1 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: Chapter eleven, Rowland Roland loved fighting men in powered armor. 2 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 1: The increased firepower and durability gave them an outside chance, 3 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: which made it fun, and the sheer expense of modern 4 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 1: suits made it feel a little like wailing on rich 5 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:19,760 Speaker 1: kids with fancy toys. But Roland did not like fighting 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,800 Speaker 1: normal humans. He'd hoped the infantry coming up behind the 7 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: armored troopers would run like hell once he popped their vanguard, 8 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: but instead they'd insisted on a fight and started shooting 9 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: at him with very large guns. One explosive munition had 10 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:34,520 Speaker 1: hit nine yards ahead of his position, and the other 11 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 1: had impacted close enough to pepper Roland's torso and face 12 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: with shrapnel, so regretfully he charged the enemy. The martyr 13 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:44,240 Speaker 1: shot back. They hit him a few times, but Roland 14 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: paid their bullets as much mind as he would a 15 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:50,200 Speaker 1: mild rein. He drew close enough for visual contact. These 16 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: martyrs were a motley sight. Several of them fought shirtless, 17 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: with white crosses daubed across their chests. Most of them 18 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: wore body armor, very little of it. Modern. Roland saw 19 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,560 Speaker 1: a lot of old pre war plate carriers and surplus 20 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: police vests that crap wouldn't stop military grade rifle rounds, 21 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: although since the only weapon in Roland's hand was a 22 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,480 Speaker 1: big gas wrench, how these men were armored hardly mattered. 23 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: They were mostly armed with old enforce and a smattering 24 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: of newer assault rifles, probably pilfered from the Republic of Texas. 25 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: Fifty men, six technicals, two drone carriers. Roland hit their 26 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 1: skirmishing line before the teams on the recoilist rifles. His 27 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 1: first target could reload. Roland's wrench broke jaws and orbital bones. 28 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: It cracked pelvises and shattered thighs. He dispatched the rifle 29 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: teams and then danced through the on rushing mob of 30 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: militia like some sort of compound fracture dispensing ballerina. And 31 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: as he fought, Roland felt the familiar sunlight warmth of 32 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 1: serotonin flowed his synapses. He remembered a little of how 33 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: the army had explained the battle. Drugs now flowing through 34 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 1: his brain a guarantee of sustained aggression. The longer he fought, 35 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: the harder would be for him to stop fighting and 36 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: to avoid killing. Rowland felt his self control will begin 37 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: to fade. As he knocked out his dozenth martyr, he 38 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: started swinging harder, his blows increasingly connected with clavicles instead 39 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,920 Speaker 1: of coxyxes, and jaws instead of elbows. His hindbrain warned him. 40 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,519 Speaker 1: As the kill likelihoods jumped from ford to six percent 41 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: up to twenty thirty, he felt his conscience fade beneath 42 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: the uphoric red haze of narcotic splendor. Before he knew it, 43 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: the whole platoon of martyrs was either on the ground 44 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: or fleeing for the relative safety of their technicals. Roland 45 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: laughed a madman's laughed. Tickled that they thought a bunch 46 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 1: of old Toyota trucks with machine guns in the beds 47 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: might slow him down. He put a fist through the 48 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:38,919 Speaker 1: engine block of one and made a burst of fifty 49 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: caliber fire from the other. As he pivoted and launched 50 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:44,959 Speaker 1: his wrench through the driver's side window. The improvised missile 51 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,360 Speaker 1: connected with the face of the driver, who spun his 52 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,240 Speaker 1: wheel hard to the left. The truck flipped forward onto 53 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: its cabin. Something about the wet crunch had maid sounded 54 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:56,799 Speaker 1: so familiar. Oh God, oh dear sweet Jesus, Please, sir, 55 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 1: The National guardsman was nineteen years old. Randall Pallas was 56 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: his name. Roland knew that because his hindbrain had sucked 57 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:05,799 Speaker 1: in every piece of publicly available data on the boy 58 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: once it had scanned his face. It had done that 59 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:10,080 Speaker 1: with all the occupants of the humvey and the four 60 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: seconds before Rowland had blown it on its side. Wallace 61 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: was just the only member of the crew unlucky enough 62 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: to survive. Please, Sir, Roland stepped towards the broken, bloody boy. 63 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: He came back to himself, a bit disoriented, but none 64 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: the worse for wear. His hindbrain and a lifetime of 65 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: combat memories had kept his body fighting in his mind's absence. 