Some Things Change (3)

Jason found himself back on the couch in his living room. He stared blankly at the ceiling, counting the dust particles that stuck out to his eyesight. After the four hundred thousandth, he grew bored with that, and then started to wonder about how he was going to pass his time. After all, he had sent a couple messages to Julius, asking more about Delver colleges, and he didn't want to rush into any applications just yet before he was sure they weren't out to steal everything from him. 

That reasoning was fine and all, but that just drove home just how bored Jason was. He habitually checked his Holo watch, catching himself before he brought it to his line of sight.

It had been a week or so since Jason stopped trying to message Oliver or Lee since they had gone their separate ways. Of course, they never explicitly said that, but Jason could take the hint. Oliver and Lee had their own things going, so he supposed he should try and do his. 

Which led him to look for any sort of enrichment for his knowledge on Delvers. 

Though, enrichment was something of an overestimate of the actual situation. Everywhere Jason looked all he could find were people raving maniacally about different topics. The Holonet was a collage of everyone's different viewpoints and ideas, and it was very seldom that he found actual, worthwhile information. Delver Unions committed an atrocity on human rights, one Delver was found to be a spy for one of their City Pillar's gangs, and all sorts of topics that popped up almost nonstop as news crews on each world accounted for each visible crime they could scrounge up.

Jason held no illusions that the profession of Delvers had no shortage of bad eggs. They were a caste of people who the public basically put onto a pedestal, and Delvers themselves started to associate themselves more as a separate race than anything.

Still, the teen found it odd that the public sentiment of Delvers never went below a net positive. There could be plenty of scandals exposed daily, but any random person in a City Pillar would say that a Delver was a prestigious position that warranted all their privileges. It was something Jason took notice of the more he dug into Delver topics.

He found a series of articles that detailed the differences between humanity's current digital network and the Pre-Fall internet. For one, the digital network seemed almost exclusively monitored and controlled by several Delver Unions and companies that rose up. They seemed to moderate the information and actively took down anything that was not too conductive to their images.

Understandably, Jason wasn't going to completely subscribe to the idea that they had a covert hold over the public by spreading false information. There were plenty of idiots who raved nonstop about that all day. However, Jason would not count out the companies from being assholes about certain topics, giving away incriminating information about their competitors to take them out of the picture.

The main point of the matter was that things had changed after the Great Fall. Many advances in technology seemed to have been wiped away entirely, and all that was left was the things that humanity chose was necessary for survival.

Again, Jason was really bored.

Suddenly, the lights of the room came on. Jason's eyes adapted to the sudden brightness automatically, but he felt momentarily stifled at the abrupt light. He furiously rubbed his eyes, regretting that he was focusing so hard on the ceiling's dust particles.

"Jason? What are you doing up?" Jason craned his neck to see his mom step out from the hallway that led to their apartment's bedrooms. The brown-haired woman curled one eyebrow up with her question.

"Uh, studying?" Jason said sheepishly, raising his wrist to show the holographic screen displayed.

His mom shook her head reflexively before she leveled him an unimpressed glare. "'Study on Pre-Fall Electronics and Socioeconomic Stresses'? When did you start getting interested in this?"

Jason shrugged, trying to bury the issue. "Nothing wrong with knowing a bit. Maybe they might pull out a pop quiz when I get accepted to uh… wherever."

"Did you send in applications like I asked you to?"

"Of course." Jason lied easily.

"Jason…" She said, eyes narrowed.

"What? I swear I was just gonna wait for the reply from someone I know. I don't want so many to come in at once."

His mom shook her head, reaching up to rub her forehead. "You know that's not what I meant when I said you should sign up for more. This is an important step for any Delver that wants to become more than your average Basemen–" She froze, shaking her head to edit her thoughts. "This is important for your future, Jason. Plenty of Delvers who come to me are to break the unfair contracts that are set up at the onset of their college."

