“Good morning, Julia. One hour and thirty minutes remain until you must begin the fifth and final task.”

“Just fucking die, the D.” I rolled over and shut my eyes against the hangover, then my inner grown-up kicked in and I groaned. I sat up and staggered to the toilet, then washed my face in the sink and drank what must have been a half gallon of cold water. I started to feel almost human and I shook my head and tried to start over.

“Morning, D. How much would breakfast cost me?”

“A single meal of your choice can be provided for 500 points.”

It sounded expensive compared to buying food in the simulation, but I didn’t know if I’d get the chance to eat at the next task. I’d gotten awfully hungry on my trip through the wilderness and the remembered privation decided me. I focused on the perfect cure for a late night of overindulgence.

“I want three bacon egg and cheese biscuits from McDonalds, a large hashbrowns from Burger King, a big glass of orange juice, and a venti dark chocolate cappucino from Starbucks.”

Everything materialized on the foot of my bed, they hadn’t dropped it in this time I guess in deference to the drinks. I appreciated it even if I hadn’t considered the problem before hand, and I tucked into my breakfast. Halfway through I realized I had a laundry facility that I didn’t even know how to work yet and I stopped eating. I jumped up and scooped up my dirty clothes and carried them over to the new cabinet door on the wall. There was no writing on this one like the fancy nameplate for the refuse bin and I shot a quick glance up at the ceiling.

“Any special instructions here, the D? Do I need to separate out the delicates, put the boots in separate or anything?”

“Place soiled items in the receptacle and close the door. Then remove cleaned items and close the door.”

“How long do I have to wait?”

“Place soiled items in the receptacle and close the door. Then remove cleaned items and close the door.”

“Gee thanks, the D.” I crammed everything into the opening and just barely managed to fit it all in. I popped the door shut and immediately pulled it open again to prove a point. “See, there has to be. . “ I trailed off as I caught sight of the immaculate, perfectly folded laundry and felt like kind of a tool. Then I suddenly wished this technology had been available back in the real world. I had always hated doing my laundry with a fiery passion, and I tended to let it build up until I was wearing old t-shirts that belonged to my exes and threadbare sweats that were the next thing to indecent. I carried my zero effort laundry stuff over to drop down on the bed and finished eating. After I finished I dressed in my traveling clothes and checked out my new magic bag. There was what looked like a cheaply made vinyl sticker shaped like a black O inside. It looked like the kind you got in vending machines back when I was a kid. I remembered the instructions from the other day and moved over to a clear space on the wall out of the way of the rest of the room and applied the sticker. Nothing seemed to happen and I felt a little disappointed. For some reason I had expected a little pizzazz from a magic portal.

I opened the leather purse and looked inside. Just an empty bag now, not even any fuzzies, but the leather seams of the purse were clearly visible. I shrugged and dipped my hand inside and my eyebrows widened as I saw my own fingers come out of the wall in front of me. I yanked my hand out and the fingers disappeared. That was just trippy. I slide my entire hand through and waved to myself, then wiggled my fingers and flipped myself the bird. Yep, that was definitely my hand. I could feel it just at the end of my wrist at the same time I saw it feet away across the room. I slid the purse up with my left hand and watched my entire right arm appear just inches above the floor. I moved my arm and tapped the floor. It felt solid. I pulled back through the bag and fished into my regular coin purse. I dropped a single copper coin on the floor and reached through the bag to pick it up. It worked, and that was damned weird. I shoved my arm through as far as it would go until the bag caught on my armpit.

I drummed my fingers on the floor at full extension as I walked over to it, then turned back to the bathroom and grabbed a giant wad of toilet paper. Back to the wall and my disembodied hand. I watched from the outside as I laid the length of toilet paper out in an arc at the apex of my reach. ANything I put inside the arc I could now pull through the bag. This was pretty cool, and I unpacked my bundle and started stashing stuff on the floor. Socks and underwear went on the extreme edge close to the wall. I figured if I was changing clothes I had plenty of time and it didn’t matter if it was an awkward grab. Coins I piled by denomination, and arranged my sword and one of the daggers handle forward near the opeing. I’d keep the baton and my belt knife on me just in case. The fire steel stayed around my neck, but I filled my waterskin from the sink and laid it in place, then rolled up the woolen blanket and compass and set them out too. When I had everything arranged as efficiently as possible I looked back up at the beige ceiling.