66 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: Now wrinchless, Roland used his bare hands to tear open 67 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: doors and break faces. The gunners on the remaining technicals 68 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: tried to fire back, but their maneuverability was limited by 69 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: the rubble choked streets and their own fleeing infantry. One 70 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: minute after first contact, the martyr contingent had been reduced 71 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: to a dozen shell shocked soldiers, piled hastily on to 72 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: the tops of the retreating drone carriers. Roland hopped onto 73 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: the last of the technicals. He disabled it by pulling 74 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: the driver out through the front windshield and using the 75 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: man's body to beat the gunner into unconsciousness. Roland tore 76 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: the vehicle's twenty millimeter cannon free from its swivel mount 77 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: and sided in on the fleeing troops. His synapses promised 78 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 1: him more chemical rewards if only he'd pulled the trigger, 79 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: but something in Roland's forebrains stopped him. Under the joyous 80 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: miasma of the battle drugs, his conscience reasserted itself. He 81 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 1: lowered his weapon and watched as his enemies beat hell 82 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 1: for leather in the opposite direction. His hands shook, and 83 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,039 Speaker 1: he felt the first symptoms of withdrawal. As his heart 84 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,600 Speaker 1: rate dropped and the adrenaline drips stopped its flow, Roland 85 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: closed his eyes. He breathed in and out, and centered himself. 86 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 1: The crash came. Now that the fighting was done, Roland 87 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 1: had time to process the since data he'd pulled from 88 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,280 Speaker 1: his enemies. He knew what the driver he'd ripped out 89 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 1: of the windshield had eaten for breakfast. He knew which 90 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: of the militia he'd crippled were fathers. He knew which 91 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: had wives or at least girl friends. He could smell 92 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: traces of football leather on some of their hands. One 93 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: man he'd wrenched had smelled of rosin a violinist. Roland 94 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:57,920 Speaker 1: couldn't fight a man without learning much more about him 95 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: than any killer should know about their victims. That knowledge 96 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 1: crashed down on him in a hail storm of guilt. 97 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: Roland dropped the cannon into the truck's bed. He hopped down, 98 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:09,720 Speaker 1: pulled Sardar's wrench free from the wreck of the Second Technical, 99 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,359 Speaker 1: and headed back towards Biggsby and his squad with a 100 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: heavy heart. Madine and Asimee both looked pretty seriously wounded. 101 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: Biggsby was helping to carry them both back to the 102 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: APC while Will handled over watch with his grenade launcher. 103 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 1: Roland caught up with them and fell into step. Biggsby 104 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:27,800 Speaker 1: looked over at him and grunted, Are you gonna try 105 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: to take my nipple now? Roland shrugged. He wasn't in 106 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: the mood. His brain was in the dark, ugly place 107 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: it always went after a bloody fight, when the raw 108 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:38,599 Speaker 1: data about all the men he'd killed or battered lingered 109 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: in his brain like a fart in the back of 110 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: a hum v They reached the APC. Sardar gasped when 111 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: he saw them, Pedro vomited. Roland was confused until he 112 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: realized Biggsby and Will had also started to stare. Roland 113 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:53,480 Speaker 1: looked down at himself and saw that he looked like 114 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: a literal dead man walking. He'd been shot forty seven 115 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: times by his hindbrain's best count, and peppered with shrapnel. 116 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 1: Top of that, he had ribbs showing through holes blasted 117 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:05,279 Speaker 1: in his biceps, in his belly, and the bone on 118 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: his left thigh was completely exposed. It looks worse than 119 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: it is, Roland said, it looks like you should be 120 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:16,279 Speaker 1: dead about five times over, Sardar replied. Roland looked Sardar 121 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: up and down. His hind brain did the math eleven times. 122 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,119 Speaker 1: If I were you, Jesus, he handed Sarda the wrench, 123 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: now dented and bloodstained. A large clump of hair and 124 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: scalp was still stuck to the heel jaw. The mechanic 125 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:31,840 Speaker 1: took his tool with one hesitant hand. He stared at 126 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:34,119 Speaker 1: the gore on it until Biggsby started to yell again, 127 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: Oi fucos. In case you've forgotten, there's an army breathing 128 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: up our asses. Sar, you get to drive man, Sardar 129 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:42,919 Speaker 1: NodD at his head. Then let's get the wounded in 130 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: the cab and power the funk out of here. Will 131 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: stay on watch. Will grunted and jerked his head at Roland. 132 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: This funk erota cover us. He just took out half 133 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: a company on his lonesome. You trust him to watch 134 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 1: your six Biggsby, asked Roland. Only half heard them. He 135 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: stared off into the distance. We're his jaw and clenched 136 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: his left fist so hard his finger nails drew blood. 137 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: He was lost in his head, scanning scent memories and 138 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: analyzing the men he'd just beaten. He was drawn again 139 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: and again to the memory of one man in particular. 