Chapter 13: Gift from dead

Birthrate had always been low since the war. Genetic mutations and the general idea that they were bringing a child into such a horrible world kept many from having kids. But because of this, the population had been steadily falling. Every birth was sacred, every death a tragedy.

The loss of Jeral was hard on Gin. He felt like he had lost all motivation. The world seemed to have lost some color. Food started to taste bland.

Finally, after a day of moping, Rakia called.

“Jeez, you looked like someone died.”

Gin nearly started crying.

“Oh, someone did die huh?”

Rakia sighed.

“Hurry over, I’ll make you some food.”

Gin nodded as he sniffled.

“Kid, you have to grow up. Girls like it when a man shows emotions, but this is kind of cringy.”

“S-shut up.”

Gin washed his face and felt a little bit better. He rode the pod down to the canteens while feeling melancholy, lost, and exposed. Before, he could always rely on his boss for help. Now he was fully on his own. No one was close enough to him to care. The feeling of loneliness and helplessness was overwhelming.

“What do I do now?”

He sighed.

“Just do what you have been doing so far. It seems to be working. You are just figuring out what you want to do in life anyway.”

Zin comforted him as usual. It was almost a routine by now.

Gin nodded along. At least his appetite didn’t go away. When he arrived, Rakia had already cooked up something tasty.

Smoked fish with unleavened bread and a bean paste spread with spices. Gin coated the toasted flatbread with the bean paste spread and layered some thinly sliced smoked fish on top. With each bite, he could enjoy the earthy taste of the bean paste, the strong hints of spices, and that particularly smokey flavor of the fish. It was a journey for the taste buds.

“So, what happened?”

Rakia asked.

“My boss… he died.”

“Oh…I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks.”

An awkward silence echoed between them. Thankfully, the good food cheered up Gin a little.

Finally, Rakia spoke up.

“I found another way. We will still raid the boss at Area 82. If we succeed, I’ll join your business venture.”

Gin’s face brightened up. The lethargic look in his eyes faded a little.

Zin nodded, something to distract the boy from his pain would be good. Allow time to heal the wounds.

“Next week, we will hunt down the boss. There will be stiff competition though. More and more people are joining Capitalist Conquest. Although we got a head start, we will lose it if we just wait.”

Gin nodded furiously in agreement.

“We got some information on the boss. It goes by the name Bonozo. It is a demon-type monster who feeds on fears. We have to be extra careful of illusions, especially when augmented reality illusions are so realistic.”

“What are demon-type monsters?”

“They are an enigma for sure. Most do not have physical bodies for us to attack. They often grow strong in areas with a lot of people with strong emotions. However, most demon types have a core. We just need to pass through its trickery and illusions to reach the core.”

“That doesn’t sound difficult.”

“Do not underestimate human fear.”

While Rakia lectured and Gin listened, an unmanned drone flew down from the prestigious Area 9. All the single-digit Areas are the top of the top. It was where the board of directors resided. High up in the stratosphere, the dangling buildings house most of the top elites of the Company.

Area 9 was where the headquarters of Laws and Regulation resides, the legal branch of the company. They dealt with contracts, wills, and legal issues.

The drone stopped in front of Rakia’s shop and a tiny robot arm popped out and gently knocked on the window. Rakia opened the window and saw the weird sight.

“Is Mr. Gin here.”

The drone spoke with a monotonous voice.

“I’m here.”

Gin replied immediately.

“Fingerprint please.”

The drone’s cap opened, and a scanner was revealed.

Gin placed his thumbs on the scanner and waited.

“Identity confirmed, please receive the parcel.”

A large brown envelope was inside the drone. Gin cautiously lifted it up and looked at the label.

“Will and testament of Mr. Jeral.”

The brown envelope suddenly felt extremely heavy in Gin’s hands.

He slowly removed the seal and looked inside.

A single white sheet of paper with two paragraphs on it, and a brass key.

“To the sole beneficiary of Mr. Jeral, goes his remaining fiscal assets of 100,000 credits. All other remaining physical assets would be received by the company as the down payment for the purchase of Hanger 109 in Area 13.”

Gin continued to read, but he was shocked at the sudden downpour of 100,000 credits.

“The key to Hanger 109 will go to the sole beneficiary and will remain in their hands without possible legal loophole to exchange ownership. Everything within the Hanger will be left alone by the company and will be the sole responsibility of the beneficiary.”

Gin took a deep breath. His boss left him a lot.

“But why me?”

He couldn’t help but ask.

Surely Jeral must have someone else who could better inherit his stuff. Why Gin?

But looking at the document again, it said sole beneficiary. Only Gin will receive the inheritance.

“Boss…why?”

Rakia stood aside and sighed. The kid suddenly became wealthy enough to start a business on his own now. Perhaps he no longer wants to join her on the raid.

