Hi am on SSI (I have nerve problems) :-( So I am a horse racing fan, not much of a gambler at all. But recently I made a $15 bet and I won over $3k. Instead of being happy now I'm scared because I'm afraid they are going to take away my SSI :-( I haven't claimed the winnings yet because I don't want to lose my SSI. My mom called the person that does our taxes and said that it wasn't going to be a problem because it wasn't $4k. But then I went to a social security office and they told me that I would have to return this monthly check and I would have to spend the remaining of the money. So i have no idea what to do or who to believe. I'm getting really scared. Instead of being happy i won some extra money im super scared and worried. Please help.

Chapter 160. The First City (2)

According to the system, there were 78 people who passed the second tutorial in the highest difficulty level. The size of the Tutorial Town was about the size of Yeouido, and all 78 highest difficulty challengers were now in this town.Even among those 78, the two Heroes closest to the Master rank status were here.Hiding my nervousness, I observed them.

“Where is this? How mysterious.”

They walked into the pub, and I pulled my hood over my head.

“This is the Mercenary Pub it says. Look, there are missions on the bulletin board there.”

“Ah~ so we have to make money by completing missions~”

Aileen nodded her head at Yi Yongha’s words. At a glance, they looked like an uncle-niece pair.

“Looks like it.”

“How much do we need to make again?”

“1000 each in ten days.”

“That should be easy~”

The third tutorial’s goal was simple. To make TP.Players who possess more than 1000 TP at the end would move on to the real Tower, but those who didn’t would have to stay here until the start of the next tutorial on November 1st.

“Destroying a goblin settlement, wiping out a group of bandits, dismantling an illegal gambling house…”

Yi Yongha read the missions on the bulletin board.

“We can probably complete them all today.”

Aileen spoke impatiently.

“…Please, you’re going to be dead tired by the end of a single mission.”

“What? Are you underestimating me?”

“I’m being realistic. Your magic power is restricted right now.”

Since Aileen was Yi Yongha’s superior and they arrived together, Aileen must have entered the tower with a red ticket with Yi Yongha being her companion.Kiik—At that moment, the door creaked open once again. Yi Yongha and Aileen turned to the door, and so did I.

“Where the hell is this? The last tutorial was more interesting…”

“Can you be quiet?”

I could tell who they were just from their voices.A giant and a seductive Western woman.It was Cheok Jungyeong and Jain.

“How the hell are we supposed to make… eh?”

“…Oh?”

They found Aileen and Yi Yongha who were standing in front of the bulletin board.Aileen and Yi Yongha also saw them and received their gazes.2 vs 2.Four sets of eyes glared at each other. None of them said anything, but the atmosphere was filled with hostility.

“Owner, give me two of your strongest alcohol.”

I ordered two drinks from the owner, paying 20TP. The owner took the two silver coins and handed me two highly concentrated alcohol.I pulled my mask up and held the glasses up.

“You two know me, right?”

Aileen was the first one to break the tension, speaking as she glared at Cheok Jungyeong and Jain.

“Haha, that’s right, kid. We’ve seen you once before.”

Cheok Jungyeong replied.

“…Kid?”

“Maybe it’s more appropriate to call you a brat.”

“…Ha, haha, I dare you to say that again.”

Aileen’s face turned red from Cheok Jungyeong’s clear provocation.However, now wasn’t the time to fight.

“Both of you, come…”

Aileen’s power, Spirit Speech, neared the level of an Authority.I quickly twisted my wrist. Vodka shot out of the glasses I was holding and flew into Aileen’s mouth in a beautiful arc. Yi Yongha tried to block it with his body, but I prepared two glasses for this exact situation.

“Here— kek!”

Yi Yongha blocked one stream of vodka, but the other stream entered Aileen’s mouth. With hard liquor suddenly ending up in her throat, Aileen coughed but was unable to spit it out.

“Aak! Neck, m-my neck is… burning… haak…”

Spirit Speech was useless if you couldn’t speak. As Aileen was weak with alcohol to begin with, she started picking up and drinking other NPCs’ drinks.

“Ptui! Ah, this is also alcohol! W-Water—!”

“Um, Aileen-ssi, calm down. Take a deep breath…”

“You think I can calm down!?!?”

Normally, Aileen would have quickly recovered using her magic power that rivaled Boss’. No, normally, she wouldn’t have been affected by alcohol at all. However, her stats were restricted at the moment, making her all the more vulnerable.

“What the hell’s up with that brat?”

“Cheok Jungyeong.”

I walked up to Cheok Jungyeong and Jain and whispered.

“Huh?”

Cheok Jungyeong’s eyes widened.I held my index finger up to my mouth, signaling Cheok Jungyeong to keep his mouth shut. Then, I dragged them outside and ran for five minutes straight.

“O-Oi!”

Cheok Jungyeong shook off my hand once we arrived at an alleyway. Now that we were far away from the pub, I let him go free.

“The hell’s wrong with you? Why’d you drag me here?”

“It looked like you were about to start a fight, so I brought you outside.”

“What, I can’t fight?”

“….”

I looked at Jain who was standing next to Cheok Jungyeong. I wanted her to do something about this muscle-brained fool, but Jain only shrugged.

“Their stats are restricted like the rest of us, right? I want to beat up that brat Aileen too.”

“…You’ll be arrested if you fight inside the town. Haven’t you seen the town’s vigilante group?”

I looked around carefully. Thankfully, there weren’t any Players watching.

“By the way, where is Boss?”

“Who knows? We just arrived here too…. Oh wait, there she is.”

Jain pointed to the middle of the street.I turned to where she was pointing.

“…She really is there.”

Boss was tilting her head in front of a street vendor who was selling candies and chocolates.

“Looks like Boss wants sweets.”

Just like Jain said, Boss smacked her lips and began to rummage through her pockets.

“I guess so. She does like chocolate.”

“Oi, Newbie, what’s up with your clothes?”

“Oh yeah, where did you get that?”

Cheok Jungyeong and Jain seemed interested in my clothes.

“I made them.”

“Oh! Make one for me too.”

“Me too, me too.”

