Hermes had recruited her for two plain reasons, both drawn from the guide. Strength lay in numbers, and racism was a fool's mistake.
"Say goodbye to your cat folks for now," Hermes said.
Akira nodded. When the wall sank back into the earth, a hundred or so cat folk stood waiting beyond it. They looked tired and worn, and from the state of them, it was plain they had already tried to scale the wall.
The moment they saw Akira unharmed, they rushed toward her and pulled her into their arms. She was clearly well loved among her people, and they did not bother to hide it.
While they gathered around her, Hermes turned to trade.
Ren had brought another rat along, a stocky thing no more than a foot and a half tall, with brown hair and a compact, muscular build. When the rat spoke, the voice was female.
"Hi there, big Devil. Name's Poms. I want high-energy foods. Small, easy to store. Taste doesn't matter."
Hermes set out several frozen oils for them to try, lard, coconut, olive, even synthetic energizers.
"It's free. Try them."
Poms and Ren chewed through the samples in quick little bites, rejecting the others with brisk shakes of their heads. Too efficient. That was the trouble. Any excess would only sit on their bodies as fat, make them heavier, slow them down. In the end, they settled on peanut oil.
"Best efficiency for our bodies," Poms said.
She flashed the paper sign with her palm, and the contract was signed at once.
"Where did you get these, good Devil?" Poms asked, though she did not seem to expect an answer.
Hermes gave her none. Silence served better than a lie.
They asked for three hundred liters of peanut oil. Fifty other rats waited outside with a makeshift wooden cart already prepared, restless as if they had been counting the breaths between bargains.
The moment the deal was done, they loaded the oil and sped off in a rush, eager to process it before anyone else could lay claim to its worth. Hermes watched them disappear into the distance, then turned and beckoned to the little white cat.
"Come. We are going now."
Akira's eyes shone wet with tears. She had been lucky enough to find her people again, only to leave them almost at once.
"Gather our people, nyan nyan. I'll be coming back for you, all right, nyan nyan. I promise," Akira said, her composure wavering even as she tried to stand firm.
Hermes offered no soft words. That was not his way. Instead, he placed an item in her hands, a smooth yellow cube with tiny lights pulsing inside it. A Hyperion Track My Baby tag.
"So we can find our way back to them," Hermes said. "It's a tracking device."
He was a man of action, not one for empty comfort. Better to prove sincerity with something real than fill the ears with pretty words that meant nothing.
[Purchased] [Hyperion Seraphic AI Gabriela Add-on] [Track My Baby] [5,000 CC]
[Details: An add-on built to create tracking tags, enough to manage at least a million of them anywhere within a galaxy linked to the Hyperion Transmission System.]
Not many dared come near Hermes, though a little over a hundred humans, catkins, and rodent folk still did, and from them he pulled in over three thousand cosmic coins.
As the platform began to rise, he scattered candies down into the crowd. They were one of Gabby's special blends, dense little sweets with enough nourishment to matter and just enough moisture to dull the worst of thirst.
The giants left them where they landed. Humans, catkins, and rodent folk moved faster. They snatched up the freebies in a blink. Even Mike Jordy gathered a dozen for himself, shaking his head as he did.
"Arrogant," he muttered.
Yet in the back of his mind, something kept nagging at him. That devil was a man. Mike could not have said why. He only felt it, some trace in Hermes that rang human.
As Mike watched the floating platform dwindle into the horizon, Hermes had already made his choice. He would not sleep. He would peddle through day and night until the event arrived. And so he did. He kept moving, sweeping over as much ground as he could while testing the shape of his luck.
Bit by bit, it began to reveal its nature to him. It could flourish like a flower, dwindle like a withered leaf, or be kept at an even bloom. Not through any wave of the hand or other easy trick, but through the choices he made in the course of his daily life and business.
At one point, he spotted another wealthy prospect, a man tied to the Australian Mining Conglomerate.
Hermes let him pass. He could have beckoned him over, but his luck had turned sour in that man's presence, like a bad taste sitting thick on the tongue.
The moment he left the orbit of that mining magnate, a man worth hundreds of billions, the feeling broke. His luck surged back stronger than before, sharp enough to make it seem he had just avoided some future disaster.
Hermes did not like that. Intuition without facts always left him uneasy.
Even so, when he tested the matter against recruitment, the pattern held. Bringing people in bled far less of his luck than chasing another sale. That was reason enough to make it his focus.
So Hermes recruited across every race, though not without standards of his own.
He chose the truly young, those between twenty-one and thirty, since the Worlds Collide System counted them as the youngest batch, not old monsters like himself who had only regained smooth skin through the system.
Next, he chose only women, whatever their race. He believed a pleasing streamer would earn more stable coin than some wandering adventurer who could not keep his seat.
Besides, more events were coming, and all of them were only at the beginning.
Nine times out of ten, Hermes was turned away. Most people looked at him, measured the risk, and chose fear over opportunity.
The Ant-hive was different.
