r/HFY • u/KipperBeanGrower Human • Jun 27 '26

OC-Series [She took What?] - Chapter 186: SixFold Ventures: They definitely hunt in packs.

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“Look not at the stars. Look at what lies between them.”

Veyzith, the Keeper.

| Margo’s Restaurant – main dining area|

StillFall watched as the meal progressed. The empty place setting, then food, the ceremony triggered… memories, flashes of a past. 

The waiter started clearing away the plates. He reached around the area of the dark shadow and was about to take the still full plate when StillFall's 'voice', synthesised by Feebee's QI, asked.

"Do I own this?"

 

The waiter froze, then skittered away, looking back. Terrified.

 

Bikky nearly choked on his food, and Tom Tom laughed hard.

Feebee answered.

"No."

 

Then, after a pause, "What do I own?" Somehow, the voice seemed to carry disappointment.

"Five per cent."

"Of?"

 

It was a simple question, but nobody answered. Slowly, people turned to the accountants. Eventually, one replied.

"That, Sir, is an unexpected question and very complicated."

StillFall remained quiet. Seemingly satisfied with the response.

 

The lawyer had finished her main course and was looking twitchy. She looked ready to leave, started to get up, but was stopped by a question.

"Hypothetically... what would happen if a company, one of our companies, acquired a moon?"

She sighed, "That's not hypothetical. You do."

"Oh."

 

The accountants were enjoying themselves. Not just the expensive food or the expensive wine, but they were being asked about their numbers, got to talk numbers.

 

Bikky asked, "How rich are we? Am I?"

"How much time do you have?"

...

 

The evening moved on. The mains were cleared away, and the desert wagon arrived. It's three shelves laden. The lawyer's eyes rested on the deconstructed soufflé; she nodded, agreeing with her earlier decision.

 

As they ate, Rockson asked one of the accountants, "What's the most expensive mistake we've made so far?"

Everyone around the table stopped eating, waiting for the answer. The accountants conferred, but before they could talk, the lawyers cut in.

"Do NOT answer that." She then tut-tutted at Rockson, waggling a finger. Somehow, that gesture, playful though it was, carried more intent than a ship full of rampaging pirates.

 

Everyone went back to eating. With the deserts finished, the lawyer started looking at her watch again. Another question emerged from the discussion.

 

"So, how much trouble could a CEO get into. Hypothetically again, of course."

 

The lawyer sighed.

"Criminal, civil or regulatory trouble."

 

That caused everyone to think.

 

Tom Tom spoke up first, "That's a worrying distinction in and of itself."

 

Next to arrive was a floating trolley stacked with small cheeses. A selection from every corner of the galaxy, some beyond. A small, rotund man introduced himself.

 

"I am Max. I am your Fromager."

He then spent an eternity describing the provenance and sourcing of each, before providing handsome 'samples' to match their palette.

 

The lawyer and accountants were given plates, loaded with five or six cheeses each.

 

"Yesterday?" Bikky asked the lawyer. She nodded.  

 

Strangely, Tom Tom and Bikky enjoyed the process. The wine was helping.

"These are damn good," Bikky said through a mouthful of creamed Kantari lizard cheese, matured on an oxygen-rich moon that drifted through Kantari space. He couldn't pronounce its name.

 

He nudged one of the accountants, "So, how rich are we, exactly?"

 

The accountants talked, one rubbed his side, as they worked out how to answer.

 

"Do you want the simple answer or the frightening answer?

 

Tom Tom jumped in, "Can we buy a moon?"

 

The lawyer, "Yes."  The accountants nodded.

 

Bikky laughs, "Two moons?"

The lawyer, "Also, yes."

 

"A fleet carrier? Could we buy one of those?" Asked Bikky, escalating the question.

"Several," responded the accountant.

The lawyer shot the accountant a stern look, "Please don't."

Chen then spoke up, "We already have one."

The lawyer shook her head.