"I know, Mom. I've already looked some of it up." He ignored how she almost said something about a 'Basement.' Telling your son that he might become a leader of a gang was the last thing on her mind.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Besides, its not like I'll be late or anything, this year's application period ended, and so It'll be another year before I actually have to go into any academy."

"... I really wish they allowed us to know things beyond the bare minimum." His mom groused softly, reaching out to give him a kiss on his head. "I know you can get in, Jason."

Jason helplessly took her affection, flopping back onto the couch. "Don't you have work to go to?"

"Don't get cross with me, Jason. I can be a little late today. You, on the other hand, need to do more applications where I can see you."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Is there an argument I hear in here?" Jason found his Dad lean out of the hallway, wearing only a pair of red shorts that revealed his chiseled body. Though, Jason's eyes roved to the large inch-wide scar that went straight down from the man's left shoulder to the middle of his ribs.

His dad saw where Jason looked at, shifting his body so the scar was out of view. He then turned to the irate brown-haired woman who stayed behind the couch. "Come on Laura, don't be too hard on him. Let him rest a little. He finished all the Holo classes you signed him up for before." He narrowed his eyes at Jason, "You did do those, right?"

"Three months ago." 

His dad smiled, nodding to his irate mom. "See, honey, no big deal."

"This is not a small matter, Christopher. I will not let him ruin his future because he wants to play around. Besides, look at him." His mom gestured to him, and then she glared as Jason chose to feign a teary look. "Don't do that. Just do what I am asking of you; it would only take a few minutes to submit one or two."

Jason sighed, tossing a look at his dad who just shrugged helplessly. Aggrieved, the teen pulled up his Holo to follow his mom's wishes only to pause as he saw a couple new messages sent to him. 

Immediately, Jason sat upright, holding out his Holo as if expecting it to combust for any random reason. 

"Jason?" his dad asked, but Jason was too busy reading the message again. 

Once, twice, and then a third time to just be sure. Jason read the message he had just received from Julius: that one of the four Delver academies on the Origin planet had posted up a dragon heart as a prize for their top student. 

Jason had looked up various threads and articles about dragons, their possible sightings, and items associated with them. He found that of the seven dragons slain, there had only been five dragon hearts that circulated amongst the upper echelons of Delvers. Though, that was the most accurate information he found; the rest of the reaccountings and posts were just people saying that the hearts were some sort of super powerful elixir or a poison strong enough to destroy a world's ecosystem. 

Either way, the dragon hearts were synonymous with something special. And Jason felt that his own Innate talent could do something with that prize, so he hurriedly messaged Julius back, hoping for good news. 

"Everything alright, son?" Jason finally looked up and winced when he saw the worried looks both his parents sent him. 

"Y– yeah, just some good news." He thought about it for a moment, and then decided that there wasn't anyone to stop him from actually explaining to his parents. 

Jason then cleared his throat and started, "It has to do with my Innate tale–" the teen paused as his Holo watch blinked red suddenly. He stared at the device for a second, frowning as it a message played across his Holo. "That's weird…" 

"Jason Argo!" The teen flinched as his mom said his name, sheepishly glancing at her. She leveled a glare his way. "Do not break your NDAs. Corporations take Delver matters extremely seriously, and they can have you working for them for the rest of your life should you recklessly say things."

Jason pursed his lips, holding up his still red Holo watch. "But I didn't sign anything…" 

His mom sighed, shaking her head. "I will need to ask the man who recommended you. He should have a record of the transaction contract, but just… just be a little more careful. You need to understand that, while you have many benefits for your situation, you aren't an exception to the system. Now if you'd excuse me, I will go and try to look up what rule you almost tripped up while you, young man, will submit those applications."

"Yes, mom." Jason said, rolling his eyes. 

She paused momentarily, and Jason saw her arms twitch upwards for a second before she canceled the attempt at a hug. Instead, his mom rounded on his dad, sternly glaring at him as he gave a goofy smile back. "Make sure he does." 

