You always get choices, but first, you must deal with what you have.

Bootleg copy of the Gomez Guide

“What do you mean, you don’t want a specialization?” Johanna asked.

“Proper scientific inquiry requires controls, Mrs. Milton,” Gomez answered.

“But you still want to come with us to Washington?”

“Oh, I won’t pretend my bones wouldn’t feel more at ease here waiting. But I definitely want to see your so-called conversion being done. Not just for the process, but the parchments you’re going to make. Besides, if this treasure trove of yours is intact, our head librarian, Estrella, will crucify me and then use my hide to reskin some of her books if I let the ‘wrong’ ones be destroyed forever. Getting ancient academic books is almost impossible these days.”

“Well, I can’t guarantee anything,” Johanna winced.

“We’ll see. That’s the point of me coming, after all. And I can trust you all to protect this little me.”

The professor tapped his chest pocket, where he’d slid Johanna’s notebook.

“I’ll take good care of this, don’t worry. I’ll have all the data copied in no time and return it soon. Writing exam notes taught me how to write fast. More so since most of my students do need a lot of these notes.”

Ernesto Gomez

Male human, 62 years, 8 months

Unspecialized (scholar)

Level: 6 (13,000 XP needed)

6 unallocated skill points

XP: 44,589 XP

STR: 14

AUT: 17

AGI: 14

PER: 17 (2000 XP needed)

DEX: 14

EMP: 17 (2000 XP needed)

An interesting character, Moore noted. And the stats spread was definitively weird. Johanna having provided her notes, and the obviously animated conversation had cemented the whole impression. While none of the specializations he’d unlocked seemed to gel into a scholar-type, the System still provided his own confirmation of what Mr. Gomez seemed to do for a living.

Johanna found the rest of the expedition in front of Macintosh’s store. The merchant whistled when he saw the pack of scavengers massed in front of his outfit.

“I heard someone was organizing a massive expedition up the Marches of the Lakes. Looks like it was a thing,” he said, before inviting them inside his warehouse.

With the sheer number of items being brought out, there were no real negotiations. Johanna asked about the last Artifact they had brought in and he rolled his eyes.

“Should have guessed you had yet another one. I still haven’t sold the first one you brought, you know? You’re going to destroy my capital at this rate. Or maybe I can afford to hold an auction here instead of running my contacts in Nashville. Three Artifacts in less than two months…”

She shrugged in apology. At least they had kept one for Laura this time.

“Can I do that this afternoon instead, because there’s no way I can sort through all this while trying to figure out what you brought me?”

“Sure,” Miles replied for her.

The basic loot was to be divided equally, and it was almost $1400 per person. The contract specified an equal split, so Johanna and Tom pocketed their $2800 quickly. It was a lot less than the previous expedition, but this time, the four of them were not in the pool for Artifact money.

“We have to meet,” she informed the other team leaders.

“We have a real expedition to organize, you mean,” Cameron acknowledged.

“High and Dry?” she suggested.

“As usual.”

The five of them, Miles, Ulrich and both Cameron Scott and Madelyn Nash crammed themselves into the large side room of the High and Dry.

The latter wasted no time asking, “So, what’s the plan?”

“Go in, convert as many books into parchments for ease of transport, and get out,” she said. “Basically. Yes, that lacks detail, but that’s what the core of it is. So everybody is on board with the expedition?” she asked as a first question.

Both Cameron and Madelynn nodded in return.

“I checked, and no one’s gotten cold feet. I wouldn’t pressure my team anyway, but they’re all good to go,” the Tyrant Fixer confirmed.

“Same here,” the Swordbringer added.

“So we have sixteen Talented, including three Fixers, which, I think, is the most important factor. Miles, you said logistics.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“A lot of terrain to cross. We can resupply at various towns near the mana zone, but it’s at least 3 weeks to travel through the zone proper, each way. Plus we need to transport what we find. I think we need two wagons. We won’t find much in the way of edibles in that kind of mana zone.”

