“Fine,” Magnus said in his mind, to Codex, “The news it is.”

Magnus then turned to face his mother, who was none the wiser about the conversation that he had with Codex, since it was only a few seconds of real time, even though it felt much longer.

“So,” He started off with, trying to put on a strong front. “Did you hear what was on the news lately, mom?”

Magnus was never a talker, he was a man of few words, mostly, only ever talking a lot when he was angry or in the heat of the moment. That is what makes him so much like his father. He too was a man of a few words.

Magnus’ mother snorted at him and his silly question, then she asked her son, “Why would I ever be listening to or even be watching that garbage?” Then she slowly wheeled her head around to face him, and asked suspiciously, “Did you listen to it Shin'aina (means dear)?”

“Uhhh,” was Magnus's only reply. At that moment he felt like smacking himself right across the head, how could he seriously forgot about how much his mother hates the news. Plus who could blame her, nowadays they are all getting paid by one person or another, and the truth gets so twisted and turned by them, that you cannot figure out whether it a lie or the truth.

'I do not think they even have a clue anymore as well,' Magnus thought with a dark chuckle of the insanity of it all.

Magnus quickly got his head back in the game, and answered his mother's question, hesitantly, “No?” Even he, himself, when he heard his reply, felt that was weak, so he repeated it once more, and this time, he spoke up with full confidence and reassurance. “NO!”

“Do you mean, No? I am lying to you. Or do you mean, NO! I am telling the truth?” Magnus’ mother asked as she shrugged her shoulder and opened both hands wide and palms up. “I am really confused.”

At her question, Magnus remained silent, looking around the place, and hoping against hope that she would move on.

Then a peal of bright laughter broke through the silence, and it was coming from... Magnus’ mother? Magnus just stared at her with his eyebrows half raised, utterly confused at what she found so funny. He was about to ask Codex, but she too was laughing, and she continued with it, especially when he asked her, “What?”

'Damn,' Magnus thought, 'it sucks being the only one in the room who does not understand what is so funny. Also, why do I have this odd suspicion that I am what is funny?'

After a good while, Magnus’ mother finally cooled down. Moreover, she was finally willing to give an explanation, since she could not stand that hopeless look on her son’s face. “Ahh, I love messing with you, Shin'aina. Sometimes you could be so smart and clever, but other times you could be so slow to the uptaking. Lighten up Shin'aina,” She said as she pinched my cheeks lightly. “I was only messing with you, now go ahead and tell me about what was on the news.”

In the background of his mind, Codex was still laughing her ass off, and was only able to wheeze out, “Ahh, th-... that look on your face o-f utter confusion... that was completely priceless.”

Even though Magnus did not like this treatment that he was receiving, one bit at all, he was still an obedient son, so he did what was told of him. But that did not mean he did it happily, nooo, in fact, that was far from the truth. He made sure to grumble, drag his feet, and make his answer as short and confusing as possible.

“The seventh superpower formed, people are all saying it is going to be the last, since all the other lands have been taken over.”

“The what now?” Magnus’ mother asked with confusion written all over her face.

Magnus looked at her with his eyebrows raised and repeated slowly, “You know the people who control the world, the ones at each other throat.” Seeing that there was no recognition coming into her face, once he said that, he slowly and carefully asked. “Mom, have you been living under a rock?”

Magnus mother snorted at his question, then faced him fully, head to head, and said to him. “Oh, don’t give me that nonsense of yours. I have been busy raising you, and it is not easy at all while you are a single mother. And this is how you repay me?”

Magnus could obviously sense the petty she was trying to garner, as she spoke pitifully.

'What is with elderly parents and them trying to gather as much filial piety,' Magnus asked himself.

“Fine, I will start from the beginning,” Magnus said as he raised his arms in defeat.

“In the dawn of time, two Superpowers were warring with each other, the West and the East. They were about to nuke the heck out of each other and send themselves back into the ice age, but the new era came rolling in. With the new era, came people with gifts, and they became the new Alpha species on Earth.”

Seeing that Magnus was still acting like a little kid, whose feelings got hurt, his mother decided to play along with him and asked him politely. “Then what, Shin'aina?”

'Oh-ho!' Magnus though, 'I too can play this little game of yours mother.'

“Everyone thought, ‘Hey, why don’t we see what the fuss is about, concerning all these people who keep popping up with strange new gifts. That is exactly what they did, thanks to that new Superpowers were able to take the stage; with the new deadly weapons, technological advances, and most importantly of all; units of purely breed gifted individuals, ready to fight and kill.”

Still keeping up with that the facade, Magnus’ mother said calmly, “Shin'aina, you never answered my question.”

