Dark Fate, Book 4 Prologue (Patreon)

Prologue – Trade Chat

(Community Building and Civil Defense Chat, formerly Life in the City Chat Room)

abby_gail, bento, RainyDayze, GringottsGoblin, DoritoMan, D.VaLuvr69, RadicalEdward, DarkLord, FusionGal, NotACop, Scholar, Anonymous4, Anonymous6, SevenNationArmy, BagOTrix, Faraday, BackpageGal, FullServiceMassage, daytrader, shadow_clone23, THE_MERCHANT, jenny8675309, Rabbit, Angelus and Tracker are in the chat.

shadow_clone23: Happy 1 Month Anniversary! How is the Apocalypse treating everyone today?

NotACop: Ugh, has it really been only a month? Feels like a lifetime.

Rabbit: Apocalypse? But we haven’t had a rapture or anything.

BackpageGal: Maybe you were left behind?

Rabbit: No! I went to church every week, before the orks burnt it down! I’m a good Christian girl!

FullServiceMassage: I don’t know. I happen to know a couple ‘good Christian girls’ who work at the parlor with me…

Rabbit: I am NOT a whore, like you are! I’m a virgin! I’m saving myself for marriage, like I am supposed to!

Faraday: Relax, Rabbit. They’re just messing around with you.

Scholar: News sources are calling it the System Apocalypse, because the world as we knew it has been completely destroyed, and we’re left picking up the pieces. It has nothing to do with religion.

Rabbit: But the Good Book says—

D.VaLuvr69: It says a lot of things, like how slavery and shit is OK. You down with that?

Rabbit: Wait, but, no! It doesn’t say that!

D.VaLuvr69: Ephesians 6:5 - Slaves, be obedient to your human masters with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ.

Rabbit: Come on! That doesn’t mean anything!

D.VaLuvr69: Colossians 3:22 - Slaves, obey your human masters in everything, not only when being watched, as currying favor, but in simplicity of heart, fearing the Lord.

D.VaLuvr69: 1 Timothy 6:1-2 - Those who are under the yoke of slavery must regard their masters as worthy of full respect, so that the name of God and our teaching may not suffer abuse. Those whose masters are believers must not take advantage of them because they are brothers but must give better service because those who will profit from their work are believers and are beloved.

D.VaLuvr69: Titus 2:9-10 - Slaves are to be under the control of their masters in all respects, giving them satisfaction, not talking back to them or stealing from them, but exhibiting complete good faith, so as to adorn the doctrine of God our savior in every way.

SevenNationArmy: Damn, mech-girl just dropped the mic on you, Rabbit.

FusionGal: Been saving that up for a while, hmm?

D.VaLuvr69: ‘Devout’ Christian household. They didn’t like that I didn’t aspire to be just a brood mare for a good, Christian white boy.

Rabbit: What? Why wouldn’t you want a nice family with a good, Christian boy?

D.VaLuvr69: Because I’m a lesbian, Rabbit!

abby_gail: OK! Before this gets any further out of hand, I’m flagging this to get one of the mods in here.

ModimusPrime has entered the chat. Play nice, now.

ModimusPrime: Warnings being issued to both Rabbit and D.VaLuvr69. Keep it civil, y’all.

ModimusPrime has left the chat. Or has he?

daytrader: Well then. I’ll just say that life in the Apocalypse has certainly been ‘interesting’. The stock market is basically dead.

GringottsGoblin: Oh, man. Who would have thought that demons would have invaded Wall Street and turned the traders into… whatever those were!

daytrader: I know! At least the market reacted by freezing trades in place, rather than just allowing the chaos to spread. But it has been three weeks since the demons took over the NYSE, and two since they were driven off! And the markets are still closed!

BagOTrix: I can’t believe you two. Talking about the stock market when almost 15% of the human race has DIED in the last month because of this Apocalypse! You should be ashamed!

DarkLord: Now, now. Don’t be too hard on them. They are only doing the best they can to keep a steady keel, while the world falls apart around them.

Tracker: Hey, DarkLord, are you the one I spotted going into the System Shop outside the Lenox Mall Dungeon with those cuties?

DarkLord: Most likely. I’ve gone a few times. Been considering taking on the dungeon, to see what it can offer me, besides experience.

DoritoMan: What? Those zombies are all at least level 10, and the ones further in look stronger!

DarkLord: Oh, most certainly. They’ve just been sitting there, not getting killed, after all.

Scholar: What do you mean?

DarkLord: It is a quirk of Dungeons under the System. Dungeon Undead have a unique trait that allows them to gain XP for every day they are not killed. Not too much, but generally enough that they gain a level every three days. It has been a month since the Apocalypse started. So, they all would have gained around 10 levels.

DoritoMan: Fuck. And what happens if they are killed?

DarkLord: They reset back to their original level, plus 1/4 the increase. So, a level 5 that gained 12 levels would reset to level 7. If it then gained 4 more levels before being killed, it would reset to level 8.

Tracker: So, how do you keep them from basically out-leveling everything, and destroying us all?

DarkLord: Regular culling, and the fact that the more powerful undead will try and gravitate towards the core. At least until they gain true intelligence. and then all bets are off.

Scholar: How in the hell do you know all this?

DarkLord: The information is out there. You just have to know where to look.

abby_gail: Any hints?

DarkLord: The Anal Analysis of the Dungeon Scribe’s Annals, by Du-hast-mich. There’s an English translation available in the System Shop.

THE_MERCHANT: The System has a lot of information for sale. It is a universal system, after all.

Rabbit: What information is there about Jesus?

THE_MERCHANT: None. But there is plenty of information about a wide array of gods that exist and affect the world.

Rabbit has left the chat.