2 A Job

As Jake walks around town, he realizes that the town is far different from his previous Earth. The houses are smaller and resemble very large sheds. There are no signs along the gravel road.

"Hey voice, you there?" Jake asks, under his breath. "Where did you put me?"

He'll figure it out.

"Fine, don't answer. I didn't need your help anyway." Jake remarked in a very annoying tone, stomping towards what seems to be the post office like an angry toddler.

Outside the post office sat a rather annoyed looking girl with a handful of fliers, rummaging through them and muttering to herself. As Jake approached, she spotted him out of the corner of her eye and quickly stuffed the fliers into her bag.

"Having trouble?" Jake asked as he approached the girl. Honestly surprised he can even talk to girls, all things considered.

"No no, I'm fine. These jobs are just frustratingly misleading. I mean honestly you'd think somebody would bother fact checking. I mean look at this! I look nothing like this!" As she finished her sentence, she held up a flier that read: "WANTED ALIVE. KARA TEMPEST. $500 REWARD"

Tempest? Really? Well whatever, their name I guess. On the flier was a very sketchy looking mugshot of the girl that stood before him. He didn't have the heart to say it, but there was honestly a striking resemblance.

"You know, you wouldn't have to worry about the accuracy if you weren't on a wanted poster." Jake replied jokingly, rubbing his head.

"Yeah, well I wouldn't be on a wanted poster if they didn't stop coming to my door for taxes I already paid." Kara mutters angrily, stuffing the poster away.

Jake ponders on this for a moment, wondering who in town could be enforcing duplicate taxes. His first assumption is that it could be a government official, but surely that'd be too cliche.

"Who's forcing you to pay taxes? I haven't seen any suspicious figures anywhere." He asks the girl as she bounces her leg in obvious frustration.

"It's that damn mayor. Ever since he got elected he's been going door to door collecting taxes, claiming they haven't been paid." Kara exclaims, slamming her hand on the bench.

"Huh, won't you look at that.." Jake remarks under his breath in disbelief. Who woulda thought.

"Look, I don't know what's going on in this town, but I can try my best to help. I just need to sort out a job first, and you can contact me down at Carla's place." He says, extending a hand to Kara, who looks at it and immediately turns away. Poor guy.

Jake moves slowly away from Kara after that dreadful attempt to shake her hand. On the job board, there were at least a dozen jobs, ranging from pulling weeds on a farm to bounties. Obviously having a tough time deciding, he looked towards his gracious narrator for guidance.

"Hey, voice? Any idea why these jobs are so far out in left field?" He asks in a low tone, as to not be heard by Kara.

Well it's simple, really. This world's technology is several steps behind your worlds. Plus, the priorities here are different. They still largely prefer horses to cars, and muskets to cartridge fed weapons.

"Well, that certainly explains the oil lamps I've been seeing everywhere... What kind of technology is available then? I've only noticed light forms of electricity."

Aside from electricity, they seem to just be making the first revolvers. Cars are in their most basic form, and only the extremely wealthy can even afford to touch one. Telephones are reserved exclusively for government, and there is obviously no television. It's a weird mixture of 1800's and early 1900's technology.

"I see... Well, that pretty much explains it. Though I can't help but notice; you left my phone in my pocket. You realize I can't use this, right?"

I- I did?? Shit... We- well yes, that's all part of the uhh... the game!

"The game?"

Y- ...yes, the game. Go ahead and unlock it.

After unlocking his phone, he was met with an interface with a rather handsome face. Me. It's me. Above the face read "Gabriel's Game"

"This... This is you? Huh."

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, "HUH"?

"Nothing, nevermind. Anyway, what am I looking at here?"

Whatever.. Anyway, this is an interface containing all of your vital information and tasks. When you complete a task, you get rewards. These tasks are largely what you get from other people, but I may toss some in when I'm bored.

"So basically this just tracks my health and my goals, huh.. Anything else?"

Actually yes. If you go back to the home screen you'll see a whole BUNCH of apps. This one tracks information on other people and the world around you. The one to the right of it is of course the task board. Continuing right, you can also dial and call phone numbers. Don't ask how I got that to work, but I did. Best of all, this phone doesn't die! To everyone else you're just holding a notebook.

"I see... So no stat boosting? No dice, no dungeons, none of that, right?"

Of course not. Those stories are so unbelievably overwritten on this platform, and I threw this together in a panic.

"In a panic? I thought yo-"

Planned it, y- yes... Yes I did. (No I did not.)

"Okay... Well, moving on, I guess I'll be taking the job at the farm pulling weeds." Jake decided, putting his phone away.

Excellent choice! Someone like you isn't built for bounties.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

...

"Great, and he's gone again, wonderful. Guess I'll head to.... Wiltshire farm?" He declares, not quite knowing where he's going. I won't make you read this part, it's honestly the most dreadful display of physical inability I have ever seen.

After finishing pulling the weeds, so horribly you'd think he did it with tweezers, he retired himself to the bar he woke up in.

"No business today please." Carla mutters as he walks through the door. With quick glance, he notices the bar is trashed. Tables are flipped, chairs are broken, and the counter is a disaster. Carla is sat behind the counter with her face covered.

"What the Hell happened here?? Where's the girl?" Jake asks, jumping over the counter to assess Carla.

"They came asking for taxes, trashed the restaurant, and to-..." Carla, chokes out, sobbing. "They took her..."

As if hit with a ton of bricks, Jake feels sick to the stomach. His hands shake in panic and anger, knowing that his past life is going to repeat again, right before his eyes.

"Where." Jake asks, clenching his fists and looking Carla square in the face. "Where did they go."

"There's nothing you can do, they're al-"

"WHERE THE FUCK DID THEY GO?!" Jake yells, slamming his fist into the cabinet to his right.

"...To the mayors house... They're probably going to sell her off to some rich creep. The selling starts tomorrow, in the center of town." Carla sobs, shrinking more and more into her spot.

Jake stands up, still shaking in fear and anger. He takes a knife off the kitchen counter, tucking it into his belt. On his way out the door, he mumbles one sentence, one that surprised even me;

"Gabriel... I need a bounty."