Chapter 34
Justin ultimately decided to hold off on visiting the system store until the second day of recovery, waiting until after he’d worked out, and had breakfast, to go. Parking at the CIF was a bit tricky, but eventually, he found a spot. After parking his POV, he headed for the entrance, noticing in the process that a few others were headed in the same direction.
“Hey, Justin right? Have you heard anything from your unit command? I heard that we can convert USD into USC at the system store. Is that true?” one of the others heading in the same direction asked.
“I’m not sure on that. Nothing from my commanders. I guess I wouldn’t say no to that if we can.” He answered.
As Justin got near the entrance door, he realized a line had been forming. He had no idea how long it might be, but he prepared mentally for a long wait. It turns out he had the right idea of coming in early. Everyone else had the same idea. He spent hours waiting in line for his turn, following the line as it snaked through the cavernous warehouse facility. Finally, just as he got to the front of the line, someone he recognized exited the white cube that people had been disappearing into for hours.
“Hey, SPC Justin, right?” SSG Alexander Davis asked.
“Roger, Sar’nt. What's up?” he replied.
“I hope you brought any cash you have with you today, soldier. Apparently, you can convert it to USC. Then you can send a bit home to your family, in case they survive but don’t end up as fortunate as you.” Justin’s platoon Sergeant replied.
“I… See. Thanks for the info Sar’nt.” Justin replied. He wasn’t quite sure how to handle interactions with his new platoon sergeant. He knew about Davis’s pro football career, and that the man was known as a bit of a beast when it came to hand-to-hand, but he hadn’t expected the Iowa native to be so full of random life advice. He didn’t have cash with him, but he had managed to save up a small chunk of change. It was less about saving for a rainy day and more about the lack of anything worthwhile to spend the money on. He could have gone out to eat more, but why spend the extra money when the Dining Facility or DIFAC food was so much healthier and cheaper?
He’d spent some money on his girlfriend, but ultimately it hadn’t been a very long relationship, so there hadn’t been a chance to justify buying her many expensive gifts. He thought he had probably around $10k in his account. He wondered at the exchange rate before realizing it was pointless. Who would open the bank vault at his local branch with all the civilians captured?
The line continued to move while he considered various possibilities for spending his money. Soon it was his turn. As he walked toward the white, slightly glowing cube at the end of the rope, a section about 5 feet high and 3 feet wide fuzzed into an equally white but somewhat more cloudy and nebulous substance. Justin stopped to study the oddly shifting material, but as soon as he touched it, the world around him changed.
He found himself standing immediately in front of an information desk, faintly glowing white cubes hovering at eye level. A blue star was high in the sky, producing a reddish-pink hue, and there seemed to be green clouds in the sky. An odd world indeed if the same laws of chemistry and general physics applied.
Justin quickly stepped up to the closest cube. When the cube fuzzed into the same cloudy substance and then seemed to solidify into the form of a young woman, he wasn’t overly surprised.
“Greetings Human, and welcome to the system store. Is there anything in particular I can help you with?” The cube-woman asked.
“Well, I’m not really sure. What kinds of things can I buy at the system store? I have a few skill tokens and gear tokens, but I’m not really sure what they are for.” Justin rambled slightly, still interested in the odd characteristics of the planet this place existed on.
“Ah. you are one of the new human species, aren’t you? I’d be happy to give you a bit of a tour. The system store really has a bit of everything. Most integrated planets end up being somewhat self-sufficient, and only really use the system store node to buy things they can’t produce locally. But for new planets, like yours, most with system access will do all their shopping here until the local economy develops enough to support other methods.” the cube-woman informed.
“As a result, and with the assistance of the system, you really can buy just about anything here. You can buy experiences of various kinds. You can buy quests and the experiences necessary to complete them. You can buy the services of just about any profession or class if you have the right kind of money. You can buy food or the experience of eating it.” she continued.
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“For most classers like you, the system store is a chance to unwind a little and upgrade your equipment or prepare for your next battle. If you have the credits, you can buy battle stations larger than the planet you were born on. Mostly though, at your level, you can use gear and skill tokens to acquire or upgrade your equipment and skills. Upgrade tokens are rare, but can be used to upgrade anything you already have.” the woman finished.
“So if I’m understanding you right, I can buy a starship if I have the credits?” Justin asked.
“You can. The costs may be slightly prohibitive at your level, since most starships worth owning cost in the 10’s of thousands of credits, but it is something to set your sights on.” Cube-woman replied.
“That’s good to know. You mentioned I can buy anything here. Do you mean actually anything or just ‘anything’?” he asked. He’d better figure out his limits now rather than being led to believe something and finding out later that what he’d believed wasn’t true.
An odd look crossed the woman’s features, there and then gone almost so fast Justin didn’t notice it before she responded. “With the right amount and kind of payment, anything can be purchased from the system. You just may want to be careful to specify exactly what you are looking for. For example, purchasing the experience of a thing is very different from purchasing the thing specifically. Also, just because you purchase a thing, doesn’t mean that thing will exist in the state you purchased it in forever.” the woman explained.
“The only three rules are as follows. You cannot buy an experience here, and then use it outside of the system shop to prevent your death. Next, time does not pass in the outside world while you stay here unless you pay for it to do so in some way, either directly, or by purchasing an experience that happens outside of the system shop. Lastly, you cannot complete quests or have money credited to your account while you are here.” she added.
“Wait, that last one doesn’t make much sense. If I complete a quest while I’m here, by paying for whatever items are required to complete it, why wouldn’t it complete?” Justin asked.
“You can fill all the requirements of a quest, then leave the system shop, complete the quest, and come right back in, but you won’t be able to actually complete the quest while in the system shop. Unfortunately, the system is very particular about these three rules. You can even purchase a simulation of having completed a quest so that you have an idea of what kind of rewards you will receive, but the actual action of completing the quest can not happen inside the system store.” Cube-woman explained.
“Hum. I think I understand. With that said, I’ve got a few things in mind, though I only have $600 USC to spend.”
Justin spent two days in the system store, browsing various products and trying to plan out his future advancements. After finalizing his choices, he made his purchases and left, passing the First Sergeant on his way out. He hoped the older soldier had access to any of his savings, as the system did indeed allow you to convert USD into USC at the rate of $250 USD to $1 USC.
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