“Sure, if you’re paying.”

“…Then nevermind.”

Jain backed down as expected, but Cheok Jungyeong was different.

“How much? I have 300 won right now.”

“300TP?”

“Yeah.”

I stared at Cheok Jungyeong and carefully spoke.

“…For all of what you have.”

“Hahaha, brat, do I look like a pushover?”

“….”

Despite looking and acting like an idiot, he wasn’t that stupid.I let out a dry cough and changed the subject.

“Kuhum, let’s go to Boss first.”

Boss seemed to have figured out how to take out TP, as she pulled out a gold coin. Gold coins were worth 100TP each, and the one she had was likely gained as a reward from the second tutorial.Boss stared at the street vendor with the gold coin in hand. The vendor’s face was full of greed.

“…She’s going to get scammed at this rate.”

Tutorial Town.Although it sounded kind and helpful, close to 70% of its residents were scammers.I went to Boss with Cheok Jungyeong and Jain.

“Oi, Boss!”

Cheok Jungyeong called her, and Boss turned around just as she was about to give the vendor her gold coin.

“Oh, it’s Gyeong. Jain and Newbie are here too.”

Boss greeted us expressionlessly as Cheok Jungyeong practically stomped towards her. I also approached her quickly and took away the gold coin in her hand.

“Hm? Newbie, why are you taking my money?”

Boss frowned.

“I’ll give it back to you later.”

I faced the candy vendor instead of Boss.

“This chocolate, how much is it?”

“Pardon? Uh….”

I could practically hear him racking his brain. However, NPCs thought the same way as humans. Seeing Cheok Jungyeong towering over behind me…

“They’re 10TP each.”

“….”

Wow, he’s trying to scam me in front of Cheok Jungyeong.

“Give me one, no, two.”

Boss spoke up. Because she hasn’t eaten chocolate in over a month, she seemed pretty desperate.

“No.”

“W-Why? I have 20TP…”

“I know, but that’s enough to buy ten chocolates.”

Leaving the struggling Boss to Cheok Jungyeong, I faced the candy vendor once again.

**

With 20TP, I bought 20 chocolates and 20 candies.Now that that was taken care of, we headed to an inn.While Boss was happily eating junk food, we arrived at a nearby inn.

“Let’s see, four people… that will be 300TP per night.”

Even the innkeeper was a scammer.But knowing the real price, I only took out six silver coins.

“Let’s make it 60TP.”

“Ehey, that won’t do at all. Go somewhere else.”

“I’ve been to all the inns in town. It only got cheaper each time. This is the last place.”

I glanced at Cheok Jungyeong as I said that. Cheok Jungyeong noticed my eye signal and began to glare at the innkeeper.

“…150, let’s do 150TP per night.”

“60TP.”

“60TP for a 4-person room? That’s impossible…”

“60TP, but we won’t ask for food. You only have to provide us with the room.”

“.…”

“Let’s not make it difficult.”

The innkeeper was silent for a long time.I also kept quiet.After about three minutes of dead silence, system alerts let me know that my haggling was a success.

[You acquired the technique, ‘Lv.1 Haggling’]—You can see the rough estimate of the minimum price desired by NPCs with low-level Haggling.

[‘Lv.1 Haggling’ links with your ‘Charming Voice’.]—Extra7’s voice will now contain ‘Minute Persuasion’.

‘So Charming Voice can be used like this…’ I grinned and looked at the innkeeper.

“F-Fine, 70TP!”

…He still wanted 10TP more.I threw 60TP on the counter and took the key. I brought Boss, Jain, and Cheok Jungyeong upstairs and entered a large 4-person room.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

Jain sat down on the edge of the bed and asked.

“I’m planning to go steal something. I’m sure you’re going to go off and do your own thing. The problem is…”

Jain looked at Boss and Cheok Jungyeong.

“These two with low social experience.”

“I’ll take Cheok Jungyeong with me. You should take care of Boss.”

“What? You? You’re going to take me with you? Ahahaha, you’ve gotten funnier, kid.”

Cheok Jungyeong laughed as he hit my shoulder. My bones would have been broken if this was the outside world, but thanks to the balance patch in this world, I was unexpectedly okay.

“Also, invest all the money you have on me.”

Jain’s eyebrows twitched.

“…What for?”

“Gambling.”

“What? Are you crazy?”

The Tutorial Town also had a gambling house. The problem was that over half of the gamblers were scammers, making victory or loss not completely luck-dependent.

“Ah~ is that why you bought a pack of cards before coming here?”

Cheok Jungyeong asked.

“Yes.”

On our way to the inn, I stopped and bought a pack of cards. To make money in a room full of scammers, you just had to be the best scammer in the room.

“Are you confident?”

Jain asked doubtfully.

“Of course, would I ask Jain-ssi for money if I wasn’t?”

Money was life to Jain. Stealing money from Jain was no different than declaring war on her.

“…Really?”

“Of course.”

Before coming into the Tower, I studied and practiced cheating with cards.Double dealing, hand mucking, base dealing, sleight-of-hand, etc. Thanks to my Gift, Dexterity, I was practically a professional scammer.

**

One hour later.I arrived at a gambling house with Cheok Jungyeong, asking NPCs nearby for direction.

—Threes full of fives.—Fucking hell, you cheated, didn’t you?—Oh please.

The gambling house was loud and full of the acrid smell of smoke. I went to an empty table and sat down.A scammer who was smoking and looking bored flashed his eyes.

“Oh~ are you two new here?”

“Yes.”

“Oho~ a bodybuilder and a skinny boy… what a strange combination. Are you two friends?”

I smiled without answering him. Cheok Jungyeong also grinned.

“It’s true, this guy is skinny.”

“Anyways, welcome. I’ll treat you two well.”

I could tell that he was a scammer as soon as I saw him.Since I was going to cheat as well, I didn’t care all that much.

“Alright, why don’t we begin?”

The man picked up a pack of cards.I simply smiled.

*

Two hours.It only took two hours for me to win most of the money in the gambling house.I cheated when I was playing against scammers and relied purely on luck when playing ordinary people. Of course, scammers caused a scene knowing that I was cheating somehow, but Cheok Jungyeong was there to stop them every time.

