[X] "Asset denial AND gaining biodata aye? Fine, grab the girl. (Rouge will abandon the infiltration and try to kidnap Selvaria Bles. A series of Trickery checks will be made with a malus because of the girl but if successful, Selvaria Bles will be stolen from The Empire. If unsuccessful, Rouge will go loud and attempt to call for evac. WARNING, if Rouge cannot evac, there is a risk of capture of death.)
- [X] Hidden Base
Also, I was making this for the omake reward but someone beat me to it. Oh well, I still hope you enjoy it.
Matters of Clothes, Cash, and Country
Egg City. A shining metropolis. To the Darcsen, it is a sign of hope for the people who were enslaved by the Empire for the mere act of existing. On the outside it is composed of impossible tech, dazzling people with its gleaming lights and architecture. It screams "come here, behold my genius and be excited for what's in store!"
Despite this however, inside a modern apartment, a young dark haired girl just reaching the cusp of adulthood is sprawled over a couch, moaning in discontentment. An adult man opens the door, carrying a bag filled with groceries. Seeing the girl he sighs.
"Cathrin, you haven't moved an inch since I left."
The girl lets out another groan in reply. The man sighs, and gets to work putting the groceries away. "It's a lovely day out. Maybe you could go out and make some friends. Maybe do something fun?"
"Do what, dad?" she grumbles. "There is nothing to do in this city."
"Nothing? Are you sure?"
"Nothing besides get lost in this crazy place. Most of the buildings don't seem to have any clear purpose outside of the factories. Lots of buildings are weirdly empty. One of the buildings has a ramp leading up, kind of like something is suppose to… go there. But it's not possible. Like those loops in the city."
"What about those… bouncy bumper things along the road?"
"I mean, it was fun for a bit, but after a week of only that you get tired of it. And those boost things on the road scare me. And I don't get me started on the gambling places, we don't even have money!"
"I get what you're saying…" her dad says, turning to face her after putting the last bit of food in the fridge. "I have had no idea what to do since we got here either. I mean, I've been talking with the others pretty regularly, but suddenly all this free time… I can't remember the last time I actually had this much free time."
"The time to do whatever we want, but nothing worth doing in this place besides listen to DJ KB…"
The man gives a sigh as he picks up the last item out of his bag. However, instead of food it's a box, catching Cathrin's eyes. "What's that?"
"A package from your uncle. It came with a letter saying the sheep farm is going well."
"Finally! I'll get my things!" she gets up and rummages through a drawer before taking out a gleaming knitting needle before returning to her father. "Does he get any weird looks from those… mobians? I heard they look like animals."
"I haven't asked. Not a lot of mobians around where he is, so probably not. Let me see…" he cuts the tape and is greeted by a good amount of wool. "Ah, this stuff is good. Just in time too, it's going to get colder soon."
"Not a lot though… Only enough for maybe some mittens. Well, I'll get started."
The girl prepares her needles and gets to work as her father watches. Slowly, a mitten is formed. Eventually she starts to hum a song to herself, which her father joins in with a relaxed smile. When the crescendo is reached, her dad speaks.
"I'm glad you still remember that song."
"How could I forget? Mom always hummed it when sewing and knitting. I just felt since she taught me…"
"It's only natural. You've really grown up Cathrin."
Cathrin having finished her work holds up the mittens, knitted in the customary Darcsen style. She puts them on. "Nice and warm, just like mom," she laughs. "Not as nice as she would make though."
"Maybe not, but if you practice I know you will get as good as her someday."
"Thanks dad. Now… now I have nothing to do again," she sighs, flopping back onto the couch. "Next time ask uncle for more wool."
Her dad rolls his eyes. "Sure, sure. If you don't have anything else to do though, how about you take a walk outside."
"I told you, there's nothing to do in the city!" she whines.
"At least it will get you some exercise. Wear the mittens too, we have to see how they handle in the cold."
"Fine, fine."
Cathrin gets up and leaves the apartment, slamming the door on her way out. Once she is out, the cold hits her. It isn't too bad, only a slight chill that representing a sign of the weather to come. She wanders down the street, past her fellow Darcsen.
"Now what? My friend is sick. That one robot didn't appreciate me fiddling with those hologram streetlights either. Maybe I could just… run around in one of those empty buildings.
"Hey!" She hears someone call, and turning around she is greeted by an old man. His clothes are old and torn. Not fit for the current weather at all.
"Hello. Are you one of the new refugees?"
"Ah, yes, I imagine my clothing stands out quite a bit," he says, giving a kind smile. "These old bones weren't made for this type of weather I'm afraid. I happened to notice your mittens. They look new."
"Oh," she raises her hands to give him a better look at them. "I made them myself. I was taught by my mother."
"I can see. Those markings show them as Darcsen made. It has been a bit since I've seen anything made by one of ours. Well, anything that didn't have all of our heritage stripped from us. I… don't mean to bother you young lady, but I am quite cold. I don't have anything besides what I'm wearing, so I cannot give you anything, but I would appreciate if you could give this old man your mittens."
Cathrin for a second is surprised. Looking at her hands, she cannot help but feel a bit of a connection with her new mittens. But a voice whispers in her ear. "Our people have so little, we need to help each other. It's how I'm alive, and how you're alive. I hope with these skills you might be able to help those who need it as well."
