by Marcus Sloss
Perci was not thrilled. The problems we were having with moving continued to pile high. She had intended to help but left with Nancy after our morning breakfast with Jill and Mary. Apparently some housing was already in the Mount Moran base we called Stronghold Castle.
Linda asked to be here for diplomacy and I allowed it. I had to feed her so I wanted her expertise on top-level negotiations. The problem was Linda was still in full corporate and government politicking mode. Well, she was not a dunce, on the job training was the right place for her to be. The woman had a yellow power suit on over her white acrium armor.
Around us was Jevon in a dark black suit of armor with a machine gun across his back. Ulanda was in a side turret on a tank. The kerbian prisoners were grouped in front of a hundred tanks and Goliath 3. How did I know it was Goliath 3 because Perci had tattoo art stenciled on every calf. This one got named Robert. Silly shit like that always caused me to smirk.
I let my gaze drift until a hovering truck blitzed our direction. A sandy plume was enveloping behind the vehicle as it raced our way. Well, there was no army charging at us, bonus. Onix was hiding inside the alcove of the southern gate. How did I know? He was sniffing loudly and every few moments I would get a waft of nasty cat breath.
We had pulled a few units out of Boulder for this event and as Toth waved, I sure hoped this meeting was going to be worth the effort. Toth brought a kerbian with him as the driver of their hovering vehicle. The aliens floated through the gate slowing to a halt not even five feet away.
“Welcome back Toth,” I bellowed in my best warlord voice. I caught the kerbian eyeing the prisoners. Relief washed over his face when his eyes locked with one of gangly young kerbians. Probably a son. “And this is?”
“Faction leader Andrivon of our kerbian raiding team. Let me fetch your fairy,” Toth said going to the back of the truck. A hogtied fairy that was blindfolded was hauled out. A typical male fairy on virum. Exactly what I ordered. “Here you go.”
“Let the prisoners go,” I commanded while handing Longoria the prisoner. He was set on a sled and sent to Mansion immediately.
Linda scoffed but I shrugged. I honored my deals. “Toth, I have some bodies, do they mean anything to you?” I asked revealing some bodies under a tarp behind me.
“They are Andrivon’s spies. Trying to verify if Ralph was telling the truth,” Toth said and I smiled.
“Oh good, I was told the same thing. Glad to hear it verified. So. How about now that the small trading is done we do some bigger trading? Nation to nation,” I said with a winning smile and open friendly arms.
“I like you, Eric. It is refreshing to conduct business so openly. Return a truck to me Andrivon,” Toth said as the prisoners were loaded until the crammed the vehicles truck bed. “We have a market in Koor, best on the planet. Still, nothing compares to the grand market. There is something special about ours though. We do not let anyone use our Xgate booths without a tax. That means all the aliens generating items like seasoned steaks on Koor compete to sell goods in the market, and if they don’t.”
“Then to the regular market it goes. We need workers and chickens. I have zinc and a mineral called yttrium but it needs to be broken down,” I said to Toth. The vehicle with the prisoners spun out of the gates. We both watched them speed off into the distance on Koor. “A son?”
“Yup, that was the boss of the bosses for the kerbians. Your capture was worth ten fairies. But you honored your deal anyway and you knew it. That bought you a lot of good will with our council,” Toth said with a slow nod of approval. “Bring the raw zinc. Sealed tight mind you. We have many different types of infested aliens. Virum is a popular one so expect those out of money or down on their luck to have virum trying to steal any zinc they can detect.”
“I wonder if I could convince beings to immigrate with the promise of free zinc and then paychecks in zinc,” I said knowing the answer.
“Ah, well you would get the dredges for certain. We may not have a social safety net but we do keep our busy workers employed and happy. If they wear a pink badge they are pride workers. Those we value highly. You will see. Here is our contract for your visit,” Toth said.
