by Tao Wong
Chapter 7
On closer inspection, the building that the Shop is housed in is sheathed in some form of reflective silvery material. Spreading upwards in a rectangular block, it dominates the cityscape, jarring in its alienness. As we approach, the door slides open and we enter the foyer which is all black marble and more silver highlights. The moment we do, a System message appears.
You Have Entered a Safe Zone (City Centre)
Mana flows in this area are stabilised. No monster spawning will happen.
This Safe Space includes:
Village of Whitehorse City Centre
The Shop
“Village?” Yeah, the city’s small but that’s a bit of a demotion. I guess the System is only counting System recognised housing.
“Getting a map now John, I’ll overlay with your human maps in a bit so you can see things properly when you put on the helmet,” Ali speaks, eyeing the building we walk in. “Of course, if you got those cyber-eyes, I could just shoot it through to you but you just got whiny about wanting to keep your meat eyes.”
So not the right time. I sigh and rub my temples, wondering for the thousandth time whether there was something in the Shop that’d let me neuter Spirits. Or at least gag them.
We enter the elevators and shoot up to the top floor, the motion completely imperceptible. Heck, the only reason I know we’re on the top floor is due to the 360-degree view that the transparent walls afford me.
“Lord Graxin Roxley, Baron of the Seven Seas, Hunter of Drakyl, Master of the Sword and the Black Flame, Corinthian of the Second Order and acclaimed Dancing Master of the 196th Ball,” the guard announces as we step from the elevator. At my side, Ali translates in his usual helpful manner “Dark Elf, Baron, killed over a hundred demons, blade master and special fire mage, likes to cuddle with men aggressively and is a pretty, pretty dancer.”
The guard, unaware continues his introductions. “My lord, the Adventurer John Lee, Monster Bane and Redeemer of the Dead.”
Interesting. So my Titles actually mean something it seems. While I’m being announced, I take the time to watch Lord Roxley. The man (elf?) is tall, a good 6’ 6” of lithe grace and purple hair that reaches his back. Pointy ears, black skin and purple eyes dominate an angular face atop a military cut swing jacket that’s all in black with hints of purple. Resting easy on his right hip is a sword and across from it on his left a pistol. He exudes easy confidence and charm and a part of me wants to go up and grab his trim butt and see how kissable he really is.
Mental Influence Resisted
The flashing note brings my lustful thoughts to a halt and Ali floats next to me, nodding at my glance, “Yup. He’s putting out a low-level bubble of charisma. Looks like a mixture of pheromones, good genes and subtle body mimicking behavior.” He pauses and then continues, “Still, feel free to jump his bones. I’ll watch and tape it.”
“How come his Status Bar is just a bunch of question marks after his name?” I ignore Ali’s assertions, though a part of me still wouldn’t mind. It’s not as if I haven’t dabbled before but maybe another day.
“Can’t access his information. Something’s blocking me,” Ali says.
“Welcome to the Village of Whitehorse Adventurer,” Lord Roxley says.
“Thank you,” I stand around, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Why me? The way we were announced tells me something formal is going on here, but what beats me like a white guy the day before the welfare check arrives.
“I must say, I had not expected one so… inexperienced, for one so titled,” Roxley smiles and this one is not at all friendly.
“Yeah. I got… lucky,” okay, downplay might be the better bet here perhaps. Or at the least, close to the vest.
“There is no Luck with the System,” Roxley states and the way he says it, it seems like it’s a quote. He gestures to a pair of lounging chairs and I walk over to join him, waiting for him to sit before doing so myself. Some courtesies I know, though who knows if they use the same forms.
“I will not keep you long. I’m sure you wish to use my Shop and see what has transpired in your city. Still, I would feel it remiss if I did not speak with you beforehand, to ensure that certain matters are clear,” Roxley leans forward, meeting my eyes and waiting for a nod before continuing, “I am the System registered owner of this Village. I have every intention of growing it to it’s fullest and adding this region to my Clan’s holdings.
