Blake felt a cool mountain breeze wash over him as he exited the Mander portal. He breathed the refreshing air deeply, and let it infuse his body.
The shield currently attached to his back absorbed all dangerous heat, yet the cave complex remained stifling. Despite the magic of his shield, there was something other than heat that made him feel uncomfortable. The fresh mountain air, however, was rejuvenating, and he felt as if he were free once more.
After a second deep breath, he retrieved his almost empty bag of supplies and sleeping pad, and climbed back through the rocky valley to the gravel road.
As he stepped into the clearing, Blake waved at the old car that idled in wait for him. Kuruk locked eyes with him and gave the barest hint of a nod to acknowledge his presence. It had been two days since he had last seen the man.
In that time, he had gained a little over two hundred million additional nano. That put him at three hundred and sixty-two million nano total, almost halfway to his goal.
Just five more days.
His stomach growled, and he absently reached into the pack to search for a food bar. When his hand came back empty, he scowled in disappointment.
Blake circled the parked vehicle, and opened the back door. The moment his nostrils were exposed to the inside air, he began to salivate.
“Please tell me you brought me some McDavidson’s, too,” Blake pleaded.
Kuruk nodded.
“Oh, thank God!” Blake celebrated as he threw his large shield and bag of supplies into the back seat. He slammed the door closed and raced to the front, eager to stuff his face with a greasy burger and salty fries. In his rush, he failed to account for the longsword at his hip, which stopped the door from closing as he tried and failed to slam the door shut.
“Sorry,” he winced as he inspected the damage. There was a new small divot where the sword was pinched between the metal of the door and the frame.
After the embarrassing mistake, he carefully lifted the sword’s sheath into the vehicle and gently pulled the door closed. Only then did he open the paper bag full of goodness. A moment later, he had a half-eaten burger in his hands, and a mouth full of food.
I can’t wait until this hunger’s gone.
Blake had noticed the simple mistakes he made while hungry, long before he damaged Kuruk’s car. To combat the issue, he ensured he was surrounded by food at all times. Unfortunately, with how much he ate, an entire duffle bag, full of food and water, only lasted him a day and a half.
The car pulled away as he finished off the first burger and reached for one of the large fries. Blake moaned in pleasure as he wolfed down the salty goodness. After he swallowed, he turned to his driver. “Thanks for the ride. And the food.”
Kuruk shrugged. “It’s my job, the food was your mother’s idea.”
Blake nodded along. “Sure, but I appreciate it anyway.” When the container was empty, he reached into the bag and retrieved his second, triple patty hamburger. “So, how’d you convince your friends to show up again?”
“Showed them the cash,” Kuruk responded.
Blake had promised his mother that he would be there when the three skeptics that fled the interview returned. It was the reason Kuruk was sent to retrieve him, rather than just drop off new supplies. She wanted assistance in convincing the three young men, and he needed a break anyway.
No matter how important his job was, he could only handle solitude for so long. He was not a machine.
I miss the old team.
He adjusted the air vents onto his face and relaxed into the passenger seat. In his past life, once he joined a faction, he was never alone. Every time he entered a portal, it was with the same three others. Two were close friends from before Invasion day. Montgomery was their mana user. The man never shut up, which at times could be annoying. However, he came to draw comfort and entertainment from the manic mage’s words.
Blake considered his silent driver.
Jeff, in contrast to his close friend, was similar to Kuruk. He was a man of few words. However, when he did speak, everyone quieted to listen. For whatever reason, Jeff seemed to blindly follow Montgomery. The quiet man acted as their group’s psi user and had saved their asses numerous times. According to the mana user, they had both worked as volunteer firefighters in northern Phoenix before Invasion day, and had been inseparable ever since.
Their last member, Rajesh, was an aether user. He had lived in Tempe, near the University, where he had been enrolled into a PhD engineering program. Unlike Blake, the Indian quickly grew irritated by Montgomery’s non-stop chatter. The arguments between the two had been epic, and Blake had to intervene multiple times before they came to blows.
Blake would love to see the friends he had spent years fighting beside once again. They would not know him, as they had yet to meet, but they were good people who he planned to make the core of his combat teams.
