The Systemic Lands

Chapter 18: Day 30 – Chat With Tyrese

“Hello Evaline.”

“Michael, you sure made waves,” she greeted me this morning. She had been waiting for me pre-dawn at the plaza. I had been 50-50 if she would actually show up, but the desire for easy crystals would appeal to anyone in this place.

“Indeed. Let’s walk to the side and I would like to know what has been happening?”

“First the price. Ten crystals are too few.”

“You hunting slimes?” I asked and she didn’t respond. “If you want more, you get better information.”

“Carlos has taken over everything. His gang is calling themselves the Red Dawn.” Well, someone was a Naruto fan. Wait, wasn’t there a movie about communists invading and kids fighting them by that name? I would have to ask Carlos about that. Well maybe not, I wasn’t that curious.

“How many people?”

“Around 30, but I am not sure. They are gearing up to explain things to the new arrivals today.” At least he was on top of things.

“There are people unhappy with the tax, but they have been mostly quiet since the store upgrade.” I nodded at that as well. “Only a couple of Carlos’ men hunt slimes, which is part of where the discontent comes from. Two people have died to slimes and another five have gone missing.”

The two were idiots and the five probably went too far or were murdered for one reason or another in the woods. “They have also set up a brothel, everyone pays even his own men, and the women get a half the cut.” Now that was surprising, but not really. It wasn’t called the first profession for no reason.

“No slaves?” I asked.

“There was talk of that, but Carlos quickly stopped any of that talk. If there were slaves, then people would get way too excited. Better to let the girls earn some money to take care of themselves. If they wanted to go and hunt monsters, they are welcome to. Also, the girls don’t get a pillar tax.”

That made sense. Don’t want to overtax people. Plus, the guards would be familiar with the girls with how small the community was currently. “Alright.” I handed over five crystals.

“With the tax that isn’t enough.”

“If you want more, what are people saying about me?”

“That you are evil, clever, a cheater, Carlos’ boogieman, a serial killer taken out of prison. Most people agree that you are dangerous, and you have the nickname, Killer or Sicario in Spanish for hitman. Also, that you have a lot of points, and I mean a lot.” She looked at me up and down and I just smiled at her.

“Any organized groups against Carlos?” I asked.

“The biggest group is only four people outside of his gang. But no one is really thinking about challenging him right now. Might change with new arrivals but for now, people are struggling to kill slimes.”

“Wait struggling, how?”

“It is hard and dangerous. You don’t need that many points to get food.” I just shook my head at that. That wasn’t living, that was just waiting for death. People doing the smallest amount possible. I was honestly a bit surprised and disappointed in my fellow humans.

“Alright.” I handed her another 5 crystals. “Now, I am looking for a pack carrier. Someone who won’t panic easily and will carry my stuff.”

She just shook her head. “The people that you are looking for are either dead or working under Carlos. Your best bet is the new group. Trust me, if I knew anyone, I would tell you.”

“You’re not interested?”

“I am an old woman, and this place is hell. I don’t want to become monster food wherever you are planning to run off to. Pack carrier just sounds like monster bait to me.” That wasn’t entirely wrong, but I didn’t want to say that out loud.

Evaline just shook her head at me as if she realized what I was thinking. “Can you get me in for free to cash in?”

“I will pay your tax and will check in again in five days.”

“I look forward to it. Anything you want me to pass along to the gossip vine?”

“No. Just get the news, gossip, and don’t spread gossip about me unless I okay it first. Any word from the other gates?” I asked.

“Nope. No one is willing to risk them when there is the slime gate.” That was unfortunate. I walked towards the pillars with Evaline in tow.

I got out 10 crystals and went up to the nearest guard. “This is for her tax.”

“Ah, Killer, you don’t need to pay,” the guard said.

“The payment is for her, not for me. I don’t cheat Carlos, only I don’t get taxed.” I was sure this would get passed up to him. Hopefully the message was that heard was that I respect what we set up and I won’t take advantage of him. The flip side being, he better be as upfront to me on his end.

“Alright. You can pay the crystals to him.” He pointed to a guard with a pack. I went over and pulled out 10 crystals and dropped them into the pack.

Evaline quickly went to one of the pillars to get food. I went to one to make some purchases. I had 1,251 points at the moment. I spent 76 on a restoration. The average price was going down, which was nice to see. Then another 40 points on food.

I checked for furniture. A wood chair was 500 points and a table a 1,000 points. I also got the sense of permanence from them. They wouldn’t disappear unless broken unlike other items. There were blankets for 500 points each. A wood frame for a bed was a 1,000 points.

Yeah, things were getting expensive quickly. There was no option to purchase or upgrade property. I had been hoping for that. Maybe in the next upgrade that would be an option?

I finished at the store and packed everything away. I then made my way to Carlos’ building. A guard was sitting on a chair outside with a sword in his lap. This guy was a bit beefy and black. Not huge like a tank, but not a small guy either, just well built.

“Boss is asleep.” He said quietly when I reached him.

“I don’t mind waiting. Can I sit here?” I pointed at the wall.

“Feel free.” I took a spot against the wall and sat on the ground. “Thought you would want my chair.”

“Not my chair, you look quite comfortable.” He let out a snort at that.

“So, the famous Sicario is willing to sit on the ground.”

