Monster Party Novella Nosos: But what happens when the gears, get sick of the machine?
Chapter Five: Generous, Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty!
Very confused but vaguely hopeful (if also vaguely frightened) workers made their way into the recently renamed Chateau Argent (James Firecat had suggested the name on the principle of everything sounding more classy in Mordentish (even he personally favored the low form of the language)) many of them seeing wealth beyond their moderately wild dreams.
The design of the mansion (and the fact that certain doors had been locked in preparation for their arrival) guided them into a grand ballroom where Alexander Diamondclaw stood waiting.
He stood there waiting and waiting and waiting. He pulled out his new timepiece and listened to the gears ticking while he watched the tiny hands move.
Eventually he spoke.
"Well it says 9:03, I gave a little extra leeway in case I set this thing incorrectly, but by now it must be roughly 9:00 more or less. My name if you lot didn't know it already is Alexander Diamondclaw. I recently purchased Resten Jewelery from Edward Resten.
I know some of you may be wondering what exactly that means. To start with I'm going to completely dissolve Resten Jewelery." Alexander explained.
He then waited exactly long enough for everyone to develop an expression of horror upon their faces, but no long enough for the pleading, begging, or crying to begin.
"In its place I'm going to form a new company to employ all the same people as the old one, but with a new name, new emblem, and a few new business practices." He added comfortingly.
Sure enough that news promptly reset his guest's emotional state back to the same blend of hope and fear that they'd entered with.
"As of this moment, you all work for Amalgamated Diamonds!" Alexander declared while slashing the air with his right hand.
A moment later Cal and Devi pulled a pair of wires and a large flag unfurled behind Alexander. It was made of predominantly black cloth and depicted three wolves turning their heads upwards to offer up howls of reverence towards a full moon.
There was near perfect silence from those gathered there before him.
"So... that, is our new emblem then?" One timid person eventually couldn't help but ask.
At Alexander's nod another question forced its way free from his lips, though the speaker looked as though he would have deeply preferred to stay silent in retrospect.
"But... it doesn't really have anything to do with diamonds does it?" He ventured.
"You're correct, I just like the way that it looks." Alexander admitted.
He was not winning over the crowd at the moment, he was very much aware of that fact. On the other hand, Alexander had a captive audience and if he could keep them from making a break for the doors through this part then the rest of it should be easy enough.
"Now do any of you know what this is?" Alexander asked as he raised his right arm and used his left to gesture towards another recent addition to his attire. It was a silver arm band with black writing upon it.
A sea of blank faces gazed back at him.
"That's what I expected, because right now none of you have your own. This thing is my badge of loyalty to Amalgamated Diamonds. Most of you probably can't see it clearly enough but it has 'Alexander Diamondclaw' and 'Alpha' written on it. Do you folks know what it means that I'm the Alpha?" Alexander inquired to the crowd assembled before him.
"It means you're in charge?" One of the workers ventured, his voice more than a touch unsure.
"That's right. I'm in charge. I'm the boss. I'm the leader. I give the orders. I make the decisions. It means that I am responsible." Alexander vowed.
The side doors to the ballroom opened allowing his companions to enter, all five of them carrying countless silver armbands. Like their commander they also now wore silver armbands with their respective names and "Alpha" written on it.
"We've been working on these all night, going over the books, seeing who works for me an in what capacity. Everyone who works for me, as long as they are on the job, they'll wear one of these armbands depicting their name and their position in my pack. If you find that too much of an imposition feel free to leave." The silver haired man declared.
"Granted even if you think I'm a lunatic you might want to hang around long enough to at least eat my food before you go." He added a moment later half jokingly.
"If you do stick around, I hope you'll find me a relatively fair employer. Everything I believe can basically be boiled down into three principles: I will be obeyed, I will brook no betrayal within my pack, and I will be responsible." Alexander explained, before jumping down off the raised section of the floor he'd been speaking from to stand alongside his new followers.