“How much time left?”

“45 minutes until the 5th task becomes mandatory.”

I used the bathroom again, determined to enjoy every last modern luxury while it was available. Then finished rebraiding my hair and did a couple of leg bends to limber up. When I felt loose and ready I nodded at nothing, psyching myself up while I stared at the blank wall.

“Bring it on, the D. I’m ready for the 5th task.”

“Congratulations, Julia. By reaching the 5th task you have acheived a goal that few players survive to accomplish. In recognition of this feat, additional information and a more complicated task will be provided to you. Please pay careful attention.”

There was a brief pause and when nothing else happened I whistled and gave a brief wave, “Woohoo, the D? I’m paying attention here.”

“The fifth task is to grow your power base. This is the only task with a time limit. You will have 30 days to develop a power base sufficient to survive the trials of story mode. Failure to adequately prepare will register as death in game. Do you understand your task?”

“Hell no, what the hell is a power base?”

“The fifth task is to grow your power base. This is the only task with a time limit. You will have 30 days to develop a power base sufficient to survive the trials of story mode. Failure to adequately prepare will register as death in game. Do you understand your task?”

“Shit. No, I do not understand. Please define power base.”

“The fifth task is to grow your power base. This is the only task with a time limit. You will have 30 days to develop a power base sufficient to survive the trials of story mode. Failure to adequately prepare will register as death in game. Do you understand your task?”

Every single damn question I could devise resulted in the same exact answer and eventually I shrugged. “Sure, I understand you’re a bunch of fucking pricks.”

“Excellent. In order to facilitate the growth of your power base, you will be able to travel to and from the housing module at any time. Travel back and forth between the simulation and the housing module is accomplished by turning the knob or latch of any unlocked door to the left. Limitations exist, including a maximum occupancy of 25 persons, no amenities may exit the portals, and all simulated persons will be returned to their original locations. Do you understand these limitations?”

“Am I included in the 25 people? How about livestock?”

“In order to facilitate the growth of your power base, you will be able to travel to and from the housing module at any time. Travel back and forth between the simulation and the housing module is accomplished by turning the knob or latch of any unlocked door to the left. Limitations exist, including a maximum occupancy of 25 persons, no amenities may exit the portals, and all simulated persons will be returned to their original locations. Do you understand these limitations?”

I figured that would be the answer, but I couldn’t help but test the theory. Why in hell did they bother asking questions if all they did was repeat the same fucking sentences over again anyway? I knew how to end the cycle this time though. “Yep, I understand.”

“Excellent. In which city would you like your task to begin?”

A huge grin split my face. I couldn’t believe it had been this easy. I wasn’t about to ask for a dentist report on my gift horse though. “Send me through to Kantia.”

The white light on the wall began to glow in response, and I jogged toward it with a silly grin on my face. I came out in a dimly lit alley I didn’t recognize and the grin started to fade. I’d only lived there for a week or two even though it seemed like longer, but I felt like I should recognize most of the city. This definitely did not seem familiar. The walls here were closer together and there was trash and mud built up blocking some of the gutters and trickles of water thick with night soil moved over the streets in a few places. It was definitely the kind of neighborhood where it would be easy to find yourself with a lump on your head and missing all of your valuables. I eased my baton out of my sleeve and walked forward cautiously, sticking to the middle of the alley so anyone popping out of a corner would have to cross some open ground to reach me.

There was furtive movement just at the edge of my vision, and a couple times I heard the soft whisper of feet on the cobblestones. I tried to stay headed in a single direction, hoping to find a landmark I recognized. Then a shadow passed on the wall in front of me and I was able to gauge the relative size of my stalkers. It occured to me I was missing an early opportunity to start working on that power base. When I'd first made it up past patrolman I'd been sent to youth services. I didn't last long. Runaways almost invariably end up in the sex trade or junkies on a slab. Used and abused by predators until they became predators themselves, I just didn't have the stomach for the work. After getting to know some of the street kids I knew I had to get out before I started putting people in bodybags. I still remembered working with them though. The orphans running these streets probably started out younger than the street kids I'd dealt with, but life on the street ages you fast and I bet the same approaches would work. Maslow's hierarchy of need was what they'd taught us. Food, shelter, and security. The human animal will worry about those first before you can get it to focus on the trappings of civilization such as manners, much less complicated concepts like morality. I drew a coin from my pocket and started to flip it in the air and catch it, while I carefully moved until my back was against the wall. I was squatted down, to present less of a threat from their level while I continued to toss the coin. I called out in a soft voice, hoping my sex would be clear from the register.

