After the shipment clears, Mara leads Ana and Jace through a narrow maintenance corridor beneath the depot. Conduits hum overhead, and damp concrete reflects strips of failing blue light.
They emerge at a cooperative accounting kiosk shared by nearby households. Its scratched display projects the bar balance, the stall discount, the handling fee, and several blinking expense categories.
Mara
Nobody hides the numbers here. We decide together what gets paid first, what can wait, and what kind of home we are building.
Jace
The fee is manageable if the bar, stall, and households share regular routes. Food, repairs, transit, and emergency reserves need separate lines.
Mara slots the agreement into the kiosk. The system divides projected income across communal meals, room maintenance, route costs, and a small reserve against sudden municipal charges.
Mara
Friendship is not just saying deal. It is knowing who contributes, who needs help, and when asking is safer than pretending everything is fine.
Jace
Your badge can approve the shared budget, Ana. Look it over first. Once we publish it, every linked household can see the same promise.
✓ Quest Accepted
Publish the shared budget