Metropolis - Goldilocks: Capsule Bay 237 - Unit 2

Thursday, May 14th, 2089 | 08:42am

[Status: In-Game]

“Sooo…” Aya started awkwardly, staring at an entire army of angry convicts. “What’s up?”

The mismatched mixture avatars ranging from ogre, to elf, to gnome and human didn’t make them any less intimidating. If anything, it just made it worse. Aya imagined all the possible ways she could die by the hands of criminals in real life, and then extrapolated that into Era with the abilities the virtual world gave them.

“What’s up?” Furia scoffed.

“Yeah,” Aya said, playing dumber than dumb. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“To what do you…”

“To dying, you little dwarf bitch!” a high-pitched female voice suddenly yelled.

The source of the voice was a few players over and back from Furia, a face she hadn’t seen since Foot had easily killed her two days back. Endoin took a few steps forward, looking ready to attack, until one of Furia’s goons put an arm up to push the woman back into place.

Aya received a PM while this exchange was happening.

Xavier: Is this going to be a problem?

Peeking at the blacksmith, she saw no outward signs that he’d sent her a message. Taking a page out of his book, she replied.

Aya: To the shop? Probably. To my person? Most definitely.

Xavier: Some of them are very high level, this could be an issue. How strong are these friends of yours?

Aya looked back at Foot and Frank.

Aya: I think they’re pretty strong.

Xavier looked back at Foot and Frank as well. The resulting expression was not comforting.

“What’s up,” Furia said, “is that you’re a little late on your taxes, honey.”

“Late?”

Xavier: I’ve called for reinforcements. Stall them.

Aya: How?

“Yeah,” Furia said. “As in, not on time.”

Xavier: You’re lucky they’re hated by so many people, but if you can’t even figure out a way to delay them for a little bit, then maybe you deserve a beating.

“Oh…” Aya said and took a moment before she asked. “What taxes are those?”

“The taxes that say you don’t take away our business without repercussions?”

“Business?”

“Yeah,” Furia said rolling her eyes. “As in, stop undercutting us. In fact… Stop selling at all.”

Aya nodded, as if taking the woman’s words into consideration.

“You know,” Aya said. “I think you might have something there.”

Furia’s mouth fell open, acquiescence apparently not the expected response.

“I know I do,” Furia said.

“Oh, good,” Aya said, keeping an eye on the other players. “I was wondering what it was.”

Furia frowned in confusion.

“You know,” Aya said, feigning awkwardness. “That thing you have stuck in your front teeth. It’s like a greenish, maybe dark brown…”

Furia’s fingers automatically went to her mouth before she glared at Aya.

“Oh,” Aya said. “I think you got it. Phew, that was bugging me. Anyway, what were you saying? Something about your business?”

“I was saying,” Furia said through gritted teeth, voice trembling with emotion.

Aya backed off and let Furia talk. Aya knew she’d already used the acceptable amount of stalling ignorance, and then some. Unfortunately, a heavy dose of sarcasm had worked its way into the conversation. The memories of the woman’s smug look when she’d scapegoated Aya were just too fresh for her to be able to help herself.

“You need to shut this little shop of yours down,” she nodded towards Nelson’s Shop, “or we’ll do it for you,” she said, tilting her head at the group of players behind her.

“Oh,” Aya said, unable to help herself, “I thought you guys were all here for the group discount.”

Part of her wanted to kick herself for not being able to keep her mouth shut when she really needed to, while the other kept a careful eye on the rest of the players. Some seemed affronted by her assumption, but there was also a surprising number that wasn’t completely dismissive of it.

Foot: Hey, I gotta go do this thing. Be right back.

Aya was in the middle of formulating her plan when, out of nowhere, her strongest ally decided to log out. Just like that, she was left with just Xavier and Frank at her side. They were both great players who were probably very strong in their own right, but who also didn’t really care about her well-being. Swallowing, she forced composure into her stance and shrugged as if the pixelated exit of her one protector were totally expected. It was time to drop the sarcasm and do some ass-kissing.

“We’ll get a discount, all right,” Furia said, stepping in Aya’s direction as she unsheathed her sword. The moment Furia lifted her blade, three other players stepped out of the masses, weapons ready. Going by their gear, Aya knew they were totally out of her or even Xavier’s league. The only player who stood a chance was Frank, and he looked about as willing to involve himself as a slug in a tortoise race.

Aya bit her lip, trying to come up with more ways to buy some time. There was no way of knowing how long Foot would be gone for, though she expected it to be quite a while. Even a minute real time was already five in Era. Instead, she pinned her hopes on the reinforcements, of which there was still no sign.

Xavier: Remind me to never use you for negotiations.

Aya: You didn’t say negotiate. You said ‘stall them’.

Xavier: You call this stalling?

Aya: I’m working on it!

Xavier: Please, at your leisure.

“Well, this is a bit unfair…” Aya said, trying to goad her way out of it.

