New System, Who Dis?

Monday, April 22nd, 2069

I’ll admit, I started scanning through the comments before watching the video. Partially because I wanted to wait and have the first viewing with Dave, if possible. But probably more so because I was vain and needed to know what people were saying. Or perhaps I just was too eager, and this was my coping mechanism for—

Nope. Mental Fortitude and my logical brain firmly diagnosed me as vain. Honestly, this Skill was beyond frustrating.

From my peripherals I could see my father giving me side-eye and a look I had long since learned was one of concern. I ignored it, for now. He’d get an explanation along with my mom and Dave. Willa and Jarred too, if they were at my place.

DailyGrind: This kid deserves some sort of medal not a trial!

5111 Likes

Replies—352

Rebecca Delayney: Wait, you can be tried for murder when someone was trying to kill you? Da husk is going on.

752 Likes

Replies—492

Anders Mole: Surely this is fake news. An F-ranked stopped a C-rank Suspected Serial Killer? Fat chance.

123 Likes

Replies—2001

Grim Men Guild: Check your CashApp. This scumsucker killed a sibling of a member. We’ve pooled some money and sent it on. Great work!

3521 Likes

Replies--121

L33T P3N15: My man did a no-hit run on the last boss. Bro is clearly hacking! Someone check his computer!

2971 Likes

Replies--1473

I blinked. Not only was the most negative comment I’d found so far, just disbelief in the feat itself, it looked like people were arguing for me in the replies. Still, it was the mention of sent cash that had me stopping.

Opening my CashApp, I found five-hundred dollars sitting there. No money from Grim Men, though—so, I felt a little disappointed. Still, the five-hundred was made up from a large amount of five to twenty-dollar donations. I shrugged, and closed out of the app. While it was fresh on my mind, I shot a group message off to Geneva and Kristen, thanking them for posting the video. I had two missed calls from them though and chose to instead dial them back.

“Morning Brodie,” Geneva said, but left no space to follow up as she continued. “We’re at your house already. You two on your way back?”

“Uhh, yeah,” I answered dumbly.

“Perfect. We’ll see you soon. Since you hadn’t yet commented, we thought a watch party might be in order.”

“That sounds perfect. Is everyone there?”

“That or on the way. Your mom, Willa and Dave are filling us in on the start-up you’re working on. With their permission we’re recording. I’ve got to go, see you soon.”

“What was that?” My dad asked even as the line disconnected. I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at it dumbfounded.

“Sparkle Legion is at the house. I think they’re interviewing mom, Dave and Willa?”

“Ahh, what did you call that? B-roll?”

“Well, yeah that’s the name of stuff that might not get used—but Geneva said it’s about the company startup…”

“Huh? We aren’t even sure that’s going to happen,” my dad answered.

“Exactly, but there was something about her voice—like she was really excited about it.”

“Maybe it’s something to go with the firing?”

“The faster you get home, the sooner we’ll find out!”

“Kid, if I push down on the gas pedal anymore, we'll be BintStoning it home.”

“What’s a BintStone?” I asked.

“Oh my god, I never showed you BedRack, I’m either really old or failed you as a parent. Suffice it to say, my foot will go through the floor if I push down the pedal any harder.”

The Ford Escort hiccuped to emphasize his point.

* * *

“—now the boy who survived is being tried for Manslaughter and the opposing counsel is claiming Morgan “the Shop” Hallsbrad was only a Private Eye. Like and follow to stay up to date on this incredible story!”

The video ended and I stared at the suggested content that popped up as the screen faded to a dark off-gray. There was a link in the video comments, and just from the amount of likes I could guess I’d gained more followers than I had before the video—probably a great deal more. Geneva closed her laptop with a broad grin. Despite watching it on such a small screen the room was silent as we all processed it in our own ways.

Mrs. Stovall was the first to respond. “That was fantastic Mrs. Agnos, Mrs. Franzke. Superb work as always.” She had been a bit of an unexpected arrival, at least for me. I looked at Mrs. Stovall trying to figure out why she seemed so serious, even in her praise.

“Yeah, that was husking fantastic,” Dave exclaimed, his voice filled with the kind of excitement I expected from everyone. Mrs. Stovall probably had news about the case and requests, I supposed. My excitement fell a bit as I realized it probably wasn’t good news.

I only realized I was staring at Mrs. Stovall when the silence grew. Everyone was looking at me, it seemed waiting for a response. Everyone but Mrs. Stovall. I forced a smile onto my face and addressed Geneva and Kristen first. “That was better than I could have ever dreamed of.” Then I turned back to Mrs. Stovall. “What’s going on, Mrs. Stovall?”

She winced. “That obvious?”

“Well, I’d have expected some excitement from you, since this was all your idea.”

She gave a small smile and nod but immediately grew serious again. “I’ve got some great news, but also some bad news. I’m going to start with the good news.”

I for one didn’t miss how she downgraded great to good, but she continued without waiting for confirmation.