"Aye, aye, captain!" 

"Christopher." 

"Don't worry honey," his dad said, tapping Jason's shoulder. "I will hold this gremlin child down." 

Jason scoffed, breathing a sigh of relief as his Holo finally returned to normal. With it came an innocuous message that Julius sent him, asking to meet up. He figured it wouldn't be hard to escape his dad. 

~~~

Jason shouldered past an occupant in the elevator, making them stumble out of the doors. The man turned to glare at Jason, but the teen had already walked by. 

"Hey, asshole! You tryna start–"

"Jason! Over here!" Julius jogged over right before the man could continue, and Jason smelled the sweat form over the man's brow right as he caught sight of Julius' jacket. Sure, it wasn't that only Delvers wore the black bomber jackets, but it was fairly common to get out of someone's way if they saw it. 

Jason grinned at Julius before he glanced back at the man who had already gone off to wait for another elevator. Streams of people roved around them, creating a bubble of free space as they steered clear of Julius. 

"Causing' problems already, kid?" Julius chuckled as he clapped Jason on the shoulder, shaking his hand after the hit. "Damn, okay. Stronger body definitely." 

Jason's interest peaked, but he shook his head to Julius' previous question. "The dude started it. He took up most of the entrance to the elevator, and it smelled like he had some metal on him." 

Julius idly hummed before he tapped his Holo, whispering, "Possible concern on floor 254. Male, black hair and eyes, middle aged, and smells like metal–" he turned to Jason. "How much metal did you smell, kid? Can you tell if it was some gun or some bigger heat?" 

"I just smelled metal." Jason started to shrug before he stopped and pursed his lips. "Though uh, not enough to be bigger than a pistol, so probably a small handgun or something." 

"Most likely armed. Take care, looks like he's descending." Julius finished into his Holo, tapping it off and leaning back into overhead stretch. He groaned and leveled Jason a playful glare. "Look at you, kid, already making me work." 

Jason looked a little concerned. "Uh… was it really that bad? Aren't most people armed?" 

"Eh, sure." Julius shrugged. "Ain't saying they're all there to cause problems, but normal humans are a hassle to handle. They do random acts of violence all the time, and recently, there was a rumor floating around that said that normal people can awaken into Delvers with enough danger. Plus, on the clock, we're all monitored via Holo, so I got to log any possible problems when I receive them." 

Jason frowned, causing the Delver to laugh.

"Don't give me that face, kid. I'm just doing my job, and we got to get this over with fast while I still am on break, so let's go chat over there, yeah?" Julius motioned over to a nearby building block. 

Jason looked over where Julius pointed. They were technically on the lower floors of the Clouds, but that didn't stop the small restaurant or shop from popping up in floors mainly for housing. Said buildings were normally just repurposed housing blocks that primarily were situated right next to elevators. Though, Jason never really had the ability to care for them; every City Pillar had dedicated floors for groceries and food, so he had never really had the time nor money to waste on smaller, more expensive stores. 

Still, the place looked better than most Jason had glanced at before. The entire building must have been bought out as the whole side of it that faced the elevators had a holographic video of various customers who were eating food that looked too good to be true. At the entrance, a man in a suit stood in front of a line that waited in front of the open door of the building. From this distance, Jason could see what looked like wooden floors and holographs on the sides of the walls to depict a clear sky. 

As they made their way to the nearest check-in booth for the floor, many normal humans parted around them or left their spot in line to find another booth. It was barely a minute before the two of them had cut through the majority of the line where another Delver posted up next to the check-in booth who nodded over at Julius. 

"Hey, I'm going on break. Don't miss me too much, Janet." Julius smiled at the woman in the glass booth, waving his Holo at the glass. 

The woman rolled her eyes, ignoring the man and turning to Jason. "Hello, resident or temporary?" 

"Temp." Jason said as he held up his Holo. The woman nodded once before a red beam connected his device to the glass. 

