Rise To Stardom - Chapter 233

Chapter 233: Obstinate Kyle
{Tech Wiz: Year One | 6th of July 2022 | Act 2 | Scene 1 | Take 4}

A sterile scent hung in the air.

The metallic walls were sleek and poorly illuminated, reflecting the dimly-lit atmosphere of the secret, clandestine chamber.

Scattered around the room were scribbled equations, experimental schematics, and prototype neural interface designs, all proof of a relentless quest to achieve something.

And situated in the middle of it all, was a cryofreeze containment unit, blue biometric monitors, tracking the fragile life suspended within it.

Faint footsteps echoed, gradually getting louder with each step till the doors to the chamber opened and a familiar pair of legs, made their way, in.

Soon, the man came face to face with the containment unit, placing his palm on the cool surface of its reinforced glass.

It wasn’t gloved this time.

Rather, all its cybernetic glory was on full display.

Yet, it did nothing to detract from the sense of vulnerability that it held as he spoke;

“Fifteen years…”

“I’ve waited, fifteen years for this day to come…” his voice masked a dangerously vengeful tone that still slipped out, nonetheless.

“And trust me, I’ll make them pay. Every, last, one of them.” the Professor concluded with cold determination, one that was devoid of the warmth and approachability his students had always known him for.

Suspended within the containment chamber, was Malakai’s greatest loss.

It was also, his greatest obsession.

Caitlyn North.

“Tailslate and… Cut!”

–

“That was a great take Clint.” the Director gave Clint a thumbs up from afar to which the middle-aged actor nodded in appreciation with a warm smile as he walked over.

“Alright guys! Let’s switch loca-”

Xavier’s phone buzzed, prompting him to pick it up.

And no sooner had he done so, his eyes widened in utter relief as he said to Clint whom had already reached his side;

“Kyle’s awake!”

* * *

“As you can see, I’m alive, hale and hearty.” Kyle defended with outspread arms.

“Besides, the Doctor said I was fine, right?” he pointed out.

“The Doctor did say he was fine.” Jeff casually backed him up while peeling an apple with a penknife.

“Are you really gonna side with him again this time, Jeff?!” Oliver trained an annoyed gaze at the old Hollywood Star who honestly replied;

“Look. Kyle’s the closest thing I have to a grandson, so yes. Yes, I will.”

Kyle beamed with a happy blush the moment he heard those words, not even trying to hide it this time as he gave Jeff a high-five for his lovely assist.

Oliver on the other hand, face-palmed, dragging his palm along the length of his face as he muttered to himself with an annoyed groan;

“Lost causes. Both of them.”

Clearing his throat, Kyle soon spoke again, hell-bent on getting back on set;

“If I may remind you guys though, we’re all working on a pretty tight schedule here, one we need to blitz through as fast as we possibly can.”

“And considering I’m the main lead, I can’t be holding everyone back because guess what, I have the most scenes!” Kyle argued, turning his gaze towards Owen who wasn’t planning on budging.

“So! Please! For the love of all things good, let me, get back, on set.” he begged of the two.

“You slept for 24 hours straight Kyle!” the assistant whom had been extremely busy, managing Kyle’s interactions with the movie’s other composers all this while for a fluid working cohesion while he was busy filming, intently disagreed.

Yet, before Kyle could say anything in response, a bunch of individuals, walked through the doors of his hospital room.

And after they were all done sharing warm pleasantries, greetings, with Kyle receiving the most, Owen informed everyone of what Kyle was up to the moment he was discharged tomorrow.

“I don’t know really. I mean, if the doctors say he’s fine, he must be, right?” Clint gestured to everyone to which Kyle praised him thankfully;

“Thank you for being understanding Clint!”

“But I also think you need to rest a bit more… take a day or two off, maybe?” he added with a hint of fatherly concern in his tone.

Kyle’s smile dropped.

Sharon, Lily and Cass, on the other hand…

“No.” they stated in unison.

Each lady even tried to convince Kyle to at least take a few days off as he had practically been on full throttle the whole year.

“Yeah, about that… respectfully– and I mean that from the bottom of my heart– I’m not listening to any of you.” the obstinate young man politely clarified without giving any of them an inch as he angled his gaze towards Xavier, the one person in the room, everyone practically turned to convince Kyle.

