by Marcus Sloss
“If the Pandarin are so well suited to most kinds of work, do we need the mouse people at all?” Perci asked with a tilt of her head. She spun the image of the Pandarin to look at it from different angles. It was three feet tall, equipped for climbing, and the display said that it disliked clothing.
“They are somewhat limited in what they can do. See, if you click here…” Everly demonstrated, changing the interface, “a downside and negative aspects page populates.”
“Oh, I see,” Perci said, studying the page. “They are not good at managing unruly teenagers. They cannot reach high, are not good with dexterous skills, and are limited in their chores by their long sleep cycles. They sleep twelve hours a day, even with the virum. Oh, they eat a lot of leaves too. Hmm…”
“See, the Pandarin are nice, but they come with their own set of problems. Pinecones and pine needles will not sustain these beautiful creatures. We will need to procure a manufacturing processor for a lettuce-type leaf that they never get tired of. I have grown them in treetops with ease before. It is a simple machine that will not cost much and we have the resources, as well as space, to set a few up. Enough funds have been allocated to build the necessary automated systems to support these creatures. I was thinking we could store them in the open until additional cavern space opens up from our mining initiative. Think of the Pandarin as newborn to five-year-old caregivers.”
“What do the Crixxi rely on for childcare past age five?” I asked.
“Ourselves, normally. Young Crixxi mind their manners and can work by age five. So, they integrate while getting lessons from the generations before them. We had a working school of sorts. We definitely do not pamper our young,” Everly said delicately. “This new community is different, Eric. We are different. We have no need for a dozen years of studying books. The universe is at your fingertips in this market. You can reverse engineer anything to learn from it.”
“I am starting to see our path to the future will require a lot of adjustments. Our data team has been busy with little more than studying this market. I think we will find great value in secondary education, but only once we find the right material to teach. Take me through the purchasing process, please,” I said with a smile.
“Speaking of data analyzing, I did a little. Best time to buy is at the end. But how about we learn about all the options together, husband?” Perci said with dancing brows. “I don’t think Everly knows all the options herself.” Her Gpad chimed. “Alright,” she said with a grin, “Torrez set aside a lot of resources for us and the number keeps going up. I think Jevon has the teams hauling in old vehicles to reach our cap limit. Oh, a big chunk went out of the yttrium and was converted into neilspar ore … wait, now the neilspar is gone.” She frowned, trying to keep track of the rapidly changing inventories.
My Gpad pinged an alert.
“New generators purchased; vast majority nitrogen, then a small chunk of helium, hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. A thousand of them should be arriving below.” - Daphne
“I thought we had a separate fund for that,” I said, a tad frustrated.
“We did— We do, correction. Daphne used the wrong fund. Our fund got pushed back into the main fund. We're sitting on oodles of raw materials, though, so I’m not concerned.” She looked so cute, chewing on her lip like that.
“With that said, I will fix this,” Perci said, typing away. Her cheeks flared a mild crimson at the error; I knew she was a perfectionist. “You two shop. This is my problem to clear up … it’s what I get banged by the big cock for.”
Everly crooked her head in confusion.
“An … interesting metaphor.” I shrugged. “How about you show me what you want, Everly?” She smiled. “And Everly,” I held her gaze, “assume that we are buying more Crixxi of both sexes.” Though serious, I said this last with a smile. “If we pass our race of humans—and I bet we find some of those as well—we may get those as well, so plan for the future with your purchases.”
Everly snuggled into my side while tapping away at the keypad. Her long Crixxi fingers ended in short pointy nails that clicked on the translucent screen.
“I have waited for this power for a long time. I always thought that I would be tremendously nervous with this much control, but you soothe my soul, Eric. I languish for your ear rubs … Perfect,” Everly purred, when I stroked her furry ears. “There were 916 Crixxi in Stronghold Mansion and Aspen combined, before today. If we buy five thousand more residents to add to the 1,482 humans in Mansion and 3,471 in Aspen, and then, rounding up, that gives us eleven thousand, slightly more than half of which are female. Then, take half of that half, let’s say … three thousand females, who will have four children every six months, and—”
“For humans, it’s nine months,” I interrupted.
