Raine slept like the dead, a full eight hours passing between one blink and the next. He stretched deeply, a satisfied yawn on his lips as his back released a satisfying crack. Rolling out of bed, he was met with a display of the time on a nearby wall monitor, right next to several missed message notifications.
Twenty-four hours down the drain. Well, everyone needs to sleep eventually so it should balance out.
The most important message was from Frontier, requesting details for Raine's secretary so an in person meeting could be arranged. The others were from Richtor and their mother.
He responded to his mother first with a quick promise to call her soon. Richtor he ignored since they weren’t in trouble. Their proposed skill choices looked good, and he didn't want to meddle with their builds overly much.
Last, he composed a more detailed message to Frontier and they responded while he was in the shower, letting him know they would be delighted to meet in person within the next three hours.
Well, that’s promising. Without a physical prototype though, it's going to be a hard sell.
“Morty, how's access to the basement coming along?” Raine shouted through the door after opening it.
“Not good, master. The walls are pre-war duracrete and much tougher than expected.”
Raine scrunched his nose, disappointed, “What about that firmware?”
“I chose to leave it as a last resort. I’ve waited this long to flip you off, I can wait a little longer.” Creepy, mechanical laughter followed his terrible joke. Raine was too lost in thought to respond.
There goes using the fabricating facilities to build a prototype. How to seem more legitimate… Oh! That’s perfect. Wanted to check up on her anyway. Doing both at once will get me back to leveling sooner.
Raine accessed the AR terminal in his room to check the forums for the average player level in the Tri-glades and was relieved to see it was only five. That wasn’t a surprise, once players had the ability to murder each other for loot, moving beyond level five became a serious chore.
There were two other particularly eye-catching posts. The first was the ongoing war between Righteous and DyingNight which had expanded to engulf most of the minor towns in both Mirror Lake and the Crystal Tributaries. The losses on both sides were significant, though from what he gathered, Righteous was winning. The eventual victor didn’t matter to him, the more they fought, the longer he had to gain an insurmountable lead.
The real issue was that as far as he remembered, those two guilds had plenty of small scale skirmishes, but never engaged in all out war.
What changed? Doesn’t really matter. Even the smallest change can quickly ripple out of control and so many things are different this time. There’s really no point chasing the past too much. It’s only good as a reference, and this just proves that.
Raine shrugged, perusing the last post that caught his attention, which was a notification from ZionLine itself:
[Servers will be undergoing maintenance from 12:01 AM to 6:00 AM]
Raine skimmed through the planned maintenance logs, finding two changes that felt targeted specifically toward him.
- Assets tagged as indestructible will now have weight and durability respective of their components
- Players marked with PVP immunity may no longer be grabbed and thrown. Typical collision mechanics still apply though at a steep reduction in damage
Midnight to six? Perfect timing. It’s twelve-forty AM in ZL. I’ve got plenty of time to make it to Frontier.
Raine quickly dressed, cringing at his two changes of clothes. At least the drones had cleaned and pressed them, not that ratty t-shirts and shorts deserved to be pressed.
One more errand to run. Better get to it.
By the time he trotted to the front gate, the personal robotaxi he’d ordered arrived. He climbed in the empty front seat and it took off, having already received his destination. Lost in thought, Raine spun the new watch his drones had delivered. It was one of the latest models, even if it was old-fashioned. Considering it was marketed for those who didn’t trust the surgically implanted LinQs, its design made perfect sense.
It had all the latest features, and was keyed into his ZionLine account, allowing him to access his contracts and funds. With a thought, imperceptible eclectic pulses zipped from its cool metal to swarm through his skin. They traveled to his ocular nerves and an AR keyboard sprang into existence, superimposed over his lap. A few taps gave him access to the market where he found his shares of ZLO were now worth eighteen million. He sold them all, liquidating his assets for the next phase of his plan.
During his recent stint down memory lane, Raine recalled another company that eventually outstripped even ZLO in gains. Their meteoric rise began shortly after ZionLines’s launch, and only continued year after year. For someone who hated the in and out games of the stock market, it was the perfect place to park his capital and let it rapidly grow.
When he checked the current price, he shot forward in his seat.
What?! That can’t be right. Is that why it rose so high, because it was this low to begin with? Something isn’t right here. They’re on the verge of a major breakthrough, it should be skyrocketing already but it's been straight downhill for weeks. Should I wait and see if it will go any lower? No, screw that. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Raine dumped all but one million credits into SoulGen’s stock, which was so low that his investment made a noticeable blip on the price. As he watched, it fell below where he bought—proving someone with a large quantity of shares had been waiting for a chance to get out. He could only grin, knowing that if he was successful in selling WIDOW, he would be able to buy even cheaper.
Raine was on top of the world when the robotaxi pulled up to its first destination. He checked the display from his watch to make sure the taxi was booked in his name for the rest of the day. Satisfied it wouldn’t drive off on him, he climbed out and strode into Melty’s Pot Arcade and Cafe. When he opened the door, a fun boogerman jingle played, momentarily bringing him back to his childhood and his mood rose even higher.
Surprisingly, the place was completely empty. There were courier drone bins on the counters, and an exhausted looking Mel was stuffing things into them as quickly as she could. She didn’t look up, groaning softly, “We’re closed. Can you flip the sign on your way out?”
Closed? It's almost five. Shouldn't this be the busiest time of day?
