Six hours may as well have been six minutes. The mont Zach lay on his stomach across one of the padded seats, he was out so quickly that he forgot to close his inventory or his map. The constant, gentle, and side-to-side shaking of the subway car on the tracks, combined with the dull, reassuring thud and the buzz of the engine, lulled him into a deep, imdiate sleep. He woke up soti later to the sound of the subway car screeching to a halt and the sensation of decreasing speed.
He looked at his map, his eyes partially unfocused. He blinked. It said he was in "Greater Heilor Station," and that this was a grey zone.
"You may now depart the subway car," an electronic-sounding voice said.
Zach wondered: was there anything actually forcing him to get up? He was very comfortable; it was only 77 degrees wherever he was, and a chance to sleep in conditions like this might not co up again for a while.
Still lying across the seats, he stayed right where he was. The engine turned off, the noise cut, and it beca very quiet. He waited, seeing if anything would happen. When nothing did, he decided to lie right back down and return to sleep. And there he stayed for at least another couple of hours, because by the ti he finally got back up, he had drool on his chin and his map told him it was 7:15 AM.
And so began his third day on Albion-4.
Walking to the front of the subway car, he chuckled at the damage that had been done to it. Last night had been so Gods-be-damned terrifying. There were holes all over the roof, along with dents in the middle, and the glass up at the front was completely broken from when he'd jumped through it.
"That was just so fucked up," he whispered to himself. "Did all that really even happen?"
For him to be here at all—wherever this was—it clearly must have. Regardless, Zach felt his amazent to be warranted given what had actually taken place. In the span of just an hour, he'd gone from being hunted by a terrifying monster to piloting a giant robot.
Actually, I should stuff the robot in box 1 since it'll be a long ti until I can use it again.
Zach selected the "ch" in his inventory and then flicked it into box 1. Then he flicked it again when it failed to enter. And then he tried a third ti when the second failed.
Oh, right, he thought. There's no way that'll work.
Box 1 was basically the new form of his old Bank and Storage. This ant that, unlike his QI—quick inventory—which was based on individual, stackable slots in a grid, his box was based on actual volu. In other words, the size of items and whether or not they fit. Therefore, it only made sense that a gigantic, thirty-foot-tall robot could not be placed inside of his item box. Duh!
Exiting out of the subway car, he erged onto a well-lit, pristine, and immaculate platform that was nothing at all like the one he'd used to get here. It was the complete, diatric opposite. Everything here was neat and in working order: well, everything except for his subway car, which was roped off and said, "out of order." An electronic ticker above read: "Next train to Lesser Heilor station: never."
Not like I'll ever go back there!
Entering into the station, Zach felt his eyes opening wider at the unexpected sights. Ahead of him, a white-nad NPC was cleaning the floors with a mop while whistling. "Hello, adventurer," he said as he continued to mop. "Watch your step." To his left were two modern-looking bathrooms labeled "n" and "Won." To his right was a wall of the sa blue-and-white tiles that made up the flooring. But farther ahead was where Zach's interest really started to pique.
There were NPCs: a lot of them.
The area widened out into what looked like eight subway platforms, four moving west and four moving east. And all along these platforms were a ton of NPCs hurrying about. A few others were sitting on benches, so of them even eating various types of food. If not for the white nas above their heads, Zach would've believed he'd stepped into a real, living, underground society.
There's so many of them, he thought. Maybe more than a hundred!
Zach couldn't possibly hope to count them all, as they were shuffling about and moving quickly between the various subway platforms, all with completely different faces and nas. And though their nas were white and they were non-sentient, they moved in very sentient-like ways, such as one Elvish NPC holding a little girl's hand and hurrying the two of them into a train as a dozen-or-so others exited the very sa one. They all wore various, different types of clothing, and there were even a fair number of goblins in the mix.
Every race on Galterra, he thought as an Orcish family strolled by. There were even rfolk NPCs here, their fins swapped for their ground legs, sothing that, from what Zach had learned in school, happened automatically upon entering dry land.
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He wondered where all these NPCs were going and what they were doing. Many of them spoke to him as he approached, but all had just one or two things that they would say, and if spoken to again, they would repeat it.
"Pardon , adventurer," a Dwarf nad "Janagrif" said as he brushed by. "I'm late for a eting."
Zach watched as he hurried over to a train that had just pulled up and arrived. Seven NPCs exited the doors he'd chosen, and once they'd departed, he himself got on, and then the doors shut once more, and the train—along with all its connected cars—took off.
What a wild sight.