“King Eric, this is Sally,” Sally said in a surprisingly formal tone. “The agreement is loose, if someone starts a fight beside you, technically they can kill you with no repercussions to the Koovorin Nation. This also has a few other loopholes. These all stem from real issues the Nation has faced in the past. I have cleaned it up. We are putting a hundred TG99 tanks if you violate the laws as ransom for your return in good faith that should be accepted. In return, if you die even to an act of god -as it is termed- we get a zinc payout larger than the cost of my brother and I times three.”
I paused, uncertain on how to continue. Toth save a warm sloth smile. “Let me step onto Koor for just a moment and get this approved. These are what-if scenarios,” Toth said, walking slowly through the portal.
“Ugh, Sally. Should I go or not?” I asked.
“You’re fine if they accept. All staged events for an accidental demise would be canceled. I have full access to their networks. The Divine-Apes left some presents behind for themselves that I can access. Anyway, you’re not going to get accidentally killed and us sent a ‘sorry but your dead leader’s demise was not covered,’” Sally said, not reassuring me in any way. I wanted to throttle her. “Eric, you are fine. Here is the part that will ease your racing heart. They’re going to transport you securely to a place called the Vault. Just Vault. Inside there you will be mentally uploaded into synthetic bodies to travel for the day.
“This is how the elites of the city mingle, they do not expose themselves to the common aliens or risk a chance at death. These units are expensive to operate and you rent them by the day. Fortunately you can rotate personnel into them. So if I want to go visit later I can use the same robot for the day cycle which is nearly forty hours on Koor. You will need a lot of zinc but I have sent plenty with you.”
I was taken aback. “You’re telling me I will become a robot and control it from inside a secure location?”
“Yes Eric, there are many aliens that value their life more than their wealth. Koor does trading and planetary mingling all the time. Go have fun, compete, and bring home some new warriors or builders. You will have impressed a lot of the Koovorin Council with your victory and contract knowledge. Use that to help Bastion. I got to go. Oh, I am sending a list of minor machines we could use to help spruce up Stronghold Castle.”
The connection closed and I chewed on an inner lip. My Gpad pinged and I was given a list. I was not one to avoid risks. How often were humans invited into a mega-city?
“We’re going right?” Willow asked with a nudge on my left hip.
A tap on my right shoulder revealed a flash of friendly crixxi canines. Everly said, “I want to go.”
I shrugged waiting for Toth who was heading back for Earth. When he shimmered through he said, “Hurray, approved but you’re getting a guarded escort. The vault before the vault with thick shielding around an armored hull. You will not leave your encasing until you are secured underground and brought to the sync chambers.”
“So you’re putting me in a no-kill box?” I asked amused.
“Yeah, your contract is pretty airtight. Get it!” The sloth being rolling his eyes back giving a slow deep laugh. He slapped his gut when he finished his joyful banter. “So we overprotect you. You can still compete, wager on games, and visit the city from the protection of the vault. Though, from what I hear you’re no pushover as it is,” Toth said with a wave for the portal. “Here they come. Stack all your trading supplies over here. They will be protected. You can bring up to five of your citizens but three would be better for a start.”
“Jevon you want to go?” I asked my friend who had been off to the side listening in.
“Yes, but after you, if that is okay?” Jevon asked and Toth nodded. “I have command.”
“For the community, you have comma
nd,” I said to my friend and then turned to Sammie. “You’re staying. Get my home ready to be moved and help the sluggeros. Longoria, you’re coming. We’re taking Torrez too if he wants to come. We will make it work. You’re on the next rotation Linda, go ahead and prep Ryan to go with you.”
Willow, Everly, Longoria, and I walked through the shimmering blue while the others went to carry out my orders. Torrez was holding the button on the other side. When he saw us on Koor he gave a friendly wave.
“I want you to ride with us,” I said to him and he pointed at a metal container that reminded me of a see through submarine with a side entrance. The curved contraption was being hauled on a long bed trailer and towed by a gravity tank ten times bigger than a TG99. Umm… Yes, on my to-order list.
