Raata Zaibatsu News outlet thread
The following thread will a continuous adventure following the key individuals that make up the Raata Zaibatsu’s leadership. Throughout the story, opportunities will arise to vote on choices certain characters will take that may either have short or long term effects.
Chapters
A screech rings out in the office as Monden pushes his chair back “Alright that’s it, I need to get something to eat already before I pass out. You coming?”
Looking up from two holosheets in his hands, Akels gives his father one brief look before looking back down at his work “Nah, I want to get through these requisition requests while I’m still focused.”
The office the two were in was warmly lit from the sunshine peerongin from the open balcony to their left. Inside everything that could realistically be made out of wood, was. From the chairs and counters to the very desks they both had.
Monden slowly arises from his seat, he stretches his right arm across his chest for a moment before switching for his left. “I don’t get why we just hand the damn stuff off to Viokoro, who else is requesting material?”
“The Ohrions have made plenty of requests for samples to aid their research.” Akels says as he continues to read the digitized text in the holosheet. It took the kid awhile to read though it on the account if it being written in a secondary language, that being Napanii. An intentional handicap Akels applied himself as getting a version of the document in a language he was familiar with was as simple as asking for it. He put himself though this for the sole purpose of getting more familiar with the grammar.
Placing both hands on his lower back, Monden pushes them forward to stretch. Monden closes his eyes as tension releases from his aging back “Do they ever say what kind of research?”
“Sometimes, but I see more uses of “classified” than I do explanations of their request.”
Monden straightens his posture back out “Always with the secrets…”
Akels looks up from the sheet in his hand “Well they’re doing sensitive work, pops. They don’t gotta leave paperwork detailing their projects around here…Well, holowork rather.” Akels holds up the holosheet in his hand for a brief second.
Monden folds his arms “With all the trust expected out of us, I’d imagine it be returned in kind. I don’t even get the point of this process you’re caught up in now.”
Akels puts the document aside “Whatchu mean?”
“Don’t be so naive, boy. You’ve been handling those requests for so long, yet you don’t realize how pointless it is?” Monden’s arms drop to his side
Akels, being honestly unsure of what his father was talking about, tilts his head and squints at him.
Monden sighs “Have you ever rejected a request made by the Ohrions? Or Salvaged Fortune Industries for that matter?”
“Uh…Can’t say I have?”
“Right, because the moment we reject one is the moment some Yaken knocks on our door just to veto our decision. So I ask, what’s the point with the requests? Why not just take the damn stuff if our refusal won’t matter?”
Akels sits back in his chair “Well I’d rather ask the question of why we would refuse a materials request in the first place.” Monden rolls his eyes, but continues to listen “Whatever they are working on is worth our material. Material that we dig up for the Zaibatsu to utilize in the first place.” He raises both hands up and aims them at the surface of his desk “All this? Just to make sure everything is neatly in order, so we know what were went.”
“Just comes off as pointless busy work to keep us distracted.”
Akels smirks as he looks back down at the forms “Well speaking of being busy, weren’t you about to go get some food?”
“I was, you don’t want me to bring you anything back? They got containers down there you know.” Monden says pointing over his shoulder.
Akels looks back up at him with a raised eyebrow “They do? Well alright, I’ll have a–"
“Wait, wait, let me write this down…” Moden bends over his desk and opens up a drawer on the left. “The moment I get down there I’ll forget whatever you ask for.” He pulls out a small notepad and closes the draw back up. He then picks up a black pen out of a cup of the surface. “Alright, whatchu want?” he asks as he brings the two items up to his chest.
Akels utters a noise in confusion before coming to an answer “…I’ll take that grilled rockjaw with the fried rice and lemon slices.” Monden doesn’t reply, just not down the order on the tiny slip of paper “You know, you look like a waiter the way you do that.”
Monden looks up from the notepad with a puzzled look “Do what?”
“Y-You know, the way you got that notepad up to your chest.” He mimics the pose in his seat “You just got the posture of someone asking for my order at a restaurant.”
Monden looks back down at the notepad with a small chuckle escaping him “You’d be interested to know my first job was waiting tables “
“Get out!” Akels joking says with a smirk on his face.
Monden lowers his arms and puts on a smile “Is it hard for you to believe that? As soon as I was old enough to enter the workforce I went out and got a job. Started at the bottom before I went on to start Lucrative Excavations.”
“Where did you work at first?”
“Sloopy Jod’s diner and tavern!” Monden announces proudly with his smile now showing teeth. The expression fades as he continues “Food was good, but had a bit of a Fedo infestation. No idea how that place never got closed down other than the owner maybe being friends with the health inspector for that district.”
“You ever spit in anyone’s food before?”
Monden slides the notepad into his suit as he answers “Once – Immediately felt ashamed of it and never did it again.”
“Good! So I don’t have to worry about you spitting in my food.” Akels says with a wide grin.
“Oh Har-Har, I’ll be back in thirty.” Monden says as he moves towards the door. It was a slide door that was mostly made of foggy glass with wooden trims to hold it together. Akels doesn’t respond audibly, just acknowledges his departure with a quick gesture before returning to his work.
Sliding the door open, Moden slips out and carefully slides it closed. He was always cautious and fearful if one day closing so hard that the glass would shatter, despite how damn thick it was. Once out of the room, Monden takes a moment to tend to one of his needs, sticking his hand back into his suit he pulls out a small tin flask. As you could imagine, this contained an alcoholic substance. He begins walking down the hallway as he unscrewed the cap, to his right was yet another balcony overlooking the colorful scenery outside the building. Monden found the Zaibatsu’s obsession with nature to be a bit obnoxious, everywhere you had some reference to nature like “Look! Don’t you see how zenful and pretty this world is! Look! Look!”. Jst as Monden brings the flask to his lips and takes a sip, one of these said references calls out his name.
“Mr.Searbier!”
Startled, Monden clutches his neck as he chokes on the warm liquids. He breaks out a short coughing fit before leaning up against the nearby wall for support. He looks over to where the voice came from and spots a woman with amber hair dressed in a long slender green robe, Monden was about twice her age.
“Apologies, I didn’t mean to scare you.” She spoke confidently and calmly.
“No, no, no, you didn’t do that…Okay well you did but…” It clicks to him who this was “…Suha Raibuya?”
A small smile appears on her face “Correct! I’m flattered that my reputation precedes me.” How could it not? After her recent news appearance with ZANIE she became quite popular with the residents in this colony.
“Um, what can I do you for ma’am?” Monden asks as he slowly returns the flask to the inside of his suit.
“Well for starters you can do away with calling me ma’am, just call me Suha, Mr.Searbier “ Jerry tone was void of any offence, she spoke as if she was Monden’s friend.
“Monden, call me Monden”
She nods “Very well then, Monden. It is an honor to finally meet you in person.” she places her left hand over her chest and dips for a bow.
Monden, half-asses the bow in turn, but only due to his back being to out of shape for it. “Might I ask why you’d want to meet me?”
“Well, you’re one of the chosen individuals the honorable Patriarch selected to help lead the Zaibatsu. That to me is a position worthy of great respect” Once again, smiled warmly at him.
Monden puts his hands in his hip “Please, I’m just a drunk that digs through the dirt for something of value.”
“You uncover valuable resources left for us by the Maker. Resources that can be turned into a multitude of things. Don’t think so little of yourself, Monden.”
Monden sighed internally as she began tossing out her Wayist rhetoric, he could had sworn the Caldari kept this more to themselves “Well, the Maker sure makes it a pain in the ass to get to them.”
Suha bursts into laughter at Monden’s remark, which initially baffles him, but found it more pleasant to make her laugh than leave her offended. She soon gains control of herself “Without trial there would be no value in the reward, no?”
Having spent years toiling in some barren dune world digging though scraps of paydirt level metals to make ends meet, an urge to chew this girl out enter Monden, but contained it “Yeah…Look, I was on my way to the cafeteria an-"
“Ah! That’s on the way to where I was heading”
■■■■
With a straight face, Monden asks “Is it now?”
“That it is, I need to consult with the wise Matron of the Conglomerate. She’s on the same level currently and I was just on my way. Might I accompany you there? Would be an excellent moment to get to know one another better.”
Monden contemplates what would happen if he blows her off, but ponders if this women would speak of nothing more than her spirituality, thus causing Monden to lose a bit of his sanity. A choice presented itself…
How should Monden respond?
Monden finally caved in and gave Suha his response “…It would be my honor.” While he failed by being hesitant about it, he remained professional about agreeing to it. Monden never had any strong opinion about religion, he didn’t care about whatever he or she believed in. He was only ever bugged about people getting killed (or some cases enslaved) over it and when he’s pestered about religious metaphors. One thing Monden liked about wayism is that he never even knew it existed until he jumped ship to this place. The Caldari had a rep for keeping this stuff to themselves and not letting it influence decision making upstairs. Here however? Far louder and more obnoxious.
“Marvelous!” Suha said with a tooth flashing smile.
Monden sticks out his left arm out in the direction he’s heading, he returns the smile back. Suha accepts the gesture to take the lead and walks forward, Monden following behind on her left flank. The hallway they were in was wide, this is good too, it avoids traffic getting congested in the busy hours. Currently there was no activity in the halls aside from Suha and Monden, everyone else was already out on break twenty minutes ago.
Suha is quick to toss a topic out to get their talks on a roll “So tell me about yourself Monden, you’re from the Federation, yes?” She turns her head to speak over her shoulder so Monden hears her clearly.
A spark of pride ignites inside Monden “Yep! Born and raised.” He flashed a smile she wasn’t going to see. Monden was a man to never once place his blame on the Federation for his misgivings, maybe on a politician, but the Federation was his benevolent homeland. Being here in a stronghold of old Caldari customs wasn’t going to change his opinion on it.
“Do you ever get homesick?”
“Depends on which home you refer to, the office or the planet I grew up on.”
A chuckle erupts from Suha “Whichever one you identify more with.”
Monden can’t even recall how many years of his life have been wasted away chained to his office complex back on Elarel II. An absolutely depressing dust ball of an environment, he even got into watching old frontier-drama holovids in some vain hope to make his surroundings more interesting. “Would have to be my homeworld then, Billie VI. Knew my colony like the back of my hand, every street, shop or restaurant there. You could say that makes it a bit of a comfort zone for me.”
“Are you not comfortable here?”
Something about the question came off as dangerous to Monden. As if she was trying to probe for some discontent within him. “Well, I get three hot square meals a day, a nice bed to sleep in and alcohol that isn’t watered down. Can’t ask for much more.”
“I suppose not!” Suha leaves it at that, not following it up with another question.
Monden, one to be polite when necessary, made a good habit to always pitch in his own questions whenever he found himself in a “get to know you" kind of conversation. It was a way of him pulling his weight, not taking it all about him and flattering the other party with his curiosity. “What about you? From the State I take it?”.
“I was born there, but raised elsewhere.” She says, once again not following it up.
“Oh, so your family migrated to the Federation?” it was the only other place Monden could guess she could had hailed from. Would’ve been a pleasant answer and enable him to maybe connect with her.
The two make it to the corner of the hallway where there is a squared staircase leading down to the ground floor. Suha is the first to take a step down “Nope, to Venal.”
It didn’t hit Monden immediately, took his brain a second to realize what she just said. It was a telling choice of words in regards to who’s borders she lived within. He stops at the top of the staircase.
Suha, who has made it to the plateau before the next case of stairs running down the right side of the wall, stops and looks up to Monden. “Something wrong?”
Monden wasn’t angry, just confused at hearing that kind of answer. He, and thousands of other planet dwellers just like him knew of the reputation Venal had as being the haven for the Guristas pirates. “Venal…W-Were you a pirate?” he asks while squinting at her.
Suha blinks at him “…Should I have been one?”
“N-No, just…” Monden takes two steps down the first staircase “…Must had been rough living out there. Living out in some pirate infested null-security region, light years away from proper civilization.” Monden was of course referring to empire-space. He refused to consider anyplace run by pirates (or Capsuleers for that matter) to be on the same level, rather they would just be some backwater enclave with horrendous values to him.
Suha raises an eyebrow and remains silent, she puts both of her hands behind her back.
Monden leans to the left, up against the railing of the stairs. He uses his right hand to scratch the back of his head. “I mean hey…If you don’t want to talk about I understand. Can’t imagine what the Guristas did to your home.”
Suha tilts her head to the left “Monden, what if I told you my home was a Guristas built and owned colony?”