But Gin slowly snapped out of his confusion and placed the inheritance in the back of his mind. He knew what he had to do now.

“Rakia lets continue.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I want to help, and I still require your partnership,” Gin smiled.

“Ha, fine. You’re suddenly a wealthy kid now. What are you going to do?”

“Start my business. I no longer have to worry about my immediate expenses. Thanks to boss, I have less weight on my shoulders now.”

Rakia patted Gin on the back.

“Good, good! Let’s continue!”

They conversed for several hours on their plan of attack. When the sun was just about to set across the horizon, Gin left for the docks. But he wasn’t returning to his room. He waited for the special vehicle.

A sleek white transport vehicle soon docked in Area 59. This was a high-class vehicle for areas above 20. Due to the sheer altitude of the upper areas, the vehicle must be equipped with proper parts to be able to hover in the stratosphere.

Gin got in and a red light flashed over him. He lost some credits immediately, but thankfully he was no longer a pauper.

The vehicle was empty. No one from the upper areas would travel down to the middle areas in public vehicles. Their pride wouldn’t let them.

The ship slowly flew upwards towards Gin’s goal, Area 13.

______

The docks at Area 13 looked like an art display. Topiary of various shapes lined the docks along with statues and models of various post-modernistic art. Gin didn’t understand a single thing about it, but it was eye-catching at least. The ground lit up as the conveyor belt brought him into the Area.

The main hub of Area 13 was a huge airport. Countless number of employees wearing the cleanest fanciest business suits were walking around, talking to their AI assistants and recording memos. Many were drinking a cup of strange beverage that seemed to exist only in Area 13.

Gin went to the information kiosk at the center and lined up. When it was his turn, an AI helped answered his question and pointed towards where Jeral’s hanger laid. Hanger 109 was in an inconspicuous corner of the airport. It was a medium-sized hanger for vessels that are small to middle-sized. Gin put the key in and opened the door.

What greeted him was a ship.

On the side, was the name, beautifully laser imprinted on.

“The Bolsheviks?”

It was brilliantly red, almost blindly so.

The ship was a custom-made vessel. Gin observed the outer frame and realized it was weirdly thicker than usual. He took out a screwdriver and opened up an exposed panel.

“This is…thermal plating?”

It was expensive stuff. Thermal plating was used only on vehicles that travel up into orbit. If this entire ship were coated in thermal plating, it would literally be constructed out of pure money.

“Boss must have spent a fortune…”

Gin realized the ship wasn’t finished. Several parts were still uninstalled and awaiting maintenance on the side. The outer plating hasn’t been fully installed yet. And from the looks of it, the weapon systems are nonexistent right now.

What he had, was a good frame already finished. He just needed to buy, make, and install the systems.

“What did boss make a ship for?”

Gin couldn’t help but ask.

“He probably spent nearly all his life savings on this.”

“His last words were about stars.”

Zin said.

“He wanted to see the stars.”

“But why? There is nothing out there but vast emptiness.”

“Perhaps he was a believer.”

Gin pondered. Was Jeral really such a dreamer?

“Either way, he left you a perfectly good ship. You can finish it in his honor.”

“Yeah, I was going to anyways. As a thank you and final send-off for boss.”

Gin nodded.

Zin began scanning the entire vessel and recording the blueprint schematics.

“Estimated time of completion, five years.”

“F-five years?”

“With your current skill and money, yes.”

Gin frowned. The ship needed more work than he thought.

“I will get it done.”

He finally sighed. The money Jeral left him seemed to be already diminishing in his mind. Perhaps he could include some innovations of his own. Jeral left the ship and the hanger to him. It’s his now.

Gin opened up the cockpit and sat in the pilot seat. The soft leather seat squeaked as he sat down. The chair was rather large compared to Gin’s tiny size. The armrests were enormous, and the buttons were far away from his hands.

Gin looked up at all the monitors. They would display information and flight data once the ship was in operation. There was an empty spot for the weapon systems on the left side of the cockpit. The cockpit can seat three people in total, one for the pilot, one for the weapons system expert, and lastly one for the navigator. Gin sighed as he looked at the design.

“One of those seats must have been for Hunter. Boss wanted to take him along into space as well.”

Gin thought as he saw the various hints. Hunter was a weapons expert. He would have loved the ship.

“But who is this last seat for? A navigator? Who would be Boss’s navigator?”

Gin pondered.

He sat up from the chair and began exploring the ship. There was a pair of stairs leading down from the cockpit into the hull of the ship. A corridor with six doors appeared as he got off the stairs.

“Dining room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, workshop, and a spare room?”

