Kyto had gone to see Paul at the auction house. This auction house was nothing like the one at Scarshot; it was brightly lit and had auctions running every few days, selling all sorts of machinery and gadgets. Once every three months, they also held vehicle auctions, and Kyto was fascinated when he looked over the various vehicles they had for sale. They had everything from small trucks to what looked like homes on wheels. Kyto liked the look of these and was amazed when he looked inside one and saw what it contained. It was like a mobile home; if only he had one when he used to scavenge, his life would have been easier. Then again, he knew he could not afford one; the number of stacks required to purchase them was crazy.
Since arriving at New Talisia, they had initially used the group's earnings from Scarshot, and Lars had donated towards getting them all set up. The priority had been concerning clothing, as none of them had the right clothes. Especially Crystal, Lars, and TJ with their raider's background. Their dress style was unsuitable for New Talisia, and they had to purchase new wardrobes to be able to fit in. They had also bought some furniture items from the auctions that had been delivered to the house they had procured. The house had not cost anything, as anyone willing to set up in the outskirts was entitled to what they found. The main reason was that outside the perimeter of the township itself, you were at the mercy of whatever was out there. Though guards patrolled the main routes, they did not go around all the various locations where people now lived.
“Hi, Paul,” he called as he entered the auction house. It looked as though he was busy setting up for another session. “Oh, you are running today?” he added.
“Hi, Kyto. Yeah, there is one this afternoon, nothing special, just the usual furniture bits and pieces that have been reclaimed,” he replied.
“Nice. I assume you have a couple of minutes spare if that is ok,” he asked.
“Sure. What can I do for you?” he asked, turning from the two men he had been directing to face him.
“I am applying for a contract through the town, and I need proof of my skills before they consider me, " he told Paul.
“No problem at all,” Paul answered with a smile.
“I need your written evidence of the work I completed if that is ok?” he asked.
Paul reminded Kyto of Shep from Scarshot concerning his booming voice and mannerisms, but that is where it stopped. Shep had been a narcissistic, evil man profiteering off slaves and raiders. In contrast, Paul was kind and highly charismatic, and you could not help but be drawn to his warm personality—a perfect fit for an auctioneer and public speaker.
Kyto withdrew his notebook and handed it to Paul along with the pencil he had made. The pencils were crude; they were not like pencils of old but made with thin pieces of charcoal wrapped in a fibrous outer. They were not the most straightforward items, and many people ended up covered in charcoal; if you took time and were careful, you could write well with them. He had always owned one for as long as he could remember, and since they were made from charcoal, it did not cost to replace the inner if you took your time to sculpt them to fit the fibrous cover.
Paul took the notebook and scribbled down a description of the work Kyto had completed before handing it back to him.
“Thanks, Paul. It is appreciated.” Kyto said.
“Not a problem. You did a great job; the generators have never run so well since you looked at them,” he said, smiling.
Kyto bid Paul farewell, promising him he would attend one of the future auctions. He was unsure when he could, as he had been trying to earn stacks rather than relying on Crystal and Lars. Stacks were the currency of the world. They were made from a material that had no purpose these days, and they were a soft metallic material and golden in colour. They were typically printed with a region name or code; everyone held the same value. Some varied in size slightly, but this did not matter. They were only small items, most probably no bigger than your thumbnail.
Kyto decided he would call in on Crystal and Tabs while he was on this side of New Talisia and headed over to their hangar, where they had set up a stall. Over the past few weeks since their arrival, they had started to forage, and Crystal had begun making traditional medicine supplies. They had been doing quite well between Tab's foraging ability and Crystal's medicinal skills. There were doctors in the township, but many preferred the traditional approach. Kyto entered the hangar; they had a small stand at the far end of the building. He made his way through the other stalls before reaching theirs. As he approached, there were several people around the booth, and Crystal was in the process of explaining the properties of one of her salves.
“I can vouch for how good that works,” Kyto said as he approached.
A couple of the people turned to look at him, so he continued.
“I had a bad neck injury, and after applying the salve for a few days, I was soon able to start moving it again properly,” he added.
Tabs smiled at him as he finished, and Crystal winked.
A few patrons then discussed its possible uses, and Kyto signalled Tabs to come and chat with him.
“Your sister is a natural salesperson,” Kyto said as Tabs joined him.
“She is. I wish I were as confident as she is regarding this.” Tabs said.
“Remember, she has years of practice from running the group,” he added.
“I know, but I always feel like a spare part,” she said.