“Laura hoped to have a way of dealing with that, but it turns out she can fix you after the fact, not on the food itself,” Johanna said. “Not something I wish to inflict on anyone.”

“Do you have drivers?” Cameron asked.

“No? Do we need some?”

“Driving real wagons takes skill. Notably on unknown terrain,” he said. “You need professionals.”

“Most of my team comes from farmland around, but Cameron’s right. It’s one thing to drive the small wagons farmers use, it’s a different thing to drive a big one,” Madelynn noted.

Johanna scribbled a few notes.

“Miles? Ulrich? How long do you think it will take to find teams?”

“No idea. At least a couple of weeks.”

“We might luck into teamsters when we go shopping for wagons,” she sighed, adding another note.

They hashed quickly the difficulties of organizing the teams, and the two salvager team leaders took their leave. Johanna and the two older scavengers found themselves planning the next phase.

“Obviously, storing the parchments in your apartment won’t work,” Ulrich said.

“It’s hard to guess how many we’ll have, but… you’re right. If we fill a wagon with them, that won’t work.”

“Besides, they’re valuable.”

“Yes, but who would know to steal them? I mean, apart from the crew, but they have their talents already. You think someone will attempt something?”

“Maybe until yesterday, only about twenty people know about those Talents. But that was yesterday. Today, that number is almost going to be double already.”

“How so?”

The thirster adopted a deliberately theatrical voice, “Honey, you won’t believe what we got this time…”

“They’ve all been told to keep it quiet. Surely their family will also…”

“It takes one, Mrs. Milton. It takes one. It will take time, but it will spread, once you start using all those parchments.”

“I suppose it does,” she admitted. “People at home talked after they found out we had acquired Talents, after all. So, we need some secure storage, you think.”

“I’m sure of it. I mean, right now, you’ve only got something potentially worth a few hundred thousand dollars,” Ulrich said.

“What???”

“Told you,” Laura injected.

“A Talent is not as powerful as an Artifact, and most of the parchments you’ve made are useless on their own. But a full set? That’s at least minor Artifact territory even if you can’t leave it to your heirs or resell it. Say, thirty thousand for all six parchments, five thousand per. You’ve got 4 sets here, and you mentioned a few more you already have.”

Johanna gasped.

“Of course, I have no idea how much people might decide to pay for it. But I can tell you it is worth at least as much as the Artifacts you’ve already sold.”

Laura laughed at her expression.

“Imagine after the East Coast. We’re talking millions.”

“Which brings me back to my original proposition,” Ulrich said.

“A business structure.”

“You need one.”

He spread the papers on the table.

“This is what I propose. A corporation with multiple shares, like those big enterprises you find in Vernon…”

The four were ensconced at a small dinner. No Miles Bertram or Ulrich Sengfield, not even Petra Veldhuis. Just the four of them.

“Do we sign?” Johanna asked.

“It’s an interesting proposition. Four equal shares, one for each of us, with Ulrich, and Miles as advisors but not owners. If we disagree, two versus two, they get called as tie-breakers,” Laura noted.

“It seems heavily money-oriented,” Johanna also noted.

“There are two ways of going at it. Political or financial,” Laura replied. “We trade Talents for favors, or for money. Or, well, maybe both, depending. We need money in any case.”

“And that much money going around means politics anyway,” Peter noted. “Miles said there are two types of politicians. Those who need money and those who have money.”

“True. Once we start to be known…”

“Then, of course, the Montana is going to come asking for us,” he said.

“And money means we do have legal protections,” Laura noted.

“Guards,” Tom noted.

“I don’t want to have permanent bodyguards around, like those hated nobles in novels,” Johanna replied.

“We got enough power of our own for that,” Peter shrugged.

“So, that’s on one hand, with that corporation. What’s the alternative?” Johanna asked.

“Small-scale?” Tom speculated.

“Isn’t it way too late for that to happen? We have twelve people ‘working’ for us on this already. Petra. Ulrich and Miles. Those two groups,” Laura replied. “I assume the expedition needs to happen anyway.”

