Terrance came out of his pod physically refreshed. The same could not be said about his mind. After a full night of grinding mats and doing research he had come to a decision. After a quick shower and getting dressed he sat at the table with his mom and dad. About halfway through his dad sat down the tablet he was reading the news from.

“ So how has that game been treating you? Made any friends?”

Terrance blinked in surprise remembering that was the whole reason why he joined the game in the first place. His mom, seeing his reaction slapped her husband's arm.

“ Richard, seriously, did you expect him to find a girlfriend to meet us with after a few days playing?”

“ Actually, I have not met many people yet. Most are already in their own groups. But I have been working on something hands-on. I actually learned a little how-to handle animals and have been working as a mechanic. Even learned to stitch a little bit.”

Elena, Terrance's mother smiled wide looking at his dad.

“ See, not a complete waste of money.”

Richard picked up the tablet and looked at something he noticed earlier.

“ Four hundred and twenty-two C-coins. On microtransactions.”

Elena paused her joyful look but the tone in her voice said something different.

“ Terrance explain!”

Terrance could not help but swallow a non-existent lump in his throat before coughing lightly.

“ Well, technically, only seventy-two are MT...”

“ Not helping your case.”

Terrance winced at his mother's tone but then straightened himself up.

“ The other three-fifty actually comes from legal fees and purchasing copyrights. I have a license to manufacture a couple of the mobs in the game. I was thinking dad could take them and manufacture some figurines. I was thinking of taking the remaining forty-five hundred I was saving for my overseas trip and...”

“ Enough, I read your email this morning. Richard, I know you got the same email. So care to tell me why you are harping on spending a little money on fun, especially when the money is set aside for fun.”

This time it was his father who swallowed the nonexistent lump, except it was coffee.

“ Well, nobody has licenses for DCO figurines so...”

His dad seemed to shrink at her gaze and she started moving her hand so her vr headset could do something.

“ Richard, next time check the paperwork.”

She then turned back to Terrance.

“ So you've been working on steampunk dinosaurs instead of fighting them with other people?”

Terrance could not help but to scratch the side of his chin lightly.

“ Well, most people have their own groups already as I said. If this was day one launch, sure I could easily find a group, but not that many new people get caught up with others easily. And... “

Terrance paused when his mother was giving him an unamused look. That look all men hate seeing from a woman.

“ Excuses, I applaud you using your time to make some money on something that you enjoy a little, but we got you all that stuff in order to make friends. So here is what going to happen. You are going to record yourself tonight and I am going to go through it with an ai. I am not saying you should drop everything to socialize but I want to see some effort. Do you think your dad could have caught my eye when he was in the engineering core by sticking with his toys?...”

“ Hey, you enjoy my ‘toys’...”

“ That I do dear, now finish your coffee. The factory needs to get a contract on those blueprints.”

Terrance slouched as he nods his head before his mother can carry on.

“ I’ll try.”

“ Good I hope you do. Now onto the other matter, because as your legal guardian and not in conflict of interest, I am going to make sure you get every credit you deserve for the blueprints. Any special requests?”

Terrance smirked a little.

“ Yea, there is one called ‘taxi’ that I sent you and not dad. Care to look into seeing what is needed to make it happen?”

Elena smiled a little hearing that. It had been a while since her boy had the ghal to pull a stunt as getting something big done at her own request. It must mean he really wants this done.

“ I’ll take a look.”