Building A Future (Short Story)

Here's a direct continuation to, This Post, (The Money Lender) I had some fun writing that one and couldn't get the idea out of my head after I finished it.



Source


Nevyn entered the backroom behind Mildria Wresand. It was lit with ambiance in mind, dim, with streaks of neon throughout, the seats around the table were comfortable and for the first time all day, he was able to sit down and relax.

Being comfortable was the only benefit of being in this room, however. He knew that they had much to discuss and he wasn't sure exactly how long the meeting was supposed to take. Silently, he waited, sitting down and watching as Mildria paced the length of the table slowly; stalking the possibility of sitting down at the head of it.

"Will anyone else be joining us?" He asked as he glanced at the closed door and back to her. Mildria just shook her head in response. She walked to the head of the table, resting her hands on the surface of it, standing over the back of the chair.

"No, we'll just sort this out amongst ourselves. I'll inform the others when we decide what to do." She said. "Well, why not sit down? We'll throw the cards out on the table and run through some ideas." They were imaginary cards, although, Nevyn couldn't help but think of how useful a set of cards could be; they could each have options on them and each would lead to the next; branching off to form a plan of action and what to expect a few years down the line.

She took his advice and sat; once seated she stared at the ceiling as she leaned back while raising her hands to the back of her head. "Okay. We have plenty of options. Plenty of things we can decide to do. More than enough money now to truly get started and build something that will last. Scoosha needs something like this and the government knows it too." Mildria spoke with a certain amount of certainty in her voice, yet, somewhere in there was a heavy dose of doubt.

"Working for the government," Nevyn said, smiling as he did. He started to chuckle while slowly shaking his head in slight shock. That prompted Mildria to stare at him and soon, she too was smiling at the prospect of working with them. "I never thought it would come to this." He continued.

"It has its benefits doesn't it?" She asked. "Of course, it has its benefits. Freedom from any past transgressions and a chance to bolster the planet's economy. Who knows, maybe you could even run one day. Imagine that, Mildria Wresand. Leader of Scoosha." Nevyn chuckled once more, this time though, Mildria's face turned, it was almost like she was considering the possibility. She shook the thought off after a few moments however and pounded the tabletop.

"Okay, what's the plan then? What do you think?" She asked, through gritted teeth. Her eyes were fixed on him, and Nevyn couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about the look she gave him.

"It's certainly a good thing for the planet. I mean, imagine. We could start off like this, hand over the chips we currently have in stock, and let them work on their advertising campaigns. Feel the rest of Free Space for their interests in what we've got. With funding, we could expand production. But, I think when we get there, our own interests and ideas should change." Nevyn said, to which Mildria seemed to have a piqued interest. "That being?"

"Well, there are a lot of ships out in the wastes. We could take the money from the sales, and start tearing down those wrecks for components and scrap. Start a whole new industry, a separate business, so to speak. More money." Nevyn continued.

Now, Mildria's mind seemed to be working over time. The idea of expansion was already enough to make her eyes light up. But, the prospect of starting a new industry seemed to take her fully on board with the initial idea. "We could have a scrapper guild operational very soon. Then, we could even start up a construction house, turn that scrap into new ships." Her eyes darted around while she spoke.

"Exactly. It's only a matter of time before someone else comes in and does the same thing." "The Beskins. If we could sell the chips to Besk, we would have open relations with them and hire some of their shipbuilders." She cut Nevyn off. "Yeah, you know the Beskin have that disease they call degradation. Well, they would surely see the use in tracking their citizens." She nodded to that, slowly and surely.

"I've been thinking about it more and more, it's only a matter of time until someone else comes in and starts these operations up. Why not us?" Nevyn replied.

Mildria stood up, and once again she started to pace. This time faster, with more ferocity in each step. Every time her boots hit the ground the vibration resonated through Nevyn. "Okay, yeah. This is good Nevyn." She said, under her breath, too busy thinking.

"One thing though." She stopped and looked at him. "What's that?" Nevyn asked. "I like this job, I like being in charge of the operation we have going at the moment, the power." She replied.

"You can still have power. In fact, you would have even more. Think of all the people who would be working beneath you, the amount of money you would have." He responded, speaking slowly as he chose his words. "No, not that kind of power. The power over people, the power of life and death, the power of debt." Nevyn nodded to that, and soon Mildria was walking once more.

"Did they say you had to close down your lending business?" Nevyn asked. "It was implied." She responded quickly. "Implied?" Nevyn started to think, maybe there would be a way of doing both.

"Maybe. I don't know, but maybe. You could do both. You could have the public face, the business side of things, the legit side of yourself. But, maybe you could also have the shady side, the money lending, and who knows what else. Create a persona. Everyone does it I'm sure. Just take a back seat, and let others run it for you, but you will be the shadowy figurehead of the operation."

Her eyes lit up at that idea, then she shook her head lightly. But, as she thought, the less her head shook and the more she started to nod. "It's not the same." She replied. "Is it?" She continued.

"It's not the same, no. You would have a lot at stake, who knows though, it might be better. It'll be a secret of sorts, only a few people would know." Nevyn replied.

The prospect of a secret business seemed to excite her, and she smiled. "I'll arrange a meeting with them, we'll discuss terms, and possibilities, and talk about projections. The boring stuff."

"Well, count me out of those discussions. Not really my thing." Nevyn replied. "You'll need to be there, especially if you're going to take charge of certain aspects of it.

The thought bounced around Nevyns mind. Take charge of certain aspects of it?



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I had fun reading your lines, I like letters.

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