Chapter 155: 155
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A bit irritated, Orison said, "Let me guess. That modestly generous remainder is going to be burned up settling in and shelling out for magical instruction of my choosing. Something like that?"
Taken off guard, Liberty said, "I- yes. I suppose you could see it that way and not be wrong. Let me finish!... But most first generation members start their professional lives with a five year debt repayment plan hanging over their heads. That's the same here and the UTF... You'll be starting with a clean black line. And don't forget, the 1,000 monthly merit stipend for students with low or no income is there too."
Orison laughed at the dark humor in it all. "Well, you see that expected life extension remuneration for losing half mine? I'm turning it over to the League for merits."
Her eyes looked like they would pop out of her head. "Why would you do that!? You can't even easily put a price tag on life extension because they're not easily bought but I guarantee you the League will and it'll be at ten percent its projected worth."
Orison all but scowled. "Why would I do it? It's simple. They're only offering thirty years worth because of availability limitations. I GUARANTEE you they'll be the trashiest of their lot. That means quick resistance buildup and subpar performance of their expected effect. I'll be lucky to get half.
"Add on top that before I have a chance to even possess them in more than theory, some a**hole is going to find yet another way to skim some from me for an even more dubious 'benefit' to me. This way, I know what I'm getting. The League will actually give a damn about the quality of what will be sent so that ten percent will actually be quite a bit.
"To boil it down, I won't be ruined for better stuff I could get later. I know exactly how I'm going to be ripped off. And the icing on the cake, I won't be poor. Do you see any flaw in my logic? That's not rhetorical. I could use some advice from someone I believe I can trust."
Liberty thought it over. "That's actually fairly insightful. Although, I don't think you would actually be fleeced as badly as you think. I can't discount the possibility but you don't strike me as the type to get easily fooled."
He confessed, "It's all the things I don't know. I may have a good understanding of human nature but every place has it's own secret rules and that takes time to learn. They're not things someone can just tell you. If I have access to something too desirable to ignore, Someone will use that ignorance to trip me up and take advantage. At least merits are something easy to track and if someone squeezes me too hard, there will be proof I can use against them once I understand things better."
Orison said, "Well, I have a soft spot for luxury and I'd like to know if there's a way to sponsor a citizenship preemptively. I'm sure there's also better training and material resources..."
For the last bit of time left, Liberty did her best to financially advise the young mage. She tried to protest when he suggested she handle the plan they concocted but caved under the ten percent commission he offered her as his off duty accountant. The nice lady who came to lead him to where he'd spend a twenty-four hour observation period was alright with waiting a couple of minutes while Liberty conjured up some electronic paperwork to put their verbal discussion into a contractual agreement. She needed certain permissions and she insisted that he needed the protection such a contract would grant, further cementing in the young mage's mind that he had made a good choice.
The next few days were a stress inducing nightmare mostly caused by himself. His demerits might already be logged but he had to write out individual statements for each one of his illegal alien claims and the reasoning behind them. There were his own intake procedures. And since he was at it, some paperwork on Rio's behalf as well.
He was a bit surprised at first but because of his statement to Justice about Rio, he had taken some kind of partial responsibility for the teen. It was all about resource accountability at the end of the day and Orison was a little too high profile not to push some merit snatching bureaucracy onto. And there was nothing more important or expensive for a new citizen applicant than the adjustment tank medical 'wash' at the end of intake. It was even broken into three tiers.
Since he paid for it, he hadn't actually been able to speak to Rio yet and he wanted to witness the procedure before he went through it himself, Orison attended Rio's. Under anesthesia, the teen couldn't talk but the attending medical personnel could and answered Orison's questions. He just about jumped out of his skin in excitement when he realized that one of the three main ingredients was essentially some tech made vital water. After a quick rundown through the capabilities of the solution to mitigate the vital water's danger while offering a slew of other positive minor effects, Orison was fairly certain that the procedure could handle much more of the diluted vital water than they used.
When he asked why so little was used, the assistant explained that the supply of 'aqua vitae' made each year was fixed. Concentration could fluctuate from year to year and after a little mental math, Orison realized that the current year's mix was nearly a hundred times less than what it could handle. Whether it was the stimulation of genetic potential, boosts to various bodily functions or the stimulation of hidden life force production of the body, everything was powered by the diluted mix. The procedure that counted for nearly three of a new citizen's five year debt was administered at an overall twentieth of it's potential.
With some quick thinking, Orison decided not to wait and had his run in tandem with Rio's. He pulled some spatial sleight of hand and exchanged out their sorry mix for a more concentrated version capable of maximizing the potential for them both. Although he had been put under for his time in the 'specimen tank', Orison heard afterward that it seemed like there was some kind of synergistic effect between their tanks. Orison was happy to let them think what they liked. He had merely switched out his 'aqua vitae' container's contents with uncut vital water and had that dumped into the center fluid distribution tank, letting osmosis handle the rest.
He had his doubts about the regular treatment being worth 300,000 worth of debt but with his little change out, the young mage definitely thought it was. Every cell from marrow to the mostly dead outermost dermal layer was as healthy and whole as nature would allow. Everything from veins to magic channels were clear and almost damage free. They were essentially showroom floor pristine and direct delivery primed.