"Being an Alpha means I am responsible for the health and well being of my pack. If someone wearing one of these armbands has no den to call their own, I am failing! If someone wearing one of these armbands doesn't leave work with enough money in their pocket to keep themselves or their family from starving, I am failing! If someone wearing one of these armbands is menaced by monster or man and can find no one to protect them, I am failing! If I make a promise to someone wearing one of these armbands and do not live up to it, I, am, failing!" Alexander vowed, his voice dreadfully earnest.
"That's how this is supposed to work after all, I may be new to Nosos, but I'm not new to loyalty. It's a simple thing. So simple that wolves figured it out, and probably well before our own ancestors did. Humanity is at its best when we look to nature and figure out how to draw inspiration from it. No one does loyalty better than wolves. Service in exchange for protection, it is a concept that we humans seem to have problems with sometimes." Alexander told them.
While he spoke, the other five circulated around the room. They softly asked various members of the crowd what their name was, then either handed them an armband or more likely went off to speak with one of the other four who had that person's armband. It was by no means a streamlined or efficient process, but if it took a while that just gave Alexander more time to talk.
"I'm willing to bet that there aren't any caribou in Nosos, so let me tell you about them. They're sort of like a cross between a cow and a horse, with the general weight of the former, and the body shape of the later. They're great big powerful beasts that can cave a man's chest in with one good kick. So they're bigger than wolves, stronger than wolves, and herds of caribou are much bigger than packs of wolves.
Wolves hunt them though, they hunt them, and they succeed at it. Do you know why?" He inquired to his audience.
Unsurprisingly no one answered.
"There are three reasons.
The first is hunger. If a caribou kills a wolf, all it has accomplished is killing the wolf. Caribou don't eat meat. If the wolves kill a caribou, that means food for the entire pack. Wolves are hungry, they want victory more.
The second is determination. There's exactly one non-magical creature in the world which can cross truly long distances on foot better than wolves, and that's us. So wolves can run a lot longer than caribou can. So run they will, wolves will run, and run, and run until the the caribou start getting tired and making mistakes. Wolves have determination, they plan for the long run.
The third reason is loyalty. When a caribou falls, the other members of the herd just keep right on running, willing to trade the life of one of their companions so long as it selfishly ensures their own safety. Wolves on the other paw are loyal to each other, loyal to the pack.
So, all of you need to ask yourselves three distinct questions.
Are you hungry, are you determined, and are you loyal?
Because if you are, then you'll be my wolves, and I'll be your Alpha." Alexander promised them.
There was a lot of silence, people clearly weren't quite sure what to make of this turn of events. Not that this bothered Alexander, it had taken the other five a while to get used to his particular way of thinking also. To be perfectly honest, it had taken Alexander Diamondclaw a while to get used to Alexander Diamondclaw's particular way of thinking.
"Which brings us around to the subject of unions, and not in the matrimonial sense." The silver haired man announced.
There was a lot of askance looks here and there among various members of the crowd, clearly this was not a subject they were comfortable hearing him talk about.
"I'm in favor of them. An Alpha can't lead effectively if he doesn't know the concerns of his pack, and I simply can't take the time to get in touch with each one of you individually. I just can't, there won't be enough hours in the day.
I am a bit on the eccentric side though so I'll probably spend the rest of today trying all the same.
Still, if Amalgamated Diamonds gets bigger, which is exactly what I plan for it to do, the sheer weight of numbers will bury me. So I want you to form a union, so that all of those problems can be gathered together and brought to me in one bundle to consider and deal with, rather than having to face them piecemeal." Alexander insisted.
There was a lot more silence in the room. The reaction would not have been too dissimilar if a pride of lions had approached a herd of sheep and politely explained that since the shepard and his dogs were feeling ill today they'd be filling in.
"You're just going to fire anyone who joins the union or complains!" One miner a touch paradoxically complained.
Alexander just stood there tapping his booted right foot for a moment. He hadn't expected this part of the talk to be such a hard sell, but if they wanted to make him work for it he would.
