CHAPTER 1: A SPECK OF GREEN
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I just got back home after checking my phone to see if any major territories had changed hands while I was making deals with shady businesses in an old dilapidated church where shady doctors tend to meet black market traders for the things they might not be able to get soon enough by legal means for important people. But something different caught my eye today when I was checking to see the way the map was divided. There was a new colour. Usually, the map is divided into pink, red and dark purple. But today an emerald speck caught my eye. I was caught off guard because it had been a long time since I’d possessed territory of my own in the grand scheme of things, but my name wasn’t on the key. There were the same three names and then a blank spot on the key that wasn’t there the day before. Mike’s colour was pink, Wade’s colour was red, and Rob’s colour was purple.
This blank name not only took my colour it took the spot where I just was, apparently, the old dilapidated church was just bought and plans had been put into place to have it fixed up and have it running again. If the church was bought by one of the three the colour wouldn’t have changed and it’s been pretty famous in the underworld for being a place where shady dealings go down and you usually have to reserve the spot through the new app that also lets you meet with whatever members you’d need to meet, usually lower positioned ones to start for your general shady dealings and such. Most police tend to steer clear of the app as most of the shady ones are using it to take bribes while the ones that try to use it in sting operations get found out too quickly thanks to the shady ones.
If the church had been bought by someone in the government, it would have been blacked out with the police stations and other neutral areas but for some reason it was green, and we didn’t know. Usually, churches and other such public places tend to seek protection from Wade and therefore turn their places red until someone else won the spot, but it was green… “why is it green?” [S]
“oh, the new church that’s been bought? They’re saying he bought it” [D] this was my friend David, he’s a bit slow and tends to talk before he thinks but he’s a good man all the same. “I see… and you’re not thinking of joining Him, are you?” [S]
“what? No, I’m having too much fun here. ‘sides, the church I go to pays its dues to Wade, I don’ wanna go to a church that might get shot up cause it’s unclaimed territory, plus It’s all busted up and everyt’ing”[D] he was right, most churches had paid their dues and while this church hadn’t despite it being a pretty popular spot for shady dealings it wasn’t the only one maybe there’d be peace for a while before someone tries to get it back then again it’s such a small spot and most of the people who went there were often put off by the fact that it used to be a church, even I can barely stand the place, and it’s not like we won’t be able to go back there and meet up to continue our deals it just might be awkward if they hire a priest to work there all the time. “you think anyone will miss that old dump?” [S]
“Prolly not, even non-religious people tend not to want to do shady things there, most the idols have been torn down but you can still see where they stood and it still feels like they’re standing there judging you even though they’re gone.”[D] One of the only reasons the place had been so popular was because it was such a disarming place. Even the police didn’t want to be there because you could feel the death of faith and the people walking out from this old, previously catholic church. The stained-glass windows were mostly broken, the pews had all been sold; the podium was broken though it was attached to the stage, the walls were rotten and falling apart in places. You could tell they tried and failed to do a type of religious painting on the ceiling like this was more an art project than a church. The place had actually been quite respectable looking when it was still running but I heard they got greedy and when they started asking their followers for too much and treating the congregation like second class citizens the people started falling away, I wouldn’t know most of this if it weren’t for my new assignment. “If it was him, we gotta find out why he bought it and why’d he pick now to join in the territory war” [S]
“maybe he didn’t think such a little thing would throw him into the territory war.” [E] This new voice was Even he was introduced to me by David one day while we were playing cards together. “he bought property and instead of going through the proper procedures to declare it neutral territory he just shut everyone out and decided against taking support from anyone. And why’d they give him my old colour?” [S]
“I heard one from his group after leaving their secret meeting talking about how the leader’s favourite colour is green but I didn’t figure it’d become his colour when I mentioned it to Felix”[E] Felix was in charge of telling people what properties had been won or lost at the weekly games the big three tend to play. He’s usually just their dealer but he also controls a good bit of information and generally keeps and sells the secrets, maybe he’d decided that this was the colour he’d give him should he ever openly gain territory. “you think someone from his group bought the church and that’s why Felix marked it green” [S]
“Makes sense, they probably don’t even know they put a target on themselves”[D] this whole time we’ve been talking we’ve been walking up the stairs to our respective apartments, we’re neighbours and while most of the people in this building work for Mike like me and Even, David here works for Rob and the landlord, Brian, works for Wade. As I got to my door David invited us over to his place for beer and a game of Uno but I was too tired from work and Even didn’t want to play if it was just going to be the two of them so we went our separate ways and I sat pondering over the assignment I’d been given. I usually don’t get work from Felix but as I’m a black-market tradesman I have to deal in information sometimes. I’d been asked to gather what little information I could from this new underground group that seems to be operating outside both the underworld’s and the law’s eyes normally this wouldn’t be a concern but both sides are worried that they might be a threat somehow. And since both sides want to know what they’re up against in case they are the price of information went up and since I recently got engaged and have been looking for money I took the job thinking it wouldn’t be much but… “they really don’t want anyone to know what they’re doing do they?”