She never even glanced at me as she continued to punch numbers into a calculator. “You are smarter than that, Eric. Six months, if not five, with another pregnancy a month later, if not sooner. Repeating the process semiannually … ” Everly said, finally stealing a glance at me with her purple judgmental eyes. “Have you figured it out yet?”
“Ah, no. To be fair, I have not any spent time around pregnant women my entire life,” I replied, hands waving defensively in the air.
“In a twelve-month cycle, we normally birth a single baby or cub. The term depends on who you ask,” Everly said with an indifferent tone. She tapped away on the screen, trying to find the right purchase.
I pulled her in tight when I figured it out, causing a giggle. “I got it! Because of the multiple babies, they are born prematurely, and the virum keeps them alive,” I proclaimed proudly.
Perci patted my back, still working hard on the balancing act that was our market day finances.
“To be safe, we should get three thousand Pandarin, and before you gasp in dismay, hear me out. For now, they will live in tight quarters in the longhouses, which we have a lot of, since people are eagerly abandoning them for hotels in Aspen. Then, when you add in the fact that we can build shelving homes in the longhouses, and they really do fit in well. Eventually, we will build enough towers for them too,” Everly said with a charming smile, before nuzzling her ear into my hand. “We are not some tiny population. The underway will sync in a few hours and our tribe will soon flow freely between Aspen and Mansion. If necessary, you can emergency house the Pandarin in hotels, also. But, you and I both know we have the space for them. I recommend we purchase the same number of Mounamine.”
I frowned at this number, my mind balking at the idea of so many servants. That would put them at almost a one to one ratio with our current residents. I didn’t mind making coffee. Cooking food was done by humans for volunteered for the occupation, a job I didn’t get any complaints about. We still had a lot of stinky, rundown hotel rooms in need of cleaning. There was a lot of work, even with seven days of an easy life.
“Everly, what will they do while we wait six months for the new children to be born? Seems like a tax on—”
“Ah, so most protectors restrict the breeding of their new population. It is inherently a bad idea to have Pandarin having litters every six weeks while still trying to rear Crixxi young. In this case, we let them build up their population for a while before implementing those restrictions. Let them settle in, and they will be a far more integral component in our society with their own young involved. And then, if you factor in the trading power the new young will bring or having them on hand, provides. Many opportunities open up.” She beamed, “You can trade with Perci’s mom or those people in Colorado Springs. I am advising you to—”
I placed a hand on her shoulder to get her to slow down. “Okay, you had me sold on the fact they could become one with the community this way. I trust you, Everly. Show me the purchase options.”
I heard the shuffle of feet behind me. “Done. Finished just in time,” Perci said, returning her attention to the screen.
Everly’s fingers danced across the interface. She rapidly tapped, blitzing
through the available options. For a species living in the jungle with few electronics, she was whizzing along. Then again, Everly was fun, smart, adventurous, and gifted in most things. She reminded me of several humans, who had the same ability to excel at most anything they tried.
“Go back,” Perci said, catching something we had both missed. I smiled at the two of them. “A few more… There. Interesting.”
A group of seventy-two pandarin were being offered at a cheap, buy-it-now price. It had a two to one female to male ratio, with a large number of infants; and, they were low on virum. The seller was struggling to provide the zinc needed for these poor creatures. Everly purchased the entire lot.
“Oh, nice find. I overlooked it, even though it met my base criteria of groups with a majority of females. That group was mostly females, but also mostly young. Good price, but it will cost us zinc in the long run, so in the end, the prices are only decent, not amazing,” Everly said with a huff. “This might take some time. Especially if we only want to purchase outside of auctions. Buy now pricing is really a reverse auction for the desperate; not what you usually fine.” She tabbed through several screens. “See, this group is great, but it's an auction.”