"Fine, if that's really how you feel about it, we'll do it like this. First, I give you lot a gold coin. Then, I want you lot to go out and hire the first beggar, vagrant or similar you can find, just make sure they have a decent memory. Bring him back here, and take him to some room on the second floor of my mansion.
At that point make him put on a blindfold.
Then you can start telling him about... I don't know whatever exactly it is unions are supposed to talk about. While you are doing that, I'm going to go out and find my own man to hire for the day. I'll bring him back here, and make him wear a blindfold, while I stay in either the cloakroom or the ballroom. Once that is done, some of you can lead my blindfolded man to your blindfolded man.
At that point I, and anyone else you have concerns over will put on a blindfold just to grant you some extra peace of mind.
Your man will tell my man what he's heard, then my man will tell me. I'll have a rough outline of what your concerns are, but at the same time my man will have no idea who exactly was complaining, since he won't even know what the people who talked to your man sound like.
My man and your man go their separate ways, not taking their blindfolds off till they leave the building, and they'll be leaving something like five or ten minutes apart. Unless I pick your man at random out of every person living on the streets of Nosos, there's no way I'll know who had individual complaints. Does that satisfy you?" Alexander suggested.
There was a long pause.
"Could we hear that again, from the start, it was rather complicated...?" One worker requested.
"I think it'd probably best for all of us if the next time I try and explain it I draw some pictures as well..." Alexander reflected as he'd be the first to admit that his plan was cumbersome in the extreme even if it should end up being effective.
"That said, since we'll probably have to do this more than once, probably something like once a month, I'll add the two gold coins we're going to end up spending to the salary of any man who is willing to just listen to the concerns of his fellow workers and then bring them directly to me." Alexander suggested.
"Snitch on us you mean!" Still another of his employees blurted out before he could help himself.
"Guess we'll be sticking to the two vagrants three blindfolds plan then. I'll go see if I can find a really big piece of parchment to lay it out on..." Alexander reflected.
XXX XXX XXX
"Some of them want you to pay the men with families more since they have a wife or children to feed. Some of them don't want you to do that since it means they'll be getting paid less just because they don't have a wife or kids.
There was a general request for shorter work hours, especially on on prayer day. Also two hard boiled eggs, though I'm not sure if that was a request for two 'single' hard boiled eggs, or for every man to get two..." The blindfolded beggar told the blindfolded Alexander Diamondclaw.
XXX XXX XXX
"Eleven hour work days, four on prayer day, the amount you get paid per day will not be decreased, in fact you're all getting a ten percent raise. I've also got two hard boiled eggs that I'm going to leave on this table and whoever wants them can help themselves after I walk out of the room." Alexander informed his employees the white ovals in question held in his right hand.
Several mouthfuls of hastily shoveled food promptly fell from slack jaws (or in a few more extreme examples were spat out) as men looked up from the large lunch Alexander's servants had prepared.
The silver haired man shrugged and deposited the hard-boiled egg on the table.
"Speaking of changes regarding how I run this business, there's another major detail I want your help with. If any of you come down with an illness, either you or one of your fellow omegas needs to make me aware of it as soon as possible." Alexander insisted.
"So you can fire them before they can get a chance to the infect others?" A worker hesitantly suggested.
"What? No, so I can have you magically healed!" Alexander spluttered, the depths of these people's cynicism surprising even him.
"How much will that end up costing us?" Another worker asked giving his employer a very suspicious side eye.
"Ten copper. That said, the woman who will be healing you can also use magic to tell if you're actually sick or not. We will be taking notes, and if anyone spends too much time faking illness, or keeps coming down with the same one over and over again, questions may be asked and steps may be taken." Alexander clarified.
Ironically this particular half threat half promise seemed to reassure the workers much more than any of Alexander's more benevolent offerings.
"Does that apply to our families also? I mean if a man catches ill from his wife he's just as sick as if he got it some other way..." Yet another worker suggested timidly.
