“Time out for you for being helpful,” Alvin sighed, glad Jarvis was over the sink when he froze, or he might have made a real mess. “Fucking devs.”
Flipping through the rooms, he got to the auto shop and whistled at the fifty thousand XP price for the base room. How would that even work? How would Ruffian, much less the Humvee, fit through the doorway? Shaking his head, he saw Jarvis shaking himself to life again.
“Welcome back,” Alvin said as he took a seat at the table. “How does the auto shop work? I didn’t think the vehicles could fit through the archway?”
“If you are in the vehicle when you toggle the button, it will open an archway large enough to admit it.”
“Okay, that makes a bit more sense. Do they get an archway directly to the shop?”
“Of course, sir. It would make little sense for them to appear in the living area.”
“Thanks, Jarvis,” Alvin snorted. “You belong on team asshole.”
“I believe so, too, sir,” Jarvis said, setting a cup of tea next to Alvin.
Alvin bought the auto shop, setting it up to have a doorway off the kiosk room. He chuckled when he heard a startled gasp from Kuro. Focusing on the pad again, he noticed the auto shop room had its own tab, so he went to it. A slew of new options scrolled off the page. With a deep sigh, Alvin sipped his tea as he began to look through the list.
“Thanks for the tea, Jarvis,” Alvin said absently.
“I shall endeavor to serve,” Jarvis replied. “I have the same requirements a human does now, so I will ask you to restock the kitchen, sir. I will also be keeping an eye on you when you aren’t here, so I can have food and sundries ready for you upon your return.”
“Understood,” Alvin muttered, taking his time to look over each option.
It took him an hour, and by that time, Becky had come out to join him at the table with Kuro trailing behind her. “I got my Nimbleness increased to match yours,” Becky said as she took a seat. “Mousie got an extra point of Hardiness and I used some XP to pick up an Extra Life for her.”
Looking up from the pad, Alvin blinked, seeing that Becky had slimmed down a shade more. She was still a very plump woman, but she was more slender than she had been. Kuro’s skin seemed to have a slightly healthier sheen to it. “Want to keep your toy around a bit longer, hmm?”
“Yes,” Becky nodded.
“You look as ravishing as always,” Alvin said, looking into Becky’s cerulean gaze.
Lips curling in a smile, Becky leaned forward. “Thank you.”
“Just stating facts as I see them,” Alvin replied. “I told you how I felt about your body changing before.”
Becky looked away. “I know… it’s just different to hear it afterwards.”
“I’ll keep telling you,” Alvin said. “I still think you’re going to be a very curvy woman even if we max out your stats.”
“I hope so,” Becky smiled as she looked back at him. “I checked the new room. It’s empty.”
“It’s going to be an auto shop,” Alvin said. “I’m grabbing the last few touches for it now.”
“Won’t we need a mechanic?” Becky asked.
“Nope,” Alvin grinned as he purchased the upgrades. “Let’s go look at it now.”
The entire group went to the auto shop. It was stocked with tools, both manual and power. A large lift took up one side of the room, with a smaller one on the other side. Going over to the large cutout archway that looked like it could be a garage door, Alvin hit two buttons. A swirl of light filled the shop, and when it faded, the Mustang and the Humvee now sat on their respective lifts.
“How do we get them out of here?” Becky asked.
“When we go to leave, the archway will become our portal,” Alvin told her. “But wait, there’s more!” he added, sounding like an infomercial host. Flicking a switch next to the buttons caused a set of mechanical arms to come out of the ceiling and begin lightly touching each vehicle.
“Okay, what do those do?”
“What a mechanic would do: fix them,” Alvin grinned.
“How much did that cost?” Becky asked as the lifts began to raise the vehicles off the floor.
“All told, a bit over three hundred thousand,” Alvin said. Becky stared at him with a stunned expression, so he continued. “It ate up all the profit from our deals with the settlement for hides, but now the cars will regain point zero one percent of their maximum armor every hour. That can be upgraded, but I’m holding off for now.”
“So expensive,” Becky finally said.
“Indeed, miss. Most players wouldn’t be able to think about this upgrade for some time yet,” Jarvis agreed. “Sir also made sure that the repairs included the gun for the Humvee. While it is only a small amount per hour, it will add up in time.”
“Not the way we use it,” Becky said.
“I still have a good chunk of XP left,” Alvin told her. “I can increase this or I can see about getting some of the other rooms, but those will require crafters.”
“We can hold off, then,” Becky said.
“Point,” Alvin said. “I’m going to raise my Aptitude to match yours, so we’ll be evenly matched on all our stats. After that, we should head back to Kuro’s world. We have some things to do before we can head home.”
Becky smiled at him. “We’re already home.”
“Fair enough,” Alvin smiled back at her.
