Instead of immediately leaving after his conversation with Reardon, he decided to have a closer look at the facility. Aside from the auction, the main building also had a large combat colosseum, and other practice halls, clothing and accessory stores, food vendors, and a few other amenities. Of course, all of these were run by Valkyries, and all of them specialized in ‘Products from Earth.’ All of these were pretty much empty, except for the occasional window shopper, as the only currency accepted were credits.

This market would eventually be a massive hub of trade for mankind, streamlining trades on Earth, to a central location for nearly all products earned in Cosmos. But there were a few strings attached. First were the tariffs. If you bought it directly in Cosmos, the price was going to be guaranteed to be cheaper. There was always a tax for each player. Cosmos always calculated it to make sure that those who worked on Cosmos would save money versus those who didn’t.

The other hang up was needed for a physical presence in the market. A person would come here to make the exchange directly. The only exception to this was at the public auction, where Cosmos would take a cut of the profits as a fee. The house, in this case Cosmos, would always profit.

The public auction had screens nearly 2 stories tall, which would each house thousands of listings of every material. As time went on, however, it would mostly house some uncommon items and those affordable to the average player. The very exclusive items and expensive on the other hand, would be directly sold at private auctions or to exclusive sellers through a broker. For now, though, it remained empty.

Sitting down, Alan decided to activate another perk of the market: The Market’s interface. The equivalent to the internet for earth.

Accessible for only registered characters in Cosmos, the interface contained news, databases, and a social network, among other amenities. For Alan, however, he was more interested in want-ad listings. Scrolling through them, he wanted to see who’d figured out that VE energy was going to be in short supply.

Looking to hire anyone with knowledge of Cosmos Tech beyond the basic tech packs.

Have a unique or rare item from Cosmos? We’ll pay top dollar! You could earn thousands with items of planetary tech or higher!

Writers Wanted! We want to hear about your unique Cosmos experience

He kept scrolling till he discovered a few ads which interested him.

Eris Industries is looking for information on VE related tech. Please notify us if you have anything. Will pay top dollar.

Looking for a VE energy or generator, must be earth compatible. Please contact Callisto Corp.

Alan couldn’t help but smirk. Tenson’s men hadn’t been able to obtain a generator and were still a long way off from making a VE generator, but still were looking for the tech.

The other was that of Callisto Corp, which was a subsidiary company of a large shipping firm, Boreal. He remembered, they had been pretty loyal to human interests, even had some minor ships in the Humanity Fleet fleet. He quickly wrote an email to them letting them know he was selling VE energy.

Looking more closely, it seemed as though there wasn’t a huge demand for VE. Not yet anyway. For the players, they hadn’t used their small stock and for most bigger buyers, it would take some time to see the need. With only a few hours till auction, he decided to find a change of clothes.

As he walked through the Pod Hub entrance, he received a new email, Callisto Corp had reached out to him expressing interest in what he had to offer. They’d provided a number for him to call. Asking for a private room at the hub, he called them up.

“Hello Alan. My name is Angelica,” She said cheerfully. “I am a representative of Callisto Corporation. Thank you for reaching out to us in regards to the VE you had for sale.”

“Hello Angelica. Yes, I have a supply of VE for sale. I’ve been debating to see if I can sell it in the new market auction, but saw your ad and decided to reach out.” Alan would be selling at auction later on, and he wanted to gauge how serious Callisto was.

“I see. I’m sure we could offer you a price which will more than compensate you for your trouble and is comparable to what you might receive at auction.” She sounded eager, but hesitated before continuing. “Of course, this depends entirely on what stock you have. If you have at least 10 units we can offer you more for the bulk price.”

Alan smiled. “I am currently willing to sell 1300 Units of VE energy in private transactions.” The line went quiet and for a long moment. Alan thought she’d hung up, until Angelica spoke up quickly. “And these are able to be used on Earth?”

“Yes. I can also provide storage devices as well.” He offered.

She responded excitedly. “I need to discuss this volume of transactions with my superiors. Can you hold?” Alan agreed.

Not long after, the voice of a gruff, no-nonsense, man came on the line. “Hello sir. I’m Bryan Jakes, head of purchasing for Callisto Corp. I understand you’ve 1300 Units of Vervetic Energy? And it's able to be used on Earth? With a transaction like this, I’m wondering if perhaps we could meet in person?”