140 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: He'd worn a tattered U. S Army issue vest and 141 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:16,840 Speaker 1: an M sixteen that posed as much of a threat 142 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: to Rowland as a drunken hornet. He'd had the scent 143 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 1: of a woman on him. He wasn't alone in that, 144 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: but the rich wave of oxytocin that had poured off 145 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: him was intense and real. In his memory. The man's 146 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 1: face kept twisting and morphing into the face of Randall Wallace, 147 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: Roland started to cry. Bigsby and Sardar loaded Ryan, Nadine, 148 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:38,040 Speaker 1: and Asime into the transport. Will just stared at him, 149 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: his gaze locked on Roland's tears, as if each one 150 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:44,080 Speaker 1: were the lockneest monster. Roland didn't care. His hind brain 151 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: kept up its glitchy feet of data, a mix of 152 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 1: information on the men he'd just killed and the men 153 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: he'd killed years ago. Once the wounded were loaded up, 154 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: everyone filed into the Maddis APC. Will popped the top 155 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: hatch and sat Gunner with his grenade launcher. Inside the APC, 156 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 1: Bigsby and Pedro did their best version of first aid 157 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: on their wounded companions. There wasn't much for them to do, 158 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: though everyone in the squad had fairly advanced healing suites. 159 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: Roland trudged into the a PC and took his seat. 160 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: No one made eye contact with him. Sardark kicked it 161 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 1: into gear, and off they went. Waco had always been 162 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: one of the worst cities in Texas. In the late 163 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds, that had been a refuge for former Confederate loyalists. 164 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:32,440 Speaker 1: In the nineteen hundreds, that had developed a reputation as 165 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: a haven for coups and religious extremists. Caught between the 166 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:39,840 Speaker 1: economic powerhouse of Dallas and the relative cultural mecca of Austin. 167 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: Waco was a second rate college town at best, and 168 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: at worst, a meth filled rest stop between Texas's good cities. 169 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: The revolution had changed that. After the lake would blast, 170 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:54,680 Speaker 1: Dallas had bled sixty percent of its population. Most of 171 00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: those people had fled to Austin since constant flooding had 172 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:00,840 Speaker 1: rendered much of Houston uninhabitable, but half a million of 173 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: them ish had swelled Waco into something resembling a worthwhile 174 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,439 Speaker 1: place to exist. The city had thrived in the post 175 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:12,000 Speaker 1: revolutionary years. It was nominally controlled by the Austin regional government, 176 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: and so it had been spared the worst of the 177 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: Republic of Texas's corruption. But now it looked like Waco 178 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:21,359 Speaker 1: would be the next city eaten by the expanding Heavenly Kingdom. 179 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: Roland could smell the stink of fear in the air 180 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: when they were still a half dozen miles out from 181 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,839 Speaker 1: the city limits. Once they hit the city proper, their 182 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:33,400 Speaker 1: convoy halted at a military checkpoint. Power armored Austin Republican 183 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: guardsmen opened the side hatch of the Maddis a PC 184 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,720 Speaker 1: and inspected the squad bigsby spoke for them, beamed over 185 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:42,439 Speaker 1: some credentials from the SDF, and they were waved in. 186 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 1: They stopped at a fueling depot with the rest of 187 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:47,679 Speaker 1: the SDF column, and Roland hopped out of the a 188 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 1: PC to stretch his legs and roll another blunt. He 189 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: picked a cherry apple rap he dipped in a vat 190 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 1: of extra strength hydrocodone syrup earlier that morning. As he 191 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 1: rolled it tight and sealed the scene with his saliva, 192 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: he watched the stf unload hundreds of wounded warriors from 193 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: half tracks and a PC's in the beds of flatbed trucks. 194 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: Many of the walking men and women looked wounded too. 195 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: Most of the vehicles were damaged. Roland lit the blunt 196 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:15,400 Speaker 1: and stared off towards Dallas. It was still early in 197 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:17,959 Speaker 1: the morning, and the sky was streaked with red and orange. 198 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:21,079 Speaker 1: On the horizon, black smoke rose to meet the sunrise. 199 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:24,200 Speaker 1: Rowland was struck with a powerful sense of dejah vou. 200 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:27,120 Speaker 1: This wasn't the first time he'd watched a great city 201 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: burn in the light of the rising sun. According to 202 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 1: his hind brain, it was around the thirtieth time. He 203 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: recalled a few of those cities Denver, Baltimore, d C. Richmond, 204 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: but the particulars of each calamity were lost to his memory. 205 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: He wondered, not for the first time, if his broken 206 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: brain might be a blessing boy it was, Sardar. He 207 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: approached from the rear and stepped up to Roland's right side. 208 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:53,560 Speaker 1: Rowland offered the mechanic his blunt, now half smoked, and 209 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: Sardar accepted it. He drew in a deep lungful of 210 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:59,960 Speaker 1: medicated smoke, held it in his lungs for three long seconds, 211 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:02,679 Speaker 1: and then exhaled with only a small fit of coughing. 212 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 1: It tastes like fucking cough, Sarah man. Yep. Roland agreed, 213 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 1: there's enough opiates on that to kill a small cat. 214 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:15,079 Speaker 1: That's a weird thing to say. Yep, Roland agreed. Sardar 215 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:17,160 Speaker 1: took a second hit and then passed the blunt back 216 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 1: to Roland. They stood in companionable silence for a minute 217 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:23,120 Speaker 1: and watched the distant smoke mingle with the morning light. 