POV : BONETOWN

Olivia’s next mission had brought her to the entrance of the arena. The crowds were cheering as the arena had set up a tournament structure, and it was getting near the finals. After greeting the guards, and finding his location, Olivia was sent to a different area of the arena.

Mohamed, in his private box, met her and was surprised.

"Olivia, what are you doing here? I didn't think Earth's Children liked this kind of spectacle."

Olivia glanced with disgust at the fighters bleeding in the sand.

"I don't," she said, "but I wanted to talk to you about something important."

‘Oh? Have our plans for shadow dominance over the wasteland been discovered?‘ Mohamed thought.

Olivia said, "I know you've wanted to be part of the Fort Bone leadership ever since you arrived."

‘You bet your ass I do,‘ Mohamed thought. ‘Letting someone like Atlas run it isn't as good as me running it.‘

"I bet you're thinking that you could do a better job," Olivia said.

Mohamed nodded. He hadn't really planned to hide his intent for leadership, and it had been long known.

Olivia continued, "Let me tell you a story. When we first arrived, I ran the Earth's Children settlement, as you may know. My only goal was to keep my people safe and eventually get home to Earth. That plan was wrecked by another settlement.

If Atlas hadn't stepped in and saved us, I don't know what would have happened, but I know it wouldn't have been pretty. Human bandits and greedy warlords added to our troubles.There were already so many settlements destroyed by demon dogs and fairy wipes.

You hadn't arrived yet, but it was a gruesome beginning. Ever since then, I've watched Atlas use his time travel knowledge to lead Fort Bone from a group of scattered people to an empire, bit by bit. We would have been a full city by now if the Red Fairy hadn't interfered."

Mohamed just nodded.

Olivia continued, twirling her hair with a finger. "There's a lot of work involved in running this empire, and we can always use suggestions. But what I'd like to ask, Mohamed, is: what is it that you want?"

"There’s no doubt that I’ve been clear about my desires to lead," Mohamed said.

"If you were in charge, what would you do differently?" Olivia asked.

Mohamed started to think. "The security is pretty good, but theres’s too much that’s not done.” He started listing small issues….", but before he could continue, Olivia interrupted.

"Those issues and many others are already known to us. And for us, some are worth fixing. And some are not.”

Mohammed then said, “It’s true, those are small issues. I think the biggest weakness that Fort Bone has is its economy. And that’s something Atlas and the rest of the leadership have been ignoring—and that’s a major problem.”

“The town is actually doing well financially. We have more income streams than people realize,” Olivia said, shaking her head ruefully. “Well… it was doing well until this new interference by the Red Fairy. And it definitely isn’t helping that you and your two partners are steering people toward those two towns as well.”

"Hey, I brought our expansion up to the leadership, and you were all okay with it," Mohamed replied defensively. The last he wanted was to get into a fight with people like Atlas who might decide lopping his head off was a viable economic plan.

"That's because we've always encouraged free enterprise for Fort Bone. Our empire isn't built on having everybody strictly following our decrees. If it were, we never would have allowed you to spread out," Olivia explained.

Mohamed nodded his head silently. It was true, if the leadership of Fort Bone had opposed his expansion, it could have been squashed in the cradle.

Olivia added, "At the end of the year, 100 people are going home. And I’m betting that you think, as the leader of Fort Bone, you’d be one of them."

"There’d be no doubt about that," Mohamed said. ‘Leadership of Fort Bone? I've moved way beyond that. Now I'm going to be the shadow leader through economics of the three towns and the whole wasteland,‘ he thought.

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"And I bet you've also created economic plans for the three towns," Olivia said.

Mohamed was surprised at this. That plan had never been public. She had caught on so quickly. He didn't mind admitting it, though.

"That's true."

Olivia continued Sherlock Holmes style, “And with those three towns united economically, I bet you would have three puppet rulers, probably even allowing Atlas to stay in charge of Fort Bone, while at the end of the year, you would be the one handing out and distributing the 100 tokens.”

Mohammed was surprised at how deeply she understood his plan.

His goal of being a shadow commerce empire was to take over the wasteland with mana coins and not bloody battles.

Olivia said, "That means you're taking a chance on becoming a shadow leader. Unfortunately for your plan, you have to be an official leader before the Red Fairy will decide if you get the coins. That's what Atlas told me."

Mohammed was again surprised. That was infuriating information he didn’t know.

Olivia said, “So, to become an official leader, you’d need a coup. And that would require an honest-to-God battle. You’ve got arenas, and you’ve got fighters. But do you have the hearts and minds of the people? If we had a vote right now—a real, honest-to-God vote—do you think the citizens of Fort Bone would choose you as their leader over Atlas and the Portal Crushers?”

