I walked into the Golden Hall, already knowing I was late.

  Kat wasn’t waiting for me, but her assistant Tammy O’Neil was. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, glaring at me as I walked in. When Kat was aggravated with me, she tended to get aggravated with Tammy, who then tended to take it out on me. It was my fault after all.

  Tammy looked to be about low-twenties, in some places Pre-System she wouldn’t have been allowed to drink. Now she was at least forty, but still looked the low-twenties. She’d gone the normal Tutorial and had gained some offensive and defensive Essences, which allowed her to go out and fight when she wanted, but most of her stuff was geared toward administration.

  I called her a Combat Secretary, and then she’d call me some really bad names.

  Blond hair in a cute pixie cut, Tammy would have probably worn glasses if the System hadn’t erased the need for them. She had dangling gold earrings that ended in emeralds. I didn’t know exactly what Abilities the earrings, along with the multiple rings she wore, gave her but every piece of jewelry she wore was Arcanum-Infused. Today Tammy was dressed in a pair of pants and t-shirt. There was no formal business wear in Solace. I’d outlawed that a long time ago. I hated business wear. Suits and ties had to go. Casual all day, every day.

  She had her arms crossed, foot tapping on the floor, as she glared.

  “Hey Tammy. Donut?” I asked, taking her favorite flavor out of my storage.

  Her glare softened a bit as she held out a hand. I carefully placed the donut in it, not wanting to get too close. She pointed up the stairs.

  “Conference Room B,” she said, walking away from me.

  I chuckled and headed up the stairs.

  The room was the same one Kat and I had met in yesterday but had more people. Kat was sitting at the head, with another person next to her. A third was standing up, looking at the pile of goods that Kat had left out. There were more items at the other end. They all looked up as I entered.

  “Hey all, sorry I’m late,” I said, pulling bags out of my storage. “I brought donuts.”

  Kat rolled her eyes. The person next to her, Jenny Brackett, was Fields assistant. She gave me one glance, shook her head, and returned her attention to the papers in front of her. Michael Fields was the last one. He smiled, one of those used car salesman smiles that said he was only putting up with my antics to get the commission. From what I understood, he’d been a big shot VP in Sales for a large corporation pre-System. A high 8-figure kind of job. Far more than I’d made pre-System, but just look at the both of us now.

  Fields was very good at what he did and I really was thankful for him being part of Solace and all that he did for us. I just really didn’t like salesman.

  “If you’re giving them out,” he said, with that old school New York accent.

  I set the bag down close to him so he could look through for the one he wanted.

  “So what did I miss?”

  “Not much,” Fields said. “Katrina was just explaining how trading works in the Multiverse, and why another planet would want Resources from ours.” He picked out a chocolate covered donut, of course, and sat down to eat it. “We had always assumed that Resources across one world would be similar on another.”

  “They kind of are,” I replied, taking my seat across from Fields. “It’s just the flavor is different. Like a wolfhide from Earth is similar to a wolfhide from Cyrim but the Arcanum on both worlds is different so ours might give more Stealth where the Cyrim might give more Air Resistance or something.”

  “It does make sense,” Fields said.

  “Plus, from what I gathered from Jeriyan, that’s the elf I met,” I paused, tapping my fingers on my chin for a second. “At least I think he was an elf, never did get confirmation. Anyways, I think that there’s also some status associated with having gear made from Resources from another world.”

  “Now that really does make sense,” he said, leaning forward, smile wide, right in his element. “Seventy-five, if not more, of the reason why people bought a specific product was the status associated with that product. Names carried meaning. Even if the products are exactly the same, or if the named product is worse, there’s still status in having the name.”

  He was right. I thought about all those women, and a few men, obsessed with the big name purses. Spending hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars for a handbag just because of who the designer or manufacturer were. Even though they were usually pretty crappy compared to the far cheaper versions.

  Fields leaned forward, pointing at the goods arrayed across the table.

  “Lady Katrina said that these were what you had discussed with this Jeriyan Sumerio from the Sunrise Over Blue Hills Cooperative Formation.”

  I was impressed that Fields had remembered the mouthful of a name. I nodded, and he continued.

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  “And we’ll of course want to include other goods that only Solace can provide.” I nodded again. “And you said that Fred Douglas and his United American Alliance are also dealing with this Jeriyan?” Another nod. “So only things that we can provide, not just Earth-native. And stuff that is better than anything the UAA can come up with.”

