While searching, I determine that Moiriax system doesn’t have enough regular traffic for me to piggy back my goods on a freighter, so much to my chagrin and Tova’s annoyance, I have to do more spreadsheet math to figure out if it would make more sense to start a brewing operation on Asphodel where a good deal of products travel to and fro; or to get a transport big enough to transport my 100 tons of coca leaves and 5k bushels of the g-berries. Hells, maybe I should plant 100 hectares of g-berries on my plantation.
Speaking of the plantation, I got a notice from Summer Farms that ten thousand cocoa seedlings are ready for transplant. I do some research on the best planting strategies in case I had to do it myself and then asked if they could recommend any forest manicuring services. They set me up with a service they use, and to call them once they prepare the land and that they could be hired to do the actual planting. Confidence bolstered, I hire the clearing and mulching company to prepare another 100 hectares of jungle in a way that there are rows of cleared land between strips of jungle trees that maintain about 80% of the shade over the cleared land. Confirming the plan, they said they’d begin after Founder’s week and that it would take about three months to do the whole thing, but they could have my first twenty hectares done in two weeks if they delayed the mulching. I readily agree and sign the 15k credit contract.
I next focus on the ships and shuttles I would require, but first, I have to check how the 200 vials of
//200
/// 24M Cr gross purchase – 240k Cr listing management fee delivered: Nova (Kimber Novarro).
//800
//200
///6.42k Cr gross – 64 Cr listing management fee delivered: Nova (Kimber Novarro).
////Thank you for enlisting Exchange Auction Sales Yoke.
They all sold, so that’s about as much as I can ask for. I bet Penny would poke fun of me for selling the augmented potions for a lower price, but I just made enough money to put the down payment on the ship I want.
The freighter you already paid 12M Cr for is en-route to Astoria as we speak with 12k passengers and 100 tons of miscellaneous goods all paid for by the Empire.
Oh. Shit. Thanks Tova, it would have been super embarrassing to order another one.
/Aria, is the delivery of my freighter on my schedule?/
\I’ve been tracking the schedule inbound and coordinating the Empire’s cargo with the Empress’ Adjutant with Patience in the loop. I do have delivery on your schedule, and a load planning meeting for the day after while a nascent AI is loaded onto the vessel.\
/Great work Aria, and thanks for keeping my life together. Looks like we need two more companies? I want to keep our agriculture and land acquisition separate from Freight and settlements and Chem. That and I think perhaps different name core than ‘Nova’ would be good./
\I could make some recommendations, however, I believe Patience would understand any image or political reasons better than I would.\
Tova, if I connect a holo-chat with Patience, could you connect Aria too?
Easily.
“Uh, hey Kimber. Is everything alright? You’re making a ‘responsibility’ face.”
“I’m impressed that you know my expressions that well already. And yes it’s fine, but instead of flying out to meet with you, I’m sitting here on Clotho thinking about filing transportation and agriculture business names.”
“Mhm. I see where the face comes in. You don’t want to just go with Nova something I’m guessing?” She says, tapping a pen against her lips.
“You’d be right. Those early auction mistakes are tied to me and ‘Nova’ so I want to separate the two. Especially since the Empress told me she’s going to make me a public figure in the coming year.”
“Ugh, if that happens, I’m asking for a raise and more staff. Anyway, were you thinking of a theme, or just wanting a cool name?”
“A theme would be cool, but what goes with Nova? Or I guess also Supernova.”
“It seems a dying star theme could work.” An electronic voice chimes in.
“Is that Aria? This is a holo-chat, babe, at least give us an avatar.” My assistant seems awfully chummy with my ship.
Moments later, a generic cute teen in pajamas shows up in the projection. “Alright, if that is your self-image, you are charming and adorable. But about the theme?”
“While not all stars experience Novas, they occur just before the collapse and crunch phase of larger stars after their remaining fuel cannot support the mass of the star. Other dying star states include White Dwarf, Neutron Star, Pulsar, and Black Hole to name the common results.”
“Oooh, Pulsar Plantation is fun to say.” I blurt out.
“Pulsar Agriculture, Pulsar Freight. Neutron Freight? Forget Black Hole connotations as far as customer’s go.” Patience rapid fires some examples, and I don’t love the Neutron one.
“Pulsar Freight would have nice schedule and on-time connotations as Pulsars rotate in fractions of a second and are reliable enough to calculate interstellar distances to.” Aria chimes in.
“I like that. I also don’t hate the idea of having something like a Dying Star Industry, Holdings, Corp?” I copy Patience’s delivery for some reason.
“Putting ‘Dying’ in the company name, even if it’s just a holding company is a terrible idea.”
“A close corollary would be ‘Remnant’ as Pulsars, Neutron stars and Black Holes are all Star Remnants, and loosely connects to the particles and energy of a supernova that outlasts the collapse of the star.”