“To ensure that, I’ve already hired many of your compatriots in the village. I understand you even met up with some of them and were instrumental in bringing some survivors back. For that, you have my thanks”
Quest Completed: The Safety of Many
Reward: 2,000 Credits per Each Survivor (22,000 Credits Received); 500XP per Survivor (5,500XP Received)
Type: Repeatable
Level Up!
You have reached Level 8 as an Erethran Honor Guard. Stat Points automatically distributed. You have 18 Free Attributes to distribute.
“Ah, congratulations!” Roxley smiles slightly as he watches me even as I will away the windows. He then stands and walks away to a sideboard, getting us a couple of drinks. “In my culture, each Level is celebrated.”
“Ali, how the hell does he know what’s going on?”
“At a guess boy-o? He’s got a System Companion too. From his eye, I’d say it’s an AI. Or you know, he could be reading you like a crystal,” Ali shrugs. “I’ve stopped a dozen probes into our information on the System already, and I only managed to stop them from reading us completely. He definitely has your basic stats at least. Well, hello there… Got to go. Try not to get killed.”
With those last words, Ali is gone. What the hell?
“To Strength!” Handing me the glass of dark blue liquid, Roxley toasts. I echo his cheer, sipping on the drink tentatively first. It’s sweet and smooth, almost like drinking a good mead. On that thought, I pull the drink away from my lips as memories of waking up on a beach, pantsless intrude. Good times with Luthien… I push those thoughts away too. Not now.
“I, will of course, reward you similarly for any others you may find and for other relevant information,” Roxley says.
“Ummm…” I pause, considering and then fill him in on Haines Junction giving him the abbreviated version I gave the others. His eyes narrow a bit but he doesn’t interrupt me, just thanking me for the information.
“Well Adventurer Lee, this has been enlightening. I expect I shall be seeing more of you, one so titled after such a short period is certain to do much,” Roxley says, offering me his hand. I take it, feeling a shiver pass through my body on contact which I push away. When he lets go of my hand, he inclines his head to the door and I take the dismissal, following the guards out. They deposit me a few floors down into the Shop.
Interestingly, when I arrive and place my hand on the crystal that will transport me to the Shop, I get a System window asking me to choose which one. I also have a default option and after a brief consideration, I decide to go with it. Ali seems to know them and I do too, a bit. Who knows - the others Shops might be even worst.
The Shop itself hasn’t changed much in the time that I’ve gone, which isn’t surprising. The two within greet me with cool professionalism until they realise that Ali isn’t here. Then the professionalism thaws a little bit, probably in anticipation of fleecing me.
Too bad I don’t have much for them to buy or sell. I push them a bit on the last few pieces of Ogre loot I hadn’t been able to contain in my inventory the first time around and the few pieces of extra loot I’ve picked up then but don’t bother haggling too much. Better to let them have a good deal now to build up some goodwill for when I bring Ali and more loot back in the future.
That done, I take a deep breath. I’ve been putting this off for a bit, making excuses for why I couldn’t do it in Haines Junction, promising that I’d do it once I was in Whitehorse. Now, faced with the ability to check on the Status of my family, I find mysel
f hesitating. Believing they are dead and knowing are two different things. I bite my lip and then finally pay the cheap, cheap price to the System for information on my family.
I close my eyes, hands clenched before me as I hold back the tears by sheer force of will. I force myself to look up and breathe, force control over my body and by that, my emotions. I knew the answer before I paid, I knew this was the likely result. I knew it, but the pain still chokes me up for a moment. I cycle my breath for what seems like hours but is probably just a few minutes before I stuff the grief away again. Another time - I’ll deal with it another time.
