His return back home was simple. A quick shower, hot meal, and a long rest. When he finally woke up he only took a few minutes to check the most recent news and emails. It has been six days since he’d last been able to log out from Cosmos. He read through a few emails and caught up on the latest news.
In the news, it seemed that the announcement regarding Cosmos had gone as well as could be expected. Protests demanding answers from the government, bans on the Cosmos game, religious zealots proclaiming the end of the world. It all lined up pretty much as it had when he’d first experienced the fantastical news. Of course, aside from the naysayers, and fearmongers, the popularity of Cosmos had instantly surged.
The demand for pods increased overnight from a bunch of hardcore gamers and the eccentrically wealthy to the masses. The 1st and 2nd generations of pods had been completely sold. The pod hubs were now completely busy 24 hours a day. Only the most basic pods were sold, with none of the perks and benefits of previous versions, and as a general member of the public you were likely on a waiting list for at least 6 months to purchase one at retail price. Renting was also an option, but those who wanted to rent might have to wait upwards of 2 months to get into a pod from the Cosmos corporation, especially if you were a ‘new user.’ However, for a small processing fee, Alan could rent out his pod for an outrageous amount. In his past life, those who would rent out their pods could make quite the sum from doing nothing but rent out pods for the first few years.
Alan opted out of doing this, as his access to the pod was just too important.
Taking note of one email from his mother, he scanned it quickly. Before deciding to make a quick stop over at the Terran Virtual Market, before going back into the game.
According to his mother, Reardon’s Garden popularity had exploded. The jolly chef’s recipes and meals had helped him become very popular in the surrounding area. Alan was excited to see what the old chef was up too.
As he entered the Terran Virtual Market, he was suddenly inundated with a number of notifications regarding the battle.
Combat Review:
Reward 1 Stat point for 35 F ranked Monster opponents killed. 65 additional kills needed for the next award.
Reward 1 Stat point for 70 F ranked Monster opponents killed. 120 additional kills needed for the next award.
Reward 1 Stat point for 140 F ranked Monster opponents killed. 280 additional kills needed for the next award.
Progress toward next award 34/280
Reward 1 Stat point for 10 E Ranked Monster opponents killed. 20 additional kills need for the next award.
Reward 1 Stat point for 20 E Ranked Monster opponents killed. 35 additional kills need for the next award.
Progress toward next award 9/35
Progress toward C Ranked Monster 1/5
Reward: Stronghold Defender: Successfully participating in a stronghold defense. 1 Stat Point awarded
Reward: Stronghold Leader: Successfully lead and defend your territory against invasion. 1 Stat Point awarded.
Reward: Regicide: Kill a monarch. 2 Stat points awarded. (This award may be received in the future for 1 stat point if you topple a more powerful monarch than yourself).
9 Stat points in total! This was a huge reward as far as stat points went. In the past, just to earn 9 stat points it had taken Him nearly 2 months before had earned that many in total. To earn it in 6 days was incredible. And that wasn’t considering the many stat points he had earned previously.
Looking at his previous stats, decided immediately to place 2 points into each of strength, speed and intelligence. Holding 3 in reserve.
Personal Modifier
Current
Skill points Available: 3
Description
Strength
(4+2/10)
Speed
(3+2/10)
Intelligence
(3+2/10)
(VE) Capacity
(8/8)
382 /800VEU
(VE) Production
(8/8)
8 Units Per Hour
Psychic
Resistance
Immunity to Low Level Psychic Attacks
Immediately, his body started to respond, he felt that his strength increased substantially. His comprehension of intelligence increased as well. Feeling the effects, he didn’t regret the increase of ability. He had initially sought to save his precious point by going through excessive training for both speed and strength, however, to do so would take time, which he didn’t have. The last fight he had convinced him that these few points would help him to endure longer. He has already used the +1 strength serum to increase his physique prior to the battle with the Queen and it had not been enough.
Now, his physique was just shy of those experts before the arrival of Cosmos. He would be well regarded on any state level test of speed or physical prowess, and was just a few points away from equaling those who were national and world level competitors. If he accomplished 8 points in either speed or strength he could easily compete at the olympic level and beyond that his abilities would be superhuman.
Smiling, he flexed his muscles. He wasn’t nearly as strong as he had been in past life, where he had focused on such heavy strength as his standard, but it was good enough for now, and he still had plans to increase his strength and speed through training in the future.
After he reviewed his notifications, Alan’s focus became the grand Terran Virtual Market. He appeared near the center of the city, and made his way toward his shop.
It had been only six days since his last appearance here, but the changes had been dramatic. Most of the lots around the central plaza were filled with buildings of one sort or another. Most were still unnamed, but some had started to tell various foods, manufactured goods, or other services. The previous 8 dirt roads, which let, like a compass from the central plaza, had become more modernized, as the buildings around them were built up. It was a service that Cosmos provided, since so many credits were being spent in the market. These 8 roads coincidentally separated the 8 different regions of the Terran Virtual Market. The Terran Virtual Market, appealed to everyone on the planet of earth, hence its vast size. However, it afforded players from certain regions of the world to make claims and purchase land from their respective regions. Africa, Europe, North America, South America were 5 of the most distinct regions. However, based on population alone, East and South Asia as well as Oceania had their own regions which overlapped. Of course as the game went on, people from one region could purchase land in another region. This grouping was Cosmo’s attempt to group what it considered similar groups together for cooperation.
