Plans for weekend

Mark woke up early once more and was glad that he didn’t have an assignment. He didn’t lose any HP and didn’t wake up in the middle of the night because of the uncomfortable feeling he got when losing one. Last time, he had lost more than half his HP, and his blood’s color had turned closer to the oil color it had the first time he had lost an HP.

Today he made a minor cut on his finger to let a drop of blood and ensured that it was back to normal.

He headed to the kitchen to prepare a simple breakfast for his granddaughters, who woke up not a long after him. Once more Maria had to drag Melinda from her bed, as most times that they had to wake up early in the morning.

“Gramps, where are we going this time?“ Melinda asked.

“We heading to Joe’s place. He needs some help from Maria, and he agreed to let us stay at his place for the weekend. Of course, as long as we behave.“ Mark responded to her.

He knew Melinda wasn’t that interesting in programming as Maria, but she would get amazed by the personal robot butlers and different machines that Joe had just for himself. Especially A-42 probably would draw the attention of both, since he had said nothing about her, since Joe didn’t want people to know about her, and Mark respected that.

Maria was excited at first about learning where they would go, but then confusion appeared in her eyes.

“What about school? You said I should focus on it for now,“ the young girl asked Mark.

“It’s been only one week since you started, so your homework shouldn’t be as much, and I am sure Joe can help you with it faster than me. Also, would be good to change the environment for a bit, don’t you agree?“

Both girls nodded, and Mark noticed some slight sadness in Maria’s eyes.

He knew that Tam’s loss still affected her, which he hadn’t considered being the case before, as he never noticed them being that close.

‘Could it be a secret crush?‘ Mark wondered.

Melinda had mentioned in the past many boys that she was interested in, but Maria showed no interest in one. The way she acted after Tam’s loss was the first time Mark had seen her being sad for someone of the opposite gender other than her father.

There was nothing he could do other than help her move on by giving her something to work on, like helping Joe. Also, he wanted Joe’s program to mine TruckCoins to become as good as possible.

These past days, Joe had mined some TruckCoins by himself, but it was less than half that he did just that night that Mark had released some by using them in the STORE.

Mark had tested to put the TruckCoins that Maria got from Joe to his STORE, and he was successful at doing so by using his phone. There was a normal app that allowed you to keep track of different cryptocurrencies, and TruckCoin was one of them. His phone worked as a normal phone, so he could call others or get normal apps like that in it.

The moment he moved the TruckCoins from Maria’s account to his, it also added them to the sum that there was at his STORE. He currently had 8.7 TruckCoins, 8 from his assignment, and the rest from Joe.

He wanted to get Joe to prepare his program to be ready for mining as fast as possible, so at the moment he would use any TruckCoins Joe could get them back. He would get at most half of what he used back, which would allow him to efficiently buy more upgrades faster.

He also wanted to learn why Maria’s code worked while Joe’s didn’t, and also why the TruckCoins, according to Joe, had made an appearance months ago but weren’t easily mineable until just a few days ago.

After having their breakfast, they got to the truck and started driving. Mark had informed Truck-kun about his plan to go to Joe’s, and where it was since the last time he went there Truck-kun wasn’t with him. He did it so that he would tell the minions to prepare a place for him to park.

He wouldn’t be able to park him in a way so Truck-kun to be within their Telepathic Range, but he could send them messages on the phone or call him if needed.

The trip didn’t take long as there wasn’t much traffic, and it amazed everyone how easily they found a place to park their large vehicle.

“It seems having a big vehicle like that got easily these days, Gramps,“ Maria said as they got ready to get out.

“It was about time our luck would change. But if recent work goes well, I may get a smaller vehicle to get around,” Mark responded to her.

He knew that Truck-kun didn’t like him getting a new vehicle, especially a car, but he had to do it, as even with the help of the minions to find a place to park, moving around wasn’t always easy with the truck.

They headed to Joe’s apartment, but before getting in, Mark stopped as he noticed something, or more specifically, someone.

Across the street on a bench, there was a familiar boy, who for the first time Mark saw him not eating a banana, but having a handheld gave device and playing with it.

“Wait over there for a moment, but don’t ring the bell yet.“

Mark send Maria and Melinda to the door of Joe’s apartment as he headed into a store across the way. He bought some bananas and had them in a paper bag. He went out and left them at the bench next to him, and made sure not to be seen by the boy.

As he started his way back to his granddaughters, he used for the first time his TELEPATHY to send a message to the boy. He also used his Feat TELEPATHIC ACTOR to change his mental voice, just to be safe.

‘Thank you present on your left.‘ Mark said to the boy.

He made it back to Joe’s door and was ready to start the puzzle, but as he pressed the bell, it rang only once and then opened by itself. He looked forward to start solving the puzzle in front of his granddaughters, as he thought it looked quite impressive when doing so, but it seemed he didn’t get the chance.

As they headed in, there was one of the robot butlers at the ready with some drinks and snacks for them.

“Welcome Mr. Mark, and his family,“ the voice of A-42 said.

Maria and Melinda looked around to find the source of the voice but couldn’t see anyone, and didn’t come from the robot either.

“Thank you A-42. Where is Joe? He should have informed you of our arrival.“

“Your arrival is in today’s schedule indeed. Master expects Miss Maria at workshop#1, while the rest can check your rooms upstairs. My child will show you the way.“

As she said, so the butler, the robot, started drifting. He headed on an elevator shaft that was big enough for it and the rest of them to fit.

“Let’s check our rooms, and then you can head to where Joe is, Maria.“

After all of them got into the elevator, it went down and not up. It seemed like Joe had made some underground extension to his house.

Mark didn’t know how he did so, but he was certain Joe had the resources to do so.

Each of them had their own room, and after that, A-42 said that Maria could follow the butler robot at the place Joe was. Mark stayed behind, as even if he was curious about what Joe was doing, he knew that he would understand nothing. He also didn’t worry that he would try anything weird on Maria.

Since he had some time, he decided to use this time to check all feats and upgrades and start deciding the ones to buy next and how much he needed. Feats he couldn’t buy with TruckCoins, but it was better to be prepared for when getting any more Points.

He also wanted to train his TELEPATHY to level it up, as he could do so without using TruckCoins or points at it. But he wasn’t certain how to train it, as he needed a target, and he couldn’t do so on his granddaughters or Joe, as they would start to wonder where that voice came from.

As he started thinking about what he could do, A-42 spoke to him.

“Mr. Mark, what would you like for lunch?“

As he was ready to tell what he wanted, he stopped himself and tried something. He tried to use his TELPATHY to speak to A-42.

‘A steak would be nice to have today.‘ he said, using his new way of communication.

“Understood,” A-42 responded

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TELEPATHY REACHED LEVEL 2

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