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Speaker 1: Make sure to check out Drink Champs, your number one

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Speaker 1: music podcast. On the Black Effect Podcast Network, host n O.

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Speaker 1: R E and d J E f N sat down

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Speaker 1: with artists and icon Yea, which Vulture called one of

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Speaker 1: most significant interviews. I literally had to go like Danos

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Speaker 1: and I don't want to have to be the villain.

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Speaker 1: But when I went and did the Dawnda thing, Yea

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Speaker 1: returned and anybody had to sit back and watch the

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Speaker 1: real leader. Check out Drink Champs conversation with Yea and

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Speaker 1: many more legendary artists each and every Friday on the

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Speaker 1: I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen

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Speaker 1: to your favorite shows. The art world, it is essentially

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Speaker 1: a money laundering business. The best fakes are still hanging

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Speaker 1: on people's walls. You know they don't even know or

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Speaker 1: suspect that their fakes. I'm at like Baldwin, and this

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Speaker 1: is a podcast about deception, greed, and forgery in the

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Speaker 1: art world. I just walked in and saw this bright

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Speaker 1: red painting presuming to be a rothco. Of course, art

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Speaker 1: forgeries only happen because there's money to be made, a

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Speaker 1: lot of money. I'm listening to what they're paying for

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Speaker 1: each thing. It was an incredible mans of money. You

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Speaker 1: knew the painting was fake. Um Listen to Art Fraud.

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Speaker 1: Starting February one on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts, Executive producer Paris Hilton

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Speaker 1: brings back the hit podcast How Men Think. And that's

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Speaker 1: good news for anyone that is confused by men, which

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Speaker 1: is basically everyone. It's real talk, straight from the source.

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Speaker 1: How Men Think podcast is exactly what we need to

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Speaker 1: figure them out. It's going to be fun, informative, and

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Speaker 1: probably a bit scary at times because we're literally going

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Speaker 1: inside the minds of men. Listen to How Men Thing

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Speaker 1: on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. Chapter twelve, Sasha the Lord did

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Speaker 1: not mean for Sasha to be a cleaner. That was

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Speaker 1: her first big lesson as a citizen of the Heavenly Kingdom.

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Speaker 1: She was good enough at it, and she had too

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Speaker 1: much self respect to complain, but the work felt so

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Speaker 1: unrewarding that she knew it must not be what God

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Speaker 1: wanted for her. She'd spent her first night in the

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Speaker 1: Kingdom being pampered and provided for by her fellow sisters,

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Speaker 1: in the faith. They'd fed her, cleaned her, found her

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Speaker 1: fresh clothes, and given her all the emotional rewards she

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Speaker 1: could have ever wanted. And then the next day, Helen

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Speaker 1: had woken her up at seven in the morning to

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Speaker 1: help clean out an old Republic barracks that was being

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Speaker 1: transitioned over to housing for soldiers of the Heavenly Kingdom.

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Speaker 1: She knew it was honorable work, she knew it was

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Speaker 1: necessary work, and she knew from the issues of Revelator

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Speaker 1: she'd read that establishing the Kingdom of Heaven was a

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Speaker 1: job that would not be accomplished easily or without pain.

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Speaker 1: She'd accepted this when she'd made the choice to venture

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Speaker 1: down here, but by the time she'd scrubbed her twelfth

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Speaker 1: the toilet of the day, Sasha had decided that her

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Speaker 1: mind and her loyalty were better used elsewhere. Oddly enough,

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Speaker 1: something her father had told her about the corporate world

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Speaker 1: stopped her from whining. Never complain, never speak ill of

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Speaker 1: your colleagues, and always ask if there's more work you

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Speaker 1: can do. It had been his advice to survive and

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Speaker 1: thrive in business, but she took it to heart here,

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Speaker 1: and by the end of her first full day in

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Speaker 1: the kingdom. She'd scrubbed more toilets than any other girl.

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Speaker 1: She hated the work, but she also took up reverse

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Speaker 1: sort of pride in it. That brought a little guilt

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Speaker 1: because she wasn't here to serve her pride, but also

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Speaker 1: wouldn't the Lord God be happy to see her commitment.

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Speaker 1: I'll ask Helen about that, Sasha told herself. She'll tell

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Speaker 1: me how much of my pride is justified and how

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Speaker 1: much isn't. She didn't see Helen again until the end

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Speaker 1: of that day, when a truck came to gather all

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Speaker 1: the girls up and take them back to the House

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Speaker 1: of Miriam. They all washed up and then sat together

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Speaker 1: around a large oaken table while Helen led them in prayer.

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Speaker 1: She read a chunk of the Book of Isaiah and

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Speaker 1: then gave a quick lecture on the value of physical labor.

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Speaker 1: Each callous on your hands is a kiss from God,

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Speaker 1: before inviting them to tuck in. The dinner wasn't luxurious

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Speaker 1: by Sasha standards, just biscuits, a thin brown gravy, and

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Speaker 1: a palm sized slice of beef for each of them,

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Speaker 1: but they had oranges for dessert, which was a treat,

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Speaker 1: and Sasha felt more comfortable than she'd ever have believed.

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Speaker 1: Among her new sisters, Caroline had fled from Florida, North

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Speaker 1: America's Bananaist Republic. She'd been shot in the arm making

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Speaker 1: her way to the Heavenly Kingdom. She said almost nothing.

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Speaker 1: Sasha wasn't sure she even spoke English. But Caroline worked hard.

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Speaker 1: There was an intensity in her eyes that was a

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Speaker 1: little scary and humbling at the same time. Then there

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Speaker 1: was Susannah from the black Stone Nation. Sasha couldn't help

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Speaker 1: but notice she was the only black girl there. Susannah

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Speaker 1: had spent most of their work day singing to herself.

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Speaker 1: She had a beautiful singing voice. And then there were

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Speaker 1: the three other am fed girls, Emmeline, Rosie, and Anne.

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Speaker 1: They had all left a few weeks before Sasha had

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Speaker 1: made her own journey. Anne had actually gone to the

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Speaker 1: same middle school as Sasha. She wasn't great with names,

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Speaker 1: so most of the other girls in her group were

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Speaker 1: still more of a collection of smiling faces than real

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Speaker 1: people at this point. But they'd all been so warm

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Speaker 1: to her. There was a real effort from all of

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Speaker 1: them to make regular physical contact. They put hands on

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Speaker 1: each other's shoulders, and cheeks they hugged constantly. Sasha experienced

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Speaker 1: more touching in her first twenty four hours here than

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Speaker 1: she'd experienced in her last five years in the American Federation.

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Speaker 1: There was something intoxicating about being touched and feeling so

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Speaker 1: cared for. The only girl she didn't like was May.

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Speaker 1: Like Sasha, May was within spitting distance of age eighteen,

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Speaker 1: She'd fled from the UCS, and she had a gift

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Speaker 1: for letting people around her know when they fell short

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Speaker 1: of God's standards. During their work day, she'd spent more

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Speaker 1: time policing the other girl's posture than she'd spent scrubbing toilets.

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Speaker 1: When Anne had hitched up her shirt sleeves. It was

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Speaker 1: May who had scolded her for a modesty. When Susannah

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Speaker 1: took off her shoes and socks during their lunch break,

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Speaker 1: May had yelled that she was an unfair temptation to

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Speaker 1: the young soldiers walking by on the street. Sasha knew

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Speaker 1: it was unfair and definitely Unchristian to feel this way,

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Speaker 1: but May looked like someone who lived to tell other

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Speaker 1: people what to do. She had the pinched features, squinting eyes,

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Speaker 1: and high pitched voice of a born snitch. May kept

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Speaker 1: her hair tied up in a bun so tight and

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Speaker 1: short it looked military. She never smiled and never seemed

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Speaker 1: to relax, And there was something about the frenzied way

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Speaker 1: she'd pray alone quietly in the corner throughout the day

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Speaker 1: that made Sasha leery. She hated that she'd noticed those things.

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Speaker 1: She knew God didn't want her focusing on what other

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Speaker 1: people were doing wrong. And besides, she told herself, what

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Speaker 1: are you really angry about that? She's too serious about

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Speaker 1: her faith. Isn't that way you left home? Gluttony is

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Speaker 1: a sin too, you know, May said. Sasha realized with

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Speaker 1: a start that May had addressed her. She had been

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Speaker 1: eating her orange and absent minded and tired after a

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Speaker 1: long day of labor. She hadn't realized how messy she'd

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Speaker 1: been about peeling it. Her hands and sleeves were covered

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Speaker 1: with a sticky juice. She looked around at the table

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Speaker 1: and noticed that the other girls had been much more

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Speaker 1: careful with their dessert. Sorry, Sasha started, I wasn't thinking.

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Speaker 1: May rolled her eyes and started to say something else,

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Speaker 1: but Helen cut her off. It's quite all right, dear.

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Speaker 1: None of us is perfect. She cast a reproach for

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Speaker 1: lie at May, and we all lose ourselves and thoughts, sometimes,

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Speaker 1: especially in the wake of great change. The Lord understands.

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Speaker 1: She looked out to the rest of the table with

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Speaker 1: a gaze that seemed to take in each of the

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Speaker 1: girls collectively and individually. Then she spoke, we are all

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Speaker 1: here because we recognize the primacy of God's word on earth.

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Speaker 1: But we are no more perfect and no more beloved

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Speaker 1: by our Lord than the enemies we face. Never forget that, girls,

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Speaker 1: our foes, are as dear to Him as we are.

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Speaker 1: They must be purged when they seek to interfere with

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Speaker 1: God's will, But we should feel sorrow for such losses,

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Speaker 1: and we should never ever Her eyes went to May again,

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Speaker 1: let our fortune, in hearing God's word, bleat us of compassion,

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Speaker 1: or lead us to arrogance. Sasha's heart swelled at this.

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Speaker 1: She'd never admired a woman more. Helen had a way

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Speaker 1: of imparting wisdom without judgment, of shining a light on

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Speaker 1: the truth without seeming like it was her truth alone.

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Speaker 1: Helen wasn't a preacher, but Sasha had never heard anyone

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Speaker 1: speak the word of God with more conviction. After dinner,

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Speaker 1: they had an hour of free time to read their bibles,

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Speaker 1: share a few stories of their old lives, and drink

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Speaker 1: a single cup of sweet lemon tea. By nine o'clock

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Speaker 1: it was bedtime. Sasha was rankled a bit by the

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Speaker 1: fact that she and her fellow young women were being

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Speaker 1: ordered into bed at a set hour, but she was

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Speaker 1: so exhausted by her day of labor that she couldn't

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Speaker 1: work up much frustration over the mild injustice. Perhaps, when

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Speaker 1: she'd had more time to adjust, she'd bring this up

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Speaker 1: to Helen. She collapsed in her bunk bed, certain she'd

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Speaker 1: fall asleep in an instant. Instead, she lay awake for

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Speaker 1: the better part of an hour, thinking of Alexander. She'd

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Speaker 1: still heard nothing more from him or about him. She'd

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Speaker 1: asked Helen a couple of times today, and the older

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Speaker 1: woman had almost seemed gree Somehow, Sasha knew the anger

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Speaker 1: wasn't towards her, and that was doubly confusing Sasha. Anne's

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Speaker 1: voice broke her reverie. The other girl was situated just

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Speaker 1: below her on the bunk bed. Sasha was surprised to

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Speaker 1: hear her still awake. Yes, is something the matter? No,

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Speaker 1: Anne said, I just couldn't sleep. I thought maybe you

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Speaker 1: were awake too. I guess we're both in the same boat.

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Speaker 1: Then Sasha kept her voice low, more to avoid waking

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Speaker 1: any of the others than out of fear of breaking

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Speaker 1: the rules. In more ways than one, Anne said, I'm

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Speaker 1: waiting for a man I love too. Sasha's heart beat

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Speaker 1: a little faster. It was like that, with everything that

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Speaker 1: made her think of Alexander, her mind didn't need a

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Speaker 1: great deal of prodding to turn towards him. Your love

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Speaker 1: is at the front, to Sasha asked, I think so,

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Speaker 1: Anne said, I was lucky enough to get to see

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Speaker 1: him once I arrived in Kappel first, back before the

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Speaker 1: kingdom took Plaano. We met once then, and once more

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Speaker 1: after the city fell and they moved us into the

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Speaker 1: House of Miriam. Jealousy seized Sasha's heart. She tried to

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Speaker 1: replace it with gratitude in the Lord he'd send her

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Speaker 1: someone who can understand her pain and frustration. Wasn't that

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Speaker 1: a blessing? That must be hard for you, she said,

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Speaker 1: getting to see him and then being separated. The words

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Speaker 1: came out a bit stilted and cold. She hoped Anne

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Speaker 1: hadn't noticed it is, Anne said, but it isn't half

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Speaker 1: so rough her place as you're in. I can't imagine

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Speaker 1: how anxious you must be arriving here and not seeing him.

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Speaker 1: He's not the only reason I came, Sasha said, a

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Speaker 1: bit defensively. But yes, it's hard. I'm scared. I don't

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Speaker 1: know why I feel so silly, Admitting that it's certainly

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Speaker 1: not silly, Anne assured her, But I get it. Everyone

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Speaker 1: here is so focused on gratitude and God's wisdom. It

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Speaker 1: almost makes you feel like a traitor for feeling afraid

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Speaker 1: or unhappy. Anne's voice dropped a few decibels, as if

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Speaker 1: she was ashamed of her next words, I almost feel

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Speaker 1: like a liar when I smile. I don't think the

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Speaker 1: Lord wants us to be liars, Sasha said, But I

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Speaker 1: think happy or trying to seem happy is a sacrifice

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Speaker 1: we make for the kingdom. It helps keep everyone else

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Speaker 1: around us strong. Hmm, Anne said, and then yawned. Her

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Speaker 1: voice sounded heavy with sleep. There must have been something

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Speaker 1: contagious in the sound, because Sasha felt her own eyelids

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Speaker 1: start to droop. That's a nice way to look at it,

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Speaker 1: Anne said, I like the way you think, Sasha. Helen

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00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:25,480
Speaker 1: woke all of them up the next morning. She was

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Speaker 1: gentle with it, a hand on each girl's shoulder and

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00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:29,679
Speaker 1: a word in each of their ears, but there was

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00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,240
Speaker 1: no mistaking that she meant now. So Sasha got up

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00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:35,440
Speaker 1: her feet hit the floor just as Anne took her

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00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,959
Speaker 1: first steps forward towards the dining room. They all filed in,

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Speaker 1: silent and groggy. The girls took their breakfasts in the

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00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:45,120
Speaker 1: form of a thick, tasteless protein shake, and then they

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00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:48,200
Speaker 1: were loaded onto a heavy military looking bus and driven

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Speaker 1: off to a large, red brick office building. According to

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00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:54,080
Speaker 1: the bullet poxed signs, it had once been an administrative

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Speaker 1: building for the corporation that had run most of the

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Speaker 1: Republic schools. Sasha swept up bullet casings and added glass.

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Speaker 1: She scrubbed toilets and wiped the blood off the walls,

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Speaker 1: and tried not to think too hard about how it

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Speaker 1: had gotten there. Conversation wasn't forbidden, but there was a

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Speaker 1: lot of ground to cover, and May was quick to

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Speaker 1: scold anyone who dawdled. Sasha and Anne both kept moving,

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Speaker 1: but they passed each other in the halls often each

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Speaker 1: time the other girl would favor Sasha with a supportive smile,

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Speaker 1: and Sasha would return it. They broke for lunch a

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Speaker 1: little afternoon, stale cheese sandwiches and orange juice, but instead

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00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:28,559
Speaker 1: of getting back to work after their meal, they were

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00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:30,439
Speaker 1: met again by the bus that had taken them there.

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Speaker 1: They were told to file inside. Sasha wound up in

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Speaker 1: between Anne and Susannah in the middle row of the bus.

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00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:39,360
Speaker 1: It was hot, the air circulation was bad, and the

244
00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:41,800
Speaker 1: smell of sweat was thick on the bus, but the

245
00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:44,560
Speaker 1: windows were down, and once the bus got going, the

246
00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:47,920
Speaker 1: air that blew in felt like Heaven, Lord God. I've

247
00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:50,920
Speaker 1: been waiting for this all day, said Susannah. I'd stay

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Speaker 1: on this thing all night if they led me. Yeah.

249
00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:56,000
Speaker 1: Anne said, this is actually a lot more comfortable than

250
00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:58,240
Speaker 1: the bunk room. Even when the powers working and the

251
00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:00,960
Speaker 1: fans are on the the power go out a lot,

252
00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:03,800
Speaker 1: Sasha asked. She felt dumb for even giving voice to

253
00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,120
Speaker 1: the question, but her seatmates didn't treat it like a

254
00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,920
Speaker 1: stupid question. Not a lot, Anne said, But we'll lose

255
00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:11,959
Speaker 1: an hour or two most days, and it can be

256
00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:14,079
Speaker 1: out for quite a while. When Austin gets a drone

257
00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:18,360
Speaker 1: through that doesn't happen often, Susannah assured her. I've been

258
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Speaker 1: in the Kingdom ten days and we've only had to

259
00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:24,520
Speaker 1: take shelter once twice for me. Anne said, but I've

260
00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:28,480
Speaker 1: been here almost three weeks. I'm not scared, Sasha assured them.

261
00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:34,160
Speaker 1: I'm just curious. You should be scared. Susannah said, it sucks.

262
00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,240
Speaker 1: It wasn't a long ride, and Sasha was embarrassed at

263
00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:41,000
Speaker 1: how long it took her to realize the destination. This

264
00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:43,320
Speaker 1: was the same route they'd taken from the House of Miriam,

265
00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:46,120
Speaker 1: just in reverse. She and the other girls were being

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00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,320
Speaker 1: taken downtown. Won't she got a good look at the gallows,

267
00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:52,560
Speaker 1: she understood why. There were six people lined up in

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00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:55,319
Speaker 1: front of the little stairway that led to the platform.

269
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Speaker 1: They looked like prisoners. Susannah looked just as confused as Sasha,

270
00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,000
Speaker 1: but Anne seemed to understand what was going on. She

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00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:06,720
Speaker 1: scrunched her face in disgust. Oh no, she said, I

272
00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:10,120
Speaker 1: hate it when they make us watch this. The two

273
00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:12,280
Speaker 1: martyrs who had guarded them all day opened the doors

274
00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:14,439
Speaker 1: and told them to form up outside of the bus.

275
00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:16,960
Speaker 1: Sasha did as she was told, while grabbing as many

276
00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:19,840
Speaker 1: long looks at the gallows as she could manage. None

277
00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:21,440
Speaker 1: of the people who stood out in front of the

278
00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:24,440
Speaker 1: platform looked like soldiers, or robber barons, or much of

279
00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:28,880
Speaker 1: anything at all. They just seemed young and scared fags.

280
00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:31,280
Speaker 1: The martyr, standing next to the driver at the bus

281
00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,560
Speaker 1: door grunted as Sasha stepped past him. He waited until

282
00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:36,760
Speaker 1: the other girls had all filed off the bus before

283
00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:39,240
Speaker 1: he stepped around to stand in front of them. Sasha

284
00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:41,800
Speaker 1: hadn't paid the man too much attention during the day, because,

285
00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:44,920
Speaker 1: in truth, he scared her. He looked old, over forty

286
00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:47,760
Speaker 1: at least, and his face was heavy with scars and tattoos.

287
00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:51,160
Speaker 1: There were faded blue crosses inked on each of his forearms.

288
00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:54,120
Speaker 1: There wasn't much skin visible under his armor in helmet,

289
00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:56,920
Speaker 1: but the skin she could see was tanned red like leather.

290
00:14:57,520 --> 00:14:59,960
Speaker 1: His eyes were cold and seemed fixed into a permanent

291
00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:02,240
Speaker 1: and squint. When he addressed the group, it was with

292
00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:04,360
Speaker 1: a voice that sounded like it came to them through

293
00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:07,960
Speaker 1: a filter of gravel and glass. These people, he said,

294
00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:12,000
Speaker 1: and spat after the word people, gender traitors. There were

295
00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:15,040
Speaker 1: a few gasps from among the crowd. He continued it

296
00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,760
Speaker 1: took us a while to crack into the Republic's old files,

297
00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:19,840
Speaker 1: but we finally got a list of all the fags

298
00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:23,120
Speaker 1: who refused to accept their God given gender. They thought

299
00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:25,560
Speaker 1: surgery could hide him. But there's no hide in the

300
00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,240
Speaker 1: truth from the eyes of God or his true servants,

301
00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,360
Speaker 1: and there's only one fair punishment for someone who turns

302
00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:35,680
Speaker 1: their back on natural law. Sasha's heart started to pound.

303
00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:39,800
Speaker 1: She'd known, of course, that Pastor Mike didn't approve of transgenderism,

304
00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:43,400
Speaker 1: of gender change, surgery, of homosexuality, or of anything else

305
00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,080
Speaker 1: that didn't fit into the neat biblical lines of what

306
00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:48,640
Speaker 1: a man and a woman ought to be, but it

307
00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:52,360
Speaker 1: always phrased his objections with such compassion. Queer and trans

308
00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,680
Speaker 1: people weren't monsters deserving of death. They were victims of

309
00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:59,520
Speaker 1: the fallen secular world, same as anyone else. Sasha agreed

310
00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:03,800
Speaker 1: they needed re education, but this the crowd, perhaps three

311
00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:06,360
Speaker 1: hundred strong, cheered as the prisoners were led up to

312
00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:09,760
Speaker 1: the gallows. Sasha's heart beat like a bass drum. She

313
00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:12,600
Speaker 1: couldn't hear anything else. The voices of the crowd, of

314
00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:15,160
Speaker 1: her sister's faded behind the beating sound of the blood

315
00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:18,040
Speaker 1: that coursed through her head, but her eyes continued to work,

316
00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:20,960
Speaker 1: and she watched in horror as they fit nooses around

317
00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:24,800
Speaker 1: each victim's neck. The young people cried and screamed and begged,

318
00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:27,200
Speaker 1: but the martyrs paid them no mind. Some of them

319
00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,280
Speaker 1: chanted in tongues while they prepared the killing machine. Sasha

320
00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:34,280
Speaker 1: saw joy in their eyes. She found it revolting. Before long,

321
00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:37,440
Speaker 1: they'd finished their preparations and six people were strung up

322
00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:40,080
Speaker 1: on the gallows before the brays and cries of the crowd.

323
00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:43,080
Speaker 1: Sasha didn't think it was possible for her heart to

324
00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:46,120
Speaker 1: beat any faster, but it kept speeding up. She felt

325
00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:48,720
Speaker 1: light headed and nauseous, and a little like she needed

326
00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:51,280
Speaker 1: to go to the bathroom. Her knees grew weak, and

327
00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,280
Speaker 1: she found herself leaning on Anne. The other woman looked

328
00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:57,000
Speaker 1: almost as scared as Sasha did, but she weathered it better.

329
00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:00,200
Speaker 1: She put an arm around Sasha, supporting her, and two

330
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,680
Speaker 1: of them looked on as the executioner called out and

331
00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:05,480
Speaker 1: pulled the lever that sent six human beings dropping down

332
00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:08,440
Speaker 1: to dangle until they were dead. The snap of their

333
00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:10,760
Speaker 1: necks was the only thing Sasha heard above the sound

334
00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,560
Speaker 1: of her own pounding heart. She watched them twitch and

335
00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,400
Speaker 1: jerk for a second too, and then her body grew

336
00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,639
Speaker 1: too light and her legs collapsed beneath her. The world

337
00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:24,560
Speaker 1: went black. She awoke back in the House of Miriam.

338
00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:27,919
Speaker 1: Her sisters knelt or stood around her. Sasha was gratified

339
00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:30,399
Speaker 1: to see she wasn't the only one who had passed out.

340
00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,960
Speaker 1: Anne lay next to her, clearly disoriented, along with two

341
00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:37,480
Speaker 1: other women whose name Sasha hadn't quite memorized. Helen set

342
00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:40,399
Speaker 1: in between them, wet washcloth in her hand, and stroked

343
00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:43,960
Speaker 1: their faces. There there, DearS, you've had a terrible shock,

344
00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:48,240
Speaker 1: and there's no shame in your reactions. No shame. May

345
00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:50,399
Speaker 1: spat the words. There was a glow to her face

346
00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:53,000
Speaker 1: and a manic glint in her eyes. Ma'am, with all

347
00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:54,879
Speaker 1: due respect, I don't know how these girls can call

348
00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:57,240
Speaker 1: themselves committed to the heavenly kingdom if the sight of

349
00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:01,199
Speaker 1: defying justice hurts them so much. Sasha saw anger in

350
00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,760
Speaker 1: Helen's eyes, but the older woman didn't let it carry

351
00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,600
Speaker 1: over into her voice. Instead, she fixed May with a

352
00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:09,840
Speaker 1: cool gaze and said, in an even tone, Miss May,

353
00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,080
Speaker 1: one can believe in our Lord's justice and still regret

354
00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:15,960
Speaker 1: the pain that comes with it. That does not signal

355
00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:19,480
Speaker 1: a lack of devotion. It signals compassion, a trait Jesus

356
00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:23,240
Speaker 1: Christ had an abundance. May frowned and pursed her lips,

357
00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:25,640
Speaker 1: but she kept them shut for now. Helen turned back

358
00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,480
Speaker 1: to Sasha and the other girls who had fallen. Death

359
00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:31,080
Speaker 1: is never easy to witness, girls. It should be a

360
00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:34,119
Speaker 1: horrible thing to witness. She glanced back to May. And

361
00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:36,480
Speaker 1: we should all be worried if a day ever comes

362
00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:39,280
Speaker 1: when we can see such violence without pain in our hearts.

363
00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,080
Speaker 1: But these are dire times. The world has fallen too

364
00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:45,639
Speaker 1: much for pacifism to bring back the rule of God,

365
00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:50,719
Speaker 1: and so we must use violence. Do you understand? Sasha nodded.

366
00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:54,280
Speaker 1: She heard the other girls give stuttering, hollow replies. Even

367
00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:57,520
Speaker 1: the girls who'd managed to stay standing looked shaken. May

368
00:18:57,640 --> 00:18:59,920
Speaker 1: was the only one who wore a smile. They gave

369
00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,960
Speaker 1: her a wide berth the rest of the day. Whoever

370
00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,480
Speaker 1: was in charge of their schedule paid some deference to

371
00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:07,880
Speaker 1: the fact that they had been forced to watch in execution.

372
00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:11,000
Speaker 1: There was no more cleaning that day. They spent the

373
00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:13,720
Speaker 1: rest of the daylight hours seated around the common area

374
00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,400
Speaker 1: in the House of Miriam sewing uniforms. Sasha had never

375
00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:19,960
Speaker 1: sewn before, but Anne sat next to her and taught

376
00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,879
Speaker 1: her the basics. Her hands were still shaking when they

377
00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:26,000
Speaker 1: got to work, but Anne helped her, and eventually, focusing

378
00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:28,800
Speaker 1: on the meticulous task allowed her to blot out the horror.

