Bodega Cat (System Apocalypse, Deck Builder, Litrpg)

"So what we have here is a win win scenario. So we need someone to administer what's going on here. And it looks like all the residents on the second, third and fourth floor of this building have decided that they don't want to be assed to open their apartments. We are thinking it's the worst, but we as well..."

The police officer in the white shirt looked down at Bagel and over at Raul. "You're thinking it's the bad, don't you?"

He didn't want the cat to hear this next part, but it was unavoidable. Death was a part of life. If Dungeons or mobs were spawning inside of buildings or if they had, a mob could easily kill a normal unenhanced human being. It was the magical that some of them had become hardened through owning a deck that had kept so many alive for so long.

At least, that's what Janet had told him repeatedly.

"So because we are occupying the space here, the city is prepared to offer you certain benefits from this arrangement. We understand no one is occupying the building next door, so we would like to temporarily put a sleeping quarters there."

"You want to make it a hotel?"

The woman with the white shirt pulled out a large sheath of paper and laid it on the counter. It was, of course, a map.

"Before all this happened, it was being turned into a hotel, so it makes sense that we would use it for that. I mean, it's a block from the United Nations. It would command a pretty impressive rent," Raul said. He had seen the signs.

She pointed out the first floor, which looked like if someone had drawn a picture of the building but only a slice. Bagel had probably never seen architectural blueprints before.

He looked was still on Raul's shoulders for the first time in a while."Do you have this but for the bodega?"

"The four five deli? Yeah, I can bring that one up. Heck, I'll toss that one in for free. Look, it's not my job to do this, but the system is telling us you're the owner of these buildings and we want to deal with you. So we are talking to both of you about this; just making sure that we're all on the same page." She crossed her arms as she examined the cat.

Raul felt a little nervous about this but he was going to stand by his new cat boss no matter what. It was the right thing to do.

Bagel did have incredible cosmic powers.

"It's not that he will be in charge is that we need someone who could testify or I hope you weren't seeing what's going on. We don't want to use eminent domain here, but that's what the bigwigs are saying..."

Bagel had never heard the term eminent domain before, but suddenly, his hackles rose. Raul had definitely heard of it. Unfortunately, he didn't have the explanation for it like I'm five versions prepared. Maybe Janet could help them with that later.

"I'm not sure what that is, but I've seen human television before. Am I supposed to have a lawyer for this?" Bagel said.

"You're not under arrest, Mister Bagel. Also, what kind of name is bagel for a cat?" The officer shrugged.

"It's in the grand tradition of food names for cats," Raul said. "It's as if you've never had a cat before. You name them. Them some weird ass shit because they just they deserve it."

"I deserve the name. It... Suits me," the cat said.

"Hold on, give me a minute," the officer said, stepping outside.

Rail suspected that something was going on behind the scenes, but he wasn't going to be a lawyer. Heck, he was just a human translator for a cat who didn't seem all that confident in the ways of the world yet. But Bagel had only been conscious for three days?

It was weird that the city was counting on the cat to do it and not just seizing the land. That was the eminent domain, right? He really needed to talk to Janet.

He would have expected the city to seize the land because that was what they did. They took what they wanted, and they were unapologetic about it.

Every part of what the police department was trying to do here gave him a bit of a pause. He had a friendly banter with them to begin with, but they had gotten more and more aggressive... interested in the shop.

They were stationed around to clear dungeons. That was their purpose, right?

More to the point, they wouldn't tell him how often the dungeons were spawning, and that was something he desperately wanted to know. Because it seems like they spawned randomly rather than every half hour, like the mobs were now spawning. Or at least the mobs that were outside of their zone of influence. It looked like Bagel was going to need to save up to buy more and Raul was here for it.

He was hoping to get his own deck in time. Everyone else had gotten one around him except for the normal people that shuffled in and paid in cash already.

They'd been known as a place that would trade credits for cash and limited supplies as the banks were proving to be more and more and unnecessary side piece in the lives of modern-day New Yorkers. Honestly, if all the money was transacted digitally, then what was the need for a physical bank ever?

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Raul didn't see the point. Real estate was expensive and the only good thing that had happened in the last year was the new rules about downtown traffic. When that had been enacted, everything immediately felt better everywhere he went. No more. Was it bumper to bumper traffic all the time?

People who came downtown or midtown had a specific business and they didn't just drive there, just to drive there.

Raul was surprised to see that it was dark outside, but it was more surprised to see a tall, bald black man walk in with a bunch of aides. He did a double take, looking at the headlines in the newspaper that were already three days old. Seeing the current mayor of his city, Raul gulped.

It wasn't every day that mayor Abrams would show off in person, but when it was something that happened, he decided to take notice. Even. Janet settled at around eye level briefly next to him. She flashed purple and he bit back the urge to tell her to quit it. She had fully intended to take the train back home tonight, but now he probably wasn't even going to leave for a minute. The mayor and his aides all took a minute to examine the wares before one of them to speak up.