“How boring. All cowards.”

NPCs who were only good at scamming shrunk in front of Cheok Jungyeong’s muscles. It was quite funny to see.

“Now let’s run away.”

“Eh? Why? We can still make more.”

“No, look over there.”

I pointed at the fierce-looking man who I just felted. He was glaring at me as he chewed on a cigarette.

“He should be a scammer hired by the owner of this gambling house.”

“…So?”

“The owner will come soon with hired hands. Let’s exchange money and leave before then.”

There was no reason to fight NPCs.I brought Cheok Jungyeong to the exchange place.

“10200 chips, confirmed. Hold on a minute.”

The employee working at the currency exchange confirmed the number of chips I made.300TP from Cheok Jungyeong, 200TP each from Boss and Jain and 1000TP that I originally had brought my starting total to 1700TP. In two hours, I had more than quintupled it.

“Here you go, 10200TP.”

The employee gave me ten 1000TP banknotes and two gold coins.

“How much do I get?”

Without answering Cheok Jungyeong, I put everything in my inventory.Ssss—The two gold coins and some of the banknotes transformed into dust and entered my inventory.Right, ‘some’. There were still five banknotes in my hand.

“These are fake.”

I stared at Cheok Jungyeong.

“What? Really?”

“Yeah, that’s why they don’t go in the inventory.”

Cheok Jungyeong’s face immediately contorted and turned red with rage. His muscles also bulked up, and…KWANG—!A thunderous sound rang out.

“You son of a bitch!”

“Hiik!”

“Do I look like a pushover? I dare you to try that again, you…! Mother… father…!

He began to spit out all sorts of curses I couldn’t describe with words.

*

With 10200TP, I returned to the inn.Boss was working out, and Jain was preparing to go steal something in disguise.

“Oh, you’re back? Where’s my money? If you lost it all…”

“Don’t worry. First, take a seat.”

I gave Boss, Jain, and Cheok Jungyeong their money back and an additional 1000TP.

“Whew… good.”

“Just by keeping the 1000TP I just gave you, you’ll be able to go up to the next floor.”

“Well, that was easy. Is this it for this floor?”

“No, stay on your guard. There are pickpockets all over the town. They can even steal money that’s inside your inventory.”

Although it was easy for us, this place was still the highest difficulty Tutorial Town.There was no way anyone could know that most of the people in this town were scammers. Even a great sage would have no choice but to be tricked once.

“Do we get a performance-based reward like the last tutorial if we get the most money?”

“Probably not. The system would have told us about it if that were the case.”

The third tutorial reward was simple.

“The TP we earn in this place should be our reward.”

**

On the other hand, in a goblin settlement some distance away from the Tutorial Town.

“What? You said it was 700TP!”

Someone’s angry voice rang out. Birds sitting on branches flew away and squirrels fell from the trees in surprise.

“Agh, do you need to be so loud?”

Aileen glared at the mercenary leader who hired her.

“You think I can be quiet? Huh?! You said it was 700TP before!”

“As I said, that’s if we didn’t suffer any damage. Look at the state these guys are in.”

“What?”

Aileen looked around her surroundings. There were mercenaries who were clearly suffering from great pain. She bit her lips silently.

“It’s written in the contract. That the amount paid might change depending on other mercenaries’ condition.”

“…But I don’t think it’s right to not even give us half the listed amount.”

This time, Yi Yongha spoke up. The mercenary leader was unreasonably saying he would lower the 700TP mission completion reward to 300TP.

“No, no, that’s just how it is.”

“At least give us half.”

“I can’t. If we consider how much it’ll take to get these guys treatment, we can’t spare even a single TP.”

“You—”

“Fine! I don’t need your dirty money!”

Aileen shouted sharply and snatched the three gold coins in the mercenary leader’s hands. She wanted to use Spirit Speech to have things her way, but because she used up most of her magic power fighting, she couldn’t do anything about it.

“You better pray we don’t see each other again. If we do, I’ll kill you for real.”

“I-I’m just going with what’s written on the contract. You don’t have to be so mad.”

“What, you son of a bitch—!”

“…Stop Aileen-ssi. We won’t gain anything from fighting.”

“B-But this bastard is…!”

Yi Yongha dragged Aileen back as she struggled with her short legs.…After separating from the mercenary group, they began to walk back to the town.

“Forget about today. Let’s just buy some potions on our way back.”

Yi Yongha spoke as he wiped his sweat.

“But the Player Shop doesn’t sell potions…”

Aileen’s voice was especially meek today. She was lively even on an uninhabited island, but a few people had managed to make her depressed. Yi Yongha made a bitter smile.

“No, not the Player Shop. I’ve seen potion shops around. Ah, there’s one right there.”

Yi Yongha pointed at a potion shop nearby.

“Aileen-ssi is low on magic power, right? Let’s go and buy some magic power potions.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

The two of them ran to the potion shop.…Then.

“100… 100TP?”

“Yes, magic power potions got expensive recently.”

“…Still, there’s no way they can be that expensive.”

“It’s true. It should be the same everywhere else. Though, I don’t think many shops are open because it’s so late.”

“Ha….”

Although the price was hard to believe, the shopkeeper looked too honest and righteous to be lying. Even Yi Yongha had no choice but to believe her.He looked at Aileen who was looking dejected and sad. It easy to see how unhappy she was with the whole situation.

“Haa.”

Yi Yongha sighed. Suddenly, he had a great desire to see his wife back home. But since Aileen overused her magic power today, she needed a magic power potion if she were to regain enough energy for tomorrow.

“…I guess it can’t be helped. We’ll take one.”

“Ah, yes, sorry about that…”

“No, it’s not your fault at all.”

“Next time you come, I’ll add in some additional bonuses.”

“Ah, thank you.”

In the end, Yi Yongha used up his money to buy a magic power potion.

“Here you go, Aileen-ssi.”

“Ah, thanks.”

Aileen took the magic power potion and put it inside her inventory.

