Hektor
September 9th, Year 500 of the 3rd Era. Councilman Hektor Daniels sits in his office in Kato Kanali. He stares out the window as the clock forever goes forward, not only dominating his mind but also his city. He checks the time on his pocket watch and gazes at his beautiful buildings. Ships and private vessels sail through the canal and exchange various goods and services. The massive bridge over the nearly sixty-kilometer-wide canal holds homes, offices, manufacturing plants, and more opportunities for people to make fortunes than any other city could dream of.
He looked back down at his watch and smiled. It was so simple, so predictable, unlike the city. The Kadon and Sovan people tore at each other’s throats for as long as time has existed, but as long as the money flowed into the city, all of fine. New buildings, new bridges, and new ships are built across the canal. Hundreds of years ago the canal didn’t even exist. This city was only a port city that imported goods for it to be transported to Rholo on the lakeside, but no more. The need for efficiency was demanded, and the need for more money grew ever more. Each tick of the clock was a wasted opportunity for so many men across the republic. Every tick must be optimized to its fullest extent before the next one comes. Councilman Daniels conducted his life no differently. It was nearly his sixtieth birthday, and he had spent every tick making himself and the city as rich as possible, but as he sat looking out into the richest city in the world he started to wonder if he could do more. Every visit to the doctor made his heart freeze. He could have been dead during his many visits and wouldn’t know about it. He spent so much time organizing himself and the city that his end could very well be set in stone, and the worst thing about it was that he had no idea.
He turned toward his desk and the rest of his office. It was immaculate and seemed cleaner than any room in the city or even the entire world, but it didn’t feel like enough. There was too much space between the furniture in his desk, too much emptiness for a man who used every tick of the clock to the best of his ability.
A polite knock came at the door. Hektor called them in, and they opened the door to a cramped yet organized room. It was Hektor’s secretary. A slim man, a boy who was not the most physically fit but could keep up with Councilman Daniels’ habits. “We should probably leave soon,” the secretary said. “The auction is in ten minutes.”
Hektor nodded. “I’ll be right down.”
The auction house was the heart of Kato Kanali. Councilman Daniels watched as men from around the world arrived at the auction house. Nearly as big as a palace, there were men selling snacks next to scams. The elite rarely indulged, but the common man who was too inexperienced for the auction often stopped by and wasted their hard-earned money.
Hektor passed by the crowd of nearly 2,000 people standing shoulder to shoulder and made his way to the front of the auction house. There was a speaking platform with a large clock and panels of glass that shined a light into the auction house. It was noon, so looking out the window showed the beautiful canal and the free exchange of money behind it.
As he made his way to the front, there was a man dressed in a suit and cape explaining how the auction worked for the first-timers and illiterate. “Find your seats, fine people of Kato Kanali, where you shall find a paddle with a number on it.” He pointed to the domineering clock. “This clock is not normal. It will go counterclockwise rather than clockwise. We will go share by share selling to the highest bidder, but be wary, if you do not raise your paddle before someone else, then you shall not be able to buy that share.” The suited man waited for the few who listened to process that information. “You will be challenged by the dilemma of obtaining a stock at a price too high, but if you wait too long, then you shall potentially lose the opportunity to get it at all. Before you have any reservations about buying any stock, remember this: the more you buy, the more votes you get in Lake Republic laws.”
Hektor stepped on the stage, and the suited man stopped his speech to greet the councilman. “It is an honor to meet you councilman,” said the suited man. “Fine people!” he said as he turned toward the crowd. “Here is the majority shareholder of the Most Serene Lake Republic! Councilman Hektor Daniels!” The crowd gave out a mixed reception. Some—mostly the common man—gave out a wild cheer for the majority shareholder, while the rest—mostly the elite—gave out a polite cheer and clap, didn’t react, or grumbled at the sight of the man.
The suited man said one last thing to the crowd. “If more than one person is the highest bidder, we will enter a traditional auction where the price will increase rather than decrease until only one remains.” The suited man held out his arms to the side and took a deep breath. “May the auction begin!”
The auction was called when the substantial shareholder of the Lake Republic died a couple of days before and was left vacant. In the days leading up to the auction, many begged Hektor to not buy any more stock. He was already the first majority shareholder in the country’s history, and regardless of any other votes in governmental business, he held the final say in any manner.
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The crowd watched as Hektor picked up his panel, and as soon the suited man called out the highest price, Hektor raised his panel among others. “Alright,” the suited man said. “The new price is 100,000 zinc, 1,000 gold, 10,000 silver, or 50,000 copper.”
Hektor was often the first to raise his paddle, long before any other person dared to raise theirs. As time passed, the auction house became emptier. The common men left first, then the middle class, and lastly, the only ones left were the ones already holding substantial stock in the Lake Republic.
