Days seem to fly by after that. I spend as much time with Mercy as I can. We go buy furniture, curtains, other household essentials. She fully moves in with me, and honestly, it's fantastic.
I get intel from what the government is now calling the “Dracosys Inter Agency Monitoring and Organizing Database,” or DIAMOND. Gwen L'Ronge organizes that Intel into something we can actually use. We make plans to clear several smaller dungeons that are causing problems for local law enforcement.
We start taking down these smaller locations. We shut down the St. Louis arch dungeon, which is full of fatty food themed monsters. After that we tackle the Golden Gate bridge ruin, which sprawled into a web of narrow bridges going in every direction. Our next destination is some city in Alabama called Tuscaloosa where the shopping mall turned dungeon. That one we end up not turning back, just mapping and clearing. Apparently the gun toting locals want to be able to shoot horrible monstrous insects for target practice. Godspeed, you redneck idiots.
After Tuscaloosa, I get handed three new government assigned wanna be Dragoons. I accept them only on the condition that Madeline Diaz gets to head a secondary 101st Pathbreakers team. It's a bit sad to see Henry, Madeline and Grant be taken off my team, but we'll survive. And I'm glad to see Madeline in command, where she clearly belongs.
At this point, with 12 combatants, a Gwen plus sometimes Amy Amarillo, it becomes glaringly obvious that we need a real office space and headquarters.
Jose, Amy, Mercy and I look around and find an office/warehouse in Arlington, the unnoteworthy, middle-child area between Dallas and Fort Worth. Arlington is also just south of the DFW international airport, which is convenient for transportation. It also has a Six Flags theme park, which is pretty fun.
The facility, Pathbreakers HQ, has a warehouse work floor with an office area in an upper area overlooking the rest of the interior.
We set up, in order: a pool table, a MAME arcade games cabinet, a gun range, a magic/ability training area, ten desks with computers, a storage lockup for our growing arsenal, cat stuff for Biscuits J. Cannonball Jr, a security desk and guard, a break room, an opaque wall around the building for additional security, a gunsmithing station, a place for the tank I bought but will probably never use, all those posters, a wall for photos, nicer bathrooms, a gym, a shower, employees to actually work at those desks, a daycare room which is really just a room for Jose's kids to occasionally hang out in, and finally my own private office. I somehow forgot I could have my own office because I'm the boss.
As this unfolds in our lives, across the world people start to come to grips with the Dracosys and order starts to be restored.
First world countries actually have the most Dracosys sites, which intel suggests is because they're both densely populated and mentioned more in online chatter. Those countries have all formed forces to combat monsters during dungeon breaks and some have their own Pathbreakers equivalent. In first world countries around 3% of all Dracosys sites have been closed, with 53% being considered “under control.” America, what with having more military spending than god, has almost all Dracosys sites under control.
Developing countries (nobody uses the term second world countries, but that's what we mean) have it far rougher. Almost none of their sites are under control. Sites that get closed are usually closed by your classic “fortune seeking adventurer” types. People with little to live for, but a lot to gain. A lot of places in South America and Africa are actually expecting to benefit in the long term from their Dracosys sites. There aren't hard numbers on their sites yet.
Third world countries (really just the lawless or tyrannical places) have it bad or make things worse for their own people. There are true horror stories of dungeon breaks causing entire villages and towns to be wiped out. Worst are places run by evil, selfish governments. There, not only are plenty of people just left to fend for themselves, but others are taking advantage of the Dracosys sites for pure profit at the cost of human lives. Apparently blood diamonds aren't nearly as dirty as blood dungeon items.
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We're busy. Madeline Diaz has the new recruits running scenarios. Jose Amarillo is training the new guys in monster body part targeting. I lead a class on classes, and what to go for. Mercy Mahar is handling our books. Amy Amarillo is our sometimes lawyer. I put Henry Gallup on media relations after Madeline put him through an FBI course. Odysseus Grant got recalled back to the Rangers but is apparently doing great as a field medic for counter dungeon break teams. Gwen L'Ronge took over one of our spare rooms and acts as the DIAMOND intel guru.
Our new people include Mitchell, Erin, Tobias, Roger and Clinton, our security team. They're all former military. Wally, Flo and McGregor are the new desk jockeys, handling accounts, marketing, and something else boring that I don't care about. Mercy is in charge of them and assures me that they do good work.
Under the new contract we got with the government, the Pathbreakers rakes in close to a million bucks a week, so long as each week we handle at least one Dracosys site. Almost all of that goes to payroll and supplies. Turns out that when the government doesn't just hand you bullets, they're expensive. Jose alone can burn through a thousand bucks of lead each mission. Plus we have to pay for airfare, hotels and food during our away games. And they're all away games.
I'm starting to regret my decisions. I'm in charge of a rapidly growing company, when two months ago I was in charge of putting Transformers out on the shelves. It's... A lot to do and think about.
And, despite clearly doing something with my life, I still don't know what I want to do with my life.
Dossier ES-6221, Eleanor Sofon
Eleanor Sofon has been a political radical for-
“How many of these are there so far?” Davis slapped the Sofon file down on top of the others. Her office was starting to pile up with those dossiers. The small room on an Army base in Florida was cramped to begin with, and the two suits who'd come to see her didn't make it less so.
“About 30 or so more,” the CIA agent said. Her assistant held up a briefcase and opened it to reveal the rest.
“And what the hell do you want the Rangers to do about these people?” Davis tapped a pen on her desk in frustration. “We're not assassins. That's your job.”
Ths CIA agent was very calm and patient. “My colleagues and I are merely briefing you and other key people about potential threats in this new world. We don't want anyone to come into contact with a hostile and be surprised when they start summoning ghosts.” She motioned to the rest of the documents. “Or what these people do.”
“So, what, you just want us to expect magical bad guys from now on?” Davis was apprehensive.
“And they should expect magical US forces.” The CIA agent slid a photo of Jun Kyung Han and his crew across to Davis. “I know your pet project is giving us some very special forces.”
Davis glared at the blonde woman across her desk. She never trusted smart blonde women. “That's not exactly what the Pathbreakers are doing. Anymore.”
“We spoke to the President about it just yesterday. He spoke highly of this Corporal Han. He was one of yours, right?”
Colonel Davis was through dealing with the double talking agent. “You actually want anything from me or you just here to rub my nose in your wet work?”
“Now, now, let's not be adversarial. I'm just interested in the Pathbreakers as a loyal citizen of these United States.” The agent flashed her very pearly whites. “Just. Like. You.”
Davis lost her patience completely at that point. “You're nothing like me. You hide behind spy cameras and drones. The Rangers don't.”
The agent smiled and started to collect her files. “I guess it's time for me to be going then. Of course I'll inform you personally when I take control of your little group, to let you down easy.”
Davis had to control her rage. The Pathbreakers were her idea, dammit. Even if they weren't exactly hers anymore. “Well, good luck with that,” she said through gritted teeth. Then she remembered who was in charge of the team and she relaxed. “Though you must not have talked to Han yet.”
The CIA agent feigned a confident smile. “What makes you so sure?”
“Because he's going to tell you to go fuck yourself.”