The Grift of Grash - Over/Under
The logo for Over/Under, created by Sam Sorensen.
Today over/under ends, and...I can't begin to explain the mixed emotions about it. The first is relief, because if you've been playing to stay up to date like I have, then you know it's exhausting and intense and overwhelming all the time.
I wanna talk today about Jules, my character, on the Dream, and how she ended up CEO of a bank and embezzling most, if not all, the Public Works Funding into horse cocaine therapy.
Week 1
Jules came to Dream for work like many other denizens. They joined the Union for simple pay to cover the O2 tax. An android, she quickly joined the Android Rights Alliance and created their scrappy membership cards. One single question changed her life forever and it wasn't even hers to ask.
One of the shopkeepers had asked about covertly supporting androids and the ARA in general. Jules asked for the shopkeeper in the ARA about covert support. This flagged her to be recruited by Bratva by DOC. Obviously, she joined.
The eagerness that Jules (and myself) have for Bratva puts Jules into overdrive to the point where they're recruited for recruiting. A small group of us are either scouts (Jules' job) or recruiters (My ride or die Stevie's job). Scouts find potential recruits, mark down how they've behaved on station so far, what they have an interest in, and then pass their info onto the recruiter to ideally bring them into Bratva. Jules was a good scout and earned extra pay and information for it.
The logo for the Dream Atlas.
All the while, she's running the Dream Atlas, an info hub where people can pay to list their businesses/events for a price. It was meant to serve a one-stop shop for ongoings in the blocks nad market channels as the thread quickly became overwhelming as hell.
Week 2
Recruiting at this point is dying down. Not many new folk are joining, and Operation Total Bratva is in full swing. Without a recruiting job, Jules looks for other things to work her mind. She finds the Code Breakers Club and while mostly lurking, tries to do some of the ciphers herself.
Jules continues in this way until the Choke Incursion where all hell broke loose. Personally, I hit a lot of bleed and burnout here and pulled back on participating. I was very close to quitting, but Grash Uppem pulled me and Jules back in.
Jules joined the green thumbs crew, using the garden store as a front for Bratva activities. New life is brought to both me and Jules. We have a purpose, and we're doing shady things!! However, this was short lived as Grash turned his attention to running Gold & Grash, a bank that planned to use the set token mining minigame for loot boxes. It really should have been called Uppem 'n Gold, but what does Jules know about marketing?
Julses' ID Card for Gold & Grash as created by Abigail L'mantra.
Everyone thinks the bank is a scheme and a grift by Grash, because Grash has been grifting people for days now with shenanigans.
At the same time as Jules is brought into the bank business, Stevie Hexagons has convinced Jules to go into advertising and thus the Dream Atlas Ads begins.
Issue 2 of the Atlas Ads which I failed to maintain after 4 issues.
Week 3
Jasmine Gold, the other co-owner of the bank, is kicked from the Union (as is Jules), and she leaves the Dream for good. Jules is the one to pick up all the pieces of Gold & Grash, rebranding it to Prospero's Trust. Jules becomes CEO, holding votes for the remaining board members.
The new logo for Prospero's Trust as created by Abigail L'mantra.
At the same time, the Obshchak is hearing proposals for Public Works funding, and she tells Jules that the bank needs to work and be legitimate, so Jules makes it happen. They apply, secure funding, and also the Obshchak appoints Jules to disperse the daily funding for all the Public Works projects which accounts to 700kcr (700,000 credits) a day!
Jules' ID card for Prospero's Trust. Once again created by the chracter Abigail L'mantra.
The first few days Jules is a rule follower and working very, very hard to gain the trust of the Dream. The bank is legitimate, and the interest rate stated is guaranteed (5% most of the time it was opened for the rebrand).
Week 4
Then, Jules considers what if she did scrape a few thousand here and there? The first day she does it, she only takes a super small amount, but anyone keeping a spreadsheet should have immedaitely clocked the difference. Yet, no one says a word to her.
The next day, she's feeling more confident, and time is running out. Maybe she can make Top Ten with this whole embezzlement scheme. The only thing holding her back is if Babushka (the Obshchak) would be pissed at her (probably), because she feels a deep desire for Babushka's approval and doing good work. Still, it doesn't stop her.
She completely takes Mr. Moneybags's 200kcr deposit multiple days in a row and only gives 3/4 of the amount for most projects. She tends to take less from the top of the smaller amount projects, especially ones like the emergency dispatch center who only got 5kcr/day.
So yeah, Jules embezzled millions of credits from the bank and public works to get on the Top Ten for a measly 4 days. I'm unsure if the stress of getting caught was worth it or not. Someone could have come into the bank and asked to withdraw all their funds, and I wouldn't have been able to do it the last couple of days. In fact, I specifically asked all my other tellers to close larger accounts, so I could hoard my wealth.
Shoutout to Mr. Moneybags, "Big" Bill, and the Obshchak for all your credits. You made Jules' corrupt banker timeline come true.
Wrap-Up
Listen, I wanted to go out with a bang. I was either gonna get caught, caause a huge commotion, and maybe die (doubt it). Or, I was gonna spend a bunch of credits on cocaine and figuring out if Grash was ever truly alive or dead. Either way, it was a win-win for my character.
Looking back, I should have charged more money and started earlier to get onto the Top Ten. I don't expect to win anything, but I had a hell of a time trying.