The Frieden Chronicles: Reckoning

Friends in high places

Mason Lopez

"Where is it? Shit, how could I lose it so quickly?!" Uma asked himself looking frantically in his duffel bag. Our room wasn't anything special to say the least, we were still unpacking and most of our things were still in transit.

 "What exactly are we looking for?" I asked as I laid on my bed playing a game on my pad.

"It's a uh, sketch of some sort. I-its a rough draft of an idea." He said before continuing the search while muttering to himself almost as if he was insane.

 "Alright, looks like we are gonna' have to tear this room apart then..." I said taking a stand, I was going to start searching in his side of the room until something cached the corner of my eye.

I made my way towards one of Uma's coats that hung in its hanger before taking out of it a piece of paper that stuck out from one of the many pockets. It was a bit confusing as to what I was seeing, it was some sort of scanner with different specifications in a language I could not understand.

"You found it!" Uma said excited as he almost dove towards me.

 "So this is what you have in mind...?" I asked as it looked at it intently.

"Y-yeah pretty much its stupid I know and a bit cowardly too." Uma said before I turned to him surprised yet disappointed that he would say such a thing.

 "... So let me get this straight, if you are not in the front line fighting, you're a coward? Come on Uma, I thought you were better than this..." I said as he looked away embarrassed.

 "Now... What is this exactly?" I asked slightly angered yet curious.

"I-its a portable scanner, if by example you got shot, the scanner is supposed to tell you how much damage it truly did within the body... Well that is how it is supposed to function anyways." Uma said as I was taken completely off guard from this.

 "Hmmm... it could work if we get the right people to build you a prototype..."

"Y-you think so?" He asked, surprised.

 "I'm being serious... if this is successful, this could save so many lives. You get this shit patented and you my good sir will not only be a vital asset for the company, but filthy rich as well..." I said as I handed him over the piece of paper

"Thanks Captain... I'll promise I will do my best! Honestly... you are the first person who supports this..." he said smiling sheepishly.

 "Let me guess, really close minded people around you saying you were delusional?"

"Yeah... dad didn't like the idea, in his eyes it's 'not a soldier's duty to meddle with such jobs' he's a career infantry officer so he can be a bit... out there..."

 "He's an idiot just like you, I am sorry but if you can't see the benefits that this can bring to everyone, then the way I thought of you was mistaken..." I said bluntly.

"Yeah you have a point... I just..." he said trying to compose his words.

"... It's just that some of the other folks that were around me said things like 'it will never work' or 'stop being such a daydreamer'... I just think they might be right... everyone around me just moves on while I'm just stuck in the same place being laughed at..." He said downplaying himself, it all made sense now, all of the angst, all of the worries... he was a bird that was never allowed to spread its wings.

 "...Uma, I want you to let this sink in..." I said as I took a seat on my bed once again.

 "Have you ever wondered how the hell did we get here as a species? How could we out of all the millions of other kinds of animals were able to rise above the rest?" I asked as he as well took a seat on his bed confused.