Chapter 5A: Credits

‘Money is the root of all evil.' A line that has been repeated multiple times by people who are in denial about the fact that money controlled their entire lives. Ironic, but sadly that is the way humans have evolved. Even after countless years that point remained true.

Credit was the one thing many adults work endlessly to hoard, slaving away countless waking hours in order to earn a single credit more. But was it worth it? Living life itself depends on it. When your very livelihood depends on it, you will work, regardless of how mundane it becomes.

Given a hundred credits to shop, the teens were let loose on the evening city roads of Lumistein.

“Let’s split up into pairs,” Nell suddenly said as she grabbed Alex’s arms, “We girls will go shop for our stuff, while you boys do your thing.”

Kurt shrugged his shoulders in agreement and dragged Ruri away. Nothing creates existential dread in men like waiting for women to finish shopping.

“Now, let’s get you some clothes! You wear nothing but the same ugly thing every day, it’s seriously getting on my nerves!” Nell whined as she clamped around Alex’s arms harder.

They exited the alley and arrived at a large circle with a fountain in the middle. Instead of using water, the fountain was spewing holographic light in various shades of colors. It was a brilliant sight which complimented the black onyx circle with neon buildings around it. The streets were now full of pedestrians as they move about their evening. Besides the large fountain was a shop directory for the area. Since the city was large, directories were placed everywhere as new arrivals get lost far too often here.

“Oh, there’s a good place over there!” Nell dragged Alex along towards one of the shops.

They entered the automatic door and was greeted by rows and rows of clothes on display, although many were just holograms. In the back was a large fitting room where one can try the clothes via augmented reality before purchase. Nell chatted with the employee behind the counter and pulled Alex towards one of the dressing rooms.

Around an hour of being manhandled by Nell and the shop employee, Alex walked out of the store with four heavy bags of clothes. A faint pink mist seemed to hover around her as she walked in a daze with Nell still jumping up and down while hugging her arm. With a sigh, Alex couldn’t help but think Nell sure does enjoy skinship.

“It looks like it’s getting late,” Nell said as she looked up at the holographic moon clock on the ceiling.

They browsed around and found a unique shop called a restaurant.

Having been raised on nothing but nutrition bars and water, the concept of good taste was lost to the new generation. As they try to walk through the door, they were blocked by an android.

“Sorry Miss, you have not registered with the ARK system yet. Sadly, we only serve ARK customers,” The android said apologetically.

“Oh,” Nell replied full of curiosity, “What is this place anyway?”

“Ah, I see young Misses here is new to Gaia. It is a restaurant; we provide a culinary journey through the wonders of the earth through the ARK system.”

“Culinary?” Alex asked.

“Food, Alex, Its food!” Nell screamed, “Oh boy, I can’t wait! Even if it’s only virtual, the amazing feeling of taste awaits us!”

“Food…,” Alex pondered. With limited resource, there was no practical way to produce the vast diet humans use to consume. Thus with efficiency in mind, the ships provide nutrient bars and water, enough for human sustenance.

The android shrugged its shoulders as the two girls walked away reluctantly.

“Looks like this ARK system is very important,” Nell said.

“So it’s more than just a way to earn credits?”

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“Well, Mr. Gerald said it’s also a training program.”

“So Agraria, Rubion, and Knowledge…We will have to work as hard as we can,” Alex said without much enthusiasm. It wasn’t that interesting to her compared to finding out what ties the old man had here on Gaia. Perhaps if she found a clue leading to the ARK system, she would have more motivation.

“Oh, I can’t wait!” Nell was already hooked on the promise of food.

The two continued shopping and browsing for another two hours before they headed back to the alley. They met up with a bright-eyed Kurt and a passed out Ruri in the lobby. Kurt nodded at Nell who was also shaking with anticipation.

“We have to start the ARK program as soon as possible,” They said in unison.

Ruri was startled awake by the sudden shouting but went back to sleep immediately. It seems Kurt tired him out by dragging him all over the place.

The receptionist behind the counter in the lobby smiled.

“Now kids, it’s good to be eager and all, but you can’t start the ARK program until you have met with your mentors and have a working schedule,” She said as she waved her index finger.

Kurt and Nell slumped down in defeat.

