Chương 50: Chapter 47 - Spreadsheets - Part 2

Digging done with, the small group made its way to the walls. As the imps chattered and Kairon hobbled along, the city lord retraced his logic. Pacing always encouraged the mind to think. And today, he was thinking about the future. Not just the paladins, but his city. What his goals were. When it came down to it, there were really only two. Survival and knowledge. He wanted to be able to build a haven for him and who he valued— No, care. Who I care about. I need to ensure I don't entirely lose myself.

Although, value and care can go claw in claw, right? So, he wanted to build a haven for the valuable, care-worthy creatures that grew in his city. Or stumbled there, in Veron's case. Kairon wanted that haven to be strong enough to outlast all that was to come, while using it as a launching pad to investigate the fascinating world of the demonic, and all its forbidden knowledge. And source. The golden energy beneath my very home. To do that, however, he needed to prioritize survival. Still. And for that…

The city's economic engine was finally starting to come online. It was reaching the point that The Bureau referred to as the critical survival juncture. A precipice that once passed, the percentage for a city's lifespan trended exponentially higher. Until then, it was dicey. When you looked at this in the context of his city, there was a problem. I'm a bottleneck. Everything flows back to me. Right now, they were getting away with it. Yet, when their population scaled, it would be a problem. A major limiter.

Kairon knew that some of that he wouldn't be able to solve immediately. Some he'd solve with additional layers of middle management. But some… Some weren't personnel related. It was information. The problem that had surfaced this morning. And that was something he could start to remedy. No one but him could see the amount of population, resources, and yields the city had. That's just how the system worked. Unfortunately, it severely limited the decision making of his management team.

Shiny, for example, couldn't provide accurate input about his workers when he didn't even truly know how much of each resource the city had, made, and needed. Bean thought they had a huge stockpile of food, when in reality it wasn't even a week's worth. And that decision limitation would only become a larger and larger issue as his supervisory roles grew to more and more imps. Sticking his stick into the hard stone, he stopped.

"Okay! This spot looks perfect." He'd chosen a section of the wall that was currently just open space. The fourth or fifth ring would fill it in, but for now, it was real estate. The scaled demon gestured at the trio.

"Have you ever heard of a spreadsheet?"

"Spread sheet," mused Shiny.

"Bread sheet," Bean repeated.

"Spread feet," chimed in Nod.

"One word. Spreadsheet. It's very useful. Like Gantt charts, only this is more for keeping records, less for planning. Actually, you could use it to plan too." He grunted.

"I digress. Not the point." With a plop, Bean let the warm clay-like mud he'd collected from the riverbed drop into a heap. Shiny and Nod did the same, albeit with smaller piles. They'd been much less eager than the little farmer to collect the muck.

"My plan is to make sure that as supervisors, you have all the knowledge you need to make informed decisions. While I will ultimately be the top level decision maker, you all still need to have a level of autonomy. Today, we are going to solve that." Shiny looked at the squishy pile of wet clay in confusion.

"We solve… With mud?"

"Yes!" chirped Bean happily.

"Dig!"

"What we are going to try and mimic is a method I saw a rather crude civilization do. Well, they did it several thousand years before they opened a ticket."

"Ticket?" asked Shiny.

"Long story. Another time. For now, help me with this." The trio settled down, sitting cross-legged around the mound of clay. Then, at Kairon's direction, stuck their claws in it.

"We need to knead out the debris, stones, and roots. The goal," he grunted, forcing his black claws deeper into the warm muck, "is to push all of that out. And to leave something resembling clay in its place." Bean was the first to follow suit, making squelching and squishing noises. In minutes, the three of them managed to knead a type of mucky dough. On one side was a mound of muddy debris, and the other a cleaner, more functional pile of clay.

"Now, we flatten it. We just push it out like this…" Using his stick like a roller, he spread the clay along the city's black stone surface. It flattened easily, their kneading making it both malleable and smooth.

"Good. Just like that." In moments, Shiny, Bean, and Nod had mimicked their master, making short work of the pile.

"And before it dries, the last step!" Cocking their heads curiously, they watched as Kairon utilized his walking stick to carve grooves in the clay.

