Chapter 127 - Updates

Blake lounged within the camper’s recliner as he waited for the nightly meeting to begin. Jennifer sat slumped across from him, while Bobby stood sentry atop the eleven-foot tall trailer. 

This is so much better than a folding chair.

Earlier that day, while Blake slaughtered the ColoColo, Montgomery and Jeff had retrieved numerous campers from a storage lot just outside town. Now, the pioneers of the Goldwater Lake expansion town had a comfortable place to sleep and a bit more privacy. 

Their prisoners, on the other hand, were still crammed within the small men’s room. The criminals were given water and fed, but no other comforts were supplied. Earlier that day, Blake had suggested they force the captives through the portal early, before they were shipped off to the Payson jail. The scenario would act as a filter, where only the strongest would survive.

Jennifer, however, had other plans.

She asked him if she could practice her Read Thoughts spell on the prisoners, and he had no reason to deny her. He had yet to ask how the session went, but if he were to judge her demeanor, things had not gone well. Blake leaned forward to address his public relations advisor. “So, how did the mind reading session go?”

Her eyes flicked up to meet his, and she grimaced.

“That bad?”

She took a deep breath and sighed. “Yes and no. I actually gained a lot of mastery, but I had to read through their filthy minds to do so. Honestly, it’s depressing. I almost feel like the Architect was right to wipe us out. We may deserve it.”

Blake frowned.

“Out of the eighteen people in that bathroom, only three are what I would call somewhat decent. They didn’t participate in the worst crimes, but they knew exactly what was happening, and did nothing to stop it.”

“They were likely too afraid to speak up,” Blake suggested.

“Oh, they were terrified,” she agreed. “Still are. But that doesn’t mean they’re innocent. Even if they didn’t participate directly, they enabled that awful behavior. They guarded the captives to ensure they couldn’t escape, and did nothing to help them.”

“So, you read all of their minds?” Blake asked.

She nodded. “It took hours. Hours of massive migraines, bleeding from my eyes and ears, and three different healing potions.”

Damn. That’s hardcore.

Blake recalled very few people who had the mental discipline to continue on when things became that painful. Most would have read two prisoners’ minds, left, and then came back an hour later. Yet, for some reason, she pushed herself to the extreme.

Why? What’s driving her?

“Why go through all that?” he asked. “You could’ve taken all night.”

She laughed wryly. “I was planning to, but after I read the first one’s mind, they rushed Bobby and me and tried to escape. After Bobby took them out, I read another one of their minds and then checked my status. Believe it or not, after they attacked, I got twenty times more mastery.”

Blake nodded. “That makes sense. The Architect wants to promote risks, not grinding spells against willing targets. So, how high did you get your mastery?”

“Seventy-two percent.”

Blake whistled.

“That’s fast,” he commented.

“Now you know why I stayed. I really want to upgrade the spell so I can listen to multiple people’s thoughts at the same time. It’s too limited as it is now.” Jennifer let out a sigh. “But, it was so awful inside their heads, it’s got me all depressed.”

He nodded in sympathy. 

After a few minutes of silence, it was finally time to meet with his council. He received a holo-call request from his mother and accepted it. Over the next few minutes, his chancellors, security heads, and advisors joined the call. When the last arrived, Blake began the meeting. He greeted everyone and thanked them for their attendance.

Surprisingly, their new sub-faction leader, Indigo Wasabi, asked to say a few words. After Blake nodded, he began, “I wanted to thank you all for your trust, it means a lot to me. I’m sure you’re all aware of how vocal I’ve been against Warner and his policies. Now that I’ve been placed in charge, I’ll actually get a chance to put my money where my mouth is.” He grinned. “Let’s show the government what actual leadership looks like”

Blake grinned.

I like this guy.

This was only the third time they had met. The first was when they interviewed a few candidates the day before, and the second was when he promoted the man to faction leader. It felt odd to give someone they barely knew so much power. However, the extreme vocal support he gave Blake, along with his hatred of Warner, assured him they made the right choice.

And if he turns out to be a horrible person, I can always kill him and replace him.

Blake made sure to keep such thoughts to himself. He knew his mother would disapprove of his pragmatic nature, and there was no reason to make a threat before any treachery arose. The fact that he executed the old leadership of the Black Diamond faction was a warning all on its own.

“Good to have you, Indigo,” Blake greeted him warmly. He then turned to Donna. “What updates do you have for us?”

“The outer wall is now completed at level two,” his mother began. “And, you were right. We tested out the shield generator, and we can seamlessly switch between the inner and outer wall. Do you think we should upgrade it to level three now? It isn’t a prerequisite for anything.”

Blake shook his head. “No, level two is plenty for the next few months. I’d rather we reassign them for more important projects, like housing, food, and bedding. Are we still short on pillows and mattresses?”

“No, we’ve finally caught up,” Donna replied. “We upgraded the tailor’s workshop to level two, which allowed us to build another one. With four tailors, and a host of laborer’s, they’re finally keeping up with demand.” She then amended, “For now.”

Blake’s brows rose. “You think we’ll get that many new members when the portal room is operational?”

Donna nodded. “Kasey, why don’t you explain the plan to him.”