“Everly, are you okay staying here to win this? Or assigning another Crixxi to ensure it is won?” I paused as a new concern threatened to derail my idea. “Do sellers have the ability to drive up the price?” I asked. Better to double-check before giving a needless order.
“There are loopholes. A few thousand Pandarin are not the contracts I would expect a bidding war on. If you get caught, you get blacklisted by most species. Personally, I do not think many species find a blacklist that big of a threat. There are few repercussions to prevent sellers trying to up the bid beyond the ten percent entry fee. Buy-it-now prices have no such fee. So,” she continued, “a winning bid by a seller pretending to be a buyer to push up the price runs the risk of costing them the ten percent fee for nothing.” She smiled at me, “I don’t mind staying until after the Mounamine, Human, and Crixxi purchases. These bids will be done in ten hours; this is around the time when most of these auctions complete, mainly to allow people time to get home with their new contracts.”
I pulled her in for another long hug to reward her patience.
“I can shop while we wait,” she continued with a blush, noticing the irritated glances by some aliens in our direction. “I need to buy some Crixxi-related things anyway. Oh, and our Mozala will need customized vegetation processing stations, as well. If we win this auction, it is for 3,617 Pandarin, so about perfect for what we need.” Everly smiled, reflecting her joy at getting ‘trapped’ shopping. “And now this auction is saved to my translator, so I can access it from any species’ interface station.” She pulled us further down the row. “Now let’s see, Mounamine are taller than Pandarin, but shorter than Humans … and then we can look for the Crixxi.”
“Great, that will give us time to walk them home. It should only be a few hours’ walk. Unless…” I said, pausing.
“Torrez, I need a hauling vehicle capable of stuffing large numbers of prisoners into. If we go raiding, I need something to haul back our gains with. Oh, and it will come in handy for our current purchases, too.” - Cap
“Let me ask Blob. I may have overspent already.” - Torrez
“We will toss in more electric vehicles if we have to. Get me the hauler. Coordinate with Jevon if necessary.” - Cap
I looked up from my Gpad to see Perci with a hand out, waiting to pull me after our Crixxi wife. I grinned at the wonder she was, and noted, “I want to avoid final-hour purchases, because the last thing we need is to have our new residents out in the open when the blue flares. Torrez is working on our transportation problem. See, I just got an alert.”
“I can buy a flying hovercraft with huge storage bays. This is by far the best option. It is expensive, though, and will not go through blue portals unless the control tower is removed, then tipped on its side and pushed in. We would need three more giant robot guys. But…” - Torrez
I dialed into the command net.
“Priority access is going to be able to move large amounts of personnel in and out of blue portals. Also, those robot guys are called Goliaths. Toss in more vehicles, and tighten spending if you can.” - Cap
“Thanks. Umm… I already bought them.” - Torrez
“Damnit, he dipped into our funds. I unclutter the money clusterfuck and then…” Perci banged her thigh with a clenched fist. “I will hold a three-hour-long meeting the next time we get a lull in combat. No!” Perci stuck a finger in the air with an imperious wave. “A five-hour-long meeting, at least … With PowerPoint!”
Her evil chuckle amused and frightened me.
“How does this leave us long term, financially? Are we going to have enough to win the auctions?” I asked, hands held out in concern.
“Well, we had the most reserves. I guess it depends on how many vehicles Jevon throws into the grinder. I have no idea about the cost of these automated vegetation producers. If we weren’t so close to the other species, I would deviate and focus on that,” Perci said in a huff.
Everly laid a hand on her shoulder.
“Daphne, this is Everly,” Everly said into her Gpad.
A new communication device was needed to replace the Gpad. However, it worked in our community so well, I kept them in stock. There were a bunch of Gpad stores we had yet to raid, too, which meant free Gpads would save neilspar.