“We’ve managed to get a few companies to show interest in the Ores—especially with the UNMH offering top dollar for the unknown materials. So, you’ll basically have your pick of lenders.” She paused for a moment, everyone knowing that what was about to follow would sour the first part. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so serious. “The best we could do is one cent on the dollar up front, and it’s from the Larvae Guild. Everyone else is bidding lower, and Mr. Stovall and I both don’t like that their name is even in the ring, it just feels like they have another play.”

She let that hang in the air, and I blinked. She was still frowning deeply. “There’s more isn’t there?”

She sighed. “The Union Benefits are about to run out and we won’t have access to sue the Hallsbrad estate till after all the trials finish. I’ve pulled Mr. Stovall in to help start putting that together but having him and I working on two different cases—along with Sparkle Legion is burning the funds faster than anticipated. John is working on commission in the Portal Ownership case but the offers just aren’t as high as expected. So, he’s been forced to pull back a bit. John and I were discussing options this morning…” She once again let the sentence hang in the air but her look at Geneva and Kristen gave everyone context for what had been the final decision.

“You’ve got to stop paying for Sparkle?” I said, voicing the conclusion I had reached.

Geneva and Kristen wore bright smiles, despite the news. Even as Mrs. Stovall nodded dourly at my pronouncement, I transferred my attention to Sparkle Legion. “You don’t seem upset about that?”

I couldn’t help the apprehension in my voice. Maybe, the video had taken a ton of resources, and wasn’t getting the response they wanted. Maybe, they were pumping advertisement dollars into it, and that was why it had so many views. Maybe—

“You might want to check your CashApp, Brodie,” Kristen said with a chuckle.

I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes. I began pulling my phone from my pocket as I gave an answer. “I did on the way home. It’s got five hundred dollars, and I doubt that’s enough to keep you two! Not with the video I just saw.”

Their smiles didn’t waiver, which I found strange. Dutifully, I pulled up the app. The balance had climbed to a thousand, but that wasn’t exactly wealth. I turned the screen to both women, biting back the ‘I told you’ words and keeping my face devoid of expressions that might convey it. They had worked hard and honestly, if I ever had enough money in the future I would hire them in a second.

I’m sure I failed but despite my face's expression of disbelief, their expressions only grew more amused. They looked at each other and then Kristen said, “You’ll want to check the pending donations.”

The phone spun in my hands so fast that I knew the laughter that followed from them was at my expense. I didn’t care. It sounded like they weren’t worried about getting fired, and that could only mean—

Right at the top of the screen was a donation for five-hundred thousand dollars. From the Grim Men Guild. My mouth fell open as I scanned past it and saw a donation of ten thousand, then a thousand. It kept going, and I scrolled through quickly, trying to keep a mental amount but failing after the donation numbers stopped becoming whole amounts. Why so many people were sending one-thousand, three-hundred and thirty-seven dollars and thirty-six cents, was beyond me. However, on a quick count there were at least forty with that sum.

“What’s going on?” My dad and mom said together, picking up on my facial expressions. Everyone else was also studying me waiting for a response.

Closing my mouth to wet my tongue I croaked, “Therccckk.” I closed my mouth again, swallowed and salivated for a moment before starting again. “There’s probably seven hundred thousand dollars in donations here.”

“More than we expected, but not more than we thought would come in over time,” Geneva said, even as the people around the table all reacted. My mom and dad stood up abruptly, Dave whooped and slammed hands onto the table, Jarred wore a proud fatherly smile, and Willa shouted, “We can start the company!”

Mrs. Stovall coughed politely after Willa’s exclamation. “I am going to be the devil's advocate here. Brodie, I don’t think you should use this money to start your company. You should probably put it aside to pay for Sparkle Legion, your friends salary replacement, and us Lawyers. Otherwise, you’re back to taking ten cents on the dollar from the Ores. It’s your money and your choice, though.”

For the first time since he arrived, I wished Smegma was here. I wasn’t sure what his opinion would be, but I felt like he would have some valuable input. Instead, it was just me. I figured a company would, in time, get me more Mana Coins, and that could cascade to something huge, but so could winning the ownership of all these Ores and getting top dollar…

“Mrs. Stovall, how much is the Larvae Guild offering?” I asked.

“Well, the Ore is valued at seven and a half million on the low end. So, you’d only get seventy-five thousand, so basically a pittance, with a contract to make up ten percent of the difference in value later, if you win the case. According to experts, it could be worth as much as seventy five million, which means you’d get seven and a half million at ten percent, but no matter who we talk to they aren’t willing to take the risk that you will be the one who ends up with legal possession of the materials. Partially because the UNMH has staked the claim, meaning they will get the unknown Ores at their estimated values. Secondly, Mr. Stovall and I believe someone is manipulating the bidding, or putting out false information—”

“We can help with that! Propaganda is sort of our thing,” Geneva said instantly. “Do you think they would let us get in to see all of the materials? It would be great to have a shot of it all, for our next video anyway.”

