Pete shook his head. “The whole thing has completely changed. These aren’t any of the apps I had on this phone before. Hell, the whole phone has changed. It’s made of some kind of lightweight metal.”
[Nero] that is correct, Pete. By utilizing a Legacy Unlock Augment and applying unlocks to each of the apps on your phone, you have gained access to a competition communications device. You will find that this is much hardier than a traditional human communications device, and it comes preloaded with various applications that are connected to the Dominion Ultrimax contest and the various social networking applications and feed software associated with the contest. The device you hold in your hand is practically indestructible. It is also encrypted with the highest levels of privacy and data security, so only you and your party members will be able to see what’s on it. You may find that it is helpful to store private information on this device, and there are also several impressive applications that may make your time fighting in the game a little easier.
Pete hovered a thumb over each of the icons and found that a message appeared in holographic orange text above the phone outlining the nature and function of each application.
+| Coinnect (Contacts and Calls)
Standard phone + contacts app.
Every call costs 1 Belch Buck per minute, every text 0.5 Belch Bucks per character.
Premium option: “Read Receipts” at +5 Belch Bucks per message.
Pete opened up the first application and started scrolling through his contacts. He found his mother and various other acquaintances, but their names were all grayed out, and there was a crossed-out red circle next to each indicating that they were not connected and that Pete would not be able to call any of them.
Ollie’s name was listed too, but it was written in an amber color and wasn’t gray. Instead of a red circle with a cross, an orange timer symbol hovered beside his name. Pete clicked on the icon.
>> This contestant has not yet fully connected to the Dominion Ultrimax network. Their communications device is only partially unlocked. Please try to contact them at a later time.
Pete felt a sudden thrill of excitement as he read the words. Ollie was in the contest. He was still alive, and he’d at least partially unlocked the phone. He’d probably had the same idea as Pete and had been trying to contact him.
“That your friend?” Sam asked, leaning in close and pointing at the screen. “Ollie Barker?”
“Yeah,” Pete said, unable to stop grinning. “Looks like he’s still alive, and he’s part of the contest. Once he’s fully unlocked his phone, I’ll be able to contact him.” He tried pressing Ollie’s name, but nothing happened.
“Nero, is there any way to make it so that I’ll get a message when Ollie unlocks his phone?”
[Nero] You will automatically be notified when any of your contacts are added to the network. In addition, depending on the settings you establish, you may also be notified each time a sponsor takes an interest in you or your party, and once you are through the novice arena, sponsors may even be able to directly contact you via the device. It can also be stored in your inventory and no longer needs to be kept in a pocket or backpack.
Sam rolled her eyes. “Great. Now I want one of these damned things. Nero, can I get one if I don’t have a phone?”
[Nero] Of course. You simply need to buy a communications device from a Vend-o-Matic machine. They typically cost 5000 Belch Bucks.
She sighed heavily. “Busting my balls like this. Five thousand Bucks? Are you yanking my chain?”
[Nero] I assure you, Sam, I am not yanking the chain of any kind. You simply asked what the cost was to purchase a contest communications device, and I answered. Would you prefer that I replied in a different manner?
“No, it’s fine,” Sam replied. “I’m just bitching, that’s all. Everything in this damned game comes at a price, and it’s starting to really shit me off.”
[Nero] Perhaps a shift in perspective might assist. As I have previously mentioned, everything you do within the game is observed by billions of citizens all across the Dominion. If you are lucky and able to perform well enough, you will attract the attention of sponsors who will, from time to time, provide buffs and bonuses, assisting you in your efforts to succeed in the competition. I have already mentioned that prestige is an important component of garnering attention from potential sponsors. Beyond this, however, the sheer volume of coin that you spend is important. It is, in a sense, more important than the amount of money you store in your wallet. Spending a great deal of money raises your profile throughout the various social networking sites and betting applications that are connected to the contest.
“So, even though it feels like we’re wasting money,” Pete said, “every time we pay for something, we're making ourselves more attractive to potential sponsors?”