In Alan’s mind however, it was about as diplomatic and well thought out as Great Britain's version of territory separation during its days when it controlled vast colonies at the height of its empire. Not good. For now, however, it didn’t make too much of a difference, other than concentrating some political and business powers in their respective regions.
From his vantage point, saw some buildings in various regions take on the architectural distinctions of their regions. Europe with it’s classical columns and even gothic looking buildings while those from oceania gave a feeling of open air and resorts, prepared to welcome an ocean breeze.
As he walked toward his own building, he was gratified at the knowledge that he was only a half mile away from the city center.
Walking through the crowds he was struck by the newest visitors to the Terran Virtual Market, non-players. Or the very least, their avatar personas. These individuals, who were unable to afford to get access to a pod, but had been able to log on via the internet. Their avatars were just projections, emitted by small floating lights. Though they couldn’t eat, or interact physically with this world. They could still buy some items as well as attend various events at the market.
As his little shop came into view, it was clear that Reardon’s Garden was just as popular as his mother had expressed. The place was bustling as diners fed upon the chef’s unique alien delicacies. Even more so, some players enjoyed the temporary boosts that the food would provide to their stats. It was truly a beneficial relationship.
However, looking into the window at his mothers shop he noted that things were not quite as busy. He noted that the shelves were all but empty, and only a sullen looking woman was sitting at a counter with a frustrated expression. As he walked, she looked up, her weariness evaporating instantly. “Alan, it's about time you came and saw your mother!” She stood up and immediately walked around the counter to give him a hug.
“Mom, it’s great to see you too.” He hugged her back.
“Oye!” She exclaimed giving him a look of surprise and a grunt of pain.
“Oh! Sorry mom, I didn’t mean too” Alan let go immediately.
She removed herself and rubbed her shoulders, “Have you been going to the gym?”
“Not exactly, I just had a stat increase and haven’t gotten used to it yet.”
“Well be more careful in future,” She half-scolded with a hint humor, “next time you might turn me into mashed potatoes”
He grinned at her and nodded.
“Now, you must tell me everything about this war!” She declared.
“Didn’t Dad tell you?”
“Are you kidding?” She scoffed, “He gave me the most drab and dry outline of events you could imagine, it was like reading a textbook. No, you must tell me all the details, especially anything to do with Shelley!”
Alan rolled his eyes, but since his mother insisted, he had to relent. Telling her the whole story took most of his morning, as his mother insisted on every absurd detail. Especially about Shelley. She was thoroughly impressed that she had done so much leadership during the conflict, and squealed in delight when she found he’d given her a hug after the battle with the Queen. Alan was initially bothered, that his mother wasn’t more worried or upset when he described the one on one conflict with the bug. Though he did gloss over some of the details like his instant psychic immunity and what she had said. He didn’t see a problem though, it was clear what his mother’s priorities were from her questions.
“So, after the battle did you talk with her?” His mother inquired.
“Yes mom.” Alan replied a little annoyed, purposefully giving her a short answer. .
“...And?” His mother pushed.
“I told her I had a lot of work to do and came here.” He purposefully left out the fact that he had gifted her a substantial amount of land as he didn’t want her to read too much into it. Before she could react to his statement he cut her off, “Mom, what's with the shop? It seems a bit empty today?”
She playfully punched his shoulder, “I can’t believe that is how you left it.” But she then looked around and the empty shelves, obviously sullen. “I’ve pretty much sold most of my stock from my trade deals earlier. I have plenty of cash and credits, but no real way to get new merchandise.”
He nodded, expecting such an outcome. Even with her selling her items at outrageous prices, the novelty was just too tempting for buyers.
She continued, “I’ve thought about buying some of the items that are starting to trickle in from a few of the folks trying to manufacture them, but there is no profit in it.”
Alan remembered in the early days, the cottage industry was king in Cosmos. It was pretty much an etsy shop atmosphere for most items found on earth -- individual makers, taking the time to produce semi unique products. Of course the risk in that had to do with varying quality, scams, and most of those industries drying up as soon as the trade restrictions were lifted. No one wanted to buy a blaster pistol from earth at 10 times the cost, when you could get a much more reliable and efficient one from a reputable galactic arms producer. Same went for armor, ships, tools, etc. Even those large companies that did manage to make a decent production model soon found themselves feeling the pinch of intergalactic trade.
Ideally, you needed to manufacture goods that could not only compete with galactic prices, but also in quality.
“Mom, what it sounds like to me is we need a chance to make our own goods.”
“And how do you propose we go about doing that my son?”
“This is what I’m thinking,” He outlined a plan to his mother, who began to furiously write down the ideas he had for her. He spent two hour with her, ironing out a few of the finer details, but at the end of the conversation his mother was ecstatic over the new ideas.
“I’m very excited about all of this son, but I’m a little bit nervous about all the loans we’ll be taking out.”
“Don’t worry mom, we’ll be able to pay it back in no time.” He reassured her..
“All right, well I’m off to go talk to Reardon about getting some of his food products on my shelves and then I’m off to talk to the banks and a few other places to get things set up.” She stood up suddenly, and walked to the door. “Just remember to lock up when you go.”
