Volume 1 - Chapter 11

Talented Mr. Jones

Trying to think of another question before I simply left, I quickly recapped what I'd learned.

I was nervous the whole time I talked to Samuel Donovan, and for absolutely no reason. I could learn from that, but I probably wouldn't.

The Green Fists arranged the death of their own guy Owney "The Owl" Johnson. The big bird apparently got what he deserved for trying to undercut his own gang by making a secret deal with Billy Sadler of The Cortez Family.

Stalvek Dyomin must have been tasked with having Sadler arrested in order for the gang to hold up their side of some arrangement.

Since we players couldn't kill or be killed yet, that was why Sadler had been arrested instead of killed.

"Go to the police station and talk to Packley," Donovan had said when he made it obvious we were done. "Find out if they’re sending him off to prison or if they have a judge on their payroll to let him loose. You get me both of those details and I might be able to give you a fat stack of cash."

I nodded slowly, doing my best to keep my expression neutral. It sounded like an easy enough mission.

Getting tangled up with The Greenies clearly wasn't something to be taken lightly. I would never ally with them, but it was heavily apparent I would need to work with them or they would make me disappear.

"You got it, Mr. Donovan," I replied, aiming for a tone of respectful deference. "I'll lay low for a few hours, keep my ear to the ground. Soon as I learn more about Stalvek, I’ll let you know."

Donovan grunted an acknowledgment. "See that you do, kid. Can't have loose ends hanging around, you understand?"

His steely gaze cut into me with unmistakable menace. "Because if I catch a whiff of you trying to double-cross us and run to those Cortez gangsters... well, let's just say you'll be looking over your shoulder like an owl for the rest of your sorry life, you catch my drift?"

I swallowed hard and gave a terse nod. The implied threat was crystal clear. I would either get in line or get put down for good, just like The Owl.

"You don't gotta worry about me, sir."

Donovan made a noncommittal grunt, already turning his attention to the stack of files and papers strewn across his desk. With a curt wave of his hand, he dismissed me.

I stepped out of Donovan's messy office and squinted against the harsh afternoon light filtering down. It was hot and muggy outside, and immediately I wished for some air conditioning.

A little notification window popped up in the bottom left corner of my vision.

Achievement: Completed Mission - You finished your first mission.

I rolled my eyes, tired of the seemingly random notifications. I'd done a lot of other things in this game that didn't give me any messages.

They seemed to be rather pointless, and I was about to look through my screens for a way to disable them when another showed up.

Mission Complete - Meet with Private Detective Samuel Donovan.

+700 XP

You have 1,000 XP total

!! You have leveled up !!

Congratulations! You are now level 1

You need 1,500 more XP to reach level 2

My jaw dropped open, and I realized Stalvek Dyomin hadn't been joking. Completing my first mission had provided tons of experience.

I felt oddly rejuvenated, and wondered if leveling up did a complete heal and wiping of any effects, as it did in some games.

Since I wasn't injured or status-effected before, I couldn't be certain.

New Mission: Copper Topper - Learn more about Billy Sadler’s situation.

Navigating to the mission screen, I saw the new mission listed there. I wasn't interested in reading it just yet. I was sure there were more notifications waiting to pop up, and I wanted to get them all cleared out first.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

As soon as I closed the screen, the next one appeared.

Unlocked Affiliations - You can now view all your affiliations, as well as your status with them.

+100 XP

You have 1,100 XP total

You need 1,400 more XP to reach level 2

I went to the new screen and saw three entries. One each for The Green Fists, The Cortez Family, and The Borrell Family. Each group had a section for their relationship status to one another.

The Green Fists and The Cortez Family each showed a red dot next to them. I took this to mean they were complete and total enemies. It was the lowest possible rating, and they seemed to be at war.

My status with The Green Fists remained neutral. Looking at The Cortez Family showed I was also neutral with them. I gathered from this they didn't like me, but we weren't necessarily enemies.

The description of their organization told me they were no better than The Green Fists. It was a smaller yet just as deadly gangster operation trying to get a foothold in The Grims.

Drugs and booze distribution were their primary means of income, but they also had lucrative negotiations with vampires.

Everyone who lived here suffered because of their turf war, and because of the business they both ruled over.

I'd already learned quite a bit about The Green Fists, so I didn't bother reading more about them for now. Having missions for Samuel Donovan and Mr. Gallagher assured me I would learn more in good time.

The Borrell Family information was blurred out when I tried to read it. This was frustrating to no end, because I didn't understand why the game included things I wasn't allowed to know.

