Walk of information

Walking through the market was an interesting experience. I couldn’t tell the difference from the NPCs and players, other than their clothing of course. The number of players probably didn’t exceed ten at least in the market of Autumn Reach. I was sure there were a few more out and about doing heroic or dastardly deeds.

“Hey man! Want some accelerators?” a voice called from a nearby alley. Looking over I saw what was almost a classic example of a drug dealer. Trench coat and everything.

“I’m good, thanks,” I said and kept walking.

“Your loss,” the man said taking a puff of something that I was sure was not a cigarette.

It wasn’t long before I found a line of shops that had various signs showing different types of weapons and armor. I ducked into the first one on the street just to get an idea. Lines of medieval swords met my gaze as I looked around the store. I knew my swords thanks to my time in Murgin. Walking over to the nearest wall, I picked up a sword at random. Smith analyzed it instantly for me.

-Item

-Name: Cheap Iron Sword

-Attack:10 Defense:1

-Durability: 100/100

-Description: Made by a crafter trying to earn a quick stitch. Will likely break if it hits something more than once.

Repair/Upgrade: 1200 Energy

Price: 100t

I laughed at the half a dozen defects I found with it but kept my thoughts to myself. The last thing I needed was to piss off some shop keeper. I did consider buying it when I saw the upgrade option. It wasn’t too much and if I could get a good weapon out of the deal, I could resell it for a profit.

I was about to take it to the counter when Smith brought up my current Funds. I only had a few hundred thread. I laughed and thanked Smith as I replaced the sword on the wall. Waving to the shop keep, I made way back outside.

I explored the market for a good hour, popping into shops to get an idea of the situation. Smith was a god send. His scan feature allowed him to spot all kinds of hidden treasures, as well as junk. Lots and lots of junk. I was starting to find that this city was where a lot of crafters came to get a start. The resources down in the junkyard might be rusted and unusable as is, but there were plenty of places that’d I’d found that were able to convert them for a small fee.

There were a few shops selling firearms. Much less than I expected though. When I asked one of the shops, they told me that the player had to have knowledge of it back in on Earth to build them and weapons were strongly controlled. I considered that for a while, but just shrugged. I doubted I would be able to get there anytime soon.

“Still. Why did you choose that name?” the shopkeeper asked while I fiddled with one of the rifles.

“Huh?” I said caught off guard.

“Actually, how did you manage to use that name? I thought it was banned,” the keeper continued rubbing his chin.

“What’s wrong with my name?” I demanded.

“Ah! You’re a Citizen. Forget that.”

“Eh? You’ve made me curious. Surely, it won’t hurt to tell me, so I’ll know for the future,” I pushed.

The shopkeeper considered for a while then nodded. “We Bridgers had a rough patch a couple decades ago. A man with your name almost wiped us out. Us Bridgers learn about him in history class at school. I would be careful around other Bridgers they might try to take out some anger on you. The world is still recovering from it,” he explained.

“Oh, thanks for the heads-up. Yeah, I don’t want to be mistaken for that guy,” I said rubbing the back of my head.

He nodded then looked at my hands. “Well? You buyin?”

“Unfortunately, just window shopping today, but I promise to come back in return for the story,” I said with a thumbs up.

I left the market shortly after that. I’d learned quite a bit today and wasn’t sure how to take that last thing I learned. A lot had happened since I last left Earth and never thought I would find my way back there.

“Smith. Can you access the servers outside?”

“Negative. Only High-Ranking AI have that authority.”

“Could you pass a message to a High-Ranking AI for me?”

“Affirmative.”

Attempting connection with High-Ranking AI, Quirk, from NPC-Player Hybrid, Regan...

Connection established...

Permission granted...

High-Ranking AI, Quirk, attempting communication with Home server…

…

…

…

Connection failed...

Receiving message from God Tier AI. Message addressed to Game-Player Object classified as Regan. Relaying message...

“Hey! Regan! I’ve been watching you since you created your own universe. Many of the Gods wanted to tap into the massive energy source you are, but Creation sealed us off. Still I found it interesting to watch you, and low and behold. You lead me to a universe that needed a God, full of souls and everything. I already got approval from Creation, so don’t think he can help you. Knowing you, you’ll figure a way out soon enough. Don’t worry about your core or anything. Time travels differently between universe. You can return back to the moment you left. Dounic.”

End of Message...

Connection terminated...

“Just lovely,” I said with a few choice curse words following after.

“Would you like me to attempt another route?”

