Character
Rick (EmporWAY)
Rick is the warehouse sales manager at EmporWAY Corporation, the wholesaler the kid calls on Chapter day 2. Busy and gruff but fair, he answers the trade line from a noisy warehouse and opens the kid's account.
Was that so hard? Honesty goes a lot further in business than whatever movie you were imitating.
Personality and appearance
Rick is quick, practical and no-nonsense, with a dry sense of humour. He has no time for pranks or play-acting on a commercial line, but he is fair: once the kid tells the truth and pays up front, their age does not matter to him, and he is willing to bend EmporWAY's pallets-only habits for single orders.
Story
On chapter day 2
On Saturday 15 July 2000 the kid calls EmporWAY on the family phone, and Rick answers in the middle of a busy warehouse, with forklift horns and crates dropping behind him. If the kid is honest, as Frank advised, Rick takes it for a prank at first, then hears out the plan (a store from home, single items shipped to the customers, every order paid up front) and opens an account under the name Carter, in Maruf. If the kid puts on a fake grown-up voice instead, Rick tells them to get off their dad's phone and hangs up; when the kid calls back and apologizes, he softens, opens a provisional account under the kid's real name and warns that the fake voice again will get the number blocked.
Either way his terms are the same: the catalogue is on EmporWAY's website; the kid sends money from a transfer counter downtown, calls in the transfer code, and every order ships from that credit the same afternoon.
Later in the story
Later calls to EmporWAY reach Rick too: the kid's orders ship from the credit kept there.
In the game
Quests
Coming: quest pages are generated once the game's objectives move into a data file.
Dialogue
EmporWAY_FirstCall
Chapter day 2, Saturday 15 July 2000, early afternoon
The honest call, made with Frank's advice. On the living room phone the kid calls EmporWAY and gets Rick in the middle of a busy warehouse. The kid says who they are and that they are sixteen; Rick takes it for a prank, then hears the plan out: a store from home, items from the online catalogue shipped one by one to the customers, every order paid for up front. He opens an account under the name Carter, in Maruf: the supply line is open on the first try.
| # | Speaker | Line | Emotion | Voice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rick, EmporWAY | EmporWAY Corporation, orders and distribution. Rick speaking. What's your account number? | impatient | |
| 2 | LukeSarah | Hi, Rick. I don't have an account number yet. My name is Luke Carter, and I'm sixteen.Hi, Rick. I don't have an account number yet. My name is Sarah Carter, and I'm sixteen. | hopeful | |
| 3 | Rick, EmporWAY | Sixteen? Kid, this is a commercial wholesale line. If this is a prank, I'm hanging up right now. | impatient | |
| 4 | LukeSarah | It's not a prank. I'm starting a store from home in Maruf. I don't have a warehouse, but I want to sell items from your online catalog and have you ship them one by one, straight to my customers. And I'll pay up front for every order, before you pack a box. | friendly | |
| 5 | Rick, EmporWAY | Single items, cash up front? We usually only deal in pallets. But if your money's here first, I don't care how old you are. | happy | |
| 6 | Rick, EmporWAY | The catalog's on our website. Send money from a transfer counter downtown, call me with the transfer code, and it goes on your account. Every order ships from it the same afternoon. What name goes on the account? | calm | |
| 7 | LukeSarah | Luke Carter. Carter's, in Maruf.Sarah Carter. Carter's, in Maruf. | friendly | |
| 8 | Rick, EmporWAY | Account's noted, Carter. Don't order anything you can't pay for up front. Talk to you when your first sale comes in. | calm | |
| 9 | LukeSarah | Thanks, Rick. You won't regret it. | excited |
EmporWAY_FakeVoice
Chapter day 2, Saturday 15 July 2000, early afternoon
The call without Frank's advice. The kid puts on a deep grown-up voice as "Director Carter of Carter Commercial Enterprises"; the voice cracks twice, and Rick tells the kid to get off their dad's phone and hangs up. A fast busy signal, and a new goal: call EmporWAY again and apologize.
| # | Speaker | Line | Emotion | Voice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rick, EmporWAY | EmporWAY Corporation, orders and distribution. Rick speaking. What's your account number? | impatient | |
| 2 | LukeSarah | Yes... hello, Richard. This is... Director Carter, of Carter Commercial Enterprises. I am establishing an executive corporate supply account. | pompous | |
| 3 | Rick, EmporWAY | Director Carter? | calm | |
| 4 | LukeSarah | That is correct. We require single drop-shipment logistics for our high-volume consumer operations. | pompous | |
| 5 | Rick, EmporWAY | Kid, your voice just cracked twice. Who are you kidding? Get off your dad's phone and go do your summer reading. Don't call this line again. | angry | not voiced |
| 6 | (Click. The line is dead.) | |||
EmporWAY_Apology
Chapter day 2, Saturday 15 July 2000, early afternoon, after the hang-up
The second call, after the fake voice. The kid apologizes and tells the truth; Rick softens, sets up a provisional account under the kid's real name on the same terms, and warns that the fake voice again will get the number blocked: the supply line is open after a humbling lesson.
| # | Speaker | Line | Emotion | Voice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rick, EmporWAY | EmporWAY Corporation. Make it quick, I'm loading a freight truck. | impatient | not voiced |
| 2 | LukeSarah | Rick? It's the kid from a few minutes ago. Please don't hang up. | worried | |
| 3 | Rick, EmporWAY | I told you... | angry | not voiced |
| 4 | LukeSarah | I'm sorry. That was stupid. I was nervous and thought you wouldn't take me seriously. My name is Luke Carter, I'm sixteen, and I live in Maruf. I'm starting an online store, and I need a supplier who'll ship single items if I pay for them up front.I'm sorry. That was stupid. I was nervous and thought you wouldn't take me seriously. My name is Sarah Carter, I'm sixteen, and I live in Maruf. I'm starting an online store, and I need a supplier who'll ship single items if I pay for them up front. | sad | |
| 5 | Rick, EmporWAY | Was that so hard? Honesty goes a lot further in business than whatever movie you were imitating. | calm | not voiced |
| 6 | Rick, EmporWAY | We do pallets, but if you're paying up front for single items, I can set up a provisional account under your real name. The catalog's on our website. Send money from a transfer counter downtown, call me with the code, and it goes on your account. Every order ships from it. | calm | not voiced |
| 7 | Rick, EmporWAY | But pull that fake executive voice on me again, and I'll block your number for good. Fair? | calm | not voiced |
| 8 | LukeSarah | Completely fair. Thank you, Rick. | friendly | |
| 9 | Rick, EmporWAY | All right. Account's set up, Carter. Don't waste my time, and we'll get along fine. | calm | not voiced |