Chapter 010

  Jason McArthur

  While Ethan was eating, he'd noticed the streets getting busier as afternoon approached. After leaving, he found the sidewalks to be crowded.

  Old cars bumbled by him on the street, sounding dangerous and being operated haphazardly. Plenty of NPCs were going about their programmed routines, wearing all manner of period clothing he found interesting.

  Men wore everything from tailored suits with patterned ties and fedoras, to suspenders and oxford shoes. Women had drop-waist dresses, cloche hats, small handbags, and plenty of jewelry.

  His destination was The Green Yards, a neighborhood in the heart of The Grims that he hadn't yet ventured into even though he knew the area well based on false memories.

  His character had been there multiple times previous to the real Ethan being plugged in. Mr. Gallagher owned most of the residential units in The Green Yards.

  On the way, he was jostled more than once, and met with glares and muttered curses whenever he stumbled into someone's path. The air was thick with engine exhaust and a million other stenches, but at least the people were dressed nice.

  Then he finally saw The Green Yards up ahead. The motor court units were tightly packed together, surrounding small patches of green space.

  He had no doubt they were once lovingly tended, but now he was paid to push a rotary mower over them once a week, and that was about it. He'd barely managed to get that done, but he was going to up his game moving forward so he didn't give Mr. Gallagher any reasons to kill him.

  Two-story duplexes, bungalows, and ranch designs filled out the rest of the quaint little neighborhood. It was almost cute. It was still Grimsborough Heights, though, and there wasn't much to be desired if he was being honest.

  Other than nostalgia factor and the curiosity of stepping back in time, it was falling apart. If one looked closer, as his maintenance work had allowed him to, he knew the place had plenty of sinister vibes lurking just beneath the surface.

  It didn't take him long to find Ms. Harmon's faded pink unit. The curtains were closed, but he could see the shattered window pane from the courtyard. A rectangular thin crate leaned against the wall near some bushes, and he assumed that was the new glass.

  He stood before the cracked pane of Ms. Harmon's window, taking in the sad disrepair. The wooden frame was weathered and splintered, the glass fractured in a jagged spiderweb pattern where a baseball had hit it.

  At the door, he raised his hand to knock, but then hesitated.

  Movement in his periphery caught his eye, and a blue-named player character strolled down the sidewalk towards him. He quickly lowered his hand, watching the guy approach with a mixture of curiosity and caution.

  As Jason McArthur drew nearer, he recognized the name. It was the same player he'd briefly seen just minutes after he first loaded into the game.

  The man seemed to spot Ethan at the same moment, his pace quickening with a bright grin across his face.

  "Hey, you're that guy I saw this morning! Ethan Jones!"

  He nodded. "Yeah, that's me. Ethan Jones. And you're Jason McArthur."

  "You got it!" The man swept in with an easy familiarity, clasping his shoulder. "Damn, it's good to see a familiar face around here, even if I don't really know you. How're you holding up in this madhouse? You sound American? Are you American?"

  Before Ethan could respond, the guy barreled on, his words tumbling out in a torrent.

  “I'm from New York, baby! Can you believe this place? I'm already on my third mission trying to find some stupid secret jazz club. One of my neighbors had a husband that snuck off to a jazz club and now she's worried sick because he hasn't come home.”

  Jason shook his head, letting out a short laugh. "Crazy broad. As if I don't have enough to deal with already without taking on side missions for randos. But I need the experience, you know?"

  Ethan couldn't get a word in edgewise as Jason launched into the latest dramas he'd uncovered. The man talked about a crooked cop on the take and a vampire nest operating out of an old theater on Monroe Avenue.

  Jason's eyes danced with excitement as he talked. Ethan said nothing. The more info this other player dumped out the better.

  "Get this," the guy continued, his voice lowering conspiratorially as he leaned in. "I was casing that old theater on Monroe the other night, you know the one, it's abandoned. Figured there might be some good loot to grab. But when I got there, the whole place was lit up and crawling with people."

  He paused for dramatic effect, eyes wide as if reliving the thrill. "Only they wasn't normal people. Vampires, man. A whole freakin' nest of them, or whatever they're called. I think I read about primogens somewhere in my screens. Anyway, can you believe that?"

  Ethan shook his head slowly, trying to feign surprise. He wondered if Jason had watched the introductory video, or if his was different. Ethan’s had shown him several vampires. Still, he let Jason have his moment anyway.