“Yep,” Furia said.

“Too afraid I might whip your ass? Is that why?”

“Nope,” Furia said. “Just tired of looking at your ugly mug.”

“That’s too bad, I guess…” Aya said, as she tried to come up with a different tack. Apparently, there really was no honor amongst thieves, murderers and criminals.

Donovan: This is sad to watch.

Aya: Donovan?

Donovan: I will assume you meant that rhetorically. I associate with many unintelligent people, but I try to avoid the outright stupid. It is not a very good rhetorical question, but it is better than the alternative. If you can not recognize and read the name that sent you a PM, I will have to re-evaluate your intelligence level. Unfortunately, it seems to be lower every time we meet.

Aya: Good to see you too Donovan. And yes, rhetorically. Because I can’t see you. Where are you? And why are you here?

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!” Aya said, hopeful Donovan had something up his sleeve, metaphorically.

Donovan: Likewise, I suppose, though I prefer to avoid subjectivity. Good. You need to direct your eyes towards me for your brain to receive the visual information regarding my presence. I am eight players behind and three players to your right of Furia. I am here for two reasons. One, because I was required to be here by the guild. Two, to inform you that I have defaulted on Serving Time’s loan payments for the past three days. With the absurdly high interest rate they agreed to, and their atrociously poor management of funds, your ownership has exceeded theirs and you are allowed, by Contract, to seize all of their assets.

Aya avoided expressing her shock as Donovan would probably embark on a matter-of-fact crusade to re-explain everything to her in an even more idiot-proof manner.

Aya: When you say YOU defaulted on Serving Time’s loan payments…

“Wait for what?” Furia asked. “Your little guild members to arrive?”

Donovan: Yes, I used the loophole you put into my Contract.

Aya: What did you do with the money?

Donovan: Used it for the guild, of course.

Aya: Donovan, I love you.

Donovan: The sentiment is unnecessary.

Aya felt a grin pulling at her lips, but forced the impulse down.

“Well, that too,” Aya answered, trying to focus on where the conversation had left off. She wanted to jump up and down and shove it in Furia’s face, but she kept her cool and said, “But I was actually wondering if you’d be interested in keeping your guild.”

“I am keeping it,” Furia said, advancing quickly toward Aya.

Aya took a couple steps back, raising her hands in deferential defense.

“Well, actually…” Aya said. “As of last night. It actually belongs to my guild.”

Furia frowned, but showed no signs of stopping her advance, so Aya was forced to retreat faster. Xavier, Frank and Henry showed absolutely no sign of extending a helping hand or claw. Seeing that she’d be in charge of saving her own ass, Aya quickly found the Loan Agreement with its current status and forwarded it to Furia.

Furia’s frown deepened, but she still didn’t stop her advance.

“I’m serious,” Aya said, “Check it. I’ve…”

Furia swung her sword, aiming for a critical hit at Aya’s neck. Aya knew because she’d seen the move countless times by the warrior players she’d taken down into the dungeons. She also knew it was something she wouldn’t have been able to see, much less dodge, a week ago. Surprised by her spot-on instincts, Aya found herself a foot away from the end of Furia’s attack.

Aya’s body had moved on its own and it wasn’t immediately obvious who was more surprised, Aya or Furia. The woman obviously hadn’t expected the noob she’d duped less than a week ago to dodge her attack so effectively. If Aya had been on the attack herself, she’d have been able to land a critical hit after Furia opened her stance for such a brash move.

“Look,” Aya said, using the moment she’d created to talk some sense into the woman. Aya might have avoided one of Furia’s attacks, but she wasn’t confident enough she’d be able to do it again. “Just give me a second. Let’s talk…”

Sounds of metal clashing against metal reached Aya’s ears and she looked towards the source to see Frank readily disposing of two players. Their pixels had barely blown into the wind when ten more, of higher level gear, stepped up to the plate.

“If I or any of my friends die, the deed to your guild house, the rights to the market place stand, all of the guild-owned weaponry you’re wearing and even that new piece of land you’ve purchased up on the hills… goes to Jailbait!” Aya screamed.

If Furia was unwilling to negotiate, she’d force her hand, or at least try to.

“What deed?”

“What’s she—”

“Thought this…”

“Shop, nothing to do with Jailbait.”

“What’s going on?”

The desired effect spread through the group, until most of the players were giving either Aya or Furia uncertain looks.

“What are you on about?” Furia said, gritting her teeth.

“Check the Contract I sent you, it should explain everything…”

All of the fighting had paused with Aya’s shout. Aya was relieved to see the three men that had been in the process of attacking Xavier had also backed off. If the blacksmith died there before his ‘reinforcements’ arrived, he’d never forgive her.

Furia’s eyes widened slowly as they skimmed the Contract. Even not being able to see her overlay, Aya could tell Furia even scrolled up to read from the beginning.

