The Guild would like to make a purchase order of 10,000 units, and is willing to pay in advance."
Extrapolating from previous Guild deals with independent companies… The terms they offered me are far more generous than the terms they offered to others.
Dragon personally vouched for me. Wishes to lay down the foundations of my eventual recruitment into the Guild.
Either thinks I'm a good fit for the organisation or simply wants to work alongside me. Or both.
"I'll do it for free." I announce without hesitation, "I'll have the order finished within the week. We can figure out shipping options after… unless of course, you're in a rush?"
Her computer-generated almond-brown eyes widened momentarily in surprise before 'regaining' her composure.
"That is very generous of you…" Dragon whispered, "And a week is fine… but are you sure? We don't want to force you or-"
"Consider it as my contribution to the cause of Endbringer fights." I interjected, "I may have contempt for the flesh-normies, but my goal is still to uplift them."
"I see…" She sighed with a fond, knowing smile- like she was chiding herself for expecting less of me. Then her smile widened to a full beam, "Thank you, Magos. I'll be waiting for your call!"
Emotion-Dampening Protocols (EDP) active at 17% maxload.
… I need to dick down this cinnamon roll of an AI soon.
But even the princess' light could not redeem my dominion, for its malign influence reaches far and wide… and fiefdoms from all across the known world (read: the North American Continent) came to treat with me.
Another day, another tech atrocity that I must commit.
And to think it started with noble intentions: I wanted to protect my users from security breaches through my game, so I had reluctantly coded the game in such a way to make modding it nigh impossible. After all, people being able to inject their code into a multiplayer game was a bad idea. Naturally, my inbox was full of requests for custom content. Some artists have even forwarded their own designs and begged for me to put it in the game.
I mostly ignored them, that is until the PRT themselves wanted in on it…
"The PRT wants to bribe me into producing PRT-themed Cosmetics for Call 4 Duty?" My electronic, reverberating voice said slowly. In the video call, the obese man in a suit and a mohawk just grinned with all the charm of a hollywood exec.
"Bribe is such an ugly term, Magos!" Glenn Chambers, the PRT's Director of Public Image, waved off. "Monetary incentives aren't all that uncommon, and besides, it comes with licences to capes already handled. It will be very lucrative all in all."
I knew what this essentially was: Paid mods.
As in, texture modders will pay me to get their designs onto the game, and gamers will pay me a second time to buy Loot Boxes for a chance to get those mods. Double the money, but definitely more than double the evil. Of course, I was still hesitant to do so, but…
Predatory business practice still viable to exploit Earth-Bet for immense profit.
Profit leads to Capital leads to Raw Materials leads to Gynoid Waifus.
The feel of Dragon's armoured lower-rear assembly will forever be fresh in my memory, and I wanted more.
Gynoid asses, some pillowy and some armoured, but each one as perfect as the last.
Fine, my exquisite mind. You made your point. I focused my multi-optics on Glenn Chambers.
"This is not something that I would do lightly, as such I have conditions."
"Just so, just so." Glenn nodded knowingly.
You forward a list of designs for cosmetic stickers to me." I counselled, "It can be as few as three or as many as you like, and I will randomly choose one to incorporate into Call 4 Duty. This will just be a test run for me to evaluate the viability of it."
"Oho? I must say that this is the most novel negotiation tactic I've ever seen, but the PRT happily accepts!" Glen clapped in glee, "We'll forward you the list soon. But here's half the payment in advance! See you soon, Magos!"
And with a click, he disconnected. In another hololith pane, I watched as the bank account displayed suddenly had another zero added to it. And the full gravity of what I had just done hit me: People were paying money for the privilege of being able to modify my game. Specifically, I was now accepting money for people to advertise their cape brands on my videogame… Pandora's Loot Box has been opened. There is no turning back now. And that statement was proven right when- not a single day after I release the 'Legend' sticker- a great storm of calls assaulted me.
Everyone wanted their own logo, paint job, and other cosmetic items in Call 4 Duty. Everyone.
"No, Kaiser." I firmly refused the gang leader's business proposal, "I will not incorporate your gang's logo. That would immediately ban my game from German territories."
In the floating hololith pane, the man in medieval full plate armour and a crown of blades on his helm nodded.
"What about Rune's and Othala's logos? They are simply nordic runes." His smooth voice negotiated over the call.
"Those are acceptable…" I hummed. "I have a fondness for the bluetooth symbol as well."
Excellent. We are in agreement then." He calmly announced, "I will have my secretary email you the designs as soon as Victor finishes designing them. Rune and Othala will be overjoyed to hear the news."
"Tell them to forward their in-game handles to me and I'll send them their respective stickers…" I advised. "However, everyone else in the E88 will still need to open Loot Boxes to have a chance of getting them though."
"Hmph, fine, I suppose that is acceptable." He stated. That seemed to take the wind out of his sails. And just for a brief second, his mask of a calm, reasonable man slipped to show the rage underneath. But only for a moment, his calm voice continued unruffled, "I will simply make it mandatory for everyone to possess both those stickers. Very opportunistic of you, Magos… I'll be in touch."