A Werewolf In Under-Town

“I. Hate. Menus!” Shaggy thought as he swapped over to another tab in their new Hideout control console.

He had been skimming through the various options that the menu provided. Most of which cost a good deal of credits. Which they didn’t have. Also, some were just outright weird. He understood the developers had to cater to each of the Alien races’ peculiar needs. But some of the stuff was ridiculous.

The Hideout was the lowest tier structure that a group of Villains could access and only had options for bedrooms, a common room, and an office/war room. But even then, there were a lot of options to choose from. The bedrooms alone could be upgraded to fit the needs of the various kinds of Aliens in the game. Everything from giant water tanks to beds of literal fire for players to sleep on.

Shaggy wasn’t sure if he was gonna sleep much in-game, but who knew? Maybe he would take some time off work and really immerse himself in the game. But for now, he just paid the price to carve out a room for himself. All he had to do was plug in his cred chips and the console would subtract the price of the room.

He was surprised to see that they could make the purchases cheaper by doing some of the excavation themselves. They could even purchase their own furniture, instead of going with the bland system-assigned bedroom set. Which, with one look at the bed, Shaggy was sure the others would do. The system assigned bed was little more than a ratty futon and a sheet.

He poured through the other menus as the system carved out his room. The common room was the typical hangout spot in the Hideout. It could kitted out with holo-displays, a kitchenette, tables and chairs, and even a few gaming tables. All for the right price, of course, and a lot of the stuff got pretty pricey.

“We better start robbing people soon, unless we want to continue to live in a dirt hovel.” Shaggy thought to himself.

He was about to dig into the next menu when he heard Tinsel call out for him.

“Hey, boss! What do you want us to do with the salvageable stuff in here?!”

Shaggy turned to see the three NPCs looking at him and holding out various bits of clothing and foodstuffs. He raised an eyebrow as he looked the stuff over. Parts of both the clothing and the food looked like it had been chewed on by their worm friends. He sighed as he waved a hand.

“If we can’t use it, it’s junk. You can toss it out in the tunnel for worm food.”

Ephemara and Blobby both nodded before turning back to the crates, but Tinsel spoke up again.

“Are you sure, boss? Maybe we can try to sell it above ground?”

“Maybe. But won’t that raise suspicion about where you got it from? We haven’t been active enough for our little crew to have stuff to sell.” Shaggy stated.

Tinsel looked thoughtful as Ephemara spoke up, her head inside a metal crate. “Yeah, about that boss-man. When are we going to get up to some mayhem? We know you can scrap, but what about stealing?”

“We can start getting down to some crime when the others get back.” Shaggy called back, watching to see the NPCs reactions.

But the three either nodded or grunted noncommittally. The games AI was great about ignoring the inexplicable. Such as three people disappearing in the middle of a dirt room. But Gamers always loved to push the boundary just to see if they could get a reaction out of the NPCs.

Shaggy tried to think about what crimes he could get up to alone. But short of mugging someone, which hadn’t gone well for him in the past, he was drawing a blank. Soon he decided to just leave it up to his new NPC lackeys. He called out to them after clearing his throat.

“Although you know before that. Why don’t you guys go out and scout around a bit? We could do with a lay of the land. Just stay away from Rakgu territory. Oh, and the big lizard guys, we might be able to form some kind of non-aggression pact with them or something.”

Ephemara pulled her head from the crate and shifted around on her feet excitedly. Blobby was their usual unflappable self, and Tinsel looked contemplative. But all three threw down the various objects in their hands and moved toward Shaggy. Tinsel spoke up as they came to a stop in front of him.

“Is there anything in particular we should look for?”

Shaggy shook his head. “Naw, just don’t mess with the bigger gangs. Matter of fact, Ephemara, why don’t you do some scouting and find any nearby crews? Nothing too big, just our competition in the area. And Tinsel, you and Blobby can head out to the main road and put your ears out for any work. Maybe someone needs protection from an uppity gang, or maybe someone is moving something valuable.”

“I don’t know, boss. Shipments down here are pretty well guarded within Under-Town. Even if something leaves through the tunnels, it is still under the protection of the gang who runs that Exit Tunnel.”

“I’m not saying will hit the shipment. I just want to be aware of what’s going on. Use your best judgment.”

The three NPCs nodded as they seemed to gather themselves. After a few grunts of acknowledgment, they marched their way toward the exit and out into the tunnel. Taking the torches with them. Shaggy sighed as his vision switched to black and white. They weren’t the smartest bunch. He was about to turn back to the console when a translucent window popped up in his face.

Lackeys Gained!

Tin’Cel Tan’To-Nimea

Perinadon – Level 4

Personality – Calm

Loyalty – 78/100

Ephemara Naluc

Stafintom – Level 3

Personality – Chaotic

Loyalty – 54/100

Blubblliynnblobenerbluberski (Blobby)

Mucunoid – Level 2

Personality – Ambivalent

Loyalty – 80/100

“Whoa! That’s new, and what the hell is with Blobby’s loyalty? Also, should I be worried about Ephemara’s loyalty?” Shaggy wondered as he closed the window, only to have another one pop into his face.

Lackeys

Lackeys are NPCs who have accepted you as their leader, but who haven’t completely turned themselves over to your cause. They can sometimes be flaky and will almost always put their needs above your own. However, once a Lackey’s Loyalty hits 100, they will then become a Henchman. Lackeys can be shared between players within a Criminal Organization or Syndicate.

“Well, that’s neat.” Shaggy muttered as he closed out the pop-up window.

That meant that their three little NPCs had only just now accepted him as their leader. He briefly wondered what that meant for Vlad, but quickly put that to the side. The more pressing question was: What happened when they became Henchmen? Could they get their own Lackeys? He suspected he would get another pop-up when that happened, but he couldn’t keep the possibilities from running through his head.

Shaggy shook his head and refocused on the menus. A quick dive into the Office/War Room options showed a very pricey, but extremely worthwhile room. It was obviously the room that would take them from low-rent thugs to a fully fleshed out criminal organization. It was where all the information they gathered could be collated and where they could plan their bigger jobs. Also, it was all just expensive as hell.

The centerpiece of the room was the computer, which could be built, stolen, or bought through the system. Although the system-bought one was the weakest of the three, not to mention expensive. He made a quick mental note to find out where they could steal one before he glanced at the other pieces of hardware they would need for the room. Generators, memory banks, various consoles for data input.

He smiled at the work ahead of them. Where before he felt a little out of his depth, now he at least had some long-term goals. It would take some time and a lot of work, but what was a game with nothing to work toward? He tabbed over to the room menu again and bought the cheap futon. He still didn’t intend to sleep in-game, but he hoped logging out in his own room would net him some kind of bonus.

After he finished, he walked over to his dirt room, which didn’t even have a door, and peered inside. It reminded him of his old dorm room. Short, sparse and… compact, as the university had called it. The flat black futon was jammed into the far corner and he grimaced at its condition.

“Why would they code in stains on a mattress?”

Shaggy sighed as he flopped down onto the cheap mattress and opened his in-game menus. The bright white menu clashed heavily with his current ‘reality’, but he ignored it and navigated his way to the logout button and tapped it. He felt the sudden sensation that he was falling through the world before everything went black.