AWACS - An American With A Chinese System
Copyright© 2025 by PT Brainum
Chapter 9
I woke to the horrid sound of someone calling my name. I opened an eye to see the time, 632 am. Gloria was on time as usual.
“My Sam is waiting in the car, once we get you washed and ready to go we can get breakfast out to eat.”
“You have a vehicle that will take the wheelchair?”
“Big comfy van, we can put you up front, lots of leg room, and the chair can go in the back.”
It took us about 45 minutes to get everything sorted. It was still embarrassing, but I hadn’t figured out how to move along yet without it revealing my healing.
Sam was a big guy, not fat, just tall with broad shoulders, like a lumberjack. After an introductory hand shake, he impressively lifted me into the seat. Gloria sat in the middle back seats, as he opened the very back to stow the wheel chair.
As he drove us to a local place called Sherri’s, she talked about how many years he’d been going to the boat show, not its full 63 years, but at least the last three decades. The last 5 years at the Expo Center made him very excited, because it had so many more boats in its two hundred thousand square feet.
We lingered over breakfast. The boat show didn’t open till 11, so we enjoyed our food. The coffee was good, the omelet average, the hash browns with tons of stuff inside were amazing. As we ate we chatted and learned more about each other.
Despite the proforma protest, they let me pay for breakfast. I offered to pay for the boat show tickets, but they already had theirs purchased online.
We were pretty far from the Expo Center boat show, and Sam wanted to show me Portland. There was plenty of time until it opened. We took a winding route thru what he called old town, back and forth over several bridges of varying sizes and ages. Portland seemed like a nice city, he kept off the highway because he claimed you couldn’t see anything but cars on the highway.
While he droned on, I checked my stats, because paying for breakfast had netted me 900 positive points:
0/11,000 (31) Level
6,990/110,000 positive points
7,163 neutral points
12,949/110,000 negative points
7/10 Active Skills
9 Passive Skills
47,605 Bonus Neutral Points
1 Free Spin
I hadn’t managed to collect my two new Active Skills yet, my final passive, or take my free spin. I took the Free Spin.
Free Spin: You must choose two skills you have not yet chosen.
The list came up immediately, and I didn’t see how to make it go away. I was stuck having to immediately make the choice.
Passive Skills:
~感恩图报 be grateful to plan recompense (0/1)
~心若死灰 heart reduced to ashes (0/2)
~眼中之钉 nail in the eye (0/4)
~生米煮成熟饭 uncooked rice boiled till cooked rice (0/4)
~脚踏实地 feet on solid ground (0/4)
~今朝有酒今朝醉 now to have wine now intoxicated (0/4)
~穿新鞋, 走老路 to wear new shoe, but go old path (0/1)
~一无所有 one nothing possess (0/3)
~天作之合 heaven considers perfect fit (0/3)
~~缘木求鱼 climbing trees to catch fish (0/3)
~高山流水 Alpine mountains, flowing water (0/4)
~惊弓之鸟 startled bow bird (0/4)
~含沙射影 spit sand at someone’s shadow (0/4)
~箭在弦上, 不得不发 arrow in the middle of the bow must be used (0/4)
~瑕不掩瑜 a flaw in jade does not conceal luster (0/4)
~藕断丝连 lotus root cut fibers still connect (0/4)
Active Skills:
~破釜沉舟 break pots, sink boats (0/4)
~学无止境 learning has no end (0/1)
~百发百中 100 shots 100 hits (0/3)
~废寝忘食 waste sleep forget food (0/5)
~名落孙山 score lower than Sun Shan (0/2)
~热锅上的蚂蚁 on hot pan is an ant (0/3)
~讨价还价 ask price, make counter offer (0/3)
~理所当然 logic resides where it should be (0/1)
~请君入瓮 please sir go into the pot (0/1)
It was a comprehensive list, and I immediately noticed that it was broken into five sections. It was also sorted, if it had fewer possible levels, it was higher up in each section. I also immediately noticed that the five level skill waste sleep was back.
I mentally asked Scribe for his recommendation, unwilling to even mumble it out loud. Scribe heard my thoughts, and blinked Alpine mountains and logic resides. A category four passive, and a category five active.
We seemed to be getting to where we were going, so I just trusted Scribe and picked them.
~高山流水 Alpine mountains, flowing water (1/4)
be my friend, see whether people are compatible with you or can be a good friend, when meeting people you will see a scale of friendliness and a percentage marker of how close they are to being your good friend
~理所当然 logic resides where it should be (1/1)
- no matter how outlandish the suggestion, the person you are talking to finds it reasonable, cost 100000 points per hour, continuous effect ends when you choose or you run out of points
I almost started choking when I saw what the category five active skill was. Those were amazingly powerful skills. Expensive, but not too bad, considering what they did. Puerile thoughts ran thru my mind like a hundred hungry llamas. It would be a long time till I could afford it, so I put it to the back of my mind with thousand tries one success, another stupidly powerful skill I just couldn’t currently afford to use.
I glanced at Sam and he had two scales above his head, and a message. The message said “moderately compatible” the scale on the left was like an analog temperature gauge, and pegged to the right almost completely, and was at ‘very friendly.’ The one next to it, had the needle in the middle at ‘fresh’, just above acquaintance.
I glanced back at a smiling Gloria, she was just above the halfway point at ‘friendly’, and was at ‘fresh’ also for our current friendship. Her message said “slightly compatible.”
When we arrived, getting out was easy as Sam practically lifted me into my chair. Sam and Gloria presented their printed tickets, but I was given one free for being in a wheelchair and with them. The attendant said something about not being able to see much, but I didn’t quite understand until I saw that my lower viewpoint made seeing anything other than shiny boat hulls problematic.
I’d either have to be taller, or go up steps to the platforms that were everywhere so people could reach the interiors of the larger boats. Neither one was an option today.
“I guess this wasn’t the best idea.” Sam said sheepishly.
“It’s no problem, I’ll just roll around and look at the little stuff, like skiffs, surf boards, and jetskis.”
“Nah, we won’t abandon you,” Sam assured me, as he pushed me forward thru the people, and maneuvered around the blue carpet that was supposed to designate walking areas. The carpet was just a little too thick for easily pushing a wheelchair, so we off roaded thru the event center.
We stopped at a booth showing kite powered devices.
“If I were younger,” Sam said wistfully, mostly to himself.
“You’d be dead,” Gloria responded with a snort.
I just thought it looked like a lot of fun. The videos were showing people on the local river doing amazing tricks, and just racing across the water.
“When I get these casts off it’ll be summer,” I commented.
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