The plan he’d outlined to her was fairly simple, the first was to accrue financing along with her cash reserves to buy some facilities that he outlined for manufacturing. The second was to hire those motivated to craft and manufacture in Cosmos. He’d offer pay with partial credits and also with perks of time in the Pods. Right now, just being able to spend 2 hours would be a huge benefit. And since all his family members needed to sleep some time, they could easily trade those hours spent out of the pod to those who wanted some consistent time in the pod. This hiring strategy would have the benefit of finding those who were actually interested in the game. Not just those who were in it for a quick profit. Finally, he had made a few suggestions about potential products. This included some foods which Reardon could train a few helpers to makek, while he made a cut of the profits, while Alan had hinted at some resources that might become available on Kragga, and potential products that could be made.
Overall he was hoping to build a company that would separate itself from the ‘cottage industry’ phase on earth and survive long into the future.
Having finished his work with his mom, and giving her and Reardon approval for expansion of the shop he decided to move on with a few more tasks before heading back to Kragga.
He briefly called his sister and older brother, letting them know he was grateful. He promised Alice he would take her to dinner. Somewhere very ‘nice' and with a few friends. He was just finishing up when he had a call from Nick.
“Buddy! When you are getting back here. You missed all the fun last night.” Nick’s bombastic voice came over the phone.
“I had to get some sleep.” Alan offered.
“Well that’s great and all, but you better get over here soon, Shelley and Blatta are going at it over the salvage. Not to mention, there may be a few of my mercenaries that are also getting a bit irritated at the fact that your sister didn’t happen to be waiting here to reward them….”
“Nick What did you promise?” Alan asked.
“I just mentioned that Beautyinwonderland would be grateful and share her appreciation to everyone who participated. I figured since we let them all have autographed photos it would be enough. . . but a few thought the appreciation would be more in person.”
Alan rolled his eyes. “Ok let everyone know I’ll be there soon.”
Arriving back at Kragga, Alan was surprised by how much had been accomplished in just over half a day that he’d left. There were no bug corpses in the middle of the base, only a large crater where the queen had once remained. Heading to the command area, Alan saw groups of workers moving quickly throughout the compound. Shelley must have not wasted any time in the morning getting everyone on task.
The command area had been relocated on one of the middle floors of one of the buildings. The floor itself had been mostly cleared of debris, and what usable furniture had organized in such a way to allow workers to help direct the work. A few desks were set up in a semicircle as various officious looking individuals were passing along reports, making radio contacts staying generally busy. In the center of it all stood Shelley, surrounded on all sides.
On one side stood Blatta, her obsidian skin and long antennae easily distinguishing her, along with a few other aliens that had been living on the outskirts. And on the other side were a group of young men each of them wearing an insignia, a red heart with white ears.
“Shelley, all we want is a sit down meeting with Alice. It’s the least you guys can arrange since we came out here for her.” A young man with a dirt stained top hat and dusty long tailed tuxedo jacket led the discussion.
“Erwin, like I’ve said before I don’t know Alice. We very much appreciate that you were here, but I can’t arrange what you are asking for.” Shelley replied coldly
It looked to Alan that she was at the limit of her patience.
“You’ve got to have someone from your marketing or PR department who could connect with a celebrity like that?” The others around him added their voices.
Shelley’s eyes narrowed.
“Erwin, how are you?” Alan jumped in, interrupting the conversation.
The young man in the top hat turned around as he saw Alan and gave him a huge smile. “Well if it isn’t Alan, the queen slayer.”
“Uh, thanks.”
“That was quite the feat of heroics, at the battle. You’re going to have to tell us how you managed to pull it off after that psychic attack of hers.” He reached his hand out and Alan took it, giving it a firm shake.
“Sure, maybe another time.” He tried to avoid the curious looks that everyone was giving him.
“But I couldn’t help but overhear that you were looking to do a meet and greet with Alice sometime? I just happened to know her manager, and there’s going to be a special event for everyone who participated in the war.”
“Really! No way.”
“Yeah, it’s going to be a party in the Terran Virtual Market. There will be free food, music and best of all, Alice will be there too. Anyone who participated in the war and signs up for the Kragga Defense Guild can be a part of it.”
“Huh? What’s the Kragga Defense Guild?” Erwin asked in a puzzled voice.
“Oh, the guild is a special organization here on Kragga to help with defense, harvest resources, and work together for the mutual benefit of humanity.” He’d been wanting to set up a guild here on Kragga soon, but he wasn’t sure on how to get people to sign up. This just presented the perfect opportunity.
“Ok.” Erwin hesitated before speaking, “But are there like dues or something like that?”
“Sure, but the Kragga Defense Guild is actually going to be the national guild here, you’ll be exempt from taxes. So the dues you owe will be slightly less than the taxes that will be charged for working in the area.”
“Sounds good. How do we sign up?”
“You’ll need to go and talk to Nick. I’m just surprised he hadn’t already told you guys about it.”
“All right, thanks Alan!” Erwin turned to Shelley, “We’ll be going now, good luck.”
The party departed while Alan quickly connected to his interface to send Nick a warning, giving him a heads up.
Shelley continued to look at Alan appreciatively as Blatta spoke up.
“Ssshelley, we’re here for our compensssation.”
“Blatta, right now we’ve got enough cores to definitely cover all the costs.”
“If all you are doing is giving us coress, we’ll want a fifteen precssent increase.”
