Ch 35 Foundations

  Getting back to the guild, I walk in and stop, freezing. Olivia was just standing there, staring. She turned to look at me and gave me a sad smile.

  “The dungeon leveled up. I couldn’t do it. I’m sorry, Arthur. I couldn’t run the second level.”

  I slowly approached her, raising my arms, letting her back away, giving her time to react. I gently hugged her. She briefly stiffened, then nearly collapsed into me. We sank to the floor as she broke and started crying.

  She told me how her runner panicked and left her in the dungeon alone. How there were traps she barely dodged. How the room was eerie and felt alive. How she felt like she was being watched the whole time. She clung to me. I just held her, rocking back and forth, saying any soothing words that came to mind.

  I knew it was likely to level up soon. I knew that it was a trap dungeon. But the rest? It was too much for some. Poor Liv. She had gotten overwhelmed. She always felt judged because of her parents. A room that watched her would just set off every one of her triggers. I just held her until she was tapped out. She didn’t move.

  “Hey,” she said, “sorry for acting like a baby.”

  I pet her head. “If this is you being a baby, then you should see me being a wuss.”

  She laughed. Then giggled. “Yeah, I doubt the big bad Arthur was ever a wuss. Tell me then, oh shining knight, when were you ever a wuss?”

  I chuckled, thought a moment. “When I was 19, got a mistaken sub for dinner and was leaving work. This woman was leaving the paletes place just a few doors down. Her little terrier was a terror. It stole my sandwich and was going for my ankles. I ran for it.”

  Liv laughed, loud and long, like she couldn’t believe I ran from a two-foot dog. “Seriously? A terrier? They’re like, what, four pounds?”

  I gave her a look. “I was a skinny, twerpy 19-year-old, half starved from working twelve hours. That sandwich was all the food I had for the day! I had gotten like two bites! Lucas is a great boss, though. He gave me another sub.”

  Liv chuckled along with me this time. She leaned back, sitting across from me now. No one else was around, I noticed. Maggie was likely eating dinner with Jamie. It was almost 5 p.m.

  “So traps, huh? That bad?”

  Liv sighed, looked down. “I thought I was in pretty good shape, really. But I couldn’t move fast enough. Not like I wanted to. It was like my body didn’t respond to what I wanted it to do.”

  I nodded. “Hey, Liv. You ever do martial arts? Or gymnastics? Or any type of serious athletics?”

  She shook her head.

  “Then why would you expect your body to obey you like you’re a serious athlete?”

  She blinked at me. “What?”

  “Seriously. You have to train your body to get to that level of muscle control. It takes years of practice. Decades, even. Dancers do it. Gymnasts do it. Martial artists do it. It takes practice. You can’t just try it once and expect to succeed. That’s like going to the gym and expecting to lift 300-pound weights. You have to work up to it. Get me?”

  She slowly nodded. “I was always pretty active, so I thought I could do it. You’re saying it takes specific training?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. In this case, dodge training. Did you know? I plan on building apartments under the overpass behind the bus stop at the dungeon. Make it communal space for people. Especially those living in the garage. Wanna come with?”

  She blinked at the change of subject. “Wait, how are you doing that? Doesn’t that land belong to the city? Are you doing it like with the guild?”

  I nodded cheerfully. “Nope, and yep. I bought the land through the system. I’ve got the credits to purchase and build the buildings I want to. So I’m going to. First a communal hall for people to relax. Then a library for people to find comfort. Then bunk rooms to get out of the garage. When I can afford it, I’ll build actual apartments. But that’ll be a bit.”

  “Status.”

  Just like I expected. If my math was right, I was getting somewhere between 60 and 65 thousand an hour now. Or close to it. I had enough.

  “Raven, deposit 10k into the guild account, please.”

  “Confirmed.”

  That would hold a while.

  “So, anyway. Wanna come with?”

  Liv slowly nodded. I stood, then reached a hand down for her, to which she scowled and stood by herself. I held my hands up in a giving-up motion.

