by Ryan DeBruyn
Sela nodded and turned to Rocky, eyes sparkling. “I think we should get three items now. The problem is that they will burn through most of our savings and some that we hadn’t planned on using.” She paused, and Rocky didn’t say anything, so she continued, “The Guild Tent, the Autoloading Sawmill, and the Populace Accessible Shop. All totaled, that will come to six hundred crystals, but Garnell has offered to discount the sawmill to half price with such a large purchase. So, we can get them all for five hundred and fifty crystals.”
Rocky saw the dilemma instantly; with approximately two hundred and fifty crystals left, they would be left with little money to buy any of the other items they considered necessary. Considering that they wanted to convert two hundred crystals to gems, chips, and marks for wages that made it even less. Knowing Sela had a reason for this Rocky asked, “Please explain the reasoning for these three and why you have ignored the residents’ tents, kitchens, or Meal Hall?”
Sela nodded her head, explaining, “The shop access is going to go a long way to helping the people from Ottawa to see a big difference between Corsair and us. However, while it should bring up morale, it also allows us to set a tax for goods purchased in the shop, which means that we can start earning crystals that can then be reinvested into the Territory.” She pointed to Rocky’s bag of holding, “Additionally, people can sell loot drops, plants, minerals, and the like to the shop assistant. Again, we would make some money on those sales.” Sela had been gesturing with her hands at the tablet in front of her, so Rocky had moved forward to see a web diagram on the page she had hand-drawn.
The major point in the center of the web was ‘Economy’, which was drawn with a snake eating its own tail. The next layer out from the center had four bubbles: Luxury Goods and Services, Guild Hall, Shop, and Producible goods. Two of them had been circled, but all of them had small notes coming off of them.
Sela had clearly thought this out, and Rocky was pretty convinced at this point. Sela saw him studying it, and she pointed to Producible Goods and Luxury Goods & Services. “These two are going to be something that we are going to want to foster and grow, but there isn’t much we can do right away about them.” With that, she pointed to the other two. “These two we can jump-start now and begin earning some money that can then be injected back into the Territory. Unfortunately, as you pointed out, we’re ignoring the Residential Tents this way, but two things come to mind for that. With the sawmill and additional bodies, we should be able to greatly increase building speed. Also, the Guild Tent can sleep two thousand comfortably and maybe everyone if we want to crowd in close.”
Rocky instantly saw the dilemma as well. So, he turned to Garnell. “How much do you sell a single tent for? Standard issue, just to keep the rain off.”
Garnell forwarded the description of tents to Rocky quickly through the ever-present screens of the system; a tent to sleep two was a mark, to sleep eight was a gem, and to sleep twenty was a crystal. Rocky continued, “Sela, I think you are right, and with access to the shop, people can purchase tents or buildings if they don’t like this solution. While I wanted to meet other merchants and browse their goods, I think this is as much as we can do today. Let’s do it. Can Garnell also change the crystals for pay and salaries?”
Garnell smiled. “Of course I can, and be sure to mention to the people that they can have the assistant come directly to me to avoid cheap knock offs of products. I will be sure to give your assistant the best deals I can.” Rocky smiled, finally seeing the merchant in the man.
Luckily, his bag of holding was able to carry objects of any size. The tent was folded down but was still extremely heavy and huge. It was easily the largest item, even more than doubling the sawmill. The sawmill was similar in size to the portable forge and had just as much metal accompanying it. In contrast, the shop addon was a box of metal about the size of a small moving box.
Once he had placed all the items into his bag of holding, he was forced to remove the bag to stand back up after his rump quickly hit the chair. Even with all the weight reduction, the bag was too heavy to just be casually worn. Once Sela and he exited the virtual shop and were in the pie-shaped interior of the shop building, they both placed their hands under the bag and lifted it together. They managed to get it outside of the shop, and the few people who were watching as the two of them exited sweating and straining with a tiny pouch suspended between them gave them some very odd looks.
A few steps from the shop building, they placed the bag down, and Rocky dumped out all three items, then reattached the bag to his belt. Sela picked up the moving box-sized shop addon with ease and walked it to the side of the shop before placing it down. As soon as the similar-looking metals touched each other, the box began to rapidly expand and grow. It was odd because it was extremely hard to see where the shop was getting the larger mass from. Rocky assumed it had been something like solid metal on the inside, and now, the metal was looking somewhat liquid as it grew and thinned out.
As it continued to grow, Rocky bent down and swept the two other items into the Territory Inventory, knowing that using it this way would allow them to place them wherever they wanted without having to carry the awkwardly shaped and large items around.
People from the Territory began to stop and stare, starting with the ones who saw the two of them straining under a heavy weight, then more joining the few as a building unfolded from a tiny square.
Smiling, Rocky looked out over the forming crowd, then looked back to the shop, realizing it was done. He continued his turn to Sela. “Want to check it out?”
