 |
 |
––––––––
As I walked, I decided to message Greg. Hi there. Didn’t work out with the dwarves. I’m coming over.
He took his time to answer. He’d probably already forgotten me. Or he might have been ignoring me. I was no family of his, after all.
Finally, he wrote back.
Hi noob! So you’ve changed your mind then? You’d better hurry up, it’s lunch time in an hour and our HR is only open in the mornings. If you fail to get hired today, you’ll have to shell out tomorrow for the capsule.
Thanks Greg. I won’t be a mo.
My pleasure. When you enter the settlement, just ignore the system’s greeting. You’ll sort it out later. Just keep going straight ahead until you see the town hall. It’s easy to find. The place is called The Ruby. That’s it. I’ll let you know if I’m in the area. Good luck... noob.”
It took me longer than expected. The blessing had expired after twenty minutes – and one becomes very quickly used to such things. I tried to keep up the pace but only brought myself down to near zero. I had to stop, then continue on my way in a more relaxed tempo. I’d never forget those last fifteen minutes. I was fighting off the desire to invest another two points into each characteristic. Still, I restrained myself.
As I walked through the gate, I followed Greg’s advice and disregarded the system’s greeting. It only took me a few minutes to reach the town hall, wasting a few more precious Energy points on it. It wasn’t the right time to skimp. Getting a job was critical. I’d hate to have exited the game with nothing to show for it.
The settlement was a cross between a very small town and a rather large village. Closer to its center the streets grew wider, the small houses giving way to taller, more imposing edifices. The place was clean – cozy.
The multi-racial folk I met on my way were more on the smiley side. Then again, why would they frown? This was only a game. They didn’t have a care in the world. Judging by their clothes and the abundance of zero levels, the bulk of the settlement was comprised of Grinders—mainly gatherers. About 70% of them must have been Mine Diggers—prospectors. There were also lots of herbal doctors. One was busy sweeping the street. I could hear the clanging of hammers and the ringing of an anvil. No one seemed to be lazing about or shirking their work. They really gave it their all and didn’t slow down for a minute. If only everyone worked like this in real life!
It didn’t take me long to find The Ruby. It would have been hard not to have noticed Greg’s massive bulk hovering next to it. A slightly smaller species of his race was standing next to him, listening to whatever Greg was passionately telling him.
Hi Greg I’m here! – no, I didn’t shout it across the square. I simply PM’d him.
He swung round, his gaze searching me out in the crowd, then waved hard with his shovel of a hand.
“I told you he wouldn't take long,” Greg bellowed to his partner when I finally stopped next to them, gasping for breath.
His partner wasn't exactly a partner—or rather not in the sense you'd think. He turned out to be female—a female Horrud... what would you call them—a she-Horrud? A Horrudess? The reason I was curious was because I was probably risking my own skin as a wrongly uttered word might earn me a hearty punch from this ten-foot lady built like a hippo.
“Hi, I'm Olgerd,” I hurried to introduce myself.
“As if I didn't know,” she bellowed, then bared a row of small fangs in a smile. “It’s written all over your face.”
“Oh. I still can't get used to it.”
“You will, don't worry. Never mind. Come along, then, I'll sign you up. You're lucky you got me on my good day.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“You'd better thank your friend,” she grumbled, unlocking the door. “He's been on my case for the last hour: oh please let's take him, he's a total newb, he's such a sorry sight... As if I have nothing better to do with my time! My friends have almost given up waiting for me while I'm busy here with you two...”
“Come on, Sandra babe,” Greg butted in. “You know I can be grateful,” he glared at me meaningfully, nodding at the lady's monstrous bulk striding next to him.
“Of course,” I awoke from my stupor. “I owe you. The first payday, I'll be around with a box of chocolates and a bottle of champagne,” I faltered and added, “or whatever you guys give to each other here.”
“Yeah, something like that,” she swung her fifty-pound hand in the air, waving my suggestion away. “Real-life stereotypes die hard.”
Her office was as massive as its owner, with a heavy desk, a powerful chair and several crudely made cabinets.
Sandra—which was apparently her name—laid her hand on a dark panel built into the wall. After a brief pause, a translucent screen materialized over the desk.
“We need to wait for it to boot up,” she explained, studying herself in a wide mirror. Our eyes met. “You're probably wondering what a woman would want with an avatar like this?”
I gave an embarrassed nod.
“Don't,” she said. “Your reaction is perfectly normal. I'm actually twenty-five and blonde with legs that go on forever. Can you imagine how fed up I am with all the idiots, with all those Hi beautiful and all that stuff? Now imagine me as a freakin' Elfa or a Dryad. I need to work, you know. My mom's sick; every minute is precious. That's why I chose this little gal. This way I can kick any butt that shows disrespect.”
“I know what you mean. Excellent decision,” I said and I really meant it.
“I like you the way you are,” Greg offered jokingly.
“Yeah right, pull the other one. Wait... aha, it's up and running. Now, name: Olgerd. Race: Ennan,” she peered at the roller captions on the screen. “Why did you go see the midgets first? What was wrong with us?”
