“What the hell’s going on?” Blake muttered to himself from the passenger seat as Kuruk drove through the low gate.
Three semi-trucks with flatbeds full of wood and other supplies were parked on the field just inside their leased property. It was evening, and the sun was low on the horizon.
“I dunno,” Kuruk answered his rhetorical question. “They weren’t here when I left.”
“Just go ahead and park here,” Blake ordered. “I want to see what’s happening.”
He knew his mother planned to order supplies directly from a sawmill, but he expected it to be weeks before they arrived. The timing of their arrival was about as bad as could be, and he was curious what his mother had done with the upset old man as they were nowhere to be seen.
Blake exited the car and walked around the parked delivery vehicles. As he passed the idling diesel trucks, he inspected the goods his mother ordered and was impressed by the abundance. He found a calm Donna next to three irritated drivers at the rear of the trucks.
Will this much stuff even fit in the warehouse?
He glanced between the piles of supplies and the large building in the distance to compare the two. The warehouse looked larger, but only just.
“How do you not have a forklift to unload?” one of the three said.
A second sighed and muttered. “This is such a cluster…”, while the last remained silent.
“Look, ma'am,” the first said in annoyance. “Invoice don’t say shit about unloading. That means it's on the customer to get their crap off the trucks. I don’t see no forklift, which means it’s gonna take all freakin’ night. We ain’t sleeping here.”
“Don’t worry, I have that handled.” Suddenly, Donna raised her purse and rifled through it. After a moment, she retrieved two crisp hundred dollar bills and said, “You three look hungry. There’s a Mexican restaurant just a half mile down the road, an easy walk. Why don’t you go enjoy yourselves for an hour or so, my treat? By the time you get back, it’ll all be unloaded, and you can be on your way,” she promised with her hand extended.
The closest driver hesitated until his co-worker said, “I’m starvin’ Rick, let’s take her up on the offer. It's her problem.”
“Yeah, I could use a nice strong margarita,” the third agreed.
Rick sighed and accepted the bribe. “Fine, but if they aren’t unloaded by the time we get back, we’re leaving.”
Donna smiled evenly and said, “Deal.”
The three truck drivers turned and walked past Blake, eagerly discussing what they would eat for dinner. They were so distracted, they did not even notice the strange burned armor he wore, nor his poor condition. He strode up to his mother and said, “Good idea.”
When she saw the condition he was in, she gasped. “Blake, are you okay?!”
He raised his hands to calm her. “I’m fine,” he insisted. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fully healed in a couple of days.”
“But… Your face, it’s burned! Are you going to have a scar?”
He shook his head. “No, the nanomachines will make sure I’m back to mint condition in no time.” She looked doubtful, so he added, “I finally got my class and unlocked Regeneration. It speeds up my already fast healing by a factor of ten.”
“That’s amazing!” she exclaimed. “If Oliver gets that, will it cure him?”
Blake shook his head. “Sorry, Regeneration won’t cure diseases or genetic conditions. Even Mend Wounds won’t do that. You either need a level twenty-five spell, or a special alchemy potion.”
Donna frowned. “How long will that take?”
“Level twenty-five will take years to get to. As far as the alchemy potion?” Blake shrugged. “I don’t really know, I wasn’t a crafter,” he explained.
“Then we need an alchemist, soon.”
He nodded. “Oh, I know, but there’s no point until we build the Alchemy Workshop.”
“It’s still not an option I can choose. How long until we can build it?” she pressed.
“I don’t know,” Blake sighed. “Like I said, I don’t know much about city building. I’ll ask Metal in a bit.”
While his mother fell silent into her own worries about her eldest son, his gaze wandered around the growing town. Kuruk headed for his metal workshop. He saw Jordan in the distance, kneeling next to the beginning of a structure. After a moment, he asked, “So, what happened to our landlord?”
When he glanced back, he saw embarrassment cross her face. “He… uh… didn’t believe us, even after he joined the Collective. When the trucks showed up, we… had to detain him.”
“Wait, what?!” his eyes widened. After their talk about morals, kidnapping was the last thing he expected from her.
