Divine Artifact in a Scientific World-Chapter 75: First Day (5)

Jack was walking across the quad, headed back towards his hotel, when his phone rang.

"Hey Abigail, what’s up?" he asked after answering the phone.

"Jack, I just wanted to call and let you know I formally accept your job offer. I sent you the signed paperwork."

"That’s great, Abigail! I’m glad to hear that. Have you figured out where you want to set up headquarters?"

"Yep. The other half of the floor where Henry set up office is available, and I already talked to the leasing agent."

Her choice made sense. Being next door to Henry made it easier for them to meet and communicate confidentially.

"Look at you, hitting the ground running. I like it. And, once you have an office, don’t cheap out setting it up. I mean, no gold plated desks, but make sure to get quality stuff."

"You’re sure?" She sounded hesitant.

"Yes. A dreary place leads to dreary thoughts, so make sure you furnish your office so you actually like being there."

"So, no gold plated desk," she said, then in a teasing tone, "but what about a gold plated coffee mug?"

He chuckled.

"Sure, why not, if it makes you happy? But if you decide to get a solid gold mug, make sure you get me one too, and it should say, ’Best Boss Ever!’"

She laughed, then said, "I think I can do without a solid gold mug."

They briefly talked about the status of the house offers they’d made. Then she hung up.

As he continued across the quad, a young woman in a military uniform approached him. She was wearing a light blue, short sleeve top, dark blue skirt, dark blue hat, and black shoes.

"Sir, can I have a moment of your time?" she asked. Her voice was surprisingly high pitched, like a chipmunk trying to sound serious. She was similar in build to Madison, but almost as tall as him.

He was supposed to meet Professor Berkheimer in about an hour and still needed to get back to his hotel room, change into something a little less informal, and drive to the restaurant, so he didn’t have much time to spare. Especially since he would probably have to fend off Miranda and her voracious sexual appetite.

"What?" he asked, in an annoyed tone.

"Um, sorry, um, would you be interested in joining the ROTC?"

"What’s that?"

"The Reserve Officer Training Corp. If you join, the military pays for your-"

He didn’t need the money, and was not interested in joining the military.

"Not interested," he said firmly, then turned and continued walking.

The girl jogged to catch up to him and said, "Um, then would you be interested in coming back to my dorm room? My roommate is out for the evening so we could, well, you know..."

Ok, if two is a coincidence, and three is a pattern, then four is a god damn certainty. Something weird was going on.

He didn’t mind the extra confidence he seemed to be feeling, the ease with which he was interacting with people. And he didn’t mind the way Robin or Analise had responded to him. He’d been interested in them from the beginning.

But this was twice now that girls he had no prior interaction with were coming on to him, hard. It was a real boost to his ego, but it also felt strange, unexpected, and it left him just a bit off balance.

"I appreciate the offer, but I must politely decline."

"Um, okay. Can I at least have your number?"

"No. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be."

"Oh, um, okay. Sorry to bother you." Then, with slumped shoulders, she turned and walked the other way. But as she receded behind him, he heard her say to herself. "I’m such an idiot. Why did I even say that?!"

He took a deep breath and released it. He was worried there for a moment that she would try to follow him, but the moment he gave her a firm no, she backed off immediately.

While he continued his walk to his hotel room, in his soul space, he summoned Jeeves.

When Jeeves appeared, he described what had happened, then asked, "Is there something about Genesis Heart that could be having an effect on people?"

"Not directly, no. But according to the Genesis Heart logs, it was necessary to strengthen your soul before it could complete installation. If your soul strength, prior to Genesis Heart, is representative of the average soul strength of the people on your planet, then your new soul strength would have an effect on them."

"What kind of effect?"

"Weak souls recognize strong souls. The greater the difference in strength, the greater the recognition. Because this recognition happens below the level of conscious thought, or even subconscious instinct, a person’s personality, values, and perspective can influence how that recognition manifests in their subconscious and conscious mind. The most common result will be that people will feel a subtle tendency to show you respect. Some might get angry at how they feel towards you, some might feel fear. And some may feel awe or reverence towards you."

"Okay, but will having a stronger soul have an effect on me?"

"Yes, the reverse is also true. A strong soul perceives a weak soul as a non-threat. For most, this manifests as greater confidence when interacting with the person whose soul is weaker."

Well, that explained his sudden confidence boost. And it explained the way the girls were reacting to him. That last girl, the one in the military uniform, had backed off immediately when he said no.

If she approached him out of respect, reverence, awe, then it would make sense for her to back off if he told her no. If she had approached because she was crazy or obsessive, then her backing off so quickly would not have made sense.

The anger and fear Jeeves mentioned might be a problem. Only time would tell. Still, overall, this seemed like a plus. Increased confidence, natural respect from others, but with a small risk that some might respond negatively to him.

When his physical self got back to his hotel room, he found Miranda sitting in an armchair. Her were legs spread wide and draped over the chair arms, and she had a text book propped up on her prodigious tits.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