Greed God chapter 4

January 4th 2016 Gotham City 12:30 PM EDT

The  system did not, of course, deign to answer any questions I asked it  while driving to the coffee shop. Zack had begged off when he figured  out where I was going, just tossing me the keys and informing me that I  "Would owe him a Porsche if I scratched it". Honestly I wasn't too  upset, having the time to myself to think was preferable, because there  was a shit load to think about. The system had clearly implied there  were other people with my powers, and that they had some interest in  coming for me.

That of course opened up a whole line of  questioning I didn't want to get into yet about whether that meant I  should want to go after them, or if that would benefit me. In the end  though it came down to the fact that it didn't really matter, and that I  wouldn't give this power up even if I could, since I was happier and  more excited about life than I ever had been before. Emptiness detected  indeed. Fuck you too system, we don't love having our flaws exposed do  we.

I drove until I hit a Starbucks, which I was pretty  sure was in Gotham unfortunately, but coffee was coffee and I wanted  some. I parked and got out, slipping out of the frigid winter air into  the much warmer interior of the coffee place. I inhaled deeply, smelling  that classic coffee smell as I tried to rub some warmth back into my  hands. I'd made the mistake of driving with the windows down and I could  barely feel my fingers.

As I entered the place though, my  attention was stolen by a woman. Not a girl, not even close, she  probably had a decade or two on me, but god was she gorgeous. Long  blonde hair, totally stacked, aquiline nose and piercing blue eyes. Eyes  which sat under brows currently furrowed with frustration as she hissed  into the phone pressed against her ear. "No Ollie, I did not "give up"  I'm taking a short break to get myself something to drink before I  continue our search, how can you even say that?"

She  listened for a moment, face growing cold. "You know, for someone so  concerned with having lost Roy, you sure don't seem to be worried about  losing anyone else. If you aren't careful maybe he isn't the only one  you'll drive away." She closed her eyes, exhaling deeply. "You know  what, no. I'm not going to engage. I'm going to go drink my coffee and  leave you to cool down before we both say something we might regret.  Goodbye Ollie." She jammed the end call button on the screen so hard I  was worried she might crack the phone and let out a weary sigh.

I'd  been accused of being many things in my life, but shy was not one of  them. I slipped into the chair across the table from her and put on a  sympathetic smile. "Hey, you ok? Didn't mean to eavesdrop but you  sounded a bit upset there. You need to talk about anything? I'm always  happy to lend a friendly ear." I gave her my most earnest smile,  surprising a laugh from the older woman.

She raised an  eyebrow at me. "You know, that would be much more convincing if you had  been able to keep your eyes on my face the entire time you were talking,  but still, I appreciate the gesture." The small smile gracing her  pretty lips dimmed. "As for listening...it's a long story. Suffice to  say that my boyfriend's adopted son ran away from home and is too old  for us to drag him back. It's causing some...tension."

It  was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "That is complicated. Sadly I'm just a  dumb horny teenager so my ability to give advice on complex emotional  matters is next to none. Plus with that jacket unzipped so far...well  we've already established I'm having trouble keeping my eyes up." She  snorted a laugh at that, giving me another smirk. I held my hands up in  mock surrender. "Hey, I'm still helping, don't you mature ladies like  young studs like me showing interest."

This time the laugh  was more open, a full throated, husky thing that sent shivers down my  spine. Damn did she have a nice laugh. "Implying I'm old. Bold strategy  for trying to pick up an older woman. But the whole cougar vibe sort of  depends on scarcity. Do I look like someone who lacks male attention  from any age group?" Her blue eyes were sparkling in a very distracting  way as she said that and I had to give her that one.

I  shrugged. "Maybe not. But it can't hurt to try. I'd have to be an idiot  not to pay attention to a woman like you." I saw her expression twitch  as I referenced her absent boyfriend in an oblique enough manner that  she couldn't really comment on it. I took out my phone and waved it at  her. "How about this. I really would be happy to talk, how about we  exchange numbers and keep in touch." She opened her mouth and I cut her  off. "I'm not expecting anything but decent conversation." I shot her a  wink. "I find older women to be more stimulating partners."

She  opened her mouth to say no, but as she did, she got a text on her  phone. She opened it and her eyes hardened a bit. She reached over and  snatched my phone away, inputting her number and handing it back. She  looked a bit guilty but nothing major, she still felt the need to  reiterate. "Just to talk. It might be nice to have someone to bounce my  thoughts off of that doesn't know my boyfriend." She averted her eyes.  "Nothing wrong with making a new friend."

