Ava glanced at her clipboard. Clasped under the old metal clip was a list of their new inventory. A close estimate of the goods now stored in the basement and hallways below the dorms. This would be the group’s lifeblood in the coming days, weeks, and months. She intended to keep a close eye on their supplies. Tomorrow she would see about finding some people she could use to enforce a ration on food, drink, and toiletries.

Clean water was already something of an issue, people who wanted to clean themselves were spilling water bottles over their heads, wasting safe, drinkable water. They were welcome to drown themselves in alcohol all they liked; but she would not see something as important as clean water wasted.

The residents were without any real guidance. Ava had managed to convince a lot of them that they should spend time securing supplies. But discipline was lax. After the wizard’s slaughter there was a lot of fear mingling throughout the mob. Once one group had come stumbling back drunk off their asses, most of the rest had quit for the day and followed suit. That had been the end of any effective supply gathering. The somber air of the dorm had been replaced with frantic joviality. A lot of the residents had paired up and spread out to find privacy. In some cases, they had failed to find adequate privacy, either too drunk to care or too eager to expend further effort.

Tony had been little help in controlling the residents. Instead he had snagged a bottle of whiskey and wound up sitting down in the basement swigging from it as he stared into the flickering oil lamp.

The few among the residents who did not partake for personal reasons remained behind at the dorms and helped Ava as she finished up the day's work. They stood guard in the lobby above and helped her ferry the supplies below.

Now that their efforts were finished Ava moved towards Tony and proffered the clipboard towards him. He looked at her with bloodshot eyes and took the clipboard without comment. He skimmed it quickly and thrust it back towards her.

“Whoop-dee doo. I’m all impressed, Ava. Now clear out. I’m a little busy with Jack here,” Tony drawled as he saluted her with his whiskey bottle.

Ava snorted and reached down and snagged his oil lamp off the ground. She turned on her heel and strode away, leaving the older man to his bottle in the dark. Tony didn’t protest, instead he started to sing something softly. It sounded somber but Ava was unwavering as she entered the lobby from the stairs.

Her helpers were still around, but rather than lounging and looking gloomy, they were clustered around a smooth white container. It was the size of a large ice cooler and had no visible opening. Ava found it curious.

“Hello everyone,” she greeted. Their conversation stopped and everyone turned to her with a smile. Just as she expected they would. “Where did this come from?”

They all spoke at once, trying to make sure she heard their words over anyone else's. Ava hummed until the babble ended a moment later. She got the gist of it though. Edwin’s group was back and they had brought this container with them. They had dropped it and left to go to Wash. Which was sort of strange. She assumed Edwin brought it back because he thought it had some value. He clearly didn’t value it that much though since he hadn’t tried to ferret it away in his room, or to open it.

Ava could not imagine what value he believed it had. Perhaps it was something new, something related to the changed world. Something to do with The System, as she thought of it as.

However, if it was something like that, it would be important. Edwin would not just drop it and rush to grab some food. He had a much better sense of priority than that. One of the reasons she thought he was so fun. A minor adversary for her role as the leading figure in the group. Not that she thought he intended to lead the group, but his lone wolf tendency to strike out on his own or in a small team would surely attract those with similar ideals or fantasies. A sub group led by Edwin could become something concerning.

Considering the personal strength Edwin had accumulated, he might have had a chance to establish himself outside her influence. Well, he would have, but with the advent of The System she was no longer restricted to her old ways. The mundane methods with which she manipulated people to her side were still effective, even now. But she was now free to try new things. Leveraging her new advantages to twist others to her whims was a delightful time.

For now Edwin was beyond Ava’s control. He was too wary, his mind set that she was someone he could never show his back to. He kept his guard up whenever he caught sight of her. But, he would soon find himself seeing things in a new light. By the time she had him ensnared it wouldn’t matter whether he was wary of her, he would be hers. Edwin didn’t have a clue what was coming.

Ah, but Ava was getting ahead of herself. She focused on the matter at hand. The container was all smooth faces and rigid edges. It was uniform on every side, no visible way to interact with it. Just trying to smash it open would be in poor taste. Edwin had not resorted to such a simple act. Ava would not debase herself to such a point either.

How might we open it then? Ava wondered. All the precision cutting tools would be unavailable without electricity, a hand saw might work, but she had another option in mind.

“Michael,” Ava said sweetly. One of the nearby guys responded by stepping forward. He was a little shorter than Ava, rather wide and had a small scrunched face. He had a dense curly beard that stretched from ear to ear and covered most of his cheeks and around his mouth. He wore a pair of square glasses and kept his hair cut short. Dressed in plain blue jeans and a brown t-shirt, he fit in with the local Wyoming crowd without standing out.