Mohamed grimaced and admitted, "No, not right now. But we'd see. By the end of the year, things could be different."

Sure, his popularity wasn’t anywhere near Atlas’s, but with the right amount of money, he bet he could sway any number of voters. Mana coins and bribes could turn even the staunchest Atlas supporters into his biggest cheerleaders. Democracy was great—on paper. It worked perfectly when people voted with their brains, but let’s face it, how often did that happen? Most people would sell their vote for a free beer and a catchy slogan shouted enthusiastically by someone with good hair. Humans were emotional creatures, not logical ones—he could almost hear the campaign slogans now: Vote Mohammed, Get a Pint!

Olivia continued, “So, let’s say with your plans, you’d have three towns, and, best-case scenario, lots of support from the citizens because of spending mana coins and bribes.”

Mohammed was now feeling really uncomfortable, like he was living under a microscope. Even the plans he had just formed in his head were already being unraveled by Olivia, like a chess master seeing four moves ahead.

She pressed on, “And you’d have this battle, a coup to take over. Maybe in the other two towns, you could win it bloodlessly, but I can tell you, with Atlas’s temper, there’s no way he would give it up. At the end of the day, even if he lost the battle—which I doubt he would, having fought for two lifetimes through this hellhole—I can tell you he’s vengeful. Every one of his enemies has seen it, watching their lifeblood spill out on the sand in front of them.”

She leaned forward, her tone sharp, “And all of this for one goal, isn’t it, Mohammed? For you to get that ticket home?”

Mohammed could already picture the scene: Atlas in his hot pink armor, dual swords gleaming, chasing him down the street like a nightmare come to life, while his bodyguards were overwhelmed in record time. He gulped. Just imagining the logical conclusion of being caught by Atlas made him instinctively rub his neck.

“Well, my plan’s already started,” he said, trying to sound confident. “And there’s no real way to… no real reason to change it. Maybe it’ll be just two towns instead of three, then.”

He sighed internally. ‘Definitely time to get out of Fort Bone,’ he thought, especially if this negotiation with Olivia didn’t pan out. It didn’t dawn on him until that moment that his mind had already leapt far, far ahead into contingency planning.

"You don’t need to panic ," Olivia replied. "What if I tell you that there’s an easier way?”

"What?" Mohamed asked, surprised for the third time.

"If you help us with the Fort Bone Empire and nudge your strategy a little bit, we can get you home," Olivia offered.

Mohamed's smile lit up. "Really? Tell me more."

"As an official leader of the Fort Bone Empire, I’ll give you and your two partners two of the return tokens if you help us steer this economic war in favor of Fort Bone. I don’t want you to stop those arenas. They'll be great places for us to spread propaganda and recruit for our empire. In fact, if you need any help financially, we’ll even help you there," Olivia said.

"That sounds good. What do I have to do?" Mohamed asked.

Olivia pulled out a system-enforced contract. "Here are three contracts. You and your two partners can have a look and sign them."

The contract stated that when the tokens were going to be given out, if Atlas, the Portal Crushers, and Fort Bone were the recipients, three of those tokens would go directly to Mohamed and his partners.

Looking at the paper and seeing the 100% certainty that he could go home at the end of the year if Atlas won, Mohamed had a change of heart. Mohammed had never been a coward and had never shied away from playing dirty tricks, but he knew that in the wasteland, Atlas’s brutal proficiency with his swords would crush any dreams he had of a bureaucratic takeover from the shadows. If he had a chance to escape his fate right now, he definitely would!

‘I can still be the Shadow Emperor of Commerce. All I need to do is accept Fort Bone Empire as my backer, and I still go home. I don’t have to worry about a vengeful time travelling warlord or town management problems. I just have to keep doing what I love—making money,‘ he thought.

He agreed, shook hands with Olivia, and was excited to bring this to the attention of his partners.

"I'm going to go talk to my two partners," he said. "But I think we'll have a deal in place by the end of the day."

"Good. I'm looking forward to it," Olivia said.

Olivia was glad to hear this. Sure, Atlas and the Portal Crushers could stomp all over any kind of internal revolt like a boot on a bug, but she also knew he’d absolutely hate doing it. For all his badassery, she’d already figured out that his tough exterior was just a candy-coated shell around a gooey, sentimental core. He was basically a battle-hardened warrior marshmallow.

If she could get Mohammed to stop being such a pesky little weasel and actually help instead of scheming, it’d be a win for everyone. Less drama, fewer swords, and—most importantly—fewer awkward conversations about why Atlas needed to kill someone again.

‘‘‘‘