I should find them before Invasion day.
Unfortunately, he did not have the time to track them down at the moment. Their cell phones would be unlisted, and he could not even remember Rajesh’s last name.
Between gaining enough nano to purchase his class, and assisting with the town, his schedule was full anyway. Phoenix was three hours away, and he was a wanted man. Perhaps he would revisit the idea when they had built the bunkhouses and additional infrastructure necessary to house a combat team. There would be plenty of time available to look for his friends before the fateful day.
The Terran Alliance was just in its infancy, and he had big plans.
When Kuruk pulled into their leased property, Blake was surprised. He had day-dreamed of his friends for the entire thirty-minute ride, and had not paid even the slightest attention to their route.
It was nice to not be constantly on alert.
Blake exited the vehicle and walked through the tall grass toward the primitive buildings in the distance. He admired the work completed so far. Kuruk followed silently behind. The largest structure by far was the warehouse. It dwarfed the tiny faction hall, the simple metal workshop, and the almost completed wood workshop. Blake scanned the perimeter and smiled when he saw a quarry pit with exposed stone.
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Good, just another few hours and we’ll be ready to upgrade the faction hall.
In order to increase the Faction Hall’s level, they needed to construct the two workshops and the quarry. Blake did not know why the Architect chose to do things the way it did, but it was not like he could ask the machine. Or rather, he could ask, but it would never answer.
Blake and millions of others had spent countless hours either cursing the AI or begging for mercy. To his knowledge, the Architect had never responded to anyone, despite being able to read their minds. It was just one more reason to hate the machine.
On the other hand, it doesn’t answer its worshipers, either.
He found Donna within the faction hall on her smartphone, frowning. She was so distracted by her task, she failed to notice when Blake and Kuruk entered the small hut.
“Hey mom, how’re things going?”
Donna jerked and then swore as she fumbled for her almost dropped phone. Once she recovered from her surprise, she looked up. “Things are fine.” Then she grumbled, “Although, they would be better if people would answer their damn phones.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She shook her head and sighed. “Nothing’s wrong, I’m just frustrated.” When Blake remained silent, she continued her rant. “Builder-depot won’t get their shipment of lumber until tomorrow morning. Evidently, they aren’t used to people buying up everything they have.”
Blake frowned. “So?”
“Well, it got me thinking. Why not fill up the warehouse with all the wood and metal we can get before Invasion day. That way, we aren’t waiting on deliveries, and we won’t have to load up a trailer and transport it. If I can make a deal with the supplier, we can have wood delivered here directly.”
“That’s a great idea!”
“Thanks,” she smiled. “I thought so, too.” Her grin faded. “But, the lumberyard won’t answer their phone. Neither will the steel mill,” she added.
Blake was about to respond when he heard the thumping of bass from a nearby car. He stuck his head outside the small faction hall to investigate and identified the source, an older vehicle with three young men inside.
“Looks like our recruits are here,” he announced and turned to the short native beside him. “Do they always blast music that loud? I’m surprised they can still hear.”
Kuruk grunted in response.
Donna followed him outside, and even Jordan paused his work on the wood workshop to investigate the anomaly. The rumble of bass continued to thump with rapid tempo until the car doors opened and three young men exited.
As they strode toward the burgeoning town, they glanced around at the primitive structures, curious. The tallest of the three asked, “What is this, a renaissance fair or something?”
“No, you idiot, it’s obviously a homestead.” His long-haired friend corrected. “They think the world’s ending, remember. They’re going off grid and everything.”
Donna frowned at their lack of manners, but Blake grinned and responded to the group. “He’s not wrong, actually. Think of us as homesteaders, and you’ll get paid to help us build out our base and prep.”
The tallest of the three shrugged and said, “As long as we get paid, I don’t care what you’re doin’ here.”
He held out his hand to the man with long hair. “Hi, my name’s Blake.”
Despite his earlier lack of manners, he reached out with his own hand to return the gesture and introduce himself. “Hey Kid, I’m Owen.”
As they clasped hands briefly, Blake transferred the million nano to initiate the man into the Collective. He then turned to the tallest of the three and repeated the handshake.
