Waking up again..
Jason's eyes spread open to see her chin and chest above him. Vivian had placed him on her lap and was nursing his nose bleed. Jason instantly freaked out and tried to get up before dizziness, pain and her hands pushed him back down.
"Dude you need to wait a second, you just woke up." Vivian says as she slams him back down onto her soft lap.
'Shit, not again.' Jason's embarrasment runs through him quicker than his reading and he tries to quickly explain himself without sounding like a loser.
"I-I don't do this often. I mean it doesn't happen to me. Like it happened a week ago but for some other reason. I don't have a habit of just passing out is what I'm saying. Like-" Jason rambles on.
"-Jason. Chill. It's cool are you alright though I need to go." Vivian is visibly worried but Jason knows she was also in a rush just moments ago.
"Yeah.. I'm good." Jason slowly pushes himself up. "I know you need to go. Thank you for staying with me and not telling anyone."
Vivian sighs "I could tell you were just burning out, I've done the same. You are good 007 just go get some rest and I'll see you tomorrow." Vivian slings her bag over her shoulder and runs off again.
Jason curses himself again. 'Why did I push myself so much and why the heck did I have to pass out right in front of her. It's like all I do is pass out in front of beautiful girls.' Jason sighs long and hard and collects his books. He was already resting after the library but maybe it was time to rest even between books. If Jason was going to keep this consistently he knows he has to avoid a literal brain anuerysm.
In the mean time. The memorization improvement should alleviate the symptoms of reading so much information. He realizes his memory skill might need to reach level three if he didn't want to worry about problems in the future but for now he will have to be patient and read less dense information.
The hacking skill that he needs to aquire after today will need to be his first skill that reaches level 3. It is the only way he can make sure that he won't be caught. The only issue is even after reading a book about it, the skill hasn't popped. Jason wishes he had some access to like a skill aquisition list or something. At this point it seems he is in the dark.
'At least I can just make up whatever skill I want and the skill slot will take it.' Jason knows subconsiously that their is some logic to what skills can be processed but for now he will just have to bet on this.
Just seven more hours.
He quickly packs up his things. His backpack feels heavier as the weight of his weakness hits him once again. He can feel the dissapointment that he needs to slow down, be more idle, while the skills grow in the background. Soon his foundations will be complete and he can truly begin to grow. However the cold reality of even this system requiring time weighs on him.
He can feel a familiar voice creep into his mind as he leaves the library.
'Pathetic. Loser. You really think this would be easy. Every day taking the easy route. You coast through school and watch your parents die. Did you think once about trying anything while your family fell apart.'
Jason tries to shake them; the thoughts that have plagued him even when his parents were alive. They feed on his flesh and bones and rip away his will. He burns away where they eat. Jason burns it with desire and isolation. He fills his mind with fantasy, with video games, with one more book and he begs for release from the hell that is his own mind.
For once he knows that he is better than that.
"That's enough. I will be okay." He breathes. "This is the beginning. I will do this. I can do this." Jason remembers why he is doing all this. Being away from school is making him forget but he has too remind himself.
He will right the wrongs of the past..
Jason arrives home and sets his bag down. He is later than he wanted to be. He says he ended up losing track of the time talking with Carry. His excuse reminds him he needs to contact her tonight. A quick text should do.
Ana and Kyle are a little suspicious but brush it off. Afterall Jason has never been like this. All these days bring them back to when their parents were alive. Jason is still gloomy, wearing all black, his long hair partly in his face and general blank face, but he smiles now.
It's crazy what family will ignore when they see something positive.
Dinner seems to pass him by but he enjoys hanging out with his family. His only family left. Jason smiles with them but he knows the voice is still there and he needs to drown it. The laughter helps, their absolute care for him.
"I love you guys." Jason says softly.
Kyle and Ana look at him like he just said the craziest thing. They hug him tightly. "We love you too, is everything okay lil bro." Kyle asks.
Ana shares the concern. "Yeah we are here you know."
"Yeah I'm good. Just putting things into perspective." Jason says. They aren't sure exactly what he means by that. They both are on their own journeys of grief and pain. Ana constantly struggling to regain some strength in her legs and Kyle forced to work to provide for his younger siblings; all while feeling the weight of their dead parents. They all suffer.
Jason just knows now that he doesn't want that to get in the way of his family, but he's weak. He knows it will keep doing that.
That damn voice.
"I'm going to get some sleep." Jason gets up after their movie is finished. Somehow it's become more of a habit to spend time with them like this. Ana and Kyle say goodnight and Jason quickly gets to bed.
He spends the next two hours reading his physics text book. Slowing down to take notes and highlight important things to know. He doesn't understand a lot of it, but the notes will help when he goes back over it.
It's 11pm.
"System allocate 24 hours."
[24 hours allocated to each slot. 2x Exp bonus.]
[00:00:46-24:00:00]
[00:00:46-24:00:00]
[Slot 1: Improved Memorization Lvl: 1] [Exp: 11.5/25]->[23.5/25
[Slot 2: Improved Memorization Lvl: 1] [Exp: 23.5/25]->
Slot 2: Improved Memorization Lvl:2] [Exp: 2.6/25]
[Skills: Speed Reading Lvl: 2 ; Improved Memorization Lvl: 2 ; Gaming Lvl: 1]
Jason starts to question why the double exp isn't transfering over to the new level. Just another rule to stop him from progressing. Each level just increasingly difficult but with this he is a step closer.
"Fuck." The pain starts. A thousand needles prick into his brain. One after another. Ripping and shredding through his brain the system starts its process. Every cell that forms his memory in his brain is torn to ribbons. He can feel everything he has ever known flash in front of his eyes like a twisted reel every pain he has ever known runs through his body like a fog. A pain that is there but isn't. He grabs onto his shirt and his nails dig into his chest, he can feel the blood trickle down his chest as he tries to bare himself against the pain going through his mind.
A terrible crushing weight falls on him as the pain washes over him, for the next hour the system plays with his mind rewriting the code his synapses formed to play back memories. His brain reaching a level of efficiency seen in competitions but shy to eidetic memory.
Suddenly he felt the need to take notes lessening, however the pain of memories he doesn't want to remember eat at him. Again he remembers things he had thought he had forgotten. Things that he wishes were discarded, but lay hidden within corners of his mind. Memories of his mother and father fighting with strange men when he was just a baby. A question eating into the darkest parts of his psyche.
"How long was his family cursed?"
Before he can think of answers his body fails him from the pain and he falls asleep.