One Man Band System

The next day, "ugh," Eric woke up in his bed. He realized he was still at his grandfather’s place, but when he tried to sit up, "huh," he felt a heavy weight pressing down on both of his arms. He looked to his left and saw Chloe still sound asleep in his embrace. When he turned to the other side, Laura was also fast asleep, curled up against his right arm. Then, his eyes drifted to the wall clock in the living area, hanging right above the television.

His eyes went wide. The clock showed that the school day had already started, yet the two girls beside him were still completely naked, dead to the world on his arms.

"Hey... aren’t you guys supposed to be in school... hey," Eric said, nudging them.

"Uh... hmm? Morning, babe," Chloe mumbled, barely cracking her eyes open.

"It’s not just morning... you’re barely waking up, and school has already started," Eric countered.

Chloe’s eyes snapped open. She whipped around to grab her smartphone, and the moment she saw the time on the screen, her face went totally pale. But no matter how fast she scrambled to get ready now, she wouldn’t make it to school until lunchtime. Giving up, she tossed her phone back down and slumped right back into Eric’s arms.

"Guess I’m skipping today," Chloe said, completely resigned.

"Man... this is bad. That means both you and Laura are playing hooky... just look at her, she hasn’t nudged at all," Eric said, trying to move his arm. His movement only caused Laura to snuggle even closer to him, showing off her peaceful sleeping face.

Suddenly, "slap," Chloe smacked Laura right across the cheek as she lay snuggled against Eric’s arm. Laura jolted awake in shock, sitting straight up and clutching her face. Once she blinked away the sleep and rubbed her eyes, she glared at a frowning Chloe.

"What is your problem... that hurt!" Laura yelled.

"You’ve been sleeping like a log! We’re missing school today, do you realize that?" Chloe shot back, raising her voice.

"Oh," Laura muttered, glancing over at the wall clock before picking up her smartphone to check the time. As the realization hit her that both clocks matched, coupled with the current state of her unclothed body, reality crashed down on her. The first thing she did was turn to Eric with a look of pure terror.

"Honey... please don’t tell my uncle," Laura said, shaking.

"Sigh... there’s no way I’m telling Uncle Joe... honestly, it’s my fault you guys are in this mess anyway. Don’t worry about it," Eric replied, at a total loss for what else to do as he gently stroked Laura’s hair.

"Fine then, I’m going back to sleep," Chloe said, lying back down and wrapping her arms around Eric’s arm.

"Ugh... I was sound asleep and you had to go and wake me up, so annoying," Laura grumbled, also laying back down to hug Eric’s other arm.

The two of them immediately snuggled close again and took turns kissing Eric on the lips. This time, however, Eric gently pushed them back and untangled himself from their embrace, leaving them both looking a little confused.

"That’s enough for today... let’s put a pause on the accidents for a bit. We actually have a guest coming over later," Eric said, now sitting up in bed while placing a hand on each girl’s head.

"Oh... right... didn’t Jade say yesterday she was coming over?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah... um... but is it cool if we’re here?" Laura asked.

"It’s fine. Jade just wants to talk... without Mike," Eric answered.

"Alright then, I’m going to take a shower first," Chloe said, getting out of bed.

"I’m next, so hurry up," Laura chimed in.

"Why don’t we just go together? Save some time, don’t be a drag," Chloe shot back.

"Oh... good point, let’s do it," Laura agreed.

With that, Laura got out of bed too, and the two of them walked toward the bathroom. Once the bathroom door clicked shut, Eric let out a sigh of relief, slipped out of bed, and pulled on his boxers.

"Man... we’ve way passed two accidents since yesterday... if this keeps up, things are going to get out of hand. I need to control myself and not go too wild... I still have stuff to take care of," Eric muttered to himself, glancing at his holographic quest screen.

The holographic screen remained hovering right next to his head since he hadn’t finished the next objective yet. Then, "ding," a notification popped up on Eric’s smartphone. He checked it and saw a text from Jade, letting him know she was on her way to his grandfather’s building. Eric texted back a quick okay. He then set his phone down and pulled on a t-shirt before heading into the kitchen to whip up some breakfast for himself, Chloe, and Laura.

A few moments later, after Eric, Chloe, and Laura had finished their breakfast, Jade arrived. Eric immediately brought her upstairs, grabbed her a drink, and sat down across from her, flanked by Chloe and Laura on either side. Jade examined the faces of Eric, Chloe, and Laura, and she also caught a certain scent in the air. Before taking a sip from the soda bottle Eric had handed her,

"Wow... you three are pretty wild, huh?" Jade teased after taking a drink, causing Chloe’s and Laura’s faces to turn bright red.

"Don’t talk nonsense... so, what did you want to talk about?" Eric asked, steering the conversation back on track.

