Chapter 8 – Signs of the devil

  I accepted that term.

  I tapped [Yes].

  "Alright, great. Congratulations on joining us!"

  "Thank you," I said.

  "My belt color is gold," Nina said, tapping the air in front of her. A golden belt was projected from her screen, before disappearing. "Cool, right?"

  "Yeah. So, how many ranks is gold from white."

  "It’s two ranks… away from white." Nina narrowed her eyes. She looked at the distance between us and rolled her eyes upwards, to her left. "User Command: Gold-belt induction photograph." Nina grabbed the photograph, and pointed it in my direction. "Have a look." I looked at the picture. I looked at the faces of the participants of the shoot. "If you were there, what would be your favorite spot?"

  "That’s a sudden question," I said. "I would pick the available spot."

  "Okay, got it," Nina smiled. "You are free to choose whatever quest you want. Good luck if you want to team up with anyone."

  "What about that ‘echo chamber’ thing you did when meeting me?"

  "That was for the show. The system got that from the previous game feedbacks you reported. You are somewhat strong, or maybe you are strong," Nina exhaled. "You are not in your element here. Sorry." I gave her the photograph back. She lifted herself from her chair. "I’ll get going."

  "What’s wrong? What about the drinks?" I asked, standing up.

  Nina looked at me. She showed her palm, face-up in my direction. "This," she brought it up to my chest. "is wrong. You did not compete with me."

  "I see," I said. I saw a person listening in on a conversation, without saying anything even once at another table.

  "I’ll pay for the drinks," Nina said.

  "Don’t. I’ll cancel the order. I don’t drink."

  "I understand," said Nina. "It’s tough coming from the boonies, you know?"

  "That’s a good line to stop. I don’t think so. Goodbye, Nina." She raised her hand in return. I went to the counter. "User Command: Examine."

  [Strawman Bar - alcohol drinks served here range from beer and gin, to whiskey and vodka. Strawman Bar is a moderately popular bar. Its quality ranking is ‘B’. [+]]

  "User Command: Examine Coun- stop." I went to the waiter. "Hey man. How can I cancel my order?"

  "User Command: Orders 9 & 11 > Cancel Order form," the waiter said. He looked me in the face and moved it to me. I pressed [No]. I had ordered cold water. I stood there, among the chairs and tables. It was an open-air bar. I was reminded of Poldy, the strawman’s adventures with learning opposites and synonyms. It was a children’s book series.

  In one episode, there was a kind ‘Seniorita’ who gave the tired birds accompanying Poldy food. The birds were the raven, the seagull and that one yellow, white and black bird, like the standard goldfish variant of avian birds. Poldy got nothing, and had to deal with a good scoop of sundae ice cream, instead.

  I thought of the photograph Nina gave me. Gold belt. The boonies. Covenant’s hierarchy. Was it about the old man or the boy in that photograph? Was it the Gold belt versus the White belt or the Black belt if that was the highest? Why?

  What restrictions were there for not belonging to a covenant? What was there to know? The trust level with all cities would plummet, leading to decreased opportunities. I saw a person trading a parcel for some alcohol in a shady part of the bar. I paralleled that to a partying crowd. It was not much different.

  Teamwork? That was labor prioritization. For example, we were to engage in, and prioritize inter-sect wars, bordering on chaos. I remembered those dressed for size – for luxury. That was a clamoring of a belt than proof of anything. If it were proof of anything, that would be proof of power.

  Power would force people to prioritize you. There was not much logic to it. If there were to be any logic- I barred a man from breaking a bottle on my shoulder. I grabbed the bottle, inched for his hand and put the man down. I held a knee against his thighs and pinned him with my other hand. I stretched his arm.

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  I heard another man coming from behind. I looked at my captive. I looked at the counter. An instruction lit up beside the counter. "Say [User Command: Brawl], in case of fight." The instruction was encased in a green circle.

  I rotated my weight to bear on the man. My left foot stood rigid. I pulled his arm, half-standing with both feet. He tried kicking me. My knees fell on him. I got off the man. "User Command: brawl."

  I tapped [Yes].

  "This bar’s got a funny name," I said. I crouched. I held my hands close and looked behind. A bottle came my way from close range. I dodged. I gripped the hand of the guy lying down. I lowered my body. I pulled him up, rotated myself, and threw him at the other guy.

  "You are funny for thinking you could dine with a queen."

  I walked to the person. "Believe me. I was on your lucky strike." I punched him in the nose. His drunk state worked in my favor. Music got jacked up at the counter. "I hope you are not the religious type." I swept him off his feet. I made him look at me and racked a punch down his face.

