Chapter 60: Alto’s Little Game
Alto yawned, he had spend most of the night working on the internals of the Opis magnum, he was tired and weak. Spending the first two hours with the mech systems was enough to make him groan at multiple occasions. The mechs complexity was above what he should have been capable of but he was not one to be put off by this, Alto had learned the hard way that there was no one who was willing to hold his hand down the path he had chosen, not his friends and not even the system, it only awarded him for his worth and that he had to prove.
Due to his slightly increased intelligence Alto was able to recall notes from the books he had read vividly, the professor it seemed had given him slightly advanced books and not beginner friendly works. In a way he felt like she was always testing him in every way she could. Another thought slipped into his mind and it was one he had dreaded for a very long time.
"I wonder if she knows I took the tech from the pod." But then again what was the pod. Alto knew he would find his way back into that room to get answers but for now what he wanted was simply to finish working on the internals of the Opis magnum.
Alto forrowed his eyebrows as he only managed to understand only a fraction of the internals of the mech that was far beyond his current ability. The circuitry had to do with the wiring, inputs and connections to the various components like the cooling systems, the sensors, and many more.
By the time the next day came Alto had collapsed on the bed tired, the nurse came in to check up on him. He pleaded for her to let him go claiming that he was healed but she argued with this saying he was in no condition to be moving again. Alto was yet again confined to the room, the only thing he appreciates was that he would have a bit of freedom for a while before the nurse or anyone came. Alto was hospitalised for three more days, the only people coming to see him being his friends, Eleven would always drop by very early in the morning even before anyone was allowed to. He would sneak in to keep Alto company, this he did in silence, Alto found it strange that this young man who had ignored his existence for years now cared deeply about him, it really was a mystery.
But Alto was able to turn Eleven into an accomplished to being in books he would need, Alto would hide it under his bed to keep it secret and by the next day he would hand it back to Eleven. This had been a very normal routine between them, Eleven would at times bring in sweets. Alto was soon coming to like the awkward young man a bit more.
The next set of people who came to see Alto were Amy and Kram, surprisingly Vexar and Denise were always with them. They would come by in the morning in their way to the training room to check up on him and by lunch time they would come to chat and keep him company. Alto could understand if Amy would do this since she was always attached to him but Kram reacted differently, it was not affection was a coldness. For his two new friends Alto had nothing against them, he was more grateful that his two friends had made such good companions.
Due to Alto’s prolonged research in the med bay he was made to stay for a full week, he took this as more of an opportunity to study, and work on the Opis magnum design, he embraced the complexity of the work. Due to the fact that his friends would always be interrupting his study sessions by day and also the bothersome nurse at times, his nights were always filled with endless working leaving him no time to have a good sleep. This caused his health to deteriorated even further, and his visitors to come for longer.
Alto knew how important rest and sleep was to a mech designer having learnt that the hard way. He soon devised a plan to solve all his problems. He would work extensively during the night and sleep during the day, this would give him his much needed rest and also keep his visitors from disturbing him. Not long after the nurse would limit the visitors time to allow him to rest more and this was just what Alto wanted.