"I take it you're the shop owner?" A woman in a power pant suit said to him. He briefly glanced at her before realizing that. Yes, she was talking to him and yes, she actually expected a response.

"I'm not the owner. Bagel is. At least according to the system and the city."

Janet beeped twice.

According to the register of the New York City department of Earth housing, this building was currently owned by one Bagel bagelicious. its previous occupant passed away unfortunately, and in the interim, the bagel could purchase this building system.

"Yes, we're very interested in how he bought this building," the woman said, bringing out a large tablet and swiping a few times." Is a bagel here?"

The cat, who had been hiding underneath the counter on the interior, decided to take the time to make his appearance. He couldn't have done it when the mayor showed up because Raul had said nothing, but then again, it wasn't like you could just expect that the mayor would just show up at any point in time, ever anywhere. He did what he wanted and the city just let it happen.

"I am the owner of this establishment," Bagel said. "You'll find that the paperwork is correct and legal and that everything is in order. At least, as far as my AI companion is concerned. Is there a problem?"

The woman shook her head and swiped again at her large tablet. Or else swore that had gotten larger, but he was never sure about these things. "There's no problem with Mr. Bagel. The city understands that because of some buying mechanism that you have, you're able to buy city blocks?"

"I can buy individual buildings one by one or plots of land so long as no one else has purchased them. That is a skill that my mantle card has enabled."

"Excellent! Now we understand that you just can't sentience and there was a bill being pushed up at through the highest level government to allow citizenship for animals born in the states that otherwise have gained sentience and we cannot just take your building from you. However, we would like to give you the opportunity as we are creating a new task force here and we would like to use your skills to buy here. We are attempting to make a temporary system integration authority that would be a benefit to both you and us."

"During this fraught time," The mayor said. "Things are not going to shake out how anyone wants them to be. However, we can ensure a smooth transition if you will allow us to piggyback off of your power. It seems to be a quite rare power, so we recommend you would be the beneficiary of a lot of funding in order to buy out this block. Understanding that you are holding these items on behalf of the city and in time, you will relinquish control of them..."

Bagels eyes glazed over. Raul could sense that the cat was not getting us.

"Is this like a bond issuance thing, sir?"Raul said.

"You could think of it like that. We want to buy bonds. The public interest is buying so that people can sleep safely in their beds and that mobs are pushed out into the streets where we can deal with them much easier. We appreciate all of your hard work so far trading cards and upgrading them into the several buildings you bought already, but we want more. We're going to offer the same deal to anybody else that can buy real estate through the system, as that is the only way to prevent mob spawning everywhere."

The tension in the room had gone up considerably. Were they trying to bully the cat because he was new to life? Even though the cat felt mature enough to run a business, he didn't know that Bagel felt that way.

It was at the bagel to decide, and all Raul could do was stand by and help him understand his options.

"Can I explain this to the cat?" Raul said. The mayor nodded. "Bagel they want to keep people safe so they will pump money into or credits rather, right? Credits. They want to put credits into you and the shop in order to get you to buy out more places."

"This will be under the authority of a new city agency to monitor this kind of thing. All you have to do is just buy up plots around here."

The mayor was dressed about as dapper as one could be. If there would be a photo op, he was ready.

"Let me add one more twist. We don't understand how buying land works and if you're able to buy buildings or lots that are farther out we want prioritize certain places."

"I can only buy places that are next to the places I've already bought," Bagel said. It was a function of having Janet. He turned to look at the girl who was enjoying the Chinese food in the back of the shop. "Ashley has a similar AI, though hers is a swarm type. She should be able to buy things."

The normally pale girl now turned a bright red and Raul couldn't help but grin. Bagel was putting a spotlight on her in a way that made her stand out.

Her body converted from embarrassment to redness, like it was a job.

He couldn't help but wonder what she had been thinking about while she was scrolling on her phone and eating her food. That she'd bought the food next door before she came here. Then sat and pet bagel for ten minutes. We're trying to get the food then came back to eat with bagel. Meant that something was going on.

"Look, kid," the guy said. "The mayor Raul couldn't even imagine why he was a victim as the guy except for his really trying to be pleasant affect. The more we can push back on these mobs, the safer the tooth is going to be and safety is my number one concern as we transition to this new system and all that it entails. So, we understand if this seems abrupt, and we understand you may need time. For now, however, we must ask for your compliance."

Behind that threat were the dozens of NYPD officers that were sitting outside ready and willing to exercise violence on the half of the mayor. If that needed to happen. Raul was 100% sure that the mayor would have said that there was no threat. Just a promise based on his previous career as a police officer.

Raul didn't trust the mayor but there wasn't much to do about it.

If nothing else, Raul wanted to protect Bagel from this sort of treachery. If he could insert himself into this process, then he could save Bagel a lot of headache.