“He threatened to go to the police!” she rushed to explain. “I just wanted to keep him here until you could prove everything to him, but then the eighteen wheelers arrived. I kind of panicked, but then Jordan grabbed him and hauled him over to the faction hall.”
Blake frowned. “Level two has a jail? I figured that wasn’t until higher level.”
“Jail?” she asked, confused, and then shook her head. “No, Jordan had some duct tape in the back of his truck. He used that to tie him up so he couldn’t move.”
Blake snorted and added sarcastically, “So, you’re saying we have plenty of time to handle other things before I go see him.”
“Well… yes,” she reluctantly agreed and gestured for him to follow her to the faction hall. “But I don’t like holding him prisoner.”
“Neither do I, but he’s not just being an inconvenience.” Blake reminded her. “He’s threatening the survival of the human race.”
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Donna’s concerned look turned sour. “Don’t you think that’s a bit much?” she asked, dryly.
He shook his head. “Not really. What do you think will happen if he makes good on his threats and goes to the police?” When his mother remained silent, he continued, “They already have it out for us. Hopefully that lawyer you got us can buy some time, but we don’t need this guy stirring the pot. The first thing they’ll do is block all access to this property. Then they’ll have someone watch it to make sure we can’t use it, just like they have someone watching you and dad.”
“Actually, they stopped following us two days ago,” she corrected him.
“They did? Wow, and it only took a month and a half before they gave up,” he added flippantly.
“Our lawyer said as much, he’s never seen such a show from the police. He finally had to mention some of his connections to get them to back down.” Dona sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I understand what you’re saying, Blake, but this place can only hold so many people. There’s eight billion people on Earth, we can save what, maybe a hundred? Two hundred?”
Blake’s brows rose. “I think you’re underestimating how many people can live in the city we’re making. I want this place to be able to hold at least ten thousand people by Invasion day.”
She shook her head and removed her hand. “That’s just not realistic. There’s not enough room, and it’s only four months away. Even if you pack people in like sardines, what will you feed them?”
“Well, for one, we can eat the Ursa. We have an unlimited amount of meat just three miles away. And two, you haven’t seen how insanely fast crops grow with the help of nanomachines. Not only do they produce way more food, but you can harvest them like once a month.”
She shook her head. “That may work, but there’s also human waste to deal with. And, people can’t just be caged. They have to be able to walk around and stretch their legs.”
He grinned. “Waste isn’t an issue. Once a bunk house gets to level two, they get running water and sewage. As far as space goes,” he looked toward their burgeoning city and raised his hand. “After Invasion day, this place is going to expand. Very quickly.” Blake could tell she wanted to argue further, so he changed the subject instead. “So, what all got built while I was gone?”
Donna frowned, but answered. “Well, we finished the upgrade to the faction hall, and made Brent a constructor. After that, we wanted to build a bunk house and a cookhouse, but a well was required first.”
Blake nodded along.
“So, we went ahead and built that. Right now, Jordan’s working on housing, while Brent’s building a kitchen for your father.”
He cocked his head to the side in confusion. “How did you get the nano for that?”
“We had enough for the faction hall, barely, but then we were out. So we all decided to chip in and donate so we could build the well. Although, what little we have left won’t last long with the two new buildings,” she admitted.
Blake smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ve got fifty million nano to spare. Actually, let's deposit it right now. After that, I’ll have a little talk with our landlord. Can’t keep him tied up too long. It’s not exactly humane.”
She nodded absently and followed behind him as they strode toward the faction hall. Beyond the upgraded building, he saw Jordan kneel down near a large, fuzzy rectangle on the ground. Blake assumed it was the foundation of the bunkhouse and changed direction toward the busy constructor.
“Hey, Jordan.”
He looked over his shoulder and nodded. “Evenin’.”
“Jordan,” Donna addressed her worker. “Can you get everyone who can teleport supplies to the warehouse and have them unload the trucks?”
Jordan frowned. “In front of the drivers? Won’t that raise some eyebrows?”
She shook her head. “I sent them away for dinner. I figure we have about an hour to get them unloaded before they return.”
