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Speaker 1: Chapter twenty three, Sasha Rolling Fuck trundled forward, crunching its

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Speaker 1: way over the Texas Plains and leaving a carpet of

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Speaker 1: flattened grass and broken trees in its wake. And Sasha Marian,

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Speaker 1: situated in a little purple building atop one of the

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Speaker 1: city's tallest spires, couldn't quite believe her eyes. In spite

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Speaker 1: of its many wheels, the city didn't look like the

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Speaker 1: kind of thing that should be able to move. It

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Speaker 1: was as if the Empire State Building had taken up jogging.

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Speaker 1: Sasha had been more or less alone since the war

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Speaker 1: Council had concluded. She'd wanted to go up to the

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Speaker 1: bar with Manny and Roland, since they were the only

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Speaker 1: people here she even sort of knew, but their conversation

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Speaker 1: had seemed a private sort of thing. At first, she

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Speaker 1: thought that her hosts had made an oversight in leaving

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Speaker 1: her unwatched. Surely they wouldn't let someone who had been

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Speaker 1: their enemy just a few days ago wander freely through

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Speaker 1: their home. But as the hours went by, it became

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Speaker 1: clear that's exactly what they'd done, so Sasha explored it

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Speaker 1: had been exhilarating. Actually, every inch of the city was

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Speaker 1: different and strange and new to her. Across the gantries

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Speaker 1: there were numerous market stalls with fresh meat and produce.

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Speaker 1: At first she recognized all the foods, but the higher

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Speaker 1: and further she went, the stranger everything seemed. The meat

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Speaker 1: went from beef and chicken to alligator in zebra and mammoth,

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Speaker 1: and eventually something Sasha thought might be from an actual dinosaur.

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Speaker 1: She was sure it was all lab grown, and the

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Speaker 1: produce was certainly gene modified. At one point, she came

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Speaker 1: across a kiosk filled with fruit that had been tweaked

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Speaker 1: to take the shape of gigantic erect penises. There were

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Speaker 1: penis watermelons, penis oranges, penis apples, and even bags of

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Speaker 1: tiny penis shaped grapes. She knew she should have felt disgusted.

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Speaker 1: Two weeks ago, Sasha would have been horrified, but somehow

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Speaker 1: she just wasn't. She felt a vague sense of unease

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Speaker 1: awkwardness at the sight of so many genitals, but after

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Speaker 1: all she'd seen in the Heavenly Kingdom, it didn't exactly

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Speaker 1: horrify her either, How could it. The fondl boats were

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Speaker 1: another matter. The sight and the strange sky's sweet smell

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Speaker 1: that wafted out of the grinding, groping crowd inside it

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Speaker 1: made her queasy. This is exactly as depraved as Pastor

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Speaker 1: Mike said it would be, she thought. But she also thought,

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Speaker 1: is this really worse than all that violence and death?

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Speaker 1: Who were they hurting? The Lord? Said a shrill, small

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Speaker 1: voice in the back of her mind. Why would God

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Speaker 1: hate this and not the hanging of good people? Sasha wondered,

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Speaker 1: Why would this make him angry but not the butchery

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Speaker 1: inside that factory? You know what the Bible says, Sasha,

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Speaker 1: There is no getting around that. The scriptures were clear.

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Speaker 1: Well maybe they're wrong. Then maybe they've always been wrong,

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Speaker 1: or maybe I read them wrong. Maybe they didn't say

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Speaker 1: what I thought they said. It was odd, how freeing

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Speaker 1: that thought was. She made her way past a fondle boat, and,

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Speaker 1: for no reason beyond curiosity and the desire to stretch

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Speaker 1: her muscles, Sasha started to climb upwards. The gantries that

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Speaker 1: made up the bulk of Rolling Fox Walking Space were

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Speaker 1: fairly easy for a human to traverse. They had high walls,

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Speaker 1: so even the very drunk were unlikely to fall, and

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Speaker 1: in spite of the city's clutter and bustle. Its designers

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Speaker 1: had done a good job of making two clear lanes

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Speaker 1: for foot traffic, but the gantries only gave Sasha access

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Speaker 1: to a handful of the strange, glittering buildings that dotted

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Speaker 1: the city's rolling superstructure, so she left them and she

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Speaker 1: climbed up. It was not an easy climb. Here and

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Speaker 1: there she found small sections of ladder or knotted rope

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Speaker 1: to ease her passage. For the most part, though she

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Speaker 1: climbed hand over hand up the criss crossed metal girders.

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Speaker 1: She passed several buildings filled with people drinking and partying.

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Speaker 1: Sasha didn't stop to talk. The climb was hard, but

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Speaker 1: at least it allowed her to avoid awkward conversation with

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Speaker 1: whatever manner of creatures lived in this place. By the

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Speaker 1: time she reached the top of the spindle, Sasha's body

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Speaker 1: was drenched in sweat and her arms were too sore

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Speaker 1: to pull her up one more foot. She was grateful

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Speaker 1: to whoever had decided to cap this spindle with a

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Speaker 1: tiny purple shack, and she was even more grateful that

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Speaker 1: the shack appeared unoccupied. Sasha pulled herself inside and collapsed

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Speaker 1: on the floor for a while. It was all she

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Speaker 1: could do to regain her breath. She wondered, in a

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Speaker 1: vague sort of way, if she'd just broken into someone's home.

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Speaker 1: Nobody had warned her that there would be certain places

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Speaker 1: she couldn't travel here, but no one had told her

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Speaker 1: much of anything at all. After she'd arrived, Sasha took

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Speaker 1: stock of her surroundings. The interior of the room was plush.

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Speaker 1: The walls were carpeted in thick, cushiony velvet. The floor

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Speaker 1: below her seemed to be some sort of black shag.

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Speaker 1: There was a framed picture on one wall. Sasha didn't

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Speaker 1: recognize the artist, but it looked like a cross section

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Speaker 1: drawing of a handgun with fetuses as the bullets. The

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Speaker 1: sight of it made her feel a bit sick, but

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Speaker 1: there was also something about the art that drew her eyes.

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Speaker 1: The center of the room was a low, flat table

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Speaker 1: that appeared to be made entirely of mirrored glass. There

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Speaker 1: was a pile of white powder on the center of

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Speaker 1: the table, along with a strange, rectangular piece of green paper.