“Yes, it’s not a problem.” Alan replied

“That's wonderful! When do you think you would be available?”

“I’ll be attending an event this evening at the market, so I should be available afterwards.”

“Would this happen to be the private Cosmos auction?” Alan, not entirely surprised, responded affirmatively.

“Well, Callisto has actually arranged for a private box for this evening event. If you would like, why don’t you join us as our guest?”

Alan was impressed. Whatever Callisto was planning for the VE energy, they seemed eager to have a good relationship with him.

“Mr. Jakes, I would be honored to join you. I’ll plan on seeing you this evening.” Alan left it at that. A few minutes later Alan received a call from Angelica with additional details. His only regret was that his Mom wouldn’t be able to attend the event. He smiled to himself mischievously. She would be so jealous. But what could he do?

Alan felt satisfied with how it went with Callisto. He hoped they’d make him a suitable offer. He needed a big buyer for the million he needed for his family's pods.

Alan spent the last hours maxing out his last credit card on a new haircut, suit, and a pair of colored contacts. His sunglasses, which had been fine as a way to hide faint blue energy rimming his iris would be out of place at the auction. Inspecting himself one more time, he headed back toward the Market and auction.

He approached the grand central market building for the second time that day. Walking past the marble columns and beneath the spired parapets, he moved closer toward the center structure. Through a glass covered plaza he felt and saw the pagoda skyscraper dominating the area. At its base a few male guards stood outside bronze polished doors. The guards were male versions of the valkyries. As he approached, his entry was quickly verified and he was allowed into an elevator which rose quickly to the levels which contained the auction hall.

He’d never been to the private auction before, having only seen videos and read articles about them. Stepping through the elevator he was greeted by quiet music and another valkyrie greeted him.

“Hello Sir. Welcome to the auction. Here is a list of what will be offered by Cosmos today.” He handed Alan a tablet. I listed hundreds of potential items in two categories. The first was for public bidding, which would happen in the latter half of the evening. The other category was for the silent auction, where items were to be bid on anonymously via the tablet, with the last bid being shown. The bidding would stop just prior to the public auction.

“Through these doors’ sir, if you would like to see the items on display. If not the main auction hall and private booths are on the floors above. Please note you can register your ring to the tablet and place bids.” The valkyrie demonstrated before ushering Alan inside.

He’d been a late to the start of the party, so as he stepped through the doors to a large hall, he was met with the site of hundreds of men and women, men in suits and tuxedos, and beauties in evening formalwear. Scattered throughout were various displays, showcasing the items to be auctioned that evening. At the very center of the room, rising above the crowd, was a sleek silver and red ship. It was no larger than a van his buddies had driven back in high school, however this was clearly designed to take someone to the outer edges of the galaxy.

Alan scrolled and browsed through the various items. For the silent bid auctions, there were already a number of placed bids. Especially for those items listed as ‘Usable on Earth.’ Unsurprisingly, most of those were mundane and benign. The only thing that really caught his eye was a hover skateboard. Totally rad. The other times which couldn’t be brought to earth were far more exotic and dangerous, various weapons, advanced armors, vehicles, survival supplies, scanners. There were various other non-tangibles sold as well; a one-week space cruise around the Carr-vey system, music of the Illepti space sirens, among other things.

Alan had his eyes on 2 items which he wanted most.

Land Claim Permit: A legal claim to lands not owned by an existing entity. Must not be disputed territory. Warning: Laying claim does not prevent hostile actions toward your party.

Commercial Nano Material Manipulator (System Tech, 3x Use.)

Looking at the current bids. It seemed as though there wasn’t much interest in the items. Both their descriptions were basic as best, just like the other items for sale. Checking the bids for each, the Land Claim Permit only had a bid of 500 credits, while the Commercial Nano Material Manipulator had a bid of 7000 credits. Selecting each, he went ahead and upped each bid by 50 credits.

A waiter drifted over, offering him, what must seem like an Earth delicacy; a glass of root beer and a candy bar. Perfect. Drifting over to the ship, he decided to look at its description as it was the clear centerpiece of the auctions It didn’t take him long to drawn near enough, past the swarm of interested buyers. Looking at the details listed next to it, he read:

Xanza Scout Ship - Tech Level: Planetary - Usable on Earth

Comes with shielding, life support, scanners...

