POV - Tad

There was something nice about walking into a physical bank. Most, if not all, banks had moved to fully be online back in old Earth. Virtual banking was the way of the future. It was always at your fingertips, and we were sold on the 24 hour service - and yet the service was absolutely and completely elusive when there was an issue to resolve or a problem that wouldn’t go away with an easy, already predetermined selection process. And try to talk to a real person, or even better one who spoke the same first language as you did, well good luck. If you didn’t fit in their box, you would be trimmed back until you did.

Our footsteps echoed on the polished marble floor. Marbled walls, graced with carved relief directed us to the rear of the foyer. Even the ceiling looked to be vaulted marble. Where was the light coming from? I was distracted from the grandeur of the edifice as I tried to determine the light source. Come to think of it, the bathroom had a similar diffuse and sourceless light. This was something I hadn’t struck before and I’m afraid the distraction was sufficient to prevent the experience from fully overwhelming me. No doubt such intimidation was the intention of the owners. I’m guessing they would have been horrified to discover I had compared their grand statement of wealth, stability and power with the public toilet facilities. Perhaps they should have been more explicit in flaunting their wealth and actually provided an expensive and unmistakable source of light rather than relying on some System feature. You know a chandelier or something. I wonder if they have a suggestion box?

Hmmmm… and where was everyone? Where was anyone? Surely there should be a greeter?

Maybe there is a bell?

Just as I was about to turn and ask Dom regarding his experience here, a small side door opened and a bank functionary hurried out to meet us.

She was slight with a delicate build, her long black hair caught up in a tidy knot and dressed in a conservative trouser suit. Her skin; a distinctive blue. I blinked. Smurf blue. Yep, not in Kansas, that’s for sure.

“Greetings, and welcome to the System Bank. How may I assist you today?” She bowed over folded hands.

“Hullo Cass” Dom boomed. “This is Tad. He needs to open an account.”

“Good afternoon, Mr Thomson. I am pleased to see you again.” She turned and directed an inquisitive look at me, “and I am pleased to make your acquaintance Mr Tad.”

She bowed again. “If you care to follow me we can complete the necessary documentation, authorizations and approvals.” Turning back to Dom, “Mr Thompson, if you would care to wait here,” she gestured, and an alcove to the side lit up with comfortable chairs and side table. “Please feel free to help yourself to the refreshments while we get your companion sorted.”

She turned to address Nige and with a shorter bow “Please join Mr Thompson. I will return your mentee to you once we have completed his banking setup.”

Nige bobbled agreement and zipped over to the table, no doubt some refreshment there calling his name. Obviously he had no further input or guidance for me now that I was safely delivered.

“Mr Tad, please follow me and we will get the paperwork, so to speak, underway.”

I had yet to utter a word as I found myself efficiently whisked away into a spacious first floor office overlooking the square. Some spacial shenanigans were going on because we definitely did not go up any stairs or elevator in getting there.

Once we were both seated she clasped her hands over her desk, “Now, firstly I am Cassette oShea and I am the manager of the primary Level One branch of the System Bank.” Her gaze was intent. “I do believe that you may well be the final participant to complete the registration.”

I nodded. “Yes. I understand I am well behind everyone, but the final participant? You mean everyone else has already… There are no others still being uplifted? I am the last?” I was flabbergasted. I intellectually knew someone would be last, yet I never expected that it would be me.

She nodded. “Yes, I have taken the liberty of accessing your System Status diagnostics and your unique identifier makes this very clear when expanded. Here let me show you.” She flicked a screen up.

NAME

Known As:

Totally Awesome Dude

: Tad

[Blank]

Blank

>SPECIES:

>TIER:

>UEID:

Human

G

[Minimize]

7912.9,020,068,412 [Conflict identified]

[New UEID allocated / Total UEIDs allocated] 7912.16,879,426,007 / 16,879,426,007

Obsolete Identifier: Nigel Aaron Tait

>BALANCE:

Gold:

Silver:

Copper:

0

0

0

>LOANS:

Gold:

Silver:

Copper:

0

0

0

It was a reduced version of my Character Sheet, but with additional identifiers and some very sad zero balances. And there was my actual name. It wasn’t lost. It was just obsolete. Maybe I can unlock it or refresh it somehow, sometime. My attention shifted to the numbers. That was a big number alright. I wondered what conflict had occurred with my initial ID crossed out. Heh! I was a double oh seven. Watch out world I’m licensed to ki…

Cassette interrupted my internal mirth. “Mr Blank, I will need to formally confirm your identity. Please bear with me while I [Inspect] you.” I nodded and she engaged her skill. I was glad I had refrained earlier, as a warm tingling passed over me and my arm hair stood up on end. Using [Inspect] certainly would not be possible from stealth without alerting the target. I wonder whether [Observe] has the same effect.

“Please call me Tad.” I offered as Cassette made a series of notes on her hovering screen. I noticed the distinct lack of paper in this paperwork.