“Don’t be stupid. If it were not for your foraging, neither of you would have anywhere near the same amount of products available,” he said.
“True,” she said, smiling. “Anyway, why are you here, apart from preventing me from doing my job?"
“Just close by; I had to go and see Paul and get evidence of the work I did for him so I can apply for the fishing district job,” he said.
“I wish you were not considering that job. The fishing district is at least a few day's travel,” she said.
“The stacks payment will help. They are offering fifteen plus expenses. That is nearly the same as I used to make in a year previously.” Kyto replied.
“We are making enough here to cover our costs.” Tabs said.
“Yeah, but I need to pull my weight,” he said.
“I know, but I just don’t want you going there alone,” she said with a sad look on her face.
“Ha. Don’t try to play that game with me, Tabitha,” he replied.
“Oi.” Tabs replied and kicked him in his ankle.
“Ouch.” he squealed, grabbing his ankle. Crystal had finished serving the customers and had walked over to join them. “Can I get some of that salve to go?” Kyto said, grimacing.
“For you, my dear brother, I will only charge you five stacks,” she replied.
“Five stacks!” he exclaimed. “I deserve it for free, being such a sincere and supportive family member.”
“If I let you have it for free, then I could not make the profits that I need or pay you for your labour,” she replied.
“What labour?” he said.
“Tabs has not asked you yet?” Crystal said, looking at Tabs.
“Not yet.” Tabs said.
“Ah, well, we need the stall building with shelving areas for displaying the salves and tonics. Having them on a table is not showing them off properly,” she said.
“So, you want me to pay for myself,” he said, staring incredulously at Crystal.
“Of course,” she said, grinning at him.
“I will keep my bruised ankle to myself,” he replied, sulking.
Tabs and Crystal both laughed at him.
“I can look at it for you, but I may have to wait if I get this contract,” he said.
“Contract?” Crystal asked as a customer walked up to the stall.
“I will tell you later,” Kyto said as Crystal turned away to greet them.
“I am going to head back to the control tower,” Kyto said to Tabs, leaning forward to kiss her.
She moved to meet him and then hugged him. “Is your ankle okay? I didn't mean to kick you that hard,” she said.
“I will fight through the pain and carry on, and I could just heal it if I needed to,” he said, smirking at her.
Tabs shoved him backwards and went to punch him as he scuttled away from her into the crowd, laughing.
Kyto had not been happier since they had arrived at New Talisia. Yes, the previous home they had stayed in was lovely, but with Lars and Crystal, he had the family he had not had for a long time. He walked across the airfield to the tower with a grin, happy and content with how life had changed for the better.
Again, he had to queue before being allowed inside, but thankfully, he knew where he was heading, so he went straight over to the corridor leading to Miss Agnos’s office. The door was closed, so he gently knocked on it. There was no reply. ‘Damn,’ he thought.
“You are looking for the contract lady?” a young boy said who had been sweeping the corridor.
“Yes, do you know where she is?” Kyto asked.
“She has gone over to the harbour. She said she would be back in an hour or so.” the boy replied.
“Ok, thanks,” Kyto replied. There were no seats in the corridor, so he returned to the reception area and took a seat, awaiting her return.
Kyto sat there looking around the room; he could see the faint mana glow of the people and objects everywhere he looked. He subconsciously focussed on a plant displayed on the reception desk and began drawing the mana from it. He only became aware of what he was doing when he felt the usual tingling sensation as the thin yellow strands touched his finger. The mana was swimming towards him across the room, seeming to navigate over and around any objects in its way.
He jumped slightly as he had not actively even considered gathering. His mind had been wandering, thinking about his Arcane Knowledge skills, particularly his healing ability, and whether he could try and find a way to use it to support Tabs and Crystal with their medical endeavours. He knew, though, that using his ability in the open would be potentially dangerous. There was a mistrust since the System upgrade that seemed to bubble in the gossip in New Talisia, and although no one had mentioned the Enlightened, several had gossiped about what it may mean, leading to some far-fetched and what would be classed as cult thoughts. TJ had already told them about an incident he had to deal with when a man had been preaching that it meant the end of the risen. Thankfully, he had been known as a man described as having issues and had been dragged away by the guards. The problem was that rumours were still being gossiped about due to the uncertainty. Kyto just wished he knew what the timer stood for.