===[Poor Magic Power Potion]○Lv.0 Magic Power Recovery. Restores 10 magic power upon consumption.○Lv.1 Food Poisoning. Increases your chance of getting food poisoning upon consumption.

The item description was a bit weird, but because magic power potions were normally expensive, Aileen didn’t think much of it.

“Then let’s find an inn.”

“Un!”

…10 minutes later, they found an inn to stay in.However, the innkeeper glanced at them and delivered another shocking news.

“Let’s see, two people… that’ll be 150TP per night.”

“…Pardon?”

As soon as they heard the innkeeper, they felt as though their souls left their bodies.

Hello /pf!
My grandfather (75) is a bit concerned over some recent gambling winnings ($2000) at a local casino. He can sleep, eat, or really function. He's scared that Social Security will come after him after the casino wrote down his social security number for tax reporting purposes. His worries stem from the following:
1) He has the idea that if he is under SSI, he's under certain stipulations that he cannot gamble his allowance. 2) He's scared that Social Security is going to discontinue his benefits once they found out he won money. He's scared it's going to result in him being penniless, and losing his medicare on top of his SSI.
How do I calm him down? I have informed him that: 1) Social Security doesn't restrict gambling for those receiving SSI benefits. 2) All he has to do is report his gambling earnings to both the IRS and the SS and everything will be kosher. I doubt $2,000 plus his zero earned income will count much against him anyway for 2015.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! I'm at a loss, because I can't find documentation for SSI beneficiaries restricting them from gambling (since I can't produce that, he can't read anything to go against his own assumptions).
Thanks ahead of time :)

I won at the Belmont Stakes yesterday. I did a 3 horse (Creator, Destin, Lani (the winners)) box trifecta of $2.50 which cost me $15 and I ended up winning over $3K. Great. I won, I know but the problem now is that I'm a disabled person (I cant physically work :-( Nerve issues) and I'm on SSI. Do I have to report this? Will I be taxed? Will they take away my monthly check? Will they cancel my SSI? I'm really scared. I don't usually gamble and I never expected to win honestly. I did my wager online and the site is asking for my social security number for verification. I can't afford to lose my SSI and I'm really scared now. I might not claim the money if it puts me in danger of losing my SSI :-( I'm in California. I know shouldn't be gambling but it was only $15 for the heck of it :-(

I did a 3 horse (Creator, Destin, Lani) box trifecta of $2.50 which cost me $15 and I ended up winning over $3K. Great. I won, I know but the problem now is that I'm a disabled person (I cant physically work :-( Nerve issues) and I'm on SSI. Do I have to report this? Will I be taxed? Will they take away my monthly check? Will they cancel my SSI? I'm really scared. I don't usually gamble and I never expected to win honestly. I did my wager online and the site is asking for my social security number for verification. I can't afford to lose my SSI and I'm really scared now. I might not claim the money if it puts me in danger of losing my SSI :-(

