Making Ripples

Entry 4:

Linus POV:

After a couple of hours of walking, I was finally able to get my head back on straight, and luckily the walk was good for me as it allowed me to test the physicality of my new form, which, to be honest, was working out quite well.

Soon enough, I began to see a city in the distance, and from how people describe it, they are exactly right. Even from here, this place looks like a hell hole. Yet this is the hell hole I'll have to spend a lot of my time in.

"Focus Linus, focus; you have three years to get this right and nine months to save Taylor's mother before the queen of escalation. Specifically, her trigger event becomes all the more possible".

Walking into this city, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of technology being introduced. While I have the skills and materials to create mother boxes, father boxes, and other impressive pieces of technology, my focus right now needs to be on building my customer base.

To be honest with my elvish-looking ears And general unearthly features: I could qualify as a case 53 and introduce myself as a low-level parahuman, which would get most of them off my back to myself, but I have to play this safe.

But first, I have to make it to a pawn shop. To sell off this gold to make myself a decent fund.

Although to get to the pawn shop, I'll have to walk through merchant territory, and that gang of druggies is, to be honest, quite terrifying. While I have an enhanced physique, it's not to the level of people like Captain America, or others, at least not yet.

Fortunately, the random omnipotent being decided to drop me off in the middle of the night. Thus, most people are still sleeping, and due to my dark clothing, it's harder for me to be seen.

To conceal my ears and hair, I added an extension to my shirt that creates a hood-like appearance. This helps to avoid drawing attention to them.

With just a small use of my limited creation magic, my magic pool has expanded even further. At present, I am capable of creating more basic technologies with ease. In fact, I have the ideal starter kit to work with.

In learning about DC, I've also gained insights from notable characters such as Gizmo and Lex Luthor. These individuals are not only renowned businessmen but also highly skilled programmers and geniuses in their own right.

I keep thinking these thoughts as I approach the pawn shop, which is called Brockton's Pawns. And as I enter the shop, I see only one person, which makes sense as it is late at night, and I walk up to the counter.

" Good evening. I have some gold I would like to pawn off", the man gives me a strange look as he responds "Where did ya get the gold kid?".

"Ah, you see, it's my grandparents as they found the gold when they were overseas. My mother served as a nurse while my father served in the army, and luckily, while my grandad was doing a routine search of a town, they found a stash of gold that they kept in case of emergencies, which I then inherited".

Which to be honest, was true as my grandparents did serve in the American military during World War II and that's how they got together. The gold part was a lie obviously, but the pawn owner didn't need to know that.

" So how did they die, kid?" The owner asked with a sympathetic tone with me, responding simply "Old age sir, they lived a full life and died in their sleep with smiles on their faces at peace with the world".

The man then responds by saying, "Well, kid, if it's your inheritance, I can't tell you what to do with it, so how much do you get".

"Sir, I have about 3 pounds worth of gold, which I believe is worth about $67,000 at the current market value".

The man looks a bit suspicious, but he takes the gold from the bag and asks, "Would You like that as credit or cash"?.

" I would like around $66,000 in credit, and the rest in cash".

(Before you guys ask, the card came with his drivers license he just didn't notice it until he got to the city)

As the man proceeded to do the transaction. Everything was seemingly going well until I remembered Murphy's law existed, and when we finished the transaction, I got the cash. A couple of druggies came into the store.

One of the men out of the four that showed up said with a slurred voice, "Get on the ground and put your hand behind your head".

Both I and the men complied as I got on my knees and put my hands behind my head, with the man seeming to press a silent alarm on his way down, albeit unnoticed.

The men then began to smash the glass that held the other items that were being sold, ranging from expensive watches to other jewelry, with me and the pawn shop owner just watching with pity as they wouldn't make it far with all of that as they didn't even have any baggage to carry it.

Although this look seemingly did not go unnoticed as one of the men came up to me, and said, in an angry tone, "What are you looking at?!". As he pointed his pistol at my chest.

Soon enough, though outside, sirens can be heard blaring as a certain motorcycle can also be heard that was written by one man by the name of Armsmaster.

The lights then go out as the power is cut off from the building as the druggies proceed to fire off random shots with me, dragging the pawnshop owner to the floor as I use my body as a shield due to my Kevlar clothing.

Within a couple of minutes, multiple bodies are thrown across the store as punches and kicks are thrown in rapid succession as the Armsmaster uses a halberd as a blunt object, knocking the men to the ground.