I grinned and  shot her a text. "You can save that number so you know who's texting. My  name is Nick, but I'll accept "coffee shop stud" or "dark haired  dreamboat" too. I gestured up to the counter. I was about to get my  drink, do you have time to sit and have a muffin or something? It  wouldn't be very friendly to make me drink alone now would it?" I gave  her my most charming grin, and I saw her give it some thought.

In  the end she shook her head with a wry smile. "I really have to get  going. It was...interesting talking to you Nick. Mt name is Dinah. I  look forward to talking more in the future, even if I don't usually text  much. Maybe you can teach me a thing or two." She stood up, zipping up  the coat that had been showing off her VERY ample cleavage and shot me a  flirty smile. "Enjoy your drink, coffee shop stud."

I  turned to watch her go, very much enjoying the confirmation that those  curves were not exclusive to up top and that Dinah could swing those  hips in ways that should be illegal. I swallowed hard as I watched her  leave, happy with my result. I wasn't worried about being shot down. She  wasn't going to fall into bed with me first thing. But opening  communication was a good first step. Next time her boyfriend made her  mad, I'd be the first person she thought of.

I made my way  up to the counter, paying for a caramel machiatto and a slice of  cheesecake which I brought back to the table I'd left my jacket at to  save myself a seat. As I waited for them to call my name I considered my  options and more importantly I thought about what I should do next. So  far I'd mostly been reacting, but the old man always said great men act,  they don't react. I needed some basic concept of what I should do going  forward.

Oddly, I found myself scrolling through the  news, looking for...anything. A museum exhibit or a private gallery  opening or even just an idea. I needed something bigger than petty  thievery, bigger than I was currently able to do. I had enough GP to  make a few G ranked artifacts, which might make things a bit easier, but  I needed to know where to point that firepower once I had it.

I  scrolled through the news randomly until I noticed something I'd been  ignoring. The League had been in a dust up with aliens. The things had  infiltrated the UN and everyone was freaking out because they were  lurking around doing gods knew what while we were all sitting on our  asses with no clue what their next move would be. But where there's  smoke, there's fire. No way some alien species got a single mole onto  the planet and he just happened to end up the secretary general of the  United Nations.

Infiltrating a government like that took  backing, it took assistance. It took resources. Alien resources.  Potentially priceless alien resources that I could steal literally  without consequences if I could track down one of their bases or even  just one of their agents. Hell I wondered how many points I'd get for  one of those fake human shaped suits they were wearing. I was betting  they would be pretty high ranked. That was impressive science. I started  looking around on the internet for anything related to aliens.

I  didn't find much on the ones in the UN. They were kind of unknown. But  there were other aliens around too. Much more obvious aliens, and ones  that might have gear that was just as juicy to lift, and with much less  danger. After all, the "nice" aliens wouldn't execute the son of one of  the most powerful men  in the world. They would at worst turn me over to  the cops, provided I made sure my presence there was known before I got  caught and shoved into a dark hole.

I started doing  research on "The Reach". Not committing to anything yet. I'd feel them  out, check my dads sources, and see what kind of badass artifacts I  could make with my current assets. Still, no reason not to take a look  around and see what they had going on. Upon diving into my research  though I realized...I was in no way ready to start stealing from The  Reach. Sure, the GP from taking alien ships or even the whole planet  away from them if the system counted that would be insane, but I didn't  have the muscle or even the brains to come close.

People  like Lex Luthor might be able to pull off some light sabotage, but I  knew myself well enough to know I couldn't manage that as I was now. So  then, what I needed was a plan, and more importantly, a crew. I  considered going to Zack, but dismissed the idea, we'd been in trouble  together a few times but I didn't really trust anyone enough for this.  Plus being eighteen would make people assume I couldn't hack it and that  sounded annoying. No, I would need to recruit people anonymously and  build up slow.

I  considered my options, the internet was too vulnerable to intrusion, I  could use mail or something but that seemed slow and easy to slip up on.  In person would be dangerous and might give me away, but only if I went  as myself. No, I needed a new identity, a mask and persona like some of  the villains in town had that would let me build up my own force and  equip them with overpowered gear without exposing myself, plus steal for  me so I could massively increase my GP gain daily. Taking by force or  payment was an option for getting Greed Points so I should be able to  send people out to gather stuff for me. I'd look into the reach later.  For now, I just needed to get myself a costume.