Money, get away
Get a good job with good pay and you're okay
Money, it's a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream
Think I'll buy me a football team
Pink Floyd - Money
(This takes place between Mission 2 and Mission 3)
Lina, Karl, Takeyama and the pungent Mr. Neppie were sitting in Lina's bar around a table in Lina's Palace in Sargasso, far far away on Nepleslia Prime.
There was ample alcohol on the table, cigarette smoke thick in the air to compete with Mr Neppie's stench and ultimately drown it out. "So... next order on today's meeting," Takeyama said as he typed onto a keyboard sitting on the table, keys clacking and projecting an image of a graph showing the town's profits. It was even and steadily rising.
"See ever since that guy showed up, more people have been coming to town," he observed dryly. "Profits are increasing, so's demand, our stocks aren't keeping up though."
Lina nodded. "I know what you mean. I'm very close to running dry if more show up. I need more storage space."
"And I'm nearly out of 10x25mm KZ," Karl added. He looked over to Mr. Neppie to see if he'd been showing any signs of not having enough to go around, and humphed in his chair.
"We also have a lot more money than before but we have to spend it carefully. First point of consideration, upgrading Commercial Lane," Takeyama said as he flicked through images of the street, with each of the defining businesses of Sargasso sitting in it in a sorry state. The interior photographs and floorplans didn't show much better - having shrunk from the Big Bust and the space repurposed into derelict nothing. "Well, I speak for us all when I say there's a vested interest in this project."
"Aye." Lina nodded.
"Yeah." Karl said.
Mr. Neppie grunted.
"Right," Takeyama said. "But the ability to carry more stock, better stock and restock more often is something that those guys from the Phoenix will jump on." A projection of how high the profits went was projected, making Lina's eyebrows raise. "Its a positive feedback loop and they seem to be made of cash."
"I can't believe we have to factor them into our urban planning," Karl crossed his arms.
"I'd rather we give them their own place rather than wrecking the town sometimes." Lina sighed. "I get sick of assassins going after their leader and shooting up Ferros Block."
"Point. What about the Rigs?" Takeyama suggested.
"Out in the Ocean?" Karl said. "Oh yeah, they just need a lick of paint, a rug, some drapes - they'll love it! It'll be a hard sell, David."
"Who knows? They might like it," David Takeyama nodded. "I mean, they can do all the stupid shit they want away from town - and they can boat or fly over here."
"Right, right, next point," Lina nodded.
"That's right, well next on the bulletin," Takeyama said as he clicked a couple of more keys in, "is a proper spaceport. Now, we could put this near the Long Road, or we could put this in the Bay, just southwest of Waterworld."
"Bay works," Karl nodded.
"Mm," Lina agreed. "More space. Besides, long road works for most things."
Mr. Neppie galumphed.
"We could hit up Origin for the spaceport plans and diagrams and construction," Takeyama observed. "I know someone."
"Or who's that company? Starts with L?" Lina suggested, drumming her fingers on the table.
"Lazarus?" Takeyama tilted his head. "Eh... I've heard things. I think one of them works with Luca and she's an oddball."
Karl put his hands on his ears and opened his palms, mimicking Rebeka's huge elfin ears. "She's got guns I've never seen before."
Lina blinked at Karl. He wasn't referring to the little Llmanel who looked like a kid? It was like everything related to that company was plain strange. "We're missing the point. Next?"
"The short guy from that crew, Seiren his name is, wants to build a factory here and start a..." David typed up to get a picture of the inventor and the plot of land he wanted. "Candy business."
Karl and Neppie exchanged glances. "Candy?" Karl asked.
"Most dandy." Takeyama said, "I think he gave me a sample one day. Never tasted anything like it."
"He makes it in the back of their ship?" Lina said.
"Back in my day most kids were cooking drugs," Karl reminisced, realising that Seiren's request, while ridiculous had some weight. "this kid cooks candy. Okay, it'll make some jobs, it'll bring in some money and people, but seriously - Candy?"
"Can you think of anything else to grow in a dead farm?"
"Point. He's provided us with all the necessary funding so its a non-issue from our point of view save for some zoning permits for peanuts, but once his factory's there and built he's on his own."
