Chapter 013

  Three Organizations

  Ethan glanced at his wristwatch when he figured he was about halfway back to his apartment. 6:51 p.m.

  Whitaker Street wasn’t very lively as the sun crept slowly down behind the buildings, threatening night time within the hour.

  Every alleyway and dilapidated building seemed to radiate an energy he'd barely felt before, like eyes and souls in the dark just waiting. He couldn’t really feel what he assumed were vampires, but he somehow just knew, or maybe his mind was playing tricks on him.

  He also feared Stalvek Dyomin. The guy had bragged about how fast he was progressing, and that had been early in the morning, within an hour of starting the game.

  The guy was barking orders at NPC henchmen like he owned them. Stalvek had a bold personality. If Ethan wasn't careful, he might end up on the wrong side of the guy’s threatening anger as soon as he hit level three.

  He wasn't looking forward to the potential of running into the goon again. Stalvek would kill him. The only solution to that problem was for him to get himself in gear and level up faster, that way when or if he ran across him again it wouldn’t be possible.

  That plan hadn’t worked out yet, and even now he was thinking he should have gone with the handyman mission instead of getting distracted by The Bleeker Building.

  Oh, well. Something about investigating The Bleeker Building was far more interesting, he just hadn’t been able to pinpoint exactly why. Maybe the thought of repairing some stairs just didn’t sound like fun, or maybe it was because learning more about The Cortez Family would finally lead to him learning more about vampires.

  He kept walking, retracing his steps down the cracked sidewalk. Plenty of businesses had their lights on as evening started turning to night.

  He passed a ramshackle bar with peeling paint on the sign and a dimly lit pawnshop with an array of items displayed inside.

  Looking in through the windows at the things on the shelves, there were some potentially useful items, but he wasn't in a hurry to spend all his money. That could wait until later. Thanks to time spent exploring, he knew where he could buy any number of things once he actually had money to spend.

  Fatigue weighed on him like a heavy coat. His calves burned, and his feet throbbed in protest from all the walking he’d done.

  Ethan couldn't remember the last time he felt so utterly drained, physically and mentally.

  The game felt like real life, and he was fatigued without any visual meter or bar to represent it. It seemed as like doing anything substantial would drain his energy, he realized.

  It was a good thing to know before it got him into a situation where he might die unless he had plenty of it.

  The looming silhouette of Hollow Court Apartments finally came into view. He picked up the pace, driven by the promise of sleep and the safety of his own space. After he entered, Raymond gave him a curt nod of acknowledgment.

  "Walk off all that poison in you during the day, Mr. Jones?”

  He mustered a thin smile, too depleted to offer more than a half-hearted shrug at the NPC. "Something like that."

  Raymond laughed. It was a quick and easy exchange of words.

  Ethan made a beeline for the stairs, leaving Raymond to his lonely vigil as the overnight doorman.

  On his apartment door was a folded piece of paper. He pulled it off to find a brief note scrawled in pencil:

  Ethan,

  Need you to fix those damn steps at Ned’s place before he falls and breaks his neck. Get it done before his daughter bitches about my negligence again. Don't tell them I said that.

  - Gallagher

  PS - Get your ass in gear like we talked, or else. I'm not going to keep reminding you.

  He stuffed the note in his pocket and exhaled loudly.

  "Sure thing, boss.”

  Inside the apartment, he locked the rest of the world out. Grimsborough Heights was a hellhole, but at least he had one place he could chill.

  In all the movies he’d ever watched about the mafia, they never let their business get so bad that it destroyed the entire city. It was bad for business.

  Ethan wondered why they’d let things get so bad, but ultimately chalked it up to story reasons. The whole thing had to start somewhere after all, and playing in a perfect, happy little world was probably boring.

  Based on context alone and what he’d learned so far, the game wanted him to rise to power through one of the gang outfits.

  With some extra time before sleeping, he decided to poke through all his available screens to see what he could learn.

  Kicking his boots off, he sat down on his meager bed and leaned against the wall, getting comfortable. In his own mind, he started reading at the affiliations screen.

  The Green Fists

  A powerful mobster outfit with a long history in Grimsborough Heights. The Greenies came to power thirty five years ago through brute force and fear, under the harsh leadership of Herman Langen.

  Langen had been forced by vampires as a child to watch his parents be murdered. As such, Langen held a lifelong hatred for vampires. The Green Fists have never allied with, befriended, negotiated, or otherwise conducted any business with vampires, honoring their founder.

  In recent years, competing gangs such as The Cortez Family and The Borrells, have been wrestling control away from The Green Fists, one neighborhood at a time. Though considerably weaker than in years past, The Green Fists have managed to maintain control over The Grims.

  Their primary revenue come from bootleg distilleries, racketeering, theft, and membership dues.

  Your current status with [The Green Fists] is [friends - white].