379
00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:31,080
Speaker 1: Once she got a good grip on the basics of

380
00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:33,080
Speaker 1: what was required of her, she was able to lose

381
00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:36,840
Speaker 1: herself and quiet productive flow. She was almost disappointed when

382
00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:39,800
Speaker 1: Helen called them to dinner. They ate the same food

383
00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:42,520
Speaker 1: as the day before, They prayed, and then they had

384
00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:45,639
Speaker 1: an hour of relatively free time. They couldn't leave the

385
00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:47,800
Speaker 1: House of Miriam since it was after eight, but they

386
00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:51,919
Speaker 1: could talk. Sasha gravitated naturally to Susannah and Anne. The

387
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,480
Speaker 1: topic of conversation turned at once to the execution. Is

388
00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:59,920
Speaker 1: that always what it's like? Susannah asked. Anne nodded, her

389
00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,600
Speaker 1: voice shook a little when she said, I passed out

390
00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:05,440
Speaker 1: last time too. I thought it'd be easier the second

391
00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:09,840
Speaker 1: time around, but it really wasn't. It feels wrong, Sasha whispered.

392
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:12,000
Speaker 1: She glanced over to May, who was holding court with

393
00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:13,520
Speaker 1: a few of the other girls at the other end

394
00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:16,119
Speaker 1: of the common area. I'm not saying it's okay what

395
00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:18,560
Speaker 1: those people were doing, but surely they deserved a chance

396
00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:22,639
Speaker 1: to repent. Susannah nodded, I don't think Jesus would want

397
00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:25,400
Speaker 1: us to murder people just for being wrong. It's one

398
00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:28,239
Speaker 1: thing to kill an atheist or an apostate who's attacking you.

399
00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:31,080
Speaker 1: It's another thing to just Her voice caught a bit

400
00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:35,320
Speaker 1: hank people. Anne shook her head in an absent sort

401
00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:40,760
Speaker 1: of way. Kyle told me it was necessary. Kyle, Susannah asked,

402
00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:44,600
Speaker 1: my intended Anne said, I watched the first execution with

403
00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:47,399
Speaker 1: him when I passed out. He was so sweet. I

404
00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:49,800
Speaker 1: came to when he was holding me, petting my head.

405
00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,560
Speaker 1: Anne's eyes shone with love, and Sasha had to fight

406
00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:55,280
Speaker 1: hard to keep the jealousy from her own face. He

407
00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,159
Speaker 1: explained that the Heavenly Kingdom couldn't afford to re educate

408
00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:01,280
Speaker 1: the fallen. There are too many, and we are too surrounded.

409
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,359
Speaker 1: If someone is capable of changing, God will know, and

410
00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:06,879
Speaker 1: he will ensure they get their just reward in heaven.

411
00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:11,399
Speaker 1: Sasha was not entirely convinced, but she also wasn't willing

412
00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:13,879
Speaker 1: to argue with Anne. It felt a little dicey, just

413
00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:17,960
Speaker 1: admitting her continued discomfort with the executions, so she stayed quiet,

414
00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:20,600
Speaker 1: and the talk turned to more comfortable matters, what they

415
00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:22,840
Speaker 1: expected from the next day's work and what sort of

416
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:25,120
Speaker 1: lives they lead. When the fighting was over and they

417
00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:27,720
Speaker 1: were settled down with the gallant warriors, they knew they'd

418
00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:31,080
Speaker 1: marry soon. The girls all filed off to their small

419
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:34,719
Speaker 1: snug beds after a long day of work and stress.

420
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:37,800
Speaker 1: The bed felt so good that it made Sasha feel guilty.

421
00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,400
Speaker 1: Alexander was fighting right now, he'd surely seem more death

422
00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:43,280
Speaker 1: than she had, and he didn't have the option of

423
00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:46,119
Speaker 1: fainting or crying about it. As she drifted off to

424
00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:49,240
Speaker 1: sleep again, Sasha promised herself that she would never faint

425
00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:52,080
Speaker 1: or cry out in the face of death again. If

426
00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:54,840
Speaker 1: this was the way God had ordained, his kingdom must come,

427
00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:57,320
Speaker 1: she owed it to herself and to her Lord to

428
00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:01,480
Speaker 1: stand and see it. Next day, they all went back

429
00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:04,240
Speaker 1: to the same battered administrative building as the day before.

430
00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:07,440
Speaker 1: Sasha scrubbed and swept ate her lunch and got right

431
00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:10,520
Speaker 1: back to work. She forced herself into enthusiasm for the

432
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:13,000
Speaker 1: menial labor with the same discipline she'd used when it

433
00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:14,800
Speaker 1: had been time to study for an exam and a

434
00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:17,760
Speaker 1: class she hated. The same tactic worked in both high

435
00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:21,159
Speaker 1: school and the Heavenly Kingdom. About two hours before the

436
00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,879
Speaker 1: end of their workday, Sasha's rhythm was interrupted by the

437
00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:25,720
Speaker 1: sound of a crash and a scream from one of

438
00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:27,720
Speaker 1: the girls in the bathroom next door to the room

439
00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:30,920
Speaker 1: she was in. Sasha dropped her scrub brush and darted over.

440
00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:33,600
Speaker 1: She was the first one into the room. It took

441
00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:35,760
Speaker 1: her a moment to piece together what must have happened.

442
00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:38,320
Speaker 1: Susannah had been scrubbing a sink that had been badly

443
00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:41,040
Speaker 1: damaged by shell fire. The sink had collapsed while she

444
00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:43,240
Speaker 1: had scrubbed it, and a jagged edge of porcelain had

445
00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,560
Speaker 1: torn open the girl's hand. There was already an enormous

446
00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:50,000
Speaker 1: amount of blood by the time Sasha arrived. Susannah looked pale.

447
00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:53,360
Speaker 1: She backed up against the wall and was just screaming wordlessly.

448
00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:56,800
Speaker 1: Sasha had taken three semesters of premed classes in the

449
00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:59,600
Speaker 1: last two years. She had a good basic instruction in

450
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:02,400
Speaker 1: first aid. She pulled her shirt off over her head

451
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:04,720
Speaker 1: and wrapped it around the gash on the other girl's hand.

452
00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:07,080
Speaker 1: It was the spare shirt she had brought from home,

453
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:09,760
Speaker 1: and it had an antimicrobial weave that should make it

454
00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,920
Speaker 1: relatively safe as a wound dressing. She pulled it tight,

455
00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:15,679
Speaker 1: watted the extra fabric up over the wound, and applied

456
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,840
Speaker 1: as much pressure as she could. Susannah kept screaming, but

457
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:21,959
Speaker 1: the flow of blood from her wounds slowed. Breathe with me,

458
00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:25,160
Speaker 1: Sasha told Susannah as she stared into the other girl's eyes.

459
00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:29,879
Speaker 1: In she inhaled, and out she exhaled. She repeated this

460
00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:33,199
Speaker 1: several times until Susannah stopped screaming and started breathing in

461
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:35,960
Speaker 1: time with her. Several of the girls had crowded around

462
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,439
Speaker 1: the entrance to the bathroom at this point. When Sasha

463
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:40,520
Speaker 1: glanced up, she could see May's face in the back

464
00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:43,520
Speaker 1: of the crowd. She looked disgusted, probably at the fact

465
00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,280
Speaker 1: that Sasha had torn off her shirt. Please call for

466
00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:49,399
Speaker 1: the martyrs, Sasha asked, no one in particular. Tell them

467
00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:52,000
Speaker 1: Susanna needs medical attention. I don't think she has any

468
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,600
Speaker 1: clotting agents in her blood. No one moved, so Sasha

469
00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:58,440
Speaker 1: locked eyes with Anne and told her, please go now.

470
00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:01,000
Speaker 1: We shouldn't take any chance as with a wound like this.

471
00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:04,760
Speaker 1: Anne nodded, broke away from the glawking group and stumbled

472
00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:08,119
Speaker 1: off to find help. Sasha looked back to Susannah. She

473
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:10,560
Speaker 1: coaxed the other girl to sit down against the wall

474
00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:13,160
Speaker 1: and sat down next to her, applying pressure to her

475
00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:16,640
Speaker 1: hand the entire time. Sasha's shirt was now soaked through

476
00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:19,560
Speaker 1: with hot, sticky blood. Her hands were wet to but

477
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:22,920
Speaker 1: she didn't feel squeamish about this. She'd expected to after

478
00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,600
Speaker 1: her reaction to the hangings, but somehow the sight of

479
00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:28,399
Speaker 1: all this blood actually combed her. She knew what to

480
00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:32,080
Speaker 1: do here. It felt good to take effective action. The

481
00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:34,520
Speaker 1: martyrs arrived a minute or so later, with a medic

482
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:38,560
Speaker 1: close behind. By that point, Susannah's bleeding had stopped entirely.

483
00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:41,720
Speaker 1: The medic was impressed, and he said, so you have

484
00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:44,280
Speaker 1: some kind of training, ma'am, you handled this very well.

485
00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,640
Speaker 1: Three semesters of premed. She had answered, it was only

486
00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:49,720
Speaker 1: high school premed, but they made us do a lot

487
00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:52,679
Speaker 1: of first aid drills. The medic gave her a significant

488
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:57,080
Speaker 1: look and then asked, what's your name, miss Sasha? She

489
00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:01,720
Speaker 1: had started before correcting herself. Sasha Susannah was taken off

490
00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,159
Speaker 1: to whatever served as a hospital for the Heavenly Kingdom

491
00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:06,159
Speaker 1: while Sasha and the rest of the girls finished their

492
00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:08,760
Speaker 1: work day. It was uneventful after that, but the other

493
00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:11,840
Speaker 1: girl's attitudes towards her seemed to have shifted. Anne had

494
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:13,719
Speaker 1: given her a big hug, of course, but every one

495
00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:16,359
Speaker 1: was more respectful. Several of them came to her to

496
00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:19,199
Speaker 1: ask minor things, advice on how best to clean a

497
00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:21,760
Speaker 1: room or clear a pile of rubble. At one point,

498
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:24,399
Speaker 1: Sasha had divided four girls up into two teams to

499
00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:27,520
Speaker 1: remove a huge amount of shattered glass. While she directed

500
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:29,679
Speaker 1: the effort, May had walked by the room and butted

501
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:32,000
Speaker 1: her head in. Just because she knows a little first

502
00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:35,320
Speaker 1: day doesn't make her a foreman, she sneered. The other

503
00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:38,040
Speaker 1: girls didn't pay May any mind. They left for the

504
00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:40,159
Speaker 1: day at the usual time and arrived back at the

505
00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:43,160
Speaker 1: house of Miriam in the early evening. Helen was waiting

506
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:45,600
Speaker 1: for them at the door. Behind her stood an older

507
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,000
Speaker 1: man in a white lab coat. He had a cross

508
00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,359
Speaker 1: pinned to his lapel and a larger red cross on

509
00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:53,320
Speaker 1: his arm band. As the girls all filed into the building,

510
00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:55,840
Speaker 1: Sasha saw Helen point to her and whisper something to

511
00:25:55,880 --> 00:26:00,199
Speaker 1: the man. He nodded. Miss Sasha, he called out, as

512
00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,720
Speaker 1: she headed to her seat at the dinner table. Sasha

513
00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:06,000
Speaker 1: peeled off and approached him. Helen stood near by, distant

514
00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:08,399
Speaker 1: enough to make it clear that this conversation was between

515
00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,640
Speaker 1: her and the man, but close enough that her presence

516
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:15,159
Speaker 1: provided a warm kernel of certainty and support. Yes, Sasha asked.

517
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,359
Speaker 1: The man had a sharp, narrow jaw and a long nose.

518
00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:20,680
Speaker 1: There were deep bags under his eyes, and his hair

519
00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:23,280
Speaker 1: was at the grayest end of pepper gray. He wasn't

520
00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:26,399
Speaker 1: very large, but he used his physicality well. He moved

521
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:29,800
Speaker 1: like he was used to controlling the room. Sasha. I'm

522
00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:32,720
Speaker 1: doctor Brandt. One of our medics was very impressed with

523
00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,800
Speaker 1: your work earlier today on the injured girl. Sir, all

524
00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,120
Speaker 1: I did was trying to stanish the bleeding. Anyone could

525
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,639
Speaker 1: have handled that. It didn't require any special knowledge. No,

526
00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:44,680
Speaker 1: he interrupted her, it did not. The knowledge of how

527
00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:47,679
Speaker 1: to stim bleeding is not rare or special, but the

528
00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:50,399
Speaker 1: willingness to jump in during an emergency and to get

529
00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:53,640
Speaker 1: blood on one's own hands is rather rare. I understand

530
00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:56,840
Speaker 1: you have some form of medical training, very little Sir,

531
00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,800
Speaker 1: I took three semesters of pre medical courses in high school.

532
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:03,600
Speaker 1: I was thinking about a medical career before. I yes, well,

533
00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,440
Speaker 1: three semesters of any kind of training almost makes you

534
00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:10,520
Speaker 1: a doctor. Here, we're not exactly flooded with qualified medical experts.

535
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,520
Speaker 1: Doctor Brandt lacked Helen's gift for interrupting without seeming rude,

536
00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:17,000
Speaker 1: but he was clearly a busy man, and the fact

537
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,280
Speaker 1: that he'd offered praise made it hard for Sasha to

538
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:23,080
Speaker 1: take offense. Miss Helen. He snapped back at the older woman,

539
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:25,439
Speaker 1: I'm putting this one on special duty. Would that be

540
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:29,560
Speaker 1: all right? Of course, doctor Brandt. Helen said she smiled

541
00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,080
Speaker 1: at Sasha, and there was honest pride in that smile,

542
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:34,879
Speaker 1: more pride than she had ever seen in her mother's eyes.

543
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:39,000
Speaker 1: Sasha resisted the urge to tear up and response. Doctor

544
00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:41,800
Speaker 1: Brandt turned to Sasha next and asked, what do you

545
00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:45,720
Speaker 1: know about the people of the road. She frowned. Post

546
00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:48,480
Speaker 1: humans were a popular topic of discussion in her high school.

547
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:51,640
Speaker 1: Sasha had seen waste Land Warriors a couple of years back,

548
00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:55,280
Speaker 1: and benisenthralled as everyone else, but her school curriculum didn't

549
00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:58,359
Speaker 1: talk much about them and definitely downplayed their influence in

550
00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,080
Speaker 1: the rest of the continent. Her father had called them

551
00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,879
Speaker 1: a bunch of idiots dancing around the desert doing drugs

552
00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,000
Speaker 1: and robbing people. She decided to use a variant of

553
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,720
Speaker 1: that for her answer. Their drug addled pagans fornicating and

554
00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:14,360
Speaker 1: spurning the will of God. Doctor Brandt smiled. He had

555
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,280
Speaker 1: such a serious face and such stern features that Sasha

556
00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:20,400
Speaker 1: was shocked by the honest kindness of that smile. I'd

557
00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:24,359
Speaker 1: say that's basically accurate, he chuckled, perhaps even a bit charitable.

558
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,240
Speaker 1: It turns out one of these groups sent some emissaries

559
00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:30,239
Speaker 1: into Plano just before the city fell. They were on

560
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:32,720
Speaker 1: some trade mission. They wound up getting stuck in a

561
00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:35,360
Speaker 1: pin with a few other prisoners. We didn't even realize

562
00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:38,000
Speaker 1: who we had until their people contacted us and demanded

563
00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:41,960
Speaker 1: their release. Sasha's eyes widened. All she could think of

564
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,600
Speaker 1: were the grainy video fragments from one section of Waste

565
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:47,880
Speaker 1: Land Warriors. It was supposedly a recording of an attack

566
00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:51,360
Speaker 1: on an Agiss Biosystems convoy headed from Milwaukee to Denver.

567
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,160
Speaker 1: The convoy had been well armed, but it had been

568
00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,200
Speaker 1: taken apart in a matter of seconds. The assailants moved

569
00:28:57,240 --> 00:28:59,640
Speaker 1: so fast that the documentarians had needed to slow the

570
00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:02,160
Speaker 1: video to make them visible as anything but flashes on

571
00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:06,000
Speaker 1: the screen. How could something that fast and deadly be captured?

572
00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:09,080
Speaker 1: Doctor Brandt answered her question before she could ask it.

573
00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:11,840
Speaker 1: I'm going to guess her wondering how he managed to

574
00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:17,280
Speaker 1: capture three of those Frankenstein abominations. Yes, Sir Sasha said, well,

575
00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:19,880
Speaker 1: Doctor Brandt popped the glasses off his face and buffed

576
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:23,320
Speaker 1: the lenses on his shirt while he spoke. Most members

577
00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:26,120
Speaker 1: of any given group aren't quite like that. Oh, they're

578
00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:28,800
Speaker 1: all pagans, are atheists, just some kind of heathen. They

579
00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:32,840
Speaker 1: have a lot of aesthetic modifications led tattoos and body lighting,

580
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:36,120
Speaker 1: and some sensory upgrades, but few of them have military

581
00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:42,160
Speaker 1: style implants. I see, As you know, cities and civilized

582
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,400
Speaker 1: nations tend to ban those implants within their borders. Doctor

583
00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:47,960
Speaker 1: Brandt slid his glasses back into place on his nose,

584
00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:50,360
Speaker 1: So the people of the road have to send their

585
00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:54,120
Speaker 1: less modified citizens out to negotiate, et cetera. Which means

586
00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:56,120
Speaker 1: we've got a bit of a tiger by the tail

587
00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:00,680
Speaker 1: situation here. What do you mean, sir, Sasha asked, Well,

588
00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:04,000
Speaker 1: the stories about these types are absolutely true. Some of

589
00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:06,240
Speaker 1: them have hundreds of warriors packed to the gills with

590
00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:10,000
Speaker 1: nightmare technology. There are individuals who are capable of taking

591
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:13,960
Speaker 1: on entire companies of human war fighters. The tribe these

592
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:17,840
Speaker 1: particular captives hail from, well, their name is quite obscene.

593
00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:20,640
Speaker 1: The City of Wheels would be the most polite variant.

594
00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:22,840
Speaker 1: They're is lost as it gets when it comes to

595
00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,400
Speaker 1: the Word of God. But they've got about six hundred

596
00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:29,200
Speaker 1: post human citizens. Sasha thought back to what a dozen

597
00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:31,840
Speaker 1: of those things had done to that convoy. She tried

598
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,280
Speaker 1: to imagine the carnage six hundred of them could unleash

599
00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:38,880
Speaker 1: upon the heavenly kingdom. A shiver ran down her spine exactly.

600
00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:42,200
Speaker 1: Doctor Brandt nodded at her like I said, we've got

601
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 1: a tiger by the tail. They might not intervene while

602
00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:47,560
Speaker 1: we have their people, So we've got to make sure

603
00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,680
Speaker 1: our captives are well taken care of. That's where you

604
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:54,920
Speaker 1: come in me. Two of the captives are women, Sasha,

605
00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:57,719
Speaker 1: They'll need to be inspected by some one besides me.

606
00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:00,960
Speaker 1: We do have some qualified female ill nurses, but an

607
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:03,680
Speaker 1: SDF drone hit one of our troop transports about two

608
00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:06,280
Speaker 1: hours ago, and I'm afraid they're both in the thick

609
00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,960
Speaker 1: of that mess. So you're coming with me to handle

610
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:12,200
Speaker 1: this job. I'm proud to do it, sir. She wasn't

611
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:15,000
Speaker 1: sure what else to say, and besides, it was true.

612
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:18,440
Speaker 1: The first captive sat on a small concrete bench in

613
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:20,640
Speaker 1: the back of an eight by ten cell. Her hair

614
00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:23,120
Speaker 1: had been shaved into a mohawk, but the purple hair

615
00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:25,920
Speaker 1: was deflated and greasy. Now there was stubble on the

616
00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:28,440
Speaker 1: sides of her head. Her face was round but lean.

617
00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:30,760
Speaker 1: There were slight laugh lines at the corners of her

618
00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:33,200
Speaker 1: cheeks in the edges of her eyes. She wore a

619
00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,680
Speaker 1: sleeveless purple and black dress that was by now filthy.

620
00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:39,360
Speaker 1: Her arms were covered in a strange series of tattoos,

621
00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:42,719
Speaker 1: dozens of branching lines that each terminated in a box.

622
00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:47,480
Speaker 1: They looked almost like circuit diagrams. Sasha quickly realized that

623
00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:50,960
Speaker 1: each box held a little led screen. Most of the

624
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,440
Speaker 1: screens were set to a dull red color, but once

625
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:56,240
Speaker 1: she stepped into the women's cell, they flashed bright orange.

626
00:31:56,600 --> 00:32:00,120
Speaker 1: The woman looked up and snarled at doctor Brandt. Do

627
00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:03,840
Speaker 1: you want shipbird? She looked over to Sasha and then added, sorry,

628
00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:08,560
Speaker 1: ship birds Sasha. Doctor Brandt sighed, kneading the bridge of

629
00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:12,680
Speaker 1: his nose. Meet Marigold Fulton. Jesus fucking Christ, what are

630
00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 1: you six fucking ten? Marigold said to Sasha. Then she

631
00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:20,040
Speaker 1: looked to doctor Brandt. That's fucked up, man. Doctor Brandt

632
00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:22,880
Speaker 1: winced at both curses. Sasha glanced down and saw that

633
00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:24,880
Speaker 1: his right hand was bawled up into a fist and

634
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:29,840
Speaker 1: clinched tight. Marigold, this is Sasha, he said through gritted lips.

635
00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:33,280
Speaker 1: She'll be performing your intake exam. We need to make

636
00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:37,480
Speaker 1: sure you're uninjured, uninfectious, and not hiding any weaponry. I

637
00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:44,200
Speaker 1: would recommend compliance your kind always do. The woman spat back, Sasha,

638
00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:47,320
Speaker 1: you've got this. Doctor Brandt gave her a curt nod,

639
00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:49,760
Speaker 1: turned on his heels, and headed back out of the cell.

640
00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:53,040
Speaker 1: There was an armed guard just outside the cell. As

641
00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:56,280
Speaker 1: doctor Brandt had instructed, Sasha pulled along privacy screen out

642
00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:57,960
Speaker 1: from the far end of the wall and clasped it

643
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,080
Speaker 1: to a set of hooks on the other end. The

644
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:02,240
Speaker 1: captives were being held in the old plain Oh jail,

645
00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:04,200
Speaker 1: which made this one of the rare buildings in the

646
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:07,560
Speaker 1: Heavenly Kingdom being used for its intended purpose. Sasha was

647
00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:11,160
Speaker 1: grateful for the privacy screen. She was also unbearably nervous

648
00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:14,320
Speaker 1: about what came next. I'm going to have to ask you.

649
00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:17,240
Speaker 1: In one smooth motion, Marigold pulled the dress up over

650
00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 1: her shoulders and off of her body. She wore nothing

651
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:23,520
Speaker 1: underneath it. Her pert breasts, her little belly, her pubic mound,

652
00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:26,320
Speaker 1: and its shock of purple hair were suddenly just there.

653
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:29,560
Speaker 1: You're gonna do your job? Are you just gonna stand there?

654
00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:34,160
Speaker 1: And Jill off? Marigold asked what Jill Marigold gave a

655
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:38,880
Speaker 1: harsh laugh. It's senton him from masturbation. Lady, masturbation. You

656
00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:40,840
Speaker 1: don't do that, do you, Sugar. I'm gonna guess the

657
00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:43,400
Speaker 1: Heavenly Kingdom frowns on girls having fun without the help

658
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:47,760
Speaker 1: of boys, Sasha grimaced. The Heavenly Kingdom doesn't frown on

659
00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:51,240
Speaker 1: women having fun, but it does encourage self control. Mr.

660
00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:56,040
Speaker 1: What you're talking about, it's a distraction, it's worldly. Marigold

661
00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:59,000
Speaker 1: whistled and mocked surprise, and said, spoken like a lady

662
00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:02,600
Speaker 1: who truly needs an orgasm. What I need to do

663
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:04,280
Speaker 1: is draw some of your blood and some of your

664
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:10,040
Speaker 1: saliva and then perform a cavity search. Marigold's lips curled

665
00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:13,640
Speaker 1: up into a catlike smile. She opened her legs. Sasha

666
00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:16,880
Speaker 1: had seen other women's vaginas before, but only in textbooks

667
00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:19,600
Speaker 1: and movies. This was the first time she'd found herself

668
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:22,280
Speaker 1: staring directly down the barrel of one, so to speak.

669
00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:26,480
Speaker 1: She gulped, Darlen, am I your first? Don't be scared.

670
00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:28,400
Speaker 1: I got some crumb in me, but I never wound

671
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:32,440
Speaker 1: up putting defensive teeth in there. Now, my frien Topaz, stop,

672
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:35,800
Speaker 1: I know what you're trying to do. Just stop. Sasha

673
00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:38,440
Speaker 1: hadn't thought the woman's smile could get any wider, but

674
00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:41,720
Speaker 1: it did. And what am I trying to do? Child?

675
00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:46,360
Speaker 1: You're trying to to fluster me, to distract me or

676
00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:50,040
Speaker 1: Marigold rolled her eyes as she replied, I'm bored you

677
00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:52,239
Speaker 1: Fox have kept me in one holding area or sell

678
00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:54,520
Speaker 1: or another for almost a week. I spent three days

679
00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:56,680
Speaker 1: shifting in the corner of a gym, but at least

680
00:34:56,760 --> 00:35:00,080
Speaker 1: Rick and Tully were there too. The woman smiles softened

681
00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:03,279
Speaker 1: for a moment, she looked troubled, vulnerable. You don't have

682
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:06,360
Speaker 1: any idea where my people are, do you? Sasha shook

683
00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:09,440
Speaker 1: her head. She felt guilty for some reason. That was stupid.

684
00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:12,279
Speaker 1: She hadn't done anything wrong, but she felt the need

685
00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:16,480
Speaker 1: to assuage the other woman's fears. I don't I'm sure

686
00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:19,239
Speaker 1: they're all right, though. We wouldn't execute them just for

687
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:22,960
Speaker 1: being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Marigold snorted,

688
00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:26,279
Speaker 1: maybe you wouldn't love your friends, though I've seen your

689
00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:29,000
Speaker 1: gallows doesn't seem like the kind of things someone builds

690
00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:32,840
Speaker 1: just for show. We have a right to enforce our laws,

691
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,279
Speaker 1: God's laws. What am I doing defending the kingdom to

692
00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:39,560
Speaker 1: someone who's clearly blind to the word. Sasha shook her head.

693
00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:42,239
Speaker 1: She opened the blood testing kit doctor Brandt had given

694
00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:45,719
Speaker 1: her and stepped back towards Marigold. Look, I've got to

695
00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:49,319
Speaker 1: do this. Just hold still and it'll be quick. It was.

696
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,680
Speaker 1: The other woman offered no resistance when Sasha told her

697
00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:55,560
Speaker 1: to stand. She stood. When Sasha reached a gloved hand

698
00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:59,120
Speaker 1: up inside her to search for foreign objects, Marigold said nothing.

699
00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:02,160
Speaker 1: She didn't even and flinch. Instead, she kept her eyes

700
00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:05,640
Speaker 1: locked on Sasha's The other woman barely blinked. In about

701
00:36:05,719 --> 00:36:09,800
Speaker 1: two minutes. Sasha had finished her examination and collected her samples.