Not even answering, he sprinted inside to Sela’s laughter at his excitement behind him. The interior of the shop was surprisingly large. The walls must have been slightly thicker than paper but made out of a similar metal to the shop—only much shinier and less chromatic. Upon entering, Rocky was greeted by a female voice with just a hint of a robotic intonation, “Welcome, currently the shop and myself, the assistant, are setting up and downloading information on the ‘Aretrin Bazaar’ seed shop we are joined to. We will be ready for business in a few hours. Please return then.”
Some of the crowd stuck their heads in the door and looked around. He could even hear a few relaying what the assistant had just robotically intoned back out to the group.
Chuckling, Rocky walked over and saw a holographic image of an amorphous, gray shape on top of a wheeled robotic platform. He smiled, thinking that this meant the assistant in the shop would be able to float around and may also create a shape once the set up was complete. Unsure, he turned to Sela. “Have you been in a shop like this before?”
Sela looked around and nodded slowly. “Yes… I have, but I didn’t realize at the time that it was actually a shop attached to a seed shop. It was melded into a storefront and had décor that covered most of the metallic walls.” She paused for a moment, looking around. “I wonder if the seed shop it was attached to was deemed unsavory by the leadership of the guild?”
Rocky shrugged and turned to the assistant not having an answer; that was all in the deep past, and they wouldn’t be able to answer that particular question, probably. “Can you please keep all taxes and track the purchases made by anyone who comes in here? Then keep both available for only the leaders of the Territory?”
“Apologies, the required components to track purchases do not exist in the shop currently because this is a personal upgrade, I can search for them now?” The amorphous, gray holograph asked without moving at all. It was quite disconcerting to see a human shape but not have it act human in any defining way.
Rocky nodded and added, “Please go right to Garnell.” An extended pause followed, and he hoped the computer registered the nod.
He was about to open his mouth and verbalize his affirmative when the shop chimed, “Object found. Would you like to purchase it for ten crystals?”
Rocky looked over to Sela, and she shrugged sheepishly, realizing that they had forgotten that particular add-on in their excitement. So, R
ocky nodded and pulled out ten crystals from his bag of holding before holding them out and looking around. A silence stretched, and Rocky looked at Sela, who was trying to fight down laughter. A moment later, the robot voice broke the awkwardness, “Please place your payment on the counter.”
Damnit! I may need to request a manual for things in the future. I hate looking stupid…
Sela burst into laughter behind him, and he glared at her as he placed the crystals on the metal counter that separated the gray hologram and himself. Once that was complete, the computer woman piped up again, “Purchase is complete. We will install the device along with our current setup routines. Please come back in a few hours for any other purchases you might require.”
As the two moved back to the entrance, the people retreated back outside, and Rocky took the moment of privacy to whisper, “Does it have an automatic rate for taxation, or do we set that somehow.” Sela shrugged but started flipping through her screens, looking for it.
A moment later, she furrowed her nose in disgust. “It is locked until we have a Town Hall. It is probably set to a certain amount currently. Assistant, what is the current tax rate on incoming items from the shop?”
“Currently, the shop has its tax rate set at ten percent. If you would like to make a non shop related purchase, please come back in a few hours when I am done with my current setup.”
Rocky frowned, getting sick of the repetition and motioned to the door. They exited to find a crowd of excited people looking anticipatingly at them. He smiled and opened his arms before joyously projecting, “In a few hours, anyone can access this shop. Right now, the assistant is setting up, so please stay out until,” he motioned to two military guards in the crowd, “the military guards here say it's okay.”
He motioned the two forward and Analyzed them. Then in a clear voice meant to be overheard, he asked, “Barry, Samantha, do you two mind being stationed at the front door and maintaining order to any line that may form?”
They saluted, and he nodded to them as they took up positions on each side of the door.
He expected the crowd to stay and begin making a line up to the entrance of the shop, but most of the group followed him and Sela as they left. Eyebrows raising, he made his way towards the center of the Grotto. He shrugged to Sela when she looked back and sheepishly commented, “Let's set up the tent and the sawmill, then head to that meeting. Maybe people would like to see more.”
On the way to the center of the Grotto, they passed by the pile of trees, and Rocky pulled out the portable sawmill from the Territory Inventory. The crowd made noises of astonishment, and he blushed.
Come on now, guys! No need to be surprised by this.
The push of a button saw the sawmill unfold from around the myriad of circular saws that were hidden in the center of the blocky, metal contraption. Once the building clicked its final pieces into place, a mechanical arm reached over and placed two grippers around a massive cut tree.
The crowd, seeing the dangerous appearance of the saws and mechanical pieces, stepped far back from the machine. Rocky motioned to more military who were walking by who jogged towards him. They stopped with a salute and a, “Commander?”
He saluted them awkwardly. “Please watch this machine and make sure no one tampers with it or gets too close to get injured.” Then he looked at it. “Well, not unless you are told they can. Like right now. I’m going to try to fix it.” The machine was stopped with its grippers clamped on a tree.
Damnit, I broke it already… but it isn’t whining like an overloaded electric motor.