"Okay, you will have four hours after you have crossed the barrier behind me. Should you require more time or need an emergency extension you will need to go to the help desk of the nearest Scarlet Eyes building. I'm sure that idiot can help you if you get lost." Janet said, ignoring the scandalized look Julius sent her. 

Jason chuckled slightly, giving the attendant a wave as he left with Julius. It was certainly nice to see that, even when interacting with a Delver, she didn't seem too bothered. Something that gave him hope that his relationship with his friends was not destined to be a parting. 

With those thoughts on his mind, the two Delvers made it to the restaurant. Jason quickly came out of his reverie as Julius inserted himself at the front of the line, and his ears caught the audible grumbles from other members in the line. 

That immediately struck Jason as odd. He gave a couple glances at the people in line, finding many of them wearing fancy clothes with lots of makeup, rings, and necklaces. They were not wanting for money, he knew. Jason felt that people like them would know more about Delvers than he did. 

Yet, even as Jason and Julius passed them, they did not hide their displeasure and disgust. 

A little uncomfortable, Jason shuffled after Julius, watching as the man just waved down the bouncer to the restaurant. The older Delver didn't look bothered by any of the gazes, and after a couple whispers and a few laughs, they were in the restaurant. 

The inside of the building was much like Jason had seen it from the outside. Wooden floors that looked and felt like wood covered the floor, but Jason's nose twitched as he smelt metal instead of the wood he expected. The circular room itself was barely decorated beyond some kind of holographic video of a clear, blue sky and clouds. In the middle of the room, there was a small podium where a man and woman smiled at them professionally as they entered. 

Oddly, Jason quickly noticed how quiet the entire place was. There was only soft music that played, and Jason narrowed his eyes as he smelled the scents of many people. He traced the ones that weren't that old, finding that many of them split off towards the walls of the building. 

"Heh, I can see why they call you bloodhound." Julius spoke up, offering a grin as Jason blushed at the title. 

"I– I uh, sorry." 

Julius waved. "No problem, kid. A bunch of normal humans would probably be wary if you start to do that randomly, though." 

"Right…" 

"Yo, I got a private room." Julius said as he reached the man and woman at the podium. 

The woman smiled genially at the Delver, silently gesturing to a small crystal on the podium. Julius scoffed and pointed his Holo to it, and a red beam connected the two devices. After that, a faint green line shone on the fake, wooden floor, trailing to a portion of the wall. A section of it opened up with the soft sound of gears. 

"If you could follow me, treasured protectors." The woman bowed, moving to lead the way. 

Jason followed behind Julius as they were seated in a fairly spacious room. Cushioned seats bordered the edges of the room where a large, circular table sat in the middle. The walls did not display any holographic image, but Jason did spot some sort of interface near the door as he sat across from Julius. 

"Please feel free to take your time and order at your leisure." The woman said, refusing to meet either of their eyes. She gestured to the interface Jason had spied on before. "Should you wish for specific music, scenery, or want to lock in your order, please use our system to input your requests. Thank you for eating with us today." 

With that, the door to the room hissed closed, and Jason found himself alone with Julius. The older Delver leaned back in his chair, rubbing his neck with a groan. 

"So…" Jason awkwardly shuffled in his chair. 

The man chuckled. "Honestly, kid, you're lucky you came with me. This place is booked till three weeks from now, so order whatever. On me." 

"... What's the catch?" 

"Sharp as always." Julius smiled, flipping his hand. Jason tensed as there was suddenly a small rectangular piece of glass in the Delver's hand. He tapped the thin strip of metal that was on one side of the device as a bunch of words appeared on the glass' surface. 

Jason hesitantly took the offered piece of glass, briefly glancing at it and recognizing it as a contract. He frowned, eliciting another chuckle from the older man. 