“That wasn’t part of the deal Blatta.” Shelley, retorted.
“You don’t ssseem to understand, no one accepts coresss for payment when the deal was in credits.” Blatta stated with matter of fact.
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“Why should that matter?”
“It mattersss because it was the deal. More than that, cores change value from syssstem to syssstem, and it takes longer to change them into credits, there are fees with transporting cores, and taxes. Fifteen persssent is paying us for the hasssle.”
Alan who’d just finished his message to Nick, looked up briefly to see Shelley eyeing him. He’d only half heard some of the conversation, but nodded agreeing to Blatta’s reasoning.
“All right Blatta, I’ll make sure to get your payment soon” Shelley said in a defeated voice.
Blatta nodded and left without preamble. Shelly collapsed on a partially burnt leather office chair.
“Thanks for your help earlier with Erwin, that guy has been pestering me half the morning, and I only really had a couple hours of sleep last night.” She sighed, closing her eyes. “I’m just really grateful that Alice is your sister. Those guys seemed pretty adamant about meeting her again. Apparently, some of them were second guessing about their choice for planet selection once they found out more about Kragga. Apparently the lack of any real stores, off world ship transports, and any other real amenities were not necessarily what they signed up for.” Shelley opened one eye with a raised eyebrow. “Someone even said Alice had called this a promised land, full of opportunity.” `
“Hey, buyer beware.” Alan said defensively. “Nick was in charge of how to get everyone here. Besides it won’t be long till we make this the hottest place for humankind”
“If you say so.” She said tiredly, closing her eyes fully once again. “Speaking of parties, did you remember about the annual corporate party my father invited you to?”
“With everything going on, I completely forgot about it.”
“Well luckily, you’ve still got time to prepare for it tonight.” She shared it in such a matter of fact tone, that it didn’t leave any room for argument.
“Tonight?” Alan’s eyes widened, while a shot of anxiety filled his stomach.
“It shouldn’t be a problem right? We are your biggest business partner after all.”
“Of course not. I’m looking forward to it.” He still wasn’t quite sure how to navigate such formal occasions. On the other hand there may be opportunities for investments for Kragga. “You mentioned before there would be some of your father’s other business associates there?”
She nodded in acknowledgement, “A lot of other business leaders are likely going to be there. He’s likely gone to great expense, since it’s going to be held in Terran Virtual Market this year.”
“I’ll make sure to make sure to take a shower first.” He said half jokingly.
“Good that settled.” She paused, as Alan was about to leave to go rest, she spoke up again, “So when is your party?”
Caught off guard, Alan replied quickly, “I’m not really sure to be honest, I haven’t really asked Alice yet.”
“What? She hasn’t even agreed to this?”
“I was planning on talking to her as soon as I got back.” As an afterthought he added. “But, I’m sure it will be fine.
“And who's in charge of this Kragga Defense Guild?”
“Nick,” he paused, “Well, once he agrees to it. I just sent him the details.”
“So, what you're telling me is that you have a party with no date, where our main guest doesn’t know she’s invited, as a reward for members of a new guild which hasn’t even been organized with a leader who has very little experience and hasn’t officially accepted?” There was a dangerous edge to her voice.
Well when you put it like that… He thought humorously. He honestly didn’t care too much for the details. They’d work out, because he knew they would. Of course when he’d answered her, he might have answered in the way he did in order to tease her, just a little. But he couldn’t help himself, he’d discovered how adorable she was when he would tell her what appeared to be a half-baked plan. On the other hand, he didn’t dare leave it like that for too long.
“Trust me, it will all work out. Alice is my sister, and I worked out the guild thing a long time ago, Nick is definitely upto the job.” He reassured. .
She nodded, only half accepting his statement. The previous tiredness, replaced by contemplation.
“Hey, I wanted to tell you before I got here. But I think we might be able to get the credits Blatta wants. I just checked with my Dad, and we are completely ramped up on VE production.”
She looked at him curiously.
*****
Shelley and Alan stood outside Terran Virtual Market as various players and player avatars made their way around the grand structure. He grew busier and busier every time he returned to the central area. After making a trip to the VE manufacturing facility, which had been running nearly non stop since the combat began. Alan, even after the energy use during combat, had come out with a net gain of Earth enabled Vervetic Energy, a very large amount.
“You know, if this works, this is going to be a shock to the market.” Shelley stood in a fresh set of clothes, a pair of khaki pants and a black t-shirt.
Alan stood next to her, typing out the last few instructions on the terminal. “Yep.” He kept his thoughts to himself about what he was doing. In order to pay for their debts with Blatta and raise additional capital he’d come here to begin an anonymous auction for the Earth enabled Ververtic Energy.
From his past life, usable Vervetic Energy was rare for most players on Earth. It had only come to be more common later. As no one had the ability to produce it for Earth markets in any substantial quality. Now, however, it was time to begin to cash in on all the preparation and hard work Alan had been prepping for.
He’d previously sold the VE at more than four times the Cosmos market value on earth, gaining nearly $200 dollars for each VE Unit selling to Shelley’s company. Now however, as supply had run incredibly low, VE had been sold for fairly high prices on the cosmos auction, by large companies for advanced projects. The average player was left out. In Alan’s past-future, this had led to a critical lack of development for a lot of industries on Earth. No Vervetic Energy meant fewer people wanted to buy anything that used it. And no company one wanted to develop something that people wouldn’t buy. The only thing most major companies cared about was investing in large projects, like spaceships. This only slowed down player development.