  “Raven, has our land purchase gone through?”

  “Confirmed. 1.2 million dollars cost.”

  “I’m good with that. It was about two acres, right?”

  “Confirmed. 87,000 sq ft.”

  I smiled. The things I could do with that.

  “All right, let’s go! Liv, you’ll get to see the inside of my Sky Trail! Raven, I do have a second seat, right?”

  “Confirmed. Front passenger seat installed.”

  I smiled. Guess I was sitting up front today.

  *

  Talking Liv into Sky Trail was something else. She wanted to look at everything, from the bathroom to the book rack. Finally getting her into the seat took a bit of doing.

  Then, “Raven, please drive us as close as you can to my new land.”

  Liv nearly jumped at that. “What do you mean Raven’s driving? I thought she was just an AI?!”

  I laughed. “A system AI. This is a system vehicle, so Raven can operate it. We can just sit back and relax. Raven is likely the safest driver on the planet. She wouldn’t let Sky Trail even get a scratch. And she’s much more capable of telling where the other cars are and predicting what they’re going to do.”

  Liv thought about that a minute. “I kind of want a system vehicle now, too. That sounds awesome. I still haven’t gotten the first clear reward. There’s so much I want in the store!”

  I chuckled. “Did I show you the clothes I made? It’s all pretty basic, but they have pristine and durability.”

  I pulled a few samples out — specifically bras and women’s underwear. Liv looked aghast for a moment, then realized what the enchantments meant. She gave me a hard stare, grabbed one of each, and went to the bathroom.

  I called her back to give her autosize tags. She took them and returned to the bathroom.

  When she came back, she looked much more comfortable. “Happy?” I asked.

  She mock-glared at me. “Show me what you got.”

  So I started pulling out some of the other clothes. I figured out of everyone, Liv would like the clothes the most. She didn’t bring a lot of clothes with her — at least not a lot of comfortable clothing. I’d pull out a few pieces; she’d decide yay or nay. Her pile kept growing.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  I pulled out a messenger bag for her. “Here. This will keep everything you’ve got together. It holds up to 44 cubic feet of stuff. Since we’ve arrived, let’s put the rest of clothes shopping on hold. All right?”

  She was a little grumpy with that, but I’m glad she’d cheered up a lot.

  We had to park a bit down; the bus stop was part of the cordoned-off area. So we walked in. There were some people on my land. Liv and I kindly asked them to move. Some did after asking why — I simply told them I was about to build here. Others were more upset and demanding. Liv got in their face and literally punched one guy out of the area. We didn’t seem to have problems after that.

  “All right, Raven. You have my thoughts. How do we go about this, since it’s a new building?”

  “System confirmed purchase of land. Owner confirmed. Process initiated. User wishes to build communal hall first, correct?”

  “That’s the plan. Big open space. With a system interface. Lots of tables and chairs. Couches with side tables and coffee tables. A few bathrooms, maybe a couple of showers.”

  “Confirmed. User designated communal hall. System proceeding with user prompts.”

  “Also light blue walls, in a nice watercolor pattern. System design on the outside.”

  “Confirmed. Purchase cost 15,500 credits total. Confirm purchase?”

  “I do. Please proceed.”

  “Confirmed. Process beginning, will be completed in 45 minutes.”

  “All right. On the back end of the communal hall, I want a library. A safe, cozy space, with 10,000 books, all in English. Classic fantasy, portal fantasy to another world, magic-heavy fantasy, comforting stories, escapist narratives. First-contact science fiction, exploration sci-fi, the ‘we’re not alone’ sci-fi. Some young adult fiction — character-focused, found family, gentle adventures, slice-of-life stories, hopeful arcs, stories about growth and resilience. Even some from around the world, just translated. Stories about different cultures. All right? Nothing dystopian. Can you do that?”

  “Processing. Confirmed. Designate library structure.”

  “I want it oval, with the entrance on the short end. There’s a desk on the opposite end. It’s a clear line of sight. No overhead lights — just recessed lighting coming from the top and bottom of the bookshelves.

