13 The Price of an Apple

Midas and Julio got to know each other better in their morning walk, with both people sharing more details about each other.

Midas told Julio about his story. How he grew up in Johannesburg to a mother who never paid attention to him and how he had to take care of himself for the longest time.

He told Julio about how he went to school and never really stood out with his below average background and average marks. He told Julio of the fact that he went to university but he ended up dropping out due to mental issues. He then ended up staying home due to social anxiety issues.

He then told Julio that the only thing he had ever loved was reading. And that's why when asked by the Actualisation Test about what he wanted, he said that he wanted books.

Julio ended up telling Midas about his own story. His rough childhood filled with crime and danger and how he had managed to survive all that due to his tenacity.

After telling Midas about his little brother, Midas apologised profusely to Julio for making him remember something so saddening, but Julio merely brushed everything off, saying that it was in the past. He was here now and that was all that mattered.

As time passed, they discovered more about each other. Likes, dislikes, dreams, goals… And they came to realise that they got along really well. Julio felt more and more like this was a friend he could genuinely get along with.

"Midas, it's crazy you know. I've never met someone and gotten along with them so incredibly quickly." Said Julio with a satisfied smile on his face.

"I know right? It's like we've been friends forever." said Midas while shaking his head.

"Friends? No. We could even be brothers from now on!"

"Haha! You know what? I've never had a brother before. If you'll have me, then I'll be glad to be your brother."

"Then it's settled!" said Julio while pouncing on Midas and wrapping his arm around Midas' and letting it hand on his shoulder. Midas laughed at his antics but he still berated him.

"Get off me, you're way too heavy!"

"What? I'm as light as a feather!"

Meanwhile Midas was thinking to himself how perfectly things seem to be going.

Midas made sure to not reveal too much about himself. He even occasionally used lies and deceptions to make himself out to be an intelligent but reticent introvert, and Julio believed it. An estimate of the ratio between truth and fabrications would be 70 percent truth to 30 percent fabrications.

And the source of the fabrications?

He had long researched into Julio's family and found out everything he needed to know about Julio's loved ones. From his unavailable and unfortunate mother, to his ill fated little brother. He also knew that Julio's little brother, Alexandro, was Julio's Achilees heel.

It meant that Midas could use him to get closer to Julio and make Julio feel like he's known him forever. This is a kind of Emotional Transference from one person to another caused by mirroring all aspects of persoanlity. All Midas had to do was act and behave in a similar way as one might if one was the same as Alexandro, and Julio would end up inadvertently thinking of him as his little brother.

Midas smiled to himself while thinking this far, thinking, 'It seems it worked a bit too well.'

Alexandro was a bright kid in school. He was an academic achiever and had aspirations of one day becoming a doctor. He was also reticent and liked to read books often. Midas even knew what types of books he read based on his online activity linked to his Gmail account. He also knew what music he liked and what topics he was most interested in based on internet cookie data stored online.

In actuality, Midas felt like there was not much he didn't know about Alexandro now. That was just how much data existed about people online.

Using all this information and data, Midas was able to deduce Alexandro's possible character and formulate a shell of a personality that would trigger Julio's Emotional Transference mechanism. Midas was effectively mirroring Alexandro in a subtle fashion, thus making Julio become familiar with him in the fastest time possible.

No wonder Julio felt like he had known Midas forever, that is because to a certain extent, he had.

Since Midas already decided to make Julio his, he would exert himself fully to make his goal a reality.

After an hour of walking they started approaching the centre clearing as they could make out the glaring golden lights of the Shrine and some dead camp fires laid out all around. It was obvious that most people were congregated around the centre at this time as bodies were strewn out on the floor. Whole sections of forest had been taken apart for firewood and there were many fireplaces all around where people could have gathered.

"Eh, why do those guys have sticks?"

"Uwah, do they think this is some wilderness survival thing?"

"Pfft, I swear, these guys probably watched one episode of Bear Grylls and then they thought they could pull this off Hahahaha!"

"Hahaha What losers…"

Midas and Julio stood out among them as they carried sticks like cavemen hunters. The only telling feature about the two was the fact that they had modern clothing on, with both wearing hoodies and jeans. Midas had a blank look on his face, but Julio found the jeers a bit annoying and kept sneering at people. Midas shook his head at him and tried to convey that it wasn't worth it to tangle with these stragglers.

In this forest with nothing but green all around, it could get boring. They were just searching for something to entertain them. Julio shouldn't make it easy for them.

As Midas approached the Shrine, the domain with the bright shining lights shone visibly in a beautiful way. Midas now understood why people slept here. This was the only place they knew. And it provided some much needed light in the darkness. Although it wasn't dark anymore, as the sun was fully visible now in the horizon, the brightness of this place must have been mesmerising and soothing.

"Eh? Midas?" came a voice from the side. It was one of yesterday's girls. Midas remembered her as the easy speaking Lina.

"Lina? Hey! How are you?" said Midas with a warm smile on his face.

"I'm good! How are you? Oh I almost forgot! Someone wants to meet you!" while having a pondering expression and approaching Midas.

"I'm fine — eh? Someone wants to meet me?" said Midas with a curious expression while thinking to himself:

'So it's come. They just could not hold back their curiosity. They are probably wondering about the Stone Tablet. It should be fine.' thought Midas.

Well it makes sense. It was possible that he had recieved something as one of the first to come across the Tablet.

