Chapter 4: Different Avenues

The next morning, Albert stood in front of the fogged mirror before and seriously looked at himself for the first time since he entered this world. And what he saw wasn't pretty, his disheveled black hair sat weirdly on his head, his brown eyes were slightly too small and his nose was equally too big. He stood at around 5'4" and his pale lanky frame wasn't helping any, especially not his "noodle" arms. If he had a few of the following features, maybe he could pass off as average looking with quirks but together? Yeah that less than average Appearance sure was kicking his ass now. He could only sigh in defeat, hopeful on this body's growth spurt. After changing into a set of prepared sweat pants and an over-sized shirt, he left the communal bathroom feeling refreshed and ready for the day.

'System please put my Luck value to right side of my vision.'

[Luck: 45/45]

It seems that after a full nights of rest, he could recover his Luck back maybe most of the time it wouldn't always recover itself to full but it was a good thing he would roaming the streets of Gotham with it full instead of not. He made the decision of constantly displaying Luck after receiving that stupid ques-case from last night. If he had to stay in Gotham for the foreseeable future then he wanted that resource at hand at all times.

He could smell food being cooked out front and could already hear his stomach begin to rumble, after putting his clothes in a bag he walked out front. The sound of pots and pans filled the room as he entered, many people were goings to and fro as they prepared food in large portions. He nodded his head and smile at the few who would meet his gaze, before walking to the room that had the words 'Cafeteria' over the doorway.

He saw a variety of people clustered together in their own little groups, these people all had hard and downtrodden expressions on their faces. Some were pale and fidgeting at visible punctures on the crook of their arms. Some had visible amputations with no prosthetic in sight. Leaning hard on his Psychology skill, he tried to find a spot with someone who wouldn't care. He didn't want to sit by someone who was overly interest in his well-being, well meaning individuals were just as dangerous as those who meant him harm in this respect. After spotting a lone group avoided by everyone he made his decision, after getting his plate of eggs and hash browns from the smile server he made his way over to said group.

As he approached the group, he got a much better look at all of them. There seem to be three men and a single girl among them. The largest of the three seemed to be bound in heavy muscle and covered in intricate tattoos that had a few characters splattered here and there. The muscular man had the sides of his head shaved and a thick mop of ink black hair on top, his square jaw worked absent mindfully at his larger portion of food. The man next time him seem to be similar in height but not in size, he seem to have more of a lanky figure. His darker skin contrasted heavily with his braided blonde hair, his sharp features would make most people call him handsome if it wasn't for the gruesome scar that started on his left ear and reached his nose. The final man was the shortest out of the three, he had a slightly pudgy frame and shoulder length red hair. His round face seem incredible inviting, but to Albert that seem like an assumption than anything else. In order for this soft looking person to fit in this group of hard men he must have something that distinguishes him, but even after leaning on Psychology and Spot Hidden he couldn't find anything special about him. And the last member of this group-was a tanned girl that looked to be a little younger than him, she looked quite thin with short brown hair.

"Do you mind if I sit with you guys?" Albert asked as he stopped in front of their table.

The three woman subtly looked the brown hair girl, who only nodded slightly.

"Sure go ahead kid," The Larger man waved his hand to the open seat next to the pudgy man, surprisingly his voice was softer than he excepted. Sitting down next to the third man, he looked up at all of them who stared back at him in kind. Coughing slightly Albert started

"Thank you, my name is Albert."

"My name is Derek." The darker man said next to him in a raspy voice, his big green eyes held a hint of amusement.

"I'm Johnathan, but call me Jo."The tall muscular man introduced, his beady black eyes stared through Albert.

"You may call me Ant," The red haired man said, his strange orange eyes almost caused shivers to run up this spine. They all turned to the brown hair girl next, who looked past him with vibrant hazel eyes and said in a quiet voice

"Marceline."

Nodding at each of their introductions, he began to dig into his meal and began to think on his options in peace. If he wanted to buy a building he is going to need a job, maybe he could work in a warehouse? No, they will definitely check his ID and not hire him due to his age. So he would have to work illegally somewhere and get paid scraps instead? How about working at a store or restaurant? He could shake his head again at that thought, most Gotham store owner were so use to getting robbed by there own that they would be wary of hiring an unknown like him. They would probably think he was trying to scope the place out for the next robbery.

"Hey kid?" Derek's out of place soft voice dragged him out of his thoughts," Penny for your thoughts?"

"Is there something like a notice board for jobs anywhere near here?" Since they were asking he wasn't going to hold back on his words.

