The Power Of Radiation 21 Bad News And A Reality Check

Mark is inherently nervous when looking at the smiling and guilty complexion of Carl. The human resources director was known throughout the hospital as being one of the most cunning and businesslike people ever to walk the earth. Some employees even made snide remarks about how his true form is a fox or snake considering his mannerisms. Mark only knows him from his initial signing of the contract and already has a healthy suspicion of everything that comes out of his mouth. Hearing the two negative terms of bad and worse news, Mark chooses the good news first because he is closer to an optimist than a pessimist considering his job here is his way up the social ladder. Carl's expression lightens slightly as he explains in a soft tone the bad news. "There was a slight error in both the AI and the programing of the server you were in. Don't be troubled! This is a once in a lifetime error, these things are as lucky as winning an all-expense paid tour of the UN Hero Academy." Carl says this with the inflection and tone of voice saying Mark should be happy because of his insane luck.

Mark hears this and is immediately scared of the consequences. "Did I get injured in the pod? Did my brain get scrambled by the neural connection with the AI? Did I get cancer or a third hand?" Mark immediately checks himself with a series of quick pats to insure that nothing is missed or misaligned on his body. A sigh of relief soon follows this check to the amused sneer of Carl's still sweaty visage.

"What was the error?" Mark questioned as his over active imagination had gotten the better of himself once again. Carl's eyes widen with surprise, "You haven't noticed yet? It's similar to a certain mutation you developed in the VR world you were immersed in." Mark slowly thinks back to his time he just spent in the VR capsule. Was it the brain damage from the head wound I just suffered? 'My results of training my powers every night on the road could also be considered an error to someone like Carl who is only a merchant and not a member of an ultrrich family. These were all random thoughts and speculations on behalf of Mark.

Carl Schaffenhauser is from a rich family that is considered by most of the upper crust to be new money. There are two distinct cla.s.ses when it comes to ultrrich families present in the different mega cities in the world. The first presence is a combination of history and ma.s.sive wealth with some families' history dating back hundreds of years even to the foundation of certain countries the mega cities were named after. The second type of family is like Carls; many families due to luck or proper planning find or create a source of wealth in the past hundred years or since the end of WWIII. This leads to a distinct set of values and pride where even a declining family of the first level can be considered more of an elite than a newer family. Many of Mark's friends and acquaintances from his college were part of historical families as the people in what was once Germany take extreme pride in pedigrees and their heritage.

Carl slowly shakes his head in a strange and almost pitying look which he seems surprisingly genuine about. "It leads to the second and much worse news but it is easier to show you rather than to tell you and have you be skeptical about it." As he says this, Carl slowly takes out a hologram generator from his pocket and uses it to produce a generic holomirror. This device is fairly common as many richer family use holograms for easy access and to flaunt their wealth. The holomirror slowly opens up as Mark watches in interest. Things such as the holomirror were a rarity to Mark with his poor upbringing and led to many poorer people like him to have never seen some of the fantastical creations and inventions the modern world had come up with.

The face reflected in the holomirror looks normal to Mark showing him a familiar outline of the face he is intimately familiar with over his years of life. The one exception in his reflection is something that he was very familiar with in the game and shocked him to his core. "My eyes…." Mark said in shock and fear. The bright purple and pink coloring of his eyes that he is all too familiar with in the game make him question his sanity. Mark looks questioningly and demandingly at Carl, like it somehow his fault and asks, "How did this happen?" Carl shakes his head in slight ignorance. "I am just as surprised as you, this is something beyond anything I have ever heard of in my long days of working here and even hearing about anywhere else."

"All I can tell you for certain is that the AI and server somehow found a sort of natural mutation and copied it over into the game world in the form of code. This code then was integrated into your game's character's DNA which lead to the VR capsule malfunctioning. The malfunctioning DNA capsule detected this as a hidden injury and used the AI to fix the anomaly in the form of rewriting your genetic code in a series of actions that would have a 99% chance of death to anyone else in the world." Carl sighs once again as he slowly makes eye contact with the anger and depression present in Mark's newly colored eyes. "That isn't the worse news though. The worse news comes with how the AI and the capsule rewrote your genetic material and DNA strands. The AI was equipped with nutrient fluid to keep your body functioning during the day long period of your immersion. The AI then wrongly used up 22 canisters of S grade fluid and the original 5 canisters of A grade fluid which was supposed to last you for your entire training period."

Mark's eyes bulge as he thinks about the meaning inherent in calling anything S grade in a world where S rank superhero were considered G.o.ds. A greedy light in Carl's eyes makes Mark's heart sink and his lips turn dry with anxiety. "How much is this S grade fluid worth?"

Carl sighs in defeat for what seems to be the final time. "I'm sorry kid, I really am. This is included in the job contract as extra training resources so it goes against your credit for this job. Each canister of S grade fluid is priced conventionally at 2 million credits and the A grade fluids only slightly less than that. All together for today alone you owe the Hospital of Geneva 50 million credits of debt and will have to pay this money back over the time you stay working here and even after you leave."