The Diego Diaries: (dd8 92)
ANOTHER HOT MESS! I just figured out I have a skipping cursor that puts words wherever it wants. This is fixed. :D
=0=At a clash of world(s)(views)
Owen Harris rose, then glanced at Kyle Davis with amusement. :I think a better description is that Andre has owned you, Kyle: He glanced at Venture, then Hard Drive. :General, for the sake of argument and curiosity, I would like to ask you questions about this wealth that your family owned:
Hardie shrugged. "Ask."
:Into what ballpark figure did your personal fortune amount?: Harris asked.
Hardie considered that, then grinned. "Together or individually?"
:Either will do: Harris replied amiably.
Hardie considered that again, then answered. "I do believe it was … hmm. How to translate it …"
"I remember a number of projections, Hardie. If you will allow me?" Venture asked.
Hardie nodded with amusement.
Venture leaned closer. "You, billionaire, would have to use a T."
:You were a trillionaire?: Kyle Davis asked with surprise.
"I think so. I had The Firm do the books so all the taxes, all of them, would be paid, a rarity all in all, and the Foundation had almost all of it to invest according to our desires to reach the most with the most possible," he said as he glanced at the others who nodded.
:The Foundation?: Harris asked. :The Firm?:
"There was a family on Cybertron who wasn't Praxian Elite but they were fabulously wealthy. They started the Avatar Foundation with their money and that from friends and allies to help everyone everywhere who were in need it was so dire and some had consciences that worked. The need was so vast that even fortunes like yours, Hardie, were barely able to keep up with demand. Your family's fortune was in the Foundation and so was Stephonia and Spuri's along with others who cared about the entirety of The People and the Creed. Almost every Praxian Elite with any money was funding all the work that was almost ever done against poverty, homelessness and off world catastrophes and needs," Venture said.
"If I were to try and quantify the fortune you and your family had, Hardie, before the money market manipulation fell at the end when war broke out, it was probably in the range of 12 trillion shanix or … 14.5 trillion dollars," Venture estimated.
It was dead silent in the room as the humans looked at the family.
Ironhide glanced at his great grandfather. "My allowance was frag all and we had that kind of money?" he asked with a grin.
Ratchet smiled. "What's an allowance?"
Huge rough laughter.
"Your allowance was enough. You were never going to be an entitled fragger, infant. We agreed together. Frag all money if it has no purpose," Hardie said with a grin. "Money is energy. We put value on it by agreeing that it has the worth assigned to it. What we do with it makes it positive or negative. We always had what?" he asked glancing at Delphi who was grinning at the humans, especially Lennox. "How much was encumbered in grants and assistance programs, especially off world in the colonies?"
"I think Spuri told me that about 94% of it was working and 6% was in interest bearing bonds to cover taxes and give us our own income because the army paid frag all even to general officers," Delphi said. "I didn't care as long as the house had a roof and we could go to the beach once in a while. The fortune was for The People because the government was frag all."
:You had that much working? At what?: Kyle Davis asked with surprise.
"We fed a lot of people, our own and aliens. We invested in colonies building things they couldn't afford to build themselves. On world, we took on municipal problems that the Senate and government refused to fix, the things that kept us from being worse off then we were.
"The colonies were sent out without a lot of support half the time so there was always a gaping need to help them. No matter what they asked for the government had a way of saying 'next week'. We used it to build and help start industries for local benefit. We fed a lot of individuals and educations. It was all good," Hardie said.
:And you got return on your investments, right?: Kyle Davis asked.
"Sometimes," Hardie said as he thought about it. "A little, maybe."
"Define return. Did we sleep better knowing our people weren't starving and homeless? Did we feel better knowing we could buy places in colleges, universities and tech institutes for deserving kids? Did we fix things that were broken and needed replacing? Yeah. We got a HUGE return on the investment," Delphi said as the others nodded.
"I think he wants to know if we got two or four back for every one we gave away," Sun said with a chuckle.
"Nope," Turbine said. He grinned. "What would be the fun in that?"
Kyle looked from one face to another. :You haven't got a damned idea how finance works do you?:
Jack snorted, then laughed. "I don't know. We had more money than you." Then he grinned. "You had more money than us right, Venture?"
Venture glanced at Jack, then the others with slight discomfort. "I don't want to talk about it."
HUGE laughter greeted that.
"I think I read somewhere that you were close, that is, you and your family to 100 trillion shanix. That wasn't even the biggest fortunes. Didn't Larken of Galaxy eclipse everyone? Sentinel and Nova, too? Some of the gangs like the Imperialis family and the Wheelus fraggers?" Blackjack asked.
"I do believe they did," Venture said as he grinned at his son who was smirking at him proudly down table.
:That kind of money … it wasn't legal or ethical how they got it was it: Owen Harris stated.
"No, unless bribes, kickbacks and insider trading is legal on your world. I do believe that money has no value unless we award it some," Hardie said. "It's only so much paper or metal otherwise. Consider at the time of real war on Cybertron. All the shanix in the Empire couldn't buy the worst grade of energon then. Saving up gold or silver for the Apocalypse is strange to me. You can't eat either of them. Money precipitated the civil war, the use and misuse of it in relation to the well being of our world and people. Money had no meaning during the war. A dump truck full of it couldn't buy you a seat on a ship going off world at the end." Blackjack leaned into Harris. "I don't suppose you understand that little truism."
:I do. I understand why you have the system you have here. I can see that some places need and require different systems. I'm just saying that we like our own: Harris replied.
"You aren't charitable organizations then," Turbine asked with a slight smirk.
:NO! We aren't. We're businessmen. We have budgets, boards and goals to meet. Our investors expect return on investment: Kyle replied.