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Speaker 1: Sasha picked up the paper and stared at it. It

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Speaker 1: took her a moment to realize what it was. Money

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Speaker 1: said a voice from behind her. Oh, it used to

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Speaker 1: be once upon a time. Sasha frose stiffened. She turned round,

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Speaker 1: not sure what to expect, but with an apology already

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Speaker 1: spilling out of her mouth. I'm sorry, sir, I didn't.

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Speaker 1: Something in the man's smile and the relaxed slump of

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Speaker 1: his shoulders made her stop talking. He stood in the

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Speaker 1: doorway of the little building, just a few feet in

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Speaker 1: front of her. She had no idea how he could

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Speaker 1: have climbed up and in there without her hearing him.

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Speaker 1: She didn't remember the man's name, but she recognized him

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Speaker 1: from the war Council. Those writhing snake tattoos identified him

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Speaker 1: as clearly as a name tag. I'm she trailed off.

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Speaker 1: He smiled at her. There was something about his eyes

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Speaker 1: that seemed off wrong. She couldn't place it. His pupils

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Speaker 1: were somehow different than they should have been when he spoke,

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Speaker 1: though his voice was warm and friendly. You are Sasha Maarian,

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Speaker 1: the girl who was brave enough to flee her home

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Speaker 1: and family for the Heavenly Kingdom, and then brave enough

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Speaker 1: to leave it when she realized what it truly was.

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Speaker 1: His head dipped down into a slight bow, I'm Jim Shannon.

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Speaker 1: It's an hon at a eat you, Miss Marian. Jim

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Speaker 1: squatted down on his haunches and dropped his arms in

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Speaker 1: between his legs. It was a casual motion, but he

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Speaker 1: executed it with almost mechanical precision. There was something to

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Speaker 1: his movements that spoke of terrible potential energy, kinetic force

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Speaker 1: just waiting to be unleashed. It's nice to meet you,

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Speaker 1: she said, because what else could she say. Jim smile

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Speaker 1: didn't change, but his eyes did. His pupils contracted and

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Speaker 1: then changed shape from a circle to a spiraling, rounded star. No,

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Speaker 1: it's not, he said. That's not a lie to each other. Eh, Sasha,

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Speaker 1: I'm weird. I'll move wrong. My eyes. As he spoke,

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Speaker 1: his star pupils started to spin in a hypnotic spiral.

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Speaker 1: Are wrong. They don't look human. I can hear your

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Speaker 1: hotbeat elevate as we speak. I can smell codazol in

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Speaker 1: your brain and elevated levels of blood glucose. I can

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Speaker 1: see in your eyes that me say in this has

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Speaker 1: made you even more nervous. Yes, she admitted, Yes, you're right,

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Speaker 1: you are me. That's perfectly normal, Miss Marian. It is

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Speaker 1: not an act of weakness to admit fear quite the opposite.

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Speaker 1: You feel better, now, don't you? She actually did. There

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Speaker 1: was a queer sort of relief in admitting her fear

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Speaker 1: and discomfort in this man thing's presence. I do feel better,

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Speaker 1: she said. Why is that admitting fear is the first

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Speaker 1: step to conquering it. You don't strike me as someone

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Speaker 1: who wants to live in fear, miss Marian. You do

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Speaker 1: strike me as someone who seeks control, strength, power over

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Speaker 1: your own life. I, she sputtered, I don't. I don't know.

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Speaker 1: A week ago, i'd have told you God was in

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Speaker 1: control of my life. Sasha looked down at her lap,

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Speaker 1: suddenly embarrassed. It wasn't very long ago, but it feels

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Speaker 1: like a lifetime. It was so peaceful, just handing over control.

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Speaker 1: Jim nodded and leaned his head forward a few inches.

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Speaker 1: That didn't end well, though, did it. Sasha shook her head.

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Speaker 1: You traveled to the heaven the Kingdom with a certain

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Speaker 1: set of beliefs about the universe. Those beliefs met reality.

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Speaker 1: Reality broke them into little pieces. There's no shame in that.

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Speaker 1: It happens to all of us. Now you're a bit

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Speaker 1: older and a few bits wiser. She looked up at him.

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Speaker 1: His smile seemed somehow softer. Now she felt like opening up,

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Speaker 1: confiding in this stranger. Sasha wondered if that was another

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Speaker 1: aspect of his modifications, some alteration of his body chemistry

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Speaker 1: and physical appearance that allowed him to seem more familiar

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Speaker 1: and trustworthy to her. She opened up, anyway, I just

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Speaker 1: don't know what to do now. I guess I could

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Speaker 1: go home, but I don't think I was wrong in

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Speaker 1: leaving home. I don't want a life in the American Federation.

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Speaker 1: I know that. I just you don't know what's right,

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Speaker 1: Jim finished, in a voice that was gentler than she

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Speaker 1: would have guessed he was capable of sounding. She nodded

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Speaker 1: as she struggled for her next words. I know I

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Speaker 1: can't go back. I don't know where to go next.

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Speaker 1: I don't have any money or really any useful skills,

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Speaker 1: so I can't go to California or Cascadia. I doubt

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Speaker 1: this place will take me, she gestured down at the

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Speaker 1: rolling city below them, And even if they would, I

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Speaker 1: don't really feel comfortable here either. Hm. Jim nodded and

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Speaker 1: leaned back. Perhaps he said, you should weary, less about

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Speaker 1: where you want to end up and more about what

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Speaker 1: you want to end up doing. I don't have any options,

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Speaker 1: Sasha said, fighting down a rising panic that tickled the

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Speaker 1: back of her throat. I didn't even finish high school.

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Speaker 1: I've spent the last two years preparing to join the Kingdom.

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Speaker 1: I don't know how to do anything useful. That's where

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Speaker 1: you're wrong, Jim said, in a firm voice. You lied

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Speaker 1: well enough to hide your intention from your parents and

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Speaker 1: am fed law enforcement. You did that for years. Sasha

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Speaker 1: wanted to argue that she hadn't lied, not according to

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Speaker 1: Pastor Mike's definition of the word, but she stayed silent

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Speaker 1: while he spoke. You escaped from one of the most

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Speaker 1: fortified botas in the world, Jim continued, And you did

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Speaker 1: useful work in a medical facility. Then you helped facilitate

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Speaker 1: the escape of several prisoners from the Kingdom jail. You

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Speaker 1: functioned effective in a firefight and killed a trained soldier

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Speaker 1: in hand to hand combat. Then you killed another man

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Speaker 1: and stole a vehicle to aid your comrades in an escape.