218 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 1: Sardar spoke first, Jim's on his way out here. He's 219 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,840 Speaker 1: flying in with three more squads. Austin's approved emergency funding 220 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:33,680 Speaker 1: to stabilize the front. Apparently a chunk of that's coming 221 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:37,920 Speaker 1: our way. Grats, said Roland. Then he asked, what's the 222 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:43,160 Speaker 1: money mean, do you? Sardar shrugged, Cascadia. Probably been saving 223 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:46,000 Speaker 1: for a couple of years. Now, fifty grand buy residency. 224 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: Another hundred grand or so to set me up for 225 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: the first year while I find work. Roland finished another 226 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:53,720 Speaker 1: deep poll on the blunt and offered it to Sardar. 227 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 1: The other man declined with a polite wave of his hand. 228 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:00,679 Speaker 1: Now thanks. Roland puffed again and asked, so, what's the 229 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 1: Pacific Northwest got that you want the future? Sardar said, 230 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,560 Speaker 1: I mean, that's what it always meant my head. I 231 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:09,720 Speaker 1: grew up in al Passo, got trained up by that 232 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: army blooded in their first little civil war, the a 233 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: Albuquerque Secession. Right, Sardar nodded. Didn't see much action then, 234 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:20,439 Speaker 1: but I got Jim's attention. He made me an offer 235 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,640 Speaker 1: when my term of service expired. The idea was I'd 236 00:12:23,679 --> 00:12:25,840 Speaker 1: be with him for five years and retire with enough 237 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: money to make a new start out west. I always 238 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:31,280 Speaker 1: dreamed of a life in Portland. It seems nice there, 239 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:35,120 Speaker 1: it is. Roland agreed, or at least I got nice memories. 240 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:37,520 Speaker 1: I met a girl out there when I was younger. 241 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: I remember watching the fog rolland with her he ran 242 00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:42,880 Speaker 1: a hand over the stubble on his head. It was 243 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:44,959 Speaker 1: weird to him that he'd been given so much control 244 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:47,600 Speaker 1: over his bodily functions, and yet he still found himself 245 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,880 Speaker 1: making nervous gestures. For some reason, talking about her made 246 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:53,560 Speaker 1: him want to cover his face. The impulse was wired 247 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:56,559 Speaker 1: into him deeper than the carbon fiber that laced his bones. 248 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:01,320 Speaker 1: That er sounds tough, Sardar said. He managed to look 249 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:04,920 Speaker 1: concerned without showing pity. I can't imagine having all these 250 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 1: memories floating around with no through line to connect them together. 251 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:13,000 Speaker 1: It must hurt, Roland shrugged. What hurts most is knowing 252 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:16,560 Speaker 1: that it should hurt more. I don't remember enough to 253 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,600 Speaker 1: give the pain its proper due. They were quiet for 254 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 1: a bit. Roland finished the blunt and put it out 255 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: on his right and next finger, Sardar pulled a bronze 256 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: flask out from his jacket pocket, took a belt, and 257 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:31,320 Speaker 1: then offered it to Roland. It was Lafroy whiskey. Even 258 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:33,600 Speaker 1: if he hadn't been chromeed to the gills, Rowland would 259 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:36,440 Speaker 1: have recognized that smell from three feet away. He took 260 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:39,120 Speaker 1: a gulp from the flask and passed it back. Sardar 261 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:43,720 Speaker 1: broke the silence again. Look, maybe I'm reading things wrong, 262 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:46,839 Speaker 1: but we've got some tents set up near the a PC. 263 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:50,480 Speaker 1: You up for a fuck? Roland looked the man up 264 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 1: and down again. Sardar was a good looking guy, short, 265 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:56,760 Speaker 1: broad and muscular, with a neat trimmed beard and curly 266 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:02,000 Speaker 1: black hair. Yeah, all right, it was pretty good sex. 267 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:04,719 Speaker 1: Nothing to blow Roland's mind, but the release provided a 268 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:08,199 Speaker 1: quantum of chill to calm the pangs of memory. Afterwards, 269 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:12,559 Speaker 1: Sardar fell asleep, nuzzled into his shoulder. Roland didn't particularly 270 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,280 Speaker 1: feel like cuddling, but he since the other man needed 271 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: the human contact, so he laid there with him for 272 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: a couple of hours, rolled and smoked two more blunts, 273 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:22,840 Speaker 1: and tried not to think about the lives he'd ended 274 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:26,360 Speaker 1: that morning. A little afternoon, Biggsby came by and knocked 275 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: on the tent flap Czar, Roland, elife's here, clean up, ye, 276 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 1: fuck stenk and meet us by the a PC. They 277 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: did five minutes later, the whole squad had assembled around 278 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:40,360 Speaker 1: the maddis. Ryan looked more or less recovered from his injuries, 279 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 1: Asimee also seemed good as new. Nadine was still pretty 280 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:46,520 Speaker 1: bandaged and her eyes were litted and unfocussed from blood 281 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 1: loss and opiates. Will had brewed up a large French 282 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:52,440 Speaker 1: press of coffee. He busied himself pouring measures of it 283 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: out into himp foam cups. Roland took one and drained 284 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: it in a single mighty gulp. It was proper post 285 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:02,080 Speaker 1: human strength coffee. The caffeine rush mingled with the opiates 286 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 1: and THHC already flooding his synapses, and brought him to 287 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:09,320 Speaker 1: a lovely, half lucid state of quasi awareness. Did you 288 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:12,280 Speaker 1: guys fuck? Pedro finally asked, after about a minute of 289 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 1: staring at Roland and Tardar and asking the same question 290 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: with his eyes. Yes. Biggsby and Nadine both replied. Sardar 291 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:22,280 Speaker 1: laughed at that, so did Rowland. For one beautiful moment 292 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:24,640 Speaker 1: he felt nice, a kind of nice he was pretty 293 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 1: sure he hadn't felt in a long time. And then 294 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:32,800 Speaker 1: came a familiar pattern of bootsteps, tickling, Roland's ears. Jim 295 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: Roland turned just as Jim walked into view. His legs 296 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 1: were covered by a pair of armored red leather chaps. 