I came down here for another reason though, one that came to mind when I stepped into the school. I pull up information on these Safe Zones, browsing for information. A quick perusal and a few questions get me the answers that I need. Any building purchased from the System is considered a safe zone, the System automatically stabilising the flow of mana in that location. Locations within a city are generally more expensive as the City Owner taxes all prices but in return, if 80% of all land that lay within a city’s boundary was part of the System, the entire city would be considered a Safe Zone.
Once again, I can’t help but feel the entire System is a scam. It seems engineered to force people into using it – destroying sensitive electronics with mana, creating safe zones only when a building is purchased, even the inventory items. If Steve Jobs was still alive, he probably would be jerking off to the System Help Guide.
I pull up the listings for the schools and then the other buildings that have been bought in short order. Not many at all, most owned by Roxley himself, with the only exceptions an armoury, an alchemist and another house. The house is registered as owned by Nicodemus of the Raven’s Circle, which puzzles me for a second before I recall the Giant. Ah right, Nicodemus / Nick, he was the accountant and GM wasn’t he? That must be where the ‘Raven’s Circle’´ was headquartering themselves.
Out of curiosity, I make another query of the System and grimace. Of course, it’d work that way. Unless a fee was paid to register a designated heir, all buildings owned by an individual upon death would revert to the System. Yeah, keeping Roxley alive was in our best for now - he literally kept the monsters at bay by being alive.
I make a note to mention this to someone at some point before finally pulling up my own residence.
89 Alsek Rd.
Current Ownership: None
Current Occupant: John Lee, Adventurer
Cost: 20,000 Credits (50% discount for previous occupancy status)
Current Assigned Purpose: None
I’d rented a 1 bedroom suite beneath a house, but it looks like the System has decided I live in the entire location. I eye the Credits that I have left and I bite my lips for a moment. Easy come, easy go.
Congratulations!
You have purchased 89 Alsek Rd. You now own the building and may assign a purpose and upgrade the building. Upgrades may be purchased at the residence itself or at the Shop. Please note that all buildings have a minimum maintenance cost and if not met, will be returned to the System Pool.
22,000 Credits Deducted
Even after the Apocalypse, there are taxes.
Coming out of the City Centre, I come across a group of teenagers trying to bikejack Sabre. Something a little cruel rises up in me and I just stand there, grinning as one hunts for the keys and ignition, another attempts to pry up the seat with a crowbar while the last fiddles with where the engine is, trying to discern how to get it started. The crowbar slips, putting its edge into his friend’s shoulder but not even leaving a scratch on the bike.
Next to me, the pair of guards who escorted me down move to do something about this but I wave them down. They look at me incredulously at first but soon find as much cruel amusement as I do in the children’s futile efforts. In fact, we start betting on how long it’ll take before the group give up. They take 5 and 8 minutes, I take 10.
Teenage stupidity and stubbornness win me 50 credits each after the ten-minute mark passes. By this point, the kid with the crowbar is whaling on the seat in an attempt to get the bike to do something, anything. Tier IV Armor might not be much to the System, but in old Earth standards, I might as well be driving a tank.
Having made an easy 100 credits, I send the command to Sabre to turn on. The kids jump and finally spot us and I give them a slight wave before touching the band around my neck to call forth the helmet. As the helmet folds up around my face, they jump back and then as one, scatter.
Kids.
Strange. What started out as a cruel prank has actually lightened my spirits, at least a little. Feeling happier than I have been in a while, I wave goodbye to the guards and head home.
As I cross the bridge that separates downtown Whitehorse from the Riverdale subdivision, I note that the river seems to have risen higher. I wonder how the dam is doing but now is not the time. Instead, I gun it, passing F.H. Collins on the right where another tent city has sprung up on its grounds, covering every single piece of protected land in canvas and humans. The greenery on the left has me keeping a close eye out and I’m not the only one as the series of guards posted at the school attest. I hit the roundabout and more guards stand outside the Super A, making my lips twist in distaste.
