The next day, which is considerably shorter than on Earth, the two wake up, and they take turns going to the waste closet. After that is done, they go to work, but Karine is confused by the project management interface.
“Here’s the deal: a first tranche of one hundred and fifteen thousand talas is due for our debt repayment in two days. To pay down our debts, we were forced to sell all our blueprints at a fraction of the price we bought them for, and we must make do with the one courtesy blueprint from the government. On the plus side, the Senate gave us fifty thousand talas in seed money” Billerica instructs her. “And a project management system”
Billerica installs the project management system on the computer used by the previous project manager, as well as his own. And, of course, connects the construction bots as well as the camera drone and their materials inventory account at their authorized supplier to their system.
I wonder how much debt Wonderlic had if not even selling off blueprints and terminating leases was enough to avoid being on a creditor proposal, Karine starts thinking, while she wants to ensure she understands how each tab on the project management interface works. Of which there are five: lots, money and goals, construction bots, materials and blueprints. And, of course, an aerial view of the neighborhood, with lots clearly marked on the interface. This feels far too much like a video game interface, and an indie one at that. However, it doesn’t feel like a horror game at all, unlike the world I’m stuck in.
“Boss, this is a brand-new system to me” Karine laments. “All I’m seeing here is…”
“I’ll go watch the Senate’s videos on the system with you; it’s new to me as well. However, you don’t have permission to input goals and deadlines into the system…”
As the pair watch the Senate’s videos on the HCP project management system, she realizes their first contract is about building a few more housing units in another village in the swamp. I might be wondering how much these houses are worth in this village, and whether they will fetch the HCP-mandated prices. On Earth, that sort of location is almost worthless. It also makes me wonder what’s taxed on this world. And even what their Senate even is in the first place.
“I guess, time to make the first housing start!” Karine feels like she has a better idea of what to do.
“Not so fast! I still need to connect the lots to the HCP system so that, when the housing start begins, it will look for prospective tenants whose leases begin upon completion of the unit” Billerica stops her. “However, I don’t think the time is right for you to understand our leasing practices beyond us not collecting security deposits”
“Can I then make the first housing start on this project?”
“Yes, of course. Keep in mind, however, that our preexisting inventory of construction materials won’t get you very far!”
With the push of a button, she orders two construction bots to build bungalows along the village’s main street. The bungalow being built appears rather blocky by Taladuan standards but reminds Karine of some of the older bungalows she encountered in her insolvency work on Earth, complete with a pyramidal roof.
The first two bots are busy building bungalows using built-in molecular 3D printers and transforming the construction materials into buildings. As soon as the foundations are laid, the system puts these houses as available for rental upon delivery.
“So we are to supply six housing units to this village, but I don’t want Wonderlic to rely only on the sale of new builds. I also want us to have some units for renting. However, I don’t expect much from this village, and, suffice to say that we will need more contracts…”
“And to make the homes we keep for renting more appealing for potential tenants, too” Karine comments. “The faster we can pay down the debt, the sooner I can return home!”
When she tries to get the third construction bot to build a third bungalow, but fails, the human realizes their supplies of construction materials have dwindled to 50 tons, and building two bungalows took her two bots 75 tons each. What kind of Bizarro world is this, where you need to have all the materials on hand to complete a unit before a housing start can happen? In a sense, they treat homes as mass-produced commodities. And yet, it boggles my mind that, despite their home mass production capabilities, there just didn’t seem to be a whole lot of housing starts! Six housing starts would probably be a drop in their bucket, and maybe not even that. How many housing starts will it take for my employer to pay back their debts? I guess, not all housing starts are made equal, Karine’s mind races with all speed, giving way to her anxieties.
But all it seems to take for them to even get tenants is, well, a housing start. And the leases, unlike construction contracts, only require the landlord’s signature, here, Billerica. Who’s overjoyed at having signed leases for the first time in a while.
“Woohoo! Our first tenant with you as a project manager!” Billerica shares the news with her, but his faith in the HCP leasing system makes him not want to reveal tenant info to her.
Once the first bungalow is finished, later in the day, followed by the second one, she comes to a grim realization after running the calculations in her head.
“You just signed a lease for that home, but there is no hope of getting the one hundred and fifteen thousand talas in time without first selling both our housing units! We won’t be getting any of the lease income! Is that OK with you?” Karine asks him, distraught about the impending debt deadline.
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“Handling transfer of leases is not your job. Just tell me which unit to put for sale, and I will try to work out a lease transfer” Billerica then takes a parochial tone with her. “Don’t forget about the price limits!”
“It’s all new to me, but even if we sold the first two housing units, are you sure we will be able to sell them at the price limit? Who, in their right mind, would think living in a bungalow in the middle of a swamp is a good idea? Notwithstanding the price differences” Karine starts questioning her boss about whether it would be realistic to even sell the two housing units she just had the construction bots build.
What did I get myself into? Karine might be a relatively fast learner, her lack of knowledge of local real estate market conditions makes me feel like she should stick to the construction proper, at least for now. She keeps questioning whether the bungalows can even fetch T50,000, Billerica tries to shove Karine away from the console, but her bulk (by Taladuan standards) makes it difficult for him.
