Let's Play a Game – Chapter 9
Blue boxes abound, money that appeared in a flash of light, and an unconscious Nazi at my feet.
Today was turning out to be really interesting.
I stare at his prone form, the bruise from my kick clearly visible on his face. I did that. Holy shit. I mean, yeah, I remember doing it, but in the moment itself…the weight of it just didn't register.
Wow.
Gamer's Mind at work obviously, but still...
I shook my head. Before I take care of…any of that, I turned my head to scan the alleyway, looking past the now transparent screens. The victim's still there and…completely unconscious.
Observe.
As soon as I focus on the boxes again, they all pop into visibility. With a bit of annoyance, it takes me just a few seconds to push the other boxes aside and read the box about Ms. Whitley….or is it Mrs. Whitley?
Whatever.
Name: Rayyah Whitley
Title: N/A
Professions: Waitress & College Student
Faction: Civilian
Sex: Female
Class: Commoner
Level: 17 EXP: N/A
Age: 23 Race: Human
HP: 114/500 MP: N/A
STR: 9
VIT: 16
DEX: 14
INT: 24
WIS: 14
LUK: 5
Status: (Unconscious) (Concussion) (External Bleeding) (Internal Bleeding) (Contusions) (Broken Nose) (Stress Fractures: Feet & Ankles)
Biography: A young woman who works as a waitress to help pay for her college classes along with her scholarships, Rayyah Whitley is a second-generation immigrant trying to make the most of her life in Brockton Bay. Born to an Egyptian mother and an American father, she has tried her best to keep a balance between both cultures while also keeping her own personal identity.
Between her mother's Kemetism beliefs and her father's own Anglican, she has flip-flopped between the two religions all her life much to her local priest's chagrin. Her parents however have encouraged her to follow whatever path she wants rather than force her to conform to any singular custom, which has strengthened their familial bonds to an extreme degree.
One of her main driving goals in earning her accounting degree is to secure a job that'll allow her to take care of both of her beloved parents, and more importantly, get them out of the Bay. Due to the history of gang violence in the city and their obvious heritage, her biggest fear is her mother being cornered and killed by an E88 thug.
If she had the ability, she would have triggered as a parahuman ten minutes ago.
Emotions: Terror. Despair.
As soon as I see the words "internal bleeding," I was sprinting over towards her, my speed reading skill letting me finish the entire contents of the box just before I reach her. As I run, I can see her health tick down a point.
Fuck.
As soon as I'm near her, like a switch in my head, my first aid skill is suddenly active, and I feel myself fall into another unnatural calm. The boxes once more shimmer back to invisibility as I firmly focus on her.
I check her airway. Her breathing is unrestricted, good.
I check her pulse. It's higher than normal, but not dangerous or erratic.
I need to call an ambulance. Shit. I really need a cell phone. That's going on the to-do list.
I quickly look through her pockets without any luck, and then I scan around to see if she had a purse.
A few feet away, I spot it, mangled as it is, and as fast as I can I reach over and grab it. Almost tearing it open, I quickly fish through it before finding her phone.
As soon as I fiddle with it and the screen turns on, I curse.
It's locked.
Then, my eyes catch the emergency button in the corner. I'm far too busy to really feel any relief as I quickly tap it.
After just a short ring I hear a male voice. "911 emergency."
"I need an ambulance. There's an unconscious assault victim here with a head injury that needs medical attention ASAP. I also need the police…" I stare back at nut-less. "…And possibly another ambulance. The Nazi who attacked her is unconscious here too. "
While I talk, carefully, I start to put her into the recovery position. A slight distortion pops into my face half-way through. I'm sure it's a box, but I'm so focused on Rayyah, it must have appeared and stayed transparent for me.
The operator answers back calmly and professionally. "Can you give me the address?"
I blink for a second. Menu. Map. I look and see the icon representing me, and zoom in like I'm using a touch screen. I smile. "Yes. I can." I quickly rattle off the address to him.
"Good. Help is on the way, ma'am. Could you please give me your name?"
I freeze. Fuuuuucccck. I did not think this through. "I…can't. No."
"Okay, ma'am." I hear him taking a deep breath. "Are you by chance a parahuman? Did you help the victim and stop the mugger?"
I chew on my lips.
Saying nothing will give me away anyways, but what do I have to really gain from continuing to talk?
Would they call the PRT and would the Protectorate want to say hello?
