Merchant of Death

by Jared Mandani

  “That was the general idea,” John replied, scanning the messages. “What direction is she going?”

  “Back to Gargoyle Rock, I think,” Mark said. “The Creeper’s gone completely now and they are all following her, but they look a little worse for wear.”

  “They’re going to be even more worse for wear when they do get to the Rock,” said John.

  “Why?” asked Kate. “What you got lined up for them now?”

  “A little of the same as before,” said John with a smile. “I just put out a message that there’s a ton of high level gear waiting to be picked up for anyone quick enough to get to Gargoyle Rock.”

  “And now Jodie and her crew are all equipped with lower grade equipment, it’s going to be quite a bloodbath,” Kate said with a tremendous amount of satisfaction.

  “You don’t have to sound so pleased about it, Kate,” John said, “but that just about sums it up. I think after another session of being wiped out, they’ll come round to our way of thinking and see that us salvaging for them is a good idea after all.”

  As it happened, it took two more humbling defeats before Jodie finally came around to John’s way of thinking and allowed him to salvage for the Wheeljackers. She reluctantly agreed to sit down and talk with him at the Wheeljackers’ guildhall where they hashed out a deal.

  That was only the beginning though. Now he had established a connection with the Wheeljackers, he began studying the different character professions of the Enlightened. He arranged a meeting with three specialists who he felt would be particularly useful to him: a gunsmith, a clockwork mechanist and an alchemist. These professions were able to build equipment using pre-designed schematics, and John wanted to use his Analyst profession to help him develop new creations—using the schematics for several pistols and rifles supplied by the gunsmith, the plans for a clockwork spider from the mechanist, and blueprints of flashbombs and acidsplatter bombs from the Alchemist.

  “What precisely do you want with all these plans?” Kate asked when they were in John’s workshop and he was pouring over the blueprints. “You’ve got enough money to buy all this gear from NPCs or other players.”

  “I’m studying them so that I can develop my own designs,” John said without looking up. “As an Analyst, I can work out what materials are needed to make items and I can properly understand how to combine and enhance the abilities of equipment to produce my own hybrid gear.”

  Kate nodded, pretending to look interested. “Then what will you do with all this hybrid gear?”

  John looked up at her like she was completely stupid. “I’m going to sell them, of course. And because they are specialized equipment, I can charge whatever I want. I should be able to make a tidy fortune.”

  Kate rolled her eyes. “Money again. You are properly obsessed, aren’t you? Can’t you just enjoy the game for its own sake and go out and fight like everyone else?”

  John was about to make a flippant remark and then stopped. Kate had helped him a lot in the months he’d been in the game and he sometimes thought he wouldn’t have been as successful as he was now without her help. That warranted a much deeper explanation behind his motives.

  “I’m in a lot of trouble, Kate,” he said. “There are dangerous people looking for me.”

  Kate’s eyes widened. “Gangsters?”

  “Worse. The US government.”

  Kate let out a snorting laugh and then immediately became serious again. “OMG you’re serious, aren’t you? You’re a spy, I knew it!”

  “I am, I was . . . an operative,” John said, wondering as the words left his lips whether it was Kate’s high charisma that was urging him to get everything off his chest so openly. “I sorted out problems that the government wanted clearing up on the quiet. I got very good at it, only now certain sensitive information fell into my possession and my government wants it to disappear. And they are willing to make me disappear in the process.”

  “You’re on the run!” Kate exclaimed.

  “I’m hiding out and using EWO as a means to raise funds to start a new life and get myself a new identity. That’s why I’m so focused on making money. Salvaging gear and making specialist equipment seems to be the best way to raise the high level funds I need. Do you understand now?”

  Kate nodded. “Wow that is fucking awesome. You being a government operative, not that you’re on the run. You must have an amazing life.”