702
00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:12,719
Speaker 1: She started to step back, but Marigold's hand shot out

703
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:17,000
Speaker 1: whip fast and grasped her around the wrist. Listen. Sasha

704
00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:19,839
Speaker 1: stopped and listened. She wasn't sure why. It was something

705
00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:22,680
Speaker 1: about the other woman's tone. She'd heard the term command

706
00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:26,399
Speaker 1: voice before. Sasha hadn't understood what that term meant until now.

707
00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:29,160
Speaker 1: When Marigold spoke again, it was in a hushed tone,

708
00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:31,880
Speaker 1: barely more than a whisper. I don't know what brought

709
00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:34,359
Speaker 1: you here, but you're obviously smart. You don't have those

710
00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:37,040
Speaker 1: dead zelod eyes. She jerked her head in the direction

711
00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:39,600
Speaker 1: of the guard outside. When I mentioned the gallows, you

712
00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:42,120
Speaker 1: looked fucking ill. I'm gonna guess you haven't been here long.

713
00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:45,200
Speaker 1: You're probably having second thoughts. Help me get my people

714
00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:47,280
Speaker 1: out of here. If we can get back to my city,

715
00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:50,239
Speaker 1: you'll be safe. We'll take you wherever you need to go.

716
00:36:51,320 --> 00:36:54,160
Speaker 1: I Sasha wasn't sure what to say. She should have

717
00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:57,320
Speaker 1: slapped the other woman or spitting her eye, but she didn't.

718
00:36:58,239 --> 00:37:01,839
Speaker 1: Don't say anything. You'll be back here. I promise, think

719
00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:04,480
Speaker 1: about what I've said, think about where you are, just

720
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:09,480
Speaker 1: fucking think. She let go. Sasha stepped back. The two

721
00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:12,160
Speaker 1: women locked eyes for a long moment, and then Marigold

722
00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:14,480
Speaker 1: grabbed her slip dress off the floor and slid it

723
00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:18,000
Speaker 1: back down her thin frame. Sasha unclipped the privacy curtain

724
00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:22,160
Speaker 1: and headed back out into the hallway. The other woman, captive, Tullie,

725
00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:24,840
Speaker 1: was tall and muscular. She had a wide face with

726
00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:27,839
Speaker 1: cheek bones so sharp they were almost jagged. Her skin

727
00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:30,759
Speaker 1: was a dusky brown. Her eyes were alert and moved

728
00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:33,759
Speaker 1: rapidly between Sasha, doctor Brandt, and the guard who led

729
00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:37,680
Speaker 1: them into the room. Her name is Tullie, doctor brand said,

730
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:40,640
Speaker 1: and she's probably going to threaten you. Pay her no mind.

731
00:37:41,239 --> 00:37:43,560
Speaker 1: He turned away and left, while the guards stayed behind

732
00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:46,640
Speaker 1: and kept a close eye on the tall woman. Sasha

733
00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:49,600
Speaker 1: was scared to approach Tuli at first. The woman's forearms

734
00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:52,040
Speaker 1: were corded with muscles, and she had biceps that looked

735
00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:54,799
Speaker 1: as broad as Sasha's thighs. But the woman didn't move

736
00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:57,160
Speaker 1: an inch or say a word the entire time Sasha

737
00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:00,040
Speaker 1: worked on her. Tullie didn't even blink. She com I

738
00:38:00,239 --> 00:38:02,759
Speaker 1: to every one of Sasha's requests without eye contact or

739
00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:05,719
Speaker 1: any other form of acknowledgement. The woman seemed dead to

740
00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:10,000
Speaker 1: the world. Somehow, Toollie's quietness and seeming stupefaction were more

741
00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:14,000
Speaker 1: uncomfortable than Marigold's aggressive words. Sasha finished her work in

742
00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:16,719
Speaker 1: short order. Once the last vial was sealed and her

743
00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:19,160
Speaker 1: gloves removed, she took a final look at the captive.

744
00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:23,480
Speaker 1: I hope you get back to your home soon. Sasha

745
00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:26,520
Speaker 1: immediately regretted the words. This woman is the enemy. Why

746
00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:28,359
Speaker 1: would you try to comfort her? She won't even look

747
00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:31,440
Speaker 1: at you. Tullie let out a dull laugh. She had

748
00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:34,399
Speaker 1: been so silent earlier that it shocked Sasha. The other

749
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:37,760
Speaker 1: woman turned her head and stared at Sasha. I will

750
00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:40,920
Speaker 1: return home soon, and fire and blood will come to

751
00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:44,040
Speaker 1: this place because you've held me here. You're a dead

752
00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:48,000
Speaker 1: woman walking enjoy the last beats of your heart. Sasha

753
00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:50,400
Speaker 1: didn't know what to say. What could you say to that?

754
00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:55,000
Speaker 1: So she took her samples and left. Doctor Brandt dropped

755
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:57,040
Speaker 1: her off outside the house of Miriam and told her

756
00:38:57,040 --> 00:38:59,080
Speaker 1: he'd send a jeep out tomorrow morning to take her

757
00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:02,600
Speaker 1: to the hospital. Sasha thanked him and headed inside. The

758
00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:05,600
Speaker 1: other girls were already almost finished with dinner when Sasha

759
00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:08,080
Speaker 1: sat down and joined the group. She gave a quiet

760
00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:11,280
Speaker 1: smile to Susannah and nodded at the other girl's bandaged hand.

761
00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:14,720
Speaker 1: When dessert a banana this time, was over, Miss Helen

762
00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:17,160
Speaker 1: took Sasha aside while the other girls broke off to

763
00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:20,080
Speaker 1: read their bibles and drink their nightly tea. I have

764
00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:25,000
Speaker 1: some news for you, yes, ma'am, Sasha asked. Alexander has

765
00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:28,680
Speaker 1: been rotated back from the front, and that strange look

766
00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:32,360
Speaker 1: of mingled frustration and anger crossed Helen's face again. You'll

767
00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:36,640
Speaker 1: be able to see him tomorrow after lunch. Sasha's heart pounded,

768
00:39:36,719 --> 00:39:39,120
Speaker 1: an excitement that made her feel guilty and elated at

769
00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:42,160
Speaker 1: the same time. I'm afraid it won't be a long visit,

770
00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:45,000
Speaker 1: Helen continued, But you'll have a bit of time with him,

771
00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:48,160
Speaker 1: and then Helen's sighed again just a little. Sasha was

772
00:39:48,239 --> 00:39:51,000
Speaker 1: sure she wasn't supposed to have noticed it, but Miss

773
00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:54,080
Speaker 1: Helen's eyes looked a bit watery. Sasha was so happy,

774
00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:57,680
Speaker 1: so excited, that her brain glossed over this fact. Instead,

775
00:39:57,719 --> 00:40:00,400
Speaker 1: she gave Miss Helen a hug It wasn't nearly the

776
00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:02,759
Speaker 1: first one they'd shared, but this was the first time.

777
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:05,719
Speaker 1: The older woman seemed hesitant in returning it, but she

778
00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:08,759
Speaker 1: did after a moment, and Sasha's joy drunk brain wrote

779
00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:10,800
Speaker 1: over any sense of doubt she ought to have felt.

780
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:14,319
Speaker 1: Sasha buzzed with uncontained energy. The rest of the night.

781
00:40:14,719 --> 00:40:18,120
Speaker 1: Sleep was near impossible. She tossed until the small hours

782
00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:20,799
Speaker 1: of the morning, turning over her memories of chat conversation

783
00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:23,840
Speaker 1: she'd had with Alexander. His face felt so clear and

784
00:40:23,880 --> 00:40:25,920
Speaker 1: real in her memory that she could almost touch it,

785
00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:29,920
Speaker 1: and tomorrow she'd be able to do just that. Sasha

786
00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:32,919
Speaker 1: finally passed out about two hours before Helen came round

787
00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:36,120
Speaker 1: to wake them up. She should have been exhausted. Instead,

788
00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:39,080
Speaker 1: she found herself out of bed, feet planted firmly on

789
00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:42,120
Speaker 1: the ground before her mind was even fully awake. Her

790
00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:45,640
Speaker 1: subconscious was that eager to start the day. She rinsed

791
00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:48,560
Speaker 1: herself with extra care that morning. May seemed to notice

792
00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:50,640
Speaker 1: the added efforts she put into primping and called her

793
00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:52,960
Speaker 1: out for it. You're not working at the hospital to

794
00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:56,720
Speaker 1: snag a doctor, she sneered, You know that, right. Sasha

795
00:40:56,760 --> 00:40:59,680
Speaker 1: tried to ignore the comment. Susannah, whose hand was still

796
00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:02,160
Speaker 1: banned from her injury the other day, spoke up in

797
00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:05,560
Speaker 1: her defense. There's nothing wrong with being extra clean, May.

798
00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:08,200
Speaker 1: It's probably important for the work she's doing over there.

799
00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:11,360
Speaker 1: Sasha's dealing with wounds and stuff. She's not scrubbing toilets

800
00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:15,120
Speaker 1: like you. Sasha was gratified by how that made May's

801
00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:18,800
Speaker 1: face blush. She flashed Susannah a grateful smile and shuffled

802
00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:20,960
Speaker 1: out of the washroom as quick as she could manage.

803
00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:24,160
Speaker 1: She headed outside and took in her first deep gulp

804
00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:26,960
Speaker 1: of the cool morning air. Cool might have been too

805
00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:29,600
Speaker 1: strong a word to use, but the fresh air felt

806
00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:31,799
Speaker 1: good on her skin. It only took her a few

807
00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:34,720
Speaker 1: seconds to spot the battered and dirt specked jeep doctor

808
00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:37,239
Speaker 1: Brandt had sent to pick her up. A young man,

809
00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:39,279
Speaker 1: maybe as young as her, with a weak chin and

810
00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:42,800
Speaker 1: an acne pocked face, sat behind the wheel. Sasha waved

811
00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:46,000
Speaker 1: to him, ran up and hopped in. It wasn't a

812
00:41:46,080 --> 00:41:48,879
Speaker 1: quick ride to the hospital. Large sections of the road

813
00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:51,600
Speaker 1: were destroyed, blocked by rubble, or jammed with traffic from

814
00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:55,880
Speaker 1: refugees entering the Heavenly Kingdom. Seeing that had gratified Sasha,

815
00:41:56,239 --> 00:41:59,479
Speaker 1: more souls coming to God, she thought. For the most part,

816
00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:03,040
Speaker 1: she lost herself and thoughts of Alexander until forty minutes later.

817
00:42:03,239 --> 00:42:05,200
Speaker 1: The jeep rolled to a creaky stop in front of

818
00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:09,200
Speaker 1: the medical city of Plano. The enormous hospital complex looked

819
00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:12,560
Speaker 1: badly damaged and largely abandoned. Many of the windows had

820
00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:16,000
Speaker 1: been shot out or shattered by large blasts. Several buildings

821
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:18,080
Speaker 1: had chunks of wall and roof that had fallen in,

822
00:42:18,440 --> 00:42:20,520
Speaker 1: but there were lights on in many of the windows,

823
00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:22,440
Speaker 1: and the hum of generators filled the air of the

824
00:42:22,440 --> 00:42:25,920
Speaker 1: front courtyard. Dozens of people milled about, filled with purpose,

825
00:42:26,080 --> 00:42:29,640
Speaker 1: running wires and wheeling patients. Sasha was excited at the

826
00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:31,759
Speaker 1: thought that she might get to do some actual work

827
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:35,000
Speaker 1: in a functioning emergency room. When she found doctor Brandt,

828
00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:38,560
Speaker 1: he quickly disabused her of those notions. We're doing all

829
00:42:38,680 --> 00:42:40,680
Speaker 1: right today. What I need you to do is come

830
00:42:40,719 --> 00:42:43,400
Speaker 1: in here and help me catalog which medicines have spoiled.

831
00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:46,600
Speaker 1: The power had gone out during the fighting for the city.

832
00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:49,440
Speaker 1: Doctor Brandt explained in the medical storage room had been

833
00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:52,640
Speaker 1: without refrigeration for almost two days. He showed her how

834
00:42:52,680 --> 00:42:55,480
Speaker 1: to check medical vials for signs of spoilage, handed her

835
00:42:55,480 --> 00:42:57,640
Speaker 1: a clipboard to mark her findings, and told her to

836
00:42:57,640 --> 00:43:01,000
Speaker 1: get to work. It was a menial, painstaking task, and

837
00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:04,120
Speaker 1: Sasha found herself missing the hell out of cleaning. She

838
00:43:04,239 --> 00:43:06,520
Speaker 1: hated it, but she devoted herself to the work, and

839
00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:10,359
Speaker 1: minute by minute the time passed. Eventually it was time

840
00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:13,640
Speaker 1: for her meeting with Alexander. Sasha pulled herself away from

841
00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:15,960
Speaker 1: the rows of vials and jars and blister packs and

842
00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:18,760
Speaker 1: headed outside to where she knew the jeep would be waiting.

843
00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:22,480
Speaker 1: Her driver that afternoon was a different martyr, slightly older

844
00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:25,400
Speaker 1: but still young. She was so preoccupied with thoughts of

845
00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:28,279
Speaker 1: Alexander that she almost forgot to greet the man. He

846
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:30,359
Speaker 1: didn't seem to be in a talkative mood either, though,

847
00:43:30,520 --> 00:43:32,920
Speaker 1: and they rode in silence back to the center of town.

848
00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:36,080
Speaker 1: Sasha was so focused on the butterflies in her stomach

849
00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:38,120
Speaker 1: and trying to catch glimpses of her hair and face

850
00:43:38,160 --> 00:43:40,360
Speaker 1: in the rear view mirror that she didn't notice the

851
00:43:40,400 --> 00:43:43,160
Speaker 1: crowds thronging downtown until the jeep rolled to a stop

852
00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:46,080
Speaker 1: and it was time for her to disembark. A familiar

853
00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:49,240
Speaker 1: sense of queasy dread gripped Sasha's guts as she exited

854
00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:52,000
Speaker 1: the vehicle and looked out over the crowd. They were

855
00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:55,520
Speaker 1: converged around the gallows. Once again, Sasha craned her neck,

856
00:43:55,640 --> 00:43:57,640
Speaker 1: and she was able to see four men in filthy,

857
00:43:57,719 --> 00:44:00,680
Speaker 1: tattered rags standing before the killing instrum it. It took

858
00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:02,719
Speaker 1: her a second to recognize two of the men as

859
00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:04,920
Speaker 1: the porters who had first unloaded her from the crate.

860
00:44:05,400 --> 00:44:08,280
Speaker 1: An older, bearded martyr and jet black body armor stood

861
00:44:08,280 --> 00:44:10,440
Speaker 1: before them. He held a bible in one hand and

862
00:44:10,480 --> 00:44:13,520
Speaker 1: a formidable looking handgun in the other. Sasha started to

863
00:44:13,560 --> 00:44:15,440
Speaker 1: push her way through the crowd for a better look.

864
00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:18,120
Speaker 1: She hadn't made it far when the bearded martyr addressed

865
00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:21,799
Speaker 1: the crowd. These four men were all once employees of

866
00:44:21,840 --> 00:44:25,360
Speaker 1: the secular abomination that calls itself the Republic of Texas.

867
00:44:25,719 --> 00:44:29,240
Speaker 1: He said, in his booming, stentorian voice. The heavenly Kingdom

868
00:44:29,239 --> 00:44:32,439
Speaker 1: offered them mercy in the form of indentured servitude. All

869
00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:35,279
Speaker 1: we asked, he scanned his eyes across the crowd. The

870
00:44:35,360 --> 00:44:37,960
Speaker 1: left corner of his lip curled up into a slight growl.

871
00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:42,000
Speaker 1: All we asked for was their honest, obedient, labor, and

872
00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:45,520
Speaker 1: they repaid this mercy by stealing food and supplies meant

873
00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:49,080
Speaker 1: for the heavenly Kingdom's brave soldiers. He lifted his big

874
00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:51,880
Speaker 1: pistol up into the sky and fired off four shots

875
00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:55,680
Speaker 1: in quick secession. These men stole from God. There is

876
00:44:55,719 --> 00:44:59,080
Speaker 1: only one proper punishment for such a sin. He turned

877
00:44:59,080 --> 00:45:01,560
Speaker 1: back towards the gallo and knotted it a hooded martyr

878
00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:03,560
Speaker 1: who stood behind him with a hand on the thick

879
00:45:03,600 --> 00:45:07,000
Speaker 1: wooden lever that operated the whole grim apparatus. The other

880
00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:09,840
Speaker 1: man pulled downwards, and the four bodies on the scaffold

881
00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:13,239
Speaker 1: dropped with a sickening chorus of snaps. Sasha felt her

882
00:45:13,280 --> 00:45:16,960
Speaker 1: stomach turned sour this time. Though she watched, she didn't

883
00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:19,279
Speaker 1: take her eyes off the gallows until the last man

884
00:45:19,400 --> 00:45:23,080
Speaker 1: had ceased his twitching. It's not a pleasant side, is it?

885
00:45:23,960 --> 00:45:27,520
Speaker 1: That voice? Sasha recognized it immediately. It was the voice

886
00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:30,080
Speaker 1: she'd heard a hundred different times over her deck, hidden

887
00:45:30,120 --> 00:45:32,040
Speaker 1: up in her room back in the am fed. It

888
00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:34,560
Speaker 1: was the voice of the first man she'd ever really loved.

889
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:38,600
Speaker 1: It was Alexander. Sasha turned around, and her heart nearly

890
00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:41,280
Speaker 1: burst at the sight of him. It was tall, broad

891
00:45:41,320 --> 00:45:44,000
Speaker 1: and muscular in a way that somehow seemed comforting and

892
00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:47,880
Speaker 1: not scary. His mop of curly brown hair, lopsided smile,

893
00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:51,120
Speaker 1: and round, permanent jawline were all exactly as she remembered

894
00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:54,120
Speaker 1: from their dozens of chat sessions. He wore alive green

895
00:45:54,160 --> 00:45:57,120
Speaker 1: fatigues that looked stained and burned in a few places.

896
00:45:57,160 --> 00:45:59,800
Speaker 1: His hair was greasy, and there were great big bags

897
00:45:59,840 --> 00:46:02,800
Speaker 1: on her his eyes. But he was here, He was real.

898
00:46:03,360 --> 00:46:06,480
Speaker 1: She collapsed into him. Before she realized it, she'd started

899
00:46:06,520 --> 00:46:08,360
Speaker 1: to sob. I love you, I love you. I love you.

900
00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:10,880
Speaker 1: I thought you were dead. I love you. He hesitated

901
00:46:10,880 --> 00:46:13,600
Speaker 1: for several long beats before he returned her embrace, but

902
00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:16,640
Speaker 1: he returned it with gusto. His hands crept down from

903
00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:19,319
Speaker 1: her sides to her buttocks. He squeezed her. It was

904
00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:22,320
Speaker 1: a gesture she'd fantasized about several times in her weaker,

905
00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:25,920
Speaker 1: more carnal moments. It was not something she'd expected a

906
00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:29,080
Speaker 1: godly man like Alexander to do out in public, surrounded

907
00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:33,120
Speaker 1: by people. In the immediate aftermath of an execution. Sasha

908
00:46:33,160 --> 00:46:36,400
Speaker 1: pulled back and coughed in surprise. She didn't say anything,

909
00:46:36,440 --> 00:46:38,840
Speaker 1: though she didn't want to. Mar their first meeting with that,

910
00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:41,759
Speaker 1: and she also remembered something Pastor Mike had written in

911
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:45,520
Speaker 1: Revelator that the beastly nature of man must be salved

912
00:46:45,560 --> 00:46:48,680
Speaker 1: by the goodness of women. Alexander had just been several

913
00:46:48,719 --> 00:46:51,400
Speaker 1: days up at the front. He must have seen terrible things.

914
00:46:51,680 --> 00:46:54,080
Speaker 1: It was understandable that his self control would not be

915
00:46:54,120 --> 00:46:57,480
Speaker 1: at its peak right now. Still, she didn't like the

916
00:46:57,520 --> 00:46:59,680
Speaker 1: way he looked her up and down. There was something

917
00:46:59,719 --> 00:47:01,880
Speaker 1: of the wolf in his eyes. It was not the

918
00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:05,920
Speaker 1: look she dreamed of seeing. But then he spoke, Sasha,

919
00:47:06,120 --> 00:47:08,359
Speaker 1: I'm so proud of you. I didn't know if i'd

920
00:47:08,400 --> 00:47:10,640
Speaker 1: ever get to see you here. I wasn't sure if

921
00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:13,040
Speaker 1: you'd be willing to truly commit yourself to our Lord,

922
00:47:13,320 --> 00:47:15,360
Speaker 1: but I prayed that you would. And now, by the

923
00:47:15,400 --> 00:47:18,400
Speaker 1: grace of God, you're here, and you're even more beautiful

924
00:47:18,400 --> 00:47:23,200
Speaker 1: than you looked online. Sasha blushed. How could she not look.

925
00:47:23,480 --> 00:47:26,120
Speaker 1: He waved a hand towards the gallows and the bodies.

926
00:47:26,640 --> 00:47:28,719
Speaker 1: Things are still sort of a mess around here, but

927
00:47:28,760 --> 00:47:31,280
Speaker 1: I know one cafe near by us up and running again.

928
00:47:31,560 --> 00:47:33,719
Speaker 1: I've got enough rash and tokens to get us both

929
00:47:33,719 --> 00:47:36,200
Speaker 1: a cup of coffee. What would you say to that,

930
00:47:37,120 --> 00:47:41,240
Speaker 1: I'd say yes. She smiled at him. Her earlier reservations dissolved,

931
00:47:41,239 --> 00:47:43,640
Speaker 1: and she took his hand and followed him down the street,

932
00:47:43,840 --> 00:47:47,160
Speaker 1: past the gallows in the dispersing crowd, and towards the cafe.

933
00:47:47,680 --> 00:47:49,960
Speaker 1: In a minute, they were there. It was a small place,

934
00:47:50,280 --> 00:47:53,120
Speaker 1: one rectangular room with a coffee maker, a half dozen

935
00:47:53,160 --> 00:47:56,560
Speaker 1: tables in an outer patio area with another half dozen tables.

936
00:47:57,160 --> 00:47:59,880
Speaker 1: There was a generator, power and air conditioning inside. So

937
00:48:00,080 --> 00:48:03,120
Speaker 1: they sat there. Alexander ordered them two large cups of

938
00:48:03,120 --> 00:48:05,799
Speaker 1: black coffee. He sat down while he waited for their

939
00:48:05,920 --> 00:48:09,080
Speaker 1: order and stared into her eyes. She stared back for

940
00:48:09,160 --> 00:48:12,279
Speaker 1: a while. That was all they did. It's so good

941
00:48:12,320 --> 00:48:14,680
Speaker 1: to see you, Sasha said. I've been working at the

942
00:48:14,719 --> 00:48:17,360
Speaker 1: hospital and I've seen so many wounded men. I couldn't

943
00:48:17,360 --> 00:48:19,040
Speaker 1: stop thinking I was going to see you in one

944
00:48:19,040 --> 00:48:22,520
Speaker 1: of those beds, broken and bleeding. He smiled at her.

945
00:48:22,680 --> 00:48:24,480
Speaker 1: Then he reached his left hand out and sat it

946
00:48:24,560 --> 00:48:27,680
Speaker 1: on top of hers. Sasha shivered. She couldn't help it.

947
00:48:28,080 --> 00:48:31,520
Speaker 1: Things stirred inside her. She felt a sudden, powerful urge

948
00:48:31,560 --> 00:48:34,239
Speaker 1: to possess his body, to hold him and squeeze him

949
00:48:34,280 --> 00:48:37,080
Speaker 1: and be explored in turn. She clamped her mouth tight

950
00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:39,920
Speaker 1: and focused on trying not to give all her thoughts

951
00:48:39,920 --> 00:48:43,880
Speaker 1: away through the blush in her cheeks. Sasha, he said,

952
00:48:44,280 --> 00:48:46,799
Speaker 1: it brings me such joy to see you here, and

953
00:48:46,880 --> 00:48:49,640
Speaker 1: don't worry. I know the situation at the Ladiest barracks

954
00:48:49,719 --> 00:48:52,719
Speaker 1: is rather primitive, but I'm talking to my commanding offices.

955
00:48:53,040 --> 00:48:55,200
Speaker 1: As soon as we get married, you'll be a part

956
00:48:55,200 --> 00:48:58,319
Speaker 1: of my household. We'll be able to live together. We'll

957
00:48:58,360 --> 00:49:01,000
Speaker 1: build a life, and that life will help build the heaven,

958
00:49:01,040 --> 00:49:04,680
Speaker 1: the kingdom. She was stunned for a moment. Sasha began

959
00:49:04,719 --> 00:49:06,560
Speaker 1: to tear up, and all she could do was not

960
00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:09,680
Speaker 1: at him. This was like a dream. It was, of course,

961
00:49:09,840 --> 00:49:13,440
Speaker 1: rather different from her actual dreams, which had involved Alexander

962
00:49:13,480 --> 00:49:15,960
Speaker 1: in a house, but not so many bleeding and dying men,

963
00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:20,359
Speaker 1: nor a gallows. Their coffee arrived, Alexander took a sip

964
00:49:20,440 --> 00:49:23,840
Speaker 1: and she followed suit. He continued, I know you're working

965
00:49:23,920 --> 00:49:27,000
Speaker 1: at the hospital now. I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry

966
00:49:27,040 --> 00:49:30,040
Speaker 1: you had to spend so much time scrubbing toilets. As

967
00:49:30,080 --> 00:49:32,280
Speaker 1: soon as I can get you off those duties, I will.

968
00:49:32,440 --> 00:49:35,200
Speaker 1: Oh no, she interjected, I love working with doctor brand.

969
00:49:35,360 --> 00:49:37,120
Speaker 1: It's important and I want to do my part to

970
00:49:37,160 --> 00:49:41,239
Speaker 1: help the kingdom thrive. Something passed across Alexander's face. It

971
00:49:41,280 --> 00:49:44,400
Speaker 1: looked like irritation, perhaps at her interruption, but it was

972
00:49:44,440 --> 00:49:49,000
Speaker 1: gone quickly and his smile returned. That's admirable, Sasha. You're

973
00:49:49,040 --> 00:49:51,879
Speaker 1: a remarkable young woman. If that's what you want, I'm

974
00:49:51,920 --> 00:49:54,279
Speaker 1: sure you can continue to help out there until you're

975
00:49:54,320 --> 00:49:58,360
Speaker 1: with child. With child, Sasha felt guilty for the horror

976
00:49:58,360 --> 00:50:01,120
Speaker 1: in her voice. Of course she wanted children, she just

977
00:50:01,160 --> 00:50:06,239
Speaker 1: didn't want them now or particularly soon. Alexander nodded, we

978
00:50:06,360 --> 00:50:09,200
Speaker 1: must be fruitful in multiply so the heaven the kingdom

979
00:50:09,239 --> 00:50:13,120
Speaker 1: can remain and expand his smile was so warm, so kind.

