"Hey, Wyntor," Nick said as he entered Wyntor's office for his daily meeting.
Every day, Nick and Wyntor would have a quick meeting in the afternoon to talk about things.
"Hey," Wyntor answered as Nick sat down. "Got anything noteworthy?"
"Not really," Nick said. "Just a bit of drama with the Puppy."
"Oh? What's it about?" Wyntor asked.
"Kerry didn't want to leave when she was supposed to, and Trevor had to get involved," Nick answered.
Wyntor nodded. "Keep me posted on this. I don't want any Extractors falling victim to the Puppy."
"Of course," Nick answered.
"Is that it?" Wyntor asked.
"Yep, that's everything."
Wyntor nodded. "Then, let me tell you about something interesting."
"Oh?" Nick uttered.
"We got invited to the yearly meeting of Manufacturers," Wyntor said.
Nick's eyes widened. "There's a yearly meeting? I don't remember one happening last year."
"Because we didn't get invited," Wyntor explained. "We were just a bunch of Newbies with some weak Specters."
"Ever since we captured the Fog, things changed."
"A Manufacturer that can catch and contain a Force Specter is a Manufacturer that has proven themselves."
"Because of that, the other Manufacturers treat us as a new Manufacturer, although weak and inexperienced."
"Makes sense," Nick said. "When's the meeting?"
"Late morning in three days. It's on the middle layer of the Inner City," Wyntor said.
"Inner City, huh," Nick repeated. "I've never been there."
"It's nothing too special," Wyntor said. "The lower layer is just like the Outer City but cleaner, and the middle layer is hard to navigate, but that's the only special thing about it."
"What about the upper layer?" Nick asked.
"Difficult to explain," Wyntor said. "Why don't you just see for yourself in the future?"
Nick scratched the back of his head. "How do I get there?"
"That's going to take a while," Wyntor said with a chuckle. "There are two ways to move up in the Inner City: power and wealth."
"If you want to live on the lower layer of the Inner City, you need to either be a level two Extractor or have a net worth of over a million credits."
Nick's eyes widened in surprise.
He knew that he could live in the Inner City as a John, but he hadn't heard about the wealth requirement.
"Of course, you only need one of the two," Wyntor said. "By the way, if you are living in the Inner City, you are allowed to live there with your parents, your partner, and your children. You are not allowed to bring your siblings, uncles, and so on."
"At least, that's how it works for Zephyx Extractors," Wyntor said.
"It's different for rich people?" Nick asked.
Wyntor nodded. "Every additional person that lives with you in the Inner City, assuming you live there due to your net worth, requires another million of net worth."
"So, if you want to live in the Inner City with your wife and two children, you would have to have a net worth of over four million credits."
Nick took a deep breath.
"Why?" he asked.
Wyntor chuckled a bit. "The people living in the Inner City believe themselves to be vastly superior to everyone living in the Outer City, and they don't like upstarts from the filthy Outer City to join their illustrious circles."
Wyntor's voice was quite sarcastic.
"If you manage to get rich enough to join the Inner City, they can tolerate you, but they don't want people that are worthless. Of course, most of the people thinking like that are living in the Inner City only because someone else pays for them," Wyntor said with a chuckle.
Nick didn't like what he was hearing.
That sounded like a lot of hypocrisy.
"Why doesn't that apply to Zephyx Extractors?" he asked.
"Can't you tell?" Wyntor asked.
Nick just blinked a couple of times.
"Because Zephyx Extractors are scary and bring security."
"With their power, they can protect the people living in the Inner City from Specters and threats, but they are also scary when you try to go against them."
"None of the normal but rich people in the Inner City want to antagonize someone that can tear them into two pieces like they're a piece of paper."
Nick furrowed his brows and nodded.
That made sense.
"What about the middle layer?" he asked.
"Level three Extractor or ten million credits," Wyntor said.
Nick took a deep breath.
Ten million credits was insane.
"Naturally, the same policy applies here as well. If you want to live with your family in the middle layer, you better be even richer," Wyntor said with a chuckle.
"Why is it so expensive?" Nick asked. "The amount of money required is ridiculous!"
"Space," Wyntor answered.
"Space?" Nick repeated.
Wyntor nodded. "Over 60% of the Inner City consists of the lower layer, and only 30% of the city consist of the middle layer. Additionally, the middle layer is not on the ground, and the residences are also far bigger."
"At most, a thousand people can fit onto the middle layer."
Nick's eyes widened in shock.
"Wait, only a thousand?" he asked.
Nick had seen the huge structure that was the Inner City almost every day.
It was around five kilometers wide and three kilometers tall.
Tens of thousands of people should fit in there!
Yet, the middle layer could only hold about a thousand?!
And that was 30% of the city?!
"Only a thousand," Wyntor repeated. "Due to the requirements, only about 800 spots are filled, and that's how they want it. It's better to have more space than less."
"Then, what about the upper layer?" Nick asked.
"It has spots for about 300 people," Wyntor said, "and all those spots are filled. If someone new joins, someone old has to descend to the middle layer."
"The poorest and the weakest are not allowed to live there."
"Officially, you need to either be a level four Extractor or have a net worth of over a hundred million credits, but practically, you need to belong to the stronger 20% of level four Extractors or have over 500 million credits."
"Also, you don't get to take your entire family with you."
"You only get your significant other and up to two children."
"If you want more, you better be vastly more powerful than the average of the upper layer."
Nick had difficulties accepting what he was hearing.
"What about your family?" he asked.
"We are ten people. My mother and father, their mothers and fathers, and me and my three siblings."
"Oh, and our head butler and two head security guards. Everyone else has to travel to the upper layer for work."