The Card Job Read online

  He’d only messaged her after spending a week sometimes literally throwing cards at the walls to solve the puzzle and figure out where to go next. There were services, gamers for hire and even an NPC or two he had flirted with before messaging her. The reliable services wanted real money; those that accepted in-game goods were usually fishy or not up to snuff. NPCs had long quests to acquire them and may or may not be able to help with his problem. With Sasha, he figured he loosely knew what to expect, even if there were some risks involved. He just had to do his best to mitigate them.

  The cafe La Ce Mode was done up like an old-style french patisserie with bits of lace and spiraling ironwork, except the staff was curvaceous chrome androids in petticoats holding parasols that sparked with electric currents from time to time. Hermano’s dirty and worn uniform stood out much more here than it did in the seedy bar. Not that it didn’t stand out in most places, where players all wore flashy, new, shiny and usually powerful bits of gear.

  He would recognize Sasha anywhere, not just because of old times together. The fear and excitement of her maybe knocking on his door one day. Catching sight of her, he found his breath caught up in his chest with memories of their past. She always dressed to the location, she was there in her petticoat and jacket, made with silver, gold, and electric green threads. She held a parasol decorated with blossoms that budded, flowered, and eventually had their petals fall. Her half red and half blue hair tied back into a spiraling braid and green eyes that emitted light even in the dark angrily shone when he saw them catch sight of him.

  He noticed her smile had a little warmth hidden in it, despite the harshness of her response, as she stood up when she saw him. “I see you’re still wearing that wretched relic of a clothing set Hermanos. The one style thing isn’t detracting from your reputation or making you less easy to find.”

  “I’ve never been much into fashion, or power gear, or even my reputation. I believe you took out most of the clothes that you had picked out as acceptable for me when you loaded up all the compartments in The Steel Rose with acid mines as a parting gift after I got back from the tournament.”

  She gave him a little pout, “You can’t blame a girl for being hurt?”

  Hermanos made a dismissive waving motion with his hand. “No problems there, I knew what I was getting into when I went to the invitational instead of doing that wedding thing you wanted to spring on me. When you asked me to choose, I knew I was getting a case of acid and fury if I choose not to show. I’m a little surprised you agreed to meet at all.”

  She motioned for him to take a seat, and there as only a little bit of hesitation before he walked over and they both sat down across from each other. “We had been through a lot together, and I could hardly leave that relationship alone. I was more surprised you contacted me for help.” She waved down a shiny chrome waitress, “They have the best tiny strawberry cakes here, they are to die for.”

  Hermanos let her order before speaking. “You know how bad I am with puzzle and codebreaking problems. I haven’t met anyone better than you at them, and you’ll always be the first one that comes to mind for me.” That was how they first met. He needed a codebreaker, and well, no one ever really needs a Gambler class, let alone a pure one. But they do like the better loot benefits having one in a party can provide. They made a deal where Sasha and the rest of Team Brunt would help with his problem and then he’d stay with them for a week boosting their loot gains and any luck-based actions. The midst of that week was when they had decided to start their relationship.

  The mini-cakes were small and cute. If you didn’t look at them closely, you could be fooled into thinking it was a real strawberry rather than a cake shaped to look like one. Hermanos took one and popped it into his mouth, only to have it melt into layer after layer of flavor. He wasn’t afraid of her poisoning him, not that she wouldn’t do it. He looked about. This type of idyllic scene wasn’t her style for it. Other players didn’t have that same problem, as suddenly someone nearby fell to the ground convulsing silently. One of the androids gracefully glided in, draping what looked like a giant lace doily over the poor fellow, hiding his throes from the rest of the crowd that included an equal mix of NPC and players who mostly ignored the scene.

  Hermanos stopped looking at the twitching dolly, and looked back to Sasha who hadn’t reacted like anything out of the ordinary was happening at all nearby. He supposed it probably wasn’t. Sasha, swallowed her bite then started to speak, “You were very vague in your request, just that you had a particularly hard puzzle you couldn’t figure out. Something modulating or not completed and posted online yet?”

  Hermanos took another pastry and put it in his mouth while trying to ignore the slight twitching still occurring under covers at the edge of his sight. “I was able to bring the puzzle with me aboard the Discordant Fortress docked in the safe zone. If you were agreeable, I would like you to come up and help me solve it. I can only offer in-game items or money for your help.”

  He watched Sasha frown. “Something happen to the YDMG?”

  He didn’t want to admit that it was a lack of trust that caused him not to bring Your Debt My Gain to this meeting. It was his main ship and did store most of his valuable possessions. “As you said, I’m getting a reputation, the Discordant Fortress is faster, more secure, and may lack the space and firepower. It is one of the top defensive ships available even if it is considered small.”

  She didn’t look happy about that. Hermanos wondered if she had set up some ambush that would now no longer work, nor be as satisfying. That might be a little too short and sweet, but it’s not like he and Sasha crossed paths much. “What makes you think I even need or want credits or items?”

