Making sure he wasn’t followed. Alan asked directions from a valkyrie to Callisto’s private box. He was Grateful to be off the main floor. He was over 30 years old, not the easily distracted 18 year old he had to remind himself. I guess he was both, but still. I guess it just played to his favor, playing the rich idiot this time around.

Approaching his destination, he checked on his tablet for the silent auction. The Commercial Nano Material Manipulator had risen to 8000, but the bids had largely dropped off at this point. While bidding for the many of the other items rose quickly. His other bid was still the same. If only they knew.

Moving down the velvet carpeted corridor he made his way to the door to the private box. Entering the code which had been provided by Callisto’s corp he let himself in. The room was furnished in mahogany wood molding and soft earthy carpets. A great glass window dominated the far wall. Leather chairs were positioned to overlook the auction down below. The only other person in the room heard Alan’s entrance and stood. He was a porty, clean-shaven gentleman, with thin grey hair wearing a grey pinstripe suit which tried, but failed to hide the weight behind it.. “Hello Mr. Corving, I’m Mr. Jakes,” he held out his large hands, and gave a charming smile.

“Hello Mr. Jakes. Feel free to call me Alan.” Alan reached out his hand, and it was vigorously shaken in return. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh the pleasure is all mine. Please have a seat.” He pointed to an empty chair. When Alan sat down, as a servant silently entered carrying a heaping plate of horderves. Alan took only a few shrimp, while Mr. Jakes, on the other hand, proceeded to select a small mountain of seafood, meats and cheeses for himself.

“I’m testing to see how much I can eat in this virtual world without gaining weight. I’ve got it on good authority that you can eat as much as you want here and not gain a pound!” Mr Jakes playfully patted his belly and laughed heartily. Alan smiled along with his jovial host.

“So you must tell me what you think of the Auction so far? It’s pretty great isn’t it! Especially that spaceship. I know I’d like to get my hands on it if everything they say it can do is real.. I’ve always dreamt of going to space, as a boy I always wanted to be an astronaut. Walk on the moon, look down on the earth, experience the effects of being weightless.” He winked at Alan. “It’s why I decided to join Callisto Corp. and try out Cosmos. What about you Alan, how did you get involved in all of this?”

Alan shared a little of his story of how he’d been interested in the game out of high school and thought it was a great opportunity. He decidedly kept much of his background hidden for now. Just alluding to a mysterious source of wealth. .

They chatted for sometime before the end of the silent auction came to an end. As expected he’d been the winning bidder for both of his bids. He smiled internally after securing both the Commercial Nano Material Manipulator and the Land Claim Permit. Mr. Jakes also was checking his data brightened.

“I hope you had as much success as me. ” He grinned broadly.

It was announced that there was going to be a brief recess before the public auction began. The Large hall below was slowly being converted to a grand display to set up seating for the auction. As Alan looked down at the dispersing crowd his eyes caught sight of Carmen and his bodyguards leaving the floor. His eyes still roving, he couldn’t help but catch himself trying to catch a glimpse of the women in the emerald green gown.

“Alan, if it’s alright with you why don’t we get started with the negotiations, since everyone is here.”

Alan started, his attention having been focused on the crowd. Turning around, he was doubly surprised to find 2 women standing next to Mr. Jakes.

“Alan, I believe you’ve already met my assistant Angelica, whom you’ve spoken to previously.” Angelica worse a plain black cocktail dress and had mousy brown hair. “The other is Ms. Cordata. A valuable member of Callisto Corp.”

“Mr. Jakes, I’ve already had the opportunity to meet Mr. Corvin earlier this evening.” She reached out, the long emerald sleeve of her dress clinging slightly at her forearm. The warm scent of jasmine, filling the air.

“It’s wonderful to be able to see you again.” Alan was, to his relief, able to keep his mind clear.

“Wonderful, I’m glad we could all get acquainted. Let’s all have a seat then we can begin our discussion before the auction gets started.”

“Alan, I’ll get right to the point that the Callisto Corporation is ready to purchase your entire stock of vervetic energy for private sale. We’d also like to see about purchasing it along with energy storage capacity as well.”

Alan pretended to think about the matter seriously before speaking. “Mr. Jakes, thank you for inviting me here tonight. It’s become more clear to me today that my little stock of VE has become pretty valuable overnight. It should come as a surprise to you that pretty much everything in Cosmos. The rings, ships, weapons, all depend on VE energy.”

“Just this evening another party, a man by the name of Carmen, approached me earlier making other grand offers.” He paused to let the point sink in. His mention of the other party, Carmen, caused both Cordata and Jakes to look at each other nervously. “It seems we’re going to have a scarcity of VE, at least in the short run.” Alan waited for their response. Surprisingly it was Ms. Cordata who spoke up first.

“Alan, it’s clear that you understand how scarce vervetic energy is going to be in the near future. But perhaps you might not understand the impact on what shortage like that would mean.”

