Chapter 6.25 - Red Tape

A summoning totem, the entire material set of a level 50 dungeon run, a vacant vacation property in Ston, a mana certificate for the adventurer's guild valued at 20k, and a 6 month education as part of the Corvid's specialty school. These were the grand prizes for the event.

Various other prizes were presented as part of the available prize pools, to ensure all of the worthy items developed would be rewarded. Notably, two runner up prizes to include dungeon skip tickets for the capital region dungeon and a custom weapon produced at Ephraim's workshop. Also, other prizes were put forth, Vouchers to the House of Masks, a keg of mead, boxes of spices, all of which were for different categories that had nothing to do with the best invention, i.e. 'helps around the house', 'The Lord's favorite', 'best invention from recently plated', and 'loved by homunculi'. The last category made Serin chuckle, as it was solely for the best invention for a homunculi which was determined by Shurik. The title was catchy though so it fit.

Overall the event was well received. At the beginning of the week applicants arrived from all over the Allied Countries and registered. Shurik's facilities were set up for the teams to use their tools and raw materials, of which there were 200 teams that applied. 2 teams from Thul, 16 teams from Ston, 47 teams from Haven, 4 teams from the Corvid Society, and 131 teams from The Collective.

Due to the space required, each team was limited to no more than 5 people. It was a surge of activity, and Lord Koni had to have homunculi work overtime to prepare over 1000 boxed meals three times a day for the inventors, so they would not have to break from the competition to get food. Within an hour of the start teams were hard at work, inspired to outdo each other, aiming to win some of the various prizes available for those who completed something truly wondrous. Large dividers were put up splitting the large arena into 200 sections so teams wouldn't get 'inspired' by their competition.

But as the week went on, most of the 'fantastic' ideas brought forward by the many teams present never made it past that. Whether it was a lack of creativity, ingenuity, or inspiration, most of the problems that the teams tried to solved could not be figured out, and as they gave up and left the competition, the arena became less and less crowded.

In the end only 9 teams had produced viable working prototypes for their inventions. On the day of judging, Serin was filled with emotion, ranging from awe to just humored. Although the cost of this event was staggering, as it shut down Shurik's production labs for 3 weeks (one before and one after), the 9 produced results were worth it.

From Ston, inspired by their idol the Haven diplomat Wilton, a team of young engineers had designed a self grinding peppermill. Wilton had been called in and when he saw it he laughed. It was perfect to him. However, he hadn't included anything in the prizepool for sponsors, so he instead contacted his supervisor Dana to inform her that 'nothing to spew from the minds of these eggheads would improve the quality of life better than this invention.' Dana, having rarely seen Wilton so adamant about something, picked this invention for sponsorship, so while the inventors would not share the grand prize, they were all ecstatic for a fully paid stay at the House of Masks, the premiere courtesan establishment in the entire alliance.

From the Corvid Society, they devised a rather special paint based off the lenses they have seen the Dhamphir wear during the day. that absorbed light of all spectrums, but using a special wand could be written on with white light and erased. Recognizing the applicability in a school setting, as well as in lab spaces, Shurik awarded this as 'loved by homunculi' since it would greatly aid in visualization of the mechanical processes he worked on.

From the Kingdom of Thul, the tamers had designed a special knife. Many blades of many designs could be found on the continent of Terra for many different uses. Skinning, fileting, fighting, chopping, there was a knife for many purposes. This knife however was specially designed to cut cheese. Its design included large sections of missing metal to ease the process of cutting hard and soft cheeses alike. Although it was not groundbreaking, it was highly applicable, as every house in the alliance had cheese, and the ability to make uniform, clean, and thin cuts of cheese, although not able to aid in serious endeavors, had still earned an award in the hearts of the judges. And although it should have one the 'helps around the house' award, it was barely beaten out by the Collective's invention of a self heating kettle stand, powered by mana. Instead it was handed a runner up award.

In fact, out of all the inventions, The Collective created most of the winning designs, and the most successful inventions overall.

After seeing the bracer that Serin wore on his personal combat rig, The collective designed a modular bracer that had three contact slots and was able to be modularly built to the needs of the user. They showed off multiple bracer configurations with 12 different slottable items to include both lethal and non lethal weapons. In all it was quite the showpiece, and besides winning the 'lord's favorite' award, Serin immediately commissioned several of them for personal use.

Another of the collective's inventions was a two wheeled autocart that had a specialized mechanical gearbox that allowed for 6 different gears to be used, coupled with the smaller frame of the machine, it was able to move at extremely fast speeds. The inventor was a small plated girl from the collective, who based the design for the gearbox after the block and chain design her great-great-great-grandfather had designed in Sarween earning her the 'best invention from the recently plated'.

