by Logan Link
PRS
Persuasion. Your ability to convince other players as well as your own squad mates to follow you.
There was another tool tip. I selected it.
PRS supplements CHA. While your CHA sets your default Reputation with other characters, your ability to actually convince them through dialog and social machinations requires high PRS, not CHA. Combine the two to create a competent social combat spec Plexer.
The game seemed pretty forgiving with stats: I started with one point out of ten in every stat, and I decided to evenly distribute one point to each of the nine Abilities, so I had 2s in everything.
Now I had eleven points left. If I were interested in being a jack of all trades, I could just keep distributing my Abilities evenly, but I knew that the trick to MMOs like these was that you had to spec your stats strategically — I had to min-max so I could specialize in one particular play style.
A little recklessly, I decided to put three extra points into CHA. Being the sort of guy people wanted to be around couldn’t possibly hurt me, considering what Liana said about needing a squad to make it in the game. It would mean I wouldn’t be as gifted at combat as others might, but I was sure I could compensate for that somehow.
CON was important. Being grabbed by a Yakuza enforcer hurt, so did getting slammed into a strip club. I needed a decent Constitution to survive this game. Hopefully it would raise my pain tolerance too. I dropped three points into CON.
That left me with five points.
Cyberpunk games didn’t strike me as the kind of games you would need to have lots of melee combat, so I ignored STR for now. DEX, however, would govern firearms, and I needed that — I much preferred shooting someone from afar than having to deal with them up close and personal.
I glanced down to the indicator that said Remaining Ability points: 5 before deciding to invest three points into DEX.
The remaining two points I put into SMA, knowing that I would rather come up with clever solutions to problems rather than punch my way through the game, and INT, so I could have high base Power Points.
STR 2INT 3CHA 5
DEX 5SMA 3PRS 2
CON 5FOC 2WIL 2
I clicked [COMPLETE] and my PLEX showed me a new screen with two columns, one listing Skills and the other listing Powers.
Your Abilities determine your possible starting pool of Skills and Powers. You may manually edit your given Skills OR you may randomize to receive a new set of Skills and Powers.
It seemed to me that I got certain Skills based on my stats in certain Abilities. My relatively higher CHA and DEX in particular seemed to influence the half-dozen Skills the game offered me:
Skills:
Pistols 10
Submachine Guns 5
Mechanical Repair 5
Small Aircraft Pilot 10
Toxin Resist 15
Political Subversion 5
Power: Solar Charger I. Cost: 40PP. When exposed to direct sunlight, all weapons that do not use physical ammunition do not deplete ammo for a length of time equivalent to 1 minute * Solar Charger rank when casted.
An intriguing power, but something about this smorgasbord of stats didn’t quite appeal to me. I pressed [RANDOMIZE].
Skills:
Hand To Hand 10
Pickpocket 5
Anti-Vehicle Weapons 5
Conversation: Underground 5
Barter 15
Negotiation: Police 10
Power: Gravity God. Cost: 40PP. When cast, you may run up and down floors, walls and ceilings without dropping, so long as you constantly maintain momentum. Lasts up to 10 seconds per cast.
That skill actually looked like it could come in handy in a lot of ways. I picked that, but tinkered with the Skills. In the end, I selected Skills that I felt had the best chance to influence the success of my likely play style:
Skills:
Pistols 15
Running 5
Hand To Hand 10
Vehicle Hotwire 5
Scoped Rifles 10
Conversation: Nightlife 5
Power: Gravity God. Cost: 40PP. When cast, you may run up and down floors, walls and ceilings without dropping, so long as you constantly maintain momentum. Lasts 10 seconds per cast.
After I was satisfied with my selection, I took a second to inhale before pressing [CREATE CHARACTER].
This was it. I was ready. I was a Plexer now. Amazingly, modifying my stats already had an effect on me. I didn’t feel as tired, as confused as before. I felt sharper, more aware, stronger.
I was also keen to try my first-level power, but I suspected a strip club wasn’t going to be the most appropriate place for it.
Still, while I was safe in this starter location, I figured I should wander around the place. Liana wasn’t back yet, but she could always catch me through the PLEXlink.
She had told me not to misbehave, but what could possibly be wrong with a bit of playtime?
As I emerged from the backroom, I made my way back to the club floor. There were girls dancing on poles, girls walking the floor, girls at the bar. I chose to go to the bar.
Around me, I could see names and clan tags hovering over some people. They moved around nervously. I could tell they were other new players, joining the game. In my PLEX’s lower left, a new box appeared, showing the number of other players. There was also a button allowing me to chat.
I chose against that. I had other interests right now.
I got to the bar. “Hey,” I greeted the bartender, a tall black guy who looked fucking jacked. He must be the club’s muscle. “Where does someone go to have fun in Ultra City?”
He laughed. “Ask someone who’s in Ultra City. You’re in the Ionosphere District, a district that’s not actually part of the actual megalopolis. We’re practically a colony.”
“Fuck. I’m in the noob zone? How do I get out of here?” I asked him.