297 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,520 Speaker 1: His groin was wrapped up in a thick kevlar thong, 298 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: but his penis and ass were otherwise unguarded. He wore 299 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,440 Speaker 1: a double shoulder holster with a pair of bone handled 300 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: wheelguns under his arms. The snake tattoos on Jim's chest 301 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:55,200 Speaker 1: and shoulders danced to a melody Rowland eventually recognized as Lakucaracha. 302 00:15:56,200 --> 00:16:00,200 Speaker 1: Your ink looks good today, boss, said, Bigsby asked liquor, said, 303 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,480 Speaker 1: Sardar takes one to no one. I don't lick ass, 304 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 1: Sarda replied haughtily. I eat it like a starving hyena. 305 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:10,360 Speaker 1: More laughter and another fleeting moment of community that was 306 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 1: broken when Jim addressed the squad. All right, so several 307 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,040 Speaker 1: bunks have been hummed here. This heavenly Kingdom's got at 308 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: least ten thousand effectives in theater with Almah artillery drones 309 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 1: the works. A new employer, Austin has about three thousand 310 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:28,360 Speaker 1: fighters here in Waco, plus now the fifteen au Lot 311 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:31,640 Speaker 1: I flew in with AJAX and flooring. They're prepping their 312 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 1: squads now. Bigsby spat Ajax fights about as well as 313 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,960 Speaker 1: a drunk dog in a burlap sack. Will replied, you 314 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 1: just saying that because he choked you out in the 315 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 1: blood Dume last year. Biggsby responded with a middle finger. Ahem. 316 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: Jim hemmed, plenty of time for Dick, measuring later, time 317 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: enough for the rest of you. At least this city 318 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:53,560 Speaker 1: doesn't have a ruler long enough for my dick. He 319 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 1: paused for a laugh. No one obliged. Jim rolled his eyes, 320 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:00,960 Speaker 1: ass holes. So look, we're in a bad position with 321 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,480 Speaker 1: funk All for reinforcements coming in. Austin might be able 322 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 1: to scrape up a couple of Italians if they suddenly 323 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,919 Speaker 1: clear out the Houston front, but that don't look likely. 324 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:14,119 Speaker 1: Enemy has another ten thousand men there. Fuck. Startar was 325 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 1: the only one to actually say it, but everyone else 326 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: in the group mouth the word or some equivalent curse. 327 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: How is that even possible? As Amee's voice was still 328 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: a little slurred from the painkillers, but her eyes were 329 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: focused now. Jim shrugged hard to say exactly masked affections 330 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:32,720 Speaker 1: from the Republic at Texas Intel suspects the u c 331 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:36,159 Speaker 1: S probably sent in some spec ops guys. I don't know, 332 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: some sort of skulduggerous bullshit went down. The how of 333 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,680 Speaker 1: it ain't really our problem today, but now we've got 334 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 1: to deal with the reality. The snakes on Jim's torso 335 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:49,120 Speaker 1: stopped writhing. He locked eyes with Roland, and Rowland felt 336 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:52,160 Speaker 1: compelled to meet his old friend's gaze. Can we count 337 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,760 Speaker 1: on your help? Jim asked, fuck no. Roland said, I've 338 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:58,080 Speaker 1: killed enough naive young men today. I don't aim to 339 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:03,159 Speaker 1: kill anymore. To his rise, Jim nodded an acceptance, understandable. 340 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 1: This kind of fighting was a violation of our contract. 341 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:09,119 Speaker 1: I regret that, Rowland. If I'd known this was going 342 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,119 Speaker 1: to be a meat grinder, I wouldn't have interrupted your retirement. 343 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,119 Speaker 1: Roland wasn't sure he believed that, but he kept his 344 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:18,439 Speaker 1: mouth shut as Jim continued, I'd like to propose a 345 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: renegotiation of our contract in a lot of the changing 346 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,680 Speaker 1: situation on the ground. I'm not blowing anything else up 347 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:28,639 Speaker 1: for you. That's fine. Jim put his hands out in 348 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:30,919 Speaker 1: the sort of placating gesture one would use on an 349 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,240 Speaker 1: angry dog. I don't need you killing us. I need 350 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 1: you sneakiness. You can still take faces right. Roland's memories 351 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:40,560 Speaker 1: of his time in the army were as patchy as 352 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:43,960 Speaker 1: his memories of everything else. He didn't remember much about 353 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:45,879 Speaker 1: how they'd used him, but he knew that some of 354 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:47,879 Speaker 1: the wet where they'd installed in him allowed him to 355 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 1: modify his skin and bone structure to full facial recognition scanners, 356 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:55,720 Speaker 1: thumb print readers, and of course human beings. Yes, he said, 357 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,880 Speaker 1: but Jim cut him off. You don't need to kill anyone. 