"I don't like him. Somethin's off." Tyler said after I walked back from the gate.
"Maybe. But we need a press person for what is about to happen and apparently we are already famous. Ty, I doubt V is gonna be working youtube anytime soon, so I want you to look him up and find out what people are saying."
He nodded at that and walked to his truck, I guess his phone was probably still in his little faraday bag. Why even have a cell phone if you don't keep it on you?
Verdandi, who had been patiently waiting for me to finish with Tyler, came up next. He turned the gun around and handed it to me grip side first.
"Woah there, don't ever point the barrel back at yourself, that's dangerous." I said while carefully taking the gun back, pointing the danger end away from any of my people.
"Tyler explained the off button to me when he passed it off." Off button? Oh, the safety.
"Still, things fail. 1st rule of guns is never point it at something you aren't willing to destroy....also how did Tyler explain anything to you?" I asked. Had Nola fixed our language issue already?
Nope. Haven't even started
"Grunting, pointing and waving. This weapon is different than I have seen, but not unique to this world. Explosive based weaponry is quite common actually." He looked at the gun again before reaching for the knife in his belt. He handed that one to me handle first as well. I didn't reprimand him for the knife like I did with the gun. "I do have a question though. If you will accept one."
"Of course, we are teammates in protecting Nola." For a man without eyebrows he did the 'Rock eyebrow' pretty well.
"You don't seem to understand how powerful 'Nola' is, but for now that isn't the issue. The metal work on that weapon, both weapons actually, it was better than I expected." Verdandi said with some hesitation.
"I didn't really hear a question in that." I said back.
"There wasn't one. I feel there is no way to ask this politely, but your society seems to pride itself on... directness... unlike mine. So I will endeavor to do likewise. What level of technology does this nation have? So far I have assumed primitive from what I have seen; a forest, a ruin and this dungeon. None of it is impressive. None of it... is on the level of the gun. Your clothing was an anomaly, but I assumed that was from the dungeon or that you were rich to have woven fabric of that skill level."
"We're space age man. This place looks like a ruin because it is supposed to pass for a dump, a place where we put garbage for processing. That's why everything is rusty."
"Space age?" He asked. I guess they aren't that far. Ok, I will have to explain that.
But First.
Nola can you find some examples of some high tech stuff that's been thrown out. 5 or 6 things or so.
"Space age. We used technology, not magic, to send a man to the moon. That big glowing thing you can see at night. We have car...horseless carriages. Flying machines that can take people across the ocean in a day. Hell, the phone I have on me is talking to a satellite, probably. I don't actually know how it works. This place, it's not representative of my world." I took a beat. Last time I spoke to him about Nola I hadn't gotten to the big news. But I made a decision to trust him, I'm sticking to it. Time to tell him how big this dungeon really is.
"And we have a lot of people here. This world is home to 8 billion humans. Millions of them in this state alone. And, thanks to Nola taking over some roads, most of them have become un knowing delvers." Verdandi tensed up again.
"You are bigger than this yard then. You asked about the largest dungeon, Des'a. You and your Nola are larger. You must be." The gears were turning with the implication, if Des'a was able to conquer a world with three miles, how much damage could I do with mine. "How much have you grown in the 8 days since you took possession of the crystal?"
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
"450 square miles" I said
Actually it's closer to 510. 1.3k kilometers. I've been meaning to talk to you about that. Should I be filling in in this state or expand out on the highways more?
Highways. Aim for California. That will get you the most bang for your buck. We can get the rest faster once you are done. We'll have more options then.
"Nola just informed me its really 510 square miles, 1300 square kilometers and growing. We plan to take over all the major roads so we can grow faster. If what you said is true we will be the most powerful dungeon in the universe before the end of the month. This wouldn't have been possible without our world being high tech. Millions of people use the roads every day." It feels good to tell the truth. I'm sure he will have plenty to say about how I am miss using Nola, but I'll live.
He didn't say anything though.
He dropped to his knees and prostrated himself on the ground before me. Ok, stop that.
"Get up. Please. That's not a thing we do here. Not to garbage men." I said to Verdandi. I bent down to pull him up by the arm. He got unsteadily to his feet.
"I have already pledged to serve. I will continue to do so to the best of my ability. But you have unwritten knowledge said to be immutable. And you have not begun to exercise your power. You are the most powerful creature on this or any world that is known. And you are busy worrying about children climbing your walls and minor lords with claims to land plots? You could unseat kings and councils!"
"Clearly you have never met an American bureaucrat. Those guys can never be fired." I said in jest. I know what he meant
"Plus I am not a 'rule the world from my dooms day prepper base' kinda guy. Too much paperwork. I just want to make people's lives a little better and the earth a little cleaner. Just that would be a big accomplishment." Absolute power corrupts, but hopefully not when it goes un used. I managed to mess up just a little bit of power, so I'm gonna stay here till I get the hang of it.
"You are insane. But at least you are insane in a way that doesn't end bloodlines. If you want to play at being insignificant, I will be here to serve. I wish you every success in your endeavors. Let us go and become the best bin man your world has ever seen" Verdandi started a strange clipped yipping as he walked away. I could be wrong, but I think he was laughing.
Rude.
Verdandi went over to Tyler and mimed that he would like a task. I am glad they are getting along better now.
I had a task I had to get to though. Dave wanted to know everything we had done, were doing and were planning to do. Specifically he had referenced criminality, but with how badly I had been faking my way through this I am just going to assume it's all criminal and let the lawyer sort it out. I will have no problem paying him thanks to Nola.
Oh yeah, that's another crime.
This is probably going to be a long list.
----------------------------------------
I sat in a repaired copy of an executive chair that someone had thrown out before I went to prison with a note book and pen for the next hour. I wrote out everything I could think of
The issue with Melvin.
The fact I was gonna force Zion and the other processors out of business
The fact I had been printing money
The heist and my arrest for it
The innocents in jail and in debt because of it
Patents for a tech that doesn't exist
Taxes. Oh I am not looking forward to that
Cole and our internet fame. Maybe we should have told him to come by After we met with our lawyer. Too late now
And so many others.
Not to mention all the things I didn't know I didn't know. I'm sure Dave is also putting together a list of things I have been doing wrong. While I was looking through Tyler's law books for other things I may have stumbled into. I haven't studied this hard since I got out of school. Focus was hard then too.
Tyler and Verdandi left me alone. For the most part they had been working with the dictionary Nola gave them. Mostly on nouns by the look of things. Ty asks for a thing, says a word, points to it and then Verdandi says his version. I don't know how effective it will be but at least I have space to work.
Nola and Burt had been working together too. Nola was working to see if she could get him to speak in a way we could hear. Burt was happy about that. I think. He did a little wiggle that looked happy. I wish them luck.
I spoke to Nola about her new scion. The one I had said she could make back when I was getting arrested. Turns out that when I went away she started to forget things. She remembered when I came back, but it hadn't been a priority. She just focused on growing. She insisted that she was gonna hold me to 10% though. What does 10% of a mega dungeon turn into?
Something big I'd bet. I hope Tyler finds us a better place for it to roam in. It will be hard otherwise
Hey! you are letting your mind wander again. Read the criminal codes. Finish filling out the notebook. Dave will be back tomorrow and we need to be ready. Even if we have to work through the night.
Speaking of working through the night, maybe we have enough extra to get one of those magic coffees. Or we could get some regular coffees delivered.
Nola?
Shouldn't you be focusing
Darn it. Foiled again.