I hadn’t received many cold spikes to the brain after the first few. The system was either holding back or my mind had become numb to the ones I did receive.

I closed out the screen and shook my head, thinking that I wasn't a fan of the way all this was designed. There wasn't much I could do about it, so I gritted my teeth and decided to plow forward.

The next notification popped up.

Unlocked Talents - You can now view all your talents.

+100 XP

You have 1,200 XP total

You need 1,300 more XP to reach level 2

I wasted no time in opening this one. A message in red with an asterisk greeted me.

It stated: With each new level, you may choose to increase a single talent you already have by one point, or you may choose a single new talent from three randomly generated options.

That was easy enough to understand.

I could become an expert in a few things, or I could end up being decent at a lot of different things. Planning out talent points seemed to be vital for a strong character, and I saw no obvious button for redistribution if I made a mistake somewhere along the way.

Swiping that message away, I felt eager to see what this was all about.

My screen showed me I already had two talents.

Handy: [ 2 ]

Negotiator: [ 2 ]

The first was called Handy, with two points. The description read: You are familiar with general mechanical, electrical, carpentry, and plumbing design and repair.

I could sufficiently build or maintain larger projects, and understand them better, the more points I had.

That made a great deal of sense because I had started the game as a handyman for landlord Thomas Gallagher. Having two points as a handyman seemed to fit excellent.

It didn't explain why I didn't have the vocabulary of a handyman, and why I still didn't understand how some simple things worked. I guessed that was all part of the role-playing entertainment factor I was personally supposed to bring to my livestream.

Maybe it just meant that when or if the time came to fix things, I could just do it.

I shrugged. "Oh, well, it's a game…"

The second talent I already had was called Negotiator, also with two points.

It stated: You have an affinity for navigating conversations and persuading, negotiating, and making deals. The higher your score, the more likely you are to get what you want when speaking to NPCs.

Interesting. I hadn’t felt that way with Raymond, but to be fair I was still learning how the game worked. Maybe Raymond had a higher score in Negotiator than I did.

I’d done a great deal better in negotiating things when talking to Donovan, though I still hadn't felt like I controlled the conversation, so our scores must have been similar.

Beneath those talents were my three random options to choose from for a single new one.

An asterisk informed me I had twenty-four hours to make a choice, or I would forfeit my talent point.

Either I would need to select a new one, or I would need to put my point into one of my two existing talents.

I quickly looked over the new ones, ready to choose now. I didn't want to wait.

Resilience. This is your ability to keep going despite adversity. Mental stimulation to persevere against extreme adversity gets stronger with each point increase.

Awareness. Provides a mini-map so you can know what is happening around you. Starts at 100 feet and doubles with each point increase. Players with the Stealth talent can still gain the upper hand on you if that score is higher than your Awareness.

Ambidextrous. The ability to use two items or weapons at the same time.

I immediately thought of Awareness and having the mini-map. Being able to see my surroundings was exactly what I had wanted from the very beginning.

That didn’t mean it was the best choice.

I hesitated, thinking about the other two options. I wondered how many talents were in the system, and what the odds were I might get them as an option at one of my next few level ups.

The choice was much harder than I expected it to be. I didn’t want to waste too much time thinking about it, but I also didn’t want to pick something I might not need.

I narrowed my desire down to Ambidextrous or Awareness.

Being resilient was an excellent attribute, but I wasn't so sure I would need it at these lower levels.

If I died right away, so be it, I wouldn't have wasted points in a talent most likely designed to help a player survive extreme torment.

I was already a handyman, so I could add points to Handy whenever I wanted. Same for Negotiator.

If I chose Ambidextrous, I might be better prepared for large problems the game needed me to fix. Then again, I had no idea if using two tools at once was even required at lower levels.

I didn't work on big machinery in a factory, and I didn’t plan on being a handyman for the long haul.

The new mission did require that I find the local police station in order to speak to Officer Packley, and to find more information about Stalvek Dyomin and Billy Sadler.

Having the map would help get that accomplished, which would also get me to the next level that much faster.

Additionally, once I had the talent, I could choose when to increase it. There was no telling when I might get that option again.

Acting logically, I chose Awareness as my new talent.

Achievement: You Are Talented - You selected your first new talent. Congratulations.

I rolled my eyes, deciding I would definitely look for a way to mute or disable the achievements.

New Talent: Awareness - You now have a mini-map on your overlay that can be toggled on or off. You are aware of most players, NPCs, locations, and items within 100 feet of your location.

+100 XP

You have 1,300 XP total

You need 1,200 more XP to reach level 2