by Cosimo Yap
Now, a bit about the guild, I suppose. The “rigid” hierarchy is as follows: Elissandra (the Guild Leader), Generals, Knight-Commanders, Knights, Lieutenants and then everyone below that you can generally ignore or order about. That’s what I do. I’m a Knight of the guild, and the third highest ranked science officer.
Oh right, I’ll send you an example contract, it has the details of working for the guild. A squire is an apprentice basically. Being my squire shouldn’t be a difficult task. In fact, it will allow you to do your own thing, mostly testing experimental equipment, so you’ll get shiny new items not on the market if you get the position! The starting pay will be about 10,000 credits a month, plus whatever bonuses you get from missions or quests you finish, minus guild taxes, demerits and whatever other debt you have.
If it doesn’t seem like you’ll be a good fit as my squire, then we’ll figure out if you fit somewhere else in the guild. But, like I said, the Chief has never been wrong as long as I’ve known him. The initial contract binds you to the guild for five years. If you want to quit, you’ll be able to, but it’ll cost you around a million credits. No one’s quit in the first five years for as long as I can remember though. Sure, a few deaths, betrayals, and spies, but no one quit. Anyways, I got to go, but I look forward to meeting with you. Complete my task and get to the Black Rose Docking Bay on Khersath by 1100 tomorrow morning. If you know anyone else that might be a good fit for the guild, invite them too.
Alan: Sure. Thanks a lot for this opportunity!
Alan ended the conversation, and was notified he received a new message containing the Black Rose contract. A quest window popped up:
A Simple Task:
Pick up a package and bring it to the Black Rose Docking Bay by 1100 tomorrow morning. The package’s location will be provided on your minimap once you enter the Undercity at the designated location.
Time Remaining: 16:23:22
Alan began searching for information about the Undercity, and in the process learned quite a bit about Khersath. Unfortunately, the globalnet didn’t contain any pictures. No free ones, at least. Khersath was apparently an ecumenopolis, a city that made up the entire planet; the planet had roughly twice the radius of Earth. It was home for hundreds of billions of players, trillions of robots or other beings, and consisted of over 100 levels, each level around 5-stories tall. Every level was built on top of another, and the ground was rarely if ever seen by Khersath’s inhabitants. The most prominent and prestigious buildings were all on the top floor, where there was actual sunlight. The city-planet was divided into quadrants and each of those quadrants were further divided by levels in terms of class, species and other factors. There was a military quadrant, a merchant quadrant, a living quadrant and a private quadrant. At the center was the main plaza area. A player could easily spend their entire life in the Game simply playing on and in Khersath. While the majority of the planet was a safe-zone, there were multiple combat and hostile zones as well.
According to the Hub, the Undercity was the lowest portion of Khersath, and as the name suggested was home to the more dangerous and seedy elements of the city-planet. It was one of the few inhabited combat-zones, where combat between players was allowed. Hostile-zones were, like they sounded, zones generally uninhabited by players, but full of enemies to battle and potential items. There was little free information about the Undercity on the globalnet, not even any indication of how to enter it. Luckily, the quest provided Alan with a few supposed entrance locations, but as his map of the planet was mostly blank, the only location that was useful was one near the center of Khersath where the four quadrants met, by the main plaza. The main Administrative Center was in the main plaza as well, which was a place he wanted to visit. He’d have to figure out how he’d get there though…
Well, there were other things for Alan to do. He quickly sent a message to Icewolf after Eve reminded him, then, after a bit of consideration, sent another message to Kitana, Ace and Daisy informing them of the Black Rose guild tryouts. He and Eve then looked over the sample contract. Unlike beforehand where he would need to trust that Eve knew what was best, he was now able to get a sense of her reasoning, which was interesting. Eve had a clear way of weighing disadvantages and advantages, examining likely chances of worst or best case scenarios, a never ending dividing future that continued to propagate until—
Alan froze, his head suddenly starting to hurt. Whatever the case was, Eve was much less human than he had thought. She was definitely a machine. An intelligent machine, but one that only valued what Alan told it to value. At least, that was the impression Alan got. For all he knew Eve 2.0 might be hiding things, plotting behind his back…. but thinking that way would lead to madness. He would trust Eve, and hopefully she’d continue to act in a way that benefited them.
I will.
Alan grinned, then quickly looked at he got a message from Kitana.
Kitana: I’ll consider going to the guild trial, but first I must ask my swordsmanship trainer. Also, Thiago wishes to speak with you before we reach Khersath.
Alan: Okay. I’ll message him.
He soon received messages from Ace and Daisy, who had other plans. Thiago let Alan know the location of his quarters aboard the Titan. Alan stepped out of his room and went to Thiago’s room.
It turned out Thiago’s room was much nicer than Alan’s. It was a complete suite, along with an accompanying dining room. Alan didn’t want to know how much this extravagance cost. Thiago was sitting in the dining room, talking with Aphrodite, a series of windows showing graphs open in front of him. Thiago waved them closed as Alan entered.
