Rebirth: Rise of the Slave Master

Chapter Thirty: Coffee for Two

“Rick! Where are you going so fast?” Bai’s voice clapped against Rick’s ears in its usual bossy manner.

Rick turned around to look at his workout partner, who was wiping the sweat off his brow with a paper napkin. He didn’t bother trying to figure out where Bai had been hiding such a thing. A moment passed wherein Rick tried to figure out if he had missed a prompt somewhere, but his mind had been preoccupied with new slave raising strategies as of late.

“What?” Rick asked blankly, channeling the look Meatshield normally gave him.

Bai frowned, “You made the promise to talk with me today,” he said.

“Was there something like that?” Rick couldn’t help but wonder as he tried to jog his memory, but the expression on Bai’s face seemed to indicate that he wasn’t lying.

Not one to waste his time on things that didn’t have to do with Dream World Online, Rick immediately struck at the heart of the issue, “So what was it then?”

Bai shook his head fervently, “Oh no! You don’t get out of this so easy. Come have a coffee with me!” a surprisingly strong hand gripped the sleeve of Rick's windbreaker.

“You’re not going to break my arm if I say no, are you?” Rick couldn’t help but say.

The young man gave him a look as if to say, ‘just try me.’

Precious grinding time was going to be lost just like that? This was a kidnapping! Someone! Anyone! Call the police! Don’t just look on with those same strange expressions!

“Fine,” Rick almost considered saying something along the lines of ‘you’re paying though,’ but held back due to his recently flush bank account. It would be a stretch to say he wasn’t able to afford a cup of coffee.

“So, what, you want go to the Corner Branch?” he asked.

The little grocery store always had the best coffee at the best price.

“Are you always so cheap? I want to go to Neiman’s! You can treat! Big money maker after Bloody Auction, no?” Rick immediately regretted telling his companion about the ruckus on the forums.

Last time he checked, the post he had made served its purpose and thoroughly riled up the community. They were already swarming the thread and making all varieties of sensationalist comments. If all went according to plan, this would make the next auction even bigger than the first, so what if he made enemies of the game’s future superpowers? No matter how much of a show they made out of boycotting him, what kind of player could pass up such good loot?

“I’m not paying for you,” Rick firmly stood his ground.

“Tsk… cheapskate,” Bai complained.

Despite a barrage of pouting and curses in a language Rick was grateful he didn’t understand, the diehard gamer didn’t budge an inch. He put his well developed ‘Ignoring Skill,’ which he had studiously advanced over the years by tuning out his guildmates, to good use. After traveling for only a few minutes, Bai was forced to relent and agreed to pay his own share.

Once Rick was assured of his victory, he relaxed and they conversed pleasantly as they walked the thirteen blocks to Neiman's, the upscale breakfast, bakery and coffee shop Bai had mentioned. Public transportation would have been quicker, but it was a passable enough day outside, and they ignored the green and white striped awning where a number of small two or four-person carts were parked in a row. It had been awhile since Rick could afford to rent one of the self-driving vehicles, as the prices were set with tourists rather than locals in mind.

Rick spent an entire three minutes attempting to scale the icy wall of his disinterest towards anything but the game, and by then he had exhausted his entire repertoire of small talk subjects. Thankfully, his companion was more than willing to make up for his silence. It was strange to hear Bai talk about subjects like school and friends, and it seemed like he had a fairly well developed social life.

Rick thought back to the tiny contacts list in his phone and smiled. This was the way it should be.

The coffee shop, Neiman’s, was a local place that was pretty popular among the college students in the area. There were just too many young people in this place that were willing to waste an exorbitant amount of money on things they didn’t need. Even if the coffee was worth the higher price tag, Rick didn’t think he would be able to tell the difference enough to appreciate it. If there was one thing he had learned from selling items in Dream World Online, it was that value was something created by people. Even bits of data and numbers could be worth hundreds of dollars!

“This place is… fancy,” Rick said, not sure he knew what the right word to describe the cafe was.

“You never come here?” Bai asked.

Rick shrugged, “It’s not really on my radar… ah, but my sister would like this kind of place,” he said, struggling to fish up a topic of conversation.

Bai looked at him as if he had changed places with somebody else, “Rick has a sister?”

“What? It has nothing to do with me, talk to my parents if you’re that shocked,” he smiled and said.

“Parents too? Rick didn’t spawn in game like monster?” Bai joked back with him.

The pair shared a laugh as Rick held open the door, suddenly thinking this wouldn’t be such a bad expenditure of time after all.

