章節 41: Chapter 39 - Improvement and Pumps

AN: I saw your reactions about Melissa. Hey, we win some, we lose some. But this is an MHA fic, and we got to give some love to Melissa. She is underrated, for real. It's always, Momo, Nejire, and Froppy, but never my home girl, Melissa. Anyway, enjoy!

ONE MILLION VIEWS! THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!

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MELISSA'S ROOM POV

Melissa was on her bed resting, pondering about recent events that took place today. Her heart started to rise when she explicitly remembered her first kiss. Then to downright embarrassment when Leo boldly sought permission to court Melissa from her father that same morning!

To make matters worse, her Papa knew about it even before Leo asked! "I appreciate the gesture. But be careful, kiddos; I'm not the only one with access to CCTVs within the island," was all he said before giving his permission and silently eating breakfast!

Then came her Aunt Lucy, saying how she'd back Melissa up if Leo broke her heart. Honestly, she doesn't even know who's her child anymore. She treats both Leo and Melissa almost the same.

Anyway, they talked about it when the two got alone again during the day. And both agreed that the heat of the moment got the best of them. Yet the two still shared their genuine interest in one another, deciding to take things slow with no reason to rush.

However, she was disturbed from her thoughts by the supposed depleted nanites that she had yet to charge!

[Owner, system and nanites are attempting to overhaul and improve. After a previous encounter with an entity's biological energy, the system and nanites have concluded that the energy is a compatible fuel source. Safe for the owner's health. Please interact again with the source to further develop the nanites.]

Hearing this, Melissa's resting mind went back to active. "Wh-what do you mean by improving?" She asked, not knowing the nanites could actually improve without external input from her Papa or her!

[After calculations, the owner's survivability against quirked individuals is below 20% in the long run once villains have adapted to the nanite's limited capabilities in its training phase. The system follows the Creator's primary directive: Help the owner, Melissa, be a Hero.]

Listening to it speak its reasoning, she was touched by her father's primary directive. Thinking it was done, she laid corrected, and it continued.

[With the owner's survivability in question, it hinders our purpose. Hence the system and nanites are searching for a fuel source that is both safe and compatible with both nanites and the owner. The last entity engaged in combat possesses both characteristics. Make contact once again.]

After hearing such a thing, she got dressed and changed out of her sleepwear. She needed to inform her Papa of this sudden progress. Running across the hallway of her house, she barged into her Papa's study, seeing him engrossed in reading the international papers.

"Papa! The nanites are trying to develop on their own!" The sudden intrusion got his attention, but her words got him standing. "Explain," he said in a grave tone. He was beginning to think that the AI may have gone rogue but immediately dispelled the idea. The AI he made for the nanites has been tested by him for years without fault.

"Here's what it said..." Once Melissa had explained what happened, David adopted a surprised look. "I didn't know they could do that with the instructions I laid for them," he said, rubbing his goatee, pondering.

Minutes passed, and he gave up; he shrugged, "Take this as a blessing. It solves the main problem, and the AI follows its purpose as it grows with you. Talk with Leo about this. But I'm sure he'd agree without hesitation," David gave his piece.

Nodding and believing her Papa's invention, she went right ahead for Morningstar residences, unable to hear her Papa shout to do it tomorrow with it being evening already!

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Morningstar Residence

In the living room, an intense battle raged on. A board game took place.

But not just any board game, oh no. It's Monopoly. A board game that divided families. Some pay with chores to uplift themselves of their incurred in-game debts to keep on playing!

Lucy, throwing the pair of dice on the board, shouted in frustration! She rolled a total of 7, making her land on one of Leo's properties, Boardwalk! Her already waning money was reduced to near ashes.

"Leonidas, are you cheating!? You have to be!" she accused and pointed at her smug son, who tauntingly counted his paper bills. "This is clearly a skill issue, Mom~!"

"I'll show you skill issue!" Lucy uttered darkly, getting low, preparing to pounce on her son.

The door to their home was abruptly disturbed by knocking before Lucy could dive at her son, gaining the inhabitants' attention. 'Who dares interrupt my savage beat down of Mom?' Leo thought, walking to their door to meet his Mom's savior.