“Ah, Alan!" he said. "Nice job defeating the third round in the Survival Test. That got everyone in the group a nice bonus. A pity you weren’t able to defeat the Predecessor though…”
“I’m not sure even the entirety of the United World Government could have defeated the Predecessor,” Alan said. Though talking in the Game was a bit different, Alan had thought he’d fully adjusted to his improved perception, but it now sounded as though Thiago was speaking in a drawl, irritatingly slowly.
“I’m sure,” Thiago said, grinning slightly. “Now, on to business. Do you want to join a guild? We’d be able to fund your admission to one of the better academies, maybe even a C-rank one.”
Black Rose members generally graduate from A-rank academies at the very least, Eve let Alan know.
“I’m fine, thanks, I actually am planning on going to a guild trial tomorrow,” Alan said, trying to end the conversation quickly, yet still wanting to stay on Thiago’s good side. He was having trouble concentrating on Thiago’s words, and decided to look through information that Eve had while waiting for Thiago to finish speaking. He’d had Eve prepare additional lessons, things beyond the initial basics that had been taught by the quest. It couldn’t hurt to learn more, especially if it was information everyone else in the Game had grown up knowing.
“Oh really? Good for you, I’m surprised you’ve managed to catch one’s attention so quickly," Thiago said. "Generally people need to complete a few quests in a major city first, get a few achievements, participate in a few tournaments…
"Anyways, I’d like to thank you for your assistance in the Tutorial, but as we’re now parting ways I’d appreciate it if you kept any information you may have discovered a secret. Anything, even something as small as our names. We’ll do the same for you, of course, keeping your identity and abilities a secret. Just as a heads up, I hear quite a few reporters and players are already trying to find out why the Predecessor came to Earth. Apparently it’s a rather rare event.
"Now, I think it would be in our best interests if we formed a contract, an in-game deal to assure this, just in case. Not that I don’t trust you, but, well, better safe than sorry, after all. How does that sound? Alan, are you listening?”
Alan blinked, then quickly had Eve replay Thiago’s speech at a faster pace. He attempted to activate hypercognition, but failed. He probably looked like an idi
ot though, as he stared blankly at Thiago for a few seconds. He glanced at Aphrodite nervously, hopefully he wasn't making a fool of himself in front of her. She smiled at him.
“Um, yes, of course, sorry, just getting used to a few quirks of my new class,” Alan muttered after he got caught up in the conversation.
“These classes and the Game can take some getting used to.” Thiago glanced at Aphrodite, who continued to simply sit in her chair, smiling at Alan. “I’m sorry if I caused any offence, it just looked like you were staring at the wall.”
“Right. Anyway, the contract?”
“Ah, yes, here we are.”
Thiago opened a screen, pressed a button, and a message appeared in front of Alan:
For a minimum period of one year in-game the following players agree to not discuss, sell or divulge any information gained about a separate player during and before the in-game Tutorial without said player’s explicit consent. Everyone’s future plans and affiliations will not be mentioned to anyone not in this group, unless the specific member wishes to make this information known. Should anyone break this contract, they will immediately owe the group as a whole 1,000,000 credits.
Players: Ace, Adampwnage, Aphrodite, Daisy, DaLong, KingArthur, Kitana, MadMerlin, Thiago
Note: This contract is renewable on a one-year basis if all parties agree. Once you agree to this contract, you are unable to exit it unless all other players let you.
Everyone else’s name appeared green, while Alan’s remained black. He assumed this was because they had all already agreed to this contract. He was about to agree when Eve said:
Wait. Something feels off.
Alan waited, he could sense that Eve was running various calculations.
Close your eyes, try to think of nothing.
Alan did so, although it was rather hard to think of nothing, as once you tried thinking about nothing, you were of course thinking about something, which wasn’t nothing.
“Is there a problem?" Thiago asked. "As you can probably see everyone else has agreed to this contract.” Aphrodite was still sitting in a chair, smiling at Alan. Oddly, she had the exact same expression on her face as before—
I believe Aphrodite is trying to coerce you to agree to this contract using some sort of telepathic, psionic ability.
“Are you using some sort of power on me?” Alan asked, pulling out his knife.
“What? Of course not, I would never—” Thiago said.
“Not you, her.” Alan pointed the knife at Aphrodite. The moment it was brandished in her direction she quickly stood up, backing away from her chair.
“Now wait, you’re being paranoid or something," Thiago said, hands upraised. "You’ve been talking really quickly this entire time. I’m not sure what sort of tests you went through during the rest of the Tutorial, but we all can agree that they were rather harrowing. Calm down.”
Alan found that he was standing up, and had taken a step forward to point the knife at Aphrodite. He didn’t remember doing that consciously. Lowering his hand, he quickly ran through some information Eve provided, trying to think his way around the situation, analyzing the different possible courses of action. He could take this to the Administrators, as actively using a psionic ability to influence a contract was breaking a number of rules, or…
“Look, I understand why you may want me to agree to this contract, but you seem awfully invested in keeping all this quiet," Alan said. "So, I’ll agree to this, but only for a few thousand credits.”
Thiago narrowed his eyes, then nodded.
