Blake shuffled to the parked Ryde in shocked disbelief. He had not only failed to convince his friend to join him, he had narrowly avoided the authorities as well.
I can’t believe he told me no.
It never occurred to Blake that Rajesh may refuse him.
Was I too familiar with him? Maybe I should’ve treated him with more respect. Ugh. I’m not groveling for him.
The moment Blake heard Rajesh’s trademark rudeness, he could not help but fall into old patterns. Rajesh would say something insensitive, and then Blake and Montgomery would call him out for it. That repartee took many awkward months to establish, and transformed a reluctant group mate into a friend.
Donna Summers: Hey Blake, got a moment to talk, or are you busy?
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: Sure, give me a call.
Blake was glad for the distraction, he needed something to get his mind off his failure. He leaned against the sun baked building and accepted the call. His mother appeared before him. She was seated behind a laptop placed on a desk inside one of the bunkhouse rooms.
Odd. Why isn’t she in the faction hall?
Ever since it was upgraded to level two, she had made the faction hall her office. Not only was the town control orb present, it was also a visual reminder of her authority. His mother explained to him multiple times that optics mattered. The reminder almost always came when his hair was matted from sweat or blood stains remained on his armor.
Each time she needled him, he nodded agreeably. He concurred with the sentiment, but felt she focused on the wrong area. Blake and his former group mates had always looked derisively toward the coiffed, clean faction leadership. None of them pushed through blood, sweat, and tears like Blake and his group had.
They had people for that.
Now, Blake saw the blood on his armor as a visible reminder of the sacrifices he made for them. He vowed to lead from the front, and refused to hide behind others.
I’m not going to be one of those shitty leaders people hate.
His mother opened their conversation with an aphorism. “So, I have good news and bad news.”
The moment Blake heard the dreaded words, he knew he was in for a long conversation. He redirected himself away from his parked taxi and began a circuitous route around the engineering buildings while he replied.
“Hit me.”
“The good news is Jordan and Brent started work on the Faction Hall. It’s why I’m working from the bunkhouse instead of my office. We have all the materials we need, and then some. Good job, by the way.”
Blake nodded warily.
Well shit. If that’s the good news, how bad is the bad?
“The bad news is that it’s going to take a LOT longer than we expected, even with both of them working on it together. It’s also going to require far more nano than the other buildings.”
Blake winced. “How much more?”
Donna hesitated. “At least two hundred and fifty million.”
His jaw dropped.
How the hell am I supposed to level if all of my nano goes to the town?!
Blake quickly checked his balance. He currently held only thirty-five mega-nano, and was nowhere near his preferred scenario. He had based his level one spells and attributes around the Manders. Once he fully evolved the rest of his class abilities, he planned to attempt a level three scenario and upgrade his Elite Solo Warrior achievement.
“Don’t worry. We still have a little nano in the treasury, and everyone here has contributed more to it. But, we still need to come up with another two hundred million in the next couple of days, or we’ll have to halt construction.”
Blake frowned. It was not as large of a setback as he feared, and he could easily keep up with demand. It would, however, delay his personal progress. He could only hope that the reward from his directive to upgrade the faction hall to level three was substantial.
“That’s fine, I’ll probably be back this evening. I can start earning nano in the morning.”
His mother smiled. “Thanks, Blake. I just wish we could earn money as easily as nano.”
“Uh, aren’t we rich now? Why would we need more money?”
“Everything’s relative,” she explained. “Sure, we still have three hundred grand, but that’s going to go quick.”
“We had seven hundred grand a month ago! Where the hell did it all go?”
He saw his mother focus on the laptop and click her mouse. “Let’s see… we have five thousand in legal fees, forty thousand in salaries, another forty-two thousand for supplies. And then we have your fleet of old diesel trucks. So far, we’ve purchased twenty-eight of them. We’re running out of room fast on the property, so most of them are in storage right now, which also costs us money,” she pointed out. “But, those trucks alone cost us over three hundred thousand by themselves.”
Blake’s pacing stalled as he stared at his mother in shock.
That’s just one month! How are we going to make it last another four?!
He took a deep breath and considered their priorities. While the vehicles would be convenient, it was the conversion kits that were important, and they already had a hundred of those. After Invasion day, they could tow any old diesel they found back to the base and change it over at their leisure. Kick-start motorcycles would also be necessary, but they did not need to be retrofitted and could be scavenged after Invasion day.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Okay, twenty-eight trucks will have to do.” After she nodded her agreement, he continued, “I’d say from now on, we prioritize supplies and salaries.”
“Blake,” his mother interrupted. “Don’t worry so much, I’ve got the finances covered. You focus on making us strong enough to survive the apocalypse, and I’ll handle the rest. It's not like you really had experience with money, the world ended before you had to deal with that.” Then, she smiled and said, “Unless you know a millionaire or two. That’d be convenient.”
Why didn’t I think of that before!?
“Actually, I do,” he replied to her surprise. “Although, it might be difficult to track her down. I only know her first name, but she owns a chain of nail salons all over Phoenix”
Donna sat up straight in her chair and leaned forward. “What’s the name of the salons?”
