"Hey there Gramps. Sorry for holding you guys up," Keith cheerfully greeted.
A spry old man wearing gray colored work overalls impatiently waved him over. "Alright, no need for apologies Young Master. More importantly, try out your Assist Gear. I readjusted it to be more in line with your base parameters, so it should be more responsive compared to before."
This energetic old guy is Annie's biological grandfather and the head steward of the Simmons House, Balthus Lennox. He's served the Simmons House all his life. He's also the main Support Technologist responsible for the production and maintenance of the Seeker equipment used by the Simmons clan members.
"Okay Gramps. Here we go then," Keith nodded and hurriedly went over towards the test platform connected to the data terminal installed inside the basement workshop.
Sitting on top of it was a form fitting mechanical exoskeleton armor called the Assist Gear. It serves as a multipurpose assistive tool for Gate exploration and regulates the mana within the Seekers bodies to stabilize the compatibility factor between them and the Gates and enhances their physical performance to peak condition.
It also monitors their overall health status and sends a signal back to the support team once something untoward befalls the Seekers in question. Though, once that happens, the actual measures the support crew can take are relatively limited. Considering this, Keith being able to return in one piece was actually quite lucky of him.
It was one of the very first technological discoveries brought back from within the Gates.
"Glad you're more cooperative compared to before, Young Master. Your tantrums were getting a little bit too much even for me after all," Balthus teased. "Are you certain you don't recall anything regarding your last Gate survey attempt?"
"Nope. I'm drawing blanks all over, Gramps," Keith replied. "It's all just a damn blur. Nothing remotely coherent at all."
"Bet he was just too damn scared, which resulted in partial memory loss, grandpa. He's always been quite the timid sort after all. Except for when he's up to something perverted," Annie mocked. Balthus furrowed his brows at his granddaughter's quip.
"Annie! Hold your tongue, lass! You're addressing the heir to the Simmons House. Do not speak of such shameful things, even though there's a grain of truth to them. We must consider the Young Master's honor, after all," he admonished in a somewhat playful tone.
"C'mon guys! Cut me some slack here!" Keith groaned in protest, prompting the other two to smile wryly at him. Annie even cutely stuck her tongue out, which was such a lovely gesture that it resulted in Keith blanking out for a few seconds.
The Assist Gear tests proceeded normally afterwards and Keith concluded that he felt more in sync with it compared to the last time he wore the equipment. Balthus continued to work on the Gear for final adjustments based on Keith's earlier feedback while the other two sorted out the other support equipment and reviewed the available data for the Rank B Gate they were set to survey the next day.
It was one of the few high ranking Gates located within the kingdom and was still largely unexplored due to the shortage of qualified Seekers. The Nemuria Kingdom severely lacks high ranking Seeker teams compared to their suzerain state, the Greater Galdheimr Union. As a result, they didn't have the means to proactively organize Gate surveys and had to resort to asking Galdheimr for help most of the time.
The Simmons House originally had one of the few Seeker teams under the Nemuria Royal Family qualified enough to survey such a Gate. But the survey undertaken by the previous head of the House which was directly commissioned by the Crown ended in complete failure and resulted in the whole team going missing.
This event landed a heavy blow on the efforts of the Nemuria Kingdom to independently explore the Neumann Gates within their lands and earned the ridicule of other established Seeker teams working under Galdheimr and the other nations. They seemed to regard failing to survey a mere B ranked Gate to be a disgrace, especially for a noble house reputed to produce excellent Seekers. In the end they chalked it up to the difference in standards between a hillbilly kingdom and their own great nation states, frustrating the Nemuria Royal Family to no end.
The Crown organized another attempt at exploring the Rank B Gate as a final gambit. And on the first day of Gate exploration, Keith Simmons, the last remaining heir to the Simmons House, participated reluctantly in a bid to restore the honor of his Household and returned unconscious due to an unknown mishap.
Some laughed in derision at Keith's poor showing while others felt grieved for the fall of such a reputable noble house. But it seems the Simmons have not yet admitted defeat and were preparing to go all out for one last attempt to regain their pride.
The preparations continued until evening came.
***
Wispy beams of moonlight shone through the curtains of Keith's room as he lazily sprawled on top of his bed. He continued to stare listlessly at the ceiling while blanking out. Truth be told, he was absolutely burned out from all the crazy stuff which fell onto his sorry self lately. But he still had to steel himself for tomorrow.
He wants to succeed. He has to. The last thing he wants is for Annie's smile to disappear after all. She was truly quite harsh sometimes, but he knew she was still concerned about him deep down.
"Childhood friend huh?" he muttered under his breath.
Man. As Keith, he's always taken her for granted. But curiously, right now, he feels the whole thing to be fresh and new.
"Oh boy. Must be the otaku in me huh? I'm feeling strangely giddy from just muttering the term. God, this just seems so awkward," he inwardly mused and rolled over the sheets restlessly.
"Host, I may just be a mere cheat system, but even I think a boy rolling all over the sheets like a maiden in love is a bit off putting."
"Eh?!"
An unfamiliar sounding female voice suddenly spoke near his ear, startling him. He pushed himself off the bed and looked warily around the room.
His eyes were then drawn over to the windows. There, he found something which gave him the shock of his life.
A small, feminine figure was floating just in front of him. Moonlight bathed her petite frame, making her seem like an otherworldly fairy.
"Hey there, Host. Congratulations to you! The [Ultimate Gundam Otaku System] has been successfully activated. This System will endeavor to turn you into the ultimate Gundam god from now on. Best regards."
"Eh? EEEEEEEEH?!!"
