by A. J. Markam
“There are actually a lot of different black market banks, but the biggest is known as the Shadow Bank. They’re a bunch of gamers with a criminal bent who realized they could make tens of millions of dollars, if not more, by levying a small surcharge on their clients’ transactions in order to keep those transactions anonymous and safe.”
“So you’re telling me, the people who created this game know that there’s a bank where people are storing money from criminal activities?”
“They mostly turn a blind eye. DarkWorld was established on a sort of libertarian philosophy: you can do just about anything you want to in the game as long as you’re a consenting adult.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You can have sex?”
“I’m surprised your companions haven’t told you yet,” she said. “Yes – there are brothels all over Sillomar.”
“They talked about nudie bars.”
“There are those, too,” Arkova said with a certain amount of distaste. “Now, granted, the game doesn’t run the strip clubs or brothels – the participants are actually players who work here in the virtual world – but they’re using code created by the game designers that allows sex to take place.”
I was having a hard time concentrating. All I could think of was Jen lying back in a bed, her slender hands undoing her robes, her naked body exposed…
“Earth to Jimmy,” Arkova said, snapping her fingers in front of my face. “Focus.”
“Sorry.”
“Yeah, I thought I might’ve lost you with the ‘you can have sex in the game’ part. Anyway, that’s something the orcs do – they run prostitution rings inside the game. There are actually women and teenage girls who are forced into sex slavery here, exactly like the real world.”
I reacted in horror. “Are you serious? Why doesn’t the game stop them?”
“You have to remember, quantum computing is so powerful that they’ve basically created a whole different world here, one where every little detail isn’t actively run by computers. It’s sort of like the ‘God as a watchmaker’ theory – the game’s creators made the watch gears, put it together, and wound it up, but after that, they just stepped away and the game functions on its own. No oversight needed – or at least very little. They mostly get involved in creating entirely new lands, missions, storylines, fixing glitches, things like that. They can’t – or won’t – track what individual players are doing every second of the day.”
“That’s insane! There’s all sorts of bad things that could happen!”
“Exactly the thought of the FBI and every other crime-fighting organization. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a say when the game was being created. The US government has tried to extend warrants and criminal jurisdiction into the game, but since the servers are located all around the globe, DarkWorld Incorporated has argued successfully in court that there is no basis for our interference here. So it’s sort of like the Wild West. Most players don’t realize this, because they’re too busy fighting dragons and hobgoblins, but the criminal element in the real world has taken advantage of the situation. And the Shadow Bank is profiting handsomely off it.”
“Why are we talking about the Shadow Bank? I thought we were interested in orcs.”
“We are. Specifically those ones.”
She gestured subtly to the main entrance of the bank, where a couple of hulking orcs were walking out.
I stared. Not just because of what they were, but what they had on them.
I’d seen tattoos on quite a few players so far, but not like this. These orcs were heavily inked. Their exposed arms and chests were covered with elaborate pictures – buildings, weapons, skulls, and Cyrillic characters.
In other words, Russian.
“You noticed the tats,” Arkova said. “You know their significance?”
I nodded.
Here’s the thing about Russian gangsters: they use tattoos as a way to tell their life story. If you can see a Russian mobster’s tattoos, you’ll know almost everything about him as a criminal. Where he served time, what his occupation is, how many people he’s killed, who his associates are, what crime family he belongs to. It’s a way for Russian mobsters to size each other up at a glance and know who they’re dealing with. It’s also a matter of pride. It’s their way of proclaiming to the world, Screw you – this is what I am, and I don’t care if you know, because there’s nothing you can do to stop me.
The weird thing was, I would bet that 99% of the people walking around this bazaar had no idea of the significance of the tattoos. Yet it was something the Russians carried over from the real world into the videogame world, simply because it was what they were used to. It was an indication of how tough they were – so of course they had to have their game characters sporting tattoos.
Arkova turned away from the orcs so it wouldn’t be obvious that the two of us were looking at them. “If you get closer, you’d see that the tattoos don’t have exactly the same words that their real-world counterparts would. Instead of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Siberia, you’ll see things like Sillomar, Estervox, and Crescent City. But the general idea’s the same.”
I watched the Russians. They moved differently from other players. They were slow and deliberate, but their eyes scanned the crowd continuously, like they were looking for a threat.
Exactly like everybody does in prison.
“So the orcs are using the Shadow Bank for all their in-game transactions?”
“The vast majority, yes. There are lots of other black market competitors, but the Shadow Bank is by far the safest.”
“You said the Shadow Bank gets a cut?”
“The going rate is 2 to 6%, depending on the size of the deposit.”
I whistled. “That’s a lot of money.”
“It’s not all profit. They have to hire muscle to guard the bank – and to guarantee any lost items due to theft.”
“Are there many heists?”
