Volume 1 - Chapter 19

Guilds?

It was quiet for a minute, so I glanced at my screens while Jason wasn’t talking.

All the other small missions had given me one hundred experience, so I had no reason to believe the system had split my reward.

“Jason,” I asked, “did you get any experience from that?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I’m not part of your mission. I’m pretty sure we can’t share missions until we're both level two. That’s when the social screen unlocks. I got that one, but you don’t yet, right?"

"Nope."

"It lets you form parties and send private postage.”

I nodded. “Makes sense.”

It was the first time I had information about an unlock before actually receiving it. then I wondered if I was holding him up from finishing his own story.

“You have a mission going right now?” I asked.

He nodded. “A side thing, yeah. For one hundred points. Just turned in my big one a little bit ago when I said no to The Borrell Family. They kept trying to recruit me.”

“And you said no?” I asked. “How did they take that?”

He shook his head. “Not good at all, man. Let me tell you, some of the things I found out doing their missions! Horrible stuff. You don’t want anything to do with those guys. No way I would ever work with them! Same for The Green Fists!”

I nodded, a smile at the edge of my lips. Based on what I knew about all three, Jason made a good call.

“What about The Cortez Family?”

“Just as bad as the others probably. Don’t know for sure though. This whole place is rotten, but hey, we gotta play the game, right?”

"Yeah," I said.

Happy with Jason's answer, I was starting to like the guy. He talked a bit too much for my taste, but that wasn't my biggest concern with him.

Based on everything he'd already shared with me, he was quick to act without thinking a situation through. If we teamed up together to do jobs, that might become a liability.

His eyes locked onto something down the street. Jason jerked a thumb over his shoulder, and I turned to look where he pointed.

There was a suspicious man in a trench coat walking along the opposite side of the street.

"Speaking of The Cortez Family," he said. "That's one of their guys right now, scoping us out. You catch what people say about them?"

I nodded slowly, looking at the man. I could also see his dot on my mini-map. I thought about what I'd learned so far, and about the three folders full of stuff I hadn't learned yet. Jason didn't need to know any of that just yet.

"Hard to miss," I said. "Seems like they're making moves, trying to muscle in on The Greenies’ territory."

"Exactly." Jason's expression turned serious. "Which means we've gotta be careful who we throw in with around here. From what I've seen so far, none of these gangs are trustworthy. I can't even be sure of you."

That made me hesitate. I felt exactly the same way about him, but it was weird to hear someone else say it so bluntly.

Was he being cautious, or had I not been paying attention to his alignment? I pulled up my affiliations screen, checking his status again.

Jason was actually enemies with The Borrell Family and still neutral with The Green Fists and The Cortez Family. Interesting. He was in a worst situation than I was, though not by much.

"You've got a point there," I said carefully. "Can't trust any of 'em as far as you can throw 'em. Which is why I've been taking my time. I don't want to join any gang that's like these horrible people."

"What about guilds?"

"Guilds?" I asked, having not heard the term used in-game yet. "What's that mean? Are they different from gangs?"

Jason shrugged. "Don't know. Overheard some NPCs talking about the good old days when guilds were in charge instead of gangs. Didn't think much about it."

The idea made sense to me, although most games had one or the other, and not both. If there were multiple ways of exerting control over something within the game, it usually just made things too confusing.

I leaned back against the wall and crossed my arms. "Way I figure it, if we can't trust any of the gangs, then maybe banding together with other players to make our own is the way to go."

Jason raised an eyebrow at my suggestion. "I like that, but I don't think we're ready to start a gang."

"I don't want to be a gang," I said, "I want to do things a different way. What more do you know about these guilds?"

"Huh." Jason scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Can't say I know much about guilds to be honest. Other than how they work in, y'know, other more normal games."

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The now familiar, crotchety old voice piped up from the apartment doorway.

"That's because you're both a couple of ignorant whipper-snappers!"

Ms. Harmon stood there, arms crossed, fixing us with a stern look. My face heated up with surprise. I hadn't realized the NPC had been listening in the whole time.

Jason recovered first, giving the old woman a disarming grin. "Well now, Ms. Harmon, no need to be like that. We're just a couple guys trying to learn our way around this place."

She snorted derisively. "Is that what you're calling it? 'Cause from where I'm standing, it looks like you're just flapping your gums without a lick of sense between you."

Ouch, I thought, wincing in mock pain. I decided to try a more diplomatic approach. "Actually, ma'am, we're just discussing guilds. You seem to know a thing or two about them?"

For a moment, her weathered features softened. "You could say that, son. I used to be part of one myself, back in the day."

"So they do still exist around here?"

"In a manner of speaking." Ms. Harmon stepped out onto the rickety balcony, leaning against the railing. "They're around, sure enough. But they're a pale shadow of what they once were, when this city was a very different place."

I glanced at Jason, who shrugged, just as intrigued as I was. "What happened? If you don't mind me asking."

Ms. Harmon was quiet for a long moment, her gaze distant as she stared out across the yard. When she spoke again, her voice was heavy with something like regret.

"The gangs happened, that's what. They came swarming in like locusts, ignoring every rule and code the guilds had in place to keep order. A lot of the old guard didn't have any way to defend themselves against such brutal, underhanded tactics."

I leaned in closer as Ms. Harmon continued, her words carrying a weight that came from hard-earned experience.

"See, back then the guilds tried to keep things civilized, working within the system," she said, a rueful twist to her lips. "But when push came to shove, all that bureaucracy didn't amount to much. A loaded gun pointed at you is a lot more convincing in a moment of panic than something like verbally threatening to raise taxes, or voting on some new bylaw."