Over the next seventy-two hours, he still didn't get a word with Rio because of what intake referred to as 'the burn'. To help the body absorb some of the overflow and to take advantage of overdrive cell activity, after the medical wash was done, they were subjected to a workout that hit every muscle of the body. Warm up, wear out, cool down and then it was rinse and repeat for three days.
The following period, known as 'the crash' was different for everyone. Human mystics, psionics and lower end mutants with stable genes usually slept for half a day, ready to start their new lives. Rio fit this category but Orison didn't. The young mage's took five days.
The powerful activation mixed with rigorous stimulation of physical potential drastically accelerated the last part of the young mage's 'unpacking' into the shell sent ahead into this world. He shed it dramatically. To the medical staff, such an event usually suggested a releasing of mutant latency but after another two days of testing, the only thing of relevance that they could uncover was a slight universal rise of physical parameters. The significant raise of aesthetic appeal was of no interest to them.
Finally on his way to his new home, Orison was lost in thought rubbing the two inch growth of new hair on his head in helpless frustration. "The chinchilla fur has returned... Glad to have the old 'only human LOOKING' teeth back, though. Human teeth are so damn fragile."
During his trip from the satellite processing station to 'Sixth Heaven', he used the shuttle's public availability touch screen to get an overview of where he lived. Avalon had a fairly simple layout. There were a 108 village sized satellite installations and seven 'heavens', an evolution of term from the 'havens' they used to be called.
The first heaven was the central headquarters of Avalon. Only the leadership, core members of the League and their families lived there. There were a few of the core who lived in Second Heaven along with the rest of the supernaturals who needed special accommodations, however.
Seventh Heaven was the second biggest after Second Heaven and housed most of the agriculture. Essentially, it was a metropolitan sized greenhouse that also provided residential areas for the majority of the mundane population and the supernaturals whose jobs were agriculturally related. Like Second Heaven, it also had a couple of underground layers to keep the city dome under maximum size for efficiency. The materials and energy necessary to maintain the protective domes were already a really high part of their budget and did a lot more than just keep the antarctic chill out.
There wasn't really a 'bad Heaven' to live in but, on a scale of best to worst, Sixth Heaven would be considered the worst. That was mainly due to noise and being open to the outside world. The top side was the home of global distribution centers, sports stadiums, convention halls and other large venues open to use and visits from the world at large. The underground layer was where the majority of the seven heavens' general manufacturing and trade good processing took place. Not so surprisingly, some people DID prefer to live there.
As for the rest: Fifth Heaven was dedicated to higher education, training and nature conservation. Third Heaven was a bit of a mystery aside from having a bit of a reputation for being THE preferred home of non-core elite, retired League members and security sensitive personnel. Fourth Heaven was a beautiful little slice of catch-all for more sensitive general manufacturing such as Avalon citizen exclusive medical and magical goods as well as Avalon citizen only entertainment.
Fourth Heaven was also where Orison's new home was. Rightfully, Liberty thought it would be best to place him close to where his alchemy tutor lived. The reason why Orison was happy about it had more to do with the fact that it was a happy compromise between all points of interest for him. It was also a far cry from the double bunk bed school campus rooms. If it wasn't for a shortage of places with reinforced basement practice and lab rooms, and Liberty's help, even Orison's limited time B-class privilege wouldn't have allowed for him to snag the four bedroom villa for any amount of merits.
After a ride through the Heaven Connector subway and walking nearly a mile, Orison was finally in front of his villa. Upon walking in, the first thing he noticed wasn't the accommodations themselves but the absolute chaotic tornado of mess littered from one end of the visible house to the other. It took nearly the rest of the time he had before Rio returned from classes to clean, finish assembly on furniture and sort things out within the house. When the teen walked in, the young mage was combing through his merit account to figure out the whole story of what took place during his extra week in intake.
Peering around the house, Rio said, "You housekeeper service people really know how to go the extra step! I'm kinda surprised that you're the same age as me but I don't have any complaints... See you in a couple of days?... Uh, do I need to sign something or... You're not housekeeping are you?"
Orison gave Rio a saintly smile that fell short of the cold eyes above it. "Have a seat Rio. We have a few things to talk about."
With a nervous chuckle, the teen said, "Oh, god! You know what? I forgot my, uh, thing on campus. I'll be back later, okay..."
Rio turned to run but Orison didn't chase him, he only said. "When you're done, swing by campus housing. Your things will meet you there."
The teen swung around, looking baffled and hurt. "You're kicking me out because of a little mess!?"
"This is the big boy world, Rio. Stay and listen or do what you want and rely on yourself to handle it. Adults don't spank each other and send someone to their room... Okay, some do but for reasons that have nothing to do with us," Orison said, trying to reign in his anger and lighten the mood a little.
Predictably, Rio stayed. After a little investigation, it became obvious that the teen had very little idea about the merit economy. He also hadn't put much thought into how hard life would be later with a huge debt hanging over his head once he was in the working world later. Orison was relieved to find out that once Rio understood, the teen seemed appropriately horrified that he had burned through a little over a year's worth of average C-class income in a week.
