I ended up having RENA send some burn ointment as well. Luckily the company had that on hand, in a first aid kit. I told them they may as well send the whole kit.
What was the point of having magic that you can only use on your nails? That was the million dollar question. Or, the $10k question, since magical powers seemed my best chance to get the money I desperately needed.
My philly cheesesteak distracted me from the pain, a bit. It was delicious, as always. If you have to be sent into a hostile alien dimension, get lost, robbed, and have the tips of all your fingers burnt off, you may as well eat good. I could put up with a lot as long as I had those sandwiches.
RENA interrupted my musings. “Miles, a certain possibility has grown in likelihood recently, and as it is one of my duties to ensure your continued value to the company, I must bring it to your attention.”
“Did you find Tom?” I said, mouth full of cheese, steak, and bread, expecting little. I noted the continued value part silently. Not continued safety. Continued value to the company.
“No, it is unrelated to Tom,” RENA responded.
“Are you going to tell me I shouldn’t be burning the tips of my fingers off? I don’t know if you noticed, RENA, but I’ve got fucking magic. If I can just figure out how to get past this one little problem, I’ll be unstoppable.”
“I had noticed this phenomenon. It is quite unusual, but our analysis did always include the possibility that another dimension would have different physical laws. But as unusual as this phenomenon is, that is not what I’m referring to.”
“Well then spit it out,” I said. I’d never have guessed, before I had met RENA, how circuitous a machine could be.
It almost seemed like RENA hesitated. “Did you read the paperwork you signed before leaving, Miles? Completely?”
“Not really. Did I sell my soul or something?” I was feeling surprisingly relaxed. It was the sandwich. And the promise of magical power.
“No, Miles. However, I would advise you to read over the paperwork in its entirety. I calculate a very high probability that you are missing key information. If you like, I could read you the contents of the contracts and documents.”
“What kind of key information? Don’t read me the whole thing, I’d fall asleep. What do you think is important?”
Another pause. “Are you aware that any supplies given to the expedition members will be charged against a personal line of credit, expected to be repaid by the close of the expedition?”
“Sure,” I said. If that was all, I didn’t need to worry. “I didn’t imagine you were sending me sandwiches for free. Someone’s gotta pay for them. But what are they, like, five, ten bucks? Max? I’m sure it adds up, but it’s better than starving. Plus, it keeps me sane. Sane-ish. I’m sure the revolver was more expensive, but I’ve probably spent what, $500 so far? Are you criticizing my spending habits, RENA? I didn’t know you were a financial adviser, too.”
“I am not a financial adviser,” RENA responded. “And you are incorrect. That sandwich you are eating did not cost five or ten dollars. It cost approximately $150.”
I nearly choked. When I recovered, coughing, I asked “What the hell do you mean? What did you do, get Gordon Ramsey to cook it from the dead? Sprinkle flakes of gold inside the cheese? How the hell does it cost $150 to buy a sandwich? You’re fucking with me.”
“I am not, quote, ‘fucking’ with you, Miles. It did not cost $150 to buy the sandwich. That cost is negligible. It cost $150 to send it to your dimension.”
My head whirled. RENA had mentioned how expensive transit was, but I guess I had never thought about exactly how expensive.
“Wait, then how much did it cost to send me and Tom over?”
“The costs were different, Miles. It cost Dimen-X approximately $30,000 to send you, It cost approximately one million dollars to send Tom.”
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“One million! Why is it so large a difference? One million!”
“As I have told you, Miles, the cost grows exponentially as you increase the stability of the transmission. Tom was determined to be a higher value to the company.”
“Nine-hundred thousand dollars higher value?” I was yelling.
“$970,000 more, approximately.”
“But-“ I couldn’t finish. Seriously? I’m worth that little to them? $30k is nothing to a company like Dimen-X. Rhett NAsh was a multi-billionaire. They probably spent more money sending the cameras over. I’m worth less to them than cameras.
“Why are you telling me this?” I was scared to hear the answer, but I had to.
“It had been calculated to be likely that you were unaware. It took some time to come to that conclusion, as it went against data we already knew to be true - namely, that you had read the paperwork. But you had, in fact, not read it completely. We had seen this outcome as likely, given your rate of purchasing. For both your future, and the future of Dimen-X, I was obligated to bring this to your attention.”
If a sandwich costs me $150, I thought. How about the gun? $2000?
“How much have I racked up?”
“$10,739 and eighty-six cents.”
Another 10k. I’ve racked up another ten thousand dollars in the matter of a couple of days.
“That’s insane. Absolutely insane. You don’t expect me to pay it back now, do you?”
“Dimen-X understands your situation, and does not expect to see repayment in the immediate future. However, repayment is expected before the conclusion of the expedition.”
“Are you saying you’re not going to let me go home until I pay you back?” Suddenly I felt very claustrophobic in that wide open space.
