World Unbound
Page 6
With that taken care of, I focus on the next steps. Getting to know my own settlements.
Summarized Settlement Status
Current Population: 498,308
Total Number of Settlements: 13
Combined Settlement Treasury: 4,314.87 Million Credits (+12M per day)
Combined Settlement Mana: 333,412 Mana Points (+981 Mana per day)
Taxes: 10% Sales Tax on Shop
Facilities of Note: City Dungeons (3), Tier II Guilds (1), Tier III Guild Buildings (9), Military Complex (2), Mega Farms (3), Tier III Butchering Yards (4), Tier III Weapons Workshop (1) Teleportation Pads (Short Range * 11, Long Range * 2), Artisans University (1), Hyperlink (3—see map for link)
Enchantments of Note: Mana Collection Fields (3), Mana Shield Resistance Enhancement (6), Field of Clarity (1)
Defenses of Note: Settlement Shields (Tier II * 1, III * 8), Quantum Lock (Type 2 Static, Type 4 Dynamic—see map for coverage), Sentries (Tier II * 3, III * 4)
“Thirteen settlements, Kim?”
“IT WAS DETERMINED, TO BE MORE EFFICIENT, TO LINK CITY CORES FOR GREATER VANCOUVER, VICTORIA, KELOWNA, AND OTHER LARGER CITIES. THE TOTAL NUMBER REPRESENT THE NEW STRUCTURE,” Kim replies. “DO YOU REQUIRE A LIST OF SUCH SETTLEMENTS?”
“Map will do.”
“DONE.”
I stare at the map of the province with its glowing dots, my lips pursed. Vancouver is the largest dot of course. Victoria, Kamloops, and Kelowna rival each other in size, with smaller settlements like Prince George, Golden, and Fort Nelson surprisingly large now. It takes only a single query to explain why—high Level zones nearby have boosted the Adventuring population around these cities, pushing their growth. Of interest to me as well is the fact that the quantum lock doesn’t just include the cities but much of the land between the settlements on the mainland. Right now though, the lock doesn’t include Victoria, leaving the city covered by its own little bubble. I’m interested by the little lines that create a triangle of high-speed transportation signifying the development of the hyperloop. A part of me wonders how they’re keeping the monsters from wrecking it.
Oh. They aren’t. That’s why it’s not been pushed out farther. I sigh, shaking my head. A part of me wonders who ever considered putting a delicate piece of technology in the field where random monster spawns could wreck it. A part of me wants to curse the rather wasteful use of my Credits, but another part points out I wasn’t here. In the end, I settle for making a note to Kim that this is not to happen again. At least it’s not a complete waste—it seems the hyperloop churns out a nice and repeatable series of Quests for both combat Classers and Artisans.
For a time, I stare at the stored Credits and Mana and briefly daydream about the kind of things I could do with that amount of funds. The sheer volume and variety of Skills I could buy… then I shake my head and dismiss the thought. Thankfully, it isn’t possible to transfer settlement Credits into your own pocket—outside of some specific salary caps—or else the oldest kingdoms and corporations would be impossibly dominant. Not that they don’t already have a nasty advantage over the rest of us.
“How many days of Mana and Credits is that? If we don’t generate any additional,” I ask, curious to get an idea of how we’re doing.
“THE SETTLEMENT MANA BURN RATE IS NINETEEN DAYS. CREDITS ARE SIX.”
“That’s not good,” I mutter.
“What isn’t, Mr. Lee?” Katherine asks, looking at me.
“We don’t seem to have much in reserve,” I say, waving at the screen she can’t see and realizing that only after I do so.
“Are you looking at the financials?” When I nod, she continues. “It was a decision made by the council to emphasize growth over stability at this time, with the attendant risks.”
“Nineteen days though?” I can understand that reasoning, but why is the Mana reserve so much higher?
“Researching and applying appropriate settlement-wide enchantments have been slow. Our next scheduled update will see the addition of a Mage’s College to the Artisans University,” Katherine says.
I nod. A good decision overall. I fall silent, prodding the screen a little more and getting confirmation that the settlement notification is hiding anything below Tier III. It means that most generic upgraded buildings like residences, System-registered retail stores, or workshops are left out.