  Recent NPCs and Players you've met with connections to [The Green Fists]:

  Samuel Donovan - [reach level two to unlock details]

  Thomas Gallagher - [reach level two to unlock details]

  Gregg - [reach level two to unlock details]

  Emma - [reach level two to unlock details]

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Jason McArthur - [reach level two to unlock details]

  Officer Packley - [reach level two to unlock details]

  Ethan continued reading the summary, which was more extensive than it had been previously, and learned a few more valuable things either directly or through context.

  First, he couldn't find the names of anyone ranked higher than Samuel Donovan or Thomas Gallagher, and it didn't exactly tell him how high up the pecking order they were either. That information appeared to be locked behind the Socials screen Jason McArthur had mentioned earlier in the day.

  Owney "The Owl" Johnson had been third in charge before being killed, but he only knew that from being told.

  The man's son was also in the outfit, but he hadn't met the guy. His name was Brad "The Bat" Johnson, and as far as that guy knew, Billy Sadler and The Cortez Family were responsible. Meaning of course that Ethan knew more about what actually happened than the man's own son did, at least in this one detail.

  It still begged a question in the back of his mind. Who was in charge of The Greenies? And who was going to step up into The Owl's position? Hopefully he would learn more about that soon.

  For the time being, his only two contacts with the gang was the grizzled old detective and of course his landlord. He doubted Mr. Gallagher would ever be the mentor type willing to dish out helpful advice, and Samuel wasn't much better.

  The whole operation seemed off somehow, but then again he was only an Associate, and he'd been an outsider before today. He had nothing to compare it against within the context of the game. Until he knew more, he would have to follow the storyline.

  Interestingly enough, both of the NPCs that had been kind to him were listed as members of The Green Fists. He'd not even considered that passive non-player characters like Emma from the diner or Gregg from the little bodega shop might be Associates with connections to The Green Fists.

  It suddenly clicked in Ethan's brain that the gang obviously owned them in typical mafia fashion. He sighed, fully realizing the implications, and then immediately felt slow for having spent all day not even thinking about it.

  "I need to get into mafia-mode, and fast," he told himself with the shake of his head. He simply wasn't used to thinking in terms of power and leverage, and who was allied with who.

  All of that was vital to life and death now. Every action and spoken word with any number of players and NPCs could mean all the difference in his future.

  Lastly, he smiled when he saw that Jason McArthur had managed to talk his way into the gang somehow. Without knowing any details, he would need to speak with his new friend when they met up at Emma's.

  Still reading, he moved on to the competition.

  The Cortez Family

  A sister organization spun off from a larger faction in a wealthier district. The Cortez Family is a group of made mobsters inching their way into Grimsborough Heights through violence and reckless action.

  Their members have some restrictions in vampire dealings, but no hard rules in place. They are not afraid of confrontation and openly antagonize The Green Fists. Most members in this organization rise through the ranks quickly through sheer violence and aggression.

  Billy Sadler is a known Cortez Goon, only one rank up from Associate. Sadler was arrested by Officer Packley at the direction of his own organization. Though the measure was not as extreme as death, Sadler has now been publicly reprimanded but quietly protected by his organization, due to his involvement with Owney "The Owl" Johnson in a mysterious deal.

  You are also familiar with player Stalvek Dyomin, who was last known to be Associate level with the organization.

  Your current status with [The Cortez Family] is [disliked - orange].

  Recent NPCs and Players you've met with connections to [The Cortez Family]:

  Stalvek Dyomin - [reach level two to unlock details]

  Billy Sadler - [reach level two to unlock details]

  Frick - [reach level two to unlock details]

  Ethan continued reading everything available beyond the quick summary, and gleaned more context for the system mechanics.

  The Cortez Family was structured as a warring group, meaning that whoever founded the gang chose straight up violence, aggression, and power as bonus modifiers for their members.

  He didn't know how those settings worked exactly, but it was now clear to him they could be vastly different in scope. Different gangs weren't just different in name and action. Their members would naturally gravitate towards gameplay styles and objectives that maximized whatever bonuses the gang had.

  Ethan couldn't see the names of the modifiers for members in The Cortez Family, but if their description was any indication, it made sense why Stalvek Dyomin was leveling so rapidly.

  Thinking about Frick, he didn't know anything about the guy. The hulking figure in the trench coat had simply eyed him from the end of the alleyway. The face was kind of rough with that big scar running through it, but otherwise he found no pertinent information.

  Something that made no sense to him was Billy Sadler's arrest. In fact, the whole situation with Owney "The Owl" Johnson being murdered didn't make any sense.

  First of all, he hadn't discovered any new information about whatever this underhanded blood deal was about in the first place. Second, the supposed gang of loyalty and courage had killed their own third in charge for not being loyal. But in doing so, didn't that make Thomas Gallagher and the other three hitmen disloyal?

