The story so far (in order):
@dibblers.dabs/a-tale-of-two-pizzas-ongoing-contest
@wrestlingdesires/the-great-pizza-feast
@dibblers.dabs/a-tale-of-two-pizzas-ongoing-contest-week-2
@wrestlingdesires/the-rise-of-the-predas-a-tale-of-two-pizzas
@onewolfe/a-tale-of-two-pizzas-contest-entry
@dibblers.dabs/a-tale-of-two-pizzas-ongoing-contest-week-3
@wrestlingdesires/a-tale-of-two-pizzas-every-man-has-his-price
Other Previous Entries:
@jesustiano/el-adviento-de-la-pizza
@jesustiano/la-bendita-pizza-esp-or
@jesustiano/otto-s-encounter-with-olives
@onewolfe/a-tale-of-two-pizzas-week-3-entry
@an-man/a-tale-of-two-pizza
@dadspardan/a-tale-of-two-pizzas-the-crust-thickens
Barry sat in the cold stone cellar, chained between an ancient, rusted out oil tank and a wine rack holding the precious few bottles of wine that were left from before the fall. He could barely move and the skin of his wrists was slowly tearing from the heavy manacles that bound him. Yet somehow, in the dim dawn light shining in through the one tiny window, he smiled.
He knew he had served Mr. Rupert well, that the half truths he had told about his parents and the exaggerated account he had given of their accomplishments would most likely enable him to remain working for the Preda's. At least temporarily. It would also give the Pizza Baron an advantage in future negotiations if the Preda's believed he had access to far more powerful technology than he did in truth. Even in the worst case he had at least sent a message to Mr. Rupert warning him about the Preda's before he had been caught.
A shiver of doubt ran up his spine and the manacles and chains that bound him clinked softly in response. Perhaps he had made a mistake... Would the Preda's truly believe that Danny Rupert could access the old satellite network. They must, he thought. The possibility of acquiring that technology for themselves would surely blinker them to how impossible that would be! His faint smile returned as he heard footsteps on the stairs. He took a deep breath, and then began to sob and whimper once more.
.
Danny Rupert could stare with the best of them. Now that everyone else had left the room the stare he laid on Otto would make a weaker man twitch uncontrollably. Otto was made of sterner stuff after working with Mr. Rupert for so long. He made a good effort to maintain eye contact despite Mr. Rupert's furious glare and knew the best thing to do was wait for Mr. Rupert to start speaking.
"Otto, what in the hell has gotten into your head, mentioning anchovies to Charlie like that the other day. The man is already pulling in ingredients from half the continent, you've just brought word we are going to be trading across the Atlantic Ocean, AND THATS NOT EVEN ANYTHING TO DO WITH DAMN ANCHOVIES!" It was like a volcanic eruption. The frustration at dealing with farmers, swineherds, cheesemakers, and herbalists had been mounting. The olives had nearly sent him over the edge, but the idea of anchovies had started a chain reaction somewhere deep inside Danny Rupert. "IF I EVER HEAR YOU MENTION INGREDIENTS WE DON'T HAVE TO THAT CHEF AGAIN OR PUT CRAZY PIZZA IDEAS IN HIS HEAD I'LL HAVE YOURS ON MY NEXT PIZZA!" He was breathing hard and beet red in the face.
"Sir, I only mentioned it because it was such a popular topping for some." Otto replied levelly. "I meant nothing by it and hadn't even considered the implications. I humbly apologize!"
"Good, let that be the end of it then Otto but I mean what I say- as you should know better than any- you are not to discuss pizza toppings or ideas of any kind that we do not have access to with the Chef. Anchovies were always a disgrace to Pizza anyway. Has he come up with our second pizza yet? And have we found any appropriate apprentices for him?" Mr. Rupert's fury disappeared as quickly as it had risen, leashed once more by his passion for Pizza.
"Honestly Mr. Rupert he is struggling to decide what the second pizza will be. Some of the other servants have tried to convince him it should just be pepperoni or cheese... something simple. But he keeps disagreeing with them. He says the second Pizza must contrast with the Supreme, but he hasn't quite figured out how yet. He has two apprentices so far that have improved enough to be trusted with making dough. The other four are still only trusted with topping preparation. Chef Charlie himself has been spending the extra time now that he doesn't have to make all the dough researching for the second Pizza."
"Well that's good, I hope he will come up with it soon. The first week's deliveries are due to start tomorrow. We will be able to get by shipping only one type of Pizza for the first few weeks but not much longer as we have already announced there will be two Pizza's on our menu. Now. Let's talk a little about these olives shall we? I assume you received word through the Net?" The Pizza Baron referred of course to the scattered network of still online servers and connections that barely continued to function after the Fall. The previous baron had been lucky enough to have a couple of IT specialists in the group of survivors he had first led through the ashes of civilization and had eventually made use of them when he established his hold in upper New York state. Over time they had managed to rebuild and reconnect a couple of old terminals to the remnants of the old internet and had actually managed to establish contact with a few other communities around the world that had done the same. Some old websites and information could still be found and accessed but much of the wealth of information and interconnected servers were now offline.
"Yes sir, the Italians received your invitation to the Feast of 10000 Pizza's but regretfully couldn't get here fast enough. As part of their agreement to send us this first batch of Olives they've demanded we give them enough notice to actually attend the next Feast. As I said earlier, the Baron considers this first shipment repayment for the desalinization system you provided them when we first made contact, any additional trade will require negotiation and payment to be agreed upon."
"Very well Otto, tell them we will set a date for the Feast 6 months in advance and inform them we are open to trade negotiations provided they take care of shipping. As an opening to the negotiations tell them we already have an agreement with the Lake Baron and will cover taxes and tolls once the olives make it to the Saint Lawrence River. Oh and find out where exactly in Italy they are. You know I like to know everything I can about my rivals."
"Naples, sir, I believe they have established themselves just outside the ruins of Naples."
The rules for this week remain the same as previous weeks!
I'd like to continue building on the story of the Pizza Baron and his post apocalyptic world. Each week I'll pick a winner that becomes the next piece of the story and wins 20 $PIZZA and a 5 SBI sponsorship from me. I may award additional prizes if I feel multiple entries expand the story well.
Each week I'll write a post announcing the winner and then I will write another chunk of the story and open it up again for the next weeks competition. I'll compile the winning entry for each week. If we reach a conclusion of the epic tale of the Pizza Baron I'll divide another TBD amount of PIZZA among all the winning entries throughout the whole story and publish the finished story here on Hive with all the contributors as beneficiaries. If this goes well we might have the first open source blockchain novella on our hands! 😂
Previous entries that did not make it into the main storyline can be built upon and tied back in if so desired. I may even provide hooks to make it tempting to do so 🙃
Bear in mind this is an experiment as well as a competition so we will see how many entries I get and how well it goes!
Rules:
Entries must be more than 200 words but less than 1000.
Entries must use the hivepizza tag
Entries must comment on this post with the link to their entry
Entries must fit in the world/scenario that has developed from the previous weeks contest(s). You are free to develop characters, introduce new ones, invite aliens to the feast, I don't care as long it makes some kind of sense in the context! The Pizza Baron should remain relevant to the plot!
(I've named it a Tale of TWO Pizza's for a reason HINT HINT)
Previous entrant tags:
@onewolfe @jesustiano @wrestlingdesires @an-man @dadspardan