980
00:50:13,680 --> 00:50:15,560
Speaker 1: I know you've read more of past and my ex

981
00:50:15,600 --> 00:50:18,760
Speaker 1: writing than I have. Sasha, you're a very smart girl,

982
00:50:19,160 --> 00:50:22,080
Speaker 1: but God made you to bring forth more children. You

983
00:50:22,080 --> 00:50:25,880
Speaker 1: wouldn't want to delay your purpose, would you? Maybe? A little?

984
00:50:25,960 --> 00:50:31,400
Speaker 1: She thought? No? She lied good. He smiled again, And

985
00:50:31,520 --> 00:50:34,200
Speaker 1: don't worry. You won't have to do it alone. Mallia

986
00:50:34,280 --> 00:50:37,719
Speaker 1: already has a child, and Adelaide's two months pregnant. They'll

987
00:50:37,760 --> 00:50:41,239
Speaker 1: help you too. The world stopped at least it did

988
00:50:41,280 --> 00:50:44,319
Speaker 1: for Sasha. She could tell people were still moving around her,

989
00:50:44,360 --> 00:50:47,040
Speaker 1: but Sasha's reality had shrunk to the pounding sound of

990
00:50:47,080 --> 00:50:51,560
Speaker 1: her heart in a twisting in her gut. Adelaide and Mallia.

991
00:50:52,200 --> 00:50:55,600
Speaker 1: Alexander gritted his teeth. There was something almost practiced in

992
00:50:55,640 --> 00:50:58,920
Speaker 1: the way he said. What came next? Adelaide and Mallia

993
00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:03,680
Speaker 1: are my wives as you will be. Alexander, you didn't

994
00:51:03,719 --> 00:51:06,359
Speaker 1: say anything about other wives. You never mentioned them at all.

995
00:51:06,520 --> 00:51:08,840
Speaker 1: Why are how can you be telling me all this now?

996
00:51:09,640 --> 00:51:12,160
Speaker 1: His smile turned sad, or at least it gave the

997
00:51:12,200 --> 00:51:15,680
Speaker 1: illusion of sadness. Sasha was still too shocked for anger.

998
00:51:15,920 --> 00:51:17,799
Speaker 1: She felt like a whole had just been knocked in

999
00:51:17,840 --> 00:51:20,239
Speaker 1: her heart. She knew she should be angry, but she

1000
00:51:20,320 --> 00:51:23,239
Speaker 1: also felt like there must be something missing, something she

1001
00:51:23,320 --> 00:51:27,320
Speaker 1: didn't understand yet. Alexander was a sweet boy. He wouldn't

1002
00:51:27,320 --> 00:51:30,879
Speaker 1: do this to her. Look, he said, I'm sorry. This

1003
00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:35,040
Speaker 1: is never easy. You understand how important the Heavenly Kingdom is, Sasha.

1004
00:51:35,480 --> 00:51:38,240
Speaker 1: Nothing in the world could Madam are and the kingdom

1005
00:51:38,280 --> 00:51:41,400
Speaker 1: will not survive without people like you. One of my

1006
00:51:41,520 --> 00:51:43,840
Speaker 1: jobs here is to push young women like you to

1007
00:51:43,920 --> 00:51:47,760
Speaker 1: take the terrible risk of coming here, and so you lied.

1008
00:51:48,080 --> 00:51:51,000
Speaker 1: She croaked, barely able to believe what was happening. You,

1009
00:51:51,120 --> 00:51:55,840
Speaker 1: poor false witness, Alexander. I I did not lie. His

1010
00:51:55,960 --> 00:51:58,600
Speaker 1: voice hardened, and so did his eyes. I did not

1011
00:51:58,680 --> 00:52:01,400
Speaker 1: tell you about every fact of my life here, but

1012
00:52:01,520 --> 00:52:04,399
Speaker 1: I did not lie. He sighed, took a sip from

1013
00:52:04,400 --> 00:52:07,720
Speaker 1: his coffee, and continued, I'm part of a special unit

1014
00:52:07,760 --> 00:52:10,160
Speaker 1: within the Kingdom, formed on the order of the past.

1015
00:52:10,160 --> 00:52:13,680
Speaker 1: To himself, he calls us jacobeans. It is our job

1016
00:52:13,760 --> 00:52:17,080
Speaker 1: to see the next generation of modus. We take personal

1017
00:52:17,120 --> 00:52:21,160
Speaker 1: responsibility for the Kingdom's expansion. Finding you and bringing you

1018
00:52:21,239 --> 00:52:23,600
Speaker 1: here was one part of my work in this great cause.

1019
00:52:24,040 --> 00:52:27,280
Speaker 1: If I'd told you every detail about life here, every

1020
00:52:27,320 --> 00:52:30,640
Speaker 1: single thing, you wouldn't have come, and your soul would

1021
00:52:30,640 --> 00:52:34,239
Speaker 1: have stayed in jeopardy. He took another deep, arrogant sip

1022
00:52:34,280 --> 00:52:37,279
Speaker 1: of his coffee. I'm sorry if this hurts you, but

1023
00:52:37,400 --> 00:52:40,160
Speaker 1: it was for the greater good. We must sometimes do

1024
00:52:40,320 --> 00:52:44,719
Speaker 1: distasteful things to serve God's design. Sasha's vision went red.

1025
00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:48,279
Speaker 1: She stood and without thinking, grabbed her now lukewarm mug

1026
00:52:48,280 --> 00:52:51,400
Speaker 1: of coffee and splashed the whole thing in Alexander's face.

1027
00:52:51,840 --> 00:52:54,160
Speaker 1: He yelled at her and sputtered like a goldfish, but

1028
00:52:54,239 --> 00:52:56,400
Speaker 1: she was already up and heading for the door. She

1029
00:52:56,560 --> 00:52:59,279
Speaker 1: flung it open, walked out into the crowded street, and

1030
00:52:59,360 --> 00:53:01,319
Speaker 1: lost herself from the press of the crowd and the

1031
00:53:01,320 --> 00:53:11,080
Speaker 1: boiling waves of her own anger. The Black Effect Presents

1032
00:53:11,239 --> 00:53:15,400
Speaker 1: features honest conversations and exclusive interviews, a space for artists,

1033
00:53:15,440 --> 00:53:19,879
Speaker 1: everyday people and listeners to amplify, elevate, and empower Black

1034
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Speaker 1: voices with great conversations. Make sure to listen to The

1035
00:53:23,440 --> 00:53:27,240
Speaker 1: Black Effect Presents Podcast on I Heart Radio, Apple podcast,

1036
00:53:27,400 --> 00:53:33,200
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Tanya sam Post

1037
00:53:33,280 --> 00:53:36,320
Speaker 1: of The Money Moves Podcast powered by Greenwood. This daily

1038
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Speaker 1: podcast will help give you the keys to the Kingdom

1039
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1040
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1041
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1042
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1043
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Speaker 1: The Money Moves Podcast powered by Greenland on the I

1044
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Speaker 1: Heart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast, and

1045
00:54:00,400 --> 00:54:03,719
Speaker 1: make sure you leave a review. Adoption of teens from

1046
00:54:03,760 --> 00:54:06,200
Speaker 1: foster care is a topic not enough people know about,

1047
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Speaker 1: and we're here to change that. I'm April Din't what,

1048
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Speaker 1: the host of the new podcast Navigating Adoption presented by

1049
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Speaker 1: adopt Us Kids. Each episode brings you compelling, real life

1050
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Speaker 1: adoption stories told by the families that lived them, with

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Speaker 1: commentary from experts. Visit adopt us Kids dot org, slash podcast,

1052
00:54:22,960 --> 00:54:26,359
Speaker 1: or subscribed to Navigating Adoption presented by adopt Us Kids,

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Speaker 1: brought to you by the U. S Department of Health,

1054
00:54:28,320 --> 00:54:31,120
Speaker 1: that Human Services Administration for Children and Families, and the

1055
00:54:31,160 --> 00:54:39,520
Speaker 1: Act Council. Chapter thirteen Manny Manny woke up feeling like

1056
00:54:39,600 --> 00:54:41,719
Speaker 1: his mouth was filled with cotton and his head was

1057
00:54:41,800 --> 00:54:44,920
Speaker 1: filled with spiders. It took him a few long seconds

1058
00:54:44,920 --> 00:54:47,160
Speaker 1: to remember where he was and what had happened to

1059
00:54:47,160 --> 00:54:50,400
Speaker 1: bring him here. He activated his deck and was shocked

1060
00:54:50,400 --> 00:54:52,319
Speaker 1: to see that more than a day had passed since

1061
00:54:52,360 --> 00:54:55,120
Speaker 1: he dropped into bed. His first guess was that he

1062
00:54:55,160 --> 00:54:58,400
Speaker 1: was suffering some side effect from Skullfucker Mike's blood. He

1063
00:54:58,440 --> 00:55:00,760
Speaker 1: couldn't think of any other times he'd slept that long,

1064
00:55:00,840 --> 00:55:03,120
Speaker 1: although he also couldn't think of any other times he'd

1065
00:55:03,120 --> 00:55:05,840
Speaker 1: survived a drone attack and an intentional car crash in

1066
00:55:05,880 --> 00:55:10,480
Speaker 1: the same minute. Meret. He cursed and then called out Reggie.

1067
00:55:11,000 --> 00:55:12,920
Speaker 1: He looked over to the cot the journalist had been

1068
00:55:12,920 --> 00:55:15,439
Speaker 1: sleeping on. It was dark in the little room Nana

1069
00:55:15,520 --> 00:55:18,480
Speaker 1: Yazi had provided. He could see the outline of Reggie's

1070
00:55:18,480 --> 00:55:21,200
Speaker 1: empty cot and not much else. The room was just

1071
00:55:21,320 --> 00:55:23,840
Speaker 1: one ten by tin section of an old shipping crate.

1072
00:55:24,280 --> 00:55:26,719
Speaker 1: Manny knew the only things in the room besides their

1073
00:55:26,719 --> 00:55:29,160
Speaker 1: cots were a table with a built in coffee maker

1074
00:55:29,200 --> 00:55:32,920
Speaker 1: and a pair of folding chairs. Manny sat up, groaned

1075
00:55:32,920 --> 00:55:35,359
Speaker 1: as every palpable thing in his body popped, and then

1076
00:55:35,480 --> 00:55:38,080
Speaker 1: rose to his feet. As he stumbled to the door,

1077
00:55:38,200 --> 00:55:40,880
Speaker 1: his deck started to populate with messages from friends and

1078
00:55:40,920 --> 00:55:43,760
Speaker 1: family back in Austin. By the time his hand touched

1079
00:55:43,800 --> 00:55:46,680
Speaker 1: the knob, there were more than fifty translucent messages hovering

1080
00:55:46,680 --> 00:55:49,280
Speaker 1: at the edges of his field of vision. He blinked,

1081
00:55:49,280 --> 00:55:52,120
Speaker 1: selected a mass response template, filled it with the names

1082
00:55:52,160 --> 00:55:54,359
Speaker 1: of everyone who had sent him something, and typed out

1083
00:55:54,360 --> 00:55:59,319
Speaker 1: an update not dead details. Later. He almost sent it,

1084
00:55:59,440 --> 00:56:02,480
Speaker 1: but then he noticed one of the names, Aisha Martinez,

1085
00:56:02,840 --> 00:56:05,960
Speaker 1: Oscar's wife. He could only see the first few lines

1086
00:56:06,000 --> 00:56:08,359
Speaker 1: of the message without opening it, but what he saw

1087
00:56:08,480 --> 00:56:11,680
Speaker 1: made it clear she was terrified for her husband. Manny

1088
00:56:11,840 --> 00:56:14,200
Speaker 1: De selected her from the list and sent the mass

1089
00:56:14,239 --> 00:56:16,640
Speaker 1: message off to everyone else, and then scrolled through his

1090
00:56:16,680 --> 00:56:20,320
Speaker 1: messages until he found Oscar's message stack. The other fixer

1091
00:56:20,400 --> 00:56:23,360
Speaker 1: still hadn't said anything, not since the assault had begun.

1092
00:56:24,160 --> 00:56:26,960
Speaker 1: Many opened up Aisha's message. He tried to read it,

1093
00:56:27,080 --> 00:56:29,479
Speaker 1: he really did, but his brain wouldn't let his eyes

1094
00:56:29,520 --> 00:56:32,640
Speaker 1: focus on the words. His heart started to pound, his

1095
00:56:32,719 --> 00:56:36,080
Speaker 1: gut curdled, and instead of reading it, he typed her

1096
00:56:36,080 --> 00:56:39,640
Speaker 1: a quick response, I'm alive. I'm so sorry, but I

1097
00:56:39,680 --> 00:56:41,879
Speaker 1: don't know where Oscar is or if he's made it out,

1098
00:56:42,400 --> 00:56:45,160
Speaker 1: And then he typed a sentence he knew instantly he'd regret.

1099
00:56:45,960 --> 00:56:48,960
Speaker 1: I will do everything I can to find your husband.

1100
00:56:50,239 --> 00:56:52,200
Speaker 1: Then he sent the message and stepped out of the

1101
00:56:52,280 --> 00:56:55,320
Speaker 1: room into the dying light of the late North Texas afternoon.

1102
00:56:56,120 --> 00:56:59,480
Speaker 1: Rolling fuck unspooled around him. It was crowded, or at

1103
00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:02,799
Speaker 1: least more crowded than it had been yesterday. Dozens of

1104
00:57:02,800 --> 00:57:05,560
Speaker 1: people and non human people were packed onto the gantry

1105
00:57:05,560 --> 00:57:08,200
Speaker 1: ways and into the sundry buildings added around the rollers

1106
00:57:08,239 --> 00:57:11,120
Speaker 1: and up on the spires. One building that jutted off

1107
00:57:11,160 --> 00:57:13,480
Speaker 1: the rear roller looked like a carousel ride, with little

1108
00:57:13,560 --> 00:57:16,320
Speaker 1: rocket ships instead of horses. It appeared to function as

1109
00:57:16,360 --> 00:57:19,960
Speaker 1: a spinning bar. Drunk people rode little ships while bartenders

1110
00:57:19,960 --> 00:57:23,040
Speaker 1: in the middle kept them liquored up. Someone shoved by him,

1111
00:57:23,160 --> 00:57:26,160
Speaker 1: a heavily chromed person with three tails, each topped by

1112
00:57:26,160 --> 00:57:29,080
Speaker 1: the fully articulated and seemingly sentient head of a cat.

1113
00:57:29,640 --> 00:57:31,720
Speaker 1: One of the cat heads belched a small puff of

1114
00:57:31,720 --> 00:57:34,880
Speaker 1: fire at Manny as their wearer passed. He shook his

1115
00:57:34,920 --> 00:57:36,920
Speaker 1: head and squeezed his way over to the main roller.

1116
00:57:37,160 --> 00:57:39,400
Speaker 1: It helped little to pretend he was just pushing his

1117
00:57:39,440 --> 00:57:42,520
Speaker 1: way onto the Austin Metro. While he walked, he noticed

1118
00:57:42,560 --> 00:57:45,000
Speaker 1: a message from Reggie. He blink, clicked it open and

1119
00:57:45,040 --> 00:57:48,040
Speaker 1: heard Reggie's voice in his ear at the rooftop bar,

1120
00:57:48,200 --> 00:57:50,360
Speaker 1: drinking my way through some research fund me. When you

1121
00:57:50,360 --> 00:57:54,000
Speaker 1: wake up, I'm onto something. Of course, Manny had already

1122
00:57:54,040 --> 00:57:56,640
Speaker 1: been on his way there before he'd seen Reggie's message.

1123
00:57:57,040 --> 00:57:59,640
Speaker 1: That was the simple reality of British journalists. If it

1124
00:57:59,680 --> 00:58:02,120
Speaker 1: was posible for one to be drinking, that's what they'd

1125
00:58:02,120 --> 00:58:05,800
Speaker 1: be doing. The walk took about ten minutes. He crossed

1126
00:58:05,800 --> 00:58:09,440
Speaker 1: a combination of gantry ways, staircases, and even one webbed net.

1127
00:58:09,840 --> 00:58:11,800
Speaker 1: The bar was packed when he arrived, but it was

1128
00:58:11,800 --> 00:58:15,080
Speaker 1: easy enough to pick out Reggie. Both his holographic screens

1129
00:58:15,120 --> 00:58:17,240
Speaker 1: were up and active on the bar top in front

1130
00:58:17,280 --> 00:58:20,000
Speaker 1: of them. He was seated next to Skullfucker Mike, and

1131
00:58:20,040 --> 00:58:23,600
Speaker 1: they were deep in conversation when Manny walked up. Hey, brother,

1132
00:58:23,880 --> 00:58:27,120
Speaker 1: Reggie said, you've been out for a long time. Yeah,

1133
00:58:27,240 --> 00:58:29,960
Speaker 1: Manny said, nothing like that's ever happened to me before.

1134
00:58:30,160 --> 00:58:32,720
Speaker 1: How long were you out? The journalist thought for a

1135
00:58:32,760 --> 00:58:35,920
Speaker 1: moment and then answered, odd, guess like a day, he said.

1136
00:58:36,200 --> 00:58:39,440
Speaker 1: Mike told me that's not weird. Yeah, the chrome man chuckled.

1137
00:58:39,520 --> 00:58:42,200
Speaker 1: All medicines got side effects, My weird ass blood is

1138
00:58:42,240 --> 00:58:44,720
Speaker 1: no different, y'all. Cute little humans ain't made for it.

1139
00:58:45,640 --> 00:58:48,480
Speaker 1: Skullfucker Mike and Reggie were both clearly drunk, and just

1140
00:58:48,560 --> 00:58:50,480
Speaker 1: as clearly not as drunk as they planned to be

1141
00:58:50,600 --> 00:58:53,040
Speaker 1: by the end of the night. Mike flashed a grin

1142
00:58:53,040 --> 00:58:56,600
Speaker 1: at Manny and offered a hug that the fixer accepted awkwardly. Guy,

1143
00:58:56,680 --> 00:58:59,200
Speaker 1: it's good to see you, Mike said, I gotta tell you,

1144
00:58:59,240 --> 00:59:01,160
Speaker 1: I'm kind of jelly us of your nap. I missed

1145
00:59:01,160 --> 00:59:03,360
Speaker 1: sleep like that with all this chrome in me. He

1146
00:59:03,440 --> 00:59:06,080
Speaker 1: waved a hand vaguely over his head. I can't get

1147
00:59:06,120 --> 00:59:08,840
Speaker 1: exhausted like that anymore. You miss it when it's gone.

1148
00:59:08,920 --> 00:59:11,440
Speaker 1: I got a drink like thirty of these fucking things.

1149
00:59:11,920 --> 00:59:14,160
Speaker 1: Mike gestured to the half full drink in front of him.

1150
00:59:14,320 --> 00:59:17,520
Speaker 1: It looked like a pina colada, a strange incense the odor.

1151
00:59:17,560 --> 00:59:19,800
Speaker 1: Waffed it up from it just to pass out like

1152
00:59:19,840 --> 00:59:23,400
Speaker 1: a normal person. Reggie was drinking the same thing. He

1153
00:59:23,480 --> 00:59:26,360
Speaker 1: offered his half full glass to Manny. These things are

1154
00:59:26,360 --> 00:59:30,080
Speaker 1: the best man vodka and opium coladas. They got a

1155
00:59:30,120 --> 00:59:32,920
Speaker 1: little bit of th HC in him too, Mike added,

1156
00:59:32,960 --> 00:59:36,240
Speaker 1: in a high sing song voice. Manny waved them off.

1157
00:59:36,600 --> 00:59:39,479
Speaker 1: I'm good, thanks, I just woke up a minute ago.

1158
00:59:39,640 --> 00:59:43,840
Speaker 1: I probably shouldn't immediately take three different drugs. Reggie and

1159
00:59:43,880 --> 00:59:47,760
Speaker 1: skullfucker Mike both looked at him like he was an alien. Weird,

1160
00:59:48,040 --> 00:59:50,880
Speaker 1: they said at the exact same time. Mike laughed and

1161
00:59:50,920 --> 00:59:53,440
Speaker 1: Reggie looked back at his screen as a push notification

1162
00:59:53,520 --> 00:59:58,000
Speaker 1: popped up with a cheery shitting tits he cursed, Manny

1163
00:59:58,040 --> 01:00:01,080
Speaker 1: and skullfucker. Mike leaned into the screen. The notification was

1164
01:00:01,120 --> 01:00:03,280
Speaker 1: a news wire update with a journalist who must have

1165
01:00:03,320 --> 01:00:06,000
Speaker 1: been embedded with either the s d F or Austin's forces.

1166
01:00:06,280 --> 01:00:09,520
Speaker 1: The title said, at all as the Heavenly Kingdom prepares

1167
01:00:09,560 --> 01:00:12,760
Speaker 1: for another assault, s d F and Austin abandoned Waco.

1168
01:00:13,560 --> 01:00:16,560
Speaker 1: I'm not surprised they're pulling out, Mike said. Your people

1169
01:00:16,560 --> 01:00:18,680
Speaker 1: are good enough fighters on a normal day, but the

1170
01:00:18,840 --> 01:00:21,600
Speaker 1: s d f's built to dominate a bunch of squabbling militias.

1171
01:00:21,680 --> 01:00:23,720
Speaker 1: They were never going to hold off a sustained assault

1172
01:00:23,760 --> 01:00:26,800
Speaker 1: from a real army. The sleep was fully banished now

1173
01:00:27,080 --> 01:00:29,360
Speaker 1: Manny was awake, and the gravity of what had happened

1174
01:00:29,360 --> 01:00:31,840
Speaker 1: over the last few days sank in again. Amide and

1175
01:00:31,920 --> 01:00:35,000
Speaker 1: de Shaun, We're probably dead, so was mister Perrone an

1176
01:00:35,000 --> 01:00:37,760
Speaker 1: oscar A holy shit, Holy shit? What am I going

1177
01:00:37,840 --> 01:00:41,080
Speaker 1: to tell Ayesha? And then the darker, more selfish thoughts.

1178
01:00:41,280 --> 01:00:43,320
Speaker 1: Am I going to have time to fly out of Austin?

1179
01:00:44,440 --> 01:00:46,560
Speaker 1: How the hell did the martyrs turn into a real

1180
01:00:46,640 --> 01:00:49,720
Speaker 1: fucking army overnight? He asked, with more fear in his

1181
01:00:49,840 --> 01:00:53,520
Speaker 1: voice than he meant to display. Well, Reggie said, as

1182
01:00:53,520 --> 01:00:56,320
Speaker 1: he gestured to a series of curated social media posts

1183
01:00:56,320 --> 01:00:59,600
Speaker 1: from people in and around Sea Dad de mrta best

1184
01:00:59,640 --> 01:01:02,080
Speaker 1: as we configure, they sort of stole most of the

1185
01:01:02,120 --> 01:01:05,800
Speaker 1: Republic's army. There are reports of entire units of Republic soldiers,

1186
01:01:05,840 --> 01:01:09,280
Speaker 1: thousands of fidus turning at once. He gestured to a

1187
01:01:09,320 --> 01:01:12,400
Speaker 1: live updating political map of Texas. It was a map

1188
01:01:12,480 --> 01:01:16,439
Speaker 1: many consulted regularly. The Heavenly Kingdom's territory was outlined and read.

1189
01:01:16,840 --> 01:01:18,760
Speaker 1: There was a lot more red on the map today.

1190
01:01:19,240 --> 01:01:25,960
Speaker 1: It seemed impossible that Sancharados Manny breathed Galveston. Yeah, Reggie

1191
01:01:25,960 --> 01:01:29,040
Speaker 1: gave a grim nod. Fell about ten hours ago. Heavenly

1192
01:01:29,160 --> 01:01:32,080
Speaker 1: Kingdoms pushing into the Lake Houston suburbs right now the

1193
01:01:32,120 --> 01:01:35,919
Speaker 1: holding position in Dallas, though digesting the gains, still ain't

1194
01:01:35,960 --> 01:01:39,040
Speaker 1: gonna be long before they hit Austin, Mike said, maybe

1195
01:01:39,040 --> 01:01:42,400
Speaker 1: a week, maybe two. Many stood there for a moment.

1196
01:01:42,600 --> 01:01:45,240
Speaker 1: He thought about his father, his friends. He thought about

1197
01:01:45,240 --> 01:01:47,000
Speaker 1: the house where he'd grown up in the view of

1198
01:01:47,040 --> 01:01:50,840
Speaker 1: Austin Sprawl from his roof. He imagined golden Cross banners

1199
01:01:50,880 --> 01:01:53,880
Speaker 1: flapping in the breeze above, burnt out buildings. He pictured

1200
01:01:53,920 --> 01:01:57,160
Speaker 1: gallows filled with people strung out along Sixth Street. A

1201
01:01:57,240 --> 01:02:00,200
Speaker 1: knot of nausea started to build in his belly. What

1202
01:02:00,280 --> 01:02:03,880
Speaker 1: will you do, Emmanuel? He heard Mr Perrone's voice echo

1203
01:02:03,960 --> 01:02:07,160
Speaker 1: in his conscience. Manny shook the dead man's words away.

1204
01:02:08,120 --> 01:02:10,280
Speaker 1: I need to get back home, he insisted. Is there

1205
01:02:10,320 --> 01:02:13,120
Speaker 1: some way you can get me a ride? Skullfucker? Mike

1206
01:02:13,160 --> 01:02:15,880
Speaker 1: took a long pull from his drink. He squinted it Manny,

1207
01:02:15,920 --> 01:02:18,920
Speaker 1: and the chromed man's eyes focused. One iris looked a

1208
01:02:18,920 --> 01:02:21,240
Speaker 1: lot larger than the others. Mike swayed a bit in

1209
01:02:21,280 --> 01:02:24,960
Speaker 1: his seat, but he seemed lucid mostly. And what are

1210
01:02:24,960 --> 01:02:27,520
Speaker 1: you gonna do in Austin? He said, pick up a

1211
01:02:27,560 --> 01:02:30,920
Speaker 1: gun and die fighting, unless you're hiding some serious mods

1212
01:02:31,000 --> 01:02:32,880
Speaker 1: under that skin. I don't think your help will make

1213
01:02:32,920 --> 01:02:36,200
Speaker 1: a rat ship worth a difference. I know I'm not

1214
01:02:36,320 --> 01:02:39,000
Speaker 1: going there to fight. I need to what fly away?

1215
01:02:39,160 --> 01:02:42,480
Speaker 1: Go to fucking California. Try your luck in Europe. Mike

1216
01:02:42,480 --> 01:02:45,880
Speaker 1: shook his head. You've got a chance to actually do something.

1217
01:02:46,200 --> 01:02:48,360
Speaker 1: Help us get our people out of Dallas, and we

1218
01:02:48,480 --> 01:02:51,560
Speaker 1: can fuck the Kingdom's advance, maybe even throw him back.

1219
01:02:52,560 --> 01:02:55,600
Speaker 1: Manny thought about it, sighed and said, I think I

1220
01:02:55,600 --> 01:02:59,160
Speaker 1: do need a drink, skullfucker. Mike nodded. He pointed over

1221
01:02:59,240 --> 01:03:01,480
Speaker 1: to a table lie with a dozen different beer taps,

1222
01:03:02,160 --> 01:03:04,920
Speaker 1: the normal stuff, self service. I recommend the Wheat Hayes.