Broke Jason Starling
Age:40
Physical appearance: He seems like the kind of man that in his youth was built like a brick that is slowly going to seed. He wears a black suite and bowler hat. He wears a white stylized mask that contrast his black suit, it wraps around his head that is designed to mimic his facial expressions.Unmasked
Mentality: He is generally a chipper, polite, and congenial business figure. His image is fashioned to be practical, the model of a affluence and control while not being too gaudy.He is intelligent and a bit pedantic in his habit to correct his minions to present themselves properly. Outwardly, he is the Ward Cleaver of the Villainous underworld. Be it a quirk of his genes, upbringing or too many runs through the machine Jason is a sociopath with a code. He may seem like the nicest guy around but he is cold and calculating. He is the type that if it suited his purposes or you got in his way he would shoot you with a smile and then go out to dinner. Of course this does not mean he kills people willy nilly, that wouldn't be practical. Due to his days in the military he is highly regimented in style. You generally cannot tell through his chipper demeanor but he has a streak of fatalism due to his immune disorder that leaves him crippled. He has a slight is obsession with finding new skilled individuals for his archive.
Backstory:Jason was the son of the town mechanic in a small Connecticut town. He was the golden boy of his class, mvp of his High School football team with high rankings in his schools ROTC. He even got his application to Yale accepted. Unfortunately his scholarship was not enough so he joined the military to pay for college. Oddly enough, he triggered in college due to the despair of not being the smartest most talented person in the room. He change his majors to Comp Sci and Psychology to suit his knew knowledge base and continued schooling as he built his first BCI device.
He spent to majority of his 20's going from active duty to school. After gaining his first degree, he traveled the world for a while in the military. The use of his tech gave him the skills required to rise in the ranks pretty quickly. He was chosen for many special ops missions that allowed him to meet unique parahumans and then kill them. In his off time, he continued his studies and slowly perfected his devices by studying people's brains. He kept his status, as a tinker low key given his earlier prototype was more portable. They had less long-term benefits but had more drawbacks which may attribute to some of his mental instabilities now. Eventually constant pressures and a run in with a biokinetic left him with a mysterious illness that left him unfit for combat. After that incident, he could not undertake too much strenuous activities without feeling intense pain or provoking coughing fits that brought up blood. Having to find a new way to make a living, he perfected his device and the persona of the broker was developed. He started his business with a handful of students that he brainwashed to help him. They in turn were used to kidnap some of the greatest minds of the school so they could be copied and sold to create award winning Business, law and med students. He was especially interested in copying and training medical professionals to improve his chances of finding a cure for his affliction.
When his illegitimate business dealings started getting too much attention, he pulled up stakes moving to various cities out west. For a while, he worked out of a RV following leads toward skilled individuals and expanding his connections in the process. He made his fortune by "teaching" skills for a high price or asking for an annual percentage of their annual incomes. Eventually he began to manipulate minds enough during the training process to implement some brainwashing techniques to make people feel like they need him even more. During this time he also used his connections to build up his Alias of Dr. Starling, Psychiatrist and traveling consultant.
During his cross-country tour, he added a small army of accountants, financial managers, and lawyers to his loose organization to handle the money and keep his organization "clean". He trained guards with the skills he obtained in the military to protect his holding and eventually started loaning out soldiers to the highest bidder. At this point, he began also selling the services of the trained individuals in his organizations or those indebted to him. Eventually he set up more permanent roots in Las Vegas, the nature of his business practices mixing well with its subtle cape underground. Maybe one of the biggest feathers in his cap was his alias getting a nice contract with PRT/Protectorate to occasionally be put on the psychologist rotation.
His business became quite profitable in Vegas. He spent many years there until one idiot had to screw it all up. He had undergone his process too many times, went off the rails and killed a major official. With his lawyers and a few "trained" PRT officers in his pocket, no official has ever been able to pin anything on him. With the heat on, he was forced to pull up roots again and headed back East to set up shop in the big apple. This is where it begins, He has reconnected with his Brain trust and bought a few properties in NYC to train and maintain his work. If you need mercs/thugs he's your man. If you're injured and need a night surgeon, he is but a call away. Find yourself under the eye of the law, a friendly face can show up to shoo away cops with talk of law. Having yourself mysteriously in the possession of money you should not have? Someone can be bought to perform an magic act with the wealth. The Broker serves as a liaison of services of all kinds and if you are really desperate, one of his "Dealers" may contact you with a proposition of improving your life with new abilities.
Resources: Due to his business, connections and tithes from magnates of industry money has never been a problem for The Broke. He is exceedingly wealthy but most of his money is not consolidated leaving him to only be able to draw up toprying eyes or have to use IRS contacts. He can draw more but it often takes time to gather it quietly from his various accounts. He lives with in a highly fortified Bunker. Has bought various properties around the city,but has centralized in the southern end of NYC where he makes use shipyards to move products. Brain trust a couple warehouses that he uses as staging grounds for skill training and soldier training, a couple safe houses, several empty offices used by minions (One being fullt stocked for surgery) and legitimate business fronts.He has begun work on a more consolidated secret base that does not require as much work for hiding his work. Keep Several unmarked vans and a semi trailer for his minions. Drives a Crown Vic for every day use and is driven around in a modified limo as the Broker. Before his cutting infastructure in LAs Vegas he was rated in the billions but, With Tinker tech maintance,starting up infastructure in NYC, and slew of soldiers and other men he pays to keep the company running he is current only rated at 500 mill with room to grow.
The Brain Trust: is the nickname the Broker jokingly gives for the meeting of his mundane 9 lieutenants. (Merc, Lawyer, Medic, Accountant, Manager, Reporter, Officer,Bureaucrat , admin) They go by other psuedonyms but I'll go over that later) The Broker, The Merc(managing maintaining and keeping his company covert and protected) , The Lawyer (Keeps the broker out of jail and mananges the lawrers kept to grease the palms to make the company on the level) , The Accountant(manages finances and underlings that deal with money) , the Medic (Brokers personal doc and manages his fleet of doctors and surgeons), The Manager (Deals with athletes, musicians and actors that used his services. Tends to telecommute), The Reporter (media relations, makes sure the right palms are greased to keep Broker out of limelight and deals with the dealers that find potential clients), Officer (His connection with the PRT and law enforcement) ,Bureaucrat (Helps deal with the slow wheels of governmental systems)
A stint in the pod can range from upwards of $1000 to several million based on a number of factors. Some factors include; choice of skill,Level of expertise, time spent inside and the level of involvement on the Brokers Part. For instance uploading a doctorate level program and having the Broker watching all the way would be extremely expensive. It's worth it though given having the Broker subsede the operation cuts down on negative side-effects. The Broker offers a reduction program that involves added favors and a percentage of all revenue.
Alignment: Villian, Affable Evil. I mean part of his evils include maaking sure there are competent doctor, lawyers,police and politicians. Will work with heroes but his less than reputable businesses and his ring of hired mercenaries tend to give people a bitter taste in their mouths.
Equipment/Weaponry: (Even though most cannot decipher his coding without his powers, he is paranoid about intrusions and tends to leave his tech as closed systems.)
Keeps a few guns and knives in concealed holsters about his body, Many burner phones(which conveniently have no gps),
Devices shown below in comments.
Specializations: (Can vary sometimes given time) Neurology, Psychology,Compter engineering, Military Training Special Ops (know his way around a gun and knows urban warfare quite well.),Makes a mean creme brule along with other baked goods, Can beat a lie detector and can withstand most forms of advanced interrogation techniques. Knows several forms of mixedmartial arts but cannot use it due to illness.
Versatility:He is creative as any other tinker.
Power: TinkeThinker, Skill Broker, Mind Hacker
Broker is a Tinker that specializes in creating machines that directly interface with human minds. With the exception of the few mobile interface devices that only give basic commands, most of his devices that can effect long lasting changes are large immobile devices. Part of his ability involves the creation, understanding and manipulation of a specialized computer language that emulates the neural transmissions and impulses of the human mind. When it comes to understanding this code he can work it with a supernatural level speed, acuity being able to multitask around many processes in the coding process. It takes about an hour minimum of sifting through the code of a neural map to parse out individual skills and information he wants. He can translate memories and other impulses from the code but that takes at least a week due to the individualized nature of them it. Generally, an individual is placed into one of his PODs, which begins by synchronizing with the subject's brain patterns and begins to make a current copy of the neural pathways of the subject's brain. From there it is all coding, running programs or a little bit of both.
Once a neural map is formed & The Broker has had time to work with it, future attempts to manipulate that mind become faster and simpler. It does not help that manipulation makes minds more pliable during the 24 hr period after the bath. Part of this occurs due to the slightly rejuvenating properties of his devices which increase neural plasticity during the span the devices are in operation(IE. Treat brains like the sponge of a toddlers brain). The Neural chips/bands were actually developed as a means of counteracting some of the after effects.. Running a skill program on someone that already knows the information or has had that program before acts to reduce the amount of time required to stay inside the POD. Due to this if a POD detects one of the markers left by use of a skill The Broker has routines built into the POD to simply run maintenance subroutines as a means of a refresher course for the subject.
People tend to wake up from their time in the chair feeling as if they had the best sleep of their life. Subjects generally do not recognize the side effects neuro-tinkering given the effects happen within their own brains. Its like how someone that is crazy doesn't generally wake up one day and realize they are mad. Minor changes from less emotionally damaging experiences lead to fewer negative drawbacks. Extensive changes from severe skills or repeated changes tend to lead to minor memory loss, Altered emotional responses,mental disorders and ability to empathies(Overlapping programs can leave remnants) The Broker can mitigate "some" of these negative drawbacks by taking a more direct hand in the coding process along with the programs running(he's able to find where that misplaced "zero" is within the lines of code.)
Given his ability to manipulate memories and other impulses, The broker has a tendency to underly subroutines for minor memory loss (mostly just directed toward experiences related being works on) and possible brain washing.
Ultimately it should be noted here that he uses his abilities to create skilled minions that are either loyal or indebted to him or at least connected to him in some way. He uses theses skills to be the ultimate guy that knows a guy.
Example:A crew of Assie Mc Doucebag's The non-capes are tired of always being everyone's punching bag. Their displeasure is noted by one of the Brokers dealers and they are made a proposition to undergo the procedure. They remember the dealer wore a hat, had a huge grin but not much else. 48 hours later they can't exactly remember how it happened but now they found that they can either shoot a sniper rifle or know how to strip a assault rifle and put it back together like no one's business, recite military protocol to the letter and kick complete ass. They don't understand how it happened but they thank the lawyer that explained the contract none the less. All they had to do was give a tithe to the trust and come when one of their favors were called. Oddly enough a week later, they found themselves agreeing to work off their debt by going on retainer. They were outfitted with the latest gear, given helmets that make them feel all tingly inside before taken to an abandoned warehouse where a scary man yelled at them to train more..A month later they are called to deal with a nuisance by the name of Regent. While going against his men the weirdo kept twitching his fingers causing the helmet to buzz. No matter a bullet to the head effects everyone the same.
(Even though most cannot decipher his coding without his powers, he is paranoid about intrusions and tends to leave his tech as closed systems.) Keeps a few guns and knives in concealed holsters about his body, Many burner phones(which conveniently have no gps)