“Fifty thousand talas, heck, one hundred fifteen thousand, is very cheap in this real estate economy” Billerica tells Karine as her weight, while still healthy by human standards, forces him to find ways around her body to put the first unit for sale.
Maybe if I wait for her to go to the WC, I might put the home up for sale! Billerica seems to be losing patience, even as he needs to sign the second lease. As his face turns white, she can feel like her boss is losing patience.
“Select one of our units on the screen now!” Billerica screams at her, as she selects the older unit. “Now, press the blue and white button!”
Karine reluctantly presses the blue and white button, wondering what’s next for the tenant. By pressing that button, it creates a sale listing on the HCP’s listing system, allowing would-be homeowners from around the world to buy it.
When the blue and white button is pressed, that unit’s tenant receives a notification their landlord might change in the coming days. I looked high and low for a rental home and the landlord is already looking to sell the house? Their first tenant’s stress level goes up upon receipt of a possible landlord change. From what I heard, new landlords try to honor leases made under the previous landlords. However, you get what you pay for… Might get a rental on the cheap, but is the Housing Crisis Plan some sort of landlord scam?
“As much as debt payments are soon due, I wonder if the lease is included in the transaction should we find a buyer at this price… that seems a little much for the location, but it better include the leasehold!” Karine keeps arguing.
“Of course it does”
While Karine waits for offers to come in, she places an order for an additional 100 tons of construction materials, at a cost of T10,000. Which is paid immediately, but she then needs to wait on the vendor to deliver them the materials by teleporter.
The offer made to her in the meantime seem faster than she expected and… this takes her aback. Even with the price at the HCP-mandated limit, somehow, someone on this world made an offer within minutes at this price.
“I’d never expected people to pay that price for bungalows in such an inhospitable place as this swamp village. Is it inflation, or at least housing being in high demand?” a puzzled Karine asks her boss while the materials have arrived, but it feels so… unreal.
“You had the right idea, but our debts won’t pay themselves!”
I guess, questioning everything will hold me back at some point. I may as well just… take it? Karine, suddenly reminded of her employer’s debts, and what they mean for her stay on this world, accepts the offer, knowing there won’t be a better offer. Safe with the knowledge that she will find a buyer in relatively short order, she then puts the second unit for sale with more confidence than she had the first one.
“For the third unit, I would love it if you just didn’t try to get tenants for it…” Karine warns her boss, feeling that finding tenants only for them to be informed almost immediately might cause problems.
“Why?”
“Some of them would feel like it’s a bait-and-switch kind of thing if we do this, even if we notify the tenants automatically that their landlord may change! Also, the new owner would have a choice between renting it out or using it for themselves, without being bound by the existing lease!”
“Oh Karine, do you realize that we just don’t think the same, and… what do you want to use the proceeds from the third unit for?”
“Buying the multigenerational home’s blueprint and then buy the materials to build multigenerationals?” Karine’s tone of voice seems to imply that she is unsure of what to do with the proceeds.
“Why?” Billerica feels like Karine is acting as a lone wolf, as if she wanted to run Wonderlic herself.
“Look, I feel like we can’t get out of debt only with selling bungalows in the swamp! There’s a reason why the village only asked for six units!”
Karine gets a bot to work building the third bungalow, while she runs more calculations in her head about what she can buy for the village, given the money she can expect from the next two units. And, of course, waiting for an offer on the second unit. If the next two units fetch the same price as the first one, then I’d have T200k. Of which T10k was spent on materials, and T115k must be set aside for repaying the creditors. So it leaves me with T75k to build multigenerational homes with, and the blueprints cost T30k.
By the end of the first day on this project, it becomes clear to Billerica that he shouldn’t simply build homes for immediate resale, especially as he places bids on other HCP contracts in other regions of the world. Don’t fool yourself, Karine, this is only the beginning. Other communities might rely on the HCP for more complex needs than just building a handful of housing units! She might feel like a fast learner, but on that count also, I must be on the lookout for her intellectual limits, he muses while he pays the first tranche of T115,000 in debt repayment.
At the same time, Karine buys the blueprint for the multigenerational home, and then spends T40,000 to buy 500 tons of materials.
“With you, there is hope that we can get out of debt. However, given how automated a landlord’s job can be, I feel like we can keep a few units for us to rent out, especially with the government giving us seed money at the start of each new contract. Yet, it seems like we’re forced to fight with other contractors for scraps the larger developers can’t or won’t touch” Billerica harangues Karine.
“I guess, renting houses is for you to get a source of income after construction ends, to use it as seed money to get new projects started, and hopefully, getting upgrades to this home”
“You should let your mind rest for a bit, Karine”
After previewing the multigenerational home blueprint they just bought, the two realize it’s mostly a two-floor version of the bungalows they kept building today. And, unlike the bungalows, two bots appear to be required to build one.
So, before going to eat at night, Karine orders the construction of two units, a multigenerational home and a bungalow. When is the next debt payment due, and for how much? Payments under a consumer proposal are typically fixed, for corporations, on the other hand, there are times where schedules of repayment start small and then become progressively bigger as debt restructuring goes on, Karine’s mind formulates questions that she keeps to herself, at least for the time being. Because she feels like she didn’t want to strain her working relationship with her boss any further.