Quickly taking a photo of where he was standing.
'I don't even appear in this photo. What the fuck??'
________________________________________________
'So, cameras can't see me when the skill is turned on. I have never been a kleptomaniac, but I guess everyone has to start somewhere.'
"SHOW"
He was becoming quite excited at the prospect of experimenting more with his power, but just when he was about to theorize more about what he could do, his phone rang.
♫ ♫ ♫
*(I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas)*
I got a feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night
that tonight's gonna be a good night
that tonight's gonna be a good night
A feeling
that tonight's gonna be a good night
that tonight's gonna be a good night
that tonight's gonna be a good night
I got a feeling, woohoo
♫ ♫ ♫
On the phone, the name Empire State University appeared, but he just enjoyed the song for the first twenty seconds before remembering himself and picking up the call.
"Hello?"
"Mister Lester?"
"Yes, this is he."
"Good, I tried calling you earlier this morning, but nobody answered."
"Oh yes, I'm sorry. I forgot to charge my phone. I just plugged it in thirty minutes ago. What can I do for you?"
"It's alright. I'm calling you to inform you that your differential equations and linear algebra class will be shared with the applied physics major. The timetable that you received earlier this month is therefore invalid. If you could please stop by the administration building before your first class next week to pick up the new timetable."
"Alright, I'll make sure to stop by before my first class. Thank you for letting me know."
"You're welcome, Mister Lester. Have a good day."
"You too."
Arthur hung up and stared at his phone for a few seconds.
'Well, this is certainly less interesting than the rest of my morning, and apparently I have classes next week.'
He looked at the laptop, then at the letter, then at the phone, and almost had a fifth panic attack right there.
Fortunately, he managed not to break down, and after briefly using his breathing exercises, he got back to thinking about his immediate future.
'My power will need further testing and experimentation for me to know where the limits of its influence are, and even if there is one. And while I want to start on that right now, I also really need to know more about this body and the new life that comes with it.'
Arthur finally decided to get out of his room and explore the house. He didn't know if he had parents in this life or if he lived alone. He didn't really know anything except the fact that this Arthur was also starting a bachelor's degree in engineering.
Hesitantly opening the door, he stood at the end of a hallway. Just in front of his door was what seemed to be the bathroom, judging from the sink he could see through the open door.
To the right of his room was a closed door with a little sign that read "Lily & Mark". In front of this door was an open-plan layout leading to the living room and what seemed to be the kitchen.
Feeling hungry, Arthur quietly walked through the corridor to the kitchen to find some food.
'Nobody seems to be here except me, but is that all the time, or is it normal for 11 o'clock on a Monday?'
Opening the fridge, he found it almost empty except for some Chinese takeout boxes that seemed to be from the night before.
Taking one and putting it in the microwave to heat it up, he looked around the living room. The room was homey, with photographs of a couple with him in the middle, from what seemed to be Paris and London to Niagara Falls. Everyone seemed to be happy in these photos. There was a TV, a couch, and a table with four chairs. Everything was quite nice. Nothing looked used, just lived-in, practical, and warm.
Ding.
Taking the noodles out of the microwave, he sat at the table and ate.
'I really wonder if I'm alone again, or if these people who seem to be my parents are alive.'
In his previous life, Arthur was an orphan who lost his parents when he was three years old, before he could properly remember them.
Finishing his thoughts and his food, he stood up and started properly looking through everything that was in the room. On the couch were some papers that looked official enough to give him chills.
Quickly looking at them, he realized these were emancipation papers, his university registration documents, some newspapers from 2010, and, below that, papers from the notary that hit harder than the rest of the paperwork.
'So even this time I can't get to know my parents, huh?'
In this new life, Arthur's parents had died during the Stark Expo disaster in 2010. One of the drones had been beside the family of three before the explosion. His father managed to push him away seconds before impact, and he survived with only a broken arm.
The trip to the Stark Expo was one of his presents to celebrate his 18th birthday.
'What a fucking disaster, seriously.'
Since he was 18 when his parents died and he didn't have any direct family to take him in, the judge felt it was best for him to be emancipated instead of being placed in a foster home.
And so, for almost an entire year, this Arthur had been living alone in the apartment he inherited from his parents. With the apartment also came their savings, with almost a fifth of it going to the hospital for healing his broken arm because the medical system in the US is shit.
"At least nobody is going to force me to eat my vegetables, right?"
Trying to distance himself from his darker thoughts, he immediately started reading the rest of his registration papers.
Empire State University, or ESU for short, is somewhat of a known university in the Marvel fandom. Anyone who has read or is reading Spider-Man comics knows that it is the classic university that Peter Parker attended. It is also the university Reed Richards and Norman Osborn attended in their youth.
It is one of the most likely places for him to go if he wanted to meet a so-called hero.
'Should I or should I not be friends with Peter? On one hand, being friends with Spider-Man is a cool thing to write about in my future biography. On the other hand, he is literally cursed to suffer, and most people near him are often suffering.'
'What to do?'
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