  "That's not even the half of it," the guy went on eagerly. "There was this cop there too. Name was Officer Mackson. Swaggering around like he owned the place, talking to them like they were best friends. Dude was so clearly on the take it's not even funny. They were handing him dollar bills like they were buying his protection. Dollar bills, man! Like, that's so cheap! Takes a twenty to buy a happy meal these days, know what I mean?"

  "What else did you see?" Ethan pressed immediately, smiling at the mention of how cheap everything was, but ignoring it in favor of more information. "Anything at all, like vampire names?"

  Jason waved a dismissive hand. "Nah, I didn't stick around long enough to find out any details like that. Just looked around and hauled ass out of there before they turned me into a human juicy fruit!”

  He nodded and gave the man a laugh. It sounded like he'd had an exciting first day, and they were only half way through it.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  "But hey, enough about me," Jason said with another dismissive wave. "What've you been up to since the start? You gotta tell me about your missions so far!"

  Before Ethan said anything, he considered how he felt about Jason McArthur. The man didn't sound or act dangerous, but things were different now that Ethan had been pulled into The Green Fists as an Associate. He would need to watch who he talked to and when he did that talking.

  Jason had quickly shared some of his own adventure, and seemed friendly enough, but that didn't mean much. Looking at the man's profile screen showed that Jason was still neutral.

  "You join anyone yet?"

  The man shook his head, the same thought probably dawning on him. "No. I probably should have looked first, huh?"

  "Yep," Ethan said.

  "What about you? Let me look!" Jason said, before quickly stepping back. "Damn, bro! You're allied with The Green Fists!? You don't waste any time, do you? Those guys are bad news."

  He smirked. "All the gangs are bad news."

  "True… True…"

  Ethan studied the New Yorker as he looked at him the same way Mia and Stalvek had.

  After a few seconds, he decided it wouldn't hurt to share some of what he'd learned with Jason. He recapped his meeting with Samuel Donovan, leaving out the part about Mr. Gallagher being the killer.

  The official story was that Sadler had done the hit, so that was the story he told. There was no reason to let loose lips sink a ship that hadn't even left the docks yet.

  Then he mentioned Stalvek, the player making fast moves with The Cortez Family. Jason only ever perked up whenever he mentioned that specific gang. After the third time Ethan brought up Sadler, Stalvek, and The Cortez Family, it was evident the other player didn't care for any of them.

  Jason sighed. "Listen, you gotta be careful messing around with these gangs. I ran into some of their goons on my first mission. They were shaking down a store owner over on Jameson. Straight up mobster tactics, you know?"

  Ethan shook his head. "Which one?"

  The guy shrugged. "Doesn't matter. They're all the same. Green Fists, Cortez, Borrell! They're all bad jazz, buddy! This whole city is corrupt, you know what I mean?"

  He did. It was the whole point of the game, from what he could gather. Ethan was a bit surprised that a guy from New York hadn't immediately jumped headfirst into a mobster simulation.

  Then he checked himself, realizing that was a stereotype. There were people from all walks of life in every place, and he'd just made an assumption. The other player in front of him seemed like an average young man just like himself.

  Jason continued. "Anyway, the whole thing was ugly. I tried to step in, play hero for a sec. But they just laughed at me. They said if I knew what was good for me, I'd keep my nose out of their business. I didn't know at first that we can't fight until we get to level three. You believe that garbage? Stupid, if you ask me."

  With a shake of his head and a deep sigh, he kept talking. "I barely got out of there without catching a beating myself. Had to lay low after that."

  Jason didn't say anything for a bit so Ethan finally said, "you know, the game is designed around being in a gang, right? You can be an absolute psycho in this virtual reality but still be a good person in the real world."

  The other player laughed, but dismissed the notion. "Yeah, I guess, but it feels weird man. I don't mind killing NPCs and other players in a video game! No big deal! but they made this world so lifelike, bro! It's like everywhere I walk in this city the poor people have suffered because of all the gangs and vampires! It's horrible."

  Ethan completely agreed with him. "Very true. It's realistic, for sure."

  Jason nodded and the conversation slid into an awkward silence. The other player decided to change that before he could.

  "So what type of talents you start with?"

  Before Ethan could even answer the guy, Jason started talking about his own. "I started the game with a couple of sweet talents. Real sweet, let me tell you."

  He smirked, listening with eager ears as the guy droned on with excitement.

  "First up, I got Recon. Lets me size up any situation at a glance. It highlights potential threats, escape routes, and possible advantages. Comes in real handy when I'm trying to sneak around."