Looking for a way to shunt some guilt, Rio said, "Most of the stuff I got, you would have ended up getting anyway, right?"
Orison flipped his hand a few times. "Furniture's not really my style but what's done is done. The UTF commercial satellite dish... Probably but it would have been later when I had more free time to enjoy it. Things like PREMIUM housekeeping and the 'different style a day' meal delivery services, that's a hard no. I definitely wouldn't have spent 30,000 merits on the 'wardrobe for every occasion' service but thanks for including me and at least saving a little on the 'extra person for a third of the merit' deal."
Rio painted on a chummy smile and said, "No problem. I was looking out for you too."
Putting on the saintly smile again, Orison said, "So until those services run out, I'll be making the selections... I didn't really need a king sized bed but that's alright... It seems that in all the confusion, you put your stuff in my master bedroom along with all the other, far more luxurious furnishings that you surely ordered for me. Don't worry about it. Your stuff is piled on YOUR full size bed in YOUR room along with the second set of bedroom furniture and the pieces I couldn't stand to have in mine."
Rio's chummy smile turned fairly watery towards the end. "Y-yeah. Thanks for the help.
Orison beamed at Rio with compassionate understanding and added. "The somewhat questionable items and especially that brass pole you put in my room are all yours, by the way. And by that I mean, you'll be the only person using them until three months after you're seventeen. To expand on that, no girls in this house without me or another pre-approved person present until such a time... Just so we're clear, what you do outside of this house is your business unless it costs me merits and then it WILL be mine."
Rio's ears burned but he was still brash enough to add, "Even my dad didn't keep me from having a girlfriend over!"
Orison sighed, "The place where you're from, it wasn't uncommon for a sixteen year old to join the workforce a little early to support himself and his knocked up girlfriend. For most people, there wouldn't really be any big changes in what a person's future would have been anyway but it's different here. There are far more opportunities and it's far too easy to lose them. Avalon is excruciatingly clear on the importance of personal responsibility and accountability. They won't invest in an irresponsible person.
"Look, you're just shy of sixteen now. The dream of supernatural power and the knowledge of how to use it that was denied you before is at your fingertips. The very things that made you burn with envy and resentment at being left out are yours but you need to learn how to own that. Is a little over a year of respectable teenage living such a hard price to pay when the reward is so great?"
Rio struggled internally for something to say in rebuttal only to lamely agree. "Yeah, sure... Wait, are YOU going to live a RESPECTABLE teenage life?"
Orison replied blandly, "I'm going to be living a miserable ADULT'S life who just so happens to be attending school as well. One that comes with the financial responsibility of yours due to some poorly thought out wording... Judging by the state of things when I got here, they're content with me being an acting guardian for you until evidence of the need for a real one is given. All to better snatch my merits.
"Speaking of which, they gave you an initial 300,000 access to my account for you to set up house. That's pretty much gone. I've set you up a weekly allowance of 1,000 and f***ing dare you to complain about it."
After having a taste of big 'money' lifestyle, Rio was glum but simply nodded.
Before he moved on to brighter topics, Orison said, "I'm serious about this. I'm not going to argue with you. If you end up racking up some kind of big merit debt or sneak behind my back and use this house as a pimp pad because I'm busy with something for a couple of days, I will cut you loose to the dorms for awhile or even permanently if-"
Orison stopped his speech because Rio dropped to the floor on his backside like someone had cut his strings. Instantly, Rio's forehead shined from cold sweat and the teens eyes stared vacantly at nothing in particular, lost in some waking nightmare.
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A bit irritated, Orison said, "Let me guess. That modestly generous remainder is going to be burned up settling in and shelling out for magical instruction of my choosing. Something like that?"
Taken off guard, Liberty said, "I- yes. I suppose you could see it that way and not be wrong. Let me finish!... But most first generation members start their professional lives with a five year debt repayment plan hanging over their heads. That's the same here and the UTF... You'll be starting with a clean black line. And don't forget, the 1,000 monthly merit stipend for students with low or no income is there too."
Orison laughed at the dark humor in it all. "Well, you see that expected life extension remuneration for losing half mine? I'm turning it over to the League for merits."
Her eyes looked like they would pop out of her head. "Why would you do that!? You can't even easily put a price tag on life extension because they're not easily bought but I guarantee you the League will and it'll be at ten percent its projected worth."
Orison all but scowled. "Why would I do it? It's simple. They're only offering thirty years worth because of availability limitations. I GUARANTEE you they'll be the trashiest of their lot. That means quick resistance buildup and subpar performance of their expected effect. I'll be lucky to get half.
"Add on top that before I have a chance to even possess them in more than theory, some a**hole is going to find yet another way to skim some from me for an even more dubious 'benefit' to me. This way, I know what I'm getting. The League will actually give a damn about the quality of what will be sent so that ten percent will actually be quite a bit.
"To boil it down, I won't be ruined for better stuff I could get later. I know exactly how I'm going to be ripped off. And the icing on the cake, I won't be poor. Do you see any flaw in my logic? That's not rhetorical. I could use some advice from someone I believe I can trust."