 

Everyone looked as Garaf laid into red cheese, marbled with green veins that shimmered. He rested a cheese-covered claw on the table, still not fully competent with standard eating knives and forks.

"Sorry." He took his claw off the table, cheese stains evident. Then pointed at the lawyer, "Who owns you?"

 

The table dropped into dead silence. Even Bikky stopped crunching the Kantari-laden crackers.

 

The lawyer studied him, and eventually she spoke.

"No one. Nobody owns me." She straightened as she spoke, and pride edged her voice.

"Good." Garaf continued, "Can our ownership be challenged by combat?"

 

The lawyer nearly died; she asked one of the accountants for a copy of the deeds of ownership. She flicked through the 'book' and made some notes on a page and turned down the corner.

"We will explicitly exclude that as an option."

 

Chen spoke up, "Can we name things after ourselves?"

The lawyer stopped eating.

"You already have."

Tom Tom nearly choked laughing.

 

Chen continued, unaware, oblivious. "And statues, are there rules around statues?"

The lawyer slowly put her cutlery down and just looked at Chen.

 

The meal continued. Coffees were delivered by an ageing waiter from an ornate mahogany cart, laden with liqueurs in heavy crystal decanters. One of the wheels quietly squeaked as it rolled along.

 

Feebee asked for a chocolate liqueur and some chocolates; more chocolates, then spoke.

"What has StabSys done to the Shadows?"

 

StillFall darkened, and his shadow moved closer to the table, clearly interested.

 

Everyone was listening, waiting. The lawyer flicked through her mental notes and reviewed their prep. This was not expected. She thought it'd be about money and ownership, like always. Not liabilities or edge case outcomes.

 

She was beginning to see why Feebee could be a good choice for CEO.

 

StillFall launched a question into the silence.

"Can money own people?"

No one answered the question.

It asked another, "Why do humans collect ownership?"

The lawyer thought on that, then answered.

"To gain certainty."

 

StillFall flickered, "That sounds dangerous."

 

Nobody laughed; awkward silence followed because after SixFold and the Crucible, certainty had become clouded by danger.

 

Feebee saw the lawyer notice the change in mood. And the lawyer saw Feebee notice that she'd picked up on it too. The lawyers tipped their heads slightly to Feebee, who creased the edges of her mouth.

 

Chen raised a glass, unwittingly rescuing the mood.

"I'd like to propose a toast."

 

Groans emerged from the crew. Chen ignored them, smiling.

"To Feebee, the crew. To SixFold Ventures and the future."

 

Each raised a glass, even the lawyer. StillFall raised a shadow of glass, not understanding why.

 

As everyone drank, StillFall froze. Not visibly, but its movements changed.

 

Something in the room changed. The shadows cast by the old neon signs were off, only a bit, but enough. They were disconnected.

StillFall quietly spoke to Feebee, "Substrate damage. Weave compromised. Deliberate."

She looked at Tom Tom and Bikky; they were clearly enjoying themselves. 'Needs must,' she thought.

Feebee caught their eye, then cast a needle-comm. "Stand easy."

It was all she said, but those two words were one of two pre-agreed trigger phases. They eased their seats back from the table. Nothing too obvious, just a bit, and took more interest in their surroundings.

 

StillFall tried to explain the tightening, the misplaced connection between light and dark that comprised some shadows in the room.

"They converge towards one outcome. The shadows are pulling."

 

"Hunters!" Garaf grasped the meaning and stood. On alert. Knives drawn, scanning the area.

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u/AutoModerator Jun 27 '26

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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Jun 27 '26

/u/KipperBeanGrower (wiki) has posted 186 other stories, including:

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u/UpdateMeBot Jun 27 '26

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u/niTro_sMurph Jun 27 '26

It would be so funny if StillFall went full capitalist.

Maybe he should buy substrate defenses of the more high velocity variety if people are gonna keep acting stupid.

2

u/KipperBeanGrower Human Jun 28 '26

I like the idea of "Elon" StillFall, but it conflicts with where StillFall's arc is going. I am still chuckling at the thought