  Jason's eyes took on a faraway look, and Ethan had no doubt he was reliving something. "Already saved me more times than I can count. Like that theater basement I told you about? Recon is the only reason I spotted the hidden exit."

  The guy shook his head, chuckling at the memory. "Gave the creeps a little surprise when I came bursting out the back. Should've seen the looks on their ugly mugs!"

  "Sounds cool," he answered.

  "Dude! I've been going all over this city just doing Recon!"

  Ethan smiled, thinking of an invisible Jason sneaking around corners.

  Jason McArthur was proving to be a wealth of information, even if it came at a cost. Ethan would have to hear him constantly talking. He smiled as the guy droned on, thinking it wasn't a problem so long as it was good info.

  "But Recon's not all I've got up my sleeve. I also started with the Stealth talent. Combines perfect with Recon, if you ask me. Once I scope out an area, Stealth lets me slip right through without anyone being the wiser."

  To demonstrate, Jason dropped into an exaggerated crouch, putting one finger to his lips as he mock-tiptoed away from Ethan. When he got about twenty feet away, his blue name disappeared from above his head and he could no longer see him on his mini-map.

  "Quiet as a church mouse, totally undetectable! I'm like a freaking ghost!"

  Ethan asked, "How did you do that!?"

  "With my two points in the Stealth talent," Jason said, "and I bet you have one point in Awareness?"

  "Yeah."

  The guy nodded. "Makes sense. I'm higher, so you can see me from a distance away, but I can still sneak pretty close to you before you actually notice. Gives me an advantage if I'm fast enough."

  "Interesting," Ethan said, thinking about how useful that would be infiltrating The Bleeker Building. "What's the math say on it?"

  "Dunno, bro! I just thought it was cool!"

  He shook his head, realizing the guy was breezing through the game on pure adrenaline.

  Slapping Ethan on the shoulder, Jason shot him a roguish wink. "So what do you think? A duo like you and me, with my sweet talents and your brains? We'd be unstoppable in this place, am I right? But I don't know about joining The Green Fists. If we team up, you might have to leave them, bro!"

  He had no interest in doing that. Jason was a unique player, with early talents that could prove beneficial as a rogue or assassin type.

  Having just met the impulsive talker, he didn't want to answer immediately. He hadn't even had a moment to say much about himself, let alone read further into Jason's screen.

  Ethan asked, "Who said anything about teaming up?"

  Jason appeared stunned. "I did!"

  "Yeah, you did," he answered. "Not me. We're gonna need protection. There's players like Stalvek out there who are gonna kill us as soon as we tick over to level three. NPCs too! If we don't have a group behind us, we're easy pickings for any of them. But if we pick one, at least it removes a third of our potential enemies."

  The other player seemed to consider his words. He saw the gears turning but of course had no idea what Jason was thinking. After a minute, the guy started nodding his head, like he'd accepted the idea.

  "Yeah… Yeah, bro, you might be right about that. Why did you go with The Green Fists? My first mission had me talking to someone from The Cortez Family, but I didn't like the guy right off the bat and noped the hell out of there."

  Still hoping to learn more, he pressed for details. "What was the name?"

  "Max something," Jason said. “The name is somewhere in my screens but it doesn't matter. Why'd you go with The Green Fists? Convenience? The pay? What's the deal?"

  Ethan smirked. "Let's go with convenience. Also, they don't like vampires and neither do I. I’m actually hoping to kill some of them.”

  Jason laughed. "Oh! Yeah! That's something I can get behind, bro! Those dudes are creepy as fu…"

  Old Ms. Harmon called out to them from her broken window, interrupting the conversation. "You two gonna' jabber all morning, or you gonna' fix my window?"

  They both stepped back, startled by the woman they hadn't seen through the shattered glass.

  Looking in her direction. Ms. Harmon peered out at them with a smart-ass grin. Her face looked like a loving grandma, cute and caring, but her words came out like a blunt nag.

  She laughed. "Damn! What a joke you boys are! What are you low-levels waiting for!? I ain't got all day here! Might die today. Can't you see I'm old? Ain't got no time to sit around listening to you talk about some stupid talents and killing vamps and whatnot."

  Ethan grinned, but only because the NPC was clearly programmed to be the cranky old woman type character.

  "This one of your missions or something?" Jason asked.

  He nodded, "Yes. Boss needs me to fix her window."

  "Well, I'm not into old panes, if you know what I mean!" Jason laughed at his own joke.

  "Well?" Ms. Harmon asked.

  Ethan gave Jason a sidelong glance as they approached the broken window.