I said this out loud to myself less for a response and more just voicing my frustrations. This was supposed to be an easy job, just listening to rumours, and checking over reports looking for inconsistencies. For now, I’ll just sleep and hopefully, the job won’t be too hard tomorrow.
The next day I was called into a meeting with Mike, we hadn’t spoken in a while, so I had a feeling this had to do with the events of the day prior. “why are you here Brian?”[S]
“I’ve accepted a job to guard you in case those weirdoes with all their secrets are violent. They’re probably not but Wade can’t be too careful” [B] as frightening as that man, Wade, made himself out to be he was kind at heart, in fact, the underworld as it is now isn’t exactly the den of thieves it used to be. Since the Government decided to be more like China’s government citizens have been losing their jobs and turning to crime just to feed themselves, Wade took in most of these people when this happened and since then people like Brian who have no business guarding anyone are given guard jobs and training. Having one of Wade’s guards protecting you is less about the guards and more about Wade. His fighting forces may be more quantity than quality but if you mess with one the quantity will be traded with the quality and you’ll be faced with the guards that won him his position among the big three. Brian guarding me is more symbolic than anything. People see Wade’s mark on Brian, and they steer clear of me.
When we got to the building Mike had turned into his base it was like an old abandoned Chuck E Cheese, he kept it looking intentionally run down so no uninvited guests would enter. Occasionally kids wander in as like a test of courage around Halloween. Mike sometimes turns the place into a haunted house around those times but doesn’t really hand out candies he just kind of scares the kids away, so they don’t go messing around the stuff he’s got hidden around the place. It might be more frightening for the kids to see what’s usually there underneath the Halloween decorations. There were bloodstains on the walls more of a permanent decoration that was decided to be left up. But in the freezers were hidden different organs and black-market goods like an inventory kept for if anyone in the business comes down with a certain organ failure and needs immediate attention they can call in some shady doctors and have them operate here. There was a fully equipped medical room hidden somewhere but I’d never seen it.