Although in this scenario thanks to the man's advanced training as well as his advanced weapons is the fact that most of the druggies are most likely high, and are essentially tripping over each other.

Soon enough, all the sound ceases as Armsmaster says in an even tone "It's all right to come out now you're safe".

I then rise from behind the counter, along with the pawnshop owner, and as he notices the bullet holes in my shirt, he begins to panic by telling the heroes. "Thank God you're here this man has been shot".

The hero's expression, then turn grim as the man wielding the halberd comes up to me as if examining my wounds, then notices there's no blood, and then realizes that my clothes are made out of Kevlar which softened the impact, in addition to the counter, taking most of the force.

Armsmaster then says, in a serious tone "We're going to have to take you to the hospital, sir, so to check those bullets did not cause any internal bleeding or bruising".

I simply not at my head as I had my money as they had not taken it and after grabbing my bag, I went with the two members of the wards to the hospital, where luckily panacea wasn't working that night, yet as the doctors came to check on me they asked me to remove my hood which I did so tentatively.

Which turned out to be a mistake. As soon as they saw my ears, they freaked out and returned to the hallway out side my room, and an irate man then came into the room with Armsmaster saying, in a serious tone.

"Sir, this may be a bit of a personal question, but have you triggered or do you have an omega-shaped tattoo on you?".

I then said in a bit of a nervous tone.

"Sir, I do admit to having triggered, and I am not a case 53, and I am also willing to go in for power testing at the Protectorate headquarters as I am a recent trigger".

Luckily, the two seem to smile at me being so compliant as if it wasn't a regular occurrence with them, allowing me into a car and driving us to the headquarters which luckily only took us a couple of minutes.

As we headed into the protectorate headquarters, I was taken to a large cube shaped room and was surrounded by other protectorate officials. As they asked me to do a series of tests, which, to be honest, reminded me a lot of the one punch man tests.

The tests consisted of checking my physical strength, as well as my ability to manipulate certain objects. but after explaining to them, the fact that my powers only lie, and the fact that I am a slightly enhanced human, they varied the tests to more physical ones as they gave me a low brute rating.

Also, if you guys are wondering why I didn't trigger arms masters lie detector it's because I never truly lied.

The conversation itself went like this with arms, master, and a couple other officials, asking certain questions like do I have any other powers in relation to my brute rating, which I technically did not have, as I was, neither a tinker, nor a master or blaster, or a stranger.

Because you see most powers in worm come from a part of the brain that triggers due to extreme duress, which I don't have, which to be honest, baffled their medical scans.

Now that the tests are complete, Armsmaster poses a crucial question. "Mr. Ozias, we have confirmed your identity and abilities, and I am delighted to offer you a place in the wards or as a known parahuman to the protectorate.

"Sir, I would be honored to serve as a member of the ward. However, I cannot be a hero, as the reason I was in that pawn shop in the 1st place was that I was going to start a business as well".

Armsmaster looks disappointed in this answer as I continue "I am not a tinker. I have been developing technology and getting a degree in business since I graduated high school and have been waiting to become old enough to start a business".

Then, a feminine voice comes over the monitor nearby, and it is confirmed to be Dragon, a prominent member of the Guild who represents most of the Parahumans in Canada, who is also secretly an AI, but that is something I should not reveal.

"Mr. Ozias. If you have technologies you are willing to sell, would you mind showing us some of the blueprints so as to confirm their safety once they are developed?". Dragon asks with a spark of interest.

I didn't respond by saying yes, but I did say "Miss Dragon, I will not be revealing them here as I do not have any physical copies on me as they are all kept within my mind but once I get my company up and running, I would be happy to offer the protectorate the gear I would be developing".

The AI seems to mull this over before saying "Well, that is a relief, Mr. Ozias, as not many men are willing to sell such things to the protectorate due to its less-than-stellar reputation".

I then simply smile and say with vigor.

"The whole reason I want to start this business is because I have lost everyone in my life, my parents and my grandparents. I don't have any siblings, and my whole life, I have seen people in utter despair, so with my company, I would hope that they are allowed to live, hope and smile, knowing that their futures aren't left to all the unknowns of the present".

This change in my voice seems to surprise everyone in the room as my charisma due to the isekai starting kit seems to be kicking in as I continue by ending off with "The Company I am hoping to create will have those that look towards my brand and know that I am here".

One of the officials then says, in a bit of a shaky voice, as I've put off by my confidence, "and what will this company be named Mr. Ozias?".

I then respond with a smile by saying "My company shall be known as Oz Corp. the company that makes tomorrow today!".