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Speaker 1: Am I missing anything? Sasha looked down again. She didn't speak.

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Speaker 1: She felt bad about taking praise for murder, especially for

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Speaker 1: Darrell's murder. She did, however, feel a tiny swell of

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Speaker 1: pride at Jim's words. It was immediately accompanied by a

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Speaker 1: flood of guilt. Killing is not something to be proud of,

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Speaker 1: she said, Oh I disagree, Jim chuckled. Killing is a

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Speaker 1: highly technical skill, and you've proven yourself a talented amateur.

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Speaker 1: With some training and a spot of chrome, you could

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Speaker 1: really be something. He trailed off. Sasha was quiet for

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Speaker 1: a moment. She looked into Jim's eyes and tried to

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Speaker 1: read something in them that proved a fool's Errand there

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Speaker 1: was nothing in those orbs but cool confidence, And even

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Speaker 1: that might be false. What did any gesture or look

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Speaker 1: mean from a man who could control every aspect of

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Speaker 1: his body right down to his pupils. I don't want

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Speaker 1: to get better at killing, she told him. I don't

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Speaker 1: want to fill my body with unnatural things. Just thinking

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Speaker 1: about it makes me feel ill. And yet Jim said,

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Speaker 1: what do you mean? And yet she asked, And yet

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Speaker 1: that thought intrigues you too. It's no use, hadn't it.

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Speaker 1: I can taste deceit. Sasha shuddered a little at that,

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Speaker 1: but she couldn't deny that he was right, as much

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Speaker 1: as the idea repulsed her. She'd spent too much time

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Speaker 1: powerless to not crave power. I'm not looking to push

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Speaker 1: you into anything, Sasha, but I would like to provide

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Speaker 1: you with a unique opportunity. What do you mean, she asked.

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Speaker 1: He smiled, plopped down on his butt, and swung his

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Speaker 1: legs in to sit cross leg give on the shag carpet.

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Speaker 1: Jim stuck a finger into the thick black fibers of

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Speaker 1: the carpet and started tugging at them. It was an idle,

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Speaker 1: nervous gesture, and Sasha found it oddly endearing. Part of

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Speaker 1: her suspected that had been his goal. I mean that

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Speaker 1: I would be willing to take you on as a project.

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Speaker 1: A project, he nodded. My organization has access to skilled surgeons,

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Speaker 1: military grade agmatics, and vat growing organs. I'll front the

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Speaker 1: bill and I'll train you, and in return, you'll work

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Speaker 1: for me forever, she asked. Jim laughed. She felt a

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Speaker 1: little annoyed by that, and it must have shown on

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Speaker 1: her face because he stopped Sary Sara. He said, it's

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Speaker 1: just that be debt, slavery, you must not know this,

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Speaker 1: but I helped kill the last country that lived on

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Speaker 1: this land in that sort of thing. So how much

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Speaker 1: time would I owe you, Sasha asked? Five years, he said.

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Speaker 1: Sasha's heart trembled with excitement at the offer. When she

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Speaker 1: thought about the way the adrenaline had coursed through her

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Speaker 1: during the fight in the clinic, she wanted to say yes,

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Speaker 1: But when she thought about Darrell bleeding out next to

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Speaker 1: his car, the shame inside her overwhelmed everything else. Sasha

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Speaker 1: knew she couldn't handle more weights like that on her conscience.

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Speaker 1: I don't want to kill people, she said in a

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Speaker 1: tiny voice. Shame dripped from resyllable That's fine, Jim said,

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Speaker 1: his grin widening. We always need medics. You've shown an

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Speaker 1: aptitude for that already. I have a feeling you'll take

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Speaker 1: well to combat engineering. There's plenty for you to do

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Speaker 1: without pulling a trigger. If I work for you, Sasha said,

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Speaker 1: I have a feeling I won't be able to avoid

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Speaker 1: pulling triggers. None entirely, Jim shrugged. But any shooting you'd

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Speaker 1: do would be an immediate self defense, and you'd have

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Speaker 1: the right to refuse an emissions that violate your moral code.

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Speaker 1: I know that's important to you. The way he said

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Speaker 1: that last bit set the hackles on her neck a rise.

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Speaker 1: Is it not important to you, she asked, morality? I mean?

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Speaker 1: He swung his hands out to the side, palms up

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Speaker 1: in a vaguely buddick pose. When I was a young man,

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Speaker 1: not much older than yourself, I knew a lot of

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Speaker 1: gallant men who claimed to live by codes of honor.

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Speaker 1: Such things were fashionable in the warrior culture of a

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Speaker 1: Diyan empire. None of those codes stopped the men I

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Speaker 1: knew from serving that great beast we called a state.

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Speaker 1: When you see enough good moral men enable war crimes,

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Speaker 1: you stop seeing value in the term morality. So what

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00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:17,960
Speaker 1: matters to you, Sasha asked, what do you believe in change?

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Speaker 1: Miss Marian. He smiled, revealing rows of pearly white teeth,

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Speaker 1: the snake tattoos on his chest and shoulders, writhed in excitement,

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Speaker 1: I believe in change. I grew up in a time

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Speaker 1: when the climate changed and my home became a deadly broiler.

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Speaker 1: Politics changed, and democracy became a dictatorship of capital. For

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Speaker 1: a time, I believed in the promises of change handed

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Speaker 1: out by progressive politicians and scent of old revolutionaries, but

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Speaker 1: every one of them was either co opted by the

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Speaker 1: system or killed by it. He shrugged and cast his

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Speaker 1: eyes down to the carpet for a while. Just a

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Speaker 1: moment his mask slipped, Sasha saw a deep, yawning pit

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Speaker 1: of despair in the tight lines at the edge of

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Speaker 1: his lips, and the subtle twitch of muscles below his

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Speaker 1: left eye. It passed, and a black velvet smile took

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Speaker 1: its place. Then I met a man who showed me

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Speaker 1: the way. Nothing new could grow on this continent until

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Speaker 1: the weeds of the old were pulled out by the

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Speaker 1: root and tossed into the compost pile of history. So

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Speaker 1: he said, forget the old debates about what system should

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Speaker 1: replace capitalism. Kill the state, and the seeds of a

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00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:29,600
Speaker 1: thousand new worlds will sprout on its corpse. You've seen

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Speaker 1: two of those sprouts already, Sasha shook her head. If

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Speaker 1: you're referring to the heavenly Kingdom, it's a nightmare. The

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Speaker 1: old US can't have been worse than that, Jim shrugged.

