I had another day of mixing bread, this time for almost four thousand at each meal, and I was ready to head out. The line had went out the door and they ran out of dishes. Mary had been stuck washing them all day. I suggested they talk to one of the salvagers to bring in more dishes from one of the local restaurants or school cafeterias. After all, no school had been open since the outbreak. The issue was that Jacob was almost out of cash. I was running low. I estimated I only had 16k left. That might keep the place open for another week, with the amount of food we were going through. And that was if I didn’t spend any on my settlement.
“We need a way to earn money.” I said after the last of the guests had left. “Donations would be nice, but I doubt we can earn enough to keep the place running. I have a way to trade with others at my base, but I’m not sure they’ll be willing to buy what we are selling.” I couldn’t mention that it was through the System or with people in other countries with Mary here.
“Then we’ll need to start charging.” Paul said.
“If we do that, the poor won’t be able to eat.” responded Jacob.
“Then what about a second menu?” I suggested. “The price of meat is pretty high, and we are putting it in every bowl of soup. If we limited the meat to the meals that we charged for, even if we just charged cost, with the donations we should be able to break even.”
Jacob didn’t like the suggestion, but in the end he agreed. Starting tomorrow we would have two new signs and at least one new employee, pulled from those that ate here. The first sign would be asking for donations. The second would state that, due to monetary concerns, meat would now cost money. We set it up before we left, and put a bucket under both signs. Hopefully we could trust the people to not steal from the buckets.
When I got back to the base, I checked the market. We didn’t have any sells yet, but the guys had been busy filling up the warehouse with a little of everything. I noticed that they had even placed the bagged ice cooler from the convenience store next door and a car in the warehouse. A 67’ Shelby Mustang. Nice, though I doubted anyone would be willing to buy it, and we didn’t yet have the power to transfer it anywhere. Still, maybe some rich person in France, China, or Australia would be into classic cars and pay the fifty thousand Zerka price tag the guys had set for it.
I went to the storage shed that housed Gary and brought up my market interface. It allowed me to place anything that was in the warehouse anywhere inside the settlement, but would use my energy to do so. I told it to place the ice bag cooler beside the shed and felt a surge of energy leave me as it appeared from a distortion of space. I was a bit light headed from the rush of energy, but it quickly went away. I plugged the cooler in, then instructed Bob to drop off any meat he produced in it. With the demand for meat being as high as it was, I might have a way to earn money. At least I could earn dollars for local trade.
As for international and System trade, I would need a local specialty. The system was willing to buy materials from us, but all of the common stuff like steel, plastic, and copper cost too much energy to sell enough for a significant profit. It looked like the System had a way to get you to sink money into it by pegging the value of currency to certain goods, so that the supply of Zerka didn’t get out of hand. Hopefully that meant that Earth would be able to afford things when we connected to the rest of the galaxy.
I looked over the other System goods. Many different production buildings were available. From what I read, they just needed to be given raw materials and could produce anything they had the schematics for. The schematics we had were all over a million years old, but from the look of them they would still outperform anything that Earth could make. That was an interstellar society for you.
As I looked through the list of production buildings, everything from food prep equipment to starship manufacturing devices, Tony walked over. “You ok?” he asked, with a puzzled look on his face. “You keep reaching out like you’re scrolling through a tablet or something. It looks a bit strange.”
“Yeah, I’m ok. I have a way to access the Market without the terminal, and was just scrolling through that.”
Tony scratched his head. “To tell you the truth, I’m still not used to that terminal. I keep dragging things over and telling it to add them to the warehouse, and the stuff keeps disappearing, but it still feels like I’m in some sort of weird sci-fi program. Never really been a fan of those shows.”
“I understand. I can explain what’s happening if you want me to, but it might be a bit confusing.”
“In that case, let me go get Tom, so you can explain it to both of us. Maybe over supper.”
Realizing how late it was I checked my phone. It was 7:30 PM. “Actually, I need to go pick up a friend. Promised to pick her up at eight, since her car is dead. I’ll explain to the three of you when I get back.”
Tony nodded and I got in my car. The drive to Di’s house was pretty uneventful. I did almost hit a zombie deer that was standing in the road and didn’t move when I honked at it. I shot it three times in the head and used my telekinesis to drag it out of the road. There was no way I was going to touch it, as it was already decaying.
I made it to her house just before eight and knocked on her door. The neighborhood was dark, except for a few solar lights I saw on or around various houses. She answered the door holding a candle. “Oh, good, you’re here. The power went out an hour ago and I’m not sure when it will be back on, so I’m not quite ready yet.” I could tell she had on less makeup than when we went out for supper that one time, and what she had on wasn’t as accurately applied.
“It’s fine. You don’t need to dress up. I’m just showing you my settlement.”
“Still, when a man invites you over to his place you need to look your best.”