“I’d be glad to, Chancellor Summers,” Sir Kasey Mescal grinned and then addressed Blake. “Tomorrow, the portal room will be completed. We’ve already made a huge recruiting announcement on social media, and have begun to make retrieval lists. Right now, we have almost four-thousand people already signed up to join us, spread throughout Arizona and Western New Mexico, and the list is climbing.”

Wow, that’s a lot.

“So far, we’ve focused recruitment on the nearby towns,” Kasey continued. “However, tomorrow, everything changes. All we need is a single truck sent to Tucson or Phoenix, and thousands of people can march through the portal to safety. No more trailers packed like sardines.”

Blake saw the anticipatory grins of his council, and felt bad that he would need to dampen their moods. “While I love your enthusiasm, I don’t think it will work as smoothly as you’re imagining.”

Kasey frowned. “Why not?”

“The portals only stay open for ten minutes, and they aren’t that large. You can’t drive a truck through them. That means you’re going to need to have everyone march through, single file, with their kids and luggage secured. When they arrive inside the portal room, they’ll have to quickly exit the building before more people can be transported to it. That means there’s going to be a delay between each family.”

“How much of a delay?” Corwin Taylor asked.

Blake shrugged. “That depends on how fast people follow orders. But, if you assume we can transport around fifteen people a minute, that would be one hundred and fifty people per portal. Maybe three hundred if we speed things along.”

“That’s still a lot of people,” Jessica Nguyen reminded him.”

“It is,” he agreed. “But remember, you can only summon one portal per person, per day. So, if you have that many people in line, bring more than just a single combat team.”

“Noted,” Sir Kasey gave a short nod.

“I’d prefer more people anyway,” Sir John remarked. “I’m worried about what’s going to happen when we go down to Phoenix to recruit. I’ve heard the Sonoran Empire is forcing people to join them. I’m sure they won’t be too happy when we start recruiting from the locals.”

Sonoran Empire? Who the hell is that?

Blake wracked his memory, but could not recall a faction that went by that name. 

Corwin leaned forward. “If I’m not mistaken, we have a trade agreement with the faction, and Blake knows the leader personally. We should contact them to ensure we don’t jeopardize that relationship.”

I do?

Suddenly, it occurred to Blake that he had never bothered to learn the name of Rajesh’s faction. Since that was the only leader in Phoenix he knew personally, it made sense they were referring to his old friend.

He’s forcing people to join? What the hell is he up to?

“I’ll talk to Rajesh after this meeting and settle things,” Blake promised, smoothly hiding his initial confusion. “Are there any other problem factions?”

“Most factions are focused entirely on their neighbors,” Corwin answered. “I have to admit, I was skeptical about your decision to avoid the major cities, but it seems to have saved us a lot of strife. According to my informants, turf battles have broken out between factions as they claim territory and scavenge supplies. Currently, people are a far greater threat than the monsters.”

“It’ll stay that way,” Blake assured his intelligence advisor.

Corwin nodded. “In Arizona, the governmental factions are still loyal to Warner. However, there seems to be an up-and-coming alternative in Tucson. The Berserker faction was started by a man named Victor, who was an ex-wrestler. Evidently, his brutal tactics have made a name for himself, and as a result, his faction has grown.”

“Another tyrant?” Blake sighed. 

Corwin shook his head. “Actually, by all accounts, his faction members are well treated. Unlike the Sonoran Empire, the Berserker leader is loved. I’m more concerned with those factions loyal to Warner. Our recruiting is very public. We will take steps to keep the retrieval location secret, but all it takes is a single leak to expose it. If they choose to, they could ruin the operation.”

“Record everything,” Jennifer suggested. “If they attack, we’ll have proof they’re the aggressors. It will destroy their reputation.”

“Oh, it’s not just their reputation that’ll be destroyed,” Blake assured her. “If they attack us, I’m not going to just let it stand. I’ll wipe out their leadership and take over, like I did with the Black Diamonds. Trust me, attacking us will be the last thing they do.”

Everyone grew silent as they processed his words. The heads of security grinned in anticipation, while his mother and Jennifer frowned. Meanwhile, Corwin looked thoughtful and scratched his chin.

“Perhaps we should purposefully leak the locations,” the intelligence advisor suggested. “If they attack, it would give us casus belli.”

“What now?” Sir Kasey frowned.

Corwin turned to address the Pinetop head of security. “Casus belli is a Latin term, it means a justification for war. Their aggression would allow us to destroy our enemy before they become a threat.”

“You want to use our future faction members as bait?” Donna gasped.

“I vehemently disagree with that tactic,” Chancellor Tessay added. “If it was discovered that we intentionally put innocents in danger, it would destroy our own reputation.”

“There would be no leak,” Corwin disagreed. “Only those in this meeting would know. Unless, you think someone here would leak our plan to Warner’s forces?”

“They better not!” Indigo swore. “Anyone who does deserves a firing squad!”

Corwin raised an eyebrow at the outburst.

“Easy now,” Blake reprimanded his newest council member. “No one is getting the firing squad, and no one will be used as bait.”

“But,” Corwin interrupted. “It would resolve our greatest…”

Blake raised his hand. “That’s final,” he said adamantly.

Once he confirmed his intelligence advisor would follow the order, he said, “I understand that you want to take out a future enemy before they become a threat. It makes sense, and I would normally agree. But, this isn’t the way, nor the time. I want to show the world that I’m not some warmonger who’s going to take over factions left and right. Trust me, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future, and we’ll be more than ready for them.”

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