TheShingPen
The Inspector
Mark left the store after having a little talk with the two siblings.
The sister told him that she didn’t have a ring, which he already knew, but used the excuse that probably it would be of the ‘visitors‘ he had the other day.
He then walked back toward his trunk, and when he was within range, he started a conversation with Truck-kun.
‘Is it even possible to have two targets?‘ was Mark’s first thing to say.
[In theory, there are many people that can be your targets for each assignment. Most times they tend to assign you some that you have interacted with recently or know well, but this doesn’t make it necessarily the targets. As far as you find someone fitting the description, it is acceptable but will make the search for them longer. As for this case, if both fit the description as you think, even trucking one of them should be ok for this assignment. But if you do, both the rewards would be better.]
Mark was both glad and sad, learning that he didn’t need to truck both of them.
Glad because he didn’t enjoy it, even if they got sent for certain somewhere better. But he was sad that if he did only one, he wouldn’t get a special reward.
[You know they probably one probably will get too sad if the other is gone. Sometimes they even think of taking their lives in these cases.]
What Truck-kun said made sense, and Mark had heard of cases like that in the news, but none that he personally knew.
This sentence was enough to convince me for a second, but then he realized that something was wrong with him. It was just a few days ago since he got into this situation, and he already could decide on targeting people easily like that.
As he realized this sudden change to the way he thought, actually made him afraid of himself.
[You just adapt to the situation. You always did so, didn’t you?]
It was true that over the years he had changed, because of the tragedies that happened to him and his family. Some changes were quick, and some took their time, but none were as fast as in this case.
[You better not overthink this. Remember that you give a better purpose for their existence than being a pawn to your society. We actually free them.]
Mark was still somewhat scared over the new realization he just had, but he started making his way back home.
[Do you have a plan this time?]
‘You know that I don’t. I need more time, but we have little. They going to start school tomorrow, meaning that they probably won’t work as much to the store, giving us no excuse to interact with them.‘
[What about those younglings of yours? They are going to the same school, aren’t they?]
‘Different age, so different grades. So the chance of knowing each other is tiny. Even if they knew, what could I ask them either way? To tell me their schedule? But visiting the school may be our only chance.‘
Mark kept trying to form a plan, as he didn’t want to spend days of suffering. Even if it wasn’t as bad last time, it still was annoying to get awakened in the middle of the night, and was thankful that nobody else noticed it.
He was back home in no time, and after parking his Truck in his open space, he went inside to check on his granddaughters. Tomorrow would be their first day at school, and since he would drive them there, either way, he would also try to investigate his new targets.
“Excuse me, Mr. Mark Henderson,“ an unknown voice spoke to him as he headed towards the door of his house.
As he turned to see who it was, he saw that it was a man near his thirties that was dressed in what many people would imagine being very stereotypical by the media truck driver suit.
“Who… who are you?“ Mark asked the unfamiliar figure.
“I am your new Inspector. I came here to introduce myself, and congratulate you on your first successful assignment. I must admit your performance impressed some people.“
Mark’s eyes widened a bit in response. Then he tried to speak with Truck-kun since he was still within range.
‘Is he telling the truth about who he is?‘
[Most likely. I didn’t expect for one to appear that soon, but I guess you really did an impression. But you should be careful when talking with those inspectors. One wrong move and you will get suspended, and you won’t like when that happens.]
Mark wondered what suspension would be like, but knew that even if he asked, Truck-kun would tell him.
“You finished talking with your partner?“ the figure told him.
This surprised Mark as he thought that he didn’t show any signs when mentally speaking to Truck-kun.
“As your inspector, I am aware when your channel is open. Normal people can’t tell, though. Also, don’t worry, I can’t read your mind, but can tell a few things just by looking at you.“
Mark nodded at the figure, and he actually got a bit relaxed by that response.
“May I learn the reason for your appearance, then? Also, what does it mean that you are my inspector? What services do you provide?“
The figure let a slight smile appear on his face.
“Right on the chase. I like it. Well, I am here to offer you a service. Something that we normally provide to our more experienced employees, but I think that you will reach that level soon enough. Consider it as an investment.“
The man then pulled out a phone from the pocket of his jacket. Its design was weird, as it looked like the front of a truck. The figure brought the phone towards Mark for him to get it.
Mark took it, and the moment he did so, a panel appeared in front of him.
=========================
SYSTEM UPDATE DETECTED
THE SYSTEM WILL BE OFFLINE FOR 24 HOURS
=========================
Mark wondered what this message was about, and tried to ask Truck-kun, but he couldn’t connect with him. It was like they were out of range, but he was certain that they weren’t.
“Your partner will be silent until the System is fully ONLINE once more. Keep good care of that phone, as if you lose it you will need to buy a new one yourself.“
Then the person turned around and started walking away.
“Wait… won’t you tell me what this update is about?“
Mark started walking after that person, but then he heard a horn similar to his truck coming from right behind him. As he turned to see its source, there was nothing, and when he turned to where the figure of his inspector was, he had completely disappeared.
Mark checked the phone, but he found nothing unusual about it, as far as he could tell.
Since there was nothing else he could do about it, he went into his house.
He tried to access his STATUS and the STORE, but it didn’t work. That could mean that since the System was OFFLINE, he wouldn’t have to worry about losing HP.
So he had a free day to use as he wished for.