“We're riding in that tank, awesome,” Torrez said.
Toth opened his mouth and then closed it to look at me. I pointed at the shitty looking clear container.
“Yeah, Cap. I only love you so much. There is no space in that thing anyway. Can I get in the tank?” Torrez asked.
“It would just alter his contract,” Toth said. “With that said your contract does not permit it, you could have him get picked up right behind you.”
“No. Your call Torrez we’re going into an unknown, so Sally gave us a contract that resulted in that contraption. You can join us in there, wait for the next ride, or go home,” I said with a shrug heading for the container. I saw the confliction on his face twist into a smile.
“I am going to wait. Maybe later, Maria would want to go shopping and I will probably get a BJ for being the hero who waits for his wife.” He snickered at his words. “Best of luck, Cap,” Torrez said, while I shifted to watch the portal.
A half dozen munition crates were sledded over from Earth to Koor. Toth popped the lids, saw them brimming with zinc, and then had them stored in a tanks storage compartment. I stopped watching to enter the small cabin. There were only four seats with the backs facing each other. A seat for each side to view out of. A kerbian sealed us in and then I sat there waiting to be towed. Torrez gave a final wave and was gone after unlocking the Xgate.
“What are you ladies thinking?” I asked as the big tank glided off.
The speed was incredible for such a massive construct. I had the hardest time thinking that objects like AC1 should move slow and cumbersome. Not agile and rapid. I let the thought go to inspect the planet Koor.
The sky was bright with a tiny red tint to it, I would almost think there was a large fire nearby but it was just a different sun. The Xgate we sped away from was one of dozens on the horizon on top of a short yellow grass with blue bushes. The ruined remains of ancient cities were consumed by vegetation, only the odd layout of the landscape told me there were dwellings here at one point.
“Please tell me these can glide over water,” Willow said with a jolting squeak from behind me. A loud exhale escape her in relief. “Oh, were good.”
She was facing forward and I was backwards. I never saw the terrain change. The tropical jungle with sandy beaches swapped to the flat ocean. I craned my neck to stare up into the sky and saw no signs of a moon. We shimmied across the water with ease, our resting point unknown.
“It is likely they had a preserve or an Arctic that they defrosted. There are only six Xgates over the Arctic on Earth,” Longoria said and I was fairly certain it was five but wasn’t going to argue with her. “The ability to melt the ice is possible if we wanted to. Costly and time consuming but time is infinite with containment technology. And if you contemplate the reward, the endeavor is worth the effort. Bountiful land that is devoid of crowded Xgates.”
I saw a few fishing boats hovering over the water. Aquatic aliens slung their catches onto the floating machines. Their bounty was a lot of small fish from what I could ascertain.
We shifted our heading and were soon over sand again. Hundreds of towers encompassed an island with no strategic value. They were guarding nothing that I could tell. The tank slowed before stopping and the ground below us opened up. All these defenses for this single entry point. I was not certain if I should feel reassured or concerned.
The containment unit we were in was tipped and we slashed into a large tube of water. Huh. We descended in a tunnel that was not illuminated except from above.
When the doors closed above we sank down for what felt like five minutes in total darkness. We eerily watched the exterior waiting for something to happen.
“Fuck!” Willow screamed and we all shifted to look out her window.
A suction cup had latched onto the crystalline exterior. We were being towed into a side room with lights. Blessed lights. I was not a fan of being submerged in water in the dark. A door sealed slowly behind us and water was drained from around the exterior of the sealed protection chamber. A tentacle limbed alien hovered inside and opened our container.
“Greetings, welcome to the Koovorin Nation. As the locals call it the Koovorin Collective, and you will see why soon enough. I am Osguad, follow me,” Osguad said leading the way over a grated floor that was drying rapidly. I stepped out behind the alien. “Your finances have been secured in our banking system which, trust me, is far more sophisticated than this system. This is tried and true without faults. Great way to secure high value clientele.”
