[Incoming Call from Mash Royce]
Dale's head rose from under a thick blanket and slowly opened his eyes. He groans as his eyes adjust to the light emanating from the projection of the call, which causes him to squint and rub out the sand collected in the corners.
"What time is it, Lina?"
[4 AM]
"Wonder why Mash is calling me so early. Connect him through, Lina."
A hologram projection of Mash Royce's face appears over Dale's phone.
"Hey Dale, been a while. Sorry for waking you so early, but-"
"Before that, what is life as a mini-celebrity been like?"
"Hey, you were the one who introduced me to the 'Fulffals is not a Troll' community. I had no idea being the first to hatch the egg would smother me with many followers."
"You were the only one to do it so quickly and get access to the Monster App guide book. But, of course, people will want to know everything you know, so I don't blame you for being busy."
"Anyways, D-Day is about three days away. How is your egg coming along?"
"I completed the last five stages around 10 PM last night. It is undergoing the incubation stage, so it should hatch after forty hours."
"Oh, that is great to hear. I was worried when your name didn't appear in the Tamer Registrar."
"Tamer Registrar?"
"You don't know about it?"
"Bro, I was studying and meditating for over a week! I thought it would be simple to meditate and master some Yoga moves, but the damn App would not clear me until I achieved separation of mind from my body. I had to cut off all distractions, including the community."
"In that case, I will fill you in on what has happened over the last few days. First, the community voted to create a council, and being the first Tamer somehow qualified me to be part of it. Second, I am handling the registration of all Tamers who officially hatched their eggs, which is around five hundred people."
"Why are we calling ourselves Tamers? Isn't that a bit..."
"Don't you dare even think of suggesting it sounds lame! You have no idea how long it took to get everyone to agree on this title." Mash replied in frustration.
"Chill, I am cool with it. I didn't realize how difficult settling on a name could be for everyone."
"I had a lot of experience with the marketing team in my company, so I could steer the council to settle on the matter quickly. Otherwise, it would have dragged on for days and not hours."
"Are you some kind of President of the Tamer Council?"
"Nah, I just tell them how things should be discussed and what kind of rules we should adopt to smoothen management."
"That sounds like the job of a leader to me."
"Whatever, I am not concerned about hierarchy right now. All I want to do is make sure my family and friends are ready to move to the safe house before D-Day."
"Safehouse? Where?"
"The rest of the council members and I will be moving to a house called the Mega Zombie Bunker located in Alaska. It is a futuristic cubic building that can house fifty people. The windows and doors can be sealed up by solid concrete and reinforced steel when in bunker mode. It runs entirely on solar & wind, with ten state-of-the-art Neo-Atlas androids to handle construction, maintenance, security, and surveillance. It has its own filtered water coming up from a borewell and an appropriate living space for everyone. In addition, facilities like a gym, indoor greenhouse, synthetic meat lab, Food printer, and the best industrial 3D printers are located in the basement."
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Did you sell your company to get this place?"
"No, it belongs to one of the council members."
"What kind of person has such a place?"
"Someone who has a lot of money to burn and watched too many Zombie movies."
"It's lucky that we have a Tamer like that. But what about Melani? Have you told her about all of this?"
"I told her that we have been invited to a fancy new years party in Alaska by a rich Trillionaire. So technically, it's the truth in a way."
"I can understand why you are taking her there, but why are you telling me about this?"
"Because you are coming there with Melani and me, you idiot!"
"What! Why?"
"You are the one who made me try the App and got me to where I am in the community. If you hadn't, I would be ignorant to all of this, so I owe you big time if the Apocalypse happens."
"And if it doesn't?"
"Then I will breath a sigh of relief before choking you like how Homer Simpson does to Bart for putting me through all this."
Dale gulped uncomfortably but then smiled.
"Sounds fair to me. Are the other council members fine with me joining you all?"
"By the time it is D-Day, you will be an official Tamer. Any Tamer willing to serve the council members will be allowed to join us. Are you willing to be my aide?"
"That would make you my boss. It feels kind of strange, to be honest."
"Yes, I know that will make things weird between us in front of others, but we can be ourselves in private."
"I am good with that, but don't treat me like a secretary."
"Then how should I treat you?"
"Umm... a bodyguard? No... man, why can't I think of anything."
"So, Mr. Secretary, it is then?"
"Fine!"
"You have any questions before you pack your bags?"
"Are we leaving today?"
"I booked us three tickets to Alaska. Our flight will leave by 9 AM, so we don't have much more time to waste."
Dale thought hard for several seconds.
"Is everyone fine with the council and their aides hiding away?"
"Obviously not! But since most of the community does not have the financial means to pause their lives and run for the hills, they will wait and see what happens on D-day. Then, if the worst happens, and they need a refuge. The registered Tamers will know where we are and find their way to us if they can."
"But the bunker can't hold that many people."
"No, but this is Alaska we are talking about. There is a lot of virgin land with plenty of untouched natural resources around our bunker, which can be transformed into more bunkers. Those expensive 3D printers and androids will be beneficial at that time."
"Sounds like you all are planning to rebuild civilization there."
"We are just taking everything Fluffals said at his word 'only those who have evolved monsters will survive' We can't save everyone, but we can give refuge to those who believed in Fluffal's message and took the effort to hatch an egg."
"I mean, from what you told me, it doesn't sound like we are hiding what we are doing from the government. Aren't you worried they will try to take the bunker away from us?"
"Oh, they know about us and our plans already. In fact, five of the council members are family members of the current leaders of the five great powers. Moreover, it was the U.S representative who proposed the safe house plan."
"Are you serious? I thought that all the governments were against everyone touching the App."
"Officially, they are trying to avoid a meltdown of society. Unofficially, these nations take drastic measures to prepare against the threat like us. However, the world leaders have chosen to rely on their conventional armies to deal with whatever happens on D-Day."
"Has the community figured out how to use the monsters yet?"
"No, almost everyone is treating them as housepets and ignoring the locked evolution requirements...Ah! You won't know about them. Basically, three days after your monster is born, a notification from the monster app states you need to complete certain tasks to evolve your monster."
"More things to do? Doesn't it seem endless?"
"That's just how the App operates, I guess. Anyways the requirements are set to unlock on D-Day. Fluffals does not want us to get stronger until the Apocalypse has begun. So all we can do is hatch the eggs prepare a refuge, and stock up on supplies."
"Can the monsters battle each other like in the games we played?"
"No, the App said, what kind of sick person makes babies fight each other after being born? They need to evolve into their second forms to be capable of combat!"
"The Monster App makes a reasonable point."
"I think I have brought you up to speed, so take a shower and get ready with your essentials. Then, Melani and I will drive to your place and pick you up."