Vivid Stars Online

“So, what’s the difference between the two again?” I asked Emily, the saleswoman, as I looked between the two scanners in front of me. I didn’t in fact need her to repeat the information, instead, I needed a cover to pull up the purchase credits screen. The price of either model was beyond the funds I already had in-game.

Her smile didn’t even falter as she explained once again, she knew she had me after all. “While both models can scan and project up to one mile of your surroundings, our max model,“ she gestured to the scanner on the right, “is more capable of piercing through intervening obstacles. It also has a boost mode that pushes its penetrating ability up even further at the cost of increased power usage.”

“And the price difference? “I responded as the screen I was looking for appeared in front of my eyes. On the left was my bank account In the real world, while the right held my remaining credits. My current balance was sitting at fourteen thousand, two hundred and twenty-one dollars, my entire life savings meager as they were.

Just over four months of my normal expenses. That was all the time I had to make this work. Time that would only grow shorter as I pulled more funds into the game. Suppressing a sigh, I started a transfer of one thousand dollars.

On the left, my account balance decreased, while on the right my credit balance increased from twelve hundred credits to eleven thousand two hundred. It was enough to drop me below the point where I could pay for a full four months of living expenses. I almost feel homelessness looming in front of me like a specter.

“Our standard model,“ Emily continued, pulling me from my dark thoughts. She gestured to the scanner on the left as she spoke. “Is three thousand credits, while our Max model,“ she turned to the one on the right,” is five thousand. “

“While either is sure to meet your needs,“ she finished with a smile. “We find most explorers are glad to have purchased the Max model.”

I really didn’t want to buy the more expensive version, however, I knew she was most likely right. Bradford had also suggested I buy the best scanner I could afford, and while it was more than I wanted to spend, I could technically afford it. Got to spend money to make money, right? I thought as I confirmed I would buy the Max model.

Minutes later, I was the owner of a circular metal disk about the size of a dessert plate and as thick as my wrist. While it looked unassuming from the outside, she assured me it would come to life once it was outside the city. Apparently, the government restricted their usage in all population centers for privacy reasons.

With my first purchase made, it was time to move on to a weapons store. My watch directed me to one ten minutes away by foot, close enough that it would be slower to take a train. Hoping that I wouldn’t be spending as much there, I began following the directions.

As I walked, I had time to get a better feeling of the city up close. While it was clean and well-kept, something seemed off. After a few blocks, I realized what it was, more than half the shops I was passing were closed. Curious, I moved over to one of them to see if the owner had left a message.

As I neared the door, my watch pinged, bringing up a screen with the shop’s details. The bottom of the screen informed me that the shop, a small cafe, was closed until further notice because of resource shortages.

That’s odd, I mused, looking around at the other closed shops around me. The city had seemed prosperous when I’d first arrived, yet that didn’t track with what I was seeing here. I checked half a dozen closed shops, and all gave the same message. Clearly, something was up, something hiding below the surface of the city.

I wonder if this is part of that Hard starting difficulty the world had. A restricted supply of goods is certainly going to make my life harder. While food places seemed to be the most affected, I saw stores in nearly every industry suffering from the same problem as I made my way to the gun store.

It, at least, was still open, so I put aside my concerns for now and entered the store. Inside was a single, large room holding racks of weapons on the walls and on rows of shelving. As I entered, a friendly voice called out a greeting from a counter to my right.

Since I didn’t know where to start, other than that I needed a pistol, I moved over and returned his greeting. “Good afternoon, I’m looking to purchase a pistol suitable for taking with me on expeditions out of the city.”

Fred, as the man’s name tag read, was a slim, short man, not the person I would have expected to be running a gun shop at all. Still, he seemed knowledgeable enough as he answered me. “Sure, you’ll be wanting plasma, I’d say. It’s half the weight of the older style physical weapons, both in the gun and in the ammo. Aisle four, halfway down, has your options.”

I couldn’t hold back a grin at the thought of owning a plasma gun; that was just cool. Reduced weight sounded good as well, considering I’d have to drag all of this around with me. Hopefully, it wasn’t also twice the price.

Thanking Fred, I moved over to the shelf he’d indicated to look through my options. I almost passed out as the first pistol I checked was marked at three hundred thousand credits. It was also locked until level ninety, showing the first strong gamelike element I’d seen so far.