"What about the fact that you have cleaner water on world than ever before? What about the desalination plants that are bringing deserts back to life there through our cooperative research and development, our sharing of tech, too? What about the advancements in agriculture, the clearing of plastic from the oceans and the alternative energy systems we've developed together. That doesn't include all of the tech we've given to you for bupkis because your need is so severe," Ratchet said.
"There's so many good things going around Earth, things that are making hunger less a problem, creating jobs and supporting education … we do that with our foundation, investing the proceeds of the things we do sell directly for as little as possible to include anyone who wants to buy back into the Earth. How about the idea that some things are so valuable and important that a dollar value isn't possible or even ethical? How about the idea that you might not go extinct with what we all do here and share there?"
:We're not a philanthropic organization. We develop technology for our businesses. If it helps Earth then that's wonderful. But the first order of business for us is business: Kyle said.
James, William and Jason Daniels who were sitting on a couple of couches with Beau Weaver and William Nast listened without comment. They were along to 'scope out our colleagues, gentlemen, to get a new lay of the land' Owen had said. The only thorn in Prime's side who wasn't here was Ted Galloway.
Ratchet watched them as did Prime.
He leaned slightly forward. "What about you four? What do you think about our divergent views on economics?"
They seemed startled and uneasy with the attention.
William Daniels who looked about 80 years old from the stress of his past few years glanced at the others. :I have no opinion on the matter, Lord Optimus:
:Not here anyway: Kyle said. He glanced at the bots, then Prime. :Your order is that our economic model must match yours, that all the things we make in the habitats won't be sold but given away, that everything that's brought from Earth by us will be given away here in the stores and other outlets? Is that your final decision or is there leeway to negotiate?:
Prime considered the man, then nodded. "It is my final decision."
"You miss an important point, Davis," Ratchet said. "Since its the human community here who works and makes all the things we all point to with pride, it won't be 'giving it away' to share something beneficial and bonus-like with them such as this because their work made it happen. Rewarding labor increases productivity. Just so you know."
It was silent a moment, then Harris glanced at Prime. :May I ask why? Why now, Lord Optimus?: He asked. He was intrigued. This was going to be a fucker to explain to those who had money in the project and expected not just prestige but return on investment. He also knew that Prime had thrown down on him and he was seeking validation of his hunch. He wondered as he did if Prime knew that he knew this game well himself.
"We are growing exponentially and the need on Earth is vast. We also have 80,000 plus individuals living here from Earth who require and deserve amenities and advantages living so far from their homes and extended families. It is a courtesy we give to all our people which delights and soothes them in ways you might not understand having not lived our lives.
"Our people deserve everything we can give them because they exist and also because they are the engine that drives everything. They work hard to make things and thereby, have the right to have things. It is one of the purist forms of exchange possible. No one is left out. Our system is a bottom up, not top down economy. They count in the process and in the output.
"Your people do as well. Without them nothing is possible. Given their efforts, this is a small payment in gratitude to give back. As for our model, it would do Earth a very great service for everyone if they adopted it. I will not be saying otherwise."
:You'd impose this system on Earth?: Kyle asked with surprise.
"How?" Hercy asked with a bit of offense. "How did you get to that conclusion?"
"Maybe we can ride down there and slap them around. Cap a few rounds. Give away free hats," Springer said with a smirk. "I bet they're ready for it. Beats paying a mortgage for 50 years giving a bank 2 million dollars in interest for a 200 thousand dollar house. I hear that happens. Unfortunately."
"We could put up billboards and make those soft focus commercials that companies do when they get into trouble and want to make you think they care about you, you know, the kind that shows families grinning at each other while a voice narrates how the company loves everyone," Kup said. "I've seen a bunch of them. I like them better than the medicine commercials where they have to tell you how many ways you can die taking the slag." He turned a gimlet optic onto the humans on the table. "Any of you slaggers make medicine?"
They stared at him.
:No: Kyle said with offense.
"Good thing. Apparently, the cure is worse than the disease sometimes," Kup said as a few of the bots nodded.
"How about documentaries. We can compare life on Earth with life here," Jazz said. "I can make a great documentary about it. I can be the wise husband with a pipe who sits in the den doing the monthly bills while the little femme gets dinner ready in the kitchen for me and our 2.5 kids in our ranch house in suburbia."
"I'm not the little femme, I tell you now," Mirage said with a grin as the room erupted in laughter.
"I'm not one of the two and a half kids either, though I'm cute enough," Bumblebee said as he sat next to a grinning First Aid.
"I can attest to that," Aid said.
Huge laughter and a few challenges greeted that.
Aid greeted the challenges with a frown.
:I never fail to enjoy these meetings, Lord Optimus, though I'm deeply dismayed at this decision. I'd like to schedule an appointment with you to talk about this in more depth if you'll allow it: Harris said.
Prime nodded. "I will."
:Thank you: Harris said as he walked to the chair to sit.
Kyle stared at him with surprise, then walked to sit himself.
It was silent a moment, then Ratchet rubbed his servos together. "Well, that went well I think."
Epic records of slag would be reached at that comment.
=0=A short time after everyone mostly left
:That was a good blow, Optimus:
"I think so, Will. As of this moment things are free everywhere on this world and in my sphere of influence."
=0=In the playground that afternoon after a short call home
Lucy Epps stared at her friends with enormous surprise. :GUESS WHAT!?:
:WHAT!?: her friends
:EVERYTHING IN THE MALL AND IN THE HABITATS IS FREE NOW! WE HAVE TO HAVE THE SAME SYSTEM AS THE BOTS! MY MOM AND I ARE GOING TO THE MALL AFTER SCHOOL!:
It would be unanimous. Everyone would be going to the Mall after school
=0=TBC 02-14-2021 Happy Valentine's Day! 02-15-2021 02-21-2021