Mrs. Stovall nodded even as she scratched her head. Her voice finally gained an ounce of excitement, “That might help, if they’re sowing misinformation about the Ores. And we should be able to get permission to send in a team to catalog everything for our records. We’ll likely be fined a bit for releasing information on the contents, but it won’t be that bad since, until proven otherwise, we have legal standing that they are Brodie’s property. It might be our best play. Let me talk to Mr. Stovall and see what he thinks. Don’t start the company until I get back.”

“How long are you going to be gone?” My dad said from where he had been pacing behind his chair.

“A few hours at most,” Mrs. Stovall laughed. “It was just a saying.”

She left the room at near a jog as her heels would let her.

“So, now that she’s gone we’re startin’ the business, right?” Willa said immediately upon her leaving. My head swiveled to her in concern till I saw the huge joking smile. “Just kiddin’. Still, I don’t think any of us here want to leech off you, Bro. So, think about it. Maybe we can budget, or take loans or something.”

My dad and mom looked at me, their faces concerned until they were finished reading my expression. Then they both broke into grins that felt loud enough that I could almost hear their thoughts. It likely mirrored my own.

“Willa, Jarred, and even you Dave—let’s see what we can do, but until this money runs out—what’s mine is yours.”

Jarred waved his hands for a moment and opened his mouth, likely to protest, but my mom cut him off. “No way, Jarred. You quit your other job to work with P-cubed cause we said it would be good for you. You aren’t saying no. Still, I’m with Mrs. Stovall, why not use this money to fund the open cases and your friends, then when we get the Ores, we can start a company with multiple branches from the outset—and really stick it to Dicker Wimp.”

It was clearly a play on Jagger Vance, which made me smile. She wasn’t one for swearing, and this was clearly an attempt to still insult the man without calling him too severe of a name.

“Wouldn’t it be best to start a company right away, though,” Dave said seriously, causing the mood in the room to change.

“Honestly, it might be the best choice—”

“No!” Jarred, my mother and father said in unison. Willa looked at them with a frown, which Dave and I mirrored.

“What do you mean, no?”

Jarred looked to my dad, who nodded at him, before looking at the three of us. Geneva and Kristen were staying out of the conversation for now and just recording–it seemed. Instantly I became a bit self-conscious, but my dad broke me out of it with his next words. “Maybe, you’ll all listen this time if we give you more details. Jarred…”

“Working with small Guilds is a cluster-husk, Brodie. It’s always run by some idiot hopped up on what limited power he husking has, and if that sounds bearable, let me tell you, it ain’t. Almost every run back in our Hunter days we lost Tradespeople, right?”

My dad nodded, which also prompted Jarred to continue. “At the time I didn’t think much of it, because we clearly tried our best, and all the people who died knew the risks. We all did. Now that I’ve seen the way top tier Guilds run things, there just isn’t a comparison you’d understand. Think Hunter Wars but it’s a pro team against—I don’t know—a group of high schoolers with basic training.”=

“That bad?” Dave said aghast.

“You were a Hunter too?” I asked incredulously right on top of him.

“He was, but got out a bit sooner than I did,” my dad explained. “I told him not to tell you. Let’s not get into that…” My dad cut off abruptly and made a head motion to the camera.

“Actually, I think it would be good footage,” Kristen said. Geneva nodded along but my father shook his head.

“It’s family issues, and the line needs to be placed somewhere, ladies.”

The tone he used was the same one he’d lectured me with in the past, when I’d been gushing out ideas to gain followers on the Gram. At the time, I hadn’t thought he was right. Now, after my experience with Morgan, I was far less confident in my naive assessment from merely a year before. Geneva conceded the point with a polite dip of her head but kept recording.

“So, we’re waiting for the—”

Mrs. Stovall came back into the house without knocking, which surprised everyone. Partially because of the noise the screen door made, but mostly—at least for my part, because it hadn’t taken her long at all.

“We chatted in the car,” she explained breathily. “Mr. Stovall is on his way to do some budgeting. There just might be a way to fund Sparkle, us, and start your company—if you keep it to a Mining branch only.”

My parents and Jarred winced but the rest of the people in the room grew excited. My dad of course was the first to speak up. “The risk just isn’t worth it, Brodie.”

To my surprise, it was Geneva that responded. “With the videos we’re going to make, I think that the risk will be mitigated quickly.”

“How so?” my mom asked, skeptically.

“Well, you know how P-cubed gets ahead by offering multiple arms of tradesmen under a single contract.” Kristen replied. My mother acknowledged Kristen’s words with a nod and a casual affirmation. “Well, what if we can offer publicity by a famous SwiftGram, SmileBook and other social media star?”

“I don’t know?” My father said, “Guilds surely won’t care—”

“I’m going to stop you right there Mr. Flacarada,” Mrs. Stovall said. “I can tell you that the best Guilds in the world and area care very much about Social Media.”

“So, this could actually work?” My mom and Jarred said, after looking at each other.

“Not instantly, but after we get some footage!” Geneva crowed excitedly.

“John seemed to think so also,” Mrs. Stovall answered, and I realized that she used his name, forgetting her insistence on formality. She must be very excited or happy.