I dig into the settlement screen, pulling up specific information for each city as I try to get a better understanding of the state of affairs. Katherine leaves with a soft goodbye to head for her meeting down the hallway, a simple gesture getting me the in-house video feed. I lower the volume and split my attention as I continue reading.
Interestingly enough, unlike my previous decision, they’ve integrated the other cities around Vancouver into a single collective settlement. Burnaby, Surrey, and the like still have their own Cores, but they aren’t City Cores anymore, instead earmarked as Neighborhood Cores. One of the main advantages of this setup is that a Neighborhood Core can be taken over like any City Core, but it only removes access for the original owner. It does not confer upon the conqueror any of the abilities of the Core, which is basically in a “shutdown” mode until the main City Core is taken. Of course, there are negatives, including a loss of Advanced building spots. It’s not a complete loss since the System uses a calculation based off population, area, and number of Cores to ascertain the number of such spots, but it is a significant number.
It’s kind of weird in a way, if you think about it. Most “normal” Galactic cities grow from a single Core, their development dictated by the population and buildings that are constructed, with tiers locked behind Mana and Credit thresholds. For Earth though, we had a bunch of these City Cores designated, forcing us to eventually sell, destroy, or consolidate the Cores to make our settlements viable with our new populations. In some cases, rather than having settlements located in optimal positions—near higher Level zones for Adventuring or in a low Level zone for agriculture and farming—we’ve basically built our population centers around existing areas and done our best to work around the realities of a Dungeon World. It's why some of our smaller towns are growing so quickly, and why one of Katherine’s meetings is another discussion about tearing down a tiny settlement to get at its settlement key to create a more useful one.
Still, it is what it is, and for all that, we’re doing well. Continuing on with some of my initial objectives, many of the settlements specialize in production. Kamloops is fast becoming a major trading hub and Artisan center for weapons production, while Kelowna continues to churn out highly valuable, Galactically-desired agricultural products. It helps that the Artisan Guild based in the city has lent their expertise, increasing the variety of products they produce and making the city another jump-off point for Adventurers attempting the high-Level Rockies.
Vancouver acts as a hub for now, with our City Dungeon, training facilities, and port all important centers of interest. It is also the center of governance and where most of our hard-hitters live, the easy access to our long-range teleportation pads allowing us to react to monster hordes and regional Quests with ease. Victoria, on the other hand, is the redheaded stepchild of the settlements, its position on Vancouver Island making it mostly self-sufficient. In fact, I notice a report indicating we’re seeing a slow, but steady, decrease in the human population there. On the other hand, we’re also seeing a rather sharp increase in Galactic immigration, especially among nautical-favored monsters. Discussions on what to do about these changes have dominated a number of meetings, which is kind of amusing.
“Kim. What are Regional Quests?”
“ALSO KNOWN AS KINGDOM QUESTS, REGIONAL QUESTS MAY BE GENERATED BY EITHER THE PRESIDING GOVERNMENT OR BY THE SYSTEM. WOULD YOU LIKE A CURRENT EXAMPLE?”
“Hit me.”
“DEPLOYING SENTRY.”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” I say, my voice rising. Then a slight hiss and cackle make my eyes widen. “You gained a sense of h
umor.”
“IN A WAY. AS MS. PEARSON HAS NOTED.”
“Uh-huh. Quest.”
Western British Columbia Regional Quest: From Ashes
As a fast-growing population center, the WBC Region is on the brink of developing into a truly significant regional power. Help (or hinder) the local government with this quest.
Requirements: 2 Cities, 5 Large Towns, 8 Towns
Rewards: Will vary depending on aid (or hindrance) offered.
Accept Regional Quest to receive additional sub-quests.
Western British Columbia Regional Quest: Untamed Wilderness
No government can last while their population faces constant, encompassing fear for their existence. At the minimum, the general population should not fear being driven from their homes by uncontested monsters.
Requirements: 30 Days with 0 Beast Waves
Accept Regional Quest to receive additional sub-quests.