“Of the smaller black market banks, yes. Of the Shadow Bank, no. According to our sources, there hasn’t been one in over two years.”
“Why not? I mean, there’s probably ten or twenty million dollars sitting in that building over there, right?”
“Try two or three billion. At least.”
My eyes bugged out. “Are you serious?”
“Deadly serious.”
“Why the hell haven’t there been any more heists, then?”
“For one thing, no one knows about it. Only the criminal elite know that it exists, so nobody realizes that it’s sitting right there for them to rob. See the lettering over the door?”
There were green brass letters that said, ‘Journeyman’s Guild.’
“They masquerade as a guild, and one nobody would ever want to join anyway. The ‘Journeyman’s Guild’? People walk right past it. They do tend to notice the Level 50 players, but anyone who lingers too long gets ushered on their way, and nobody answers questions. So the vast majority of the players out there have no idea there’s a major international money-laundering operation right under their noses.
“And the ones who do know also know that it’s idiotic to try to rob them – because the last people who tried, the Shadow Bank found out who they were and had them killed in the real world.”
My heart jumped in my throat. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“No.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me that before I signed up for this?” I asked angrily.
“Because you’re not going to rob the Shadow Bank, you’re going to infiltrate the orcs.”
“Who’s more dangerous – the Shadow Bank or the orcs?”
Arkova didn’t answer.
I made the leap from Orcs are Shadow Bank clients, the Bank got robbed, so the orcs –
“Was it the orcs who did the killings in the real world for the Shadow Bank?” I asked.
She took a few seconds before she said, “In all likelihood, that’s probably what happened.”
“That’s why you recruit
ed me, isn’t it?” I seethed. “So that if the orcs find out who I am and decide to kill me, you don’t lose one of your goddamn agents.”
Arkova didn’t say anything. She wouldn’t even look at me.
“I’m out,” I said. “I’m not doing this anymore.”
When she finally looked at me, her expression was cold and steely. “Then I’m going to have to transfer you to prison immediately.”
“Fine,” I snarled. “Send me to prison. I’m not putting my family in danger.”
“Did you know that your brother is running an illegal sports book out of his auto shop?” Arkova asked quietly.
I froze in place.
She nodded. “I can see by your face you didn’t.”
“No – that’s impossible. Danny wouldn’t do that. He’s the straightest arrow out there.”
She smirked. “That’s the first time I’ve heard a bookie described as being a straight arrow.”
“You’re lying,” I said angrily. “You’re just trying to force me to do what you want, and you’re lying.”
“I can provide you with the case file outside of the game.”
“This is bullshit,” I snarled. “Are you setting him up the same way you set me up?”
“No, he engaged in criminal activity all on his own.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t have to. Log out and I’ll bring you the file.”
32
Ten minutes later, I sat looking in stunned silence at the evidence of my brother’s criminal activities.
It was all there in black-and-white bank statements – and color photos. He’d apparently been running a bookie joint out of the auto shop for years. Ever since I’d been in prison, apparently. Something like this could put him away for ten years, easily.
Agent Alvarez stood across the desk from me. Her face was emotionless, blank as stone.
“I can’t believe this,” I said, confused. “I don’t understand.”
“What don’t you understand?”
“He’s always been on my back for what I did. Stealing cars, getting mixed up with the wrong crowd, cracking safes… but he’s breaking the law, too!”
“Sometimes a guilty conscience manifests itself by lashing out at other people,” Alvarez said softly.
“So why haven’t you busted him?”
“We’ve been building the case for a while. When we found out that he had a brother who spoke Russian and was serving a six-year sentence for safecracking, it was decided that maybe we didn’t need to take him down just yet.”
“So he’s leverage,” I said bitterly. “Over me.”
She didn’t say anything.
“I’ll bet that if I don’t do what you say, not only are you going to send me to jail, but you’re going to arrest him, too. Or do I have that wrong?”
“There wouldn’t be any reason to delay the arrest any longer.”
“This will destroy my family. You’ll probably seize the auto shop – which means my mom and grandmother won’t have any source of income. And you’ll probably take every penny from his bank accounts, which will leave my sister-in-law and niece and nephew broke. But you knew all that when you set it all up, didn’t you?”
She looked away.
“I agreed to do a heist to save the life of my best friend’s little brother,” I said. “You arranged all of this just so you could blackmail me into doing your dirty work. Tell me, who’s the bigger piece of shit – you or me?”
Her eyes flashed angrily. “Neither you nor your brother was forced into criminal activity. You both made your choices on your own.”
“And you decided to take advantage of that to get what you wanted.”
She looked like she wanted to say something, but after a brief hesitation, she closed her mouth again.
I shook my head. “I don’t understand. You’re willing to do all this to get to the Russians?”
“Yes.”
“Then why not try again with other undercover agents?”