  I nodded.

  I liked Fred, but my people came first.

  “I want to grab some weapons and armor as well,” I said. “A full set of Shadow Spider Armor would be great.”

  “I’m sure we can find an exceptionally crafted set and some weapons,” Fields said, glancing at Jenny, who was making notes. “And I’m assuming no Lexicons at this point?”

  “Nope.”

  “Good. That can be our trump card plus we’re not sure how well they would work in the Multiversal Nexus or even other worlds.” He leaned back, fingers tapping on the table as he thought.

  The man even looked like a slimy used car salesman. Slicked back black hair, neatly trimmed beard. He had to shave it everyday to keep it that close cropped and neat. Black hair, that had most likely been dyed before the System and I wasn’t sure how it was staying dyed now. He was older than I was. At least twice my age when the System hit. He shouldn’t have hair darker than mine.

  I noticed Kat looking at me, giving me the eyes, glancing at Fields. I knew what she wanted me to ask and I knew I needed to, I just didn’t want to. Fields was excellent at what he did and he did truly care about Solace and its people, even if he did line his pockets a bit too much in my opinion. When it came to business dealings, there was no one better in Solace. I sighed, taking a deep breath before plunging in.

  “So Mike,” I said, knowing he preferred Michael. “Would you or one of your people be available to come back to Crossroads with me and help negotiate the first deals with Jeriyan’s people?”

  Please be one of your people. Please be one of your people.

  “Of course I can make myself available,” Fields said, smiling. He knew that was where this whole conversation was going to go. “When do you plan on leaving?”

  I almost said later that day, just because I knew he wouldn’t be available that quick. But that would only hurt Solace. I needed Fields there to handle the negotiations.

  “Tomorrow,” I replied. “Is that enough time?”

  “Absolutely.”

  ***

  We talked for another hour or so before Fields and Jenny left, leaving Kat and I alone in the meeting room. She called Tammy on her Lexicon and ordered up some food for us.

  “You’re going to place nice with Micheal right?” Kat asked.

  There was of course only one answer.

  “Of course not,” I said, avoiding her glare.

  “Nick…”

  “Of course I will, Kat. I know how important this is. I want Fields there because he is good at it and I’m not. He’s exactly who we need.”

  “Good. Not like I had any doubts.”

  She said it so seriously that I glanced at her. She was looking down at her notes but I could see the smile.

  There was a knock at the door, Tammy opening it and coming in. On a tray she had three meals. I could smell the glazing and the meats. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was. Tammy gave Kat a salad, putting down a burger made with bear meat and a kind of BBQ sauce, along with fries, in front of me. For herself, she got some kind of sandwich. I dug in, enjoying every bite.

  “That’s from the Elite Grayrage Kodiak you killed the other day,” Tammy said, around a mouthful of her sandwich.

  “Really? It’s great. Who cooked it up?”

  “Dwight.”

  “He did awesome. I need to try a steak.”

  We fell silent as we all ate our lunches. I finished my burger when the two finished their meals.

  “If you take Micheal with one of the Guest slots, are you planning on taking anyone else this time?” Kat asked.

  I leaned back in the chair, balancing it on two legs, legs against the table to hold myself in place. I didn’t even use my Abilities.

  “I don’t know. Are we at that point yet? Would there be anything for them to do? I'll be hitting the Tower but could show them around but then they’d kind of be on their own with Fields.”

  “I would like someone with him to keep him out of trouble,” Kat said.

  “Yeah, good point.” I said, picking up one of the last fries, dragging it through a clump of sauce that had dripped from my burger. “Fields will be in his element with all those alien slimy merchants. Who knows what trouble he could get into.”

  “What do you have against merchants?” Tammy asked.

  “Just don’t like ‘em,” I replied.

  “He had a bad experience the first time he went to buy a car,” Kat said.

  “That had to be really bad,” Tammy said.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I said.

  Tammy laughed.

  I leaned forward to look past Tammy, who was sitting between me and Kat. I smiled, making sure Tammy saw it.

  “I’m assuming you’re volunteering Tammy to go?”

  “Of course,” Kat said, hiding her smile.

  “Hey,” Tammy said, glaring at both of us. “I don’t want to be stuck with that guy all the time.”

  “What do you have against merchants?” I asked.

  “I hate you.”