“Good one Aria, Remnant Holdings sounds pretty good. My talks with the Empress’ Adjutant, Corporate structures aren’t well regulated. Were you thinking about a holding company for management purposes or for funding purposes?”
“I don’t know, I got to talking with Warram about some of his different ‘Arms’ and Warram Financial is his overall financial management and investor relationship board of directors thing.”
“You clearly don’t know what all of those words entail, but I get what you’re saying.”
“Okay fine, that’s true, but I think that you should hire an assistant to help you do my research taskings, such as this, and then talk to the Adjutant about how Penny hires people when she starts companies. I’m going to file a few of these names and talk to the only other shareholder about my desire to branch out and reorganize.”
“Yes! I was going to ask about some help. I know just who to ask too. We done here?” Patience asks.
“Yeah, and thanks Tova and Aria for the help.”
I pop up some menu’s and go to my land in the jungle and name it ‘Pulsar Plantation’, with company affiliation of ‘Pulsar Agriculture’. I get two pop-ups as enter the data asking me if the land was intended to be company or personally owned, and the same questions about the developed portion with a house and barracks on them.
//Your entry will have a regional and economic influence under the non-settlement category ‘Station’ related to an outpost containing multiple permanent and temporary entities establishing in the area.
//Your entry includes a building designated for a company headquarters.
//Your entry includes surrounding areas of unclaimed and not encroached lands and waterways that will now become a stewardship under the category of ‘Station’.
///’Pulsar Station’ has been assigned to ‘Kimber Novarro’ for territory and resource management purposes.
///’Pulsar Agriculture’ has been assigned to ‘Kimber Novarro’ as a Company they own.
///’Pulsar Plantation’ has been assigned to ‘Kimber Novarro’ as a development and worksite property owned by ‘Pulsar Agriculture’.
//// Any changes to these assignments may be made by the relevant USER in the management interface.
Did some business, have a meeting to plan a freight route, and my original reason for doing all of that was lost in the chase. I send a note to Zia to ask if I need a license to make beer, wine, and spirits on an industrial scale. I then search for companies that make brewing equipment and do another search for manufacturers that can make complex watertight containers. I laugh when one of the businesses that pop up is Ganymede Forge and Metalworks—Daniel’s side business. Maybe there’s still someone on Earth making them? Gah, it’s so tempting just to buy and deliver them, but now that I have the means to transport some of these things, I should learn to plan ahead.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
That would be a benchmark day for all Humanity.
I snort out loud. “It would, wouldn’t it? I’m so used to reacting, that it’s been kind of nice to walk through future operations with people. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather be making stuff, or even patrolling my part of the Territory, but it’s a nice change from the panic I’ve been doing.”
I’m relieved that you’ve discovered hiring people to help you. Especially the part where you find people that want to do the part you need done.
“Any interest in planning the Plantation in becoming a company town?”
I don’t like planning residences, so the lodging will be from a template.
“Sounds great. Block out a housing and dining area for 200 people and maybe an expansion area that could be a park for the meantime.”
I understand. I’ll plan for some large equipment and analyze the foresting rigs movement. I haven’t planned a recreation area yet, and I have some interest. I will send you plans in case you expand your new Outpost. Did you know that your plantation is one of the most remote lodging locations on the planet?
“Great, in the jungles of Astoria, no one can hear you scream.”
“They really can’t.” A whispering voice says next to my ear. I fucking scream. “Clotho, either. Hi Kimber. Got a minute?”
“Damnit, Penny! I don’t know ham many times you’re going to try and kill me this week, but please stop.” I say, putting my hand on my chest to try and slow my heart.
“But it’s fun!” She grins. “My pixie ways aside, you made an appointment to talk to me tomorrow, and I have time now, but no longer tomorrow.”
“Reschedule, gotcha. I have some engraving tattoo’s that I’ve designed and I’d like to get your advice.” I indicate and pull up some windows.
“Ahh, this has been some tome coming. I’ve been wondering when you’d ask. Any big concerns or just some design and use issues?”
“I can’t figure out how to power them, t-b-h. Maybe a gear link? An embed? I’m at a loss, even though I got a stat bump from your little dust show.”
“I meant to ask about that. You okay?” She gets close and studies my eyes, paws at my face and speads the skin on my neck.
I swat her hands away, “I’m good Penny. I got some good and some bad. Not a great thing for an aether desert planet, but great for seeing through bullshit like your ex-wife.”
“Well, if you need some time in a med pod . . . wait, I have an idea for your battery issue, but I’d like to see your sheet first.”
“Let me check my messages first, I’m almost as bad as you about it.” She smirks and nods.