  "We don’t understand shit about each other," I said. I was not aware – to the extent it was true – that kindness or knowledge was an essential lie to justice and truth. Or anything that important. A person from the front applauded. His neighbor wasn’t concerned about the fight and listened to music. The applauding man told that person to look in his face, and punched him in the nose.

  I grabbed a chair, and looked behind. The kneed man got up. His eyes flamed up. I wracked the chair on him and threw it away. I kicked the man’s groin. I kicked it again. I looked around the tables. I picked up a piece of wood and threw it at a table with a man sitting by it. He gaped at me.

  I walked to the counter.

  I obtained 1200 utils. A cloud passed overhead. The bar became shadowed. Spotlights shone on the table. There was one on me too. I lost that thing I had to return to someone. I looked at the time on the wall. It was three o’clock. "Face me! You sound like Tite Kubo, you piece of dick!" said a guy standing up.

  ‘I don’t know. What’s that sound like?’ I got away from the area. "User Command: The Great city – Beginner’s Map."

  The map displayed in front of me. Along with it, came another notification.

  I tapped [Yes].

  If there was any logic to contractual power, it was the celebration of wins, consolation of losses and drives to keep playing. That was the power and flaw of a system at the same time.

  ***

  I got a patched belt with some fire grenades and a lighter for a thousand utils. I paired it with air-borne dynamite sticks and an electric disruptor.

  I got a bike. The enemies made slow progress. They were headed to the south-east of the map. Plainly put, to the east, there was the Elysian Cathedral. Directly south, there was the Temple of Epic. That was enough to get my bearing.

  For a bar, the opponents at the Strawman had been decent. I was polite enough to seek the guy who called out. Three human brawlers came along. Apparently, knifes were allowed. I got a boost of 50 xp points for completely knocking out a brawler. I took some damage. I got 225 xp off a backup brawler called Blood Star before two officers of the Covenant of the Warrior interfered. He was a fire-breather. My level came up to 6.

  That took seven minutes.

  I ran in the direction indicated by the map. It was a ‘Last seen’ feature available to the public. The dot occasionally got held up. I wondered what kind of guy would commit such a thing here. My 3000-util barebone bike barely fitted the bill. However, it could take elemental boosts.

  ‘It is a sunny day,’ I thought.

  The path was littered with detritus. Some people lay down. I saw groups of people. After a while, I saw no one. I was close. Seeing an alley, I peeped at it. It had an exit. I got in. The map stopped flashing. I saw a set of dumpster barrels scattered.

  I investigated the area, and threw away some trash bags barring the view. There was another path, half-hidden by corrugated steel panels. "Why the hell are you listening to self-persecution music and seeking a judge? Coward!" a female voice said.

  "I’m not! I wanna experience the emotions," a boy said.

  A crash was heard. "Well, screw you." Another crash was heard. The boy got out screaming.

  I steered into the crevice between the panels. Along came the bike. I sped off. The entry had a roof above. I felt myself accelerating. I rode through the steep descent. It was dark. It looked bleak, after the sunlight above my head for so long.

  I came to a dead-end. Above, to the front, I saw a window with bars. "User Command: Examine."

  [Unidentified impasse. Surrounding area is of financial repute and buzz. Be careful of such places.]

  "User Command: Main Menu." I searched for a torchlight setting. I found it in the [Maps] menu. I listened, and climbed up. I set one dynamite, on the window and dropped down. I lost 150 health points. An explosion resounded. The sound was more contained that I thought.

  I wouldn’t have been surprised if birds miles away heard the explosion and got startled. I had to thank the magic technology.

  In the explosion’s light, I noticed a massive iron door in front of me. I rapped the door. "There’s little chance of opening this guy up," I said.

  I took to the ledges on the wall. I was back up after a few tentative navigations. I got through the hole I had made. I dusted myself. Inside, it was a room with a swarm of electro-discharging slimes. "Oh great," I said. I descended to the ledge of the hole. I pressed the button for the fire grenade hoping it was the real deal.

  I lobbed the grenade in. I released my hands and fell. That fall left me with 506.4/800 health points.

  I got up, and inside the building. A few of the blasted electro slimes had left a glowing orb behind. When I examined them, it said they were ‘electro cores’.

  I saw a chart displaying data on the left side. I could see the number 10 at the top of one of the chart’s tables. The language was foreign, or maybe coded. Above the room’s door, ‘01’ was inscribed.