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Kyto was sitting watching the interactions between an angry woman and the man at the desk when Miss Agnos returned. He recognised her voice rather than her appearance not being able to see her in the room's dark. She was probably in her early to mid-thirties and dressed in the standard attire for the New Talisian authority. She wore a dark grey jacket and trousers with a thick outer coat from being outside. It was strange how they all had been issued uniforms, and Kyto had never witnessed it before, but it made it easy to spot who worked for the township and who didn’t.
“Miss Agnos”, he said, standing up as she walked by, talking to a man who was following in her shadow.
“Ah, you again.” She stopped and turned to Kyto. “I assume you have your proof. If so, follow me to my office.”
She discussed contract details, with the man scurrying behind her as she walked towards her office. “And I want his evidence within three days, or he will lose the contract. Make sure you make it clear to him.” She finished as she opened the door.
“Will do, Miss Agnos.” The man said as he turned and rushed back up the corridor.
“Come in, sit down.” Miss Agnos said, directing Kyto to a chair he had not seen the first time.
Kyto sat in the chair, looking over the desk. Miss Agnos walked over to a small wood burner at the side of the office, which provided it with heat, and opened the vents to allow the flames to pick up again. She grabbed a cup and poured herself a drink from the pot on the stove, not offering one to Kyto. She then moved and sat down, taking a sip before looking at him.
“So, your evidence then?” she said, questioning him.
“Oh yes. Here you go.” Kyto replied, handing over his small journal to her.
“Umm. Interesting repairs and servicing of three generators on behalf of the auctioneers. Paul has signed off on it, so he must be happy with your services. He is a shrewd man and will not accept fools lightly," she added.
Kyto had seen no sign of shrewdness in Paul's interactions with him and had only witnessed a charismatic and likeable man.
“So, the contract. It requires an engineer to go to the fishing district and repair the cooling system,” she said.
“Cooling system?” Kyto asked.
“Yes, they have a cooling system that keeps the catches at a lower temperature to stop them from turning bad.” She replied.
Kyto had not even considered a cooling system. During his scavenger travels, he found several objects that he eventually learned were called fridges. However, he had never seen one working or knew how it worked.
“So, what is wrong with it exactly?” he asked.
“If we knew we would not need an engineer now, would we? " she replied, raising her eyebrow at him.
“Sorry. Is it not cooling, or is it just not working?” he asked.
“Not working. Was the message I received.” She replied.
“So, it is a power issue?” he said.
“I do not know, and we will not know until someone goes up there to check on it. Their radio is also playing up, so communications have been intermittent recently.” She added.
“Oh, I can definitely check the radio while there as well, if you wish,” Kyto added.
“That is an issue for the site to solve. I am only interested in the supply of fresh food to the town, not the site's workings.” She replied.
“Ah, ok. I can check with them when I get there.” He said.
“You are a little confident, aren’t you? I have not even said I would give you the contract yet.” She answered.
Kyto sat quietly for a moment, thinking of a response.
“No, but I am assuming that there are not many skilled engineers in the town who you can rely on. Otherwise, the contract would not have been advertised, and I do not see a queue at the door of others offering their services.” He stated.
Miss Agnos looked up at Kyto and smiled at him. It was the first genuine smile he had seen from her relatively blank expressions, and she looked better for it.
“So, contract terms. A standard contract for remote work. You get paid daily for your time to and from the location. Any parts or materials must be authorised before fitting; these can be confirmed remotely via radio if it works! If parts are required from New Talisia, they will be delivered via the patrol.” She said.
“So, two days there and two days back, plus whatever time is needed on site to perform the fix,” Kyto said.
“Basically, yes. The day rate is two stacks per day paid on return. Labour costs can be agreed upon once we know the issue and the repair duration. I would not expect it to come to more than 15 stacks.” She said.
“Sounds fair,” Kyto replied.
“OK, if you accept the terms, read and sign here, here, and here, " she said, pointing at the paper she held out to him.
Kyto took the sheet and read through the details. It confirmed what they had discussed, and there appeared to be nothing underhand. The only line emblazoned at the bottom of the contract was about personal injury. ‘If a temporary employee is injured while performing work on behalf of New Talisia, they may be entitled to compensation. Compensation claims are to be provided to the claims master along with proof of injury.’ He took his pencil from his pocket and signed his name at the three locations she had indicated.
“Great, the vehicle will be leaving tomorrow morning. There is a supply run heading there to collect the next batch.” She said.
“Ok. Who do I need to see?” he asked.
“If you head to the vehicle yard, William is in charge of the delivery runs, and he will be able to give you the exact details.” She said.