Ava had picked him out though. There was something remarkable about Michael. He had returned today with a new ability. He had gone off wandering towards Prexy’s earlier that day. Those with him had been ensnared by the owls, but he had remembered the warnings and covered his eyes. Through a lot of luck and small numbers on the owls' part, he was able to dispatch several and reach level five.

Michael called his skill Permeability Portal, and described it like so, “Yeah so, I can make like this glowing purple dinner plate on things, like a wall, and then I can stick my hand through that space like the wall isn’t there. It’s pretty wild.”

Such a skill seemed tailor made for the situation at hand. Ava was going to have Michael put his skill to use.

“This box doesn’t have an opening. So Michael, I was hoping you could help me out and look inside it with your portal?” Ava asked him. “Maybe pull out whatever you find inside?”

Michael was all smiles. “Sure Ava, but c’mon, just call me Mike.”

Ava deigned him with only a smile in reply and handed off the oil lamp to one of the others. She clasped her hands behind her back and swayed her hips slightly with an eager smile. Like a child who could not hold back their excitement. More people were watching her than Mike as he went to work.

Without fanfare, Mike created a purple circle about the size of a dinner plate on the top surface of the container. He gestured for the oil lamp and used it to illuminate the inside. He saw a silvery metal something snuggly fit in place. It was about half as long as the box. A red circular button was inside and Mike eagerly reached in to press it. Ava stepped back when she saw him reach in. If there was some sort of trick or trap inside or it was volatile she did not want to be close to it. Conveniently she put someone else between herself and the container. When Mike exclaimed with triumph a moment later she passed around the far side of her ignorant shield.

The panels of the container retreated into the edges, when the panels were gone, the edges collapsed down onto one another and revealed the package inside. Ava tracked the shrinking container and broke her facade to watch transfixed as it folded into itself until it vanished. She re-exerted control of her expression a moment later and moved towards the now revealed object.

It was a matte silvery egg shaped object. It lay on it’s side and Mike was quick to tip it over so the smaller side stood up and the bottom rested on four feet equidistant around its circumference. Instead of a smooth oval shell on the top there was a sheer black glossy square. A panel or interface of some sort.

Ava stepped forward and scrutinized it. The shape gave no hints as to what it might be, the only way to check it out would be to mess with the panel. Mike did just that as he placed his palm flat in the center of the panel. Everyone held their breath when they saw him reach for it. A second passed, then another, but nothing happened. The collective breath was released and any mounting tension fled the room.

After that anticlimax everyone took a turn trying the screen but nothing seemed to faze it. It remained indifferent to their interactions. Ava huffed, she had been hoping this device would prove to be useful to them. Considering how the container had folded away, whatever this was came from somewhere that wasn’t Earth. Or was from The System in some way. If she could divine it’s purpose, or get it running, it might be a great boon to her efforts.

Too bad the thing did not seem to care about how much it could avail Ava’s efforts. It steadfastly remained inert. Annoyed with it, Ava told several people to cart it off behind the desk in the lobby and to leave it be for now. She left them to mill about on watch. They would switch out with another group who had already gone to bed in a couple hours. Ava intended for people to be on lookout 24/7 from now on.

She checked her mental list of things left to do. She needed to find Edwin’s group and ask them about their travels. Whether they had made contact with the police camp was something she needed to know. She could bother with the other items on her list after she finished this one.

Ava left the lobby and moved towards Washaki. Dim light illuminated the empty window frames, a dull roar of merrymaking spilled out into the street. Tonight's party was ramping up already.

Ava passed through a crowd around the entrance and found her watchmen still in their chairs just inside. Among them was Roy who had also gained a skill today. He had been out venturing with Mike. Roy had killed the other owls that attacked the group. Which netted him enough experience to reach level five. Roy had gained a skill called Bolster. Roy said it was supposed to inspire people. When he had used it, his group had been fleeing at top speed from a mass of owls out for revenge. A golden wave of light had exploded out of him and washed over his fellows. When asked they had described it as an intense rush of energy. Minor aches and pains had faded away as they hauled ass. Despite being inspired they were still outmatched versus several dozen owls. The effect had helped see the group to safety before wearing off.

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Thomas sat at a table with Roy. Empty plates lay on the table with a half empty liquor bottle between them. Thomas bounced his leg with nervous energy and kept glancing over his shoulder toward somewhere in the crowded building. Roy was engaging Thomas in idle conversation as Ava approached them. Her presence caught the attention of everyone in the area. Thomas jumped to his feet and smirked when he saw her. Roy proceeded to take a deep swig.

“Good evening,” Ava greeted them. “Roy, Thomas, if you two would be so kind as to gather up the people from Edwin’s group? I would like to speak with them. Tell them I will be waiting here.”

Roy cleared the table and took the bottle with him as he wandered out into the crowd. Thomas’s expression darkened as he spun away from Ava and stalked off.