Name	Description	Cost	Upkeep	Life w/o upkeep
The POD	The POD is the size of an overstuffed laziboy recliner in the shape of a bean sprout. When open an individual lays down in the chair with a breathing tube, fluid drip and specially fitted neural helmet attached so that they can breathe when the pod is closed and filled with gel. Within the Pod the target is put under . The POD begins by making a neural map of individuals inside and send this information to the Archive for storage and processing. Once this is done the Broker can run one of his skill programs to "Teach" knowledge to those inside. This is done by having the POD continually projecting the program through the subjects neural connections until natural connection form around them. He can actively code resulting in more personalized alteration but doing such takes much longer than stated. Due to a safety measure only one full skill program can be run at a time running more than one during a single session requires sacrifices in what is learned. In this case the subject learns percentages set when the program is executed. A session in the POD can last 8 to 48 hrs based on the amount of information learned. The POD can be used to alter the neural network in various ways it just often takes longer. Broker can alter memories, affections, personalities, create anthema's, phobias, or even break the mental aspects of addiction. Based on the level of alteration it can take up to a week of coding an a week within the POD. (He favors minor changes and short term memory removal which can be done within the time it takes to run a program). For best results the Broker is required to monitor a program as it runs so that any errors or mental "snarls" can be fixed. Especially without the Broker catching any major error that cause mental issues Disorders begin to accrue with repeated use. Certain programs that involve downloading traumas and mental stresses like Military, Criminal, and some medicals tend to cause more disorders than most.During the process Broker likes to remove short term memories to protect his holdings and inlay various brainwashing programs(or implant neural chips).	$10 mill	1 mill	6 months, few days if not maintained by Broker
Archive	The Archive is the supercomputer that the Broker built to be able to store & process the information obtained from the PODs, Neural chips, and other BCI Devices. It facilitates the transfer of information in and out of the PODs and bands. The Neuro maps from the PODs are stored within his network, where it can then be translated by the Broker into usable code. From copying all these Neural maps Broker has been able to develop skill programs that have allowed the Broker to speed up the coding process greatly. These Programs can then be implemented into the other individual's neuromaps. Programs generally include things like general skills, knowledge bases, professions and the like. Another reason he does not advertise this is that he tends cause memory loss to protect his holdings and implants subtle suggestions and brainwashing techniques into those that enter the POD. The Archive serves as the central terminal that connects all his devices together. Broker tend to keep at least 2 hidden Blackboxes that store backups of the information in case of theft or Archive failure.	5 mill	1 mill	1 year
BCI Band	Headband device translates neural impulses and brain chemistry in a ways that allow him wirelessly interface with compatible devices. Given this periphery allows for manipulation at the speed of thought it provides control far greater than your common periphery. He only created a couple, the main one being integrated into his mask. Connected devices are mainly the archive, which in turn allows him access to connected devices like neural chips and electronics with a blood barrier device installed. In the case of the one in the mask information is displayed on the HUD. The device monitors the wearers mental activity making use of safeguards to protect against outside influences effecting his mental state and displaying Red Flags if there are any gross control attempts.	1 mill	$25,000	1 year
Morpheus Band	a special larger type of BCI Band made to be worn while sleeping. The band promotes a deep restful sleep while producing a lucid dream state. In that state he can access his systems. He more or less uses it to as time to Code, keep an eye on his security systems, Neural chips, or other business holdings.	1 mill	50,000	6 months
Neuro Chip	The chip constantly monitors neurological functioning of those that it is connected to. This information acts as Bluetooth to bloodbarrier ports transferring information stored back to the archive. It is through this collected information that the chip is able get a baseline for average neurological activity. It is through this that whenever the chip detects external alteration that cannot be immediately classified a red flag is sent to the server and making the subject aware by way of a trained cue. On it's own the chip gives subjects minor increased resistance to the effects of a masters influence. When active with a command code the chip is continuously refreshing the neural pathways with the command, which increases the inherent resistance to influence. The resistance can be selectively increased if Broker has been able to collect data from individuals that have been affected by a master's influence. He is then able to code in ways to counteract the effect. This way the resistance starts out as minor but the more a master uses their power on those with chips the better the resistance. The Chip alters pathways while worn to and can effect brain Imbalances (Broker uses it on himself to cure chronic depression which keeps his mental state even). The Chip naturally degrades after a year but can be kept functioning by way of a concoction. Normally they are allowed to degrade but some individuals like the soldier like the added protection.	$100 chip/$800 Band	$100	month to year
The Blood Barrier	The Blood Barrier is the infrastructure for the Brokers Wireless Neural Network. The network is made up of Transmitters and Spiders. Transmitters are placed in various places about the city that the Brain trust owns to increase the range of the signal. Spiders are interface devices that hook up to normal devices to be included in the network. Both acts as a firewall to prevent access to his systems even though his devices OS runs on the programming language he created with his Powers. The Barrier is used to connect his mobile chips and bands to the archive terminal.	$300 and $3 mill	$100 and $5,000	6 months
Strobe Ball	Either used as a grenade or in the crystalline handle of his cane. It interrupts neural activity via interacting with the optical nerve. When activated it begins emanating pulses of light in exact pattern to cause those that see it to seize. It can cause a petite seizue within 50 feet in those that do not cover their eyes.effects last for 1 minute after removal of strobe source. The strobe has a max battery life of 5 minutes before deactivating to recharge.	$300	$50	2 months
Ghost Box	Box the size of an old Brief case. Device release infra sound in a general 40-50 foot radius area on average but can be increased to the area of of your average warehouse or 4 story building. This sound interacts with the brain to produce minor feelings of Dread, Paranoia and general creepiness . These feelings increase based on exposure time and proximity to the box. Device requires power source like a generator to function properly. Given The Broker developed this to help conceal various operations special hearing aids have been developed to cancel out the effect.	$3,000	$600	1 months
Zero stick	Low amperage taser stick that does not do any real lasting damage to targets. It interacts with the nervous system of the subject in a way that cause a form of short term epilepsy when struck with the stick for up to 3 seconds. Targets fall unconscious for upwards of 1 hour. If one wakes up in that time symptoms include lethargy, short-term memory loss, blurred vision & Dry mouth. This Device was created by the Broker to help in kidnapping people to be scanned in the PODs.	$300	$25	Month
Costume	Underneath his fine tailored suit he wears a costume made of hi-tech nano-weave designed to protect him from stabbings, arms fire,and minor explosives. In addition to that it include synthetic muscular aids that give him full range of movement and give off the illusion of a much more muscular form. The artificial muscles respond to his BCI band.	5 mill	1 mill	year
Mask	protect his face from direct arms fire, filter air containments, and alters his voice. The lens display a HUD giving Broker information from his archive about things he sees in his environment. It uses face recognition to give information from his archive is related to people he meets. It is navigated by use of his neural bands and eye movement.	3 mill	9,000	year
Beholder Armor	Armor Connects directly to the hosts Neural chip and nervous system. Cameras and Microphones have been integrated into the Class V armor which improve the hosts senses and give a defence against Strangers whose powers only work on bio targets. The Armor has the Brokers more offensive tech integrated into the system as well. O stick in the gloves, Strobes in the helmet. More directionally focus ghost box located in the belt. The helmet contains much of the same software as the Brokers own Mask.	5 mill	9,000	year