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00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:45,400
Speaker 1: Depends on your perspective. I suppose tell miss Sasha you

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00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,320
Speaker 1: left the amphid the old U, say's most direct successor state.

289
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Speaker 1: Why was that? Because it's a soulless pit, she said,

290
00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:57,160
Speaker 1: the words almost leaping from her throat. Jim smiled at that.

291
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Speaker 1: This isn't though, is it, He gestured out at the

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Speaker 1: city of wheels below them. No, Sasha said, whatever else

293
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Speaker 1: it was, rolling fuck was not soulless. Neither is the

294
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Speaker 1: Navajo nation, Jim said, or Cascadia the black Stone Nation.

295
00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,040
Speaker 1: Even the Mormons are up to some interesting things these days,

296
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Speaker 1: one faction at least. So which do you believe in?

297
00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:24,600
Speaker 1: Who do you fight for? He grinned again, Night the child,

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Speaker 1: As I told you, I fight for change, to cast

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Speaker 1: down the ossified bones of the old world and make

300
00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,720
Speaker 1: space for the new. I owe allegiance to no national

301
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Speaker 1: god save perhaps Lady Airis, who he smiled. A bit

302
00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,400
Speaker 1: of smugness leached into the expression. She could see it

303
00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:46,200
Speaker 1: clear as day right around his eyes. It should have

304
00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:49,680
Speaker 1: repelled her more than it did. Airis was the Greek

305
00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,880
Speaker 1: goddess of discord, back when people cared about what the

306
00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:56,720
Speaker 1: Greeks believed. She set the spark that lit the Trojan wall.

307
00:16:57,080 --> 00:16:59,040
Speaker 1: I know it's a bit silly reaching back to that

308
00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:03,280
Speaker 1: old mythology, but I can't help myself. There's something about

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00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:06,840
Speaker 1: those old gods that calls to me. I can identify

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Speaker 1: with them. He leaned in. There was an eagerness to

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00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:13,840
Speaker 1: his posture, his tone, his eyes. The snakes jerked and

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00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:17,719
Speaker 1: spun on his muscled chest and arms. I'm offering you

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Speaker 1: a chance to join us on Olympus. Dear Sasha, you've

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Speaker 1: spent your time in worship. It's time to embrace your

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Speaker 1: own godhead, leave your antique books behind, and rewrite the

316
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Speaker 1: world with your will. I don't know if that's what

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Speaker 1: I want, Sasha said in a still small voice. She

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00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:39,240
Speaker 1: tried to ignore how much part of her ached for

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Speaker 1: what he promised. The thought of killing again nauseated her

320
00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:44,800
Speaker 1: as much as it excited her. But the thought of

321
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Speaker 1: having power, the kind of power she'd seen Roland exercise,

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00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:53,320
Speaker 1: that was intoxicating. She hated how badly she'd started to

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00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:57,760
Speaker 1: want it. Well, you don't have to decide now, Jim

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Speaker 1: shrugged his shoulders and gave an amiable smile. Aisle. The

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00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,520
Speaker 1: floor rumbled underneath them. There was a loud clattering wine

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00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:07,000
Speaker 1: as the whole structure of Rolling Fuck came to a

327
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Speaker 1: slow stop. Jim waited for the scrunching noise to cease,

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00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:14,159
Speaker 1: and said, come and watch what we do today, then

329
00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:21,680
Speaker 1: make you call Rowland. Dawn broke just as Rolling Fuck

330
00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:24,359
Speaker 1: pulled to a long, slow stop by the shore of

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Speaker 1: Lake Wago. The city had taken the long way around

332
00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:29,879
Speaker 1: the reservoir, which had added at least an hour to

333
00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:32,760
Speaker 1: their journey, but also put a sizeable water barrier between

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Speaker 1: Rolling Fuck and the advancing forces of the Heavenly Kingdom.

335
00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:38,800
Speaker 1: It had been a tight fit at several points, and

336
00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,960
Speaker 1: Rowland had enjoyed watching the wheeled city crunch over several

337
00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,240
Speaker 1: abandoned homes in many a street lamp. But eventually the

338
00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:48,400
Speaker 1: pilots and navigators had found a suitably large public park

339
00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,960
Speaker 1: and brought Rolling Fuck to rest there. It's a nice sunrise,

340
00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,040
Speaker 1: Manny said. The kids stood next to Rowland on a

341
00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:58,520
Speaker 1: wooden deck built onto the side of the main roller Skofucker.

342
00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:01,400
Speaker 1: Mike had assured them this spot provided the best advantage

343
00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:04,120
Speaker 1: point to watch the rising sun. It looked like he'd

344
00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:06,399
Speaker 1: been right in that the sky around them was a

345
00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:09,040
Speaker 1: heavy blend of red and orange that brought up fragmented

346
00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:12,920
Speaker 1: memories of my ties and fireballs and Roland's head clouds

347
00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:15,560
Speaker 1: clustered at the top of the horizon, ripe to bursting

348
00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:17,640
Speaker 1: with the color and light of the new days sun.

349
00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:22,720
Speaker 1: Roland nodded. Yeah, the shame no one who lives here

350
00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:25,119
Speaker 1: gets to see it. Manny said, I've never seen the

351
00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:28,679
Speaker 1: city this empty. Roland looked over at his young friend.

352
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:30,960
Speaker 1: The boy had seen a lot for his age, and

353
00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:33,920
Speaker 1: Roland could see how much it pained him. Sorrow had

354
00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:36,600
Speaker 1: as sent all its own. The plunging levels of nora,

355
00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:39,720
Speaker 1: panephren and serotonin brought out the sharp stink of cortosol

356
00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,360
Speaker 1: in the greasy odor of opioids. Lurking just below those

357
00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:45,960
Speaker 1: smells was the odd, spicy tinge of the I L

358
00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,639
Speaker 1: eighteen protein. Roland could almost hear it weaken the valves

359
00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:53,760
Speaker 1: of Manny's heart. I imagine this sucks extra much for you.

