〈Get Wet Enterprises〉
“So we’re done then?” Drim was about ready to leap from his chair and get far away from this.
“Not so fast!” Kada beat him to it, jumping up and running to the presenter space. Deborah wheeled in a presentation board for her. “I’m here to talk to you all today about Mermaid’s Reef: Resort, Waterpark, and Animal Sanctuary!”
“Why does more stuff get added on every time you bring it up?” Drim was exasperated.
“Because I grow ever more ambitious with each passing day!” she had no shame. “But I’m dead serious. I am here as a registered entrepreneur, and I would appreciate you taking the time to hear my proposal!”
They at least owed it to her to sit through the presentation, and it was quite a bit more substantial than any of them expected, amounting to one of the longer presentations of the day. Kada had a full business plan, timeline, blueprints, and answers to just about any questions they could ask.
“So in summary, the resort would be able to accommodate 58,000 guests. The water park would have 30 attractions, 10 shows, 22 restaurants and 23 shops. And the animal sanctuary will be able to accommodate up to 50 different endangered species including non-hostile monsters. I know that bit in particular is important to you Drim since you hate them being killed by ignorant monster hunters.”
“In total across all areas, it’s estimated to create approximately 1,800 new jobs in various sectors. That wraps up my presentation. Thank you for listening!”
“Okay, Yes,” Drim was direct.
“Really?! Really really?!” Kada was about to explode out of her skin with excitement.
“What can I say, you won me over,” though Drim felt more beaten down than anything. “It’s clear that you’ve put a lot of thought into this, and it’s more to you than a passing fancy that you’ll just get bored of and move on. You’ve shown a lot of dedication.”
“However, frankly I know you too well Kada, and I know that you can be a bit flaky, so I’d like you to continue to show that dedication. We will fund this, but I’ll expect to see measured progress. If you decide to drop the project, so will we. You’ll need to give it the attention it deserves, while also not neglecting your duties here. However, if you decided to shift to this project full time, we would support you in that as well.”
“I won’t let you down!” Kada had full confidence in herself. “And I won’t give up either of these things. Being a member of the Fiends For Hire is everything to me, but this has also been a lifelong dream. You’ll see! I’ll prove to you that I can do both!”
“Before we wrap things up, though, you mentioned you already had a spot picked up? Tell us about that,” Drim couldn’t deny his vested interest at this point.
“Oh, uhh, it’s this island off the eastern coast of the continent,” Kada began to explain. “It used to be a resort already before the war, and it’s still zoned as such, so there shouldn’t be any problems there. The country is selling the land for cheap cus uhh… well… it may have been bombed during the Drazah war. You’ve probably heard of it in your mother’s files. It’s called Ledmer Island.”
Drim perked up at the name, and Phon gave him an urgent look, but neither said anything for now.
“Apparently, Nathym was already monitoring the island,” Kada continued. “He told me about it when I wanted to use the satellite to look for spots. Turns out that the radiation levels there just crossed the threshold of what’s safe for humans again, and by the time the resort is ready to open, it should be gone completely. Of course, I plan to let any workers doing the construction know about the hazard and will take all necessary precautions and compensate them accordingly.”
“I know that it’s kind of scummy of me to take advantage of a war-torn land for my own benefit, but wouldn’t you say it’s best to use it for something new and awesome than just leave it as a dead grave? That said, I don’t really want to disrespect the dead, so we could set up a proper memorial site and maybe a museum of that island’s history.”
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An ominous, amused laughter filled the room. “I wouldn’t jump the gun on that if I were you,” Eleen’s unmistakable voice gave her unsolicited advice. “The people who died there aren’t worth remembering. Another way history was twisted since it was recorded by the victor.”
“Okay… maybe I’m having second thoughts about the location now,” Kada whimpered.
“It’ll be fine, Kada,” Drim reassured her. “I think it’s a good location, but one we need to have a deeper discussion about in the near future. It’ll make a great spot for your resort. The view from there of both the mainland and the ocean are pretty stunning. For now, just focus on making it everything you want to be.”
《Funded》
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“So that’s it, we’re done for real this time, right?” Drim was less than reassured when Kada returned to her judge’s seat.
“Not quite,” Chorus had been withholding information once again. “There are just two more things to wrap up. The first was unfortunately unable to make it today, but still wanted me to deliver their request on their behalf.”
“It is the website, Discoverance. I’m sure you’ve all heard of it, or used it without knowing at some point. It’s basically a central hub of all knowledge on the internet filled with articles and information of just about anything you can think of, if you needed a refresher. Even all of you have dedicated pages on the site now with actual verified and factual information. Surprise, surprise, I know.”
“Up until now, they’ve been scraping by on donations from users, but would like a more central source of funding if you all are interested. They’ve said nothing really will change based on the investment—just staying the course—besides a few upgraded servers and being able to pay more staff to moderate and update the site.”
“Pretty sure Feyj would throw a fit if we didn’t invest,” Kada smirked. “He loves that website, obsessed even.”
“Well, not so much this incarnation,” Xard clarified. “This one is only interested in hitting on everything with a pulse.”
“Honestly, that’s probably on us,” Phon was humble for once. “We shouldn’t have let Gatrim help look after him while he was still impressionable.” And then came the insult.
“Well, regardless, we should invest for his sake and hope that his future selves will come to appreciate it.” Drim made the final call.
“Great, that was quick,” Chorus checked something off on their list. “That just leaves one final presentation. I promise it really is the last one this time. However, he’s only agreed to participate on the condition that it not be recorded. It’s why we’ve saved him for last.”
“So kill the cameras,” Chorus ordered to the mostly automated crew. “And send in the Director of Drome Coli.”
◆◆◆
A few days after the investment spree, Drim met with Deborah and Roque to go over the numbers.
“So that’s 44 businesses we’ve invested in,” Roque gave the final report. “We had 3 pull out at the last minute, can’t say for sure why, but they were all ones we weren’t too interested in, so no worry there.”
“Per your orders, I will be staying out of their way except for the ones you specially invested in. However, I’ll be keeping my eye on all of them to make sure they’re actually putting our money to use. While I get that losing money isn’t an issue for us, perturbs me greatly to see someone run off rich while not holding up their end of a deal.”
“You realize your name is, The Swindler, right?” Drim couldn’t help but point out the irony. “How much of our money did we spend anyway?”
“Well, we spent a good majority of the stockpile we had just sitting,” Deborah reported, “But given our revenue flow, we still need to accrue some debt if we’re going to offset our income siphon to a reasonable degree.”
“Uhhh, give me some numbers,” Drim wanted it worded a bit simpler.
“Okay,” Deborah did a few quick calculations. “To prevent the economy from entering deflation within the next 20 years, we have spent 38% of our required threshold.”
“That’s it?!” Drim was bewildered. “All that money gone, and we’re virtually where we started.”
“Shall I line up another group of entrepreneurs?!” Roque seemed a bit too eager to make plans.
“Absolutely not,” Drim utterly refused. “I’m not sitting through that again. Roque, take 20% of the remaining requirement and invest it however the hell you want. You can get input from any other members if you like, just don’t invest in anything we wouldn’t approve of as a group.”
“For the rest, start buying up as much land as you can and… I don’t know… build housing for low income families, I guess.”
“Very well,” Roque seemed equally eager about these ideas. “Fiendish Realty and Fiendish Construction will be up and running before you know it!”