  Hermanos reached into his small inventory and pulled out a black velvet bag, then carefully turned it over the table, letting its singular content slide out. The goose-egg-sized gem sparkled with three layers of color, a clear outer layer followed by a light blue layer and then finally a dark but shimmering maroon that seemed almost to produce light. “A Shaddah tier stone, even if you don’t want it. I bet you know someone who does. I can name about three not yet completed quests that need them that I know about.”

  “Is it real?” She asked.

  “You know I have Billy G verify all my high-end items. He doesn’t even think it’s forgeable, and I won it at a table. The system that runs the Change-Set games is pretty strict at allowing forged items in unless it’s specific to some quest.”

  Hermanos let Sasha’s eyes shine with greed for just the barest moment more before scooping the gem back up and into the bag and then his inventory. Even if it hadn’t been considered rare and powerful, he knew she liked shiny things. “If they let you sell items for real cash, you could be so rich. There are some shadow sites...”

  Hermanos stopped her there. They had had this discussion while they were dating. “It’s not worth it to me to have the risk of being banned and blacklisted. Team Brunt didn’t lose Lionel for no reason.” The last big wave of bannings had happened back while they were together. Most of Sasha’s team had gotten warnings. Lionel had gotten a ban. If he wanted, he could start a new character from scratch in about a week when it lifted. Hermanos suspected that the only reason Sasha didn’t get banned was that she had used Lionel as the point man for any transactions she had done.

  “There is no more Team Brunt. It broke up after we did and I’ve been solo like you like to do.”

  “You help me with my problem, and this pretty little gem is yours if your interested.”

  Sasha let out a resigned sigh. “Fine, but after we finish the cakes.”

  Chapter Three

  "Having trouble with a puzzle. Remember, two heads work better than one."

  -Changing Worlds, FAQ answers.

  The Discordant Fortress was a ship whose hull outsized its inside by a good bit. Most Fortress-class ships were large and literal fortresses that you would need armies to attack and destroy. This little ship kept the armor and ne
ar invulnerability, but had no storage and a living and flight space that Hermanos found remarkably similar to size to his real-life one-bedroom apartment. This made it uncomfortably crowded just by having one other person on the ship.

  The ship's security scanner confirmed that Sasha had no incendiaries, explosives, or corrosives on her. Her only weapon was an old school slug thrower that had the force to bypass most standard armors in the game. The gun is a must-have for a class that tended not to be heavy in combat skills, much like Hermanos’s Gambler class.

  The Gamblers class skills focused on Luck, one of the few that relied on that attribute. It did things like increasing the odds of landing hard-to-find loot drops or treasure pulls, or the class had activated abilities like his [Analyze] skill that could be used in social situations. Its only direct offensive combat-related ability was the chance to increase the number and strength of critical hits, so that when you did manage to hit someone, it had an excellent opportunity to do extra damage. It also, much to Hermanos’s Chagrin, increased the number of random quests that could happen around you.

  The Codebreaker class worked a different way. Its skills revolved around translation, puzzles, or ciphers. You don’t need to solve something the hard away when you could use a skill, and it would tell you some of the answers or at least give hints. Even at the current level cap it wouldn’t tell you everything. The game had given the class more combat ability than Gamblers received in that it could puzzle out a way to make restricted weapons and items playable for the character. The little trick with the acid mines on Steel Rose was just a bit of what you could accomplish that was usually not allowed. All classes had their own private rule-breaking tricks.

  Hermanos sealed the door behind them as they entered the ship. It was very much like locking yourself into a windowless vault. Sasha’s annoyed; I’m not having fun look, was a sign to Hermanos that she was already having doubts about this. Who wants to be locked into a room with your ex anyway? “So, where is this puzzle you want me to solve?” She asked slightly irritated until she paused and slipped her top a little of her shoulders. ”Unless this is really an excuse to get me alone for some private time.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

  As much as Hermanos felt a flash of interest, he felt a bigger one of nope. His nervousness spiked, and he assured himself that she could only do a limited amount of damage here. To answer her, he pulled out a small under bed storage case, which was the limited amount of storage the ship had. Then popped it open showing the complete Change-Set. “Well..”

  “Your game?” She said with venom, looking at the cards. “Is this some kind of joke?”

  Hermanos reflected that maybe this wasn’t the best opening. “Team up, I’ll share the quest.” He sent her off a team request.

  Thankfully, she accepted, and he shared what he had with her. He watched her eyes move as she read the notifications. “So you finally got them all. Of course, this is the one thing to motivate you to see me again.”

  Teamed up, Hermanos could see the activation of her ability. His [Analyze] skill didn't get shared like that. A yellow wave seemed to come out from the front of her body and hit the collection of cards. The cards lit up a mass of color. It was a mish mash of speckled shades of blue, yellow, green, red, orange. “So, what does that mean?” Hermanos asked.

  Sasha just gave him a funny look with her nose all scrunched up. “You don’t do many puzzles, do you? Start organizing them. We’ll begin by grouping them by color.”

