Chapter 12 - Shopping

Leaving the Archives, I traversed through The Commons until I reached the Supply Depot, sparkling like a jewel in the night. I entered, noticing the same elderly woman sitting behind the checkout counter as before. No parasol this time.

She gave a polite nod. I wasn’t sure if she remembered me, but she lowered a paperback she was reading titled Die Verwandlung and smiled expectantly, wrinkles stretching across the liver spotted skin of her face. I noticed she wore earrings in the shape of crescent moons.

Any rain in forecast?

“Oh ho ho. Not yet, dear. Come to do some shopping?”

Yes. How does one go about that?

“On this floor you have your miscellaneous odds and ends, trinkets and doodads. You can search the aisles and bring any item back here for purchase, or you can shop by menu if you are in a rush. Downstairs we have cosmetics and body modification.”

She stretched out her hand and pointed to a spiral staircase leading down to a sublevel of the building. I noticed that the staircase also led to an upper floor.

And upstairs?

“Off limits. Temporarily.”

I see.

“This cycle there is a 30% discount or more on select hairstyles. And facial tattoos are buy-two-get-one free for a limited time. Our specials and sales always rotate, so be sure to check back often.”

She smiled and resumed reading her book. I wondered if a ‘cycle’ had something to do with the unusual rain, but hesitated to ask. The words of Camel rang in my ear. ‘It purges the system memory cache. Reboots the programs.’

Anyway, I had my shopping list. I was on the lookout for Pure Water. Soon enough, I found it on a shelf of other consumable items.

Was this something I could drink? Or was it only something to craft with? I recalled the beverage I consumed down in the Rathskeller. I had no physiological need for food or drink (and my avatar presumably had no digestive system), but the drink felt and tasted very real.

The psychological pleasure of an artificial act was tangible, and looking at, of all things, packets of instant ramen noodles lining the nostalgia goods shelves, I imagined my mouth watering. Ones and zeroes. Neurons firing.

I resisted the impulse and focused back on the Pure Water. At this time It was offered in two varieties. Vials and bottles. I tried to pick up the 3D rotating image of the vial. The image became temporarily fuzzy as it moved, but yet it maintained a subtle substance in my grasp. Concentrating, I selected the item.

[Item: Pure Water (Vial)

Quantity: 1

Cost: 50 Crypt]

I set it down and picked up the glass bottle, which appeared larger.

[Item: Pure Water (Bottle)

Quantity: 3

Cost: 125 Crypt]

So there was a slight discount to buying in bulk. Still, I was acutely aware of my dwindling finances. Not knowing if attempting to craft would even be worth it, I hesitated. Doing the math, purchasing the bottle would knock me down to 845 Crypt. But I did have three fern flowers.

I also noticed on the shelves a small piece of White Linen Cloth.

[Item: White Linen Cloth

Quantity: 1

Cost: 50 Crypt]

I figured that I could experiment with each of these materials and save the third fern flower for future use. I decided to go with one Vial of Pure Water and one swatch of White Linen Cloth.

Stolen story; please report.

I wondered if I could place the unpurchased items in my inventory temporarily, but I could not, so I carried them to the counter. The woman opened a special vendor menu in the air in front of me and we made the exchange. I dragged 100 Crypt over to her menu and the holographic items were solidified as the purchased items materialized in my hands.

I added them to my inventory and then checked my Inventory, Economy, and Memory menus.

[INVENTORY

* MATERIALS

* * 3 {common} fern flowers (3 metabytes)

* * 1 pure water (1 metabyte)

* * 1 white linen cloth (1 metabyte)

ECONOMY

* CRYPT

* * 870 (8.7 metabytes)

MEMORY

* STORAGE

* * 197.7 / 210]

“Thank you and come again.”

I was ready to head next door to the Armory, but out of curiosity I made my way to the spiral staircase and peered down. The lower floor seemed deserted, with large bright panels on the walls reflecting off a shiny black slate floor. I gripped the ivory white railing and made my way down twisting transparent steps to the sublevel.

To one side of the floor-to-ceiling panels, a familiar red light waited. I scanned my barcode and the panels sprung to life. I saw my avatar splayed out, rotating, magnified to twice my size or more on the central screen. The panel to the left displayed a menu of body modification options and the panel to the right displayed cosmetic options.

Many were familiar from my time in the Orientation, but I scrolled through the available options anyhow. Some I did not recognize, possibly newer additions, and some were highlighted on a rotating carousel at the top of each panel.

Under body modification, I noticed several options for customized voices. All were out of my price range, even though Mellifluous and Lilting were both discounted by 20%. I saw one Ultra Premium voice labeled Morgan Freeman selling for 200,000 Crypt.

I turned my attention to the carousel, which showed five different hairstyles currently on sale: Cornrows, Temple Fade, Quiff, Disheveled Mushroom, and Wavy Asymmetrical Crop. All were listed at 30% off, but I stopped cold and stared at an inviting, bold red number next to the Wavy Asymmetrical Crop. 50% off. Intrigued, I hovered over the option for more information.

[Hairstyle: Wavy Asymmetrical Crop

Color: Black

Cost: 500 Crypt (250 with 50% discount)]

Call it vanity. Call it foolishness. Call it a waste. But I purchased that hairstyle.

[Wavy Asymmetrical Crop hairstyle (black) selected. Selection confirmed. Would you like to apply this change?]

Yes I would.

Soon, medium length wavy black hair materialized over my bald pate, falling over the right side of my face. The rotating visualization of my avatar in the central screen instantly reflected the change. I ran a hand through my new locks. They were as firmly rooted in my skin as if I had always possessed them.

Although I still had the most generic starter features imaginable (an almond-skinned, nondescript androgynous person in black coveralls), I felt a swell of something that can only be described as pride. This pleasurable feeling was instantly matched with the aversive, negative valence of seeing my diminished Crypt.

[ECONOMY

* CRYPT

* * 620]

Caveat emptor. Alas, I was tired of feeling like an overlooked non-entity in this world. There was always more money to be made. I hoped.

I searched my menu to see where the body modification might appear but I could not find it. I guess my physical appearance was all the proof I needed. I inferred that cosmetic purchases might be reflected somewhere within my nested menus, but body modification was a one-time application. I wouldn’t be keeping any spare hairstyles or appendages in my inventory for later use.

I realized I had never delved into the History submenu, and decided to take a quick look.

[MEMORY

* HISTORY

* * Applied Wavy Asymmetrical Hairstyle (black)

* * Purchased Wavy Asymmetrical Hairstyle (black) for 250 Crypt

* * Accessed the Body Modification menu in the Supply Depot sublevel

* * Entered the sublevel of the Supply Depot

* * Supply Depot vendor said, “Thank you and come again.”

* * Purchased one White Linen Cloth from the Supply Depot vendor

* * Purchased one Vial of Pure Water from the Supply Depot vendor

…………..

It went on and on. I was startled.

There was a running, real-time record of my actions and movements within The Collective. Things I said. Places I went. All the way back to when I awoke in the Orientation. Of course, I had to have known that the System was tracking me. That’s what systems do. Nevertheless it was disconcerting to be so nakedly exposed before that watchful eye. Data of every behavior and spoken word.

What about my thoughts? Were they keeping a record of my thoughts as well?

Maybe there was some use for this History feature, but for now I didn’t care to bother with it. Lost in these and other thoughts, I climbed the stairs and quickly exited back out onto the street. The old woman began to say something as I passed but I didn’t hear it.

I took a moment to get my bearings, then crossed the dark pavement and headed for the Armory.