Rajesh sat patiently opposite Zahir in his dorm room, and awaited an answer.

Once he had returned home to Arizona State University in Phoenix, he had immediately cornered his fellow graduate student. Rajesh had chosen the young man to be his first recruit specifically for his dominant traits - trust and loyalty.

The same flaws as Blake.

During the pause, he considered the enigma.

After Blake transferred the nanomachines to his body months ago, Rajesh had immediately rushed to the Electrical Engineering labs. When he failed to ascertain how they functioned, and was unable to alter them in any way, he reluctantly turned to the only source of knowledge on the subject, Blake himself. He performed a cursory background investigation into the teenager, which revealed he was wanted by the police.

Initially, Rajesh had planned to glean what information he could from the kid, and then collect the bounty from the local sheriff’s office. However, the more he learned about Blake, the more he adjusted that course of action.

At their first meeting, Rajesh’s instincts had screamed at him to avoid contact. Based upon the kid’s youth and poor attempt at charm, he had initially interpreted the recruiting effort to be some type of scam. However, once he visited the compound, that was proven incorrect, and he quickly adjusted his thesis.

Blake was frighteningly powerful.

Not only was the child capable of ferocious violence, but he had a temper to match. After Rajesh heard how Blake killed the law enforcement officer who shot him in the back, he almost fled the compound.

However, rather than act rashly, he considered his options and instead bided his time. Soon after, a flaw revealed itself. Blake was far too trusting, and gave his friends and family undeserved loyalty.

Those flaws make for an excellent follower, but an inept leader.

Blake also foolishly attempted to hide his brutal psyche from his parents. He failed at the effort, miserably. It was obvious to anyone that spent time with him that he was completely desensitized to violence and murder. Blake was not civilized by modern standards, no matter how much he wished to appear so.

If he clamped down on his emotions and fostered a healthy distrust of others, he could become an acceptable leader.

Humanity’s future was on the line, and Rajesh hoped Blake flourished. Especially since he was so far away from Rajesh’s future seat of power. While it would be lovely for the kid to succeed, and take the brunt of the coming apocalypse, it seemed incredibly unlikely. That was why he took the calculated risk to point out the kid's flaws.

Perhaps he will consider my insights and change for the better.

Rajesh snorted and shook his head at the humorous thought.

They never do.

It was so easy for him to see other’s imperfections. If there was one small flaw of his own, it was that he constantly pointed them out so they could be corrected. Unfortunately, people did not take kindly to being shown their shortcomings.

It’s for their own good.

“I’ll do it,” Zahir suddenly announced, breaking Rajesh from his thoughts.

“Excellent.” Rajesh extended his hand and transferred a million nano to the man seated across from him. “In a few minutes, you will be inducted into the Collective and will receive a heads-up display. As we agreed, I will gift you enough nano for you to purchase a combat skill and two attributes.”

Zahir’s mouth split into a grin at the prospect. He rubbed his hands together and let out a short giggle.

Rajesh allowed a small portion of his scorn to seep through his mask.

“Sorry,” Zahir apologized sheepishly.

Now that the graduate student had agreed, Rajesh’s mind moved on to his next steps. He had already demonstrated his superhuman strength to Zahir, and would soon do so to two others. With Zahir on his side, it would be even easier to convince more to follow him.

Herd mentality is strong.

Rajesh planned to repeat the same deal with everyone he recruited. Each person would receive thirty-one mega nano, and the large amount of nano-enhanced gear he had smuggled out of Blake’s faction. Unlike the others on his team, he had not handed over his unused equipment he received from the Architect. Instead, he stored the armor, weapons, and jewelry in the trunk and back seat of his vehicle, and carefully concealed them with a tarp.

Rajesh estimated he had enough equipment to outfit twelve people.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

He had always planned to exit Blake’s doomed faction and begin one of his own. Unfortunately, it took far longer to accumulate nano than he anticipated. By the time he left, he only had ninety-six million nano and his attributes maxed. That meant he would be left with only three million nano after he recruited his three new team members.

If only that girl hadn’t gotten herself killed, I could have convinced Blake to fund the creation of my faction.

The child was easily manipulated, and if Rajesh had approached Blake strategically, would have likely given him hundreds of millions of nano. Unfortunately, Dahteste’s death formed a rift, and made that almost impossible to accomplish.

Rajesh allowed himself a small frown as he continued to review his plans. In return for his investment, any recruit would be required to transfer over all nano they earned from kills and directives until he was able to raise the billion nano required to form a faction. Only then would they be allowed to increase their attributes. And only under strict supervision to prevent waste.