  “It’s a lot duller than you’d think,” replied John in a weary tone. “What I’ve told you is in the strictest confidence. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell any of the other players or your family or friends. There are agents in EWO and across the web, as well as government freelancers, and there are other interested parties looking for me. You could be putting yourself in danger if you start talking.”

  “Can’t I even tell Mark?”

  “No. No one,” said John. “I shouldn’t have told you, but you were so insistent and you at least deserve to know something of the truth. You will keep it quiet, won’t you?”

  Kate nodded her head. “You can rely on me. So, how much money do you have so far?”

  “Not enough to get out of here,” said John.

  “What? You should be a billionaire by now. You’ve been raking it in.”

  “I’ve been spending it as well,” John replied. “I’ve had to set up a pretty extensive network both here online and in the outside world. It’s going to take quite a few months before I can make my move.”

  Kate seemed pleased by this. “When you’ve made your money, does that mean you won’t be around anymore?”

  She said it casually but John could sense there was a ton load of emotions in the undertone of her question. He gave her a hooded look. “Yes, Kate. I’ll have to set up a whole new life. I can’t risk coming back in case someone locates me. When I’m gone, I’m gone.”

  “Oh, okay,” she replied, and mooched around the workshop for a few moments. John went back to his work, pretending not to notice the tension in the air. After a while, she drifted back to his workbench. “I could give you a small amount, if you like. Help you out a little.”

  John gave her a puzzled smile. “That’s very generous of you, but I think I can manage on my own, thanks.”

  “Really? Wouldn’t two hundred thousand dollars go quite a way to help?”

  John sat up straight at this. “You have two hundred thousand dollars to just give away?”

  Kate giggled, pleased that she had shocked him. “Don’t look so surprised. Why is it so weird that I have money to spare?”

  “It’s not weird,” John said quickly. “I’m just curious. You said you didn’t come from a wealthy family or were in a high powered career, I just don’t know where you’d make that kind of cash.” He paused and looked down at his hands. “Is it . . . is it from your cam shows?”

  “I don’t do cam shows,” Kate said. “Not in the way you mean. I just provide company for lonely men. It’s nothing sleazy,” she added. “I don’t get my titties out or anything, I just talk to them, listen to their problems, make them feel special for a couple of hours. Sometimes I do some ASMR to relax them and generally be nice. I’m very good at it because I get wealthy clients coming back for more, and they tip generously. I know how to save money too, so I’ve built up a little nest egg. You can have some of it if you want. If it helps save your life, you’re welcome to as much as you want. I can easily earn more.”

  John took this in. “Kate, that’s very generous of you but I can’t accept. I can’t take the risk of anyone connecting you to me. These are dangerous people and I don’t want them hurting you or Mark. I’ll make my own money, but thanks.”

  She looked disappointed, but didn’t press the issue. “That’s fair enough, but the offer’s there if you ever change your mind.”

  “Thanks,” he said smiling at her. “I really appreciate it. I mean that.”

  They made eye-contact for a little longer than comf
ortable, and John felt an overwhelming urge to lean closer to her. What felt like a surge of electricity passed between them before he broke away from the connection quickly and made a show of examining the schematics again.

  “I think I can improve on a lot of these designs,” he said, now all gruff and business like, “but I’ll need certain materials. Do you and Mark fancy going on a little shopping trip for me?”

  “Sure,” Kate said breezily, going back to the mundane. “Just write down what you need.”

  “Great. While you’re doing that, I’ll set up a meeting with a couple of Seven Paths guilds and Holy Seal groups I’ve got my eye on. Like the Wheeljackers, they prey on weaker characters and steal equipment.”

  “What do you plan to do with them?”

  John smiled at her. “The same thing I did with Jodie and the Wheeljackers. I’ll offer my salvaging services.”

  “What if they are just as stubborn as Jodie and don’t play ball?” asked Kate.

  “That’s simple. I’ll give them the taste of the same medicine I gave her. I’m sure they’ll come around to my way of thinking.”