[Nero] Exactly so. The fact that you have unlocked your communications device so early in the contest, for example, bodes well for you. Others may have prioritized food and weaponry or other such items before thinking of unlocking a communications device. Now that you have done this, though, you will appear on the contest social media site, and that will raise your profile. In addition, the money you have spent on this item and the various other goods and services you have purchased only serves to increase your reputation at this early stage of the contest.
Pete thought about what the AI had just said. In a strange way, it was a kind of backhanded compliment. Instead of prioritizing what was most important, he’d gone for a riskier option, unlocking his phone in the hope of contacting his mother and Ollie. In this instance, his instincts had been on point, but it could have gone in an entirely different direction.
Then again, his encounter with the pawnbroker and the suspiciously fortuitous availability of the Penny Pincher class suggested that something else was going on here. While he couldn’t put a finger on it precisely, Pete got the definite impression that someone was guiding his efforts in the contest. He wasn’t being given handouts, wasn’t being gifted some kind of God Mode cheat code, but there had definitely been coincidences that moved circumstances in his favor.
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Navigated out of the contacts area and moved to the next icon.
+| UltriFeed (Dominion Ultrimax Social Platform)
Official contest social media hub.
Features: live progress updates, achievement posts, rival taunts, public sponsorships.
Slogan: “Your struggle, their entertainment.”
All likes, shares, and comments cost 0.25 Belch Bucks each.
It looked like a standard social media platform, and he could see a bunch of images and videos posted on the site, some with brightly colored icons plastered on the front of them. It looked a little like Instagram merged with TikTok and some kind of betting application where everything had a price tag attached to it.
Pete hovered a finger over the next icon.
+| WorthWatch (Net Worth Rankings)
Tracks player prestige, wealth, assets, class level, unique abilities, and relative rank in real time.
Displays flashy leaderboards with sound effects whenever someone overtakes you [available after completion of the Novice Arena].
Optional “Compare Package” for 50 bb/week shows detailed stats of rivals.
[Nero] You should note, Pete, that anyone with a communications device or who has access to the standard Dominion Ultrimax entertainment package will be able to access this application and see your Net Worth ranking. This is the culmination of every aspect of your contest experience, from the armor you wear to the last meal you have eaten. It will all add up to a single value and a single ranking, which will be compared to every other contestant.
“You keep mentioning armor,” Pete said, “but so far I haven’t seen anything for us to wear except clothes. There was some stuff back at Orin’s tent, but I don’t remember seeing anything in the Vend-o-Matic menu.”
[Nero] That is because armor only becomes available once you have completed—
“The novice arena,” Pete interjected. “Of course. Okay, let’s take a look at the rest of these apps then and get some food.”
The app icon gleamed in lurid neon colors. A gaudy, oversized golden coin dominated the square, mid-spin, with little motion lines surrounding it, suggesting that it was spinning at speed. The coin was stamped with the grinning face of Tongsly Belch, one eye appearing to wink as the coin spun.
Behind the coin, a rainbow burst of flashing colors pulses in a loop, so bright it almost hurts to look at. At the bottom corner, the words “SPIN TO WIN!” blink repeatedly in big block letters, accompanied by a tiny, animated hand pointing at it like a carnival barker.
+| LootSpin
Slot machine app offering randomized “digital loot crates.”
Rewards can be cosmetic stickers for your profile, a single-use buff, communications unit add-ons, unique unlock codes, or nothing at all.
Every spin costs 10 Belch Bucks.
“Makes sense,” Pete said, tilting the screen so that Sam could get a clearer look.
She shook her head in response. “Something to do when you’re not running from hobgoblins or fighting monsters.”
There was one more app on the front screen. The tile icon simply showed the symbol of two golden fingers twisted together, perhaps representing luck.
+| AdStream Plus
Endless feed of Dominion-approved ads, propaganda, and shopping suggestions.
Free to open, but closing the app costs 1 Belch Bucks.
Optional “Skip Ad” button available for 5 Belch Bucks per skip.