Liberty thought it over. "That's actually fairly insightful. Although, I don't think you would actually be fleeced as badly as you think. I can't discount the possibility but you don't strike me as the type to get easily fooled."
He confessed, "It's all the things I don't know. I may have a good understanding of human nature but every place has it's own secret rules and that takes time to learn. They're not things someone can just tell you. If I have access to something too desirable to ignore, Someone will use that ignorance to trip me up and take advantage. At least merits are something easy to track and if someone squeezes me too hard, there will be proof I can use against them once I understand things better."
Orison said, "Well, I have a soft spot for luxury and I'd like to know if there's a way to sponsor a citizenship preemptively. I'm sure there's also better training and material resources..."
For the last bit of time left, Liberty did her best to financially advise the young mage. She tried to protest when he suggested she handle the plan they concocted but caved under the ten percent commission he offered her as his off duty accountant. The nice lady who came to lead him to where he'd spend a twenty-four hour observation period was alright with waiting a couple of minutes while Liberty conjured up some electronic paperwork to put their verbal discussion into a contractual agreement. She needed certain permissions and she insisted that he needed the protection such a contract would grant, further cementing in the young mage's mind that he had made a good choice.
The next few days were a stress inducing nightmare mostly caused by himself. His demerits might already be logged but he had to write out individual statements for each one of his illegal alien claims and the reasoning behind them. There were his own intake procedures. And since he was at it, some paperwork on Rio's behalf as well.
He was a bit surprised at first but because of his statement to Justice about Rio, he had taken some kind of partial responsibility for the teen. It was all about resource accountability at the end of the day and Orison was a little too high profile not to push some merit snatching bureaucracy onto. And there was nothing more important or expensive for a new citizen applicant than the adjustment tank medical 'wash' at the end of intake. It was even broken into three tiers.
Since he paid for it, he hadn't actually been able to speak to Rio yet and he wanted to witness the procedure before he went through it himself, Orison attended Rio's. Under anesthesia, the teen couldn't talk but the attending medical personnel could and answered Orison's questions. He just about jumped out of his skin in excitement when he realized that one of the three main ingredients was essentially some tech made vital water. After a quick rundown through the capabilities of the solution to mitigate the vital water's danger while offering a slew of other positive minor effects, Orison was fairly certain that the procedure could handle much more of the diluted vital water than they used.
When he asked why so little was used, the assistant explained that the supply of 'aqua vitae' made each year was fixed. Concentration could fluctuate from year to year and after a little mental math, Orison realized that the current year's mix was nearly a hundred times less than what it could handle. Whether it was the stimulation of genetic potential, boosts to various bodily functions or the stimulation of hidden life force production of the body, everything was powered by the diluted mix. The procedure that counted for nearly three of a new citizen's five year debt was administered at an overall twentieth of it's potential.
With some quick thinking, Orison decided not to wait and had his run in tandem with Rio's. He pulled some spatial sleight of hand and exchanged out their sorry mix for a more concentrated version capable of maximizing the potential for them both. Although he had been put under for his time in the 'specimen tank', Orison heard afterward that it seemed like there was some kind of synergistic effect between their tanks. Orison was happy to let them think what they liked. He had merely switched out his 'aqua vitae' container's contents with uncut vital water and had that dumped into the center fluid distribution tank, letting osmosis handle the rest.
He had his doubts about the regular treatment being worth 300,000 worth of debt but with his little change out, the young mage definitely thought it was. Every cell from marrow to the mostly dead outermost dermal layer was as healthy and whole as nature would allow. Everything from veins to magic channels were clear and almost damage free. They were essentially showroom floor pristine and direct delivery primed.
Over the next seventy-two hours, he still didn't get a word with Rio because of what intake referred to as 'the burn'. To help the body absorb some of the overflow and to take advantage of overdrive cell activity, after the medical wash was done, they were subjected to a workout that hit every muscle of the body. Warm up, wear out, cool down and then it was rinse and repeat for three days.
The following period, known as 'the crash' was different for everyone. Human mystics, psionics and lower end mutants with stable genes usually slept for half a day, ready to start their new lives. Rio fit this category but Orison didn't. The young mage's took five days.
The powerful activation mixed with rigorous stimulation of physical potential drastically accelerated the last part of the young mage's 'unpacking' into the shell sent ahead into this world. He shed it dramatically. To the medical staff, such an event usually suggested a releasing of mutant latency but after another two days of testing, the only thing of relevance that they could uncover was a slight universal rise of physical parameters. The significant raise of aesthetic appeal was of no interest to them.
Finally on his way to his new home, Orison was lost in thought rubbing the two inch growth of new hair on his head in helpless frustration. "The chinchilla fur has returned... Glad to have the old 'only human LOOKING' teeth back, though. Human teeth are so damn fragile."
During his trip from the satellite processing station to 'Sixth Heaven', he used the shuttle's public availability touch screen to get an overview of where he lived. Avalon had a fairly simple layout. There were a 108 village sized satellite installations and seven 'heavens', an evolution of term from the 'havens' they used to be called.
The first heaven was the central headquarters of Avalon. Only the leadership, core members of the League and their families lived there. There were a few of the core who lived in Second Heaven along with the rest of the supernaturals who needed special accommodations, however.