Would they try and sell me a Wards pitch?
I don't have a proper mask or costume, I don't have a cape name …yet, and I'm still working out how to make my powers…cape career viable.
It's just something I'm not ready for yet.
"Ma'am? Hello? Are you still with me?"
No. Talking to the PRT or Protectorate this early…no. I'm not ready. I'm not.
I ignore the phone and turn back towards Ms. Whitley.
Her health actually ticked up a point, so I guess first aid is working here. I'm not sure…what I did to cause that though. There's not much else I can personally do for her.
I sigh, and then put the phone on the ground, leaving the call on. I tune out whatever the operator is saying, and focus on Rayyah.
The wound on the back of her head is luckily just a closed head injury. It's a minor laceration, and blood loss is minimal. I can't properly clean it and I have no bandages or disinfectant. Even if I could substitute it with some cloth torn from one of the extra shirts in my inventory, the ambulance would be here to take it off in ten or so minutes anyways to apply something that would work better.
Her nose bleed has already started to slow from the earlier gushing too. The only thing I could do there would be to keep pressure on it until it clotted. Even if I did that, the ambulance would show up before the bleeding would fully stop.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
I curse a little for not thinking about grabbing some medical supplies when leaving the house. I was thinking I'd be fine with just food, and I didn't even think I'd be actually doing anything hero related this soon.
I'm not sure if my food would heal other people, it's possible, but there's no way I'm going to try and force food down an unconscious person's throat. That's a good way to block her air supply since I can't force her to swallow.
A first aid kit and other assorted medical supplies is a must have for my inventory in the future.
Reluctantly, I start to leave.
I turn back towards the racist asshole on the ground, and decide to be cautious.
I give him another observe.
Yeah, even with the hit I gave him, he's much better off than his victim: Only a small concussion, unconsciousness and some bruises. Berserk is also gone, so it must have timed out.
…How long will he be out?
Can I see the duration? Like with my own fatigue?
I tap his unconscious status effect to see what happens.
A smaller box pops up telling me the brief details on how unconsciousness works…and exactly how long it'll last.
Duration: 6m27s
…Fuck!
Quickly I scan through the contents of my inventory. I need something to restrain him with and I need it now!
I swipe from page to page; seeing only food, clothing, school supplies, and other completely fucking useless things.
Why did I have to grab all of my pants with elastic bands and none of the ones that need belts!
I glance again towards the timer.
Duration: 5m38s
Shit! Fuck! Shit! Fuck!
I need to improvise something, and I need it now. If only I had a rope or some strong string or…
I get an idea.
I stare down at the Nazi's shoes: specifically his shoelaces. Then I look up at the belt holding up his pants.
That'll work.
With only a minute to spare, I stare down at my handiwork.
The first few times I bungled with the laces and wasted three minutes. Then I gained the knot-tying skill. Then I tied his wrists in a handcuff knot with one of the shoe laces on my very first post-skill try.
Knowledge ex nihilo is bullshit like that.
I used the other lace for his ankles.
Then, just to make sure, I tied his belt firmly around his ankles over the lace, which I then covered by rolling down his pants over both the lace and the belt.
He isn't going anywhere soon.
Already I could hear sirens in the distance getting louder and louder.
I glance quickly between Ms. Whitley and the Nazi. The police and ambulances should be here any minute now. He's secured, and she's stabilized.
Only one last thing to take care of…
I stared at the mystery money on the ground.
I tapped into my sprint power for just a little while to gain some distance from the alleyway. I picked a direction opposite from the sirens, and was a few blocks away when I heard them shut off.
I let out the breath I was holding. That's plenty of excitement for the week let alone today. I mean, I'd totally do it again, but…
Map.
…I have things to do.
Staring at the map made by my power/cartographer, I pursed my lips to one side of my face. I was now, as, luck had it, walking towards Emma's house.
Joy.
I started to question whether this is the result of luck or Luck, but shook my head. Now's not the time.
If I head back now, I'm sure I'd end up on someone's official recording equipment. I don't think Ms. Whitley saw me, and I don't know how cooperative the amazing eunuch Nazi would be, but if he was…
What's the chance the BBPD would give the PRT a call and have both their guys and the Protectorate be on the lookout for someone in my current outfit today? Considering I would be heading right near PRT headquarters… I think my first plan for today is thoroughly botched.
With a suffering sigh, I made my choice.