There was only one invention of note that Haven had put in. It was a special structure that was built around a crystalline pair of stones. By creating the device and having a matching ring placed, the inventor, a Lancer Gole, displayed how it could instantly transfer a set of tones to its matching stone. Paired with a reproduction of the Gole's unique alphabet, this device allowed for two way communication between any known distance. This revolutionary device, which would be capable of ensuring two way secure communication across the vast distances of Terra, did not win. Haven, despite its best efforts and diversity of backgrounds, still only placed 'runner up' in the competition.

The winner of the competition went to the collective. The winning team created a unique fan system called a 'turbine', which in itself was not that miraculous. Sure, it would be able to assist with some of the Skygge skyships but it was not what won. Combining the design of a backpack homunculi, two small turbine fans, four large Mana stones for power, and 8 gravity stones, the winning team had created a small frame backpack capable of allowing the user to take flight. Although the demonstration was relatively short, as the inventor had no skills in piloting, the demonstration was amazing, as its wearer, a normal human of the collective, used it to take flight. The design was still a prototype, but their test showed sustained flight time of 8 hours under load before the large mana stones needed to recharge.

The 'Flightpack' as it was called, was extremely fast. It was as fast as a windrunner vessel, except it was not as difficult to use. And while the windrunner vessel allowed for longer sustained flights as well as pulling small loads of materials, this was an easy device that required very little skill to start to use. Serin also realized that it created a unique skill upon using called 'Pilot (flightpack)'.

Serin was fine with losing the competition, and although the nations collectively dropped a king's fortune in materials and credits at the doorstep of the Collective, Serin knew this was the likely outcome.

This event had fostered camaraderie among the different member states of the alliance. It had also produced technological marvels, of varying usefulness, that might not have come to fruition had the event not taken place. But most importantly, it had given pride and agency back to the Collective, and as a Vassal State, showing that they were just as valuable as any other member of the Alliance.

But as much of a success the event was, it wasn't without its problems.

Specifically, due to an offhand comment by the Lancer Gole team that developed the 2 way communicator.

"It was an awesome event, but i think we might have had more participation if it wasn't for the entrance fee."

Serin had been passing by as he heard this statement. He stopped as he was walking. "What entrance fee?"

***

Serin rubbed the bridge of his nose. His investigation into the matter had taken entirely too long, and just resources that could have better been used in any other endeavor. But the results of the investigation had warranted its expense, however dire. Had it just been simple embezzling, it would have been immediately fixed, the money returned, and the accused banned from working with money within the government of Haven again. But the event volunteer that had begun registration, a Human named Waylen Fitz, had done something worse.

Waylen Fitz, the second son of a failed noble house in the Northern Kingdoms, had emigrated to the country of Haven after hearing the promise of the riches awaiting those with the will to pursue. He adored wealth. And when it came to bureaucratic endeavors, Waylen was unmatched. Having mastered all of the written languages of Terra, and quickly picking up the languages of the races of Haven, Waylen quickly moved to the position of head administrator. It should have been the end of his story. His position was stovepiped. Short of elected official, he was the highest rank a person could attain within the government, which is a head administrator. But this was not what it was like in his home country. In his home country, such a position, similar to a Magistrate, would have garnered him all of the wealth, status, and power he could ever desire, as the ability to administrate the government was a key requirement of such large and involved nations. And although the work of a head administrator was not full time, it was still the only work a peron should have to do to be wealthy. But that was not true in Haven.

It was explained to Waylen Fitz that his duties for the government were part time regardless of rank, and that when compared to the fulltime work of similar positions he was considered well paid. But his position took up only 10 hours of work for him. So in all he was making as much as a normal shopkeeper would make working 60 hour weeks. This was not fair in Waylen's mind. His expertise should garner higher wages. But Haven was built to ensure that lofty positions were not a sole source of lofty income, ensuring that even those at the highest level still had to put forth additional effort to progress in life.

He then started to notice a trend. Humans who had emigrated from the Northern Kingdoms and Grand Woods Alliance were not as well off as the other races. Waylen Fitz knew that the merit matrices, which along with the needs of the resident, were the basis for assigning housing. There were medium and large style residences, residences with shops attached, warehouse residences, and lakeside ranches, all of which were empty. This was because the merit was not met according to the matrices. Waylen thought that this was silly. You should fill in the nicer residences on a first come first served basis, and when other groups of refugees come they should 'get what the get, and not throw a fit' Waylen said to himself. He was in charge of assigning and reassigning residence, so he knew what to do.

At first, Waylen made small adjustments. From his home country, Waylen had a few friends, who had a few friends. They were previous nobles, and they were moved into single family apartments, or if single moved into studio apartments. Yes, the merit scale determined that they had not done anything 'of note' yet to earn a bigger residence, but that didn't mean anything. Waylen knew these people personally. He knew they had been leaders before they came. Shouldn't their past accomplishments and pedigree count for anything?

