Chapter Fifty-One - Fashioning a Home

Chapter Fifty-One - Fashioning a Home

Chapter Fifty-One - Fashioning a Home

There has been a noticeable shift in style and fashion. Not to say that fashion wasnt changing rapidly already. By the mid-2000s, international communication, the internet, and the easing of travel restrictions allowed fashion from different cultures to come together and be mixed, occasionally homogenized, and often brought to extremes.

Now, this shifting has become so rapid that to stay on top of the latest trends means keeping a constant eye on the fashion feeds and paparazzi rags. A trend can start, flourish, and die in the space of an afternoon.

--Fa-Fa-Fashionista, On The Evolution of Trends, 2057

***

I walked over to the other side of the display and leaned forwards to look at the wire-mesh interior. It showed most of the museum--and wed have to find a better name for our new home soon--in red, with a few sections in green.

Myalis had determined that all of the red sections would need to be replaced and reconfigured sometime soon, preferably before anyone moved in.

So, this is the final floor plan? Lucy asked.

I nodded along. Yeah, I think so, I said.

The floor plan gave us ten double bedrooms, good enough for a pair of kittens each, two bigger dorm-style rooms with a few beds in them for any newcomers, and a master bedroom one corridor over. Not too far that we couldnt run over, but not right next to the kittens either.

The main museum area would be split into a kitchen and dining space, a playroom that was frankly absurdly large, and another little area that could serve as an office or library of sorts for the quieter kittens.

We had one bathroom for every two rooms, with showers in each, and a smaller washroom next to the kitchen. The old vault was right where our bedroom would be, with the rear half of it marked to be replaced by a small armoury where I could store stuff.

The outside wasnt going to be touched much. Wed hire someone to remove all the ads and signs and such, and maybe wed add a carport over the parking space for... well, wed have to buy a van or something. Id pick whichever old beater would give Gomorrah the biggest headache.

Lucy nodded. I like it. Well have to see about getting nice furniture too.

I think we can afford that, I said before glancing to the side. We had brought over the Dumbasses, both to guard the museum, and to allow us to better communicate with Myalis. It was one of the drones that was projecting the image of the buildings wireframe, and another was sitting nearby, waiting patiently. Have you found any reliable contractors yet?

I have, Myalis said. From looking into their records, I have found three suitably accredited teams with overlapping specialties. I would suggest hiring all three.

All three? I repeated.

Indeed. One has done satisfactory plumbing work on past installations, another has an entire team of electricians, and the final construction company has experience working with both Vanguards, and glass-fronted skyscrapers. The other two lack experience in both.

Ah, I said. So hiring specialists to do the specialist-requiring... stuff. I was so far out of my depth... That sounds reasonable. Do you have an idea of their price range?

Seven, nine, and twelve million credits, respectively. Thats not including the entirety of the material cost, but Im assuming some of that will be defrayed by the use of Vanguard-grade materials.

I held back a wince. That was... twenty-eight million? An insane amount of money. So, for the materials, we cant build this whole place with samurai-grade stuff, itll take way too many points.

That is accurate, Myalis said. To purchase enough material directly to rebuild this entire area would cost--assuming you want to purchase quality materials--something close to nine thousand points.

That was a lot lower than Id guesstimated. Thats just normal materials, or fancier stuff?

A significant amount, though less than half your initial amount.

Right, lets set some of that aside for decorations and furniture and stuff. Well need tables and chairs and... wait, we can just fabricate those, right?

With the correct blueprints, yes.

I rubbed at my nose. That was annoying. Itll probably be cheaper to just buy normal things then. Dont need to get a blueprint for a dozen beds.

Not even our bed? Lucy asked.

I considered that. A samurai bed... Okay, so we get one bed, but the kittens can sleep on whatever we can afford for a few million.

Speaking of monetary concerns, the list of requests from companies who sold you this location has come in.

Oh? Can I see it?

Myalis connected with my augs and I soon had a list hovering before one eye.

Purchase CostQuantity or TypeNameDetails

45

Blueprint Anti-Adware Suite Basic Cyberwarfare Catalogue - Protects simple devices from non-whitelisted ad intrusion

75

Blueprint Anti-Spyware Suite Basic Cyberwarfare Catalogue - Protects simple devices from non-whitelisted spyware intrusion

25

Blueprint Micro Acoustic Listening Device Stealth Catalogue - Miniature listening and recording device

1275

Blueprint Clothing Creation Fabricator Decoy Catalogue - System to create clothes from modelled template

720

Blueprint Hard Light Projector Decoy Catalogue - Miniaturized hard light projector for small cosmetic items

260

Blueprint Decoy Super Aug Decoy Catalogue - A false version of the Vanguard customizable eye gear

525

Item x 35 Nano- Regenerative Suite Medical Utilities Catalogue - A suite of nano machines that circulate through a person's body and fixes it rapidly

290

Blueprint Feline Cat Reflex Augmentation Sunwatcher Technologies - Reflex enhancing brain implant

285

Blueprint Prosthetic Ears Sunwatcher Technologies - Ear Augmentation

Total:

3500

Nearly all blueprints, which, alright, and... lots of decoy stuff.

From the bickering I was listening in on, it seems that some companies came together and desperately wanted to buy a clothing fabricator system. I suspect you might cause a bit of a fluctuation in some global markets. Congratulations.

Wonderful.

***