Guardians Academy

Mom was online later that night. Cody met her in the Sphere, and gave her a hug.

"Hey." Mom held him softly, patting him on the back. "How are you?"

"I'm okay."

"How are your studies?" Mom released him and brought out cookies and milk.

He told her about his day as they ate.

"Tell me more about Melinda and Laila." Mom asked, as he was wrapping up his tale.

"Uh… I already did. What's there to tell?" Cody scratched his head. "One's from a snow planet, one's from a water planet. That's about it."

"No, I mean… what are they like? Their personalities? How do they treat you?" Mom asked, looking oddly keen.

"Uh… they're okay. They're helpful. Not like Na'Sar. I think he's actually trying to get me in trouble."

"Helpful?" Mom paused. "Which girl helps you the most?"

"Huh? The most helpful… Specs, I guess?" Cody frowned. "She sells all the useful stuff."

"That's not what I meant…" Mom began.

"Mom!" Cindy burst in, and that was the end of Cody's conversation with Mom. From that minute on, Cindy had all Mom's attention, chattering at high speeds. Cody couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Then Cyril logged in and had a few things to tell her too.

After that, Dad arrived.

Giving up, Cody logged out and left them to it.

***

When he woke up, he found a blinking icon of an envelope on his room wall.

"Room? What's this?" Cody asked, pointing.

"Incoming message from 'Orb', Academy VR." The room replied.

"Open it."

What came out was a floating projection just like Orb itself.

"Dear Cody, during the Weekend, the Academy is closed and time is stopped except for student events. The Academy event this weekend is a Sales Day at the Shuttle Shoppe. Six categories have sales up to 70% off!

"The categories are as follows; Household, Garage, Garden, Pharmacy, Grocery, and Apparel. Our top Promotional Item for today is the Pharmacy-Enhancement Drug, Bull Strength Energy Stim (1 bottle), a Tier 2 short term energy and strength booster, now 70% off at only 300 credits (normal price, 1000 credits)!

"Orb's Recommended Items for you are; Pharmacy-Supplement, Calcium Deluxe (10 tablets) now 50% off at 15 credits (normal price 30cr); Apparel-Footwear, Industrial Grade Rubber Work Boots, now 50% off at 10 credits (normal price 20cr); Apparel-Sportswear, Commercial Biker Knee Guards, now 50% off at 30 credits (normal price 60cr); Apparel-Accessories, Ring of Light (4 functions), now 60% off at 100 credits (normal price 250 cr). Do drop by the Shuttle Pad today and visit the Shuttle Shoppe while stocks last!"

"Huh." Cody hadn't planned on going back to school on the weekend, but since they had a sales going on, perhaps it would be worth a quick look…

***

He hopped in after breakfast.

The Shuttle Shoppe was actually a fleet of shuttles that completely occupied the shuttle pad and its surrounding area. Each shuttle appeared to host a specific category of goods. The six that had sales on were decorated with colorful lights and lots of holographic advertis.e.m.e.nts.

The Household category's Furniture department had the Massage Cocoon on promotion, the Appliances department had the Cold Box (keeps food and drink cold!) on offer, while Kitchen Tools promoted E-Saucepans, and Robotics offered Dustban VS robots (knee-high cleaning robots which had both vortex vacuums and sweeper functions).

The Garage's Mechanical Tools offered Handheld Tractor Beams with 50 cm range and 20kg force projection. Cody backed off as soon as he saw the 599 credit price tag (normal price, 1800 cr). The Garage's DIY Component section offered the Rain Barrel Pro (includes nano filtering with hydraulic pump!), Machinery section offered the Anyjack (with variable grips, powered or manual jacking!), and Vehicles section offered him an E-Bike (powered motor and/or manual pedaling).

All of these, of course, were too expensive for Cody as he was now.

Goodness, did they really expect first-week students to be able to afford any of these?! The Garden's Landscaping department even had a 9ft Waterfall-On-Demand on offer at 3900cr (normal price, 6900 credits)! What kind of first-week student could afford that sort of thing?!

