"Midway." Adam said as he leaned back against the chair. Salvatore laughed.
"Well yeah, I figured that, kid. After all you were asking about a trip there recently, figured it was on your mind. I meant when?" Adam paused to consider.
"When can you be ready to go?" Adam asked.
"As soon as you need me."
"Then let's set out tomorrow, I have to get some things in order first."
"Fine by me." Salvaotre hopped off his ass and then walked over to his armory looking at his weapons available. "You just say the word."
"Awesome, glad to have you aboard Salvatore." Adam grinned, stood up, and then offered Salvatore his hand. Salvaotre looked momentarily confused by the gesture but then accepted and nodded.
"Glad to be working with you, don't get us killed." He said with a grin. Adam turned to leave the room before Salvatore called out to him again. "Hey, kid." Adam stopped and turned back around again.
"I got two more questions."
"Okay, yeah, sure. What's on your mind?"
"First, practical question, you are planning on making another stop on the way to Midway right?" Adam looked at him surprised.
"Yeah. How did you figure that out?"
"Call it the intuition of a man who is ten times your age." He chuckled softly and then grew a bit more serious. "That's fine, I just didn't want to be caught unaware when you suddenly changed course. Second…" He paused, staring into Adam's eyes for a long while before speaking again.
"Why are you going to Midway?" He asked with a serious tone while his eyes seemed to look for the answer on Adam's face. Adam paused, sighed, and then leaned against the wall looking at the ground for a moment before returning the look to Salvatore.
"I need to get into my old workplace. Second Life HQ." He said with a measured tone. "There are answers to my questions that I think can only be found there. Midway is close so…" He paused, looking at Salvatore's expression studying him in return. The silence permeated the room for a few moments before Salvatore shrugged.
"Well I suppose that's fine. I ain't going to say no. Just good to have a destination in mind before we start marching. I'll help you as best I can, you didn't pay me that much money for nothing." He then grinned and added: "I may not be able to help you find the answers you are looking for, but I sure as hell can get you an opportunity to try."
"Then it was money well spent." Adam laughed and got off from the wall, opening the door as he did. "We can set out tomorrow after breakfast, I like to leave with as much daylight as possible."
"Guess I'm heading to bed early tonight then." He laughed and waved Adam out. "Now get the fuck out of my room." He said more as a joke than anything serious as Adam left the room, closing the door behind him.
Adam now had a plan, what he needed to do was get the last few pieces in place. So with that in mind he walked to Winchester's.
"Hey Chuck." Adam said as he entered the store, seeing Chuck behind the counter cleaning a few guns he was planning to put on display.
"Oh! Howdy there friend! I don't suppose you got even more for me to buy today?" He smiled with a soft laugh.
"No, not today I'm afraid." Adam chuckled a bit himself. "No, actually I came to say tomorrow I'm planning on leaving for Midway."
"Oh? You are?" Chuck said with some surprise. "Well That's a shame, I will be sad to see you go, but I suppose the pickings would be better deeper in the city."
"No it's not even that, though I suppose that's a boon too. But I came here for a few reasons." He pulled out all his vouchers and placed them on the counter, a total of 750 caps in vouchers. Adam had a total of 898 caps but the bulk of it was in these slips of paper that wouldn't be worth anything at Midway so he wanted to make them liquid before he left.
"Ah." Chuck said with a bit of disappointment seeing the vouchers. "I suppose you will want to be cashing out then." He said more to himself than to Adam.
"Yeah. I will need caps so I can trade at Midway, can't use your vouchers over there."
"Yes, yes. I understand." Chuck sighed as he took the vouchers. "Though, let me offer you an alternative to caps, if you will hear me out." He reached into his black box and pulled the slips out revealing some that were hidden underneath.
"I got here some money they issue in Midway, the real stuff. It works the same as the vouchers when you make it there, and you'd be doing me a favor by not taking all my caps." He laughed.
Adam paused to think it over for a moment before nodding.
"Alright, that sounds good." He smiled and took the paper slips from Chuck. Unlike the Naper vouchers which were basically thick colored paper with the amount written on it and the signatures of the three merchants in town, the Midway money was the real deal. It was made of a cloth paper hybrid much like dollars were and it had a rather intricate design on it. There was an issuing date, a registry number, and the center had different logos on it, though he didn't know what the logos meant. But this was much more professional than Chuck's paper money, this looked like something that had to be made on a printing press, this couldn't possibly be made by hand, it was far too detailed and all the bills of the same value were identical. It made him curious about who was printing these in Midway and how it came to be accepted, this was professional work.
"Now that you got your money, let me offer you some advice as a friend and as a merchant who often does business in Midway." Chuck said, breaking Adam's train of thought and bringing him back to the moment.
"When you are in Midway, whatever you do, do not mess with the merchant's guild." He said with a serious no nonsense tone. "There is a lot of power backing them up, they ain't the types to let grudges go neither." He sighed and leaned back again.
"They won't bother you if you don't stick your nose in the middle of their business, but it's just a friendly warning. You see black suits, you give them a wide berth."
Adam looked at him confused. Who was the merchant guild that they commanded enough power that Chuck was specifically warning Adam to keep clear of them? Wasn't it just a means for merchants to cooperate? Isn't that what a guild is? Why does Chuck look so serious about this?
"Why?" Adam couldn't help himself from asking. Chuck lets off a big exhale before letting his shoulders droop a bit.
"They are the real power in Midway, don't let no one else tell you otherwise. They got their own ways of doing things over there and you can't expect someone to stick up for you. If you are lucky none of this advice will even be useful to you, in all likelihood it wont even matter. But it's just some friendly advice to stay away from them."
Adam nodded. "I understand. I'll do my best." He then smiled. "I don't plan to stick my nose where it doesn't belong anyway so I'm sure it will be fine." Chuck nodded.
"As long as you understand." He smiled. "Is that everything?"
"Oh yes! Can I buy one more backpack?"
"Sure! 20 caps." He grinned.