"Okay and what else?" Lina said.
"Well, second to last is the much needed Infrastructure update, you all know the details, and then a health fund for Dr. Letz Shakes' place. With more people going in, we're going to need to improve both of these at some point."
"Agreed. You know how much the connection drops out when we try to access pages that're out of town?" Lina shrugged.
"And that's 99.99% of web pages, Takeyama." Karl added. The project had been weighing on Takeyama a while, but he simply didn't have enough tools to migrate the network beyond the haphazard 'hybrid' solution and standardise it all into proper fibre.
"Not to mention, its profitable for us - Dr. Shakes says he gets lots of people from the Phoenix. Combat injuries mostly." Takeyama noted.
"It keeps coming back to them, doesn't it?" Lina seemed annoyed. "Its like its their town, not ours."
"They are giving us a shitload of cash naturally - they aren't telling us what to do or what to build though. I don't feel like I'm under any pressure to please them," Karl rebutted.
Mr. Neppie grunted.
"Fine point. Now I have this message from a Bortelli family and they want to open a junk store..."
"Pff. Junk store?" Karl scoffed.
"A dedicated junk store and one of the best, in their written word," Takeyama nodded. "I tried calling them and asking for more clarification but I can't understand a word they said."
"Were they even human?" Karl asked again. He'd gotten an earful of their vernacular.
"The Bortelli guy is yeah." Takeyama.
"We'll have to take it up with him. I think he speaks whatever it is they do." Lina said as she sent the rogue a message. Time, space and the looseness with which the galactic narrative interacted with them meant that he'd get the message eventually.
The meeting continued and they agreed upon what should be seen in Sargasso, and started allocating the necessary funds by the end of it. For the Candy Factory, the money was already provided and the building permits were easily done.
The four Proprietors and Ruling Class of Sargasso then got drunk and spent the remainder of the evening reliving old times well behind them, kings and queen of nothing but the soil beneath their feet, for what little it was worth in the past few years.
Maybe, just maybe the boom times were coming around again.
Get a good job with good pay and you're okay
Money, it's a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream
Think I'll buy me a football team
Pink Floyd - Money
(This takes place between Mission 2 and Mission 3)
Lina, Karl, Takeyama and the pungent Mr. Neppie were sitting in Lina's bar around a table in Lina's Palace in Sargasso, far far away on Nepleslia Prime.
There was ample alcohol on the table, cigarette smoke thick in the air to compete with Mr Neppie's stench and ultimately drown it out. "So... next order on today's meeting," Takeyama said as he typed onto a keyboard sitting on the table, keys clacking and projecting an image of a graph showing the town's profits. It was even and steadily rising.
"See ever since that guy showed up, more people have been coming to town," he observed dryly. "Profits are increasing, so's demand, our stocks aren't keeping up though."
Lina nodded. "I know what you mean. I'm very close to running dry if more show up. I need more storage space."
"And I'm nearly out of 10x25mm KZ," Karl added. He looked over to Mr. Neppie to see if he'd been showing any signs of not having enough to go around, and humphed in his chair.
"We also have a lot more money than before but we have to spend it carefully. First point of consideration, upgrading Commercial Lane," Takeyama said as he flicked through images of the street, with each of the defining businesses of Sargasso sitting in it in a sorry state. The interior photographs and floorplans didn't show much better - having shrunk from the Big Bust and the space repurposed into derelict nothing. "Well, I speak for us all when I say there's a vested interest in this project."
"Aye." Lina nodded.
"Yeah." Karl said.
Mr. Neppie grunted.
"Right," Takeyama said. "But the ability to carry more stock, better stock and restock more often is something that those guys from the Phoenix will jump on." A projection of how high the profits went was projected, making Lina's eyebrows raise. "Its a positive feedback loop and they seem to be made of cash."
"I can't believe we have to factor them into our urban planning," Karl crossed his arms.
"I'd rather we give them their own place rather than wrecking the town sometimes." Lina sighed. "I get sick of assassins going after their leader and shooting up Ferros Block."
"Point. What about the Rigs?" Takeyama suggested.
