Chapter 246: Meeting Mex (1)

A full week passed before Adrian could justify the expense of meeting with Mex once mor. He had tried communicating with the friendly Normat via the PAD’s text messaging function, but after his first message was met with a [0.1 GC per 100 characters sent] fee, he had immediately lost interest.Credits were a resource far too precious to be spent on casual conversation. He would wait.

Over that course of time, Adrian and his people adapted to the rhythm of life in their new home.

He established a strict but fair rationing system, stretching their 30-day food supply. He spent his own time in their small, shared house, brainstorming what he could create in the already advanced world.

When the day finally came, a wry smile touched Adrian’s lips as he stood before the Sector Transit Hub.

He held his PAD over the reader, authorizing the 10 credit trip fee. A brilliant white light consumed him, and in the next instant, he was standing once more in the vast, grand, and silent hall of the Mall.

He saw Mex far ahead, already waiting for him near the Sparkborns’ arrival platform, just as he had expected. The tall, blue-skinned Normat waved, a wide and welcoming grin on his face.

"Adrian! Good to see you again!" Mex greeted him as he approached. "Are you done with your... settling in?"

"For now," Adrian replied with a nod. "It is a pleasure to meet you again, Mex. I trust your shopping went well."

"Always!" Mex said proudly. "But I’m done for the day. Which means, I’m ready to entertain those important questions of yours."

Adrian didn’t waste time on pleasantries. "The third section of this place, the one you said was for VIPs. And the ’Tier-0 Citizen’ status. Explain them."

Mex nodded, his expression becoming more serious.

"Okay. The Tiers are the social ladder of the Nexus. Everyone starts at Tier-0. From what Papa Perez, our elder, knows, you get promoted to a Tier-1 Citizen once your personal net worth reaches one hundred thousand credits. Tier-2 is one million credits. But he doesn’t know about the higher levels, or if it still has to do with just wealth after that. It’s a long climb."

One hundred thousand credits. The number seemed impossibly vast. "And the third section?" Adrian pressed.

"By VIPs, I meant those above Tier-0," Mex explained. "I’ve never been inside there, but I here that’s where the real business happens. The goods there are of a much higher quality because some of the stalls are owned by wealthy aliens who live in the Heartland sectors. They visit at times to purchase rare things from the Slums also. You can also place your own store there, if you can afford the rent. But that’s not the best part."

"What is it?" Adrian’s interest was piqued.

"The Galactic Clash, of course!" Mex said, his eyes shining. "I heard that the Third Hall is where you can officially register as a fighter in the league. You can watch the official fights there too, not just the broadcasts."

Adrian immediately thought of Karl. Almost everyome had become addicted to the Galactic Clash broadcasts on their wall-screens. The news that they could one day participate would be a massive motivator.


’One hundred thousand credits,’ he thought. ’It’s a very achievable amount.’

Mex looked at Adrian eagerly, as if waiting for him to confirm his own excitement.

"Thank you for the information, Mex. You’ve answered some of my most pressing questions," Adrian said, his tone shifting. "Now, I want to know about you and your people. I learned that there are five other civilizations here in Slum II. What are they? Their behavior, their culture..."

A spark of realization seemed to come to Mex as he listened , and he crossed his long, slender arms, a sudden unexpected confidence in his posture. "I won’t tell you."

Adrian was surprised by his act and couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. "Why so?"

"Because it’s not a fair trade," Mex said, a shrewd look in his eyes.

"You ask all the questions, but you have told me nothing about yourself, or your people." He gave a sly grin. "If you agree to tell me all about your people, their story, how they came to be here... then I’ll tell you about mine. With no problems."

Adrian considered the bargain. It was fair. "Okay," he said without hesitation. "Good deal."

Mex’s smile returned, bright and triumphant. "Excellent! Let’s get a seat. This is going to be a long one."

They found a quiet, empty seating area near one of the grand fountains.

"Alright," Mex began, ticking the races off on his long, blue fingers. "So, besides you Sparkborns, there are five other civilizations that call this part of Slum II home. There are us, the Normat. Then you’ve got the Grak, the Cydonians, the Douts, and the Jirads."

He leaned back, gesturing around the vast, empty hall. "The Douts, the Jirads, and us Normat... we’re all pretty similar, you know? Two arms, two legs. We ’look like us, and you’ as you might put it.

The Cydonians are the really special ones. They’re the ones with the metal bodies. Papa Perez says they’re not actually robots, but a splinter group from a much bigger machine-based civilization that they got separated from a long, long time ago. They’re... kinda lost, I think."

He shuddered slightly. "And the Grak are different. Their whole culture is about evolving by consuming. They’re supposed to hunt and devour powerful beasts to integrate their traits and get stronger. At least, that’s what they used to do."

Mex sighed, a look of shared, communal struggle on his face. "But the thing is, down here in the Slums, we’re all weak, just in different ways. The Grak have no powerful beasts to hunt, so they can’t evolve; they’re stuck. And as for the Douts, the Jirads, and us Normat... we’re just normal. We don’t have the credits, the resources, or the unique biology to get the means for true Ascension."

Adrian’s focus, which had been on cataloging the new races, immediately sharpened, latching onto that final, familiar word.

It was the same word the Concordat’s ship had used. The same word the goddess had spoken of. But Mex was using it in a completely different, more common context.

"What do you mean by Ascension?" he decided to ask.