Magnus smiled at her response, “I was getting to it mom before you interrupted me, so if you could let me do my thing.”

“Of course,” Magnus mother said as she too smiled at her, but it was clearly not a happy one. “With the way you explain everything so naturally and easily, I would think that you could be a history professor.”

“And you would make the perfect student, with all of your question and remarks,” Magnus sweetly said.

Magnus mother then sighed, getting tired of the back and forth, “Okay, you could stop being a whiny little bitch now, Magnus.”

“I knew that I got my witty sarcasm from you, mom,” Magnus said, with no affliction in his tone at his mother’s salty comment. Magnus just smiled proudly and happily once his mother got tired of all this banter, he and his mother do this all the time. It is what makes them a united front and enjoy each others’ company.

Now, with no skin off his back and feeling giddy over his victory, Magnus decided it was about time that he stopped running around in circles.

“Anyways, where was I again? Oh, Yes! With all the new goodies and powers, at their beck and call, it was decided to coalesce all the territories and countries in the surrounding. From that, seven Superpowers formed all and all. These were the Western Alliance; which was made up of America, Canada, and a bunch of Western European countries which I would seriously never remember for the life of me. Then there is East Bloc; which everybody calls it like it is, just China, and the lands they conquered. Followed by the Soviet Union; which is so unoriginal, couldn’t the seriously come up with something else. Next, there is the Sanskrit Empire; which was single handily formed by one man, an Indian man that goes by the name of Girish Taxila. Some idiots theorize that he is arguably the most powerful gifted individual thanks in part to, his very destructive gift, but as I would say, put him up Charles Zimberman and his army of Mech suits and he would not last a single second. Finally, we have the Arabian Federation, the African Republic, and the latest Superpower, the Latino Coalition.”

Once Magnus was finished with his long explanation, he released a long breath of relief that he did not even know he was holding back. Then his gaze instinctively landed on the sink. Immediately he started to feel parched, so he got up and walked over to the sink, to get a drink of water.

“So,” Magnus mother asked as she rubbed at her chin while a pensive look played on her face. “You know with all dramas, there has to be enemies and allies. Do we have that?”

Magnus, who was draining one cup after another, put up his index finger making a gesture for his mother to wait.

After a bit, he started to slow down guzzling all that water, then he poured himself one last cup, and walked back to his seat, and sat down. Once he did that and got comfy in his chair, he started to answer his mother’s question.

“Well mom, you are still of the mentality that people are sane. They are NOT! Things are so diluted and confusing, even experts are not able to keep up and make sense of it all. Old grudges and new grudges are mixing together, creating a wonderful whirlwind of madness. The only people are not mad like the rest of us, are the Australians. They got enough sense to stay the fuck out of this and stay as far as possible. Oh, and as a side bonus, they are not crazy enough like everybody, to threaten blowing up every soul to kingdom come.”

“Wow,” Was Magnus mother’s only reply, as she shook her head, disgusted and disappointed, at what the world has come to. She quickly banished those dark thoughts and got back to the conversation she was having with her son.

“Ahh, I knew this Australian way back in high school, we even dated for a while. Ahh!” She said once more as she sighed out loud, while a look of remembrance was on her face. “Now I am regretting not marrying him and having him move us to Australia.”

Magnus just rolled his eyes at his mother light chatter, then brought his cup to his lips, to drink from it.

“But,” Magnus mother said as she shook her head, sadly. “He couldn't please any women with that small piker of his, I do not think that I would be able to stay with him for so long. Your father, on the other hand. Muhhh”

Once those word left Magnus mother mouth, he immediately spit out all the water he had in his mouth and started to choke on the rest, that when the wrong way.

He was able to get the coughing fits under control, and when he did, he wheeled around to face his mother, head on. “Mom,” he said as he pointed at her, “I do not want to know about those sort of stuff.”

“Oh come on,” Magnus mother said as she waved him off, “You are old enough to know all these sorts of things.”

Magnus scrunched up his face in disgust, and replied, “Mom nobody is EVER old enough to know about their parents' sexual activities, or as you parents, like to put it, your younger days.”

Magnus mother shrugged her shoulders and said to her son, “There is nothing to be embarrassed about, I am sure that you got some experience in these sorts of things.”

“Of course I do,” Magnus immediately responded, like he had something to hide, “it is just that I do not want to sh-..”

Right as Magnus was in the middle of trying to change the topic, and, you know, NOT have it be about sex. Somebody interrupted him, right as he was in mid-sentence.

'How abysmally rude!' Magnus reflected.

He turned his neck around to face where this new voice came from and it turned out to be the Holo TV speaking.

