A Gamer's Journey

Old Friends

Chapter 71

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

11:54 am

(Ivan's POV)

"So I just have to clean my ear?" I ask the tall, skinny man behind the counter. I reach up and touch the earring Fūjin gave me. I felt a tiny sting in my ear as I touched the earring. The man nodded. I nod back and take out thirty dollars. Cleaning my ear should be easy. I hand the man the thirty dollars and walk out of the store. I look around the street and start walking in a random direction. I felt the wind gather around me as I walked through the streets. It felt like the wind whisked away the weight grounding me to the Earth. It felt strange not feeling the weight of my own body. I lightly tapped my ring and stuffed my hands into my pockets. At least I know the gift is working.

I stared at the different shops as I walked aimlessly through the streets. I spot a store across the street named, 'Jeremy's appliances' with a help-wanted sign hanging on the front door. Maybe they have solar panels there. I walk over to the store and walk-in. It was a tiny shop, it was about as big as my bedroom. In the back corner of the wall was an old, frail man standing behind a tiny desk. I look around the store, the left wall had all kinds of tools that I didn't recognize. Some of the tools I recognized, like wrenches, drills, and hammers. I look away from the tools and spot wires, metals, batteries, computer parts. The store had a strong metallic smell lingering around the room. I look at the old man, the man had a kind smile as he stared at me. I notice a small rack of toy cars by the old man's side. It doesn't look like he has what I'm looking for though. The old man took a deep breath before asking me a question.

"Do you need help looking for something?" I turn towards the old man and respond.

"I'm just looking for places with solar panels." The old man nodded and signaled to me to come over to him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny notebook along with a pen.

"I can order them for you, do you already have the batteries, the charge controllers, and the battery, I'm also assuming you have the wires already? Oh! And the inverter. Do you also have the inverter?" I stared at him with a dumbfounded look.

"The what?" The man slowly blinked.

"You do know what you need to make a solar panel work right?" I slowly shake my head. The man slowly nodded and put his notebook and pen on the table. He reached into his pocket again and took out a thick textbook called, 'A Simple Practical Guide to Solar Energy - Designing and Installing Photovoltaic Solar Electric Systems: 2014'. He put the book on the table with a grunt. "If you don't know what you're doing then take this." I stare at the book then at him.

"How much is the book?" The man shook his head.

"It's free." I lift my eyebrow in suspicion. There's just no way he's giving it for free.

"Do you want me to do something for the book? Of do you want me to get you something?" The man chuckled.

"I already told you it's free." I slowly take a step forward and reach for the book. I quickly put the book into my Inventory and look up at the man.

"I have to get some other stuff for the panels to work?" The man nodded and picked up his notebook. He flipped it to a random page and picked up a pen.

"As I said before, you need batteries, charge controllers, batteries, and wires. Just how out of curiosity, what are you trying to power?" I thought for a bit about how to describe the camp.

"I guess it's the size of a small city?" The man nodded and started to write in his notebook.

"The cost will be thirty-five thousand dollars. The parts will take a while to come in though. I nod and take out the amount of change needed. I hand the old man the money, he happily took it and wrote something in his notebook. "Give me a week to get everything." I nod slowly in response.