Slumrat Rising

Truth had a lot of time to think on the flight back. The first thing was, “Lovers are a benefit of the job for some people at Starbrite. The company was always very upfront about not everyone having the same access to the System store. Told him that on day one. And as Truth had provisionally determined the value of human life to be eleven wen and a pair of ratty shoes, he could be charitably described as “frugal.” Fair to say he was not a shopper. Despite that, he felt like he would have spotted a “Modified Human Beings” tab in the shop.

“Summon humanoid System interface,” he thought.

No.

“What do you mean no? Are you broken or something?”

Do it properly.

“Oh, for fucks sake.” Truth got his mind set, then tried again. “Appear, Imp!”

“Yatta! It’s me, your lovable human-shaped… something! Yaay!” The sprite, still in its office lady outfit, delivered the lines in a monotone while appearing to smoke a golden bat cigarette and flip through a magazine.

“Really? I put some effort into that.”

“It was weak. It was some tryhard shit, and you know it. Still, it was better than nothing, so I’m here. Waddaya want?”

“Can you savagely, cruelly, humiliatingly beat a hallucination facilitating your communication with an incomprehensibly vast spiritual being that interacts with reality on a level that your gelatinous brain mercifully cannot comprehend? No. But I do like where your mind is headed!” She smiled sunnily and put down the magazine. The cigarette stayed.

“Great. Look, I ran into a demon today-”

“Yeah, Human Resource Development Officer L̸̢̛̜̰̱̦̦̖̜̯͙̤̼͗̇͜͝a̵̢̨̰̺̦̣̗̙̫̞̼̪͈͉̅̒̋͑̔͘͠͝͠m̸̦̝͓̻̳̜̪̉a̶̡͙̦̪̦̣̥̳̭͚̣̩̝̘̜̰̻͋̏̀̀̔́́̓̌͘s̸͖͖̘͉̀͐̈͂̈̎̑̽̇͊̓̑̓̑ḧ̴̭̪̝̜̗̲̟̖̰̪͙͉̤͓͚͕́̏̈́̐̕͜͠ẗ̷̗̹̜̮̙̀͌͆̈͒̒̓͌̔͝u̵̧̡͈͓͍͐̔̓̂͐̐̋͐̉̇͜͝ͅ. Such a sweetheart. What about her?”

Truth shook his head, sure he hadn’t heard that right. Then pressed on. “Look, she said something about lovers being available through the System as a company benefit?”

“She did? Oh. Well, that’s not good.”

“What? Why?”

“Because it is her nature to be very aware of loneliness, isolation, and pain. If she takes the time to give you unsolicited advice, you need it. On the other hand, she is a demon, so… grain of salt and all that.”

Truth tried to wrap his head around the idea and failed. The System faerie shrugged and went back to her magazine. Eventually, Truth looked over at her again. “Explain how this works.”

“Good tone, demanding. Commanding. Immediately magus!” She tossed the cigarette aside and ditched the magazine. “You have three options. Variations within and between those options, but three main choices. First- straight demon. We summon a succubus-”

Truth raised an eyebrow.

“Alright, yes, they technically are called something else, but that’s what everyone calls them. Just… work with me here.”

He flapped a hand, urging the sprite to continue.

“We summon a spiritual entity colloquially known as a succubus or incubus, and yes, they are the same thing, customized to fit your needs and preferences. The summoning and binding ritual is a huge pain in the ass, so we have to employ specialist demonologists for the job. A high-demand bunch, as you can imagine, so the upfront costs are chunky. Despite that, this is the cheapest option, and I don’t recommend it for beginners.”

“Why?”

“Because even with top-notch bindings, succubae are what they are. You will fall helplessly in love with them, and they will slowly take over your life. They won’t harm you directly, but you will have picked up a permanent parasite. Succubae are fine for a weekend for the hardcore, but definitely not for beginners.”

“Got it.” Truth nodded. Though he would have to think about it some more.

“The next option is the most expensive up front, though the maintenance costs can be reasonable depending on what you want. We make you some kind of golem and slap a personality into it. Be it demonic, spiritual, an engram of a person who once lived, or even have a ghost possess it. Whatever you need and can afford. Some options are better fits than others.” The sprite shrugged. “It’s on the table, but candidly, it’s out of your price range right now.”

“Alright, and the last option? I believe she said, ‘Modified Humans?’” There was a definite edge to his voice.

“Yeah, it's the middle of the road, price-and-maintenance-cost-wise. We take a basic human, tweak them with as much customization physically as you are willing to pay for, drop a glamour on ‘em and give them a personality to inhabit for a while. It’s not perfect, but a lot of people find that the imperfections make the whole thing feel better. They still could never betray you or deliberately hurt you. You would struggle to hurt them too. Emotionally, anyway.” The sprite shrugged.

“Upfront costs can be substantial but not crazy. The monthly maintenance is the highest of the three, but you can afford it with some budgeting. Well, depending on what extras you order.” The sprite kept the tone matter-of-fact.

“Realizing I’m not likely to like the answer… where do the “humans” come from?”

“Nothing weird if that’s what you were afraid of. Either they owe the company so much money that even a normal indenture couldn’t pay it off, or they are so psychologically damaged they just don’t want to deal with reality for a good long while. Knowing that they are being taken care of, and even earning money, is very comforting to them.” Truth looked disbelieving, but the faerie pressed on. “The modified humans are so enchanted; they genuinely enjoy their time with you. We modify their memories afterward, of course. For your privacy.”