Raine wasn’t about to give up, he took another step forward, only for Mel’s head to whip in his direction with eyes wide as the saucers in her hand. She stared at him, her mouth working but no words coming out.
“Hey. Thought I’d drop by for that meal. If the offer still stands,” his words snapped her out of her trance and she bolted out of the room.
[Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! Why did he show up right now?! I can’t let him see me like this.]
Completely unaware of her thoughts, Raine’s waving hand fell to his side and he raised his voice so she would hear from the kitchen, “Unless now’s a bad time…”
“N-no! Now isn’t a bad time at all. I’ll be right out. Take a seat anywhere!” Her voice held a tinge of panic he’d never heard from her.
Shrugging, he strolled around, peeking in the boxes and behind the counter to confirm his suspicions.
She must have decided to sell to those bastards. Damn. I should have come earlier. No, there’s nothing I could have done either. They’re way too powerful for me to stop right now and they wouldn’t have given up. If she didn’t cave, they’d kill her.
In the back room, Mel hastily covered the dark circles under her eyes with a full-face makeup applicator. She threw on a fresh shirt, hit herself with a shot of perfume, and dashed back to the front. [He hasn’t thought anything since I went back there? Wait, do I need to be able to see him for my ability to work?]
She caught him with a finger in one of the crates, shuffling a stack of old memory drives to read the titles of the games they contained. Once again, she was struck by how tall and imposing he was, her heart beating a little faster, “Uhm, the kitchen is a disaster right now. I know a good spot down the street if you like chinese.”
“Honestly, I’m not that hungry,” he raised a finger to forestall any potential disappointment, “I have a time sensitive business opportunity. I was hoping you’d be willing to help by showing up and looking pretty to make me look good while I negotiate. After that, I’m free for chinese, and it looks like you could use a hand packing. If you’re not—”
“Okay!” She blurted, immediately clapping a hand over her mouth.
She’s seriously too cute.
Raine’s smile grew wide and his eyes twinkled as her cheeks turned crimson.
Mel cleared her throat, gaining control of herself through sheer force of will, “I can do pretty. I’ll need a little more time to get ready though.”
“Nope, no time. Frontier’s corporate office is on the far side of the city and we need to pick up clothes. I’ll order a MUA, (professional makeup artist) to meet us at Shillids.”
“Shillids! Frontier?!” She squeaked both words, her fleeting composure forgotten when presented with two of the most premier companies in the city. Shillids was world famous, and purchasing one of their outfits was guaranteed to cost hundreds of thousands of credits. Not only were they stylish, they offered a slew of built in functions like self-repair and cleaning, while hosting top-of-the-line defenses.
Frontier on the other hand was one of six world leaders in the space-race. Their ambition was reaching the nearest asteroid belts and flooding the world with wealth beyond measure. They single-handedly employed a tenth of the city, and their manufacturers another tenth. As far as reasons to move to Carter City, they weren’t the top of the list, they were the only name on the list.
While she recovered from her shock, Raine double checked the advanced payment to Shillids went through. There was no way they would let him or Mel in the door otherwise.
[He’s serious. This isn’t a joke or a prank. He’s really going to buy me something from Shillids. I-I don’t even like nice things. But I’d be out of my mind to turn this down.]
“Let me just lock up,” she spoke in a daze, grabbing a small shoulder purse from behind the counter and following him out.
Raine opened the taxi door for her and she climbed in. He walked around and entered as well, his gaze sliding past her and landing on the cafe.
Damn shame. Greedy bastards don't care how many lives they ruin. At least this deal will destroy their ability to compete with Frontier. Who knows, maybe when she learns the truth, it will help her move on.
[What does that mean? I thought he was selling a plane engine thingy. No, if it's for Frontier, it would have to be a space engine. Who is he, really?]
Her head snapped toward his as the car door closed, “I just realized I don't even know your name. You probably think I'm an idiot for getting in a car with someone I don't know, huh?”
“Raine KongRu,” with a flick of his finger, he shared his Ncode and she returned hers with a hand to her temple. “Pleasure to officially meet you, Melani Feladay. And no, I know you're not an idiot. Though that is the kind of behavior that gets people into trouble. Probably shouldn't do that too often, no,” Raine flashed his brows at her, wearing an easy smile, “You certainly won't be in any danger tonight. Security will be top notch at both locations.”
[Oh no. Tonight. He offered to help me pack. What if he's still there when they come? I-I have to tell him he's in danger because of me!]
He could see she was finally starting to think clearly when her eyes flew open after he again mentioned where they were going. She reached for the door handle, shaking her head, “Wait, this isn’t right! I can’t let you—”
Raine interrupted her, his voice placating, “It's fine. You really don't have to worry about the creds. This deal alone is worth way more than a few suits, even Shillids. If we show up wearing anything less, they wouldn't give me the time of day.”
[No! That's not what I was going to say!]
She hesitated, giving the car time to smoothly accelerate toward their destination. Her nerves had yet to fade, and Raine held his breath as she waffled between agreeing and demanding to leave. His chest was heavy. An overpowering part of his subconscious knew that if she chose to leave, they would never see each other again.
I want, no, need her in order to appear legitimate. She was the best secretary we ever had. Whatever it takes to make her feel comfortable, I'll do it. This deal has to go through. Everything's going to be fine so long as she doesn’t say no. Please don't say no.
[Ahh, pusbuckets!]
Leaning back with a hand covering her forehead, Mel released a weary sigh, “I'll do it. Just… just tell me what I need to do.”