1223
01:03:05,040 --> 01:03:07,840
Speaker 1: Pretty mild, but it's good for stock humans like yourself.

1224
01:03:09,040 --> 01:03:11,280
Speaker 1: Manny got up, grabbed a glass from a dispenser at

1225
01:03:11,320 --> 01:03:12,840
Speaker 1: the edge of the bar, and walked over to the

1226
01:03:12,840 --> 01:03:15,479
Speaker 1: beer table. Each keg had a thick strip of white

1227
01:03:15,480 --> 01:03:18,600
Speaker 1: tape across the front. The only details given about each

1228
01:03:18,600 --> 01:03:22,720
Speaker 1: beer were vague, almost allegibly scrawled names. Many found two

1229
01:03:22,800 --> 01:03:25,640
Speaker 1: labels that both looked like they might say Wheat Hayes.

1230
01:03:26,000 --> 01:03:28,200
Speaker 1: He picked one at random, then headed back to the

1231
01:03:28,200 --> 01:03:31,320
Speaker 1: bar and sat next to Reggie. Mike looked impressed for

1232
01:03:31,360 --> 01:03:35,040
Speaker 1: some reason. Good choice, he said, with a nod. Manny

1233
01:03:35,120 --> 01:03:37,680
Speaker 1: took a sip. It was really good, a mild, pale

1234
01:03:37,720 --> 01:03:40,200
Speaker 1: ale with just a hint of sour. He leaned in

1235
01:03:40,280 --> 01:03:43,080
Speaker 1: and looked at the maps and scrolling updates on reggie screen.

1236
01:03:43,480 --> 01:03:45,840
Speaker 1: The journalist finished writing down a couple of notes and

1237
01:03:45,880 --> 01:03:49,720
Speaker 1: shook his head. I'm really sorry, man, truly, he gestured

1238
01:03:49,760 --> 01:03:53,280
Speaker 1: towards the live map. This is so fucked. You're gonna

1239
01:03:53,280 --> 01:03:56,280
Speaker 1: stay here to cover the fall, Mike asked. Reggie shook

1240
01:03:56,280 --> 01:03:59,120
Speaker 1: his head. He looked frustrated. Got a message from my

1241
01:03:59,280 --> 01:04:01,200
Speaker 1: editor a bit ago. They're trying to work out an

1242
01:04:01,200 --> 01:04:03,120
Speaker 1: extract for me. I'm gonna send a team at here

1243
01:04:03,160 --> 01:04:05,720
Speaker 1: to drive me west to El Paso. I guess it's

1244
01:04:05,760 --> 01:04:07,680
Speaker 1: not safe to fly out of Austin right now, so

1245
01:04:08,320 --> 01:04:10,840
Speaker 1: he trailed off. The three of them drank in silence

1246
01:04:10,840 --> 01:04:13,440
Speaker 1: for a minute. Schoolfucker Might, gulped down the last of

1247
01:04:13,480 --> 01:04:16,320
Speaker 1: his glass and ordered another, along with three shots of bourbon.

1248
01:04:16,920 --> 01:04:19,040
Speaker 1: Manny started to turn down the shot, but it was

1249
01:04:19,080 --> 01:04:21,600
Speaker 1: soon apparent that Mike wanted all three shots for himself.

1250
01:04:22,120 --> 01:04:24,160
Speaker 1: He downed them all in the space of around a second,

1251
01:04:24,320 --> 01:04:28,160
Speaker 1: belched loudly, and then returned to staring at Reggie. Screen fuck,

1252
01:04:28,400 --> 01:04:32,600
Speaker 1: he sighed out again. Funcke he fuck fuck. Manny was

1253
01:04:32,640 --> 01:04:35,640
Speaker 1: halfway through his beer when Donald Ferris approached. The old

1254
01:04:35,680 --> 01:04:39,440
Speaker 1: documentarian wore a burgundy velvet waistcoat underneath a slightly battered

1255
01:04:39,440 --> 01:04:42,200
Speaker 1: but well tailored tweed jacket. He had a glass of

1256
01:04:42,200 --> 01:04:44,840
Speaker 1: probable whiskey in his hand, and the soberst eyes. Manny

1257
01:04:44,920 --> 01:04:49,400
Speaker 1: had seen that day. Hello, gentlemen, schoolfucker Mike getting caught

1258
01:04:49,480 --> 01:04:52,919
Speaker 1: up on the latest catastrophes. All away, yep, said Mike,

1259
01:04:53,080 --> 01:04:55,640
Speaker 1: how you been. The older man shrugged and took his

1260
01:04:55,680 --> 01:04:57,800
Speaker 1: seat at the table. He gulped his whiskey and looked

1261
01:04:57,840 --> 01:05:00,320
Speaker 1: down the table at Manny. It was strange to see

1262
01:05:00,360 --> 01:05:03,360
Speaker 1: an actual old person this close up. The creases on

1263
01:05:03,400 --> 01:05:05,520
Speaker 1: his forehead and around his lips were so deep they

1264
01:05:05,520 --> 01:05:07,960
Speaker 1: could have been carved with a knife. There were spots

1265
01:05:08,040 --> 01:05:10,800
Speaker 1: on him, a clear sign he'd taken no juven treatments

1266
01:05:10,800 --> 01:05:13,480
Speaker 1: at all. His face had a deep, craggy richness that

1267
01:05:13,560 --> 01:05:17,080
Speaker 1: lent every word he said, a certain vague majesty. Donald

1268
01:05:17,120 --> 01:05:20,680
Speaker 1: Ferris spoke, and many felt compelled to listen. You can

1269
01:05:20,720 --> 01:05:22,960
Speaker 1: hope this. You know who is stuck negotiating with the

1270
01:05:23,080 --> 01:05:26,280
Speaker 1: kingdom now, and they are most recalcitrant. But the Fuccians

1271
01:05:26,680 --> 01:05:31,400
Speaker 1: quite a second, Reggie interrupted, Fuccians really. Donald and Mike

1272
01:05:31,440 --> 01:05:35,480
Speaker 1: exchanged a look, then a laugh. Donald replied, the city's

1273
01:05:35,520 --> 01:05:39,040
Speaker 1: not exactly famed for consistency. Almost any collective now and

1274
01:05:39,080 --> 01:05:42,080
Speaker 1: you can think of would be appropriate. He took another

1275
01:05:42,120 --> 01:05:43,800
Speaker 1: sip from his glass and set it down on the

1276
01:05:43,800 --> 01:05:46,560
Speaker 1: bar top with a clack. Donald Ferris leaned in at

1277
01:05:46,600 --> 01:05:48,800
Speaker 1: that and eyed the glass as he rotated it around

1278
01:05:48,840 --> 01:05:51,480
Speaker 1: on the table. He tapped it again, smiled, and looked

1279
01:05:51,480 --> 01:05:54,000
Speaker 1: back up to the group. Now, young man, let me

1280
01:05:54,080 --> 01:05:56,080
Speaker 1: explain why you should go risk your life on a

1281
01:05:56,200 --> 01:05:59,960
Speaker 1: daring and dangerous rescue mission. Many grunted and shook his

1282
01:06:00,120 --> 01:06:03,440
Speaker 1: ed reflexively defensive. I'd rather not talk about it right now,

1283
01:06:03,520 --> 01:06:06,280
Speaker 1: if that's cool, he said. I just woke up. This

1284
01:06:06,320 --> 01:06:08,600
Speaker 1: place is ridiculous, and I'm not going to decide to

1285
01:06:08,600 --> 01:06:11,240
Speaker 1: go into terrible danger because some old man gilt trips

1286
01:06:11,240 --> 01:06:14,840
Speaker 1: me at a bar. Suit yourself. Donald smiled. I can't

1287
01:06:14,880 --> 01:06:17,520
Speaker 1: imagine how stressful this is all bidden for you. I'm

1288
01:06:17,560 --> 01:06:19,840
Speaker 1: a little surprised you'd choose to trip bowls at a

1289
01:06:19,920 --> 01:06:23,040
Speaker 1: time like this. What do you mean, Manny asked, with

1290
01:06:23,080 --> 01:06:27,439
Speaker 1: growing anxiety. That's a white haze, right, I think Mike

1291
01:06:27,480 --> 01:06:29,480
Speaker 1: said it was a wheat haze, but I couldn't really

1292
01:06:29,480 --> 01:06:33,320
Speaker 1: read the labels. Shit, Mike cursed, while Donald Ferris fought

1293
01:06:33,320 --> 01:06:37,600
Speaker 1: back a laugh. What, Manny asked, Mike should have warned you.

1294
01:06:37,760 --> 01:06:41,080
Speaker 1: The wheat haze is normal alcohol. The white haze packs

1295
01:06:41,120 --> 01:06:43,880
Speaker 1: about two hits of the surgic diethyl acid put pint

1296
01:06:44,480 --> 01:06:47,280
Speaker 1: be anxious, not in. Manny's gut began to pound in pulse.

1297
01:06:47,400 --> 01:06:50,560
Speaker 1: He looked to skullfucker Mike, furious. What the funk man?

1298
01:06:51,000 --> 01:06:56,280
Speaker 1: Mike winced, He looked genuinely rueful. I'm really sorry, he said.

1299
01:06:56,480 --> 01:06:58,600
Speaker 1: I'm not used to it making a difference. Most people

1300
01:06:58,640 --> 01:07:00,400
Speaker 1: here take two or three hits, as said, with their

1301
01:07:00,400 --> 01:07:04,200
Speaker 1: breakfast cigarettes. Oh shit. Manny slumped forward and put his

1302
01:07:04,200 --> 01:07:07,160
Speaker 1: head in his hands. He started to hyperventilate. The edges

1303
01:07:07,200 --> 01:07:09,240
Speaker 1: of his vision blurred, and Manny couldn't tell if that

1304
01:07:09,320 --> 01:07:11,600
Speaker 1: was from the drugs kicking in or just a consequence

1305
01:07:11,600 --> 01:07:14,440
Speaker 1: of his own panic. He could feel Oscar's face hanging

1306
01:07:14,440 --> 01:07:16,720
Speaker 1: out just at the back of his mind, afloat on

1307
01:07:16,760 --> 01:07:18,880
Speaker 1: a river of guilt. He didn't want to know what

1308
01:07:18,920 --> 01:07:21,680
Speaker 1: a headful of acid would do with those feelings. I

1309
01:07:21,720 --> 01:07:23,960
Speaker 1: gotta get back to the room, he said, I can't

1310
01:07:24,000 --> 01:07:27,080
Speaker 1: handle that. Donald put a hand on his shoulder. He

1311
01:07:27,200 --> 01:07:29,840
Speaker 1: was stronger than Manny would have guessed. You've got a

1312
01:07:29,880 --> 01:07:32,800
Speaker 1: headful of surprise acid. Boy. The last thing you need

1313
01:07:32,920 --> 01:07:34,880
Speaker 1: is to sit in a dock room and stew with

1314
01:07:34,960 --> 01:07:38,600
Speaker 1: your demons. He exchanged another look with skullfucker Mike and

1315
01:07:38,640 --> 01:07:41,640
Speaker 1: said brain Breakers ought to be kicking off right now.

1316
01:07:41,920 --> 01:07:45,600
Speaker 1: That's the place for a man in your condition. But started, Manny,

1317
01:07:46,280 --> 01:07:50,000
Speaker 1: what the hell is that? Reggie asked, Wait, Manny continued.

1318
01:07:50,320 --> 01:07:53,200
Speaker 1: Donald ignored him and replied to Reggie, it's the best

1319
01:07:53,280 --> 01:07:55,680
Speaker 1: damn party on the continent, or at least the best

1320
01:07:55,680 --> 01:07:59,360
Speaker 1: one humans can attend and survive. I don't really want to,

1321
01:07:59,480 --> 01:08:02,880
Speaker 1: Manny s uarded. Scofucker Mike added his hand to Manny's shoulder.

1322
01:08:03,400 --> 01:08:08,520
Speaker 1: You really do trust us on this. In the end, scofucker,

1323
01:08:08,560 --> 01:08:12,280
Speaker 1: Mike and Donald convinced him to go. Reggie surprisingly opted

1324
01:08:12,320 --> 01:08:14,480
Speaker 1: to stay at the bar and continue his work. He

1325
01:08:14,520 --> 01:08:17,800
Speaker 1: said he was close to something, man, He really wished

1326
01:08:17,840 --> 01:08:20,519
Speaker 1: he'd chosen to come along. He didn't know the journalist well,

1327
01:08:20,560 --> 01:08:23,320
Speaker 1: but Mike and Donald were complete strangers. Man. He was

1328
01:08:23,360 --> 01:08:25,920
Speaker 1: not looking forward to the drugs kicking in. He also

1329
01:08:25,960 --> 01:08:28,040
Speaker 1: wasn't sure a giant rave room was the best place

1330
01:08:28,080 --> 01:08:31,040
Speaker 1: for him to be when they did. As they approached it,

1331
01:08:31,080 --> 01:08:33,839
Speaker 1: many realized he'd seen the structure when they first arrived

1332
01:08:33,840 --> 01:08:36,639
Speaker 1: at the City of Wheels. Brain Breakers was a three

1333
01:08:36,680 --> 01:08:39,719
Speaker 1: story cube at the top of Rolling Fox highest gantry.

1334
01:08:40,120 --> 01:08:42,400
Speaker 1: The cube appeared to have been knitted together from long

1335
01:08:42,520 --> 01:08:45,760
Speaker 1: strands of black metal. Multi colored light pulsed inside it

1336
01:08:45,840 --> 01:08:47,880
Speaker 1: and bled out through the gaps in the knitted metal

1337
01:08:47,920 --> 01:08:51,280
Speaker 1: of the sides. Schoolfucker Mike led them down the gantry

1338
01:08:51,320 --> 01:08:53,880
Speaker 1: towards the cube. There didn't appear to be any kind

1339
01:08:53,920 --> 01:08:56,200
Speaker 1: of entrance. The wall on this side was the same

1340
01:08:56,280 --> 01:08:59,280
Speaker 1: knitted steel as every other side, but once they reached it,

1341
01:08:59,400 --> 01:09:02,679
Speaker 1: Mike simply stepped into the wall. The woven metal writhed

1342
01:09:02,800 --> 01:09:05,439
Speaker 1: like something alive and curled back to admit the big

1343
01:09:05,479 --> 01:09:08,559
Speaker 1: post human. The metal tendrils caressed Mike's body as he

1344
01:09:08,600 --> 01:09:12,600
Speaker 1: walked through. Manny flashed a questioning look at Donald, It

1345
01:09:13,120 --> 01:09:18,080
Speaker 1: it feels nice, he explained. Manny Side, exasperated and furious.

1346
01:09:18,320 --> 01:09:22,200
Speaker 1: Is this whole damned city built around drugs and fondling? Yes?

1347
01:09:22,520 --> 01:09:26,000
Speaker 1: Donald grinned a spidery old man grinned now insoid with

1348
01:09:26,080 --> 01:09:29,000
Speaker 1: you many Side swallowed and walked up to the wall.

1349
01:09:29,240 --> 01:09:32,599
Speaker 1: The metal, which felt surprisingly soft and warm, slithered around

1350
01:09:32,680 --> 01:09:35,280
Speaker 1: him in Mother of God, it felt good. That might

1351
01:09:35,280 --> 01:09:37,439
Speaker 1: have had something to do with the acid percolating in

1352
01:09:37,439 --> 01:09:39,960
Speaker 1: the back of his brain. The sensation was a cross

1353
01:09:40,000 --> 01:09:44,000
Speaker 1: between being tickled and being caressed. He was reminded uncomfortably

1354
01:09:44,120 --> 01:09:46,160
Speaker 1: of his mother's stroking his forehead when he had a

1355
01:09:46,160 --> 01:09:49,200
Speaker 1: fever as a child, And then he was through. It

1356
01:09:49,240 --> 01:09:51,519
Speaker 1: took him a moment to realize he was breathing heavily

1357
01:09:51,560 --> 01:09:54,400
Speaker 1: and covered in cold sweat. It was then that Manny

1358
01:09:54,479 --> 01:09:57,040
Speaker 1: got his first view of the interior of Brain Breakers.

1359
01:09:57,439 --> 01:09:59,800
Speaker 1: It looked a little like a space station, designed by

1360
01:10:00,120 --> 01:10:03,200
Speaker 1: see Esher, with a drunken hr Geiger as the contractor.

1361
01:10:03,840 --> 01:10:06,559
Speaker 1: There were a half dozen different stages protruding at various

1362
01:10:06,640 --> 01:10:09,920
Speaker 1: levels from the walls. Three of the stages were currently occupied.

1363
01:10:10,160 --> 01:10:13,799
Speaker 1: One performer was an enormous, seemingly sentient xylophone that pranced

1364
01:10:13,840 --> 01:10:17,280
Speaker 1: about on stage, playing itself with eight knob and arms.

1365
01:10:17,600 --> 01:10:21,439
Speaker 1: Another stage held four human looking individuals. They were all naked,

1366
01:10:21,600 --> 01:10:24,880
Speaker 1: and they were all fighting. Many watched and slacked, jawed

1367
01:10:24,880 --> 01:10:27,040
Speaker 1: awe as they punched and bit and kicked and choked

1368
01:10:27,080 --> 01:10:30,200
Speaker 1: each other. Every impact sent a chorus of warbling sounds

1369
01:10:30,240 --> 01:10:32,519
Speaker 1: pouring out from speakers at the base of the stage.

1370
01:10:33,000 --> 01:10:36,200
Speaker 1: The longer he listened, the more hypnotic the music seemed.

1371
01:10:37,160 --> 01:10:39,599
Speaker 1: The third inhabited stage held what looked like a normal

1372
01:10:39,680 --> 01:10:43,280
Speaker 1: DJ booth with a presumptive person behind it. Many guessed

1373
01:10:43,280 --> 01:10:45,599
Speaker 1: that was the source of the bass, heavy rhythmic pounding

1374
01:10:45,600 --> 01:10:49,000
Speaker 1: that filled the square. The remaining stages were empty for now,

1375
01:10:49,240 --> 01:10:51,320
Speaker 1: but the place was so full of sound that Manny

1376
01:10:51,360 --> 01:10:54,640
Speaker 1: couldn't imagine two more acts making things any louder. It

1377
01:10:54,760 --> 01:10:58,120
Speaker 1: was chaotic and confusing and a little uncomfortable, but after

1378
01:10:58,160 --> 01:11:00,479
Speaker 1: a few seconds many started to pick up on an

1379
01:11:00,479 --> 01:11:04,280
Speaker 1: overarching rhythm. All three acts were making very different music

1380
01:11:04,320 --> 01:11:07,400
Speaker 1: at very different paces, but somehow it all tied together.

1381
01:11:08,200 --> 01:11:10,800
Speaker 1: The inner walls of the place were covered in projection art.

1382
01:11:11,040 --> 01:11:14,439
Speaker 1: Giant human sized silhouettes stalked the walls, floor, and roof.

1383
01:11:14,720 --> 01:11:17,120
Speaker 1: At times, they moved so fast they looked almost like

1384
01:11:17,200 --> 01:11:19,760
Speaker 1: wisps of smoke. But here and there one would stop

1385
01:11:19,840 --> 01:11:22,000
Speaker 1: long enough for Manny to get a solid look. He

1386
01:11:22,040 --> 01:11:25,800
Speaker 1: saw several different figures, a tall, muscular but androgynous person,

1387
01:11:25,960 --> 01:11:28,960
Speaker 1: a small, lithe young woman, a broad, squat man with

1388
01:11:29,000 --> 01:11:32,120
Speaker 1: a bald head. They danced around each other, flittering up

1389
01:11:32,120 --> 01:11:34,240
Speaker 1: and down the walls. Their pace and the nature of

1390
01:11:34,240 --> 01:11:36,559
Speaker 1: their motions varied depending on the tempo and pitch of

1391
01:11:36,560 --> 01:11:40,479
Speaker 1: the music nearest to them. It was mesmerizing. Manny stared

1392
01:11:40,479 --> 01:11:43,120
Speaker 1: for what felt like minutes. The sensation of his body

1393
01:11:43,160 --> 01:11:45,200
Speaker 1: faded away from him, and his vision tunneled in on

1394
01:11:45,200 --> 01:11:48,360
Speaker 1: the dancing figures. Their dance had looked joyous and sensual

1395
01:11:48,400 --> 01:11:50,839
Speaker 1: at first, but the longer he watched, the more frenetic

1396
01:11:50,880 --> 01:11:53,799
Speaker 1: it seemed. The more danger he spotted in their jerking limbs,

1397
01:11:53,840 --> 01:11:56,120
Speaker 1: the arc of their necks, the uncontrolled way they spun

1398
01:11:56,240 --> 01:11:59,200
Speaker 1: round and into one another. Anxieties started to build in

1399
01:11:59,200 --> 01:12:01,240
Speaker 1: the pit of his stomach. And then there was a

1400
01:12:01,280 --> 01:12:06,080
Speaker 1: person beside him, Mike, Hey, buddy, He grinned. The other

1401
01:12:06,080 --> 01:12:08,759
Speaker 1: man's pupils were the size of dinner plates. He clenched

1402
01:12:08,800 --> 01:12:11,360
Speaker 1: and ground his teeth back and forth. Is it o'kay

1403
01:12:11,400 --> 01:12:14,280
Speaker 1: if I put a hand on your shoulder? Uh? Sure,

1404
01:12:14,560 --> 01:12:18,800
Speaker 1: Manny said, surprising himself cool. Mike smiled and did so.

1405
01:12:19,160 --> 01:12:22,799
Speaker 1: His hand felt supportive, comforting. How you like him the party?

1406
01:12:23,560 --> 01:12:26,559
Speaker 1: Mannie really wasn't sure it was beautiful here. Now that

1407
01:12:26,600 --> 01:12:29,520
Speaker 1: skullfucker Mike had pulled his attention from the dancing silhouettes,

1408
01:12:29,520 --> 01:12:31,599
Speaker 1: He'd started to focus more in the crowds of people,

1409
01:12:32,040 --> 01:12:35,040
Speaker 1: dancing and drinking and fucking across the assorted dance floors,

1410
01:12:35,040 --> 01:12:38,280
Speaker 1: cuttle spaces, and bar tops of brain breakers. Most of

1411
01:12:38,280 --> 01:12:41,000
Speaker 1: the celebrants were visibly chromed. He saw a woman with

1412
01:12:41,040 --> 01:12:43,400
Speaker 1: six arms, a couple of things he could only describe

1413
01:12:43,400 --> 01:12:46,080
Speaker 1: as dick centaurs, a man with the head of a dolphin,

1414
01:12:46,160 --> 01:12:48,840
Speaker 1: and countless people in bizarre costumes built of light and

1415
01:12:48,880 --> 01:12:51,720
Speaker 1: fur and liquid metal. It was hard to tell how

1416
01:12:51,800 --> 01:12:53,559
Speaker 1: much of this was real and how much of it

1417
01:12:53,600 --> 01:12:56,240
Speaker 1: was the drugs. The acid was hitting his head pretty

1418
01:12:56,320 --> 01:12:59,920
Speaker 1: damn hard, skullfucker, Mike squeezed his shoulders and brought Manny

1419
01:13:00,040 --> 01:13:04,240
Speaker 1: back again. The fixer blinked and then finally responded, it's

1420
01:13:04,320 --> 01:13:09,160
Speaker 1: a good, good, fucking great. Let's get you some whippets

1421
01:13:09,160 --> 01:13:11,080
Speaker 1: and head over to the fireworks table. They're about to

1422
01:13:11,080 --> 01:13:15,479
Speaker 1: open it up fireworks inside. Mike laughed. It's hardly a

1423
01:13:15,520 --> 01:13:18,680
Speaker 1: party without explosives. Brother, Just go with it, and so

1424
01:13:18,840 --> 01:13:21,519
Speaker 1: many did. He and Mike did some whippets, which meshed

1425
01:13:21,520 --> 01:13:24,479
Speaker 1: gloriously with the acid. Then they stood up on stumbling

1426
01:13:24,520 --> 01:13:27,240
Speaker 1: feet and headed over to the fireworks table. Things seemed

1427
01:13:27,240 --> 01:13:30,080
Speaker 1: to be just getting started over there. Many inspected. A

1428
01:13:30,120 --> 01:13:33,800
Speaker 1: few different brightly colored explosive toys. Before something burst next

1429
01:13:33,800 --> 01:13:35,760
Speaker 1: to his ear, and he looked up to see Skullfucker

1430
01:13:35,840 --> 01:13:39,200
Speaker 1: Mike firing a massive Roman candle towards the musical punching

1431
01:13:39,280 --> 01:13:42,519
Speaker 1: people on the stage. The sound of it holly held

1432
01:13:42,600 --> 01:13:44,760
Speaker 1: a sound. It might have been the most compelling thing

1433
01:13:44,840 --> 01:13:47,920
Speaker 1: his ears had ever heard. The acid is definitely hitting

1434
01:13:47,960 --> 01:13:51,080
Speaker 1: hard now, Manny thought, Holy funk, Holy funk, what is this?

1435
01:13:51,680 --> 01:13:53,680
Speaker 1: The rest of his night faded into a blur of

1436
01:13:53,760 --> 01:13:57,360
Speaker 1: lights and music and strange, indefinable sense memories. It was

1437
01:13:57,400 --> 01:14:01,760
Speaker 1: disorienting and exhilarating an equal measure. Hours went by, the

1438
01:14:01,800 --> 01:14:05,000
Speaker 1: ass had faded, and eventually Manny found himself on a

1439
01:14:05,000 --> 01:14:07,880
Speaker 1: bunch of cushions, sitting around a table with Skullfucker Mike

1440
01:14:07,920 --> 01:14:11,000
Speaker 1: and other Fuccians. He couldn't remember any of their names,

1441
01:14:11,000 --> 01:14:13,760
Speaker 1: but after a few minutes of relative lucidity, Manny was

1442
01:14:13,800 --> 01:14:15,800
Speaker 1: able to piece together that they were all friends of

1443
01:14:15,840 --> 01:14:18,479
Speaker 1: the people who'd been captured. One of the men, a

1444
01:14:18,520 --> 01:14:21,120
Speaker 1: bearded guy with multi jointed fingers the length and width

1445
01:14:21,160 --> 01:14:23,920
Speaker 1: the rulers, reached over Manny to grab a beer. He

1446
01:14:24,000 --> 01:14:26,479
Speaker 1: pulled it back, took a sip, and settled into his seat.

1447
01:14:27,160 --> 01:14:29,760
Speaker 1: My favorite memory of Marigold, he said, is from back

1448
01:14:29,800 --> 01:14:32,040
Speaker 1: when we were still building this city. Right after we

1449
01:14:32,120 --> 01:14:34,320
Speaker 1: stole the bagger. She got a hair up her ass

1450
01:14:34,360 --> 01:14:36,400
Speaker 1: that there ought to be a big purple clubhouse at

1451
01:14:36,400 --> 01:14:39,240
Speaker 1: the top for folks to do cocaine in and watch sunsets.

