The Mechanical Era

6th of Sunt, 5018.

Marco and Vice, wearing ordinary clothes, follow a long-bearded man through the large front door. They find themselves in a large room, with a stage on the other end, and over a hundred chairs surrounding it.

The place was rather dark and dusty, until the bearded man opens up the curtains, allowing light to enter. It allowed them to see the hidden cobwebs, just lying around on the corners of the room, and underneath the chairs.

"From the criteria you presented to me, this is the best place I can offer you two. It has a lot of chairs and space. A stage where you can do whatever. And it comes at a cheap, 1 silver coin a month if that is acceptable to you two," the man informs Marco and Vice.

"So... what do you think?" he asks the two. Marco looks around the room, before turning to the owner.

"Could you give us a moment? We would like to inspect the area before we make a decision," Marco asks.

"Sure. Just make sure you don't take too long," the bearded man replies. He takes his leave through the front door, leaving the two of them alone.

"Welp. This place is a shithole, don't you think Marco?" Vice asked. Marco was too busy, inspecting the chairs. He wiggled a few around and found some that were observed to be unstable, while the others were stiff as hell.

Marco looked onward and examined the chairs that were unstable. Some of them had their nails coming off, with a few missing some nails, while the others had their glue unsticking. He then walked up the stage, to find it creaking a little. Upon further inspection, he found out that only a few spots creaked, and could be easily fixed. Once he fully inspected the place, he came back to Vice.

"We will have to get a hammer, nails, and some glue in order to fix the chairs. As for the cobwebs and dust, we might need some cleaning supplies..." Marco turned to Vice, who was making a weird face.

"What is the matter, is there something wrong, Vice?" Marco asked as if he was oblivious to the state of the place.

"Marco, are you sure you want to get this place? I mean, look at it!" Vice raises his hands.

"It sucks ass!" Vice pointed out. He then started to rant about the atrocious condition the place is in, all while Marco silently listened.

"It is all dusty and unclean! It could take us an entire day or two to clean this place up! And that is just what I observed at first glance! If I wanted to, I can  find a dozen more reasons why we shouldn't move here!" Vice argued.

"Instead, why don't we go somewhere else? What do you see about this place that I don't?" Vice asked.

"Two things. The first reason is that it is really cheap, with only 1 silver coin a month! A place as large as this, with around 712 chairs can cost about 1 silver coin a week!

This place provides the exact same amount of space, with the addition of chairs, for only 1 silver coin a month. The only other additional cost may be any repairs and cleanup we might have to make.

The second reason is that it is near a tram stop. That would mean that people, from a larger area, can come from a larger area, to come and listen to me reading out the bible. We will have an easier time filling the place up from other areas," Marco argued back.

"Would it really be that worthwhile though? I mean, we would only be leasing the place out, and it could take us days for us to set up the place. Within those days, we could be out there, making some more money by preaching in a smaller place, which is another opportunity cost that we must consider.

Besides, once it is over, he could as well kick us out after we are done with the lease. We would be giving the man free labor, fixing up the property for him, and increasing his property value," Vice countered.

Marco stood there, listening to Vice's counterargument. He then cooks up a counter-counter argument and presents it to Vice.

"Well, my dear friend. I believe that fixing up this place and cleaning up this entire room, would be much cheaper than renting out a clean place.

You must consider the scenario. In about 3 to 4 months, our customers would be able to read for themselves, and would no longer require our services. There is a limited time window that we must exploit.

If we are to gain the most amount of money, we will have to rent out the cheapest place, with the location that can yield us the most occupants.  In the long term, we might be able to make more money, than we can in the short term.

And in this place? We get to pay out the least amount of money while racking in the most amount of dough. Sure, it may take some time, but in the end, it will be all worth it!" Marco replies in a smooth and calm tone, all while keeping a straight posture.

Vice thinks about it for a minute. He takes an inspection of the room himself before he comes back to Marco.

"How about this? We shall calculate the amount of money and time it takes for us to fix this place before we lease it. Is that good for you?" Vice asks. Marco smiles.

"That is good enough for me. Although, I have one more condition to add."

"What is it?"

"If I am right, could you bring me a black suit from the rentals? You can exchange my red rental for it." Marco added with a smug on his face.

"Alright, deal."

...

10th of Sunt, 5018.

A crowd was gathering around the large room, taking their seats. From their eyes, they entered a rather clean building, with study wooden chairs they can sit comfortably in. Marco was backstage, wearing a white shirt and a black tie, waiting for Vice. He looked at his sundial, and see he was running late.

"Come on, where is this guy?" he mutters to himself. Suddenly, the backdoor busts open, and Vice runs in. He hands Marco a black suit.

"Sorry for taking so long. It took some time for me to trade in that yellow suit of yours for this black one at the rentals."

"Well, whatever. Because it is about time already." Marco puts on the suit, and heads upstage with the bible. He walked onto the silent wooden stage, glanced at the audience, and began reading aloud in the large, clean room.