“Sweet,” he said and took out his cell phone. “Dial my number so I can have yours.”
He recited his number. I dialed it without comment. Flynn answered the call and stored my number.
After exchanging the phone numbers, Flynn said, “So let’s do another heist, huh?”
But after I checked my phone’s clock, I realized I had been playing the game for several hours.
“Sorry,” I said. “I gotta go. Maybe next time?”
“Okay. Just give me a call next time you’re online, will ya?”
“Yeah.”
Then I realized something else. My car was gone. I checked the map. My safe house was way too far from my current location. Dang it.
“Can you give me a lift?”
Flynn also remembered that my car had been turned into wreckage by the three cops’ heavy gunfire.
“Sure,” he said.
Since I didn’t know Flynn all that well, I wasn’t willing to reveal him my safe house exact location. So I asked him to drop me off half a block from it. While we were driving through the city, Flynn told me that I could purchase another vehicle via the Internet. So I bought a black-colored Honda sedan. A text message told me that my car would be waiting for me at my safe house.
After Flynn dropped me off, I started down the street. When I reached the laundry, I stepped in, entered the code, and rode the elevator down to my safe house. Once inside, I sat in a chair and brought up the character menu. Before going offline, I wanted to allocate the three skill points.
I called up the Skill Tree and examined the second branch.
> Level 2 Branch
> Name: Tactical Reload 1
> Description: Increases reload speed with all weapons by 25%.
> Cost: 1 skill points
> Name: Dodge 1
> Description: You have got a 5% chance of avoiding being hit by enemies’ bullets.
> Cost: 1 skill point
> Name: Up you go 1
> Description: Your teammates take 15% less damage after you revive them for 30 seconds.
> Cost: 1 skill point
> Name: Taking Hostages
> Description: You tie hostages 75% faster.
> Cost: 2 skill points
> Name: Fast Healing 1
> Description: All members of your gang, including yourself, heal themselves 30% faster when using medic bags or first aid kits.
> Cost: 1 skill point
Most of the skills from the first two branches seemed very important to me. After giving the matter some thought, I learned Dodge 1 from the second branch, which unlocked the next branch of the Skill Tree.
> Level 3 Branch
> Name: Medic Bag 2
> Description: You can deploy a medic bag. It has three charges, meaning it can be used three times. After a medic bag is deployed, it cannot be moved. When a gang member uses a medic bag, it restores 75% of their Health.
> Cost: 1 skill point
> Note: You cannot learn Medic Bag 2 if you do not have Medic Bag 1 unlocked.
> Name: Stamina Capacity 2
> Description: Increases total Stamina by 50%.
> Cost: 1 skill point
> Note: You cannot learn Stamina Capacity 2 if you do not have Stamina Capacity 1 unlocked.
> Name: Movement Speed 2
> Description: Increases Movement Speed by 10%.
> Cost: 1 skill point
> Note: You cannot learn Movement Speed 2 if you do not have Movement Speed 1 unlocked.
> Name: Health Regeneration 2
> Description: Your Health regenerates over time at the rate of 15% per minute.
> Cost: 1 skill point
> Note: You could learn Health Regeneration 2 if you do not have Health Regeneration 1 unlocked.
> Name: Quick Draw
> Description: Decreases the time it takes you to draw and holster handguns by 50% and also increases your switching weapons by 25%.
> Cost: 2 skill points
After examined the skills, I learned Health Regeneration 1 and Health Regeneration 2 from the branch 1 and the branch 2 respectively. The fourth branch of the Skill Tree was unlocked now as well, but as I didn’t have any more skill points, I decided to check it out later on.
This done, I logged off.
Chapter Four
I entered the game the following day. My gaze swept around the place. I was in my safe house. Nothing had changed here since my last visit.
First of all, I took my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed Flynn’s number. It rang five times before sending me to voice mail.
“Hi there,” I heard Flynn’s husky voice. “I’m offline now, but you can leave me a message.”
“Hey,” I said. “It’s me. We can play together if you like. Give me a call when you’re online.”
After that, I pocketed the phone and walked up to the computer desk. I looked at the monitor screen, which showed available contracts all over the city map. However, I wanted to wait for Flynn to enter the game. To kill the time, I decided to go for a spin to acquaint myself with the city.
I checked my Sig Sauer, crammed it into my waistband at the small of my back, and pulled my shirt over it. I also considering taking the AK-47 with me but decided against it since I didn’t have a bag to conceal it. Moreover, given I was just going for a spin, I didn’t think that I would need heavy artillery.
After slipping my jacket on, I rode the elevator one floor up, stepped from the building, and climbed in my black Honda sedan. After mounting my cell phone on the dashboard, I fired the engine up and pulled away from the curb.
At first, I drove through the streets real carefully, making myself stick to the speed limit so that not to draw unwanted attention to myself. I was a heister after all. The streets of the city were quiet, with little traffic. All NPCs stayed at the speed limit as well.