“…Well, doesn’t sound like a peaceful place to hail from, with the Guristas having control of it. Probably some slump that attracted a bunch of thugs and ruffia-"
Suha cuts him off and stares at him calmly, her tone reflects this. “We had one school, one hospital, one police station, and farmland as far as the eye could see.”
Monden darts his eyes away for a moment, he got himself tangled in this awkward situation. Instead of drawing this pathetic attempt at mining for substance to support his narrative out any longer, he comes to terms to what Suha is trying to say. He looks back at her “Uh…Sorry, guess I never pictured a peaceful sounding place like that existing in Guristas space.”
Suha smiles warmly “No offence was taken, Monden. I know it’s not the first picture everyone’s mind has in store first, I’m well aware of their reputation after all.”
“Right…You said something about a uh…” Monden raises his left hand to snap his fingers as the listed item comes to him “Police station? Yeh, never thought I see the word “police" posted up anywhere in a pirate owned colony.”
“It’s not like the Guristas were our actual police force.” Suha turns and continues walking down the stairs “Many of our officers were local to the colony.”
Monden followed “Who exactly were these locals?”
“Families, I suppose you could’ve considered it a gated community. As none of us were forced to live with the riff-raff that flee to Guristas space. All in thanks to the service of a relative, everyone there was a sibling, cousin, spouse or child to someone working aboard a Guristas ship.”
The two are at ground level, they take a left and walk down another, short hallway before reaching the lobby of this office building. It was shaped like an octagon, by far the widest public space in this building. Once they emerge from the corridor, the receptionist’s desk would be to their left, doors leading out to the right.
“So which one applies to you?” Something about Monden’s tone appears bitter. While he’s aware by now Suha couldn’t have been an actual pirate. He’s still disgusted about ever hearing anyone join those scumbags.
“Child, my father served aboard a frigate as a technician during his lifetime.” Suha leads him to the right, out the door and into the sunlight.
Monden shoots a nod toward the Male receptionist that stands up to bow at the two. He then addresses Suha’s answer as he follows her out “During his lifetime?”
The courtyard was, as you could imagine, a wide open space. The ground the two walked on was made of cobblestone bricks and to their left and right were structures almost identical to the one they walked out of. This was known as known as a ‘Block’, an administrative district connected physically via monorail to the capital building of Hoiyori. This block was intended to populated by Lucrative Excavations, but sadly didn’t have enough pencil pushers to warrant exclusive space. As such, they shared the block with some of the eggheads of the Ohrion Conglomerate. The buildings sported an ornate look, almost entirely made of wood and crafted with a prestigious Raata flair. In the center of the courtyard itself was a cliche set up of flower planters that make up the insignia of the Raata Zaibatsu. The outside layer was five curved planters of white lilies , the five notches are to represent the five great spirits, or winds as they’re referred to in Wayist spirituality. Next layer is a solid circle of white petaled flowers, this part is to represent the flesh, our human forms. Then lastly, inside the center with just a small gap between it and the second layer is a patch of red Cassovous flowers to represent the fiery spirits (supposively) inside all of us. The only thing unique about the flower is that it was only local to this world. Looked nice and smelt nice, that’s about it.
Suha stops and sighs “Yes” she turns around to face Monden “Unfortunately, my Father perished in his service with the Gur-”
She is interrupted from a voice above them “Hey!”. The two look up, above the entrance to spot Akels on the balcony connected to their office.
Monden places his hands on his hips “What is it?” he shouts up to him
“Shrimp sauce!”
“Shrimp sauce?”
“Yeah, can you add shrimp sauce to my order?” Akels ask, leaning further on the balcony railing.
Monden scoffs and reaches into his suit for the notepad before “Take it you also want me to get you some shrimp?”
“Nah, just add the sauce.”
Monden pulls the notepad out “The hell you eating the sauce with then?”
“The rice of course.”
“W-" Monden is taken back for a moment “Why? It’s sauce for shrimp, ain’t it?”
Suha was silently waiting all this time. She only now speaks up as Monden questions the use of shrimp sauce with fried rice “Have you ever consumed shrimp sauce before?”
Monden looks at her, jerks it back to Akels then back to her “Well no, but I assume its sauce for shrimp. It’s called shrimp sauce afterall.”
Akels holds up his hand with his pinkie and thumb pressed together to make a “O.K" sign “Shrimp sauce and fried rice is a magnificent combination, pops.”
Monden moves the notepad into his right hand and goes searching in his suit for a pen “Sounds disgusting.”
Suha squints at him “You say that, but didn’t you just admit previously to never trying shrimp sauce before?”
Akels rests both his arms on the balcony railing and gently nods “Yeah…You did say that.”
Monden retracts his left hand out and holds it above his shoulder along with his right hand. He takes a few steps back “Am I being attacked right now?”
The two burst out laughing at the man. Monden puts on a frown and gently lowers his hands. Akels is the first to settle down “Relax Dad! Look, if you can just get me some shrimp sauce as well I’d greatly appreciate it.”
Monden pats down the outside of his suit “I need a pen to write it down.”
Akels taps his left temple with his left index finger “Can’t you just remember it?"
“its these small details I always lose track of.” Monden raises his left hand and folds his fingers back and forth to gesture to Akels to ‘hand it over’. “Just toss me down something to write with.”
“Nah, this is why your memory is rotting away. You’ve depended so heavily on notes written down that you neglected your ability to store the information in your head.”
Suha pipes in “Use it or lose it, as they say.”
“Precisely!” Akels announces pointing down at her “She knows what’s…” Realization settles in “Oh wow…Suha Raibuya? Windchime Order?”
Suha looks up at Akels with a smile “That is correct” She crosses her left arm across her chest and dips into a bow. She picks her head back up “…From the exchange you two had-" she looks over to Monden and back up to Akels “-You must be Monden’s son, correct?” Akels Searbier?”
Akels starts grinning wide “Y-Yeah! Though I’m sure you could’ve pieced that together when comparing our devilishly good looks.” he says, pointing back and forth between him and Monden with his left hand.
“Still two leagues ahead of you, kiddo.” Monden says, folding his arms. Akels remark was more than a terrible joke, it was flirtatious. Monden could already see these two hooking up, both young adults who already share a common interest in the misuse of condiments., a match made in heaven, clearly. Akels’ remark also hinted at this insecurity Akels struggles to deal with, one that Monden had grown exhausted from his countless attempts to get Akels over it. Sharing more of his mother’s Matari side, Akels had a much more darker skin complexion. Akels feared this would make it difficult for people to make the connection they were father and son, or related at all for that fact. In no way did the kid loathe himself for this, but found it troubling that he was Monden’s only son, yet didn’t look much like him.
“Well you do share the same charming eyes” Suah says with a smile, looking between the two. They both had bright eyes that resembled the color of gold.
Monden could already picture the god damn wedding in his head as Akels breaks eye contact and starches the back of his head in response to the comment. Ain’t like Monden had an issue with it, Akels was a grown man who needed to find the mate perfect for him. Didn’t matter who, so long as they had a job. Though with Suha’s case he’s unsure if it’s a career or passionate hobby. Still eager to get some food, Monden breaks up the moment before it draws on for an obnoxious amount of time “Alright, shrimp sauce, I’ll remember it.”
Akels looks down to Monden who was already turning to continue his trip “Thank you!” He shouts
Suha turns to follow, but pivots her torso around to Akels to give him a wave goodbye “It was a pleasure to finally meet you Akels!”
Akels waves back “Likewise!” he stands there watching them walk of for a minute before turning around and heading back into the office.
Who’s perspective should be followed?
“So how do you become a Wayist?”
“The same way any other becomes one, when we see meaning in the philosophy.”
Suha was sitting across from Monden, the two were currently in a moving monorail. They were on a straight narrow track towards the main building of the Hoiyori administrative capital. The monorails were indoors, there were two tracks with cars that moved at the same time, one at each end to ferry passengers back and forth. A glass ceiling hanged over them that crept down to become the walls with a small divider of concrete at the bottom for a foundation. Running alongside the walls were railed off sidewalks for maintenance or for those that want the exercise, it was more common than not to see someone using the sidewalk for jogging.
Monden folds his arms “I meant how does someone growing up in a Guristas colony become a Wayist?” Monden was slouched back in his seat. His back was aimed towards the sidewalk on their right.
Suha was sitting upright with her hands passively in her lap, she tilts her head “Is my background a unlikely factor towards becoming one?”. Suha never felt offended by Monden’s line of questions regarding where she grew up. She wasn’t naive about who the Guristas really were, but felt no shame in refusing to see them as the demons the empires made them out to be. As such she maintained a neutral disposition with Monden, she was aware of the type of man she was dealing with.
“N-No just-” Monden leans forward “-how do you find teachings for a faith that’s popular in the Caldari State - In the borders of an organization that hates them?”
Suha straightens out her neck “The Guristas made no efforts to eradicate Caldari traditions from those that flocked to their space. As such, I learned about Wayism though those who came over holding such knowledge.”
Monden sits up straight “Ain’t Wayism to a degree pro-state? The uh…” Monden tilts his head and scratches the right side of it. He shoots his head back up after a brief second “Winds? I think they’re called?” Suha silently nods towards him “Right, these Winds supposively-" Monden raises his his hands over his shoulder and curves them as if holding a imaginary sphere “- watched over and protected the Caldari people.” Monden drops his hands back down “Sounds like the sorta stuff that gets talked about in secret out there.”
“Not when you realize the State is…” Suha’s eyes trail off as she looks for the right word. A smile cracks on her face as she gets a glimpse of the passing trees outside with purple and pink leaves. She turns her eyes back to Monden “Irrelevant.” Only after saying it does she doubt the accuracy of that word. As per reflex, a corner of her mouth folds inside for her to gently bite.
Monden leans back into his seat with his arms crossed and his left eyebrow raised “Irrelevant?”
With her hands clasp together in her lap, Suha begins fidgeting with her fingers “I-It may have been a inaccurate word to use but…When you talk about Wayism outside the State, you start to see how unnecessary it is to even mention them.”
Monden tosses his right arm up across the back of his seat “How so?”
Suha doesn’t hesitate or stumble on beginning her answer “It’s said that the Winds favor that which grows strong. After all, strength is what proves we are worthy to survive in the Maker’s world. Its It’s clear you have your gripes with the Guristas, Monden, but would you agree the Guristas have proven their strength?”
A scoff erupts from Monden who grins at Suha “They’ve certainly proved they’re hard to get rid of.”
Suha smiles “Yes, that’s one way of putting it. Despite having to deal with the zealous hatred of the State and the horde of Capsuleers being sent at them by the Empires, the Guristas have remained strong. Not only to they maintain a formidable military, but have secured an entire region of space for themselves and have developed technology that rivals what the mega-corporations put out.”
Monden shrugs then scratches his chin with one finger from his left hand “Well I know from experience those Caldari imports aren’t as g-”
Suha cuts him off “I-I-It’s laughable really." her composure was off kilter at this moment. She interrupted Monden to fume on the subject. It’s passion that provokes her to start a rant. “The State boasts about how Cold Wind would strike us down for being traitors. Yet, as I spent my childhood working fields to feed the Guristas, not once did Cold Wind come to demolish our shelter or bury our crops.”
Monden, slightly startled by the sudden outburst, tries to reason with her “…Well, maybe-"
Once again, cut off by Suha “Then, countless times over had Storm Wind honored us with an appearance during the funeral of our deceased relatives who were slain in combat against the Caldari or Capsuleers.”
“Weather can be convenient like tha-"
Suha stands up “Then, out in the wilderness we can see Heart-of-the-forest maintaining with utmost effort. Well fed game and plant life surrounded us and-"
“Suha!” Monden shouts putting his hands out in front. She stops and looks down at him, while she was speaking she wasn’t looking at him, just speaking as if she was to a crowd. Monden begins to speak calmly and slowly “…I understand you’re passionate about your belief.” He slowly bends the fingers of his hands to aim at him “But I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about…”
Suha remained silent for a second, it was a careless mistake to lose her cool, to lose it like that. At the same time, Monden clearly wasn’t someone who knew the material like she did. She lets out a sigh “…Apologies, Monden.”
Monden slowly lowers his hands “It’s fine…”
The ride comes to an end as it makes contact with the station. Already there were several staff members waiting to get on. Suha assumed the nicely suited Gallenteans worked for Monden, while the other robed individuals were clearly Ohrions. After all, this tram went one way. to a hybrid administrative bloc for the two organizations. Monden gets up from his seat and moves to the door, Suha follows. As soon as the door opens, Suha and Monden are given the courtesy to step out first. As Monden greets his people while stepping out, Suha shakes the hands of the three Ohrions present before moving on.
