27 - Cowboy

“They’re not dead,” Marcus stated.

Maya looked at her younger brother. The usual marks of exhaustion, lack of proper hygiene, and the general lack of food showed on him. His clothing was a mix of civilian and military, along with some bits of metal strapped to his thighs and upper arms, creating a makeshift armor of sorts.

She could see the stress and pressure that had been on him for the last month. He was skinny, but wiry and harden like leather. His dark eyes peered into hers and she couldn’t help but remember all the years they had shared together.

“Probably,” Maya replied.

“No probably,” Marcus said. There was a hard edge to his voice. She had told him about returning to their home neighborhood, the destruction of Dallas, and the devastation she had witnessed. She understood if he wasn’t entirely on board with the idea their parents were gone. So many had died, it was always difficult to think that it could happen to you, that somehow you were special.

Maya had gone through the same rollercoaster of emotions. She had been through the entire rigamarole of coming to terms with the death of her parents and younger brother. It was just the way the world was, death was everywhere and coming through unscathed was just a fantasy that only happened in books.

“Pops wouldn’t go out like a chump,” Marcus said. “He would have fought and taken Mom and Mal with him. This bullshit Integration wouldn’t have slowed him down. Not Pops.”

Maya didn’t say anything. Of the three siblings, Marcus was the one to idolize their father. He followed in his footsteps, joining the Army and serving his country. He wanted to be like him, he had tried to be like him, but Maya’s thoughts were that he was just too much of a try hard. Maya sighed and brought up the windows of Dallas.

Marcus stared at them, his grim resolve softening somewhat as he saw the utter devastation of the city they had finally settled down in after nearly two decades of moving around the country. He stared at the street they lived on and saw the wreck of their home, the strange growing moss or plant, and the crackling of energy in the skies.

“There’s a weird mana storm raging in the area,” Maya said. “Apparently its due to so many dimensional instabilities occurring in that one place. Pretty rare across the multiverse, but not unheard of. Might last days or centuries, according to Bell and Yosi.”

Marcus only nodded, not saying anything. “Pops would have survived it,” he said with determination.

Maya kept her mouth shut once more. It wasn’t her place to burst his bubble. He could come to the same conclusions she had, he would just need time.

“Anyway,” Maya said, flicking off the screens. Marcus glared at her. “There are some people I want you to meet.”

“These aliens?”

“Family,” Maya said.

“I’m your family.”

“So are they.”

Marcus frowned. “They are no family of mine,” he said.

“Trust me, you’ll like ‘em,” Maya grinned. “We’ve shed blood and tears and nearly died a dozen times.”

Marcus snorted. “Is this that ‘blood of the covenant’ thing you’re always saying is the true saying instead of ‘blood is thicker than water’?”

“You’re a soldier, cowboy,” Maya said. “I’m sure you’ve got friends who you’ll give your life for. People who you care for like brothers.”

Marcus didn’t say anything, but he did nod slowly.

“Same here,” Maya said. “We’ve all seen the horrors the multiverse and we’re all fighting. It just happens that the people I’ve been fighting alongside aren’t humans, they’re from different parts of the multiverse, but they’re still people and they are as close to siblings and family as anyone else. I’ve been at this for nearly a year, Marcus. A whole fucking year and it’s been only a month on Earth.”

“Still seems weird,” Marcus said.

“Welcome to the Integrated Multiverse,” Maya said, spreading her arms. “It’s a fucked up place full of horrors and weird shit, but it sorta makes a kind of sense, in that it’s preventing the whole of existence from being wiped out.”

“That’s even weirder.”

“Come on, I got a room set up for you, some clothing, and we’re gonna have a Sullivan family dinner.”

“Sullivan family?” Marcus asked.

“Oh, you’re gonna like this.” Maya grinned.

***

“What the hell is this crap?” Marcus demanded.

“Easy there, cowboy,” Maya said.

“Is this why you stopped looking for Pops and Mom?” Marcus demanded. “Because you’re playing house with all these aliens and don’t give a shit about your real family anymore?”

“Calm down,” Maya said.

“You know it’s bullshit too, right? You have all these damn resources, all this technology and weapons; why aren’t you out there tearing this planet apart looking for our family? Instead you’re in this Cage or whatever, playing the merchant. You’ve abandoned our parents and humanity, in favor of these aliens.”

“Y’know what? I think there’s a hidden Chrisma stat no one’s mentioned to me. Its like every time I try to do something, everyone just shits all over it and calls me some kind of species traitor or dictator,” Maya said, sighing. She looked at her brother, who had rose to his feet and was glaring at everyone. Yosi, Bell, Tender, and Nan all watched him. Roci was the only one who got to her feet, she was glaring at Marcus, clearly angered by his words.

“You are fairly antagonistic and far too blunt,” Bell said, poking at the enchiladas that were Marcus’ favorite food. “Plus your humor takes a lot to get used to.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Maya muttered, still looking at Marcus. He stared down at her, his fists balled and ready to… what? Hit her? Fight her? She fought the urge to roll her eyes and laugh. “Sit down, cowboy. Dinner’s not over yet.”

