[Video]

[madeinoblivion]

[Joe is wearing a Portside Aces baseball cap, NV propped up on another greasy table in the Underground Mall's food court. There's the crinkle of fast food paper, the slurping noise of an oversized fountain drink, and milling-about sounds of a busy afternoon. The boy sighs glumly, unsure where to start. There's a lot of restless anger brewing in the piercing cyan of his eyes, but it's tempered down since his raging fits of last week. He seems tired, like he hasn't been getting the best sleep.]

One week we have a newcomer business convention, the next week newcomer businesses are burning down, and it feels like more and more people keep disappearing.

I really hate it, when it feel like everything's changing for the worst. Maybe they think they can keep us all down and playing by their rules when there's less of us.  [A lower sigh of resolve, then-]

But I  won't stop fighting.

It's really not fair these mall businesses always seem to be safe. (I mean, besides the big darkness breach that happened around this time last year, but-) Why are only some places left alone when they're not taking sides between AGI or SERO? Can somebody tell me that? The Underground Mall Clubs Association... how do you get in on something like that? Do you have to be a native with lots of munny?

[Joe reaches and tilts his NV so that it shows newest addition to the foodcourt behind him, a bustling counter service with a long line, thick hand-cut fries, and a round serving station filled with several dozen condiment pumps and bowls of relish. Sitting on his tray in front of him are five plastic cups of very different dipping sauces, ]

...and can somebody tell me why 'pomme frites' are so much more special than french fries that they're charging nine bucks for a paper cone?

[He sticks a fingertip in one of the cups in front of him, sampling a dollop with a casual shrug] The sauces are pretty delicious to try, at least.

Poutine.... [he points at the gravy on his far right, then goes right down the line of red hot, yellow, green, speckled white-] "War Sauce", Sweet Mango Chutney, Wasabi-Lime Mayo, Parmesan Peppercorn. So much for plain ketchup!  (And this is just 5 of 42 they've got. It reminds me of ice cream flavors.)

[He shakes his head, giving a dry smile and a roll of his eyes.]

Everything's gotta be a good gimmick to be original, huh.

Comments

[ video ]

[hostage]

Money and muscle. The business thing, I mean. You gotta make 'em either scared of you or make 'em wanna kiss up to you. That's how you keep the bad guys outta your turf.

Re: [ video ]

[madeinoblivion]

It's always more munny I don't have...

[hostage]

Ain't never just one person with all that cheddar. You do it like... Like you get a little bit of money from each person you're protecting. Like they're paying into the system, right, and then the system takes care of 'em.

[madeinoblivion]

That's ... how the companies run already, isn't it?

With the 'protection' stickies in the windows?

You're saying we make our own affiliation?

[hostage]

Yeah, like that. Gotta play the game to win it.

[madeinoblivion]

I guess that's... not a bad plan?

[hostage]

Yeah, it kinda ain't, now that I think of it...

[madeinoblivion]

But say there's already a group that's protecting people, but doesn't ask any munny for it...

[hostage]

They should start. I mean, that's how you pay for stuff like guns and bulletproof vests and security cameras. All that shit. Plus, you know, sometimes you just gotta pay people to stick with you and not rat you out to the other guy. Can't do that if your group don't have no cash.

[madeinoblivion]

How much munny would you...charge, for something like that?

[hostage]

That depends, right? You don't take a lot from some lady raising a bunch of orphans in a tiny house, but somebody with a whole warehouse that needs looking after? You wanna take ten or fifteen percent off their earnings. Call it insurance.

[madeinoblivion]

So it's more of a business for... businesses, not for protecting friends and people just living around where you're helping out.

[hostage]

Yeah, that's right. That's how them companies get so strong. But you never wanna get greedy, right, 'cause that's where they go wrong. They forget it's the people they gotta be looking after. You drain your own people dry, then what good are you? But a big business, that takes a lotta looking after. More manpower, more arms. And they can afford to pay.

[madeinoblivion]

Right.

...So because the mall's all big businesses, they pay the UMCA, and they protect them from having to pay the companies.

[hostage]

Yep.