And after a few seconds of contemplating, the Director opened his mouth.

…

…

…

“Traitors. All of you.” Kyle sulked as he popped another apple slice into his mouth, earning slight chuckles from all his nemesis’ in the room.

“Except for you Jeff. You’re the best.” he suddenly gave the old Hollywood star the warmest of smiles.

“See? See why I can’t say no to him?” Jeff pointed out to everyone in the room, causing them to burst into laughter this time.

* * *

(A few days later…)

Sleeping for an entire day straight was actually quite abnormal for someone whom had simply fainted due to what must’ve been stress, both mentally and physically.

And in all honesty, his colleagues were right to force him to relax because despite Kyle’s [Peak Human Conditioning] which made it extremely easy for him to recover from stress and fatigue, [Deep Dive] at Grade S, was something he should’ve thought through properly before using.

But due to his excitement from the prospect at getting to hear the background score, he had overlooked the later intensity of the scene.

However, Kyle was the type to adapt quickly and had decided to test out something the next time he was on set.

Since he apparently had full control over [Deep Dive], he figured he could mentally give the skill a command to retain the background score of the scenes he acted in while keeping the grade at A.

And five days later, having taken a break as they’d asked of him, he tested out his theory for his next scene.

The scene where Nathan figured out how to use a bit of his powers.

{Tech Wiz: Year One | 12th of July 2022 | Act 2 | Scene 2 | Take 1}

“Nate.” George called out quietly, gently tapping his grandson.

“Hmmm…” Nathan hummed sleepily, tossing to his other side.

“Nathan.” the old man tried his luck again, his tone a bit softer.

“Five more minutes…” Nathan mumbled drowsily, gently pushing away his grandfather’s hands away.

“Nathan Niall North.” George shook him properly this time, his tone instantly taking a firm stance!

“Gramps… come on…” the young man slowly blinked his eyes open, his vision bleary as he sluggishly sat atop the bed.

Then his gaze settled on George who sighed as he asked with crossed arms, his tone concerned;

“Are you alright? What happened? Why did you sleep here?”

“Hmmm…?” Nathan slowly tilted his head in response to the slew of questions, his clarity gradually coming back as the realization soon hit him.

“Oh…” he mouthed audibly, his gaze sweeping across the room.

Then he frowned.

“Wait… why did I sleep here again?” he asked George who practically gave him a look that implied; You tell me.

But considering Nathan had never for once stepped foot into the room ever since his mother had left, George soon let out an accepting sigh, his lips pressing into a thin smile;

“Well, at least you’ve resolved to come here. That counts towards something, I guess.”

As for Nathan, he gently clutched his head as he muttered to himself, a deeper frown gracing his features as he recalled the events of yesterday in hazy details;

“A… dream…?”

“So? Not going to college?” George, not willing to push the matter any further, switched topics as he turned on his heels to head out the door.

That caught Nathan’s attention as he responded while slowly getting off the bed;

“No. I’m going. Just came back home to…”

“… pick up some stuff?” he once again frowned, his memory hazy.

Surprised at his response however, George turned to face him, his aged eyes crinkling with elation.

“Really?!” he asked, seeking clarification.

“Y-Yeah. Yeah.” Nathan replied, his eyes meeting his grandfather’s.

“I have classes later in the day so I’m not in a hurry to leave.” he added with a light smile on his lips.

A light, relaxing, comedic score, cued.

“Well, I’ll be damned. I wonder if pigs can fly too now…” George commented with a gladdened heart, simultaneously jabbing at his grandson as he did.

“Haha. Very funny.” Nathan on the other hand, rolled his eyes sarcastically as he walked past George, grabbed his bag in the living room and headed up to his bedroom.

Once again, he gave his greetings to their cat;

“Hello Sir. Pouncealot. Lovely weather up there again today, I see.”

Clearly annoyed at Nathan for not feeding him yesternight, the cat let out a long, drawn-out meow instead, earning an arched brow of confusion from the young man.