  “The bookshelves themselves are curved to follow the library. The shelves should be five and a half feet tall. Not too short that you can see over them, and not too tall that you have to reach. There are bookshelves on the end caps that are four feet wide instead of six. There is about four feet of aisle between bookshelves.

  “But there are also nesting pods built into the bookshelves. Along the outer walls, the pods are five feet deep. Just off the center aisles, the pods are around three and a half feet deep. Near the center, the pods are only two and a half feet deep. All the pods have built-in nook lights on a crane handle, pocket speakers, built-in closets for fuzzy blankets. They sit like egg chairs. Every pod has a fold-down desk, a curtain that can be pulled over the opening. The shallow pods have lighter fabrics, and the deeper pods have heavy fabrics. The speakers can play any book in the library as an audiobook.

  “The deeper pods can widen to two-person if needed. But it has to be consensual, and nothing sexual can happen. I think that’s everything.

  “I also want the library to have its own AI, to organize the books, record the audio, repair books if they’re damaged, recall books if they’re out too long, guide someone if they become too distressed. Maybe offer physical comfort.”

  “Processing. User wishes library to have independent AI to oversee library?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Processing. Please state what type of AI you wish to oversee library.”

  “One that can maintain the library, oversee those who come in, watch for people who are distressed, maintain the books and the collection, comfort those who need it. Be a presence to let a person know someone cares.”

  “Confirmed. Library AI designated. Yukino the snow leopard will be librarian. Will you accommodate Yukino in library?”

  “Yes. Any accommodations Yukino needs, I’ll add it to the library.”

  “Confirmed. Purchase price 35,000. Purchase library?”

  “I do. Purchase it.”

  “Purchase confirmed. Process will be completed in 20 minutes.”

  “Thanks, Raven.”

  “Status.”

  Still looked good.

  “All right, Raven. You still remember I wanted bunkers?”

  “Confirmed. Please design layout.”

  “Three bunk beds. Each with a separate cloth wardrobe. Two toilet rooms and a separate shower room. How much would each room cost?”

  “Processing. Based on system calculations, 8,000 credits.”

  “All right. I want ten of them coming off the left side of the communal hall, with a long enclosed hallway, with three doors spread out facing the inner section. Doable?”

  “Confirmed. Purchase price, 82,000 credits. Purchase?”

  “I want these to be rentable per bed, so each room will have an internal system interface — whether or not a bed is free. They can rent by the day, by the week, or by the month. Their choice. No one can get into another’s wardrobe. The bathrooms are self-cleaning. A day is two credits, a week ten credits, a month thirty credits. They can rent for multiple months, but only one bed. They are allowed to change which bed they rent as well. Do I have enough credits to implement this system?”

  “Confirmed. 82,000 credits to purchase.”

  “Purchase it. How long to build?”

  “Ninety minutes to complete build.”

  “Okay. I have 2k credits left. Can I do anything in the middle? Make it a type of training yard? Or should I wait till I have more credits?”

  “User is advised that a dodge training simulator is available in store. For 500 credits. For single person only.”

  “Huh. Would you look at that. Could I set up an interface so they rent it to use?”

  “Confirmed.”

  “Then I’ll purchase four. Two credits an hour. Think that’s fair?”

  “User is advised that any who use dodge training simulator will feel actual pain, but receive no actual damage.”

  “Yeah, I’ll need a warning sign then. Thanks, Raven. Place them close enough to the entrance of where the communal hall will be going, just off to the side. In a square, but enough room to walk around, please. I think I’ll go buy a bunch of lounge chairs now. Can I make it so the communal hall furniture can’t come outside?”

  “Confirmed. User preference logged.”

  “All right. Thanks, Raven.”

  I turned to Liv. “Well. We have to keep this area clear for the next two hours. What do you want to do?”

  She looked at me, confused. “Why two hours? I thought you were going to build something?”