358 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:03,439 Speaker 1: The face you'll need is already dead. And what do 359 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: you want me to do with this man's face that 360 00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:08,639 Speaker 1: isn't more murder? Jim's lips curled up into a grin. 361 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:12,760 Speaker 1: The expression sent shivers arching down Roland's spine. He felt 362 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: like he'd seen that grin before. Never proceeding good things. 363 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: Rolling Fuck is near by and in the city of 364 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:23,199 Speaker 1: Wheels a six hundred or so real scary bastards. I 365 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 1: have it on good authority that they'd be happy to 366 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: throw down on our side. But it turns out some 367 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,320 Speaker 1: of the negotiators were captured back at the start all 368 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,280 Speaker 1: this ship. No one in the city will risk fighting 369 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:38,439 Speaker 1: until they pulled out safely. Roland raised an eyebrow. So 370 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 1: a rescue mission, then that's right, Jim grinned in a 371 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:47,000 Speaker 1: way Roland didn't quite trust you'll be saving lives. Roland's 372 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:49,880 Speaker 1: gut twisted into knots. The shades of a thousand Memories 373 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: spoke up and warned him not to trust Jim at 374 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,200 Speaker 1: his word. But those shades also drove him to take 375 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 1: Jim up on the offer. He wanted his memories back. 376 00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: Jim smiled that hackle, Ray and smile again. You don't 377 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,320 Speaker 1: have to agree and come to rolland Funk with me. 378 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:07,119 Speaker 1: We'll talk things over with the Eldas. You can do 379 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 1: some of the fancy space drugs, and then you can 380 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:13,600 Speaker 1: make your decision. All right, rolland Side, but only because 381 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 1: you said fancy space drugs. They flew to Rolling Funk 382 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:27,639 Speaker 1: in Jim's hellicraft. It had been military issue originally, but 383 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:30,879 Speaker 1: the interior had been redone to Jim's tastes. That mostly 384 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:33,000 Speaker 1: meant a lot of the lure and a full wet bar. 385 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:35,440 Speaker 1: There were four beers on tap just to the right 386 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,359 Speaker 1: of a double barreled thirty five millimeter grenade launcher mounted 387 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 1: beside the door. Roland drank for the duration of the 388 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: ten minute flight. You know, Jim said, Topez lives there now, 389 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:50,439 Speaker 1: been with the city a while Topaz, Roland asked. Something 390 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:53,320 Speaker 1: shuddered in his gut. He felt his hippocampus flicker with 391 00:20:53,359 --> 00:20:56,040 Speaker 1: the dim light of recognition. He saw that face again, 392 00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:58,119 Speaker 1: the woman from so many of his dreams and a 393 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:01,080 Speaker 1: few of his shattered memories. That was her name, It 394 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:03,880 Speaker 1: felt right now that he knew it again. Do you 395 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 1: remember her at all, Roland, Jim asked, his voice uncharacteristically tender. 396 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:11,800 Speaker 1: Roland nodded and swirled the beer in his hands to 397 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:15,920 Speaker 1: buy some time. I remember snatches of her, he said, 398 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,840 Speaker 1: I remember loving her. I remember enough that it hurts sometimes. 399 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:22,720 Speaker 1: Mostly it hurts that I don't remember enough to be 400 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,359 Speaker 1: as sad as I ought to be. There was a 401 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 1: spark of real sorrow in Jim's eyes. The other man's 402 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: hand twitched in a way that made Roland think he 403 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 1: might have been about to reach out to him, but 404 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,160 Speaker 1: Jim kept his hand to himself. I'm not sure how 405 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,800 Speaker 1: much I should say, he said, I'm sorry. There was 406 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 1: something in Jim's face when he said that it resembled regret. 407 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:46,240 Speaker 1: Or guilt, but it passed quickly and nothing else was 408 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:48,960 Speaker 1: said during the flight. They landed on one of the 409 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:51,639 Speaker 1: top spires of Rolling Fuck, on a landing pad that 410 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:54,359 Speaker 1: doubled as a nude bar. He and Jim grabbed another 411 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,120 Speaker 1: round of drinks before they proceeded down through the infinite 412 00:21:57,119 --> 00:21:59,119 Speaker 1: party that was the City of Wheels and on to 413 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:01,880 Speaker 1: the top of the mad Roller. They grabbed another round 414 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 1: of drinks there and sat at the bar table while 415 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:06,639 Speaker 1: Jim waited for the word to go down. It was 416 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:09,280 Speaker 1: late afternoon by this point, and the evening had started 417 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:12,440 Speaker 1: to close in. The normal boiling Texas heat was cut 418 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 1: by a cool breeze. White clouds rolled in around them. 419 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 1: Roland's hindbrain told him there was at best a twelve 420 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 1: percent chance of rain, but the clouds were still welcome. 