/related skills and experience convey Beginner 4
/related skills and experience convey Novice 1
/constructing methods to mass produce recipes award extra experience.
/modifying a recipe to a stable variant awards extra experience.
“Apparently it had been weeks. Anyway, here you go.” I pull up my sheet and share it with her.
“You have Primus stats, Kimber. This is impressive. Andromeda, I can only imagine an S-ranked refinement. Your conversion and transmission have to be near perfect. There are things that I can do to artificially boost your capacity to A-ish levels, and I can probably get a divine spell or two up to B power before you tier up, but I’ll only have time for two sessions. Maybe 10-12 hours total. If you had two spells to target on top of the capacity circuit, what would you chose?”
“Uh . . .” I shuffle through my choices and one of them is a must have, so I set that aside, and then I have some things like lightning on call, imbuement, a thrust spell, and a permanent storage spell. Bah, have to go with versatility if I only get two. I send her my choices.
“Is that a flight spell with a wing manifestation? Andromeda save the ambitious. I don’t know if I’ll . . . oh, the second one is super simple. Alright, I can do this in two sessions. You’ll lose your portion of my ink this quarter at least. Maybe more.”
“I . . . you don’t have to do it, I was just asking if you could validate my spellforms and help me solve my capacity problem.” I worry my hands together, nervous of the calculating glare she is levying at me.
“No. I actually want to do this, not just because I don’t trust people with my future daughter, but also because I will get at least two skill levels for successfully completing this. And, thanks to your minor miracle, I can guarantee it works.”
“Oh shit! That’s right! The potions guarantee a success. Hells, I should charge more.”
“For five hours of efficacy? You bet your biceps you should.”
“Are you going to have an issue with me being half naked for this job?” I chuckle.
“You have given me permission to put my hands all over your back, I’ll survive. We’re teleporting to my medical suite, I have work I need to do now if I’m going to start inking you in a few months.” She puts her hand on my shoulder and we slide into a sterile-white space with blue as fuck florescent lighting.
“Huh, the nausea is much less now.”
“Thank Andromeda for that. Anyway, strip your top and face down on the table.”
“Sooo, not that I don’t trust you, but what are we doing? You never explained.”
“Oh yeah, I’m already mentally walking through the engravings. Sorry. I am going to petrify like six of your ribs over the next few days, and then I’m going to format your imprint so that your new symbiote and nanite image has crystalline ribs and a magitech conduit to your back to trick your body to maintain it instead of fighting it.”
“Is this a complicated surgery?”
“Nah, takes less than 10 minutes now, and about an hour later.”
“Your turning my ribs into batteries?”
“Precisely! But only six of them. They don’t produce much in the way of red blood cells and there’s not a lot of movement in the added weight so muscles won’t have to be strengthened much. Your low Body of Power is also an issue. It may also be the only way to get you sustained flight with your proposed flight spellforms.”
“Well, fuck, Penny, let us do this.”
“Got any of your pain be gone?” I pull out a box and hand it to her. “Oh, well, that’s easy. Bra off dork.”
“This is why I don’t trust doctors, they always want me naked.”
Penny snorts, “I’m not that kind of doctor, kiddo. PHD in applied physics.” I try to hop out of the chair, but Penny holds me down. Pixie bitch is heavy. “Calm down, I can do this simple procedure. The medical pod does the next one and it’s a tier 4 medical construct, has its own intelligence.”
Her explanation relaxes me and shortly after I get jabbed six times before I feel absolutely nothing from my back. The differing pressures of my front against padding is all I can feel of her messing with my back until it stops.
“Alright, try not to use restoratives, and don’t use magic healing for the next three days. You got any of your surface balm?”
I try to summon a tin and it falls on the floor. “Do you always carry a pharmacy with you?”
“I carry a field medic pack, a saw, and at least one unit of all the products I make. We’re not all as tough as you Penny.”
“Says the brick house in boy shorts.” She says that with more sad than I expected. Then I remember she didn’t bring anyone to the party at Guiseppe’s.
“Your girlfriend and I are a lot alike aren’t we?” I say, trying to diffuse the odd attention.
“Ugh, yeah. She doesn’t know how much she’s worth and after 15 years, I’m about ready to signal my surrender.”
“Didn’t you just finish the most expensive ship in Empire history for her?”
She nods, “last week.”
“Seems like you finished your wedding present already, why not give it to her early, give it a sassy AI that wants a dad, and let the cards show what they may?”
Penny growls at me, “I don’t like that kind of risky hope, Kimber.”
“Well, neither do I, but what else is working Penny?”
Her face purses like she tasted lemon-flavored shit and teleports me back to my shuttle on Clotho, alone. That is certainly a way to end a conversation.
I send a message to Patience telling her to find me a commercial property on Asphodel and start dreaming brewing dreams.