When we got to Mike’s desk it wasn’t Mike who greeted us but Felix. “Greetings Sean, I trust you’ve made some progress in your search for what those guys are doing right under our noses.” [F]
“I’m sorry I haven’t had much time to search around on my own I’ve mostly just been trying to fact check the information given to me.” [S]
“well… as important as it is that our information is accurate, I still want to know what they’re up to. You may not be the only one working this job, but Mike said you’re probably the most qualified so I’m trusting you to lead the charge into finding out who they are and what they want.” [F]
“why me? Does Mike know something we don’t” [S]
“Just a hunch based on current information” [M] Mike entered the room with a half-eaten slice of pizza in his hand. He was wearing a plastic crown and undersized kingly robe. He liked to wear them whenever he was here, says it reminds him of better days. Otherwise, he was wearing a tux you’d expect to find on a mob boss with a gun in his side holster. He looked at me through his darkened glasses and though he presented himself as a king he greeted me like a friend. “Sean it’s been ages. How are you? How’s the family?” [M]
“um good, marginally less good than before but altogether I can’t complain” [S]
“I see you still haven’t found that hat you lost back when you still held power, I’d lend you my crown but I’m afraid it’s been made for my head so it might be a little big for you.” [M]
“I’m guessing I wasn’t brought here just for Felix to give me more work.” [S]
“What? Oh no. I called you here to play a game with you if I win you have to go and join up with those guys to help us figure out who they are and what they want if you win you can ask me for anything up to the territory you lost when we used to gamble all those years ago.” [M]
“that doesn’t sound like it’s fair for you though. Everyone else we sent in was kicked out almost immediately. What makes me so important that they’d let me in and not them.” [S]
“oh come now old bean, I’m sure you’ve realized by now they tend to take people from both us and the law. Didn’t you ever think to look into who those people are and how they used to live?” [M]
“Um… I guess most of them used to be rich and suddenly lost everything or never had anything and when the group came upon them, they joined up almost like it was the natural thing to do.” [S]
“Exactly they’ve all seemed to have lost something.” [F]
“And you’ve lost quite a bit old friend,” [M] he cut the cards as he talked. “but all of those guys were resentful in some way. I’m just the loser in a friendly game, and it’s not like I really lost anything I just ended up doing the same thing I used to except with a boss.” [S]
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“Old friend, I believe the one common denominator in all the people who have left us is that they lost their freedom. They’ve lost the right to wage war on the streets with no one stopping them, they’ve lost the right to profit off of other people’s desperation and stupidity. They’ve lost the right to call themselves the top of the food chain and in that desperation, they reached deep into the unknown and are now too deep to leave. I want you to wade into those waters and tell me what lies at the depths of that abys because if it’s you they just might let you.” [M]
I pondered over his words for a bit as Felix grabbed a slice of pizza and offered me a drink from the fridge in Mike’s office. Mike and I had been old friends and I told him I’d consider it if we could play a few games with nothing at stake first. This might be a job I won’t be able to come back from. That’s the only reason he’s offered me back what he’d taken from me all those years ago and even if he did, I was still taking a job from Felix and would have to try something like this at some point. Not to mention if I win, I’ll end up getting invited to their periodical games to gamble away the territories I would get back. On about my third hand on the fourth game we played, I realized something. “You kept my old stomping grounds just to have a piece to gamble against me if you wanted something didn’t you?” [S]
“Well, I wonder about that…” [M] he finished his pizza and grabbed another slice. “Maybe I’m not the only one who believes in you… maybe Rob or Wade offered to give you back your old land if you asked for it in our next game… that is of course if you can beat me.” [M]
“Please, I’ve won more hands than you and we’re not even playing for anything” [S]
“Maybe you’re only winning because I haven’t been taking these games seriously” [M] you could see the frustration in his eyes, hidden though they were like he was just putting on a brave face he didn’t want to admit that if our hands turned out like this all those years ago perhaps our roles would have been reversed and it would be me offering him this job, and he’d probably take it, knowing him he can’t go too long without donating to charity, he gets too worried about the less fortunate he’s simply too nice for his line of work, though he does have the temper for it. He seems to be hiding it; like he’s trying really hard to convince me. “alright I’ve decided I’ll take your bet. Just make sure if I end up getting myself too deep into this and it’s something dangerous, you’ll keep my wife safe.” [S]
“Alright, but the game we’ll be playing won’t be played with cards. Today we’re betting it all on a game of skill.” [M] and then he brought out an old arcade game I knew quite well, one probably from the old arcade part of this building back when the building was operational Street Quarrels. “My buttons aren’t going to stick, are they? The deal’s off if this machine is broken in your favour.” [S]
“Now, now, have you ever known me to be the type to cheat at anything?” [M]
“You brought me a game you clearly know I’m better than you at so, of course, I’m going to think you’ve got something up your sleeve.” [S]
“I swear on the entirety of my position and power I have done nothing to cheat with this machine, Felix as my witness” [M] Felix was a neutral party and was generally regarded, by those less knowledgeable, to be untrustworthy but he didn’t just sell information he also kept secrets. If he was paid enough, he’d keep your secret hidden as long as you pay the occasional, (someone tried to buy your information) fee. He generally didn’t sell your information if he felt it was more profitable to let you continue paying him off for his secrecy and though he’s not one of the big three he holds about as much authority as he has no land to gamble there’s not much reason for him to participate in their little games except that it gives him plenty of secrets and he in kind gives secrets to them. So, I knew I could trust Felix if not Mike. As I looked to him, I saw him nod so I took this opportunity and I played his game, I placed my bet.