"Yeah," he pointed towards the front of the building," You must be new to Gotham, if you walk to the park there is a board that people stick request on all the time. This city doesn't really have an online presence so if you find something that you think would fit you will have to go in person."

"Thank you for the information." Albert could only thank the man before falling back into his thoughts once more. It made sense, back in his world before the internet became so prominent job openings would only really be shown in news papers or through word of mouth. So it must be the same here, now all needed to was find out where this park was.

"Is there a map anywhere nearby I can use?"

He asked sheepishly.

"Yeah, I think they can print off a map for you at the reception desk. Just say your using it to find some work and they won't hesitate."

Derek responded while absentmindedly picking at his surprisingly well taken care of white teeth, nodding his head in thanks and filing away his observations of the group to the back of mind he dug into the paper plate of food. The rest of meal went by with idle chatter, but none were willing to poke to far into the other's business. This is what Albert wanted, a little bit of information from well meaning but cautious folks. No one to ask why a kid his age of out on the streets. No one trying to get him involved in trouble for their own gain. Just companionable silence.

"Thank you for your help, I'll find someway to repay it in the future."

Albert said as he stood up with his now empty plate.

"Don't worry about it."

Derek waved off his thanks absently, the following members also grunted in agreement. After they saw Albert leave, Jo turned towards the diminutive brown haired girl to his side.

"Do you think he was a plant Marcy?"

Shaking her head in disagreement, Marcy continued to idly poke around her plate. Grunting in acknowledgment, they sat there silently listening to the soft chatter from the surroundings.

It didn't take much convincing on Albert's end to convince the front desk to print him off a map, just like he was told. Now he stood out front in the chilly air of Gotham City, its streets were still covered in the persistent smog. Looking down at the map and comparing it to the street he was on, he felt that could get there after a quick twenty minute walk. Not wanting to use shortcuts on his second day in this cursed city, he could only use the established sidewalks and hope he didn't come across anyone too unreasonable. But he wouldn't hold his breathe in that instant, before he took a single step forward he suddenly remembered the key he receive last night. Silently cursing he quickly slipped the key into his sock, feeling the cold metal against his foot sent a slight shiver up his spine. Good now, only the absolute crazies would even try to rob him for his socks.

Feeling a little better, he began his journey towards the park. As he walked down the lightly lit street he could see the surrounding shops beginning to open and people begin to slow filter onto the sidewalks. Slowly but surely, Gotham was waking up. At first Albert was a bit nervous around so many people, and given the city he was in he was right to cautious. But then he remembered he was dirt poor and the only thing of slight value was now safe in his sock, and he could still feel the cool sensation of metal against his foot. The streets were crumbled and uneven, the sound of scurrying animals from the alley didn't carry the same feel as it would if the moon was high in the sky. He guessed he could see why people fought so hard for and over the city, it was beautiful in it's own way. But even with all that beauty, he could still feel the undercurrent of tension and fear from those around him. This was understanding, this city did create some of the more vicious villains that held no regard for collateral damage. Meaning some the people he walked with now probably wouldn't make through the week without some incident. Shaking away his grim thoughts, he continued on his prowl with the citizens of Gotham until he came across a small problem.

'This is either the longest 20 minutes of my life or I'm lost.'

Albert thought pensively as he walked off to the side before pulling out his map after looking back and forth between the street names before his shoulders slumped in defeat. He was very lost, he must've taken the wrong turn at one point and there were no street names on any of the corners he passed recently. Sighing at his terrible sense of directions, he could only look at passing crowd in trepidation. He didn't need his Psychology to know what would happen if he tried to stop anyone for directions, it wouldn't be stretch to predict that given their environment they would strike at him or anyone they would be trying to rob them. He could only go into a shop nearby and ask. Looking around he noticed a small cafe off to the side, it seem to be a quaint white building with a black roof the covered to awning. It's black windows gleamed under the rising sun, slightly blinding him.

Blinking away tears Albert weaved through the crowd towards the cafe, there were a couple of people who clutched at their purses and wallets while giving him the stink eye but he couldn't let those stares faze him now. He couldn't turn back now, especially since there was literally no where else for him to go while the sun was still up. After finally making it through crowd, he finally got a close enough to read the hand painted wooden plaque that said 'Coffee Stains'. As he entered the cafe, it took a couple of minutes for his eyes to adjust to the darker room. From what he could see, the cafe was separated into 2 areas; one part had a large counter with multiple machines that itched at his caffeine addicted brain and seemed to be the serving section. While the other half of the cafe was a particularity, it had a massive book shelf that took up more than half the cafe's wall with a variety of used books. Around the room were cushioned chairs before small tables in an orderly manner there were even some bean bag chairs on the far end. From this area one could look out in the streets of Gotham and watch the people go about there day. All in all, it was a perfect location for introverts.