Monden stopped and looked up at the sign suspended above them saying which dock this was and giving directions. Straight ahead, though the wide opened hallway littered with activity would be where you go for the main lobby and cafeteria. To the right would lead you to other ports to other administrative blocks and lastly to the left you could find the comms rooms and security office.
Suha walks up next to Monden “Well, I guess this is where we go our separate ways for now.” Suha was looking for the Ohrion Matron, Tuilina, who was currently in one of the comms room talking to someone.
“Yep…” Monden lazily replies. He turns and face Suha “Pleasure to meet you at least.” he extends a hand for her to shake
Suha eyed the hand before smiling and accepting it with her own. “As was it to meet you, Monden.” She let’s go and starts to walk backwards towards the left “Give Akels my regards!” She then turns around. Monden doesn’t respond back, just carries on his way.
Suha finds herself walking down a narrow hallway, alone. She wasn’t afraid of the scenario, just never liked the silence and would always prefer to have someone to speak to. She was a talkative person, if there was nobody around yo talk to, she would just talk to herself. Something she’s had to refrain from doing in public to avoid coming off as a quack.
…
Did Monden think she was a quack after that outburst?
…
Pointless to worry about now, what’s done was done. She couldn’t hope to make a perfect first impression every time. She just had to shrug it off and let it be what it is.
Large solid wood doors were on both sides of the hallway, each labeled after a common callsign like alpha, beta and so forth. These were individual comms rooms for privileged staff to use to make FTL communications. The label she was looking for was “Foxtrot”. As she darted her head back forth between the labels, humming an aimless tune to herself, she catches someone sitting down on a bench outside of the doors smoking a cigarette. To the left, as if conveniently placed there for the set up for a joke, was a sign informing the reader that this was a no smoking area. Tobacco products have been stuck in a gray area for the Ohrion board of health. They clearly want to outright ban the substance for how destructive it was to ingest and to people around them. But, many refugees grandfathered into the population came with pre-existing addictions to nicotine. As such, Ohrions had to oblige these needs as best as they could by creating bland, beardless cigarettes that were scarcely rationed out. It also carries heavy penalties far anyone distributing these rations.
Suha, approaches the man who was nodding of as he sat there taking hits. It wasn’t hard for Suha to smell the disgusting odor it was giving off. She begins to speak once approaching him at a distance to speak calmly “Excuse me, sir?” The man looks over to her out the corner of his eye, only turning his head slightly. He doesn’t say anything at first. Suha pivots her body slightly to give the man a glance at the sign behind her, which she points to.
The man takes the cigarette out of his mouth and taps off the burnt ash at the end “Look lady, I’m having a long day.” He says, void of energy.
“I’m sorry to hear that, but the rule is there not to make your day any harder, just to keep the buildings air clean for everyone’s health.”
Without looking at her, the man shoots up a hand “Just piss off, alright?”
Suha was one to never like those responses but was capable of absorbing them. “Apologies then sir…” It was best for her to leave, she was only going to annoy the man further if she continued to urge the man to follow the rules. But just as her back is to the man, he calls out to her.
“Hey!” Suha turns around to the man who was now looking up to her. She could get a clear look at the man’s face, Sebiestor, early 30s, black hair. “I’m sorry, that was…Out of line. Again, long day.”
Suha smiles at him “No offense was taken, sir. Sorry for disturbing you.”
The man sighs and takes another drag. He exhales and starts speaking “Hell, any distraction is worth something.” He leans back, all the way into the wall “I got to go in there in about ten minutes and speak to some Regiment police chief about this fight that broke out between two shmolies that ended up ■■■■■■■ everything up and setting construction back another week.”
Suha could determine that this man most likely was employed by Salvaged Fortunes for being involved with construction at all. But a question still remained “Shmolies?” she asks.
“Yeah, ■■■■■■■ shmolies is what they were. First shmoly picks a fight with second shmoly and start creating a scene and end up knocking over the ■■■■■■■ rafters, which crash and tear down the wall we were building for a week now.”
Shmoly something about the word sounded right to her, based off the answer the context made it sound fitting to call someone of “poor quality”. Although wanting to know more, she cuts it short and carries on with what she was looking for. “Well, I hope your day gets better sir.”
“Me too…”
“It’s a foolish idea, Laiya.”
“Matron, I can assure you I can handle this discreetly. There’s so much more we can recover this way.”
The room was small and narrow, starting from the door, the room is shaped like the tip of a finger. When walking in from the only door you’d see right ahead of you, nearly at the end of the room, the FTL terminal the room was designed for. It was a fancy and slim variant, one that had a floor based projector for a full body hologram. The room was littered with sensors capable of rendering multiple holograms of anyone in the room on the receiver’s end. If you wanted to listen on a conversation, but have your presence ignored by the sensors, you could stand behind the two orange glass walls at the entrance to the room. In the middle near the projector were two cushioned wooden chairs and a waist high metal table between them. The furniture would not be picked up by the sensors aside from the ones in the seat cushions to detect if someone sat down.
Currently in the room were two individuals. The Matron of the Ohrion Conglomerate, Tuilina Malioka and Ohrion Capsuleer, Laiya Aholm.
“I don’t doubt for a moment your ability, nor the rewards, but we must adhere to the pros…cess.” Tuilina’s words trail off as she hears the door slide open. Looking over in that direction, her old face lights up with a smile. “Suha!”
Laiya darts her gaze towards Suha “I could’ve sworn I locked the door.”
Suha steps forward into the room, past the glass barriers. She looks over to Laiya “Apologies, did I interrupt something?” To Suha, Laiya was a figure worthy of respect regardless of how cold she may be at times. She was one of two Capsuleers used by the Zaibatsu. While the other was used for more militaristic minded goals in the Myrskytuuli Regiment, Laiya was entrusted in the hands of the Ohrion Conglomerate for explorative and scientific initiatives. She was of Jin-mei ancestry, a tall, mature figure around Suha’s age with straight black hair that touched her shoulders. Her attire was identical to the Matron, a thick green coat that mimicked the design of a lab coat, but more attractive and stylish, you’d sooner find it in some formal gathering than a lab environment.
Tuilina jumps to answer Suha “Of course not darling, come here!” She says, swiftly walking forward to Suha. The Matron was an elderly figure, old enough to be Suha and Laiya’s grandmother and certainly felt no shame in acting like it towards them. Suha personally welcomed the affection, she saw Tuilina as a caring mentor that always had spare time to set aside for her. As soon as Tuilina was in range she embraces Suha with a brief hug, as she retracts, she leaves her left hand on Suha’s shoulders. “How are you, child?”
“Perfectly fine, Matron. I had the pleasure of talking to Monden Searbier on the way here and got to know him a bit more.”
Tuilina steps to Suha’s side and slides her hand to over to her other shoulder. She starts walking her towards where she was standing when talking to Laiya “I hope that you two got along?”
“I…Wouldn’t necessarily say that. He seemed to have trouble comprehending that I hailed from a Venal colony Other than that it wasn’t a bad conversation.”
Tuilina stops as she brings Suha near the two seats in the middle of the room. On the metal table between them was a silver tray with a teapot, with several smaller cups. “Monden is a respectable man, but knows only the world the Federation let him see. Typically this world is painted with a biased tone.” Tuilina picks up the teapot and begins pouring a liquid into one of the cups, it has a slight hint of green to it.
“What kind do you have this time?” Suha asks, Tuilina was someone who was obsessed with tea. She loved tasting all different kinds from every corner of the cluster. She also likes to attribute her near perfect health to her tea consumption. When in reality it’s more in part due to her dedication to maintaining a nutritious diet and shunning away anything packaged with added preservatives. Despite her age, her body functioned like it was still in its late prime.
“Tenal Velven. It’s a caffeinated beverage that supports your digestive system.” She picks up one of the small cups and hands it to over to Suha.
The cup itself had no handle to grab hold of. Purely a cylinder and a decorative one at that. Suha would have to hold it with it resting in her right hand’s palm and holding it by the side with her left hand. “Thank you, Matron.” She bowed her head as per custom.
As Suha lifts the cup to take a sip, Tuilina tosses out a question “So what could I help you with, child?”
Lowering the cup, Suha chokes on the bitter liquid and lets out a small cough before speaking.“Well, what I need is not urgent if you two still need to speak.”
“We do” Laiya says.
Tuilina turns to her and sighs “Very well…Continue.”
Laiya raises an eyebrow at her and glances over at Suha “Preferably alone, Ma’am.”
“Whatever you can say to me, you can say in front of her.” While the Windchime Order and the Ohrion Conglomerate are two separate entities, they both share a bond thanks to their spirituality. While the Windchime Order puts out teachings and practice to hone your spiritual connection. The Ohrions take their spirituality and make it the driving force behind their mission of understanding all there is to know about the world the Maker created. There’s little reason for the Matron to have any distrust towards Suha when they’re of like mind.
Laiya squints to them “Very well…Though I hope you could fill her on our discussion thus far.”
Tuilina nods and turns to Suha “We’ve hit a hitch with the ‘Organic rejuvenation initiative’ in regards to cloning singular organs.” The Organic Rejuvenation Initiative is the flagship project ran by the Ohrion Conglomerate. The mission statement is simple, utilize cloning technology to restore lost limbs or replace the corruption of augmentations. Suha personally hated how the name sounded, but was in full support of what the project aimed to accomplish. Tuilina continues, “Both livers and lungs are failing to grow properly and it would be irresponsible to ever put them in a living being. Finding the correct formula for growth however has proven to be a bit of an issue.” Tuilina raises her hand towards Laiya “Laiya here then suggests raiding a research outposts belonging to the Serpentis inquest for the research we need.” Aside from drugs, the Serpentis have rumored to be into researching experimental cloning methods in a secondary department of the Serpentis called “Serpentis Inquest”
“Why not put in a request with the Regiment?” Suha asks, the idea of “raiding" sounded like it would require some military power, as such it would fall into the lap of the Mryskytuuli Regiment to handle the matter
Laiya speaks up, her voice cutting in like a dagger “Absolutely not.”
Suha looks at her with a confused look “Why not?”
“Everytime we ask the Regiment for help they send that warmonger out that ends up destroying valuable bits we could use and selling whatever else survives as “rightfully earned spoils". “ The warmonger Laiya was referring to was the Capsuleer the Regiment had at their disposal, a pilot by the name of Avio Yaken. Considered to be the biggest bread earner for the Zaibatsu and hailed as their star warrior that fights in representation of the Raata people. “I can handle this.”
“What you’re failing to realize is that we are not warriors. Only the Regiment has the personnel capable of raiding anything.” As per policy with the Zaibatsu, all entities operating under our banner must utilize the Mryskytuuli Reigment for all security needs. If they’re holding a gun, then they’re with the Regiment. This extends to any naval capabilities the Zaibatsu wishes to have. Laiya is a unique position, however, with her status as a Capsuleer. As a means not to trample on her independence she’s been allowed to acquire her own assets, some of which may very well be fully armed warships.
“I’ll employ a crew of mercenaries.”
Tuilina’s response was quick “That would only make matters worse!” Also, as policy declares. No entity is allowed to hire any military contractors aside from the Regiment. Aside from one exception…
“Stelmari.” Suha says, the two look at her “Stelmari could loan Laiya some of his personnel. We’d still be employing manpower inside the Zaibatsu that way.” The Stelmari Exchange is the only other entity apart of the Zaibatsu that had an armed force. The reason for this is primarily so their leader, Stelmari Oksasio, can protect his holdings on Pavannaka I. With that being said, his forces are recognized as an auxiliary force for the Regiment to use in dire situations.
Laiya turns to Tuilina “He’d also know how to look for leads on any Inquest outpost.”
Tuilina sighs “As well as one to engage in such skulduggery.” She moves over to the teapot on the table to pour herself another drink.
Laiya steps forward “We’re not harming our people in any way doing this. We’re doing the exact opposite in fact. All we’re doing is side stepping an unnecessary middle man in order to do our job. At the same time, showing the Regiment we can handle our own problems and do so our own way.”
Tuilina doesn’t respond right away, she just picks up the cup she poured some tea into, takes a sip and exhales “…Suha, what do you propose we do?”
Laiya darts here eyes between Tuilina and Suha “You’re making her decide?”
Tuilina’s head snaps towards Laiya’s direction “Would you rather we leave it to a coin toss?” Laiya doesn’t respond to that remark, aside from a light scoff. Tuilina turns her head back to Suha “We could stand here and bicker about what to do, or allow Suha to break this stalemate for us.”