I guess I'll go and visit Mrs. Barnes and then deal with the stuff downtown afterwards…
I focused on the blurred transparent boxes around me.
…but first!
I ducked into a nearby alleyway…again.
In equal halves of amusement and exasperation, I stare at the suddenly appearing blue blockade in front of me while letting out a very deep sigh.
Okay, let's get through this, one box at a time.
For skillful dodging, your dexterity has increased by 1.
Four of those…
Your "Unarmed Combat Mastery" skill has increased by 1!
Three of these… Poke. Poke. Poke.
Your "Taunt" skill has increased by 1!
Four of those and, oooh, it's that new skill I used to piss Mike the ball-less wunder off. Definitely need to check how that works later.
Achievement Progress: New Hampshire Nazis. I hate New Hampshire Nazis. 1/100
First achievement I've seen, and it's one for beating up Nazis? Even my powers don't like the Empire. I snort, giving this box an affectionate pat, before poking the X in the corner.
A skin has been unlocked through a special action!
For stopping a racially motivated hate crime, you've unlocked the "Egyptian Taylor" skin.
I blink a few times.
…Did I just…unlock an ethnicity?
Okay then. That's…new.
Achievement Progress: The Great Taylor Melting Pot. 1/10
...And it comes with an achievement that wants me to unlock even more it seems…
Well, on the bright side, better disguises! That's something I'll need to check when I have a mirror.
Quest Completed!
You have successfully completed the quest "That's a very nice Nazi you have there…"
Reward: +1000 EXP, +3 Strength, +3 Dexterity
Attribute gains from quests…that's freaking awesome.
Besides training and levels, that gives me a third way of raising them!
I mean, sure, I'm going to be limited based on what quests actually provide, but still!
Your level has increased by 1!
You have earned 1 perk! A perk point is gained every three levels and can be spent in the menu for perks. Perks can have a wide range of affects: from boosting stats and skills to granting entirely new abilities. As your level, stats, and skills increase, the more perks are available to choose from in the menu.
Perks are not just earned through points, but can also be granted through various actions, such as: raising an attribute to a certain level, completing a specific quest, equipping a particular title, or even through different achievement rewards.
Ooh, a point for perks and an explanation! I'll take a look at what perks I have later though. Depending upon what choices I have, I might need to save them like attribute points.
Also, something explicitly telling me achievements have rewards. That makes them a lot more appealing and important to pursue.
I quickly go through the rest of the boxes, mainly the ones that appeared after the fight, and were pushed to the side as they appeared while I was busy.
Your "First Aid" skill has increased by 1!
For cautious foresight, your wisdom has increased by 1.
For a clever substitution, your intelligence has increased by 1.
Through practicing the use of shoelaces for binding, a skill to tie knots, "Knot-Tying", has been created!
[Knot-Tying (passive) Lv 1 EXP: 32.50%]
A skill used to create knots in ropes, wires, strings,
or any thin lines of material. With more mastery,
the more complicated knots can be tied.
5% increase in knot-tying speed.
Aaaand done…
Just one last thing to take care of:
I take the cash that appeared in a flash of light after I played my first game of Whack-A-Nazi from one of my pockets and placed the funds on the ground in front of me.
Observe.
A blue box appears and tells me its legal US currency amounting to twenty seven dollars and seventeen cents. Specifically legal Earth Bet US currency, oddly enough, but legal all the same. It also says it has no owner…
I raise an eyebrow.
It's hard to believe that, but observe hasn't given me information that's been wrong yet.
Also, it's nice to know I can observe a group of similar things, and I'm not forced to observe by singular objects. I'm not sure how handy that would be outside of counting everything up, but it's still pretty neat.
Well, I'm still a bit iffy about just throwing it into my inventory, so I need some sort of…scientific control here.
I need to observe cash that's not part of the pile.
Inventory.
I see it pop up and stare at the little counter that keeps track of how much cash I have. My money didn't actually take up a box in the inventory so...
I poke the counter.
Another box appears.
How much would you like to withdraw?
Right underneath the question is another small counter reading zero dollars and zero cents, with a small number pad near it followed by a withdraw and cancel button.
Huh, convenient.
A few pokes, and I have a five dollar bill, a one dollar coin, and a single quarter in my hand.
Observe.
Assorted US Currency:
Legal Earth Bet United States currency. The assorted currency amounts to six dollars and twenty five cents. Owner: Taylor Hebert
That's one confirmation.
