Spatial Manipulation System

Chapter 13 - Limitations/Tragedy

Dave followed the trio to the hangar. On the way, he studied the changes to his system.

[Name: David Sawyer]

[Species: Hybrid]

[Status: Awakened]

[Level: 2 (Exp: 130/200 ]

[Rank: 1 (Soldier) ]

[Health: 100/100]

[Stamina: ∞]

[Strength: 38 ]

[Endurance: 9,999 ]

[Dexterity: 49]

[Speed: 26 ]

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Abilities: Spatial Manipulation, Evolution (Detecting available paths. . . 10%)]

[Skills: Spatial Blades (Max), Storage space(∞)]

The change was astronomical. His Stamina was infinite, and this reflected on his Endurance, though not infinite, it was infinitesimally close.

He also gained an additional ten across all stars and was now classified as a Rank 1 Soldier, although he had no idea what that meant. Maybe he was now as strong as a Rank 1 zombie or mutant? That didn't seem to be the case, considering he could already defeat them before his evolution.

He gained an additional ability, Evolution. He did not yet understand what it meant or what it was for, but it was still a plus.

Then came his max Spatial Blade skill, which he tested but didn't seem much different from what he was used to, and lastly, his max storage space.

Since his stamina has always been the cost of his spatial ability, it made sense that now that he had infinite stamina, his storage space increased accordingly.

There were a few things he still didn't understand, though, like why teleportation was not listed as a new skill. He was fully conscious when he used it, he still remembered the feeling. He had thought that since he could manipulate space, taking his body through it shouldn't be a problem, and so he did it.

Although the cost was steep, teleporting hurt him more than could be seen externally; his insides felt like they had folded together, and that worsened his condition, which was why he passed out.

Determined to test if he had lost the skill, he willed his body to move through folded space with each stride, and just like that, his body phased out of view when he stretched his legs and phased back into view when his feet landed.

He could still teleport, and the burden was nonexistent now, but the system still would not list it.

"What was that?" His actions had not gone unnoticed; after all, he had been walking beside two people with Doctor Tim behind him.

"My skill isn't reflecting in the system, so I was testing to see if I still had it," he explained.

"That's not an explanation. How can you teleport at all?" Hei Yu asked again, feeling frustrated at the unfairness.

Dave squinted and considered for a minute.

"I don't think our abilities come from the system. I think the system is just a display board," he started.

Behind him, Doctor Tim stopped walking.

"What's wrong, Tim?" Suzanne asked, turning around to him.

"That theory explains why he could absorb crystals unconsciously. The body needed it and instinctively absorbed it. The system only prompts the question as a kind of guide or lightning rod for the subconscious. It's it a trick!"

Rolling her eyes, Suzanne turned back around, and they continued onwards.

"I think he's right," Hei Yu spoke up.

"He is, but that doesn't change anything really," Suzanne explained her point of view.

"I think you answered all our questions in one swoop, Dave," She chuckled.

"One last one. My abilities cost focus, my mind gets foggy over time when I use it. How is it you can teleport so many times?" Hei Yu asked, glancing at Dave as they reached the hangar and sat down around a table.

"My evolution gives me infinite stamina," Dave started.

"And your ability costs stamina, Damn!" Hei Yu exclaimed. Clicking her tongue with pursed lips, she looked away, a crease on her forehead.

As they continued to talk and theorize the difference between mutation and awakening, a figure approached them.

"Uncle Mike!" Dave exclaimed on catching sight of the old man. He rose and rushed to give him a hug.

"Dave boy, you've grown quite well." Uncle Mike smiled, his eyes smiling to display the expression his grey beard hid.

"I'm so sorry about Uncle Joe." Dave's expression became solemn, and he pulled the older man into another hug.

"Okay, that's enough, don't betray yourself." Uncle Mike pushed him away after a few seconds of sentiment.

"What about Dad?" Dave asked and looked around when he realized his father was not in sight.

"He's okay for now, there's just a small problem." Uncle Mike shook his head, glancing briefly at Suzanne, who seemed frozen as if she had just remembered her worst nightmare.

"What's wrong with Dad?" Dave asked, a deep frown on his face.

"Come, he wants to see you." Uncle Mike shook his head and started away.