Gin looked behind each of the doors. The furnishing was half complete. The dining room only had the table installed and nothing else. The kitchen had opened pipes running all over the place. The bedroom was empty except for a few closets. The bathroom only had a toilet installed. The workshop was full of nothing but tools in unmarked boxes, and the last room was fully empty except for a few light fixtures.

Gin sighed.

“This ship really does need a lot of work done.”

He walked out and towards the end of the hallway, was another stair leading further downwards.

At the bottom of the ship was a storage bay. The enormous door opened up from under the ship allowing freight and goods to be moved in. Gin looked in wonder at the huge open space.

“So, most of the ship is used as storage space. But for what?”

“Maybe he will store supplies for an extended trip.”

“Where would he go?”

Zin shrugged but it wasn’t like Gin could see him do it.

Gin opened the giant bay door and walked back out into Hanger 109.

The ship was a piece of beauty from the outside, but the inside was the bare minimum. However, Gin could already imagine how majestic the ship would look once it was completed. It gave him further motivation to continue.

That night, Gin slept in the cockpit. The leather seat was quite comfortable. Its large size was perfect as a bed once it reclined all the way back.

Zin was plugged into the ship’s existing mainframe and was organizing the data.

Suddenly, he encountered a strange packet of data.

“This…”

He didn’t wake Gin up to discuss it. The kid had too much on his plate right now. Better save it for later.

Inside of the dark hanger, the brilliantly red ship The Bolsheviks laid dormant. Its pilot slept inside in blissful sleep. Nothing was awake, not even a mouse. Not that regular mice existed anymore. Even Zin went into hibernation mode to allow the automatic partition of the storage drives. A couple of zeros and ones crawled out of the vents as augmented reality turned on without anyone noticing. The binary formed a smile as it watched the ship, then vanished without a trace.

______

Deep within the valley, lies the lowest point humans could operate, Area 150. It was an ore mine that was populated by miners and drones. The environment was extremely inhospitable. The temperature was scorching high and the oxygen levels were dangerously low. Exposure would mean death within hours.

This hostile environment still housed various types of mutated creatures. Moles and insects mainly. But due to the constant patrol of mining drones, they were often obliterated on sight. Over time, they have learned to avoid the mines where humans work.

The humidity of the mine skyrockets once a year due to regular volcanic activity. The underground lake was a precious source of water for the entire company. In order to prevent the life-giving liquid from evaporating into the dirt, they lined the entire lake with a waterproof sheet.

Suddenly, a low roar could be heard. The miners all stopped and looked around. Fear slowly crept into their minds as they began to gather around the drones.

The earth began vibrating as if a seismic activity was occurring. Rocks fell from the ceiling, nearly crushing several drones and personnel.

Finally, it stopped.

“What was that?”

The mine’s foreman asked.

“Not sure sir.”

“Check the scanners.”

“The drone hasn’t picked up any life signals.”

The foreman began to worry.

“I hope it isn’t something big.”

He sighed.

“Sir, a few drones were damaged by the falling debris. We require maintenance.”

“Send a repair request to corporate. A group will respond and come tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.”

The foreman looked towards the vast mines with worry in his heart.

______

Gin went back down the following morning. The company was anything if not efficient. They already found a replacement to lead Gin’s maintenance team.

He wanted to argue but Gin knew he cannot win against the upper administration of the company.

They had a team meeting today in Area 56.

All remaining personnel met up in the commercial district of Area 56. Various shops that sold common everyday life items lined the streets. Gin found his team meeting up at the fountain square at the center.

Both vice leaders looked distraught. They didn’t take the loss of Jeral well. Combined with the fact that they now had a new team leader, they were on edge. The other team members were also solemn. The melancholy atmosphere was infectious and was in contrast with the brightness of the fountain behind them.

Soon, a middle-aged man approached the group.

He was rotund, to say the least. His gut hung out of his waist and on his face was a pencil-thin mustache.

“Good afternoon team, I am your new team leader, Gordon.”

He smiled, revealing his brilliantly white teeth. But the combination of his features made him look like a lying crook. Everyone cringed a little at the awkward introduction, but they didn’t voice out their complaints towards their new boss.

“I am sorry about the loss of Jeral, he was a good man. But the company must move on.”

Gordon nodded while twirling his mustache.

“We have a job already. A few drones had gone offline down in Area 150. We are required to go down and fix it.”

All of the employees groaned. It was the worst type of job for a maintenance crew. Only the most sadistic of team leaders would choose this type of job for their team. It seemed Gordon wanted to punish the team for the incompetence of their previous job. That, or he wanted to see how the team performed in the worst possible environment to gauge their skills.

Gin frowned. This was going to be a tough job. He already disliked his new boss.

Gordon kept on twisted his thin mustache as he smiled in satisfaction. The vice leader didn’t argue with their new boss and everyone left to gather their tools. It was going to be an annoying job tomorrow.