  “I’m sure they will,” said Kate. “Most people seem to do, sooner or later.”

  Chapter 13

  Kate’s words proved to be true.

  John set up meetings with the Crimson Grasshopper Guild and the Steel Lotus Society who operated within the Seven Paths faction, and offered them the same deal as he had done to Jodie and the Wheeljackers. The leader of the Crimson Grasshoppers was as arrogant as Jodie and tried to rob John of his gear during the meeting they arranged over in Bastion.

  John escaped with very little effort and arranged for the Jet Dragon Tong to raid the guild’s headquarters and relieve them of all their gear that they kept on the premises, and to conduct surprise attacks when they were out in the battlefield fighting the other factions. They were soon left in a position where they were as vulnerable as the Wheeljackers, and they quickly made a deal with John to salvage and supply the lost equipment. The Steel Lotus Society was more willing to play ball, and didn’t try to pull any tricks. John negotiated a sweet deal with the Society’s leader and soon saw a nice income stream coming in. Several smaller guilds came onboard as well, and John’s operations in the Seven Paths territory expanded as a consequence.

  Satisfied with what he’d accomplished with that faction, he focused his attention on the Holy Seal. Returning to the city of Heaven’s Shield, he arranged a meeting with the heads of five Holy Seal guilds to discuss terms. He chose these five specifically because of information he’d gleaned from Brother Cedric that they had been forced into an agreement with the Knights of the Noble Griffin to only buy equipment and other supplies from them or their list of approved vendors—transactions from which they took a hefty percentage of.

  “They’re not the only ones, of course,” Brother Cedric said as he and John sipped mugs of ale in the old man’s workshop. “That little jerk Gilles has bullied and intimidated plenty of other Holy Seal players to buy from the Griffins, but those five I’ve told you about are the only ones that are really mad about it. They want to break away from the Griffins but they are worried about the consequences. What works in our favor is that they operate from bases in the outer provinces of Holy Seal territory and not directly here in the city, so it would take longer for the Griffins to stage some kind of retaliation if they broke away from Gilles. If you can offer them a better deal, I think they’ll go for it.”

  “That’s what I intend to do,” John said.

  Meeting in the utmost secrecy in the little chapel, the five guild leaders listened to John’s proposal. They seemed eager to do business with him, especially since he offered a generous discount and undercut the Griffins and their associated vendors significantly. Only the fear of what Gilles might do kept them from making a definite commitment.

  “It’s a good deal, I’ll give you that,” said Dwarfporn Battleaxe, the leader of the Frenzied Barbarians, whose name John suspected and sincerely hoped was a gaming handle, “but the Griffins are vindictive bastards. They won’t be happy if we cut loose from them and they’ll find a way to make us suffer.”

  “That’s right,” piped up a gamer called Sven—who ran the Chevaliers of the Gilded Crescent. “A few months ago, there was a player called Laura who was head of the Cloud Lancers Guild who stood up to Gilles and refused to let her guild be forced into buying off the Griffins. The bastard hired a load of hackers and trolls to make the lives of all the guild members a misery. Their social media accounts got hijacked and they were bombarded with death threats and offensive messages. Laura got the worse of it too. Gilles even arranged her to become a victim of identity fraud and her bank account got cleaned out. Most of the guild members left and joined the Griffins to make the persecution stop, but Laura held out and Gilles pulled out all the stops to destroy her.

  “The stress was so bad that she had a mental breakdown. She’s slowly recovering but she vowed never to play this game again. The police department where she lived got involved, but Gilles was crafty enough to cover his tracks and his father’s influence soon made the whole investigation go away. The asshole’s untouchable and I don’t want the same thing to happen to me or my members.”

  John nodded. “I understand completely. That’s just one of many horror stories I’ve heard about Gilles and the Griffins. If you come in with me, though, you have my word that I’ll do my best to keep you protected from that kind of persecution.”

