“It’s just not fair,” Reed complained as Isaac entered the conference room. “I get stuck in a fucking wheelchair while the Wonderboy over here only gets crutches.”
Isaac tapped one of them against the back of her wheelchair. “It’s because I’m just that good.”
But when he sat down next to her, his face grimaced in pain. It had been a few days since the destruction of the armada and the pain never subsided. Fortunately, he still had at least one good leg he could hobble around on, but the other was mangled. Not to mention all the lacerations on his body and the multiple concussions he earned on a single day that hadn’t quite healed yet. Pain constantly cascaded through his body from his wounds, so not only did he ache and feel sore all over, but a perpetual headache made the room occasionally spin. His lung hadn't merely collapsed - it straight-up imploded - and that slowed his cultivation. Once he healed that, he could then heal the rest of his body with cultivation, a process that would take weeks, even with rapid healing. He wouldn’t be able to start on anything new until after the New Year’s festivities.
Anything new. Isaac was still thinking about where to go from here. He was victorious over the conspiracy of the junior officers, finally putting the puzzle pieces of drug smuggling, human trafficking, and atomic material imports together. But new puzzles rose to take their place. Babs had mentioned multiple conspiracies were competing against each other, and Isaac’s gut feeling told him that the plot Greg referred to in his dying breath was something beyond the machinations of the junior officers. No, something more was out there. Not only did Isaac still need to figure out the rest of his translated journal page - nearly a billion souls in the Tree, fifty chosen to Circuit 8 and beyond - he was now also dealing with the Heart, the Mind, and presumably, the Soul, three entities not quite human and not quite divine. Stockham would fill him in on the Heart’s fate soon enough. The Mind was currently working as a State Police officer, with their knowledge of her true identity ambiguous. And the Soul was still out there. Perhaps Caesar was the Soul. Too many questions, not enough answers.
It all tied back to the Unleashing. The three entities were centuries old, dating back to the time when a solar flare struck the planet. But, considering everything Isaac had seen so far, perhaps an explanation like that deserved more scrutiny. Maybe that would be his next goal - to uncover the truth of cultivation, to understand why it appeared, to learn what exactly happened five hundred years ago that sundered the planet wholesale.
But for right now, he would focus on fixing up his broken body. And in the immediate moment, he would focus on Stockham’s debriefing. The General, along with Admiral Broadhurst of the Combined Fleet, sat in the conference room with Isaac, Reed, and the silent Osip. Dozens of guards were now in place outside the room, all of them powerful cultivators led by Stockham’s other colonel, the teacher named Shokahu. Neither Acting Commandant Spinelli of the Naval Police nor Secretary Ricci of the Navy were in attendance; a rift still existed among the brass that kept Spinelli locked out of meetings like this, while Ricci was at military headquarters dealing with the fallout of the attack.
Stockham began his report. “It has been one week since the State Police nationalized the industries of the Zhanghai Industrial Corporation. Thanks to the quick thinking by Admiral Broadhurst, the Navy has seized - among a plethora of mines, lumberyards, factories, dockyards, and farms - the major rail depot to the south of the base, the port at Fore River, and the majority of the Zhanghai merchant fleet. However, the State Police and Army succeeded in taking the majority of Zhanghai assets in Arcadia. They have also begun the extradition of Zhanghai workers and samurai back to their homeland, though they have retained the services of technicians and powerful cultivators who would rather work here than face execution at home for their failure.”
Broadhurst had a grim look on his face as Stockham continued. “However, this has done little to appease the wrath of Zhanghai. They, along with their allies, have announced a total embargo on all exports to Arcadia. Chief among these will be Zhanghai coal, iron, and Tanjanese grain.”
That last one set off alarm bells in Isaac’s head. “Won’t we have food shortages without the grain?”
Stockham nodded. “Indeed-”
“My reubens!” Reed cried out. “We’re gonna face shortages of those too, right?”
“Indeed.”
Reed slumped in her wheelchair in defeat. Osip, in a rare show of emotion, gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. Isaac tugged at his own collar. “And we’re about to enter winter. Will we have enough coal to heat the country?”
“No doubt, we will face rolling blackouts and a very harsh winter,” Stockham answered. “But the State Police wouldn’t have done this without a plan to deal with the Zhanghai punishment. Sooner or later, I suspect we will be taking the resources we need by force.”
“You mean…war?” Isaac asked, already knowing the answer.
“The spring rain is only four months away. The war will likely come after that.” Broadhurst leaned in closer. “Be wary of the incoming propaganda push. The State Police has likely already chosen its target and will begin preparing the populace for war soon enough.”
“Can we win?” Reed asked. Then she thought of a better question. “Can we stop it?”
“I don’t have the answers for either of those.” Stockham looked thoughtfully at his report. “But the State Police has some tricks up their sleeve. Not only do they now have the seized Zhanghai industrial facilities, they've also revealed they've been working on secret projects without our knowledge as well."
“The cruise missiles,” Broadhurst clarified. “As clunky and limited in power they may be, we are the only country on the planet in possession of such advanced rocketry. We suspect that this isn’t the only weapon of that manner they possess.”
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
Isaac was about to ask about another piece of advanced technology, but Stockham spoke first. “The Heart crashed down a few miles north of downtown. The State Police already claimed it by the time we got there. Our spies confirmed they moved it into one of the Zhanghai pre-Unleashing subway stations they seized and it's now disappeared below ground. The State Police control all the areas above the subway stations. The Heart is in their possession, and it could be anywhere."
So this is what the Mind got out of her alliance with Babs. She was using her, of course, just to get the Heart out of the Navy’s hands. And now the Mind is in possession of the Heart.