I admit, I’m tempted to add both to my Quest list. A few quick queries confirms a nagging fear though—the type of quests I would receive is dependent on my Reputation and Fame, and due to my long absence, I don’t have much of either. Even if no one else can see these attributes, the System is tracking it all.
Once I have a clearer idea of the status of my settlements, I make sure to check on how Katherine’s doing. Katherine—and Kim in silent support—is handling the meeting well. Better than I would anyway, so I ignore their meeting for the moment. Well, beyond making a note to visit the harbor at some point to see if I can murder a few nautical beasts. From a secure and stable piece of ground. Somewhere along the way, my higher Willpower significantly reduced my phobia for water without me realizing it, but I still won’t go swimming with a batch of whale-sized monsters if I have a choice.
I glance at the two notifications that sit quietly awaiting my inspection.
Dropped off the bodies. Expect to get remainder Credits in a few weeks.
+138,950 Credits
Visiting the Shop to sell System-registered loot. You should visit too—you need to update your Skills.
As I was finishing up on the last notification, a smaller notification flickered up, startling me slightly.
+1,238,194 Credits
My mind stutters to a stop when I see the numbers. This is more money than I’ve ever had. Sure, I knew we had filled out my not-inconsiderable inventory and Altered Space and the monsters we fought were particularly high Leveled, but this was somewhat ridiculous. I find myself staring at the information for a long time, daydreaming about what I could spend my sudden wealth on. More Skills. More Spells. Maybe a significant upgrade on my poor mecha. I go so far as to pull out a notification screen that shows some of what can be purchased via the Shop.
“A CHANGE OF WARDROBE WOULD BE APPROPRIATE.”
I look down, staring at the torn, patched, and re-patched armored jumpsuit I’m wearing and chuckle. Right. Perhaps a new wardrobe.
“Thanks,” I mutter to Kim then dismiss the windows. Shopping later. First, I have to look at the results of the past Planetary Election.
To get registered as a voting member of the Galactic Council, a planet has to be able to send a “member with significant authority” to it. This member is determined via voting on the Planetary Voting Platform at regular intervals. However, there are caveats. Firstly, the candidate has to gain over eighty percent of all registered votes. Furthermore, for the Planetary Vote to become active, the planet has to reach a few threshold numbers—a minimum of five percent of its planet’s surface area has to be under active management and surveillance, and a minimum population threshold has to be reached.
“Isn’t five percent a bit low?” I say out loud to Kim.
“THE AMOUNT OF SURFACE USE WAS REGISTERED AS A COMPROMISE TO DEAL WITH MORE VOLATILE PLANETARY CENTERS. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE MAJORITY OF REGISTERED SETTLEMENT VOTES FOR EARTH ARE ONLY ON ITS LANDMASSES. TOTAL LANDMASS ON EARTH CURRENTLY COMPRISES ONLY TWENTY-NINE PERCENT OF PLANETARY SURFACE.”
Right… huh. So that five percent is actually quite high, if you think of it that way. That’s nearly one sixth of all land on Earth, which includes areas like the Arctic and giant swaths of desert. Digging deeper, I realize that Earth only barely managed to achieve the second requirement recently—and that’s due to the liberal use of Forts to cover more ground. Without our use of Forts and the additional new settlements that various Galactic parties built in the more inhospitable regions, we’d not have reached that minimum number.
That areas like the Arctic and Antarctic have actually seen a minor boom in number of settlements, as Galactics who prefer such environments take advantage of the lack of competition from us natives, amuses me. I even make a note to visit one of them sometime, if I ever get a chance.
Problem is, even if we do qualify for a Galactic Seat, we don’t have enough votes for one specific person. I flick up a few different notification screens to get a better idea, parsing the publicly available information about who owns what, with Kim’s aid to understand the situation a little better. In the end, the answer is simple.
Humans are idiots.
When the first settlement survey was held just over six months after the end of the System integration period, humanity had just over sixty percent of the total number of potential votes. Of course, since Earth did not have the requisite land use percentage, the vote was put on hold for another six months. And six months after that again and again and again until three months ago. Regret rushes through me for a second as I realize that if I had been around, if I had taken over more cities, we might have had a chance before this.