So it started with a few fudged numbers, a few duplicated documents, a few inflated values. Then one by one those that Waylen was close to from his home country began to see the fruits of his labor. He didn't expect any recompense, although as a noble he was sure it would come. As predicted and as if a thank you for his endeavors, Waylen was given dozens of gifts at the last christmas celebration. It then occurred to him. His merit was tightly controlled by Jasmine, but he controlled everyone's Merit. Waylen realized he could adjust the values. He himself may never directly benefit from his work, but he could continue to work in secret and before he knew it humans who would end up being the influencers. They were the first to the world, it would only be fair. Waylen could balance the racial scales.

Waylen might have been able to do irreparable damage over the years, but like most corrupt bureaucrats, he got greedy.

After questioning all the applicants for the invention competition, Serin determined that the fee was in fact race based. Each team was required to submit 100 credits, but when questioned non humans were required to submit 200 credits.

It was an extremely low value, and administered as a 'processing fee'. Something not approved by any of the alliance leaders, the council, Jasmine who acted as Waylen's boss, or Shurik who was the de facto head of the event.

So an investigation had begun. Serin had called in certain members of his protectorate team to include, at Dana's request, A Lancer Gole named Juni.

When Juni, the pink haired Gole who wore her insignia of the protectorate was involved, it was never good. The investigation started from the top down. First Jasmine, with Juni present, was questioned, and other than being a bit overworked, she had not done anything wrong nor was aware of any issues. All of her reports were fine, and on the surface, all of Weylan's work was spotless. Jasmine had to have thought to do an investigation, but that would require suspicion and time, of which she never seemed to have any.

Then there was Shurik, who met with Weylan as he was being subcontracted to them for event administration. Shurik truthfully stated he was asked about an administration fee, but Shurik thought the idea was preposterous and flat out disapproved of it.

Then there was Weylan. There was enough evidence to justifiably warrant pulling the memories from his mind, but that was almost torturous to someone who resisted, so Dana suggested a different tactic. Juni, the Lancer Gole, met with Weylan in his interrogation cell. And like most bureaucrats, it was quickly determined that all his actions were from some warped moral code. All Juni had to do was get Weylan to explain without a care for the consequence. Juni's specialty was in illusion and mind manipulation magic, and just like before, she went to work.

Weaving her spell as she smiled Juni addressed her target. "I am sure you were just doing what was right. Maybe if you explain it to me so i can understand, we can implement your ideas across Haven and clear this whole mess up." Juni then caressed the arm of Weylan and cast [Subversion].

Weylan felt as if all the consequences of his plan fell away. Of course he should trust this Gole. She believed in the work he was doing. And she was 'almost' human in appearance, so with the thought of consequence far from his mind, he explained everything to Juni, who made a mental recording of the interrogation.

"And that's why i did it. It's only fair that humans get a bit of an adjustment. Those I helped come from prestigious backgrounds, and held high status in their previous cities. They might not have the best combat aptitude or crafting skill, but they are from good stock. And we have to help each other out. The Forest Elves sure helped each other out, and this nation basically has a holiday dedicated to the Demis in the spring and the Changelings in the Fall. Hell even the Dhamphir and Constructs are stealing the best jobs, safely working as teamsters, porters, and house attendants. It is not fair that such proud nobles be reduced to living in studio apartments just because they are unmarried and the system has not caught up to needing their skills. Humans need all the help they can get if we are to not be edged out to oblivion. I want everyone to get along, and humans to get what is owed. Is that a crime?"

Juni shook her head. "I think that you are doing what you think is right. But I am sure when it is reviewed by the council it will be decided."

***

"Weylan Fitz you have been judged guilty of breaking Haven's second law, Racial Equality."

***

The aftermath of the trial was strong and far reaching. A multicultural team had to go in and find where Weylan's changes were made, and figure out who was adjusted. After several days, there were a total of 23 people who were living in unmerited housing. Of those, 6 thought it was an honest mistake and were simply moved back into their previous accommodations. 17 of them knew it was racial favoritism and had even paid Weylan for the service. These people were also in violation of the second law, as they had knowingly jumped ahead of the other races. Because of this they were given the same punishment as Weylan Fitz.

Afterwards there was a town assembly of all races, where a speech was given regarding the race. 18 people were given 40 year sentences. The parasites given hosts knew that this event occured because of a lack of bureaucratic upkeep, and offered to take up shifts in the various government offices on a part time basis to ensure this wouldn't happen again. As much as Sienna and her people were grateful for more hosts for their kind, receiving them because of a criminal sentence was not ideal. The Parasites preferred their hosts to be volunteers after all. It was less painful for both parasite and host that way.

***