“No problem. Anything else I need to be aware of?” he asked.
“No, if things change between now and tomorrow morning, I will get a message to William.” She replied.
“Ok, thank you for your time,” Kyto replied, moving to stand.
“Close the door on the way out.” She replied, not looking up again.
Kyto just shook his head and left the office. ‘I better go and find this, William, ’ he thought. He returned to the reception and asked the man on the desk for directions to the vehicle yard. He had no idea where it was situated in the township. The receptionist told him where to head, so he set off to find them.
The vehicle yard was on the farthest side of New Talisia. It was at the far end of the airfield, away from the main area, and on approaching the area, Kyto was challenged by a guard posted nearby. Once he introduced himself, he was provided directions to find William, who usually worked in the garages. Kyto entered the garage area; it was one of the old hangar buildings with an array of vehicles inside. Several men were working on them, and Kyto asked which one was William. He was directed to a man whose upper torso was underneath a vehicle, with only his legs sticking out on show.
“William?” Kyto said.
“Yes.” Came the reply from underneath.
“I believe a truck is heading to the fishing district in the morning. I am supposed to journey with it to do some engineering work up there.” Kyto said.
The man edged back from underneath the vehicle, looking at Kyto for the first time. He was an older man, although his thick, bushy, unkempt beard probably made him look even older than he was. He was covered in grime and sat up, offering Kyto his grubby and filthy hand. Kyto took it without complaining, smiling at him.
“Pull me up then.” He said, tutting.
“Oh. Sorry.” Kyto replied, pulling the man to his feet.
“So, tomorrow’s truck will be leaving mid-morning. You will be travelling with Greg.” William said and then bellowed. “GREG”
“Yes, William.” A voice replied from across the hangar.
“This lad is travelling to the fishing district with you tomorrow.” He called.
The face of a middle-aged man appeared from behind another vehicle and looked at Kyto.
“Ok. Noted.” He said and disappeared again behind the truck.
“Right, that is that sorted then, so unless you have anything else, I need to get back to work,” William said.
“No, that is fine, thanks,” Kyto said.
Kyto made his way back across the hangar and outside. ‘I better go and let Tabs now and then get back and pack’, he thought. It was early afternoon now, and the township's hustle was in full swing. There were several bars in New Talisia, and he had visited a couple of them; as he approached one, he saw a man being forcefully thrown out of the door. The man was thrown to the floor into a puddle.
“And don’t ever come back.” A large man wearing a barman’s apron said as he walked back inside.
Several people skirted around the man, who was now sitting up in the puddle, ignoring him or giving him a filthy look. Kyto walked over to him and offered him his hand. The man looked at him with uncertainty and then reached out. Kyto pulled the man to his feet.
“Thank you.” He said.
“That is ok,” Kyto replied.
“I do not suppose you have a spare stack or two, do you?” the man asked.
“No, sorry. I have no stacks on me, " he said, a little taken aback. He had seen a few beggars on the streets of New Talisia, but the guard generally moved them on as soon as they were spotted.
“Ah, oh well.” The man said, turning and walking down a side street.
Kyto watched the man go. For the show that the township gave of prosperity, it was apparent that not all were as lucky, and since he had been here, he was starting to get a feeling that not everything was as rosy as it seemed on the surface. TJ had elaborated on a couple of issues around theft and pickpocketing, but he had not witnessed anything of that nature himself. Most visitors to New Talisia were people coming to trade and sell or purchase goods from other townships. However, a standard large population kept the economy going, irrespective of visitors.
With this stable economy, Tabs and Crystal had latched onto providing their medical remedies; they had been doing quite well since they had set up their stall and produced their goods. There was competition by other traders, but most were re-selling rather than making the products themselves, which gave them a more substantial selling power. Kyto had helped at the stall a few days since they had been in town but had been so out of his depth. He knew how the products were made, but neither he nor Tabs were anywhere near as charismatic as Crystal when it came to sales. Crystal was just a natural and seemed to draw the patrons in. They had already secured several repeat visitors who were returning regularly for salves or cures and starting to build a good reputation.
Kyto entered the hangar leading to the stall; inside was busy as usual, with patrons moving from stall to stall. Kyto slowly manoeuvred through the crowd when he heard a crash and a scream. Looking over to where the sound had originated, he saw the remains of a collapsed stall. A man lay on the ground under the collapsed stall. Kyto pushed his way over and saw that the man was pinned under the collapsed frame, his arm looking at an unnatural angle, and he was moaning in pain. Another couple of people were picking the metal framework off his arm when Kyto noticed Crystal appear by the stall.