  “I did. It’ll take two hours to build, since there wasn’t anything here to begin with. It’ll take longer than the guild did. Also, I got some dodge training simulators. Need to post a few signs, though. But I don’t have materials on me, and I’m out of credits now.”

  She stared. “Seriously? How much did you spend?!”

  I thought back to an hour ago. “About 140 thousand credits. Thankfully, I still have a bunch of currency. Maybe I should go talk to the guard? Tell them what’s up. You okay to hang out here and keep people away?”

  Liv gave me a slow nod, still not believing I bought something to build by talking to seemingly empty air.

  I waved her off and started jogging to the guards’ short fence wall. The guard there stared at me a second. “Turner?”

  I nodded. I wasn’t sure if getting recognized was a good thing or not, but here I was. “That’s me. Just needed to let someone with authority know what I was doing. Got anyone up the chain nearby?”

  He radioed for a few moments, then waved me in, pointing to where I needed to go — a tent this time. “There should be a sergeant there that can pass the message along. Thanks for the heads-up, she says.”

  I nodded and started jogging again. It wasn’t a long jog, but there were people going about their business everywhere. I didn’t want to look too out of place.

  Getting to the tent, I called out, “Turner here, may I enter?”

  “Get your ass in here, Turner.”

  I knew that voice. I opened the flap. I was right.

  “Heyla, Sergeant Wilco. Been a minute. Bathrooms treating you okay?”

  She stared at me. “You talked my dad into running in your guild. My dad. A former Marine. Who is now running the dungeon. Tell me why I shouldn’t shoot you.”

  I held my hands up in a pleading motion. “This was not on me. He was going to create a guild-like team network, then I showed him how my guild operates. So he joined my guild instead. Also, I sort of fixed his leg, and now I’m selling auto-sized wands to DMC?”

  She kept glaring at me, then huffed. “I thought he’d keep out of it with his leg. But no. Someone had to go and fix it better. I’m blaming you for that — that he’s running at all. He wouldn’t have if his leg was still bad.”

  “Uh, sorry? One of the first things I did when I made my wands was start selling them to DMC, so he’d have likely gotten it better eventually. I think some of the healers are high enough level now to ease his pain entirely. And to completely match him to his prosthesis? So you can’t really lay all the blame on me. I just sort of sped things up? He was going to do it on his own anyway?”

  She kept glaring, then sighed. “Fine. Whatever. I can’t keep a personal grudge with you anyway. What’s the reason for the visit? Something new to sell?”

  She looked a little intrigued for a moment.

  “Ah, no. I bought the land near the bus stop. I’m building rooms and apartments there. Trying to get people out of the garage. A communal hall for everyone, a library with a few specific focuses. A few training simulators anyone can rent, a few credits an hour. I got four specifically for dodge training right now. I know the dungeon leveled up, so—”

  She looked like she wanted to fume. “We have been trying to get that land for weeks! And you simply bought it?!”

  “Uh, yeah? I went through the system to purchase it. Since it’s technically unowned land, it belongs to the system now. So I just bought it with currency.”

  She put her head in her hands. “Sometimes, I kind of hate you.”

  “Uh, sorry? But on the other hand, I have sixty beds for anyone who wants out of the parking garage? And the communal hall is for everybody? Just a nice big open space, a bunch of tables and chairs, couches even. And a library to read and relax? Guards are welcome too, if that helps.”

  She looked at me and sighed. “Fine. I’ll let them know. There is a place to relax off duty. I’ll spread the word about the simulators, even. Getting people training is important. Especially for the second level of the dungeon. Have you tried yet?”

  I shook my head. “I wanted to get the apartments up first. Right now, I’ve only got bunkers. I need to wait a day or so to get real apartments up. I’m going to make posters about my clothes, buy some lounge chairs for outside, see about more training simulators, sell more wands, make more bags. Maybe buy a bunch of board games and such. Or a dozen decks of cards or something.”

  She laughed. “Communal hall. Right. To relax. Why not build a crafters’ hall next, too?”

  I blushed. “Well, that’s because I’m trying to build a crafter village instead. Just not here.”