The man slowly nodded. “I can make it happen.”
“Thanks,” Blake waved and headed toward the faction hall.
Blake opened the double doors, entered the structure, and was surprised at how ‘homey’ it looked. What was once a bare room with a table in the center, was now twice the size and filled with furniture. The window frames were absent glass, but the shutters were far more elegant in their design.
His good mood faded when he saw their captive.
In the back of the expanded room, Mister Grayburn leaned awkwardly against the wall, his mouth taped shut, and his hands and feet bound. After Donna and Blake entered, he began to struggle. He wiggled back and forth as he tried to escape, and yelled into the gag.
“If you calm down, I’ll take that gag off you,” he offered softly. When the man only screamed louder, Blake shook his head and headed toward the ornate desk to his right to allow the man to calm down. Atop the desk sat the familiar pearl globe. Before he could second guess himself, he reached out to touch the management object, navigated the menu, and then transferred all of his nano to the treasury. When the task was complete, he stood up straight and turned to his mother. “Done.”
“Will that be enough to finish both buildings?” she asked with a waver in her voice. When Blake asked her to repeat her question, she was forced to raise her voice to be heard over their prisoner’s muffled screams.
“If it’s not, then they’ll have to wait a couple of days until I’ve recovered.”
Actually, how’s that going?
Blake used his peripheral vision and checked his heads-up display to see how much chi remained.
Eighteen percent. Not bad.
Once Regeneration consumed all of his energy, the spell would deactivate. After, he would need to wait a few hours for his reserves to refill before he reactivated the ability and resumed healing. For the next two days, he would switch between healing and refilling his chi energy every few hours until he was well enough to fight.
His eyes once more landed on their trussed up landlord, and he took a deep breath. He approached the hogtied prisoner, leaned over, and ripped the duct tape off the man’s mouth.
A scream assaulted Blake’s ears. The outcry was immediately replaced by curses and threats. “You bastards are all going to jail! When the police get here, they’re gonna lock you up and throw away the key!” Suddenly, the man’s eyes widened in recognition. “You! You’re that thug of a kid they’re after! I seen you on the news! I almost didn’t recognize you through those burns.”
Blake sighed.
I can’t believe he recognized me. Of COURSE, I just happen to run across the ONE person who ACTUALLY watches the news. This is going to make things more difficult.
“Oh ho ho!” he celebrated. “When I turn you in, I’m gonna get a big payday!”
“Do you want to know why we tied you up?” Blake asked.
“I don’t need your excuses, you’re all crazy!”
He shook his head. “Want to try again?”
The old man sneered. “I bet you want my money. Well, too bad for you, it’s all in the bank.”
“Nope. We don’t need money. We have plenty of that.”
“Then what could you possibly want with an old man!”
“Shut up for a minute, and I’ll tell you.”
The landlord scowled, but remained silent.
“Good. Now, I assume my mother explained everything after you joined the Collective?” he glanced over his shoulder and saw Donna’s nod of confirmation. “Then, I can only assume you don’t believe her, despite the proof in front of you.”
“More of this cockamamie bull crap?!” he protested. “How stupid do you think I am?”
Blake frowned. “You saw the words before your eyes, right?”
“I didn’t see shit!” he disagreed.
He turned back to his mother and saw her shake her head in frustration. “Oh, he saw them all right. He freaked out so much, he wouldn’t stop yelling until I told him how to get rid of them.”
Blake looked back at the prisoner in disappointment. “So, you’re a liar,” he accused.
The old man reacted strongly to the accusation. He flinched away like he had been struck and looked offended, as if Blake had claimed he kicked babies.
“I ain’t no liar!” he wheezed. “You just showed me some trick is all! And, it won’t work on me no more, that’s for damn sure.”
“We’ll see about that.” Blake grinned. “I’ve got a lot of things to share.”
“What’re you gonna do to me?” the old man asked as Blake kneeled down before him.
“I’m not going to do anything ‘to you’,” Blake insisted as he adjusted the long sheath of his longsword. He took a deep breath and looked into Mister Grayburn’s eyes. “I have a story to tell you.”