360
00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:57,840
Speaker 1: I mean, he's been where they are right twice, Manny said.

361
00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:02,159
Speaker 1: Roland nodded and an't exactly recall, he admitted, but I

362
00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:04,280
Speaker 1: expect I had something to do with the first time.

363
00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,480
Speaker 1: Manny looked over to Rowland. Chemically, it was clear the

364
00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:11,880
Speaker 1: kid was battling him a lunge of sadness, trauma, and anxiety.

365
00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:15,080
Speaker 1: His actual thoughts, though, were just as hidden from Rowland

366
00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:18,119
Speaker 1: as they would be from any stock human, perhaps more so.

367
00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:21,119
Speaker 1: There were moments when Roland feared he was losing the

368
00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,600
Speaker 1: ability to read human emotions or even display them properly

369
00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:29,320
Speaker 1: on his face. Was that look you're given me? He asked? Finally,

370
00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:32,640
Speaker 1: what do you mean? I can't tell what a look

371
00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:36,040
Speaker 1: on your face means, Rowland explained, And I'm curious. Are

372
00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:39,800
Speaker 1: you angry at me? Manny shrugged, and then he sighed.

373
00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:43,080
Speaker 1: His shoulders slumped, his head drooped forward and down just

374
00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:48,600
Speaker 1: a bit. No, he said, I'm not angry. What would

375
00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:50,840
Speaker 1: I even be angry about? If you can't remember what

376
00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:53,359
Speaker 1: you did back? Then are you even the same person

377
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,280
Speaker 1: who did those things? And even if you are, maybe

378
00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:59,000
Speaker 1: you were doing the right thing. I assume someone was

379
00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,960
Speaker 1: at some point that fucking mess of a war. Maybe

380
00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:05,680
Speaker 1: everyone was, Roland offered. I know the heavenly Kingdom think

381
00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:08,200
Speaker 1: what they're doing is right. Manny said, I also don't

382
00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:10,840
Speaker 1: give a shitting dick what they think. They're murderers. They

383
00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:14,359
Speaker 1: can all sit and spin. You're confident in me murdering

384
00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:15,679
Speaker 1: the lot of them is the right thing to do,

385
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:19,600
Speaker 1: then I'm confident. It's better than letting them win, Manny said.

386
00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:23,160
Speaker 1: Roland nodded quietly and stared out at the rising sun.

387
00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,400
Speaker 1: The red had faded and the orange had grown brighter.

388
00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:28,439
Speaker 1: He could see the shape of the sun behind the

389
00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:31,120
Speaker 1: clouds missed rose off the field in front of them,

390
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:34,000
Speaker 1: and across the lake. A low light fog rolled in

391
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:37,440
Speaker 1: over what appeared to be an old golf course. You're

392
00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:41,000
Speaker 1: probably right about that, Roland said, But where does it end.

393
00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:45,560
Speaker 1: It ends when they're beaten and Austin is safe. Manny's

394
00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,280
Speaker 1: words were forceful, but he looked down and away from

395
00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:52,320
Speaker 1: Roland when he spoke. You know that's not true, Roland said.

396
00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:54,400
Speaker 1: I forget my own name a lot of the time,

397
00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:56,560
Speaker 1: and I still know you're full of it killing these

398
00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,479
Speaker 1: fox buys Austin time, and probably not a lot of it.

399
00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:02,760
Speaker 1: Are still millions of guns and millions of piste off

400
00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:06,119
Speaker 1: desperate people in this ragged chunk of country. So what

401
00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:08,560
Speaker 1: are you saying, Roland? It'd be better to just let

402
00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:10,800
Speaker 1: the one place around here that isn't terrible get eaten

403
00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:15,119
Speaker 1: by darkness. No, Roland said, but read the writing on

404
00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:18,400
Speaker 1: the damn wall this place. He waved a hand out

405
00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:21,800
Speaker 1: in a gesture that encompassed the whole horizon is fucked.

406
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:25,679
Speaker 1: Don't stay here and die with it. Manny crossed his

407
00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:28,000
Speaker 1: arms in front of himself and leaned forward onto the

408
00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:30,879
Speaker 1: railing of the deck. His head slumped into his hands,

409
00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,480
Speaker 1: and he was quiet for a while. Roland knew the

410
00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:36,360
Speaker 1: army of the Heavenly Kingdom was less than forty miles distant.

411
00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:39,640
Speaker 1: The scent of that vast ramshackle horde had grown more

412
00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:42,679
Speaker 1: prominent over the last few minutes. His nose took in

413
00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,800
Speaker 1: the stink of diesel, the ozone odor of discharging batteries,

414
00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:48,560
Speaker 1: and the cumulative reek of hundreds of vehicles worth of

415
00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:52,320
Speaker 1: engine oil. Behind those prominent smells lurked the foul Ganger

416
00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:54,879
Speaker 1: in a stench of ten thousand men, sweating fear and

417
00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:58,679
Speaker 1: stress out of every pore. Roland looked down over the

418
00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:00,840
Speaker 1: deck and onto the yellow mass that led up to

419
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,760
Speaker 1: the shores of the lake. The warriors of Rolling Fock

420
00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:07,040
Speaker 1: had started to assemble themselves. There, a large group of

421
00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:10,280
Speaker 1: men and women had started to unpack dozens of quadrfracts.

422
00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:13,840
Speaker 1: The four legged robots had been built by Boston Dynamics

423
00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,760
Speaker 1: back before the fall of the old us they'd been

424
00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:20,080
Speaker 1: meant to ferry men and equipment up steep Afghan mountain sides.

425
00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,400
Speaker 1: Roland stared at them, and he stalked through the lab,

426
00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:26,080
Speaker 1: a razor sharp machete in one hand and a machine

427
00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:29,359
Speaker 1: pistol in the other. The air reeked of blood ahead

428
00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:31,560
Speaker 1: of him. He could smell the fierce weat wafting off

429
00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:34,600
Speaker 1: two engineers as they hid beneath an overturned metal table.

