Cass slid to a stop as he entered the city. Milwaukee stretched out in front of him, all tall buildings and old world architecture. After almost a year of living in virtual solitude he couldn't believe what he was seeing and feeling.
People. Lots of people.
Well, I guess not solitude since we had other people, but basically, he corrected his thought as he looked around. The city wasn't as packed as prior to The System, but there were people everywhere. Individuals walking over there, a small group walking over there, people riding bicycles down the streets.
That's weird. That's what's missing - cars! It didn't occur to him at first, since there were plenty of cars parked along the sides of the streets, but none were moving - not that they'd be able to now. The streets were filled with vendors, tents, and booths. He spied a large white tent with a huge sign that said "Visitor Center" over it and walked towards it. It didn't have sides so the bored man sitting inside noticed him as he walked up, sitting straighter and tugging at his rumpled blazer. He looked to be early 20's with dark hair, a cheap synthetic blazer, and worn jeans. As Cass got closer he discovered that he also smelled like way too much cheap cologne.
"Hello! Welcome! I'm Marcus!"
"Hey Marcus, I'm Cass." He reached out and shook the man's hand.
Marcus noticed him looking around and ushered him into a folding chair. "Sit, sit! Tell me about why you're here."
Cass sat down in a chair that faced Marcus's. "This is crazy. I kinda expected it to be…" Cass drifted off, not sure what he expected.
"Dead? Lifeless? Overrun with city monsters?"
"Yeah! That. Why isn't it?"
Marcus nodded in understanding. "We get that a lot. People coming from the more rural areas have had to fight off monsters pretty much on their own, so they forget that the apocalypse is a lot more survivable in big groups. We got our share of monsters, it wasn't pretty - but there were a lot of people here to fight them off. Still are. Everyone banded together and kicked the apocalypse right in the dick!" He laughed at his joke, miming kicking and almost tipping himself back in his chair.
"You guys didn't devolve into a lot of infighting?"
Marcus shrugged. "Sure, man, it happens. But mostly people want to band together. There's safety in numbers and we're all just tribal creatures. We naturally congregate into groups."
"Wow. I kinda thought everyone would be fighting it out - trying to gain control or power."
"That happens here and there, but it's a small group. Mostly just a bunch of dickheads that want to claim themselves king of Milwaukee or Lord of Whogivesafuckistan or something. Those are the types that were the big cats before The System and they don't know how to not be now. Or some dickhead bully who finally got enough juice in his balls to try bullying a whole city. The rest of us just want to get along and live out our normal lives."
"So you guys don't get monsters?"
Marcus laughed. "Oh we get them alright! They love it here, all these fresh bodies. We have city monsters, building monsters, sky monsters - even sewer monsters. A few months back there were actual sewer alligators! Can you believe that shit?!" He slapped his knee, laughing. "There was even a big boss alligator that took like 10 of our top Climbers to take down. It was a mess man. We got it all cleaned up, though. Normally we'd have had another pop up by now, but I think it's waiting for the Cryptid Challenge. Until then, life goes on."
"What are you doing for the Challenge? How are you guys keeping safe here?"
"Pretty much everyone around here lives in the buildings. The hotels hold most of us, but those who aren't powerful enough, rich enough, or have enough high-powered friends have to find other accommodations. Mostly we all just try to live together. The buildings attract defensive and offensive specialists, although obviously the better the specialist, the better the building. Even in the apocalypse it's the rich dickwads who get all the best stuff. They can afford to hire the best. Those places are super safe - nothing's getting past their defenses and, even if it did, they'd have to deal with top Climbers once they got inside. Talk about shred city. Us poor folk - we just band together the best we can, hoping we make it through or have some sort of power breakthrough that'll give us an edge."
"So what are you doing here? It looks like you… have a job?"
Marcus laughed again. "Yeah, fucking capitalism, man. Can't get away from it even in the apocalypse. We all still need to buy stuff - better gear, healing potions, training lessons, spell scrolls, stuff like that. Whatever you need, it exists here - but it all costs. I'm a Concierge. It's my class, hence why I'm out here twiddling my dick in the middle of the street."
"But how did you know I'd show up here?"
"We keep tents all over, mostly at the main streets coming off the interstate. People can fly, teleport, and all kinds of stuff, and yet they still fall back into the old habit of going down the interstate. Some areas are more common than others and the higher level Concierges get those. I'm working my way up to one of those, but for now - oh! But don't let that make you think I'm not good!" A look of fear entered Marcus's eyes as he realized he may have just convinced his client to seek more powerful concierges. "Those high level ones - they may know the big wigs, but I know the streets, man. I can get you anything - things they don't even know exists. You want a old world cigarettes? Booze? Something stronger? You want a pickle tickle from someone who has the skills for it? You talk to me. I'm your man."
"You know, you talk about your…" Cass nodded down, "a lot."
Marcus laughed and grabbed his crotch. "It's cause I got so much to go around! Anyway, let's get down to business. What are you here for? What is it you're looking for?"
"Well, I'm trying to find some high level people to see if they want to come back with me to help our neighborhood survive the Cryptid Challenge."
Marcus's eyes took on a golden hue and he was swiping a finger through the air, eyes going left and right, obviously reading something. "Okay, that's a common enough request, shouldn't be a problem to put you in front of a few people. Will take some more refinement though. If you don't mind, now that I have your request entered, please take my hand. It's a skill I have that fills in a lot of the details on specifically what you think you need to fulfill that goal. It only knows what you want, not what you actually need, but it fills in a lot of gaps that you might not even think to mention. And don't worry - it doesn't pry into any other part of you. It only gives information pertinent to helping me fulfill this one request." He held his hand out flat, palm up.
