Random stories

"A volcano?"

"Yeah, that big smouldering lump over there on the horizon."

"An *active* volcano?"

"Well if it was inactive it would just be a glorified hill, wouldn't it?"

"I stress this, ma'am, you can't build your base on a volcano. The Worker's Safety Bureau is *not* going to let that fly."

"Look, I'm a fire wizard! I do fire things! Building a base on a volcano is as fire as it gets!"

I clicked my pen and bit my lip. Staring at Pilikan Hahual, smoke and ash slowly rising from its peak. There was a reason why no tree grew with a three mile radius of it: the monthly eruptions, toxic air, and constant heat made it a place where life could never flourish. Outside of the radius existed the lushest farmland outside the boundaries of the Empires, crops growing fat with the nutrients provided by volcanic soil. There was a fine line between volcanic hell and an idyllic yet also tropical countryside. We both stood in a clearing in the forest, staring out into the hell of Pilikan Hahual.

I turned to look at Narrona. Her wide grin and expectant eyes made it clear she was looking forward to getting what she wanted. She was tall, with short, black hair and robes that glowed with illusory blue flames. Her dark eyes and amber skin reflected this blue light giving her the look of a smouldering magical blueberry. I wasn't going to tell her that, but I was going to tell her that this was an incredibly stupid idea... in more subtle terms of course.

"Alright. So the WSB is not going to allow my workers to operate on a volcano. It's simply too dangerous. Even if we managed to get to work on it, the amount of landscaping work we would have to do to make it level and direct the lava flow to where it wouldn't flow *through your base* is going to be back-breaking work."

"I think it would look cool. Having lava flowing *through* my base." She looked at the volcano with wonder, imagining the red hot streams of molten rock.

"Having lava flow through your base is going to make it a giant oven... not everyone has your ability to take the heat. Not to mention the obvious dangers of having lava there. It's a serious hazard, not a decoration."

Her grin slowly sank until her lips pushed it into a flat line. Not quite a frown, but the way her brow knotted showed her displeasure.

"If you are so concerned about your workers, why don't you just draw me up blueprints and I can get my henchmen to build it?" She looked at me with a sideways glance, her head still facing towards Pilikan Hahual.

"*No one* should be working on a project like that. It's simply too dangerous!"

"Well, what is the WSB going to do? Am I not outside of Imperial jurisdiction?"

I sucked in air through my teeth and prepared to spiel that I have given many, many times before. "That may be true. For now. Once one of the three emperors, or gods forbid the Communal Republic, hears about people being burned to death in droves they are going to be on this island like ticks on a hog. All they need is an excuse and they will turn this island into an imperial possession. They will make themselves out to be the heroes, providing legislation and executive oversight... the sort that you don't want on this island. The Teketi Empire, the Kalonnian Empire, and the Storan Empire all have essentially the same Worker's Safety Bureau, but the Genzhau Republic... If they get this island, you'll be dealing with the Worker's Safety *Tribunal*." I stepped towards Narrona. She looked down at me, fear and uncertainty in her eyes.

"You don't want the Tribunal here, Narrona. This island may seem far away from Genzhau, but those communards don't take kindly to fat cats roasting workers alive. They will come here, and they will make an *example of you*."

She swallowed. She lifted a hand to rub the back of her neck. She could already feel the cold blade of the Tribunal's guillotine. "What do you propose, then?"

"We do this by the book. No lava, death spikes, spinning blades, suspended weights or boulders, or flamethrower traps. Just a good, clean base for a regulation-abiding wizard."

"And then the Tribunal won't come here?"

"I run a tight ship, wizard. Not even the Tribunal will find a thing out of place."

"So, if not on the volcano, where should we build?"

I pointed down and gave a slight grin. "Is this clearing here good for you?" The green grass waved gently in the wind, the birds chirped in the nearby trees, and the smell of flowers hit our noses. A far better location than on the side of an active volcano.

She sighed, "Yeah, I suppose this will do."

---

Submitted by Krutaun on Sat, Apr 22, 2023 to /r/WritingPrompts/

The prompt

You own a construction company that especiallise on supervillians hideouts, you make tones of money and usually work in paradise islands, but dealing with your clients and keeping their ideas within OSHA standards is not an easy job