Chapter Eighteen
Alvin had Becky take all the stuff to sell to the kiosk. Once she was done with that, he took a few of the common shield glyphs and put them up for auction. Setting the buyout option to ten thousand each, he set the starting bid to one thousand for the full week the item could be up for bid. After he had everything set, he stopped just before finalizing them as a thought struck him.
“Jarvis, the auction part of the kiosk—”
“Is connected to every kiosk, sir. It is not just those in a particular world, nor on a player’s network,” Jarvis replied, not waiting for Alvin to finish the sentence.
“Thank you,” Alvin said as he finalized the auctions. Once they were up, he sent messages to Ohm, Shawn, and Bill that the glyphs were there in case they wanted to bid on them.
“Sir,” Jarvis said, extending a book, “you asked me to write this last night.”
“Oh, the explanation. Does it matter now? They said they were doing dreams for everyone not of Earth.”
“Indeed, though I do believe my writing is a bit more detailed than what they did, sir.”
Alvin put the book into the slot and began to walk through the uploading process. “I figure two hundred fifty XP is good enough for the kiosk version,” Alvin said. “What does it cost to make the one-off books?”
“That button there will let you know,” Jarvis said, pointing.
Touching the button, Alvin winced at the figures on the screen. “Five hundred XP? What the fuck?”
“The extra XP cost is for the system to generate the book; you will get nothing extra from it. As it is, you only get fifty XP for the digital book if read via the kiosk.”
Alvin looked through the store and found the basic books for all crafts at five thousand each for single-use books. “A tenth of a craft book. I guess that’s fine, because it doesn’t do anything but give general knowledge.” Going back, he signed off on the books to be added to the store. He purchased a score of them, putting fifteen to the side of the kiosk and five into his bags.
“Going to store the rest here, sir?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll move them out of the way later.”
“Thanks, Jarvis.” He looked over at Becky. “Got everything?” Alvin asked her as he stepped away from the kiosk.
“I need to replace a medkit,” Kuro said softly to Becky. “I don’t have any XP left, not after getting the Extra Life.”
“We’ll be right there, Hero,” Becky said, stepping back up to the kiosk to get a medkit for Kuro.
Kuro backed away as he walked past, making
Alvin sigh. It seemed that he and Kuro were going to have a long and bumpy road to travel. Making his way to the garage, Alvin flicked the switch on the wall. The robotic arms stopped fussing with the vehicles and retreated into the ceiling.
Alvin climbed into the Humvee, switching it to ready so he could start the engine. Smiling at Becky as she and Kuro got into the Mustang, he started the Humvee. The deep rumble of the diesel engine was shortly joined by the purr of the Mustang. Toggling the switch on his UI, the wall behind the vehicles became a glowing arch that they could both easily fit through.
Motioning to Becky, he waited for the Mustang to vanish into the glow before following her. The transition from base to road was instantaneous once he was halfway through the archway. He stopped suddenly, just behind the Mustang. Becky and Kuro were getting out of the car, and Alvin saw that they were in front of the inn. Killing the engine, he got out to join the other two.
“That was easy enough,” Alvin said.
“I was wondering if you were going to appear in front of or behind me,” Becky said. “You came out behind me… I wonder if that’s variable.”
“We can ask Jarvis when we go home,” Alvin said.
A cough drew their attention to the doorway of the inn. The Captain from the day before was standing there. “We wondered where you had gone to,” the guard said, the relief obvious on her face.
Alvin nodded slowly. “Did the lack of vehicles make someone nervous?”
Eye twitching, she looked at Becky. “Matriarch Bloodnight would like you to visit her at her home, Matriarch Gothy.”
“Hero asked you a question,” Becky said flatly to the Captain.
“There was some worry that you had left,” the Captain said after a pause. “We’ve been tasked with bringing you to the Matriarch, so the disappearance of your vehicles and your room being empty did cause some concern.”
“You went into our room?” Becky asked with a raised eyebrow.
“It was deemed necessary when your vehicles vanished,” the Captain replied, looking decidedly uncomfortable.
“Maybe we should leave,” Alvin said. “We should stop by Istel’s and Olmera’s first. They did ask us to.”
The Captain’s face went pale. “Please, reconsider the Matriarch’s request.”
“How is the Sergeant this morning?” Becky asked.
“She has been removed from the guard entirely and will be facing the Matriarch’s sentence for causing an incident with you,” the Captain replied.
“Matriarch first, then crafters before we head out?” Becky suggested.
“That would be fine,” Alvin nodded. “I want to see if Olmera can do anything for your coat. It got chewed up and looks a bit ragged from the back.”
“It’ll also let us see what she can do,” Becky nodded.
“Captain,” Alvin said. “We’ll head on over to Matriarch Bloodnight’s place.”