Not really minding him though, Nathan ascended the stairs while George, called out to the cat, prompting it to jump off the hole in the ceiling as it went on to also complain to the old man with repetitive meows this time.

“Alright, alright. It’s Tuna Tuesdays anyway…” George’s voice echoed in the distance to Nathan whom had just reached his room as he closed the door behind him.

Plopping into his chair by the desk, the young man then stared at the ceiling for a brief second, muttering to himself again;

“Must’ve been a dream then…”

Suddenly recalling something, Nathan casually snapped his fingers as he pulled out his laptop from the bag and placed it atop the desk, the device switching on itself as he had only put it to sleep previously.

Gazing at the lit screen, the money grubber rubbed his palms together like a greedy gremlin as he smiled like he was about to hit a jackpot;

“Sweet, sweet benjamins, here I come!”

Within seconds, Nathan was about to pick up from where he stopped, intent on uploading the game, his fingers at the ready!

Yet, the moment his fingers came into contact with the laptop, the mouse hovering over the upload prompt, Nathan’s greedy smile, slowly faded, hesitation creeping in.

And reflected in his similarly hesitant irises, was the enticing prompt egging him on, just a click away from him, sitting atop heaps of money.

The music score morphed, a subtle heroic score, underpinned.

“Hands that build…” he soon audibly muttered to himself, a light sigh of acceptance escaping his lips as he slowly closed the laptop’s screen a few seconds later.

Leaning into his chair with a relaxed smile, palms gently tapping on the closed laptop, Nathan soon commented thoughtfully, almost as if trying to affirm his decision;

“Eh, it was a janky game anyway. Terrible third-rate copy–”

Suddenly, the entirety of his arm, all the way down to his fingers, lit up in a tattooed line of neon-blue circuitry, extending across the entirety of the laptop!

“What the–?!” Nathan jerked his arm backwards, eyes widening in a mix of fear and realization!

‘Yesterday night wasn’t a dream!’ his eyes effectively communicated his thoughts.

Tightly grasping onto the glowing arm with his other arm, his heartbeat rapid, Nathan gulped as he kept staring in fright!

However, after a few more seconds, the neon glow subsided, eventually disappearing, prompting him to slowly release his grasp on the affected arm.

But, no sooner had he done that, his eyes lit up in the same neon shade of blue, projecting a blueprint-hologram of the external and internal components of the laptop in a 3D-model!

Once again, this startled the frightened young man to no ends as he fell backwards, from his chair and onto the ground with a heavy thud!

“Nate! Everything good up there?” George’s voice echoed in concern from below.

“Yeah! I’m okay Gramps! Just uh, tripped over a cable!”

“Be careful!” George advised to which Nathan, frantically trying to turn off the phenomenon in his field of view by rapidly blinking his eyes, replied;

“I will!”

Still…

“Dang it!” Nathan kept trying to turn off the neon-blue hologram with a mix of a fearful yet frustrated mutter!

“Switch! Off!” he suddenly commanded in determined aggravation!

Miraculously, as if listening to his very command, the projected hologram from his eyes, flipped off.

Inhaling a few breaths in and out, his fears slowly declining, Nathan, after a few more seconds, tentatively spoke again, his voice quiet;

“Switch, on.”

His eyes lit up in response, startling him again, albeit slightly.

“Switch, off.”

The holographic, 3D model of his laptop, flickered out of existence.

“On.”

It projected once more.

“Off.”

It vanished.

Then, this time, with a mental command, he repeated, the phenomenon a few more times.

Slowly but surely, Nathan’s fears gradually morphed into growing curiosity as he stared at the 3D model of his laptop in his field of vision.

Then, with an extended finger towards it, the young man began to pull it apart slowly, piece by piece.

And by the time he was done, with all the components separated, Nathan, unsure of what to do, thoughtfully muttered out loud;

“Wait…”

“If it can scan it…”

“Could it…”

The young man had only thought of it.

The idea of reconstructing what it had stored in his mind, seemingly.

Yet, in double-quick response, all the individual components before him, took on a tangible form atop his palms, some of it slipping off and falling onto the ground!

As of that moment, Nathan could only stare at the mirror hung opposite him, his expression of absolute shock, reflected in it.

“Tailslate and… Cut!”