“Go for Daphne.”
“I am assigning you a new task. Check your instructions,” Everly said and closed the connection. She turned to Perci. “Add funds to Daphne’s account while we wait. If we stick to the auctions, we will be able to adjust while others complete their required purchases. We Crixxi eat flowers and a few other vegetables. I know you humans do as well. I assigned Daphne to buying a dozen processors.”
“But the fields …” I said, thinking on all the hard work that had gone into our farms.
“The fields are how it is done by the underdeveloped. Let the current crop mature, and we can harvest it before converting primarily to automated production. It still requires labor,” Everly said with a firm tone. “The goal is survival. Those fields will transition into something far greater, and we can continue to grow food underground.”
“Norm, Tina, and the farmers will not complain.” Perci patted my bottom and smiled. “We are adding more livestock anyway. We regressed pretty intensely when the Xgates arrived. We went back to shitting in the woods, planting fields tilled by hand, and living in shelters without walls. I’m not opposed to climbing our way back up the technological ladder, dear.”
We passed creatures who were up to my belly button now. I saw a character in a comic book series or one with a close resemblance. A round slimy eyeball with tiny legs. Gross. I wondered where these damn Mounamine were.
“Almost there. They are a little over five feet tall. They are not crossbreed-compatible with many other species. I know Crixxi cannot. We have sold some into the deeper, larger tribes a few times. They are great for panning rivers for materials. We find they’re easier to maintain, since they are omnivores,” Everly started to explain, but paused. “Their sheet will have most of this information.”
“Well, we have a few more minutes before we even get to creatures who are five feet tall. I need to get back to Jevon, so I will probably leave after this and have you ladies update me on the Humans from Earth,” I said, feeling guilty about leaving Jevon in charge of the chaos while I enjoyed my time browsing in the market.
The stroll down the line of aliens was a unique experience. I was having a great time not just because I got to see the universe on display. Okay, that bear with the tusks and wings was epic.
I had been so stressed about today, and still was. To the point that I felt bad not stressing more.
“Eric, I rarely put my foot down. In this case, I am,” Perci said with a determined glare and a small foot stomp. While she was cute when dete
rmined, my mind had gone to focusing on the fact that they really needed some sort of speed system in here. She saw me evading her gaze. “Actually, Jevon should be in here too. Ulanda and Mitchell are more than capable. Hell, even Eddy is. The point is, you’re not a task manager at the ground level. You are the boss and you need to make decisions on a strategic scale, much higher than the tactical ‘move this here’, and ‘tow that there’ level.”
I grunted, frowned, and finally grimaced. “I’m here, aren’t I? How about I let you win this round? The reality is, we have a very long time to get all this sorted. I want to start practicing battle drills, but we need to learn to operate the equipment first. A lot of how well we do in battle depends on how well we shop today.” I took several slow, deep breaths. “I will be patient. I will find my calm.”
“Well said, tribe master,” Everly mentioned, pulling us to a stop and pointing at a creature.
I let out a rude noise at the sight of the ugly ratfolk. Long noses, curved buck teeth, a skinny frame, with a face you wanted to smash with a fist. I just really wanted to boot stomp the chest and crush the skull of this sapient species. Oh, hey, my calm arrived in the veiled excitement of violence.
“I thought these were mice,” I said, realizing Everly was giggling. “Oh… these are not them. I also named them ratkin.” I tapped the information for the species and saw a few key traits. “Hey, these are builders and eat anything to survive. Damn, that is certainly one way to put it.”
“They are horrendously lazy, hard to bathe, and are not ideal. They are kept in mines as slave labor. We can use them, but be prepared for some backlash,” Everly said with a warning face. Crixxi had the best expressions. I preferred her O-face to this one, but it sent a clear signal. “Mainly because they shit where they want, are very rude, and refuse to go into the mines unless it’s detailed specifically in their contract.”