…

Blue Moon City was owned by the Blue Moon Guild.

Owning a city in Chaos and Fame was a fairly tedious and complicated endeavour, but it was well worth it if you could manage it because a city in the game wouldn’t only generate gold to use in the game, it could also make a group of players absurdly wealthy outside of the game. It was an achievement, a symbol of status, so the fact that Blue Moon Guild owned a city was a clear demonstration of their power. Over half of the player's that started in Blue Moon City would join the guild for that very reason, but Capra wasn't like them, he was after a different pot of gold entirely.

...

After leaving Blue Moon Square and twisting through a few alleys Capra made his way to the Southern gate of the city, an easy feat because unlike most cities that would have been difficult to traverse, the sheer size of Blue Moon City’s gates made them visible at all times.

There were eight gates in total, and their allocation was set up in such a way that each gated faced a cardinal direction, making the city seem like a gigantic eight sided compass. The gates were very tall, the city walls reached forty meters up towards the sky, but the city gates were 80 meters tall— double the size of the walls, although their functional parts were only roughly 30 meters tall, and the remaining 50 meters was for show.

You are now leaving {Blue Moon City} and entering {Blue Moon City Outskirts}.

This is not a safe zone, beware hostile players.

. . .

The first thing Capra noticed about the outskirts of Blue Moon City was that they were totally disheveled in comparison to the city's insides. The insides of Blue Moon City were luxurious and filled with gilded structures and sapphires, the outside of Blue Moon City on the other hand was like a wasteland. There were plenty of little shacks made out of unprocessed wood, the grass was dry and yellow, and rodents and other critters ran around unmanaged.

However what impacted Capra the most was the NPC beggars. There were poor NPC beggars everywhere... and it wasn’t just old bearded men, Capra saw plenty of gaunt mothers holding their babies asking for money or food —anything they could get their hands on really, and he also saw children running around hunting after rats hoping for a meal… it was pitiful, and it caused Capra's chest to hurt as he walked through it all.

This was one of the drawbacks of Chaos and Fame, the game was hyper realistic in every aspect. To most people the game was more believable than the real world itself. If you needed glasses in the real world, in Chaos and Fame you’d have perfect vision. Can’t walk in the real world? Chaos and Fame gave you your legs back. Two legs not enough for you? Experimentation with magic, machinery, alchemy and the like gave players options to become entirely different creatures.

There were endless examples, but suffice to say that Chaos and Fame gave people the freedom to live life to the fullest, without any restrictions — and that meant being able to treat NPCS as real people, with all the ensuing consequences.

The NPC children Capra saw were thin, malnourished, and as real as any of the kids seen on one of those, “For only a dollar a day” infomercials he'd often seen on television, and even though he knew they were ultimately only data and numbers part of him really wished there was a number he could call to get them help...

Capra grew up poor, his mother was a seamstress, which paid very little, and he had two younger siblings, Selena and Henry — twins, that were only just finishing elementary school.

His father lost his job due to an accident at the VR development factory, and the company – Xorbitol – had managed to avoid paying for any of the damages thanks to exorbitantly high lawyer fees that Capra’s family simply could not afford. Capra's father was their family's main provider, and with him out of work the family had no substantial income, so in the end Capra dropped out of High School and began working at an assembly line, in the same VR factory, to help pay the bills.

Aassembly line worked paid very little, but it was enough to support a small family; however, it had poor prospects for the future, and it wore people out. The work involved long hours working with machine like precision, no chance for promotion, and no hope for any paid or sick leave… a clear reminder that the laws of the 24th century were just as unkind – if not worse – towards workers as their counterparts of the 21st century...

Capra had been a very studious boy in school with hopes of one day becoming a professional gamer, but life had other plans. If not for his family circumstances Capra would’ve started playing Chaos and Fame (CAF) upon release, but instead he had to wait three years. During those three years he worked harder than anyone at the assembly line. He worked overtime, filled in shifts for people who were sick and couldn’t make it to work, and sometimes he would skip meals and continue working all so that his family could live decently... and so that he could save up for a shot at a better life.

For Capra Chaos and Fame held all his hopes for the future. The money he had saved up was enough to buy the VR unit and afford three months of the game’s subscription, while still paying his family’s bills. But they would be a hard three months and he knew they would make or break him… if he couldn’t generate enough income through the game he would have to go back to working the assembly line, and that was not an acceptable outcome...

So he walked past the malnourished children even though he wanted to help… and every step he took was heavy on his heart.

“It’s just numbers, data, that’s all.” He told himself. “I can’t waste time here.”

It was all he could do to keep moving forward, after all, he was three years behind all the pros.