  “That’s all fine and dandy, buddy,” replied Dwarfporn, “but how you be certain you can you do that?”

  “I have a few resources Laura didn’t,” John said, “including access to my own private hacker. I’ve been doing a little digging into Gilles’ internet browsing.” John called up his gamer account and accessed his private email. He opened the message he’d received earlier that day from Keller and a list of titles appeared on the screen. “This is a list of films Gilles has been watching over the last couple of months. He downloaded them from adult websites, and judging from the titles Gilles has some rather interesting tastes.”

  Dwarfporn’s eyes widened as he scanned the list. “You’re not kidding. The sick little creep.”

  “Obviously, the more conservative members of his guild would be less than impressed if they saw this list,” said John. “I’m sure Gilles would want to keep this information secret.”

  “You’re telling me,” said Brother Cedric. “We could use this to finish him. Why don’t you make this public?”

  “I’ve thought the same thing,” said John, “but this is only the tip of the iceberg. I want to put together a dossier on him before I make a move like that. What I’ve found so far could cause embarrassment, but I don’t think it’s enough to topple him. He could claim it was faked and those people loyal to him will believe what he says. And even if he does leave the game, someone equally scummy could fill his shoes. There are a lot of jerks at the head of the Griffins.

  “I just want to have this information on hand to make him think twice before trying anything. I’ll be getting a lot more though, don’t worry. Besides, what I suggest is that you keep buying some equipment from him and I’ll salvage for you in secret so the Griffins will hopefully not find out what’s going on straight away. And by then, I’ll have enough dirt on Gilles and the other Griffin leaders to make them leave you alone. Also, if you all work together, you could stand up to the Griffins if they do decide to take action. I can advise you on the best way to do that if you like. Is that enough to convince you to come in with me, guys?”

  The five guild heads exchanged looks. Dwarfporn acted as spokesman. “The deal sounds good, but can we talk about it for a while?”

  “Sure, but before you start your discussions, there’s one more thing I want to offer. As well as selling and salvaging existing equipment, I’m also branching out into making specialized equipment. Brother Cedric here has been making up potions using ingredients from the Seven Pa
ths and Enlightened territories, stuff he’s never had access to before. It’s helped him put together some interesting concoctions. I’d like to demonstrate the effects of one of those potions to help make your mind up. If you’d like to follow us outside, please.”

  The guild leaders looked puzzled, but got to their feet and went with John and Brother Cedric out into the small courtyard behind the chapel. A very nervous-looking Scabs was waiting for them when they got there.

  “Please sire, don’t hurt poor old Scabs,” the jester said in a shrill voice. He rushed over to John and fell to his knees. “I have always been a faithful servant, haven’t I?” He turned and pawed at Brother Cedric’s habit. “Please Brother Cedric, don’t let him harm poor old Scabs! I am but a humble jester! Oh poor, poor me! Poor Scabs! I was an orphan you known, left to starve on the streets. I don’t deserve to be treated this way! I’m just a poor old—”

  “Okay Scabs, we get the picture,” Brother Cedric said in a weary voice. “We’re not going to hurt you. In fact, the potion I want you to try will make you feel like a brand new man. Now do you have the box with the potion in it?”

  Scabs pointed miserably to the small wooden box sitting on the crate over on the other side of the courtyard. “The source of Scabs’ destruction lies over yonder. Tis an evil thing! I sense it! Oh poor unhappy Scabs! Why have the gods been so cruel…”

  “Fetch it over to us please, Scabs,” Brother Cedric said in a patient voice. “If you could bring it over this century, that would be excellent.”

  Scabs fell silent and sullenly headed over to pick up the box. When he returned, John took it from him and opened it. He took out the vial containing a murky green liquid inside and showed it to the guild heads.

  “This is one of Brother Cedric’s creations,” he said. “Take a look at the stats.”

  Item: Potion of Root Golem Transformation

  Minimum LVL: N/A

  Durability: N/A