I had a feeling she wasn’t seeing this the same way I was. “It’s just a tour of the small community. There’s only three people living there, but we have plenty of extra trailers if you want to move there. We at least have steady power, and we’re working on the plumbing.”
“Well, if you insist.” With that, she blew out the candle, placed it just inside the door on a table, grabbed her purse and locked the door behind her. “So, to your car, I guess.”
I went to my car and opened the passenger door for her, and she seemed to grimace as the door squeaked. “Yeah, I know. I need to oil it.” I said. She sat down and looked around, not sure what to say. I climbed in the drivers side and started it up. “I know it’s old, but it’s dependable. No point trading it in when it still gets the job done.” She smiled but had a complicated look on her face. Did she think I was talking about something other than the car?
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I shrugged and headed back to the base. Ten minutes later we pulled into a parking space behind one of the trailers and got out of the car. Tony was operating his backhoe again, with Tom shining my big flashlight at the hole, filling the air with the smell of diesel smoke and the sound of a large engine. I went over to the passenger side and opened the door for Di. Seeing her get out of the car, Tony dumped the last load of dirt and turned off the equipment, climbing down.
They came over and I introduced them. “Tony, Tom, this is Diana. I figured I’d show her around the place. Maybe she can help us bring in settlers.”
They nodded and I motioned towards the nearest building. It didn’t take long for her to see everything. There were only a few RVs and Trailers to see, after all. The only two things that she seemed interested in were the fact that I had a generator shed providing constant power, and the warehouse/market terminal. We showed her how the terminal worked, and she spent a few minutes on it looking around. She seemed to be treating it more like a shopping website than a means of international and interstellar trade, which was interesting. After trying to import a fancy dress from China and failing due to a lack of funds, she turned to me.
“Sorry, but I don’t really have enough to spend money on fashion. I can, however, pay you in Zerka if you want to work for me, at least until my funds run out.” She nodded, and we continued the tour.
Once I explained to the three of them that every few days the cooler would have meat placed in it, and that we could sell that meat for money, Tony spoke up. “I take it that is related to how the terminal works? You did offer to explain everything to us.”
“I suppose I did.” I took a deep breath and began. Diana already knew most of this, but she listened in anyway. I explained about the System, how it could give you skills, help you learn and remember, and fix your health issues. I also explained to Tony and Tom how I had found a way to cure the plague, which was a corrupted version of the System nanites, and how that was the source of most of my money. I then told everyone about Bob and Gary, how Gary kept watch over this area and how Bob was growing animal tissue.
When I was done, Diana looked a bit confused and the other two looked like they didn’t believe a thing. “So, you’re telling me that space aliens put something here on Earth that can both give us perfect health and super powers, and allows us to ship stuff from around the world?” Tony asked.
“And from other worlds, though I haven’t figured out how to do that yet.”
Tom started laughing. “I don’t know if I’m drunk or going crazy, but I kind of believe you. It explains how the terminal makes things disappear, how the warehouse can store so much, and even why you keep messing with those bowling balls in the shed.”
“Those ‘bowling balls’ are actually Gary and Bob’s bodies. I guess you haven’t seen the softball sized one yet, but it’s not intelligent enough to need a name. It’s basically just a generator.”
Tony shook his head. “It sounds crazy. But I got to agree with Tom. It also sounds true.” There was a few seconds of silence before Tony looked excited. “So, how exactly do I connect to this ‘System’ so I can get super powers?”
Tony had been cured by Tim at the hospital, so he would be the easiest to get connected. Now that they were able to communicate with each other I was able to simply use ‘Align Nanites’ on him a few times and he heard a System AI talking to him. Tom, on the other hand, had just gotten lucky and survived a near-death experience caused by the outbreak. I had to use the Repair Corrupted Nanites skill on him and wait an hour before I could use Align Nanites four times and get him to a point where he could here the voice. I instructed them to just ask their helper any questions they might have about the System. I also told them about Nanite Cultivation Cores, which they both chose to get so that they could increase their nanite levels and be connected as quickly as possible.
Once I was done, I told Di about the Market Terminal skill and she downloaded it. I gave her access to the warehouse, as well as a cubic meter of personal storage space in it, then fetched four MREs for the four of us. While Tony and Tom seemed to know how to prepare them, Di seemed confused, so I had to walk her through the process.
Eventually we had all eaten and packed up all the things in the kits that we didn’t eat yet. “I’ve been thinking.” said Di after supper. “You have the beginnings of a pretty good settlement here, and I feel like I should do something about all of the people in town that need help. Once you get the plumbing up and running, I’ll be glad to work on recruiting people for you.”
“In that case, I have something else you can help me with.” I told her about the soup kitchen and she agreed to help.
I took her home, promising to be back at 8am to pick her up for the kitchen, and went back to base. When I got there Tony had built a camp fire and was sitting beside it drinking a beer. He offered me one, but I turned him down. “Never really liked the stuff.”
