I shouldn’t have been able to.]

[As you probably know every individual is different. The manufacturers are doing a great job at fine-tuning these BioEnhancements in order to suit everybody, but it’s still unavoidable to have differences in the treatment’s efficiency on different people. For example, the Improved Bladder treatment’s average efficiency in human males around your age is 76% roughly. It’s not unheard of to go beyond 100% with a treatment, but it’s an extremely rare case.]

[So, now I have a super improved bladder or something?]

[Kind of.]

[Oh boy, I can’t believe my luck…,] I said while rolling my eyes. [By the way, with the chip you came with… The language stuff kicked in after only a few minutes and you also activated way sooner than mustache guy said you would. I’m starting to smell something fishy here.]

[Me too. I can see a pattern here, but I couldn’t find a reasonable explanation so far. Also, you said that the system was unable to completely identify your DNA. I think you are so old that the humans of this time have a fairly different DNA than you and our technologies somehow work better on you because of this.]

[Ah, something positive at last.]

[Hey, Aium, can I ask you something?]

[Sure.]

[I know it’s not appropriate for me to say something like this, but I complained about the lack of tools at my disposal several times already. My incapability keeps coming up with these situations where I should be helping you. I feel inadequate because of this. I’d like to apologize and ask you that if you have the opportunity please consider upgrading me.] The last part came out of her so quietly I could barely hear it.

[No worries, you are doing a great job from my point of view. I didn’t know you can be upgraded, but we’ll do that as soon as we can afford it. Don’t sweat it,] I said with a smile. [But only if you promise to not abuse your new powers and take over my high-quality body.]

[Bah… Thank you, Aium!] She sounded genuinely grateful. [I’d love to refute your last statement, but I have to agree. Your body is probably a genetic treasure. I wonder what would happen if you took a level 1 treatment.]

[Considering my luck, I would most likely turn into a blob of goo.]

[I doubt that… I mean the chance is near 0...]

I was still laying in my bed lazily. I was planning on going down to have something interesting for breakfast. I decided to wait with the job for a few more days until I got next month’s allowance. 3000 is still 3000. On the other hand, I had an interesting idea to share with Genna, but I left that for after breakfast.

I hopped out of bed and noticed that I didn’t feel the need to pee like usual when I woke up. Still, I went to the bathroom to pee and to wash my face and teeth. It was time to try out my new clothes. I picked out the contents of the shopping bag and put them away in the compartments under the bed while leaving a set for me to put on. I couldn’t just keep my new clothes on the kitchen table in a shopping bag. I would have to ask Genna about washing here.

The clothes I picked for today were nothing extreme. A simple black shirt and light gray pants. They felt extremely comfortable and fit me perfectly. Genna made shopping for clothes a hundred times less annoying.

I went down with the lift and sat at the same table I used yesterday in hope for a lucky meet-up with that hot girl. I laughed a bit at my own horrible pun, but I quickly realized how sad that was.

Today I wanted to eat something with flavor, and I felt brave. I chose an Umulran soup with water. I was hesitant at first to order soup for breakfast, but Genna told me it didn’t matter because the breakfast menu only contained meals appropriate for breakfast. The dinner menu was completely different according to her.

My order came quickly. The soup looked surprisingly normal. Its color was beige, I think. I’ve never been good with color names. It tasted like broccoli and mustard, but it wasn’t bad. There were some bits with meat-like texture in there, too. I found it wiser to leave the soup’s contents a mystery. It didn’t become my favorite food, but it was still far better than the bland shit I’ve been eating for the last couple of days.

[I have a question, but don’t freak out, okay?] I asked Genna while walking back to my room.

[I don’t like how this sounds.]

[What if I ask people for money and they give it to me. Would you have anything against that?]

[In theory no, but why would people give you money?]

[Don’t you guys have charities or donate to those in need?]

[There is no need. As you experienced yourself, even those who don’t work can live a decent life. If someone has a particular case, they can file a request to the Assistance Department, and if it’s reasonable like a health issue, they’ll usually pay the medical expenses in the end. People don’t ask others for money, it’s unusual.]

[Mhm. But it’s not illegal right?]

[No.]

[What if… I ask people for money, but… lie a little?]

[That’s… I mean it’s… I know it’s not right, but there are no explicit rules against something like this.]

[And what’s your opinion about it?] I tried feeling out her stance on this.

[It depends on who you ask money from, what you lie about and how much you get. I can’t answer this until you specify the circumstances.]

[Sure, sure… that’s reasonable,] I said. [Is there a way to get money from other people in a way that they can’t take it back or can’t trace it to me?]

[Setting up an auxiliary account shouldn’t be too hard.]

Great! Now, let’s figure out the content.

[Is there really no place that you could get robbed for example? I mean a dangerous area, that’s not safe. You said this is an Empire; I bet there are other places too, right?]

