“System, you’re there?”

[Yes, User Tobias Wong. How may I assist you?]

“What is this lens on my palm?”

[This is the reward given to User Tobias Wong. The cybernetic utility add-on, Heat Palm, is designed and manufactured by a company called ‘The Martian Continuum’. The add-on is compatible with several cybernetic systems including those currently owned by User Tobias Wong. It can be powered by the Bosman Energy Core so no extra energy devices are required for the add-on. The Heat Palm produce a short laser blast with a maximum range of three hundred meters that is released through the lens that is now placed on the user’s palm. The lens is made from a scratch-resistance shatter-proof glass that is commonly used in various space cruisers. The user can also mentally adjust the lens. Adjustment of the lens will affect the range and intensity of the laser. At shorter but higher powered range, the laser can be used to cut through various metals like carbon steel without any issue.]

“So…it’s a laser gun!”

[It is a cybernetic tool add-on that has a variety of uses. For example; at shorter range, user Tobias Wong can configure the laser to be continuous and use it as a cutting tool. It is not a solely self-defense add-on.]

“So, it is a laser gun!”

[If the user wishes to dumb it down and call a cybernetic add-on with a variety of uses as a simple laser gun; the System cannot stop him.]

I couldn’t help but grin. This was the first time the System had given me a weapon, and after what happened, it was more than welcome. I silently wondered if the incident in Thailand had any effect on the System. It seems too coincidental that the first time I was given a weapon was after my second near death experience. What’s even better was the fact that the Heat Palm was classified as a cybernetic add-on, and not as a system weapon. A loophole that meant less checks and restrictions from the government. I noticed a blinking light in the System interface. I have a new mission. I accessed it and the System began.

***

Mission: Create A Portfolio

A weapons designer needs to design. He must have a body of work behind him that showcase his skills and creativity. Have ten battleuits in your portfolio within six months. Current number of battlesuits in portfolio; four.

Note: The battlesuits must be finished designs accepted by Dive. No drafts will be accepted by the System. Reward will be based on quality of the battlesuits designed.

***

My human eye widened in surprise. I was expecting the System to tell me to design a Grade Four battlesuit, but it instead was just telling me to create more battlesuits. Quantity over quality? Doesn’t sound like something my father would do. My father was known as The Mad Triple and even his legion of enemies will admit my father was a first-class inventor. Whether it was a new type of bomb, virus, or weapon, anything invented by Diego Martin was top of the line. Now the System was just telling me to just design six battlesuits within six months?

“System, what is this mission? How am I supposed to design six battlesuits within six months without them being total shit?’

[User Tobias Wong has not designed anything for the past six months. The System is sure the User would have many ideas while recuperating in bed. It is time for you to, as they say, get back in the saddle.]

“I was shot! It’s not as if I took a vacation. And what’s with this time limit? No one can design a battlesuits a month for six months straight. It’s ridiculous!”

[If creator The Mad Triple was here, he would just say, ‘You are wasting time. Get to work!’]

I cursed. That does sound like something my hard-ass father would say. To think that most of the public believed him to be a fickle genius. I took a deep breath to calm myself. Then I took another breath and went into my cyborg mode. It wasn’t some programming in my cybernetics but a way of thinking that allow me to compartmentalize my human emotions and focused on my situation in analytical terms.

To design six battlesuits in six months was a big ask, but not impossible. I am not willing to let the quality of my design suffer due to a time limit but designing one battlesuit per month may be doable if I don’t care too much about the marketability of the battlesuits. I do spend a lot of time checking on rival battlesuit designs to make sure my battlesuits can sell but if I ignore the marketability of my designs … that’s stupid! What’s the use of designing a battlesuit no one will be using? I’m not going to do that.

However, there’s no penalty for failing the mission outside not getting the reward. Getting the reward is great, but it’s not as if any harm would befall me if I failed. The more I thought of it, the more excited I was. It won’t be easy, but I can do it. Even if I fail, so what? I had not failed any missions yet, but I seriously doubt my father would give his children a system that would harm them for failing a mission.

After thinking about the matter, I decided that was the way to go. I will try my best to complete the mission to the best of my ability, but I wasn’t going to be beholden to it. The System told me before that it was a guide, so I shall treat it as one. If I succeed; that’s great. If I failed; then I fail. I seriously doubt the System would disappear if I fail one mission. It is after all already part of my DNA. The System was right about one thing though; it was time for me to get back to work.

I threw the dish into the sink and wore a T-shirt along with a pair of jeans. One good thing about having a cybernetic upper body was that you can go around in public half-naked, but unfortunately for me, my cybernetics only covers my torso and both my arms. My legs and stomach were still human, in fact I still had a bit of a belly, so I had to put on a shirt when I go out. I had thought of changing my stomach to cybernetics while I was in the hospital, but the thought of not needing food in the future put that thought to rest in a hurry. I’m a Singaporean, and loving food was a beloved national trait.