1452
01:14:39,800 --> 01:14:42,200
Speaker 1: I remember she strapped an arm little wood to her back,

1453
01:14:42,240 --> 01:14:44,439
Speaker 1: grabbed a can of spray paint, took a big rail

1454
01:14:44,479 --> 01:14:46,679
Speaker 1: of meth, and just started climbing up the center Spendle

1455
01:14:46,680 --> 01:14:48,760
Speaker 1: like she was gonna do the whole damn job herself.

1456
01:14:48,760 --> 01:14:50,840
Speaker 1: She got fucking stuck two thirds of the way up,

1457
01:14:50,960 --> 01:14:53,040
Speaker 1: just hanging out there with her panties in the breeze,

1458
01:14:53,040 --> 01:14:56,800
Speaker 1: screaming like a scared cat. Mike laughed. I remember that

1459
01:14:57,120 --> 01:14:59,280
Speaker 1: me and Topez had to climb up in freer, and

1460
01:14:59,320 --> 01:15:00,880
Speaker 1: then she climbed the rest of the way up and

1461
01:15:00,880 --> 01:15:05,519
Speaker 1: started laying down boards. Fingerman nodded, yeah, I remember when

1462
01:15:05,560 --> 01:15:07,519
Speaker 1: I climbed up there an hour or so later, She's

1463
01:15:07,560 --> 01:15:10,040
Speaker 1: all frantic and fiddling with nails and bolts and turned

1464
01:15:10,080 --> 01:15:13,720
Speaker 1: to funck but like making progress too, And I asked her, Marigold,

1465
01:15:13,880 --> 01:15:16,200
Speaker 1: why are you doing this? This ain't a one person job,

1466
01:15:16,600 --> 01:15:19,639
Speaker 1: and she said, I know, but unless I start building it,

1467
01:15:19,640 --> 01:15:22,799
Speaker 1: it'll never be real. There was quiet for a while.

1468
01:15:23,240 --> 01:15:25,200
Speaker 1: Many could feel the pain in the pause and see

1469
01:15:25,200 --> 01:15:28,080
Speaker 1: it on everyone's face. He didn't want to say anything.

1470
01:15:28,200 --> 01:15:30,160
Speaker 1: He was pretty sure there was nothing worth while he

1471
01:15:30,200 --> 01:15:33,840
Speaker 1: could say. But then he spoke, anyway, can you tell

1472
01:15:33,840 --> 01:15:36,240
Speaker 1: me about the others, the other two who were captured.

1473
01:15:37,000 --> 01:15:39,320
Speaker 1: Another of Mike's friends, a tall black woman in a

1474
01:15:39,360 --> 01:15:43,360
Speaker 1: bright blue shark Onesie, nodded and replied. Rick's a little dude,

1475
01:15:43,400 --> 01:15:46,400
Speaker 1: a great painter and a pretty good pyrotechnician. He's no

1476
01:15:46,520 --> 01:15:48,760
Speaker 1: kind of fighter, but he's got a real sweet way

1477
01:15:48,800 --> 01:15:51,519
Speaker 1: about him. He puts people at ease, so he goes

1478
01:15:51,560 --> 01:15:53,280
Speaker 1: out on a lot of these delegations to be a

1479
01:15:53,280 --> 01:15:56,920
Speaker 1: good face for the city. Marigold is always the main negotiator,

1480
01:15:56,960 --> 01:16:00,400
Speaker 1: but we sent Tulli out too. She's newish to the city.

1481
01:16:00,560 --> 01:16:03,200
Speaker 1: Used to be an activist in Albuquerque before the King

1482
01:16:03,240 --> 01:16:07,000
Speaker 1: took over and started boiling people. She's a good talker.

1483
01:16:07,120 --> 01:16:09,200
Speaker 1: We had her studying under Mary so she could pick

1484
01:16:09,280 --> 01:16:12,920
Speaker 1: up some of the load in the future. They're all

1485
01:16:13,000 --> 01:16:16,559
Speaker 1: good people, Fingerman added, Marigold saved my life a few times.

1486
01:16:16,680 --> 01:16:19,559
Speaker 1: Back during the revolution she helped found this place. It

1487
01:16:19,640 --> 01:16:22,479
Speaker 1: started out as just a big caravan RVs and mobile

1488
01:16:22,520 --> 01:16:26,760
Speaker 1: hydroponics units. She'd find isolated communities, bring them food and such.

1489
01:16:27,160 --> 01:16:29,479
Speaker 1: No government was much use back then, so for a

1490
01:16:29,520 --> 01:16:32,120
Speaker 1: lot of folks, Mary's caravan was the line between life

1491
01:16:32,120 --> 01:16:35,960
Speaker 1: and death. Yea, said skullfucker Mike. She's the one who

1492
01:16:36,000 --> 01:16:38,840
Speaker 1: found topaz in me. After the boss went missing. We

1493
01:16:38,840 --> 01:16:42,000
Speaker 1: were pretty lost, doing a lot of freelance violence, but

1494
01:16:42,040 --> 01:16:46,080
Speaker 1: not making anything, not building a damn thing. Marigold told us.

1495
01:16:46,080 --> 01:16:48,800
Speaker 1: Her vision for this big, stupid city got us hooked

1496
01:16:48,800 --> 01:16:52,160
Speaker 1: on the idea. Many noticed tears at the corner of

1497
01:16:52,160 --> 01:16:55,840
Speaker 1: skullfucker Mike's eyes that felt somehow wronged him. Someone so

1498
01:16:55,920 --> 01:16:58,519
Speaker 1: powerful and inhuman shouldn't be able to cry and make

1499
01:16:58,560 --> 01:17:02,880
Speaker 1: it look so normal. But there he was crying. And then,

1500
01:17:03,000 --> 01:17:05,000
Speaker 1: for the first time in the trip, the thing Manny

1501
01:17:05,080 --> 01:17:08,519
Speaker 1: had most feared happened. He thought about Oscar. He remembered

1502
01:17:08,520 --> 01:17:11,160
Speaker 1: a picnic he'd taken with a stringer, his wife, Aisha,

1503
01:17:11,240 --> 01:17:14,000
Speaker 1: and their two kids. It had been a lovely spring day,

1504
01:17:14,240 --> 01:17:16,320
Speaker 1: one of the dozen ish days a year in Austin

1505
01:17:16,320 --> 01:17:19,000
Speaker 1: where the air felt good on your skin. They drank

1506
01:17:19,080 --> 01:17:21,880
Speaker 1: cheap beer and eaten hot dogs and watched the kayakers

1507
01:17:21,960 --> 01:17:25,160
Speaker 1: roll along the Colorado River. I sent him out there,

1508
01:17:25,200 --> 01:17:28,840
Speaker 1: and now he's probably dead. You know there's something else

1509
01:17:28,880 --> 01:17:33,000
Speaker 1: we share, Mike said, his voice low and somber. We've

1510
01:17:33,040 --> 01:17:36,080
Speaker 1: both spent way too much of our lives feeling helpless.

1511
01:17:36,880 --> 01:17:40,800
Speaker 1: Manny cocked a disbelieving eyebrow up at skullfucker Mike. Yeah,

1512
01:17:40,880 --> 01:17:43,920
Speaker 1: the chromed man chuckled. I know what you're thinking, but

1513
01:17:44,000 --> 01:17:47,599
Speaker 1: you'd be surprised how often the fancy hardware doesn't matter.

1514
01:17:48,320 --> 01:17:51,240
Speaker 1: Mike's face twitched and more tears poured down his face.

1515
01:17:51,600 --> 01:17:54,719
Speaker 1: He took a deep breath, fixed Manny with bloodshot puffy eyes,

1516
01:17:54,840 --> 01:17:58,680
Speaker 1: and spoke again. We all spend a lot of life helpless,

1517
01:17:59,160 --> 01:18:01,479
Speaker 1: So when you have a chance to do something to

1518
01:18:01,520 --> 01:18:05,880
Speaker 1: make a difference for someone personally, I recommend you fucking

1519
01:18:05,960 --> 01:18:09,680
Speaker 1: take it. Manny woke up the next day feeling out

1520
01:18:09,720 --> 01:18:12,920
Speaker 1: of place and vaguely unstuck from time. He could hear

1521
01:18:12,960 --> 01:18:16,160
Speaker 1: Reggie snoring on the next bed. The room was very dark,

1522
01:18:16,280 --> 01:18:18,599
Speaker 1: and it was impossible to tell what time it might be.

1523
01:18:19,160 --> 01:18:22,280
Speaker 1: Manny thought about activating his deck, but decided against it.

1524
01:18:22,640 --> 01:18:25,400
Speaker 1: There was something almost nauseating about the thought of being

1525
01:18:25,439 --> 01:18:28,920
Speaker 1: flooded with the outside world right now. He stood up

1526
01:18:28,960 --> 01:18:31,519
Speaker 1: and went outside to wander the spindles and gantries of

1527
01:18:31,600 --> 01:18:34,160
Speaker 1: Rolling Fuck for a while. At one point a man

1528
01:18:34,240 --> 01:18:36,680
Speaker 1: walked by with a plate full of breakfast burritos, and

1529
01:18:36,720 --> 01:18:39,599
Speaker 1: so Manny had breakfast. A little while later he found

1530
01:18:39,600 --> 01:18:41,920
Speaker 1: a self served coffee house stationed next to one of

1531
01:18:41,920 --> 01:18:44,800
Speaker 1: the fondle boats, and so he had coffee. He was

1532
01:18:44,880 --> 01:18:46,960
Speaker 1: just starting to think about turning on his deck and

1533
01:18:47,000 --> 01:18:50,320
Speaker 1: welcoming in the world when Donald Ferris found him. Manny,

1534
01:18:50,400 --> 01:18:53,439
Speaker 1: my boy, I hope your asset hangovers not too bad.

1535
01:18:54,320 --> 01:18:57,200
Speaker 1: Manny shrugged. I actually feel all right. It was a

1536
01:18:57,800 --> 01:18:59,840
Speaker 1: It was good and helped me sort some things out.

1537
01:19:00,400 --> 01:19:03,280
Speaker 1: The older man smiled, I'm genuinely happy to hear that.

1538
01:19:03,479 --> 01:19:05,640
Speaker 1: There's nothing like a headful of acid to help you

1539
01:19:05,680 --> 01:19:09,280
Speaker 1: see what's important. Now. Listen, I hate to interrupt your morning,

1540
01:19:09,360 --> 01:19:12,519
Speaker 1: but there've been some developments Nana Yazzi, and I need

1541
01:19:12,560 --> 01:19:15,639
Speaker 1: to talk to you. Manny went with him back down

1542
01:19:15,680 --> 01:19:18,040
Speaker 1: into the main roller in that weird conference room where

1543
01:19:18,040 --> 01:19:20,400
Speaker 1: they'd met on his first day in the city. There

1544
01:19:20,400 --> 01:19:23,080
Speaker 1: were more people there now. Nana Yazzi sat in the

1545
01:19:23,120 --> 01:19:25,360
Speaker 1: same spot. At the end of the table. Reggie was

1546
01:19:25,400 --> 01:19:28,479
Speaker 1: there fiddling with one of his screens. Schoffucker Mike sat

1547
01:19:28,520 --> 01:19:30,720
Speaker 1: next to him, and then at the other end of

1548
01:19:30,720 --> 01:19:33,280
Speaker 1: the table was a large black dude Manny had never

1549
01:19:33,320 --> 01:19:37,040
Speaker 1: seen before. He was muscular, but in the lean, wiry

1550
01:19:37,040 --> 01:19:40,200
Speaker 1: way of a construction worker or a particularly swollen hobo.

1551
01:19:40,600 --> 01:19:43,160
Speaker 1: He had a long, gaunt face with prominent sheet bones

1552
01:19:43,200 --> 01:19:46,240
Speaker 1: and an oft broken nose. His hands were big, there

1553
01:19:46,320 --> 01:19:48,920
Speaker 1: was something menacing about them, but his face was the

1554
01:19:49,000 --> 01:19:51,800
Speaker 1: least threatening thing in the world. His eyes were lidded,

1555
01:19:51,960 --> 01:19:55,080
Speaker 1: half focused, and dreamy. His jaw was just a little slack.

1556
01:19:55,439 --> 01:19:58,280
Speaker 1: He had short hair, stubble really, and a patchy six

1557
01:19:58,360 --> 01:20:02,799
Speaker 1: day beard. He looked stone owned. Welcome, Manny, said Nana Yazzi.

1558
01:20:03,040 --> 01:20:06,200
Speaker 1: She gestured towards the big man. This is Rowland. If

1559
01:20:06,200 --> 01:20:08,479
Speaker 1: you choose to help us rescue your people, he'll be

1560
01:20:08,520 --> 01:20:11,559
Speaker 1: your escort into the heavenly Kingdom and your escape plan.

1561
01:20:12,160 --> 01:20:14,400
Speaker 1: Donald shut the door behind them, walked around to the

1562
01:20:14,439 --> 01:20:16,400
Speaker 1: other side of the table and sat down next to

1563
01:20:16,479 --> 01:20:19,759
Speaker 1: Nana Yazzi. We've tried to give you time and space

1564
01:20:19,800 --> 01:20:22,160
Speaker 1: on this, he said, but I'm afraid both of those

1565
01:20:22,200 --> 01:20:25,240
Speaker 1: things are running out. All our intelligence suggests the Heavenly

1566
01:20:25,320 --> 01:20:27,719
Speaker 1: Kingdom is very close to another all out as salt.

1567
01:20:28,120 --> 01:20:30,600
Speaker 1: They'll move on Waco in four or five days. It

1568
01:20:30,680 --> 01:20:33,400
Speaker 1: could be outside of Austin in a week's time. You

1569
01:20:33,479 --> 01:20:35,840
Speaker 1: are free to make whatever call you want, or offer

1570
01:20:35,920 --> 01:20:39,400
Speaker 1: to fly you to Austin. Still stands, Miho, said Nana Yazzi.

1571
01:20:39,760 --> 01:20:42,400
Speaker 1: But I am afraid we need you to make a decision. Now,

1572
01:20:43,680 --> 01:20:48,759
Speaker 1: I'll do it, Manny said. Almost everyone looked surprised. Donald coughed.

1573
01:20:49,080 --> 01:20:53,160
Speaker 1: Nana Yazzi's eyes went wide, Reggie did a double take. Schoolfucker.

1574
01:20:53,200 --> 01:20:56,519
Speaker 1: Mike just smiled and nodded at Manny. Roland didn't look

1575
01:20:56,520 --> 01:20:58,840
Speaker 1: as if he'd been affected in any way. In fact,

1576
01:20:59,200 --> 01:21:01,559
Speaker 1: Manny was pretty sure he was drumming along to some

1577
01:21:01,640 --> 01:21:04,719
Speaker 1: music only he could hear. It might have been Ronnie

1578
01:21:04,800 --> 01:21:13,639
Speaker 1: James Dio's Holy Diver Give us over attention. We need

1579
01:21:13,680 --> 01:21:16,680
Speaker 1: everything you've got. Fast waiting on reparations would beat the

1580
01:21:17,120 --> 01:21:20,920
Speaker 1: podcast tune in every Thursday, politics and wordplay. We fight

1581
01:21:20,960 --> 01:21:23,160
Speaker 1: for the people because they got us in the worst way.

1582
01:21:23,360 --> 01:21:26,400
Speaker 1: From the Hill Cooper, the Bombay to Kanya from the

1583
01:21:26,520 --> 01:21:30,200
Speaker 1: Left en Clave to what the Neo Kanz. Every Thursday,

1584
01:21:30,080 --> 01:21:32,280
Speaker 1: the Heavy Conversation and to break us off with some

1585
01:21:32,320 --> 01:21:36,920
Speaker 1: break because we're waiting repations. Listen to Waiting on Reparations

1586
01:21:36,920 --> 01:21:39,799
Speaker 1: on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever

1587
01:21:39,840 --> 01:21:44,160
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. Rafie is the voice of some

1588
01:21:44,280 --> 01:21:50,320
Speaker 1: of the happiest songs of our generation. Baby So who

1589
01:21:50,479 --> 01:21:54,320
Speaker 1: is the man behind Baby Bluga? Every human being wants

1590
01:21:54,560 --> 01:21:58,880
Speaker 1: to feel respected when we start with you, actually, all

1591
01:21:59,000 --> 01:22:02,439
Speaker 1: good things can roll from there. I'm Chris Garcia, comedian,

1592
01:22:02,600 --> 01:22:05,599
Speaker 1: new Dad and host of Finding Raffie, a new podcast

1593
01:22:05,600 --> 01:22:08,880
Speaker 1: from my Heart Radio and Fatherly. Listen every Tuesday on

1594
01:22:08,960 --> 01:22:11,880
Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

1595
01:22:14,320 --> 01:22:17,679
Speaker 1: The Gangster Chronicles podcast is a weekly conversation that revolves

1596
01:22:17,680 --> 01:22:21,760
Speaker 1: around underworld, the criminals and entertainers to victims, crime and

1597
01:22:21,840 --> 01:22:25,160
Speaker 1: law enforcement. We cover all facets of the game. Gangster

1598
01:22:25,200 --> 01:22:29,600
Speaker 1: Chronicles podcast doesn't glorify promotilsted activities. We just discussed the

1599
01:22:29,680 --> 01:22:32,760
Speaker 1: ramifications and repercussions of these activities. Because at the Wall

1600
01:22:33,160 --> 01:22:36,400
Speaker 1: she played gamester games. You are ultimately rewarded with Gangster Prizes.

1601
01:22:36,960 --> 01:22:39,800
Speaker 1: Our Heart Radio is number one for podcasts, but don't

1602
01:22:39,800 --> 01:22:42,759
Speaker 1: take our word for it. Find Against the Chronicles podcast

1603
01:22:42,840 --> 01:22:45,560
Speaker 1: and my Heart Radio app, or wherever you get your podcast.

1604
01:22:50,280 --> 01:22:55,720
Speaker 1: Chapter fourteen Rowland. Once he'd been dismissed, Roland had made

1605
01:22:55,720 --> 01:22:58,040
Speaker 1: it his immediate business to get as high as post

1606
01:22:58,120 --> 01:23:01,120
Speaker 1: humanly possible before he was needed it. This was not

1607
01:23:01,240 --> 01:23:04,200
Speaker 1: a difficult task. Rolling Funck had been built to keep

1608
01:23:04,240 --> 01:23:07,720
Speaker 1: buzzes going. The main rollers bar stocked an assortment of

1609
01:23:07,720 --> 01:23:10,880
Speaker 1: beers mixed with LSD laudanum dimethyl trip to mein and

1610
01:23:10,960 --> 01:23:14,559
Speaker 1: a half dozen shogun chemicals. Roland started off by sampling

1611
01:23:14,600 --> 01:23:17,240
Speaker 1: them all. He drank until the fireworks showing his head

1612
01:23:17,360 --> 01:23:21,280
Speaker 1: was indistinguishable from the actual fireworks outside and those real

1613
01:23:21,479 --> 01:23:24,720
Speaker 1: Am I just fucking lit? Roland decided that answering that

1614
01:23:24,840 --> 01:23:27,920
Speaker 1: question wouldn't make him happier. He lost himself for a

1615
01:23:27,920 --> 01:23:30,240
Speaker 1: while and drifted from one of the fondel boats to

1616
01:23:30,280 --> 01:23:32,839
Speaker 1: a dance party in a field underneath the main gantry.

1617
01:23:33,120 --> 01:23:35,719
Speaker 1: After hours of that, Roland had his fill of rhythm,

1618
01:23:35,880 --> 01:23:37,720
Speaker 1: so he found his way to a coke benge in

1619
01:23:37,720 --> 01:23:40,479
Speaker 1: a weird purple house atop one of the spindles. The

1620
01:23:40,520 --> 01:23:42,560
Speaker 1: rest of the night he spent testing the limits of

1621
01:23:42,600 --> 01:23:45,640
Speaker 1: his talks and filters, and his tolerance for human contact.

1622
01:23:46,200 --> 01:23:49,200
Speaker 1: The latter came first. He abandoned the coke party and

1623
01:23:49,240 --> 01:23:51,960
Speaker 1: stumbled through rolling funk until he reached a small booth

1624
01:23:52,000 --> 01:23:55,600
Speaker 1: with baggies of umnuloch, a d M T based hallucinogen

1625
01:23:55,680 --> 01:23:59,880
Speaker 1: made from synthetically grown giraffe liver. Thinks got fuzzy after that.

1626
01:24:00,000 --> 01:24:02,240
Speaker 1: At there was a fireworks fight on a spindle that

1627
01:24:02,280 --> 01:24:04,519
Speaker 1: caught a shack on the fire. He downed a shipload

1628
01:24:04,520 --> 01:24:07,000
Speaker 1: of mescal and as the sun breached, and then quite

1629
01:24:07,040 --> 01:24:09,479
Speaker 1: suddenly it was afternoon and he was lying on his

1630
01:24:09,560 --> 01:24:12,240
Speaker 1: back across the baking hot metal of one of the spindles.

1631
01:24:12,600 --> 01:24:15,360
Speaker 1: Schoolfucker Mike stood above him, naked as the day he

1632
01:24:15,400 --> 01:24:18,040
Speaker 1: was born, and holding some sort of frosty purple beverage

1633
01:24:18,040 --> 01:24:21,479
Speaker 1: in a large teeky cup. Hey Man, Mike said, as

1634
01:24:21,479 --> 01:24:23,640
Speaker 1: he took a sip. Nanny as he told me to

1635
01:24:23,680 --> 01:24:27,519
Speaker 1: find you. You straight enough to talk to people. Roland nodded.

1636
01:24:27,760 --> 01:24:31,000
Speaker 1: He wasn't, really, but he could sober up fast. Maybe

1637
01:24:31,360 --> 01:24:35,120
Speaker 1: sober wasn't the right word. His brain could flood itself

1638
01:24:35,120 --> 01:24:38,800
Speaker 1: with focusing drugs to offset the hallucinogens, and he had

1639
01:24:38,800 --> 01:24:41,479
Speaker 1: a vial of liquid meth amphetamine somewhere in his pack

1640
01:24:41,960 --> 01:24:45,000
Speaker 1: that might do the trick. Roland sat up, grunted, and

1641
01:24:45,040 --> 01:24:47,360
Speaker 1: waved a hand at Mike. Then he dug around in

1642
01:24:47,439 --> 01:24:50,200
Speaker 1: his pack for the vial. He found it and drained half.

1643
01:24:50,840 --> 01:24:53,160
Speaker 1: All right, let's go, he said. Let's go to the

1644
01:24:53,200 --> 01:24:56,679
Speaker 1: place and do the things. Mike helped him down the spindle.

1645
01:24:57,000 --> 01:24:59,720
Speaker 1: Roland's unsteady legs were proof that he'd managed to find

1646
01:24:59,800 --> 01:25:03,200
Speaker 1: him self a worthy drug bench. The satisfaction he felt

1647
01:25:03,240 --> 01:25:06,040
Speaker 1: from that mixed well with the initial meth euphoria. By

1648
01:25:06,040 --> 01:25:08,280
Speaker 1: the time they reached the conference room, he was wired

1649
01:25:08,280 --> 01:25:10,760
Speaker 1: as fuck and kind of wishing he'd picked a different

1650
01:25:10,840 --> 01:25:14,360
Speaker 1: drug to spend his mood. Roland sat down and eased

1651
01:25:14,400 --> 01:25:17,599
Speaker 1: into his chair. A short, young Anglo fellow entered next

1652
01:25:17,640 --> 01:25:20,200
Speaker 1: and sat down on the opposite side of the conference table.

1653
01:25:20,560 --> 01:25:23,840
Speaker 1: He looked and smelled nervous. Roland paid him little mind.

1654
01:25:24,200 --> 01:25:26,439
Speaker 1: He was too jittery from the meth to want to talk.

1655
01:25:26,840 --> 01:25:29,439
Speaker 1: He decided a nice dose of some downers would help

1656
01:25:29,439 --> 01:25:33,200
Speaker 1: his situation and rooted around for his heroine kit. At

1657
01:25:33,240 --> 01:25:37,360
Speaker 1: that moment, another young man entered the room. He was short, Hispanic,

1658
01:25:37,439 --> 01:25:40,519
Speaker 1: and about twenty one years old. Nana Yazzi embraced the

1659
01:25:40,600 --> 01:25:44,160
Speaker 1: kid schoofucker might clapped him on the shoulder. They started talking.

1660
01:25:44,200 --> 01:25:46,400
Speaker 1: The kid said something that seemed to surprise most of

1661
01:25:46,400 --> 01:25:49,080
Speaker 1: the people in the room. Roland half paid attention to

1662
01:25:49,120 --> 01:25:51,120
Speaker 1: all that while he loaded up his syringe and tied

1663
01:25:51,160 --> 01:25:53,880
Speaker 1: off his arm. He stopped when he realized everyone else

1664
01:25:53,920 --> 01:25:58,879
Speaker 1: in the room was staring. Hey, something wrong, he asked Rowland.

1665
01:25:59,320 --> 01:26:01,799
Speaker 1: Nana Yazi said in a warm voice as she gestured

1666
01:26:01,800 --> 01:26:04,920
Speaker 1: to the Hispanic kid. This is Mannie. He's going to

1667
01:26:04,920 --> 01:26:06,920
Speaker 1: be your partner for the mission. He grew up in

1668
01:26:06,960 --> 01:26:09,800
Speaker 1: the Republic and he's a skilled negotiator. He'll help you

1669
01:26:09,840 --> 01:26:13,200
Speaker 1: blend in while you do your work. Er hh cool,

1670
01:26:13,479 --> 01:26:17,040
Speaker 1: Roland grunted and returned to his heroine, Rowland. If you

1671
01:26:17,040 --> 01:26:20,439
Speaker 1: wouldn't mind, Reggie was about to speak. Naniyazi's smile was

1672
01:26:20,479 --> 01:26:23,760
Speaker 1: as indulgent as ever. He's uncovered something important about the

1673
01:26:23,800 --> 01:26:27,519
Speaker 1: heavenly Kingdom. It might be useful to you, Roland shrugged.

1674
01:26:28,000 --> 01:26:30,439
Speaker 1: Mossy's gallis to which bartenders and plain O make a

1675
01:26:30,479 --> 01:26:33,560
Speaker 1: pass a whisky Sark can't imagine caring. But if you

1676
01:26:33,640 --> 01:26:36,280
Speaker 1: let me finish this. He jiggled the syringe in the air,

1677
01:26:36,600 --> 01:26:39,040
Speaker 1: I might be able to at least pay attention right now.

1678
01:26:39,080 --> 01:26:42,599
Speaker 1: I'm quite too methed out to focus. The old man

1679
01:26:42,680 --> 01:26:46,120
Speaker 1: leaned forward and sighed. The kid looked horrified. He started

1680
01:26:46,160 --> 01:26:48,559
Speaker 1: working his mouth and what Roland was pretty sure must

1681
01:26:48,600 --> 01:26:50,799
Speaker 1: be the prelude to some sort of expression of shock

1682
01:26:51,080 --> 01:26:55,840
Speaker 1: or offense. Schoofucker Mike preempted him. Let Roland shoot up.

