Team Kelly heard about Bot Battle City, aka Bot City, from Lucky and the other Arc Guild members on the First Deck. Bot City was famous for having the best and most advanced battle arena on the Second Deck. Jen, and especially Tamako, wanted to train their skills in the arena and assess their skills in comparison to other fighters on the Second Deck.

As they stepped off the teleport pad in the Bot City System Shop, Jen said, “That teleportation was more expensive that I expected. We are about out of coin, so let’s go to a terminal and see what we can get for some of the Poison Dagger loot we recovered.”

“Why is it so empty in here?” Tamako asked as they all noticed that of the 30 or so shop terminals, there were only four or five being used.

“That is odd.” Commented Sam.

Slim huffed with annoyance, and said to Jen, “See you later pure-heart.”

Jen smiled and waved, and Sam said, “Take care of yourself, and let us know if you need help with anything.” Slim gave some kind of snicker at Sam’s comment but kept heading towards the exit of the Shop.

Jen turned back to the terminal and moved all the loot to one of Sam’s large capacity rings. She then placed the ring to the terminal. When the Shop message showed up in her vision, she used her onboard to share it with Sam and Tamako. They were both facing outwards keeping watch on those around them.

Jen exclaimed, “These prices are ridiculous! Do you see what it says? It’s ignoring the value of the enchantments on the gear!”

Tamako replied, “Do you see the notice at the very bottom where it gives you the option to pay and have the enchanted gear identified?”

Jen nodded, and quickly selected one the enchanted rods for identification.

System Message:

Identification of this Item will cost 5 gold.

Select “Yes” or “No” to proceed.

Jen selected “No.”

She then pulled one of Sam’s mana gathering rods from her personal ring and placed it in the loot ring and pressed it against the terminal again. She then queried the terminal for a purchase price of the mana rod.

System Message:

High Quality Mana Gathering Rod: Price 10 gold

Select “Yes” or “No” to sell the item.

Jen selected “No.”

Jen growled in frustration, and said, “Sam, if we don’t want to get ripped off with paying an identification fee, you’re going to have to identify all the enchantments on the loot before we can sell the items.”

Sam replied, “Not a big deal. Should only take a few days to go through it all. Do we have enough money to get a place to stay? If not, I’ve got some extra gold in one of my rings that might help.”

“Me too,” replied Tamako.

Jen shook her head, “Keep your gold, we’ve got enough to get lodgings, unless the prices here are way higher than Venezia City. I was just hoping to get a better idea of our total financial situation.”

Tamako asked, “Are we ready to go then?”

“One last thing,” replied Jen, as she scrolled through the Shop menu looking for Joan of Arc’s book on the Second Deck. When she found it, she again growled in frustration, and forwarded the message to Sam and Tamako.

System Message:

This book is on back order. Try again later.

Sam’s eye’s narrowed as he read the message. His paranoid and suspicious nature started to present itself, and he said, “Do you think the System is trying screw with us.”

Tamako laughed at Sam’s question, and assured him, “The System doesn’t care about anyone, especially nobody’s like us.”

Sam snorted, and said, “Maybe you’re right, but I guess there is nothing we could do about it anyway.”

Jen said, “Wait. I’ve found something else for sale under Arc’s name. It’s a book entitled: “A Guide to Bot Battle City – Everything You Need to Know”. I’m going to buy it and buy us each an enchanted scroll-map of Bot City that we can download into our onboards.”

After spending 17 gold they were finally leaving the Shop. As they stepped outside, they noticed it was getting dark in Bot City. Jen flipped through the guide book and found a reputable Inn for them to head to.

As they walked towards the Inn, Jen kept her psych skill active looking for threats. While they also tried to make their faces match the “prison stares” of those around them that were still out on the streets at night.

Just as darkness swallowed the city they reached the Rabbit’s Foot Inn, and also received a gambling quest.

==

Gambling Quest:

Lie to the innkeeper. Convince him you are a member of the Highland Games Guild.

If you’re successful, you will receive a 20% Guild Discount on the room, and 2 euphoria.

If you fail, you will lose one random piece of gear, and feel the innkeeper’s wrath.

Select “Yes” to accept the quest.

Select “No” to decline the quest and continue your unimaginative existence.

==

Jen, Sam, and Tamako all quickly selected “No” and waived the quest away. There was only one other couple in the Inn having a drink at the bar. Sam and Tamako took a seat where they could watch the doors and room while Jen approached the bar to find out about lodgings for the night.

“Good evening, Lass! I’m Lucky-Heart McCloud. What can I help you with?” the bartender said to Jen with what she thought of as a Scottish accent.

Jen was surprised when she couldn’t read the giant man’s level. Of course, maybe it was just more common for ordinary people to hide their levels on the Second Deck she thought. However, her psych skill gave her a generally good vibe from the man, and she asked, “Good evening, I’m Jen. My friends and I are looking for a room for the night. Do you have anything available?”

“Aye little lady, I do, but in about 30 minutes I will be closing the Inn early tonight. Once the Inn is locked up, I will not be opening for any reason until first light. A room large enough for the three of you will be 1 gold, and it comes with breakfast and security,” he said flexing his bicep with a laugh and a friendly wink.

Jen laughed and replied, “Agreed,” handing him a gold coin and then said, “How about a friendly wager, no euphoria, no system. An arm-wrestling match between you and my girlfriend over there. She wins, you return the gold. You win, I pay you an extra gold for the room.”

Lucky-Heart looked at the tiny woman sitting next to the non-descript man for a second while considering Jen’s offer. He’d seen their type before. They didn’t worry him, but he guessed the tiny woman must have some sort of short-term power-arm skill, and said with a raised eyebrow, “She looks like a mean little one. Cute, but mean. I think I will keep the gold as well as my pride.”

Jen laughed, and said, “See you in the morning then. Where is the room?”

Lucky-Heart pointed to the railing around the second floor and said, “You’re room is the largest one on the very end.”

“Thank you Lucky-Heart.”

Sam started setting up enchanted security traps on the door and the window when they entered their room, even though there were already bars and locks on them.

Tamako commented, “They were serious about no leaving the Inn until morning. Did you see the heavy beams he used to block the front door?”

Jen nodded, “Don’t know if that is good or bad. I did notice when reserving the room that there is only us and a husband-and-wife couple staying here tonight. I could tell they were listening in on my conversation with Lucky-Heart. They acted like it was normal when he explained the policy that the door would be barred all night, and that no one could leave.”

“OK, just seems odd we can’t leave. I mean, we will leave if we need to.” replied Tamako.

Sam was setting up a small mattress on the floor that he pulled from his space ring, and said, “since you ladies are going to gossip all night, I’m going to go on to sleep. Wake me up when it’s my turn to pull watch.”

Jen gave Sam an evil look for his comment, but just nodded and said, “No problem. Sleep tight.”

Sometime later in the middle of the night, Sam was shaken by Jen, but it wasn’t the normal way she usually woke him up, and he knew immediately something was wrong.