“Right now I believe the human race is on the cusp of something wonderful, and Cosmos is the key! Unlike those skeptics who’ve never been here, I believe all the technology is real, it’s why Callisto Corporation has invested so heavily into the program.”

Alan nodded and waited for her to continue.

“What you might not understand, however, is that without more energy, we are going to be stuck in our development. Nearly every advancement developed around and powered by this power unique to Cosmos.” She finished, somewhat passionately. Alan nodded in agreement.

“With this energy,” Mr. Jakes continued more pragmatically, “We believe we are going to provide the best opportunities for mankind.”

“What does Callisto Corporation plan on doing with this energy? Specifically?” Alan eyed them both, as they each looked nervously. “Why shouldn’t I invest it with Carmen, or any other number of industries?”

Ms. Cordata finally spoke up. “Alan, for Callisto corp our number one priority will be space travel. We believe space travel will give our business and the human race the ultimate leg up in Cosmos. However, humans are desperately far behind in this area. There are many technologies which need to be learned, integrated and tested so we can grasp the ultimate advantage. Ships. And we can’t do it without energy.”

Alan reflected on her statement. It certainly was true. Trade, resource gathering, and even military prowess all depended on the ability to travel in space. It was clear to him that they were far sighted in their thinking.

“So why not wait till the embargo is over, or just focus on the ships already in Cosmos?” Alan interjected.

“We don’t believe the embargo will last forever. However, it is a risky proposition to depend on the supply of other alien nations.” Ms. Cordata finished.

Mr. Jakes spoke up quietly. “Besides, what we’ve discovered is that Cosmos only provides the most basic of technological advancements in this area.” He gestured to the ship at the center of the floor below. “The technology incorporated into that ship alone vastly surpasses any of the designs and technology we’ve gained from the system. But even then, it will only demonstrate how it works with VE energy, the energy we hope that you can provide.

Glancing between the two of them, Alan was convinced by their sincerity. “I’m willing to sell you 1300 VEU as well as a number of storage devices for the energy.” His offer seemed to encourage both of them.

“Wonderful!” Mr. Jakes continued, “To show our sincerity at the offer we are willing to provide $300,000 in total for the supply.”

Alan had to stop himself from salivating. To his ears, their offer was very sincere. They were offering nearly four times the amount for the VE energy prior to the embargo. Alan was unlikely to see prices like that for a few more weeks if he sold it on the private market. “I accept your offer.” Though the wealth he’d just gained had been great. It was obvious, he’d need nearly $700,000 more to complete purchase of the pods for his family, as well as substantially more for future projects.

As they concluded shaking hands the lights dimmed in the auditorium. Instead of a vast area filled with items to be auctioned, the floor was now filled with rows upon rows of chairs filled with eager bidders. A round dais rose up in front of the starship where an auctioneer took his place. The crowd grew energetic as the main event was about to begin. In the private box, Ms. Cordata seemed to grow somber and focused as the first item went up for bid. Jakes removed his tablet, pulling up a screen with the item's information on it. Conveniently, it offered the holder to make a bid, thus allowing those in the box seats to do so privately.

When the bidding commenced the room buzzed with excitement. Items of all varieties appeared: tools, cosmetics, alien curiosities as well as weapons, genetic mutations, and rare knowledge packs were made available. The bidding however, came to a fever pitch when the Xanza Scout ship was finally presented.

“We shall begin the bidding at 50,000 credits.” The auctioneer began.

Soon bids, mostly from the floor, began to go forward.

“100,000”

“200,000”

…

“1,000,000”

The bids kept being raised till most of those on the audience floor soon faded as they realized that their dreams of flying through space in the Xanza ship was like trying to capture a star.

Alan noted that it was at this point that those in the private booth’s wealth far exceeded that of the moderately wealthy player.

“2 million”

“3 million ”

“5 million ”

It was at that point that Alan noticed Mr. Jakes finger flick across the screen. “6 million”

Both he and Ms. Cordata, eagerly casting their eyes on the flying ship. However, another bid came in at “6.5 million.” Undaunted Jakes touched his screen again. “7 million” This time there was a pause, as and he and Ms. Cordata smiled nervously at each other. Until the auctioneer announced “8 million.” Without hesitation their Jakes raised it again 9 million and then again to 10 Million soon after.

The audience was breathless, not so much at the amounts which were being spent, but at the absurdity of how they’d collected so many credits. Cosmos had only been open a week, and unless you had vast amounts of bullion on hand or had an army of players earning credits for you, collecting 10 million credits seemed absurd at this point in the game. It was worth nearly $50 million in cash. A small amount if you consider the cost of the most advanced jet fighters of earth. But it was rather absurd when you have the looming belief that this is a ‘game.’

Mr. Jakes was sweating bullets at this time. His hand, instead of poised over the button, instead was balled up next to his leg. Ms. Cordata, seemed to be holding her breath, her hands clasped, white knuckles showing. Both seemed to put their combined will into winning the bid, having put their very best offer down.

“10.5 million” The auctioneer announced.