If they were calling him now, then they probably felt like they had a method to deal with any possible lies that Midas may tell. Midas smiled to himself at this thought. Things were getting interesting.

"Yeah. I think they're awake now. Come with me." Said Galina with a turn and a spring in her step.

Midas and Julio followed Lina towards the West where Midas noticed that the Trees here were a bit weird. Not weird, different.

'Are those apples?' thought Midas frowning. He immediately searched through his [Divine Database] for any instance of apple trees after he got here and realised that there had not been any apple trees in that position the day before. This meant that there was someone who could grow apple trees.

Midas smiled inwardly while thinking, 'No wonder those people seemed so relaxed. They knew that there was someone who could produce food for them. Hmmm… But, I don't think this food is free. As long as the trees are made with someone's effort, then they are worth something and are thus not free. I wonder what the Price is.'

Soon enough Midas was brought in front of a beautiful lady with a Chinese face and an American accent. The lady was issuing orders to others who were following them. She was wearing a blue changpao and her brown hair hung down to below her shoulders, making her look elegant and charming.

She turned and took a moment to look up and down both Midas and Julio as if she was assessing them and then looked towards Lina questioningly. Seeing this, Lina started explaining herself.

"Gwen, this is Midas who Corinne was telling you about… Midas, this is Gwen." said Lina while introducing each party to the other enthusiastically.

Midas nodded his head with courtesy and respect while Gwen merely smiled and said "Oh, so you're Midas? Corinne was telling me how she found you at the Stone Tablet. Do you know anything with regards to that?"

'Wow, no fucking around, just straight for the jugular. Assertive. Influential. Powerful. She's thinks herself a hunter. She thinks I'm her prey? Heh.' thought Midas mockingly in his mind as he deduced her character based on all the available information around him.

This woman was Assertive and had the qualities of a leader. She also possessed enough Influence to order around people who were formerly strangers to her hours ago. She certainly possessed enough Power with all these people following her orders around, whether personal or interpersonal, which was enough to secure her position as a leader.

Midas chose to deal with this as delicately but firmly as possible.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told Corinne yesterday. I didn't know anything, nor did I receive anything from it. Julio and I had only arrived for about 30 minutes and had just finished exploring when your guys came along." said Midas serenely.

Gwen merely smiled and nodded saying "I see. It really is annoying isn't it. They just throw us into this place with these 'Skills' and then expect us to survive. Any piece of information that can be found could be vital for us. I hope you excuse my eagerness."

Gwen looked down apologetically but Midas' face didn't change in the slightest as he was thinking, 'Wow, she is one shrewd woman. And when I said your people she did not deny that so she must be incredibly proud and possessive too. She likes dominating others with her wits and charm, even this apology is just a play for her. Well, if you want to play, we can play.'

Midas' face expertly changed to one of worry as he raised his hands in a sincere beckoning manner and said, "Well I totally understand, please don't apologise for anything. To be honest I can see that you guys are putting in a great amount of effort, based on the Apple fruit Tree behind you."

She smiled proudly and said "Well we do what we can. And this tree was built by a friend of mine, but every time she raises one, she becomes extremely weak. So to repay her efforts we will be selling these Apples to people who want food."

"Oh? What would you be exchanging for?" asked Midas, curiosity painted on his face.

"Ascension Coins" said the woman with a graceful smile while staring straight into Midas' eyes

"..."

A man and a woman unironically stared at each other speechlessly for a few seconds until the man broke the silence.

"Oh. You're serious Haha, pardon me I was waiting for the punchline."

"Hohoho" laughed Gwen in a graceful manner. Whether she found that joke funny was another matter entirely.

"Umm… How much is an apple, may I ask?" said Midas while laughing at himself. In his head he was freaking out. Ascension Coins? Midas still had no idea about their true value. Spending them now would be illogical, no matter the price.

"Well considering how straining they are to create and maintain, we're selling them at 10AC per apple. If you'd like some, I can sell them to you right now." said the woman to which Midas waved his hands and said:

"Well, no thank you. I think we're okay for now. But if there's ever a chance in future, I will most definitely patronise your establishment."

Meanwhile, in his head Midas was thinking that he would absolutely never ever buy an apple from these profiteers. Let alone the fact that Apples aren't even that nutritionally viable as a calorie source, they may not be worth it at all.

Midas also understood something else based on the activity going on around here. Everyone was getting along, feeling happy and relaxed because they already had a safe bet for their survival. They figured that they would be able to last long enough on apples. Realistically, as long as someone had the AC to buy 180 apples, then they would be able to have an apple a day to keep the doctors away.

But would that be enough.

Midas highly doubted it. In a place like this with no rules and regulation, it was only a matter of time before people started recognising AC as the main indicator of power and thus start finding ways of taking it away from those they deem weaker or less worthy in overbearing and forceful ways.

These actions of using AC as the dominant currency would only accelerate this common realisation among the people. It was only a matter of time.

As his Bible said: Bible of the Self, First Testament of Man, Gospel of ID, Chapter 2, Verse 21/22: "To be human is to be selfish. The human condition is that of consumption."

Humans around him would always try to find ways to et ahead of others. To have more than others. To take from others more than they give.

The difference was that he knew what was coming, and as such he could plan ahead and make sure that no matter how anyone else flails and flops around, he would be the one that comes out on top.