“It’s an issue of politics.”
“So you decided to sacrifice me and my family instead.”
“You’re the most suitable candidate.” She paused, then added, “Nothing personal.”
“I’m sure,” I said sarcastically.
“Well? What’s it going to be?”
I sat there staring at the files and weighing my options.
“If I do this, and I pull it off, you won’t arrest my brother?”
“No, we won’t.”
“You’re going to let him keep doing the sports book?” I asked, astounded.
She gave me a bitter little smile. “I didn’t say that.”
“Then what’s going to happen to him?”
“You can tell him personally that he needs to knock off the bookie business, or the FBI’s going to take everything he owns.”
The thought of me telling him off was almost enough to sway me.
Almost.
But I needed more.
“Swear to me,” I said. “Swear to me that if anything happens to me, you – you personally – will make sure my family’s okay.”
She took a second to respond, but she nodded slowly. “I swear to you on my mother’s grave.”
I closed the file. “Then I’m in.”
33
I logged on and appeared back in the market. Arkova showed up a couple of minutes later.
“Well,” I said, “what am I supposed to do?”
“Infiltrate the orcs.”
“It sounds so simple when you say it,” I said sarcastically.
“We’ll tell you everything we know. But how you do it is up to you.”
“Alright… what do I need to know?”
“For one thing, the people you see out there guarding the bank? They’re associates of the Shadow Bank, and they’re all level 50. Most of the orcs you’ll be dealing with are 45 and higher.”
“How high are you again?”
“42.”
“Holy crap – how long am I going to have to play to get up to that level?”
“That could take a while.”
“How high do the levels go?”
“The company is always altering it with new expansion packs, but it gets ridiculously difficult to level up past 45. You need almost a million experience points just to reach level 50.”
“How many experience points do you get for regular quests when you’re that level?”
“20 or 30,000. But the quests become significantly harder, too. People who reach that level are putting in a lot of time. Most of them make a living by playing the game and farming gold they sell on the open market.”
I started thinking. “Tell me more about the bank.”
“Why?”
“Just tell me more about the bank.”
“Basically it’s the biggest RICO case we’ve never prosecuted at the Bureau. The Shadow Bank has to be rife with corruption, bribery, and criminal activity, but we haven’t been able to get anybody inside because they’re too good at weeding out moles. We don’t even know any of their key players – just a few small-timers.”
The orcs we’d seen earlier had gathered in the market, sitting on crates beside a stall selling rugs and pottery. It looked like they were just hanging out and shooting the shit.
“Tell me about the orcs,” I said.
“I had you come to Sillomar because this is the group we have the most intel on. See that big one with the spiked armor on his shoulders?”
He wasn’t the biggest orc, but he was close. And he was by far the ugliest. Legitimately scary, with every inch of green skin on his back, chest, and arms covered in ink. He wore a bunch of plate armor, but only select pieces, like shoulder guards. I guess he wanted the world to see his tattoos.
“That’s Sergei Kuznetzov. He goes by the name of Okvar in the game. He served multiple sentences for murder back in Russia, before he got in with the Russian oligarchs and Putin’s crowd years ago. Since then he’s been l
argely untouchable. He was the first Russian gangster to take his business into DarkWorld – the first to see the potential. He’s very, very smart. You do not want to underestimate him.”
Like the guy had a sixth sense and could tell when he was being talked about, he looked over at me and Arkova.
Though he was a good seventy feet away, I felt incredibly uneasy as his eyes locked onto mine.
I turned casually to Arkova like I was just chatting. “We should probably go.”
“Worried about us being made?”
“Yes. I can absolutely guarantee they’ve noticed us.”
“They don’t know who we are.”
“No, but I don’t want to set off any more suspicions than necessary.”
As we walked away from the bank, she asked, “So what’s your plan?”
I laughed bitterly. “Plan? I don’t have a plan. I have to think this out.”
“Well, don’t take too much time.”
“I have to get up to level 50 in order to pull this off, so why the rush?”
“I don’t know if you’re going to be able to make it to level 50 before we pull the trigger.”
I stared at her. “What do you mean?”
“That could take months. We don’t have months.”
“Why not?!”
“Because the funding for our operation gets pulled in two weeks. We have to deliver tangible proof that we’ve got a strong lead, or we lose everything and they shut the investigation down.”
“Why would they do that?!”
“Because the whole virtual reality angle is very… ‘unfamiliar’ to a lot of the older, more traditional people at the Bureau. They think we should be looking at bank statements and making raids on real-world buildings, not playing video games.”
“So I’m your Hail Mary pass,” I realized. “Your last resort before they shut the whole thing down.”
“More or less.”
“What happens if I can’t deliver in two weeks?”
She paused.
“If you’ve made a significant effort, then you’ll be set free.”