Why was there so much crime and why did no one seem to care? Why had that gun fit so naturally in that kid's hand? Why had that customer stolen whatever they wanted when they realized Merrick did not work there? Was there anything he could do?
The answer to the last question was a risky yes and it came after hours spent trawling through the internet. That was the only clear answer that Merrick found, everything else was vague. There was crime because there had been peace and the crime rates had plummeted. The police commissioner had shifted resources from the neighborhood to more crime ridden areas. A new gang had moved in to fill the vacuum that the police left in their wake.
He was also good at finding answers where others failed. It was a skill he developed through years of research, digging through archives and records, looking for answers that others had missed. It got him through school and through hundreds of puzzles or riddles inside of games. Something should have tipped Merrick off that he was swimming outside of his depth. Instead, he kept thinking about Nick laying on the ground behind the counter.
While he was on a neighborhood watch page, Merrick's computer started to act up. At first it forced him to load to a nearly blank forum asking if he needed help. When Merrick clicked back to the watch page, the window closed. He tried to open it again, but it didn't respond. He tried again.
Then a small black window opened up, green text written near the center read:
--You're clicking too fast. Slow down. Do you need help or not?--
This was the risky answer that Merrick had found. The person on the other side of those green words offered a solution. They had been looking into the new gang in the neighborhood. The gang was disorganized, they were reckless, and they admitted anyone with a will to break the law.
More than that, they were rich in resources. Unlike other disorganized groups of criminals, they never seemed to show up in the news or in the courts. Whoever was on the side of the green text figured out why and the answer was simple: bribery.
From reporters to detectives to online freelance journalists, this new gang was spreading bribes throughout the city like they were sowing seed. All with a single goal, ignore six blocks and any crime that happens within. Within those six blocks crime had quietly grown like a cancer. Also within those six blocks was Merrick's apartment.
Whoever the person behind the green text was, Merrick knew they had access to information that was not publicly accessible but it all lined up with what Merrick had been reading. It was true and the person on the other side of the green text asked Merrick the same question after providing the evidence.
--Do you need help or not?--
Beneath the text were two green outlines, one held the word yes while the other held the word no. Merrick hovered over no for a second but then he pictured Mr. Adams on the ground bleeding out. It could happen just as easily, all it took was another kid with another gun. From what Merrick read, it could even be the same kid with the same gun.
Merrick clicked yes and a file started to download onto his computer. The file was relatively small, by comparison to what Merrick had been expecting. Once it finished, he clicked to open it and his monitor went blank. Green text hovered up from the bottom like a bubbling spring.
--Ha. Ha. Haha.--
Merrick let out a sigh. He had seen enough TV to know what had happened even if he did not understand it or know the specifics. He had trusted some stranger on the internet and now his system was locked up, potentially for good. The bubbling green laughter faded away, revealing a simple text box. It read:
--If it was this easy for me to get information about a criminal organization bribing their way into anonymity, so much so that no one even has a name for them, why did you think I would give it to you freely? Don't bother looking for an answer box. Your entire network has been infected, even your gaming consoles and that network drive you thought was protected just because you didn't have it set to broadcast the file share.--
--Take your laptop to the University Library tomorrow and plug it in to the network. Do it by noon or I'll wipe all of your data… or maybe I'll tell these ghastly gangsters that you were looking for them. Either way, just do it.--
Merrick would have kicked himself if the message did not replace itself with another one. The second message was slightly more light-hearted.
--Seriously though, what kind of idiot just trusts a random person who messaged you off a forum and mysteriously had all the info you were looking for?--
--Anyway, sorry about locking up your system and insulting you and threatening you. I just really need access to take advantage of your alumni access to the Library. If you plug in the laptop, I promise I won't dox you to anyone and I won't delete your data. Again, not that you should trust some random off the internet but here's a spoiler: The name I'll give you in return is in charge of distributing the bribes for the gang, take him out and the rest will flounder, making it too hard to cover up.--
--Also, your phone might not seem infected but that's just because I was nice enough to not lock it up. Think about reporting what happened here to the authorities and I'll follow up on those threats from earlier. Seriously. Just go plug in the laptop tomorrow morning.--
It seemed like Merrick had little choice in the matter. He needed to get the information on the gang, for some reason that he could not explain. More than that, he needed access to his own system again if he ever wanted to play Dungeons Below.
After he realized there was nothing else he could do, Merrick felt a weight lift off his shoulders. Tomorrow he would skip work and head into the campus library, plug in his laptop, and grant this Cyber Thief access. Then he would need to decide what to do with the information, if he was going to be able to do anything at all.
The night passed uneventfully even though Merrick did not manage to get much sleep. When the morning came, he laid around in bed until the last possible minute. The Campus Library opened at 10:00AM, he would need to ride the Metro for a few stops to get there, and Merrick did not get out of bed until 9:30.
He showered quickly, threw on a fresh set of clothes, and nearly left without his laptop. As if he needed verification that his system really was infected last night, Merrick opened up the laptop before taking it with him. It booted up normally, but instead of prompting him to log in, it was the same black screen with floating green text. This screen regurgitated the instructions he needed to follow. Go the the Library, Plug in the Laptop, and nothing else.
Merrick threw the laptop in his old school bag and left. The clock struck ten right as Merrick was walking out of the Metro Station across the street from the Campus Library. There was no crowd or line of students waiting to get in. They were either sleeping in or stuck in morning lectures, Merrick did not miss those days.
