”What is going on?” Ghaster asked while Kayla tried to cover his and Lolita’s eyes.
“Nothing, your mother was informing me that she brought a present for us.
Mihila gave Ghoto a look that said ‘This is far from over,’ before turning to speak with the kids. He gulped, in anticipation this time.
“I have fixed the delay for your life evaluation. We will go to the Department of Family affairs and use the Origin Survey machine to determine the best path for your refinement.”
“When will we go?” Soverick asked.
“Tomorrow morning,” Ghoto answered.
“Tomorrow morning? That’s too short.” Mihila questioned Ghoto telepathically.
“They’ve already wasted two months. For the kids.”
“I already suffered enough for the kids. I carried them for so long and they are still keeping me away from my just rewards. If not because I love you I wouldn’t have listened to you and had them in the first place.”
“It will only be for a short while. They grow so fast. They will be off to school in a maximum of a year. You will have me all to yourself and I’ll make it up to you.”
Mihila’s eye twinkled. “You’re right. It is up to you to make it up to me.”
“So prepare yourself. We leave tomorrow morning.” Ghoto announced with finality.
Everyone dispersed except Soverick. He held out his hand to Ghoto and said. “Minion, your supervisor is here. Do your thing.”
Ghoto facepalmed in resignation. Mihila was confused by his reaction.
“What is the problem?” She asked. Soverick didn’t deign to respond to that inquiry. That’s Ghoto’s job.
“He asked for a room all to himself and now he wants the control keys.” Ghoto finally answered.
Mihila became surprised. “He did? How come?” She asked.
“Through fatherly love and concern. I was having trouble living with the others and he came to my aid.” Soverick replied in an attempt to downplay the situation. He didn’t want Ghoto to ruin his chances.
“More like he strong-armed me and bullied me,” Ghoto grumbled. He didn’t want Soverick to get his way, he wouldn’t stop the process though, he will spoil it. He had promised that as long as Mihila assented Soverick would get the control keys, but that didn’t mean he would have to play nice.
“How did that happen?” Mihila was becoming more and more amused.
“Let’s just say that my life was in danger,” Soverick said with a suggestive tone. He wanted to keep a lid on how he got the room. Mihila could smell something fishy but she didn’t want to get into something complicated right now. She wanted this to be over so she could get her just reward, time was running out.
“That’s that. But what does this have to do with the control keys?” Mihila didn’t want to let go of the control key to his room.
The control keys are fragments of the control panel that controls the security and surveillance of the entire house. Each key represents a node in the network of arrays that comprises the security system. Through them, each room can be isolated from prying, sound, and even wireless communication. The loss of one could compromise the entire network because while each key is separate, they are a part of a single whole.
Sensing that things were not going his way soverick turned to Ghoto and said “We had a deal.” Ghoto looked away.
He felt a little guilty but he was in total agreement with Mihila. There was no way their child would live under them without surveillance.
Soverick made his decision immediately after he saw Ghoto’s reaction. He had a lot of secrets and he also hated the feeling of being constantly watched.
“I’ll leave then.” He said.
“What?” Ghoto exclaimed while Mihila didn’t understand the proclamation so she had to ask “Leave where?”
“You tell her, Old man. You know I’ll do it.” Mihila’s lips twitched at that remark. When did her husband become an old man? What did that make her? Ghoto on the other hand understood how serious things had become. He knew Soverick was serious. He knew that whenever soverick didn’t get his way he would retaliate fiercely. This situation reminded him of how Soverick eventually got his room. The same thing happened when Kayla brought back the mana lock formation array. It was an expensive piece of machinery with the power to rob away the ability to actively control mana. The array used a mild and non-intrusive process unlike that of its counterpart used to immobilize and secure criminals. Its counterpart will invade the bodies and the soul space of those under its effect thereby locking down all active and passive use of mana. All in all, it was a mana-grade artifact that could only affect those beneath the level of transcendent, those that still rely on mana.
“Trust me he will do it,” Ghoto warned Mihila.
“Do what?” She still didn’t understand what the fuss was all about.
“He will leave the house.”
“You mean run away. Why? Just because he won’t get the control key.”
“Yes, just because he won’t get the control key.”
Ghoto noticed that Mihila didn’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation he decided to forward to her the memory of the event. He touched her forehead and transmitted the memory. Contact wasn’t needed for mental transmissions but it helps, especially in the case of large information transfers. The series of events flashed quickly in her mind.
A few months ago, the day Kayla just joined the family.
Kayla returned soon after she went out to the market. Ghoto was still reading the book Mihila sent to him.
“I am Back, King Ghoto.” She announced. He found her mood jubilant. “Why are you so happy?” He asked. “Did something interesting happen while you were out?”
“Nothing much happened.” She shrugged before she started grinning, “But I got something very interesting.” She showed him a small round object. It was a sphere that acted as the runic foundation of the mana lock array.
“Interesting.” He remarked while inspecting the object. “It will be useful in protecting the kids from damaging themselves. Maybe I should get something like this for their mother when she returns.”
“She might not like that. Not a lot of people can stand having their strength deprived.” Kayla tried to persuade him otherwise.
“I don’t agree. It is for the protection of our children, I am sure she’ll agree. Besides…” His mind started wondering about numerous other possibilities.
“Anyways let’s go and show them. I am sure they will be happy at the length you will go to protect them. I can’t wait to see the look on their small faces.” Kayla spoke in anticipation.
Ghoto didn’t agree with her that his kids will be happy with this development. He was still down from what he read earlier and wished he could possess her enthusiasm.
“There’s no use waiting. The sooner it is used the better we can get our money’s worth out of this thing.”
They returned to the room to find Ghaster sprawled across the ground.
“What happened?” He asked in panic but he didn’t receive any reply. He rushed ahead of Kayla to pick him up and inspect him. He relaxed when he realized that Ghaster had only fainted. He turned to Soverick.
“What is going on? I demand an answer.”
“He challenged me. We dueled. He lost.” Soverick answered in short concise sentences.
“What made him lose his consciousness?” Ghoto asked
“How could you?” Kayla asked. Soverick ignored all the questions, he said to Ghoto “This will continue to happen if we stay together.”
“You are wrong about that. We have this now.” Ghoto said before showing him the sphere.
Soverick didn’t recognize the gadget. “What is this?” The fact that Soverick didn’t know why it was made him seem more immature and it made Ghoto feel a tiny pleasure at the show of ignorance.
“It is a Mana lock Formation array. It will….”
Soverick eyes flickered with the light of understanding, it was the first reaction that his always passive face showed. The boy said with a steely voice “I know what it does and I will not allow it.”
“Well, it is not up to you to decide that now is it? You will just have to live with it.” Kayla said smugly. She was smiling from ear to ear. Soverick resumed his calm attitude but Ghoto couldn’t tell if he was faking it or not.
“We will see about that.” Soverick’s expression was placid as he spoke.
“Isn’t it for Criminals?” A tiny voice asked from the other side of the room. It was Lolita. The young girl had been quiet ever since he entered the room, she didn’t talk when he questioned them about their brother. Her question stabbed him in his heart.
“It is not for criminals. It is for your protection.” He tried to assure her but he could tell that she wasn’t convinced. Unlike her eldest brother, she expressed her emotions visibly and her body language could be easily deciphered. He knew Litori wasn’t comfortable with it but the young girl gave a nod in reluctant agreement.