The moment the queen ants laid eyes on him, their resistance seemed to break. They could sense something in him, some pull of bloodline and breeding that struck deep enough to make them weak at the thorax.
More than one threw herself at his feet. That should have made matters easy, but the hive had its own ugliness. Ant-hive species was cannibalistic, viciously competitive even among themselves, and by instinct they wanted only one queen to rule the whole swarm.
Gabby advised against that. A lone queen, she warned, would grow fat, complacent, and soft with no rival near enough to keep her sharp. Three would be better. Three queens meant tension, hunger, and movement.
Hermes followed her advice and took in three queens, which left him with a decent pool of streamers and a stable income.
He even had to stop for a time to upgrade the Sky Fielder with Gabby's help.
What had once been a sleek little sci-fi craft had grown into something closer to a floating condominium.
Now it was wrapped in heavy fortification, with high grade steel, thicker walls, and broader decks. There were at least three hundred rooms within, each fitted so that nearly any race could live in comfort. At the very top sat a vast transparent mess hall like a crown.
Still, Hermes was no small time businessman and knew how to treat people well. He gave each woman a room that looked like the inside of a luxury spacecraft, built from smooth white curves, recessed blue lighting, and seamless walls with queen sized beds that made them feel like staying in a hotel than in an apocalypse.
He checked the second status window Gabby had made for him to see how many streamers he now had and how well they were doing.
[Current Streamers - 235]
[Funneled Amount to Randomizer - 10,327.20 CC]
[Total Payout to Employees - 5,560.80 CC]
[Humans - 35]
[Giants - 17]
[Ratfolk - 33]
[Naga - 21]
[Ant-hive - 3]
[Sylvans - 16]
[Wolfkin - 31]
[Catfolk - 42]
[Ogres - 17]
[Gnomes - 20]
Hermes was pleased with the numbers the girls were bringing in. They were nowhere near his own, but that was hardly surprising. He used a different universal streaming device himself, which was why he could pull in such absurd amounts of money, while the female streamers under him still broadcast only to their home planets.
It was not that Hermes feared being overshadowed in the universal livestream. The problem was timing. If they entered too soon, each of them would need to reach 20,000 CC before payouts began. He needed that money to keep them motivated, and he had no desire to mix his personal funds with company funds.
Starting on their home planets let them ease into that number and withdraw funds much sooner.
Besides, Hermes himself, a man who spoke as little as possible, had already been cursed at more than ten thousand times, enough to make even him blush inwardly.
The women under him were still young and thin-skinned. Despite Gabby disabling chat from authorities from their origin planet, extreme profanities, and other stressful conversation, some of them would still break down and cry, as some Gabby let moderately hateful comments in, or rephrased slurs. Still, she would visit their room and comfort them with soothing words, making them trust Gabby more than Randomizer himself, but that was fine.
Hermes had not shown them on his own livestream yet, not even Gabby. The reason was simple. Any brands attached to them would be getting free sponsorship. He wanted to become a major streamer first, build a following, and only then introduce them one by one.
He was certain it would work, since he had already cornered the streaming market for current Worlds Collide Series. Even so, he still checked his streaming profile, for that interface was not part of the system, but something drawn from Gabby's own internal design.
[Universal Social Profile]
[Name: Randomizer]
[Status: Verified]
[Total Earnings: 82,109 CC]
The earnings were massive, and that was only for the past five days.
Most of his funds still came from selling his wares, which made up the greater part of it.
What he bought was knowledge, the sort he did not want others peering into.
[Purchased] [Records of all the Longest Worlds Collide Series Learning Pill] [250,000 CC]
[Purchased] [Cosmic Linguistics Intermediate Learning Pill] [10,000 CC]
[Purchased] [Cosmic Linguistics Advanced Learning Pill] [100,000 CC]
[Purchased] [Secret Codes Within the Shop Learning Pill] [50,000 CC]
[Purchased] [Basics of Harnessing Spiritual Qi Learning Pill] [10,000 CC]
[Purchased] [Basics of Harnessing Arcane Mana Learning Pill] [10,000 CC]
[Purchased] [Basics of Harnessing Myriad Elements Learning Pill] [10,000 CC]
[Purchased] [Basics of Harnessing Divine Energies Learning Pill] [10,000 CC]
[Purchased] [Basics of Harnessing Cosmic Powers Learning Pill] [10,000 CC]
[Purchased] [Basics of Harnessing Eldritch Anomalies Learning Pill] [10,000 CC]
[Purchased] [Basics of Wielding All Melee Weapons Learning Pill] [25,000 CC]
[Purchased] [Basics of Aiming All Long Ranged Weapons Learning Pill] [25,000 CC]
Now that all that knowledge was grayed out, Hermes went on to purchase class guides for those around him, though he did not hand the guides over to them. He read them himself first, wanting to know how to fight each of them if things ever turned sour.