He walked around the rather large, unfolded, portable sawmill; the building had a two-hundred-foot-long inverted wedge in the center that had rotating grinder blades in the middle section. It was clear that the log could be pushed backward and forward over this section as it spun to remove the outer bark and branches. Rocky wanted to understand the rest of the machine but first had to find why it had failed to start working. A blinking light caught his attention, and he walked up to a screen.
Resource located, confirm resource pile location. All resources left outside of pile location will not be processed.
Rocky clicked yes, and the machine loaded the first log into the inverted wedge trough. A moment later, the machine confirmed his notion for the grinder blades, but somehow gravity and the rotary blades themselves pulled the log over the grinder blades while simultaneously spinning it. Once all the bark and tree branches were removed, the grinders retracted slightly, and the screen flashed again.
Size of resource scanned. Please select the cutting method for the resource.
2x4 Planks – 40%
2x6 Planks – 16%
2x10 Planks -12%
4x4 Support Beams – 8%
8x8 Support Beams – 4%
Other Cuts
Plywood – 15%
The quick work of the automated sawmill had the crowd jostling each other, and he saw more military guards appear to make a larger ring around the machine. He smiled at the ones who joined before turning back to the screen.
He blinked. “Sela, do you know anything about the list of construction materials needed for the Longhouses?”
She came over while flipping through a floating window. “Not off the top of my head, but I think it is listed in the Construction Page.” As she arrived, she looked at the machine’s display screen and flipped a few more of her own personal ones. Then she sidled up beside him so they could both compare the two. Sela had clearly zoomed in on a corner of a larger drawing that Rocky would have to look at later, but it reminded him of an architectural or structural CAD sketch.
Longhouse Blueprint Details
This Longhouse blueprint will create a two-story rooming complex. This building does not provide individual kitchens or personal relaxation areas. It is a basic level building that provides one hundred total rooms with a single bed in each room. This provides a modicum of privacy for the occupants and helps reduce the chance of spreading disease.
Materials Required
2x4 – 600
2x6 – 200
2x8 – 0
4x4 – 100
8x8 – 75
Nails / Screws Assorted
Plywood – 1000 Sheets
Drywall – 400 Sheets
Shingles – 500 Squares
Foundation – Assorted Amount and Material
For best results, place a solid foundation under the building. In time, the Longhouse can be converted into a Small Apartment / Condo Complex. This will require doors to be created between rooms and individual kitchens installed. If, in future expansion, more floors are likely to be added, use greater number of 8x8 supports in optional locations mentioned in Blueprint.
Rocky looked over the two and clicked Manual on the screen for the Automated sawmill. He removed the percentages in the other cuts—2x8 and 2x10 categories. He then did some simple math by converting the total number of logs needed in the Longhouses into percentages of each type. In the end, he put those numbers into the machine. He assumed he would have to adjust this again in the future as they changed their building priority, but for now at least, it would be working, and the pile only had about fifty logs anyway. They would need a lot more than that for the five thousand plus people they had in the Grotto.
Turning to Sela with a raised eyebrow, she answered his unspoken question, “We will get someone who knows more about construction to be in charge of this in the future. At least for now, they will have some materials ready and waiting for Longhouses today.” Rocky clicked ‘confirm setting’, and as they walked away, the machine whirled to life behind them. The sound and smell of cut wood brought a smile to Rocky’s face as he felt the proverbial first step of his burgeoning population being taken.
The group t
hat surrounded the machine parted to let the two through, and Smith surprised them by falling in beside them on the way to the next stop. Rocky blinked and asked, “Everything okay, Smith?”
Smith nodded but made a sour face with his mouth. “I’m here to show my support of you as a leader. I feel that any decisions you make are going to be questioned, so it’s best to have as much support as possible.” He looked like he was about to continue but shut his mouth quickly before smiling at people in the crowd.
As they kept walking, Rocky looked at Sela, who had her eyes squinted at Smith, sensing as he did that something was being left unsaid. He sighed deeply and put a smile on his face like Smith, hoping he wasn’t in for a surprise later.
The last thing they attempted to find was a clear area for the massive dimensions of the Guild Tent. Garnell had mentioned to Sela it would have a diameter near three hundred meters.
Unfortunately, as Rocky scanned the central area to the Grotto, there was no space that was clear enough to place the Guild Tent. The entire floor was littered with tree stumps and rocks, and they were forced to delay the set up of the Guild Tent. He chose a good place, then marked an area in the dirt where they would start clearing a large circle around. Right now, they had delayed the meeting long enough.
Slightly disappointed, the crowd that had followed them dispersed as they made their way over to an area of the Territory near one of the cliff walls. Someone had clearly used a tank, as evidenced by the tread marks, to drag over four logs to sit on and had even started a fire in the middle of the square. As they walked up, he saw that Zippo was tending a pot of something that was suspended over the fire, Joe was sitting and talking to a beautiful, dark-skinned woman, Derik was hovering like a helicopter parent over Zippo’s shoulder, and the rest of the A-Team that Rocky had yet to meet was sitting while talking congenially to each other.