“Very well, you will additionally receive 10,000 credits for agreeing to the contract. You should be grateful, you’re the one who infringed upon our group.”
“Hey, you’re the ones that used a psionic ability on me to alter a business deal. You know that’s a punishable offence by the Administrators right? Minimum sentence 50,000 credit fine and 500 penalty points, whatever those are. I—” Alan was about to demand more money, but Eve stopped him.
Quickly he saw that he was heightening the probability of a direct confrontation with Thiago. One which he might win, but would leave him with an enemy he’d probably rather not have. “I- I’m grateful for you allowing me to join your group for the Tutorial, but this whole mind-influencing business has me on edge. The Game is a lot different than what I initially expected.”
“Right, yes, I’m sure," Thiago replied. "I hope you understand that I’m trying to look out for my friends and future guild. Here, actually, take these. I trust that you’ll remain quiet about all this and we’ll remain… contacts, at the very least.” Thiago went over to a drawer, and took out a bag, tossing it to Alan.
Alan glanced inside. There were ten diamond marks, small diamond cubes the size of a large die. Each mark was technically worth 10,000 credits or 10 ability points, thus ten times a gold mark or 1/10th of a platinum mark. In actuality, their market value was about twice that. Marks, it turned out, did not drop upon death unlike a number of other items and credits. Thus, it was safer to exchange your credits for marks rather than keeping a large number of credits on-hand, or deposit them in some bank.
Some players simply never exited safe zones to bypass this danger, but it was generally considered wiser to invest your credits in marks if you were heading somewhere dangerous. Marks could be stolen, but they could also be stored in safety deposit boxes and the like. There was also the ability to convert them into ability points or items if you took them to an Administrative Center. Finally, and this was the part that Alan thought had influenced Thiago, exchanges of marks were not tracked by the Game, while any exchange of credits were. Your credit history was recorded. That was one of the reasons Alan wanted to go to an Administrative Center, there were a number of things he wanted to make private, including his level and credit history. The default, for some reason, was public.
Alan agreed to the contract, and the window closed. He noted that he also got the additional 10,000 credits. After his credit amount had been multiplied by five at the real end of the Tutorial, Alan was left with 103700 credits, 1 platinum mark, 10 diamond marks and 10 gold marks. Miraculously, he was already halfway to his goal of paying back Icewolf the million credits.
“Alright, thanks," Alan said. "Good luck with the guild.” Alan started to exit the room, then glanced back at Aphrodite, who Thiago was staring daggers at. “By the way, in case you were going to try something like this again, I didn’t notice anything until Eve said something. Even then, I’m still not quite sure how you were affecting me or even if you’ve stopped doing whatever it was you were doing. Players from other races will probably pick up on it right away too, but I’m not sure about most other humans. See ya.”
“Bye,” Aphrodite murmured, looking frighteningly at Thiago, who muttered a goodbye as well. Whatever, it wasn’t Alan’s business.
It isn’t. She’s acting for your benefit as well.
Oh. What was it that you detected, anyway?
Certain emotions and parts of your brain were somehow heightened. I’m not even sure this was the intended result of her ability, nor what ability it was. There are various enchantress or mentalist classes recorded, but as most of their abilities are generally considered illegal, they are seldom revealed.
Huh, interesting. I guess that’s another thing you should teach me about, the common and uncommon classes.
Yes, that is in the 17th lesson of 34,281 currently planned lessons.
Alan groaned inwardly as he headed back to his room. Maybe asking Eve to teach him information that would helpful was a bad idea… no, it was better if he knew this stuff himself, not just Eve. Still, as the number of lessons showed, there simply wasn’t enough time. There were so many things Alan could be researching, or learning about, new abilities that he could be practicing. Alan wanted to check out the Market and Arcade he'd gained access to, and he’d barely explored the Titan. But Eve thought his time was best spent continuing to study the Game and its inhabitants, so he went to do that. T
hen, he’d get in a few hours of sleep before they landed on Khersath.
By the way, did you notice I was talking fast?
Compared to the speed at which Thiago was speaking, yes, you were speaking abnormally fast.
So, what, should I try to speak slowly consciously, do you think that would work?
I’m uncertain… due to the amount of speaking and importance of speech, I am now prioritizing this as the number one lesson.
Alright, hopefully it won’t take too long.
***
A few hours later, Alan got a reply from Icewolf. He’d tried to talk in a slower way, but after hearing himself speak through Eve’s recorded playbacks, he found he still sounded funny. In the end, Alan had decided that when he was talking Eve would deactivate the time-perception enhancing parts of his augments, but then immediately reactivate them once he was done speaking, or if there was some sort of danger. Alan read Icewolf’s reply... then read it a second time.
Icewolf: Again, congratulations on the completion of the Tutorial, I’m impressed. Remember, if you want answers get to Mars, and go to a nightclub called Red Dust. Ask for me.
Don’t reply to this message or send any further messages. I’m not sure if such things can be used to track your location, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they could.
Two new messages appeared:
Find Icewolf!:
Visit the Red Dust nightclub on Mars to get a clue about Icewolf’s location. He may even be there when you visit.
Reward: Additional information, ???