When he got inside, the Library Attendant recognized him. "Oh, hey! It's been a while! What brings you by today? Are you taking another class?"
"No." Merrick shook his head, "Just hoping to use my Alumni Badge to borrow the WiFi for a few minutes. I have to upload something and my home network is down."
The Attendant nodded quickly, "Scan on in and you can use any of the open desks, like always."
Merrick pulled the badge from his school bag and used it to sign in with the attendant. Once the reader beeped, Merrick was allowed past the front desk. The library was quiet, Merrick assumed that there were some students hidden away somewhere cramming for an upcoming test, but he saw no evidence of them. Despite the quiet, he still found the most secluded, alcove-like desk that he could before he took out the infected laptop.
Fortunately, the desk had a built-in Ethernet cord that he could plug into his laptop because he had not even thought about bringing one with him. When he opened the laptop, it nearly forced a laugh from his throat. It still listed the steps he needed to take: Go to the Library, Plug in the Laptop, and Nothing Else. However, now the green text for the Go to the Library step was crossed out with a blinding white line.
As soon as Merrick plugged the cord into his laptop's Ethernet port, another blinding white line started to grow across the screen. It resembled a progress bar as it climbed over the text for the second step. As the line moved forward, the green text of Nothing Else changed slowly to say Please wait.
It took nearly a minute but eventually, the blinding white line completely covered the second step and then his laptop restarted. When it came back online, it was as if the infection was never there. He was granted access back into his machine and, hopefully, the rest of his network at home. Merrick unplugged the laptop and got up from the desk.
The attendant was gone from the front desk when he passed by, Merrick was still not exactly sure where they had known him from. Merrick wasted no time heading back to his apartment. He left the library and went right back to the Metro Station. When he got on the line headed home, the car was completely empty.
On the first stop of the two that he needed to make, a young woman got on. She was wearing a neat, white button up shirt and a pair of khakis. In one hand she held a manila folder and in the other she was tapping away at a smartphone. Merrick would have missed her entirely if they weren't the only two in the car.
She walked slowly through the car while it started off toward the next stop. Merrick honestly could not tell if she was heading in his direction or not. Just before they reached the next stop, she handed the yellow folder to Merrick and said, "Honestly, you don't look like the type that would be interested in this kind of stuff. Do you have a death wish?"
Merrick accepted the folder and opened it up. There were dozens of pages inside and at first glance, Merrick knew this was the information that the stranger online had been offering him. When he looked up from the folder, the car had just stopped and the doors opened.
The woman who handed it to him got off immediately and the car filled up with new passengers. Merrick tucked the folder into his school bag and held it close as he stood up to make room in the now-packed metro car.
After a few tense minutes, the car finally reaches his stop and Merrick is able to escape the cramped quarters. While walking back to his apartment, his phone starts to ring. It's his boss.
"Hello."
"Ah, there you are. I'm glad you're okay."
Merrick was surprised to hear worry in his boss's tone. He usually would be getting the third degree for skipping work without calling ahead. Especially since he had just been late earlier in the week. "I'm sorry I was not able to make it in today. I can come by later if you need me to."
"No, no. You are fine. I heard about what happened last night and I was calling to check in on you as a person and not as your employer."
"Oh… Okay."
"Why don't you take the next few days off work? I can manage the shop."
"Alright..." There was a moment of tense silence. Merrick could tell that his boss was avoiding bringing something up, so he addressed it. "Is there anything else?"
His boss let out a hum before answering, "Yes… I got a call from a friend saying that you were looking into some dangerous people. I wanted to make sure you weren't going to try to do anything rash."
Merrick's jaw dropped slightly, he had just got his hands on the folder and somehow his boss knew about it. It made him wonder if there was more to the old man than what he appeared to be. Instead of trying to hide anything, Merrick answered honestly.
"I wish there was more I could do. I got in contact with some kind of hacker and they gave me information about a key figure in a gang from my neighborhood. I couldn't even help Nick when he was bleeding out, I froze when I saw the kid with the gun… There is no way I could do anything about this guy."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to get in touch with the police later today and turn over the information. Hopefully they'll accept it as an anonymous tip and I can wash my hands clean of this whole situation."
"You're not going to try and go after them yourself?"
"How could I?" Merrick sighed, "Like I said, I have nothing. If this were a video game I could go learn some new skills or buy some magic."
"What is stopping you from doing that? You already hired a hacker, it sounds like. Why not hire a Wizard?"
Merrick laughed, "Even if magic was real and I could hire a Wizard, the hacker left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm out of my depth here so I'll just let the police handle it."
"Okay. Good. Take the next couple of days off and I'll see you after that."
The phone call ended. Merrick put his phone away and scratched at the side of his head. Why did his boss sound so relieved when Merrick said that he was going to leave it up to the police? What had he meant about hiring a Wizard?
If only life were so easy, he would not hesitate. Merrick would change class immediately, leaving behind his level zero NPC life and becoming some kind of magical Indiana Jones. Delving through ancient ruins and searching for clues that past civilizations left behind. Of course, he would deal with the contents of the folder by himself first.
Since that was not the case, Merrick made a quick call when he got home. The Desk Sergeant of his local police station gave him an email address where he could forward the files. After making sure that the Sergeant's name was not in the list of corrupt officials that the hacker had included in the folder, Merrick sent off the contents and then locked the folder in the bottom drawer of his desk.
It was not even noon yet, but Merrick crawled back into bed anyway and quickly fell asleep.