Big City Living (Midpoint Mingle)

[midpointmods]

The town of Midpoint: called thus because it is at the exact center of the game arena, a busy little Western town full of strange people, many of whom don’t look remotely human, because this is where all the players gather and live. Midpoint Saloon: called thus because it is the only bar in Midpoint. It’s also the biggest building in town, four stories high, dotted with windows, painted a jaunty yellow and decorated with red and green flowers in all the window boxes.

This is where your veteran teammate points you. Or just stomps off to and hopes you follow.

Downstairs is a bar and tavern, Old West style, right down to the upright piano in one corner and a raucous crowd of locals - largely locals, but with a healthy smattering of unusual or downright alien faces that clearly indicate the presence of other Players - eating, drinking, gambling, and getting into trouble. There’s a broad, bearded man behind the bar, waving cheerfully at you as you enter.

The rest of the night and the next day is yours to do with what you see fit. Explore the town, take a long nap in your new room, try to get to know people... everyone is here for the next twenty-four hours before travel to the mission site, so it’s a good chance to scope out the competition, at the very least.

Comments

[ragingwolf]

He looks back, less subtly, to where she's pointing, and does a slight double-take. It's not that he didn't notice it before, he just thought it was armour, not a whole-ass person.

"...no, actually." He turns and picks his gun up again before a certain raccoon can get to it. "They look perfectly human - no indication whatsoever that they might be otherwise. But sometimes if you're watching, you see the same face on a few different people. Or ones who die during rounds spark instead of bleed."

He leans back in his seat and folds his arms. "There's one running that store, as well."

[unofficial_ambassador]

He's still doing better than Inara, who had assumed until Soldat had told her there was a second player in the jail that Daylight was a pile of garbage. (Though to be fair, he had been unconscious at the time)

"Oh. Among the citizenry here, then. Not players like us?" It makes sense. People sent here to potentially die would certainly be less obedient than a robot.

[ragingwolf]

"Right. Some of them are real humans, some are androids, but you wouldn't be able to tell any of them apart. They're too well made."

He shrugs one shoulder. "All of us players are considered something else. Since we're the only ones who have anything to do with the jails."

[unofficial_ambassador]

"I take it the jails aren't generally used in the traditional sense." No one is going to get dumped in there for being too rowdy at the bar, or stealing a horse.

[ragingwolf]

"They're more like home base," he says, lilting his head back as he says it. "When we first arrive, when we die, and when we get back from being punished, we get dumped in whatever cell belongs to the next mission."

[unofficial_ambassador]

"And that's how people knew where to find us today." Inara had seen the instruction note that had sent Soldat their way. "How do you know which jail someone winds up in if they die?"

[ragingwolf]

"We don't." It's a simple response, blunt as hell. "We don't even know if they're going to come back until someone else gets sent there to collect 'em."

[unofficial_ambassador]

"Ah." She probably should have expected that they'd do this in the least efficient way possible. "And they're locked in there like we were?"

It would certainly be easier if they could at least get into the main area on their own, but if they're coming back with clothes on she can't complain too much. Waking up naked on a space ship gets old faster than you'd think.

[ragingwolf]

"Yeah. No breaking out of those cells, either, even if you have special powers."

[unofficial_ambassador]

"So if whoever gets the note doesn't like you, you're in trouble." The game makers must know who doesn't get along if they want to stir up drama.

[ragingwolf]

"It pays to be smart about it," he comments. And lifts a hand to tap lightly the serious shiner he's got going on one cheek. "One newbie tried to start a fight with me. So, not off to a great start, team-wise."

[unofficial_ambassador]

"I thought about starting a fight too, " Inara admits. Probably it's lucky for her that he hadn't unlocked the door until she had calmed down. "Usually the person with the keys to your cell isn't an ally."

[ragingwolf]

"Until you know for sure they're your opponent this round, everyone here is your ally." He says it with such blasé confidence that it's almost believable. "And even if they're not, they will be eventually. You don't have to like it, but that's how it is."

[unofficial_ambassador]

"Is that so?" Because that certainly isn't what it sounded like earlier. On the other hand, it must be or living in this town with people you have to kill sometimes would be impossible. "I'll keep that in mind."

[ragingwolf]

He doesn't miss that subtle skepticism; but he seems pleased by it, not offended. "You don't believe me?"

[unofficial_ambassador]

"Seems to me if we were all allies you wouldn't feel the need to open with a story about someone shooting you in the back." The people here certainly do love to package their warnings inside roundabout stories.

[ragingwolf]

"Just because we're all in the same boat doesn't mean we have to like it," he points out. "People still do stupid shit, or drag each other down. Your friends here are still going to kill you one day, or you them. Better to acknowledge it early than be surprised by it later."

[unofficial_ambassador]

"What does it mean, then? To be allies here."

It doesn't extend to the game itself because it can't - aside from special backstabbing murder circumstances that make everyone hate you, apparently - but is it just a way to keep the peace inside the town? Inara has a hard time believing that at least half the people here wouldn't gladly sell most everyone else down the river for a chance at freedom.

[ragingwolf]

"Depends on who you ask, doesn't it? It means we don't start shit we don't plan on finishing, keep the murder to the damned games, don't be a pain if you can help it."

Funnily enough, Fuwa's bad at the last one.

"It means... deciding who your own are and protecting them with everything you've got," he admits, begrudgingly.

[unofficial_ambassador]

"Hm, " Inara says because there's no need to stoop to pointing out what else that last sentence describes. "I think I understand."

She had assumed once that boarding a ship full of people she couldn't stand would mean that she could avoid forming unwanted connections. Less than two years later, she had gone to war for them against her worst nightmare. Connections are unavoidable here as well - it's in the nature of most people in adverse circumstances to form them - and it’s not really bad advice that she should probably start thinking about how much she's willing to carry.

"At any rate, I'm not the type to hit anyone with a pool cue so hopefully we'll get along." Yes this is specific for a reason and yes she had left that bar fight with a stolen wallet in her bodice, but that's immaterial.

[ragingwolf]

Look, just because he hates the sniper for doing it doesn't mean he doesn't understand why he did it. He just. Doesn't know if he has anyone that he'd be willing to do the same for. Doesn't quite know how to feel about that.

Instead, he focuses on Inari's new words. "Do you have any weapons you know how to use?"

[unofficial_ambassador]

Inara laughs quietly. "This isn't really what you might call my area of expertise. I'm a Buddhist; I don't even eat meat."

Not a no, but not a yes either.

[ragingwolf]

That gets a soft smile, almost. At least a wry quirk of the corner of his mouth, for a moment. "I grew up being taught Shinto rather than Buddhism, but I think a lot of us are going against our better judgements here, religious or not. Some things we kind of just have to do."

[unofficial_ambassador]

"It's a lot to think about." She's fought before - killed even - mostly monsters that she could tell herself weren't human, but not always. "I'm not sure what's at stake here."

Of course she doesn't want to die, but when even that's not permanent is it worth killing for?