As Capra walked forward a mother reached out a hand asking for help for her child, but he walked past her. An old crippled man reached out for a meal, but he walked past him... he kept walking forward, ignoring the NPCS plees for help, until a tiny voice caught his attention.

“Mis...t..r” It whispered, barely audible.

"Hello?"

“Mis...t..r” The voice continued.

Capra stopped, and took a closer look at his surroundings only to find that there was a small scratched up hand reaching out from underneath some cardboard boxes nearby. Capra approached cautiously,

“Hello?” He muttered, and a faint voice responded from the cardboard box.

“He..lp.” It sobbed. “Ple...s… he...p”

The voice was so faint, so weak, so weary... and that hand. It was so small, it must've been no bigger than his little brother’s... something snapped in Capra and he tore away the cardboard boxes covering the owner of the hand, revealing the small NPC boy beneath.

The child was terribly malnourished, and he nursed several big and small wounds.

There was a purple lump the size of a baseball on his head, and blood trickled from his busted lip, meanwhile his amber irises could hardly be seen through his swollen eyelids. His wounds were terrible, and they only got worse as Capra examined him. The child's ankle looked broken, and small cuts and bruises littered his entire body.

The child’s name flashed a bright red.. and Capra read it outloud as memories resurfaced.

“[NPC] Dying Child."

…

Due to the accident at the factory, Capra’s father was paralyzed from the waist down.

The accident took place when one of the assembly units went wild and started to spin at a very high velocity. According to official reports a circuit had fried causing the malfuncion, but that small circuit caused the assembly unit to strike out at several workers with excessive force. Two workers died that day and Capra’s father and one other were severely injured— they were the lucky ones.

As fate would have it, that day employees were encouraged to bring their children to work— not so much as a bring-your-child-to-work-day sort of thing, but more of a this-is-your-future, despair, sort of thing.

Capra was Sixteen at the time, and he could still remember how the long mechanical arm had injured his father’s spine… it all happened so quickly.

There was nothing anybody could do, the mechanical arm lashed out at nearby workers and Capra’s father— being the nearest, attempted to deactivate it. He was able to make his way to the switch while avoid the arm's thrashing, but when he entered the commands to deactivate the arm, the arm went haywire. The machine's motors went into overdrive, and caused the metal to bend out of shape, until eventually a large metal piece flew out and crushed Capra's father.

"Ah!" He screamed.

Then he moaned. Capra's father was a strong man willed man, so although he was injured he didn't let it keep him down for long... or at least that was the plan. Both his arms pushed up against the ground, and he tried to stand, but at that time he was unaware that his spine was injured. He could only look back and discover that his legs were limp.

It was the most painful moment in Capra's life, because for the first time ever he saw his father... the strong resolute man he'd always known... reach out for help, and cry.

The image of his father’s extended arm reaching out for help was permanently etched into Capra’s mind that day, and he hated himself for not being able to do anything.

…

“Dying Child.” Capra read out loud…

“Dying Child.” He repeated… then he grit his teeth.

He decided, code or no code, he wasn't going to let this child die.

Capra took a look in his inventory. Other than starting with 2 silver and 50 copper coin, he also had a set of starter potions. One medium health potion, two small health potions, and two small mana potions.

Beginners starting the game wouldn’t know just how precious any of these potions were and they'd normally just drink them up haphazardly— but Capra knew their worth, he had done his research. The smallest health potion was worth two silver coin, while dedium potions were worth roughly four silver coin – although the price fluctuated so that wasn’t always the case–, whatsmore although these potions were worth a few silver because they came from the starter set they could not be sold.

With the cost of maintaining or improving equipment and the monetary losses incurred on death, It took new players roughly two days of work just to earn a single silver coin. So Capra knew that he needed to save his potions until he absolutely needed them… but as far as he was concerned he needed them now.

Capra removed the medium health potion from his inventory, gave it a single glance, and then fed it to the dying boy.

...

You have used [Medium Health Potion] on [NPC] Dying boy.

[NPC] Dying boy regains 50 HP (Health Points).

[NPC] Dying boy regains 50 HP (Health Points).

[NPC] Dying boy is at full health, cannot be healed further. Repairing internal injury.

[NPC] Dying boy is at full health, cannot be healed further. Repairing external injury.

. . .

The potion worked like magic. Well alchemy really, but you get the point.

The lump on the boys head visibly shrunk until it was non-existent, and then the small cuts all over his body closed and healed, followed by his broken ankle fixing itself back into place.

"Good."

If Capra had healed the boy with a small health potion, the boys ankle and any internal injury would have remained, effectively crippling the boy; however, one of the perks of overhealing in Chaos and Fame was that potions were hardly ever wasted.

If a player or NPC was affected by a crippling status debuff— like a broken ankle, overhealing with a potion could fix it.