Zach looked to his left, where there was a wide, double-lane staircase with a bar in the middle to hold onto. Several NPCs were ascending and descending. Zach, shrugging, decided to walk up. As he did so, he went slowly and took in the sight of the various posters and pictures on the wall. One was a sign that advertised sothing called "karaoke" at a bar in the "friendly zone of Ashra's Town" in "Uptown District 3." The picture showed n and won in adventurer gear holding microphones with their mouths open as though they were singing. Zach did not recognize any of them, and so he assud these weren't real adventurers.
There were all kinds of other posters, placards, and signs on the walls. But as Zach tried to take so of them in, he heard a very nagging, impatient, and female voice behind him say, "Can you move any faster, adventurer? So of us are busy, you know."
Zach, who was as equally tired as he was fascinated, yawned and ignored the woman as he slowly climbed the steps one by one while holding onto the railing. Not five seconds went by before the woman's voice called out to him again. "Can you move any faster, adventurer? So of us are busy, you know."
"Shut up, I'm trying to read," he growled.
"Can you move any faster, adventurer? So of us are busy, you know."
"Gods dammit. Go around !"
"Can you move any faster, adventurer? So of us are busy, you know."
After glancing over his shoulder to double-check that she wasn't sentient, Zach thrust his hips backward and deliberately knocked her off the stairwell. He struck her harder than intended, however, and she was blasted off the stairs, where she began a bumpy, rolling plunge to the bottom; each step, she suffered 95 to 105 damage, and then, once hitting the bottom, she took another 922 and continued to roll into another NPC, causing him to spill hot coffee on his chest and take 311 while his legs got tangled up with the rolling woman. This ant he spilled over onto the floor as well.
Zach laughed at what he'd done. Then his mouth shut, and his laughter cut off as both NPCs returned to their feet, and gigantic swords made of fire materialized in the hands of each while their nas turned red.
Cri Level Increased
0 -> 1
Cri level? Zach thought, confused.
The two began sprinting up the stairs towards him. Zach shouted out an apology, spun around, and began darting up the stairs while what looked like fireballs began flying over his head. As fast as he could, he reached the top and imdiately started rushing down a hallway, fleeing past more restrooms and what looked like a maintenance closet. His feet squeaked on the recently cleaned flooring as, after turning a corner, he continued in his mad dash until he ca upon a turnstile where a sign on a stand very clearly read: "Checkpoint: 1 Survival dallion."
Zach, looking over his shoulder, saw that the woman and the man were still chasing after him with their swords raised, so he hopped over the turnstile and kept running.
Cri Level Increased
1 -> 2
"Over one fucking Survival dallion!" he yelled in outrage as he continued into a much, much larger area. This one contained all types of seating and rest points, as well as cafeteria tables. Many were occupied, and white-nad NPCs all around were moving about, so sitting and eating, and others loitering and making casual conversation with one another, though Zach was willing to bet the words they spoke were the sa each ti.
Looking back, Zach saw that he'd finally gotten out of aggro range, and the two NPCs about-faced and started heading back the way they'd co, their nas once more white. Breathing a sigh of relief, Zach imdiately pulled up his glossary to see what kind of trouble he'd just gotten himself in.
Glossary Entry: Cri Level
When interacting with white- or green-nad NPCs in an orange, grey, or green area, certain actions such as theft, murder, particular quest selections, and a host of other offenses may result in an increase in "Cri Level." The action taken, as well as the current "Cri Level," determines this increase. (White-nad NPCs in red areas are not affected, as these are lawless areas).
Cri Levels decrease on their own over ti, though it takes longer the higher the user's cri level. Completing quests or paying fines can also be used as a way to speedily reduce the user's Cri Level.
Cri Levels 1 to 5 (light): No imdiate penalty.
Cri Levels 6 to 10: 30% cost at all rchants for all food, water, and lodgings.
Cri Levels 11 to 50: 35-110% cost to all rchants for all food, water, and lodgings (depending on level). So NPCs may refuse to interact or offer services. Level 110 police will now attack or pursue on sight.
Cri Levels 51 to 100: Most previously white-nad NPCs will now refuse to interact with the user, and so will beco red. Additionally, so red-areas may turn white, and new quests involving piracy, robbery, gangs, and theft will beco available to the user. (Joining red factions will automatically increase cri level to 200. If the user's cri level falls under 50, these factions will consider it a betrayal and revert to hostile). Police up to level-150 will begin attacking and pursuing the user.
Cri Levels 101-200: [Level 2 Clearance Required]
Cri Levels 201-500 [Level 3 Clearance Required]
Zach made a ntal note to self: behave. With that, he continued on towards a section that said "Engineering Office." There, he hoped he'd receive the reward he'd been promised.
Because he was starving.
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