First being dragged into this plot, Suha has now been made the one to break the tie and get the wheels of productivity moving again. Part of her said there was no wrong answer while the other directly contradicted that by painting each choice as a safe path and a risky one.
Leaving it to the Mryskytuuli Reigment to handle would be a safe move, but as Laiya pointed out, much of what the Ohrions could study would be confiscated as “spoils" and sold for funding. As well as maybe rubbing Laiya herself the wrong way.
Going the route Suha initially suggested and asking Stelmari for troops would be risky and may stir up some controversy if word got out. However, it would enable Laiya to pursue the target herself instead of letting the Regiment handle it. At the same time, may disappoint the Matron.
A choice presented itself
Which route should be followed?
…I propose we go with my idea of asking Stelmari for assistance, Matron.”
Tuilina nods “Very well then…”
Something about Tuilina’s short calm response unsettled Suha, so much so that she felt she should cobble up some explanation of her choice. She steps forward “I-I just have to agree with Laiya, the Regiment has grown greedy with their monopoly on military power in the Zaibatsu. The Conglomerate has an opportu-”
Tuilina raises up a palm, signaling for her to stop Suha. “I understand…” she lowers her hand “If I truly didn’t see any logic in this action I wouldn’t even dare leave it up to a decision.” She steps back and raises an arm up in both Laiya and Suha’s direction “Though young, I know you two possess the smarts to be wise in your own unique ways.” She drops her arms down to her side and looks to Laiya “…And I certainly don’t expect I’ll have to pass from this life with regrets for having placed my trust in you.”
“Of course not, Matron.” Laiya bends her head down, her posture impeccable as always.
“Good, now onto pressing matters - Stelmari” Tuilina shoots one last glance at the two before turning around to the FTL terminal in the room.
While Tuulina began moving her fingers across the machine’s interface, Suha glanced over to Laiya. The woman was stonefaced as she watched Tuilina. This came to no real surprise to Suha as she was well aware of Laiya’s ability to hide her emotions and remain a professional. Though Suha would’ve hope to see some excitement out of her after swinging the decision in her direction.
Tuilina steps back as the machine hums to life. The simplistic three-dimensional shape of a ring is projected. As a slight yellow highlight does laps within it signals that it was processing the call. The room fell silent for a brief moment as they waited. After about a minute the circle dissolves and in its place the hologram of a sturdy Civire man takes its place. The three in the room bow their heads in greetings. “Stelmari Oksasio” Tuilina says. They pick their heads up “We hope you are…doing…Oh." Realization sets in as she notices the hologram’s facial features were not Stelmari’s “Vaivari, apologies, I’ve mistaken you for your brother.”
The hologram was not of Stelmari but his younger brother Vaivari. A person who Suha admittedly knows very little about. The fact that the exchange is named after and focused on Stelmari and not his kin could be a product of that. Vaivati responds, “Not the first time that’s happened…” The digital representation folds his arms, “Anything I can help you with, Matron?”
“I appreciate your offer, it it is Stelmari that I must speak with.”
The hologram sighs, “He’s not here right now, he was suppose to be here an hour ago, but haven’t gotten a call from him or even given a glance towards him today.”
“I see…Unfortunate, but it can’t be helped.” Tuilina dips her head downward in a bow “I pray your brother is alive and safe.”
Vaivari’s arms drop to his side “Yeah…I hope so to-" The hologram looks to his left
“Oh-ho-ho! What do we got here?”
While Liaya and Tuilina continue to watch with mild confusion, Suha looks around the room as soon as hears Stelmari’s voice. Only to then realize it was coming from the other end of the call.
Stelmari’s voice continues “Taking my calls, brother?”
Vaivari’s hologram remains calm as he backs away “Sorry, just wanted to inform who’s calling you that you weren’t av-"
A hologram of Stelmari appears on the right, approaching Vaivari, he’s finger his held up and wagging back and forth “Adadada-tata” While Vaivari’s hologram sported a casual look of a T-shirt and fatigue pants, Stelmari’s wore a sharp business suit thatundoubtedly cost a thousand ISK. “They’ll know I’m not available if I. Don’t. Pick. Up. Understood?”
“…Yes brother, sorry.”
Stelmari tosses his arms up “Hey! It’s all good brother…” He’s arms drop to his side and finally acknowledges the three “…Well this call is already interesting.” a mild grin appears on his lips as he walks forward. From what pictures and footage Suha has seen of Stelmari, he appears to always have this grin on his face, as if it was his resting expression. “So! We got the Egger-" He points to Laiya “The honorable Matron-" moves his aim to Tuilina “…And you, the Wayist poster child here.” he lower his hand and scans the three again, only to then center back on Tuilina “What can I help you ladies with?”
Tuilina clears her throat out before speaking “Well, we need to discuss matters in private.” She looks over to Vaivari’s hologram that’s been standing to the side silently.
Stelmari’s digitized smirk expands, he looks over to Vaivari and nods his head in the direction he came from “I got business to deal with.” Without responding, Vaivari makes his way towards the right, soon his hologram flickers out. Stelmari focuses back on them “So, tell me the details, Matron…”
Tuilina nods her head “I’ll cut to straight to the point-"
Stelmari interjects “Straight shooter! Just how I like it.”
“Yes, now, what I ask is if the Exchange would be capable of lending our Capsuleer here-" Tuilina gestures over to where Laiya was standing, all while maintaining eye contact “- security for an expedition.”
Stelmari shrugs “With all due respect Ma’am, I’d figured someone like you would know that’s not my business.”
Suha looked over and noticed discomfort on Tuilina’s face, despite going along with this, she’s clearly not use to speaking deceptively. “Yes, I’m well aware of that, but the expedition we have in mind would most likely come off as to militaristic, thus handed off to the Regiment to handle. W-We however would like-”
Stelmari interjects once more “Look, I’m sorry, you said you were getting straight to the point, but you’re not being even straight about this. You’re fuckin-" Stelmari turns to his side and puts his arm up in the air, bending it in a straight line “-starting off like this-” his hand shoots downwards, complete with swirling motions “-then spinning out of control like a dropship pilot shitfaced on mindflood.”
Laiya steps forward “You will not speak to the Matron in such an outrageous tone!” she growls. Though one to keep on a professional look, Laiya’s passionate loyalty to the Ohrions and the Zaibatsu as a whole did tend to leak out when offended.
Stelmari points to himself “Hey! You three called me! About something that isn’t my job for that matter. You start off saying you’d get to the point, but i ain’t see the point yet.
Knowing Tuilina was clearly in a uncomfortable position, Suha speaks up “We need to borrow capable warriors in your employ to avoid getting the Regiment involved.”
Tuilina’s head snaps in the direction of her “Su-" Tuilina metaphorically bites her tongue and immediately shows signs of embarrassment as she raises a hand to her left temple. Laiya also shoots a disapproving glance at Suha.
Stelmari processes Suha’s outburst for a second before the grin on his face expands “Well…” He looks to Laiya and Tuilina “I didn’t hear that come out of the mouth of a Ohrion representative…Yet.”
Tuilina collects herself and carries on with the conversation “It is what we need.” Tuilina turns her head towards Suha “Albeit, poorly worded.” Suha couldn’t bring herself to make eye contact, all she could willfully do is dart her eyes off in some other direction, knowing full well the knives being aimed at her. Tuilina turns back to face Stelmari “The Conglomerate is in search of valuable research that could of benefit to the Zaibatsu. Obtaining it however may require some military expertise.”
Stelmari folds his arms “Still don’t get why you don’t take this to the Regiment.”
Laiya is the next to speak up “The Regiment has a tendency to hold out on all that is recovered in operations requested by us. Anything we don’t explicitly ask for is fair game to be sold for funding. We want to start taking these matters into our own hands.”
“So they give you what you ask for, but keep anything extra for themselves. Heh, yeah I’d be annoyed at that too.”
“So you’d help us?” Laiya queries
Stelmari scratches his chin “What’s in it for me?” Neither Tuilina nor Laiya have a response to give him and Suha had chosen to keep her mouth shut, regardless of if she had a solution. Stelmari sighs “Look, I’d love to help, but the rumors of me being sexually aroused at breaking rules is just that, a plausible truth. Unless there’s something for my troubles - I ain’t gonna take a risk like this.”
“How about Boosters?” Laiya asks
Tuilina’s reaction is lighting fast “Absolutely not.” More and more discomfort was noticeable in the elderly woman’s face.
Laiya places her hand on Tuilina’s shoulder “Please, allow me to explain Matron.”
She takes her place in front of Tuilina “The research we seek is related to cloning methods, as such we’ve determined an outpost belonging to the Serpentis Inquest might be our best target. With it belonging to the Serpentis, finding booster products would be more likely than not. Truthfully boosters are a field the Ohrions delve in, albeit with limits. What they could learn from it would be beneficial to their general pharmaceutical research, and at the same time a means to bring money into the Zaibatsu. However the only boosters they dare touch and sell are combat boosters specifically designed to be used by Capsuleers. Obviously Tuilina’s response was out of worry of Ohrion made goods being used as payment.
Stelmari is visibly curious at the idea “I can certainly find buyers for goods like that. Capsuleers gobble units up like candy. Plus taking them from the Serpentis means less paperwork.”
“Then we have a deal?” Laiya asks
“Maybe, first i gotta check if any of these pansies have the balls to even step foot on a Capsuleer ship. Then sort out from among them the ones who can keep their damn mouth shut about it.”
“That would be preferable.”
Stelmari scoffs at Laiya “It better be - But I’ll be in touch.” Stelmari’s arms extends forward as if to press a button, so on his hologram vanishes and the projector informs them that the call was disconnected.
Silence takes over the room, but Suha kills it with an apology attempt “M-Matron I apolo-
“Stop.” Tuilina says abruptly “Just…Not now.” Shot down, Suha stands in place like a statue as she watches Tuilina walk off towards the door. Laiya falls in behind, picking up the tea tray on her way out, she doesn’t bother looking at or saying anything to Suha.
Soon, it was just her in the room. Nothing there except her shame to keep her company. She doesn’t leave right away, instead she walks over to one of the chairs and sits down. She would take the time to reflect on her outburst and ponder on the damage she may have done to her relationship with the Matron.
Who’s perspective should be followed?
“You said what?”
“You doing that for dramatic effect? You heard me, I said “maybe" to lending them some of our lads.”
The office the two were in was undeniably the most expensive and lavish room on this world. Clean walls, exotic furniture, and rare collectables that decorated the walls and shelves. One could say it’s theroom a Caldari corporate villian of a Gallente cartoon would be sitting in while burning paper currency to light their cigar,before moving on to explaining his ingenious plan to crush Federal democracy and freedom. It was even complete with a painting of Stelmari that hung above the windows behind his desk. It featured him in a sharp suit, with an Amarrian chalice in one hand overflowing with wine and in the other a giant leg of grilled meat while sitting on the back of a large Fedo. Stelmari wanted a portrait of himself but didn’t want to go the route of commissioning something overtly flattering and more “Eye catching”
In the room was Stelmari, and his younger brother and right hand man, Vaivari. Stelmari was posted up by the windows behind his desk, overlooking the lantern lit alleyways of his ghetto kingdom. Vaivari was sitting down in front of the desk in one of two stylish velvet lined chairs.
“Maybe? Loaning a Capsuleer our people should be out of the question! Isn’t that what this Mryskytuuli Regiment is for?
Stelmari turns around and places his hands up on the head rest of his chair “Oh, that was the first thing I said to them.”
“So why the hell are they coming to us?”
“They’re looking to take matters into their own hands. It appears the Regiment is holding out on anything recover in these raids aside from what the Ohrions specifically ask for beforehand.”
Vaivari leans back in his seat and crosses his arms “What exactly are they looking for?”
Stelmari shrugs “Don’t know…” He takes his arms off the head of his chair and walks around the desk to a small mini bar on the side of the room.
“You don’t know? So they could be looking for a sample of the ■■■■■■■ Kyonoke plague for all you know?”
“I’m not the type to ask questions.” Instead of reaching for a bottle of some expensive liquor, he grabs a glass soda bottle of Starsi off the rack. Bending down, he looks beneath the counter where an assortment of glasses of various sizes are located, he pulls out a tall one with a swirl design to the frame.
“So let me get this straight -" Vaivari stands up from his seat “You’re genuinely considering handing off some of our men to a Capsuleer to go God knows where with them?”
Stelmari twists around “It’s called playing it cool. I didn’t blow them off right away, nor did I sign a deal right away. I retreated, now I study what’s to gain from a deal like this.”
“Enlighten me then, what do you hope gain from this?”
