Lyra was on her last bit of cash before winter would come up on the beautiful city of lights.
She looked down at the violin, the one her mother had given her. It was priceless. Not because it was made by Guarneri del Gesu a least known contemporary of Strativari. No, it was because it was last thing she had left of her parents.
She had promised herself she'd rather starve than sell it. And it would seem it might come to it.
Tips got low for street musicians the colder the weather got.
Finding an abandoned building on the outskirts of Paris was a rare find but it would not keep her warm for long. Her threadbare clothes would nearly disentegrate once snowfall hit it.
She hugged herself and closed her eyes, oh how the mighty had fallen. Once classically trained, about to become part of the local opera's orchestra only for COVID to hit and everything fell apart.
A ding sounded and her eyes fluttered opened only to nearly jump back when she heard and saw words appear before her.
[Agent 315's proginy found. The Agency would like to give you a gift.]
"What's the price?"
She felt silly talking to air, perhaps she'd finally lost it.
[The Agency holds great value in our past agents' legacies. Your mother already paid the price with her service.]
"What is the gift?"
In answer the automated voice chimed:
[Prepare to be bound to the Red String System]
A dizzying sensation settled over her and for a moment she believed she was going to pass out before it cleared and a clear 'screen' hovered before her face.
Status with a little lyre icon above it in the left hand corner.
Then three options below that: Correspondence, Quests and Store.
"It's like a video game screen."
Clicking on Status she saw her details put in game stat format.
[Name: Lyra Gavin
Title(s): Progeny of Agent 315
Level: 1
Genetic Enhancements: Enhanced Body/Senses
Skills
- Musical Virtuoso (Level 45)
- Ballet (Level 30)
Stats
-Stamina: 50/100
-Strength: 70/100
-Agility: 70/100
-Intelligence: 85/100
-Luck: 10/100]
Suddenly the reason why she'd always been more flexible and never broke a bone made sense. She didn't just get her hazel eyes and blonde hair from her mother.
Going back to the main page she clicked on correspondence and noticed it was like a text message feed. No new messages appeared.
But as soon as she thought of sending a Bonjour it was sent.
The thinking bubbles appeared before a message appeared.
OG: Is this a creation of yours?
Lyra shook her head before noticing thought bubbles appear on her end then she thought of her response.
Lyra: I didn't create this, I was told it was a gift.
OG: By whom?
Lyra: They call themselves the Agency.
More thought bubbles before they stopped and disappeared. The green bubble that showed the 'online' status of the chatter turned grey.
With nothing else to do, Lyra decided to explore the system. Going next in the items on the main page she clicked on Quests.
[Current Level: 1
Current EXP: 40/100
Quests
- Chat with OG () 40 EXP
- Eat last granola bar(X) 10 EXP
- Practice violin (X) 20 EXP
- Do vocal warm-ups (X) 20
- Do stretches (X) 10
Quest Rewards: Hot bowl of chicken noodle soup w/garlic bread, 300, 3k points Level Up.
300 could get her a couple nights in a dry and safe room.
The hot food was incentive enough to get up from where she'd balled herself up. She was shaky so she ate her last granola bar as the system requested. Then she did her stretches using a nearby railing to help. She heard little chimes as she completed each task. Due to the cold air she did the least strenuous vocal warm-ups before going to her violin case and carefully lifting, tuning it before setting it below her chin. Lifting the bow she heard a pure note ring out in the warehouse making her smile before she began to play a short melody she'd learned for when the children would play near her in the parks.
As soon as she had a put away the violin, a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup appeared in front of her as a ding was heard and a screen listed the rewards from finishing her first set of quests.
"It's real." She smiled. Maybe she would be able to survive this winter after all.