“Stop calling me cowboy, I’m not twelve anymore!” Marcus shouted.

“He used to love drinking milk,” Maya said. “He tried to get our parents to buy a cow so he could have it on tap all the time.”

“Shut up,” Marcus snapped, not from anger, but a burning embarrassment.

“You’re making a scene like you’re twelve years old,” Maya said. “These people here, all of them, represent the people I trust completely and implicitly. They are the ones who have stood by my side and who have put their lives on the line for me and each other. You’re my brother, by blood, and that makes you special. But that doesn’t mean you get to be a rude jerk to them. Apologize and we can be civil. You can feel what you want about me, truthfully these days being thought of as a complete asshole is about the norm.” Maya shrugged. “I spent a lot of time making this dinner from scratch. You would be surprised how many spices we didn’t have. Even with Chiriya ready to turn Ko Sumai upside down for them.”

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“It’s not spicy enough,” Marcus said. He sat down sullenly and stared at the table. “Mom makes it spicier.”

“Noted,” Maya replied.

“I can create some spices,” Nan said. “It is only a matter of adjusting molecules.”

“It’s cool, Nan,” Maya said. She looked at everyone gathered at the table and smiled at them. “I’d just like to thank y’all for coming. I know you’re all busy with the logistics of moving machines and weapons, but like in the RSH, we need to have a face to face every now and then. We’ve been too scattered and too busy to have a real breakfast anymore, but this’ll do. I’d like you all to meet my brother, Marcus Sullivan. Private in the United States Army and a Level 15 [Soldier].”

“How do you know my level?” Marcus demanded.

“Skill,” Maya said. “These, Marcus, are the people that mean the most to me in my life. Roci Sullivan, my daughter. Yosi Sullivan, a member of my House and basically the person running the Emporium these days. Bellmoro Domakun, spy and awesome [Alchemist]; Nan, the doctor and food maker and the first person I ever met in the RSH; and finally Tender. My bestest bud and stalwart sidekick.”

“Hi,” Marcus said glumly. “Sorry about that. It’s been that kind of day.”

“Can I punch him?” Roci asked.

“Maybe later,” Maya said. “Time. Time is always something that we just don’t have enough of. Right now we’re dealing with many fires and issues that need resolving. That’s why we finally made contact with the base at Rammstein. We needed the weapons you have and we needed to set up getting you all back to the US, if you want to go.”

“I don’t know,” Marcus said. “This whole Integration kinda pulled everyone together. People have sort of given up on the fact that they could go home now. They’ve decided to make their lives there.”

“It’s up to them if they want to leave or not. I’m not sure what places are still left in the US, but we’ll be moving everyone to San Diego or LA for the time being. That’s where the major push is coming from.”

“We’re the only thing keeping this part of Germany safe,” Marcus said. “We’ve been pushing back anything that tries to come near the base. We’ve consolidated all the surrounding US military bases into Rammstein and evacuated every town, city, and village in between. There are nearly two million people in and around Rammstein.”

“That’s a hefty number,” Maya said.

“We’re that thin line that is holding back the horrors,” Marcus said.

Maya chuckled at that. Marcus frowned.

“It’s what we are,” he said.

“Sounds a little brain washy, but okay,” Maya said. “Anyway, we’re in contact with about a dozen other spots, ships at sea, bases in the Middle East, there are even a few non military bases that have been set up by surviving military forces in various areas. There is even a community that’s built up around the carrier Nimitz, fishing ships, yachts, cargo ships and the like. They’re based off a small set of islands and it seems they’re doing pretty well for themselves.”

“General de Boise was planning on destroying all the weapons we have soon, any that didn’t work. Apparently the local German government is a little twitchy about all those undetonated ordinance just sitting around.”

“Hopefully everyone hadn’t just decided to toss a few million dollars worth of missiles off the sides of their ships,” Maya said. “That would suck because we need them loaded for what we’re gonna do.” She sighed, rubbing her eyes. “Alright, let’s eat and talk of other things. Business can wait a few hours.”

Maya picked up a glass of wine and looked at Marcus. “So, cowboy, you find love and adventure since Integration?” she asked.

Marcus snorted. “You seemed to have gained a daughter,” he said.

“Totally. Me and the System brought forth life,” Maya grinned and Roci rolled her eyes. “Roci, my sweet darling child, has been the ray of light that has been pulling me ever forward in my attempts to save mankind so that one day she could rule over them all.”

“You and the System?” Marcus asked.

“I am touched by the System,” Roci said. “I an special and unique in all of creation.”

“She’s not wrong,” Maya said, sipping her wine. “We’re not even sure how that is, but it’s a thing. Yosi’s also a member of my House, so her little baby dinos are gonna inherit some of all of this.” Maya waved her hands around.