  Much of the work Hermanos had been doing before to figure it out had been messing with them. Arranging them by type or alphabetically was the ways most people organized their collections and didn’t seem to work here. He had even checked to see if there were any small in-game weight differences between the cards. This mini-game was his hobby, so he thought long and hard while he and Sasha sorted them out into different color piles. They were all shades of colors, though much of the time, it was difficult to tell which one was which. Hermanos took the red aura glowing Catapult card and reflected on how it was one of the first few cards he got in the game. So worthless it was given to him for free on the starting planet of the Cradle, that was when Hermanos finally figured it out.

  He touched the red pile. “These are the ones you can collect closest to the galactic center.” The galactic center was the starting point for all new players. He touched the purplish pile. “ These are the ones that are farthest away.”

  Sasha just snorted, “Yeah, it looks like we got a literal rainbow towards a pot of gold dummy. But at least now we can use math to figure out what exact order they go in, instead of guessing if one shade of yellow is more correct than another shade of yellow.”

  It was now easier for them to go through the cards, but still took a lot of time to get the thousand card set just right. Now that he knew the solution Hermanos was tempted to offer her the gem now and see if he could get her to leave while he completed the process himself. There were probably things she would rather be doing than sorting Change-Set cards into the proper order with her ex, but he also knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t let it go without knowing the final answer or what the prize was. You don’t choose to play a Codebreaker if you don’t want to find the answer to puzzles, so he knew she wouldn’t leave even if he asked firmly.

  They got them stacked together in the right order. A pattern along the edges started to sparkle and glow, displaying a string of numbers. Since they had been dealing with location information, the first part of it was the easiest part to figure out, though there were some extra numbers at the end. Sasha dug through her resources to find out exactly where it was marked. “Banque Morte.” She declared aloud and then Hermanos knew what the other numbers were for.

  “It’s a safe deposit box.” Hermanos blurted out. Sasha was beaming. It was one of her more carefree looks and one of the reasons why Hermanos had found himself attracted to her when they first teamed up. He sat there looking at her, wondering what he was going to do, what she was going to do.

  “Let’s get a crew together and steal the sucker. It’ll be just like old times.” She declared.

  Hermanos felt conflicted watching his old girl and thinking about the many ways this could go wrong, and the very few ways it could go right. “Sure, just like old times.” He managed to put out with some level of enthusiasm.

  “Well, I’ve got to run, things to do. Let’s make lists of what we think we’ll need and get together soon. I’ll message you.” Her character dissolved into an array of shimmering light as she logged out, still on Hermanos team and counting as one of the two allowed occupants for the Discordant Fortress. It seemed like they would be in-game roomies again for a time. Just being on his team gave her a bunch of permissions with his ships and gear.

  The Codebreaker’s effect on the cards faded, you could still see the location information if you looked close, but it no longer sparkled. The Gambler figured he could stay in the game a little bit longer. So he sat and pondered the ways this relationship could go wrong and what he needed to do before standing up again.

  Chapter Four

  "Recruiting NPC and purchasing AI are great ways to help complete quests and get new ones."

  -Changing Worlds, load screen.

  After taking the Discordant Fortress back to the docks where he kept Your Debt My Gain and a few other ships of his, Hermanos set the alarm to let him know when Sasha had logged back in. It would even tell him if he was at work. Kicking her off the team would send her back to wherever she had her base login as. He just made preparations to include her in his plans knowing that if he tried to dismiss or detract her, it would only make things worse than letting this all play out.

  Hermanos had mock Change-Set decks made up in the YDMG lounge to distract him from his worries. The ample space made it easy to self-test combinations or simulate game situations. He still had the invitationals to plan for, and not all card interactions could be found online, he didn’t like surprises. He wasn’t too
surprised when three days after the La Ce Mode meeting he got the dinging notification that Sasha was back. He started to slowly pick up the cards he had laid out while listening for the slow clack clack clack of her boots on the ship’s metal floors as she made her way from the Discordant Fortress to the YDMG. The Gambler had gotten everything mostly put away by the time the sound reached his ears. A sound he had not heard in months accompanied the clacking walk, a pleasant musical hum produced by her pet. He didn’t even look up as she entered, still gathering up cards to put back into his case. “I see you brought your pet Nav. You know it tries to poison you in your sleep.” Nav, a chrome ball with a single glowing blue eye taking up half its face flitted around Sasha’s head with golden fairy wings.

  “The poison can’t even outpace my natural health regeneration since before the last level cap was moved up. She’s so cute anyway. I can put up with a little naughtiness.”

  Hermanos made the final movements of putting the cards in his case. Then he shoved it into a safe in the lounge, before locking it with his palm. He finally gave her a good look letting the memories of the past good and bad times hit him. She had changed her clothes to all leather, glass, and brass. It was a steampunk aesthetic, close but not quite what she had chosen to wear on their first date. If anything this outfit showed more skin, calf-height glass and brass heels leading up long legs to a skirt that would be inappropriate out in the real world, as even a slight bend at the waist would reveal too much of what was down below. The leather corset that topped it and pronounced her assets there was probably the most conservative thing about the outfit. It was an all looks, no stats outfit.