"Out in the Ocean?" Karl said. "Oh yeah, they just need a lick of paint, a rug, some drapes - they'll love it! It'll be a hard sell, David."
"Who knows? They might like it," David Takeyama nodded. "I mean, they can do all the stupid shit they want away from town - and they can boat or fly over here."
"Right, right, next point," Lina nodded.
"That's right, well next on the bulletin," Takeyama said as he clicked a couple of more keys in, "is a proper spaceport. Now, we could put this near the Long Road, or we could put this in the Bay, just southwest of Waterworld."
"Bay works," Karl nodded.
"Mm," Lina agreed. "More space. Besides, long road works for most things."
Mr. Neppie galumphed.
"We could hit up Origin for the spaceport plans and diagrams and construction," Takeyama observed. "I know someone."
"Or who's that company? Starts with L?" Lina suggested, drumming her fingers on the table.
"Lazarus?" Takeyama tilted his head. "Eh... I've heard things. I think one of them works with Luca and she's an oddball."
Karl put his hands on his ears and opened his palms, mimicking Rebeka's huge elfin ears. "She's got guns I've never seen before."
Lina blinked at Karl. He wasn't referring to the little Llmanel who looked like a kid? It was like everything related to that company was plain strange. "We're missing the point. Next?"
"The short guy from that crew, Seiren his name is, wants to build a factory here and start a..." David typed up to get a picture of the inventor and the plot of land he wanted. "Candy business."
Karl and Neppie exchanged glances. "Candy?" Karl asked.
"Most dandy." Takeyama said, "I think he gave me a sample one day. Never tasted anything like it."
"He makes it in the back of their ship?" Lina said.
"Back in my day most kids were cooking drugs," Karl reminisced, realising that Seiren's request, while ridiculous had some weight. "this kid cooks candy. Okay, it'll make some jobs, it'll bring in some money and people, but seriously - Candy?"
"Can you think of anything else to grow in a dead farm?"
"Point. He's provided us with all the necessary funding so its a non-issue from our point of view save for some zoning permits for peanuts, but once his factory's there and built he's on his own."
"Okay and what else?" Lina said.
"Well, second to last is the much needed Infrastructure update, you all know the details, and then a health fund for Dr. Letz Shakes' place. With more people going in, we're going to need to improve both of these at some point."
"Agreed. You know how much the connection drops out when we try to access pages that're out of town?" Lina shrugged.
"And that's 99.99% of web pages, Takeyama." Karl added. The project had been weighing on Takeyama a while, but he simply didn't have enough tools to migrate the network beyond the haphazard 'hybrid' solution and standardise it all into proper fibre.
"Not to mention, its profitable for us - Dr. Shakes says he gets lots of people from the Phoenix. Combat injuries mostly." Takeyama noted.
"It keeps coming back to them, doesn't it?" Lina seemed annoyed. "Its like its their town, not ours."
"They are giving us a shitload of cash naturally - they aren't telling us what to do or what to build though. I don't feel like I'm under any pressure to please them," Karl rebutted.
Mr. Neppie grunted.
"Fine point. Now I have this message from a Bortelli family and they want to open a junk store..."
"Pff. Junk store?" Karl scoffed.
"A dedicated junk store and one of the best, in their written word," Takeyama nodded. "I tried calling them and asking for more clarification but I can't understand a word they said."
"Were they even human?" Karl asked again. He'd gotten an earful of their vernacular.
"The Bortelli guy is yeah." Takeyama.
"We'll have to take it up with him. I think he speaks whatever it is they do." Lina said as she sent the rogue a message. Time, space and the looseness with which the galactic narrative interacted with them meant that he'd get the message eventually.
The meeting continued and they agreed upon what should be seen in Sargasso, and started allocating the necessary funds by the end of it. For the Candy Factory, the money was already provided and the building permits were easily done.
The four Proprietors and Ruling Class of Sargasso then got drunk and spent the remainder of the evening reliving old times well behind them, kings and queen of nothing but the soil beneath their feet, for what little it was worth in the past few years.
Maybe, just maybe the boom times were coming around again.
