"Fascinating!  What do they cost, and what do cherries sell for?"

"Just 3400G for a lifetime of fruit! You can sell each cherry for 80G and up, depending on quality."

"There's a weird fashion going around for people planting huge fruit orchards, I've heard.  Wouldn't be too surprised if somebody wanders into this store and wants to buy 12 stacks of 999 cherry tree saplings, one of these days!"

"Ha! You're quite a comedian!"

"Do you want to buy 999 saplings right now?"

"I'm not actually joking!  But not today, I'm afraid, not me.  Was just looking around trying to get an idea of which stores sell what, around here."

"I heard about this one merchant in Zuzu City who had somebody coming into his store trying to buy 12 stacks of 999 apple tree saplings.  It wasn't even the one who wanted to plant the orchard, he wanted to stay anonymous, so he sent this other girl in to do it for him.  But the merchant didn't believe the girl was serious, she went to a competitor, they lost the sale... and then a bit later there was this mysterious enormous apple orchard appearing on a spot of public land, which is how the whole thing made the newspapers."

Leah perks up at the mention of Zuzu City. She lived there, not long ago, and she did not remember reading any stories of mysterious enormous apple orchards. Maybe she was reading different newspapers, or maybe it happened after she left, or maybe Oliver is up to something.

She says nothing, but keeps listening.

"Lost the sale, you say?"

"Well... just remember, JojaMart doesn't even sell saplings." The corners of Pierre's mouth are tight.

"I wouldn't buy from them if they did.  It didn't take long at all after I got here for people to tell me about JojaMart, though I imagine you've got more to say than most."

"Where do I even begin?!"

"They come into town with their bright fluorescent gleaming sterile floors and shelves and their boxed mass-produced chemical-laden GMO-filled 'produce' and they are destroying the lifeblood of this community! Sure, they offer some good deals, but once they've driven me out of business they're just going to jack up the prices and I don't understand how anybody can shop there in good conscience! It makes me sick!"

"Everyone figures that their personal decision to shop there won't make the difference between you going out of business or not.  The future where Jojamart jacks the price hardly feels real to them, because it's the future and not happening right now.  Between those two factors, the good feeling of having a few more G today outweighs that distant maybe-worry about the bad thing that might happen in the future.  They won't think it was their fault even after it happens."

Oliver says it so reflexively that it only occurs to him afterwards that the people here aren't making decisions using metaphorical NPC algorithms, they're literal actual NPCs and don't end up with any more or less G at the end.  There may not even be any particular people shopping at Jojamart.

"You really seem to get it. Thank you! Maybe you can explain it to a few more people around town."

"Perhaps.  Does Jojamart have a glaringly obvious weak point?  Would there be an obvious start point to a quest to bring them down?"

"I think what this town really needs is a rallying point, a place for everyone to come together to share resources and connection. We have an old run-down community center just north of here but it's in pretty bad shape. If you wanted to help fix it up, that seems like it would help this town out quite a lot. You could talk to Mayor Lewis about that if you're interested."

"Thanks for that straightforward answer!  I'm glad I live in a world whose social problems aren't less straightforward than that!  See you around Pelican Town, Mr. Pierre!"

"Wait! Don't you want to buy a bigger backpack before you go? It's so hard to do any foraging with just 12 slots!"

He points to a poster on the wall advertising a large backpack for 2000G and a deluxe backpack for 10000G.

"It's a fine recommendation!  Might be back for it before too long!  But I'm very much still getting the lay of this town and its opportunity costs, which investments pay themselves back the quickest with the least ongoing maintenance."

Leah is not sure she likes the sound of that, but continues browsing the vinegar.

"All righty then! I'll be here when you're ready to buy more seeds or saplings or a bigger backpack! Open every day except Wednesdays and festival days. Have a good one!"

Can he detect how many inventory slots the large / deluxe backpack confer by staring at them, by the way?

The large has 24 slots and the deluxe has 36.

Nice.  He'll head out of the store, hopefully to find Emily who hopefully hasn't waited long or gotten far.

Emily is right outside the store.

"Oh Yoba, I'm so sorry about that. I really wanted that to work! Thanks for coming right after me."

Emily can tell that Oliver really cares.

"Full disclosure, I didn't want to make it too obvious we were working together on that, so I initiated a conversation with Pierre and hoped that time wouldn't pass for you.  I am glad you weren't left waiting, though."

"And I did mostly guess it wouldn't work.  I just wanted to try it before I did the next obvious thing... I'm about to try to pass you 1G.  If it works, I'll pass you and Gus both 1500G, your shares of the 4500G we generated, and that turned out to initialize your bank accounts to being more real.  You both ended up being impacted; you should both get some of the benefits."

"Oh wow. Okay!"

Now she's very very sure that Oliver cares.

She closes her eyes, takes a breath, squares her shoulders, and opens her eyes again.

"I'm ready."

Can he... give Emily 1G?