“I see that the Xanza Scout ship has caught your eye.” Alan heard a smooth spanish-castillian accent behind him.

Alan turned, feeling he’d recognized the voice. His mouth went dry as he came eye to eye with the well-dressed Spaniard, he’d encountered on Mairkness. He stood smiling; a pencil mustache fixed to his upper lip. He was dressed again to the height of fashion, in a black tuxedo and tie, with diamond studded cufflinks.

“Hello again, unfortunately, I believe last time I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Carmen.” He held out his hand. Alan robotically took it, and only nodded.

“I must offer my deepest apologies; it seems that my men attacked you without provocation when we last met. And when I saw you here, I thought it would best to clear the air. Mister?” Carmen continues to shake Alan’s hand with near vice-like intensity.

“Ah yes.” Alan ignored the question regarding his name, the more anonymous he could be the better, and instead focused on putting off the feeling of dread rising inside him, and instead slapped on a goofy grin, “I was a little surprised to be attacked like that in Cosmos. But I guess it is a game.”

“Why yes, it is a game isn’t it.” The Spaniard paused as if considering, “I think perhaps though, you might be better at it than you let on?” Carmen winked at him, before releasing his hand, much to Alan’s relief.

“We can only try our best when playing a brand new game.” Alan replied, trying to play dumb.

Carmen carried on, ignoring the comment, “I’m not sure if you are aware of this, but I work for a very wealthy and power individual. And there is rumor going around that some highly valuable VE tech might have made it to Earth before the embargo. I’m sure that whoever could provide this tech would be well compensated by my employer.” He looked meaningfully at the ship “Even something like this ship might be a small reward for such support.” He didn’t have to add what might happen if his employer didn’t get what he wanted. The grim scowls of his bodyguards said as much.

“Thank you for that information.” Alan continued to play ignorant. “But I’ll be honest, this ship isn’t all that impressive.” He said dismissively. His final statement a complete truth, it really wasn’t that impressive. Alan’s comment seemed to irritate Carmen, as the Spaniard looked again at the ship capable of flying to Pluto and back in no time at all to wonder what was not so impressive.

“You don’t know what you are talking about.” A feminine voice interrupted. A woman, who had been standing near the Xanza Scout ship, turned around. “This ship would put any of our state-of-the-art spacecraft to shame.” The women, near Alan’s own height, wore a floor-length emerald gown, jade earrings, and had auburn hair. “Why, an analysis of the outer plating alone could advance our space program by decades.”

Alan stood there, probably a little more dumbly than he was pretending to be.

“Hello Ms. Cordata.” Carmen responded, “It's so nice to see you again. How are things with your father?”

“Hello Carmen. He’s just fine, thank you for asking. And how is Mr. Tenson doing?”

“Just splendid.” He smiled. “He’ll be much happier once we have this lovely.” pointing to the ship.

“Oh, I don’t know Carmen.” She moved closer. “I’ve got my eye on this beauty too.” She grinned wickedly.

Carmen grinned back, “Oh, well that’s good to know. I might’ve been concerned if your father, and not just you, had been taking an interest.”

The smile of Ms. Cordata faltered momentarily before she changed the subject. “So, who is this associate of yours Carmen?”

Instead of responding, Alan's mind was more focused on the scent of jasmine which now lingered in the air.

“Ah, he’s just another player I’d ran into previously.” He turned to face Alan, completely ignoring the young women. “The silent auction will be ending soon. Perhaps I could invite you to my private box to discuss further business.” He gave a smug smile.

“Oh, thank you.” Alan paused, acting as though he just thought of something. “But I’ve already got one.”

Carmen's smile faded while Ms. Cordata seemed genuinely taken aback. Apparently, those with private boxes were known entities to the upper elites, and he didn’t fit the mold.

Without pause, Alan continued. “Like you said Carmen, times a tickin’.” He nodded to Ms. Cordata, turned smartly and made his way toward the exits and the private rooms, leaving them both confused. He certainly wasn’t running away. No definitely not, he thought to himself, unconvincingly.

As he neared the exit, a group of 6 men filtered in. Like many of the other guests, these men were dressed in black suits and ties. But unlike the others, they didn’t carry tablets. Instead of mingling, as others did, they stood silently, not even talking amongst themselves. “I wondered when they’d show up,” Alan thought, as he gave them a sidelong glance.