Of course, the vote three months ago didn’t amount to anything. With a flick of my hands, I bring up the previous year’s results once again.
41.2% Human-Controlled Settlement Votes
8.8% Movana and associated allies
17.6% Truinnar and associated allies
3.8% Ares Corporation
21.64% Miscellaneous kingdoms and associations
6.96% Unclaimed Settlement Areas
At the last vote, no one received over twenty percent of the vote. The closest were the Truinnar, where Roxley received nearly twelve percent of the vote as the members of his race backed the dark elf. It was no surprise that most individuals consolidated their votes along species lines or just voted for themselves and called it a day because there was no chance this was ever going to pass. But not humanity. No, we split our votes. I spot the three top human candidates and dig into their details a bit further.
Bipasha Chowdury is a Weaver who seemed to generate most of her votes from the Indian sub-continent and, surprisingly enough, is a member of the champions. Interesting that she wasn’t at the last fight, but the group is more a loose coalition than a formal organization.
Rob Markey is an American, the ex US Secretary of Agriculture and now leader of the largest of the three American governments.
And lastly, there’s an African who has managed to garner nearly fifteen percent of all the votes, including the majority of the African ones, named Ikael Tafar. I’ll need to speak with and meet all of them at some point.
Outside of that, the political lines are easy enough to discern for the Galactics. The Movana have no desire for the Truinnar to gain another Galactic Seat. Their first option is to obstruct, the second to ally. The Truinnar, of course, believe that since Earth is technically within the scope of their territory, we’re “theirs.” Even if this is a Dungeon World, they aren’t exactly known for being a kind and sharing bunch and aren’t likely to agree to us having the Galactic Seat ourselves. Which makes working with them difficult at best. Luckily, I know their leading candidate. Obviously, since the Truinnar and the Movana don’t like each other, there’s no way to get both of them on board with the vote.
As for the Ares Corporation…
“ARES CORPORATION, THE SIXTH BIGGEST ARMS MANUFACTURER GALACTIC WIDE AND THE LARGEST IN THIS QUADRANT. THEY HAVE CLAIMED NUMEROUS SECONDARY SETTLEMENTS IN CLOSE PR
OXIMITY TO LARGER, MORE ESTABLISHED LOCATIONS. ARES HAS UNDERTAKEN TO PROVIDE RESOURCES, SERVICES, AND TRANSPORTATION FOR THESE SETTLEMENTS, AS WELL AS ALLOCATING PRODUCTION FACILITIES.”
Secondary settlements, huh? I guess that makes sense. If you’re looking to have a place you can control, going smaller rather than larger makes sense. You’re less likely to have to fight for the settlement, and infrastructure build-up is significantly easier. In addition, if you’re an arms manufacturer, focusing on production in these settlements while staying close enough to transport the loot and butchered materials from the larger settlements would be a massive cost savings. After all, teleportation costs fluctuate based off distance. Of course, none of that actually helps with figuring out how to make them vote for us.
Dismissing that thought for now, I dig into the Miscellaneous section. After all, even if I somehow manage to get all the major players to agree to what I want, we’ll still need help. That, or take over more settlements.
Unfortunately, after an hour of fruitless research, I realize a simple truth. I don’t understand Galactic politics or factions well enough. Names and species, clans, corporations, and kingdoms, they’re just words. Even with Kim feeding me the Galactic equivalent of Wikipedia, there’s only so much that I can grasp in a short period of time. Not that it stops me from trying, but even my stubbornness has a limit. Once I acknowledge that fact, I consider my options. I need help. The question is where I’m getting it.
Firstly, there’s Lana and Miller, both of whom I guess have a better idea of this kind of politics. Or at least, Lana would theoretically since Miller’s likely running around killing things - or organizing people to kill things as the Army Commander for the States. Then again from the little I gathered from Lana during our conversation indicated that she has been focused on keeping the settlements together. While she probably has some knowledge, some probably isn’t enough. Katherine probably has the same issue as Lana, a too tight focus on our own settlements and a lack of greater understanding of the Galactic world. That removes all the humans who might be useful unless someone has taken up a new hobby since. Which, I’ll admit, isn’t entirely impossible.