430
00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:38,600
Speaker 1: Pieces of robotic equipment were scattered on the floor. Roland

431
00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,080
Speaker 1: reached out his senses and felt that these were the

432
00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:44,439
Speaker 1: last two people alive in the facility. He stepped forward,

433
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:46,840
Speaker 1: swinging his blade in an arc that he knew would

434
00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:50,520
Speaker 1: end in flesh. Roland shook his head and pulled himself

435
00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:53,320
Speaker 1: out of the past. The flashes of memory were growing

436
00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,720
Speaker 1: more frequent. Guilt came with them. It took some effort

437
00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:58,919
Speaker 1: to force his mind to focus again on the world

438
00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:02,200
Speaker 1: around them. Boland looked back out at the mustering yard.

439
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,840
Speaker 1: Warriors dawned armor, a fantastic array of old fashioned, polished

440
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:11,240
Speaker 1: steel plate mail, ultra modern powered body armor, antique flak vests,

441
00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:14,480
Speaker 1: and a significant number of costumes. He watched a man

442
00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,200
Speaker 1: in armor that mixed the aesthetic of a Polish winged

443
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,399
Speaker 1: hussar with an Imperial stormtrooper. Help a woman in a

444
00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,119
Speaker 1: crop top Neil green GIEI suit as she locked a

445
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:25,399
Speaker 1: pair of rocket launchers onto the flanks of one of

446
00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:28,680
Speaker 1: the four legged robots. Over to his left, another group

447
00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,480
Speaker 1: of warriors had started to assemble the city's vehicle pool.

448
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,920
Speaker 1: Ramps had descended from garages in the bellies of the rollers.

449
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:38,080
Speaker 1: A slow, steady stream of armored vehicles motored their way

450
00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:40,720
Speaker 1: down the ramps and into the ragged lines on the field.

451
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,639
Speaker 1: The bulk of rolling Fox vehicles were either modified APCs

452
00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:48,399
Speaker 1: or armored motorcycles sporting portable field guns or automatic grenade

453
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,879
Speaker 1: launchers on side cars. There were tactical arguments for the

454
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:54,760
Speaker 1: use of such vehicles in open field combat, of course,

455
00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:57,600
Speaker 1: but Roland suspected they'd mainly been picked because they were

456
00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,760
Speaker 1: fun to drive. Almost every vehic Cole's engine had been

457
00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:04,280
Speaker 1: souped up well beyond any potential battlefield benefit. Most of

458
00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:08,200
Speaker 1: them also had nitrous oxide tanks, although Roland suspected those

459
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,320
Speaker 1: were more for huffing than they were for speed. Where

460
00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,879
Speaker 1: did they get all this stuff? Manny asked Rowland. I

461
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,040
Speaker 1: had no idea, Roland said, But when the old government fell,

462
00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:20,880
Speaker 1: it left behind a lot of equipment, basses and basses

463
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,800
Speaker 1: full of mothballed ordinance. I guess as these guys got

464
00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,200
Speaker 1: in early before the rush and grabbed what they could.

465
00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:30,000
Speaker 1: At that moment, Rowland caught sasha scent moving down one

466
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:32,760
Speaker 1: of the spindles above the main roller. His hind brain

467
00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:35,520
Speaker 1: guessed she was headed to the deck he and Manny occupied.

468
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:38,879
Speaker 1: Roland couldn't smell Jim, who was good at staying hidden,

469
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:41,280
Speaker 1: but he knew that Sasha couldn't have known where they

470
00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:44,440
Speaker 1: were on her own. That meant Jim had likely sniffed

471
00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,760
Speaker 1: Manny out and made the same assumption about Rowland's location

472
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:51,320
Speaker 1: that Rowland had made about Jim's. It wasn't long before

473
00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:54,120
Speaker 1: the sliding metal door slid open and Jim and Sasha

474
00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:57,240
Speaker 1: walked out onto the deck. Jim was in his familiar

475
00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,439
Speaker 1: battle gear, his blood red chaps almost own in the

476
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:03,359
Speaker 1: blinding light of the morning sun. He had a smug,

477
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:06,840
Speaker 1: self satisfied grin, and gigantic pupils that spoke of recent

478
00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,840
Speaker 1: drug use. Beside him, Sasha looked disheveled and exhausted, but jittery.

479
00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:14,320
Speaker 1: He could smell the coffee wafting from her pores. Hey,

480
00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:18,359
Speaker 1: fuck nuts, Roland said, Hey, Sasha. She looked confused for

481
00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:22,000
Speaker 1: a moment. Jim just nodded and said, hey, shit bird,

482
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,639
Speaker 1: Hey Manny. Manny waved vaguely at them, without turning his

483
00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 1: head to meet them. He continued to look out at

484
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,680
Speaker 1: the army assembling in the field. It's a pretty cool

485
00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:33,240
Speaker 1: showdown there, Roland said. I kind of wish I had

486
00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,199
Speaker 1: some dissociatives and maybe a blunt. Now would be the

487
00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:41,000
Speaker 1: time for one. Ah she, Jim said, Just so happens,

488
00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:44,840
Speaker 1: I got both. He stepped up alongside Roland, extended his

489
00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:47,200
Speaker 1: fue arm and then tapped his left index finger to

490
00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:49,480
Speaker 1: the back of his right hand. The tip of that

491
00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,440
Speaker 1: finger detached and rolled up onto his knuckle. A lion

492
00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:54,840
Speaker 1: of white powder poured out onto the back of Jim's

493
00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:58,440
Speaker 1: other hand. He offered it to Roland. Sure, Roland said,

494
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:02,879
Speaker 1: and railed the line. Ketamine wasn't Roland's favoritest of drugs.

495
00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:04,879
Speaker 1: He preferred m x E if he was going to

496
00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:07,919
Speaker 1: snort a dissociative ant. In all honesty, a big bottle

497
00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:10,399
Speaker 1: of d x M heavy cough syrup mixed with vodka

498
00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:13,680
Speaker 1: was even more his speed, but hey, drugs was drugs.