“If you’ve got the credits and can pass a simple background check, the various mobs and mega-corporations have their own aeroports where you can charter a helicopter pod,” the bartender said, polishing glasses. “Truth be told, you don’t look like you’ve got either credits or a good reputation.”
“Not yet, I guess,” I replied, frowning. I fucking hated being stranded in the noob zone. Just looking around, I could see other noobs. Most of them were hanging around the club floor, getting lap dances, gawking at the girls.
I mean, I’m not saying that’s not me either, but I didn’t want to be them. I wanted to get to the real gameplay, not go through glorified tutorial quests.
My inbox icon bounced. It was a message from… well, not Liana. Someone else. I didn’t see an address or a name to the sender, just a small avatar.
It was Kanako, the woman whose sacrifice saved me from Jackson, the fat fuck.
“Daniel. I’m glad you survived. I can’t seem to track you, but I managed to escape Jackson… I’ve got to lay low for a while though. Go to Ultra City and find me at Mayuko House in Precinct 66. I might need some help. After all, you owe me your life. In the meantime, here’s a thousand credits. It’s not much, but it’ll get you outfitted for now.”
There was another icon next to the inbox icon in the center of my PLEX. It had a stylized $ sign, so I knew it was my wallet. A number appeared and disappeared over it.
+1000cr
No wonder all the other noobs were hanging around the club floor instead of leaving. Time to get a lap dance.
I was about to leave the bar when I saw someone so gorgeous she genuinely made my jaw drop.
Red hair. Crazy curves: the slimmest waist, the wildest ass. Little Miss Ginger was supermodel tall, too, which would have been extra imposing in real life, but in the game I was a solid six foot two.
“Oh, man,” I said.
Looking around, I could tell that other guys were as instantly smitten with her, so I rushed forward so none of these chumps would get to her before me.
“Hey,” I said, my confidence augmen
ted by my CHA. Nice.
“Hey right back, handsome. I’m Ruby,” she said, with a sexy, sultry voice that sounded like pure sex. “Want to have some fun?”
“Is it really that easy?” I said, amazed.
“That’s the magic of living in the future. You can get anything you want, anytime you want,” Ruby said, leaning forward to whisper to me. “If you want something bad enough, you can have it.”
“Oh, I want it bad,” I said, momentarily forgetting everything about Liana and Kanako and everything to do with the Yakuza and stuff.
I cleared my throat. “Everyone’s jealous of us two. Let’s go somewhere they can’t see.”
Ruby winked at me. “Some guys like having other people watch.”
Holy fuck. Kinky too.
Okay, so… I guessed that she was more than just a stripper. I didn’t want to be the sleazy dude who immediately started talking about what she can do for my pleasure, but I was super into it.
This game was intense.
She led me in the same direction as the backroom Liana had taken me, taking me to another room, this one with lots of soft pink-lit booths. “We’ll be alone here,” I heard her say.
All around us, I could hear moans. Female moans, male moans. My cock stiffened. Shit, this was real.
I tried to peek around the room as we stepped outside a booth, a private cube that had a frosted glass door that slid open and lit up as we stood in front of it. Were the moaners other players getting their rocks off too?
“So this place lets you do more than just dance, huh?” I asked Ruby.
She smiled. “Dancing is fun. Pleasing you is even better.”
Then she pulled me, almost needily, into the booth. There was a U-shaped chair fronting the the door. No pole, but plenty of space for her to dance. Or do lots more.
She stood over me, her white lingerie looking almost pink in the light. I sat down, thrilled. She didn’t have to say anything.
There was a discreet new dialog box over my wallet icon.
AUTHORIZE 85cr TRANSFER TO RUBY? Y/N
Y all the way.
She started dancing, gyrating, pouting. Ruby was really convincing me. I’d been to strip clubs before, sure, and I knew lots of guys who fell for how strippers behaved to make a quick buck, but this was different. She was really, really selling it. I could tell she wanted me. She might not be mine forever, but she could be mine for now.
I leaned back, enjoying this. It was all the game, the game showing me that anything was possible for me, if only I dared to do it.
There was no way I could deny my hard-on. I knew it was a bad idea to touch it, but I wanted to just see if it was as real as in real life.
I didn’t have to. Ruby leaned forward and held me by my hips, before getting on her knees and nuzzling her cheeks against the crotch of my pants, dancing still, gyrating, even moaning.
“Oh my God,” I murmured.
AUTHORIZE 750cr TRANSFER TO RUBY? Y/N
Fuck. I wanted it, but I was going to feel shitty if I had to pay to have sex. It was clear that sexual encounters would be a major part of the game — there was no reason I couldn’t just earn my fun for free. Still, the thousand credits I had right now didn’t cost me a damn thing, and I could probably grind my way into making another thousand even with no equipment…
“Come on, baby, let me show you what my body can do for you…” Ruby said, her voice smoky, her voice seductive.
She was irresistible. No man could possibly have that sort of willpower.
I was about to succumb and select YES to authorize the payment, but then the door slid open.
Liana stood there, raising an eyebrow.
“There you are. I was looking for you.”
4
She led me out of the club through a back entrance, seemingly happy to just ditch me. “So, what are you going to do now?” Liana asked.