Stelmari raises an eyebrow “Gain?” then a smirk appears as he steps forward “What I hope to gain is the attention of our uh-" he points his finger upwards “-benefactors.”
Vaivari squints and tilts his head, he offers no words, just a baffled look.
“Okay, let me put it like this” Stelmari turns and bends his back as he places his hands down on the surface of his desk “I want to be caught doing this-" Stelmari picks his hands back up and pivots his body towards Vaivari, he sticks his hands up “-albeit naturally. If everything goes smooth then nobody’s the wiser.”
“W-" Vavari stops and stares at Stelmari silently for a additional second “Why?”
Stelmari steps over and slides his arm around Vaivari’s shoulders, he walks him around the desk as he speaks “Because brother…I want you to tell me what you see here.” Stelmari gestures at the view the windows provide.
“Our home, the result of all our work here.”
“Yeah…” Stelmari turns his head towards his brother “Its a shithole ain’t it?” Stelmari was the king of this scrapheap. Yeah, it was home as his brother said, but nobody should have or want to call it home.
“Well, its home…B-But what does this have to with getting caught?”
“Because I want the Zaibatsu to take this place over.”
“But…” Vavari gently gets out from Stelmari’s arm and steps backs “I-Its our home.”
Stelmari tosses his hands up in the air “Oh! Cut the sentimental crap! You know damn well families would sooner raise their kids in Amarrian slave pens then here.” Stelmari shoots his hand down to aim at floor “This is just some hole in the ground we were ditched in and made the best out of it as we could.” Despite how it looks now, it was far more depressing before Stelmari took over and started bringing money in with trade. Even then the money was only enough to keep their heads above water as growth naturally ran its course.
“Right! WE made it!”
Stelmari walks back over to the minibar “Well we’ve hit a rut…”
Vavari just stands there, processing what Stelmari said to him “…You’re not making sense brother. What are you talking about?!”
Stelmaro slams his hands down on the wood counter “It’s quite simple!” He turns back around to him with a sinister grin “I have a plan to have the Zaibatsu take responsibility for this place. To get them started on enforcing their high standards here from building quality, healthcare, jobs, and so forth. But to do that? They need to first acknowledge this place as one of their colonies, right now they don’t officially recognize it, nor do they want to and treat it as a private asset of the Exchange.” Stelmari had become quite envious of the Zaibatsu’s flagship colony of Hoiyori, extravagant, clean and wealthy place to live.
“So what does this have to do with getting caught working behind the Regiment’s back?”
Stelmari turns back around to the drink he was preparing “We need to have the privilege of our own security force revoked.” Stelmari bends down to a small refrigeration unit built into the bar “To do that, we abuse it by using them for matters not related to the security of this colony.” He pulls out a frosty sealed tub of vanilla ice cream with the brand ‘Sweet Lonetrek silk!’ plastered on it, he places it on the counter next to the glass cup and bottle of starsi. “The exchange loses its personal security and then we’re expected to keep our nose clean from that point on…” Back where the glass cups where located, Stelmari looks around for a scoop suitable for ice cream “But then we got a problem, see?” He aims the scoop at Vavari “We can only go to the Regiment for security personnel at that point, we won’t be allowed to contract a third party to do it for us. So we start demanding the Regiment to step in and occupy the place or we walk.”
Vaivari follows him up “Then they’d have to officially call it one of theirs?”
“Exactly! See? You’re a smart kid…” Stelmari turns back around and peels the lid off the tub of ice cream “Once they do that, they gotta start putting into effect their ideal standards. They didn’t want this ugly zit on their public image in the first place afterall.” He begins dropping scoops of ice cream into the glass.
Vavari squints at his brother’s back “…So you’d sell out our troops and the people living here so the Zaibatsu can gentrify the place?”
“Sell our troops out?” Stelmari twists around with a crooked look “The Regiment would be morons not to start absorbing them and stationing them here. They know the location already and have combat training, just now they’ll have a snazzy uniform to wear and far more benefits.” The “troops" in question are an old guard of sorts, before the Stelmari exchange there was the Stelmari Battalion. Just another mercenary outfit trying to earn a handful kredits in New Eden.
“And the people living here? Have you seen the literacy test the Zaibatsu hands out in colonists applications? Half the people here won’t be able to pass it! They’ll be kicked out!”
By now Stelmari already opened and poured the contents of the Starsi bottle into the glass with three scoops of ice cream “Nothing but deadbeats, heretics and the scum of the cluster here.” He reaches over for a thick wide straw in a cup on the counter “There’s plenty of other slums in New Eden for them rot away in.” Stelmari grabs hold of the cold glass and sticks the straw in and quickly takes a sip of the creamy goodness. He then turns around to his brother who is just silent.
“…Brother, why do you want to toss away all our independence like this?”
A chuckle escapes Stelmari “Independence…” He looks down to his drink and gently stirs it with the straw “Such a…” Stelmari lifts his head up but has his eyes darted to the ceiling as he searches his vocabulary. “Romantic concept…” He looks back down at Vaivari and grins. “Tell me brother, have we ever been truly independent?”
Vaivari straightens out his back “We were, before you had us sign on with this Zaibatsu.”
Stelmari sets his glass back down on the counter “That’s where you’re wrong.” He steps forward with his arms out “See, we were always dependent on other parties.” He stops in front of his desk and places both hands down on the surface. “First, the buyers to purchase the minerals and gems we dig up here. Without them we would have no kredits to pay the next party.” Stelmari lifts a hand up and sticks his index finger out, he taps it down on the desk’s surface “The suppliers of food - Because in case you forgot-" Stelmari lifts his arms up to his sides “We can’t grow ■■■■ on this dune world.” his hands fall back down in the desk’s surface. “…Hygiene is so ■■■■■■■ rare here that disease and illness is common, so we’ve had to pay the Serpentis to smuggle medical goods for us…Is that what you call independence, brother? ” Vaivari looks down at the floor and doesn’t respond, Stelmari stares at him in silence before letting out a sigh. “Look at me Vaivari…”
Vaivari picks his head up to look at his brother who steps around the desk, he remains silent as a hand placed on his shoulder.
“I want you to see this for what it is, our chance to get what we deserve!” Stelmari gestures to the windows overlooking the colony “We can do better than this place!”
“It just…Feels like you want to toss everything away…”
“To blunt, brother. Much like you would with any piece of garbage, you’d toss it away.” He looks back at Vaivari “I should take you up to Hoiyori sometime, then you’ll see what can be done to this place.” His signature grin forms on his face once again “Heh, maybe even get you an escort for the evening.”
Vaivari squints at Stelmari “Is prostitution even legal in the Zaibatsu?”
Stelmari snaps the fingers of his free hand “Escorts, Vaivari. Much cleaner and well dressed, only screw you if they want to and that’s their own business.” Stelmari pats Vaivari’s chest “You got your brother’s good looks though! Dinner and the holoreel will have to wait!” Stelmari gently shakes Vaivari as he laughs. However Vaivari remains quiet and solemn. Stelmari’s look is wiped clean off his face “…Get some sleep.” He let’s go of his brother’s shoulder and walks back over to where his cold beverage waited. “We can talk more about this in the morning.”
Vaivari keeps quite and makes his way towards the door of the office. Before walking out, he turns his head towards Stelmari “Brother…”
With his drink back in hand, he looks over to Vaivari
“…Nevermind”
Where was Monden right now?
…
He isn’t quite sure, but he feels comfortable and at ease. Sunlight from the outside shines through the windows in front of him, warming him up like a blanket would. But he feels something cold, the sensation coming from his left hand…Oh, A bottle of beer! Of course! It was oddly void of any branding, but that’s whatever, a beer’s a beer after all.
For a moment Monden thinks he is floating as he doesn’t feel his feet touching the ground. But turns out his feet are just propped up on a coffee table, and he sitting on a sofa.
There were only two distinct noises he was hearing. The cheerful laughter of a boy and girl - no older than 10 or 14 emitting from some distance behind him. Then the sound of air being cut in front of him, it was a boxing match being played on a holo-screen. He recognizes the two fighters, Koriq Narahu and Yalki Milter! It was practically a dream match to see these two legends in the ring together. Though it was odd, there was no sound of a crowd cheering or commentary from Kesa Negar or Trike Crudeo. On top of that, Milter was wearing his Lightweight championship belt during the match, certainly an odd sight.
“What did I say about putting your feet on the coffee table?” comes a voice to his left. It is a woman, dark-skinned complexion in a blouse and jeans. Monden however can’t get a good look at her face, it is as if it was entirely absent. In her hands is a platter and a beer bottle much like his, only her’s is in a cozy grip.
Monden smiles and removes his feet and places them on the floor, he feels carpet, soft and clean. The woman passes though and sits next to him in the couch. She leans forward and places the platter on the coffee table where his feet were rested up on. There is a large sandwich on it filled with all sorts of sliced meats and vegetables in some fine baguette style bread. It was cut in two with a noticeable difference in size, as, like a reflex Monden, reaches over for the larger portion.
His hand is gently swatted at by the women “Nope! That one is mine!”
Monden looks over to her, cross, as she picks up the larger piece “You think that little thing is gonna feed a man like me?” hHs tone carries a hint of humor as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“You should have thought about that when you left me to make it.”
Monden smirks “Hmph, touché.” The petty argument is swiftly diffused and Monden places his beer down and reaches for the small portion left for him. Taking a bite out of it he tastes nothing yet comments on it with sincere praise. “Mmm, delicious.” He takes another bite, puts the sandwich portion back down on the platter, grabs his beer once more, and leans back into the sofa. He tosses his right arm behind the woman’s neck and brings her in closer.
“Who’s winning so far?” she asks.
“Uh…Still up in the air, Mitler is looking good, but got knocked down last round. Koriq however has been knocked down in round 2.” Did Monden even witness this? Well, he was sitting here this whole time so he must’ve seen it…What round was it even? He sees the roundcard displayed beneath the fighters but Monden can’t seem to focus on the text. This doesn’t worry him initially, he just relaxes and enjoys the show as it is.
Snuggled to him, the woman asks “So when you gotta go back?”
Monden sighs “Three days…”
“News says it will be sunny tomorrow afternoon. How about we go to the park?”
“What about the day after? I’m taking Akels to a Mind Clash match after he gets out of school.” Akels, his son. Kid loved watching Mind Clash and begged Monden every time to take him to a show if one was local. Monden doesn’t much see the appeal in it but it is at least entertaining enough to sit though, even more so if his son was having a blast watching it.
“Heh, even on vacation you got a busy schedule…”
“Personally I wouldn’t mind having a schedule like this all the time.” Monden looks and smiles at the woman with a chuckle, then resumes watching the two fightings exchange blows. A silent minute passes before a faint ringing is heard. It sounds familiar to him…Someone is calling him! He pulls his arm out from the woman’s neck and gets up “Sorry, I gotta get that.”
The woman looks up to him “Want me to scream if one of them gets knocked out?”
“Go for it!.” Monden says as he walks over to a narrow hallway to the left. The feeling of carpet on his feet switches to cold hard wood as he steps into the hallway, then it switches to pain as he steps on something “God dam-" Monden bites his tongue before uttering the swear. He looks down and sees he has stepped on a small human…no, a toy figure. Monden squats down and picks it up to examine it, looks like a Federal soldier in uniform. He holds onto it and walks forward, on his right is a door with a poster on the front of it of a cartoon series called “Democratic Crusaders!” that shows the colorful cast of crusaders, from all walks of life in New Eden, and their signature Vexor-class cruiser flying off behind him. Monden leans into this room and places the figure on a desk littered with sheets of paper, folders and text books. Leaning out, Monden continues on his way towards the source of the ringing.
He enters a room, its it’s a bedroom, obviously one for adults as there’s a queen size bed to his right for two individuals, doorway to a bathroom to the left and void of any childish posters or toys. Directly ahead of him was a desk with a terminal on it - that’s where the ringing was coming from. Monden approaches and sees and a prompt on the screen that he presses as soon as he’s in range.
The screen switches to a camera feed of a Intaki man, sweating and flustered sitting behind a desk. Monden recognizes him as his CFO, Dorret Brilte. “Dorret, everything alright?” Monden asks
“No!” Dorret blurts “Everything is not alright! Have you seen the news Monden? They ■■■■■■■ did it, THEY’RE ■■■■■■■ doing it!”
Monden places his beer down on the desk and eases into the nearby office chair “Slow down Dorret, who are you talking about? What did they do?”
“The Capsuleers!” Dorret shouts, standing up “They’re ■■■■■■■ erecting extractors and factories all over the cluster!”