The inside of the cafe was done up like any other cozy, down to earth coffee shop, with dozens of paintings from local artists covering the walls and an overabundance of hardwood furniture. The lighting was dim and comfortable for early morning, and the few other customers were all the kind that stayed completely engrossed in their own affairs. The only thing that set the shop apart were the small screens mounted on the ends of all of the tables, tastefully set in what appeared to be handmade wooden frames. Rick thought they looked like varnished driftwood.

He supposed it helped to keep the aesthetic of the store consistent, but had to suppress a frown when he looked at them. Rick was too used to the low-tech and energetic style of taverns and restaurants in the virtual world, and it was one of the contributing factors to why he found it so easy to stay inside all day. Of course, it was impossible not to notice how out of touch he was with the real world, but Rick could usually ignore it when it wasn’t staring him in the face.

An unoffensive, jazzy soundtrack filled the air as Bai swiftly scoped out the floor and found them an out of the way table. He unceremoniously took a seat and waited for Rick to accompany him, which the man did with another sideways glance at the front counter. It was a long, wooden bar with dozens of confusing looking instruments behind it and large glass display case showing off a few of the pastries and simple meals you could order. The back wall was painted to function as a chalkboard in old fashioned style, but it was jampacked with so many pointless doodles and in-jokes from the employees that there was no discernible menu he could find.

The baristas weren’t too swamped at the moment, but what work they did have to finish was completely unimpeded as they hurried back and forth. The counter was pretty much just for show at this point.

“Let me guess, Rick drinks black coffee only?” Bai teased him as he scrolled down and pressed a large, inviting button on the touch screen of the table’s little monitor.

A pleasant jingle played from a speaker that must have been set into the table, and the screen faded to black before the pair was met with the face of a pretty girl with a strong jawline and short, fuchsia tinted hair. Her lip and nose were both pierced, and she had a bit of a standoffish air about her. A sleeve of colorful asian-style tattoos curled around her shoulder and was clearly visible given the black tank top she was wearing.

“It’s Veronica today! Hello Veronica,” Bai chimed to the woman on the screen.

The woman’s stern features lightened when she seemingly looked out of the monitor and saw Bai’s face, “Hello Bai! It’s good see you again!”

The woman didn’t seem to take notice of Rick until he sat down at the table.

“This is a new face, welcome to Neiman’s! ” Veronica said in a brusque but friendly way, “Hello, I’m Veronica, I’ll be your virtual barista today. Can I get you a list of our specials?”

Rick waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, but the AI wasn’t capable of really holding it against him. This was one of the conveniences of modern technology brought about in the last few years or so. Virtual service was popular anywhere that could afford to implement it, since the AI’s didn’t need to be paid and could easily remember vastly superior amounts of information. They would always be perfectly polite, helpful, friendly staff that could recognize the customers from their voices alone and recall past orders.

“Don’t bother with him,” Bai said, “He’s just a stick in the mud.”

“Should I give you a minute to think on it?” Veronica asked.

“Yes,” Rick said bluntly.

“Alright then, just call if you need me!” after saying as much, the screen faded out again and was replaced with a slowly scrolling Neiman’s logo.

Bai regarded Rick with his usual curiosity, as though he were inspecting an alien lifeform, “Are you always so rude to AI?”

Rick sighed, shaking his head, “There’s no point in treating it like a human. It’s a program, it doesn’t get offended.”

“I think is fun,” Bai shot back, “You can ask many questions. Veronica always have an answer.”

As if to prove his point, Bai pressed the button on the screen and the virtual barista once again appeared in front of them. She didn’t seem at all bothered by the immediate recall only moments after Rick had shooed her away. .

“That sure was quick! Are you two ready to order?” she questioned with a bubbly laugh.

Bai smiled mischievously and asked, “Veronica. My friend Rick. Do you like the way he looks?”

Not seeing the point in the conversation, Rick turned to look at the screen, which he knew had a small camera built into it. While Veronica seemed to give him a once-over and ponder something, the program was scanning his face and saving the image into it’s memory.

“He’s pretty handsome!” Veronica quickly came to a decision, adding playfully, “But I think he could smile a bit more!”

It was a generic response from a low-level AI. The NPCs in Dream World Online weren’t the kind that would always try to please you. Even Bai seemed to think the answer sounded forced, and gave Rick a wry smile as a form of apology. Veronica’s AI on the other hand seemed to have come to the conclusion that Rick was looking to flirt with her, and gave him a few long glances of her own. All he could do was shrug and place his order to get her to go away.

