Penelope nearly flinched.
'Please stop yelling.'
'Host, he understands treasure!'
'He cannot hear you.'
'Then tell him Oddy approves.'
'I am absolutely not telling Erik that an invisible system living inside my head approves of his decisions.'
Oddy seemed offended.
Penelope ignored it again.
Erik continued explaining.
"Modern currency is going to become useless if society continues collapsing. Credit cards already don't work without functioning networks. Banks are inaccessible, communication is down, and eventually paper money will become nothing more than paper."
Ben frowned.
"But gold will still have value."
"Exactly."
Erik tapped one finger against the display glass.
"Gold has maintained value across civilizations because people collectively believe it has value. More importantly, it's portable, divisible, recognizable, and difficult to produce."
Kai stared at him.
"You've thought about this."
"I think about everything."
"That's mildly terrifying."