After some time, I realized there was no need to stick to the road laws. I started to drive through the intersections without waiting for traffic lights to change. I blasted through red lights and changed lanes in a hazardous manner. I didn’t bother to flip on turn signals.
As my Honda zipped in and out of lanes, NPC drivers honked their horns at me angrily. However, other than that, the game didn’t punish me for my crazy and dangerous driving style.
I passed everything without easing off the gas, violated every rule of the road now. When I drove past prominent places such as clothing shops or car stores, they got marked on the map on my cell phone.
Every now and then, I spotted other players barreling through the streets. They were easily recognizable. Unlike NPCs, players didn’t bother to stick to the speed limit or wait for green lights.
Since I was driving like crazy, ignoring all the road laws, sometimes I lost control of the car and clipped some vehicles.
On those rare occasions when I ran into traffic jams, I was forced to roll over the curb and drove along the sidewalk to pass the cars waiting for a traffic light to change. Passers-by dove out of the way, shouting and waving at me angrily. I injured a couple of them, but still, no NPC called the police. Seemed like civilians informed on a player only when they ran someone over to death.
One time, when I was racing through an intersection, I caught a glimpse of a car coming from the right. I accelerated further, trying to avoid a collision. Yet it was too late. The vehicle smashed into the rear fender of my car, turning it around. The Honda went out of control. I fought with the steering wheel, desperately trying to bring the car back in a straight line before it rammed in a wall.
No such luck. The Honda bounced up over the curb, crossed the sidewalk, and crashed through a storefront, shattering the windows into thousands of sparkling shards. The Honda plowed through food stands, magazine racks, and shelves before it crashed through the counter and slammed against the wall. The cashier was fortunate enough to get out of the way in time.
Despite all the cha
os and destruction I had left in my wake, nobody called the police because no NPC was killed in the process. Although the Honda was severely mangled, it was still drivable. So I backed up from the ruined store, rolled onto the road, and headed for the nearest automobile repair shop. After having the Honda fixed, I continued with my exploring the city.
I tooled in my car around the city for about two hours before my cell phone chirped. The message on the screen told me that Flynn was online. I pulled over to the curb and reached for my cell phone.
Once I took it in my hand, it started ringing. I pressed the call button and brought the cell to my ear.
“Hey Flynn.”
“Hey Striker. I’ve just logged in.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“I take it you ain’t on a heist right now, are you?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Sweet,” he said. “So let’s do some robbing if you ain’t busy right now.”
“I was just driving around the city, getting myself acquainted with the layout.”
“Good, good. So pick a contract and invite me, will ya?”
“Yeah.”
Flynn hung up.
Since I could get access to crime.com via my cell phone, I didn’t have to get back to my safe house to pick a contract. So I visited the website and available contracts popped up on the screen of my cell phone.
I took a moment to examine them and picked one.
> Name: Small City Bank
> Level Requirement: 0-5
> Difficulty: Medium
> Objective: Your goal is to steal as much money from the bank’s vault as possible.
> (Do you want to pick this contract: Yes/No)
When I clicked on the “Yes” button, the map of the city was replaced by the preparation menu on the screen.
> Preparation Menu:
> Players:
> 1. Player 1
> Name: Striker
> Level: 4
> Class: Shot Caller
> 2. …waiting for player 2 to join…
> 3. …waiting for player 3 to join…
> Weapons: Sig Sauer P226 MK25, AK-47
> Assets: Van, three balaclavas, drill, etc.
> (Do you want to see additional available assets: Yes/No)
I made the contract private and invited Flynn. He joined almost instantly.
> Name: Flynn
> Level: 4
> Class: Engineer
I was surprised to see that his level was still 4.
“Thought your level would be higher,” I said. “Didn’t you play yesterday after I left?”
“Nope. I had some shit to do in real life too. So after you left, I played a little bit more and then left too.”
“Fair enough.”
We bought some assets, such as plastic handcuffs, a drill, and some other things we needed on this heist. There were some assets such as tactical panels or sticky surveillance cameras, but I couldn’t buy them. As Flynn explained to me, the former could be bought only by a Punisher, the latter by an Engineer.
I also checked the website selling guns. Since I had leveled up to 4 yesterday, new guns got available for purchase.
I checked them out.
> Name: Desert Eagle
> Place of origin: Israel, United States
> Class: Handgun
> Damage: 70
> Headshot Multiplier: 3X
> Magazine Size: 7+1
> Firing Mode(s): Semi-automatic
> Level Requirement: 2
> Cost: $2,999
> Name: Beretta 93R
> Place of origin: Italy
> Class: Handgun
> Damage: 20
> Headshot Multiplier: 3X
> Magazine Size: 20+1
> Firing Mode(s): 3-round burst
> Level Requirement: 3
> Cost: $4,499
I had the Sig Sauer on me, but I wanted to test out the other pistols, so I bought a Beretta 93R and extra magazines.
There were a few other weapons available, an M4A1, a 12-gauge shotgun, and a submachine gun. However, since we were going to do the heist in stealth, we didn’t need such powerful weapons.