Skill	category	hrs
Special Forces	Military	24
Seals	Military	24
Marines	Military	24
Military Engineer	Military	24
Sniper	Military	16
Demolitions	Military	14
Bomb disposal	Security	8
PRT officer	Security	16
Fire fighter	Security	10
CIA	Security	24
Police	Security	16
PI	Security	18
Surveillance/Security specialist	Security	24
bomb squad	Security	12
Hostage negotiation	Security	12
Cryptography	Security	20
Interrogation	Security	18
Forensic scientist	Security	18
German	Language	10
Russian	Language	10
Arabic	Language	10
Chinese	Language	10
French	Language	10
Spanish	Language	10
Japanese	Language	10
Italian	Language	10
morse	Language	8
Orthopaedic	Medicine	24
Krav Maga	Fighting	14
Muay Thai	Fighting	14
Aikido	Fighting	14
Kenjutsu	Fighting	12
Sambo	Fighting	14
SCARS (Military)	Fighting	14
Boxing	Fighting	14
Fencing	Fighting	10
Markmanship	Fighting	14
Karate	Fighting	14
Judo	Fighting	14
Jujitsu	Fighting	14
Carpentry	Skilled	8
Plumbing	Skilled	8
Electrician	Skilled	14
Mechanic	Skilled	16
Welder	Skilled	8
Locksmith	Skilled	8
Cooking	Skilled	18
Survivalist	Skilled	20
Architect	Skilled	20
Teacher	Skilles	18
Computer Imaging	Skilles	18
Construction	Skilled	14
Bartender	Skilled	14
Brewing	Skilled	14
Textiles	Skilled	10
Metallurgy	Skilled	10
Agricultural	Science	20
Psychology	Science	24
Biology	Science	18
Botany	Science	18
Computer science	Science	24
Mechanical engineering	Science	24
Electrical engineering	Science	24
Civil Engineering	Science	20
Industrial Engineer	Science	20
Mining Engineer	Science	20
Weapons Engineer	Science	20
Chemistry	Science	24
Anatomy	Science	20
Cardiology	Science	24
Genetics	Science	20
Immunology	Science	24
Criminology/Forensics	Science	24
Curators/Antiquarian	Science	24
Archaeology	Science	24
Cartography	Science	24
Judge	Government	24
Micro expression read	language	24
Politician	Government	24
SSI admin	Government	24
IRS official	Government	24
children & family services	Government	14
CDC	Government	24
DMV	Government	16
Inspector General	Government	24
Health & Saftey	Government	16
Customs official	Government	16
Bureau of Consular Affairs agent	Government	18
Safe cracker	Crime	16
Burglar	Crime	18
Stalking/Tailing	Crime	20
Forgery	Crime	20
Grifter	Crime	20
Gambling	Crime	20
hacking	Crime	24
Impersonation	Crime	20
Lip reading	Crime	24
Slieght of hand	Crime	14
Assassin	Crime	24
Hotwirering	Crime	8
Cleaner	Crime	20
Smuggling	Crime	18
Courtesan	Crime	10
Urban invisibility/low radar	Crime	14
Doctor	Medical	20
Surgeon	Medical	24
Plastic Surgeon	Medical	24
Pharmacology	Medical	20
Neurology	Medical	24
Kinesiology	Medical	18
Animal Husbandry	Medical	12
Veterinarian	Medical	12
Toxicology	Medical	20
Radiation Technology	Medical	20
Psycho-Therapy	Medical	24
Psychobiology	Medical	20
Paramedic	Medical	20
Pathology	Medical	20
Lawyer	Legal	24
Cape	Legal	16
Tax	Legal	18
contract	Legal	18
Accountant	Finance	20
Stock Broker	Finance	24
Marketing Manager	Finance	20
Investment Banker	Finance	20
Card games	Finance	20
Gambler	Finance	16
Casino operations	Finance	16
Statistics	Finance	24
Economics	Finance	16
History	Knowledge	24
Social studies	Knowledge	16
Art	Knowledge	18
Cape Theory	Knowledge	14
Cape Culture	Knowledge	14
English	Knowledge	18
Mathematics	Knowledge	20
Mnemonic theory	Knowledge	24
Administration	Knowledge	18
Arms	Knowledge	16
Car	Driver	16
Chopper	Driver	18
plane	Driver	18
ship	Driver	16
barge	Driver	18
Drawing	Arts	10
make-up artist	Arts	18
Writer	Arts	20
Sing	Arts	16
Act	Arts	18
Photography	Arts	18
Dance	Arts	10
Instrument	Arts	24
Gymnastics/Acrobatics	Arts	10
Freeerunning	Arts	24
Journalism	Media	16
Tv production	Media	16
Audio/Visual tech	Media	12
Editor	Media	16
Business Management	Orgazational	20
Entrepreneurship	Orgazational	24
Organization	Orgazational	8
Salesman	Orgazational	12
Advertising	Orgazational	16
Public Speaking	Orgazational	16