Dave glanced backwards at his mother, who had buried her face in her hands, trembling with sobs. Anxious for an answer, he hurried to follow.

Behind him, Hei Yu slowly approached Suzanne with an arm around her shoulders.

"He got bit trying to save Joe." Suzanne let out a few words before crumbling again into tears.

"I'm sorry," Hei Yu muttered repeatedly as she hugged the fragile woman.

Meanwhile, Dave was led into a small holding room much like the one he had been in earlier. Inside was his father tuning a violin.

The old man had his head shaved low and the shadow of a beard. Suzanne always insisted on grooming him. As far as Dave was concerned, his father's pristine looks were the result of his mother's efforts. That woman was a better nurturer than a nurturing god would be.

"Dad," he called gently as he teleported into the room.

"Hey, you're okay." Dave's Dad, David Senior, looked up and let out a breath of relief.

Dave stood there watching his father, greenish veins were visible through his neck and all the way to his arms and face.

"What happened to you?" Dave asked in a low tone. His emotions were all over the place as confusion hit him in a way it never had in his life.

"It doesn't matter," David Senior replied.

"Come sit," he tapped on the chair beside him.

Dave slowly moved forward and lowered himself into the chair.

"Do you know who you are?" David Senior asked.

"I think so," Dave replied tentatively.

"Then don't betray yourself." The tone in this command was different than every other time Dave had heard it; there was a solemn seriousness that made him look up at his father, only to see the older man staring at him.

"Don't betray yourself," David Senior repeated, and Dave nodded hurriedly as tears dropped freely from his eyes.

He could see a swirling red behind his father's pupils, and it was intensifying fast.

"David," a scream cut through the solemn atmosphere as a figure rushed into the chamber and hugged David Senior, pushing him to the ground.

Behind Suzanne were Doctor Tim, Mike, and Hei Yu, who had all tried to restrain the woman.

A snarl reached Dave's ears, and he hurriedly rose, his eyes widening as he saw his father's fully reddened eyes.

David Senior shook his head fiercely, and the redness faded only to reappear again. The light continued to fluctuate as Suzanne held on to him, weeping profusely.

"Mom," Dave called urgently when suddenly David Senior pushed Suzanne across the room. Her body flew to the other side of the chamber, hitting hard on the glass. She slid down, coughing from the nasty pain of that collision.

Her gaze hardened, and she rushed forward again, but Dave was one step ahead; he teleported into her path, only for her to duck fluidly under his left armpit and dive into David's arms.

David caught her by the neck and slammed her into the ground as his bared teeth reached for her exposed neck. Dave appeared behind him with a Spatial Blade in hand, ready to slice through David's neck, but he suddenly froze at the familiar back.

That back that walked away from the football field after saying over the phone that he wouldn't be able to make it to the game.

That back was always there when he thought he was at the end of his rope but suddenly found a way to muddle through.

Sometimes he never met the man, most times it was always that back he saw to tell him his father was there.

That back had become his pillar. In every impossible situation, he believed his father was watching over him silently, sneakily, and when that impossible situation was over, he would get to see that back view of the man walking away.

As his brain processed all this and his body froze, a gunshot rang out in the small chamber, and his eyes widened at the sight of a bullet hole on the back of his father's head.

Trembling in shock, he slowly turned around.

"Not you, please," he muttered under his breath, only to be disappointed when he turned to see Hei Yu holding a gun aimed at his father.

Her gaze slowly moved from the slumped body up at Dave, and their eyes met.

"You can hate me, but don't betray yourself," She said in a low voice, her eyes red and hands trembling.

"Hei Yu," Dave muttered, and his body flashed, blinking rapidly in and out of reality.

"I ... " Dave found himself at a loss. In such a short time, he did not know how, when, or why, or if he was even deceiving himself. But he had come to love this woman, and now...she killed his father.

His eyes glossed over, and his figure phased more rapidly.

"Dave, cut it out, you'll create a space node!" Hei Yu exclaimed and rushed forward.

"Don't," Doctor Tim grabbed her.

"If you get close to him, space itself will slice you into a billion pieces."

"Is that science or science fiction?" Hei Yu smiled weakly at him, and before he could react, she threw herself at Dave. On contact, the two of them disappeared, and the chamber descended into silence, where only the weeping of Suzanne under David's body could be heard.