Advertising power

Sola slid smoothly into her berth on the vast sprawling mess that was the Arof station. From a distance, it had appeared to be a glittering spire akin to the massive Velcan stations Dustin had visited, or a miniature mirror to other great installations like the new council station rising around the light of Sol. Up close, however, it looked more like someone had bolted a massive collection of shipping containers together and then coated the outsides with posters, garish slogans, and yet more of the illuminated screen-based advertising boards that had already dominated their time in the system.

For a brief moment, Dustin had hoped that it was maybe just an external thing, that the Arof prided themselves in making the outside of their homes garish and commercial and that inside he would find a calm people who conducted trades in quiet negotiation rooms. As the airlock cycled and he stepped out into the station proper though his illusions were well and truly shattered.

The inside was, if anything, even more garish than the external advertising boards. At least on the outside, large areas had only been occupied by single boards. From where Sola had docked, a long thoroughfare lead towards a building that had glowing golden letters floating around it highlighting it as the main commerce exchange - the heart of Arof civilization, according to the information Emely had prepared prior to their arrival in system. Between where Dustin was stood just outside the airlock and the exchange however, the streets were packed - and completely coated in advertisements.

Representatives of the other species Dustin had met since arriving in the area mingled with Arof of a dozen different varieties. Here and there he could even make out the forms of Olanse traders moving amongst the throng, pausing to look in the windows of shops or bending to talk to the vast number of street merchants who were selling goods from stalls, barrows and in many cases just blankets laid out on the floor of the station.

It was sheer commercial chaos. Dustin had opted to just take Meli and Naera with him on this mission, the scientist because arriving with his wife was apparently good politics, and the chef because she hoped to take advantage of the trip to trade for recipes on the grand exchange’s information trading stations. Given the press of the crowd, Dustin was glad he’d gone for a smaller landing party - even with just the two women, keeping everyone together rapidly became a challenge as they were buffeted by shop-goers, traders and merchants.

Pushing forward through the thick crowd was a unique experience. Normally, as ambassador Dustin was used to private landing pads - or at the very least, an escort of guards or officials that would clear the path for him to wherever he was supposed to be meeting the local dignitaries. Here, however, there was none of that. He found it rather refreshing, the press of the shoppers and sales-folk around him reminding him of where he’d grown up in Contact City whenever there was a big event happening.

As they finally reached the plaza from which the grand exchange rose to tower high overhead, the pressure of the crowd was replaced with the pressure of voices. The exchange might not have allowed just anyone to enter - it was designed to facilitate information brokers, high-capacity merchants and the very rich at the heights of Arof governance - but those who were allowed in seemed to all be in a state of near constant yelling as they barked orders and traded the futures of companies at a frenetic pace.

Inside, the noise didn’t really abate until Dustin led his little group to one of the handful of information kiosks. The instant he stepped under it’s wide awning, the sound died with a hum and the feeling of air being managed by an energy grid passing over him. As he sagged in relief at the absence of sound, the small figure in the kiosk looked up at him. “How may I expedite your transactions?”

It took Dustin a moment or two to recognize that the diminutive canid was asking what he wanted. “Ah… I’m the Earth ambassador. I have a meeting with your leaders, but they only told us to come to the grand exchange. Do you know where I could find…” The figure in the booth glanced away, fingers already tapping on a keyboard.

“The secretary to the heads of the board will be with you shortly. Please move to one side, I have other customers and time is money” the kiosk worker said abruptly, despite the clear absence of anyone else even looking in the direction of the booth.

Choosing to not make a point of it when he was there to make new friends, Dustin sidestepped, Meli and Naera joining him. The chef’s fingers were twitching as she looked at the terminals dotted around the room, and Dustin sighed. “Here,” he said, holding out a data chip Emely had given him. “Assuming everything I’ve been told is true, you should be able to trade that directly via one of the kiosks for a budget to buy things. Don’t overspend, I don’t want to spend the next week haggling over the price of random junk just to clear your debts.”

The green-skinned woman grinned, tilting her face up for him to kiss as she snatched the chip out of his hand before turning and bolting in the direction of the nearest terminal. Dustin and Meli watched her go, the Velca’s ears moving between amusement and contentment. “She is certainly excited by the prospect of new ideas isn’t she, husband?”

Dustin nodded, and was had opened his mouth to reply when someone behind them half-coughed, half-barked as if clearing their throat. Turning, he found himself staring at a canid who could only be described as erudite. The man’s fur was slicked down, his suit was immaculate, and he wore the sort of glasses that indicated their owner had ruined their eyes by staring at the printed word rather than by nature, aging or accident.

“Chief secretary Unslep, Ambassador. Please follow me, the heads of the board are waiting” Unslep’s tone matched his appearance - it was tidy, calm and devoid of any excess or wasted time. Dustin and Meli moved rapidly after the canid, pausing only to check that Naera would be alright until their return.

They were led into a lift that was so concealed it would have been nearly impossible to find otherwise. Even if they had found it, without a tiny token that Unslep pressed against the wall Dustin doubted they’d have been able to use it. Inside, he’d expected opulence - but found instead an austere elevator car that wouldn’t have looked out of place in any industrial plant or office block back on Earth.

Unslep noticed Dustin’s surprise and smiled, a thin movement of his mouth before it returned to what seemed to be his normal neutral expression. “Rule of acquisition number three. Never spend more than you have to,” the canid murmured as the lift slid smoothly upwards. “Or to put it into the more commonly used vulgar form - practicality equals profits.”

Dustin nodded thoughtfully. It made sense. The rulers he’d met in the past had usually either been democratically elected, in which case their government would spend money to highlight who was in charge, or they were royalty, and royals tended to go in for the ostentatious in their architecture. But the Arof were ruled by plutocrats, judging by everything he’d seen so far. And one of the best methods to getting very wealthy was starting out only somewhat wealthy and then not spending anything at all while making sure everyone else was forced to.

A moment later the lift stopped, doors slid open, and Dustin stepped out into the gilded pinnacle of Arof civilization. Unlike the lift, the vast wealth of the elite was clearly visible here. The entire top floor of the exchange was a single room; exotic plants in pots and carefully managed water fountains hovered on grav-platforms, while a significant part of the floor was formed of one-way glass, allowing the board to observe the trade going on below in perfect privacy.

In the middle of the room, a large circular table formed of rare wood was surrounded by a range of chairs, all bar two occupied by a variety of different forms of Arof. Those two remaining chairs were far larger - and clearly intended for Dustin and his wife.