I won.
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Mike’s POV
After all, my time practising, honing my skills and improving at the one game anyone’s ever had a chance at beating me in. After having the machine repaired so I could practice my skills against Felix and my other friends. After becoming the best at this game, I could possibly be. I lost to button mashing. It was at least a close match. Maybe I had gotten too confident in my skills once I beat everyone around me and rushed this bit but, “A deal’s a deal. Felix do the thing” [M] I looked elsewhere as Felix brought out a laptop and began turning Sean’s old territory from Pink to Gold as he was going to have to deal with not having his old colour. “Why do I still not get green?” [S]
“I already set aside green for the guy we don’t know anything about. If you want green you gotta take it from him” [F]
“oh yeah, that reminds me” [M] I pulled out an envelope sealed with a wax seal I had made specifically for when I wanted to make an invitation look that much fancier. “as a fellow holder of territory in the underworld you will now be invited to attend our games. You won’t have to attend them all but if you want your land back that I’d lost to Rob and Wade you’re going to have to play them for it” [M]
“I thought you said they wanted me to go undercover just as much as you did” [S]
“they do, that’s exactly why they refused to just hand over your land to me when I told them I was going to make this bet” [M]
“you’ll still be investigating him though right?” [F]
“Yeah, yeah, put me back in touch with my old drinking buddies I at least want to get back my old gang if I’m going to do both work and the territory betting wars.” [S]
“Don’t worry old chap, the three of us have become good friends as of late if you make a good impression on them, and I’m sure you will, they’re sure to not take too much from you.” [M]
“Though it’d be best you keep this a secret from as many people as possible” [F] Sean looked confused as he looked at his phone and the territory he’d just won before he noticed a small asterisk by his name and colour on the key which led him to read the little footnote on the bottom of the screen “only visible to parties concerned, so nobody will know until I’ve won all my land back?” [S]
“it’s not that we just feel it’d be best not to close all doors before we’ve had a chance to see where they lead. You understand that in this business some secrecy has to be kept. Besides, a lot of the members of your old group joined up with him instead of us when he started growing in the shadows. At first, we thought they were just done with life in the underworld but the way their movements and actions are going it seems they’re growing in numbers while seeking out their old friends.” [M]
“We think the reason they don’t go looking for you is that they think you’re still well off enough even without having the authority you once had. If they find out, you got your land back they might run away altogether” [F]
“We know where your old friends go to gather support, it’s actually an old bar you used to use as a base. You remember it don’t you?” [M] I was of course referring to an old bed and breakfast style tavern with an in on the upper floor. It wasn’t run down or anything, in fact, it was fully operational. The store’s front was a regular place to stay the night if you’re too drunk to drive home. But in reality, it was his main hang out and a good deal of his old friends still frequented the place after he stopped going because it reminded him of what he’d lost… or at least that’s the only reason I can think of why he wouldn’t want to go back.
“ah and since I’d just won the place back, I’m going to end up going there anyway” [S]
“the illusion of choice, well you don’t have to go right back you still have to move your stuff from your new apartment anyway.” [M]
“I could just stay and run the bar from afar collecting information from whispers overheard by the bartenders.” [S]
“yes that is how we’ve been getting out information thus far but it’s not going much further than what we already have and what we have isn’t enough to know what they want and what they’re doing” [F]
“just come to our game on Saturday night we’ll talk more then.” [M] I then handed him some special poker chips each marked with addresses. “what’s this?” [S]
“it’s how we’ve been gambling for land and keeping track of who owns what all the time. There are microchips in the chips so when the chips trade hands they change the colour of the boundaries they represent to the person they’re given to. As long as you have the app anyway. But the only chip you’ll be needing to bet is this one.” [M] I handed him a black chip with just the words single command written on it. His eyes seemed to widen with realization as to how we’ve managed to keep playing for so long.
