6

The office contained all these large machines and blinking red lights in the registration area ahead. The girl told John that she would be in the visitor room, waiting for him. As John left, he saw her chewing gum and blowing bubbles that popped; her face showed incredible boredom and impatience.

"Just hurry up, would you? I'm starving," she said as John went into the registration area. He was made to go through many machines and devices, walking through several panels, and his entire body was scanned with lasers. It seemed like an eternity; from what John knew, the process was not supposed to take this long. He was worried that something might have gone wrong. At last, however, he emerged into a cramped space. He was alone there, and he saw a big screen, hoisted on a wall, displaying his face. Then, a computer voice began to emanate from an unknown source. It said:

Registration Successful! Welcome to the Tower of Mastery, John. Our warmest greetings to you. As a token of our good intentions, we have approved you for 5 points. Many, many congratulations on this miraculous feat! You possess rare and impressive talents! You must be very special, John. However, concerning other matters, we want you to bear in mind that all economic activities within the Tower are conducted with your points. Hence, they are the standard currency in this realm. But you can always head over to the 'points exchanger,' where your balance will be converted into money at the exchange rate of $100 for each point. To earn further, you will need to make productive contributions to The Tower of Mastery's workings. As already mentioned, your points act as currency in this establishment, with which you can buy goods and services on offer in shops and facilities. You can rent rooms right here in Zone Two's Kapuher or buy Gacha games that may give you missions that enhance your abilities. We advise you to use your points wisely. Best of Luck!"

John was perplexed. He did not understand how he could have gotten five points.

"Surely there has been some kind of mistake," he thought.

The girl had mentioned that some extraordinary people usually got four points. But such people were rare to find. She had not even bothered telling him about five points, which John figured was because of the rarity factor. Bewildered and unsure of what had really happened, John walked out of the registration area. Walking into the waiting room, he spotted the girl.

"So, are we ready to go for dinner yet?" she asked with an impatient air.

"Yeah…sure."

"What happened? You look confused about something. Wait, you did get registered, didn't you? Don't tell me you were too stupid to find your way around the machines!"

"No, no. It's not that. I did get registered. But I think the registration office might have made some kind of a mistake with the registration. I received five points, and..."

"FIVE POINTS! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" she screamed. Her purple eyes began to bulge.

"Yeah! That's what the monitor said, five points!"

"I don't believe you! That is not possible. No one I know has ever gotten five points. It is unheard of! Wait, we can see if you are really telling the truth. Come on, take out your spirit card," she said.

"My what?" asked John.

"Well, you must have your spirit card! It will contain your points, and you will need to swipe it in shops to make purchases! Don't you know this?" said the girl, with furrowed eyebrows.

"Oh yeah, I remember now. But how do I get the card?"

"Easy! Just stretch out your right hand in front of you. Then, empty your mind of all thought and pretend as if you really needed to buy something."

He did just as the girl told him to do. Out of thin air, a soul card appeared in his hands! Although it was solid, the card glowed with a greenish phantom color. The edges emitted smeared light. On the spirit-card, John's name and available points were written in black. The girl leaned forward to take a better look. Upon seeing the figure of five points on the card, her eyebrows rose so high that they almost disappeared behind the locks of hair covering her forehead. Her jaw dropped, and she almost fainted.

"WOW! My God, what kind of a person are you? How can this be possible! This has got to be a miracle," she said, looking at John with a very different expression in her eyes. She kept staring at him while she thought hard about something. Finally, a bright smile came to her face.

"I never asked your name. How silly of me. I am Ashley, by the way," she said, stretching out her hand.

"My name is John," he said, confused about this sudden change in the girl's attitude.

To this, Ashley simply beamed and giggled.

"Nice to meet you, John. So, would you like to go to dinner now? By the way, you don't have to pay. I was just kidding before. Since you are new, it won't be wise to be squandering away your points," she said.

"Okay, that sounds nice," said John. He was utterly nonplussed, "Oh, where do I put this card, you know, for safekeeping?'

"All you need to do is to imagine the card disappearing," said Ashley.

John did so, and to his great surprise, the card actually dissolved into thin air!

"Wow!"

"I know! Okay, now that you are registered and everything, we can go to McDonald's. It is right around the block."

"What has gotten into her?" thought John, "I don't know why she is so nice all of a sudden. Ah, I guess she is a nice person after all. Maybe I misjudged her earlier."

"That would be very nice," he smiled at her, "thank you."

"No problem, John," she said and giggled once more. Again, taking his hand into hers, she walked out with him towards the exit.

Once outside, John's neck hurt by turning too much every way, not sure what to keep his eyes on. Zone Two was enormous, and its streets were laid out like a complicated maze, and each road was completely different from the other. Realizing this, he was glad that Ashley was with him. Otherwise, he would have gotten lost in the vast area. Just then, his stomach grumbled. He was starving; all this excitement had made him forget about it. Ashley laughed at the sound of his stomach.

John and Ashley had a great time in the McDonald's of Zone Two. John wanted to try some other restaurant. But people from all over the world were crowding over the places, so that everywhere was jam-packed. John and Ashley had to wait in a long queue at the order counter before placing their order. Ashley paid the bill with cash. Afterward, it took longer to find a table for themselves. As they were dining on a fine meal of cheeseburgers and sundae for dessert, Ashley struck up a conversation.

"So, what do you want to do afterward?"

"Well, I was thinking of renting a room, maybe? I mean, I've got to have a place to crash at night."

"I don't know, John. That's not a good idea!"

"Why?"

"Well, it costs a point to rent a room for the night."

"ONE POINT! ARE YOU SERIOUS?" John screamed as many diners looked over in his direction. Immediately, he regretted his outburst. The embarrassment on his face brought back the mischievous smile on Ashley's face as she took a bite of her burger.

"Calm down, silly! Besides, you do know how incredibly hard it is to earn points? Well, don't bother answering that question because it is tough. That's why most people prefer to spend cash rather than their points."

"What do I do for sleeping?"

"Don't worry! There are areas where you can rent tents for cash. We will find something for you there. In the meantime, you should consider spending your money on buying a Gacha Game at the Silver Cat."

"Really? How much does one game cost?"

"Oh, five points."

John spilled his coke, which began to stream from his nostrils.

"BUT THAT'S ALL MY POINTS!"

"Oops, I guess that is true," said Ashley, with a twinkle of malice in her eyes.

"But you never know what you could win! So, if you are going to be spending points, a Gacha Game is a better bet than renting a hotel room. You might just end up with something that improves your point-earning capacity!"

Ashley and John walked out of the restaurant. There were so many shops and stores that John really wanted to visit, but the limitation of his points made it hard to be blowing them all away. John was tempted to see some of the shops and facilities, but then he reprimanded himself. There were more important things to be done first, and points had to be saved!