Monden already felt a chill go down his spine when Dorret mentioned Capsuleers. But it was all coming to him now… “No…I-I thought it was just a rumor that they’d start having planetary Interactions…”
“It sure as ■■■■ ain’t a ■■■■■■■ rumor now Monden! CONCORD has already given the green light and Interbus’ custom offices are already facilitating the transfer of billions of units of planetary goods. Prices across all goods are plummeting! Not to mention - the ■■■■■■■ rolling death squads of Capsuleers going around blasting custom offices out of the sky!”
“Plummeting?!”
“Yes! Plummeting! Base metals? Crashing in price right now.”
Monden feels sick in his stomach, his company, Lucrative Excavations dealt exclusively in Base Metals for the time being. He was hoping to build the capital to expand operations but it appears it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Capsuleers have entered the market with their own high-end excavators that are sucking natural resources faster than any baseliner could hope to. Base metals wasn’t even worth that much originally, now with Capsuleers flooding the market? “W-What do we do Dorret?”
“You need to come back to Elarel II.”
“I’m…” Monden scratches the back of his head “Still on Vacation.”
Dorret starts screaming “MONDEN! DON’T YOU GET IT?! VACATION IS ■■■■■■■ OVER! THE SHAREHOLDERS ARE LOSING THEIR ■■■■■■■ MINDS RIGHT NOW!”
The woman’s voice echoes into the room “Honey? Everything alright?!”
Monden turns his head towards the door “Everything is fine!” then looks back to Dorret “Look, I’m with my family right now, I need you to relax.”
“Relax?! Monden, every second we waste we risk losing everything! I’m sorry - but you have to realize the severity of this! I’ve already called everyone in, marketing, human resources, logistics officers, the entire ■■■■■■■ board and now I’m calling you! I’ve sent a cab your way that will take you to the starsport. You need to be in a shuttle here, okay?” Monden breathes in and out, to anxious to answer. Dorret shouts again “Monden!”
“O-Okay! I’m on my way!” Monden jumps out of his seat and ends the call. He runs out the bedroom, through the hallway and back into the living room…Something was different, the sunlight was gone and now it was pouring down rain outside, complete with a gloomy sky.
As soon as Monden touches the doorknob to the front door, the woman calls out to him “Monden? What’s wrong? Going to the store?”
He freezes and slowly turns around to her “There’s uh…Some complications at work…Serious ones that I must attend to.”
The faceless woman stands there, silent before saying “…Didn’t you say you had three more days? What about taking Akels to the Mind clash game?”
Monden opens up the door “I-I-I know what I said! Just…I have to go! It’s important!” Monden steps outside and a storm is kicking up, ahead of him the cab that was called for him was already there, the back door was even opened already. He is in a suburban neighborhood.
The woman comes running out as Monden walks towards it “Monden!” she cries out.
Monden keeps walking towards the cab, a man in a suit walks up holding a sign in one hand and a hammer in the other, Modern watches the man plant the sign in his yard and does nothing but step into the back of the cab. Looking back at the house, the woman was nowhere to be seen, but he sees the sign the man planted that said in big letters “For Sale”
The cab drives off, without the driver asking for a destination. Monden takes a deep breath and looks around the backseat; there was a barrier between him and the driver and a small port for a phone attached to it. Looking out the door window the storm was becoming more violent, arcs of lighting in the distance and the sky turned purple. He then starts spotting objects falling from the sky, bulky metallic objects on fire, crashing down onto the surface. One of these objects suddenly crashes into one of the houses the cab passes, scaring Monden away from the window. He notices what it is, an excavator for digging up natural resources. Then another one on the other side of the street, then a factory crashes down into of another house, taking out their parked vehicle.
Then Monden starts hearing a ringing sound… It was coming from the cab’s phone. Monden quickly picks up and brings it to his ear “H-Hello?” He’s sweating, profusely.
A voice of a woman speaks in his ear “Mr. Searbier, my name is Doley Hendya, I work for the Pend Insurance. I’m calling to inform you that we’ve raised the interest rates on your insurance plan from 5% to 10%”
“W-What?! Why? Y-You can’t do that! This is robbery!” There’s no response aside from the click that the line was cut off. Monden James the device back in the slot and collapses back in his seat.
The ringing returns, but not from the phone just used, but from the personal one the driver had. He pulls it out and brings it to his ear. Three seconds pass before the driver extends it behind through a window in the barrier “It’s for you" he says.
Monden cautiously takes the phone, as he does he asks the driver, “W-Who are you?” but gets no response. He brings the driver’s phone to his ear “Hello?”
It was Dorret Brilte, his voice was winded “Monden…I gotta put in my two week notice.”
“What? Why? Dorret! Dorret! Speak to me!”
“Its too much sir, the medication is starting to do nothing for my blood pressure and I can feel myself aging quicker than normal, I’m sorry.”
“Dorret! Listen, I don’t have a repla-" the line disconnects “■■■■!” Monden shouts as he tosses the driver’s phone aside.
The ringing is heard again, not from the Cab’s phone or the driver’s, but Monden’s. He reaches into the pocket to pull out his personal device and brings it up to his ear. “Hello?”
“Mr.Searbier, this is the Bank of Luminaire calling to inform you that this is the fifth and last time you have failed to meet the deadlines with the loan you’ve taken out.”
“I just need a little longer!”
“I’m sorry sir, but we’re sending agents to repossess assets right now to meet the payments owed. Unfortunately the only assets you now own worth repossessing are your two children.”
“You stay away from them! You hear me? Hello?” That same click is heard once more. Monden is hyperventilating at this point, he looks around as his world literally falls apart, streets cracking open, more excavators falling from the sky and this cab seemingly going nowhere.
He hears that ringing…Again, not from the three he just used. He can’t spot where it’s coming from but it grows louder and louder. Monden grabs hold of the handle of the door and jerks it towards him. Desperate to escape he keeps at it until he starts trying to kick it open with his bare foot.
It gives in and he dives out, but he’s not met with the asphalt of the street. He’s met with the dry hot sand of Elarel II. The sky is blank, aside from the sun shining brightly down on him. Looking around he saw his company’s drilling equipment, personnel, and office complex all sinking into the sand. Wanting to rush to the aid of a worker he realizes that he himself is trapped in the sand as he slowly sinks. He screams out for help and tries to claw for something to grab onto. Yet he sinks, and sinks, and sinks until the sands consume him
Monden springs upward with a scream, sweating and breathing rapidly. As his environment comes into focus he slowly relaxes. He wasn’t on Elarel II, he was in a penthouse apartment on Nannaras X, Hoiyori. It was extravagant and followed some decorative design choices that followed suit with the Raata aesthetic the Zaibatsu tried to capture. He was alone in it.
What he had experienced was nothing more than a dream…no, a nightmare more like it. The pleasant parts of it slip away from his train of thoughts but the intense moments lingered. He peiced together what he knew was reality and wasn’t…His old neighborhood wasn’t destroyed by Capsuleer excavators , his children weren’t taken by the banks and Koriq Narahu and Yalki Milter never once were in the same ring as each other.
But Monden still heard that phone ringing, as well as the sound of thunder in the distance. To his left he saw out a porch window that it was pouring outside and to his left on the nightstand was a near empty glass bottle of whiskey, a shot glass, a clock that said “4:21am”, and his comms device. He grabbed his comms device and looked at who the hell was calling him at this hour. He was both tired and could feel his head on the verge of exploding.
It was Auljam Karvose…Lead director of the Karvose collaboration studio. The man to lead the creative sector of the Zaibatsu.
“Hello?” he asks, bringing the device to his ear
“Monden.” Auljam replies
“Auljam…Do you have any idea…What ■■■■■■■ time it is right now?”
“What even is time, Monden? It’s just some subjective tool of measurement Humans created to make sense of our progression in life”
Monden didn’t have an answer ready…Not that it wasn’t a thought provoking statement, just that it made no sense “…Are…Are you ■■■■■■■ high right now?!”
Auljam responds, with some regretful passion in his voice “No! But I’ve spent much time in my life getting high! And I can’t tell if that’s was worth it or not. I was successful when I was getting high but it was also my downfall! I’m scared I’ve made mistakes Monden!”
Auljam Karvose was a holo-reel director that at one point during his career, turned to drugs for inspiration. Under the influence the man made content that fans deemed to be high quality. However his use of drugs became his eventual downfall…
“Why are you calling me at this hour about this?!” another question pops into Monden’s head “Why the ■■■■ are you calling ME about this?!” Monden couldn’t understand what the hell Auljam was going on about, but knew that Auljam was eccentric
“Because I love you like a father, Monden.”
“…Goodnight Auljam.” Monden lowers the device from his ear and was to end the call before Auljam’s voice cried out
“Monden! Please! Wait!”
Monden brings it back up to his ear “…What.”
“I-I’m more scared of dying man, I’m scared of dying with regrets, i’m scared to die a washed up phony - and I have no one to blame but myself…Do you know how that feels? Do you have regrets at all, Monden?
Monden actually felt something at this moment that wasn’t fatigue or pain in his head. Did Monden have regrets in life? He recalled what he seen in that nightmare and realized he has plenty of regrets. Regrets about treating his company with more importance than his family, regrets about uprooting their lives just so he can fight a battle against the Capsuleers that he had already lost. Go bankrupt, then be bought out by the Zaibatsu to do the digging for them.
He feels an urge to talk about it, but with Auljam? He’s not exactly someone Monden considers a friend, but even strangers can be great listeners at times. What’s to stop this baboon from babbling on about it in other conversations? Hell…Maybe he’s lying and has blown out of his mind on some substance and won’t remember it in the morning.
A choice presented itself
0 voters
((It’s suppose to say "Open up TO Auljam, but can’t edit the text of polls))
“Regrets? Oh…I got plenty of those.”
“Tell me then my man, we can help each other though these regrets weighing us down!”
Monden adjusts himself, he tosses aside the comforter covering him and sits firmly on the edge of his bed “Why do you even care so much?”
“Like I said! I lov-"
Despite this being a call and there being no one to gesture to, Monden lifts up his hand as if to signal Auljam to stop speaking “That’s not what I mean. Why do you care so much about regrets? What’s done is done.”
“It’s about liberating ourselves from the guilt man! To own up to our poor decisions and recognise that the fault lies in our actions. Otherwise, it’s just gonna eat at us from the inside, man.”
“That so?” Monden let’s out a short lived chuckle “Well, wanna know my biggest regret then Auljam?” Monden stands up from his bed
“Hey! That’s why I’m handing the floor off to you man! Tell me what’s up, what do you regret the most?”
Monden walks over the windows that offered a scenic view of Hoiyori. It wasn’t a bustling metropolis of skyscrapers, while few existed it was largely made up of medium sized buildings that were mostly constructed with wooden materials “I regret ignoring my Father’s advice.”
Auljam is slow to respond “…Eh?”
“I told my Dad that I wanted to start a company, specifically in raw planetary materials so I could fuel the industry of the Federation… My Dad told me I should’ve just enlisted with the army, or gotten a comfy and safe job as some pencil pusher at Material Acquisitions, but that wasn’t me. I wanted to be my own boss and I wanted every hover-car, building and device ever produced in the Federation to use materials my company dug up…”
“What good is a factory if they don’t got any material to build with, right?”
Monden’s eyes dart over to an arc of lighting that strikes in the distance “Exactly, that’s how I’d give back to my homeland.”
“But what was your father’s advice about this?”
“He said it was a foolish idea, because in time Capsuleers would eventually start rooting themselves into the market I’d hope to make an impact in. At the time I never thought it’d happen, they were space-bound afterall. On top of that, there weren’t that many of them back then, they weren’t that huge of a factor in the grand scheme of things. They were still just strapping mining lasers to their gold-plated battleships to mine veldspar. I thought they couldn’t possibly care about planets and would sooner start bombing the surface before trying to excavate the resources on them.”
“Well, they were bombing the hell out of planets in low security space during some period…”
“Right…”Monden steps away from the window and walks over to a door on the left side of the bedroom “But not before starting to excavate planetary resources…”
Monden steps into a hybrid of a room, directly to his left was a floor-based dining table with four cushions on the sides and one on each end. A continuation of the windows in his bedroom stretched out behind it. Monden never bothered using the table as he hated the idea of sitting on the floor to eat dinner. To the right was a small little circular hole he could step down into, half of it was lined with a sofa that was aimed at a holo-screen projector on the wall across from it. Obviously it was intended for watching shows, but it was impractical as he could only use the holo-screen for a maximum of three hours before it locked itself and he would be greeted with a message from the Ohrion board of health to go out and exercise, or enjoy some other indoor hobby, this was standard for every household. To the north eastern part of the room was the kitchen area that was walled off with counters, with all the basic utilities, sink, fridge, stove, dishwasher.