I was glad to see the price dropping as I moved down the aisle toward the lower-level options. In the end, it came down to a choice between two level-appropriate guns, a three thousand credit option and a six thousand credit option. The higher-priced option had the advantage of being twenty percent more powerful, while the cheaper option had the advantage of being cheaper.

I really couldn’t justify six thousand credits right now, not with more shopping to do and the amount I’d already spent. Given that I would have to upgrade as I leveled anyway, it made sense not to spend too much at this stage. I could already see a long road where I poured credit after credit into equipment.

On the next shelf over were the ammo packs, squares of metal about the size of a traditional 9mm magazine, as best as I could tell. Not that I’d seen one in person before, just in video games and movies. Each had a glowing indicator on the side that tracked the charge, allowing me to tell when they were empty.

One advantage of going with the lower-powered gun was that I would get more shots per plasma pack. The information that came with my new MK 1 Light Plasma Pistol rated it at twenty shots per pack, while the higher-powered one would only get sixteen.

There were also better plasma packs to power the higher-level guns, though I ignored them for now to go with the cheap option. Each basic pack was two hundred credits, making ten credits per shot. I’d have to be careful not to waste them, as that would cost me a dollar every time I fired a shot.

Remembering Bradford's admonition to not run out of ammo, I reluctantly grabbed five of them. A hundred shots should be enough for at least my first trip. I also grabbed a holster belt that could hold the gun and my spare ammo, bringing the total to five thousand one hundred credits.

In just two stores, I’d already spent all the credits I’d transferred, and I felt a little sick; this was not going anywhere near as well as I’d hoped. Still, I was pretty sure these would be the two big, expensive purchases. Hopefully, the rest wouldn’t cost me too much.

After paying Fred, I moved out of the store and started heading toward the nearest Monorail station. The outdoor gear supplier was situated back near the Explorers Guild headquarters, which I supposed made sense. Where better to set up than right next to your bigger customer, after all?

This turned out to be the easiest stop yet, as the clerk, Steve, easily understood what I was after.

“One beginner Explorer special coming up,“ Steve replied with a grin as he moved out from behind the counter to gather supplies. From his effortless movement through the store, I could tell he had gathered this set of gear many times before.

Soon he was back and laying stuff on the counter. “OK, we have here one tent, one bedroll, one set of cooking gear, one medical kit, seven days of rations, and a pack to carry it all in. Do you want the large version or the medium version?” Both of the packs he hefted looked huge to me, though one was indeed bigger.

“The smaller version will just carry this lot,“ he gestured to the mound of gear in front of him, “while the larger version will have extra room for anything you find out there.”

I didn’t like how heavy the large pack looked; however, I would definitely need a way to carry back any spoils I found. “The larger one,“ I sighed in reply, “I’m going to need the space.”

“Right on,“ he replied with a grin before it faded into a frown. “Now unfortunately, I need to charge you a bit more than normal for the medical kit and the rations, shortages you understand.”

There was that term again, it was time I started getting some answers. “Actually, I’m new around here, only arrived today. Could you explain what’s going on with the shortages?”

“Long story that,“ Fred replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “Short version is we had a drought down south where they grow all the food and medicine. Then when we started shipping it in from off-world, pirates hit our supply lines hard. It’s been a tough few months.”

“Ah,“ I said as everything started coming together in my head. “That must be tough.”

That would explain not only the shortages but also why Agent Darren had said space travel was dangerous right now. The pirates must hit more than just the food shipments. Still, it was terrible luck to have both problems happen at once, I was sure there had to be more to it.

From his awkward stance, I could tell Steve knew something else as well, however, I felt I pushed as much as I could for now. I would have to get the details from someone else, Bradford perhaps. So instead I just thanked him and paid the thirteen hundred credits for the gear.

As that was more than I had left, I turned five hundred dollars into five thousand credits with a sigh. Just today alone, I’d spent about a third of my regular monthly budget. Still, there wasn’t anything for it. I gathered my supplies, loaded them into my pack, and moved out.

At least I had all my gear now, It was time to make back some of what I’d spent. Bradford had better have something good for me once I was all signed up.