“Felix will get you more chips like this if you manage to win back all your land. These are the chips we bet when we run out of land to bid. If you lose it you have to obey one command from the person you lost it to, and we’ve all agreed to make you go undercover if you lose this first one. Normally we use them to ask each other unreasonable favours or just to humiliate them among ourselves for our own amusement but just this once we’ll have you play for your right to refuse to join up with the hidden people and tell us what they want and why they move the way they do.” [M]
“right I got it. If I can join back in on the territory war I get more favour chips and we can just keep playing indefinitely.” [S]
“that chip is also a mark of your authority. Show it to someone you trust, and they’ll know you’re a member of our betting circle. If you find old buddies, you trust to keep your reclaimed authority a secret, show them the chip and tell them to regroup as secretly as possible” [M]
“not a small amount of my followers have joined up with him and actually stayed” [F]
“Oh, I get it now, you’re trying to send me to them while making sure I have my feet firmly planted on this side, right?” [S]
“We don’t know how they’re keeping their hold on their followers and it’s not like we can tell at a glance who’s with him and who isn’t” [M] I had another game scheduled for tonight but as Sean has other things to attend to I invited him to Saturday night’s game because I need to let them know I lost beforehand too. After a brief continuation of our conversation I sent him off and sat a bit disappointed at my desk. “why didn’t he just lose when I was so close to beating him” [M]
“probably because he wasn’t taking it as seriously until he saw how serious you were taking it. You probably scared him.” [F]
“I know I’ve not spent much time with him since we used to gamble but I’ve never known him to back down from a challenge. That’s part of the reason I asked for him to take this job” [M]
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Sean’s POV
That was a bit unsettling. They probably think I’ll just go undercover, and everything will be fine. That I’ll just roll over and do as I’m told because it’s in my nature to see things through. But if I have my authority, I can see things through without it having to be me. I can send someone else to do it… but is there anyone I can rust to do this? That’s probably why they wanted me to do it. Otherwise, they’d have just threatened me into doing it, saying something like. ‘This is your job you ought to take it more seriously’. As I sat at home pondering over the events of the day I looked over new documents and confirming thigs as either reliable or unreliable. Making sure rumours weren’t trusted completely and looking into the things said by the spies that had been sent before they were fully accepted and then fully cut ties with Felix.
From what they were saying a few things seemed to line up. The man in charge liked to dress well eat cheap and had his eyes constantly covered. His name was never spoken, and it was hard to determine his race as he knew multiple languages. He tended to speak quietly so it was hard to hear him and people often talked over him without meaning to. These were the consistencies in their reports, the rest all seemed to go in wild and different directions. Some say he’s a horrible drunkard while others say he hates the taste of alcohol. Some say he smokes like a volcano and others say he can’t stand to be around a lit cigarette. Some call him a culinary genius others say his food is burnt and terrible. And no one seems to give a straight answer on what his face looks like. “it seems he dresses people up like himself when meeting people like he knows we’re after him and is protecting himself behind people who are pretending to be him, but then why do they do such different portrayals of his character.” [S]
The invitation I’d received from Mike lay open on my desk at home it had a date a place and another sealed envelope
Ol’ chap I know it seems rather strange to be treating you this way after you’ve just proven yourself in a game of wits and reclaimed that which was rightfully yours. But could I do you the greatest of inconveniences to put this second invitation in the hands of one of the hidden people? It shouldn’t be too hard. If you give it to someone who seems to be a bit… off in comparison to those around them in the police station and tell them it’s for the leader of the people who meet in secret I’m sure you can get it to him but you and I both know there’s a better way. And besides, you’ll get to drink at your favourite old pub again. This other invitation is scheduled for a date separate from yours is for so there’s no reason to be afraid he’ll know you to have regained what you’ve lost just find their group and get the letter into their hands.
Your dear friend Michel Schwartz
After finally getting my old home back I’ve also been demoted to delivery boy… well if this doesn’t get those guys interested in scouting me out I don’t know what will. Not that I’ve decided on my own to go undercover. But I do miss Shirsha’s cooking. “I’m going to the Top of the morning tavern. I’ve got some work to do.” [S]