“And this is… legal.”

“Sure. Why not? Everyone consented, and everyone has their basic needs met. There are rules on how you can use or abuse them. It’s all very transparent.”

“Ah. And how much would, say, a basic lover cost?”

“Modified human? Basic package deal? Ten thou up front, six hundred a month maintenance, plus whatever you want to treat them to. Fancy foods, jewelry, whatever. As I said, it’s a lot, but you can afford it with your bonuses.” It threw a double thumbs up, then dropped them immediately.

“You are sitting on a big chunk of cash from the Kofi job, so now would be a good time to try it out. However, there are a couple of things to consider first,” the sprite said.

“Like what?”

“Like, what do you want your future to look like? And the future for your siblings?”

He wasn’t quite sure how to answer that. When you got right down to it, what they had now (plus Sophie and maybe Vigor going to university) was his highest definition of life goals. What… did he want?

“Let me explain a few things that may help you figure it out. First- cultivation rank is everything. The higher you cultivate, the higher your status in the company. The higher your status, the less likely you are to get killed on the job. So the higher your cultivation, the longer you can be here for your siblings. You won’t find anyone in the upper ranks of C-Tier who isn’t at least Level Four. At least. Most of the B-Tier is Level Six and up. Level Seven, and they are knocking on A-Tier and the C-Suite. Now, you may not want to have managerial responsibility on that level. That’s fine; lots of opportunities for powerful people without direct reports. But you really need to be connecting your Level to your sense of security and the well-being of your family.”

“Understood.”

“Good. Next item. You have enough credits to buy a Friends and Family point. It will leave you a bit over ten thou credits from your bonuses from that job, plus your base salary, but it will save you having to, well, save for several years.”

That landed like a gut punch. He had been so blown away by the fact that he had gotten some Friends and Family points as a bonus that he hadn’t even considered spending his own credits to buy one. And the faerie was right. It could take years to save up for even one point. Years the sibs didn’t have.

“Exactly how much of a benefit do those points give new employees?” He asked.

“Varies on the job, department, and tier. F-Tier? A single point might let you pick your job, within reason. C-Tier? You are going to need a couple to shift up a bit. Maybe three to get a really good mentor for your high-status job. So if you want all your sibs to start at C-Tier like you, four points are not remotely enough to get them the best career track.”

“Ah.”

“Remember, you joined up with both Military Merits and a Master of Arms certification. You made your own points, as it were, and started directly in the PMC. If Harmony were to join security, unless he also goes berserk during his national service, he would go into F-Tier, non-PMC security.”

Truth sighed. He wasn’t renting a boyfriend. Or girlfriend. Or… both? Oh, he would hate himself for this for a while, wouldn’t he? Then he frowned. Starbrite was ruthlessly hierarchical.

“Imp.”

“Yes, dread magus?”

“Are you implying that the sponsor’s rank within a tier is irrelevant?”

“Never, oh mighty one! Who is putting in the work on the ominous tone, by the way. Big improvement.

“How, exactly, does the sponsor’s tier affect things?”

“The points stretch a lot further the higher your tier. For example, you are at the bottom of the C-Tier. You would have to spend a lot of points to land Harmony a mid-C-Tier job, assuming he passed the relevant specialization on the SAT. On the other hand, your boss is much higher in the C-Tier and would spend comparatively less for the same job. The same principle applies to a lot of benefits in the company.”

“How the hell is that fair? We’re both C-Tier.” Truth demanded.

“Fair? What’s fair got to do with it? You know perfectly well that her Friends' and Family points are more expensive than yours. Why shouldn’t hers buy more advantage? She’s earned her position. You can do the same.” The faerie looked both scandalized and offended.

Truth sighed. Of course, that’s how it worked. What an odd flash of idiocy to look for “fairness.” He shifted around, trying to get comfortable on the foldout seat. It wasn’t happening. Maybe that was it. Too much time in cargo holds.

“So it comes back down to cultivation and hustling for cash. I gotta balance what I can earn in bonuses for friends and family points against what I need to buy to get to a higher level, to make those points stretch further.”

“Exactly. Lucky for you that the PMC both pays very well and provides many opportunities for bonuses. I can tell you that a C-9-U in our ocean shipping department won’t see so many elixirs in five years as you have seen in one. Speaking of fairness.” The sprite nodded.

Truth wasn’t sure what he wanted. He didn’t mind leading a section for the Kofi job. Enjoyed it, actually. He could see leading a squad. A platoon, though? That might be too much for him.

“Wait, what do you mean “Plenty of opportunities for powerful people without direct reports?” What would you even be doing for the company?

The sprite giggled. It was a nasty, mean sound like an office lady who found out her enemy was pregnant with her lover’s child, and he wasn’t leaving his wife. “Ask me again when you are Level Five. I can promise you this much. You will have to hire an accountant to keep track of all the money, elixirs, and treasures you accumulate. Friends and Family points? People will beg you. Heads pressed to the floor, beg you to let them employ your siblings. And you will tell them no because they aren’t good enough. They aren’t even qualifiedto beg.”

Truth coughed. That stirred up some feelings. Feelings he wasn’t completely sure he wanted to understand better. But he knew what he had to do now.

“Any which way, I know what I have to do. Get working, get that money, get my level up. And do it fast and hard.” He paused. "But, uh, show me where the lovers tab is in the system. Just out of curiosity."

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