Passing empty ranch houses on my left and right as I cross through the suburb, the entire place feels like a ghost town with not a single person present. Broken doors, shattered windows and blood marks tell a desperate, bloody story. Cars are abandoned in driveways everywhere, previously snow-covered lawns brown and grey with lack of care.
I pull Sabre to a stop in front of my house as I come to the end of the street at the T-junction, staring at my house with its double garage doors beneath the open-air deck, the double-storey white residence connected directly to the garage itself. Wind ruffles my hair, bringing the smell of pine from the trees that cling to the clay-cliff face behind the house. The main entrance doorway is broken into, the double-doors off their hinges, the usual white coat of paint marred by a single dark red streak at the door. The bushes that make up our fence look to be doing fine, adapted as they are to a Northern spring. I glance to the right, noting the stand-alone workshop has its door rolled open, the contents stolen with only a few scattered items left. To the side, I see the fence that blocks off the garden that abuts the hill in the back is at least still in good condition.
The moment I turn onto the driveway and pass the lot threshold, I get a System message.
Welcome to 89 Alsek Rd.
Current Ownership: John Lee, Adventurer
Current Occupants: None
Current Assigned Purpose: None
Structural Integrity: 94% (More…)
Would you like to assign a purpose?
Interesting, purpose? I mentally select yes, curious to see what it speaks of. The list of purposes come up, most of them greyed out but the top two – Residence and Safe House. A quick verification shows the first gives a bonus to resting and offers more upgradeable options in terms of add-on facilities, the second a reduced cost for security upgrades for the entire lot. My hand hovers for a moment, trying to decide between the two. The safe house option would allow me to build walls, cameras and other security measures fast but the residence with add-on facilities could really make use of the workshop.
Really though, I should ask Randy first before I make any further decisions. I dismiss the pop-up and draw my sword, heading in through the broken door. Best to see if there are any unpleasant surprises awaiting me inside.
There are, just none alive. The large pool of blood and the blood splatters around the room tell the tale of Randy’s likely fate. The body is gone, hopefully taken care of by one of the citizens, but I really wouldn’t bet on it. The tang of rotten, clotted blood fills the house, mitigated by the open doorway but I sigh, making a note that this will need to be cleaned soon.
I make my way to the garage and open the doors, rolling the bike in securely before making way to my own suite beneath th
e stairs. The door here is broken too, but nothing seems taken. Then again, it’s not as if I had a lot to take. A couch and my laptop dominate the small living room while in my bedroom, my King-sized indulgence lies unmade. Everything looks exactly the way I left it, and for a moment, I have this surreal feeling that everything I’ve experienced was just a bad dream.
I lean against the doorjamb, mind spinning as I finally realise I’m home. I’m safe - mostly. Monsters can’t spawn in here and Ali would warn me of anything that spawned close by. A tightness in my chest that I’ve carried for days releases slightly, just a little bit and I find myself smiling.
I run a hand through my hair, feeling the stickiness from not having a proper wash and shake the feelings off. First things first, grab a change of clothing and then it’d be time to check out the rain barrels at the back for a quick wash. I grab a shirt and pair of jeans and then pause, laughing to myself.
“Leave you alone for 5 minutes and you go completely nuts eh?” Ali snorts, floating next to me as he surveys my old home.
“Ali! You son-of-a-bitch! Where did you go?” I grouse, throwing the useless clothing aside. Adding a bunch of inches in height was great, except for the fact that none of my old clothing would fit me. I head upstairs for Randy’s closet, after all, he isn’t going to need it anymore and he was always a big man.
“Got an invite from a shiny pair of bits. Rox-boy had an AI Companion who invited me over to chat,” Ali chuckles, shaking his head. “Figured you could handle yourself for a few minutes. Decent buy on this place, but you got fleeced at the Shop.”
I grunt, picking through and finding some clothes that I figure will work. I head to the back, beginning to strip before I raise an eyebrow at the Spirit who shakes his head negatively. Good, no monsters.