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Early Chapter 38: Consequences (Patreon)

Published:
2019-05-26 22:13:02
Edited:
2019-06-04 22:24:18
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

Sorry about the cliffhanger, but not sorry enough to change it. =P

-

(Moved to RoyalRoad.)

Comments

Desertopa

This is a great cliffhanger, but while we wait to find out whether Melissa is in mortal danger, I want to focus on something that may have even more lasting significance for the narrative: credit scores. Since Rick was categorized at ether tier 19 at the beginning of the story, with an ether score of 189, and characters with higher ether scores appear to be ranked with lower numbers, now that Henry's ether score has plummeted, I'm guessing his ether tier of 17 is a holdover which is soon to be downgraded. How low do the tiers go, and what kind of privileges or advantages is Henry going to be losing when he drops so many rungs? 20 seems like a nice round number of tiers, and Rick was clearly pretty low on the scale to begin with, but the gap between where Rick was at the beginning of the story and where Henry is now looks pretty substantial. If Rick was at a social position analogous to a minimum wage worker with no savings, living paycheck to paycheck, Henry looks like he might be headed for a position more on the level of "drug addict living under a bridge." I'm guessing these are the kinds of circumstances that might lead to him defaulting and losing his soul to demons. Or does he still have to fall further before that sort of thing happens? On the other end, Lisa has an ether score over 600, and she's only at an ether tier of 13, only about a third of the way from where Rick is to the very top. Do the tiers go way above the sort of rungs that someone like Mike would occupy? If Lisa's score of over 600 was necessary to get her apartment, what sort of perks would come with the really high ratings?

sarahlin

Good questions. There are indeed 20 ether tiers, with the 20th tier covering a wider range than the others: it's generally considered the same as not having an ether score at all. Though I don't have the exact benefits of each tier laid out in detail, I will say that they're divided into four sections. Being in the lowest quarter is a bit dystopian, while the second quarter is full citizenship for upstanding members of society. The third quarter is the highest generally attained by even professionals like engineers/doctors, so you can imagine that the highest quarter is quite rarified air.

NorkNork

Seeing how terrible Rick's luck is, this is my best guess: Melissa's soul has been consumed by the lucrim eating fire but the lucrim sphere around it provided a perfect host for an arch-demon.

Aaron

Aaaaaaaaaaah i can’t wait for the next one

sarahlin

Haha, sorry. It's coming tomorrow.

Zeal Iskander

Never a second of respite for Rick. Though now I wonder : is there even laws in this place? Seems like they broke into Rick’s house.. or kidnapped Melissa when she got off of school. Kind of a big deal!

Aaron

No need to apologize! I like the occasional cliffhanger :)

sarahlin

There are laws, they're just hard to enforce on people with a lot more money/status than you. If Mike killed Rick in public he'd definitely go to prison for it, but if it was in private, his family's lawyers could get it ruled as self defense. The law should protect against the current situation, but in practice it doesn't.