"Well, that was a good first sale, right, IMES?" Graham spoke aloud to the Interstellar Merchant System while locking the door behind the departing Grant.
The man had bought every single water bottle that Graham had set out, and now it was time to restock.
[It was pretty good.]
[Your current profit after the split is 40 Mirystals.]
[Shall I bring down the remaining water bottles and prepackaged flour?]
"Just two packs of water and about 2 bags worth of flour for now."
The golden orb rose through the ceiling and descended with the asked for items coming down with it.
As Graham began to unpack and place them on the shelves, IMES hovered by his head curiously.
[May I ask why only this many items?]
[Clearly, with the demand, you could easily sell it all again.]
"That's why I can't sell it all. If I do so, I won't be able to keep up with the stock, and it will be suspicious if I buy large amounts from the general store with just me living here."
Graham paused dramatically, before muttering under his breath, "Ugh, why did this shop have to be located in the middle of nowhere? If I were in the main city, it would be much easier to do a lot of things."
[Hmmmm.]
At the noncommittal reply, he continued to complain lightly as he ensured all the water bottles faced the same way.
"If only we were in a big city so I could earn more money even quicker and level you up faster. Ah, I think I need a trash can too, so I can get the water bottles back to recycle them. Did you know they're 5 cents a bottle?"
[Hmmmm.]
"It's just too bad because the general store closes at 5 pm. This wouldn't be an issue if I had easier access to the city."
[Hmmmmmmmm…]
Sigh.
[Hmmmmmmmmmm...]
Graham secretly peeked at the glowing orb of light before looking as despondent as possible.
Sigh.Sigh. Siiiiiiiighhhh.
As he sighed once more, IMES floated around in a loose spiral before appearing in front of his face.
[…If…]
As IMES started speaking in his head with a hesitant voice, Graham tried not to seem too eager as he continued stocking the shelves.
[If I create a door location in one city of your choosing, will you give me 90% of your profits?]
Bingo!
Hiding his happiness, Graham began trying to negotiate.
"IMES, I didn't realize you were a scammer. 90%? When I'm shouldering the costs of the items, I'm already splitting it 50/50 with you. As the descendant of your previous owner, don't you have any pity for me? 55% and not a percent higher."
[91%]
The response was cold without any sign of budging.
"IMES?!! I don't think you know how negotiation goes. When I go low, you're supposed to lower yours, and then I increase it until we meet in the middle."
[Apologies.]
[I am aware of most negotiation tactics.]
[However, I am not the one who needs this feature; you do, since you lack free capital, an easy way to traverse long distances without being tracked or paying an expensive fee, and amicable allies with broad reach and abilities that can aid you.]
At IMES' spot-on analysis, Graham snapped his mouth, which was opened to protest, shut.
[Your conjecture that I have this ability to do so is spot on.]
[However, since this functionality takes excess energy to produce at this level, the cost must come from somewhere.]
[As we negotiate, I plan on increasing the price to 100% until you call out a reasonable percentage number.]
Hearing the resolute tone, Graham began to sweat a bit.
"60%?"
[97%]
"Hey! Wait! What happened to increasing it by one level at a time??"
[Since you questioned my negotiation knowledge, I decided to follow your lead.]
[A five percent increase for a five percent increase until we reach a reasonable agreement.]
For some reason, IMES' voice sounded a bit petulant, and Graham couldn't help but click his tongue.
"Tsk. Fine. You got me, what number do you actually want?"
[75% for three worlds.]
"I refuse. Let's just go back to the original 90% for one world that you asked for."
[Deal.]
Although he couldn't see it, IMES' voice sounded like it was laughing at him, and Graham rolled his eyes at the glowing ball of light that circled him happily.
It was utterly greedy, this little thing.
Directly gobbling up 90% of his future profits and bearing none of the monetary cost.
But…if it could make accessing supplies and other things more manageable, it would be worth it in the long run.
He just had to think of this as a long-term investment.
[What city would you like the door to open to?]
At the question, a few cities ran through Graham's mind.
He could always open it to the capital city, where his family was headquartered, and he knew every corner like the back of his hand.
He could also open it to other large cities worldwide that were a bit farther away from his father and his siblings' sphere of influence.
But when Graham considered his father's lifted no-kill order, he realized that going to a faraway place wasn't a good plan.
He had no connections and know-how in those places, and he would be completely isolated if he were in trouble.
There was a saying that it was darkest underneath a lamp. He would rather go to a place where he was intimately familiar with everything than explore the unknown.
He had had enough of that just by opening a door to another planet.
Additionally, the capital city had greater resources and opportunities, not just on Earth but also on the other worlds that Earth was connected to.
It only made sense to establish himself there while pretending to live far away.
"Let's open it in the capital city. Due to the low level, it's probably going to be in a poor area, right?"
[Correct.]
"Then, if I can choose, I'd like it to be close to Southside Market Street."
[…why there?]
Graham thought about the less than...legal areas he frequented with his friends when they wanted to do bad things. In the grand scheme of things, Market Street was pretty bad, but compared to Crimson Lane, where the streets literally ran red with blood some nights, Knives Edge, or even Perillane and Tangerine, Market Street was tolerable if you knew how to navigate it and had money to make or spend.
Unfortunately, this time he wasn't here to blow his allowance, but his knowledge still remained.
Graham just gave another excuse since he didn't feel like explaining the intricacies of those areas.
"Because that area has a lot of bars, eateries, stores, and warehouses, so if I get deliveries, I'll blend right in. It has gangs for sure, but they prefer nonviolent crimes to violent ones. Plus..."
Graham paused for dramatic effect, "It's home to numerous pawnshops, and it's right by the black market. I think it's a perfect place to have a shop. Can you do it?"
[Done.]
[The door will be by the stairwell.]
"Thank you very much. I'd appreciate it if you brought down all the water and flour. We'll try to sell our stock and take a walk down my old haunts."
Graham smiled cheekily as he arranged the shelves to his liking, and once everything was placed nicely, he opened the door to see a line of children dressed in rags, playing in the filth of the streets.
He opened the door widely with a perfect customer service smile and gestured to his store.
"Welcome to the Interstellar Merchant Shop. Please come in 3 at a time. Will you be buying anything today, or are you just looking around?"