Seventh Heaven was the second biggest after Second Heaven and housed most of the agriculture. Essentially, it was a metropolitan sized greenhouse that also provided residential areas for the majority of the mundane population and the supernaturals whose jobs were agriculturally related. Like Second Heaven, it also had a couple of underground layers to keep the city dome under maximum size for efficiency. The materials and energy necessary to maintain the protective domes were already a really high part of their budget and did a lot more than just keep the antarctic chill out.
There wasn't really a 'bad Heaven' to live in but, on a scale of best to worst, Sixth Heaven would be considered the worst. That was mainly due to noise and being open to the outside world. The top side was the home of global distribution centers, sports stadiums, convention halls and other large venues open to use and visits from the world at large. The underground layer was where the majority of the seven heavens' general manufacturing and trade good processing took place. Not so surprisingly, some people DID prefer to live there.
As for the rest: Fifth Heaven was dedicated to higher education, training and nature conservation. Third Heaven was a bit of a mystery aside from having a bit of a reputation for being THE preferred home of non-core elite, retired League members and security sensitive personnel. Fourth Heaven was a beautiful little slice of catch-all for more sensitive general manufacturing such as Avalon citizen exclusive medical and magical goods as well as Avalon citizen only entertainment.
Fourth Heaven was also where Orison's new home was. Rightfully, Liberty thought it would be best to place him close to where his alchemy tutor lived. The reason why Orison was happy about it had more to do with the fact that it was a happy compromise between all points of interest for him. It was also a far cry from the double bunk bed school campus rooms. If it wasn't for a shortage of places with reinforced basement practice and lab rooms, and Liberty's help, even Orison's limited time B-class privilege wouldn't have allowed for him to snag the four bedroom villa for any amount of merits.
After a ride through the Heaven Connector subway and walking nearly a mile, Orison was finally in front of his villa. Upon walking in, the first thing he noticed wasn't the accommodations themselves but the absolute chaotic tornado of mess littered from one end of the visible house to the other. It took nearly the rest of the time he had before Rio returned from classes to clean, finish assembly on furniture and sort things out within the house. When the teen walked in, the young mage was combing through his merit account to figure out the whole story of what took place during his extra week in intake.
Peering around the house, Rio said, "You housekeeper service people really know how to go the extra step! I'm kinda surprised that you're the same age as me but I don't have any complaints... See you in a couple of days?... Uh, do I need to sign something or... You're not housekeeping are you?"
Orison gave Rio a saintly smile that fell short of the cold eyes above it. "Have a seat Rio. We have a few things to talk about."
With a nervous chuckle, the teen said, "Oh, god! You know what? I forgot my, uh, thing on campus. I'll be back later, okay..."
Rio turned to run but Orison didn't chase him, he only said. "When you're done, swing by campus housing. Your things will meet you there."
The teen swung around, looking baffled and hurt. "You're kicking me out because of a little mess!?"
"This is the big boy world, Rio. Stay and listen or do what you want and rely on yourself to handle it. Adults don't spank each other and send someone to their room... Okay, some do but for reasons that have nothing to do with us," Orison said, trying to reign in his anger and lighten the mood a little.
Predictably, Rio stayed. After a little investigation, it became obvious that the teen had very little idea about the merit economy. He also hadn't put much thought into how hard life would be later with a huge debt hanging over his head once he was in the working world later. Orison was relieved to find out that once Rio understood, the teen seemed appropriately horrified that he had burned through a little over a year's worth of average C-class income in a week.
Looking for a way to shunt some guilt, Rio said, "Most of the stuff I got, you would have ended up getting anyway, right?"
Orison flipped his hand a few times. "Furniture's not really my style but what's done is done. The UTF commercial satellite dish... Probably but it would have been later when I had more free time to enjoy it. Things like PREMIUM housekeeping and the 'different style a day' meal delivery services, that's a hard no. I definitely wouldn't have spent 30,000 merits on the 'wardrobe for every occasion' service but thanks for including me and at least saving a little on the 'extra person for a third of the merit' deal."
Rio painted on a chummy smile and said, "No problem. I was looking out for you too."
Putting on the saintly smile again, Orison said, "So until those services run out, I'll be making the selections... I didn't really need a king sized bed but that's alright... It seems that in all the confusion, you put your stuff in my master bedroom along with all the other, far more luxurious furnishings that you surely ordered for me. Don't worry about it. Your stuff is piled on YOUR full size bed in YOUR room along with the second set of bedroom furniture and the pieces I couldn't stand to have in mine."
Rio's chummy smile turned fairly watery towards the end. "Y-yeah. Thanks for the help.
Orison beamed at Rio with compassionate understanding and added. "The somewhat questionable items and especially that brass pole you put in my room are all yours, by the way. And by that I mean, you'll be the only person using them until three months after you're seventeen. To expand on that, no girls in this house without me or another pre-approved person present until such a time... Just so we're clear, what you do outside of this house is your business unless it costs me merits and then it WILL be mine."
Rio's ears burned but he was still brash enough to add, "Even my dad didn't keep me from having a girlfriend over!"