"Anyone out there willing to earn a copper instead of trying to get their skull cracked trying to take one?"

A couple of minutes passed with no response, and I started to consider moving further through the neighborhood before trying again. There were probably people watching me right now, there was no such thing as privacy when tenements were built this close together, but in a rough neighborhood people learned to mind their own damn business. Just before I called it quits though a filthy boy who looked somewhere between ten and twelve years old wearing a tattered smock just a little too small for his frame walked out. His posture was wary and he was up on the balls of his feet. One wrong move and this kid would disappear like a puff of smoke. I nodded at him and held up the coin.

"I need a tour guide, someone who knows Kantia. Might be more work later, if whoever I hire does a decent job."

The kid looked at me then the coin, caution and greed warring in his heart. I don't think he would have taken me up on it if I hadn't been a woman. Kid had been around long enough to learn we could be just as dangerous as the louder sex.

"No funny stuff, right? Coin first, and I'll do it."

"No funny stuff. Coin first but if you take it and run, I'll offer 10 coins to the other kids to find you and break both your legs. Deal?"

He looked at my face then, obviously reevaluating initial impressions and hopefully deciding to play me straight. I wasn't bluffing. I couldn't afford to if I really wanted to recruit some of these street kids.

"Deal."

I flipped him the coin and watched him secret it away tucked down the front of his clothes.

"I'm Julia. What's your name?"

"Flicka."

"Like the horse?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing, my friend, Flicka. First off I need a guide. You know your way around Kantia, right?"

"Lived here all my life."

I resisted the urge to ask how long that had been. Inquiries about age always seemed to set street kids on edge, for some reason it tended to be a touchy subject. Maybe a matter of precedence amongst themselves? "You know a bar and hotel that's called The Walk Right Inn?"

"Don't mess with it. They always spot the grifters and the bouncer there is a monster. Broke a guy's back one time with his bare hands."

"Patrick? He's a teddy bear at heart. I want you to take me there, shortest safe route."

He tapped his foot while he studied me silently. Apparently the fact that I was friends with someone he thought of as a badass made him want to reevaluate me yet again. I wondered what he'd say if I had technically kicked Patrick's ass one time. Sure, it had mainly been because he hadn't expected trouble from a woman, but I'd still come out on top. I decided not to strain the small amount of repore we'd built up with telling the kid something he wouldn't believe anyway. He gestured over his shoulder in a follow me kind of way and we set off through the city. He'd apparently taken my job description of tour guide seriously, because along the way he started to narrate as we walked through the twisted warren of passages.

"This is the part of the poor quarter that got rebuilt after the big fire. You can tell cause the walls here are a different color than the rest.'

"How long ago was the fire?"

"I don't know, before I was born."

I looked at the smoke damage and the paving stones that had cracked from the heat that were still visible. Apparently infrastructure improvements in the poor quarter weren't exactly a priority for Kantia's administration. The kid pointed to the back of a slightly larger building that was gleamingly clean.

"That's the back of the Temple. Got some really cool animals carved on the friezes in the front. The members are pretty weird though. Twice a week they'll bring out big pots and feed any of the littles who show up. Rest of the time they'll beat the living crap out of anyone without a shaved head they find on the grounds of their temple." We made another turn and were in a wider street now, and he made a kind of furtive gesture to the tenement building on our left. Pointing without really making a show of pointing. "Old woman name Edna lives there. She's a witch. Can heal all kinds of injuries and sicknesses and stuff if you pay her, but does some scary ass curses too."