“I would have to consult with our legal team to give you the most up-to-date information. They have not yet determined the legality of such a condition.”
So they want to. They want to leave me stranded here until I pay them back every red cent. Just what kind of psychotic organization am I working for?
And it doesn’t matter what the lawyers say, I realized. What am I going to do, file a complaint? Sue? They have me at their mercy. If they cut me off, then that’s that.
Guess I better play nice. But inside, I was seething.
“Thank you for informing me of this information, RENA. I was not aware. Could you please send me a copy of the paperwork I signed?”
“Of course, Miles. But are you sure you want me to send them? I could read them to you, and save the shipping cost.”
Shipping cost. I almost laughed at that. “It’s just paper, RENA. It can’t be that heavy. Send it over.”
-
It was heavier than I thought.
RENA sent over a stack of papers that must have weighed more than War and Peace. No wonder I didn’t read this.
But I didn’t have a choice now. If Dimen-X was going to end up screwing me, I at least wanted to know how.
But I was no lawyer. As I read over the papers, trying my best to follow every line, much of it was incomprehensible to me. I knew in general what was being said. Dimen-X is not responsible for any injuries, Dimen-X is not responsible for any dismemberment, Dimen-X is not responsible for my death, Dimen-X is not responsible… and so on.
Then there were the parts about expenses. There it was, just as RENA said. My signature, right underneath a section about how I would have to repay them, in whatever manner they saw fit, at whatever time they saw fit. So tomorrow, if they really felt like it.
By the time I had read the whole thing, it was already afternoon. More than half of a day of precious time spent without even packing up camp. And I didn’t feel as if I understood my situation any better after reading it.
I summoned RENA again. “RENA, could you let me know immediately if there is any other part of the contract you think I may have missed or forgotten about, before I put my self in further debt?”
“Absolutely, Miles. But didn’t you just read the entire contract?”
“I did, RENA. But human beings do not record information the same way an AI does. Our memory has a much higher rate of read/write errors, so to speak.”
“Perhaps you should upgrade.”
I laughed. Was that a joke? Did RENA just tell a joke?
I looked at the stack of papers in my hands. It was worthless to me now, to say the least. But, I thought, maybe I could get one use out of it.
I placed the pile down in the dirt, and held out the tip of one of my remaining fingernails on my left hand. I braced myself, and sent energy into my middle finger.
A little flame painfully lit the tip of my finger. I held it against the stack, and even in the short window of time before it was snuffed out, the fire caught. I stuck my stinging finger into my mouth, and watched the flickering of my small destructive act. I stayed watching until the whole stack was nothing but ashes.
Behold, the extent of my power, I thought to myself dimly. A lighter could have accomplished the same thing. I looked down at my hands. Seven fingers had scorched tips with no nails. It was not pleasant to look at. How long does it take for a nail to completely regrow? A few months?
Still, I felt a sliver of satisfaction. I did that, I thought. My power alone.
It had already been several hours since RENA had made the last delivery. My stomach was growling. I pulled an MRE out of my pack, and glared at it.
One more cheesesteak couldn’t hurt, right? $150 is brutal but… But it’s just one time. Just one more time. A going away present to myself. A way to ease the pain of loss. It’s fine. You’re fine. Just one more time. Then, never again. At least, not until I’m bringing in a bunch of money. Yeah, that’s reasonable.
Nodding to myself, I called for RENA again. “RENA, could you please send me another cheesesteak? I know what it costs, I’m willing to pay it.”
RENA didn’t answer for a long time. I thought maybe she hadn’t heard me, or was ignoring me, if that was possible. “RENA?” I asked at length.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Miles.”
“What do you mean, RENA? I know what I’m doing. I have all the information. This is my decision. I want another sandwich for the road.”
“Dimen-X management asked me to cease all shipments immediately, in order to save costs. I sent the request to the appropriate person in the approval matrix anyway, and they declined. I was told that, until the expedition member begins proving their value, Dimen-X will not be spending any more resources on shipments.”
My voice rose in a panic. “What are you talking about, RENA? What about more ammunition? What if I run out of MREs? What if I get robbed again? Aren’t I important to Dimen-X? Isn’t the point of this entire company to explore another dimension? If I’m the only person doing that, shouldn’t they support me with everything they’ve got?”
“I am afraid I have been given my orders, Miles. I cannot answer your other questions because they involve currently classified information. I can say, however, that you will not be receiving any new shipments in the immediate future. Unless, of course, you start making significant gains for the company. I am sorry if this is troubling to you, Miles.”
Troubling? I thought. This just went from difficult to impossible in the blink of an eye. Or from hopeless to more hopeless.
Suddenly, I felt the need to test something.
“RENA, I’d like to request to be sent home.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Miles.”
I’m going to die out here.