Cass hesitated. Was this some sort of trap? He looked around at the people walking past them, none even giving the two a second glance. Whatever Marcus was doing, Cass guessed it was pretty common here. He pushed his concern down and placed his hand on Marcus's.
"Okay, okay… I see. What you are looking for is a person or team that can handle big groups. Odd that you don't feel like you need anyone to handle boss monsters - you must have some real monsters of your own out there! Okay, so you feel very strongly that you need defensive measures, attack measures, crowd control - highly lethal, highly physical… Okay, let me run through a few more things…" He went silent as his eyes scanned, his other hand swiping at invisible screens. After a few moments the golden light in his eyes disappeared and he pulled his hand back.
"Okay, I gotta tell you man - you really don't know what you want."
Cass flushed, but Marcus patted him on the shoulder with a practiced bedside manner. "But it's all good, brother! You're lucky you came to me. Those high levelers would have booted you until you had a fully formed need crystalized in your mind. Me, my services extend to helping you figure out what you need - I can help you with that. It'll be within 48 hours and is guaranteed to fulfill… 80% of what you think you need, or your money back." He held out his hand and there was a slight golden glow around it that felt like a contract to Cass.
"Before I shake on anything, what is the payment?"
Marcus sighed and pulled his hand back, wiping the glow off on his pants. "I forget that you backwoods types don't use currency. You're all barter and trade. Wherever you find a place with merchants, bankers, loan sharks - anyone with skills for money, you'll find currency. It has an official name, but we've all just started calling them 'credits', since that's what all the sci-fi movies called everything. It's a generic enough term to not be mentally tied to any pre-system exchange rates or anything." Marcus sounded bored as he delivered the rest of his lecture, the topic obviously worn-through for him.
"The System deals in energy. When you defeat a creature some of the energy goes to you in the form of levels, the rest turns it into some sort of item. Those items can then be converted into System credits, for a fee of course. If you have a skill for it you can convert the creatures straight into credits yourself, but most people don't waste the skill slot on it. The merchants take a small fee, but nothing too bad. Credits are tied to you, since The System recognizes them as your own energy, so they are always with you. Once you get your first credit you'll see it pop up in your menu screens."
"If we all store our own credits, why are there bankers?"
"Because even in the apocalypse the rich dicks find a way to screw the little guys, and there has to be a system in place for them to cash in on it. The System offers a lot of financial skills and spells, one of which is that they can store their own and other people's credits outside of their bodies. If I have 100 credits and you kill me, that energy transfers to you and now you have my 100 credits. But if I'm a rich dude who wants to make sure my brats get my inheritance I can disconnect those credits from my body so they stay. Likewise, if some poor schmuck owes me or some rich schmuck some money, and I'm afraid he's going to die and lose it all to someone else, I can put a lien on all credits he earns, reserving them for me in the case of his death, ensuring that I keep getting richer as people die and the poor schmuck's family gets fucked out of their inheritance. Make sense?"
"Okay, but then how do regular people earn credits? Obviously there are jobs, but not everyone can be out killing monsters. There has to be erosion in the credit system as people squirrel away credits or people die without their credits going to someone else."
Marcus raised an eyebrow appreciatively and wagged a finger at Cass. "Oh my, aren't you the smart little cookie? You're absolutely spot on - no one ever thinks of that! So yes, our entire economy is based on fiat money. We're basically all trading Chuck E. Cheese game tickets here, and it could all come crashing down exactly like you said. But The System, in all its overlordly wisdom, put in a check for that. There are people, mostly bankers but also some less-reputable sources, that will convert your own energy into credits. Don't care about those points you threw into Charisma back in the beginning? Each stat point is 100 credits. Aren't in a big rush to push to the next level? Convert some of your experience pool to credits. Need a big push for something major? You can turn back an entire level. Really hate your skills and want to open yourself up for new ones? Convert one of your skills or spells. You don't get a freebie replacement but you give yourself the potential of filling that slot later. Pretty much anything The System provides can be converted into credits, since it's all just energy."
"Energy can't be created or destroyed…" Cass mumbled to himself.
"What's that?"
"Oh," Cass shook his head. "It's nothing. The first first law of thermodynamics says that 'energy can neither be created nor destroyed; only be transformed or transferred from one form to another.' That's what it sounds like is going on. It's good to know The System still falls within the bounds of physics, at least."
Marcus was staring at Cass blankly. "Ooookaaayy… well anyway, you got a couple options. I don't know what you have in your dimensional space but you can sell stuff for credits. You can usually get a much better return than what The System offers, since it just converts it to base energy levels. When you put things on the market you don't have to monitor them, just check in every so often and collect the earnings. You can sell outright or put it up for auction. For really common stuff like Concrete Elemental Cores, Sewer Rat Gloves, things like that you may as well just cash them in for credits. But anything you don't see on the market you should put up for auction. If you don't have anything you're willing to part with you can always cash in some of your energy. What level are you now?"
"Almost 15"
"Almost 15 is 14, so… that's not bad. You're high enough level to compete in the Climb. Are you a fighter class? If you want to earn some coin that way just let me know, I can get you in the games. Although honestly there isn't enough time to get you there before the Challenge starts, too many rules. But if the Challenge ends up being easier than we thought, pop in! The Climb happens no matter what's going on, so we'll be here."