No, more accurately it was Codex who speaking through the Holo TV. And the words that came out of her mouth shocked Magnus to his very core. “Mrs. Kimiko, he is totally lying through his teeth.”

“Oh, hey Codex,” Was Mrs. Kimiko first response, but when she heard what Codex said, she asked, “What do you mean he is lying?”

“Haha, you would never believe it but he has no experience at all!” Codex shouted from the Holo TV.

Magnus mind quickly went into overdrive once he saw Codex popping up in the Holo TV, and knew, that like always, she would try to embarrass him. So he furiously thought of anything to not get his secret out.

“Yes!” Magnus shouted out loud as he stood up, knocking over his chair to the floor, and both women turned to face him, “Yes, I have no experience when it comes to… when it comes to po-..”

“Oh u-shhh,” Mrs.Kimiko said, “Do I look like an idiot to you, who you could lie to?”

“No,” was Magnus only response to his mother’s question, while he stared at the ground.

Well the secret is out, Magnus thought as he sat back down, damn you Codex!

“It is alright Shin'aina, if you have some problems down there, but I do not know where you get it from, your father was perfectly healthy, too healthy as a matter of fact.”

Magnus just stared at his mother god smacked into complete silence, his brain was even fried when he heard his mother accusation. And Codex was getting a hell of a good laughter from Magnus situation.

Finally, Magnus was able to put together a few words, “Mom, I d- do not... have any issues!”

Mrs. Kimiko, turned to look at her face, curious, and asked him, “then why are you still a virgin, Shin'aina?”

Feeling so impressed, but wanting to clear his name as well, Magnus explained himself to his mother, “I am looking for the right person.”

“Oh, come!” Mrs. Kimiko said as she raised up her hands into the air in exasperation. “I am not saying you shouldn’t be looking for the ‘right person.’ What I am saying is do not die as a virgin, go look for an escort and have a good time.”

Magnus just shook his head to himself, not believing what he is hearing, “Mom, did you just tell me to find a slut?” Not giving her a moment to respond, he continued on talking, “Because you are my mother, you are not supposed to urge me into doing these sorts of things. You are actually supposed to be advising me against those things!”

“Pfff!” Magnus mother said, “you are a boy, act like it!”

“Well, I am not going to do it,” Magnus replied.

Mrs. Kimiko looked her son right in the eyes and said to him seriously, “If you are worried that they would not like you, don’t be. You are a fine piece of man, and if I was a lot younger and not your mother, then I would be all over you.”

Magnus at once made some barfing noises when he heard what his mother said, “I just pucked in my mouth,” the young man said as he pointed at his mouth.

“I am seriously out of here!” He also added as he got up from his seat.

“Fine!” Mrs. Kimiko said, “we will move on. Now seat down, and do not runoff from your old lady.”

Magnus did as he was told, but it was done with a grumble, he also made sure to give Codex, who now resided in the Holo TV, a death glare.

“So,” Mrs. Kimiko started off with, “Did you find any work yet?”

At that question, Magnus heart nearly stopped from guilt and pain, but he kept up with his facade and answered back, “No Mom.”

“Why didn’t you?” Magnus mother asked, “It has been over a month since he got your license.”

'And it has been two weeks since it was revoked,' Magnus though sadly.

With a practiced lie already at the ready, Magnus responded, “You know how it is, you have to have connections in these sorts of top of the line jobs, and there really isn’t anybody who I know in the Mech business.”

Magnus mother whipped her head from side to side, and said, “I told you many times, try to make friends while you are there. There are a lot of kids that have parents that are rich and well connected, some even have parents who have gifts, the first generation of gifted ones.”

“U-ohh!” Magnus said at his mother remark as he made a bad gesture with his thumb. “The ones that were at my University were the worst kind of rich kids. They were the ones who were unable to develop any sort of power, meaning no academy for them. So they cast off to here, OAS University trying out for second best profestion. They are upset as hell of their bleak outlook in life, so they cover it up as best as they could by acting arrogent, snobbish, and downright cruel.”

“Sorry Shin'aina, I did not know it was that bad over there,” Magnus mother said.

“Well, it is now all over,” Codex said once silence started to settle in, with both humans beginning to get lost in their thoughs. “It is in the past, so here is to the future!”

“Here, Here!” Magnus mother said, “to my son’s very bright future.”

Magnus instantly wanting to bury his head into the ground once he saw that happy look on his mother’s face.

'Oh, how sorry I am mom,' Magnus thought wretchedly, 'how sorry I am that I failed you.'

But what Magnus did not know, was that his mother was absolutely right! His future was that of one of the most powerful individuals in the Known Cosmos.