He shuddered as he described that one. The tour continued as we passed through the city and eventually out of the poor quarter and into areas I was more familiar with. He pointed out a place with the best seafood in town, and I didn't let him see my face twitch when I thought about the disgusting taste of fish. He also pointed out a sausage maker who had a suspicious lack of dogs and cats in his neighborhood, a pawnshop that would buy just about anything no questions asked, and led me wide around a prosperous peaceful looking little house that was set apart from the neighbors a bit. When I asked him about it he told me the man who lived there had a habit of hiring the more desperate of the young boys to run errands, but invariably they would seem to just disappear and he'd be back in the poor quarter looking for another. I kept my mouth shut but made a mental note of the location. Just in case, before my 30 days were up I would be coming back here to pay a visit. I wasn't a cop in this world but some things any self respecting person just couldn't let slide. After a while we finally came up to the Walk Right Inn and my tours guides constant monologue sputtered to a stop. I fished out another copper coin and held it out to the boy. When he reached out and took it from my hand I made sure to suppress my smile. That was the way, little by little I would domesticate the first of these urchins.

"Did a good job, Flicker. I'm looking to hire a couple of warm bodies. Old enough to look out for themselves but don’t need to be grown. Want ‘em to run some messages, maybe watch a few locations for me. Recruit a couple of your friends and come by the inn in a couple of days and ask for Julia. Pay is low but you don't have to worry about me trying to diddle one of you.”

The copper in his hand disappeared into the same location as the last one as he backed away from me. He gave me a lewd wink way too old for his age. “Price is right, might let you diddle me, lady.”

I made a show of drawing back my leg like I was thinking about kicking him and he shot off, laughing at me. I grinned then and turned back towards the entrace, but as I walked towards the inn my smile started to fade. On the one hand I really wanted to see my friends again, humans weren’t meant to be solitary animals, but on the other I probably had quite a bit of explaining to do. I winced as I wondered just how Cate must have felt when she discovered my disappearance. The first thing I saw when I walked through the door was Patrick.

He popped out of that seat like he was ready for trouble, but the crossbow didn’t come with him and I realized it was excitement. He scooted the table out of the way as he rushed forward, almost upending the thing despite its size and I took a half step back surprised at the rush of motion. He checked himself then, and came the last few steps slowly.

“Holy shit, Julia. Where have you been? I thought Cate was going to put Gabriel to the question over this mess. You go up in smoke and leave your share of the haul behind. . “ He shook his head before finishing with a simple, “What the hell, Julia?”

“Long story. Really long story and I’ll fill you in later, but just know it wasn’t exactly voluntary.” I felt guilty because at first I had really thought it was going to be goodbye, and I hadn’t said anything to Patrick. I was going to let Cate do my explaining for me so I’d only have to tell the lie I’d come up with once. Then that stupid coin purse made me think the task wouldn’t end and I’d got caught up in things. I pushed the feelings down and shook my head. “I want to talk to Cate first. I think I owe her an explanation more than anybody.”

He gave me a considering look before he nodded his head at me. “I know she’s really not family but she’s still family. After my wife, well if her sister hadn’t gotten messages to me in the pit I don’t know that I’d of ever come out of it. I don’t know what’s on between you and Cate, but handle her with kid gloves you hear me?”

Part of me wanted to tell him the best thing to put between me and Cate would be him, but the trailing squick factor of their technical relationship kept my smartass tendencies in check. Instead I returned his solemn look. “My intentions are honorable, if not entirely pure. Where is she anyway?”

“Working. I know we made a big score but idle hands and all that. Speaking of, your share and the rest of your stuff is still in a chest in Gabriels room. Cate made Zeno give up on the idea of taking some of your stuff as a charge for storage, but youre gonna have to cut a new deal for rent since you haven’t been working here. Cate ought to be back any minute now, though.”

“Okay. I’ll go grab my stuff so Zeno won’t have a conniption, then come back down here to wait. It is good to see you again Patrick. Maybe when the bar room closes tonight we’ll have a chance to talk?”

“If Cate leaves you in good enough shape to have a conversation. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, girl.”

I gave him a wink and headed up the stairs. A careful knock made sure I wouldn’t have to deal with walking in on Gabriel before I entered my old room. Under the bed that had been mine was the beat up old cedar chest I’d stored my clothes in when I’d lived here, and I slid it out from underneath the bed. I’d wanted the privacy for more than grabbing some borrowed clothes and my share of the money though. I took the opportunity to approach the door to the hallway and carefully turned the knob to the left. It opened up into a featureless beige wall, and I scooted the chest along the floor with my foot until it slid in. That seemed anti-climatic. I walked inside next and the door automatically slammed behind me and I was standing back in my cell.

“Good afternoon, Julia.”

“I want to go back, D.”

“Certainly.”