When the auction was over, and Hektor went to his chambers, he had increased his share from 51% to 54% and spent millions of zinc.
#
The next day, a council meeting was scheduled for the afternoon. Some came early, some came late, but Hektor walked in as the second hand was at the top of the clock. There were tan, white, or even black Zor men from the Faithful State of Solward or Borzor from Leozan. Despite all of these men claiming to be an independent member of the council, they all had their loyalties. “You’re late,” one of the tan men said. Hektor looked to see who said that. It was one of the men who was born in the Honorable Teoland Stratocracy. Not only that but he directly answered to their Supreme General.
“Your watch isn’t synced, sir. I would have hoped a military man would think of that before calling the majority shareholder out.” Hektor said.
Some of the council members chuckled, but most grumbled or ignored the exchange and settled into their seats. Hektor turned toward the door he entered from and motioned over his secretary, who was patiently standing, to bring over a briefcase he was holding.
“Councilmen, I have an important matter to discuss during this meeting,” Hektor said as his secretary opened the briefcase in front of him. Hektor didn’t want to open it himself as he felt his hands twitch faster the higher he raised his arms. “I think we are all aware of the situation on Leozan. The Kingdom of Qar is openly preparing for war more than ever, looking for any excuse to invade its neighbors one at a time, the Dicon Diarchy is a shell of its former self, and the Griffin Republic has elected a new president who is foolishly attempting to rid the country of a disposable fact of governance and the Expert’s Commonwealth…” Hektor paused. “The Expert’s Commonwealth is actually the only stable one.”
“Before we talk about what you are going to do with this most serene republic, let us talk about yesterday,” the man with the unsynced clock said.
“What about yesterday?” Hektor asked as he checked his pocket watch.
The man looked around the table of fifteen men and told Hektor that ten of them had reached a decision.
“What would that be?” Hektor asked as his finger tapped on his watch.
“This republic is at a dangerous point. Yes, the price of individual shares is at an all-time high, but the treasury is still bleeding,” The man said cordially. “There are simply not enough shares for people to buy.”
Hektor knew the request was about to be made. He heard it a thousand times before. “You are asking me to sell my shares to make the country some money?”
“No,” the man from Teoland said. “We are demanding that you do.”
Hektor smirked at the bullish comment. There was a moment of pause as Hektor looked at the man but gave no response. The man with the unsynced clock remained silent as he went from looking Hektor in the eye to darting his eyes around the room in hesitation. “Or what?” Hektor asked.
“The triads have agreed to sell their stock. We hold a little over thirty percent of the country’s stock, and if we all sell on the same day, then there will be a massive price drop.”
Hektor gave out a forced laugh as his right hand (out of sight under the table) tapped his watch faster. “Are you threatening me with launching this country into a recession?”
“The entire country’s economy is based on these stocks. People make bets on who and who isn’t going to buy stocks; you can buy food with stocks, and the price of zinc is tied to the price of these stocks.” The man seemed more desperate than cocky. Hektor couldn’t understand how a man with such an attitude could make such wildish demands. “You hold most of your money in zinc. We can sell our stock before you can exchange your zinc for another currency.”
Hektor forced his hand still and stood up. He grabbed a couple of the documents from the briefcase and walked over to the man from Teoland. He threw thew the documents in front of him and calmly leaned over his shoulder. “You tell the Supreme General, and your Sovan triad bosses at the same time, that if he wants to buy this country then he will have to wait. I’m sure he doesn’t want to inherit an economic wasteland that blames him for the fall of their country. In the meantime, we go with what I am planning.”
The man from Teoland didn’t speak as Hektor walked back to his chair and sat down. “This is what we are going to do,” he said as his hand once again tapped his pocket watch out of sight. “You are right, this country is running out of money, but we won’t sell any stocks nor dilute them. We shall simply become a bigger economy.”
The council members watched with intrigue what Hektor was about to say. Hektor’s secretary stood in the corner of the room as he looked at his boss. Whatever he said, he knew that a lot of work was ahead of him. Hektor checked the time on his watch and noted that the entire meeting up until this point only took five minutes. “Gentlemen, five minutes ago, your lives were different. Vastly different from what is to come.” He paused. “And you know what is to come? Two things. The fall of the griffins and the rise of Lake Republic hegemony of the Starved Sea.
There was one man who listened to this with great interest. Just by the look of him, Hektor could tell that whatever plan the triads had in buying the country would have to do without his support. Mercenary Commander Eros Agnes looked over at the man from Teoland and calmly waved his hand. Just like that, 20,000 Lake Republic shares and every mercenary in the country were in support of Chairman Daniels.