Multi-Dimensional Merchant System

Oliver watched for thirty minutes before he found his opening. The patrolling guard had just turned the third corner on his patrol inside the fence, and it would be nearly ten minutes before the other guard would reach Oliver's entry point on his walk of the grounds. The nearby camera had just panned away, and Oliver broke into a near silent sprint. As he easily vaulted the ten foot fence, completely unhindered by the barb wire at the top, he marveled at the effects of his increased agility.

But testing his new limits would have to wait for later.

Angling to the right, he stayed just ahead of the turning of another camera in his mad dash to the wall. Launching himself up the wall, he scrabbled for a moment before managing to latch on to the window frame. Taking a firm grip, he pulled himself up just enough to look through the window. Luck, it seemed, was on his side once again.

On the front side of the building, opposite Oliver's entry point, were the loading bays. Large doors, perfect for trucks to back up to and take on or drop off the goods they carried. The concrete lot out front occasionally lit up with the flickering light from the flashlight carried by the guard still on patrol.

But the side near him is what truly drew his attention.

Row after row of tall racks stood before him, with an incredible number of boxes arranged neatly on pallets and ready to be shipped. He knew from the little bit of research he had done that most of the vegetables in the building would be shipped out the next day- and near instantly replaced with more in a near endless cycle. It was all rather impressive, Oliver admitted to himself.

Seeing the place empty of any people thanks to the late hour, he stopped hesitating and got to work. Pulling himself up fully, he balanced precariously on the window frame and pulled a heavy hammer from the system warehouse. Taking a deep breath, he turned his head away as he slammed the hammer into the tempered glass- then repeated his strike when it failed to fully shatter.

Glass rained down onto the floor beneath him, and Oliver quickly followed it.

Landing carefully among the shattered glass, he knew his time was limited. And alarm was likely already going off in the security room, not to mention an alert being sent to the police. Glancing at his watch, he started his five minute timer- average police response was estimated at eight minutes, but he wanted time to get clear of the building before they arrived.

He didn't bother to read the details of the Commissions he filled, any request for food was instantly completed as he walked down the rows. Briefly grabbing a loaded pallet with each step, he triggered the Commissions and kept moving as mountains of food disappeared behind him. The credits per pound of foodstuffs didn't matter in the moment, simply completing them as quickly as possible- 1 Credit per pound, per 5 pounds, 10 pounds... It didn't matter. Others needed the food, and he would gladly send them Mr. Hardeman's 'donation'.

Though he wondered, would insurance compensate them for food that literally just disappeared? He doubted they would, but it was something to consider.

When the five minute timer, Oliver glanced at the remaining shelves and sighed in regret. He had managed to get about 25% of what was there, but it felt like he had hardly made any progress in his effort to strike back at the man causing him so many issues. Even if everything he took was worth more money than he had made in his entire life before the system, it was still hardly worth mentioning to the millionaire that owned the business.

Jogging back to the window, he was quick to climb up to the window- and just as quick to drop back down. Sitting directly out from the broken window was a Police car with two people talking beside it, one of the security guys and a Police Officer that Oliver recognized- Officer Franklin Pierce, Polina's friend.

Oliver's mind was racing through the possibilities and options as he ran to the front of the building. One glance outside confirmed his fears: the other security guard was out front alongside another Police Officer. Suddenly feeling trapped, he paced along the rows again, absently filling Commissions as he muttered to himself trying to work things out.

“They must have been nearby when the alarm went off to respond so quickly. But what are they waiting for?” Brushing his hand across pallets that quickly disappeared, the answer came to him easily. “Backup. They're waiting for backup. Trying to clear a place this size with just two of them is too risky. That means I have time to figure something out. But what?”

“Break a window on the side and run? Too loud, they'll come running the instant I do... and I damn sure don't want to get shot.”

Time seemed to race as fast as his thumping heart with Oliver wracking his mind for a way out. He doubted hiding would work; he didn't know the warehouse well enough to be confident in evading the search of even two Officers, let alone however many were coming. Running wasn't an option. Even with his now higher Attributes he certainly didn't feel super-human. And most police chases ended in an arrest; it was simply too hard for a person to escape an organized team of pursuers. And he definitely wouldn't fight them. Even if there was a chance of winning, he couldn't bring himself to hurt Officers that were just trying to do their job.

So what was left? Just give up and get arrested? With everything sent off by the System, they at least couldn't convict him of theft. But breaking and entering was already bad enough, especially with everything else already stacked against him thanks to Mr. Hardeman.

With time quickly running out, Oliver began to grow frustrated. He had this incredible, magical System helping him do things he never imagined and yet here he was, trapped. As the thought crossed his mind, he paused in place and his soft laughter echoed across the nearly empty warehouse around him. Magical. System.

Of course magic was the answer. He just needed to-

The crash of a door being slammed open cut off Oliver's laughter in an instant. Ducking behind one of the remaining pallets, he reached into the System Warehouse and pulled out his last option: the Scarper Charm.

Scarper Charm – On activation, creates a temporary portal to a safe location within 1 mile. Portal remains active for 5 seconds. 1 charge is consumed on each activation. Charm is destroyed when no charges remain. (3 charges)

Quickly focusing his will on activating the charm, he stared in awe blue pinprick of light appeared in front of him before rapidly spiraling open into a glowing blue hole in reality. It instantly made him think of a specific science fiction TV show about a group traveling through a similar-though much larger- gate to distant worlds. Shaking off the unnecessary musings, he hesitated only for a second before he jumped through.

He wasn't sure what he expected when traveling through the strange portal, but he definitely expected more than what he got.

Which was nothing.

One second he was in a warehouse with cops charging in, ready to apprehend the person that broke in. The next second, he was standing in an empty bathroom. A brief moment of panic flashed through him at the uncertainty of where he was before the portal disappeared, taking the little light it gave off with it. And leaving him in total darkness.

Oliver carefully cracked the door open to peek out at an empty hallway. Slowly he eased the door open, checking both ways before he inched his way out. A glance to his left showed a pair of open doorways leading to equally empty room, while to his right the hall ended at what appeared to be a living room- though one without furnishings. He had already figured the place to be unoccupied from the lack the usual toiletries in the bathroom, but felt it was better not to assume anything.

This night had already had enough surprises for him.

Quickly passing through the empty room, he looked through curtain-less windows until he found what he was looking for: the distant lights of police cars, and a street sign.

Now he just needed to make it home without getting arrested.