A picture was already forming in Isaac’s head. Normally, cultivation required a heart, a mind, and a soul. But the ambiguous entities of the Heart and Mind could use cultivation without all the pieces. If that was the case, if they were to come together, then they could very well make the most powerful cultivator in history.
“We still suspect the Soul to be Caesar, but we can’t confirm it,” Broadhurst said. “He and his movement may have to lie low for a while, but they will gain strength from the armada’s attack as well.”
Stockham tapped on a paper in his report. “The attack destroyed large sections of the city, most notably Four Eagles. Urban refugees will now join their rural brethren in migrating to the intact ghettoes. Between the embargo and decapitation of the Bank of Arcadia’s leadership, our economy is in disarray. Help will be slow in coming for the refugees. Worse still, there will be tensions between the native Arcadians and the migrating Elysian, Lawrencite, Eidolonian, and Atalantan minorities. Disease will be rampant, unemployment will be high, inflation will soar. It will be a perfect breeding ground for triad activity and the Restorationist movement to pick up new followers.”
Isaac made a realization. “And Caesar must’ve increased his own control over the movement, too. All the dissident junior officers got exposed and wiped out in the armada attack. The rival faction is gone. It’s just him firmly in command now.”
“And speaking of in command,” Broadhurst added. “The State Police announced that martial law and the curfew will remain in place until the city has finished rebuilding. Essentially - for the foreseeable future, it will be in place indefinitely.”
The laundry list of new problems and new gains made by his opponents made Isaac feel like he had left the frying pan just to arrive in the oven.
That just left one last loose end. “Henry Spinelli’s trial will take place after the New Year’s festivities,” Stockham concluded. “His father will remain as Commandant for the Naval Police for now. Ricci, with all the other problems he has to deal with, has been slow in either confirming him as the new permanent commandant or removing him entirely. For now, Spinelli has the reins.”
Reed, having heard about the attempted assassination - well, attempted on Stockham and Broadhurst, successful on Firmino - tapped her fingers on the table. “Do you think Henry will be found guilty?”
Stoic looks appeared on the faces of the two members of the brass. “We can’t say for sure,” Stockham said diplomatically. “Not only are the courts in the hands of the State Police, but much of the populace finds Henry to be a hero for his actions.”
Isaac, who watched Firmino get torn to shreds in a hail of bullets right in front of him, raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Check out the newspapers after this meeting,” Stockham suggested. “The Navy is taking the blame for the initial attack on the base and subsequent assault on the city. The State Police and Army are being cast as heroes for stopping it.”
“But we stopped it,” Reed pointed out.
“History is written by the victor,” Broadhurst said. “The narrative around Henry is being spun as someone tired of Naval incompetence and doing what needs to be done.”
Isaac tugged at the bandages around his shoulder and eyed the renewed set of bandages around half of Reed’s face. “So…did we even win?”
Stockham’s face grew more jovial. “Of course. Your defeat of the armada may go unrecognized by the populace, but not be me. You saved this country from a new form of dictatorship and the likely anarchy that would follow it. I’ll venture to speak for both myself and Admiral Broadhurst here - you saved our skins and, dare I say it, covered our asses.”
Broadhurst grunted in assent, but beneath his naval cap, his eyes had a look of pride and acknowledgement in them.
“And services like that require reward,” Stockham added with a smile. “We don’t normally give New Year’s bonuses to cadets, but for you two, we’ll make an exception.” Reed’s eyes immediately lit up with dollar signs, and for once, her prayers were answered. Osip placed two briefcases on the table in front of each of them. When Isaac opened his, he found a treasure trove inside.
First off - three hundred dollars in cold, hard cash. Considering he only made around five hundred dollars a year, he was essentially a millionaire now. Next to the stacks of bills were an array of cultivator pills in varying colors - May Flower pills for clearing meridians and cultivating Arts, June Meadow pills for medical purposes, overall recovery, and advancing in circuitry, August Storm pills for combat prowess (and carnal prowess, apparently), amid a sea of others.
“You’ll also have access to previously locked floors of the Archives,” Stockham said. “Due to the nationalization, we’ll be adding some Zhanghai texts there. I suggest you check them out. And one last thing.” He slid over a file to Reed; a wide grin on her face appeared when she opened it.
“Squad 3 has officially been renamed as…Squad Reed!”
She looked like she was going to pass out from excitement.
“Lastly, I was also able to negotiate with the Naval Police about your confinement,” Stockham said. For the past couple of days, the pair had been placed under house arrest again upon their return, still under Combined Fleet authority fortunately. Considering their crippled mobility, it’s not like they could really go anywhere else. “Starting tomorrow, the house arrest has been lifted. Unfortunately, a Naval Police officer will be attached to you to monitor your movements for the time being. At least until we can clear any lingering suspicion about you.”
Reed groaned at that, but she was still too happy about all her other rewards to let it ruin her mood. Isaac gave a measured nod - it had been a day of losses, but a day of gains, too.
“That starts tomorrow,” Stockham repeated. “As for tonight, considering all you’ve gone through, the guards of the Combined Fleet will be gracious enough to look the other way if you wish to see your comrades. After all you’ve been through, a doctor easily signed off on it as being conducive to a swift recovery. And, after all you’ve been through, I think it would really do you two some good.”
Osip rose and joined the two members of the brass. In unison, they clicked their heels and gave firm salutes over their hearts. “Midshipman Spallacio and Chief Midshipman Reed, you have done our country a great service. We thank you for it.”
Isaac and Reed saluted right back.