“Better than sitting in the dirt. Next time you can have a chair for guests when they visit. Name’s Michael.”

“Tyrese. You can sit, if Carlos sees me in the chair and you on the ground, he won’t be happy.” I took the chair and he sat on the ground. No need to get him in trouble or throw his kindness back in his face.

“Thanks,” I said. I was still polite though. That didn’t cost me anything.

“So, anything exciting out there in the forest?”

“Just slimes. But I am interested in finding someone to carry my pack when I explore new areas. Interested?”

“Hell no. That is how idiots die. I am a city boy, ain’t made for no forest and monsters and shit.”

“Well, you have a sword.”

“We trade it to whoever is on guard duty. Not a lot of points to go around.”

“Tax is slow?” I asked.

“It is. People are lazy assholes. Just kill a couple of slimes and then back to get food and hide out. But I get it. This place is messed up.”

“It is messed up.”

“You know anything?” I guess being the frontline player meant I would keep getting asked that. I chuckled a bit.

“Not laughing at you, just everyone asks me that. All I know is this place is fake, a lot of the little details are just glossed over. Like a fancy neighborhood, but where all the nice-looking people are baby eating cultists.” He chuckled at that.

“True dat. True dat.”

“Know anyone interested in risking their life and willing to carry a pack?” I asked.

“Nope. Carlos put together a team to kill slimes themselves, but they are only so-so.”

“What like 200 crystals total per day?” I asked.

“Just about. But they are extra cautious. More to show the flag than anything else.” I nodded at that. Wouldn’t want the plebians thinking they are doing all the work and Carlos is mooching off them.

“So why Red Dawn?” I asked.

“World ended and Carlos liked that movie. So that is the name of the gang. Plus, he wants red to be our color.”

“You mean government or nation.” Tyrese turned and gave me a look. “You are the police now. So maybe blue?” I asked with a slight grin.

He just let out a long sigh. “Me the popo.” He shook his head at that. “I guess that makes me Minister of Defense then.”

“Guess it does.” We both chuckled a bit at that.

“Think we are ever going home?”

“Honestly, probably not. Unless it is over a mountain of monster bodies. I mean a literal mountain. If this is anything like a game, then the end monsters are going to be huge pants shitting things. Like Godzilla on steroids.”

“Damn. Figured as much. Damn.”

“Well, there might be magic if the store is upgraded enough. That would be pretty cool.”

“Like fireballs and shit?”

“Maybe, who knows. Still haven’t figured out what Spirit and Aura do, any idea?”

“Nope. Everyone wants Body upgrades, but that shit is expensive, and we need other stuff.” He lifted up his sword slightly.

“Fair enough. You need a lot of upgrades for them to be worthwhile, but the Body ones work for sure.” He gave me a look.

“Facts.” I smiled at that. There was a long period of silence before Tyrese spoke again.

“No rain. You see any rain?”

“Just this calm weather and light breeze. Still the days are definitely getting shorter. Might get some seasonality or the world is heading towards eternal darkness.”

“You're joking, right?”

“Who knows what rules this world operates by? Need a professional to measure shadow angles and who knows what else to figure out how big the seasonality is. As for eternal darkness, this place is fake.” I looked at the area where the sun was rising, and the sky was red.

“Who knows what tomorrow will bring?”

“You are a bundle of sunshine, aren’t you?”

“What can I say, I am a philosopher at heart.” Tyrese just shook his head.

“Well as long as you are using that philosophy to figure this shit out, no complaints from me.”

We waited for a while longer as the sun came up and I heard movement inside the building. I looked at Tyrese.

“Better wait for a bit until he has had breakfast.”

“No problem. Today is the rest day.”

“No rest days here.” I looked at him. “No complaints either.”

“How much are you paid?” I asked.

“Four crystals a day.” That was rough. “Enough for food and some puss.”

“Heard about the brothel, where is it?” I asked.

“Across the street, there.” He pointed. I looked at the non-descript building.

“Oh.” For some reason I had been expecting something more colorful and grunting sounds. I had never been to a brothel on Earth, so my expectations were from everything I had read.

“Well everyone is asleep now. It gets busy near sunset. But…,” Tyrese trailed off.

“A bit raw?” I asked.

“Raw, that is a good way to describe it. If I wanted someone the age of my mother, well there are choices. Not much in the younger category or way too expensive.”

“They set their own price?”

“Yeah. Charge what they can get away with. You would be the big catch.” He gave me a look. No matter how tempting it was, I wasn’t going to think with my dick. That way laid heaps of drama, trouble, drama, and plain old trouble. Drama got mentioned twice in my mental list of why not to sample the wears for how likely it was to occur and drag me down.

“Monsters might be less dangerous.”

“You may be onto something there. A casino is going to open soon.”

“Really, cards or…?”

“Dice. From the store.” I had missed that and felt a bit annoyed at myself.

“Well don’t lose all your crystals there.”

“Trust me I won’t. I like this guard shift. Nice and quiet for the most part.”

“Until the crazies start showing up and taking your chair.”

“Indeed.” We both chuckled at that.

There was another long period of silence. I guess it was the shift change, since people began to leave the building of the Red Dawn and returning there. Tyrese went in to let the boss know I was waiting outside once people started moving about.