In fact most companies invested into tech which could still use Earth electricity, which was a mixed bag.
Alan was struck by a sudden idea, and thought back to Eris Industries, the company that Clark Tenson owned. Following his thought, he quickly checked the auction site, and grimaced at what he found.
Eris Industries had recently released an energy weapon, not unlike the energy weapon that Alan had bought from the world. However, these weapons had bulky batteries attached to them. Weapons adapted to basic electricity.
Noticing the grimace on Alan’s face, Shelley looked at his screen to see the bulky weapon with Eris’s logo plastered across the top. “What is that?! I thought they were focusing their efforts on space travel? Now they’ve got a weapon, that doesn’t use VE!”
“Sure looks that way.” Alan continued to look at the familiar weapon. “But I wouldn't worry about it for now.”
“Why’s that?”
“I just think that it's a waste of money and time on their part.” He looked at her with confidence and flicked back to the auction page with his selling instructions. He pushed proceed.
Almost immediately, 100 units of VE were posted for auction in batches of 10, 5 and 1; the starting bid was $150 or 30 credits for 1 unit of VE. Almost immediately, the prices on the VE were being driven up to $200 to $250 per unit by some of the organization buyers who were present at the auction. And that was fine, because in 10 minutes the auction would close, but in another 30 minutes 100 more units would be posted again, and in the hour after that, and after that, and so on.
They’d ramped up the VE production back on Kragga, and because of the huge surplus of nyamisium cores, producing that much VE was simple for now. And Blatta, their alien ally, agreed to accept the payment over time, with interest of course.
“The amount we are selling should keep the market artificially inflated for now so we can get the most for our energy.” Shelley said enthusiastically as she watched people bidding on the orders.
“Definitely.”
They waited until the end of the auction. At which point the winner each approached a machine for distribution.
Luckily, at the market, Alan didn’t need to provide a storage device. Buyers could automatically insert their own devices, whatever that may be, to transfer the energy directly.
From what they both saw, the majority appeared to be representatives of businesses, buying the large batches while some other individuals were able to get a few of the single units for weapons and rings.
“If we keep this up, we’ll be able to pay back Blatta sooner than I had hoped.” Shelley said as she looked over the results of the auction. Most of the purchase price had been in dollars, but there were still quite a few credits used during the transaction.
“We’ll see how it goes over the next few days. If we need to, I’ll start charging more if people want to buy it in dollars, but for now I think we are doing pretty well.” He grinned at her.
In just one auction alone, they had made well over $20,000 dollars. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. 1 VE could be used for a long time, depending on its function.
“Alan, I’ve got to go and get ready for tonight. But I can’t wait to see you there.” She gave him a bright smile, a quick kiss on the cheek and slowly disappeared out of the virtual market.
“That went better than expected.” Alan couldn’t help but say aloud. And hopefully tonight will go just as well, he said silently in the back of his mind.
****
His hands felt somewhat sweaty as he made his way toward the center of the virtual market. He’d entered at his own store to check in on his mother, and to pass along some of the cash funds he’d been able to acquire throughout the day. She on the other hand had made sure he looked appropriate in his newly rented tuxedo, and had gone over a few pieces of etiquette for such formal occasions.
He tried to play it cool that he’d come at Shelley’s insistence, but his mother had only amped up the advice from that point forward. He wore a classic black tux, and as the manager at the store insisted, it’s cut was very fashionable. Not that he could tell the differences. His new physique required that he purchase and rent new formal clothing.
Next to him, Adrian and Nick, walked alongside him. Nick, wearing something very similar, however, his bullying muscle tone, and large figure made it seem as though the tux might explode. Adrian on the other hand, wore a charcoal tux, and vest, completely forgoing the black bow tie for a sleek gray one. He wore a lavender pocket square instead. And unlike Nick and Alan, Adrian seemed more comfortable in the formal attire.
“So where is this party?” Nick asked, while trying not to play with his tie.
“It’s close to the market center. Not too far from here.”
As predicted, most of the lots nearest the center of the Terran Market had been bought. The wealthiest players and businesses had immediately recognized the value of being so close to the Cosmos hub with all its amenities. Not to mention the benefit of rubbing shoulders with your competition.
“It amazes me that you were able to get a piece of land so close to the center of town.” Adrian chimed in. “I recently looked into purchasing a plot for myself, and couldn’t find anything closer than a mile to town center, and even then, I couldn’t afford something so close.”
“I just was lucky enough to get in on the ground level.” Alan commented.
“I just don’t think it's very fair that the government hasn’t allowed everyone to do trade with Yashdid.” Nick commented.. “I mean it’s pretty lame, how they’ve only allowed some companies to trade with them for credits and not the general population. I’m never going to be able to buy a house here at this rate.”
It had happened just a few days after the insect invasion began on Kragga. The U.S. government agreed to allow trade between some U.S. corporations for some resources and novelties and most other governments had followed suit. Of course this was only allowed to be credits and not tech for now, but it had made a number of businesses insanely rich overnight in Cosmos credits.