After a bit, during which Ava spent people watching, Teresa approached her. She arched an eyebrow at Ava. Ava beamed back at her in response. Teresa shrugged her shoulders and took a position against the wall with her arms crossed. Then Jason, LJ, and Austin came out of the crowd following Roy. While Thomas reappeared not long after.

“The other’s didn’t want to come,” Jason said unprompted. Ava nodded.

“Oh well,” she said with a put upon pout. Everyone but Teresa and Austin smiled at her playful act.

“If you gentlemen, and lady, would walk with me?” Ava asked them before turning and motioning them outside. “I wish to know how your day went?” They turned down the road outside and wandered.

Jason and LJ moved to stand on either side of her as they walked. Teresa tagged along off to the side of the group while Roy and Thomas crowded in behind the trio in the lead. Austin took up a trailing position behind them but still well within earshot.

Jason and LJ took turns filling Ava in. They skimmed through how the hospital trip went and Ava hummed along as they spoke. They did not mention Thomas’s little moment when he squared off with Edwin. A quick sentence got them from the hospital to the moment that Edwin freaked out. Here they started to deride Edwin. Ava listened to them as they each escalated off one another. They had nothing nice to say about him. Ava hid her smile with a fake gasp at a particularly vulgar insult.

When she gasped the group stopped walking and LJ rubbed the back of his head abashedly. It was obvious to everyone they had been laying it on thick. But no one spoke up in defense of Edwin.

“What happened then?” Ava asked with earnest interest. To think that Edwin would have such a moment of weakness. Yet while they trashed his reputation, the fact that Edwin had led them home spoke louder than their derisive remarks. Ava wanted to know what happened even more now.

“That loser fell on his ass and we ditched him,” Austin snapped. “And that little bitch who rides his dick stayed back with him.”

Ava turned towards Austin with a raised eyebrow. “Oh my,” she said, her voice dripping with concern. “Then however did you all reunite before returning?”

LJ rubbed at his head again. “Shit was crazy, and Edwin sorta came through later. He didn’t do anything special, but everyone was beat and we didn’t want to make anything of it. I mean he’s got that power. Just not worth fighting him,” he explained.

Jason spoke right afterwards and started to narrate back from where they split from Edwin. When he reached the police camp part Ava asked him a bunch of questions and everyone chimed in with what they could remember. How many officers were there? Were SWAT officers there? Was the National Guard there? How were their supplies? What did they think of the whole thing? Had they heard from anywhere else in the country. And so on. Ava grilled them for a while before she relented, satisfied with their replies.

At this point, Jason realized he had left out a key point. “Oh yeah, the fighting that spooked Edwin,” he said. “So we finally got a good look at what was going on when we were in the camp. Some giant fucking robot tank came crawling over the hill. It looked kinda like a giant spider and it shrugged off everything the police had. Until this one officer came charging out with this fancy laser gun and just lit it up. It left a mark but the tank had all these flying things protecting it and they came down on that guy like a bolt of lightning. They kicked his shit in real quick and then the tank started blasting the camp. So everyone turned and started to haul ass. Austin over there goes crazy and runs over to that dead officer and grabs the laser gun.” Jason pointed to Austin. He still had the laser bazooka held casually.

Ava looked at it with great interest. She held up a hand to stop Jason before he could launch back into his explanation. “Austin, might I have a look at that?” Ava’s eyes were wide, she looked innocent and charming. Like a young girl admiring a piece of jewelry.

Austin eyed everyone around him before he grudgingly handed it over. Ava beamed before she examined it. It looked for all intents and purposes like a big tube with a shoulder brace and a pistol grip. It had some sort of sight fixed on top to help aim. There was no visible means to power or re-arm it should it need new ammunition.

“Would it be alright if I held on to this for a little while?” Ava asked. Austin reached towards her and made to step in her direction.

“Hey that’s not wh-” He said before he cut off. Ava was gazing into his eyes and he found himself enamored. The emotion surged up so suddenly and strongly that he was taken aback. His tongue tied itself in a knot and he floundered backwards. “Uh, sure,” he grunted out.

“Thank you ever so much!” She exclaimed happily. Austin felt that happiness as his own. For the briefest moment the haze that had hung over his thoughts since Haley died, lifted. He looked at Ava then, in what he believed a clear state of mind, and made a promise to himself. Ava reminded him of Haley. Early on when they had started dating, Haley had smiled the exact same way, he imagined their faces overlapping. The painful reminder bled away into a heartwarming sense of fondness. Austin would honor Haley’s memory by ensuring that Ava found herself fulfilled. To ensure that Ava’s aims were successful in the future was his new goal.

Ava saw the change in expression on Austin’s face and had to keep herself from roaring with gleeful laughter. She cradled the laser bazooka and got the group walking once more. They went around White Hall and moved to follow Grand Ave. around the rest of the dorms.

