The PM (short for “private message”) belt is an accessory given to all NSiders upon registration that makes a beeping sound only audible to the wearer when he or she receives a new private message. There are used to send quick and secure messages between users and is a reliable source of communication for all NSiders to use. Once a message is received, a user can open the PM and the selected message will appear on a hologram screen in front of the user, again, only visible to him or her. There are upgrades for the PM belt too, the most popular being the PM watch, which fits nicely around a user’s wrist as opposed to the waist. The watch around my arm was signifying that I had received a new message. Still concealed, I rolled up the long black sleeve of my robes, and pressed a button on the side of the silver sleek metal gadget. The PM came up in front of me.
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FROM: DR_PEPPY Add User to Friends List – Add User to Ignore List
SENT: 08/14/07 – 7:47 P.M.
ShadowMario41, you have been selected. Meet me in the usual spot in one hour.
0494-2843-1919-5577
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While the PM did not explain much, it gave me just enough information to know what I had to do. Dr. Peppy was one of the top-ranked military officials in all of NSider and has a strong reputation for always handling his missions very professionally. He used to be the commanding officer of the Mushroom Kingdom Air Force, but has since stepped down from that role to deal with espionage and other secretive information. However, what separated him from the other faceless generals such as Maverick and Ganondorf8 was that he privately hired assassins and other users for serious missions to serve his purposes. He believed that the military and police force had too many rules, regulations and procedures to abide by whereas privately hired users willing to lend their skills could get the job done quickly, efficiently and secretly. This is something the law enforcement of NSider could never achieve, as they must abide by the forum’s extensive code of laws and limited by the lack of competent officers. While these types of missions are usually highly arduous and dangerous, the pay is very high so it would be foolish for someone of great skill not to accept it. This is Dr. Peppy’s opinion, anyway; I know because he told me before the first mission to which I was assigned.
Speaking of which, I am actually surprised that I landed any future missions after the way the first one turned out. It was about one year ago and I was assigned to intercept two criminals transporting stolen posts scheduled to meet at the NSider Airport. They were believed by all of Dr. Peppy’s sources to just be a couple of thugs, but they were actually highly trained cardinals of the Nicolai93 Organization. It was through this mission that I first learned of the existence of this band of criminals. While I failed to stop the transfer of posts, I did manage to capture one of the organization’s members, GamePlayer30, and turn him into Dr. Peppy for questioning. Interestingly, I clearly remember that the other user present at the scene of the crime didn’t even try to save GamePlayer30 but rather quickly fled the scene. GamePlayer30 didn’t have much of a sense of honor and secrecy, as he spilled the beans about the location of Nicolai93’s headquarters as well as their current and future plans in exchange for his freedom. This resulted in a huge blow to the organization and forced them to move to a location that has, thus far, remained off of the radar. Oddly enough, during the time that the Nicolai93 Organization was inactive, the crime rate of NSider actually rose. The NSider authorities had to be called off the search for Nicolai93 to deal with the steady stream of crimes occurring all over the forum. While the police still search for the new headquarters, their search is not as adamant as in the past and has become nearly nonexistent.
My second mission with Dr. Peppy progressed much more smoothly. I was designated to spy on a meeting between two thugs where supposedly vital information concerning a future crime scandal in NSider was to be discussed. Both muscular criminals spoke very bluntly about the issue and didn’t seem to be very intelligent, so it turned out to be quite a simple task. They talked about robbing a bank and driving off with the stolen posts, but nothing more than that. When I reported back to Dr. Peppy, he was displeased with the simplicity of the information but pleased that I told it to him fully and accurately. He said that I did well and to expect a call from him in the future. This PM, my third mission assigned to me by Dr. Peppy, was apparently what he was talking about.