“Thank you Tad, I will.” She smiled warmly at me. “Now that is out of the way we can discuss your own particular circumstances, desires and expectations.” I blinked. “It is somewhat strange that you did not complete the starter tasks during your orientation but that does open up some great opportunities for you now” she continued as her smile sharpened, turning more predatory. “Because you are indeed the last participant there are also some special offers and deals I can do. Tell me Tad, what do you want? What do you want to achieve and how can we, the System Bank, help you?”

Um, okay. I hadn’t really given any thought at all to what the Bank’s services were. I was just here to get my account opened so I could access the System Store. And why were there special ‘deals’ for me? This sounded suspect. Again.

“Why thank you Ms. oShea,” I replied with a smile. “Would you be able to summarise the various banking services you offer and then maybe a little more on these special deals perhaps?”

“But of course,” it was going to be a battle of smiles. And she was winning hands down. “We offer a range of services from standard deposit security through to a tailored range of lending and investment packages. Any funds you deposit with the Bank are absolutely guaranteed as secure. They are completely accessible, solely by the account holder, not only at all the branches throughout this Level but also at every other Level. You will never outgrow your account or lose access to your funds.”

“As part of the Orientation Tutorial the Bank provides, firstly, some basic starter tasks to get the ball rolling so to speak. These quests enable the participants to obtain seed capital from which they can develop their financial base and allow the Bank to assess the applicants. Secondly, upon ratification and approval the Bank offers various levels of lending depending on the security offered, and at very generous and competitive rates I must say, to validated account holders.”

Well what do you know? Transmigrated into a new world and already mired in bureaucracy. This is not at all how I expected a fantasy world to operate. Not that I had actually given much thought, or to be totally honest, any thought at all, to what I actually did expect. Perhaps more slaying monsters and seeking treasure I suppose. Adventure, adversity and risk taking, not bank forms, character assessments and risk profiling. The more things change…, I shrugged and bent my mind to the question.

“You mentioned security. What sort of security is acceptable?”

Cass smiled again. “There are a wide range of options available to you. Anything ranging from System Assets, or Artefacts or other treasures to System Awards or even your own Stats can be used to secure lending.”

This seemed to be somewhat like a pawn shop so I said so.

“No. Not at all.” Cass corrected me gently. “Nothing so uncouth. You retain the asset in full and the Bank simply registers an interest over it.”

“And if I default on paying back the loan?” I pressed.

She paused, “Yes, well then the encumbered item would be used to repay the bank.” She hurried on “But this is very much a last resort. Interest and principal repayments are firstly paid out in standard currency and should you for some reason fall short then you can use EXP to make minimum repayments. This is exceedingly rare though as the Bank is in the business of making good money and only lends where we are confident in being repaid.”

“I do have to advise you that should you be in default then the benefits or bonuses of the asset or attribute securing the loan are locked out and will be unavailable to you until such a time that the loan is repaid in full.”

I was getting bored and my interest was flagging. “What sort of interest rates are we talking?” I enquired, keen to move on. After all, I just wanted to open an account, not borrow a whole lot of money.

“It totally depends on the individual loan. A Stat loan will be smaller and have a higher interest rate as it is more risky from the bank's perspective. These generally are limited to 10 gold per Stat point and are at 25% per annum. A loan against an Asset, such as property or equipment or even a Skill can be larger and the interest rate typically between 10 and 15%. And against an Award or Artefact this rate may be even less depending on the size and length of the loan and the quality of the item offered as security.”

“Now, in regards to the special deals I can offer you,” her smile was at full wattage. “As you are the very last applicant I have considerably more latitude in dispensing the funds set aside for new business. As a result I am very pleased to advise that I can triple the standard rewards upon completion of the starter quests. I also have complete discretion regarding any new lending and, for a limited time, I am able to double the amount lent against any particular item without impacting the standard rates.”

I nodded to myself. It sounded like she had a budget allocation and any unused or unlent funds would evaporate. I was totally familiar with the way bureaucracy worked. Use it or lose it. “Is this a unique offer just for me or…?” I let my question trail off.

“Well, yes the quest rewards are, seeing every other participant has already completed them as part of their orientation. But the lending special is open to all, you are just the first to hear about it.”

This was reassuring. It sounded less of a scam and more an opportunity, however I had no need for borrowed funds. But starter quests sounded good. I was liking how the System eased us participants into it rather than just callously bundling us in blindly and indiscriminately massacring people wholesale. After all this was an ‘uplift’ and theoretically for our benefit. I nodded again. “Please issue me the starter quests Ms. oShea. I am very appreciative of your kind offer.”

Cassette nodded. “You are very welcome. I have just completed the final few bits and will now ask you to review and sign off on your new bank account. Then I can authorise the initial quests.”

With that she presented me with a completed form filled out with my particulars as Tad Blank and a second page of fine print regarding each parties obligations, responsibilities and consequential remedies if there was dispute or failure to perform. It was all very clear, and as much as I hated it, I made sure to read it through carefully before signing my new moniker off with a flourish.

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I accepted all three noobie quests and with some inconsequential small talk we made our way back to the lobby. While Cass was absolutely lovely, I was so ready to move on.

Wahoo! Bonus.