Season 2 chapter 12
The Equilibrium Idiots
Kniya cleared his throat, adjusting his suit jacket. "Okay. So yeah, what? Why are you here? What do you want to tell us?"
Salesh walked over to the mahogany desk and slammed the manila folder down.
"I have come with actual, logical research," Salesh announced proudly.
Kniya leaned forward, intrigued. "What research have you done in that amount of time? Did you find the troop movements?"
"I have done my research on statue prices," Salesh said confidently. "And I have now got the thing that the price of the Yatsua statues in DI and in the black market has increased a lot! I have read many cases of the statues in which people are earning a lot of money by selling these statues in the black market! It is a massive profit margin!"
Malesh squeezed his eyes shut, massaging his temples to fight the massive migraine currently attempting to destroy his brain.
"You two literally have the exact same mental defect," Malesh groaned, his voice dripping with pure exhaustion. "You two are literally doing the same kind of research. I think so you are running some kind of illegal agency from behind my back! Please cut this crap! Fuck this crap! What are you literally like right now, Salesh?! Are you literally going to sell a holy statue to someone else?! Do you just want to make some profit off a war crime?!"
"No!" Salesh defended defensively. "It is just market data!"
"Just work more seriously!" Malesh snapped. "We just want to know why the government is doing this! Or something! And you guys are literally researching about the statue prices! Why the fucking statue is expensive!"
Malesh walked over to a massive whiteboard on the wall, grabbed a marker, and drew a harsh vertical and horizontal line.
"And let me tell you the thing," Malesh lectured, his tone highly condescending. "I think so you both have not studied basic economics. So let me tell you the thing. If the price of something becomes high, it is because of two main reasons. Either the market demand has become too high, or the market supply has become too low."
Malesh drew a diagonal line on the board.
"In this scenario, I think so the demand has become high, and the supply has not increased," Malesh explained logically. "If the government would basically steal the statues... they would actually steal the statues from the religious towns, right? Then they would have sold them. And that action would increase the market supply, so that it would heavily reduce the overall price. It is basic math!"
Malesh drew a large 'X' on the board where the lines crossed.
"There is a graph of the market price and market demand and market supply," Malesh continued. "And where the two meet, they have the equilibrium! And that is known as the equilibrium price! Which means the government is NOT selling them! They are hoarding them!"
Kniya stared at the whiteboard. He looked at Salesh. They both looked at Malesh.
"Why the fuck are you lecturing us on the fucking market price related to the thing?!" Kniya yelled, completely ignoring the entire economic breakthrough. "We are billionaires! We don't care about equilibrium!"
"Because you are both idiots!" Malesh yelled back, throwing the marker at Kniya's head. "If the government isn't selling the rare-earth metals, they are using them!"
The Vice President's Call
Location: Vice President's Office, Kavilson Tower
Three floors down from the active warzone in the executive suite, Filoska Vinten was actually doing her job.
Her desk was perfectly organized, free of any shattered glass or boiling coffee. She was currently reviewing the structural integrity reports for a massive federal steel contract they had secured earlier that year.
Suddenly, the highly secure, red telephone line on the corner of her desk began to ring.
Filoska paused. The red line was specifically reserved for high-level federal communications. It almost never rang unless a national emergency was actively occurring.
She took a slow breath, picked up the heavy receiver, and pressed it to her ear.
"Vice President Vinten speaking," Filoska said smoothly, projecting absolute corporate authority.
"Greetings, Filoska," a highly formal, incredibly wealthy voice answered on the other end. It was Leon Debestez, the powerful head of the entire royal family. "I just wanted to inform you that we have something of the utmost importance to discuss. You need to come to Dontils Villa in Recton Estate, central KDC."
Filoska paused, her pen hovering over her paperwork. "Why? Why do I need to come all the way down there? What is this important task we have to discuss?"
"I cannot discuss that over the phone line," Leon replied formally, keeping his tone tight and serious. "You need to come here in person to discuss the thing. So, yeah. I hope you will come on time and basically not disappoint me, because you know the stakes."
"At what time do I need to arrive?" Filoska asked, opening her daily planner.
The Labor Dispute
There was a brief pause on the line. The phone was muffled slightly, but Filoska could still clearly hear Leon turning away to yell at someone in the background.
"Hey, fucking guard!" Leon shouted off-receiver. "What is the perfect time for tomorrow?"
"Sir, fuck your ass, first of all," a highly disrespectful guard yelled back. "And the time for that is 5:56 PM."
"Why 5:56?!" Leon asked, dropping his formal royal tone completely. "Why not 6:00 PM instead?!"
"Because I have planned everything, sir," the guard replied bluntly. "You have a really busy schedule."
"Why do I have a fucking busy schedule?!" Leon shrieked defensively. "I am free all day!"
"Because you are doing some labor work, sir. You are going to do some labor work in the construction of the new office."
"Guard, you cannot plan even the simplest thing! You are literally useless!" Leon yelled, his voice echoing loudly through Filoska's phone. "I am going to plan this event for 6:00 PM! I am not going to do labor work!"
"Sir, it is a really important brick-laying ceremony you have to do," the guard argued stubbornly. "And no one else is going to do it. By wasting your four minutes, you would be late at the ceremony!"
"What the fuck do you literally want me to do?!" Leon roared, completely losing his mind at his own employee. "You want me to do the fucking labor work?! Are you literally out of your mind, you fucking moron?! You think I am going to do the labor work right now?! I am scheduling this meeting for 6:00 PM! No compromise!"
"Sir, the villa is hosting the inauguration of the very important estate we have, and you are going to lay the final brick."
"So what?!" Leon yelled back. "If I don't do that, what can you do?! Why can't you have any other person from the other Eight Great Families? They can also do the task!"
"Sir, we can call the members of the other great families," the guard reasoned logically, "but you know the thing is... you are going to wash your ass in that expensive villa. So why will they have to do the work for your ass?"
The Secret Invitation
Filoska rubbed her temples. She was a Vice President of a trillion-credit conglomerate, and she was currently sitting at her desk listening to the head of the royal family scream at a security guard about bricks and washing asses.
"You are literally fired, you fucking idiot!" Leon screamed at the top of his lungs. "How did you say that to me?! Why are you like that?! Why is every person in this fucking country like that?!"
Suddenly, the phone un-muffled. Leon cleared his throat, instantly switching back to his extremely formal, serious tone as if nothing had just happened.
"Filoska, listen to me," Leon said smoothly. "The time is now scheduled to 6:00 PM. Do you fucking understand or not?"
"Okay, I will be there," Filoska sighed, deeply angry that she had to listen to them fight like literal children for two whole minutes while she was trying to work.
"And do not tell this thing to Kniya or Malesh, or you will face serious consequences," Leon warned darkly. He pulled the phone away from his mouth again. "Fuck you, guard!"
"Sir, you can't fire me for a very silly reason!" the guard yelled in the background, completely unbothered by the threat.
"Get the fuck out of here, you idiot!" Leon shrieked back. "And yeah, get some laborer to do the final ceremony for me! I am not going there!"
"I'm not going to do it," the guard deadpanned.
"Oh, you fucking idiot!" Leon groaned, putting the phone back to his ear. "Filoska, just do not listen to our chit-chat. The thing is, I am sending a car to your office. Just board the car, do not inform Kniya and Malesh, and ensure they do not notice that thing. Fuck everything."
Click.
The line went dead. Filoska slowly hung up the receiver, staring blankly at her desk. Why the absolute hell was the head of the royal family secretly summoning her to Dontils Villa?