"Nothing crazy... I just wanted to get your take on things. I can’t stand living with your sister anymore... all she does every day is play around... and sometimes she brings guys home... I think his name is Chad or whatever, some school friend of hers. It makes me feel a bit uncomfortable whenever I get back," Jade said.

"Huh... Chad? Oh, so Chad’s been hanging out at Ruby’s place a lot lately?" Chloe asked, surprised.

"Oh, you know him too?" Jade asked.

"Of course we do, we go to the same school as him," Laura answered.

"Well... he hangs out with Ruby a lot since he lives close by, and sometimes he hangs out at Ruby’s apartment. That’s the deal. I mean, I couldn’t care less... but it gets awkward sometimes... which is why I wanted to talk to you right now, Eric," Jade said, looking at him.

"You mean you want to move in here?" Eric asked bluntly.

"Oh, no, I wouldn’t dare be that forward. I want to get your opinion... what do you think if I move back in with Mike?" Jade asked.

"Wait... shouldn’t you be asking Mike about this? Why are you asking me? I mean, I’m totally fine with it, but how does Mike feel?" Eric asked, confused.

"Well, that’s the thing... I don’t know how to bring it up. I mean, he’s been really sweet to me again, always picking me up from nursing school, and he even helps me out financially when I’m in a tight spot... but... I just feel awkward talking about it, even though I really want to move back in with him," Jade answered, looking down as she nervously wrung her hands.

"Ah, I see what you’re getting at. You want me to talk to Mike about this for you, right?" Eric asked casually.

Jade didn’t say a word, but she nodded, her face looking so incredibly embarrassed that she couldn’t even speak. Eric let out a sigh and started to think, but suddenly he caught sight of the holographic screen next to his head and turned his attention back to Jade. A faint smile spread across his face.

"Alright... I’ll help you talk to Mike, but you have to help me out first. Deal? Looking at you in just a hoodie and jeans, I’m guessing you don’t have any classes or work today, right?" Eric asked.

"Oh... yeah, I actually took the day off... I wanted to figure out my living situation before Ruby gets back with Chad," Jade answered.

"Wait a second, are Ruby and Chad actually dating now?" Chloe interrupted.

"Um... I don’t really know. Whenever I ask, she says they’re just friends, but sometimes they spend hours in her room doing who knows what, and other times they’re out on the couch arm-in-arm watching TV, which is why I feel awkward," Jade explained.

"Hmm... what a total scumbag. First he went after Priya, then Monica, then me, then Heidi, after that Chloe, and finally Emma... and now he’s moved on to Ruby," Laura muttered, absolutely furious.

"Wait... are you jealous?" Chloe teased.

"Huh... jealous of him? I want to bury the guy, I’m not jealous!" Laura yelled back, thoroughly annoyed.

"Forget about him, let him do whatever... Jade, you can still play the organ, right? Which means you can handle a keyboard, yeah?" Eric asked.

"Yeah... I can... why do you ask?" Jade asked, confused.

"Perfect. Let’s head downstairs. There’s an instrumental track we need to perform that blends guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard in harmony," Eric answered.

"Huh... you mean me? You want me to play along with you and them?" Jade asked, shocked and entirely unbelieving.

"Yep... here’s the track," Eric said, handing over his smartphone which displayed his musical notes.

Jade took it and read through it. Her eyes darted across the screen, her brows furrowing in the middle. She then handed the smartphone back and looked straight at Eric.

"I think I can manage it... but are you sure?" Jade asked, still hesitant.

"You help me out, and I’ll talk to Mike for you. Deal?" Eric asked.

"Oh... so this is the favor you wanted," Jade said, finally catching on.

"Let’s go downstairs. You guys come on too," Eric urged, standing up.

With that, they all left the room to head down to the third floor to practice, before finally recording the track to save and give to Alan later. Eric glanced over at his holographic screen.

[Third Objective completed.]

[Reward: Control Population Skill... installed, $250,000.00 transferred to host’s account, and Scumbag 101 book stored in system inventory.]

"Huh... control population?" Eric questioned in his head.

He pressed and held the text, and a new holographic screen immediately popped up, overlaying the previous one. He glanced over at Jade, Chloe, and Laura, who were all chatting among themselves, before he finally read the description.

[Control Population Skill: As a musician, your life is certainly not tied down to just one woman. This skill is used to activate and deactivate your sperm quality to prevent pregnancy and stop you from leaving kids all over the place.]

"Huh... what kind of nonsense is this?" Eric thought to himself. He then checked the Scumbag 101 book, which apparently taught him how to be a total jerk. "What kind of rewards are these... aside from the cash, this stuff is completely useless," Eric thought to himself.