“This is…”

A man of medium height, dark green hair and a large nose suddenly appeared by Furia’s side. His features were all striking and inhuman in every way, but what stood out the most was his black, spear-shaped tail. It hung down behind his legs with a slight curve that reminded Aya of a scorpion readying itself for attack.

“Is this real?” Furia asked, eying Aya with a mixture of suspicion and dismay.

There was a slight silence as the inhuman man read the Contract. Aya had put a self-destruct timer and a sharing-lock on the message. There was no point in sharing the terms of her Contract with more people than necessary, and it now allowed Aya to identify one of their top players of the region. Furia wouldn’t ask anyone lower than her in the pecking order for advice.

“Yes,” came the Serving Time’s boss’ eventual curt reply. “You own us,” he said to Aya, “so what do you want? What is the point of all this…” the boss gestured to all of the players behind him.

“You tell me,” Aya countered, once again regaining her footing. “You’re the one that brought them here.”

“… I guess you’re right,” the boss said. “Well, in that case… we might as well go ahead and do a little bit of cleaning up…” His face split into a feral smile that revealed gleaming white, fanged teeth that rivaled Doris on the creepy scale.

The man lifted his arm, bringing Aya’s attention to his four-fingered hands. Apparently he was ready to cut his losses and exterminate her, or perhaps he figured all was lost anyway, so he might as well enjoy himself on the way out. She watched in horrified fascination as the fingers morphed into sharp points before she could bring herself to scream, “Wait, stop. I got a proposal!”

The words came out stumbling over each other, but apparently the man understood well enough because he lowered his hand and said,

“Better be good.”

“It is,” Aya said. Finding her breath quick and fast, she tried to slow it down before she said, “I’d like fair duels.”

“Fair duels?” the man snorted.

“Yeah, what kind of—” Furia began.

“SHHHT!” the man cut her off. “Just be quiet, you’re the one that got us into this mess.”

“But I didn’t—”

“I’m serious,” the man said in a cold, cutting voice. “I’ll PK you on the spot if you say another word.”

Furia pouted, spun around and walked off, but Aya didn’t miss the way her face lost all of its color before she did it.

“So,” the man said, as if their conversation hadn’t been interrupted at all. “How exactly do you propose a fair duel take place?”

“There are three of us and…” Aya looked behind him. “Quite a few more than you. We are at an obvious disadvantage.”

“Yes, that was our intention. But as you can see… They are mostly noobs.”

His tail snapped impatiently behind him. Aya’s instincts wanted her to take a step back, but she forced herself to remain steady.

“Well…” Aya said. “If you want your stuff back, you’re gonna have to play by my rules.”

“Which are?” the man’s voice stretched with impatience.

“One on ones,” she said. “According to levels!”

“Mmmm…” the man pursed his lips in thought. “No. I think I’d rather lose this branch than spend the next twenty hours waiting for your sorry little ass to fight one-on-one against these losers until you die…”

Biting the inside of her lip, Aya tried to figure a way out, but she felt like she’d just spent the last eternity in a concrete maze and finally run into a dead end she couldn’t come back from.

“Baaaaack!” Foot shouted as he logged in, appearing almost on top of the group of Serving Time players. “Woah!” he yelped. “Looks like I missed something!” The kid hopped back to Frank before asking, “What’d I miss Frank? What’d I miss?”

“Not much,” Frank said with all the inflection of a rock.

“Awwwwww….” Foot started to complain when suddenly, they all stopped short to hear the clattering of metal on metal, wood on metal and feet on ground. It didn’t take long for the source of the racket to reveal itself: A horde of players almost rivaling Serving Time in size appeared through the mesh of dry vegetation. They’d come from Durrenheim, the same direction as the Serving Time players and so ended up sandwiching the guild from behind while Aya, Foot, Henry, Xavier and Frank stood in front.

The players of the new group contained some bulky, blacksmith-type men, but mostly what looked like crafts-players from Durrenheim. Aya was surprised to see members of her own guild amongst them. She caught a timid smile from Emry, who was hiding behind MageSlayer, who was standing tall like he owned the place. He looked ridiculous in his cheap robe, trying to look down on the richly-clad players around him. It was sad and in a burst of insight, Aya wondered if she inspired the same feeling in Donovan.

“Ok,” Aya said. “If you want to be a little bitch and fight group on group, let’s have at it.”

The false bravado was back, but with so many people backing her, she could feel it turning into something real. Even Henry seemed encouraged to act boisterously and bird-snarled at him. Her new confidence didn’t prevent her from taking a couple of steps away from the boss-man – and toward Foot – as soon as she could. Aya passed Xavier, who was also taking a couple steps back from the soon-to-be battlefield. He looked about as happy as a run-over toad.

Aya: There. Happy?

Aya was quite pleased with herself, and couldn’t help throwing Xavier’s doubt of her back in his face.

Xavier: Not really.

Aya rolled her eyes, unsatisfied with the answer.

Aya: I stalled them. What else do you want?

Xavier: A cold beer and my wife by my side.