“Uh…” Blake cocked his head to the side as he tried to recall. “I think it’s, ‘The Polished Nail’, or something like that.”
He heard typing, and his eyes focused back on his mother. After a moment, she said excitedly, “Found it. There’s one in Scottsdale, Tempe, Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, and a bunch of other locations around Phoenix. Although,” she frowned. “I don’t see any mention of the owner. What was her name?”
“Jessica. She’s an Asian lady in her sixties. Although, now that I think about it, she might be in her upper fifties right now. Either way, she’s a good woman. She’d actually make a good chancellor when we expand with a second faction town, which we need to do soon. That was her job back when I knew her.”
His mother nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll track her down and find out where she lives. Then you can make a surprise visit.” She looked up from her laptop into Blake’s eyes. “How goes the search for your old friends?”
He grimaced. “I found Rajesh, and invited him to the Collective.”
“That’s great! Why hasn’t he joined the faction yet?”
Blake hung his head. “He told me to get lost. Even called the police on me.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I left before they showed up. But… I just didn’t expect him to turn me down. Especially once I showed him my spells.”
“Oh, honey,” she said sadly. “I’m sure he’ll come around after he has more time to think about it. I bet he was just overwhelmed.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. I dunno, he was more, well, calculating than I remember.”
“What about your other friends?”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a campus police car flash its red and blue emergency lights as it drove down the road. He stepped quickly behind a large shrub, until he realized the cop was pulling someone over for speeding. He let out a breath he did not realize he held and laughed.
“That’s where I’m going next.”
“Well, I hope you have better luck with them.”
“Same,” he replied as he angled toward the parked taxi. “Actually, I’ll talk to you later. I’ve gotta get going if I want to find them today.”
“Okay, honey. Take care.”
“You too, mom.”
Blake strode across the lot, toward his ride. He opened the door and slid into the back seat with renewed purpose. As soon as the door closed behind him, he turned to the driver. “I need to find a couple of friends who volunteer as firemen. If you were looking for them, what would you do?”
“I suppose that means you didn’t find them here.”
He shook his head. “No, I found Rajesh. He told me to get lost.”
“Sorry to hear that,” she replied. “Well, in the good old days, you could just look someone up in the phone book. I assume you know these ‘friends’ names?” After he nodded, she continued, “You can try the white pages online.”
That’s a thing?
“I don’t have a smartphone, do you mind helping me?” he asked in embarrassment.
The driver stared at him for a moment before she shrugged. “Sure, why not.” She unlocked her phone and began to type. After a moment, she asked, “Okay, what’s one of their names?”
“Montgomery Brown.”
“Does he live in Phoenix?”
Blake nodded.
A moment later, she shook her head. “Well, there’s no record of him online. Does he still live at his parent’s house or something?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
“Some ‘friend’,” she replied sardonically.
He ignored her snarky reply and asked, “Can you try Jeffrey Miller?”
A few moments later, she said, “No luck with this guy either.” The driver turned around and faced Blake. “You said they volunteer as firemen, right?”
He nodded.
“Probably just best to call around fire houses until you find someone who knows them. Any idea which firehouse they work at?”
“Uhh… not exactly. I know it's in Phoenix, somewhere north of the airport. That’s about it.”
“Of course you don’t…” She shook her head and snorted. “And you don’t have a phone either, so I get to play secretary.” The middle-aged woman sighed. “The things I do for money.”
The driver began to systematically look up and call every fire station in the city. Each time, she asked if they knew Jeffrey Miller or Montgomery Brown.
None did.
After the tenth failure, Blake began to get worried.
Did he lie about being a volunteer fireman? No, Montgomery may stretch the truth, but he doesn’t just make crap up.
Suddenly, a message appeared on his interface.
Donna Summers: Hey Blake, I found your millionaire.
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: That great news! Where is she?
Donna Summers: According to her worker, she still works as a manicurist at the Scottsdale branch. I’d show up there if I were you and see if you can bring her in.
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: Thanks, mom!
Donna Summers: No problem, and good luck!
When he saw the driver was no longer on the phone, he announced, “Change of plans. We need to get to ‘The Polished Nail’ over in Scottsdale.”
“Seriously?” She stared at him in disbelief. “You want a mani-pedi?”
He snorted. “No. I need to talk to the owner.”
The driver rolled her eyes and searched for the salon on her smartphone. As she typed in the name, she mumbled complaints under her breath, yet immediately set off once the address was found.
It was near lunchtime, and traffic began to clog the streets. What should have taken fifteen minutes stretched into almost thirty.
As the taxi drove across town, Blake considered his strategy. He did not want another repeat of Rajesh, and according to his mother, they needed more money if they wanted to accomplish all of their goals.
No pressure Blake.
Finally, they arrived. The driver pulled into the strip mall and parked in front of the building. Before Blake could exit the vehicle, she asked, “Mind if I go grab something to eat real quick? I’m starving.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
Blake climbed out of the back seat and tread across the parking lot. At the entrance to the salon, he paused, took a deep breath, and then opened the door.