Monden makes his way towards the kitchen area as he continues to vent to Auljam over the phone “As my old man predicted, Capsuleers began dominating the planetary resource markets, the stocks in their corporations became immensely more valuable than that of a lowly baseliner owned organization such as mine.” Stepping onto the role floors of the kitchen, Monden makes his way over to a cabinet that holds all his cups, taking one out he wanders over to the sink to fill it up with tap water.
“Yeah that blows man…Not sure how that feels as Capsuleers never really tried that hard to get a grip on the holoreel market…Then again the Clear Skies trilogy was a smashing hit success, but honestly not sure if a Capusleer directed that…Oh! But there are those countless recordings of fleet battles that plenty of my colleagues use as B-rolls in their productions.”
“Oh don’t get me started on that ■■■■…” Monden turns the sink’s nob to stop the flow of water and takes one long sip from his glass. His headache was the product of a hangover from the several shots of whiskey he had used to put him to sleep. He was in dire need of hydration. He lowers the drink with a gasp and begins his rant “Capsuleers are so ■■■■■■■ clueless about these battles they wage, wasted life and resources is what they all are. All they do is treat it like some sick ■■■■■■■ game by glorifying it all. These wars aren’t for some greater good. It’s all for “Lols” for “Content” or to link clips of Jin-Mei cartoons in a ■■■■■■■ comms channel! We’ve handed these monsters so much power! So much importance! So much ■■■■■■■ independence that they’ll soon have control over everything! We’ll all be looking up pledging allegiance to a flag with some dumb ■■■■ on it like a bee or a literal ■■■■■■■ phage virus ten or twenty years from now.” He resumes drinking the last bit of water in his glass
“Monden! Come on man! You know that’s all Capsuleers, some of them are good guys"
Monden lowers the now empty glass and places it under the sink nozzle “Oh, ■■■■ off with that “Not all Capsuleers” ■■■■■■■■!” He turns the sink back on to fill the cup back up “These “Good Guys" you’re talking about are the fucks that go posting on their Intergalactic message board to boast about how morally superior they are and brag about what they’ve done for us mortals. Pretending that they’ve never once ■■■■■■ one of us over for their own gains! It’s all just one big contest to see who can be more morally correct than the other, they all want to be the heroes the media covers in a news article! Because God knows a fart can’t pass though the ass cheeks of a Capsuleer Alliance director or fleet commander without twenty news reporters catching wind of it!” So caught up in his rant, Monden was oblivious to his cup overflowing with water. He even had no concern for the liquid splashing all over the counters (and himself) as he raises it up to take another swig.
He slams the cup back down, causing more water to splash on the counter “And the worst part about it all? Not a ■■■■■■■ thing I could do about it… I lied to you Auljam, the number one regret I have was thinking I could beat these Capsuleers at their own game.”
Auljam is slow to respond “…Shitposting?”
“No, at business…I once owned a house Auljam. Wasn’t a mansion or estate, just a normal ass house, but this was a house I owned. I lived there with a wife and two kids…I had money, to put food on their table and take them places. I could afford to put my kids in the best ■■■■■■■ private school on our homeworld so they could have a good education. I lost all of it! I had too much pride to just accept that my company was about to be throttled by the Capsuleers! I had too much ■■■■■■■ pride to look my staff in their faces and tell them that I was selling the company! No! Instead I just told them some sweetened lie that we’d make though this storm! That we’d survive! Instead we’d just slowly bled out! I lost my money and house to the banks! I lost friendships with people I’ve known since college! My ■■■■■■■ marriage! My own bed! I was sleeping under my god damm desk for five ■■■■■■■ years!”
“Monden! Man! You need to breath!”
Monden ignores this suggestion to hurl out one last statement “Now?! Now after all the pain and loss?! I’m here! On this ■■■■■■■ planet because I went bankrupt and my company got bought out!”
“Exactly! Y-You’re here now man! It’s all good here man! There’s far worse places to be in New Eden, consider this an upgrade, yeah?
Monden holds up his palm, as if Auljam was right there in front of him. For once, Monden’s tone is soft “Auljam, I cringe at this entire place.”
“…It ain’t that bad man!”
“Auljam!” Monden shouts and aims his hand towards the dining table “I’m looking - at a dining table that you sit down on the ground to use! Who the hell has a table like this in YC 120!? This is just one example! This ■■■■ about honor, the kimonos, this spiritual significance about weather conditions?!” Monden lowers his tone “All of it just makes me cringe… And my son? He’s trying to be like these ■■■■■■■ people. Talk like them, dress like them, use these ■■■■■■■ ground-level tables like them! I don’t understand this place! But I’m stuck here. Because I can’t bring myself to let go of my company.”
“…Holy ■■■■ man. Well you know, it could be w-"
Monden lowers the phone from his ear and closes the call. Tossing the device aside he lowers his face down into his hands and sighs deeply. Deep down he felt sort of relieved that he managed to finally get that off his chest in a way that didn’t involve him shouting into a void. But at the same time it opened up some old wounds and brought back some painful memories. Looking over to the windows, he saw the thunder had cleared up and the dark sky slowly lightening up as the sun comes ever closer to shining over them. It was a new day.
Looking back down to the counter, he looks around at the wet mess of water he caused in his ear blistering tirade. Sighing, Monden looks around for some cloth to clean it up with.
“Dad? It’s me!”
Monden looks over his shoulder to the door where he hears knocking and his son’s voice. “Its unlocked!” he turns his head back down to the task he was focusing on - cooking.
The sun was up, after a failed attempt of getting back to sleep after Auljam’s abrupt call, Monden waited around wide awake, took a shower, read up on some news in the Federation and began making something to eat.
The sound his door opening and being shut closed is heard “You just…Leave your door unlocked?” Akels asks.
Monden was currently cooking up something simple, yet, delicious and nutritious - eggs. Mote More specifically, cooking up some eggs to put on some toast to make a sandwich. “If anyone is trying to break-in to steal it kill me, a lock ain’t gonna stop them.” He picks up a pepper grinder he had placed next to the stove and begins sprinkling the little dark dots on one of the eggs “Besides, security obnoxiously tight around here. Ain’t nothing gonna happen” This place was a but of a “hotel” is you could call it that. Lot of V.I.P figures of the Zaibatsu stayed here. As such, the Mryskytuuli Regiment spared no expense making sure some of their best was on guard here.
Akels footsteps grow closer “I don’t think i could sleep at night if my door wa…Dad!” Akels shouts.
Monden turns around “What?”
Akels aims his palm at Monden “W-Why aren’t you dressed?!”
Monden looks down at himself. Man was in nothing but a tank top and boxers. A chuckle escapes Monden as he looks back up to Akels “You really giving me shade for wearing what I want in my own place? He places the grinder down and walks up to the row of counters between him and Akels “Afterall, I recall you were the rascal-" Monden holds up his left hand and begins wiggling two fingers to mimic someone running “- running around my house for ten years in his underwear terrorizing not only his family - but on three occasions, guests”
Akels folds his arms and looks up at the ceiling “Dad…”
“Am I wrong?” Monden asks, placing his hands down on the counter. He raises up a finger with his left hand as a thought crosses him “Actually I am wrong - Four times, your sister had friends over for a sleepover and y-’"
“Okay! I get it Dad!” Both of Akels hands shoot up. Monden begins chuckling, turning around and resuming his cooking. Akels steps around the counters “But you should go ahead and get dressed, we don’t want to miss the tram.” Hoiyori was a colony that relied heavily on public transportation, not a soul on this landmass owned their own vehicle, thus all had to depend on transportive utilities maintained by the Zaibatsu. They claim it’s healthy for the environment this way but Monden swears its it’s just so it can be a pain in everyone’s ass.
“There’s always the next one.” Monden says, moving his egg around the pan’s surface with a plastic spatula.
“Dad, today is not a day you want to risk being late. You’re supposed to meet with the council today. The honorable Patairach is to be attending as well.” Every now and then a meeting will be scheduled for all representing figure heads of the “CORE” modules of the Zaibatsu to meet and discuss the affairs and direction of the Zaibatsu. Lucrative Excavations is one of these CORE modules. At the head of this meeting is the Patriarch of House Yaken, the ruling family in these parts that claim some lineage to the first 40 houses that made up the Raata Empire. Personnely, Monden has his doubts about these claims. But what he can’t deny is that this Patriarch owns his company, as such is the man he answers to now.
Monden continues focusing on his cooking “Can’t a man cook himself some breakfast in peace? You can’t expect me to go sit down in a conference room for several hours on a empty stomach.”
Akels leans up against the nearby fridge “The cafeteria is always serving up hot meals.”
Mondn scoffs “Yeah, but they ain’t ever serving up egg sandwiches. Oh no, that’s WAY to simple for them ever serve…Always gotta be cultural exotic or whatever.”
Akels sighs “Alright look, let me handle this.” Akels says as he, gently steps in Monden’s way and taking the spatula from him“Just get dressed, please?”
“…Alright.” Monden rolls his eyes and makes his way out the kitchen. As he walks to his bedroom he shouts out one thing “Make sure they’re runny!”
“Yeah, Yeah!” Akels responds as he begins using the spatula to cut off the cooked crust off the eggs. Akels turns his head over his shoulders “You haven’t been drinking anything today yet, have you?!”
From out Monden’s bedroom door “God damn! You’re just on my balls today aren’t you?!”
Akels ask again “Have you?!”
“Does water count?!”
“Well…Technically speaking, yes!” Akels scoops up one of the cooked eggs and moves it over to some toast set aside next to the stove on a plate “But I’m talking alcohol! Booze! Sauce! You don’t want to go in their tipsy!”
“Im sober as a Chamberlain!”
“Good!” Akels moves over the second egg to another pair toast set aside. Reaches over and turns the heat off, picks up the pan and walks over to the trash bin. He scraps off the burnt bits of food into the bin and walks over to the sink and paces the two items in. He walks back over to the eggs and toast and turns them into proper sandwiches by placing the piece of toast they were each paired with on top of the egg. There were two sandwiches on the plate. Picking up the plate, Akels turns around and places them on the counter between him and the living room area.
Just as he does this, Monden comes walking out the bedroom in his suit. It was more of a coat as it reached down to his knees but professional and formal enough to be seen in and a business environment. It was faint green with gold trimmings. Akels even had the same exact suit, not that it was Monden’s idea that they should have identical attire. Akels intentionally went out off of his way to get a suit just like his old man’s.
“That was…Oddly quick?” Akel says, raising an eyebrow.
Monden raises his arms up to his side “Come on, now you’re upset I got dressed quickly?” he steps up to the counter where his meal was.
“It’s just… Wh-Whatever, eat up.”
“Don’t need to tell me.” Monden picks up one of the toasty sandwiches with both of his hands, props up his elbows in the counters and takes one big bite down the center. A hum emits from him, signaling that he’s quite pleased with the taste. Looking up to Akels, who was just standing there, tapping his fingers on the edge of the counter. Monden sticks out one of his fingers to the second sandwich on the table “You can have that one if you want.”
Akels raises his hands and gently shakes them “Nah, I’m good.”
“Hmph, what? You to good for egg sandwiches now?” he asks as he takes a bite off the side.
“Oh no! Not that, just…Was planning on encountering Ms.Rabuya in the cafeteria at the capital. You know? Maybe sit down and have dinn-” Akels stops and clears his throat”-Breakfast with her.” Ms.Rabuya - Or rather Suha Rabuya was the Wayist philosopher responsible for the local “Windchime” sect and teaching being peddled in the Zaibatsu. Monden recalls meeting her a few days ago and couldn’t make much sense of what she was talking about. One thing was clear, she was obviously sympathetic to the Guristas.
“That so?” Monden queries, while chewing.
“Yeah! See, I’m quite uh…intrigued! About the Windchime philosophy and I was hoping to sit down and have her tell me more about it. Maybe even learn mo-"
Monden holds up a free hand as he stuffs the last bit of the sandwich in his mouth “Akels - I know what this is re- Can you hand me that rag?” He points over to a damp cloth on the counter next to Akels. Same one he used to clean up the water he spilled previously. Akels picks it up and quickly hands it to him. Momden takes it and wipes some yoke moisture off his lips before continuing “- You’re a young man and I get it, I didn’t want to say anything originally but I think you need to be made…You know, aware of what you’re getting into.”