“They can’t let everyone do it.” Adrian chimed in, “You heard from the treasury department, it could really screw up the American Monetary system”
Not that it wouldn’t do that eventually Alan had a silent grimace.
“Credits or dollars, it's all good to me” Nick offered. “As long as they don’t come and try to buy land on American soil.”
“I agree with that. What do you think Alan?”
“We’ll have to see.” Alan chose to remain silent on the subject. Most governments had publicly stated they weren’t ready to allow the Yashdid to purchase lands in their territories. There had been a few in Africa and South America, which had granted limited access, but those had been few and far between.. But it’s what the government hadn’t been saying that concerned him. The deals that had been struck in the dark.
They continued to walk nearer to the center of the Terran Market. The buildings grew taller and taller as they went, building that hadn't been there a week before. The sudden changes in the market caused them to contemplate on the changes happening to them, their families, and their world. For Alan things seemed to be going doubly fast.
The Skyscraper was 15 stories, matching the ever increasing skyline near Central Terran Market. At its entrance, a line of guests seemed to steadily make their way through the door. Most of the guests were actual players, with just a few who appeared as avatars to the event. But everyone was dressed to impress. As they approached the group near the entrance ,guards stood intimidatingly near a trim gentleman checking the invitations of guests.
As they drew nearer, Nick elbowed him, “You have an invitation right?” Alan only shrugged, he hadn’t received one from Shelley, but felt confident. As they approached, the trim man took a look at the trio and waved them in without a single question, only offering an acknowledging nod.
“Well, I guess it’s good we know people.” Nick grinned.
The trio ascended in an elevator to the top floor. When the doors opened a flood of music filled the room, as men and women idly chatted sipping exotic drinks and tasting the newest imports from the Cosmos universe. The party goers would be speaking about the latest rumors regarding the alien benefactors, the latest technological advances, and most importantly to see if they could impress their host.
Taking a lime colored drink and a few recognizable horderves, Alan began to orient himself to the party. The party covered multiple floors, with various rooms throughout. They could spend hours here and not meet everyone. He’d come with the intent of not only meeting Shelley’s father, but also to expand business interest in Kragga. He was about to start searching when he heard a familiar voice.
“Boys, it's great to see you!” Bryan Jakes, Callisto corporations head executive, after Shelley, walked up to the trio of young men. “You’ll have to excuse Miss Cordata, she’s been held up by a few things.”
“It’s no problem Mr. Jakes.” Alan and others greeted the veteran business leader.
“Just call me Bryan from now on.” He grinned after shaking their hands. “We’ve been through battle together, and I know it doesn’t have the same weight as real war, but it sure felt that way to me.”
“Ok, Bryan it is.” Alan agreed.
“I promised Shelley that I would introduce you to a few suitable business partners for Kragga, how does that sound?”
Alan nodded, while Nick and Adrian excused themselves to speak to other guests. Alan suspected Adrian was excited to learn what he could from other players, while Nick, he decided, wanted to avoid the minutiae of the business deals. Thanks for abandoning me guys, he thought.
Jakes took him to make a few introductions to various business representatives. They specialized in mining, excavating, pharmaceutical, and other businesses which would likely benefit from Kragga’s abundant resources or could help support the infrastructure there. Having Bryan Jakes introduce him immediately caused a stir among the guests. Soon he had a small stack of contact information eager to do business with such a prominent partner of Callisto. Alan was relieved as it would make it a lot easier for his Mother to work out many of the details. He only felt a slight tinge of guilt for burdening her with the business plans. But it was what she always wanted to do.
Alan noticed however, there was a group who had begun to circle Jakes and himself. It seemed like they wanted to approach Alan, but had kept their distance.
“Don’t mind them, the vultures. They’re just hoping to get a chance to speak to you when I’m not around. There are reasons I didn’t bother to introduce you.” Bryan chuckled casually, and as an afterthought added.. “Too bad for them, you aren’t the inexperienced young pup as you appear to be.” Grinning wickedly he added, “However, I think that it’s about time to attend to a few of the other guests.” He turned meaningfully for what seemed to be to Alan a purposeful abandonment. Before he completely left Jakes, spoke over his shoulder adding, “Shelley should be arriving soon, make sure to offer the appropriate compliments.”
Alan’s mouth hung open as he tried to respond. But it didn’t take long before a few of the bolder guests decided to approach him. He decided, despite Jake's confidence, that he preferred to make a strategic retreat for the moment, and quickly moved off toward a few other rooms. Much to the chagrin of the scavengers.
It didn’t take long until he felt a rough grasp of his arm, “Alan,” Nick half-hissed in urgency. “We’ve got a problem.” There was a look of panic which Alan had rarely seen on the giant of a man. Alan tried to respond as his friend attempted to pull him away, when heard a sharp gasp.”
“Nick, why on Earth are you here?”
Alan and Nick both turned simultaneously toward the familiar voice. He saw a group of young men and women, dressed to perfection, and in the middle of the group, in a low cut, sparkling pink dress stood a quivering woman gripping the lapels of what looked to be some trust fund playboy. Denise, his ex-girlfriend.
“Baby what's wrong?” The platinum haired boy asked with exaggerated concern.
“Ahh…too late,” Nick mumbled apologetically.
“Why are you here Nick?”
“Ah…” Nick coughed uncomfortably. “Hi Denise, small word.”
“Not nearly small enough Nick! What are you doing here?”