499
00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:16,879
Speaker 1: Once Roland had finished, Jim poured out another line and

500
00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:21,120
Speaker 1: offered it to Manny. No thanks, said the fixer. It's

501
00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:24,320
Speaker 1: pretty good stuff, Roland said, in a helpful tone. Ketamine

502
00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:27,240
Speaker 1: goes well with unspeakable violence. Might be fun to watch

503
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:29,280
Speaker 1: the battle that decides the future of your people from

504
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:34,359
Speaker 1: inside a cahole. Mannie looked defended. Roland shrugged. He glanced

505
00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:36,280
Speaker 1: at Jim, who gave him an I don't know why

506
00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:40,240
Speaker 1: you're looking at me. Look I'll try some, Sasha said,

507
00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:43,800
Speaker 1: I mean, fucke it? Why not? It was a little

508
00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:46,679
Speaker 1: cute how she stumbled over the fuck Roland found it

509
00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:50,440
Speaker 1: in deering. It seemed Manny did too. The cocktail of dopamine,

510
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,600
Speaker 1: testosterone at oxytocin that wafted off and made his feelings

511
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:57,040
Speaker 1: as clear as day. Hell yea girl, Jim said, with

512
00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,920
Speaker 1: an exaggerated Southern twang. Get all over and rail this

513
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:06,680
Speaker 1: that means snorted, Roland said helpfully. Sasha approached Jim's arm.

514
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,440
Speaker 1: She looked him in the eye, then looked over to Roland,

515
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,080
Speaker 1: and last to Manny. Then she stared down at the

516
00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:14,240
Speaker 1: powder as if she was hoping it would say something

517
00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:17,080
Speaker 1: to her. It didn't, but she leaned in any way

518
00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:19,720
Speaker 1: and snorted about half of it before she sneezed and

519
00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 1: then wretched, and then staggered to the side of the

520
00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:25,639
Speaker 1: deck and vomited over the side. Jim and Roland laughed

521
00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:29,040
Speaker 1: in sheer joy. Manny, being a good person, moved to

522
00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:30,800
Speaker 1: hold her hair back and help her deal with the

523
00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:34,720
Speaker 1: puky aftershocks. While the humans engaged with their frailties. Roland

524
00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:38,400
Speaker 1: and Jim did a couple more lines each. That was terrible,

525
00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:42,600
Speaker 1: Sasha said. A few minutes later, here Jim chuckled It

526
00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,760
Speaker 1: takes some getting used to, and then the door slid

527
00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:49,680
Speaker 1: open again. Skullfucker. Mike walked out onto the deck. Boy

528
00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:52,960
Speaker 1: ass hats, He called out, We're about to war up.

529
00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:54,880
Speaker 1: You should get down to the field as app if

530
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,840
Speaker 1: you want to see the face taking what Manny asked.

531
00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:02,200
Speaker 1: Excuse me, Sasha said, at the same time, Mike just

532
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,240
Speaker 1: laughed and clapped them both on the shoulders. I'll explain

533
00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:07,760
Speaker 1: down in the field. Get a move on. He nodded

534
00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:10,960
Speaker 1: to Sasha and added, there's a pukewash station just inside

535
00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:14,960
Speaker 1: into the right, next to the bathroom. Right, Jim rubbed

536
00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,760
Speaker 1: his hands together in excitement. Why don't you kids go

537
00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:20,479
Speaker 1: roll with skull fucker Mike. I've got to get Roland

538
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:22,640
Speaker 1: up to my mechanics so we can suit him up.

539
00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,280
Speaker 1: Roland didn't like the eagerness in Jim's eyes or the

540
00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:28,880
Speaker 1: excitement in his voice when he said that there was

541
00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:32,160
Speaker 1: something indecent about it. But a promise was a promise,

542
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:35,000
Speaker 1: so Roland nodded and gave Manny a little squeeze on

543
00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:41,360
Speaker 1: the shoulder. I'll see you soon, buddy, This won't take long, Manny.

544
00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:45,720
Speaker 1: Skull fucker Mike, Manny asked as the chromed man led

545
00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:49,040
Speaker 1: them through the gantries and towards the elevator. What exactly

546
00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:51,720
Speaker 1: is so special about Roland? I mean, he's a nice guy,

547
00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:53,840
Speaker 1: but what makes him so much scarier than the other

548
00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:57,160
Speaker 1: chromed folks like you and Topaz? What do you know

549
00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:01,680
Speaker 1: about Roland's past? Mike asked? In return, very little Manny

550
00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:04,600
Speaker 1: admitted he doesn't seem to remember much. I've sussed out

551
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:06,719
Speaker 1: that he was in the army back before the revolution.

552
00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:09,800
Speaker 1: He's talked about fighting in Turkey, but also in Dallas

553
00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:14,320
Speaker 1: and Denver and a bunch of other American cities. Mike nodded, Yeah,

554
00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:17,720
Speaker 1: we met in Dallas, back before it was Ciode de Muerta.

555
00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:21,280
Speaker 1: I had just been dishonorably discharged from the Marine Corps

556
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:25,440
Speaker 1: for He frowned, shook his head, and continued, it doesn't

557
00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:27,600
Speaker 1: matter what. For I was broke and I had a

558
00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:31,120
Speaker 1: body fellow Uncle Sam's chrome. He wanted it back. I

559
00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,480
Speaker 1: wound up taken shelter in the White Rock Commune. Roland

560
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:37,280
Speaker 1: was there too. He was pretty political back in those days,

561
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:40,600
Speaker 1: always quote and baccoon in and Ochalon and Red John.

562
00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,520
Speaker 1: Did you guys actually know Red John? Sasha asked. Up

563
00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:46,880
Speaker 1: until that point, she'd walked quietly in the rear of

564
00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:49,880
Speaker 1: their little group. The few times Manny had glanced back,

565
00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:52,520
Speaker 1: she'd had her head down, stuck in her own little world.

566
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,920
Speaker 1: But now she was alert and engaged. Manny guessed it

567
00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:58,520
Speaker 1: was hearing the name of the famous revolutionary that had

568
00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:02,480
Speaker 1: done it. That's odd, he thought. I never met the guy,

569
00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:05,560
Speaker 1: Mike said, But Rowland did. He was in real deep

570
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,400
Speaker 1: with that whole circle. So was that weird fucker, Jim.

571
00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:10,720
Speaker 1: I was tight with Rowland, but I've never gotten to

572
00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,960
Speaker 1: the political side of things. I liked smashing stuff and

573
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:17,600
Speaker 1: they needed stuff smashers. How does this relate to why

574
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:22,480
Speaker 1: Rowland's Rowland? Manny asked, Well, I've known old Rowland for

575
00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:25,600
Speaker 1: a while. Magueni was still fully himself. He was always

576
00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:28,960
Speaker 1: cagy about his background. But we had our theories, and

577
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,960
Speaker 1: mine was that he'd been part of Project Orange. What

578
00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:37,800
Speaker 1: was that, Sasha asked, Holy fuck. Manny said he'd heard

579
00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:41,560
Speaker 1: of Project Orange, although he wasn't surprised Sasha hadn't. The

580
00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:44,760
Speaker 1: am FED was the closest descendant of the old United States.

