SANCTUARY SQUARE, NON-PVP ZONE. LOCATION CLASSIFIED.
CLOSEST KNOWN CLAIMED TERRITORY: PLANET EARTH UNCLAIMED
CURRENT PHASE POINTS: 12675
END OF PHASE ONE: 02D:2H:31M:13S
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I ended up checking out the tailor first. While I didn’t immediately attach the two Viper Skins I had available, I wanted to make sure I knew how much it would cost to make the modifications happen.
The shop was cluttered but almost homey feeling, with the walls covered in shelves with what had to be hundreds of different fabrics. There were several knitting machines, work tables, and baskets full of cloth scrap scattered everywhere. Like most of the other shops, there was only a single NPC that came sauntering out of a door at the back of the building the moment I entered the otherwise empty shop.
The tailor, a young man wearing a purple and black pinstripe suit with dangerously over-gelled hair named Louie, actually had reasonable costs, at only 250 credits per item attached. He showed me one of the now familiar filter binders that had a list of other items he was able to craft, though those items required a specific combination of crafting items in order for him to make. After a short bit of deliberation, I told him I’d be back after I visited the resale shop since I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to immediately replace an item that I had him modify.
Afterwards I popped in through Gregory’s shop next door, assuming he’d be the gadgeteer that could attach the Lens modification to my mask. My assumption was right, although he was quick to inform me that unlike Louie, he charged 500 credits for the modifications he made. I was going to just have him automatically add the lens, Jon did make a point of having me check if there were modification limits, which of course the answer ended up being, “it depends.”
Different items had different limitations and it left me wondering if the items had a grading system that I just hadn’t had the forethought to investigate. After a quick probe, Jon found that the item ranks followed the seven tiers of the achievements, ranging from Wood Tier to Mythic Tier.
I instructed Angie to update my interface to include this information on all of my current and future items, finding myself getting increasingly annoyed that I had to essentially opt in to useful information instead of just getting it in the first place. Of all of my items, the highest ranked items I owned were my Fortune’s Guardian Jacket and my Mask of Strategic Fortitude at Gold Tier, and that was apparently the literal middle of the range for item scaling.
As a Gold Tier, the Mask of Strategic Fortitude was capable of having a maximum of three item modifications attached. Gregory also made a point of letting me know that the Infrared Lens were removable, as unlike the Viper Skins, they didn’t come with a “destroyed on removal” qualifier, though of course there was an additional charge for removal. Doubtful that I’d be changing the Mask out anytime soon, I had him attach the lens to the mask and discovered I could immediately mentally toggle on an infrared mode once he had finished.
From there I headed out and back down into the main square, walking past a handful of others. It was still a bit weird seeing other Augments just lounging around, sitting on benches and even just reading, but I was starting to get it. When I was in the Square, Crime Alerts didn’t pop up and there was no threat of being attacked, unless of course you went up into the Fight Club. It meant that, even unlike the Safe Room, Sanctuary Square was the one place you actually could take a few minutes to just relax without the threat of… well a threat.
I was just about to make a comment about that to Jon when a chat window popped open.
I waved the window away as I made my way through the lightly crowded square, moving from the Neutral segment over to the larger Guardian area.
“This third journal is some sorta cipher. I think I can figure it out but it’ll take me some time. The Command Room here has a few systems I haven’t quite used yet so I’m gonna test them and see if it doesn’t spit something out for us,” Jon reported as I walked up and into the resale shop.
“Well that’s at least a start. It’s cool that the room has that kinda system built into it though,” I said, unable to hide my own curiousity.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure there’s a fluid sampler in here too. I was tempted to poor my Dr. Pepper into it but I didn’t want to break it either,” He explained.
“That is a wise choice, Codex. The built-in sampler is designed only for fluids generated for the game,” Angie added.
