The Great Codestone Run

by scriptfox

It was another day at the Bale's Codestone Savings and Loan, and Meerca Jesse Bale was busily doing his last minute sort of their assets before opening for the day. With a final set of clicks, he dropped the last of the Lu Codestones into their insulated bin and then went to open the door. He sighed inwardly as he recognised the round figure of Christine Kacheek outside. A lovely lady, but she did have a way of running on that wore on even the best of nerves after a while.

Sure enough, Jesse didn't even have time to get back behind the counter before Christine was bombarding him with the latest news of what her littlest kit had been up to. Pulling his green eyeshade down suggestively, Jesse managed to squeeze in, "and what were you needing this morning, Christine?"

"Oh, yes, of course, I almost forgot--silly me! I do prattle on don't I, oh but you really should see the latest pictures of my daughter Kirsten, she just---" Jesse's patience was saved as Christine's rummaging paws dislodged three Codestones from the inside of her purse. "Oh, there they are! Yes, of course, Jesse hon, I needed to deposit these..."

As Jesse wrote up the deposit slip and dropped the stones into their separate containers under the counter, Christine continued her nonstop flow of talk. At least it was about the Savings and Loan, he thought wearily. "You know, I do so appreciate what you're doing here, Mr. Bale, I mean, really, it's such a convenience to be able to store away those valuable stones in such a safe place," a short titter interrupted her train of thought, "and, I mean, it's nothing short of genius, really, to think that we can have an account where we can deposit any type of stone we want and get back any other! Why, I don't know how many times I've needed a Main or a Vo Codestone to pay for one of my training courses, and all I had would be an Eo or a Lu, or even a Tai-Kai- I mean, really! It's just so wasteful to have to scrimp and save and hope you got the right kind next payday, why, you could even get four or five stones and still not have what you needed...."

"Here's your receipt, Christine, and thanks-for-your-business" Jesse blurted out in a quick breath.

"Oh, thanks so much, you dear thing, I just know I'll be needing another stone soon, and of course I just wouldn't feel safe at all without knowing I could come here to get what I need! You are just doing awfully great here Mr. Bale, it's so nice to be able to do business and I would love to stay and talk a bit, I know you must feel I'm neglecting you, rushing off like this with hardly a hello, but I really must see about some groceries, those kits of mine insist on eating me right out of house and home! Have I told you about--no, I guess I haven't, have I..."

"Maybe next time, don't forget to buy some nice healthy groceries," Jesse said, managing to keep his desperation out of his voice. To his utter relief, Christine took the hint, and managed to squeeze in a good-bye after only a few more run-on sentences.

Jesse was shaking his head in relief as he heard the light voice of his wife, Mary, behind him. "The volume level just dropped in here, Jesse, did Christine leave already?"

Jesse laughed softly. "Yeah. Nice lady, and all that, but...."

"But she has a way with jabbering."

"Well... I would've said with words."

"Words doesn't do it justice, Jesse. Her talk is to words what Neopia falls is to a leaky faucet."

As they shared a laugh, Jesse twinged inwardly, realising that as special as their honeymoon night had been, he and Mary never really had gone on that honeymoon trip. Things had just come up, and...

And his laughter died as he saw the reason that things had come up walking towards the door. Skeiths were not Jesse's favourite NeoPet, and Mr. Portly wasn't even close to Jesse's favourite Skeith. His huge green figure almost buried his sharp glittering, greedy eyes as he stared out at a town which, Jesse felt, he already owned too much of. The fact that Jesse's father had lost his job because of Mr. Portly, and had later passed away of what could only be termed a broken heart didn't help matters any.

"Ah, Mr. Portly, and how can I help you?" Jesse's tone was professionally courteous as the Skeith wedged himself up onto the counter.

The courtesy was ignored as Mr. Portly opened a bag and dumped several dozen Codestones on the counter. "A deposit, first," he grunted.

Jesse's breath hissed as he attempted to corral the stones. Instinctively wincing, he realised that there were only three kinds represented and his fear eased. His paws quickly flipped through the stones, counting and sorting.

