Interspecies Trader

“Why do you say that?”

“It’s true, right? It’s not like I’m a nice woman, and I’m not that strong either. There’s nothing special about me.”

“Won't you become the strongest in the world?”

“Even if that happens, it’ll be in decades.”

“So, what you mean is that I need a special reason to care about you? And that reason is sex?”

“What else?”

I sighed.

“Is it my turn to say it? Is that how you see me, Selva?”

She flinched, but I wasn’t done.

“In that case, let me tell you how wrong you are. I’m sorry to say, but I have many sexual partners. If it’s just about sex, I can get it any time I want.”

She stared at me with complete disbelief.

“Stop lying.”

“It’s the truth. Why, jealous?”

“Whenever I see you making this face, I feel the urge to smack you.”

“Yeah? Why don’t you do it, then?”

“I will!”

She raised her fist, ready to strike. However, just before it reached my face, she halted herself. Ultimately, she let her arm dangle back to her side without doing anything.

“You’re so annoying. I don’t believe you, anyway.”

“You don’t believe this, you don’t believe that. Okay, what about I show you? Next time, I’ll visit with one of my sexual partners. I’ll enjoy the look on your face when you realize how wrong you were.”

She rolled her eyes dismissively.

“Sure, whatever. I’ll smack you if you bring a prostitute, though.”

“Deal. Let’s have sex, the three of us together, as your punishment for doubting me.”

Her eyes were now full of disdain.

“Is your brain only filled with lewd ideas?”

“What? Scared?”

She flared up again.

“Okay! Not like that’s ever going to happen!”

“Good. Let’s meet again in a few weeks. Are you going to stay here or go back to Geola?”

She hesitated.

“…I’m going back to Geola.”

“Alright, I’ll see you there.”

I prepared to leave when I suddenly thought of something.

“Wait. Do you have enough money?”

Her eyes wavered for a moment.

“I’m doing fine.”

“How much do you need?”

“I don’t need your money.”

We bickered for a while longer until I managed to convince her to borrow from me. It wouldn’t do if she starved on the way because she ran out of funds. After that, I left her inn and went back to my other tasks.

Now that all my urgent issues were taken care of, it was time to think about what I should focus on next.

My goals for the short term were simple. Increasing the number of selnic items we were manufacturing and selling, stabilizing my businesses, moving into my new home, and handling Miwai.

What was blurrier was the long term. There were many directions I could go in. For example, I could extend into the financial and banking system. With knowledge of modern financial tricks, I was certain there was plenty of money to be made there.

Another option would be to develop a transportation network. If I could build and own train lines between cities, I could have folks pay me a premium to use them. I would become so rich that I wouldn’t know what to do with all the money. This came with conditions since I would need permission for such large-scale projects, but it wasn’t impossible. I could start at a small scale, for example, in between Geola and the bunnies’ village, and expand later when everyone understood how great it was.

I could also focus on creating a business empire. The problem with that one was that I would come into conflict with the three great merchant companies. I wasn’t afraid for myself but more for my friends and employees. I wasn’t strong enough yet to be able to protect everyone I wanted.

There were many other choices. I could develop a telecommunication network like the land phones inside the domes. I could expand my food business and create new restaurant concepts that didn’t exist yet in the outer world. I could even focus on art and entertainment, like with Liv’s books, for example.

There were some ideas I liked more than others, but I didn’t have an absolute urge to do any of these in particular. I decided to focus on my short-term problems until my mind became clearer.

Fortunately, it seemed my small trick with Miwai was holding so far. In a way, I was quite lucky. Since the meeting with the merchant Resistance happened just before Miwai’s proposal, it might still be unclear in everybody’s mind who I was with yet. I didn’t doubt that both sides knew about each other’s involvement with me. It was just a matter of time before Miwai became impatient and tried to hurry things along, in their own, probably unpleasant way.

Back in 82, I had a meeting with Minsto after a long while. I hugged her the way we always did before sitting down to discuss. Minsto had been focusing on getting the factory running and finding someone to help with sales in the domes. Now that this was done, she had more free time to handle the next project.

“Here’s the thing. Your products are selling well in Geola, and even a little in 2, right?”

“Sales in 2 are mediocre.”

“Yes, but they’re slowly picking up. Rich people like your design. So, I’ve been wondering what other items we should focus on for the next batch. Do you have any suggestions? Ideally, something that could sell well inside and outside. Outside is the main focus, of course.”

She nodded.

“I do. For small items, a kettle and a toaster. For a larger one, a washing machine.”

“Wait, washing machines exist here?”

“They do. They focus on using as little water as possible. And only the wealthy possess them.”

“Isn’t the market too small inside the domes? And also, there’s no plumbing in the outer world…”

“Plumbing?”

“Ah, so even rich people don’t have that here? Plumbing refers to transporting water directly from large reservoirs to individual buildings, including homes, through a network of pipes.”

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