1683
01:26:55,960 --> 01:26:58,360
Speaker 1: Trust me, drugs aren't going to make him any more

1684
01:26:58,439 --> 01:27:03,080
Speaker 1: or less effective here. Rowland grinned. Skullfucker Mike clearly knew him,

1685
01:27:03,160 --> 01:27:05,880
Speaker 1: even if he could only sort of remember skullfucker Mike.

1686
01:27:06,360 --> 01:27:08,680
Speaker 1: He went back to tying off his arm and shooting up,

1687
01:27:08,680 --> 01:27:12,880
Speaker 1: while the younger Brits stumbled into the start of his speech. Yes, well, uh,

1688
01:27:13,120 --> 01:27:15,920
Speaker 1: I've been going over the last few days of successful

1689
01:27:16,000 --> 01:27:19,479
Speaker 1: vehicle based bombings on checkpoints from Galveston and Lake Houston

1690
01:27:19,479 --> 01:27:22,400
Speaker 1: and all across the Dallas Fort Worth area. In total,

1691
01:27:22,479 --> 01:27:25,479
Speaker 1: I've identified three hundred twenty one bombings that appear to

1692
01:27:25,520 --> 01:27:28,160
Speaker 1: have been carried out as part of this overall offensive.

1693
01:27:28,640 --> 01:27:31,719
Speaker 1: Two hundred and forty of those bombings involve autonomous vehicles

1694
01:27:31,760 --> 01:27:36,320
Speaker 1: hitting dedicated autonomous vehicle checkpoints. Right on cue, a projection

1695
01:27:36,400 --> 01:27:39,000
Speaker 1: map flickered to life on the wall behind him. Hundreds

1696
01:27:39,040 --> 01:27:41,920
Speaker 1: of red dots populated a map of the conflict riddled

1697
01:27:41,960 --> 01:27:45,040
Speaker 1: regions of north central Texas. It looked like the pattern

1698
01:27:45,040 --> 01:27:47,400
Speaker 1: of attacks you'd want in order to funnel the st

1699
01:27:47,520 --> 01:27:51,000
Speaker 1: f's limited resources towards the least defensible chunks of their line.

1700
01:27:51,520 --> 01:27:54,280
Speaker 1: What was weird was that so many bomb rigged autonomous

1701
01:27:54,320 --> 01:27:58,280
Speaker 1: vehicles had gotten through the scanners. So Roland asked, how

1702
01:27:58,360 --> 01:28:01,880
Speaker 1: the fuckers do it? Unch zero days? Reggie shook his head.

1703
01:28:02,280 --> 01:28:04,599
Speaker 1: That's what I thought at first, he said. But these

1704
01:28:04,600 --> 01:28:07,719
Speaker 1: attacks actually started more than a month before this offensive.

1705
01:28:07,960 --> 01:28:10,120
Speaker 1: If they were relying on exploits, the s d F

1706
01:28:10,240 --> 01:28:12,640
Speaker 1: I T folks would have caught something by now. The

1707
01:28:12,680 --> 01:28:15,519
Speaker 1: most likely explanation is that the martyrs found some way

1708
01:28:15,560 --> 01:28:20,559
Speaker 1: to make vehicles that aren't autonomous. Seemed that way, yeah,

1709
01:28:20,680 --> 01:28:22,960
Speaker 1: Manny said. The martyrs have tried to hide drivers and

1710
01:28:23,040 --> 01:28:26,160
Speaker 1: autonomous vehicles before the s d F watches for it,

1711
01:28:26,960 --> 01:28:29,920
Speaker 1: which means the martyrs have figured out something new, said

1712
01:28:29,960 --> 01:28:32,639
Speaker 1: the journalist, some new way to hide a human driver

1713
01:28:32,760 --> 01:28:37,000
Speaker 1: that doesn't register on conventional senses, and that way is

1714
01:28:37,360 --> 01:28:41,200
Speaker 1: nanny Yazi asked. Reggie's face reddened. He grunted and swallowed,

1715
01:28:41,240 --> 01:28:44,800
Speaker 1: and then spoke, I've got no idea, but I think

1716
01:28:44,800 --> 01:28:47,840
Speaker 1: I know where they're putting these new vehicles together. He

1717
01:28:47,960 --> 01:28:50,720
Speaker 1: snapped his fingers and the projected image changed to a

1718
01:28:50,720 --> 01:28:53,519
Speaker 1: map of a city called McKinney and the Dallas suburbs.

1719
01:28:53,920 --> 01:28:56,920
Speaker 1: It zoomed into an aerial shot of one enormous factory

1720
01:28:56,960 --> 01:29:01,000
Speaker 1: building near the outskirts of the city. The BBC pays

1721
01:29:01,040 --> 01:29:04,160
Speaker 1: for access to a few independent satellites that overlooked this

1722
01:29:04,240 --> 01:29:06,880
Speaker 1: part of North America. We also pay the s D

1723
01:29:07,160 --> 01:29:09,959
Speaker 1: for limited access to some of their drone surveillance footage.

1724
01:29:10,280 --> 01:29:12,479
Speaker 1: From all that, I was able to trace out paths

1725
01:29:12,479 --> 01:29:15,560
Speaker 1: for seventy eight of the vehicles used in these attacks.

1726
01:29:15,600 --> 01:29:19,000
Speaker 1: Every one of them started their journey here. The projection

1727
01:29:19,080 --> 01:29:21,479
Speaker 1: changed again to it looked like a stock photograph of

1728
01:29:21,479 --> 01:29:24,320
Speaker 1: the front of a large white factory building. The Tesla

1729
01:29:24,400 --> 01:29:27,720
Speaker 1: logo was displayed prominently by the front door. It's an

1730
01:29:27,760 --> 01:29:30,439
Speaker 1: old Tesla plant. They finished it about a year before

1731
01:29:30,479 --> 01:29:32,879
Speaker 1: the Civil War. It's been in and out of operation

1732
01:29:33,000 --> 01:29:35,400
Speaker 1: since then. As best as I can tell, the last

1733
01:29:35,439 --> 01:29:38,599
Speaker 1: normal vehicle rolled off the line three years ago before

1734
01:29:38,600 --> 01:29:42,200
Speaker 1: the Heavenly Kingdom started cacking things up. McKinney was one

1735
01:29:42,200 --> 01:29:44,320
Speaker 1: of the first parts of the old Metroplex to fall,

1736
01:29:44,400 --> 01:29:46,479
Speaker 1: so they've had plenty of time to fiddle with shit.

1737
01:29:47,560 --> 01:29:50,479
Speaker 1: Roland raised his arm and realized belatedly that the needle

1738
01:29:50,560 --> 01:29:53,240
Speaker 1: was still dangling out of it. The old man sighed again,

1739
01:29:53,320 --> 01:29:56,120
Speaker 1: but Roland bravely ignored him. So what does this have

1740
01:29:56,240 --> 01:29:58,759
Speaker 1: to do with your captives, he asked, And then sign

1741
01:29:58,800 --> 01:30:00,600
Speaker 1: on to help you guys spy or blow up of

1742
01:30:00,640 --> 01:30:03,320
Speaker 1: factories in this data to the SDF for Austin if

1743
01:30:03,320 --> 01:30:06,280
Speaker 1: you think it matters, schoolfucker. Mike put a hand forward

1744
01:30:06,320 --> 01:30:09,400
Speaker 1: in a placating gesture. We're not asking you to do

1745
01:30:09,479 --> 01:30:12,240
Speaker 1: anything about this, he said, but you and Manny will

1746
01:30:12,240 --> 01:30:14,680
Speaker 1: be our only eyes and ears inside the Kingdom. If

1747
01:30:14,680 --> 01:30:16,640
Speaker 1: you get a hint of how they've accomplished all this,

1748
01:30:16,960 --> 01:30:19,840
Speaker 1: it will be valuable to us in the SDF. We'll

1749
01:30:19,880 --> 01:30:22,880
Speaker 1: find a way to make it worth your while. I mean,

1750
01:30:23,040 --> 01:30:25,640
Speaker 1: the drinks are free, right, Roland asked. I don't know

1751
01:30:25,640 --> 01:30:28,639
Speaker 1: what else you got that I might want Mike smiled

1752
01:30:28,720 --> 01:30:31,840
Speaker 1: and gestured to Roland's backpack of narcotics, which sat next

1753
01:30:31,840 --> 01:30:35,000
Speaker 1: to him on the big redwood table. By my account,

1754
01:30:35,000 --> 01:30:37,479
Speaker 1: you've gone through about half your stash that's coming out here.

1755
01:30:37,880 --> 01:30:40,360
Speaker 1: If you're able to get us any worthwhile info, I'll

1756
01:30:40,360 --> 01:30:43,920
Speaker 1: make sure the bags full before you leave. Roland narrowed

1757
01:30:43,920 --> 01:30:46,280
Speaker 1: his eyes. It would be a giant pain in the

1758
01:30:46,280 --> 01:30:50,920
Speaker 1: ask to find good percoset between here and Campltown. He sighed, alright,

1759
01:30:50,920 --> 01:30:53,400
Speaker 1: fucking fine. If we hear something, we'll look into it,

1760
01:30:53,439 --> 01:30:57,400
Speaker 1: but don't hold your breath. After the meeting, schoolfucker, Mike

1761
01:30:57,479 --> 01:31:00,080
Speaker 1: took Roland down to the city's makeshift more because so

1762
01:31:00,120 --> 01:31:03,599
Speaker 1: he could steal a dead man's face. Rolling Fox Militia

1763
01:31:03,640 --> 01:31:06,160
Speaker 1: had found the fresh corpse of some guy Roland's rough

1764
01:31:06,200 --> 01:31:08,880
Speaker 1: height and build. He'd fled Dallas and made it almost

1765
01:31:08,920 --> 01:31:11,519
Speaker 1: as far as Waco before getting hit by a drone attack.

1766
01:31:12,000 --> 01:31:14,280
Speaker 1: The foe Fuk had been gutted by shrapnel, but his

1767
01:31:14,360 --> 01:31:18,160
Speaker 1: face was intact enough for Roland's chameleon implant. Roland hadn't

1768
01:31:18,280 --> 01:31:20,320
Speaker 1: used the thing in so long he worried it might

1769
01:31:20,360 --> 01:31:23,559
Speaker 1: not work. He stared down at the man's face and

1770
01:31:23,600 --> 01:31:26,400
Speaker 1: took in his features. The fellow was white, but his

1771
01:31:26,439 --> 01:31:29,400
Speaker 1: skin was burnt a deep reddish brown. He'd clearly spent

1772
01:31:29,439 --> 01:31:32,040
Speaker 1: a lot of time under the Texas sun. He appeared

1773
01:31:32,080 --> 01:31:34,479
Speaker 1: to be in his early forties and clearly hadn't taken

1774
01:31:34,520 --> 01:31:38,000
Speaker 1: many juven treatments. His hairline was fine, but the man's

1775
01:31:38,000 --> 01:31:40,720
Speaker 1: eyes and the edges of his lips were creased with wrinkles.

1776
01:31:40,720 --> 01:31:43,880
Speaker 1: His dead, staring eyes were blue. There were deep dark

1777
01:31:43,920 --> 01:31:47,040
Speaker 1: bags beneath them. Plenty of time to sleep, now, Buddy

1778
01:31:47,280 --> 01:31:50,679
Speaker 1: Roland thought. He closed his eyes, focused on the dead

1779
01:31:50,680 --> 01:31:53,200
Speaker 1: man's face and felt his facial bones start to tear

1780
01:31:53,240 --> 01:31:56,200
Speaker 1: themselves apart and then reform. He felt the pigments and

1781
01:31:56,280 --> 01:31:59,879
Speaker 1: his skin shift two, which was always strange. The sensation

1782
01:32:00,040 --> 01:32:02,120
Speaker 1: to his pigments opening up and taking in more light

1783
01:32:02,200 --> 01:32:04,920
Speaker 1: felt a little like stripping off a thin layer of clothing.

1784
01:32:05,640 --> 01:32:08,639
Speaker 1: While Roland did this, skullfucker Mike ran a scanner over

1785
01:32:08,680 --> 01:32:10,800
Speaker 1: the corpse and located the I D card in its

1786
01:32:10,920 --> 01:32:13,519
Speaker 1: right forearm. Mike used a tool that looked like a

1787
01:32:13,560 --> 01:32:15,800
Speaker 1: long metal straw to suck the I D free and

1788
01:32:15,800 --> 01:32:18,400
Speaker 1: then shoot the tag into Roland's own arm. He took

1789
01:32:18,439 --> 01:32:21,160
Speaker 1: a second for Roland's body to pull the data. His

1790
01:32:21,280 --> 01:32:23,519
Speaker 1: name was Erin Weathers. He was single. He worked as

1791
01:32:23,520 --> 01:32:25,720
Speaker 1: a mechanic in Arlington for most of his life. He

1792
01:32:25,760 --> 01:32:28,200
Speaker 1: had a clean criminal record, save for a drunk driving

1793
01:32:28,280 --> 01:32:31,880
Speaker 1: arrest in his early thirties. Roland, now Aaron, left the

1794
01:32:31,880 --> 01:32:34,200
Speaker 1: morgue with skullfucker Mike and headed for the ride that

1795
01:32:34,200 --> 01:32:36,880
Speaker 1: would take him into the Heavenly Kingdom. He used the

1796
01:32:36,920 --> 01:32:39,320
Speaker 1: walk as an opportunity to smoke a couple of grams

1797
01:32:39,320 --> 01:32:42,200
Speaker 1: of fine Afghan opium. He was still smoking when they

1798
01:32:42,240 --> 01:32:44,519
Speaker 1: reached the battered old pickup truck on the outskirts of

1799
01:32:44,600 --> 01:32:49,120
Speaker 1: Rolling Fox campground. The kid Manny was in the driver's seat. Hey,

1800
01:32:49,360 --> 01:32:52,920
Speaker 1: Manny said, and stared wide eyed at him. You look different,

1801
01:32:53,120 --> 01:32:56,880
Speaker 1: he added with a forced smile. Yeah, Roland replied and

1802
01:32:56,920 --> 01:32:59,640
Speaker 1: pulled himself into the passenger seat. Mike tapped him on

1803
01:32:59,640 --> 01:33:03,920
Speaker 1: the shoulder. What Roland asked, I'm gonna need your bag, man.

1804
01:33:04,120 --> 01:33:06,639
Speaker 1: He pointed to the still smoking opium pipe in Roland's

1805
01:33:06,640 --> 01:33:09,799
Speaker 1: hand and that the Heavenly Kingdoms got a pretty strict

1806
01:33:09,840 --> 01:33:12,759
Speaker 1: policy on intoxicans. You're not going to get a backpack

1807
01:33:12,840 --> 01:33:16,880
Speaker 1: full of narcotics through their checkpoints. Roland growled at Mike.

1808
01:33:17,280 --> 01:33:19,880
Speaker 1: He couldn't fault the other post humans logic, but he'd

1809
01:33:19,920 --> 01:33:21,880
Speaker 1: be damned if he was going to spend several days

1810
01:33:21,880 --> 01:33:24,960
Speaker 1: surrounded by a bunch of religious nuts and do its sober.

1811
01:33:25,479 --> 01:33:28,640
Speaker 1: Roland locked eyes with skullfucker. Mike opened his bag and

1812
01:33:28,640 --> 01:33:31,719
Speaker 1: grabbed a heavy handful of drugs. He swallowed them all

1813
01:33:31,800 --> 01:33:36,320
Speaker 1: one by one, pillbottles and Baggi's vellucinogens and vials of amphetamines.

1814
01:33:36,720 --> 01:33:39,080
Speaker 1: He ordered his gut to reduce its acidity so he

1815
01:33:39,080 --> 01:33:42,519
Speaker 1: could store the drugs for later regurgitation and consumption. Then

1816
01:33:42,520 --> 01:33:45,120
Speaker 1: he took one last deep hit from his opium pipe

1817
01:33:45,240 --> 01:33:48,200
Speaker 1: and handed it and the bag to Mike Man. He

1818
01:33:48,280 --> 01:33:50,320
Speaker 1: popped the car and to drive, and they rolled off

1819
01:33:50,400 --> 01:33:53,559
Speaker 1: into the night. They drove in silence for a while.

1820
01:33:54,000 --> 01:33:56,080
Speaker 1: Roland's hind brain would have marked the time if he

1821
01:33:56,080 --> 01:33:58,600
Speaker 1: hadn't done such a successful job of pickling it with

1822
01:33:58,640 --> 01:34:02,120
Speaker 1: opium before they left. The quiet got awkward and boring

1823
01:34:02,160 --> 01:34:05,200
Speaker 1: pretty quick though. He considered putting on music, but of

1824
01:34:05,240 --> 01:34:07,919
Speaker 1: course his head wear was severed from all outside networks.

1825
01:34:08,160 --> 01:34:10,040
Speaker 1: He couldn't connect to the car any more than he

1826
01:34:10,040 --> 01:34:12,960
Speaker 1: could blink send an email, he decided to ask Manny

1827
01:34:13,000 --> 01:34:17,120
Speaker 1: to put something on Niggay Music. Can you music? Rowland

1828
01:34:17,200 --> 01:34:19,479
Speaker 1: realized he was slurring and his words were not coming

1829
01:34:19,479 --> 01:34:22,880
Speaker 1: out the way he'd intended. The kid Manny looked irritated.

1830
01:34:23,280 --> 01:34:26,479
Speaker 1: How fucked up are you right now? Roland gave a

1831
01:34:26,479 --> 01:34:30,040
Speaker 1: shrug that meant very You know my ass is on

1832
01:34:30,040 --> 01:34:32,120
Speaker 1: the line here too. I'm not made of whatever fucked

1833
01:34:32,200 --> 01:34:34,479
Speaker 1: up science you've got in your veins. I'd appreciate it

1834
01:34:34,520 --> 01:34:38,000
Speaker 1: if you took this seriously on an objective level. The

1835
01:34:38,080 --> 01:34:40,599
Speaker 1: kid's request was fair. This must be a big moment

1836
01:34:40,640 --> 01:34:43,479
Speaker 1: for him, going off on a dangerous mission to enemy territory,

1837
01:34:43,520 --> 01:34:47,639
Speaker 1: et cetera. But to Rowland, this was Tuesday or whatever

1838
01:34:47,720 --> 01:34:50,479
Speaker 1: day it actually was. He'd disabled his clock and calendar

1839
01:34:50,600 --> 01:34:54,200
Speaker 1: years ago because funk that noise. Funk that noise, he said,

1840
01:34:54,240 --> 01:34:58,479
Speaker 1: without meaning to good God, I'm so high what Manny

1841
01:34:58,560 --> 01:35:02,679
Speaker 1: sounded confused and perturb Sorry, man Roland rubbed his eyes,

1842
01:35:02,840 --> 01:35:05,639
Speaker 1: a little dazed from the opium. I wasn't talking to you.

1843
01:35:06,160 --> 01:35:10,000
Speaker 1: I am the only other person in this car, Manny said, Yeah,

1844
01:35:10,200 --> 01:35:12,920
Speaker 1: you know him. Highest shit words come out sometimes they

1845
01:35:12,920 --> 01:35:16,200
Speaker 1: aren't meant for anyone they just happened. The car slowed

1846
01:35:16,240 --> 01:35:18,479
Speaker 1: and Manny pulled over to the shoulder of the cracked

1847
01:35:18,479 --> 01:35:21,280
Speaker 1: old highway. When the car came to a stop, he

1848
01:35:21,320 --> 01:35:23,360
Speaker 1: put his head in his hands and breathed in in

1849
01:35:23,400 --> 01:35:26,519
Speaker 1: and out very slowly. It took Roland a moment to

1850
01:35:26,560 --> 01:35:29,720
Speaker 1: realize the kid was going through a panic attack. He's

1851
01:35:29,760 --> 01:35:32,520
Speaker 1: never done anything like this before. Of course, he's terrified.

1852
01:35:33,120 --> 01:35:35,559
Speaker 1: Roland wondered if he should do something to comfort the kid.

1853
01:35:36,560 --> 01:35:40,719
Speaker 1: You know, he said, I've killed about twelve thousand armed people.

1854
01:35:41,680 --> 01:35:44,280
Speaker 1: Many turned to stare at him. He looked shocked, but

1855
01:35:44,560 --> 01:35:48,000
Speaker 1: Roland noted with satisfaction the statement had disrupted his panic.

1856
01:35:48,680 --> 01:35:51,879
Speaker 1: What what the I mean, give or take a handful?

1857
01:35:52,000 --> 01:35:54,920
Speaker 1: Roland continued, I burnt my brains, killed canter out with

1858
01:35:54,960 --> 01:35:58,559
Speaker 1: crocodile and sheep vodka while back. Why would you tell

1859
01:35:58,560 --> 01:36:01,559
Speaker 1: me this? Why would you think this would help? Because,

1860
01:36:01,880 --> 01:36:04,879
Speaker 1: Roland said, We're about to go into a very dangerous

1861
01:36:04,880 --> 01:36:07,800
Speaker 1: place together. You're scared you're gonna die, and I want

1862
01:36:07,800 --> 01:36:10,240
Speaker 1: you to know, however many arm nut jobs are in

1863
01:36:10,280 --> 01:36:14,360
Speaker 1: that city, I can murder them, all of them. Manny

1864
01:36:14,479 --> 01:36:17,799
Speaker 1: stared at him. He still looked terrified and vaguely pissed,

1865
01:36:18,040 --> 01:36:20,679
Speaker 1: but his heart rate was steadier, his breathing had slowed.

1866
01:36:21,080 --> 01:36:25,920
Speaker 1: Roland declared his gambit a success. Okay, the kid finally said,

1867
01:36:26,120 --> 01:36:30,280
Speaker 1: that's actually comforting. Thank you. There was silence for a beat,

1868
01:36:30,439 --> 01:36:33,920
Speaker 1: and then Roland spoke again that all sudden, I'd prefer

1869
01:36:34,040 --> 01:36:37,120
Speaker 1: not to kill anyone. I'd really prefer that. I was

1870
01:36:37,160 --> 01:36:39,320
Speaker 1: on a pretty good no murder streak until a couple

1871
01:36:39,320 --> 01:36:41,639
Speaker 1: of days back. I'm trying to stay on the wagon.

1872
01:36:41,800 --> 01:36:44,800
Speaker 1: So a talk, well, be a good face, man. This

1873
01:36:44,840 --> 01:36:47,320
Speaker 1: will all be easier if I don't have to commit murder.

1874
01:36:48,120 --> 01:36:50,400
Speaker 1: Manny looked a bit nervous again, but he popped the

1875
01:36:50,439 --> 01:36:54,000
Speaker 1: car into drive and rolled back onto the highway. I'll

1876
01:36:54,040 --> 01:36:57,439
Speaker 1: do my best, he said. They were an hour outside

1877
01:36:57,439 --> 01:36:59,680
Speaker 1: of Dallas when they hit the first checkpoint and the

1878
01:36:59,760 --> 01:37:02,599
Speaker 1: king Him's guards ordered them out of the truck. Roland

1879
01:37:02,680 --> 01:37:05,400
Speaker 1: stepped out with his hands up. Manny had done the same.

1880
01:37:05,840 --> 01:37:09,360
Speaker 1: The guards scanned them, verified their status as Republic citizens,

1881
01:37:09,640 --> 01:37:12,680
Speaker 1: and then the questioning started. What brings you to the

1882
01:37:12,720 --> 01:37:15,800
Speaker 1: heavenly Kingdom? Their leader, a fat man with a kalashnikov,

1883
01:37:15,960 --> 01:37:19,120
Speaker 1: asked Manny, we heard about the amnesty. Manny replied, and

1884
01:37:19,120 --> 01:37:21,000
Speaker 1: we thought it sounded good. We we want to live

1885
01:37:21,080 --> 01:37:24,439
Speaker 1: under the rule of God. The fat man grunted. So

1886
01:37:24,479 --> 01:37:28,439
Speaker 1: you're both good, god fearing men, then, yes, sir, Manny nodded,

1887
01:37:28,600 --> 01:37:30,400
Speaker 1: of course, and praise be to God for all the

1888
01:37:30,479 --> 01:37:33,320
Speaker 1: victories you've won here. The fat man sniffed at the

1889
01:37:33,320 --> 01:37:35,800
Speaker 1: air and looked over to his partner. I'm not wild

1890
01:37:35,840 --> 01:37:38,559
Speaker 1: about another skin here, Hanson. You think we need any

1891
01:37:38,560 --> 01:37:44,000
Speaker 1: more Mexicans? Hanson shrugged, orders say, the faithful are all welcome. Yeah,

1892
01:37:44,040 --> 01:37:47,240
Speaker 1: the fat guy continued, if they're faithful. He looked back

1893
01:37:47,240 --> 01:37:49,360
Speaker 1: to Manny. Why did it take a couple of devout

1894
01:37:49,400 --> 01:37:51,559
Speaker 1: men like yourselves so long to make a break for

1895
01:37:51,600 --> 01:37:54,240
Speaker 1: the heavenly kingdom. We've been at this fight for a while,

1896
01:37:54,360 --> 01:37:57,559
Speaker 1: you know I. I I mean we we were scared, and

1897
01:37:57,600 --> 01:38:00,320
Speaker 1: we didn't we weren't sure what to believe. What you're

1898
01:38:00,360 --> 01:38:03,320
Speaker 1: supposed to believe is the word of God, the man snarled.

1899
01:38:03,479 --> 01:38:05,559
Speaker 1: And that's as clear as day to everyone who lives

1900
01:38:05,600 --> 01:38:08,320
Speaker 1: inside the kingdom. He looked back at his men and

1901
01:38:08,400 --> 01:38:12,120
Speaker 1: smiled an evil wolfie grin Hanson, malloy, I think we

1902
01:38:12,240 --> 01:38:16,040
Speaker 1: might need to question these two more intensively. Radio command,

1903
01:38:16,160 --> 01:38:19,360
Speaker 1: and that was the last thing the fat man said.

1904
01:38:19,800 --> 01:38:23,400
Speaker 1: Probably ever, Roland shoved a hand into the martyr's mouth,

1905
01:38:23,520 --> 01:38:27,160
Speaker 1: pulled downwards, and shattered his jaw in four places. Then

1906
01:38:27,200 --> 01:38:30,599
Speaker 1: he leapt into the others. It went quickly. He gouged eyes,

1907
01:38:30,680 --> 01:38:33,559
Speaker 1: broke jaws, severed tongues, and then started in on their limbs.