"Fine lot, aren't they," Mr. Portly muttered smugly, choosing to mistake Jesse's apprehension for awe. "Paid a bundle for them, I did, yessirree."

Jesse carefully put the stones away in his bins and wrote out the receipt. "Here you go, Mr. Portly. Have a nice day."

Mr. Portly squinted at the receipt before nodding to himself. "That gives me a balance of two hundred and fifty three stones, doesn't it."

"Yes, sir."

Jesse cringed from Mr. Portly's breath as the other leaned forward, dropping the receipt and his balance book on the counter before saying, quite deliberately, "I want to make a withdrawal."

"Uh, but of course. What types of stones were you wanting?"

"Bris."

"OK, how many?" Jesse reached toward his small bin of Bri Codestones.

"The whole lot--two hundred and fifty three."

Jesse's round face went stupid with surprise and his paw froze in midair. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Mr. Portly."

"And why not? Do you mean to tell me a fine upstanding Savings and Loan like this can't fulfill its debts?"

"No, it's not that at all, Mr. Portly. In fact, we have just over ten thousand Bris on deposit."

"Good. I'll take two hundred and fifty three of them."

"No, I can't do that--our account rules state clearly that you can't withdraw more than one Codestone of a type, or one percent of our stock on that stone per day, whichever is more. I can give you about half of what you want in--"

"Not enough!" barked Mr. Portly. "I came here to do business with you, Mr. Bale, and now you're backing out on me. If you want to stay in business, I suggest you find a way to fulfill your obligations!"

"I can meet any of our proper obligations, Mr. Portly, but what you're demanding is simply not reasonable, or even allowable," Jesse said, his voice going cold and remote.

Mr. Portly glared at Jesse and leaned forward to thump the young Meerca in the chest with one scaly finger. "Then listen to me, you young fool. You are going to come across with those stones or you will find that cute young tail of yours so warped and twisted with trouble that nothing will 'bail' you out."

Jesse couldn't help a slight flinch as Mr. Portly mockingly threw extra emphasis on the pun of his name. But he stared back firmly as he simply replied in a cool tone, "Good day, Mr. Portly."

One hand crumpling his paperwork and stuffing it into his pocket, Mr. Portly simply glared back at Jesse and snorted before stomping out of the Savings and Loan. Jesse turned away from the counter, choking and snorting himself, trying to clear the stink of the Skeith's breath out of his nostrils.

"Of all the nerve!" Mary's voice vibrated with suppressed anger. "How dare he threaten you just because you wouldn't break the rules!"

"He didn't threaten me," Jesse said in a sick, dull tone. "He just said what was going to happen--he never said he was going to do anything."

"It sounded like a threat to me!"

Jesse shrugged as another voice chimed in from the back, "What's threatening who?"

Jesse looked up and saw Uncle Willy, with his characteristic beaming smile and slightly waddling step, coming out of his office. He was glad that it was still morning, and it seemed that his uncle hadn't yet started on his evening drinking run. He seemed to have developed a permanent list from too much drink, but no one had the heart to tell him shape up or ship out- his sunny and open disposition could bring a smile to the dourest of faces, with the exception of Mr. Portly, of course.

In as brief a way as he could, Jesse outlined what had happened. Uncle Willy shook his head, "Stick to your guns, Jesse, don't let him buffalo you into anything. Though I still say I have no idea why you made that rule."

"It's simple, Uncle Willy, " Jesse replied patiently, "some stones just sell for more than others. Mr. Portly has been depositing Tai-Kais, Lus, and Vos with us. They sell for about three thousand points less than a good Bri would."

Mary continued Jesse's thought in a somber tone. "So he gives us two hundred and fifty three cheap Codestones, and then takes two hundred and fifty three others for a profit of three thousand each."

"Three thousand? and you said he wanted two hundred and fifty??" Jesse nodded. Uncle Willy might have liked his drink, but it didn't keep him from doing his sums. He whistled and his eyebrows climbed. "That's a profit of seven hundred and fifty thousand points, isn't it."