Jason launched back into the explanation of their retreat and reunion with Edwin. He described it as a tense moment but one that passed quickly as everyone’s objectives lined up together. Ava realized they had nothing left to tell her and aborted the longer walk she had been planning. Still close to White Hall, she bid them goodbye and beelined towards the dorm. Thomas and Roy followed in her wake. Ava grabbed one of the oil lamps and made her way into the previous dorm manager’s office. A large board hung on the wall had a map of Laramie tacked onto it. Ava had scribbled on the whiteboard next to his with a marker.

Several lines detailed groups that people had run into today. Apparently most of the nearby churches had gatherings of people and their families sheltered within. Those who hadn’t wanted or been able to flee the town when everyone else had. Some had instead taken refuge in these buildings. There was another line of notes, several people had run into a gang to the southwest. They had beaten her people up but had not killed them. They were going to be a problem in the future. But for now she set to add what she had just learned to the board. Notes about the hospital group and the now overrun police camp.

Thomas and Roy glanced over what she wrote with mild interest. Thomas spent more time looking at the smaller groups around them. While Roy was distracted, he split his time watching Ava write with a concentrated expression.

Ava’s frenzied note writing ended after a moment and she glanced back at them with a feigned blush.

“Ahh well,” she said. “This leaves just those guys that were going to check out what was to the north. I am worried that they have not returned yet.”

“Yeah, they should’ve definitely been back by now,” Roy agreed. “They must’ve run into trouble and got held up somewhere. They probably decided to just crash there for the night.”

“Hmm, yes. Perhaps so,” Ava agreed. Without warning Ava felt her stomach clench. She needed to wrap this up.

“Well then gentlemen, if that is all, I bid you goodnight,” she said on her way to the door..

Roy and Thomas looked put off by her sudden dismissal. But neither one argued and Ava was once again back outside the dorm, this time alone.

Ava’s mind whirled as she considered everything she had learned. The conflict in Edwin’s group could become a huge problem. However, she believed Edwin would be able to exert control over them in some fashion. She believed him capable of settling the matter. Her thoughts shifted to a more immediate topic. Her stomach groaned audibly. Sanitation. With the plumbing no longer working the issue was starting to grow dire. That she was prone to an easily upset stomach made this a high personal priority. Grilled hotdogs were something she had not eaten in years for a reason.

Options to rectify the situation were looking slim. What she needed to do was find a bunch of port o’ potties. Or else they would have to resort to digging a latrine, which did not appeal to her sensibilities in any way. The current method of just ranging farther and farther away in search of clean porcelain pots would soon become unsustainable.

Ava moved to cross Grand Ave when she saw a figure standing in the middle of the road. She could let herself be delayed for too long so she continued forward. The lamp in her hands illuminated them as she got closer. It was Edwin and he was staring up at the night sky in a daze of some sort. She thought it funny that they should run into one another like this.

Edwin startled when he finally caught sight of her, her lamp held at chest height temporarily blinded him.

“Oh whoa, who’s there?” Edwin asked and stepped backwards. She stepped closer, and his wary look switched to a frown. “Ava,” he greeted her tersely.

“Hello Ed, fancy meeting you here,” she replied kindly.

Edwin’s eyes widened when he caught sight of what she was holding besides the lamp. Her hand was wrapped around the pistol grip of the laser bazooka. The barrel was held vertically, with the point towards the ground. Its presence changed this entire encounter for Edwin.

“Yes,” he said to restart the conversation. He had let his silence grow as he took in the implications of Ava armed with that weapon. “It seems to be quite the occasion. You even brought a party favor.”

Ava chuckled demurely. “This little thing? I would not worry your head about it, Austin lent it to me.”

Ava watched Edwin for a moment as his mind spun. “About Austin,” Edwin said, changing tact. There was nothing he could say about Ava taking the laser bazooka as her own. “I’m done with him. You send him out with me again and one of us will kill the other. He’s out of my squad, team, group whatever the fuck we are.”

“Oh, my,” Ava feigned concern for his remark. “You should not fight between yourselves. It is not very productive.”

“Doesn’t matter, if I have to deal with him again, I will deal with him permanently. Same goes for Thomas. Since you seem to enjoy pulling all the strings in the group, I figured I’d let you know. I hope your little master plan hasn’t been thrown too off course,” Edwin sneered.

“Tsk, tsk,” Ava chided. “Peace, Edwin, peace. Neither Thomas nor Austin will trouble you again, alright?” She smiled at him.

Edwin startled for a moment when he saw her grin before he huffed, “whatever.” He started to walk towards the dorm. “I’m going to bed. Be on your way.”

As fun as their conversation had been, Ava was celebrating that Edwin did not have much to speak with her about. She had business to attend to.

The rest of the night passed peacefully around the dorms.