  Meanwhile, Billy Sadler was arrested by the supposed violent and aggressive gang instead of killed. Something was off, Ethan realized, and he didn't have enough clues yet to put it all together.

  He suspected that talking with Officer Packley might clear some of it up, and he also remembered Stalvek Dyomin's ominous words about trusting anything The Green Fists said.

  "Oh, well," he sighed. "I already made my bed. Now I just have to sleep in it."

  The third and last entry in his affiliations screen was much shorter, and he was grateful for it.

  The Borrells

  A small organization with very few details known. The Borrells have been mentioned in multiple police investigations involving the blood trade, human trafficking, hate crimes, and disappearances.

  It is suspected but not proven that one or more Associates with ties to The Borrells, also have connections with local business such as Lantern's Pharmacy and Shulberry Red Light.

  Your current status with [The Borrells] is [disliked - orange].

  Recent NPCs and Players you've met with connections to [The Borrells]:

  Unlike the other entries, The Borrells did not have any additional information. He could only conclude that this was because he hadn't met anyone with connections to The Borrells, and that it would start filling out in real time as he did.

  He'd remembered seeing Shulberry Red Light in the early morning hours when first taking a walk. The Borrells, it would appear, were heavily invested or connected with the sex trade.

  "That checks out," he said to himself, glad he hadn't been distracted by that business.

  Lantern's Pharmacy rang a bell also. It was the place Mia Haoyu was looking for when he'd met her outside of Samuel Donovan's detective agency.

  His interest in the other player suddenly piqued, and he decided to forgive the woman for having been so blunt and forward, and for sarcastically calling him a genius boy.

  So it would appear that Mia was on some type of mission that involved both The Borrells and The Green Fists. Ethan wondered how that was possible if the gang wasn't supposed to be working with, negotiating, or doing any business with vampires.

  "Interesting," he concluded, feeling as though the only thing that made sense was that The Green Fists had been corrupted somehow.

  He closed out his screens and rested his eyes. They were burning from overuse, and from what felt like overstimulation.

  Before Ethan even realized it, he stirred awake, feeling groggy but somewhat refreshed. Glancing at his watch, he was surprised to discover he'd slept all through the night. It was 5:40 a.m.

  With rain tapping mildly outside his window, Ethan considered his plan. It was only his second day in the game and already he felt assured he was behind the other players.

  Any chance of quickly catching up with them felt daunting as he contemplated going out in the wet weather. Then again, he knew he needed to suck things up and just push through his normal noncommittal attitude. In the real world, he would have simply lounged about all day.

  Being indecisive and well-balanced in thought wasn’t going to work in the game, though. He knew it. He’d actually known it his entire life, and yet he always tried to live some type of nuanced, relaxed lifestyle without taking many risks.

  This was where that type of slow and steady approach had got him. He was sitting in his apartment in a video game afraid of some rain. Why? He’d already tried convincing himself to be more bold and more pursuant of his goals.

  So why hadn’t he acted on that previous decision? Was it some type of anxiety? Or fear, perhaps? No one liked to fail, but at the same time, he knew the whole point of the damn game was to make entertainment and possibly get rich doing it.

  Ethan exhaled slowly. He would choose to be resolute in decision, and he would speak his choice into action.

  “I’m in this to win this.”

  With that, he put his boots on, laced them, and left the meager comforts of his apartment behind.

  If he was going to stake out The Bleeker Building in the rain for hours on end, he at least wanted something to occupy his time and his stomach.

  The bells jingled as he pushed open the door at Gregg’s Bodega. The cashier, an older man with a thick mustache, glanced up from his magazine.

  "Back again, eh? I knew you would like that Zappy!"

  Ethan splashed water in with each step as he entered, and offered the man a polite nod, aware that Gregg was somehow connected to The Green Fists.

  “Sorry,” he said, “about the water, and… also my mood, because of the water.”

  Gregg shook his head. "No problems, sir! For you I will clean! And remember, cold drinks always only one nickel!"

  Ethan nodded, wondering if the Fair Prices modifier had something to do with that. Then again, he also wondered if that was why Emma had only charged a dime for that entire meal.

  He shrugged the thought away and scanned the cold drink coolers along the wall. His eyes landed on a neon green beverage called Zappy! Citrus Exploddy! and he grabbed two of the tall glass bottles.

  Next Ethan went to the snack aisle, grabbing packages of beef jerky from the hanging racks. Protein, sugar, and caffeine. That should get him through the stakeout.

  At the counter, it was an easy transaction. "Ten cents," Gregg stated cautiously.

  Ethan dug into his wallet, retrieving a single dime. After handing over the coin, he left the little store with two dollars and sixty five cents, feeling happy about the purchase but hateful towards the weather.