“Why on Earth would anyone use that app?” Sam asked. “If it just shows ads, who in their right mind would open the damn thing?”
[Nero] There are several reasons, one of which is that it is a requirement of citizenship within the Dominion. Remember, these communications devices are not limited to players of the Dominion Ultrimax competition. They are also made available to all citizens, either by means of the unit you are holding or software that can be embedded in various devices or by means of a neural implant. Click on the information icon if you would like further details.
Pete’s finger hovered over the tiny ‘i’ for a second before he pressed it.
>> AdStream Plus by the Tongsly Belch Corporation
Engagement with this app can be included as part of your Dominion mandated Civic Engagement Quota. Ad-watching hours acquired during the app will not only be taken off your weekly quota, but every ad viewing will grant a micro-reward of 0.01 Belch Bucks, which can be redeemed as part of any discount coupon or advertisement offer on the platform.
Any purchases that are linked directly from the AdStream Plus service will also increase your standing in the UltriFeed network.
Reminder: non-adherence to your Civic Engagement Quota may result in a steep increase in taxes and suspension of basic services.
“Seems a little like a snake eating its own tail,” Sam said. “Watch more ads so you can buy more crap so you can watch more ads. On and on.”
[Nero] Precisely. Consumption is a central tenet of the Dominion, after all.
Pete navigated away from the app and turned off the unit. Instead of slipping it back into his pocket, he put it into his inventory, feeling a strange mixture of hope at having seen Ollie’s name and a sense of nausea at the blatant consumerism and pointless monotony he’d witnessed. Still, there were a lot of benefits to having activated the unit this early, and it made him feel a little less worried about the expense.
He and Sam pooled their money, and together they chose an array of food and beverage packages, buying as many Ultrimax Imperial Experience? packs as they could afford and using the rest of the money to buy a range of standard ration bars in case of an emergency. Pete also purchased two more medkits.
They headed back to the truck, and Sam quickly inspected the vehicle, checking the tires to make sure that they weren’t punctured and inspecting the rest of the damage to confirm that the vehicle would drive properly. All in all, there was only superficial damage, and the truck had done remarkably well to survive relatively unscathed.
They all piled into the vehicle, and Pete opened up one of the Ultrimax Imperial Experience? packs so that the group could inspect it. The food wasn’t amazingly good quality despite the price, but it wasn’t terrible, and it served to reduce his hunger. They split two packs between them, finding that there was enough food for all three of them, especially given that the wolf didn’t require food.
“Wolfy,” as he’d been tentatively and unimaginatively named, sat in the rear seat, but Coop refused to sit next to the creature, convinced that it would devour her at the slightest provocation.
Sam used some old chewing gum that was in the glovebox to stick the two miniature Tongsly Belch figurines on the dash right next to the steering wheel and leaned back to admire her work. The figurines showed the goblin figure in different poses and reminded Pete of the kinds of toy figures he used to collect in his youth. They were mass-produced and not particularly well made, but it was easy enough to see what each figurine represented.
The first showed Tongsly Belch playing a game like tennis with some kind of hexagonal racket and dressed in a white t-shirt and shorts. The second showed the figure standing on one leg and looking through a large spyglass while he was dressed in garish pirate clothes, which included a golden cutlass on the belt and billowing blue pants in addition to the puffy white shirt and pirate hat.
Pete smirked as he considered the pair. He turned to Sam.
“I guess we’ll have to collect them all then, right?”
She chuckled in response. “Guess so, but...”
Sam frowned, looking out into the distance as though spying something out of the ordinary.
“What’s up?” Pete asked.
“I just saw something on the map, some kind of warning. Here, I’ll try to show it so everyone can see.”
The screen hovered just in front of the windshield with a warning message displayed in bright orange lettering and a map of the local area centered around what looked like a small hurricane or a tornado symbolized by a swirling icon.
“Looks like a big ass storm,” Sam said. “Something called a ‘Coinflayer’.”
[Nero] Oh dear.