Chapter 07-01

“So, Function, now that you have integrated with my Mask, what can you really do here?” Alex asked. He and Obsidian were making their way out of the university. They walked down the sidewalk side by side until they reached the gate where they stopped for a moment. Alex still needed to decide where they were going to go, and they still didn’t have a mission.

“Accessing City Wide Neutral Mission Database.” Function said into Alex’s ear.

Alex’s HUD flooded with information. A 3D representation of the city of Winter’s Garden appeared before him and rotated slowly in his view. Markers began to spawn around the city seeming to rise from the buildings or locations that they were pointing at. There were no less than two dozen markers which changed into pin like dots as the list moved over to the side of his HUD. The list began instantly to change, rearrange, and some of the options went grey.

“What just happened?” Alex asked. He hadn’t noticed that he’d put his hands out during the movement to keep from falling over.

“Given that Winter’s Garden is a villainous occupied city there are no longer any remaining Heroic Mission givers in the city. This leaves Neutral Missions that you can accept without damaging your heroic reputation as these missions offer you an opportunity to complete them either as a hero or a villain. The choice is yours. After I gathered these missions, I listed them in according to suggested level base on your level and also based on prerequisite information that I have been able to gather from your combat log.” Function explained. His voice was not monotone but it sure was close. Like someone who was trying to understand how inflection worked, but just didn’t get it.

“Alright, what if I was not as worried about the mission’s heroic or villainous outcome. I’ve recently decided that I am going to lean towards, I guess not really leaning, the Anti-hero route.” Alex asked.

“Adjusting for new information.” Function said. The list began to rearrange in Alex’s vision.

“Function. I think that you and I are going to be good friends.” Alex said with a wide smile plastered on his face.

“Could you clue me in?” Obsidian asked leaning against the block wall that surrounded the property of the University. She scoffed and crossed her arms in frustration.

“Sorry.” Alex said. The map in his view became clear as it moved into the background and he looked down at her, “Function is the hook up!”

“How so?” She asked leaning up off the wall.

“Well he just hooked us up with about,” He scrolled through the list, “fifty or so missions that we can do.”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Obsidian said punching her fist into her palm.

“Alright, let’s see what we’ve got.” Alex said. He refocused on the map and started to look around the city. A question popped into his head, “Do we have to go to the indicated location to get the mission?” He asked.

“There are some missions that you will need to travel to in order to begin. However, there are a large number that I can accept on your behalf. The only requirement beyond that point would be turning in any mission requirements if items are required.” Function explained.

“Excellent! Can you remove any mission that we have to travel to in order to start?” Alex requested.

“Yes.” Function said. A large number of the mission were removed, and a small list remained.

“Now can you remove any that require us to return any items?” Alex asked.

The list changed again this time only leaving three missions in the once expansive list. Alex would revisit the other missions, but he wanted quick experience at the moment and didn’t want a ton of travel to bog down their progress.

“Thank you.” He said looking closer at the three missions.

­-Trouble at the Uranium Mines

-Enercorp and NuPlus LLC are two of the largest energy providers in NuValla. They both require Uranium that is mined north of Winter’s Garden for their operation to not only provide energy but to be profitable for their shareholders. Shipments of Uranium have stopped and communication with the mines have also ceased.

-Enercorp and NuPlus are looking for someone to investigate what has happened and report back to them.

-Accept?

-Yes | No

~~~

-The Crash Site

-In the mountains to the north of Winter’s Garden there is a crash site that needs investigation. Due to the lawless nature of that area an anonymous party is requesting information on the site.

-An Anonymous party would like for you to check out an unknown crash site. Would you do this and report back to them?”

-Accept?

-Yes | No

~~~

-Missing Children

-There is a small mining community in the mountains to the north of Winter’s Garden by the name of Rigidcreek. In this town children have gone missing in the night. The people of the town are looking for help finding their babies or at least getting closure of what is happening on their streets.

-Will you help the people of Rigidcreek get answers?

-Accept?

-Yes | No

The first thing that Alex did was accept all three missions. There was no way that he was going to pass up on any of the potential rewards that would come from completing them. It bugged him that he couldn’t see the information on the rewards, but a feat or a power could help him with that in the future.

“Function is there any way that you can get me more information on these missions? Like possible rewards?” Alex asked.

“If you level me up, I can provide more information in the future.” He said.

“And how exactly would I go about leveling you up?” Alex inquired.

“I do not know.” Function said.

“Super helpful!” Alex said sarcastically.

“I don’t like this.” Obsidian said in a huff.

“What?” Alex asked.

“I only get half the conversation.” She said with a loud sigh.

“If I got her an ear bud could you tap in and include her in the conversation?” Alex asked Function.

“Yes, I could, but I would suggest an AR visor of some kind.” Function replied.

“We’ll put it on the list.” Alex said.

Looking at the map Alex could see the general location for each of the missions that he had accepted. The missing children and the uranium mine were relatively close to each other. He knew for sure that he was going to work on these two missions at the same time. The crash site was further north than the other two missions. He decided that he would do that mission last.

Their current hurdle that they had to overcome was transportation. The trains did not run that far north. They stopped at the Winter cities and only cargo trains went any farther. With as much traveling around the city that they needed to do anyway he figured that it was time to get a vehicle for them to use.

