Kayla made a smooth landing into Mitte, landing at the city’s airport. Thanks to their superior speed, starships could travel much farther distances with less time, thus they had options for a ten-minute and thirty-minute rent. It cost more, though, those ten minutes cost far more compared to an hour in a car.
Anton and Kayla ended up hanging around the ship for a while, playing with its systems while waiting for it to disappear. Once their lease ended and it disappeared, they made their way out of the airport.
“Should we take a taxi?” Kayla asked.
“It isn’t far from here. Renting a car would be a waste.”
“Alright, then,” Anton said before opening his virtual screen. He went to the taxi app and ordered a car. It took only thirty seconds before a taxi arrived in front of them.
The two entered the backseat and the driver drove away. They made their way down the winding streets of the city. Mitte, more like a village compared to an actual city, had a peaceful atmosphere. Not many people lived here resulting in even less activity when compared to Oakport. The taxi drove through narrow streets, driving carefully through the asphalt streets. Lines of brown wooden houses occupied both sides of the streets. Anton watched his surroundings as buildings passed, noticing the many shops and cafes occupying said buildings’ lower floors.
“We should get a cup of hot chocolate sometime,” Kayla said as she looked out the other side of the window.
“Sure. How about we grab one right after we return from Rodley?” Anton asked, prompting Kayla to turn his way.
“Great idea,” she said with an excited smile.
The taxi continued down the winding roads. It accelerated, only to brake a short moment later as it turned a u-turn before speeding up again. It went through several twists and turns before eventually hitting an intersection and turning left. It took them down a straight road, directly toward the Rodley company building. A large bubble engulfed the complex, although this one looked different compared to the one on the moon. For one, it wasn’t made out of glass. The car passed right through it, meaning that it had no protective capabilities. Its function became apparent as soon as they went past it.
Loud bangs and booms could be heard echoing in the distance as the taxi made its way closer to the building. Anton reached for his setting and toned the sound effects all the way down, until it was nothing but little humms. In the wild, sound provided an essential warning to the dangers lurking near them, but this being inside a peace zone, the only dangers were to his virtual ear from hearing all the weapon testing going on within the complex.
The taxi came to a stop in front of the main lobby. The Rodley building looked like a massive white container with around one kilometer in length. Other than windows decorating the sides and the Rodley logo above the entrance, it had no interesting visual features.
Anton paid for the taxi fare and got out. The taxi then turned and drove away.
“Let’s go,” Kayla said. Anton followed as they took the steps toward the two glass doors that guard the entrance.
Upon entering, they went past security checks that serve no purposes other than for visual appeal. Security guards pretended to check them for explosives and weapons, but since all of their weapons were stored inside their inventory, the search found nothing. Even if he had his weapons outside, all they would do was tell him that he needed to store them.
After clearing security, the two went up to the reception desk at the end of the lobby. Four different military vehicles were on display, each sporting different specifications. Anton already knew what he wanted, so he headed straight for the reception.
“I would like to buy a Tarup 57,” Anton said.
“Please wait a moment,” the receptionist replied. She scrolled through the virtual screen behind the reception desk and clicked a contact.
“We got customers, they want the Five-Seven,” the receptionist said through the microphone in front of her.
“Please wait a moment. One of our sales staff will be with you shortly. For the moment, feel free to wait over there,” the receptionist stood up and pointed toward a gray empty couch between two of their displayed vehicles.
“Thank you,” Kayla replied. The two of them then made their way to the couch. As the receptionist said, it didn’t take long before an NPC wearing formal clothing approached them, a folder in his hand. Seeing him, Kayla stood up.
“Thank you for your patience,” the man said, shaking Kayla’s hand first before shaking Anton’s. Kayla then sat back down, the salesperson sitting down across them.
“I heard you wanted to buy the Tarup 57. Is that correct?”
“Yes,” Anton answered.
“Brilliant choice. We are delighted to know you trust our products,” the salesperson went through his folder, pulling out several pieces of paper detailing the specifications of the vehicle.
In the market, the vehicle’s specifications had a graph style to them, where the comparisons were made based on lines that showed just how good or bad a vehicle is in a particular category. What stood in front of them, however, were numbers. The first page showed the Tarup 57’s picture. It featured eight wheels that supported a boxy, brick-like body with a sloped front. It had a turret on top, above the vehicle’s midsection, that sported the vehicle’s weapons.
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Behind that picture were lines and lines and lines of numbers, specifications, and explanations that Anton couldn’t be bothered with. He already had enough headaches with coding, so he regulated that duty to Kayla. He tapped Kayla’s shoulders, prompting her to spring into action.
That is, to start reading everything from start to finish.
After Kayla finished, she and the salesperson started discussing the vehicle. Anton, meanwhile, took one of the candies from the glass plate in front of him. He took one with a picture of an orange on it, ripped the packaging off, threw the candy into his mouth, stuffed the wrapping in his pocket, and leaned back on the chair, doing all this while Kayla had a serious discussion with the salesperson.
Anton occasionally heard things like ‘how’s the armor?’ ‘what possible weapon options?’ and ‘off-road capabilities?’. While Kayla had her discussion, Anton instead fiddled with his virtual screen, candy in his mouth. Bored, he searched for other players' comments on the vehicle.