But… she doesn't want to give her hard work away for nothing either. And she's bored.
"I'll give them to you if you tell me a joke."
The man's eyes widen in surprise. "Y-you want a joke?"
"Yeah, I haven't heard a joke in ages."
"Hmm," the man puts a hand to his chin. He hos and hums for a few seconds before something comes to him. "My son always loved this one. Why does the Empire call them Valkyurs?"
"Why?"
"Because they sure as hell aren't Valkmine!" he says, gesturing like he had just said something incredible.
The silence lasts for a good few seconds, and his enthusiasm quickly diminishes until he is looking embarrassed at the ground. "I'm sorry miss, I guess that isn't a good one."
"I mean… it's okay." Despite her words, she begins to take off her mittens before holding them out to the man, "Here."
"Y-you are giving them to me? I thought you didn't like the joke."
"I didn't, but I didn't ask for a funny joke."
The old man hesitantly takes them, tears in his eyes. "Miss… thank you. It has been so long since I have gotten anything. I will remember this. What's your name?"
"Cathrin."
"Thank you Cathrin."
And with that leaves with his knew mittens. The sight of the joy in the old man's eyes make Cathrin smile. It's good to help.
Wait… an idea comes to her. Maybe she has found a way to deal with this boredom and help her people. Turning to one of the nearby robots who happened to be watching, she gives her kindest smile.
"Hey. So, are there any requirements to set up a store? And does Eggman's country have some sort of currency?"
And so the Cathrin and her father got to work. Having an uncle who owned sheep made it very easy to get a supply line set up, and before she knew it she had plenty of wool. Then for the next few days she knitted. Coats, mittens, pants, socks. It's hard work, but the Darcsen never shied away from hard work. After making enough product, it was easy enough to take a nearby building for their needs, seeing as so many were rather empty.
Now standing behind the desk of the Darc Sheep, she looks at her father. "So, everything is ready?"
"Everything is stocked and ready."
"Than you think we are ready to open up?"
He turns to his daughter and looks at her for a moment, looking at her intensely. "Dad?" Then he smiles.
"Just, I'm so proud of you. I knew we raised you well."
"Dad…" she turns away, and rubbing some tears from her eyes. "Let's just open it already, I don't want to get embarrassed when we get customers."
And so the sign was switched to open, and before long the first customers come in. A woman with her toddler, looking about the store. "It has been so long since I've seen clothes like this in a store…" she approaches the desk.
"Hello ma'am, welcome to the Black Sheep! I'm Egon, and this is my daughter Cathrin, how can we help you today?"
"Do you have anything for children? My daughter here needs something… Oh, who am I kidding, we don't have any money. I'm sorry for bothering you."
The woman quickly turns around, but is stopped a quick "wait" stops her in her tracks.
"First time customers get a free clothing item, so don't worry!" Igram says, with Cathrin quickly approaching with a tiny coat.
"This should be the right size for her. Have her try it on!"
The woman is surprised, but does as she is told. Once it is on the girl it stands out as being a little too big, but… "it's great! This should keep her warm!"
"We're glad!"
However, despite this the woman is still clearly bothered by something. "Um, I might want to buy something else from you in the future, but I still have no money."
"Well than, we have just the thing for you!" Cathrin runs behind the counter, and holds out three woolen squares. Weaved into one is an egg. Another, an eggpawn. And finally, the dark visage of the city's leader, the same one that is plastered everywhere. All are covered in the traditional symbols of the Darcsen.
"What are these?"
"This!" she points at the egg, "is a shell! This," she points to the pawn, "is a yolk. Worth ten shells. And this" she points to the last one "is a king egg, worth five yolks. They are the new currency!"
"Did… did you make these?" Truthfully they looked more like drink coasters than money.
"I… did, yes. Without any money I had to come up with something myself," she says, looking a tad bit embarrassed. "It isn't like there are mints for this. I was kind of hoping that if this became big enough maybe someone else could make them without wool."
"Well, this is really impressive!" the older woman looks to her daughter. "Isn't it?"
"Impwessive!" the girl echoes.
Egon laughs, putting a hand on his daughter's head and tussling her hair. "That's my daughter, thinking about our future!"
She backs away, shooting him an annoyed look. Then she looks back at the woman. "We're selling these for jokes!"
"Jokes?"
Egon pulls out a book and pencil. "Yeah, we have to get this currency out somehow. If the joke is just okay, we'll give you a shell. If it can make one of us laugh, you'll get a yolk. If you can get both of us to laugh, we'll give you a big king egg. I'll put it inside this book for posterity."
"But you can only do it once a day! Gotta avoid over doing it, other people will need money to buy this stuff! Also… um." Again the girl looks embarrassed. "We would appreciate if you could tell any friends who can sew or knit about us. I… I didn't consider how much work making this money is."
The woman gives a motherly grin. "I have plenty of friends who can. I think they'd be happy to give some help!"
"Really?"
"Yes! Many of us have been looking for something to do. I think they'd be happy to help jump start this place's economy."
It was a small step. But it was a step to making this empty city feel like a true home to the Darcsen.
AN: Well, our economy had to start somewhere, and Eggman probably didn't care enough to do anything beyond the bare minimum for the Darcsen. However, people will inevitably buy and sell goods, and hopefully the Darcsen will see this new city as a chance to dazzle people with their cultural identity now that they don't have to deal with persecution.