He shrugged and put it back in the ice cooler beside him. I had no idea where he got the ice. “So, you seem to have interesting taste in women. Like them a bit older, do you?”
“What?” I responded, surprised. “She’s not my girlfriend, just a friend. More like a secretary, really, as I’m hiring her to bring in settlers.”
“Most guys pick a secretary that they like to look at.”
“Well, I picked her for her people skills, not her looks. But since we’re talking about everyone’s relationships, how about you tell me how you and Tom met?”
Tony looked confused. “What do you mean? We ain’t gay. Tom’s my brother. Or, I guess half brother. Dad was the kind of man that wasn’t satisfied with just one woman, even if he was married to her. Tom’s mom went to prison when he was three and he’s been living with us since.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I wasn’t judging you.”
“I understand. I didn’t take it as an insult either. I just want to make sure we’re clear on that matter. You’ll start bringing in women soon, and I want to make sure they know I’m available.”
I nodded and got up. “In that case, I’ll make sure to post your dating profile on the front gate, once you get the fence set up.”
Tony laughed, and I went back to my RV to get some sleep.
The next day I made five biscuits, though not with sausage because I was out, and left for Di’s house. She didn’t dress up as much this time, though at least the lights were on in her home.
When we got to the kitchen I introduced her to Jacob and the others. There were two other women there, Maria in her 60s and Gertrude in her late 70s. They both had plenty of cooking experience, so Jacob had hired them to help out. They were being paid twenty dollars a day and got meat meals for them and one other person twice a day.
I taught Di how to run the breadmaking line and we got to work. Thankfully with all of the extra help we were able to keep up.
At the end of the day Jacob counted the money. We only got a few hundred dollars, far less than it cost to run the place, but he suspected that the donations would pick up over the next few days. What surprised me was the fact that several people had donated jewelry. Apparently, fashion wasn’t important to people when stable living conditions and a stable food supply were a daily concern. “I might be able to do something with those.” I said, pointing to the pile of jewelry. “Mind if I take it and pay for it with food?”
Jacob shrugged. “You donated all of that flour already, so you can just have it. I doubt we could get much cash for it anyway.” I nodded and put them in my pocket.
Di and I left, and I took her to the base. There, Tony and Tom took her back home in order to help her move. “It wouldn’t make a good impression on the people I was asking to move there if I refused to do so.” she said. This would probably take a few days, as she would be moving many things, including furniture, by she should be finished before the first settlers showed up.
The next day was a Sunday. Jacob had invited us to the Mass, but DI and I had turned him down. We would still need to head in for the kitchen, but as Di and I were the only ones that would get there before noon, both meals were being pushed back by an hour. That gave her, Tony, and Tom an opportunity to move more of her things into one of the RVs that they had found. It was probably the newest and the cleanest, as they had just cleaned and it and replaced the mattress due to having a dead person in it. Di didn’t seem to care, though.
While they were gone I placed the jewelry from the night before in the warehouse, then checked what the System would offer me for it. 117 Zerka. Precious metals seemed to actually be worth something, but the jewels didn’t. I sold the things anyway. It was the first money I had actually made through the System.
I checked the market and, while several people had viewed what we were offering, including the car, no on had purchased anything. Hopefully that would change once they found something that was in demand.
I checked the Ice cooler and was surprised to find four pig carcasses in it. They looked like they were perfectly cleaned. They lacked a head, and only the bones and muscles were left.
‘Hey Bob, I thought it would be another day or so before you had any meat ready.’
‘The additional power you provided allowed me to speed up the process.’ he responded.
‘What were you using for power before?’ I asked out of curiosity. Both he and Greg seemed to run without a power source.
‘All Orb type system devices have a built in generator which draws energy from the fluctuations in hyperspace. It isn’t very efficient, but it is enough to allow us to perform at a low level.’
‘Does that include the generator orb?’
‘Yes, though as it is designed for power production it is more efficient and collects from a larger area. Think of it like a solar panel, only the fluctuations in hyperspace are constant instead of only existing during the daytime.’
‘Like placing a wind turbine in a canyon that gets constant wind.’
‘Exactly, though it is more efficient. My generator is around 50% efficient, and the generator’s is around 80%, while even the best wind turbines are around 35% efficient.’
Soon, Tony and Tom pulled in with a load of goods from Di’s home. I helped them unload, then asked Tony. “Would you happen to know someone that would buy meat?” I showed them the carcasses in the cooler.
Tom answered. “I know a guy. How do we explain having them, though. Most animals died off during the plague. They had it even worse than humans.”
I thought for a minute. “Tell him you found a farm outside the city and killed and cleaned them. We should be able to offer two or three per week for the next few months.”
Tom shrugged. “Works for me.”
With that, Di and I hopped in the car and headed over to the kitchen.