He quickly changed clothes even though they seemed to be perfectly clean. He’d still been in them for a little less than a week in real life time. Then, he climbed back into his capsule, and closed his eyes.
Chapter 12
Opening his eyes, Alan found himself back in his Home. The change was astounding: his thoughts became more coherent, faster; the comfortable sense of Eve’s background calculations settled in his head. Alan could now tell that she was constantly scanning for signs of danger, potential harm or potential gain, calculating risks and rewards associated with particular actions, examining every minute detail of the world around them. It was astounding, really. Yet, at the same time, it became increasingly clear she was a lot less… human. All of her choices, her actions, were a series of probabilistic calculations, nested loops within nested loops going so deep it was impossible for Alan to follow. Alan looked up at the Administrator in his Home. Her tag read “Senior Executive B31400AD32.”
Alan briefly considered spending the 500 ability points he got from the Tutorial, but then decided against it. He should find out more first, figure out what he was going to do before he began improving his character. In most MMOs (massively multiplayer online games) each class’s talent tree was carefully examined, optimal builds found after hours of testing. Alan was sure in-game guides were as abundant and varied, as the amount of customization capable within the Game was staggering, eclipsing any other game he had ever played.
Alan quickly checked out how much it would cost to teleport within the Game, and his jaw dropped at the prices. Teleportation to the nearest major city, which was now Khersath, would cost over a million credits. Other cities were shown as options as well, but it would cost tens or hundreds of millions to teleport to them. You’d have to either be really rich or need to get somewhere in a real hurry to use this teleport system.
Shaking his head, Alan had the Game send him back to his respawn and logout point, the capsule room on board the Titan. He quickly made it back to his room and began to gather information on the globalnet, searching for ways to make money, helping Eve to make her own searches into class abilities, damage, and item choices while he tried to plan out what he’d do next. AIs weren't allowed to directly interface with the globalnet. Instead, Alan had to scroll through screens and click on things for her. He was able to set up a few macros fairly quickly, automatic processes that trawled through the entirety of websites.
The globalnet turned out to be a rather interesting place, as your in-game account was tied to your online account. Thus, if you wanted to post or view anything online it could be tied back to you. Tied to your account was a rating, using the standard in-game rating system, which would rise or fall depending on your actions online. Alan’s current globalnet-rating was D, as knowing a Chief Administrator was apparently a big plus.
With a quick search Alan found out what a Chief Administrator actually was. With only 200 of them at any given time, they were essentially the highest echelon of the Administrators, voting for major choices such as revising in-game rules. The degree to which they could actually change things was actually limited though. People had likened them to the US Supreme Court, interpreting the laws but not changing them. Alan had to forcibly stop himself from reading more, since while Administrator politics were no doubt interesting, he didn’t have the time. There was just so much free information open to him, backstory that he could explore.
As he delved deeper into the globalnet pay walls began to appear. The main site used for information was called the Hub. You could either pay credits to access more than the basic information or sell information for additional access, credits, or rating points. Various portions of the Hub were only accessible if you met various requirements, like a minimum globalnet-rating, a credit amount, or some other condition. Alan quickly found the human-only section, and found the top beginner’s guide. It was a free guide written and updated by the United World Government. For good measure, he read the overall top beginner’s guide on the entire site as well, which wasn't limited to a specific race. (The latter cost 100 credits to access.)
The majority of the information turned out to be things Alan already knew, like advising players to get the Gifted and Talented abilities if they didn’t begin with them, and an intro about the major factions. Interestingly, it was noted that a sizable number of players, maybe around 30%, actually developed non-combative roles, such as engineers, scientists, merchants or even laborers. Both guides advised that newer players join a guild or faction, with the United World Government stressing that people should join their faction, but Alan refrained from doing so.
Still, the benefits groups provided in-game were astounding. They often had special items, travelling arrangements, skills and training grounds. In addition, most major quests and events could only be attempted with a large group. It was also highly suggested that new players save up and take out a loan or find a sponsor, usually a guild or government, to attend an academy or institute. Like the Chief Administrator had told Alan, these places were basically boot camps that increased players’ capabilities a great deal, streamlining the early leveling process and teaching people how to fight in-game. For someone like Alan who had no previous combat experience, this could be quite helpful, though Alan now had Eve to help him. They could also, once he was accepted, provide a loan, solving his debt issues. He'd ensure there were standard monthly payments this time.
Alan began looking into the guild the Chief Administrator recommended, the Black Rose guild. It was a member of the Mercenary Bloc, a coalition of mercenary guilds that agreed to not take out contracts that opposed each other. When incensed, the Mercenary Bloc could field a force capable of rivaling any major faction’s. That had only happened a few times in history when… Right, Alan shouldn’t get sidetracked.
The guild was relatively small, with only a few thousand members, but what they lacked in numbers, they made up with talent. The Black Rose guild was apparently for elite, specialized players, a guild easily in the top 100 of the Game. It was a special forces guild that concentrated less on fighting all out wars and more on discrete operations like capturing specific targets or fighting in places where ability mattered more than numbers. That sounded pretty cool to Alan.
He quickly searched for the contact the Chief Administrator had given him, a player called PhantomGlitch who went by Phantom. Alan didn’t expect anything to turn up, but to his surprise he got an immediate result. Phantom was apparently an Erudian inventor, who worked as an engineer/tech specialist for the Black Rose guild. A picture of him accepting an award was shown. He looked to be a human in his early 30s, with brown hair and a handsome face.
According to the Hub page, Phantom held a few fairly major patents, mostly having to do with improved weapon scopes. There was additional information listed on the public page about him, but it said you needed to be female to view it. Alan proceeded to message him, with the intentions of trying to join the Black Rose guild. The guides said guild testing and trials could be as arduous as the Tutorial. The Black Rose apparently had as low as a 1% acceptance rate even though they accepted applications from only the best. Alan prepared to send a message to Phantom.
Don't mention the debt, Eve sent.
Why not? Alan asked.
Basic negotiation tactics. If they know you're over a barrel they'll squeeze you for all you got.