[Purchased] [Truth Seeker Class For Dummies Learning Pill] [2,000 CC]
[Purchased] [Violence Berserker Class For Dummies Learning Pill] [2,000 CC]
[Purchased] [World Eater Class For Dummies Learning Pill] [2,000 CC]
[Purchased] [Assassin Killer Class For Dummies Learning Pill] [2,000 CC]
[Purchased] [Insectoid Evolver Class For Dummies Learning Pill] [2,000 CC]
After that, he let Gabby pass along only parts of the information, enough to help them grow without giving away too much.
He also made sure to gray out the highest-tier resource packages. He did not want others taking those essentials and leaving himself scrambling later in the series.
[Purchased x10] [Scavz 100 Tons Metallic Resource Package] [25,000 CC]
[Purchased x10] [Scavz 100 Tons Food Resource Package] [25,000 CC]
[Purchased x10] [Scavz 100 Protective Textile Resource Package] [25,000 CC]
Even after that round of trade and purchases, a large sum still remained in his hands. Even so, he could not help but regret that he was unable to buy more genetic packages.
[Balance: 142,874.20 Cosmic Coins]
At that very moment, Hermes was in his private quarters while six of his roots, trailing from his shoulders and forearms, soaked in six different kinds of energy springs.
He was still mulling over everything he had seen across the planet. Sky Fielder moved as fast as an Airbus back on Earth, and that was no slow thing.
Even so, what he saw left him baffled. There were only small animals and long stretches of plain forest. No seas. No rivers. There were lakes and the occasional oasis, but little else. The whole place felt dull, like a game world not yet fully loaded.
Then he heard a soft chime, like the call for passengers to board at an airport gate. Hermes let out a sigh, equal parts exasperation and anticipation. Another noon of drama was about to unfold.
Gabby had told them it was best if the races met at least once each day, and noon was set aside for it.
So the women came out from their rooms and gathered in the great mess hall above.
They did not wear the clothes Hermes sold. The bipedal folk, humans, giants, orcs, and the like, came draped in white coats trimmed with gold. They looked fit for some noble pageant more than an apocalyptic game world.
The Nagas, having little need for cloth, adorned themselves instead with bangles and fitted armor, the sort they found easiest to bear.
The three ant queens, forever jostling one another for place, wore functional ornaments fixed to their carapaces, devices meant to steady their hormones and regulate their heat.
The Sylvans were the strangest sight of all. Glass vials full of rich fertilizers hung from them in delicate layers, so that from a distance, it looked as though they wore gowns made of glass.
Yet for all the finery, they gathered like gangs marking corners. Humans, wolfkin, catkins, and rodent folk drifted to one side. Others kept to their own in wary knots.
Then one of the ant queens approached the human group. Noelani. She was more than ten feet long, and of all the ants, she was the most fevered, so deep in her breeding state that even her shell could scald bare skin.
"Hello there, flesh creatures. Can you tell me more about this peace your races keep pushing?" she asked.
Lena, who stood as the human leader, explained it to her once again. Calmly this time. Patiently. Such peaceful contact was the whole point of the gathering.
But not every corner of the hall shared that mood.
Jazzork, leader of the orc women, was just reaching for her portion of meat when Makamae, one of the ant queens, snatched the plate away.
Red energy flared along her arm. Her eyes burned the same color. The giant women moved at once to drag them apart before blood was spilled.
Strangely enough, the giantesses were the gentlest among them. Strong as any beast of siege, yet far more virtuous than their brutal male kin.
"I was just playing," Makamae said, lifting four of her legs in a false show of innocence.
Jazzork bared her teeth. "You think I'm easy to bully? Come here, ant breath. Let me teach you a lesson."
Then the room changed. All the women saw the twelve-winged angel step into view from the hall in silent, graceful strides. Six wings unfolded behind her, nanomachines working without rest to craft, run the ship, monitor each person's health, and tend to a hundred other hidden tasks. To the women, though, they were only radiant features shining with holy light.
"We greet Mother Gabby."
One by one, then all together, they greeted her with short, polite bows.
That was what she had become to them. The boss's wife. A figure too radiant to meet without some measure of reverence. Her hair shone gold beneath the lights, her skin was flawless, and her eyes held such patient warmth that even the proudest among them lowered themselves before her.
They called her mother, and Gabby did not seem to mind. She gave them a small nod, accepting the greeting as naturally as if she had always worn it.
This gathering was meant for more than food. Platters and sweets had been laid out across the hall, but the heart of it was instruction.
Gabby was here to speak on the events that might soon unfold in the apocalypse, to warn them, guide them, and perhaps steady them before the next turn of the world.
Hermes, meanwhile, felt as though he were watching a fine piece of drama unfold in the flesh.
This was one of the cards he had yet to reveal to his viewers. The streaming app did more than host live broadcasts. It also allowed paid uploads of videos and galleries. He meant to unveil it slowly and let those women grow into the sort of natural, unscripted tangle of love and hate that had once kept people on Earth watching with feverish interest.
For now, though, his eyes kept slipping back to the event timer. He knew that once it ran out, the protection would be lifted, and from then on, anyone could truly die.
[Next Event – 00:16:07:23]