Jesse nodded again. "It's why we've only got the one small bin of Bris and one for Hars back there and why we've got a couple of walls full of Lus and Vos. I don't mind someone making a profit, but we have to have some sort of rule like that or we'd never get any of the expensive stuff in--or keep it in, I should say."

Uncle Willy frowned. "Why didn't you just say no one could take out more than six or twelve stones a day?"

"That was our other option. I thought that one over, and decided that...." Jesse was interrupted by Mary's call.

"Jesse, look! There's a crowd starting to gather outside."

Mary was right. It didn't take long for a few grim-faced customers to come in and ask to withdraw their stones. Jesse quickly filled all of their requests- no one had more than a couple of dozen in their account- but a nagging thought at the back of his mind was soon confirmed when more of the crowd started pouring in and he heard what they were saying among themselves. Mr. Portly had been as good as his word- everyone had been hearing that the S&L was going bust, and Jesse was looking at the start of a full-scale run as he quickly counted out stones. Mary had been pressed into service, too, and they both threw miserable glances at each other as they saw their stock quickly diminishing. Out of half a million Codestones on deposit, they only had about two hundred thousand in stock--plenty more than enough ordinarily, but this wasn't ordinary.

Jesse stepped back from the counter and grabbed Uncle Willy. "Uncle Willy, quick, bring up a bunch of stones from in back," he hissed. "We need to pile them up high where everyone can see them! If they see us overflowing with stones, it'll help shut this down before we get in trouble."

Uncle Willy's normally cheerful countenance was creased with worry as he watched the crowd, but he nodded. "Good thinking, Jesse," he murmured and disappeared in back. Jesse went back to counting out stones and trying to placate worried customers without making much headway.

"Here we go, everyone!" Jesse heard Uncle Willie call. He turned around to see his uncle staggering under the weight of no less than six bins of stones! His jaw dropped, and he only had time to call out a quick, despairing, "NO!" as the inevitable happened and everything came crashing down onto the floor.

The bang of insulated bins and clatter of stones was nothing compared to the wail and hissing that came from the stones themselves as six different kinds, dozens of each, mixed with each other. "Everyone clear out!" Jesse yelled, waving his arms, "they went critical! Run for your lives!"

The next minute or so was a nightmare as pets screamed and ran, while white smoke and that piercing shriek filled the air. The more knowledgeable ones grabbed their neighbors who were too ignorant or scared to move and soon the crowd had cleared the SandL and were backing across the street, watching smoke billow out of the front door apprehensively as the bank's employees inside dealt with Codestones that had hit critical mass.

Jesse wasn't the only one coughing this time. He kept himself from holding his paws over his ears only through sheer willpower, knowing that he had a job to do--and in a hurry before they lost the stones and maybe the bank with them. He saw Uncle Willy, rolling into a corner, moaning from burns on his fur where the red-hot stones had hit. After taking a couple of seconds to make sure he was OK, Jesse grabbed the metal poles and scoopers that were kept for sorting, one in each hand. Mary did the same, and together they began sorting the mess out, quickly seeing which type of stone was what from its glowing colour and flicking each of the types towards a different corner of the room. Things began to quiet, and before long the stones were silent and only a hissing sound came from the floor. Jesse stared at it in dismay. The red-hot Codestones had literally melted their way into the cement, and two or three dozen of them were half-buried. The cement served as insulation, stopping any further reaction, but getting them out was going to be close to impossible. And a haggard look through the front door showed the crowd across the street shifting nervously, just waiting to come in again. Mary, meanwhile, was dumping stones back into bins, and Uncle Willy was shamefacedly helping her.

Jesse sighed as he looked back down at the mess. None of the stones seemed to be cracked, but it would take forever to chip them out of the floor..... it was then that inspiration struck.

Several minutes later, the crowd pushed its way back in, clamoring for their stones, to be met by smoke-covered Meercas and a display that halted them all. A wave of laughter flowed through the crowd, and the run was over almost as quickly as it had begun. For there, propped up for all to see, was a rough square of concrete, about 18 inches wide, filled with Codestones. A quickly scrawled sign in front of it proclaimed:

"Bale's Codestone Savings and Loan:

We haven't paved the streets with Codestones we're working on it!"

The End