“You see, Sandy, he'd managed to run into our rich daddy's boy within his first hour in the game. That idiot had very nearly given him a dose of his Lash of Fury.”
“The guy is a first-rate freak,” Sandra commented without taking her eyes off the monitor. “I think everyone here’s fed up with him like you wouldn't imagine. Had it not been for his daddy, we'd have long shoved his head up his butt... know what I mean?”
I didn't but I got the idea.
“The dwarves keep themselves to themselves. Greg, you really should have told him!”
“I didn't know, did I?” Greg mumbled. “I thought he was one of those...“
“Thinking isn't your forte, buddy. Now, what next? How many points have you got left?”
“Thirty,” I said.
“Really?” she turned away from the screen. “How many did you start with?”
“Forty.”
“Which means you had twenty-five test points. Not bad. But I'm surprised you've made it here at all. Did you take frequent breaks?
Greg laughed. “No, he didn't. He used the Dark Hand. Aragorn bestowed it on him.”
“What, that cheapskate? He's tighter than a duck's backside!”
“It was Lady Isa who asked him to do so,” I said.
“Ah yeah. Our lord's daughter. That explains it. She's a nice girl. So how are you going to distribute your points?”
“Depends on the contract,” I said.
I'd already come up with a strategy. Now all I had to do was double-check it.
“What kind of contract do you want, then?”
“I'd like piecework plus extracted value.”
“You've come prepared, eh?”
“Purely by chance,” I shrugged. “I checked the contract types when I was choosing my char. But I still don't understand what extracted value means.”
“It means you get a bonus from the resource's market price. Which in our case is one percent.”
“How interesting,” I said.
“Useless, more like,” she snapped. Seeing my puzzled face, she began explaining. “You see, your lord's mines are poor in precious stones. And whatever's available is only worth something in large quantities.”
“In other words,” Greg added, “had I signed this type of contract, I'd have had to toil in the mines day and night—and I'm not even sure I'd be able to earn what I'm earning now.”
“But it's your decision,” Sandra summed up.
“Is it possible to sign a contract, then cancel it and sign a new one?”
“You mean you'd like to try it?”
“Yeah.”
“You can, of course, but you'd have to pay the cancellation fee.”
“I see.”
“But you can in fact try without canceling the contract. Thing is, you are required to sign a two-week contract first. This is sort of trial period. Then if both worker and employer are happy, they can make a longer contract—say, for six months. After that they can make an even longer one... you get the picture. I think two weeks will be well enough for you to make up your mind.”
“I agree.”
“Excellent. So what do you choose?”
“Piecework plus extracted value.”
Greg gasped.
Sandra hummed sarcastically. “I had a funny feeling you would. Just something my delicate stone heart tells me. Trust my word, dude: they'll carry you out of the mine feet first.”
“Let's see if I make it,” I whispered.
My hands shook with excitement. This was probably what a gambler feels when he bets everything he has on zero. I risked everything, but it was worth it. I wasn't going to raise enough money promptly just by working. And promptly was the key word. I needed the money fast. I needed my girl to live.
“Right, I'm sending you the contract. Yes... good. Press Accept here and here. Yes... all done!”
“Sandra?” I said. “I wonder if you could forward a copy to my bank, please?”
“Absolutely. Here you are. And one more thing. We have several in-game banks here. You’ll need to open an account with one of them and send me the number. That's where we'll send your wages. Pay packets are paid every week. I'll expect you at our office tomorrow to confirm your data. Here's the address. Your module number is 345C. As for your working schedule, it's entirely up to you. This idiot needs to show up at eight every morning,” she nodded at Greg, “but you have a different set of problems entirely. You're entitled to a start-up kit: gear, clothes, tools and food. It won't last forever, as you understand, so any new or replacement items are your responsibility. Now. You can get it all at Digger's Store—that's our local minimarket. Apart from that, there're loads of various little bits of software: bots, maps, resource guides, satnavs, music players...
“I'm all right, thanks.”
“That's it, then!” Sandra squeezed her bulk out of the chair. “Congratulations on your first job in Mirror World! I'm not shaking hands with you, otherwise you'll be walking round with an injury debuff for the rest of the day. Now a word of advice. You can pick up your gear tomorrow if you wish. It's better you quit the game for today. You've been here long enough for Day One as it is. Plus all your experiments with energy. You'll know what I mean when you're back. See you tomorrow. Good luck!”
We thanked her again and walked out onto the street.
My new friend smiled. “So, Mister Mine Digger, see you tomorrow? Once you log out, get yourself a nice big meal and go to bed. Tomorrow will be a big day for you. Oh, and one more thing. Before you log out, I suggest you bind your login to this place. That way you won't find yourself God knows where next time you enter.”
I nodded. “Will do. I really appreciate it, man. No idea what I'd have done without you.”
“That's nothing,” he waved my words away. “Now press the logout button.”
Just before I did, I received a system message,
Grryrsch would like to be your friend! Accept: Yes / No.
I smiled and pressed Yes, then logged out.