Fast and Furious
[ Coming, James, System is coming. ]
[ Achievement Unlocked: A Quick One ]
[ In order to appease you, System has used it's own hard-earned savings from centuries of blood, sweat, and toil to skip the next two missions. System is broke now. Hope you're happy. ]
[ Reward: Auto-Completion of next two missions. ]
---
"That's much better," said James.
---
[ Mission Completed: Second Base. ]
[ Achievement Unlocked: A Feel For This Now ]
[ Now that you've gotten a few hands on you, you're really starting to get a good grasp of this. ]
[ Reward: Hand History. ]
[ Perk Unlocked: Hand History - You can now review your historical gambling actions and have System critique and share some advice. ]
[ Sometimes replaying those hands in your mind can give you a good feeling. ]
[ Mission Unlocked: Third Base - Spend $100 on the system to unlock the final step of the tutorial. ]
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James rolled his eyes. These names and descriptions...
---
[ Mission Completed: Third Base. ]
[ Achievement Unlocked: Getting a Head ... of Steam. ]
[ You're starting to feel warm and comfortable as you bob along on your journey to the finish line. ]
[ Reward: Active Participation ]
[ Perk Unlocked: Active Participation - Active skills are now available to unlock. System can now also give you more live help beyond probabilities, rules, and slang. ]
[ It's like having a partner with great skills. Much better than solo play. ]
[ Mission Unlocked: The Final Frontier - Spend $1000 on the system to complete the tutorial. ]
---
James was flabbergasted. Although the benefits were great, he could not help but feel a little bit dirty. He was beginning to suspect that the system had been programmed or created by someone with a mind not just halfway in, but completely in the gutter.
"Active skills and history review, huh. That's much better than a lame stat upgrade. We're finally getting into the good stuff," James commented.
"Let's try the history review. Something felt a bit fishy about how Mr Lee handled his wager."
A virtual screen appeared in front of James' eyes and started to replay the events that had happened earlier that day.
Mr Lee turning around and scribbling on a small piece of paper before folding it and putting it into his left pants pocket....
Mr Lee turning back to face James and the class and asking James a couple of questions...
James thinking about and delivering the answers to the class...
Mr Lee's face changing and a couple of sweat drops appearing on his forehead...
Finally, Mr Lee reaching his hand into his right pants pocket and pulling out a folded piece of paper before slowly unfolding it and announcing the result to the rest of the class.
"Wait a minute. He put the first paper into his left pocket but took another piece of paper out from the right pocket. What a dirty rat! He cheated!"
James felt all of his prior respect and gratefulness to Mr Lee disappear. He should have won the hundred dollars!
---
[ Achievement Unlocked: Cheated On ]
[ Once bitten, twice shy. Now that you've experienced being cheated on, maybe it's time for you to turn the tables in the future. ]
[ Reward: Peek ]
[ Active Skill Unlocked: Peek - Allows you to look at a player's hidden cards. Consumes 1 charge per use. Gains 1 charge every time you find someone cheating against you. 1 charge currently available. ]
[ Almost like being able to see through someone's clothes. A highly voyeuristic skill. ]
---
James reined in his anger. Despite being cheated against, and after all of the events, he had come out ahead.
If Mr Lee had not cheated, he would still be ten dollars shy of completing the third base mission, and he would not have unlocked this active skill. With this skill, he now had even higher hopes about being able to perform at Phil's game this weekend.
"Going forward, I'll have to be more careful and aware." James reminded himself.
---
Now that James had spent all his winnings and progressed as far as he could in unlocking the system, he turned his attention back to the letter that his dad had left him.
After reading it a few more times and wallowing in his feelings, James decided to pen a quick reply.
"Dad. I don't know when I will next see you. I hope it is soon, and that this will all blow over. Regardless, I will dominate the game this weekend and follow your path to the end. I promise to you that I will make you proud."