1908
01:38:34,000 --> 01:38:36,320
Speaker 1: By the end of it, all four men were still alive,

1909
01:38:36,640 --> 01:38:38,599
Speaker 1: but none of them were in any shape to report

1910
01:38:38,640 --> 01:38:43,040
Speaker 1: on what they'd seen. Manny vomited several times. What I

1911
01:38:43,080 --> 01:38:45,760
Speaker 1: want to do in your best, Manny, Roland asked, more

1912
01:38:45,800 --> 01:38:49,479
Speaker 1: irritated than angry. Once he'd finished, the kid recoiled, Roland

1913
01:38:49,520 --> 01:38:52,160
Speaker 1: realized Manny had started to shake a little. He also

1914
01:38:52,240 --> 01:38:54,120
Speaker 1: realized there was still a part of a man's ear

1915
01:38:54,160 --> 01:38:57,679
Speaker 1: in his mouth. A hell, you scared him, Sorry, kid,

1916
01:38:57,840 --> 01:39:00,760
Speaker 1: he said, and squatted down next to Manny. Look, the

1917
01:39:00,800 --> 01:39:02,960
Speaker 1: odds were always good that this first try was going

1918
01:39:03,000 --> 01:39:05,559
Speaker 1: to be a scratch. The good news is they've got

1919
01:39:05,600 --> 01:39:08,400
Speaker 1: other checkpoints. Will hop on the access road and find

1920
01:39:08,400 --> 01:39:11,720
Speaker 1: the next one. It'll be fine. What did you too

1921
01:39:11,800 --> 01:39:15,320
Speaker 1: to Manny started? I stopped them from talking, he said,

1922
01:39:15,560 --> 01:39:18,759
Speaker 1: very quickly. No one's dead. There'll be a He glanced

1923
01:39:18,800 --> 01:39:21,880
Speaker 1: down at the burbling, bleeding mess of shattered humans. They'll

1924
01:39:21,960 --> 01:39:24,759
Speaker 1: be I, but we need to move now before someone

1925
01:39:24,800 --> 01:39:26,880
Speaker 1: else comes along. And I got to break them too.

1926
01:39:27,920 --> 01:39:30,160
Speaker 1: Roland popped open the cab so he could change into

1927
01:39:30,200 --> 01:39:32,840
Speaker 1: a clean set of spare clothes. It was grateful that

1928
01:39:32,880 --> 01:39:35,519
Speaker 1: skullfucker Mike had packed them bags to lend their story

1929
01:39:35,600 --> 01:39:40,000
Speaker 1: extra versimilitude. Manny changed too, and once his hands stopped shaking,

1930
01:39:40,080 --> 01:39:43,040
Speaker 1: they rolled off to the next checkpoint. Roland tried not

1931
01:39:43,120 --> 01:39:45,320
Speaker 1: to think too much about the men he'd just broken.

1932
01:39:45,760 --> 01:39:47,599
Speaker 1: That helped that one of them had been an asshole.

1933
01:39:47,720 --> 01:39:50,240
Speaker 1: It helped that none of them had died. But still

1934
01:39:51,040 --> 01:39:53,599
Speaker 1: they hit the next checkpoint eight minutes later, and things

1935
01:39:53,640 --> 01:39:57,040
Speaker 1: went much better this time. For one thing, it was busier.

1936
01:39:57,439 --> 01:39:59,599
Speaker 1: There were already a dozen other cars in line when

1937
01:39:59,640 --> 01:40:02,000
Speaker 1: they pulled in. The guy who was questioning them was

1938
01:40:02,080 --> 01:40:05,640
Speaker 1: less of an asshole, and he seemed to buy Manny's claim.

1939
01:40:05,720 --> 01:40:08,200
Speaker 1: We weren't brave enough to make the journey until now,

1940
01:40:08,240 --> 01:40:10,679
Speaker 1: but we prayed all night about this. I know it's

1941
01:40:10,680 --> 01:40:13,519
Speaker 1: the right thing to do. Roland had to fight to

1942
01:40:13,560 --> 01:40:16,680
Speaker 1: avoid rolling his eyes. The line worked, though the man

1943
01:40:16,720 --> 01:40:18,720
Speaker 1: at the checkpoint waved the men and issued them a

1944
01:40:18,760 --> 01:40:22,280
Speaker 1: temporary transit pass. This is good for six hours. The

1945
01:40:22,360 --> 01:40:25,479
Speaker 1: checkpoint officer said, that's plenty of time to find the

1946
01:40:25,479 --> 01:40:28,559
Speaker 1: immigration center and poured in if you're caught driving around

1947
01:40:28,600 --> 01:40:31,240
Speaker 1: the Kingdom after that, it won't end well for you.

1948
01:40:32,439 --> 01:40:35,200
Speaker 1: They drove on, but it was slow going. After the checkpoint,

1949
01:40:35,439 --> 01:40:38,160
Speaker 1: the roads into Dallas were choked with ruined vehicles and

1950
01:40:38,360 --> 01:40:41,160
Speaker 1: actual traffic. It looked as if hundreds of people had

1951
01:40:41,200 --> 01:40:44,879
Speaker 1: taken the Heavenly Kingdom up on its amnesty offer. Roland

1952
01:40:45,040 --> 01:40:47,799
Speaker 1: couldn't fault them for that. The Kingdom seemed to be winning.

1953
01:40:48,560 --> 01:40:51,240
Speaker 1: As they rolled towards Plano, they were stopped regularly by

1954
01:40:51,240 --> 01:40:54,320
Speaker 1: patrolling martyrs and asked to present their papers, But bit

1955
01:40:54,360 --> 01:40:56,760
Speaker 1: by bit they made their way onto and through the

1956
01:40:56,800 --> 01:41:00,320
Speaker 1: packed and crumbling highways of Old Dallas. At one point

1957
01:41:00,360 --> 01:41:04,440
Speaker 1: they found themselves installed traffic on Highway seventy five, overlooking

1958
01:41:04,479 --> 01:41:07,800
Speaker 1: the cratered ruins of the Lakewood Blast. He felt cold

1959
01:41:07,800 --> 01:41:10,639
Speaker 1: October air. He smelled barrel fires and heard the sharp

1960
01:41:10,720 --> 01:41:13,320
Speaker 1: crack of rifle ry. He saw flashes of a face.

1961
01:41:13,520 --> 01:41:15,719
Speaker 1: It might have been Gem's, and he remembered the feeling

1962
01:41:15,760 --> 01:41:19,000
Speaker 1: of a cold metal handle attached to something heavy dense.

1963
01:41:19,360 --> 01:41:22,479
Speaker 1: He remembered yelling too, a small, sweaty hand held tight

1964
01:41:22,479 --> 01:41:28,040
Speaker 1: in his own. He remembered guilt. What's up, Manny asked.

1965
01:41:28,200 --> 01:41:30,760
Speaker 1: He looked over at Roland and his eyes widened. Dude,

1966
01:41:30,800 --> 01:41:32,880
Speaker 1: you're shaking. Don't tell me you're flipping out now. We're

1967
01:41:32,920 --> 01:41:35,960
Speaker 1: way too deep in this thing. Roland shook his head.

1968
01:41:36,200 --> 01:41:39,080
Speaker 1: It's it's it's nothing, he said. Just a piece of

1969
01:41:39,080 --> 01:41:41,320
Speaker 1: an old memory hit me in the face. I think

1970
01:41:41,360 --> 01:41:44,320
Speaker 1: I was in town when that fucker went off. The

1971
01:41:44,360 --> 01:41:48,080
Speaker 1: young man's pupils grew as big as saucers virga, he spent.

1972
01:41:48,280 --> 01:41:51,880
Speaker 1: You're fullish shit, Roland shrugged. I don't know. Maybe it's

1973
01:41:51,920 --> 01:41:54,040
Speaker 1: just a piece of a memory. I might be confusing

1974
01:41:54,040 --> 01:41:56,920
Speaker 1: it with something else. Sure got triggered by seeing the

1975
01:41:56,960 --> 01:42:01,160
Speaker 1: blast side, though Manny was not sadatisfied by that answer.

1976
01:42:01,520 --> 01:42:04,120
Speaker 1: I refuse to believe that someone could watch an atom

1977
01:42:04,200 --> 01:42:06,839
Speaker 1: bomb evisceerate a city and not have a clear memory

1978
01:42:06,840 --> 01:42:09,040
Speaker 1: of it. I had to take anti radtills my whole

1979
01:42:09,080 --> 01:42:13,080
Speaker 1: childhood because of that bomb. I don't have any clear memories, kid,

1980
01:42:13,520 --> 01:42:16,599
Speaker 1: none from further back than about I guess fibery years ago.

1981
01:42:16,960 --> 01:42:18,960
Speaker 1: I don't have a whole lot of clear memories since

1982
01:42:19,000 --> 01:42:21,679
Speaker 1: then either, but that's from the drugs. What the hell

1983
01:42:21,720 --> 01:42:24,759
Speaker 1: happened to you, Manny asked, I thought you post humans

1984
01:42:24,760 --> 01:42:27,080
Speaker 1: all had hard drives running through your blood. Were you

1985
01:42:27,120 --> 01:42:30,879
Speaker 1: too cheap to pay for a photographic memory? Roland scratched

1986
01:42:30,880 --> 01:42:33,839
Speaker 1: his neck. He wasn't ditchy, it was a nervous gesture.

1987
01:42:34,160 --> 01:42:36,120
Speaker 1: He was a little fascinated at the fact that this

1988
01:42:36,160 --> 01:42:39,439
Speaker 1: line of questioning made him feel nervous. He really couldn't

1989
01:42:39,479 --> 01:42:41,880
Speaker 1: remember the last time a conversation had made him feel

1990
01:42:41,880 --> 01:42:45,519
Speaker 1: that way. Weird. I got hurt, was all he could

1991
01:42:45,560 --> 01:42:48,559
Speaker 1: honestly say. I don't remember much of anything from before

1992
01:42:48,600 --> 01:42:53,160
Speaker 1: the revolution. Now I don't really remember the revolution. The

1993
01:42:53,240 --> 01:42:56,240
Speaker 1: line of cars started moving again. Manny popped the car

1994
01:42:56,360 --> 01:43:00,000
Speaker 1: back into drive, and they rolled further into the Heavenly Kingdom.

1995
01:43:00,000 --> 01:43:02,920
Speaker 1: Both men were quiet for a minute until Roland spoke again,

1996
01:43:04,000 --> 01:43:06,760
Speaker 1: That's why I'm doing this, you know. He wasn't sure

1997
01:43:06,760 --> 01:43:08,840
Speaker 1: why he was saying all this, but Roland found he

1998
01:43:08,880 --> 01:43:11,880
Speaker 1: couldn't stop himself. Jim, the guy who brought me on,

1999
01:43:12,080 --> 01:43:14,760
Speaker 1: he knows some fucking East Coast surgeon who specializes in

2000
01:43:14,840 --> 01:43:17,599
Speaker 1: post human brains. They think they can give me back

2001
01:43:17,640 --> 01:43:21,240
Speaker 1: my memory. This rescue mission is that's how I pay

2002
01:43:21,320 --> 01:43:25,479
Speaker 1: for that. Are you sure you want those memories back? Mann?

2003
01:43:25,479 --> 01:43:27,760
Speaker 1: He asked, what fun do you mean? I don't even

2004
01:43:27,760 --> 01:43:30,000
Speaker 1: know who I am or was right now. Wouldn't you

2005
01:43:30,040 --> 01:43:33,400
Speaker 1: want that ship back if you lost it? Many glanced

2006
01:43:33,439 --> 01:43:36,479
Speaker 1: over to him they locked eyes. I don't know, the

2007
01:43:36,560 --> 01:43:39,840
Speaker 1: kid said, you say you killed at least twelve thousand people.

2008
01:43:40,200 --> 01:43:42,439
Speaker 1: I've been working as a fixer for the last two years,

2009
01:43:42,479 --> 01:43:45,040
Speaker 1: and I've seen a lot of fucked up eyes, dead

2010
01:43:45,040 --> 01:43:47,800
Speaker 1: eyes on men who've done too much killing. But none

2011
01:43:47,840 --> 01:43:50,040
Speaker 1: of them hold a candle to what's going on there.

2012
01:43:50,280 --> 01:43:53,240
Speaker 1: He pointed to Roland's face. I don't know. I got

2013
01:43:53,320 --> 01:43:55,879
Speaker 1: a feeling your past is one big fucked up nightmare.

2014
01:43:56,320 --> 01:43:59,680
Speaker 1: Maybe you're better off without it. Roland was quiet for

2015
01:43:59,720 --> 01:44:02,960
Speaker 1: a while, and Manny didn't say anything else. They crept

2016
01:44:03,000 --> 01:44:05,599
Speaker 1: along and stops and starts, and inched closer to Plano

2017
01:44:05,680 --> 01:44:09,160
Speaker 1: as the sun cracked open the horizon. Kid At a point,

2018
01:44:09,320 --> 01:44:12,559
Speaker 1: Roland decided he'd worried about the same thing himself since

2019
01:44:12,640 --> 01:44:15,519
Speaker 1: Jim made the offer every hour or so, he still

2020
01:44:15,520 --> 01:44:18,400
Speaker 1: found himself thinking about the driver of that technical The

2021
01:44:18,520 --> 01:44:21,519
Speaker 1: man had reeked of love, and yeah, the guy had

2022
01:44:21,560 --> 01:44:25,160
Speaker 1: been fighting to establish a crystal fascist nightmare state. Somehow,

2023
01:44:25,200 --> 01:44:28,400
Speaker 1: that didn't mitigate his death. In Roland's head, most causes

2024
01:44:28,439 --> 01:44:31,960
Speaker 1: were ship. Most men who fought for anything fought for nightmares.

2025
01:44:32,439 --> 01:44:34,559
Speaker 1: That guy and all his friends had just been doing

2026
01:44:34,600 --> 01:44:37,080
Speaker 1: what felt right based on the ship lives they'd lived.

2027
01:44:37,479 --> 01:44:39,160
Speaker 1: The same thing had to be true for most of

2028
01:44:39,160 --> 01:44:42,920
Speaker 1: the soldiers and insurgents Rowland had killed. How many civilians

2029
01:44:42,920 --> 01:44:45,479
Speaker 1: did you kill, Roland? How many lives did you in

2030
01:44:45,680 --> 01:44:48,880
Speaker 1: just to keep the battle drugs flowing? When he thought

2031
01:44:48,880 --> 01:44:51,880
Speaker 1: about it that way, he really didn't want his memories back.

2032
01:44:52,840 --> 01:44:55,640
Speaker 1: But then, of course there was Topaz. He loved her

2033
01:44:55,680 --> 01:44:58,760
Speaker 1: so much, or rather, the pieces of him that remembered

2034
01:44:58,760 --> 01:45:01,840
Speaker 1: her loved her so much. Roland knew he wanted those

2035
01:45:01,840 --> 01:45:05,080
Speaker 1: memories back. He kneeded them back. Every time he thought

2036
01:45:05,120 --> 01:45:07,760
Speaker 1: about her face, something twisted inside him, as if his

2037
01:45:07,840 --> 01:45:10,320
Speaker 1: guts were being tugged in whatever direction he thought she

2038
01:45:10,439 --> 01:45:12,880
Speaker 1: might be. It was a weird way to feel about

2039
01:45:12,920 --> 01:45:16,320
Speaker 1: a woman he only remembered in fragments. Roland shook his

2040
01:45:16,400 --> 01:45:18,639
Speaker 1: head in a nervous attempt to shake the thoughts from

2041
01:45:18,640 --> 01:45:21,679
Speaker 1: his mind. Then he stared ahead at the line of cars.

2042
01:45:22,720 --> 01:45:25,640
Speaker 1: The immigration center was chaotic, crowded, and heavy with the

2043
01:45:25,680 --> 01:45:28,599
Speaker 1: smell of scared humans. It was also a happier place

2044
01:45:28,600 --> 01:45:32,000
Speaker 1: than Roland would have expected. Martyrs and fresh, olive drab

2045
01:45:32,080 --> 01:45:34,880
Speaker 1: uniforms with bright golden crosses and blazoned on the arms,

2046
01:45:34,880 --> 01:45:37,479
Speaker 1: handed out food, water, and even cups of instant coffee

2047
01:45:37,520 --> 01:45:40,559
Speaker 1: to the adults. They posed for pictures with children. The

2048
01:45:40,600 --> 01:45:43,080
Speaker 1: whole place almost had the air of a party about it.

2049
01:45:43,360 --> 01:45:46,080
Speaker 1: There was some one filming too. Roland guessed he must

2050
01:45:46,160 --> 01:45:49,120
Speaker 1: be a propagandist for the Kingdom, putting together some sort

2051
01:45:49,120 --> 01:45:52,200
Speaker 1: of documentary. They stood in line for two full hours

2052
01:45:52,280 --> 01:45:54,719
Speaker 1: before it was their turn in front of the intake officer.

2053
01:45:55,360 --> 01:45:57,920
Speaker 1: He was an older man with a big, bushy mustache,

2054
01:45:58,040 --> 01:46:00,639
Speaker 1: red jowls, and a droopy rooster all of a throat.

2055
01:46:01,000 --> 01:46:03,360
Speaker 1: He had a whiny voice that baraged them with questions

2056
01:46:03,400 --> 01:46:06,200
Speaker 1: as soon as they sat down at his desk. How

2057
01:46:06,200 --> 01:46:08,680
Speaker 1: many apostles did Christ have? What was the name of

2058
01:46:08,720 --> 01:46:11,160
Speaker 1: the hill where our Lord was crucified? What is the

2059
01:46:11,160 --> 01:46:15,240
Speaker 1: fifth commandment? Manny answered every question while Roland sat there

2060
01:46:15,240 --> 01:46:18,439
Speaker 1: and smiled vacantly like an invalid. They decided in the

2061
01:46:18,479 --> 01:46:21,679
Speaker 1: car that playing dumb was his best option. He'd probably

2062
01:46:21,680 --> 01:46:23,680
Speaker 1: wind up starting a fight if he talked to the man,

2063
01:46:23,760 --> 01:46:26,920
Speaker 1: And besides, Boland didn't know shit about the Bible. He

2064
01:46:26,920 --> 01:46:30,200
Speaker 1: didn't even have any memory fragments of church services. And

2065
01:46:30,240 --> 01:46:32,800
Speaker 1: why is it that you're answering all the questions, young man?

2066
01:46:32,960 --> 01:46:35,800
Speaker 1: The officer finally asked, what about your friend here erin?

2067
01:46:35,920 --> 01:46:40,200
Speaker 1: Is it? Ah? Yeah? Roland replied, I just I don't know.

2068
01:46:40,360 --> 01:46:43,040
Speaker 1: I don't test so good. Mom said, I ain't a thinker,

2069
01:46:43,640 --> 01:46:46,760
Speaker 1: but you are a Christian? Yes, oh yes, sir, he

2070
01:46:46,840 --> 01:46:50,439
Speaker 1: nodded enthusiastically. I love God. I am all about God.

2071
01:46:51,240 --> 01:46:54,479
Speaker 1: The intake officer narrowed his eyes at Roland. Manny flashed

2072
01:46:54,560 --> 01:46:56,400
Speaker 1: him a look of fury, and then quickly turned it

2073
01:46:56,439 --> 01:47:00,320
Speaker 1: into a smile directed at the officer. He's a he's slow, sir.

2074
01:47:00,680 --> 01:47:02,519
Speaker 1: His mama took care of him, but she died in

2075
01:47:02,560 --> 01:47:05,599
Speaker 1: a drone strike two months back from the SDF. I'm

2076
01:47:05,640 --> 01:47:09,200
Speaker 1: just trying to make sure he's okay. The man grunted

2077
01:47:09,280 --> 01:47:11,720
Speaker 1: and then looked to Roland. I imagine that must make

2078
01:47:11,760 --> 01:47:15,080
Speaker 1: you angry losing your mother. Roland nodded and put on

2079
01:47:15,120 --> 01:47:18,280
Speaker 1: his best fasimile of an angry face. They're bad men.

2080
01:47:18,479 --> 01:47:22,559
Speaker 1: I want to hurt them back. The intake officer chuckled. Well,

2081
01:47:22,680 --> 01:47:25,280
Speaker 1: I've got good news for you. Then. The Heavenly Kingdom

2082
01:47:25,320 --> 01:47:28,160
Speaker 1: needs soldiers. I'm sending you both to a training platoon.

2083
01:47:28,360 --> 01:47:30,720
Speaker 1: In a few days, you'll be martyrs and you'll have

2084
01:47:30,760 --> 01:47:34,120
Speaker 1: a chance to get your revenge. Wait, Mann, he asked,

2085
01:47:34,280 --> 01:47:38,840
Speaker 1: we're being drafted. The officer narrowed his piggy eyes. The

2086
01:47:38,840 --> 01:47:42,000
Speaker 1: Heavenly Kingdom is fighting for its life. Boys. Every person

2087
01:47:42,040 --> 01:47:44,599
Speaker 1: we let in has a job. There are no shirkers here,

2088
01:47:44,720 --> 01:47:47,080
Speaker 1: no layabouts. If you aren't willing to help build the

2089
01:47:47,160 --> 01:47:49,360
Speaker 1: Kingdom of God on earth, we have no use for you.

2090
01:47:49,680 --> 01:47:52,479
Speaker 1: And I've decided you boys will best serve God in

2091
01:47:52,520 --> 01:47:57,240
Speaker 1: our infantry. And just like that, Roland found himself inducted

2092
01:47:57,240 --> 01:47:59,880
Speaker 1: into a military for what was at least the set

2093
01:48:00,200 --> 01:48:03,400
Speaker 1: time in his life. The intake officer gave them more papers,

2094
01:48:03,520 --> 01:48:06,120
Speaker 1: signed a mustering order, and sent them off with directions

2095
01:48:06,120 --> 01:48:08,880
Speaker 1: to find the barracks that was apparently their new home.

2096
01:48:09,600 --> 01:48:12,320
Speaker 1: Manny handled the rest of the interaction, well. He even

2097
01:48:12,360 --> 01:48:16,040
Speaker 1: managed to act enthusiastic after his first startled outburst, But

2098
01:48:16,120 --> 01:48:18,080
Speaker 1: once they were out of ear shot back in the truck,

2099
01:48:18,240 --> 01:48:22,559
Speaker 1: he started to hyperventilate again. It looked like another panic attack. Gerda,

2100
01:48:22,720 --> 01:48:26,200
Speaker 1: He cursed. This was such a fucking bad idea. Hey,

2101
01:48:26,439 --> 01:48:28,479
Speaker 1: Roland patted the kid on the shoulder. It's gonna be

2102
01:48:28,520 --> 01:48:31,800
Speaker 1: all right, buddy. Some aspect of his comforting tactic must

2103
01:48:31,800 --> 01:48:34,479
Speaker 1: have gone wrong, because the kid just looked pissed. Do

2104
01:48:34,560 --> 01:48:37,720
Speaker 1: you not realize how fun this is? Manny shoved Roland back.

2105
01:48:37,920 --> 01:48:40,679
Speaker 1: We're supposed to be affecting a rescue here, he yelled.

2106
01:48:40,800 --> 01:48:43,040
Speaker 1: They're going to have us drilling and training day and night.

2107
01:48:43,120 --> 01:48:45,320
Speaker 1: Will be surrounded by soldiers. I thought we'd just be

2108
01:48:45,360 --> 01:48:47,600
Speaker 1: squatting in an apartment saying some piece be with you is.

2109
01:48:47,600 --> 01:48:49,360
Speaker 1: When we went outside, I thought we were going to

2110
01:48:49,479 --> 01:48:51,760
Speaker 1: track down those hostages and like a day. Now, what

2111
01:48:51,800 --> 01:48:54,519
Speaker 1: the funk are we supposed to do? Roland thought about

2112
01:48:54,560 --> 01:48:56,760
Speaker 1: that for a moment. He thought about the martyrs he'd

2113
01:48:56,760 --> 01:48:59,120
Speaker 1: faced on the battlefield three days ago and their motley

2114
01:48:59,240 --> 01:49:03,439
Speaker 1: armor and batter rusted weaponry. Look, he said, this for

2115
01:49:03,520 --> 01:49:05,920
Speaker 1: a real army, we'd be fucked. But you've seen how

2116
01:49:05,920 --> 01:49:09,760
Speaker 1: these guys fight. They had numbers and some professionals, but

2117
01:49:09,840 --> 01:49:12,280
Speaker 1: the bulk of their forces are just poor dumb fox

2118
01:49:12,320 --> 01:49:14,320
Speaker 1: with a week's worth of training and whatever gun was

2119
01:49:14,400 --> 01:49:17,240
Speaker 1: lying around. We're not going to be drilling from dawn

2120
01:49:17,240 --> 01:49:20,800
Speaker 1: till dusk, he gestured at the truck's dashboard. They're letting

2121
01:49:20,880 --> 01:49:22,960
Speaker 1: us drive our own fucking truck up there. This ain't

2122
01:49:22,960 --> 01:49:25,599
Speaker 1: gonna be like a real army. I guarantee you will

2123
01:49:25,640 --> 01:49:28,479
Speaker 1: have time to do our ship. Stay calm, stick close

2124
01:49:28,520 --> 01:49:30,840
Speaker 1: to me, do what I do. I'm real fucking good

2125
01:49:30,840 --> 01:49:33,639
Speaker 1: at soldiering. If you follow my lead, they love us

2126
01:49:33,680 --> 01:49:36,200
Speaker 1: and our job will be that much easier. And what

2127
01:49:36,240 --> 01:49:38,559
Speaker 1: if something goes wrong? Man, he asked, what if they

2128
01:49:38,560 --> 01:49:41,639
Speaker 1: catch us? Rolland shrugged. If they catch us, them will

2129
01:49:41,680 --> 01:49:43,760
Speaker 1: already be in the middle of their army. That will

2130
01:49:43,800 --> 01:49:49,400
Speaker 1: save me so much time. Hey, I've written a novel.

2131
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Speaker 1: It's called After the Revolution. You can find it as

2132
01:49:51,400 --> 01:49:53,840
Speaker 1: a podcast under After the Revolution, and you can find

2133
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Speaker 1: it at a t r book dot com as a

2134
01:49:55,800 --> 01:49:59,040
Speaker 1: free e pub if you like it. I am crowdfunding

2135
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Speaker 1: the sequel so that I and keep making my books free.

2136
01:50:01,800 --> 01:50:04,320
Speaker 1: That will be it after the revolution, the sequel on

2137
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Speaker 1: go fund me. That's after the revolution, the sequel on

2138
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Speaker 1: go fund me. Look for your children's eyes and you

2139
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Speaker 1: will discover the two magic of a forest. Find a

2140
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Speaker 1: forest near you and start exploring it. Discover the Forest

2141
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2142
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Speaker 1: Service and the AD Council. Raffie is the voice of

2143
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Speaker 1: some of the happiest songs of our generation. Baby So

2144
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Speaker 1: who is the man behind Baby Beluga? Every human being

2145
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Speaker 1: wants to feel respected. When we start with young all

2146
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Speaker 1: good things can grow from there. I'm Chris Garcia, comedian,

2147
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Speaker 1: New Dad and host of Finding Raffie, a new podcast

2148
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Speaker 1: from My Heart Radio and Fatherly. Listen every Tuesday on

2149
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Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Mama,

2150
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Speaker 1: what does the chicken say? Uh? Diraft draft really giraffe? Giraffe?

2151
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Speaker 1: You're not gonna get it all right. Just make sure

2152
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Speaker 1: you know the big stuff, like making sure your kids

2153
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Speaker 1: are buckled correctly in the right seat for their agent's eyes.

2154
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Speaker 1: Get it right visits n h S A dot gov

2155
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