When Zach got home, he took a shower.
When he got out, he saw a note taped to his door.
[Zach, we went to check on our apartment.
We will be back later tonight.
Love Mom and Dad.]
Zach snorted and threw away the note.
‘It’s been months since you both saw each other, and you ‘worked out’ today.
Sure, you guys are going to check out the apartment.
I’d better not end up with a sibling.’
Zach took out his journal and wrote down what he saw.
‘I saw Donald today, he looked weird without his shades on.
He is chubbier than in the series, so that must mean he hasn’t died yet and become a cyborg.
He kept watch over Fred and me, so it’s safe to assume he will do so again.
I snuck a glance at his paperwork while walking, and it was set for three months.’
Zach leaned back in his chair, balancing his pen on his lips.
‘Three months of pretending.’ His face frowned.
‘This sucks.’ He put the chair down and got dressed.
It was the middle of the day, and he had nothing to do, so he decided to practice his energy manipulation.
‘Eve is able to make clothes out of thin air and change apples into solid gold.’ He shook his head.
‘Focus, Zach.
I won’t try anything too high-level like that; instead, I am going to focus on creating, changing, and shaping clothes.’ Zach thought about wearing a suit.
A silver tux appeared.
Zach felt the fabric.
‘This is a real tux!
But it is still silver.
Eve can make clothes in different colors, regardless of the color of her energy.
I don’t want to change the properties of the tux, just the color.’
He pictured dying the tux black.
‘He opened his eyes and saw that the tux was black.
“Hell yeah, baby.
I will never have to spend money on clothes again.
Just make them from air and hang them up.” He practiced some more to make the process faster and smoother.
Once he felt like he had reached a good level, he stopped practicing making clothes and shifted to making weapons.
Eve made constructs of energy but never actual weapons.
‘She never reached her full potential.
If she can make an apple turn into clothes out of air, then she could make missiles, guns, and maybe even bombs.’
‘In the TV show, she had top scores in the STEM fields.
It’s safe to assume that as long as I understand the molecular structure of something, I can create it.
I also don’t have any blockage to making changes to my or someone else’s biological state.
[Total Control] eliminates most of the dangers of fooling around anyways.’
Zach wanted to log in to his laptop and research different molecular structures, but didn’t want to trigger any warning signs with the GDA.
He also didn’t want to open any files, but if he didn’t make new entries, that could also draw more attention.
Zach groaned.
“I’m not on house arrest or probation, but it feels like I am.”
Zach sighed and made new entries into the files he already had.
‘Gotta keep up appearances.’ Once he was done, he took out his ambassador’s manual.
It hadn’t appeared in his techniques list yet, so there were still things he needed to learn.
Zach heard his parents’ laughter as they came home.
He opened his door and went downstairs.
They were dressed nicely as if they had just come from having dinner.
“Well, well, you two look nice.
Did you bring me a doggy bag?” Jared hugged Nyla and tossed a bag at him.
“I know you love the bread from Roadhouse.” Zach’s eyes lit up.
He opened the bag and smelled the bread and butter.
He moaned before picking up a piece and taking a bite.
“I can’t believe you drove to Countryside.” They both laughed.
Jared looked at Nyla, who was still in his arms.
“See, I told you he hasn’t completely changed.
The boy still loves bread at least.”
Nyla slapped his chest.
“I know he hasn’t changed.
He isn’t some shetani(A name for East African spirits).
I will go change, and so should you; we have things to do.” Jared leaned down and gave her a kiss.
“I thought we already took care of those things.” Nyal laughed and swatted him.
“Jared!
We have an audience.” She left the room after giving Zach a hug and a kiss.
Zach softly smiled at their interaction.
He didn’t comment or pretend he didn’t understand what was going on.
He saw how Jared watched her leave and walk up the stairs.
‘I wonder if Sonya and I would’ve been like them two?’ Jared sighed and turned to him.
“Son, you find a woman who knocks you off your feet, then grab her by the ankles and pull her down with you.”
They laughed at his joke.
He got serious and started writing on paper.
[I noticed a car following your mother and me.
Should we change the time and the day?] Zach chewed his bread before speaking.
“Is that why you gave that look to grandpa as if he sent you to the gulag when he suggested you and Mom spar today?”
He spoke while writing, [No, I have a way for us to talk.
Leave all tech here at the house and meet in my room at 7:45.
What about grandpa and grandma?] Jared was inwardly surprised to see Zach pick up and follow his lead.
“Your mom is a much better fighter than me son.
She protects the first lady while I travel and talk all day.” He wrote back, [Understood, we will be there.
There is a lot I want to ask you, but that can wait until later.
Your grandparents are good.
I convinced your grandpa to bring your grandma on a mini vacation, my treat.]
Zach nodded.
“I suppose that is fair.
But I wouldn’t underestimate you, I mean, you’re married to her after all.” Jared let out a boisterous laugh; it was genuine.
They spoke a bit more before Jared left to get changed.
Zach went to his room to read the manual and check on Fred and Blair. Get faster updates on novelping.com.
They both said they accomplished the task of getting everyone a guest pass.
Zach sighed in relief.
‘Maybe things are turning for the better.’ Hours passed by, and it was time for Zach to reveal everything.
He was nervous but hid it perfectly thanks to [Total Control].
He opened his door, and his parents walked in.
They were both wearing all black, and his mom even had her service pistol with her.
Zach didn’t say anything about it; in fact, knowing she was taking this seriously helped him calm down.
He let his energy pass over them and sighed.
He held his hand out to his dad.
“Dad, I said, leave all technology.
That includes recording devices.” Nyla glared at Jared.
“I’m sorry ok.
It’s become a force of habit.
You have no idea how many diplomats and ambassadors go back on their words.” He handed it over, and Zach crushed it with his bare hands.
“I can only imagine, Dad, but this and anything else you experience from this point forward can’t be found out.”
Jared solemnly nodded.
“I am sorry, Zach.” He gave Zach a hug.
Zach returned it and smiled.
“Ok, take my hands.
We gotta get there early since I am the leader.” Before they could say anything, he teleported with them.
He didn’t teleport them directly into the Sanctuary, but outside it.
He was about to say something, but they both rushed to the side and threw up.
‘Right, they don’t have the space element, and their bodies aren’t sturdy enough.’ Nyla recovered first and looked around.
Jared spat and wiped his mouth.
“Are we in the park, Zach?
It feels weird,” Jared said as he looked around.
Zach slapped his forehead.
He passed them two guest tokens.
The weird feeling they had went away, and they saw the arch and the statue Zach was standing next to.
They looked up and saw the name, [Nature’s Sanctuary].
Zach watched their faces change in wonder.
He snapped his fingers and changed into his ambassador’s uniform.
This earned him a look from Nyla.
Jared glanced but paid more attention to the statue.
Nyla relaxed her guard and stared at Zach.
“Zach Shaun Maddox, are those tattoos on your arms!” This got Jared’s attention, and he also gave Zack a look.
‘I am so happy I am stronger and lived a past life where these looks barely sting anymore…barely.’
“Wait!
Before you both get on me about them, I didn’t have much of a choice; they were very painful, so much so that I don’t think I will ever get one again, and they aren’t even the most shocking part.” Nyla still stormed over and grabbed his arms to check them.
She looked at them and turned to Jared.
“Come look at these, look at what your son has done to his beautiful skin.” Zach and Jared whinced.
‘Your son, huh?’ They thought in silence as Jared observed them.
He smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Honey, they aren’t badly done.
As a matter of fact, they are incredibly detailed, so at least they were done professionally.” Nyla felt like exploding, but then two more groups of people appeared.
‘Thank goodness you guys are on time.’