"Florence, I think you've got your first patient." The silver haired man suggested.
XXX XXX XXX
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Alrek asked Alexander as the workers were starting to head off to the mine.
"What makes you think I don't?" He replied calmly.
There was a look in the dwarf's eyes which strongly suggested that "everything" was the answer he wanted to give.
"You do realize that you're running a business? The point of business is to make money not to make friends..." He pointed out bluntly.
Alexander would have taken Mr. Deep-Minded by the shoulder, but the sheer difference in height between the two made that utterly impractical.
So instead, Alexander abruptly got down on his knees and looked his employee directly in the eye.
"I've got a story that I'd like to tell you." He explained.
"Does it involve wolves?" The dour dwarf abruptly suspected.
"Contrary to popular opinion, my career as an adventurer has given me more tools to work with than just wolf related parables. There's also murder, delegation, and a few additional tales that I keep in my back pocket just in case.
Speaking of delegation, I'd like you to come with me." Alexander 'suggested'.
It wasn't especially hard to lead a dwarf along, at least if you were able to find something to get a grip on. So lead him on Alexander did, and pair entered into a small side room where someone was waiting for them.
"Mr. Deep-Minded, this is Devi Skye. Do you know what she specializes in?" He asked casually.
The dwarf took one look at at the elf and then gave what was to him the obvious answer.
"Trees?" He suggested.
"No, that's Florence's job. I do numbers." She explained.
Alexander reassuringly draped a hand across Devi's shoulders.
"That's right. I can count from one to 'pack' and that will be enough to get you by in the adventuring business, for the most part. There are some exceptions though, and that's where Devi come in.
Now then, as for that story I promised you... it involves two seeds, and yes I'm perfectly well aware that seeds are probably no more plentiful in Nosos than wolves are.
These two seeds are both planted a few hundred feet apart from one another, both of them given plenty of sunlight, plenty of water, and both of them began to grow. After a year of growth one of the seeds began to openly mock the other 'look how small and spindly you are next to me!' It boasted. The other seed however just smirked back and said nothing. That Mr. Deep-Minded is the story of the berry bush and the oak. The moral is that great growth takes it time." Alexander concluded.
"Time isn't what I'm worried about, its about money. You're tossing money around like it hurts you to be financially secure!" The dwarf grumbled.
Alexander flashed him a smile and leaned across to desk that Devi was seated at.
"Do you know how you build a mine?" Alexander replied with a look of utter serenity on his face.
"You're bloody well right I do, you have to..." The dwarf began to answer.
He didn't get any further along before Devi cut him off.
"You build a mine by tossing money around like it hurts you to be financially secure. You have to spend a vast amount of money if you want to build a mine.
Shocking as it may sound, the principle that you have to spend money to make money, a lot of money, can apply to labor as well as capital." Devi explained with utmost certainty.
"Devi, how long does the average adventurer live for?" Alexander asked in a dreamy far away voice.
"Hard to say, people tend not to keep perfect records of their desire to become an adventurer. More to the point, they often die in ways that are hard to verify. Still, if I had to guess, less than six months." She answered.
"How long have we been adventuring for?" He spoke in the nonchalant tone of one who already knows the answer.
"Years." Devi replied in an equally bored tone of voice.
"Know why that is?" Alexander inquired.
"Cheating and experience." The elf-lady replied.
"It is pretty hard to cheat a cave in, but Mr. Deep-Minded I'd be willing to bet that experience is still quite useful. To get experience though, you need to not die." Alexander explained.
"Not technically correct, but lets not quibble until we find some undead who are willing to work the mine." Devi pointed out since Mirri wasn't on hand.
"In short, I'm very in favor of my employees not dying, Devi would you care to explain why?" Alexander half commanded.
"I've looked over all the books that Edward Resten kept on the history and productivity of his mine. People may lie, but numbers don't, not unless people want them to, and I have little reason to suspect he would want to lie about this.