"Ahem?"

A soft voice cleared their voice from behind Albert's back, spinning he locked gazes with an older man with short cropped gray hair, a short equally as gray beard and warm brown eyes that shown signs of smiling too much. He wore a brown apron over his white button up shirt and black pants that looked loose on his thin frame.

"How can I help you?"

The man's asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Uhh, yes, I need some help."

Albert responded slowly with a slight hitch in his voice, being utterly startled by this old man simple appearing out of nowhere.

"Well out with it, there isn't anyone here so I don't mind being of assistance."

"I'm kind of lost," Albert began," I think I took a wrong turn somewhere and wound up here. Do you know where the park is?"

"Do you have a map?"

The man asked while rubbing at his chin, Albert quickly handed the map to him from across the counter. Looking over the map, he hmmed and hah'ed for a few seconds before he pulled out a pen from his apron and began to draw on it. Soon he handed the now marked map to the youth before him, "Follow this here and you can reach the park in less than 15 minutes. If you would've continued on this street down, you would've ran into some unsavory characters."

"Thank you for the help," he said while slightly bowing," This will definitely save the day for me."

"None of that," the old man waved his hand dismissively," If you want to repay me, I have some work you can do around here, these tired bones aren't as spry as they use to. My name is Jeremiah."

"I'm Albert and thank you again" He began softly shuffle from one foot to the other,"But if wouldn't too much could you also point out where the library is?"

The thinking process behind this request was simple, where could he acquire vasts amounts of information for free? Without his phone or any other way of to get on the internet, books were going to be his go to when it comes to skill training. Atleast the lest physical skills and if he's lucky maybe he'll be able to train up Library Use in conjunction.

"Yeah I can do that, "Jeremiah lips quirked up a bit," Just give it here and I can mark down a route for you."

Doing as the older man said, Albert waited a few a minutes as he added more scribbles to the quickly filling map. The environment really was calming to his tense nerves, it could almost make him forget about the bank robbery.

'Maybe,' He thought," Gotham won't be such a bad place to settle down in.'

"Here you go," The gray haired man voice shook him out of his musing, "It should be easy to get to library from the park just a short 5 minute from it."

"Thank you again, I'll definitely be by later on today."

Albert said, feeling a sense of gratitude well up in his chest.

"Don't worry, the trash will be here waiting for you."

He then shook hands the old man before walking back out into the streets with a renewed kick in his step. Now following the marks left behind by Jeremiah he practically swam through the crowd like a fish in water. It didn't take long him to reach his goal, in contrast to the dreary gray buildings of Gotham this strip of green was like a breathe of fresh air. Even from his original life he hadn't ever seen such a park with such rich life. Large healthy trees stood tall among the various hills and walkways. It was like the park was like a bulwark standing resolutely against the encroaching city's influence, there were already people here and enjoying this little bit of peace. But his eyes soon fell upon a board filled to brim with sheets of paper, some of which overlapped and outright covered requests all together.

Getting closer, Albert raked his eyes across the board of requests in excitement. Surely the people of Gotham must have some interesting problems? As he continued to read over the variety of requests his excitement soon died out completely. Warehouse worker needed. Docker needed. Dishwasher, nights only. They were just normal job requests, it reminded him a bit of Reddit from his old life. That thought caused him to sigh out in remembrance, he was going to miss those memes. He slowly walked down the board, trying to find something that could fit his current situations before for the first time that day his system reacted.

[Potential Case found!]

That caused his eyes to freeze on a single flier before him, it seem to be quite recent as it was posted right on top of another request for a line cook. The request seemed to have been made by a child with its crooked handwriting in crayons and crude drawing of a dog.

'Please find Missus Truffles, she went missing and I miss her so much. She loves peanut butter.'

Albert silently read in his mind, flipping over the request he saw a more detailed description behind it,' Truffles is a brown French Bulldog of around 55 pounds with white tuffs of fur around her left eye. She had a purple collar on the day she went missing. She was last seen 3 days at the park and we will reward anyone who brings her home.'

[Case Opened: Find Misses Truffles!

Description: Truffles, the brown French Bulldog, has went missing 3 days ago and now it up to you to return her back to her loving family!

Requirements: Find and return Truffles!

Difficulty: F

Rewards: 1 IP]

[Would you like to take on this Case?]

[Yes/No]