“I was invited.” The words came slowly.
Denise looked at Nick hard. Alan could only helplessly stare at his friend. He’d nearly forgotten that his appearance in the Virtual Market didn’t resemble what he looked like on Earth. A precaution he’d set up early on in Cosmos.
“Really?” She asked skeptically?
“Babe is there something wrong?” Her date asked, while also trying to throw out his chest, to size up to the much large Nick.
Mind spinning. Alan grasped for a plan. “He’s my guest, a bodyguard.” It was close to the truth, that he thought he could sound convincing. Nick seemed to look the part. And it’s not like she’d recognize him or his voice right? He hoped it would be enough to satisfy her before things got out of hand.
She seemed to notice Alan for the first time, and gave him a long stare. Before returning back to Nick and sniffing apparent satisfaction. “Well, sir I just happen to know this young man, and believe he hangs out with some unsavory company. Hence my concern.” She turned around, apparently not to give the matter any more time.
“Nick, Alan! I’ve been looking for you two.” Adrian's voice cut across the room like an arrow. He’d approached the group without seeing who he’d been talking to.
Denise's head whipped around at the mention of the two names. She recognized Adrian immediately. Despite being a terrible girlfriend in the end, she did know that Alan, Adrian and Nick were never far apart. And if there were two…Her eyes caught Alan’s and widened with sudden realization.
“It’s him.” She pointed accusingly toward Alan, “He’s the ex I was telling you about.”
Almost instantaneously her date’s face became serious, filled with danger. Following which his cadre also began to give Alan threatening looks.
The young man turned to Denise, “I thought you said your ex was some poor guy, what's he doing here?”
“He is, I don’t know what he’s doing here.” She pleaded, “He’s clearly disguising himself so it can’t be good.” As the young man turned once more toward Alan and moved toward him, Denise gave Alan a quick smirk.
The brash play-boy exuded air of arrogance as he placed himself in front of Alan. If it had been his last life, Alan might have recoiled from fear from the athletic blond. More surprisingly, Alan stood nose to nose due to his genetic enhancements, whereas before he would have had to look up.
“You're her Ex huh?”
At this point Alan didn’t see the point in arguing. This guy was going to cause a problem one way or another. Instead, filled with more confidence than might be wise, he just grinned.
The playboy smiled, Alan’s look giving him all the confirmation he needed. “You're making my girlfriend angry brat. And I don’t care if you were hired for this event, but you're going to leave.” He said it loudly, purposely attracting the attention from the other guests.
Hired to leave? Alan thought to himself. He suddenly realized that the tuxedo he was wearing matched the rest of the servers. “I’m an invited guest,” He tried to sound civil. It was still Shelley’s party after all.
The young man snorted, ”Let’s see your invitation?”
Well, that was going to be a problem. Alan hesitated.
Seeing the reluctance in Alan, was all the guy needed to act, “Looks like we have an uninvited guest.” He reached out to grab Alan’s by the arm. His own arm and hand irradiating a tinge of red, indicating a genetic strength enhancement. But to his surprise, his arm was intercepted. Looking up, the man saw a furious looking Nick, towering over him, holding his arm tight.
“Bad idea.” Nick growled.
A look of confusion came over the blond young man as he tried to remove his arm out of Nick’s grasp. His face turned pale as Nick squeezed his arm. Nick then pushed him back, which resulted in his toppling backwards into an actual server, carrying drinks, causing a clash which drew the rest of the room's attention.
“Oops…” Nick said apologetically, looking at Alan
“What do you mean oops?” Alan laughed
“I only meant to give him a light push, I guess I overdid it.”
His push seemed to only stun Denise and the other’s of the group for a moment before they turned with fury toward Nick and Alan. They would have charged forward, but were caught in their tracks.
Adrian, had whipped a pair of submachine-guns faster than the eye could see, and had trained his sights on the small group. Fingers ready on the triggers ready to send them back to earth in a pain induced hail storm.
The group paused. Unsure of what to do next. Only the disheveled blonde playboy seemed to move, as he used the server to push himself off the ground. It looked as if he was about to give orders to his partners when a number of men in tuxedos, indistinguishable from the other guests, except for an electronic ear piece at their ear approached the group.
Denise, of course, was the first to speak to one of them as she hurriedly tried to retreat to her date, “Intruder! This man assaulted one of your guests, and doesn’t even have an invitation!”
Alan wished he’d found a technology to somehow restrain that voice. Instead he went for the more practical option, he began to look around desperately to see if he could spot a familiar face that would recognize him and vouch for his presence.
“Invitation young man.” A grim looking security guard asked.
“Well you see…” He tried to sound calm as he came up empty.
“I didn’t give him one.” An authoritative female voice drew the attention of the crowd. Shelley Cordata stood in radiant splendor, wearing a chic red dress with a heart shaped neckline, that hugged the waist before transitioning into a diamond studded skirt that seemed to dance around her legs. Her neck was lined with a simple white diamond necklace. And she wore a pair of dangling diamond earrings. As she strode across the length of the room in her red high heel pumps, her legs would briefly flash through the billowing fabric. The movement only seemed to accentuate her beauty. Whereas Shelley appeared as the rarest of orchids, the awe and beauty of any arrangement. Denise appeared as a cheap, dyed carnation in her presence.
