Chapter 3

While bedridden, Peter figured out a few things. First among them was that he didn't need to speak to communicate with the interface. Second was that, as long as he didn't ask about any sensitive topic, he would usually get an answer.

His only ability besides Absorb also proved to be somewhat useful, helping him recover two percentage points every night.

Still, an entire week is a long time and he wanted to improve now that he had the chance. The fastest way to do that would have been to use absorb on a lot of people, but he wasn't offered the option to do so when touching his siblings and it failed on the doctor immediately, this is how he found out that the ability felt like a small shock.

The next best option for improvement was achievements, and while he couldn't see a list of them, the interface was quite willing to give recommendations. That's how it happened that Peter ask the caretakers for a pen and some paper.

The caretakers were advised against giving paper to the orphans, hence the plastic sheets, but when No.441 said what it was for they viewed it as him becoming more independent so they decided to be lenient.

Peter spent his time in bed trying to write as best he could. And by the time he was discharged he was successful. His handwriting was horrible by all measures, but the interface seemed satisfied with it.

[Achievement unlocked: Learn to write.]

[Reward: AGI +0.1, INT +0.05]

Whenever Peter asked for achievement recommendations, the ones giving Intelligence seemed to get priority. He didn't see the point since unlike the other areas the improvement wasn't obvious, but the fact that he noticed in the first place was a sign of improvement.

While walking to his room and wondering what to do next he felt a sudden push from his right side that made him fall over, without getting hurt this time.

"It's good to see you 281."

Peter said to the unexpected visitor who was hugging him on the floor.

"You should have been more careful! And next time call me Sarah!"

The nagging about his health was expected but the sudden name change came as a surprise. Maybe the angel was right about their numbers not being proper names.

"Alright then you can call me Peter."

"Well Peter, you should start working out to not get injured again! You should do it now, I'll help you!"

At that moment Peter resigned himself to his fate. Even if he tried to object she would just drag him along, despite his increased strength.

They went to visitors' lobby, since it was usually empty, and started working out. They were supposed to do ten sets of every exercise since even Sarah couldn't do much more, but Peter could barely finish half of them before she was done and he would be forced to switch.

The whole thing took a considerable amount of effort and towards the end he started to get worried if it was even healthy to move this much. In his defense the concern wasn't unfounded.

[Health: 96%]

[Stamina: 47%]

[Warning: Your stamina is dangerously low. Energy conservation will be activated.]

[Achievement unlocked: Get below 50% stamina.]

[Reward: STA +0.1]

But if nothing else, it was a learning experience, and in the future he would hopefully tire himself out less. Energy conservation itself was weird, from the outside not much changed but Peter felt worse than ever. His vision was blurry, his hearing was similarly restricted, he couldn't smell or taste anything and he would have fallen over if he didn't keep touching the walls.

Sarah, seeing the sorry state he was in, didn't object when he wanted to retire for the rest of the day. Peter finally got back to his room and decided to rest. Since he didn't need sleep he could still something less intensive, but first…

"Could you finally turn this off please?"

[Energy conservation can be activated automatically or manually.]

[Would you like to switch to manual activation?]

"Yes!"

After he could use his body properly again, Peter decided plan an escape from the building. His reason for doing this was simple. Although he didn't hate the place, the appearance of the guardian angel and the interface were the most interesting thing that happened in the past twelve years and it sparked his curiosity.

Him and his sibling were kept in the building to protect them, but if he could get stronger then he wouldn't need protection anymore and would be free to explore the world.

The plan was poorly thought out and had an almost non-existent chance of success. The primary reason for this was the same thing Peter thought would lead to the plan's success. The one visitor who showed up every four weeks for the past twelve years, Anthony Williams.