I closed the PM and glanced over at the trio of X-Naut128, Invader8, and Falcon6 walking into the depths of the Gameplay Help for Newcomers board. It was the oddest combination of a lowly newcomer, and experienced NSiders that I’ve ever seen. Since it would be three days before the pathetic X-Naut and his merry men would be able to leave the newcomer boards, I figured I would easily be able to relocate them once my mission with Dr. Peppy was complete. Besides, I was getting tired of simply spying on my target and was itching for a challenging mission. Thus, I decided to take a break from hunting the X-Naut and venture off to the usual meeting place of Dr. Peppy’s – right behind the Star Fox Fan Art Directory in the Star Fox board. I turned around and prepared to depart when I saw something else of particular interest.
A user dressed in ragged black clothing was crouched behind a bush about twenty feet away, peering out occasionally but quickly retracting for some odd reason. For a brief instant, his eyes met mine and I could tell that it was me he was watching. I wasn’t sure how long he had been spying on me, but I definitely didn’t want someone following me to Dr. Peppy’s headquarters. I raced up behind him so quickly that he didn’t notice and even then it took him a little while before he realized someone was standing over him. “And you are…?” I asked. “Uhh… I was told to… umm…” He was trying to stall as his eyes stared straight at the ground away from mine. I grabbed the front of his robe and hoisted him up in the air, eyeing him sternly. “Who are you?” I asked sternly, which quickly caused the frantic user to speak up. “I’m LuigiTheDude5094. Don’t hurt me…” he responded nervously, with his feet waving frantically in the air. “Why are you following me?” I said, to which he was more hesitant to respond. “I…umm…was told not to say…” “Answer me!” I exclaimed impatiently, as I unsheathed one of my daggers and held it to his neck. “This is your last chance!” “I…can’t…” He said, mustering up the courage that remained inside of him, “I promised the boss that I wouldn’t…” Before he could finish his sentence, I impaled him between the eyeballs with one of my daggers, twisting it to expand the gash. A grunt of hatred was all he was able to mutter before I pulled out my dagger, the blood of the slain user sliding off the blade, and spilling onto the ground as he collapsed in a tangled heap. It was a strange sense of satisfaction for me, as I haven’t made a killing since the random OSider that ThePastaKing asked me to deal with. I twirled my daggers and slid them back into the holsters as I walked away from the murder, satisfied with my fatal strike.
Although it was odd that some lowlife was spying on me, I decided it would be best to pay it no mind for now and focus strictly on my mission with Dr. Peppy before I dealt with that. I continued towards the Star Fox board, wondering what assignment would be given to me. It was on the other side of NSider, so it was a long journey, especially since I had to keep to the shadows. Luckily, the trip progressed pretty smoothly, except for a minor annoyance where a user was showing off her brand new Spazier near the Metroid board and nearly destroyed all of the buildings around her. I arrived at the Star Fox Fan Art Directory just in time and easily snuck around to the back despite the high number of police officers present. My guess is that Dr. Peppy orders a group of officers to stand near his headquarters to help maintain secrecy, even though the lax force didn’t seem to be very active in their duties. Perhaps the mere presence of a policeman is enough to make inexperienced users stiffen up. The police have never intimidated me and I have no intentions of quivering in fear any time soon.
The rear of the sleek and modern building looked like a dump. In the alley behind the building, rusted dumpsters lined the dirty walls, which were covered in a mess of tangled ivy. There was a small keypad on the wall next to a rat chewing on a moldy piece of cheese in a dented aluminum trash barrel, so I punched in the code enclosed in the PM. A green light flashed from the white keypad and the brick wall in front of me slowly split apart in a cloud of dust, revealing a large silver door with all sorts of symbolic insignias on it from top to bottom. When I took a step forward, the doors opened automatically, revealing a large room lined wall-to-wall with computers, radars and other highly advanced pieces of technology.
