We ended up going into a roomy courtyard. It appeared to be a part of the mall set up for entertainment. I imagined that the stage might have once been used for a mall Santa or perhaps even a stage play. It was interesting trying to figure out what things were meant for after being in this wasteland for years. Then again, this entire stage could have been built by the slavers using nearby scrap, and I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference.

As we headed in, some robots seemed to be handing out little red markers. They cost 5 small crystals, and I was assured they were necessary if you wanted to place a bid. I felt like it was nickel and diming, but when you had the turrets, you could make the rules. One guy who grumbled particularly loudly stopped when one of the robots suddenly turned to him and pointed its guns his way. He quieted up real quickly. The room continued to fill up with people, and Katarina suddenly nudged me hard in the ribs.

“What?” I asked, rubbing my pained rib.

“To the right…” She muttered. “Don’t look! It’s Cock and Balls.”

“Where?”

“I said don’t look!” She kicked my foot this time.

I only partially turned my head, trying to look at an area to the side. As she had already said, it was the insignia of Cock and Balls. I immediately felt rage, but I quickly tried to suppress it.

“What are they doing here?” I spoke through gritted teeth.

“This is an auction open to anyone,” Katarina replied, keeping her voice low, but still loud enough to be heard over the commotion of people filing in. “Every faction in Argos city with any power would send at least one representative.”

“Seriously?” I mumbled as I looked around.

As she had said, there were various other groups nearby. I saw the Crackers, the Burning Fist, and the Dead Brain. There was even someone flying the Dragon Claw. That had to be from the claw that took over after Red left. I gave her a look, but she had her head lowered. She had to have realized it as well.

“Once I bid on people…” I started.

Katarina suddenly pulled out something and pushed it into my hands. “Put this on.”

I looked down at it, and realize that it was some kind of raider mask. It stank, and it looked extremely uncomfortable. I gave her a look. I had come here to try to make waves. I was trying to convince merchants to come to the Ascension Bazaar and open up trade negotiations. Once again, I had been far too short-sighted. Showing my face here didn’t just open me up to future prospects, but current dangers as well.

I had no choice but to put the mask on. I put it over my head, and it made me feel like some kind of exhibitionist. I saw Katarina giving Red something to put on too. Wait! Why did I get a full leather helmet thing with goggles while she only got some porcelain mask? I admitted it was more suitable for a girl, but I felt a bit cheated.

I didn’t have any time to complain about it because there was a sudden gunshot, bringing every eye toward the center stage. A woman was standing there, and she had shot up in the air. Everyone instinctively clinched as they had all seen the consequences of people who shot off guns inside the mall areas. However, the robots and turrets ignored her. That could only mean one thing. She was the property of the slavers.

That was also clear by the collar around her neck, which seemed to be slightly better tech than the ones I was used to seeing in Argos city, and the one around Red’s neck. There were differences in collars. However, I bet they were all vulnerable to the master code in the end. The woman was rather pretty, and I had to say that her looks were equal to that of Katarina.

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“Ladies and gentleman.” She spoke in a loud and clear voice, finishing off whatever muttering was still going on that the bullet didn’t stop. “For all of you who had made the trek across the wasteland to be here, welcome to our Slaver’s Auction. The auction will only be this single night. We understand that this has made it difficult for many of you, however, the slavers have recently acquired a large number of goods, and we felt it prudent to unload it all as quickly as possible. We will officially be pulling out our resources tomorrow. You are welcome to continue to occupy the mall, but it will have nothing to do with us.”

This did cause a lot of people to mutter.

“Did the colony fall? That’s the only thing that explains their suddenly acquired goods.”

“I wonder what they got from the colony then.”

“Stay? Without the turrets and the robots? This place will be a bloodbath!”

The woman ignored most of the chitchat as she waited for it to quiet down, but when she heard the last one, she began speaking again.

“I should also state that the majority of the robots and turrets in the mall were already in the mall when we came. They were hidden in an underground storage. It required top skill to hack into and activate the mall security, but we have no intention of taking it with us when we leave. Even in our absence, the robots will continue to do our will.”

This led to even louder talking. Her words did make sense though. I could believe they brought the destroyer class robots and the scouts, but how would they be able to install turrets in the ceilings that happened to lower on command? That was a level of building I didn’t think they had. The mall was shockingly militarized, but then again, so were the hospital and the museum, so I couldn’t find this difficult to believe. It seemed like the government ruling in the 90s was far more militaristic than the world I came from.

“Let’s get on with it!” Someone roared as the crowds continued to bicker about what her words meant.

If the robots were being abandoned, could this place become a permanent and safe settlement? Could sellers continue to sell their stuff here indefinitely? That was some of the conversation going on. I had to say that even I was a bit tempted. Rather than bring my army back home into the city, couldn’t I just stay at the mall and bring everyone else here? That would solve all of our problems. I could easily take over the army of bots here, and then my goods would be safe.

Yet, I had to put those thoughts away. I was pretty sure that everyone else there was having the same thoughts. They might not be able to take over the security system as easily as I could, but whatever group managed to cease this building would have untold power in the area. In short, there was still a bloodbath coming when the Slavers pulled out, it was just a different kind of bloodbath.

Once everyone finally settle down, the woman continued, seeming in no hurry at all despite what she had said about the slavers pulling out so quickly.

“The auction will be conducted in two parts. The first part will be dedicated to material goods. Various items will be auctioned off. The minimum starting bid will be 100 large crystals. Certain items may have a higher starting bid, and I will let you know what the cost is at that time.”

A few people whistled at the costly price. A few others looked disappointed and gave longing looks back at the robot that had sold them their marker. They had come with visions of snatching something up for cheap, but that was impossible now. Even I only had 900 large crystals. That would be enough to make 9 bids, and all of them at the lowest amount!

“What about trade?” Someone on the other side from me shouted out the exact question I’m sure everyone was sweating.

“We will accept goods traded at a fair value equal to the bet. Be careful to properly understand the conversion rate though. If you win a bit and are unable to make the complete payment by the end of the night, you won’t be happy with the consequences?” As she said this, her eyes suddenly turned menacing, and a sadistic smile flickered on her lips.

Even though she was just some pretty girl, such a look was enough to make even some of the roughest men there gulp. There was plenty of possible punishments. Death from one of those bots. Permanent enslavement. They could even shove you in that water separating machine and turn you into nutrients and your body into water.

That idea didn’t come from me. I had heard someone else whisper that they had heard that from a patron while my restaurant was open. He had insisted that slavers would eat anything shoved through that machine, and they’d even shove people into it. In the end, it all just became dry nutrient bars anyway. The source could have been anything living, even humans.

“If everybody understands, then it is time to begin!”