Just as he was thinking that, he saw Melinda walk straight up to the Garden department. Cody almost gaped until she walked past the Landscaping Department and went to the Fauna section, which was offering kittens for sale – Maine Coon Supremes, at 790cr each (normal price, 2500cr), a genetically engineered breed famous as superb rat catchers.

Melinda, though, didn't seem keen on having them catch rats. She was just stroking them. "So CUTE!!"

Specs was there too, at the Garden Tools section, which offered the Vary-Shovel at 245cr (normal price, 400 credits).

Oren was also at Gardening, but he was at the Flora section, which had Chives (15 cm seedlings) on offer at 10cr. At least that was affordable in Cody's mind, although he didn't see any point in buying plants.

Crystal was at the Pharmacy. She'd gone straight for the Enhancement Drugs section, grabbing a whole bunch of Bull Strength Energy Stims. Only then did Cody realize that older students were out here shopping too. In fact, there was a queue for the Bull Strength Energy Stims, and Cody didn't recognize anyone in that line other than Crystal.

Goodness, come to think of it, there were a lot of students here today… far more than there usually were in Initial Village. Could it be that they were all members of this village… or was it possible that maybe, just maybe… they came from other villages?!

"I better get a move on before everything gets sold out…" Cody remembered that the sales was only while stocks lasted. Thinking back, he remembered that Orb had recommended some goods well within his budget, items that sounded really useful, like the Calcium Deluxe tablets. From his research online at breakfast, Cody learned that they were Tier 1 physical enhancement supplements, very good for bones. Apparently, buying them here in the Academy VR would result in actual tablets being sent to his house at Flora.

At the Pharmacy, other than the Calcium Deluxe on offer, Cody also considered the Extracetemol Plus tablets for a minute. These were powerful painkillers, and they were on half-price offer. But in the end, Cody decided to save his credits and only bought the Calcium Deluxe.

Then, following Orb's Recommendations, he went to the Apparel department.

Laila was there, at the Clothing section, which offered Waterproof Camo Hoodies at 200cr (normal price, 450 credits). "Hi, Cody! Did you come for a hoodie?"

"No, actually, I was going to look at the Knee Guards." Cody explained. "And the Work Boots."

Orb had also recommended the Ring of Light, but 100cr seemed like a rather steep price to Cody. He only had 308 credits to his name. Oh wait; 293, since he bought the Calcium Deluxe.

The Biker Knee Guards and the Rubber Work Boots would set him back another 40 credits, leaving him with just 253. Was the Ring of Light really going to be worth it?

He briefly consulted Laila on the issue.

"It might be." Laila considered. "The Ring of Light is more than just a shiny ring. It's a rechargeable four-function light emitter, with narrow beam, broad beam, lamp and beacon modes. The beacon mode is especially rare; it emits really bright flashes that can be seen for miles away under the right conditions. I've even seen sailors use beacon modes on similar rings to blind people they're fighting with."

"That's really going to hurt my credit account, though." Cody grimace.

"It'll cost more than twice as much if you miss this sale and try to buy it normally later." Laila pointed out. "So if you want it, get it now, not afterwards."

Cody sighed and paid up for one. Laila, likewise grabbed one for herself.

Just then, Kalen dashed up. "Shopkeeper! I want a Ring of Light!"

"Sorry, we're all sold out. Come back next week. We'll have new stock by Monday." The shopkeeper said.

"What? But by then the sale will be over!" Kalen protested.

The shopkeeper shrugged. "Like I said. We're out of stock. These guys bought out the last two."

Kalen turned to Cody and Laila. "I'll pay you an additional 50 credits! Sell me your ring!"

"Not selling." Cody refused flat out. The normal price of the ring was 250 credits. Why would he sell it to Kalen for 150 and then have to buy another one at 250 later?

Kalen's face darkened. "70! I'll offer an extra 70!"

"Nope. Sorry, it's not going to happen."

Kalen gritted his teeth. "80!"

Cody's face fell. "I'm not selling. Why do you keep bugging me?"

Kalen flared up then. "Are you calling me a bug?!"