"Yeah, figured that would be your response." Julius said with a shrug, disappearing the glass with another gesture. "Anyways, I have to offer you that contract or else my managers would throw a fit. They are all high strung about equivalence when it benefits them, so I gotta do it if I want to have this talk with you." 

Jason blinked. "Uh… Are you in trouble for this?" 

"This meeting? Eh, its a tossup, and kinda complicated to explain in my breaktime. How much do you know about the corporations that run this City Pillar?" 

Jason tilted his head in confusion. Julius shook his head with a wry smile. "Well, nevermind then. Basically, there are three corps who run the majority of things: Scarlet Eyes Corp., Cloudstrider Industries, and Balic Inc. Each of them are invested in new Delvers, and they are pretty interested in a new asset that could deal with dragons." 

"Asset?" Jason echoed that title, feeling vaguely insulted. 

Julius gave a pained expression but schooled it. "Yeah, its what you would be. No need to worry too much about it; you saw the expressions of those people we passed by before in line, right?" 

Jason paused, thinking back to how they cut the line. It was one thing for people to grow disgruntled with him, but rarely did he receive anything but wariness when they found out he was a Delver. 

Finally, Julius' point clicked in Jason's head. 

"Delvers aren't seen as much more than manpower in higher circles?" Jason questioned with a frown. 

"Got it in one, kid. And yeah, even if I was capable of killing everyone near the entrance without stepping outside this room, the idea that Delvers are a controllable element is a common thing the higher you go in every City Pillar. Makes sense, you know, the people in power want to feel like they are in power, and if everyone in the tower was wary of Delvers, then we'd be on the verge of another Transcendent War." 

Jason pursed his lips at the reveal. He understood the reasoning behind it, and really, he couldn't care for the knowledge beyond a small acknowledgement. After his Abyss Stone Appointment, the teen realized that Julius got sidetracked pretty easily.

"Beyond that, did you have anything to tell me about Halo Academy of Delver Arts?" 

"Ah," Julius opened his mouth in slight surprise. Jason hoped the man hadn't already forgotten what he was there for. "Right. Anyways, why I mentioned the three corporations was because each of them wants to recruit you and send you to the academy as the announcement for next year's prize set off a couple of them. Its why I can waive this bill on company money." 

Jason ignored that last bit, focusing on the fact that the three corporations of his City Pillar wanted to recruit him. "So the dragon heart was true? Should… I take the offers then?" 

Julius faint wince told all Jason he needed to know. He quickly moved on, "Yes to the dragon heart. As for the offers, I recommend you try not to take any of them. They may pay for your tuition, but the amount of hold they gain over you is little… Well, it might be a bit excessive." 

"That bad, huh…" 

"Its probably worse than you think." Julius said. "They actively stopped me from learning the hand signs for more offensive techni–" 

Julius stopped mid sentence as his Holo blinked red, and he sighed tiredly, slumping into his seat as his Holo took a couple seconds to go back to normal. He shook his head at Jason's unasked question. 

"Sorry, almost spilled some secrets. Its annoying how much each company hides, but its mainly to hide their advantages from others and to give Delvers like you incentive to join them." Julius said, glaring at his Holo. "If I had it my way, the information would be disseminated freely, but… that's not going to happen anytime soon, you know." 

"Is– is that why you're helping me?" Jason asked carefully. 

"One of the reasons. Another is because I think you have a good shot at making it big, kid. Two Innate talents already puts you in line to make it, and I would hate it if you ended up like me. Wasted potential, I say." As he spoke, Julius' self-deprecating smile wormed its way into Jason's head. 

The teen couldn't get that sad smile out of his head even as he carefully quizzed the older Delver about pitfalls to watch out for. Even as they ordered the frankly delicious food, Jason wanted to ask the man about all the regrets he had. However, Jason held his tongue, already thankful for Julius' help so far. 

All the teen needed to do was work up enough money to pay for one of the four most expensive academies in humanity. No big deal, really.