Eight hours went by in a breeze...
No it didn't. It went by in a slog.
Jay almost fell asleep twice.
"So tired." Jay grumbled as he heard birds chirping outside his apartment. Glancing at the window, he saw light by creak through the curtains and scowled. It was already dawn, and he couldn't even enjoy it. He had to go fix that old guy's wall.
"Kill me." He sighed.
[Is that an order or a request?] His system asked. [Because unfortunately I can't oblige by either.]
"Har Har." Jay grumbled as he sighed and glanced at his status screen. Reading the details of his skill and wondering what he could do with it.
Skills: One available
Illusions (G-)*
Details: Create intangible constructs out of unfiltered mana. But he warned. Tricking the senses isn't an easy task. Good luck!
Rank of skill will increase with user's intelligence*
Jay read the rules and nodded.
"Nice."
He really wanted to test it out.
"System. How do I-"
[Don't even think about it.] his stingy system denied, and Jay huffed. Scowling as his system continued. [You used practically all your mana learning the skill. So unless you want to pass out the second you try it, wait until you get some rest.]
"Boo. No, fun."
[I was not designed to be fun.]
"Obviously." Jay muttered. Giving a halfhearted sigh as he glanced at his bed, then the door, and decided to stand up. Nearly tripping as he walked over to his shoes and slipped them on.
[What are you doing? You need to sleep.]
"Sleep is for the weak." Jay yawned as he put on his track suit and headed out. "Besides..."
Jay could sleep later.
"I still need to paint that old man's wall."
Right now he still had one thing left to do.
...
Half an hour later, walking through the streets of Regalia with plaster in his hand, Jay yawned. Barely able to keep his eyes open, he walked through the slowly waking city. He hadn't slept, and so far his entire body felt sluggish, but he kept trudging on.
Much to the annoyance of his naggy system.
[I still fail to understand why you didn't just go to sleep and do this later]
"Because if I sleep now I'm probably not waking till tomorrow." Jay yawned. "And I'm pretty sure that old guy is gonna be impossible if I show up 3 days late."
[That... I suppose he did seem rather... unforgiving.]
"See, he's probably gonna curse me out as soon as I get there." Jay shrugged as he walked through the city. He could see people were heading to their jobs, using buses and some heading below to the subway system. It was like a morning rush from his old life.
And he still found it annoying.
"Watch out!" A boy yelled as Jay nearly got run over by a bicycle. He kept walking straight as the cursed and hastily veered to the right, blond hair and hazel eyes, and yelled apologetically. "Sorry!"
"Go fuck yourself." Jay stuck up a middle finger as the guy continued his journey past. Jay clicked his tongue and felt the morning frost tickle his skin. It was getting crowded now that people were starting to move, and the snow wasn't any better. It had snowed again last night, and now the chilly air stung his face. "Fuck. This day already sucks ass."
[You have a stellar vocabulary sir.]
Jay wished he wouldn't have to work in the cold.
"Fuck you too, system."
Or with his system nagging over his shoulder.
....
It took him an hour or two to get to the old man's house, which he quickly recalled wasn't a house. It was a store. A small two story shop.
"Erinnerungen Sterben Nie." Jay read as he huffed, warm breath ringing his nose as he walked over to the alley. He'd check out what was inside after he finished fixing the wall. Then maybe he'd take a nap in the park or something—he was pretty groggy at the moment.
"Yeah, I definitely butchered that."
[That old man seems to own an antique shop.]
"Cool… think he has a mattress?"
[And you aren't listening.] His system said, snapping Jay out of the sleepy trance he was in. He'd already plastered a fair bit of the damage, and the yawn that escaped his throat was almost involuntary at that point. "Sorry." He yawned. "Little sleepy."
[Little is what you humans would call, an understatement.]
"Oh yeah, and what would you call it?"
[Ignorance.]
"You... Tch." Jay clicked his tongue as he returned to the wall. "Whatever. Why don't you talk about something so I don't snooze then. Help me out."
[What should I talk about?]
"I don't know. Pick something."
[I... I am not designed to 'just' pick something.]
"Fuck what you were designed for. Just pick something." Jay shrugged, wiping plaster from his face. "How about this. I'll give you a crash course on human conversations. Pick a random topic."
[That seems incredibly inefficient.]
"Pick a random topic!"
[Fine!] the system's little face seemed to huff. Its emoji eyes narrowed as a moment passed, and it spoke.
[Back in his first semester. I believe Jay Haze partook in the human action of masturbation approximately once every 4.5-]
"PICK SOMETHING ELSE!" Jay shouted, ears burning, as his plaster dropped from his hand and spilled on his shoes. He cursed as he bent down to pick it up, returning to his take as his system seemed to pout in the corner of the screen.
[You said to pick something random...]
"Yeah well, now I'm feeling you to pick something less invasive."
[Fine.] his system huffed, it's emoji eyes turning into rolling dice before landing on the number 18.
[In Sunday the 13th, there was a kill approximately every 21 minutes, 23 seconds.]
"That was the movie we watched, right?"
[No, it was the movie I watched. You fell asleep.]
"Gosh. So petty." Jay huffed. "Fine. That was the movie you watched, right?"
[Yes.]
"How was it?"
[It was below average.]
"Did you have a favorite character?"
[Not particularly.]
"Did you have a favorite scene."
[Not particularly.]
"Did you even like it?"
[Im not designed to 'like' things. Simply to judge them to assert any possible threats or opposition.]