So I closed the weapon website and hit the READY button and waited for Flynn to do the same. When he didn’t, I asked, “What are you waiting for?”
“For a third player to join,” he replied.
For a moment, I thought I heard it wrong.
“You gotta be kidding,” I said.
Yet he wasn’t joking.
“No,” he said deadpan. “We need a third player on this heist.”
I could barely believe what I had just heard.
“If memory serves, you were the one who suggested we play without a third player the last time,” I said. “Then Destroyer screwed stealth up, ended up being apprehended, and we barely earned any money. And now you say we wait for a third player? Really?”
“The heist you’ve picked up can be very tricky,” Flynn explained. “There’re too many things that may go wrong. So we need a third player, namely a Punisher. If something goes wrong, the player playing as a Punisher really can be of use to us.”
“Okay.”
I made the contract public and then tweaked the filters so that only players using the Punisher class could join the game.
While we were waiting for a third player, I visited the weapon website again and bought an M4A1 along with extra magazines for it.
> Name: M4A1
> Place of origin: United States
> Class: Assault rifle
> Damage: 15
> Headshot Multiplier: 3X
> Rate of Fire: 750 RPM
> Magazine Size: 30+1
> Firing Mode(s): Automatic, 3-round burst, Semi-automatic
> Level Requirement: 4
> Cost: $7,499
We didn’t have to wait long. After half a minute, the third player joined.
> Name: Allison
> Level: 4
> Class: Punisher
A cheerful voice came from the speaker of my cell phone that clearly belonged to a girl. “Hey guys. Let’s do this!”
“Have you bought tactical panels, barbed wire, and traps yet?” Flynn inquired.
“On it, pal, just gimme a second. Okay, I’m finished. I’m ready. Let’s go guys. Let’s do this. Go go go.”
Allison pressed the READY button. However, Flynn still hadn’t.
“What are you waiting for, slowpoke?” Allison asked. “Hit that button and let’s go!”
Yet Flynn took his time thoroughly examining the additional assets Allison had just bought.
“Are you always such a slow player?” Allison blurted.
In my mind’s eye, I could clearly see Flynn’s face turn red.
“You forgot to buy barbed wire,” he said in a surprisingly calm voice.
“Really? I don’t think I… Oops! You’re right! Sorry, pal. I just can’t wait to begin. Done! Can you hit that button now?”
The heist wouldn’t begin until all the three players pressed the READY button. Still, Flynn didn’t seem to be in a hurry to do so.
“I see you bought only one trap,” he mentioned.
“Yeah.”
“Have you got the Welcome Mat skill?”
“Yeah,” Allison replied. “Already learned and upgraded it to level 3.”
“So you can buy two more traps,” Flynn said. “Do it.”
“Why? One trap is more than enough, pal. Believe me.”
“No,” Flynn replied. “We need two more traps. So why don’t you shut up and buy them?”
“I don’t know who do you think you are, but I’m telling ya we don't need any more traps.”
Flynn had a really short fuse. We were talking on the phone, so I couldn’t see his face, yet I could tell his fuse was burning very quickly right now.
“Buy two more traps o
r leave,” he said quietly, which was even scarier than when he snarled.
“Oh man really? Do I really have to buy them? Those are pretty expensive, y’know.”
“We’ll get plenty of money if we manage to rob this bank, so quit whining and do it.”
“Okay, okay. You won. Just gimme a second. Okay, I’ve bought them. Are you happy now? Can you hit that button already? Can’t wait to shoot some bad guys!”
“Technically, it is us who are the bad guys here,” I put in.
“Doesn’t matter,” Allison replied. “What I mean is I’m very fond of shooter games. So let’s go, guys, already.”
“Before we begin, I gotta warn you,” Flynn said. “We’re gonna do this in stealth and––”
Before Flynn could finish the sentence, Allyson said, “The hell with stealth. I’m not very good at it. So let’s just crash into the place with our guns blazing. It’s going to be fun, isn’t?”
She shouldn’t have said that.
“Listen to me very carefully, girl,” Flynn said sternly. “We’re gonna try to do this heist in stealth. So don’t mess it up. Do you understand?”
“Oh man. Really? You really want to do it in stealth? It’s boring as hell!”
“Yep. Like it or not, we’re doing in in stealth.”
“Gosh,” Allison said annoyingly. “You should’ve warned me about it before I bought all this stuff you made me buy. I spent a lot of money on this shit. And for what? If you’d said that you wanted to play in stealth in the first place, I’d probably just left to find another contract.”
“Like I said, we’re gonna try to do it quietly, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll manage to pull it off. Since you suck at stealth, you can just stay in the security room and watch the feed from the cameras while Striker and I deal with guards. It’d really be very helpful for us. However, if something goes wrong, all that stuff you’ve bought will come in handy. And since you’re a Punisher, we’re really gonna need you to deal with cops.”
Heist Online Page 6