Name	Code	Skill	Desc.
*Silvia Barrows	CIA, Military Engineer, Administrative,Mixed Martial, burglary, Special: (Beholder Armor)	Barrows is The Brokers Liason to the City as well as his personal assistant. Barrows has been outfitted with the Completed Beholder Armor to allow her to compete with other Parahuman.
*Shaun Reyes	CIA	. CIA, computer engineer, hacking,Surveilence, Urban invis	(The guy called in when you need someone tailed or investigated)
*Mr. Malone	DriveBody Gaurd/aid	Car, Marines, Administrative,Sambo, burglary	Malone is usually at the Brokers side, acting as Bodyguard, chauffeur and personal assistant.
*Warren Hayes	Cop:	police, Forensic scientist/comp sci 50%	(LAPD desk jockey, good for contaminating evidence)
*Dr. Cassandra R. Fagan.	The Chemist	Pharmacology, chemistry, Botany.	Runs a few mundane drug production operations around the city. Broker tends to give him loyal lab techs.
*Niko Rosendahl	The fence	Salesman, grifter, marksman, Admin	The Russians, Twins that specialize in the trade of art, artifacts and some arms dealing on the side. Have connection to Coyote.Niko acts as auctioneer and face of the family business.Broker tends to supply them with muscle.
*Maria Rosendahl,	The Archivist:	Curator, art, history,Arms	The Russians, Twins that specialize in the trade of art, artifacts and some arms dealing on the side. Have connection to Coyote. Maria's job is to authenticate any items that come into their possession.Broker tends to supply them with muscle.
*Samuel,	Coyote	Marine, Smuggler,Forgery,Customs,barge, car, salesman, Survivalist	Smuggler that can get anything in or out of the country without people knowing. Part of his arms operations have been slowed recently with the fall of Curetus. but is still able to get a steay supply in. Works with the twins Archivist and Fence. Sometimes works with Identity to smuggle people in and out)
* Little Rock	???	GrifteAkido ,Cards, casino op, gambling	Runs a casino on reservation land.
*Smith	Hitman	Special(Mental map),Special(Sleeper trigger) Assassin, Sniper, pharmacology50%, x% MMA, Arms, Make-up artist	Indivual imprinted with someones mental map(or use the person to begin with) along with the skills of assassination then set them loose to kill a assigned target.
*Misc N/a	The Auditors:	Comp sci/hacking 50%,forgery/grifter 50%, Irs/inspector gen/health Saftey/childfamily.	The most frightening words for anyone using government money. Plants within the the inspector generals office, health dept , public saftey,and of child and family services. Not used often but good to be a thorn in the side of the Prt or anything else for that matter when they start sticking their nose where it does not belong.)
*Misc N/a	Identity.	Comp sci/hacking 50%,forgery/grifter 50%, Dmv/ConsulaSsi	Plants in the office of Consular Affairs, SSI & DMV. Connection to coyote, Admin and Bureaucrat.Used to create new identities or erase an old one.)
*Misc N/a	Body Double.	Special:Broker behaviors.	Individual with same bodytype as the broker that underwent extensive plastic surgery to appear like the broker.At least 2 are kept in hiding in case of need, like appearences where he knows the situation is dangerous. Each one has a special chip that allows for a greater degree of control. The Broker has sent 1 such Body double to the new city to expand. (This one in particular the Broker went to lengths to find a minor thinker that with the help of his tech could match up to his ability to process information.)
*Mics N/a	Crazy/Tabula	Special:bacon and eggs	Those that have had their eggs scrambled by the machine easily manipulated and controled by the Neuro chips.Tend to act like space cases or individuals with severe mental disorders. Good for creating a distraction or one off events..
*Misc N/a	0 Company.	Special Force/Marine,1 Fighting, Combat Engineesnipe Bomb disposal	Under sgt. Cardosa the Zeroes are the fighting force that the Broker uses against most external threats.