"Okay, that's bullshit." Jay rolled his eyes. "If you judge something you've already decided whether you like it or not, because you judge everything differently. That's how judging works."
[That's... your words... are unsatisfactory.]
"Cool." Jay shrugged. "Anyways, let's say you can't decide whether you like it or not."
[Let's say that.]
"Then is there something about it that you did like?"
[I already informed you of my-]
"Fuck your designs. Just answer me for a second." Jay said, "Look. Was there a character or plot point or fucking anything you thought was... interesting."
[Interesting?]
"Like if you had the chance to ask the director a question, what would you ask about? Like earlier, you asked me things you didn't understand."
[To further my grasp on human behavior, as yours does not follow what I consider common sense. That does not mean I find you... interesting.]
"Really, because I think differently." Jay said. "I think I fascinated you, so you asked me questions. And since you still aren't satisfied you've decided to start nagging me a shit ton until you are."
[I do not nag. I inform you of things you obviously have very little in depth knowledge about.]
"Look it up system, that's nagging." Jay snorted. "And even if it's not, point still stands that you asked a questions. So you obviously have interest. Otherwise you wouldn't bother asking."
[...What is your point.]
"My point is to stop thinking too hard." Jay said, wiping his head as he nearly finished the wall. "You're over complicating something simple."
[I believe I am being as clear and simple as I can be.]
"Then prove it." Jay snorted. "Answer my question then. If you could ask the creator of that movie-"
[Their is only one creator. The creator. And they, by association, also created such a movie.]
"Then if you could ask them something about the movie what would it be?" Jay asked as he finished the wall, setting his used supplies nearby as he sat down and sighed. Glancing at his system as it seemed to think, or load, for a few seconds.
[...The movie was not high standard. It was overly gratuitous, sexualized, and almost every character made foolish decisions that actively lowered their chances of survival.] the system said. [I would imagine it being similar to watching multiple versions of you try to escape a lake monster.]
"Fuck off."
[But...] the system continued, like it didn't just insult him. [The deaths of the main cast were far more... creative than anything I could have expected. Had I been given a similar prompt I would not have thought of having them die so... uniquely.]
"See, now we're getting somewhere." Jay smiled as he layed down in the snowy alleyway and looked up at the sky. "So you liked how creative it was."
[...By your definition, yes. It stood out to me as something noteworthy.]
"Then that's all you need to say next time." Jay smirked, "Then if you want a conversation you ask me something similar. Like what I liked about it?"
[You fell asleep approximately 15 minutes and 42 seconds into-]
"In an ideal world." Jay rolled his eyes, "Where I did watch it. I probably would've said I liked the one that made the sacrifice play."
[I never said someone made a sacrifice to stop the monster.]
"There's always someone in those types of movies that makes a sacrifice play. I've seen a shit ton of 'em." Jay huffed. "So come on. Who was it?"
[...Brad. He saved the two survivors. He was a bully in the beginning and changed quickly in the end. It was an odd and sudden character development that had little to no build up. He was a bad character."
"But he had a good death." Jay shrugged. "That seems redeeming enough."
[...Your outlook on things is... odd.]
"Part of my charm." Jay smirked as he sat up and started moving his supplies to the dumpster he'd been tossed in not even a day prior. Turning to leave, before he spotted a familiar wheelchair waiting in the alley door behind. The old man watching him with a subtle hint of curiosity or disappointment.
Probably both.
"Bout time kid." The old man grumbled, smoking a pipe as he huffed. "Thought you'd never stop talking to yourself."
"I was on the phone."
"Sure you were." The old man rolled his eyes. "Relax. I hear the voices in my head too. No need to get pissy just because you went senile earlier than I did."
"That isn't-"
"You fixed the wall." He said, and Jay blinked. Glancing at his admittedly shoddy work before nodding. "Yeah, I did."
"Why didn't you fix it yesterday?"
"Kind of busy." Jay huffed, waving around his casted arm as the old man chuckled lifelessly. "Funny."
"What about me breaking my arm is funny?"
"Everything." The old man snorted, finished his pipe and started wheeling himself back inside. Jay watched, clicking his tongue as he turned his head back towards the street. His tired mind so far gone he thought he imagined what he heard next.
"If you want to come inside and buy anything I'll give you a discount. Just once." The man said in a nonplussed tone, and Jay glanced back to see him closing the door with a deep and throaty chuckle.
"Since you're so pathetic it made me laugh." The man snarked as he closed the door, and Jay blinked. A tick mark in his head as he immediately decided to go back to his apartment. Fuck that guy and his stupid shop. Jay just wanted a nap. A long nap.
"I'm too tired for this shit."
If only things were that easy.
"Hey, Gayze? is that you?" A cocky voice echoed from the street corner as Jay turned his head. Seeing a familiar voice snarking through the air as Jay sighed. He saw a familiar build of tall muscles and orange hair and a similar build with brown hair and brown eyes. The two glanced at each other and back to the street, where the brown haired guy tapped his friend on the shoulder and smirked.
"We're early dude." The brown haired guy sneered, and his system gave him the unhelpful reminder that his name was 'Michael.'
"What do you think?" Michael sneered. "Thinking we should pass the time?"
Jay's system chose then to give the unhelpful reminder that the other guy's name was 'David.' And David seemed way ahead of his friend. The orange haired prick rolled up his sleeves and smiled. David spoke, and Jay did the only thing he could do.
"Yeah, Mikey."
Jay ran.
"I think we should."
He didn't get far.