“That would actually be really useful if I managed to get my hands on one of those Temporary Augmentation serums. I mean, I don't necessarily know what we would do with the knowledge of what's being used to make those serums and I'm hoping to put an end to it here soon, but still,” I said as I looked around the shop. Unlike the other shops, this one was largely automated and no clerks actively appeared to discuss the products with us. There were a handful of other Augments lingering around the long counter. They each had a small binder in front of them and as I approached an empty space, a similar one appeared for me.
“Hmmm, actually yeah that’s a good point. You should really get your hands on one of those so we can examine it and see what we could do with that sort of knowledge,” he said and I let out an audible sigh that elicited a laugh from him.
“So we got some traction on the cipher, any idea on the timetables in the other journal? Is there anything of use in the first journal I had scooped up?” I asked as I changed the subject.
“As far as the first journal goes, it seems more like stream of consciousness with random details about their operations in there, though I've caught a few references to dens that you've already cleared out. There might be something of use in there, but I can't think of anyway to quickly find it without just reading it all page by page. It's kinda a shame you can't just absorb it like you do with the skill books," He said and I could hear the clatter of keys over the open line. "With the timetables, there’s a lot of stations to check for a match and the journal conveniently leaves out train and platform information. I’m trying to throw together a quick program that will compare it to all of the stations in the 10017 zip code. Though I’m also going to have it analyze the stations here in Hell’s Kitchen. There’s always the chance that the 10017 code is just a red herring, seems kinda weird that everything with the Vipers has happened over on this side of the island and I can’t find any information on Viper activity over in Midtown East.”
“Huh, well do what you can, I mean, I’d have to kinda be an idiot to not assume that there’s some sort of evidence or clue at that jazz club, so hopefully that will help us clear things up a bit,” I said as I opened the binder and started to fiddle with the filters. “Though even saying that, I’m not even sure how I want to go about tackling this Gold den. Sure I’ve leveled up since I did the one with Hydramental, but I’d also have to be an idiot to assume this one will be simple.”
“Yeah, so I was actually thinking about that. I looked up The Velvet Coil, which is really not a subtle name but that’s not the point. The place is actively open every night like a legit business and everything. That means there could be random civilians in there right?”
“Maybe, what’s your point?” I said as I applied a few filters and turned the page of the binder.
“Well maybe, for the first time in… pretty much ever, you and I need to go out to a club on a Saturday night,” He said with a laugh. “I don’t think most people mean jazz club when they say that, but I’m not about to argue semantics if I can actually say I got you to go to a club on a Saturday night.”
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“I mean, if you two are going to clubs, I’d rather it be one where I can see you shake your booty Codex,” Angie said with a giggle and I rolled my eyes.
“Oh trust me, I’ve got the rhythm of a sloth on LSD, it’s not something I’ll be doing anytime soon,” Jon shot back, for once acknowledging one of Angie’s attempts at a joke… or maybe it was flirting, I still wasn’t entirely sure about that.
“Is that really a good idea though? What if a fight breaks out?” I said, scanning the first page. I had set it to look for items that would fit the six slots I hadn’t equipped anything with just yet: my legs, back, neck, head and two ring slots.
“If a fight breaks out I’ll just run out with the other civilians that begin freaking out like every single other time an Augment fight happens. Hell when we walk in you can do a quick highlight around and make sure there are other normals in there, if there aren’t we just turn and book it. Though, I'm gonna assume more than a few normal people go to it. The place has an actual website, with actual reviews and everything. Hell, it has a food and drink menu… and yes… half the drinks are snake puns… Viper Venom, The Coiled Kiss, Fangbite Fizz… I kinda love it if I’m being honest,” Jon said, unable to hide his giddiness.
“Hey Angie, is that what makes this a Gold den? The possibility of civilians being placed in harm's way?” I asked, turning the page back to the filter and adjusting it further. I really didn’t need to see any of the items that only had smaller +1 or +2 bonuses for my off stats only. Maybe if I didn’t find something else, but the vast majority of the initial options were Style and Charisma based and I really did need to focus on my main stats first.