“How would I know?” I laughed. “I kinda don’t have anything on me. Is that normal for noob characters? I mean, Plexers?”
“Oh, right! I’m supposed to give you something.”
She told me to wait, as she went back inside. I took the time to look around. This was your typical cyberpunk sci-fi dystopian alley. A clean, high-tech dumpster, a lot of security cameras, many of them defaced, and graffiti in a mix of English and some Russian and Japanese. Or maybe it wasn’t even Japanese, but some pseudo-futuristic Asian hybrid.
It was a good thing I mentioned that I didn’t have anything, because I pulled my inventory menu and it looked like this:
INVENTORY:
Clothes (Armor Rating 0)
Credits: 915cr
Oh, right. Okay.
Liana came right back out, holding a simple black bag. “This is for you,” she said, removing items from the bag. “A couple of class-one meds for healing, a couple of items that will help boost your skills temporarily.”
“Skill buff items, got it,” I said, looking at each item she handed me. A barely-audible ding accompanied the notification about me receiving new items. My inventory menu icon also had an exclamation mark overlaid above it, meaning I should probably check that window. I could do that later. “Hey, I heard I’m not in Ultra City, how do I get there?”
“Well, most Plexers who end up here usually find some work or join up with any of the mega-corps and organized crime outfits that run this district, and then once they’ve earned enough money for a ticket out they might fly out on a shuttle.” Liana eyed me for a moment. “I can tell you’re still a little too green to get authorization for that, though.”
Yeah, yeah, I got it, I knew I was level one. “Is there a shortcut? I really don’t like being in tutorial zones.”
“Anything’s possible,” she shrugged.
As she shrugged, I took a more careful look at her and was frankly amazed that someone could be so scantily dressed out in public and yet stand so nonchalant about it. “Could I recruit allies into my squad here and take them to Ultra City?”
“Uhhh, I’m not sure anyone you find here is someone who can be of much use when you get there,” she said. I implicitly understood her message: they’d be too low-level too, Dan.
“Some won’t,” I pointed out. “Like certain ex-Plexers turned franchise strip club owners.”
She giggled — this time, warmly. I felt myself stir at such a gorgeous woman reacting that way to something I said. Maybe this was the benefit of having high CHA?
“Anyway, feel free to come by… so long as you’re not a nuisance. I’m happy to help a new Plexer out. To an extent, at least, we should help each other out.”
The game gist was clear: I could use the strip club as a hub to operate from, maybe even get free items like I just did. I imagined it wouldn’t be hard to find quests there too.
The game didn’t quite have a formal quest menu, which I found interesting. Perhaps they were going for a more organic, unspoken system. But if that was the case, I would be at a strategic disadvantage — in all my years gaming I had grown accustomed to having a quest marker tell me exactly where to go.
Now I felt a little lost.
Liana opened her arms and stepped forward. A hug — I grinned. I gave her a nice squeeze and even lifted her a little, just to test my strength. The guide NPC giggled again.
That stir, one more time. Being cock-blocked by her with Ruby had left me a little… on edge. But I was going to do just fine. Especially if I could grind about eight hundred credits and come back to her…
“Well, I guess… thanks. I’ll see you soon. Do you know where I can get a weapon? I’m more of a firearms guy than a hand-to-hand one,” I said, thinking back to my stats.
“There are weapon shops all over this district. If you do gigs for the sort of shady operator you’ll find everywhere here, they might even arm you. As for me, I don’t believe in violence. Make love, not war,” Liana said, winking.
“Okay, okay, I get it,” I said. First things first: get armed. At least I had enough money to buy some s
ort of level one weapon.
I watched her leave — sashaying provocatively, just like every NPC in the club was programmed to — and sighed. This was good. I liked open world games, and now I had a whole district to explore.
A noob zone, but a zone nonetheless.
Thinking back to the other MMOs I’ve played in my time, I guessed it would take me five or six hours of nonstop grinding to level enough to get out of here. If I optimized my path, I might shave an hour off, but I’d probably end up locked into a faction.
Not ideal when all I knew was that I’ve pissed off the Yakuza.
I thought back to what Liana said — that I needed squad mates. Perhaps the logical thing would be to reach out to all the other noobs in this beginner district, but I wasn’t here to socialize.
Not yet, at least.
The first thing I did, with my inventory window still open, albeit with the opacity set to largely fade into the background, was walk to the main street. I needed to get my bearings.
The strip club took the corner of a major block, where buildings rose to about five or six floors. Enough for them to cast oppressive shadows to those on street level, but not high enough to block out the view. Through gaps between blocks I could see that this appeared to be an island of some sort, with water all around.
I wanted to get to higher ground, maybe get to a rooftop somewhere, get a better lay of the land.
The cyberpunk level design was very pointed: there were abandoned buildings everywhere, along with shopfronts, many closed, dotted with neon signs marking their entrances. Some neon signs lit up in a variety of bright colors — but others flickered as if dying, and others more just sat dead.
Walking down a few blocks, I saw one that attracted me at once. There was a shop with a neon sign above it depicting a stylized AK-47. The assault rifle logo could only suggest one thing: weapon shop.
