Most of the shoppers were military. According to Ace, San Francisco was a major supply port and send off point for the US military in the Game, like it had been in World War II. That explained all the soldiers in uniform walking about, but didn’t explain all the civilians.

Ace shrugged. “They’re probably here to try to join the military or catch a ride off planet. Anyways—” He stopped mid sentence with his mouth open.

“Actually, I’ll catch up with you guys after you find the part, I remembered something I need to do. You should be safe as long as you remain in the market area.”

Ace vanished into the crowd.

“Huh, that was odd,” Alan commented. It was also the longest sentence Ace had said since they'd begun travelling together.

“Yeah, that was the first time I’ve seen his expression change, and I’ve watched him fight a giant flying cat,” Daisy said, grinning.

Alan continued exploring the trading hub with Daisy, who was surprisingly down-to-earth considering she was the daughter of a major public figure. She even seemed interested in the random, nerdy things Alan knew about, asking about the differences between the Game and other RPGs he’d played.

The mall still retained its food court, which had all the normal, unhealthy fast food. The prices were outrageous - it cost an average of 5 credits for a meal, but then again Alan didn’t know if you could get a burger with fries off planet. Still, even with all the different shops, almost half the storefronts were empty, which he supposed was to be expected. Each time they passed by an information broker Eve suggested buying information as the information about the Game he'd been able to download online was severely limited, and after the fifth time she suggested it Alan finally acquiesced.

After questioning a few security guards, actual military soldiers rather than mall cops, Alan determined the Thought Emporium was the best general information brokers. They were supposedly connected to an alien guild of information brokers located throughout the Game, with their main headquarters on Khersath. They were more expensive than the other shops Alan saw, but also had much more information.

For 500 credits, they sold a general Game information package, which was good for a year. It seemed like way too much money for information, but according to everyone he spoke to, it was essential for any serious gamer that planned on leaving Earth. Apparently the information was even provided to everyone in the US military as a sort of nation deal the US had with the guild and had saved thousands of lives.

Alan walked into the Thought Emporium store expecting some sort of dark ambiance and tacky hooded figure. Instead, the store had a professional metallic silver decor with stacks of computer servers and a male cyborg with a cybernetic eye and titanium right arm behind the counter. Smooth jazz played in the background.

Connected to Thought Emporium network, Eve told him.