Orison sighed, "The place where you're from, it wasn't uncommon for a sixteen year old to join the workforce a little early to support himself and his knocked up girlfriend. For most people, there wouldn't really be any big changes in what a person's future would have been anyway but it's different here. There are far more opportunities and it's far too easy to lose them. Avalon is excruciatingly clear on the importance of personal responsibility and accountability. They won't invest in an irresponsible person.
"Look, you're just shy of sixteen now. The dream of supernatural power and the knowledge of how to use it that was denied you before is at your fingertips. The very things that made you burn with envy and resentment at being left out are yours but you need to learn how to own that. Is a little over a year of respectable teenage living such a hard price to pay when the reward is so great?"
Rio struggled internally for something to say in rebuttal only to lamely agree. "Yeah, sure... Wait, are YOU going to live a RESPECTABLE teenage life?"
Orison replied blandly, "I'm going to be living a miserable ADULT'S life who just so happens to be attending school as well. One that comes with the financial responsibility of yours due to some poorly thought out wording... Judging by the state of things when I got here, they're content with me being an acting guardian for you until evidence of the need for a real one is given. All to better snatch my merits.
"Speaking of which, they gave you an initial 300,000 access to my account for you to set up house. That's pretty much gone. I've set you up a weekly allowance of 1,000 and f***ing dare you to complain about it."
After having a taste of big 'money' lifestyle, Rio was glum but simply nodded.
Before he moved on to brighter topics, Orison said, "I'm serious about this. I'm not going to argue with you. If you end up racking up some kind of big merit debt or sneak behind my back and use this house as a pimp pad because I'm busy with something for a couple of days, I will cut you loose to the dorms for awhile or even permanently if-"
Orison stopped his speech because Rio dropped to the floor on his backside like someone had cut his strings. Instantly, Rio's forehead shined from cold sweat and the teens eyes stared vacantly at nothing in particular, lost in some waking nightmare.
A bit irritated, Orison said, "Let me guess. That modestly generous remainder is going to be burned up settling in and shelling out for magical instruction of my choosing. Something like that?"Taken off guard, Liberty said, "I- yes. I suppose you could see it that way and not be wrong. Let me finish!... But most first generation members start their professional lives with a five year debt repayment plan hanging over their heads. That's the same here and the UTF... You'll be starting with a clean black line. And don't forget, the 1,000 monthly merit stipend for students with low or no income is there too."Orison laughed at the dark humor in it all. "Well, you see that expected life extension remuneration for losing half mine? I'm turning it over to the League for merits."Her eyes looked like they would pop out of her head. "Why would you do that!? You can't even easily put a price tag on life extension because they're not easily bought but I guarantee you the League will and it'll be at ten percent its projected worth."Orison all but scowled. "Why would I do it? It's simple. They're only offering thirty years worth because of availability limitations. I GUARANTEE you they'll be the trashiest of their lot. That means quick resistance buildup and subpar performance of their expected effect. I'll be lucky to get half."Add on top that before I have a chance to even possess them in more than theory, some a**hole is going to find yet another way to skim some from me for an even more dubious 'benefit' to me. This way, I know what I'm getting. The League will actually give a damn about the quality of what will be sent so that ten percent will actually be quite a bit."To boil it down, I won't be ruined for better stuff I could get later. I know exactly how I'm going to be ripped off. And the icing on the cake, I won't be poor. Do you see any flaw in my logic? That's not rhetorical. I could use some advice from someone I believe I can trust."Liberty thought it over. "That's actually fairly insightful. Although, I don't think you would actually be fleeced as badly as you think. I can't discount the possibility but you don't strike me as the type to get easily fooled."He confessed, "It's all the things I don't know. I may have a good understanding of human nature but every place has it's own secret rules and that takes time to learn. They're not things someone can just tell you. If I have access to something too desirable to ignore, Someone will use that ignorance to trip me up and take advantage. At least merits are something easy to track and if someone squeezes me too hard, there will be proof I can use against them once I understand things better."Orison said, "Well, I have a soft spot for luxury and I'd like to know if there's a way to sponsor a citizenship preemptively. I'm sure there's also better training and material resources..."For the last bit of time left, Liberty did her best to financially advise the young mage. She tried to protest when he suggested she handle the plan they concocted but caved under the ten percent commission he offered her as his off duty accountant. The nice lady who came to lead him to where he'd spend a twenty-four hour observation period was alright with waiting a couple of minutes while Liberty conjured up some electronic paperwork to put their verbal discussion into a contractual agreement. She needed certain permissions and she insisted that he needed the protection such a contract would grant, further cementing in the young mage's mind that he had made a good choice.The next few days were a stress inducing nightmare mostly caused by himself. His demerits might already be logged but he had to write out individual statements for each one of his illegal alien claims and the reasoning behind them. There were his own intake procedures. And since he was at it, some paperwork on Rio's behalf as well.He was a bit surprised at first but because of his statement to Justice about Rio, he had taken some kind of partial responsibility for the teen. It was all about resource accountability at the end of the day and Orison was a little too high profile not to push some merit snatching bureaucracy onto. And there was nothing more important or expensive for a new citizen