In the end, he did order the black coffee.

“So what did you want?” Rick finally got around to interrogating the man across from him, who was taking hold of a drink that he didn’t even know how to pronounce.

Rick hadn’t ever seen coffee that was orange in color before, and he’d never seen anyone add that much salt to something they planned on drinking, either. He didn’t know what he should have expected a nerd like Bai to order, but he didn’t expect it to be something he wasn’t at all sure he would make eye contact with. Rick diverted his gaze by staring into the depths of the small mug in front of him.

“I can’t believe I paid five dollars for this,” he eyeballed the liquid as if it had personally wronged him.

Bai finished waving to the woman who had brought them the drinks from the counter. He seemed to know her personally, and she looked pretty young, so maybe it was someone he went to school with? The way the barista was sizing Bai up caused her to wander into the path of Rick’s glare, which scared her off before she could waste any more of their time by flirting with his table guest.

“That was Kate,” Bai said, “You scare her off.”

Rick’s expression was one of complete unaccountability, “Good.”

As though it was a comfort to him, and confirmed that Rick hadn’t been replaced with a strange pod person from outer space, Bai smiled at the blatant show of his friend’s antisocial nature. He took a sip of the thick orange brew that reminded Rick of a [Rejuvenation Potion] and made a pained expression.

“If you hate the way it tastes, then why are you drinking it!?” Rick once again stifled any additional monologue with the aid his mug.

“That matter when I first approached Rick, do you remember?” Bai asked as he shifted the topic of conversation in a more serious direction.

Rick would be lying if he said he did, so he didn’t, “Nope.”

“I thought you were stalker,” Bai failed to show even an ounce of hesitation as he proudly repeated the misunderstanding that had led to their first real conversation in this new life.

“Right,” as was to be expected, the memories all came flooding back the moment Bai brought it up, “What about it?”

Bai once again took a pained sip from his drink, “Some others say he come back,” his voice was only as hushed as it needed to be, “Worried that it might be serious.”

Rick wanted desperately to ask what all of this had to do with him, but even he knew better than to act in such an inappropriate way. He couldn’t possibly be that dense all of the time. Bai wasn’t the type of person who lacked confidence in himself, and he certainly wasn’t scared of any random stalker. This was evident in how the man had so brazenly accosted him. If he was bringing it up to Rick, of all people, then it probably had a certain amount of importance.

Seeing that Rick wasn’t bailing from the conversation, Bai breathed a sigh of release and continued, “The gym is around the corner from my home. Only natural that I care about it enough to call the police, but no help.”

This elicited a scoff from Rick, who wouldn’t have expected anything less. If it was an upscale neighborhood, the police would probably be all over it, but for the neighborhood where Bai lived? He would have more luck calling a superhero for help. This was a lesson Rick had learned a year or so from now in his past life the hard way. It was really an odd feeling when he thought of it like that.

“You want me to help,” it wasn’t a question.

“I want Rick to help,” Bai was straightforward when it mattered.

“No.”

“Rick!”

“No.”

“B-big bro!” there was a pair of large, brown eyes peering at Rick from the other side of the table.

“Fine.”

Bai almost leapt across the table and ended up forcing the police to show up whether they wanted to or not. The fire in his eyes reminded Rick of himself when he was hunting down monsters. He couldn’t help cracking a smile at the overblown reaction, and finally conceded it was a good thing that he had come here today. It took a full three minutes before Bai could calm down after the embarrassing exchange, and Rick felt it was about time for his turn to hold the upper hand in this relationship.

“So I can see Rick for stake out?” Bai always seemed to want repeated confirmation of their plans.

“Yes, for the last time,” Rick protested, “One hour only, okay?”

“And you don’t mind missing the game?” Bai probed.

Rick frowned. Of course he minded! The game came before anything else!

“Of course I mind! The game comes first!” Rick said.

With this final joke, the dynamic duo went their separate ways. They agreed to meet up an hour earlier every morning to do their part and keep an eye out for any suspicious individuals. Apparently, there were other people that Bai had already roped into taking the earlier shifts, but for whatever reason he wanted Rick to help him out with the last one. They were essentially serving as an impromptu Neighborhood Watch, and while Rick didn’t want to lose the time, the idea of leaving Bai in the lurch left a sour taste in his mouth.

The extra expenditure in the real world just meant he had to somehow squeeze an extra hour of efficiency out of the virtual world. It was as simple as that!