"Are you ok, Frankie?" Crystal asked, looking at the man on the floor.
"I think my arm is bust," he replied through gritted teeth.
"Let me look," she said, forcing her way to him.
"Move back." Another man called as Crystal bent down next to him.
"It may be broken. I won't know unless I can see it properly. Let us lift you up and bring you over to the stall, and I can check it out for you," she said.
Kyto moved forward and nodded to Crystal, the pair of them helping the man to stand as he groaned in pain, holding his arm across his body.
They returned to the stall, and Crystal took Frankie out to the back and sat him down on a stool. "Can I help?" Tabs asked.
"I need to see what is wrong first." Crystal gently felt Frankie's arm through his jacket, slowly applying pressure.
"My display says it is broken," Frankie said, hissing as Crystal felt his injury.
Kyto grabbed Tabs on her arm and leaned forward, whispering in her ear. "Maybe I can help?" he said.
Tabs turned and stared at him with open eyes, shaking her head and mouthing, 'No, it’s too dangerous'.
"Tabs, can you make some fresh salve, and I will mix some tonic," she said.
They both walked back to the front of the stall where their supplies were. Kyto looked at Frankie; he had his eyes closed and head dropped, holding his injured arm across his body.
'I have to try', he thought. He began to focus on his heal skill; his mana pool was at its maximum of 1200, so he knew he had a decent pool to start with without drawing any more initially. He focused on Frankie, and as he did, the yellow strands that had always been attracted to his hand began to swim towards him. They appeared to penetrate through his clothing, where Kyto focused on his arm and disappeared.
Kyto could not see what was happening, but his pool suddenly began to drop, and as it did, Frankie winced in pain. The speed at which his mana was reducing was faster than he had ever seen before, and within moments, it was nearly half drained and still dropping fast; he began to reach out to the mana sources around him from all the inert objects that were showing a faint glow, and he pulled on them. The speed at which the mana was dropping started to slow, and even though falling, it was not as quick as before.
Frankie groaned in pain as Kyto heard a scraping sound as if his bones were being pulled against each other. He cringed at the sound, but Frankie did not seem to feel the pain to the same degree. Eventually, after several more moments, the healing strands appeared to retract from Frankie's arm and return to Kyto. His mana pool was just under a quarter as the strands finished retracting his display triggered.
Congratulations - your selfless act in healing an oblique displaced fracture of another has increased your experience by 1380. Injury severity when healing will adjust the number of experience that you can gain. (Note: self-healing does not contribute towards experience)
Crystal walked back through from the front of the stall carrying a glass with tonic in it. "Here, it tastes like shit but helps with the pain," she said.
Frankie was still holding his arm gently, and he let go carefully, not wanting to move it and took the glass. Pulling his face from the pungent odour as he drank down the tonic.
He then looked up at Crystal. "Wow, that is good stuff. The pain is already reducing," he said, half smiling at her.
Crystal smiled back. Tabs then returned with some freshly mixed salve. "Need you to try and remove your jacket, Frankie," she said.
"I can try," he said and cautiously moved his arm to allow his jacket sleeve to be pulled off. "That's an excellent tonic. I cannot feel any pain at all," he said in amazement. Frankie's display had been triggered again; he stared glazed for several moments. Then, turning and looking at Crystal. "My display says my break has been healed?" With a shocked look.
He slipped his jacket off to reveal his arm. No discolouration or bruising was showing, and it looked normal. He then proceeded to prod where he must have felt the break gently. He pressed harder and turned to look at Crystal, his mouth open, unsure what to say.
Crystal glanced at Kyto, who quickly glanced away as her eyes met his, and he could feel Tab's withering stare. She turned back to Frankie.
"What the hell did you put in that tonic?" he replied.
"Just my usual recipe," Crystal said.
"Well, whatever it has in it has worked a miracle. I cannot feel a thing now." Frankie said.
Tabs moved forward, "Here, let me put some salve on it; it may still bruise or swell as the tonic effect wears off." she said. Tabs gently applied some salve to his forearm.
Once it was applied, Frankie began to stand, and Crystal helped him put his jacket back on again. "I would make sure you go home and rest," she said.
"Yeah....Thanks so much, girls. Whatever you put in that tonic is amazing." Frankie replied with a look of utter confusion.
Kyto watched as he walked away from the stall, still holding his perfectly healed arm, and then turned to meet the combined wrath of the sisters.