applicant than the adjustment tank medical 'wash' at the end of intake. It was even broken into three tiers.Since he paid for it, he hadn't actually been able to speak to Rio yet and he wanted to witness the procedure before he went through it himself, Orison attended Rio's. Under anesthesia, the teen couldn't talk but the attending medical personnel could and answered Orison's questions. He just about jumped out of his skin in excitement when he realized that one of the three main ingredients was essentially some tech made vital water. After a quick rundown through the capabilities of the solution to mitigate the vital water's danger while offering a slew of other positive minor effects, Orison was fairly certain that the procedure could handle much more of the diluted vital water than they used.When he asked why so little was used, the assistant explained that the supply of 'aqua vitae' made each year was fixed. Concentration could fluctuate from year to year and after a little mental math, Orison realized that the current year's mix was nearly a hundred times less than what it could handle. Whether it was the stimulation of genetic potential, boosts to various bodily functions or the stimulation of hidden life force production of the body, everything was powered by the diluted mix. The procedure that counted for nearly three of a new citizen's five year debt was administered at an overall twentieth of it's potential.With some quick thinking, Orison decided not to wait and had his run in tandem with Rio's. He pulled some spatial sleight of hand and exchanged out their sorry mix for a more concentrated version capable of maximizing the potential for them both. Although he had been put under for his time in the 'specimen tank', Orison heard afterward that it seemed like there was some kind of synergistic effect between their tanks. Orison was happy to let them think what they liked. He had merely switched out his 'aqua vitae' container's contents with uncut vital water and had that dumped into the center fluid distribution tank, letting osmosis handle the rest.He had his doubts about the regular treatment being worth 300,000 worth of debt but with his little change out, the young mage definitely thought it was. Every cell from marrow to the mostly dead outermost dermal layer was as healthy and whole as nature would allow. Everything from veins to magic channels were clear and almost damage free. They were essentially showroom floor pristine and direct delivery primed.Over the next seventy-two hours, he still didn't get a word with Rio because of what intake referred to as 'the burn'. To help the body absorb some of the overflow and to take advantage of overdrive cell activity, after the medical wash was done, they were subjected to a workout that hit every muscle of the body. Warm up, wear out, cool down and then it was rinse and repeat for three days.The following period, known as 'the crash' was different for everyone. Human mystics, psionics and lower end mutants with stable genes usually slept for half a day, ready to start their new lives. Rio fit this category but Orison didn't. The young mage's took five days.The powerful activation mixed with rigorous stimulation of physical potential drastically accelerated the last part of the young mage's 'unpacking' into the shell sent ahead into this world. He shed it dramatically. To the medical staff, such an event usually suggested a releasing of mutant latency but after another two days of testing, the only thing of relevance that they could uncover was a slight universal rise of physical parameters. The significant raise of aesthetic appeal was of no interest to them.Finally on his way to his new home, Orison was lost in thought rubbing the two inch growth of new hair on his head in helpless frustration. "The chinchilla fur has returned... Glad to have the old 'only human LOOKING' teeth back, though. Human teeth are so damn fragile."During his trip from the satellite processing station to 'Sixth Heaven', he used the shuttle's public availability touch screen to get an overview of where he lived. Avalon had a fairly simple layout. There were a 108 village sized satellite installations and seven 'heavens', an evolution of term from the 'havens' they used to be called.The first heaven was the central headquarters of Avalon. Only the leadership, core members of the League and their families lived there. There were a few of the core who lived in Second Heaven along with the rest of the supernaturals who needed special accommodations, however.Seventh Heaven was the second biggest after Second Heaven and housed most of the agriculture. Essentially, it was a metropolitan sized greenhouse that also provided residential areas for the majority of the mundane population and the supernaturals whose jobs were agriculturally related. Like Second Heaven, it also had a couple of underground layers to keep the city dome under maximum size for efficiency. The materials and energy necessary to maintain the protective domes were already a really high part of their budget and did a lot more than just keep the antarctic chill out.There wasn't really a 'bad Heaven' to live in but, on a scale of best to worst, Sixth Heaven would be considered the worst. That was mainly due to noise and being open to the outside world. The top side was the home of global distribution centers, sports stadiums, convention halls and other large venues open to use and visits from the world at large. The underground layer was where the majority of the seven heavens' general manufacturing and trade good processing took place. Not so surprisingly, some people DID prefer to live there.As for the rest: Fifth Heaven was dedicated to higher education, training and nature conservation. Third Heaven was a bit of a mystery aside from having a bit of a reputation for being THE preferred home of non-core elite, retired League members and security sensitive personnel. Fourth Heaven was a beautiful little slice of catch-all for more sensitive general manufacturing such as Avalon citizen exclusive medical and magical goods as well as Avalon citizen only entertainment.Fourth Heaven was also where Orison's new home was. Rightfully, Liberty thought it would be best to place him close to where his alchemy tutor lived. The reason why Orison was happy about it had more to do with the fact that it was a happy compromise between all points of interest for him. It was also a far cry from the double bunk bed school campus rooms. If it wasn't for a shortage of places with reinforced basement practice and lab rooms, and