Coast on Fire (The System Apocalypse #5)

I’ve kited a Salamander over forty Levels above me. Had a Master Level Psychic fry my brain. Hell, I’ve even faced down a Dragon. I’ve faced calamities and crises, fought and bled, nearly died more times than I care to admit. For all that, I’d rather go back to any of those times than stay a single minute longer in this meeting room.
“Electronic voting is a farce! We cannot trust his AI to count the votes!” Christian Hecker, Level 38 Infantry Soldier and ex-CEO of a gold mining corporation, says as he leans forward. The mid-60s, brown-eyed, greying Caucasian gentleman is bereft of his rifle today, though he has his sword slung over his back and a pistol on his hip.
I regard the boomer as he besmirches Kim—my AI’s—honor, wondering what his angle is. As one side of the split Combat Classers, I’ve quickly learned that Christian always has an angle.
“We’re not doing a straight democratic election,” snaps Damian. The Level 22 Appraiser is spinning a pen around his fingers, obviously uneasy in our company. He’s got the lowest Level of everyone here, even if it is rising faster now that the Thirteen Moon Sect isn’t around. Still, as the voice of the scavengers, he has the moral right to be here. One that I’d had to enforce by dismissing an earlier meeting when he had been “unavoidably delayed.” “That’d just let you people load up all the seats with your friends.”
“You people?” Anika arches a graceful, plucked eyebrow. Ms. Kapoor, the Level 39 Summoner, is one of the few non-Caucasians in this room.
“I believe he means the non-Delvers,” I answer Anika, smiling slightly in amusement at Damian’s poor phrasing.
She inclines her head to me, appearing somewhat mollified. Truthfully, I figure getting annoyed over bad phrasing shows how uptight she is, but my role isn’t to judge, just pacify.
“Rationed seats are wrong,” Tsien Wuji says. He’s a Level 39 Engineer specializing in infrastructure construction. He’s also an influential member of the non-Combat Classers, Damien’s counterpart, and the other of the pair of their representatives, the more talkative of the two.
“Allocated,” Leo Brand says with a sigh, covering his face with his hand.
There are a few quick smiles around the room as Leo once again corrects Wuji’s malapropism. Leo’s an ex-ER doctor, now a Doctor who finds most of his life’s work superfluous. After all, with the System, if you’re not dead, you’ll heal. And since he’s a self-professed coward who refuses to enter the city dungeon, he’s been at a bit of a loss as to what to do with himself.
“Will you finally buy a Language upgrade in the Shop? I’ll even pay for it,” Anika says once again with a roll of her eyes.
“No need. Waste money,” Wuji denies her offer once again.
“We cannot continue this farce of a government any longer. My people want results!” Christian says, ignoring the byplay as he pushes ahead with his agenda. “They are sick and tired of being locked out of decisions about their city.”
“Farce?” Ali says, floating visible beside me. The two-foot-tall Spirit chuckles softly, his olive skin beautifully off-set by the dark suit and cream shirt he wears. “Did you call boy-o a farce?”
“Farce?” Wuji whispers to Leo. His friend leans over to explain the word.
“I consider this unelected government, this tyrannical rule of your boy-o a farce,” Christian says.
When we first met, Christian had been the less combative of the pair of combat Classer leaders. The last week of dealing with me has worn away the false warmth he showcased before I rejected his subtle manipulation and, later on, bribes.
“It’s certainly better than what we had with the Thirteen Moons,” Anika says, waving around the noisy conference room. The wave also encompasses my only direct support in the room—Lana, my girlfriend and the more politically inclined part of my team. Though, by common agreement, she stays silent during these meetings, letting me take the brunt of criticism and allowing her to work her charm during the breaks. “We’re at least having a meeting. Even if someone doesn’t listen to us.”
Finally fed up with the various barbs, I speak up. “I’d listen if you people ever came to an agreement.”
“We would, but your irrational requirements are impossible to meet!” Christian snaps.
“Oh? All I’m asking is that you all come to a reasonable agreement on what the government would look like,” I say. “I’m only here today because you promised me that you would have an agreement by today.”
“We promised that we’d have something to discuss with you,” Anika says, eyes dancing with humor. “I’ll admit, we haven’t gotten that far though.”
“Fine. Since I’m here, someone sum up the sticking points.”