"What doing?" asked Shiny.

"Digging!" said Bean.

"No… I'm making a grid. Or, trying to," muttered Kairon distractedly. He carved a set of columns and rows, keeping each spaced as equally as he could manage.

"This is the sheet. It's made up of what we call cells. As part of your duties, you will need to learn to make, understand, and use them. In the coming months, I have worked out a deal with Hector for ink and parchment. But until then, this is what we have." This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Though the way things were looking, I'm uncertain if months is an accurate timeline. If he gets tied up with what's coming… Kairon shrugged, focusing on his work.

He stole glances at his team as he did. If that happens, I'm sure we'll figure something out. When he was done, the gremlins looked uncomprehendingly at the drying clay. None said a word. Instead, they all looked at their master like he was an idiot. Muddy stick in one claw, dripping muck in the other. Shiny was finally about to speak up, likely expressing his concern, when Kairon cleared his throat.

"I see there is some… confusion about the subject. That's okay and to be expected. Not to fear! We have the day to learn." Above, the sun began radiating waves of late morning heat onto the wet clay. Ever so slightly, its surface began to meld and harden.

"While we wait for this to bake and dry, let me explain how this will work." And so it began. Three imps, one demon, and a spreadsheet. The very first of its kind in this most fascinating world he was brought to.

Kairon clapped his claws together. Above, the sun had traveled from horizon to horizon, marking the work day near its conclusion. They'd only taken a break during midday for the second ashroot ritual to be completed. Start Ritual To Build Ashroot Plot? Yes / No --- Cost: 50 Timber, 250 Gold He decided that for now, placing it next to the original was the best choice. Outside the northern gates, two farmlands now sat. As for the training… It had been slow, but worth it.

The sheet in front of him was proof enough of that. The clay had baked and hardened, leaving a resilient surface that the imps could maintain each day. There were three columns for each resource. Stock, daily yield, and feeding pit que.

"So. All of you. Give me a report on where our resources stand. Just how I taught you! Remember, read left to right. Shiny, you first. How is timber?" Shiny peered down, focusing. He pointed with a tiny stick at the orange pebbles on the left.

"Twenty six wood. Yield is two each imp. So… Twenty eight per day. None in que."

"Excellent! Bean? Food?"

"Harvest today hundred and eighty. Have one ninety three. Before dinner. Que… Hundred and eighty." Bean had been remiss to miss the majority of the day's harvest, but Kairon had let him check in briefly. Shiny had generously donated a timber imp to assist.

"Correct. Our queue is the same as today's harvest. Once done, that one hundred and eighty should become over seven hundred. Okay, last one up. Nod, tell me. Where do most issues lie? What plagues our populace most?" The Demonic Resources manager stepped forward. He traced one claw against the rightmost column. Unlike the others, his used scratches to mark grievances.

"First is… Food. Six say not fair." Kairon frowned. Everyone, save Vorathrex, should get an equal share.

"Shiny. Any idea what this could mean?" His supervisor shrugged.

"Don't know."

"Hmm. That's odd." Still contemplating that, Kairon gestured.

"Nod, what's next? Perhaps we'll find a connection." The little imp bit his lip, then looked down the row. A collection of three claw marks was in the next cell.

"Mornings. Three say hungry. Not want wait." Originally, he'd ordered meal time to be once a day each evening. But when you thought about it, that was quite odd. Only eating once a day for humans was practically a recipe for malnourishment. However, in this case, their sustenance metric was still at a perfect 100%. So it wasn't the amount of food, but the timing.

"What if we prepare meals so that half a portion is consumed before work in the morning, and half at night. That might help to resolve that, no? Give some energy for daily duty, and something to look forward to before bed." Chitters of approval.

"Splendid!" Then, another thought struck him.

"Nod. Let's start tracking the maintenance inspections here. Anytime you find a code violation, it goes on the chart. Then, you and Shiny can address it. Understood?"

"Yes Master!"