Eventually, Kayla’s discussion ended. She turned her head his way, a tablet in her hand.
“So?” Anton asked.
“It’s good,” she answered flatly.
“Well… okay then.”
“But there’s some customization option that you should consider,” Kayla handed the tablet to him.
Anton looked through the list, reading through the description. In general, Rodley had three main customization options. Weapon, armor, and fuel. They offered some others, like engine customization that could provide extra power, or a luxurious cabin. He considered those things unnecessary.
He settled for the 25mm cannon that provided good offense against both people and lightly armored vehicles, extra fuel tanks so that he didn’t need to refuel as often, and extra armor for protection. As a result, the vehicle had a reduced interior size, but it was too large anyway. The 25mm could be equipped with TOW (Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided) missiles, but he thought that he didn’t need those, and decided to go with grenade launchers instead.
“25 mm, grenade launcher, extra armor, and extra fuel tanks,” Anton said while ticking the boxes.
“Great choice. This specific combination is currently available. I will notify the team,” the salesman said. A screen then appeared in front of Anton, showing the item along with the money he needed to spend. He accepted and the transaction went through.
“Thank you for your purchase. I shall prepare your vehicle immediately,” the salesman stood up and offered his hand. Kayla stood up and shook him, while Anton remained seated. The salesman turned and walked away, while Kayla sat back down.
“A LAV, huh?”
“You can drive, right?” Anton asked after stretching his body. He hadn’t moved much during their entire conversation.
“Don’t worry. Of course I can,” Kayla said, her face full of confidence.
It didn’t take long for their LAV to appear in front of the lobby. It sported a dark green look, as Anton went with the default paint. Anton and Kayla walked out of the building. The salesman came out from the vehicle’s rear and handed the keys over to Anton.
“Once again, thank you very much for your purchase,” the salesman said with a slight bow.
“Thank you as well,” Kayla replied. The two then entered its interior, which had the combination of an all-white paint with black seating. Several pieces of equipment lined up on the wall, above the passenger seats. The driver occupied a space on the front left of the vehicle, with the gunner’s or turret operator’s seat located a bit further back on the vehicle’s right side, behind a wall. Anton handed the keys over to Kayla and she took up position in front. Anton closed the door and sat down in the gunner’s seat. The vehicle lacked windows, except for the periscopes on the driver’s hatch. The gunner, meanwhile, only had cameras on the turret as means of looking at the outside world.
It was frustrating, considering that he needed this kind of vehicle if he wanted safe travels between cities. He would probably buy a fighter jet later on, but he needed to wait for safekeeping.
Kayla lifted the brakes and drove out of the area, hitting the main road, heading back for Mitte. Just as they left the barrier, they noticed a dark red sedan parked on the left side of the road. A person stood behind the sedan, waving toward them.
“Should we stop? Looks like he needs help,” Kayla said. Anton took a look through the camera. It looked like a quest. He had just made a purchase, so stacking some money on top of it should help hide it.
“Alright.”
Kayla pulled to the side and opened the driver’s hatch. Anton moved forward to behind the driver’s seat, peeking through the opened hatch.
“Do you need help?” Kayla asked.
“Fighters, you must help us. I come from a farming village not far from here. Recently, our produce trucks were attacked by bandits when they were making their way to the city. They used a vehicle similar to yours. We cannot defeat them with our weapons,” the person said, an obvious tone of fear in his voice.
“We should really help,” Kayla said. Anton thought about it for a moment. Vehicles could be destroyed, and restoring them cost quite a sum.
“Can you give us a more accurate description of that vehicle?”
“Ah, based on what our scouts said, it is large. It had a flat bottom with a rounded top. It also had this long barrel in its front. It didn’t have wheels but instead tracks.”
Doubt filled Anton after hearing the person’s description. The word ‘long barrel’ concerned him.
“That’s dangerous,” Kayla commented.
“Yeah, very! Our trucks go boom! the second it was hit by its long barrel. Three people have been killed so far. If it’s not attacking our trucks, it’s going after us with a gun in its front,” the person said with a frightened face, his body shaking just from recalling the memories.
“Please! It already wounded my son, if this continues, we all would be dead!” the NPC continued begging them. Hearing his story made Anton uncomfortable. He thought of a sentence to deny it when Kayla said something.
“That’s despicable! Show us the way. We’ll stop them.”
Kayla’s answer naturally came as a shock.
“But-”
“Thank you! Please, follow me!” the person said before running back to his car and taking off. Kayla closed the hatch and followed behind.
“... Kayla.”
A quest confirmation screen appeared on Anton’s virtual screen.
“We need to help him. Don’t you feel bad hearing his story?”
“No, not really.”
Kayla turned his head back when she heard that. Seeing her determined face, Anton let out a sigh.
“Fine, fine. Let’s go,” Anton let out a sigh and accepted the quest.
“Thanks!”
Anton retreated back to the gunner seat. He sat down, watching the dark red car from the screen in front of him. He opened his virtual screen and took a look at the quest screen, only to realize the situation he had gotten himself in.