Akels raises an eyebrow “I…Don’t follow.”
Monden sets aside the rag “Don’t play dumb, you got a crush on this girl! And don’t get me wrong - I’m happy for you, you need to find yourself an adult partner. But don’t get ahead of yourself. You need to know - A relationship is it’s own job.”
“Dad…”
Monden picks up the remaining sandwich and continues “The media has a tendency to well…Romanticize romance. Holo-reels, games and novels all make relationships seem like this pure, happiness filled experience that has no downsides-"
“Dad!”
“-Don’t interrupt me, you need to know this. Having a relationship with a woman is hard work. Much with putting in hard work with any job, you’ll be rewarded. But you neglect your new found responsibilities and you’ll find your “employment” revoked and she’ll move on to find another employee to replace you. Just like with me and your moth-"
Akels slams his hand down on the counter “Can we not do this right now?” He stares at Monden. Silence falls between the two before some recoil of regret is seen as Akels breaks eye contact. Without looking at him, Akels speaks backup “…Finish up, I’ll meet you by the lift.” He walks out of the kitchen, around Monden and straight for the door.
As the door opens and closes, Monden is just left there with a dreadful feeling of having made the wrong choice of words there. Logically, he knew his son wasn’t gonna hate his guts all of a sudden, but knew he hit a nerve bring up his mother like that with such insulting context. It made him reflect on just how bitter he was. In an attempt to move on from what just happened, Monden takes another bite of his sandwich and let the dopamine wash over the regret. Slowly chewing to savor it this time. Primarily just to buy him some time to reflect a tad bit longer.
The elevator was nothing unique, just a box like any other, with railing for passengers to hold onto at waist level. Monden and Akels were standing near the back behind two other passengers. Initially it was quiet. Monden couldn’t tell if Akels was still upset at him, or if this was his anxiety about talking in ear-shot of strangers. It doesn’t take long for the dead air to be addressed by one of the passengers. A man built like a Civire turns to the three of them, wiping the sweat off his forehead “God damn, I don’t know about you three - but I’d kill some poor sap for a can of Quafe right about now. Heat here is killing me”
The next passenger, an Intaki woman with brown hair, responds “Might have to go on a massacre then. Ain’t a drop to be found on this planet.”
Monden humors the small talk and joins in “Well, you guys know how it is, the Ohrions are terrified of sugary liquids.” To put it simply, Quafe is a banned substance within the Zaibatsu. The Ohrion board of health deemed it to be a “Cocktail of harmful chemicals” and made it contraband, along with any other substance close to it, and makes you subject to arrest if you’re ever caught with a can of the stuff.
The Civire lets out a chuckle “Ha! Ain’t that the truth…”
Just then, Akel joins in. “Well actually, the truth is that the Obrions banned it for having no nutritional value, being a contributing factor to obesity and diabetes. Along with having devastating effects to tooth enamel.”
Silence as the three stare at Akels. The Civire points to Akels from his waist and looks over to Monden “You know this guy?”
Monden replies without hesitation “He’s my son.” Akels could be streaking in public doing lewd things with a Fedo and Monden would still own up to him being his son.
The civire darts his eyes between the two “No ■■■■?” Clearly the man was confused at the opposite skin tones Monden and Akels had.
While Akels broke eye contact and scratched the back of his head. Monden just nodded with a blank look “No ■■■■…”
The elevator comes to its stop on the ground floor. Perhaps due to the conversation becoming awkward all of a sudden, no more words are exchanged and the two passengers in the front depart. Akels is the next one to step out, hanging his head. Monden walks out behind him and places a hand on his shoulder “Ignore that prick, alright?”
Akels picks his head up and looks over to Monden “Right…” Monden pats his shoulder two times before letting go and walking off. Akels falls in behind.
The ground floor lobby is narrow , but still wide enough to accomodate the outgoing and incoming traffic of residents, as well as staff working the floor – like the janitor sweeping the carpets of crumbs, and the two maintenance workers blocking off a portion of the center lobby to tear up the tiles to get to the plumbing underneath. The elevators were placed in the center and ran up against the west and east walls, two lifts for each side. To the north was a door leading to an outdoor balcony area (Again, with the obsession with attaching a fucking balcony to everything) and to the right the entrance and direction everyone was heading to catch the tram. Monden and Akels follow the outgoing flow of men and women making their way out to get to work.
Stepping outside, they find themselves on a cobblestone plateau overlooking a scenic view of a valley littered with the planet’s signature two-tone pink and purple leafed trees. Puddles of water from the rain during the night forming here and there on the ground. And as Monden Akels walk out, they spot the back of a familiar bald head. Monden calls out to him “Olimi!”
The man calmly looks over his shoulder before turning around completely. Olimi Tertel, the “Caravan-master” for the logistical wing of the Zaibatsu called “Clear-Mind Caravans”. A Vherokior that has long standing ties with the Thukker Tribe. A tall bastard too, Monden and Akels only stood at shoulder length with him and as such, had to be looked down on with this statue-like stare the man had. He was a cool-headed individual that could put on a calm face in the worst of situations that would make an ordinary man crack into a sniveling mess. How does he do it? Yoga, that’s how.
Olimi responds in a flat tone as they approach. “Well if it isn’t the Searbiers - I take it you both slept through the storm well.”
Akels answers cheerfully, “Me? Slept like a baby!”
“Ha! From him, that’s not saying much.” Monden says as he gently nudges Akels’ shoulder.
“Wh-What’s that supposed to mean?” Akels asks
Monden turns to face him “Your nickname used to be ‘human alarm clock’ before your mother came up with something more flattering.” Monden starts chuckling as Akels rolls his eyes and looks away in embarrassment. Monden brings it down as the conversation carries on
“What about you then, Monden?” Olimi asks
“Me? Well…Slept fine until Auljam calls me at four in the morning.”
Olimi’s left eyebrow shoots up “He called you too?”
Monden returns the question “He called you too?!” His tone carried more disbelief “What about?”
“He was curious what my favorite holo-reels were and if I ever wanted to join him one night to watch them.”
“…How did you, uh…respond?” Akels shyly asks.
“I told him that I appreciate the curiosity into the things I enjoy, but would be more inclined to speak more into detail in the morning, after I’ve had my rest.”
Akels questions further “So you didn’t tell him any of your favorites?”
“…Oh, well i did mention i thoroughly enjoyed-” Olimi waves his hand as he says the title “Love as long as the warp route”.”
Both Akels and Monden look silently at him “Really?” Monden finally asks
Olimi puts his hands behind his back “It’s a well written tale of romance, adventure and betrayal.”
“It’s a chick flick.” Monden adds
“And?”
Monden sticks his hands up “Hey, to each their own I guess.” His hands fall to his side. He looks over his shoulder to Akels who’s watching some one of the residents leaving the building “Something wrong?” Monden asks
Akels focus snaps back to Monden “What? Oh no - but I think I see Joumi over there?” Akels looks back over in the direction he was previously looking towards.
Monden squints and looks over in the direction Akels is looking. “From the deposit analysis department?” Then back to Akels.
Akels steps out of their group “Yeah - I need to talk to him real quick about our quotas for this month, do you two mind?”
Monden shrugs “Do what you need to do.” and with that Akels nods and dashes off to catch up with Joumi. Both Olimi and Monden turn to watch him.
“Not even made it to the office, yet he seems eager to work.” Olimi says.
Monden folds his arm “Yeah, that’s Akels…Funny really, my own son is the hardest worker I’ve got.”
Olimi nods gently and looks down to him. “You must be proud.”
Monden tilts his head and squints up at Olimi. “Wouldn’t you?” Monden turns his head to over where Akels is. “I’ve lost count of how many deadbeats looking for an easy paycheck my company employed - but Akels practically does all this for fr-”
“What’s going on cock-suckers?!” Comes a jolly voice from behind them. Before either of them can turn to face who it was, an arm slips across both of their shoulders, and the source of the voice inserts themselves directly in between both of them. It was none other than the “President” of the Stelmari Exchange, Stelmari Oksasio. He just called himself a president despite nobody voting him into power over the Exchange. Stelmari simply started calling himself the Exchange President.
Immediately uncomfortable with this, Monden ducks and gets out from under Stelmari’s arm and backs away. “The ■■■■ is wrong with you?!”
With Olimi showing no signs of being offended, or discomfort with Stelmari’s abrupt invasion of personal space, Stelmari’s arm is still around resting on his’ shoulders. Stelmari smirks. “What’s wrong with you? I’m just showing my colleagues some brotherly affection!” Stelmari leans up against Olimi and points to him with his free hand. “See how chill Ollie here is? He gets it!” He looks up to him. “How you doing? What’s good with you Ollie?”
“Fine. I take it you are well Stelmari?”
Stelmari takes his arm off him and stands up straight “Oh, you know how it is, little groggy from the shuttle-lag. But nothing like sitting in a conference room for several hours to make it worse! Right? Haha!” No one else laughs with him. He brings it down before speaking again. “…What about you two? Ready to see how the Yakens boss around this month?”
Monden wipes off his suit’s shoulder. “Ain’t like i got much of a choice”
“That’s the spirit! Acceptance!” The supportive tone is all just a comedy act for Stelmari, this much was known by Monden. The conversation falls silent for a brief moment before Stelmari looks around “…Where’s the twerp at?”
Monden knew who he was referring to, but couldn’t let that name slide. “Excuse me?”
Stelmari grins at Monden. “Your boy! Akels! The loveable little bastard you always got following you around. Where is he?”
Monden doesn’t even respond despite knowing the answer; just stares at him, fuming. Stelmari matches the stare, except with disappointment in his expression “Man, you cannot take a joke, can you?”
“I’m curious on what planet anything you just said qualifies as a joke.”
“All of them, of course!” Stelmari smiles. “You’d know if you just stop being so serious for once. You just need to lighten the ■■■■ up.”
Monden approaches. “Maybe I should kick your ass?”
Stelmari steps even closer. “Oh yeah, keep talking dirty to me gramps.” Monden takes a step back, slightly disturbed at Stelmari’s response. Stelmari just keep looking him in the eyes like a crazy individual would.
The childish little argument is diffused as Olimi walks over and steps between the two. “You two are putting on a scene. A scene that is in no way productive.” He looks back and forth between the both of them. “Stelmari, if you’re looking for Akels, he should be over by the tram platform.” Olimi nods his head in that direction.
Stelmari looks over and then back to Monden, his stance relaxes and he shrugs “…All I wanted to know. See you ladies at the meeting.”
Monden watches as Stelmari walks off. He mutters under his breath. “■■■■■■■ degenerate scu-”
Olimi’s voice cuts him off, as clear as day. “Monden”
Monden turns to him. “Let me guess - time for the zen talk?”
“Correct - I’ve been meaning to talk to you, Monden. You’re a unmistakable example of someone who has been bottling up frustration, and as a result, you’re constantly bitter and strung-out. It’s not healthy.”
“I’m under a lot of stress, and working with assholes like that prick-” Monden points over to Stelmari “-doesn’t make it easier.”
“Blaming your feelings on others will provoke more negative emotions, Monden.”
“Easy for you to say…”
“It is - as such, I’d like to make an offer. I believe you would find it greatly beneficial if you let me teach you some exercises to let off that steam you’ve built up. We can even do it before the meeting in my office. It’s part of my daily routine to go through the motions.” The “Clear-minds” part of Olimi’s company name derives from this yoga practices Olimi’s clan perfected to relax their minds and bodies to become the very definition of zen. It’s in no way a religion, just a lifestyle his kind devoted themselves to. Printed on Olimi’s forehead was this blue tattoo symbolizing he’s someone that had mastered the teachings, which undoubtedly gives him all the certification he needs to be the man in charge of the company.
Monden’s head snaps in the direction of Olimi. “You’re gonna teach me yoga?” He scoffs, turns his head straight and reaches into his suit and digs around. “I ain’t flexible enough for the stuff you got in mind.” His hand touches a flask, the exact thing he was looking for’; but before actually pulling it out, Akels’ words about not drinking before going into the meeting later today echo back to him. He leaves the flask there, and takes his hand out, empty.
“You only get more flexible the more you do it. We have entry level exercises to help with that. But it’s more than just the poses, and instead of explaining it - I can show you.”
“…I don’t kn-”
“I forgot to mention it will help with any back pains you’re experiencing.”
Damn, he got him hooked there. Monden might not buy into the zen talk, but at the very least he might learn something to ease his back out. I mean what’s the worst that can happen? Waste his time maybe?
A choice presented itself.
0 voters
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