After much haggling and smooth-talking, Jack—or as he was now stuck calling himself, the Keeper—watched with an odd mixture of pride and relief as Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin himself, handed over a hefty wad of cash. The transaction felt almost surreal, like something out of a bizarre fever dream. Here he was, in a run-down interdimensional mall. selling futuristic stealth tech to one of Gotham’s most infamous crime lords.
Jack gave a quick glance at the items Oswald had picked out—an assortment of Fallout stimpaks, some enchanted throwing knives from a world Jack vaguely remembered from some fantasy RPG, and the crown jewel of the sale, the Stealth Boy. All in all, it was a pretty decent haul. Oswald counted out the bills with a practiced hand, his eyes gleaming with a mix of curiosity and satisfaction. The stealth boy from Fallout had already disappeared into Oswald’s coat, along with a few healing potions and some tactical gear from Call of Duty. Oswald was no fool—he understood the value of these cross-dimensional items, and he was willing to pay a hefty sum for them.
"That should do it," the Penguin said, tossing a large wad of cash onto the counter. His fingers drummed impatiently on his umbrella handle. "Hope you’re giving me the best deal, Keeper. I’m trusting you’re not overcharging a first-time customer.”
“But god'a say not bad, Keeper,” Penguin said with a smirk. “You’ve got yourself some interesting stock here. Might just have to pay you another visit.”
Jack tried to keep his cool, offering a nonchalant shrug. “Yeah, well, we aim to please. You won’t find stuff like this anywhere else.”
He watched closely as the cash hit the counter. It felt good—really good—to be making money again, even if it was in a bizarre place like this. But then something strange happened. As soon as the money hit his palm, a system notification blinked into his vision.
Currency detected: Would you like to convert to Mall Coins? Conversion rate: 1 Mall Coin = $10
Jack blinked. "Huh."
Oswald shot him a glance. “Problem?”
Jack quickly shook his head. “No, just... thinking.”
He mentally accepted the conversion, and immediately, the bills in his hand flickered out of existence. In their place, a small chime echoed in his mind.
You have gained 650 Mall Coins.
Jack’s heart skipped a beat. 650 Mall Coins in one transaction? That was more than he’d had in weeks of scraping together the last of his budget to fix up the general store and stock it along with The Glitch Zone. He had to fight the grin creeping onto his face. This was a goldmine.
"Everything’s good," Jack said, leaning back, trying to look more casual than he felt. "Transaction complete."
The Penguin eyed him for a moment, clearly sensing something unusual, but didn’t push it. He was still preoccupied with the Stealth Boy, turning it over in his hands like it was some rare diamond.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Perfect,” Jack said, casually leaning on the counter like he did this every day. “You’re all set. Hope those items work out for you.”
The Penguin nodded, clearly satisfied, and motioned for his men to follow him. They gathered their goods, casting wary glances around the strange store, still not entirely trusting the place.
As they moved to leave, Oswald stopped, turning back to Jack with a curious expression. “Tell me something, Keeper. Is this the only store you’ve got in this... Nexus Conduit? Or is there more to this place?”
After a few moments, Oswald looked around the dilapidated mall with a mix of curiosity and disdain. “Or, is this dump the only store you've got, or is there more to this place than cracked tiles and broken windows?”
Jack hesitated for a split second. He hadn’t planned on showcasing anything else just yet—especially not the other half-baked stores that were still in desperate need of repairs. But thinking on his feet, he knew he had to keep the Penguin interested.
Jack hesitated for half a second. The mall was, in all fairness, a disaster. He hadn’t had enough Mall Coins to fix up more than the general store and a couple of nearby sections. Still, the Penguin was asking, and the last thing Jack wanted was to lose a potential repeat customer.
“Well,” Jack began, thinking on his feet, “there is something else. Not quite as tangible as what you see here, but... pretty unique.”
Oswald arched an eyebrow. “Oh? And what would that be?”
Jack pointed down one of the long, dimly lit hallways, past a set of broken escalators. “There’s an internet café down that way. It’s not much to look at, but it’s got something pretty cool—a virtual experience. You sit down, click on a game, and you’re fully immersed. First-person, total sensory input. You’re in the game.”
Penguin's eyes lit up with intrigue. “Virtual, you say? What kind of games?”
Jack swallowed, his mind racing. He could tell the truth—the café only had two games, and they were both cobbled together from Call of Duty and Fallout titles—but that wouldn’t sound too impressive. He needed to sell it, make it sound like a one-of-a-kind experience.
“Right now, we’ve got two games available,” he said, trying to keep his voice steady. “One of them is a military simulation—everything from Black Ops to Cold War, fully immersive. The other is a post-apocalyptic survival game, like Fallout. You can jump into either one, and it’s twenty bucks an hour.”
Oswald eyed him with suspicion. “Twenty dollars for an hour in a virtual game?”
Jack nodded. “Yep. You won’t get an experience like this anywhere else, trust me. It’s called the... uh... Virtual Nexus.”
He winced inwardly. That was a terrible name, and he knew it. But it was better than the actual name, The Glitch Zone. He had no intention of revealing that little detail.
Oswald seemed to consider it, his sharp eyes scanning Jack’s face for any sign of a con. After a long, tense moment, he nodded slowly. “I might just take you up on that next time, Keeper. Sounds... interesting.”
Jack let out a silent breath of relief. “You won’t be disappointed.”
Penguin turned to his crew, motioning for them to gather their things. “Alright, boys. We’re done here. But keep this place in mind. Could be useful.”
As the group headed for the exit, Oswald gave Jack one last smirk. “You run an interesting operation, Keeper. I’ll be back. And next time, I expect even more... opportunities.”
Jack grinned, despite himself. “You got it. See you around, Oswald.”
As soon as the Penguin and his goons were out of sight, Jack leaned back against the counter, letting out a long, exasperated sigh. He had pulled it off—barely. The nerves, the improvising, the awkward banter... but it had worked. He’d made his first sale, gained a few hundred Mall Coins, and left Penguin curious enough to come back.
But there was still a lot to do. He couldn’t exactly keep calling his internet café The Glitch Zone, not if he wanted to avoid suspicion. He’d have to find a way to expand the game selection, maybe even upgrade the place if he could gather enough coins.
Still, for the first time in two years, Jack—The Keeper—felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe this crazy, interdimensional mall idea could actually work after all.
“Alright,” he muttered to himself, pushing off the counter and heading toward the café to make sure it was in working order. “Time to fix up The Glitch Zone. Or, uh, the Virtual Nexus.” He groaned again. “Man, I gotta get better at names.”
...
Jack leaned against the counter of the café, finally allowing himself to relax. His first customer—a crime boss from Gotham, no less—had not only bought some of his best stock but had also left intrigued by his little side attraction. And with the cash he’d earned, he had even more Mall Coins to restore the place.
Jack chuckled to himself, watching the Penguin and his crew disappear into the dim halls of the Nexus Conduit.
"Not bad for a day’s work," he muttered, eyeing the new Mall Coin total. "Not bad at all."
He just had to hope that things stayed on the up-and-up. After all, with a customer like Oswald Cobblepot, you never knew when a little favor might come back to haunt you.