I've used his numbers to make some numbers of my own, numbers about how long the average employee works in our mine, numbers about how productive a worker who is fresh to the job and one who has been with us for a while.
Numbers about how much each and every cave in has ended up setting us back. Numbers based on whatever information could be gathered about those cave ins, and how many of them were really caused by 'bad luck' and how many happened because of some recently hired worker doing something that no veteran would even dream about.
Numbers about how and why people often tend to stop working in the mine just as they're really starting to get experience. I've looked at all these numbers and I came to one chief conclusion, the current surplus of raw untrained 'talent' available in Nosos was leading Mr. Resten to take short sighted measures when it came to his employees.
If you do that with building materials sooner or later the ceiling, walls, and or floor collapse. Doing it with people won't work any better in the long run. Would you like to see the numbers that lead me to this conclusion?" Devi offered the dwarf.
Granted, she made that particular 'offer' in much the same way that a spider would 'offer' a fly the chance to more fully inspect its web. Elves lived for a very long time, many of them spent that time studying trees, Devi did it studying paper.
"I'll take you at your word, but reducing hours is going to eat into our profits..." Alrek warned.
"In the short run, quite possibly. On the other hand, there are limits to human endurance and it is very dark down in that mine. Devi are we currently employing people to stand over the shoulder of our miners and make sure they're actually working their entire shift?" Alexander 'asked' 'innocently' to his blue haired companion.
"Not as such. Especially because sooner or later we'd need to hire people to watch the watchers, and possibly people to watch them as well, and then before long we'd end up employing everyone in Nosos with a functioning pair of eyes." She answered briskly.
"There are limits to human endurance, being an adventurer you learn these things about just how long a person can fight for before exhaustion sets in and you start making mistakes. When an adventurer makes mistakes it can get them and everyone who depends on them killed, not terribly different from when a miner makes mistakes I believe.
So Alrek we're going to try a few experiments. Based on the information my companions have been gathering, work hours in Nosos seem to have been determined by being the largest number the employer can get the employee to agree to.
I'm more interested in finding out what is the number of hours the employee can work day after day without doing long term harm to their body or mind. Profits may dip for a bit, but like I said in my speech, my goal is the long hunt. Speaking of which, an idea just struck me that might considerably cut down on the number of these talks we're having..." Alexander declared cheerfully.
"Firing me?" The dwarf expected.
"I was actually thinking about giving you a year's pay in advance. I'll be expecting a fair portion of it back if you quit or actually do something that earns my ire enough to fire you of course. Still, I figured that it might be a good of way of proving that I don't intend to go broke any time soon, and if I do, well you won't be any worse off will you?" Alexander suggested evenly.
"You make a convincing argument." Alrek Deep-Minded admitted.
End Chapter.
AN: Alex oversells wolves and loyalty or at least over anthropomorphizing both them and the caribou. After all, it's not like if one wolf breaks a leg the others are going to put it in a splint and bring them food until it heals. However, given that neither of the animals he was talking about are native to Nosos, it is not likely that anyone is going to quibble with him.
Also I am entirely aware of the unfortunate implications of another large group that wore armbands as a method of identification. That said, there's no way that any of the characters in the story would be aware of that group and after thinking this over armbands really were the only reasonable/most logical way to go. Given that even the group doesn't have unlimited money to spend full on uniforms were out of the question, cards/name tags aren't obvious enough, but armbands are just right, they can still be taken off and hidden from others fairly easily, but at the same time are also reasonably obvious if you are wearing one. In short, armbands are a good way of creating a visual sense of community/unity which is why Alex is using them.
Oh, if you are experiencing an adverse reaction to "eleven hour work days" congrats that is the proper reaction, however keep in mind that adventuring is technically a 24/7 profession, and so he doesn't really have a proper frame of reference to work from, he just took the current number of hours his employees were working and subtracted one from it.
Finally the symbol/flag of Amalgamated Diamonds might sound familiar to some of you, if you think you know what it is, you're probably right. If you don't I'll admit what it is in the comments for the story as a whole.