Silence takes hold of the conference room at those words. The various “council” members suddenly find anywhere to look but at me. Wuji opens his mouth to speak, but Leo puts his hand on the man’s arm, shaking his head. The older Chinese man subsides, allowing Damian to clear his throat.
“Well, we’re currently facing a problem of deciding both the number of seats on the council and the method of election. The Delvers and ummm… my people, are looking for a guarantee that our voices will be heard. We refuse to continue to risk our lives, bringing in more revenue and goods than the ummm…” Damian stops there.
“You can call them civilians. Or crafters if you want,” Ali offers. “The closest translation to the Galactic term is Artisan. Feel free to use it or not.”
Damian nods in gratitude to Ali before he continues more confidently. “The Artisans want a straight election, but because of the ratio of combat Classers and Artisans—”
“Are you sure you want to base your argument on revenue?” Anika says wryly. “They’ll eventually beat us, you know. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if their generated revenues are already greater than ours if you include the other cities.”
“That’s not the point!” Christian says. “We are just trying to ensure we are not sent into battle and forced to guard people, without a say!”
Damian sighs and looks at me, his gaze serious. “I must admit my people have that concern too. Scavenging is growing more and more difficult with returns growing smaller. Sooner or later, I expect that most of my people will turn into hunters or delvers. And at that point, well…”
“We don’t want the Artisans sending us into dangerous zones just so they can get better crafting material. Or under-paying for those items,” Anika says.
“We not do that. The Shop set ceiling. Floor. Stopping place,” Wuji says. “We pay good price. Get materials from you.”
“A good price because you want the city to subsidize the purchases!” Christian snaps. “Otherwise, there’s no way you’d be able to afford the Galactic price for most of our better material.”
I sigh, listening to the argument devolve. No real surprise here. I’ve had Lana explain this discussion before, since it’s similar to the one we had in Whitehorse. Simply put, low-cost materials almost always receive a better price locally. The cost of transportation often makes it possible for local Artisans to purchase those materials at a similar, if not slightly higher, price than what Galactic buyers would pay. However, and this is a big however, high Level materials aren’t the same. The cost of transportation for high-Level materials is significantly lower as a percentage of price, which means Galactic buyers, who are both more numerous and better funded, can often offer a higher price than locals. Part of the reason is that for Artisans to gain Levels, they need to constantly challenge themselves with better materials. It’s also one of the reasons why the cost of high Level enchantments and equipment climbs steeply.
It doesn’t help that since we’re on a Dungeon World with a consummate increase in Mana flow, we actually have a larger number of spawnings. That means that the volume of low-to-medium quality crafting material is higher, which of course results in greater efficiencies in transportation since Galactic corps can do larger mass teleportations or send bigger transport ships. All in all, it means that our crafters are in a bad competitive situation.
“We must Level!” Wuji insists.
“But taxing our purchases and sales puts our lives at risk,” Anika says softly. “We need that equipment, those Class Skills. You don’t put your lives at risk every time you try to Level.”
“So we’re not as important?” Leo says without heat. “Our lives don’t matter?”
“You’re not risking yours,” Christian snaps.
I groan, watching them start up again. That barely attracts any attention, so I smack my hand on the table, grabbing everyone’s attention. “All right, people. I’ve got another meeting to go to, so you guys keep talking. We’ll talk again in another week.”
“That’s—”
“No, we need to—”
“These delays are unacceptable!” Christian says, standing.
“That’s nice,” I say with a smile to everyone, ignoring the various protests as I open a Portal.
Lana and Roland, her pet tiger, duck into the Portal first. The pitch-black hole in space swallows them without a ripple. Three quick steps, even while the council calls for me to come back, and a closed Portal later, I’m free.

Release Date: September 1, 2018

Pages: 376

Genre: LitRPG Sci-Fi

eBook ISBN: 9781775380931

Language: English

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