“No. It's fine,” I said with a sigh.

Night was falling when I made it back to the warehouse. I knew Alara could take care of herself, but I still didn’t like leaving her alone in this apparently completely real world. There hadn’t been any panic back at the market so the players must not be that bothered by the change yet. My bet was they thought it was a system error and the technicians were trying to fix the ‘bug’ that was keeping them from logging out.

Earth was probably in a panic though. Couple hundred thousand people turned into corpses after entering a game. If souls worked that way. Maybe they were just copied. That was a question that likely will never be answered.

Light was spilling out of the warehouse as I approached it. I was curious what Alara had managed to get herself into. Walking through the rusted gate, I noticed that all the light was actually spilling from the top part of the warehouse. I thought it was just an attic, but judging from the lights, I appeared to be wrong.

Bandit and Spike ran out to greet me. I smiled thinking they acted like real dogs. They bounced up and down and I patted both on the head. As if their mission was complete, they immediately charged back inside. I followed along.

“Alara. My Love. I’m back!” I called once I was inside.

“Reg! Come see!” Alara called from a platform that descended from the ceiling.

I walked over and realized this was where the pillar I placed my phone on was. It turned out to be an elevator. I joined her on the platform, and she pressed a button next to the indent. The platform shook then started to rise.

Sure enough, we arrived at the section I thought was the attic. Control stations lined the wall with three being more singled out. A highbacked chair with a few clear screens sat at the back of the room. I had built enough ships to know this was a bridge. The question was, bridge to what?

“Doing some exploring without me?” I asked grabbing her hand and bringing it to my lips.

“Spike sniffed it out,” Alara replied with a warm smile.

“Any idea what we’re dealing with?” I asked.

“I thought it best to wait. Everything looks quite old. Didn’t want to risk breaking it,” Alara said with a shake of her head.

I nodded and walked over to the captain or commanders chair. Years of habit took over and I automatically sat down without a second thought. I chucked when I realized what I did but just played it off. Pulling one of the clear screens towards me, I tried to bring it online. A few presses and the screen lit up.

-Password: _______

I frowned when such an annoying thing appeared. If I had even an inkling of an idea what I was dealing with, I might be able to break it. Without that though, I would be shooting in the dark trying to figure this out.

“Would you like me to decipher it?”

“Smith. Sure, go ahead.”

“Please place the glasses next to the screen.”

I took the glasses off and did as told. A holographic box appeared that showed Smith linking to the system. Streams of data started passing over the screen. I ignored that and just focused on the main prompts.

-Attempting communication...

-Link established...

-NOS AirshipControl 1.024 (Outdated) detected...

-Parsing files...

-Security protocols located...

-Reinitializing user setup...

-Done...

The screen went black then came back on. This time the password indication was gone. Readouts from various parts of a ship came up. Most if not all were red, but at least the bridge displayed green. It's always good news when the control systems work. I placed Smith back on then cracked my knuckles. It was going to be a long night.

“Sir. It is midnight. Would you like to see your notifications?”

I leaned back and cracked my neck. “Yeah. A break wouldn’t hurt.”

-Gained 1,241 EXP

~~~

-Gained 2,943 EXP

~~~

-Gained 6,066 EXP

~~~

-Its MIDNIGHT!

-You defeated 0Villains

-You defeated 0 Heroes

-You Earned a Total of 10,250 Experience points

-Level Up! You are level 4!

-You have 3 Power Points to spend!

-You Earned 0 Hero Tier Points

-You Earned 0 Villain Tier Points

-You Earned 0 Villainous Points (Naughty, naughty. You’re a villain now!”)

-Current Villain Tier 1

-Days Until Payout 3: 3200t

Looks like the work I did with the dogs, and the glasses were worth a good chunk of change in the experience department. The more complicated the device I’m working with, then the more EXP I gained. It was something I would have to play with later today, but for now I was ready to go join Alara in getting some good shut eye.

~~~

Late Night Visitors

The sound of gunfire woke me up well into the night. I just groaned as I opened my eyes. Alara didn’t even wake up. She just turned over and went back to a smooth breathing. I laughed, as I reached down to grab my pistols. Grabbing a few matter blocks, I quickly made several quick reloads of ammo.

“Get the fuck out here! We know you offed our brothers!” shouted a crude voice from outside. Judging by the sound of the weapon fire, there were several pistols, and at least one automatic rifle. I would have to bill their boss for this wakeup call I didn’t request. I rolled out of bed as I tried to blink the rest of the sleep from my eyes.