421 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:23,960 Speaker 1: He and Jim drank in silence for a few minutes 422 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:26,520 Speaker 1: until the other man tapped his shoulder and said, they 423 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:29,720 Speaker 1: are ready for us. They stood a bit unsteadily and 424 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,640 Speaker 1: headed towards the ladder down into the main roller. They 425 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 1: reached the ladder just as two other people came up it, 426 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:38,119 Speaker 1: a man and a woman. The man's face triggered a 427 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 1: flurry of memory fragments, fighting back to back in the 428 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: choking streets of Baltimore, drinking heavily on the edge of 429 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:46,520 Speaker 1: a canyon in the Arizona Desert, charging a riot line 430 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: with pipes and hammers in their hands. A name bubbled 431 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 1: up from inside the memories. Mike, he shouted, before he 432 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: really thought about it. Hey, brother, schofucker, Mike Froze. Roland 433 00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 1: was already half way to a hug when he realized 434 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: Mike wasn't feeling it. And then he caught his first 435 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:05,359 Speaker 1: good look at the woman coming up the ladder behind him. 436 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 1: She had short, cropped teal hair, damascene fangs, and eyes 437 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 1: so loud he could almost hear her thoughts, Topaz. She 438 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:16,399 Speaker 1: started to say his name, and then her voice caught 439 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: He heard the ghost of tears beneath it, and then 440 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:24,639 Speaker 1: she finished, Roland, Yes, he said, not sure of what 441 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:29,640 Speaker 1: else to say. Do you remember me? No, he admitted. 442 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:32,679 Speaker 1: Part of him wanted to lie, but he couldn't. The 443 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:34,880 Speaker 1: broken scraps that remained of his love for her made 444 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,919 Speaker 1: it impossible. So we gave the honest answer, and he 445 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 1: watched her die a little inside. Topaz nodded, she closed 446 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:44,240 Speaker 1: her eyes for a second, bit down on her bottom lip, 447 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:46,400 Speaker 1: and then she put a quick hand on Mike's shoulder 448 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,199 Speaker 1: before she walked away up one of the gantries and 449 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:52,920 Speaker 1: into the chaos night of rolling fuck. Roland looked to Mike, 450 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:58,879 Speaker 1: I'm sorry, skullfucker. Mike smiled sadly back, I know, buddy, 451 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,800 Speaker 1: and then he left two. Roland felt confusion and a 452 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:05,159 Speaker 1: distant hurt. He had a feeling that he should have 453 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:08,439 Speaker 1: been crying, but for some reason he couldn't, and so 454 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:11,679 Speaker 1: he didn't. Instead, he took a fistful of OxyContin and 455 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:15,960 Speaker 1: stumbled down the ladder following Jim rolling Fox. Conference room 456 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:20,360 Speaker 1: was sumptuous, elegant, and surprisingly professional. Two old people sat 457 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: at the far end of the conference table. Roland had 458 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,720 Speaker 1: a vague memory tingle of having met the man before, 459 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,400 Speaker 1: long ago, but neither of their faces brought a name 460 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,320 Speaker 1: to his mind. Jim introduced them, but their names fled 461 00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:34,120 Speaker 1: his head a few seconds later. In fact, the first 462 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,879 Speaker 1: minute or so of conversation flowed around him in an 463 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:39,800 Speaker 1: indistinct haze that may have had something to do with 464 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:42,560 Speaker 1: a soft ball sized mass of oxycontent he'd eaten as 465 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,560 Speaker 1: he'd climbed down the ladder with Jim. Roland had assumed 466 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 1: the drugs would help him focus through the boredom. Apparently 467 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:53,560 Speaker 1: he'd miscalculated. Okay, so the old lady said, with a 468 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,199 Speaker 1: hint of finality, that's the situation we're in. Are you 469 00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:00,640 Speaker 1: willing to help us in response? Role and blacked out 470 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:03,399 Speaker 1: just for a few seconds. He was reawokened by the 471 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,320 Speaker 1: thud of his head hitting the conference room table. Fuck, 472 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:09,120 Speaker 1: that's good oxy. He wished he could remember where he'd 473 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:13,919 Speaker 1: gotten it. Oh, dear, said the lady. He's fun, Jim sighed, 474 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,720 Speaker 1: but we've probably gone a need to start over. The 475 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:21,439 Speaker 1: lady brought him some coffee and reintroduced herself as Nana Yazzi. 476 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:24,680 Speaker 1: Thanks to the coffee and Roland's clearing head, her name stuck. 477 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,359 Speaker 1: This time. It was hard not to marvel at her age, 478 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:30,439 Speaker 1: and harder still to stop his hindbrain from calculating how 479 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:34,280 Speaker 1: much longer till her human heart gave out. Roland smelled 480 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:38,280 Speaker 1: cancer on the old man, not serious cancer, nothing basic 481 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:40,879 Speaker 1: medicine couldn't handle, but all the same, the odor that 482 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:43,679 Speaker 1: wafted off him brought Roland a sort of primal discomfort. 483 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:45,920 Speaker 1: Or maybe it was the old man's eyes that made 484 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:48,639 Speaker 1: his guts warble. It was hard to say. There was 485 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:52,280 Speaker 1: something disconcerting in the way he looked at Roland Rowland, 486 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,119 Speaker 1: Jim shouted. Roland shook himself out of the haze and 487 00:25:55,119 --> 00:26:00,480 Speaker 1: refocused on Nana Yazzi. Sorry, he grunted. It's fine, she said, 488 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:03,560 Speaker 1: and set into her spiel again. She showed him pictures 489 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,760 Speaker 1: of her captured friends, explained the dire situation in North 490 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:09,480 Speaker 1: Texas and the doom that marched towards Waco and Austin. 491 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:12,400 Speaker 1: It was a sad story, but not one that compelled 492 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,679 Speaker 1: Roland to action. Other than Topaz and Skullfucker Mike, the 493 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,920 Speaker 1: citizens of Rolling Funk were total strangers to him. Austin 494 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 1: was just another little ailing republic in a continent full 495 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:24,680 Speaker 1: of them. I'm sorry for your people, he told her. 496 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:26,880 Speaker 1: And I'm sorry for Austin, but I really don't see 497 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,920 Speaker 1: how any of this is MI damn business. Jim took 498 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:34,119 Speaker 1: those words as his cue. Toullian Topaz are close, said Jim. 499 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:37,560 Speaker 1: His voice was low, his tone smooth. The silk like 500 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:41,320 Speaker 1: sisters from what I hear, Marigold vouched for Topaz and 501 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:44,160 Speaker 1: Skullfunk A Mike when they joined the city. She's all 502 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 1: funked up over this, from what I hear, he added, 503 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:50,960 Speaker 1: so let her do something about it. Then Roland muttered, 504 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,399 Speaker 1: she's got enough chrome to choke a river ship. The 505 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,000 Speaker 1: city's got enough monster people to burn the eastern seaboard. 