“It is certainly a possibility. As you are probably no doubt aware by now, there are several different variations for the dens. While the Bronze and Silver dens are often workshops for the grunts or distribution centers, Gold dens tend to have larger operational purposes. These can be things such as the trainyard meth lab or the jazz club that is probably a money laundering front, though it is possible they also provide a normal nighttime service that many normal people like to partake in instead of staying in like they’re in their 90s.”
“Well then look at that, it sounds like we have some plans for tonight. You getting Augmented might just be the best thing that's happened to our social lives in ages,” Jon whooped and I let out an actual audible sigh that I'm sure the closest other Augment actually took notice of.
“Can I return these super powers? I like my boring weekends…”
“Sorry Loophole, no refunds, no returns. And especially no more boring weekends.”
I shook my head as I looked through the waist items. Unfortunately the Belt of the Thinker had been snatched up, which didn’t really surprise me, but other than the Quick Wit feature, it really didn’t feel like the best choice for my actual fighting style. Sure, maybe if I wanted to boost my Intelligence faster to grab a few higher tiered books, but now that I was finding a rhythm with my abilities, I wasn’t necessarily in a rush to keep stacking more abilities.
I was about to settle on a Silver tier Belt of Strength that would have given me a +7 to my Strength stat for 6000 credits when the list suddenly refreshed and updated with new items. There was one that appeared at the end of the waist list that cost quite a bit more than I might have wanted to spend on a single item, but it was arguably tempting all the same.
“Belt of the Action Hero. Platinum Tier Equippable Belt. Color: Black and Silver. This black belt is practically fresh out of Hot Topic in the last 2000s, with silver studs covering it to make you look extra edgy. +4 to Dexterity, +3 to Strength and +2 to Style. This belt has an Empty buckle slot. This belt comes with the Action Star feature. Cost: 20,500 Credits.”
“Action Star. They always say action stars are masters of their trade, effortlessly bringing their all to every single production they take part in. This feature might not do that for you, but it certainly is going to give you the flexibility to really show off. Adds 2 Activated Ability slots, 1 Passive Ability slot, and 1 Movement Ability slot to all Action Bar loadouts.”
“Hot damn that would be useful… you wouldn’t even need to go and grab another revolver slot right away if you went with that one,” Jon said after I unselected the item.
“Yeah but that’s well over half of my available credits,” I argued, though I didn’t turn the page.
“So? It’s not like you have to fill out every slot right away with top of the line equipment. You’re already killing it and you’ve only put items in half your slots so far. Those two activated ability slots are valuable as all hell, not to mention adding in a fourth Passive slot and that extra Movement slot. Yeah you got your flight but I’m sure we could figure out something else we can do with that extra space.”
“You’re definitely not wrong… but don’t you think I should at least check out the other slots before I just jump right at this one?” I asked as I hovered over the item with my finger.
“You could, but as far as I can tell this place works like an auction house without the auctions and there’s a lot of people hanging out at the counters. It’s only been a day and the Belt of the Thinker is already gone. I’d be afraid of that thing vanishing if you turned the page,” he argued right back and I was having a hard time finding a good response.
I selected the item and a scanning tablet appeared next to me. With a wave of my hand, my credit counter plummeted downward to 15,110 and the item appeared in my B.E.L.T. I moved on to my leg slot, deciding that I wasn’t really ready for either a cape or a hat, and while the neck and ring slots were there too, legs just felt overall like the more important item to grab. This time I adjusted the filters to put a 15,000 max cost and only looked for leg slot items.
There weren’t a lot of great items this time around and there were only two Gold tier items to compare after I had the list organized based on tiers. Unfortunately neither one really felt like the right choice. One of them was Intelligence focused, with a feature called Synaptic Surge that would double the effectiveness of Intelligence based abilities… which were, at least currently, none of mine. The other one, an item called Gym Bro’s Sweats came with another Team Player - Minor Leagues feature, which I discovered would actually stack with the feature on my tank top, but it only had a +3 to each Strength and Dexterity.
