Rats! The whole lot of them! They give a bad name to rats, in fact. Restricting magic. I will see an end to it if it is the last thing I do! --41.4 Seconds Post-Integration.
When Clark woke up, he saw a voice message notification. It was from Theo.
"Heya back at you, bud!" the message started. "I have to work today, so I won't be able to hang out or anything, but I figure we can still schedule what we need to. It's looking to be a busy time on the floor, so I think I will be here all day. On my lunch, I will send you another message and you can come down so we can do this stuff together, sound good? Okay, see you then, pal, have a good day!"
Theo's message brightened his day. Which was hard to do after he received a large check the night before. Still, with Theo's invitation to meet and re-arrange their schedules so they could work the same shifts, things like pay deposits couldn't compare to human relations.
Still tired from the day before, which wasn't surprising, when he thought about it, as that double-shift he pulled came on top of the over-exhaustion from the dungeon delving he did with Theo, he wanted to return to bed. Alas, he couldn't sleep more. He had to dress, have breakfast, and get to shopping for magical items.
He made himself a quick morning meal consisting of eggs and toast. Gone before the breakfast even reached his stomach, Clark knew how precious his time was, especially as he was wading into a part of the world he lacked experience. "Take me to whichever part of the store sells magical items," he asked of SIMP.
About an hour later, Clark stood before a storefront with a sign in the shape of a potion bottle. It read, 'Augustford's Dandies.'
"Is this the right place?" Clark was confused about where he was as the store front before him looked to be a place which sold feminine goods, not magical items.
"This is the correct place. There are many boutiques throughout Augustford which sell magical commodities. This particular boutique does cater to women. The products within, however, are no different than those sold by any other retailer. And for our purposes, we will not be looking at those items which are marketed toward women. So, unless you would like to moan about your fragile masculinity, can we move on with it, already?" SIMP said with a tone.
"Sure. It's fine. I was just confused, is all..."
Clark entered the store to find more pink than he knew what to do with. If he had a sister or a mother he could see on a regular basis, the store might make a good place to shop for them. He asked a clerk where their magical items were located but that only served to earn him a dozen questions. In his ear, SIMP said to ask them where they kept their 'survival tonics.'
"Oh! The classics, you want! Very good. Right this way, sir," a girl in a professional looking yet frilly dress replied. The girl brought him to a shelf tucked away in a corner of the store front. "Will you be needing any more assistance?"
"No, I will be good. Thank you for your help."
To SIMP, he asked what would be the most cost-efficient. But also, what would be the most useful. The reply he got was blessedly straightforward: "Stamina potions would be best. That and area defense potions; those potions would as double as anti-slime defenses, at least for the time being. Essential for your cause will also be weapon enhancement tonics. These tonics are what Theo used when he adorned the baseball bat. On a related note, these items have many names, but officially, they are called 'dandies.' Keep this in mind when you are discussing 'dandies' with educated folk. Or folk that take their work too serious."
Mumbling a gotcha, he asked how many he should buy. That answer earned him a rejoinder. "As many as you think you need to do this job and live till you see your paycheck, boy."
"Five of each, then... I guess. That's going to break the bank a bit, though. Guess I don't have a choice, per the--"
SIMP interrupted: "Enough feeling sorry for yourself! Gods, Clark! All you can think about is money and how sad you feel when you spend it. News flash -- everyone you meet is on the same boat. Seriously, stuff it!"
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He pushed the fifteen dandies into a shopping basket and brought them to the main counter.
"Did you find everything you were looking for today, sir?" the clerk asked in a cheery tone.
"Sure did," he said. Seeing the total after the cashier finished ringing up his items, he added, "If only they were a little less expensive."
"RIGHT?! I say that every time I go and shop, prices have gone up. I'm lucky, though. I only have myself to shop for. I can't imagine how people with families do it."
"To that, we are the same."
Clark toggled his System Link and paid the thirty-five credits for the fifteen potions. That brought his account down to one-hundred-and-seventy-two standard credits. 'Good thing I did all that overtime, yesterday. Otherwise, boy, more overtime today, it would've been... let's avoid that, if possible.'