“And where are you leading us to?” I asked.
“To the selection process of course,” Osguad said with raised tentacles in a gesture to match his tone. “What some deem the most exciting part of being on this planet. Would you like to know more?”
“Yes, yes I certainly do.”
CHAPTER 19
The four of us followed the alien down the sleek tubed tunnel. The dark yellow material was unknown, the lighting a dim green. We followed behind Osguad eagerly in excitement.
“So, let me start with your receiving standard projection orbs, included with your stay. That is the basic of the basics. You go into a room where you sync your brain and when you wake up, you will be a hologram projection above a disk. You act like you're still in your body and off you go,” Osguad said, stretching a tentacle forward. “You can gamble, shop, explore, and more. Interactions are digital but what interactions are not. You can even take your orb to a third party rental station.”
“Third-party?” Everly asked. “I get the concept, but why not control the process?”
“Oh, good question. Too much work. The Koovorin Collective is not what many consider a real government. We’re more of a facilitator. For example I have pledged myself to the cause, a devout believer in the harmony a myriad of species can attain when led properly. That is my official answer. The reality is a side market was operating synthetics at a cheaper rate without taxation since we were overburdened.
“Well the council allowed third party to become legal and there were a lot of taxes imposed. Not sure if you're familiar with hefty fees?” Osguad asked and we grunted, chuckled, and generally agreed that indeed we understood. “All mind projections exist to avoid a real death. If your synthetic or platform project is destroyed, you were never really there. Moving minds is actually impossible, projecting them relatively simple. Think of it like a remote controlled body.”
I reacted with an hmm sound. “Then why are there not -”
“Endless waves of mind projected armies,” Osguad said, accurately finishing my sentence. “Costs, costs, and costs. A rental to meander a market costs very little. The synthetic is generic, the rental should incur no damage, and the return allows it to go out the next day. A synthetic used in the pits are usually reprocessed bodies scraped together until a new form meets production standards.
“An army of defending mind projected soldiers certainly has its perks. Especially if life is valued highly. We use a few for our top leaders who roam the defenses with their real troops. There is no point in using them across a portal, it won’t work. Even for the big-headed beings with all the smarts in the universe can’t mind-project to a synthetic through a gate.”
; Willow gave a thoughtful hum and said, “So they are limited, costly, and have downsides.”
“Here,” Osguad said, pointing to the deck with a tentacle. “If you get hacked you return to your body, we lock down the unit with an override, and hopefully no one gets hurt in that fraction of time.”
Willow gave a grunt and said, “Your machine army could be turned on you. I could only imagine the carnage.”
“Yeah, exactly. That is a risk too. Your good intentions lead to more deaths. War is savage. While I love to chat synthetic theory we’re here to facilitate a safe trip in Koor,” Osguad said upon arriving at a door. “Okay, so you have your generic pads that will hover as if you were real. Standard. We have fancy bodies that fall in two categories: robotic, or synthetic.”
There was a hiss that sunk the door into the floor and we stepped in. The room had a dozen vats not too different from our acrium vats at home. When I saw the material was the same I realized this was an acrium room.
“Before I keep going, hop in so you can expedite the mind-project. Got to be naked for it to work. The acrium will let you listen while you get out of your suits,” Osguad said and we trooped up some stairs to begin the process of removing our outer shells. “Back to the advanced categories. There are junk bodies that are more robot than synthetic. Cheap, something different, and scraped together parts. They are allowed just not desired. Especially for combat. Watching two robots slug it out is not as thrilling as synthetics
“Before I forget, with all of these options here in the vault; you buy a robot suit, then resell them at a loss instead of renting them. Why? Because millions of years have dictated it works this way for numerous reasons.
“There are third party renters but they do the same thing backward. They retain an amount of funds to cover destruction while charging you more for your rental.”
I dunked into the acrium and heard the little guys thanking me. We exchanged a few quick words of goodbye and they assured me they would be safe. When I exited naked Osguad continued.