The Power Of Radiation 22 Deb

Mark was numb and sh.e.l.l shocked by this information. He had never lived in a world where things were measured in millions of credits. Mark's family and upbringing led to him thinking one thousand credits was a lot of money. His family members would also agree with this sentiment because of their lifestyle of two jobs and living paycheck to paycheck. Mark had saved up 30,000 credit worth of money from his many jobs and extra money he was allowed to keep from his scholars.h.i.+ps. This was considered a large amount to him and practically it was. The money would cover Mark living frugally by himself for a few months and pay for his rent at his apartment. To an ultrrich family or the ostentatious Hospital Geneva however this amount of money was just a drop in the bucket.

This wealth also meant that the pay for their doctors was better than normal with a residential doctor at the hospital receiving anywhere from 500,000 to a million credits a year. This kind of position was however a long way away from Mark and his current circ.u.mstances. Mark had yet to even become a practicing doctor. He had not yet started working inside the hospital so far and was still in the training phase. Once he finished this training phase he would then have to work his way up from a new intern doctor, to a residential doctor and then to a specialist level position.

This was as far as most doctors would go within the hospital structure. The best, brightest and most well connected specialists would then have a slim chance of going into the upper management roles such as a vice president or even the director or head of a department. Each of these position upgrades would give their own benefits. Some of these were mundane and others would range all the way up to free health inspections and treatment while in the hospital. This was an extraordinary benefit as Hospital Geneva as considered one of the best facilities and a world leader in the health and treatment field. The largest obstacle for this as of course the connections aspect. A vice president of a hospital that made money hand over fist was one of the most stable and wealthy positions outside of being a famous and world renowned hero or villain.

Mark had no real way of achieving anything in the hospital's hierarchy and structure from where he was currently. His connections and family history were not enough to secure him a spot as a residential doctor here right off the bat. Even getting the required grades and getting through the interview process for a position he was being groomed for could be considered a small miracle.

What did this mean for the 50 million credits he now owed? That there was no hope in the short term and his best chance is to develop a plan and try his hardest to work his way up the ranks or find some work around for getting the money. These depressing thoughts and brainstorming of a possible course of action took over Mark's thoughts as he finished his conversation with Carl. A small storm cloud seemed to hover over Mark's head as he left the hospital. His depressed mood was almost viable to the people around him with his head down and his brain working on overdrive for some kind of solution to his now heavy debt.

Bertha in particular as a receptionist for many years now was very well attuned to people's moods. She had heard of the issue from Carl before this and felt only sympathy for the young aspiring doctor. Bertha had been the receptionist here for so long that she was considered a fixture much like the strangely glowing sign outside. One could only guess at her background and connections over all these years in serving some of the wealthiest people in the world who came to be treated at "Krankenhaus Geneva".

Mark knew nothing of this however and only thought of her as a matronly woman who seemed cold and indifferent on the outside but has a nice heart. Mark continued thinking about any solutions as he walked back to his apartment nearby the hospital. His first solution was borrowing the money which was explained to be a useless idea by Carl. The 50 million credits would be owned by the hospital as long term debt and would only need to be paid off slowly as Mark officially became a residential doctor there. This fact gave Mark some breathing room but he still had no feasible way of paying off the money. Beside crazy ideas like winning the lottery or finding some rare item outside the cities Mark was at a loss.

There are many rare and valuable items that form naturally due to radiation outside the cities in the wastelands. This can be fruits and plant life and animal byproducts from the animals living there. The problem with this idea is Mark apparent lack of combat power. His powers only allow him to microwave his food slowly or make someone get a higher chance at skin cancer. For Mark to have a chance at even killing a normal ordinary rabbit he would have to get close enough to use his powers (at least 50 meters) and remain undiscovered while following the animal for at least 10 minutes. Most animals on feeling the strangeness of gamma or UV light would gain a sense of danger after a while and try to flee which makes them impossible for Mark to catch up to.

The second idea of finding a rare fruit or item growing outside the walls is just a ludicrous as winning the lottery. The chance of it happening AND Mark surviving the return journey to the city, not even to begin with finding a place to sell said item for the credits he needed required the luck of the G.o.ds. Mark sighed in his head, thinking about all the protagonists of the many novels he has read. They would miraculously find some magical item that solves all of their problems for them and the author would label it as luck while many readers cried about plot armor. Mark's life however was not a novel and he was stuck in his poor situation and F cla.s.s abilities with a looming debt that would only be staved off for another year before Carl and the hospital staff came to collect in earnest.