At Shelley’s words however, Dense gave Alan a look of triumph. His sudden panic and failure to produce the invitation had finally given her the payback she’d so desperately craved for ever since her humiliation at her dorm and then later out front in his apartment.
Shelley approached Alan. Enjoying the moment. The look on his face was perfect. It was not the look of confusion and panic which she had just seen on him before, but instead, his was a look of seeing something unforgettable. She stepped near him, quietly celebrating her own secret triumph. She reached forward, giving him a brief kiss on each cheek and a polite hug. “I’m so sorry I’ve kept you waiting.”
Alan, forgot to return the kiss on the cheek, and only managed to give her a stiff hug in return and respond with, “No problem, it was worth it.”
She blushed slightly before turning to the guards, “He’s my special guest, I didn’t have time to send him the invitations.”
Denise, throughout this exchange, went from a look of confusion to palpable hostility. Questions swirled through her mind as she reeled from the information. She didn’t have time to recover, however, as Shelley's attention focused on her.
Looking coldly at Denise and the young playboy, who was now glaring at his date Shelley stated in a detached voice. “However, you can escort the other troublemakers off the premises.” And with that she turned quickly, towing Alan out of the room, with Nick and Adrian following quickly behind. “It’s time to go meet my father.”
“Talk about out of the frying pan, and into the fire.” Nick said without humor, “But at least we’ve got good company.” He added giving her a ridiculous look raising his eyebrows at her.
Shelley only had to glare at Nick to keep him from saying anything more. Alan would have liked to share his agreement with Nick. On both accounts. Though he wasn’t quite sure how to express either sentiment.
*****
Denise was both furious and humiliated as she was escorted from the party and out of the building. Her date, the son of a potential customer of her father’s manufacturing business, wouldn’t even look at her. She’d been explicitly told by her father to entertain the young man the last few weeks to improve one of their deals. It’s not like she had a problem with it, he was good looking to be sure, but his money was the real selling point. But now…
She put on her most miserable face, “I’m so sorry Blain, I had no…”
“I don’t want to see your face again, you slut.” He slapped her across the face, and she collapsed to the cement “And as far as I’m concerned you and your family can find another business partner, it’s not worth risking our ties to the Cordata Family. ” He stomped off, no longer interested in his would-be conquest.
Shelley touched the mark on her face, even though she was in the virtual market, the pain was still very real. She fought back the tears in her eyes. How could things have gone so wrong? What was Alan doing here? And how did he have connections with such a powerful family? She was about to pick herself up, when she saw a hand offering to help her up.
“Hello senora,” A man in a tailored white tuxedo spoke in a Spanish accent. “My name is Carmen, and I believe we have a mutual acquaintance that I, and my employer, would love to speak to you about.”
Denise immediately plastered on her brightest smile. She wasn’t dumb enough to be impressed by a man in a posh suit and gold rings. However, if there was one thing she could rely on was her ability to identify the powerful and the useful. And she could smell the wealth and power of the man. It was a sixth sense that had never let her down.
*****
“So what was that all about?” Shelley asked, as they made their way through a few rooms to get to her father’s private office.
“That would be Alan’s crazy ex-girlfriend.” Nick offered helpfully.
Shelley paused to look at Alan inquisitively.
“Yes, that was her.”
Immediately, Shelley pulled up a small tablet, and flipped through it until a picture of Denise was displayed. “Denise Lewis, of Lewis manufacturing. Invited here as the +1 of Blain White, part of the Suelty Company.” She pressed a few buttons, put the tablet away and smiled broadly at Alan. “All right, that’s taken care of. I don’t want to keep my father waiting any longer. A lot has happened just in the last few hours. It’s why I took so long to get to the party.” In her mind she silently added that her dress and makeup had also took up a portion of that time, but didn’t bother to add that detail.
“Wait, what’s taken care of?” Alan asked. “Do you mean Denise and Blain?”
“Oh, I just black listed both families from the doing business with the Phoenix Corporation.” She said casually. “It should cause them, and others, to have second thoughts about messing with my families business partners.”
“Cold.” Nick commented.
Alan nodded. “I feel bad for the guy, I mean he just got dragged into this.”
“To be honest, it gives me and my father a reason to renegotiate a few things with his family.” She smirked mischievously
They walked on silently a little longer, the music and conversations fading in the background. “You mentioned something keeping you away?” Adrian broke the silence.
“Yes, there's been a terrorist attack on one of the Alien embassy’s in Africa. But I should wait to tell you more later, my father wanted your input actually.” She indicated to Alan.
“Why my input?”
“Your resources are an important part of the Phoenix Corporations plans, and you seem to have a lot of insight into how this alien game works.” Was all she offered.
They approached a large mahogany door, which opened gently at their arrival.
There behind a large wooden desk were two figures. Alan’s eyes opened in shock.
Shelley’s Father sat in a large leather chair, and stood up to greet the party. “Hello Alan, Nick and Adrian.” he nodded toward the three young men. “I’m glad to finally meet you.” He said in a voice which sounded contrary to his words. He turned to gesture toward the other figure, “I’d like you to meet Kara, one of the Valkyrie.”
Alan felt beads of sweat touching his forehead as he instantly recognized the Valkyrie from when he first appeared in Cosmos.
“Thank you Mr. Cordata, but Alan and I have already been introduced.”