The feature was certainly useful, but only if I was going to be teaming up with another Augment regularly. Even though I had promised Hydramental that I’d tell him when I discovered where the key went, something told me I wouldn’t be teaming up with him very often past that. Hell, I wasn’t entirely sure I even wanted to message him when I did figure it all out, but I knew that I probably would when it came down to it. At 12,000 credits, the Sweats just didn’t quite feel worth it, especially when I could get a Silver tier item called Durable Denim Pants, with +4 to Toughness and +3 to Strength for just 5,000 credits instead. I didn’t really think the feature was worth the extra 7,000 credits and Jon didn’t have an argument for it, so I scooped up the Denim.
I did a cursory glance through the slots that I still had emptied and while there was nothing of note for my head or back slots, even at the lower end of the spectrum, I did end up spending an extra 3000 credits to fill up my neck and ring slots. Each of the three items were only Bronze tier, but between the Gambler’s Ring, School Signet, and Lucky Pendant that I purchased, I added +3 Luck, +1 Strength, and +1 Dexterity to my stats. Unlike the others, although there was a filter for the buckle slot, there didn't seem to be a single available one in the entire resale shop. I had to assume the buckles were either rare or possibly sold somewhere else, but it was something I could investigate at a later time.
“Talk about one hell of a big jump to your stats…” Jon said as I wandered back out of the resale shop with my wallet noticeably emptier. “You could probably check the bookstore and see if there’s anything else you want to add on, but you don’t necessarily have to spend all the credits you have just to spend them.”
“Plus I did say I’d exchange some to buy some groceries,” I added and he let out a bark of a laugh.
“True, it would be nice if you weren’t eating all of my food for once. Hell, you could actually buy the first round of drinks at the club.”
“Hey it’s not like I never buy groceries, and you can’t actually think I’m going to be getting anything alcoholic in the middle of enemy territory…”
“You know, that’s actually really responsible,” he shot back. “Okay, you can buy me a fun drink and yourself just a boring old soda.”
“I think we’re getting off topic here,” I said as I walked toward the staircase back down to the main square. There was a small line of men in matching black suits and blank white masks that covered their entire faces that were walking away from The Common Ground in a hurry. The other Augments on the path they were taking made a point of giving them a wide berth as they passed and headed for the portal wall. When I attempted to highlight the leading one, I received a warning that was not wholly dissimilar from the warning that I’d gotten when first scanning Giada. I checked the other three members of the leader’s pack only to discover they all sported the exact same warning.
“Warning: Information on this Sapient NPC has been blocked due to Registered Exceptions.”
“Well those are government spooks if I’ve ever seen them,” Jon said with a whistle. “Kinda been wondering where they are in all of this.”
“Although I’m almost positive I know the answer to this, Angie, wanna fill us in?” I asked, watching as they walked up the stairs and disappeared into a portal.
“Your assumption is correct Loophole, I am not authorized to access information on what a Registered Exception is in this specific scenario,” she said.
“You know what, I got enough to worry about right now that I think I can skip adding 'what the hell is the government up to in all of this,' to it,” I said with a sigh and then turned my way back to the Neutral Segment. “Okay, I’m gonna get those Viper Skins attached to my jacket and tank top, grab some credits, and then honestly, I think I’m gonna take a nap. I am just not waking up at 8 AM tomorrow.”
“Dude, don’t you think you’re a bit young to be talking about midday naps,” Jon laughed and I couldn’t help but shake my head.
“I’ve assaulted a yacht, cleared out a bunch of dens, and then fought off a swarm of snake-men and it’s barely been over 7 hours,” I said with a laugh of my own. “So no, I don’t think I’m a bit young for that at all.”