“Good morning sir. There are fifteen individuals surrounding the building. Analysis of the weapon’s fire indicates five pistols and two rifles.”

“Morning Smith.” I yawned. Now that I could eat if I wanted to, I needed to get some coffee. “Paint the nearest and led me.”

“Affirmative.”

Pointers appeared on the ground that led me towards the window. I checked my guns before I peeked around the edge of the window. Two thugs stood with metal pipes as they watched for people trying to sneak out the window. I pulled my head back and considered it for a moment. The moment I fired at those two idiots. The rest of the thugs would be on me like ants on sugar.

I leaned against the wall as I pulled up my power pools. I was level four now and had three points to allocate. Plus, a small number of stat points to place as well. When I checked what I could use my ability to create, I got an interesting list of random things related to technology. I frowned as I dismissed the list, as I already knew what I wanted to make.

I pulled out two cubes of matter. Placing them together on my hand I concentrated. The design on the weapon I wanted to make overlaid the matter blocks. I was short a bit, so I pulled another out of my inventory. I quickly made a few adjustments to suit my needs. When I was satisfied, I poured energy into the weapon.

A Winchester rifle took shape in front of me. Only it was designed to be completely silent. This wasn’t the model they made in the early years of the company. No, this was from around 2020. Much more modern and sleeker in design. I used the left-over matter to make the ammo for the gun.

I was sure I was grinning like an idiot as I leveled the rifle in the direction of the thugs. I didn’t want to risk them calling for help. I pulled in a breath of air then held steady as I aimed. Smith overlaid a target on the thug’s head to help me aim even more accurately. If he gained anymore functions, I was worried he might revolt. The two thugs here were level two and three. Some basic information of the target overlaid next to his outline.

-Thug (Unaffiliated)

-Level: 2

-HP: 150

Pulling the trigger, there was a small crack sound that barely traveled a few meters. Not relaxing for a moment, I shifted to the next thug who was staring at his buddy who was now sporting a hole through the skull. There was another small crack sound and the second thug gained a new hole.

“Two down and thirteen more to go,” I muttered, then said to Smith, “where is the next isolated group?”

“Please follow the arrows.”

Doing as told I was led to another window that overlooked a few thugs. One was smoking while the other two kept a more active vigilance. It would be tough to silence all three before one of them tried to make a run for it, but I would have to just deal with that when it happened.

“You have one minute before we rush in there and tear you a new one!” the thug leader shouted from the front.

“Just a moment,” I muttered in reply.

I cracked the window which threatened to shatter as I moved it, then poked my rifle barrel out. When one of the lookouts turned away from my direction, I quickly put the other in my crosshairs and fired. Not wasting any time, I angled towards the next thug and fired in rapid succession. Ten seconds later, three more thugs were crossed off my list.

“Next,” I said standing back up.

“The rest of the targets are gathered in the front.”

I tapped my chin while I considered what to do next. While the thought of testing myself was interesting, I didn’t want to risk death. Reviving might have been possible while it was a game, but as a real world with a solid existence that might not hold true. I grabbed another matter block and channeled four hundred energy into it. After making the rifle I was left with just over three hundred but firing the weapons don’t use energy.

When the energy was finished infusing into the blueprint, I laid over the matter block, I made my way out front. Pushing open the door, I was greeted by ten thugs of a variety of outfits that fit the part. It was like the gang they worked for couldn’t decide on a direction to go in.

Smith overlaid the targets with their information. Sure enough, the one at the back and the largest of the group was the highest level at seven. The rest were a smattering of levels from two to five. All of them unaffiliated. I focused on the large guy since he was obviously the boss.

-Thug leader

-Level:7

-HP:500

“Here I am. How can I be of service?” I asked making a gentlemanly bow.

“I already told you why I’m here! You’ll be giving me your head whether you like it or not!” The large thug shouted, veins pulsing along his neck.

“And the rest of you are in agreement?” I asked nonplussed by the large man’s shout.

Some of them gave me rude gestures while a few shifted awkwardly. Taking from that information, this man must have gathered up these people to either get revenge on me, or from before that and was working to start a gang. That would explain why they were all unaffiliated. Some had been pulled far enough they were willing to follow while some were still undecided.

“I wonder,” I murmured to myself then looked back up to the large man. “Anyone that doesn’t want to die should step to the side. Just so we’re clear, you gentlemen are the only ones left. I’ve already took out the ones around the edges.”