Opening the door nonchalantly, all he got was a blonde, "Melissa? What are you doing here?" he questioned. While happy to see her again, seeing her pant from all the running got him curious.

"Leo! Who's at the door?" Lucy asked, still in place. "It's Melissa," he answered back, inviting the girl inside. When she got to the living room, she saw a game of Monopoly being played. However, much of the paper money was on Leo's side, showcasing the beatdown.

Chuckling at the situation, she began explaining her situation, which they instantly understood. "Sooo, what do I do? Give your nanites a treat?" Leo then morphed a dog bone made of energy, eliciting a playful eye roll from Melissa.

[Biological energy from the same entity has been detected! Please hold the entity down while the nanites harvest data from the energy for development.] It urgently stated when Leo activated his quirk.

Hearing this, Melissa shook her head with embarrassment. Even if she's the only one who can hear it, she still feels second-hand embarrassment.

"Nanites, the entity is friendly; please take note," palmed her face, feeling it heat up. 'Why must I reply by voice,' she whined internally.

[Understood.]

"Haha~! Did your AI label me as hostile?"

"Yep." Melissa, popping the 'P.' "It told me to hold you down to harvest data from you. Can you believe it?" Leo smirked, "Your AI might be a dom," as he said this, he earned a smack on the arm from his Mom.

*Pack!*

"Ow!?" He instinctively said, questioning his Mom with a look. "You're still too young to know and say such words! Watch your language!" Sternly reminded by Lucy.

Meanwhile, Melissa watched, holding in her laughter.

After the banter, Lucy got up to give the two some space. With his Mom out of sight, Leo sat closer and held out a palm of his energy. "Just like this?"

[Touch it.]

Ignoring her AI, she cautiously asked, "Is it safe to touch?" Leo nodded to her question, "It is. I'm keeping it stable, so you shouldn't worry. But don't smack it, though. You'll make it unstable and hurt yourself."

Abiding by his advice, she touched it warily. The moment she did, her nanites formed around her hand like a glove, assuming to scan the energy.

[Scanning steadily, hold the entity still for a smooth process.]

At times like these, she chooses to ignore how the AI speaks.

[Scanning complete. Absorbing for better study.]

And to Leo's surprise, the ball of energy slowly shrunk, making him look to Melissa for answers. "Uhm, can you keep supplying it for now? It's studying it."

"Sure, I can do this for quite some time. Wanna talk while we wait?"

"I'd like that," Melissa responded, happy to share about herself.

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As minutes turned to hours, Leo found Melissa slowly drooping from their talk but was suddenly jolted awake, 'The nanites probably,' Leo absently thought.

He, too, was beginning to become tired. Luckily, the process of siphoning his energy was slow.

On Melissa's side, she got alerted from her drooping to the AI's notification.

[Nanites have successfully upgraded. Energy efficiency and capacity have multiplied. Combat Mode is now usable under 1 hour of heavy usage. However, nanites have failed to replicate energy to continuously run without relying on an external fuel source.]

Listening to it, she was awarded great news. However, much to her disappointment, not everything she would've hoped happened. Next, she explained what happened to Leo and how she thought about it.

"Don't complain," he pinched her nose, getting a whimper out of her. "It's like a quirk, an instant improvement from 5 minutes of usage to an hour is impossible for quirks. At least months of constant hard work are needed to improve that much. Count this as a blessing on the level of a miracle; you'd need it for the Academy," he droned tiredly. "Don't seek instant improvements. Master... what you have... first."

His words reminded Melissa to not be complacent but to strive and constantly improve. 'If I can't improve technologically, I'll improve with usage!' she hyped herself. Looking to her side, she saw Leo's eyes droop now.

"If you're worried about energy, I'll... pump you to the brim," he said slowly before falling asleep. Unknowingly making Melissa blush like a strawberry. Lewd images of getting 'pumped' flashed in her mind.

Looking at Leo, he was down for the count! The culprit is already in dreamland.

Sighing, she made her way home while covering Leo with a blanket before she left hurriedly.

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Hours passed, and Melissa was still awake in her room. Tired, but her heart pumping! "Ahhhh! Who says that!? Now I can't sleep!" She shouted in indignation. "Pump me to the brim? Pshhh... I'll show him he can't pump me to the brim!"