“Jason,” the tall man said as he transferred nano to him as well.
Finally, Blake turned to the last, silent recruit. The twenty-something year old blond was short with a perpetual frown. He could not tell if the man was upset by something, or always looked that way.
“Brent,” the dour man said as they shook hands. He glanced at Blake’s armor and longsword and asked, “You workin’ here too?”
“Sure am,” he confirmed as he transferred over the nano.
“We don’t have to wear that to work here, do we?” Jason asked.
Blake smiled. “Only if you want to.”
“Not gonna lie,” Owen said. “That sword’s baller. Can I see it?”
“Maybe later.” Blake responded. “For now, I want to introduce you three to the Collective and show you how it all works.”
Jason snorted. “Is that what you call yourselves?”
He shook his head. “No, I called the faction the Terran Alliance. The Collective is something else.”
“The Zerg are better,” Brent mumbled.
Blake glanced back at his mother, who had her arms crossed in disappointment. “Don’t worry, should be just a moment,” he promised. As if his words summoned the transition, the three recruits suddenly cursed and jerked in surprise.
“What the hell?” Owen blurted and swiped his hands through the air.
Brent remained silent, but was equally concerned as he stared cross-eyed at the words across his vision.
Jason yelled, “What the hell did you do to us?”
As he turned to address the suddenly irate man, Blake noticed the satisfied smirk on Kuruk’s face.
I’m glad at least someone’s enjoying this.
“I transferred nanomachines to each of you so you could join the Collective five months early. What you’re experiencing is going to happen to the entire world at the end of June. But, unlike most people, you’ll get a nice safe introduction to your new reality.”
“Nanomachines?” Jason blurted. “Where the hell did you get those? Did you steal them from the government or something?”
“No,” Blake assured him. “I got them from killing monsters on another planet.”
A look of disbelief crossed their faces and Brent mumbled, “Cap…”
Blake looked the shorter man in the eye and responded, “No cap. Everything I’m telling you is the truth. It’s just going to take a while before you accept it.”
Owen turned to Kuruk, “Why didn’t you tell us about this crazy bastard?”
The native shrugged. “It’s all true.”
The long-haired man sneered in response. “Is this bullshit all because I haven’t paid you back yet? I swear, next time I get paid, you’ll get your two hundred bucks.”
Blake interrupted. “I think a demonstration is in order.” He turned to the blacksmith. “Do you mind helping me out with something?”
He accepted the shrug as an affirmative response and reached out to the slightly overweight native’s waist. Before Kuruk could protest, he grasped both sides of his hips, and flung him into the air.
A surprised screech escaped the man’s mouth as he rose ten feet into the air. Blake sidestepped beneath the large projectile and deftly caught him before he could hit the ground. Then, to show how easy it was for him to handle the flailing native, he lifted him above his head and balanced Kuruk sideways on a single hand.
Blake glanced back at the three new recruits and asked, “Any questions?”
“Let me down!” Kuruk demanded.
He acquiesced and gently lowered the irate man to the ground before he returned his attention to his stunned audience. For once, the three were completely silent. Their jaws seemed to drop to the ground as their eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.
Finally, Jason blurted, “How’d you do that?”
“Yeah, you’re even skinnier than I am,” Owen added and again waved his hand in frustration at the interface in his vision.
“I told you, it’s the nanomachines. They enhance your body so you’re stronger, faster, and tougher.”
“Are we going to be able to do that?” Brent asked, his sour expression for once replaced with awe.
“Maybe,” Blake hedged. “If you want the words in front of you to go away, just visualize them disappearing, it’ll happen automatically. There are other menus and features that we can also get into later as well.”
“Who else knows about this?” Jason interrupted.
“Just the people here and my family,” Blake answered.
“Uh,” Owen stammered. “What about the government? Shouldn’t they know?”
Blake shook his head. “No, the government has no idea and there’s no point in telling them. Even if I were able to find the right person and convince them, they’ll just lock me up in a room for study.” He looked each of their new recruits in the eyes. “Trust me, in five months, the government won’t even exist.”