Jason let out a low whistle. "So what, the gangs just started muscling in with brute force?"

"You got it." Ms. Harmon nodded grimly. "Didn't matter how well-intentioned a guild was, how much they tried listening to their people and making changes to help the community. If the wrong crew decided they wanted a piece of the action, most didn't have any way to fight back."

I frowned, mulling over her words. "So... they just got wiped out? Seems like a damn shame, if they were actually trying to do some good."

"It is a shame," Ms. Harmon agreed. "But that's just how it went. Most guilds died out before they could build up enough combat or fighting related talents. They’d gone soft without any real fights.”

A thought occurred to me then. If there were still remnants of the old guilds lingering, maybe they could provide some insight, or even an opportunity.

I asked, “where would somebody go to try and find one of these guilds nowadays? You know, to learn more about how they operated back in the day."

Ms. Harmon fixed me with a level stare. "Oh, you don't want to go down that road, son."

I blinked, taken aback. "Why not?"

She shrugged, a weary gesture. "All the guilds that are still hanging around now are just the oldest, most set-in-their-ways relics. They failed to adapt when the city went to hell, and now they're trapped in the past, clinging to outdated ideas that won't do you any good."

"But..." I floundered for a moment. "Isn't there a way to, I don't know... start fresh? Build something new, using what worked from the old systems while coming up with new ideas to get these gangs under control?”

For a long moment the NPC was silent, seeming to weigh her response. Finally, she nodded.

"I suppose there could be, at that. If you had the right people committed to the cause." She eyed Jason and I appraisingly. "It wouldn't be easy, mind you. You'd need at least three willing founders, all level five or higher. Gotta have some experience under your belts first. Then there's the matter of getting enough funds together. You need fifty bucks total, just to get the paperwork filed."

My eyes widened at the sum. "Fifty dollars? Just for the application?"

Ms. Harmon snorted. "Government bureaucracy hasn't changed much in that regard, I'd wager. But if you could cover that fee, get the necessary signatures..." She shrugged again. "Then it's just a matter of trekking over to Grimsborough Heights District Hall and making it official on the registry."

I glanced over at Jason, seeing the glint of determination in his eyes that matched my own.

Starting our own guild? Bringing a new sense of order to this chaotic city? It was a hell of an undertaking, and a crazy idea.

But if we could pull it off? That might be the only way to survive without picking the side of one of these awful gangs.

Jason asked, “what about starting a gang? How expensive is that?”

Ms. Harmon shook her head. “No cost, son, but you still need three founders at level five. Comes with a different set of mechanics that counter the ones in the guilds. Even if you wanted to be some type of alternative style gang with real morals and ethics, you wouldn’t be able to. Gangs cause too much fear and oppression. It’s just how things work.”

Jason looked defeated. “Man, that sucks. Why us good guys always gotta play by the rules?”

Ms. Harmon laughed. “No one said you was a good guy. Couple of lazy kids is all I see!”

The old woman winked at me, cracked a grin, and then slammed her front door shut. That left Jason and myself in amusement, standing in her front yard.

After getting a short lesson about guilds from Ms. Harmon, I knew we would need more than three people if we wanted to stay alive.

Once players like Stalvek started attacking us, we still had to survive long enough to file the paperwork. Then, we would still need to stay alive. I was sure that some simple paperwork wouldn't protect us from a player like that.

Staying in conversation with Jason McArthur but changing the subject, I asked him more questions.

"Anything special happen when you hit level two?"

He grinned. "Besides the social screen, it’s pretty awesome. You get a new talent point, of course, to spend however you want."

I raised my eyebrows. "That's it?"

Jason chuckled. "Hey, it may not sound like much, but it makes a big difference out here. At level one I had Pockets as an option. Gave me two extra miscellaneous slots, and I get two more with each point increase. I didn’t like my options at level two so I did that one again and now I have ten slots total.”

"Pockets, huh?" I mulled that over.

Jason having two extra slots per point made me a little bit jealous, but then I knew there were trade offs. He apparently didn’t have Awareness, which meant he had no mini-map.

“What other talents are there besides that?"

"Well, I’m not sure, but I know I turned down Chemistry and History at level one, and then Resilience, Occult, and Medicine at level two. I probably should have gone with Medicine, but I was in a hurry and wanted more inventory slots.”

I completely agreed with him on that one. Provided with those three options, I would have picked Pockets as well.

His second set of options would have been more difficult for me. I would have gone with Medicine or Occult, but it was his character, not mine.

My brows furrowed. "Occult? What the hell is that used for? Vampires and dark horrors?"

Jason shrugged. "I didn’t read if it was about knowledge of the occult or to fight against the occult. Sorry."

I nodded. “That’s alright. What about Medicine?”

“Yeah…” he seemed upset. “I almost picked that one but it said it was knowledge of medicine and not the application of medicine, so I passed in favor of two more inventory slots.”

His thinking made plenty of sense to me.

Then Jason McArthur openly told me one of the most important aspects of himself. Very few people in life shared their weaknesses with strangers, and this gave me good reason to trust him.

“Sometimes I make bad decisions quickly,” he said, “always have and always will. But I don’t plan on being a healer or some type of support character, you know what I mean? I want to sneak around and kill and blow stuff up.”

I nodded. I could already tell he was going to be very good at fighting in this game. If we teamed up, he would probably save us from problems he made while doing or saying something stupid.

I decided I liked Jason McArthur, at least for the time being.