“Function can you highlight locations for purchasing vehicles?” Alex asked. He was starting to get a hand on being able to see to walk without incident while the map was open. They started to make their way down the street towards the city center.

A few dozen places lit up on the map the closest of which was in the other direction. Alex stopped and turned around causing Obsidian to roll her eyes at him with a scoff and do the same. They walked through the city holding themselves high despite their recent downfall. If anyone came out of the shadows to attack them in Alex’s current mood, he would tear them apart. He wasn’t a great loser and he wasn’t in a hurry to let anything like that death happen again.

They visited four lots in rapid succession finding prices that were far higher than they were willing to pay at the time. Alex was not ready to give up, however, and powered on to the next closest car lot.

The next location on the list was a used car lot of the highest caliber. There were streamers stretching from car to car. Several of the cars looked as if they had recently been pulled up from the bottom of a lake. A large man walked out from the small building wearing a plaid suit that was way too colorful.

“Well this guy is obviously a villain.” Alex said nudging Obsidian in the side with his elbow.

She chuckled but they both straightened up quickly becoming serious as he approached. His face was screwed up in a pained smile as he stopped in front of the duo. Alex reached out offering the man his hand to shake.

“I’m Aether.” He said when the man grasped his hand. The man’s palm was sweaty, and the man was out of breath from the short walk.

“Welcome to Mr. Money’s used car lot.” Mr. Money said.

“Wow.” Obsidian said, but she let out an oaf as Alex elbowed her.

“How can I help you today?” He asked looking down at Obsidian with distaste.

“We are in the market for an affordable vehicle that won’t break the bank.” Alex said pulling his hand back. He began to pace towards some of the cars that were lined up at the front of the lot.

“Are you in the market from something simple, or,” Mr. Money looked Alex up and down for a moment, “Something a little more complicated?”

“Something cheap that will get us from point A to point B, preferably with room for a few passengers, and can take a little bit of off road.” Alex said.

“And with a nice radio.” Obsidian said making sure to chime in her opinion.

“Right.” Mr. Money said tapping his finger on his stomach a few times. He considered the two heroes for a long moment.

“Do you have anything that would fit into that category?” Alex asked.

“Sure. Follow me.” Mr. Money said turning. He led them through the lot near where the building was that he had come from. There were a few trucks parked on the side of the building. Each in a different state of disrepair from looks drivable to looks like death on wheels.

They ended up standing in front of a four door SUV that had been lifted a few inches and was equipped with extra-large tires. The exterior paint job was peeling. At one time it had been white, but its current color was a yellowed off white. The windows were tinted dark. The sticker on the window said ten thousand thread.

Alex walked around and cupped his hands around his eyes so that he could look inside. The interior was clean but stained. There were cigarette burns in the seat and the handle on the inside of the passenger door was missing.

“This is going to be the only thing on the lot that meets with your requirements.” Mr. Money said, “The key is in it.”

Alex opened the door and leaned inside. The old truck had almost three hundred thousand miles on it. The radio was there, but he was fairly certain that it was not as good as Obsidian was hoping for. When Alex leaned on the driver’s seat, he could feel that the cushion was worn and uncomfortable.

“I think that we can make this work but,” Alex stopped and breathed out a sigh leaning back out of the driver’s door, “Ten thousand was a little higher than I was hoping to spend today.”

“I might be able to do Nine five.” Mr. Money shrugged.

“Huh, ok. Well I guess we’re done here.” Alex said closing the door, “What was that last lot that we went to?” He asked Obsidian faking that he had forgotten.

“Fred’s Friendly Used Rides?” Obsidian said in a questioning tone.

“Yeah Fred’s. Let’s had back over there. The deals were way better.” Alex said.

Mr. Money immediately began to sweat. Before Alex’s foot had touched the ground in his first step away the salesman held up his hand to stop him.

“Maybe I can do a little better.” He said.

“What are you thinkin?” Alex asked.

“Eighty-seven fifty.” Mr. Money said.

“Five thousand.” Alex said.

“Well I could simply not let this vehicle go for less than eight thousand thread.” Mr. Money said. The beads of sweat were growing larger.

“Five five. I’m not going any higher.” Alex said crossing his arms.

“I’m sorry but I can’t do it.” The man said shaking his head.

“Alright, Fred’s it is.” Alex shrugged and started to walk away from the man. He got farther than he expected he would get, but Mr. Money yelled after him.

“Wait! I can do six, but I cannot go any lower. I have bills to pay.” He said in a defeated tone.

“We’ll do six.” Alex said turning to face the man.

“Thank you!” Mr. Money said hobbling away towards his small building. Alex thought he heard him mutter, “I can eat tonight.” as he did so.

The three of them sat for a half an hour filling out the paperwork. Despite the appearance of the car lot, it was a legitimate operation. Alex noted this fact and decided he would come back in the future. After the thread was deducted from his account Alex was given the keys to the truck. He gave the spare to Obsidian as they both climbed into the truck to leave.

-Item

-Used SUV

-N/A

-Durability 530/1000

-Description: “This truck has seen some stuff, but she is still moving right along. Show her some care and she will show you the same.”

“You got four thousand thread off the price that was unbelievable.” Obsidian said as they pulled out of the lot. Alex turned towards the edge of town so that they could head off to do their missions.

“Yeah I could smell how desperate he was a mile away. He had to make a sale. I could have probably brought him down another thousand if I kept walking, but he needed the money.” Alex admitted.