While other status debuffs could only be removed by a strong cleric, luckily all the boy’s wounds were within the fixable range of a medium health potion.

After drinking the health potion the boy's name turned green but changed from “Dying Child,” to “Starving Child,” so as quickly as the boy’s name turned green, it started to flash red again. The boy obviously had the starving debuff, and it would eat away at his health until he ate something, so Capra withdrew a piece of stale bread and some water from his inventory and offered it to the boy.

Seeing the water and the food the boy cautiously approached Capra, but then stopped. The boy was weak, and wary. He had lived on the outskirts of Blue Moon Citty his entire life, and he had never seen anyone be so kind, so generous. The boy was scared, but Capra kneeled down to eye level with the boy and waved the food and water in his hand, gesturing for the boy to take it, then he waited patiently.

Eventually the boy came closer and took the food before scampering back a few feet, but he didn’t eat the bread, instead he stared at Capra, then at the bread and water, then back at Capra. He did this multiple times until Capra decided to speak up.

“It’s okay, you can eat it. It’s yours.” He said, but the boy didn’t seem convinced, so he summoned up his courage and broke the stale bread in half and offered some to Capra.

"Really?"

Capra laughed but didn’t take any of the bread.

“All of it.” He said. “You can have all of it, it’s yours.” He repeated.

The boy’s amber eyes went wide and he stared at Capra, then his stomach rumbled and brought him out of his revery. The boys cheeks flashed red, but still he persisted. He fidgeted with the bread and water making it clear that he was unsure if he should eat it, but in the end his stomach won out.

The boy looked at the bread and gulped heavily, then he took a small bite out of it, savoring it in all its stale glory.

Soon the boy took a second bite, then a third, and before he knew it he was quickly devouring the bread— so quickly in fact that he choked on a small piece and had to cough it out, but in a shocking display of dexterity he caught the piece that flew out of his mouth and hungrily re-consumed it.

Capra watched, deep in thought... and by the time he had noticed it, the boy had finished the first half of the bread he had given him.

When only the last half remained Capra expected the boy to continue eating, –after all it was clear the boy was ravenous– but he didn’t. Instead the boy carefully ripped off a piece of his already tattered shirt, and wrapped the bread in it. Which surprised Capra.

Without thinking Capra looked at the boy and said,

“I have more.”

The boy’s head shot up like lightning and stared at Capra, both eyebrows raised… but after some thought the boy seemed to calm down, and just looked at Capra.

“Thank you for your help, Mister..?”

“Capra.”

“Thank you for your help Mister Capra, but I am poor, and can’t buy any bread.”

For a second Capra was stunned. Did the boy not understand that he was being offered free bread?

“It’s free.” He replied, and in response the boy stared at Capra— absolutely wide eyed.

“Why?” He asked, forcing Capra to take a moment to think.

“Well... Why not?”

The boy answered quickly, “Because you’ll starve if you give all your food away. Duh.”

Capra chuckled.

The boy was right, Capra knew that; however, starving wasn’t as much of a concern for players, after all players respawned, and many NPCs did not. Plus, Capra was familiar with going hungry, and he wasn’t worried about that, so he looked the boy in the eye and spoke.

“But you’ll starve if I don’t.”

And unbeknownst to Capra, those words from a total stranger, shook the boy. It shook the very core of whatever code formed the boy’s mind, and it changed him.

....

Capra pulled out another piece of bread from his inventory and offered it to the boy. The boy accepted the bread —unthinking, and still stunned by what Capra had said, but after a while he regained his senses,

“Thank you, Mister Capra.”

The boy bowed to Capra, one of those deep bows that place your head surprisingly close to your knees and then he stood straight as a ramrod, and after a brief moment of hesitation,

“I have to go.” He bid farewell, but Capra had no intention of keeping the boy, so he just replied, “Go.”

And so the boy did, but as he was leaving Capra noticed that the boy’s name was changing. The boy’s display name was blurring quickly, it didn’t say, “Starving Child,” or ,”Dying Child.” It was just blurry. Which surprised Capra so much that he shouted after the boy,

“Wait!” he said.

And the boy looked back, slightly confused… but he waited.

“What’s your name?”

Was that all? Capra didn't know what the boy had expected, but he could see surprise in the boy's eyes but eventually the boy smiled –a very bright and lively smile.

“Romeo.” He replied, and then he left. As he faded into the distance Capra faintly noticed that the boy's blurry name slowly rectified itself becoming “[NPC] Romeo.”

...

After sometime Capra picked himself up off his knee, and looked towards Blue Moon Forest. The encounter with Romeo left him with a lot to think about... and as he walked to Blue Moon Forest his mind dallied over the last few minutes,

“Just numbers and data… huh,” he whispered in a hushed breath.