“But don’t worry, you will meet your mentors soon enough,” The receptionist panicked as she tries to cheer them up.

The teens cheered up and decided to go upstairs to continue their conversation before the receptionist spoil their mood again.

“How much did you guys spend?” Kurt asked curiously as he stared at the countless number of bags Alex and Nell were clutching.

“Around sixty credits,” Nell replied nonchalantly.

“S-sixty?!” Kurt was shocked. The amount both he and Ruri spent combined don't even add up to twenty, and they already considered themselves to have splurged for the night.

“Alex doesn’t have any clothes other than the basic jumpsuit; it’s so ugly!” Nell frowned.

“I…,” Alex doesn’t know how to reply. When she woke up in her new body, all she wore was the medical ward gown. All her old clothes no longer fit her, so she recycled them. She never really cared about fashion anyway. Too much of a hassle.

“Oh, by the way, I saw something interesting,” Kurt suddenly remembered, “I saw a strange shop with the same symbol as your necklace.”

“Mine?” Alex replied.

“Yeah, it looked kind of shady though. When we try to enter, the guard at the door said we had to pay an entrance fee.”

“How much was it? Where is it?” Alex asked immediately.

“Woah calm down. The entrance fee was crazy expensive. A thousand credits for god sakes,” Kurt said helplessly as he rubbed his hair.

“A t-thousands?” Alex stuttered.

“Yeah, a thousand. I thought the guard was kidding, but when other people entered, they handed over a thousand credits.”

“I see…what do the other people look like?” Alex asked.

“Bunch of weird looking fellows with huge hats. They all wore strange eye accessories as well,” Kurt replied.

“Were they carrying boxes with the gear logo on it?”

“Ugh, I think so. I didn’t get a full look at them as we left immediately after hearing the insane price,” Kurt shrugged.

“A thousand credits…,” Alex sighed helplessly. Looks like she has a reason to earn money now.

It was late, so the teens went back to their rooms. Ruri was passed out, so Kurt carried him on his shoulders. He threw the petit boy onto his bed and left for his own place.

After a quick shower and trying on some of her new clothes, Alex sat down at her desk and accessed the Gaia network. She searched around for the gear symbol and found only a single name.

“The Tinker’s Society…”

There was very little information about it, which was strange considering how easy info spreads nowadays.

“Old man, just who are you…,” Alex started to wonder just who the genius old man really was. She could only pray that he wasn’t a part of a strange cult.

______

Meanwhile, back on the seed ship, a disembodied head placed upon a pedestal was deeply frowning while an android was on the floor laughing hard.

“…Seriously?” The head sighed, “You couldn’t have gotten be a complete body?”

“Now, now, Gadget. We don’t want you running over to Gaia to see your protégé so soon,” The android said while wiping a fake tear from her eye, “But at least we can hold a proper conversation now.”

The head sighed.

“How’s teacher?”

“Old and still in the icebox.”

“He’s still a workaholic I see.”

“You would have thought after several decades of endless tinkering, one would eventually get tired of it,” The android shrugged.

“The world is just too big of a mystery for one lifetime,” Gadget replied.

“You know, he’s technically immortal now.”

“A small price to pay for knowledge. Speaking of which, is his mansion still standing in Knowledge?”

“Please don’t remind me. That huge place is soooo understaffed. Us few half dozen AI under him have to maintain that huge mansion all by ourselves. It’s a miracle we manage to take a break and leave,” The android cried.

“You can just clean his lab and only his lab.”

“But the rest of the old nut jobs won’t leave it alone if his place deteriorates,” The android pouted.

“That is the way of politics. One can never truly pursue science without the minutia of politics getting in the way,” Gadget sighed, “That’s I left for the seed ship. No one really big to bother me here.”

“Yet you still ended up dead,” The android teased.

“…Minor details. Anyways, when will I be given a mobile body?”

“After master gives the OK.”

“…That could take years. Once he gets absorbed in his work, he might not do anything else for a long, long time.”

“Well too bad!” The android stuck her tongue out.

The head sighed and looked out the window at the giant egg in the distance. It slowly morphed back into a cube as the tethers realign themselves.

“Good luck kid,” He whispered to himself.