The wall lit up and I took a deep breath before I stepped into the light. It burst back out of me in an explosive sigh when I stepped back into Gabriel’s room. Two way travel was definitely a possiblity then. I had needed to make sure before I moved any further along in my plan. I stepped back to the door and reopened the portal.

“Good afternoon, Julia.”

“Starting to look that way, the D. Can I change where the portal returns me to?”

“Upon the completion of a task the location of a portal can be assigned to any portion of the simulation. Once the task has begun portals will always return to their previous location.”

“So wherever I leave the world, that’s where I go back, right?”

“That is correct, Julia.”

“And how many points do I have left to spend?”

“22,500 points.”

“Okay, I want to buy a selection of jewelry.”

“Julia, it is important to note that the prior restrictions on coinage and precious metals now applies to jewelry as well.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? That’s bullshit.” My mind raced to a couple of historical romance novels I’d read a long time ago. “How about spices, maybe a couple bolts of silk?”

“It is a blanket restriction on purchasing items to use as portable wealth in game. Your inventive use of game mechanics was noted in the previous task, Julia. Adjustment have been made.”

“Meaning the system is out to fuck me again.” I huffed and started to think. Buying allies was now out of the question. The memory of the street urchin flashed through my head and I ammended that to buying powerful ones. I needed to build my power base though, whatever the hell that meant. If I could bribe my way into allies, maybe I could impress them. I looked around my cell. A semicircle of travel gear near the black sticker on one wall. A simple bed and a bathroom with an obscene sex toy of a hot tub. The modern plumbing would be pretty impressive but not exactly the message I wanted to send. I gave it some more thought before I addressed the AI again.

“How much does it cost to add another room to my cell?”

“The price of an expansion to the housing unit is dependent on the furnishings and features you incorporate.”

That wasn’t terribly helpful, so I laid out the kind of room I wanted in my head before speaking again. “Okay then, a room that is right over there, put the portal on that wall with a wooden door right here in between. I want flourescent lights on the ceiling, a long glass table, kind of a boardroom thing, surrounded by office chairs. Modern rolly ones with comfortable seats and leather upholstery. Put a smartboard up on the wall and a projector hooked to a laptop with a wireless mouse. A water cooler in that corner and a mini-bar in that one. Some kind of tastefull rock water feature in this corner and uh, a coatrack in this one.” I couldn’t think of anything else to add and I shrugged. “WHat would all that cost me?

“20,000 points.”

“If you take away all the extras, just for the room, tables, chairs, and moving the portal, how much is that?”

“18,000 points.”

That was less than the cost of the plumbing, and I really didn’t have any idea of how else I could use the points anyway now that I couldn’t make trade goods. I was working on a time limit now, and I decided to go all in with this idea.

“Give me the fancy version, all of it.”

A door appeared on the wall in front of me and when I walked inside everything was pretty much like I’d pictured it. The room was actually a little wider than I’d anticipated, and when I closed the wooden door in between I noticed a fancy biometric palm reader mounted on the wall.

“Door locks?”

“It was implied from your description of the room, do you wish to remove the feature?”

“Nope, let it be.” I plopped down in one of the chairs and wiggled around a little. Much more comfortable than the period furniture I’d been exposed to so far. I got back up and wandered around the room a little more exploring. The laptop was a Dell, the same model I’d had on my workdesk back in the day and I wondered if that were a coincidence. I shrugged and moved over to the mini-bar. There were rows of little plastic liquor bottles like you’d see on an airplane, and some mixers like the little short cans of coke and cardboard cartons of orange and tomato juice. There was even a tiny little icemaker humming away even though I didn’t see any evidence of an electric cord. I basically had everything I could possibly want except for cups. “This is pretty fancy. How much will it cost me every time I restock the mini-bar?”

“The water cooler and mini-bar will automatically restock themselves every 24 hours. The contents are of course considered amenities and not items.”

Even with the caveat that was a lot better deal than anything I had imagined. I gave an appreciative nod. “This is just about perfect, the D. I’m going to have people over in my conference room. Let’s keep you on the down low for now. Can you go into stealth mode or something if there are others present?”

“Certainly, Julia. If you call for me by name, however, I will still respond.”

“That works for me. How many points do I still have left?”

“2,500 points.”

“Hold that thought. I’m back to the grindstone.”

“Good luck, Julia.”

“Sure thing, the D.”