The sudden relief on the Captain’s face was shocking. “Thank you both.”
“I think Champion Skyfall must have confirmed the stories of how you decimated the King’s army,” Kuro said.
Becky looked at the Captain with a piercing gaze. “If we had refused, what would you have done?”
“I was told to bring you no matter the cost,” the Captain said, looking pale as she related the command. “Matriarch Bloodnight would not hear Champion Skyfall’s warning that it would be a disastrous idea.”
“Good to know,” Becky said. “I think we should take the Humvee, Hero.”
“That has merit,” Alvin said, his lips pursed as he considered the possibility that the Matriarch would do something so blindingly stupid. “How many are with you, Captain?”
“A platoon,” she said. “I shall have them fall in behind you.”
“You will be coming with us,” Becky said firmly. “Tell your Sergeant that your guards can return to their normal tasks. Once that’s done, you will be going with us in our vehicle to the Matriarch’s house.”
“My orders were to bring the platoon with me when I escort you,” the Captain said.
“You can do as I say, or we can see what happens,” Becky said with a smile. “We’ll explain the situation to Matriarch Bloodnight when we get there.”
Alvin could see the Captain going through best and worst case scenarios in her mind. Without another word, she turned on her heel and went into the inn. A moment later, the Captain returned with a frozen smile on her lips. “I’m ready.”
Alvin opened the door behind the driver’s seat. “Get in.”
“Mousie, you’re riding next to Hero. I’m going to keep our guest company in the back,” Becky said as she went around the Humvee.
Shutting the door behind the obviously uncertain Captain, Alvin got into the driver seat. Once Kuro was in, he got the Humvee started and backed up so he had the room to turn around. As he shifted the vehicle into drive, he watched the guards beginning to exit the inn, looking worriedly after them.
“Your guards seem worried for you,” Alvin said.
“I’m defying the Matriarch’s orders. I will be disciplined after you leave,” the Captain replied flatly. “It was that or watch my subordinates be mowed down like wheat by your weapons. As Champion Skyfall put it, you are like death walking through the masses without a concern.”
“We’ll see about that,” Becky said. “You were put into a no-win position by the Matriarch. I don’t care for the way you were told to deal with us. You can attract more flies with honey than vinegar.”
The Captain fell silent, but the manor wasn't far away. When they reached the gate, Alvin opened his window, addressing the six guards standing outside, “Open the gate.”
With a quick word to her subordinates, the leader of the detachment stepped toward the window. “Where is your honor guard?”
“We didn’t need them,” Alvin replied. The guard looked uncertain, then signaled for the gate to be opened.
Once the gates were opened, Alvin drove slowly to the door. He didn’t see another person moving around, unlike the other night. Parking the Humvee so it faced the gate, he got out after the other three.
“Captain, if you will take us to the Matriarch,” Becky ordered.
With a deep breath, the Captain led them to the door. A single knock caused the door to swing open, revealing two guards standing in the open doorway in full armor. “The visitors are here by request of the Matriarch.”
“If you three will follow me,” one of the guards said.
“No,” Becky said firmly. “The Captain is coming with us.”
“Those are not our orders,” the other guard said.
“I don’t give a single fuck,” Becky smiled. “These are my orders. She is coming with us. You have two options: let her, or we can leave.”
The first guard grimaced. “That is not necessary. Captain Shadowhand may accompany you to the meeting.”
“Glad to see we’re all on the same page,” Becky replied.
The group was led to a set of double doors further inside. The guard knocked once before opening the door a fraction to announce them. Bloodnight’s voice answered the announcement, telling the guard to bring them in.
Entering behind the others, Alvin noted Istel and Olmera amongst the twenty people seated at the table. Skyfall’s face was unreadable, but Bloodnight looked puzzled as the Captain followed them in.
“I didn’t request you, Captain,” Bloodnight said dismissively.
“I asked her to come,” Becky said bluntly. “We almost had an incident again less than an hour ago.”
Bloodnight looked displeased as her eyes fell on the Captain. “What did Captain Shadowhand, or one of her subordinates, do?”
“Nothing,” Becky replied coldly. “Shadowhand was under the impression that your request for our presence was not a request.”
Brow furrowed, Bloodnight looked from Becky, to Shadowhand, to Skyfall. “Did you give such an order?”
“The Captain must have misunderstood my intent,” Skyfall
said with a shake of her head. “I told her that you were requested urgently, as we hoped that you could answer our questions about the dreams from last night. I had her take a small platoon as an honor guard to show our respect for you. Captain, did you misunderstand me?”
There was a brief pause before Shadowhand bowed low. “I did, Champion Skyfall. I shall turn myself over to the Matriarch’s justices for my error.”
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