“We’re committed to this, yes.”

“Join Gomez research after?” Tom speculated.

“Possible. But what can he do for us that we won’t do ourselves? Besides expertise, I mean.”

“The thing is, what does the Ancient want?” Laura finally asked, turning back to the fundamentals.

“I don’t fully know. Talking with him was like talking with one of those enigmatic wizards in novels. That dreamscape of ruins and shelves conveyed as much as his words. I…” she hesitated. “I think he doesn’t have any specific way. He spoke about the result, not the how. That one’s all us.”

The bank manager stood and greeted them.

“Name’s Georgy North. So, what brings you here today, Ulrich?” he said, acknowledging immediately the accountant.

“Mrs. Milton here has an interesting opportunity. Due to limited opportunity, she needs to set up her operations rather quickly. She’s got capital, but not enough.”

“And she’s retained you as a financial advisor. So business loan,” he said, pulling up sheets and a pencil.

“We’ve registered the business this morning,” Johanna started. “We’ve pooled about $100,000 in starting capital, but after going over the budget with Ulrich, it’s clearly not enough.”

North whistled.

“Starting capital at a hundred K and you need more? New Sandusky likes people with ambition, but can’t you start smaller and expand later once you’ve proven yourself?”

“It’s a matter of timing. We are going to acquire… material later this year. And since we don’t know when we’ll get another opportunity, we’ll get as much as we can in the first place.”

“Sounds like salvage, which somehow doesn’t surprise me seeing you there,” the banker noted, eyeing Ulrich.

“It is, but not ordinary salvage,” she replied.

“A company dedicated to salvaging hasn’t been around since, what, 2150? I think that’s when they – the Ancient Steel – dissolved because they didn’t get a new owner when the previous one retired, seeing that large amounts of useable materials were becoming harder to find without risks. Dad liquidated the operation, I think I remember. They had, what, $80,000 in capital assets? And you need more than that right now?”

“Ulrich says – and I tend to agree now – that we’ll need a secure location to store highly valuable items, which doubles as a headquarters for our organization. And at least two wagons and driver teams,” she proceeded to enumerate the expected expenses.

“It’s like you’re trying to set up a Union-wide company,” North commented after she finished.

“That’s going to be the plan, ultimately.”

“Looks Mrs… Milton? I know people think their business is unique and will be wildly successful, but that doesn’t always pan out.”

Ulrich laughed lightly, and replied, “By the way, we’re probably interested in the old Clarke’s old building.”

“Well, that was the example I was going to pick,” North replied, adding “A wood maker that tried to make specialty furniture. Ewan Clarke hoped exports would make the bulk of his sales, but his goods were not that popular abroad and he was way too ambitious with his workshop. He went under five years ago, and left New Sandusky with wife, kids, and the shirt on his back after repo took most of what he owned my bank due to outstanding debt and default.”

“And your bank has been trying to unload his building for five years now, I think,” Ulrich noted.

“Are you trying to get it on the cheap?”

The accountant merely shrugged back.

“Look, it would be pretty ballsy to loan you money to purchase a bank asset, with the only collateral being what I already had. So, unless you can offer significant collateral or a similar guarantee, I don’t see why NS Bank would open a business loan for… what’s the name?”

“The Talent House,” Johanna said.

“The Talent House, right. Sounds even ambitious, like if you’ve got some Talented working for you, but ambition alone doesn’t make your salvage business sound enough to warrant a loan.”

North spread his arms in apology.

“Anything else?”

Johanna and Ulrich looked at each other. The accountant had suggested being ready to offer a bit more. So, Johanna reached for her bag.

“Look, Mr. North. The Talent House isn’t about salvaging itself. It’s about unique… capacities. Talents.”

“You sound as if you wanted to provide the service of Talented people.”

“It’s almost that,” she said, pulling out a set.

Georgy North looked at those with curiosity.

“What’s that?”

“What we’re going to procure with the expedition we’re raising capital for. It’s what we call parchments of power. This one set should be for a legendary crafter, or Maker.”