“My people raise children communally,” Yosi said. “There are no bloodlines or genetic lineages in our society. It is a fairly matriarchal society, where the grand dame makes sure that all the children are cared for and are placed with the right families to gain the right skills, at the masters behest.”

“Masters?” Marcus asked.

“Her people are slaves,” Maya said.

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry.”

“It’s no worry right now,” Yosi said. “Survival is the biggest concern right now.”

“You didn’t help raise me,” Roci said. “You said communal child rearing. I don’t remember you caring for me.”

“Because you are a cheater,” Yosi said.

“I do not cheat!”

“She cheats a lot,” Maya said to Marcus.

***

They stood behind a transparent wall and a dozen different windows floated in the air, displaying different vantage points of the events.

Marcus stood by Maya, his eyes wide as he saw the threshold within the room beyond them begin to yawn open. Maya squinted her eyes and focused, the Cage was complying to her wishes, but it wasn’t an easy thing to do.

Saltwater began rushing into the room and as the threshold yawned even wider, dark shapes began to appear, nearing the edge of the threshold and then being caught by force fields and tractor beams. Roci and Tender operated those, a set of controls they operated to ease the ships into the threshold.

One by one, ships were gently eased into the massive room. They were all destroyers, packed to the gills with men, women, and children, with refugees, who were all staring wide eyed in disbelief at what had just happened.

By the end of it, Maya was exhausted. She leaned against the transparent wall, breathing slowly.

“Does it hurt?” Marcus asked.

“No, it just mental exhaustion. I have to use all my concentration to keep the door stable and keep it open. It’s easy when the door is human sized, but this big. It takes a lot. I’ll be fine,” she said.

Marcus set a hand on her shoulder. “I’m amazed,” he said. “You’ve done a lot, Maya. I know I was kind of a dick, but to tell you the truth. What you’ve done here is incredible.”

Maya smiled at Marcus. “Thanks. And you weren’t just kind of a dick. You were a complete and utter dick.”

Marcus grinned. “Takes one to know one.”

“For reals,” she smiled at Marcus again and then turned to look at the people on the ships. “This is just the first, we still have five more carrier groups to get to and some Indian Navy ships and other abandoned vessels, not to mention pulling out all the missiles and weapons that are in storage or in depots across the US and world.”

“That’s a lot of effort to go through for just some weapons,” Marcus said. “Especially when you have all this power.”

“It’s all just smoke and mirrors,” Maya said. “It looks like we have a lot, but in truth we’re teetering on the edge of an abyss. These missiles will help, but that’s just a stop gap measure. We need more mana and hopefully Chu’s guess is right about the Mana Stripper.”

“Getting that many people into your Cage and out again is going to take a lot of time to do, especially when you say its twelve times faster in here than outside.”

“Yeah, but hopefully it does something. We’re gonna use this batch to test it out.”

“This batch?” Marcus said, looking at the people within the massive room. They were milling around as the bulkheads warped and reshaped, creating catwalks for them to disembark the vessels. Marcus watched as George and Hanna arrived to greet the people, along with a representative from the US. “The mana stripper won’t hurt them?”

“I hear it does hurt, but it’s not permanent, just until your body pulls in more mana and circulates it again. Shouldn’t take more than a day to recover from it.”

“It won’t hurt kids, will it?” Marcus asked.

“I don’t think so… why?” Maya squinted at her brother.

“I met a woman,” Marcus said. “After Integration.”

“Oh?”

“She’s got a one year old little boy,” Marcus continued. “She means a lot to me.”

“Oh…”

“The boy’s father ditched them long before Integration,” Marcus said. “She and the kid survived. We pulled them out of an apartment complex that had been destroyed by a mana render monster. She’s an awesome person. I just… I just want her and the boy to be safe.”

Maya punched Marcus in the arm. He winced and rubbed it.

“This is why we’re doing all of this, cowboy,” Maya said. “I’m glad you found someone. The world’s pretty tough when you’re all alone.”

“Yeah,” Marcus smiled. “I’m glad I met them too.” He looked to Maya. “Anyone in your life?”

“Just me and the System,” Maya said. She grinned. “I’ve got a five hundred standard year contract with that turd. It’s been almost one standard year now, so only four hundred and ninety-nine to go.”

“So you’re technically a year older than you were the last time we saw one another?” Marcus asked.

“Yup, been in the RSH and the Cage for a solid Earth year now. But age doesn’t really matter anymore. We’re all gonna live centuries if we level enough, I’m gonna live at a minimum of two thousand years.”

“Christ,” Marcus muttered.

“Right. It’s weird when you think about it.” They stood watching as the refugees were hugging George and Hanna and disembarking from the ship.

“Why aren’t you down there?” Marcus asked. “You’re doing this for all of them. Why aren’t you swimming in their praise?”

“It’s better being seen as the aloof asshole than the savior,” Maya said. “Makes it easier for everyone to swallow the really shitty things that needs doing.”

“Really?” Marcus asked, looking at the joyful tears streaming down the face of the people.

“Really,” Maya said.

“That sucks,” he said.

“Yeah, it does.”