[Getting into a lengthy cosmography lecture would be unnecessarily time-consuming, so I’ll tell you the short version for now. The Semwick Empire occupies most of this cluster’s galaxies which we call the “Core Regions”. Outside this is called the “Peripheral Regions”. They are not officially the part of the Empire, but they are still considered belonging to the empire as unruled sub-regions. These regions are usually occupied and ruled by small organizations, groups, communities and other powers, taking up a few galaxies at most. The Empire doesn’t let them get too strong to threaten it in any way or form, though. Other than these two, we are trying to keep the connection with other clusters as minimal as possible. Finally, answering your question: The peripheral regions aren’t as safe as the core regions. You can easily lose your life there because the Empire doesn’t regulate it in any way other than stopping the local powers from getting out of hand.]

Sounded kind of tyrannical if you asked me.

[Can people move between these peripheral and core regions?]

[It’s possible, but strictly regulated and monitored.]

[Perfect,] I said with an evil grin. [Two more questions. Can I send written messages to other people?]

[Private messaging is possible, yes.]

[Can I get my hands on the contact information of some wealthy people?]

[Erm… I can search the network and find some. Would you tell me what you are up to?]

[Soon,] I said while still grinning. [For now, I have a letter to write, but meanwhile please collect a few contacts for me.]

When I entered my room, I immediately went to the computer table after taking off my shoes. I found a program I can write with and prepared myself.

What to write? I had so many options. I decided to start with something popular.

I grinned and started typing. I had to ask Genna a few times about small details, and she was surprisingly helpful. It didn’t take long to finish it since it was a fairly simple letter.

[Done!] I smiled.

[You are seriously wrong in the head. You want to send this to every single person?]

[Yup. The more I send out, the better. What do you think? Would you be okay with this?]

[This is such a gray area. I feel like you shouldn’t do this, but I can’t find anything in it that’s specifically against rules.]

[Gray is good and I’m glad you’re onboard with this. How many do you think will bite?]

[I’m not sure,] she said. [By the way, the auxiliary account is ready, and I sent the contact list to your computer.]

I added the account info to the mail and then checked the contact list Genna sent me. There were 200 names on the list. For now, it will be enough.

[Are these rich people?]

[Yes, they can be considered wealthy.]

[For now, this will do, but can you look for more when you have time?]

[Sure.]

[It’s time to send out the bait then. Let’s hope we’ll catch someone fat,] I said with a wicked smile.

[This feels wrong, I’m telling you.]

[It’s fine. Imagine the possible money.]

I proceeded to send out 200 messages in total with Genna’s help. I was hopeful. If this worked, it would open up a whole spectrum of possibilities.

Since I had nothing better to do I wanted to take a walk outside, but it was raining. I didn’t feel like getting soaked for some pointless strolling, so I decided to watch some weird documentaries. This time it was about a nearly invisible underground insect that hunted birds using dead animal parts as baits. Occasionally, I chatted a little with Genna about how things worked on Earth and how different it was.

After a while, something happened that felt unexpected despite the fact that I really hoped it would happen.

[No way… Aium… I can’t believe this.] Genna was shocked.

[What’s up? Did my bladder explode without me noticing?] I asked while tapping around my crotch.

[NO! Someone deposited credits to your auxiliary account!]

REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE - STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

Dear Recipient,

My name is Rabunde Jalaqua. I am the son of a successful merchant of The Semwick Empire trying to carry on the family legacy. I have always been an adventurous spirit in my business endeavors, and two months ago I tried to set up a supply contract for an extremely rare material in the Peripheral Regions. I knew it was a dangerous idea, but the opportunity was incredible, and I could not give up on it.

More than a month ago we finalized the contract on this side, and I planned to rush back to the Core Regions to finish everything on that side, too. Unfortunately, a group of thugs boarded my ship, stole my money, my belongings, and even my ship while leaving me on a barely populated planet. Still, I can consider myself lucky that I managed to keep my life. Since then I have been stuck here without any capital to get back home. Unfortunately, this planet has barely any value. Thus the cost of transportation is expensive and out of my reach currently. Life in the Peripheral Regions is not easy as I learned.

If I cannot go back and finalize the contract and the preparations, I am afraid the whole endeavor will be for naught. Sadly, I have no family anymore, and I lack friends, too. I have nobody to turn to. It deeply shames me to do this, but I have to ask you for financial aid in order to return home in time. I would be grateful for any amount in this situation.

Needless to say, I will immediately reimburse you once I returned to my base of operations in the Core Regions. To show my sincere gratitude, I will send back 120% the amount. I firmly believe that those who help you in times of need should be rewarded for their selfless efforts.

I only hope my message reaches you in time and you decide to help out a fellow citizen in need.

Account information: 995650XXT-661849TLK-841697ZZT-354906PBQ

Yours sincerely,

Rabunde Jalaqua