Liberty's help, even Orison's limited time B-class privilege wouldn't have allowed for him to snag the four bedroom villa for any amount of merits.After a ride through the Heaven Connector subway and walking nearly a mile, Orison was finally in front of his villa. Upon walking in, the first thing he noticed wasn't the accommodations themselves but the absolute chaotic tornado of mess littered from one end of the visible house to the other. It took nearly the rest of the time he had before Rio returned from classes to clean, finish assembly on furniture and sort things out within the house. When the teen walked in, the young mage was combing through his merit account to figure out the whole story of what took place during his extra week in intake.Peering around the house, Rio said, "You housekeeper service people really know how to go the extra step! I'm kinda surprised that you're the same age as me but I don't have any complaints... See you in a couple of days?... Uh, do I need to sign something or... You're not housekeeping are you?"Orison gave Rio a saintly smile that fell short of the cold eyes above it. "Have a seat Rio. We have a few things to talk about."With a nervous chuckle, the teen said, "Oh, god! You know what? I forgot my, uh, thing on campus. I'll be back later, okay..."Rio turned to run but Orison didn't chase him, he only said. "When you're done, swing by campus housing. Your things will meet you there."The teen swung around, looking baffled and hurt. "You're kicking me out because of a little mess!?""This is the big boy world, Rio. Stay and listen or do what you want and rely on yourself to handle it. Adults don't spank each other and send someone to their room... Okay, some do but for reasons that have nothing to do with us," Orison said, trying to reign in his anger and lighten the mood a little.Predictably, Rio stayed. After a little investigation, it became obvious that the teen had very little idea about the merit economy. He also hadn't put much thought into how hard life would be later with a huge debt hanging over his head once he was in the working world later. Orison was relieved to find out that once Rio understood, the teen seemed appropriately horrified that he had burned through a little over a year's worth of average C-class income in a week.Looking for a way to shunt some guilt, Rio said, "Most of the stuff I got, you would have ended up getting anyway, right?"Orison flipped his hand a few times. "Furniture's not really my style but what's done is done. The UTF commercial satellite dish... Probably but it would have been later when I had more free time to enjoy it. Things like PREMIUM housekeeping and the 'different style a day' meal delivery services, that's a hard no. I definitely wouldn't have spent 30,000 merits on the 'wardrobe for every occasion' service but thanks for including me and at least saving a little on the 'extra person for a third of the merit' deal."Rio painted on a chummy smile and said, "No problem. I was looking out for you too."Putting on the saintly smile again, Orison said, "So until those services run out, I'll be making the selections... I didn't really need a king sized bed but that's alright... It seems that in all the confusion, you put your stuff in my master bedroom along with all the other, far more luxurious furnishings that you surely ordered for me. Don't worry about it. Your stuff is piled on YOUR full size bed in YOUR room along with the second set of bedroom furniture and the pieces I couldn't stand to have in mine."Rio's chummy smile turned fairly watery towards the end. "Y-yeah. Thanks for the help.Orison beamed at Rio with compassionate understanding and added. "The somewhat questionable items and especially that brass pole you put in my room are all yours, by the way. And by that I mean, you'll be the only person using them until three months after you're seventeen. To expand on that, no girls in this house without me or another pre-approved person present until such a time... Just so we're clear, what you do outside of this house is your business unless it costs me merits and then it WILL be mine."Rio's ears burned but he was still brash enough to add, "Even my dad didn't keep me from having a girlfriend over!"Orison sighed, "The place where you're from, it wasn't uncommon for a sixteen year old to join the workforce a little early to support himself and his knocked up girlfriend. For most people, there wouldn't really be any big changes in what a person's future would have been anyway but it's different here. There are far more opportunities and it's far too easy to lose them. Avalon is excruciatingly clear on the importance of personal responsibility and accountability. They won't invest in an irresponsible person."Look, you're just shy of sixteen now. The dream of supernatural power and the knowledge of how to use it that was denied you before is at your fingertips. The very things that made you burn with envy and resentment at being left out are yours but you need to learn how to own that. Is a little over a year of respectable teenage living such a hard price to pay when the reward is so great?"Rio struggled internally for something to say in rebuttal only to lamely agree. "Yeah, sure... Wait, are YOU going to live a RESPECTABLE teenage life?"Orison replied blandly, "I'm going to be living a miserable ADULT'S life who just so happens to be attending school as well. One that comes with the financial responsibility of yours due to some poorly thought out wording... Judging by the state of things when I got here, they're content with me being an acting guardian for you until evidence of the need for a real one is given. All to better snatch my merits."Speaking of which, they gave you an initial 300,000 access to my account for you to set up house. That's pretty much gone. I've set you up a weekly allowance of 1,000 and f***ing dare you to complain about it."After having a taste of big 'money' lifestyle, Rio was glum but simply nodded.Before he moved on to brighter topics, Orison said, "I'm serious about this. I'm not going to argue with you. If you end up racking up some kind of big merit debt or sneak behind my back and use this house as a pimp pad because I'm busy with something for a couple of days, I will cut you loose to the dorms for awhile or even permanently if-"Orison stopped his speech because Rio dropped to the floor on his backside like someone had cut his strings. Instantly, Rio's forehead shined from cold sweat and the teens eyes stared vacantly at nothing in particular, lost in some waking nightmare.