The main attraction of the room was the extremely large chrome table in the center covered from corner to corner with an aged map of NSider and various hand-crafted figures placed around it, filling the map. The last time I’ve been to this room, about a year ago, the figures were all stationary and there weren’t nearly as many. However, with the exception of a few, the thousands of figures were in motion; some seemed to be navigating the alleys of NSider while others wandered aimlessly in the town square. Some were battling in the NSider Colosseum and others were conversing in houses and shops. I figured I would inquire about this after the briefing, as I didn’t want anything, not even insignificant ignorance, to come between this job offer and my potential payout.
I stepped inside on the white marble floor and the door slowly closed behind me. A man from across the room eyeing one of the computer monitors turned around to face me and slowly walked closer. He was a little shorter than the average user, but made up for it with his high intellect. He was average weight and wore a blue military uniform, complete with medals on the breast and insignias on the sleeves. His tan boots emanated intimidating thumps as he made his way towards me. Pushing up his oval-framed glasses that were inching towards the bottom of his nose, he spoke to me softly, “ShadowMario41… we meet once again. Thank you for responding in a timely manner.” An expression of satisfaction crossed his face, but I remained composed and simply replied, “Do not allow my appearance to taint my reliability.” “Of course,” he said, “You are one of NSider’s best after all.” While it was nice to be complimented by a user of such significance, this meeting was strictly about business.
Sensing that I wanted to get to work, Dr. Peppy then said, “An item of vital importance was stolen from the NSider Barracks this afternoon by an unidentified user. General Banzai guarded this item, so if someone could overwhelm him, I am afraid that his or her power would be too great to establish some sort of police scheme. I have received a report from another source that the user plans on transferring the item to the boss of the operation. The meeting of the two criminals will occur on the outskirts of NSider Industries in a few hours… at about midnight to be exact. Thus far, neither the public nor the media have any knowledge of this event. If you stop it, it will be as if it never happened.” While his monologue was vague, I knew that I would be battling a formidable foe tonight to retrieve some sort of item. “What exactly is the item?” I inquired, hoping to get some more specifics. Dr. Peppy looked at me, apparently not expecting me to ask a question. Running his hand through his short-length slicked back gray hair, he replied, “It’s small and gold. You’ll know when you see it.”
After a brief pause, he continued on, “The problem is, as you know, NSider Industries is on a lone island in the sea, connected by only three bridges, one of which is right near this board. On those bridges, there is no cover or anything for you to hide behind. It might seem strange if a skilled assassin was running across a bridge in the open. Even with your speed, odds are someone will notice you. Therefore, I have arranged an alternative means of transportation.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small red box and gave it to me. “To cross the bridge without being spotted by anyone, ingest the contents of this box when the time comes. You will be invisible for one minute, which, even though the bridge is quite massive, should give you enough time to sprint to the other side.” I nodded subtly and placed the cube inside one of the pockets of my black robe. “As always, this meeting must remain secret. Nothing I have said will leave this room, correct?” Again, I nodded and made a silent vow between the experienced military general. “Good… this plan will work out excellently. Give me the item and you’ll get your money. Now, off you go.” With a swift hand gesture, he motioned me to leave; a smirk crossing his face as he turned around. “Sir,” I spoke up unexpectedly and uncharacteristically, “what are those figurines f –” “Pay it no mind,” he said hastily. “But Doc...” I broke out again, demanding an answer in a passive-aggressive manner, but was only given the same “Pay it no mind,” in a much more serious tone this time. I was not in any position to complain, as I was just offered a very high-paying job, so I turned around and walked towards the exit.
When I reached the silver door, it opened automatically and I looked back, staring at the back of Dr. Peppy, who was busy studying computer monitors. My attention fixed once more upon the map with the moving figurines. I was interested in what exactly these moving characters were signifying, as Dr. Peppy would not waste his time with something of little importance. These thoughts were quickly interrupted, though, as Dr. Peppy cleared his throat loudly, signifying that I could not linger any longer. I let out a soft disgruntled sigh, focused on the map for another second, and took my leave.
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