I stuff the cash back into my inventory, and look back at the money on the ground.
No owner…means I should just be able to grab it, but what if my loot system just changes the ownership of an item when it…conjures it from wherever. If it was from his wallet or god forbids his bank account, this would still be stealing even if he is a Nazi dirt bag.
If only I had something else of…
Wait, I still have his knife.
I push my hand into my inventory and pull it back out with the knife in tow.
Observe.
First off, it's specifically a KM2000, a combat knife used by the fucking German military.
I scrunch my face up.
That's right, isn't the Empire supported by a Nazi group from Germany or something? Ugh, great.
Second, it actually hasn't drawn blood both bizarrely and luckily enough. He only just got it recently in fact.
Maybe that's why he sucked with a knife so much?
Then again, he was supposed to be a good pit fighter. Shouldn't he know better on how to use one?
…
…I'll need to check what Taunt does later.
Third, it tells me the owner is Michael Donovan, and that it has been…stolen by…Taylor Hebert…
My shoulders droop as I let out a few short depreciative laughs.
Oops.
…Yeah, I'll just drop this off back in the alleyway on my way downtown.
I put the…borrowed knife back into my inventory for now, and stare back at the money.
…
I'm still a bit…worried about this, but for now, I'll trust my power and just take it.
With a slight bit of hesitation, I grab the cash and chuck it into my inventory.
Boxes dealt with, cash picked up, Nazi arrested…now for the hard part of the day: Talking to Emma's mom.
It wasn't even a full ten minutes later when I was close enough that I needed to change back.
After a few glances to make sure the coast was clear, I ducked off the street into another alley, and swapped back into my thin non-muscled self.
I also swapped between my current hoodie to a just a plain sweatshirt. I still had a scarf around my face, but at least it was of a different color. Then there were my superfluous pair of glasses.
You know, the lack of phone booths in Brockton Bay is a real shame.
It was just a few moments later I was standing right in front of her house.
The last time I was here was the moment she ended our friendship and claimed it was all a fraud. A facade she finally had the chance to end.
I knew Emma. I knew she had to be lying then…that complete and utter bullshit about cutting cords and all…but I just…I was too hurt to confront her, especially with Hess there.
It was the first time I saw her in my life as well.
It was a shitty day all around.
…and now, after all this time, I'm back here.
I tighten my fists, hold my head up high, and walk to the front door.
I lift my hand over the door, ready to knock, and pause…
Should I really be doing this?
Would knowing why really help me?
I close my eyes.
If there's a reason, I want to know it, but will the answer make it any better in the end?
I take a deep breath.
There's only one way to find out.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
For an agonizing amount of time, I wait.
I saw her car, so I know she's here…so it's not like she's at work right-
Through the door I see a small icon getting closer and closer to the front door.
Great, it wasn't a journal at all…
Well this is going to be awkward.
The door opens, and I see Zoe Barnes for the first time in years. Emma gets a lot of her looks from her mother, both her red hair and her beauty.
Mrs. Barnes is obviously older and has a bit more in the way of curves, compared to Emma's youth and svelte form, but you clearly can see the mother-daughter relation when they're in the same room.
They're even roughly the same height too, just a few inches shorter then I am.
She stares at me with a face full of confusion and befuddlement.
I take a short breath. Even seeing her after all this time, I can't bring up the will to smile, but neither do I grimace or frown. My face is just entirely neutral. "Hi Mrs. Barnes, I need to talk to you."
Then I see understanding on her face, and a small frown.
"T…Taylor? Is that you?"
For a moment, I'm worried I'm still all muscly, but a quick glance down, shows I'm not.
I stare back up, and simply nod.
Slowly, her frown morphs into a sad smile.
"It's been too long…" she murmurs.
I start to nod slightly. "Yes...it ha-"
Before I can even finish, she grabs me and yanks me into a crushing hug.
…What? My face scrunches up into a mixture of horror and shock. What is she doing?
…and why?
I hear a small sob, and feel something wet trickle onto my shoulder.
…Is she actually….
…Oh my god she actually is crying…
…the mother of my former best friend/literal nemesis is hugging me and crying on my shoulder.
Slowly I raise my hands and give her an awkward pat on the back.
"…there…there?"
All I get out of her is more sobs.
…I'm going to be here for a while aren't I?
…
Forget interesting, today was just fucking weird.
