Ray held and turned the door handle.
The door opened with a creaky noise.
The hallway was dark and small. The wallpaper was peeling off at some corners. Pictures were hung on the walls. One of it was a couple smiling at the camera, the woman holding a baby. Ray stared at the photo. That baby was probably him. Ray Cruz, the original owner of this body.
Somewhere in his mind, he wondered what happened to that kid's consciousness. Did it swap places? Was it just gone? It was a disorienting thought.
Ray went down to the stairs and stared at it like he meant business. His legs were feeling strong enough, but his brain was still calibrating. His muscle memory had been lost during eight years of paralysis. Everything had to be relearned
He held the railing and took a step down.
Thump.
He took another step. His other foot swung out too wide, and he had to catch himself.
Thump.
By the time he took his fifth step, he started sweating.
He got to the end of the stairs without falling.
The stairs brought him to a kitchen that seemed old and in disrepair. Some of the tiled floor was cracked and mended with mismatched pieces.
Ray walked up to the fridge and pulled it open.
He saw half carton of milk. Some bread in a plastic bag with the corners turning hard.
He closed the fridge slowly.
The system icon in his vision flashed. He had been ignoring it since leaving his room, but now he focused on it. The menu expanded.
[MISSION UPDATED]
[OBJECTIVE: ASSESS YOUR SITUATION]
[REWARD: BASIC SYSTEM FUNCTIONS UNLOCKED]
Ray almost laughed. Assess the situation? He was a seven-year-old kid in Spain with the memories of a thirty-year-old paralyzed gamer from London and a game system living in his brain. The situation was insane.
But the fridge told a different story. This family was poor.
He began to hear the noise of a sewing machine. Ray followed the noise to see where it was coming from.
The living room was small. There was an old couch that occupied much of the room. A woman was seated near the window.
She looked up when Ray entered.
"Ray, mi amor." Her voice was soft. "You are awake. Did you sleep well?"
The words came out in Spanish, but Ray understood them. The system was translating in real time.
This was Sabrina Cruz. His mother. In this life, anyway.
Ray felt emotional. No one had called him "love" since before he got sick. His mother herself stopped visiting after the first year of his diagnosis. It was just too hard, she said, to see him that way.
"Yeah," Ray managed. "I slept good."
Sabrina smiled, but Ray could tell that she was still sad. She went back to her sewing. Ray could see she was fixing a work shirt, the kind mechanics wore. The cloth was stained with grease that no amount of washing would ever get it cleaned.
"Your papa will be home soon," she said. "He had to finish a job at the Morales place. The tractor again."
Ray just nodded. He pulled up a chair at the kitchen table and sat.
The sewing machine continued it's sound.
Chk-chk-chk-chk.
"Mama," Ray said. "Is Papa okay?"
And Sabrina's hands stopped for a second. "Of course, mi cielo. Why do you ask?"
Because the system had pinged something when she mentioned his father. A small notification Ray hadn't paid attention to. Now he focused on it.
[FAMILY UNIT DETECTED]
[SCANNING...]
Ray was about to disregard it entirely when the back door slammed open.
Bang.
He heard loud footsteps. One foot landing harder than the other.
Someone entered the kitchen. Standing there he appeared to be a tall guy and his overalls were very dirty with grease. His face showed that he had been handsome once, but years of hardship had had worn him down.
Diego Cruz limped to the sink, turned on the water and scrubbed his hands with bar soap.
It was then that Ray got a good look at the limp. Diego's left leg did not look right. The knee joint was stiff and the foot turned to a side in unpleasant direction.
The system notification expanded.
[TARGET DETECTED: DIEGO CRUZ]
[INITIATING SCAN...]
A loading bar appeared in Ray's vision. Diego turned from the sink, and Ray quickly looked away. He was scared his father would somehow see the screen. But Diego just dried his hands on his dirty overalls and sat down at the table.
The scan completed.
[SCAN COMPLETE]
[NAME: DIEGO CRUZ]
[AGE: 43]
[OCCUPATION: INDEPENDENT MECHANIC]
[SPECIALIZATION: AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY, SMALL ENGINE REPAIR]
[STATUS: CAREER-ENDING INJURY (LEFT FEMUR BROKEN, 1998)]
[CURRENT FINANCIAL STATUS: CRITICAL DEBT (€15,247)]
[MONTHLY INCOME: €890]
[MONTHLY EXPENSES: €1,100]
Ray stared at the screen with wonder.
"Morales still owes you?" Sabrina asked from her sewing machine.
Diego grunted. "Says he will pay next week. He says that every week."
"We need that money, Diego." Sabrina said.
"I know."
"The landlord came around yesterday."
Diego's jaw tightened. "I know."
Sabrina stopped sewing. The silence that followed was so uncomfortable. Ray could feel the tension all over kitchen.
"How much do we owe now?" Sabrina asked quietly.
"Does it matter?"
"Diego."
"Fifteen thousand." The words came out flat.
Sabrina pressed her hands over her face. She didn't cry. She just took deep breaths, trying to hold herself together.
Ray stared at the system notification. Fifteen thousand euros. Income of eight ninety. Expenses of eleven hundred. The numbers clashed. This family was drowning in debt, and honestly, there was no hint things would turn around anytime soon.
Diego stood up. "I'm heading to the workshop. Peña's scooter needs it's chain replaced."
He walked past Ray without looking at him. The system pinged again.
[ADDITIONAL DATA: DIEGO CRUZ WAS AN AMATEUR MOTORCYCLE RACER, 1992-1998]
[CAREER ENDED: CRASH AT JEREZ CIRCUIT, MAY 1998]
[INJURY DETAILS: BROKEN LEFT FEMUR. REQUIRED 3 SURGERIES. FULL RECOVERY: IMPOSSIBLE]
Ray watched his dad leave. He was going to the workshop.
Sabrina went back to her sewing. The machine started up again.
Chk-chk-chk-chk.
Ray looked down at his hands. He had been given a second chance and dropped into a healthy body in a world that apparently worked on video game logic.
But he had landed in a family that was drowning in debt.
The system icon pulsed.
[MISSION UPDATED]
[NEW OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE]
[SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: SAVE YOUR FAMILY]
[REWARD: UNKNOWN]
Ray closed his fists tight. The little pain he felt proved he wasn't in a dream. The poverty and the debt were real. And somehow, he had to save this family in a child's body.
He had spent thirty years just imagining what it was like to move. He wanted to ride and actually live his life.
Now he could do all of that.
But first, he had to find out how to save a family that was already fifteen thousand reasons past saving.
Outside, he heard an engine failing to start. Diego was trying to start something in the workshop.
Ray stood up from the table.
"Mama," he said. "I'm going to help Papa."
Sabrina looked up, surprised. "Ray, you don't have to..."
But he was already walking to the back door.
He opened the door and stepped out into the hot weather.