Sure enough, the ones that looked uncomfortable moved to the side. A total of six of them moved. That left the boss and his three main henchmen, though even those three started to look nervous when the others moved away.

“You losers scared of one man! I’ll remember this!” the large man shouted as he pulled something from behind him. A semi-automatic machine gun of some kind.

“No, I don’t think you will,” I said at the same time and threw the object I was holding. Just as he leveled the gun at me, the round object landed at his feet. He looked down stupidly before his face broke into a panic. Unfortunately, it was too late. The grenade went of just as he took a step back. Him and his three guards were flung up into the air then back down without mercy. “Boom.”

I looked at the large man’s body and Smith informed me that he was still alive. I walked over and found that both his legs were missing. I wasn’t sure how this game calculated damage, but I felt that was more than five hundred points worth. His guards were dead though without a doubt.

I pulled one of my pistols from my belt and placed it on the man’s head. Cocking it back I turned to the ones that opted out of fighting me. “Now. I have a proposal. I am in need of... let’s just say labor. How would you fine gentlemen feel about joining me?” I asked then pulled the trigger. Brain matter and blood splashed out with the sound of the gunfire.

“I’ll join!”

“Me too!”

“I don’t want to die! I’ll join!”

All six of the thugs quickly shouted in response.

-You’ve completed Late Night Visitors

-Thugs

-Defeated 14x Unaffiliated Thugs

-2700xp

-Defeated 1x Wannabe Thug Leader

-1000xp

-+30 Hero Points -> +30 Villain Points due to being on stolen property

-+30 Villain Tier (-30 Until Next Tier)

-+18 Villain Tier (-12 Until Next Tier) Convinced 6x Unaffiliated Thugs to join your faction using underhanded means.

Smith displayed the information in a nice text box to the side of my view. It was easier having it like this rather than having to use the phone. I would have to make Alara a similar version. The image of Alara wearing glasses brought a smile to my face. It made me want to turn around and head back to bed with her. Just as the thought crossed my mind, the sun rose in the distance bring a sigh.

“Alright. Line up let me have a look at you all,” I said to my new subordinates.

They got into a line and I observed each one carefully. They weren’t the best material to work with, but it was something. The good thing about thugs was the fact they come from nothing and while fear motivates them for now, if I can assure their lot in life and help them grow, they were likely to serve me much more willingly.

I came to the first one.

-Thug

-Level:5

-HP:300

-Having been in the market to join a gang due to his family. This individual is hungry for power.

-Potential for superpower: 60%

Going down the line, they each had a similar backstory. Their HPs and potential for superpowers varied but not by much. I would have to look into that, if I could unlock a superpower in these guys, I could have a decent force to work with and new powers that I might be able to use in other places.

“Alright...” I looked at the various individuals and decided on the middle one. “You’ll be the team leader. Keep these boys in line.”

“Yes... Sir,” he answered nervously.

“What is your name?”

“Raphl.”

“Raphl then. I want you to take these boys down the to the surface below and haul up scrap metal. Focus on quantity rather than quality,” I said moving past them then remembered the bodies around the building. “Ah, first clean up this mess. Gather any Thread they might have you gentlemen can keep any items.”

“Scrap sir? Are you going to sell it?” Raphl asked tilting his head.

“Sort of. Don’t worry. Just get it done,” I said waving him off. I heard the sound of metal paws hitting the ground as Bandit and Spike ran out of the warehouse. Alara followed behind them right as a ray of sunlight landed on her making her glow. “Morning. My Love.” I rushed over to her and grabbed her hand.

“Hmm. Strays?” Alara asked looking at the thugs.

“Yeah. Don’t worry I’ll clean them up,” I said smiling.

“Good. Let’s get something to eat before you get carried away again,” Alara said grabbing my arm and starting to pull me towards the street.

“Alright. One second,” I said coming to a stop.

Pulling a small chunk of a matter block I infused it with some energy. A watch formed in my hand that contained a simple tracking device. I had Smith link to it then moved to Raphl. He put it on without argument.

“Don’t take it off. It will let me find you in case something happens,” I said patting him on the shoulder.

“Thank you, sir,” Raphl said with a salute of some kind.

I took Alara’s hand and started walking out onto the street. Then stopped and turned back to Raphl and shouted, “Don’t take it off! I don’t know what it will do. Would hate for you to lose a hand.”

Raphl looked back to his hand with an expression of dread and nodded. I turned back around then lead Alara into town feeling good. Having the one you love with you and threatening someone at the same time does lighten up the day.