The Golden Rule (2)
Once again, I was left in the room alone. I took a moment to collect myself. I noticed that I was wearing a different set of clothes, nothing fancy, but the fact that they were different was alarming. They must have searched for me while I was unconscious.
I looked down and realized that they had even switched out the bandages from my makeshift cloth into proper medical bindings.
Judging by the greenish tint on them and the slight tingling sensation he felt from the wound, they had also applied some sort of medical ointment.
I reached over and grabbed my bag. Inside I saw the two present boxes and a case of gold plates were still there alongside his other clothes. The box of platinum coins was gone, but I expected that might be the case.
I was wonder more about what I had gotten myself into when the door opened and this time an aged, elegant man waked in.
“Good evening Sir Hayden, you can call me Gerard, I will be your point of contact for anything regarding the golden rule. As such, it is a pleasure to meet you and I hope we get along.” Gerald said while sitting down with perfect posture.
“Good to meet you as well Gerald.” I said while straightening up in my own chair as well. His behavior made me want to present myself at the same level of professionalism or at least the best I could muster.
“Now Hayden, I am sure you have a lot of questions regarding what we do here at the Golden Rule and your current situation. Let me give you a brief explanation and if you have any questions afterwards, I will do my best to clarify.” Gerard spoke calmly and with a hint of warmth that suggested friendless, but when our gazes matched, I could tell that he was assessing me.
I prompted him to continue by giving him a nod and to break the eye contact and relieve a bit of tension.
“First off let me tell you our company’s motto, Do Good Business. That is the golden rule. This means that we strive in every way to provide our clients with the items or services they need at a reasonable price with discretion that leaves all parties happy. We are completely honest in all our transactions and have found that a foundation of a good business is trust.”
“To accomplish this efficiently and avoid unnecessary issues we highly value discretion and keeping our company hidden from the public eye. It is highly frowned upon for any supplier, client or employee to mention or discuss anything Golden Rule. If done so our company will take steps to keep our anonymity.”
“On to the services or items we can offer to you as a client. Let me simply say, that there is nothing off the table here. Anything that is obtainable can be obtained for you. Any service that you could need, we can facilitate meeting experts in their crafts to provide it. Also, the Golden Rule has a quite large information gathering network and information can be provided for free or at cost depending on what it is.”
“Now obviously the cost for each request varies. To put it simply, in our pursuit of doing good business we directly take the cost of fulfilling the request and add a thirty percent charge for our company. Now for some request we are unable to determine the exact cost beforehand and will charge your account afterwards.”
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This statement made me stop and think. Forty percent was very reasonable cut, most middlemen can charge fifty percent on the low end for most deals. Some rare or expensive goods could get marked up to insane amounts as well.
“Speaking of your account, currently your deposit of a hundred platinum qualifies you for a bronze membership. If you can raise your membership more information and a better price percentage will become available for you.”
“Now with all of this said you might be overwhelmed with the options available to you. As such, often for individuals like you, we can advise you on services that we judge would help you most. Our goal in helping our clients is to create further business as such we hope to make each of our clients as successful as possible.”
With the basics of the Golden Rule established by Gerald’s monologue, I asked some questions I still had, and we discussed further. This discussion lasted quite a while, I needed to get more information about the Golden Rule and Gerald seemed unbothered by it and was more than willing to elaborate.
It seems that they truly did deal in almost anything or could at the very least connect me with someone who did. Eventually the topic turned to my situation and what would be the best way to spend my money to address my needs.
Gerald was a fantastic conversational partner, and I was honest about what my plans were, and we discussed different options I could go through. Geralds straight forward and objective thinking, helped give me perspective and calm the panic and fear that had built up over the past day.
Soon I had a plan for going forward and how I would be spending my money. Right now, there were two things I needed most.
1. A quiet and discreet way out of city
2. Finding a skilled soul sculptor to help with my awakening.
Most of the planning would have to occur after my awakening went, so for now this was all we could establish.
The first item was easy for Gerald to facilitate for a decently cheap price. He didn’t state the details of my transportation, but he assured me that it would be quick and very safe.
The second item was much more expensive due to the rarity of soul sculptors and the typical price they charge.
Overall, it would end up being fifty-two platinum coins which would be taken out of my account balance. As much as it hurt to spend almost half my budget immediately, a good sculptor was essential to having a safe and more efficient awakening. The fact that we would be using a tier 4 core in my awakening made it even more crucial that a sculptor be there.
“Well then Sir Hayden, I will begin putting your platinum to use for you. For today why you don’t focus on recovering. Due to your situation and status as a client, you may stay with us in our facility.” Gerald continued the conversation while getting up and making his way to the door.
“Vivian here will bring you to your room where you can rest, in the morning I will come by and give you an update on your requests.” He gestured to the same woman who I met with earlier.
“Also, while staying with us, we do except you to stay in your room while unescorted.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem, thank you for your help, Gerard” I replied while standing up as well. I reached out my hand and Gerald responded in kind.
Despite my aching muscles I made sure my grip was firm and steady. Gerard seems like the type to appreciate gestures like this, and I wanted to make a good impression with the old man. I was out of my depth, and it wouldn’t hurt to come off likable.
After that we parted ways with Vivian guiding me through a hallway and up a set of stairs. The hallways décor matched that of the meeting rooms and was tastefully decorated with the occasional art piece or potted plants to keep the eye distracted.
Eventually she came to a stop outside of a room and opened the door. Inside was a moderately sized room that had its own bathroom and table with chairs.
“I will be back shortly with dinner, is there anything you would like?” Vivian asked while I walked in and set my pack down next to the table.
“Whatever you would recommend.” I probably could have asked for any food, but I was too mentally fried to think of something.
With that established Vivian took her leave and I was left alone in the room.