"Now, I want to discuss proper daily upkeep. To that end…"

Later that night, far after dusk had come, Kairon lounged in the citadel. The poor demon had missed dinner in all the excitement today. Remedying that, he chewed on some ashroot he wrangled up from the stockpile. He'd heated it with some water in a tough skin, giving it a rubbery, tofu like texture. It was actually pleasant on the tongue, given his recent diet purely made up of jerky. Between bites, he found himself considering the spreadsheet from today. Spreadsheet… He loved those things.

But for some reason, that word wouldn't leave his head. Like his sigil, it was lodged inside his mind. Dwelling. Which reminded him… Inside his mindscape, he turned the sigil over. Looked at it from the side. Then beneath it. Its fluid, connected lines. A language he didn't understand. Or did he? Humming in contemplation, he decided to review what he knew. And, what was poking at his mind. First, he went back to the image of the clay sheet. Its grid lines crudely scratched in the baked clay. Hmm.

Then, he thought back to the only time he engaged the sigil. How it cost him gold. What were those notifications? Gold -1 Odd. Why the cost? Why gold? He hadn't told it to do anything. He just poked the damn thing. The frustration of not finding an answer to this had finally begun to boil over. Swallowing the last piece of ashroot, he closed his eyes, and considered. Perhaps I'm looking at this wrong. I need to focus on the underlying principle. Two languages. One, demonic.

It included everything from buildings, rituals, scripture, and his city interface. The other, foundational. It consisted of the black sigil and the golden energy. Source. Like source code? And it was trying to interact with the newer, demonic interface on top of it. How had Sythara described it? Oil on water. Let's assume that theory to be true. How did the system react when I tried using my source sigil? On the front side, it cost him one gold. But it shouldn't have.

So what that really might have been was an error. The more he chewed on that, the more he was sure of it. Had to be. How or why it errored, he couldn't explain. But the error itself… Investigating further, he pulled up his city interface, scrolled back, and found one of the earlier notifications from the plane. When he first learned one of their scripts before his sigil had eaten it. Demonic Script --- 1/??? Acquired Demonic Script Comprehension: 1 Notice. Domain inscriptions partially accessible.

It had said 'demonic script'. And, the number had been a part of a whole. One of question mark. But now… Sigils: 1 He was getting two different notifications. That made sense. Two systems would communicate very differently, after all. But… If I learned a sigil, why doesn't the source language say 'Sigils: 1/1' or 'Sigils 1/?' Why does it not list a partial comprehension rate? Slowly, a startling possibility began to unfold. Unless I've fully understood it. If I already know everything I need to.

If it's actually usable in its current form. Kairon sat up straighter, the skin with murky water spilling from his lap. He paid it no heed. Could it be that simple? Staring me right in the face this whole time? Sigils: 1 He exhaled, a thin puff of air sliding from his maw. Seriously? That's… It's… No. But it… What if the source system wasn't telling him he'd learned one sigil. What if this wasn't a metric tracker. It wasn't a formula. A sound like lightning cracked in his mind. He hadn't just learned one sigil.

He'd learned a value. One. The sigil he knew, literally, was the number one. That was it! That had to be! It made so much sense. If you read the notification in that light, it was logical. What sigils had he learned? One. One. One. Kairon jumped to his feet.

"ONE! IT'S ONE!" he shouted, voice echoing inside the tower. Inside, he was positively vibrating. The sigil thrummed, its black lettering sparkling a dazzling gold. This is how the source code must represent the number one. Internally, when it's not on a menu or notification. And that one? He'd already proven that it somehow interacted with the demonic plane's interface. His interface. Just like a spreadsheet. In error, but it had.

The error itself, and why the gold notification had appeared was its own kind of mystery. If he had to guess, Kairon would assume it was caused by the interplay of the two systems. All kinds of nonsense could happen if that was the case. Especially if one got it in its mind he was trying to fund some kind of cost. Regardless, one fact was certain. For the first time, Kairon truly comprehended his sigil's meaning. And now that he did… Well.

Give a clerk a single integer and free rein of a system, the possibilities were… Terrifying. Kairon's fangs slid from his mouth, a ghastly grin taking shape on his lips. Oh my.