James finished his short note and left it under the keyboard on the desk with a small corner peeking out. Even if his father never got to read it, James knew that, in the future, he would be able to look at it and remember the inspiration and determination that he held at that moment...
---
The rest of the week passed routinely, and soon it was noon on Saturday.
James cleaned up the safe room as he prepared to go to battle. The "Texas Hold'em for Dummies" book that had held his dad's legacy to him was laid out neatly on the desk next to the keyboard.
He had gone to the bank to empty his savings account and had even snuck upstairs to collect the spilled coins from his broken little piggy bank. The apartment looked just the way it had when James left it. It was clear that no one had made an effort to clean it up.
After exchanging the coins for bills, all of James' life savings fit comfortably into a small envelope the bank had given him. It was just a dollar short of five hundred. This envelope rested in the front pocket of his backpack and represented all the hope and ammunition that he had to pursue his new goal.
From the address that Phil had given him, James knew that Phil lived in the rich man's neighborhood on the other side of town.
It was about one and the half times the distance from his safe room to school in the other direction. James also knew that it would take at least two and a half hours to get there. Not daring to be late, James decided to leave then. It was important for him to not to give Phil any more reason than he already had to make his life difficult. After all, the next day could very well determine his and possibly his parents' fate.
---
Meanwhile, as James was walking towards his uncertain future, a much less optimistic scene was taking place in an abandoned warehouse unit on the far edges of the city...
A disembodied voice came from the shadowed corners of the warehouse.
"Well Mr Jones, I'm glad you finally decided to show up."
The target of those words sat trussed up in a cheap looking metal chair bolted to the ground in the middle of the warehouse unit. The floor surrounding him was bare concrete, and above him lay a naked light bulb connected by a thin wire running up to and across the ceiling.
Seated next to him, equally bound in an identically set up metal chair, was a middle-aged woman who had clearly seen better days. Despite her best efforts to sit with dignity, she was leaning forward against her bounds, clearly on the edge of exhaustion. Dark streaks of dirt and grime covered her face, except for two thin reedy lighter streams of gray where her past tears had worn some purchase. Her eyes were dead and hopeless.
Unlike the person being addressed, she had also been gagged.
These were James' parents. Mr and Mrs Jones of unit #07-07.
"What do you want? Let my wife go. She's innocent. She knows nothing." James' father said quickly.
"I want some answers from you," came the droll reply. "But first, let me show you the penalty of lying."
A gunshot came from the direction of the voice. From the flash, Mr Jones noted that his assailant was wearing what looked like a business suit, and had cold, emotionless eyes.
Mr Jones flicked his eyes down, noting with surprise the lack of blood on his body.
Then, he heard a slightly muffled high-pitched scream. With a sense of panic, he turned to look at his wife. She was now leaning fully forward, with only the tape binding her as her support, screaming against the gag in her mouth. Fresh tears had formed, filled, and left her hollowed eyes, creating new channels of lighter gray against the mottled shades on her face. A rapidly spreading crimson stain could be seen on the lower right leg of her pants, just below the crease of the knee.
"I am very disappointed in how long it took you to come to us, Mr Jones. The next bullet will take the left leg. If you still need convincing after that, the third bullet will be centered and nine inches higher."
"I'll tell you everything. Please. I swear I will. Don't hurt my wife, take me instead." Mr Jones blubbered.
"Oh, I will. Eventually. Now, where is the card?"
"It's in the book. I left it hidden in the Dummies book. Texas Hold'em for Dummies."
"Oh I'm disappointed, Mr Jones. There was no book by that title in your apartment. I thought you would be past trying to deceive me by now."
A second gunshot sounded, and the scream rose in pitch by another octave, now accompanied by muffled choking and coughing.
"I swear it's true! Maybe it's in my safe room. Same building, Apartment #02-05. Code 1116. Please, please, please don't hurt my wife. I'll do anything, just save her."
"Let me step outside and make a quick call to my associates. If you cooperate, I don't see why there's a reason to continue this little... exercise."