506 00:26:56,160 --> 00:26:59,360 Speaker 1: What do you need me? Because the Mata's aren't stupid, 507 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:02,919 Speaker 1: Jim sa. They are scanning for chrome, for bile mods 508 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:05,920 Speaker 1: for everything but the ship you've got, because no one 509 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:09,920 Speaker 1: left alive as packing the ship you've got, Roland grunted again. 510 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:13,560 Speaker 1: His nostrils flared. There was something strange about the words 511 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:17,119 Speaker 1: Jim had chosen. No one left alive? Had there been others? 512 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:19,640 Speaker 1: He knew his mods had come courtesy of the old 513 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,320 Speaker 1: U S Defense Department, but he didn't remember which unit 514 00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 1: he'd been a part of, or what he'd done. There 515 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:27,159 Speaker 1: was a bit of memory, hazy and fragmented, that popped 516 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:29,760 Speaker 1: into his dreams from time to time. He was stuck 517 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:32,399 Speaker 1: inside a long, cool metal pod. The cold black of 518 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:35,480 Speaker 1: space unfolded around him. Roland felt warm bodies to his 519 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:38,720 Speaker 1: left and right, smelled the comforting sense of men he trusted. 520 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:41,600 Speaker 1: Red lights blinked above his field of vision. Something tugged 521 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:43,880 Speaker 1: at his belly. There was a powerful feeling of inertia. 522 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,520 Speaker 1: Roland closed his eyes, leaned forward, pinched the bridge of 523 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 1: his nose, and groaned just a little bit. When he 524 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,000 Speaker 1: came back up, Nana Yazi stared at him in confusion. 525 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: Jim looked, perhaps worried. It was hard to tell with 526 00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:59,399 Speaker 1: that guy. What's gonna happen if I don't do it? 527 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: He Nana Yazzi to you nothing, Roland shook his head. 528 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 1: Not to me. What are you guys gonna do if 529 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 1: I don't help? Oh, she frowned. I suppose we'll have 530 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 1: to mount an assault, send in a small team, four 531 00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:16,480 Speaker 1: or six commandos and try to pull them out. It'll 532 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:19,800 Speaker 1: be bloody, Jim said. The old man frowned at that. 533 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:22,200 Speaker 1: He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, 534 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:24,200 Speaker 1: but the lady put her hand on his and gave 535 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,880 Speaker 1: him a significant look. That's true, she said, it will 536 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,399 Speaker 1: be bloody. Roland felt a twinge of anger, but he 537 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: couldn't blame Nana Yazzi for trying to manipulate him. The 538 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: lives of her friends were on the line. Roland knew himself, though, 539 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: and he knew that missions like this always went wrong. 540 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: If he took this job, Roland knew he'd take more lives. 541 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:48,680 Speaker 1: You'll save lives by being there, Jim insisted, smiling that 542 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:52,200 Speaker 1: fucking smile. Roland was sure that smile had tricked him 543 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:55,400 Speaker 1: into dumb, violent things in the past. You're the only 544 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:57,800 Speaker 1: one who can handle this with a minimum of death. 545 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 1: Roland didn't believe that, and at the same time he 546 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,080 Speaker 1: had to admit it was technically true. He just didn't 547 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:08,400 Speaker 1: trust himself, or reality or Jim. And yet I'll do it, 548 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:11,360 Speaker 1: he said. I'm sure I'll regret agreeing to do it, 549 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 1: but whatever, I'll do it. Jim looked satisfied with himself. 550 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:20,480 Speaker 1: Nanayazi looked relieved. The old man looked somehow angry. Most 551 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,400 Speaker 1: of Rowland's reason for agreeing to help came down to Topaz. 552 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:26,200 Speaker 1: He hated to admit that, even to himself, but it 553 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 1: was true. The thought of her in pain twisted something 554 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 1: in the center of his heart. He wasn't used to 555 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 1: pain there, and his tolerance was pretty low. This is 556 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:37,560 Speaker 1: so dumb, he told himself. You couldn't even remember her 557 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:40,160 Speaker 1: name this morning. He and Jim and the old woman 558 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 1: shook hands on the deal. Then they let him loosen 559 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:45,200 Speaker 1: their city, to imbibe and fornicate and test the limits 560 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 1: of his wet wear. We have things to plan, she said. Hey, everybody, 561 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:56,960 Speaker 1: Robert Evans here. I hope you just enjoyed the chapter 562 00:29:57,080 --> 00:29:59,400 Speaker 1: you listen to. I hope you enjoyed the chapters to come. 563 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,080 Speaker 1: If you would like to read the text version of 564 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:04,480 Speaker 1: this book either on the web or on your e 565 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:06,920 Speaker 1: reader as an e pub, you can find those on 566 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:10,760 Speaker 1: the website a t r book dot com. So again, 567 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:14,000 Speaker 1: the free ad free e pub and the text of 568 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:17,200 Speaker 1: every chapter will be on a t r book dot com. 569 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 1: Thanks