With the so-called 'dandies' in his satchel, Clark checked the time. Almost noon. Not quite, but by the time he returned home, surely the expected message from Theo would be among his notifications. As predicted, once he was back in his dorm and had put away his potions, a ding sounded in his ear. He let the voice mail play: "Clark, it's me... Theo. I am heading to my lunch in a few minutes. Come on down and let's get that schedule figured. See you soon, peace!"
Clark rushed to the thirtieth-floor break room Theo chose for his break. He didn't like how making a single friend had turned him upside down, but after so many weeks of high-tension, low, but rizzing, work, he needed some normality. He needed to talk to someone and shoot the shet.
Entering the break room, Theo waved him over from across the room. He approached with a smile. "Hey, Theo. How's been your day?" he said, taking a seat opposite.
"Not bad! Too many screaming customers, though. There's a sale going on and not enough product to go around. I saw two customers come to blows over a hairdryer. Why would you fight over a hairdryer?! Ridiculous! Security tossed their butts out."
"Lords! I have the same," Clark yelped, highly enthuse as he realized he could share a similar experience. "There was this older guy a couple days back, he kept on screaming for a manager. Then, when the manager got there, he got angry when I tried to leave, if you can believe it! He thought he was being ignored or something. If that wasn't bad enough, the manager then accidentally misgendered him -- which was a complete slip of the tongue -- and, of course, that didn't help things!"
Theo was giggling beside himself by the time Clark ended his story. "What the heck is with our customers? So weird, bro. So weird! I've noticed that the customer base differs so much from floor-to-floor. It's wild. One floor will have, like people in a bunch of drab dresses, then the next will have people wearing t-shirts and shorts. What's with that?"
For several minutes, Theo and he commiserated with one another on the nature of shoppers. He had to be honest -- having someone to grunt with about work crap, it was amazing! Theo understood his struggle day-in, day-out. He was someone who could tell him, 'No, you're not insane for thinking these things about the shoppers or your co-workers.'
"Okay." Theo returned the conversation to the actual reason for their momentary hangout. "The schedule! Oh! You bring out the goofy in me, Clark. Let's stay focused."
Clark wouldn't have said that he had ever 'brought out the goofiness' in someone, even in his hometown, let alone a strange a place as the Augustford tower, but he wasn't about the argue the point. "Yes! So, as I mentioned, SIMP confirmed it is possible for us to change our mandatory hours. However, it is not a right-out guarantee."
"Hey. That's fine by me. I want to at least try. Hey, SIMP! Can you hear me? How do we get this process going?"
A double chime. "Theo!" SIMP's voice said, an echo sounding. "You cannot order me around." The echo vanished. A single chime preceded SIMP's voice now appearing only in his own ear. "Your new buddy has a lot of nerve!"
"Yeah, he does have nerve, doesn't he?" Clark looked at Theo and laughed. Who laughed in turn, but still clearly confused about how SIMP could slither their way into his own system.
With the back and forth over, SIMP then led them through the process on how to submit a request to alter one's availability. Clark figured the process would be easy and it was: they navigated to a virtual webpage, filled out some information, had to mention their Lifer statuses, and what goals they wanted to achieve while with the company, then hit the 'submit' button. Both of them needed to fill out a page, then fill out a joint page, but the endeavor took hardly twenty minutes total.
"That it?" Theo asked. "I guess so. All we can do now is cross our fingers."
"Yup. Here's hoping we are lucky and can work together. I wouldn't mind some extra help. Did you know that you can share resources with other co-workers and that, while in a party, experience earned is higher? Plus, you suffer less dings against your metrics."
"Whoa! Wild! I hadn't known the part about less negative marks. That will be super useful!"
For the rest of Theo's lunch break, they talked. About nothing in particular, just whatever came to mind. Throughout the whole conversation, Clark felt more carefree than he had since coming to work at Augustford. He even felt lightheaded, but in the good way.
"Alright! I need to get back to it. Talk later, Clark!" Theo said before Clark walked with him back to the salesfloor.
After the talk with Theo, Clark could only think about the grumble in his belly. 'Food time!'
worst when you try and schedule stuff on your days off and it doesn't work out? Ugh!
minimum) is what you can expect to read. Along with Bonus Chapters not on RR! Five bucks. Consider it?
Is it Easy for You to Schedule Activities with Friends?