Unfortunately, with only five weeks left until Invasion day, he knew a single group would not be able to accumulate that amount in time. To remedy this, he planned to form multiple teams simultaneously. Rajesh would recruit from people he had known for years. People his intuition told him would be loyal, or at least biddable.

Of course, while everyone would receive a full set of gear, only his own team would be granted an extra thirty million nano. After all, his own safety was paramount. If the other teams failed, he would only be out a bit of equipment, and the four million nano required for their induction.

If they attempted to withhold his rightful nano, Rajesh had no problem with ending their lives. After he made an example of those who broke the agreement, the others would immediately fall in line.

Fear is the best form of control.

If his math was correct, and he knew it was, with four teams, it would take three weeks to gain a billion nano. However, he knew death, injury, and failure were likely, so he planned to recruit twice that many.

Once his faction was formed, he would quickly accumulate power. Rajesh had already considered multiple methods of using his faction leader position to his advantage. He scoffed that Blake had not done so himself. He was uncertain if the kid had never considered them, or more likely, was unwilling to use his member’s efforts to increase his personal power.

For one, each person he recruited to the faction gained two and a half million nano for completing a directive. However, it only cost a million nano to induct them into the system. There was no reason to allow them to keep that reward, when he could take it for himself.

Too bad, faction members are limited by the faction hall.

Rajesh had learned from the mother that he could only invite fifty people to his faction with a level one faction hall. That was one hundred and twenty-five nano he could confiscate immediately. However, once it was upgraded to level two, it allowed ten times the amount.

With two weeks to spare before Invasion day, he could easily upgrade the faction hall to level two. After everyone in the world was inducted into the Collective, he could then invite a full five hundred people to his faction and immediately gain over a billion nano.

Then, like Blake, he could choose all four energy types.

The ability to learn four spells per level was too powerful to pass up, no matter the cost. That was especially true when nano was so easily taxed from his faction members.

Of course, this possibility was not the only thing Blake had failed to take advantage of. For some reason, the kid had built his faction town in the middle of nowhere.

Foolish.

Rajesh had carefully considered the location of his town. He planned to build his faction hall in the basement of his dorm hall. It would not only provide housing for thousands, but was easily defensible as well. The emergency exits could be barricaded, and the single main entrance reinforced.

As the entire building would fall within his faction’s territory, no monsters would spawn within its confines. People would pay handsomely for the safety he could provide, and Rajesh could charge them accordingly. If they did not have any nano when they begged him to be let in, he would gladly accept a loan.

One hundred million nano was a small price to pay for their lives.

With interest, of course.

There were plenty of other opportunities he planned to take advantage of as well. He did not need large amounts of money to gain the supplies he needed.

On Invasion day, Rajesh could easily use the spells he would gain to rob a gun store, and then distribute those firearms to those he trusted. Then, his underlings could confiscate all the supplies his faction needed while he remained within his fortress.

No need to risk my safety.

However, despite Blake’s many foolish decisions, there was one thing he vehemently agreed with. He would not attempt to contact the government, nor would he spread information about the apocalypse online. If the government became aware of him, the best he could hope for was detainment for questioning. More likely, he would disappear, never to be heard from again. He did not have the tenuous advantage of American citizenship.

Likewise, if information on how to navigate the Collective was disseminated to the masses, he would lose a key advantage.

Knowledge.

Blake had given it freely to Rajesh. When he discovered the child had not already posted the information online, he inquired about the discrepancy.

Blake gave a simple answer.

No one would believe it, and by the time they did, the internet would be destroyed. If Blake chose to post the information regardless, and the government treated him seriously, they would trace his location like the police had done with his phone, and attempt to kidnap him.

Surprisingly well-thought-out.

Of course, Rajesh had immediately thought of ways to share the information without revealing their identities. VPNs, laptops on public Wi-Fi networks with spoofed MAC addresses, and a plethora of additional measures could be utilized to remain anonymous. However, Rajesh preferred the Luddite to remain unaware of the possibility.

“I see it!” Zahir announced. “I’m in the Collective.”

“Good,” Rajesh nodded. “Now, I will transfer thirty million nano to you. You will purchase the Sword Mastery skill and increase your Physical Power attribute twice.”

“Uh…” Zahir hesitated. “How do I do that?”

Rajesh smiled. “Just do as I say, and everything will work out fine.”