581
00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:47,160
Speaker 1: They'd have kept most of the bad stuff out of

582
00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:51,320
Speaker 1: their history books. Well, you know, Mike said. Through the twenties,

583
00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:54,920
Speaker 1: the military struggled with declining enlistment numbers. All the little

584
00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:58,400
Speaker 1: resource wars climate change sparked created a need for a capable,

585
00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:01,520
Speaker 1: nimble force that could project or without requiring a public

586
00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:04,800
Speaker 1: commitment of force. So back in the late thirties, the U. S.

587
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,760
Speaker 1: Military started fucking hard with gene editing tools and bio mods.

588
00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,560
Speaker 1: At first, it was just basic upgrades to select combat units,

589
00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:15,360
Speaker 1: early versions of the healing suites y'all both have now.

590
00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:18,560
Speaker 1: Then they moved on to carbon fiber laced bones, bullet

591
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:23,240
Speaker 1: resistant skin, nanohaling suites. The end result was Project Orange,

592
00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:26,040
Speaker 1: the best warriors in the whole military loaded down with

593
00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:31,880
Speaker 1: experimental self adapting, neural and physiological upgrades. Yeah, man he added,

594
00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:33,880
Speaker 1: it was a real success, right till they wiped out

595
00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:37,760
Speaker 1: a whole city. Skufucker. Mike nodded and looked back to Sasha.

596
00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,920
Speaker 1: He's talking about the Battle of Inserlik. I've heard of that.

597
00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:45,000
Speaker 1: Sasha said, a US air strike had a giant munition's cache.

598
00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:49,760
Speaker 1: Like ten thousand people died. Schofucker. Mike gave a noncommittal grunt.

599
00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:53,440
Speaker 1: There was one version of the story, he said. The

600
00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,920
Speaker 1: story I heard, the story everyone told back then, is

601
00:32:56,960 --> 00:32:59,960
Speaker 1: that it was Project Orange. They blew up a city.

602
00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:04,320
Speaker 1: Sasha asked, they didn't blow it up. Manny said, they

603
00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:08,840
Speaker 1: just butchered everyone, mostly in hand to hand combat. The

604
00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:13,720
Speaker 1: DARPA guys miscalculated. Mike nodded to Manny. They'd entirely revamped

605
00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:16,520
Speaker 1: the endocrine systems of these soldiers and made them immune

606
00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:20,120
Speaker 1: to exhaustion and gave them perfect situational awareness. But it

607
00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:23,480
Speaker 1: also made bloodshed. He trailed off and frowned while he

608
00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:28,360
Speaker 1: searched for his next word addictive. So what happened to

609
00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:33,240
Speaker 1: Project Orange, Sasha asked, Well, said Mike, the scientists did

610
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:36,960
Speaker 1: with scientists do. They refined things, They revised their hypotheses

611
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:39,560
Speaker 1: and tweaked their creations until the Joint Chiefs had another

612
00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:42,240
Speaker 1: job for the Orange Team. They must have done well

613
00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:44,640
Speaker 1: for a while, and Sir Luke was thirty nine and

614
00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:47,000
Speaker 1: no one heard shipped from them until forty one, when

615
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:51,320
Speaker 1: they hit that protest in Denver, six hundred dead, Manny said,

616
00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:54,280
Speaker 1: reciting the facts he'd memorized a half dozen times during

617
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:59,080
Speaker 1: his elementary education, including a sitting senator. They reached the

618
00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:02,440
Speaker 1: lift doors, which slid open once they got close. Sasha

619
00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:04,840
Speaker 1: and Manny stepped in first, and Mike came after them.

620
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:06,920
Speaker 1: He fiddled with the control screen on the wall for

621
00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:09,319
Speaker 1: a moment. I'm just making sure this thing is set

622
00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:11,959
Speaker 1: to normal human speeds. We don't want any more puke

623
00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:14,839
Speaker 1: from yall today, Mike winked at Sasha. As the lift

624
00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:18,040
Speaker 1: doors closed, there was a soft clump sound and Manny

625
00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:22,279
Speaker 1: felt the lift descend. So yeah, schoofucker, Mike continued. The

626
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,120
Speaker 1: President deployed the Orange Team against a fortified camp that

627
00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:28,399
Speaker 1: had blocked off access to most of downtown Denver. They

628
00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:31,120
Speaker 1: cleared out the camp sure enough. After the bloodbath, some

629
00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:33,880
Speaker 1: hackers with a Jesture collective took close to a terabyte

630
00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:37,000
Speaker 1: out of the Pentagon servers. It contained a few files

631
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:39,759
Speaker 1: on Project Orange and a partly redacted report on the

632
00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:46,080
Speaker 1: INSURLC massacre. And then Sasha asked, Mike shrugged. Then they disappeared.

633
00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:48,480
Speaker 1: They weren't used during the revolution, and they'd have been

634
00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:50,520
Speaker 1: pretty damn handy for the old US. At a couple

635
00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:53,720
Speaker 1: of points midway through the war, we recovered some intel

636
00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:56,880
Speaker 1: that they'd been wiped out some terrible accident in orbit.

637
00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:03,040
Speaker 1: Only only Roland Manny said softly, yep, Schoofucker. Mike nodded,

638
00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:06,440
Speaker 1: that was certainly my suspicion, still is, but the fuckers

639
00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:09,520
Speaker 1: never confirmed it or denied it, not that he remembers

640
00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:13,320
Speaker 1: now anyway. The lift reached the ground with a gentle bump.

641
00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:16,680
Speaker 1: Its doors slid open to reveal an army six hundred

642
00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:19,120
Speaker 1: people in three large clumps out by the shore of

643
00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:22,280
Speaker 1: Lake Waco. To the left was the city's vehicle pool.

644
00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:24,400
Speaker 1: In the center, where the infantry be decked in a

645
00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:28,800
Speaker 1: ridiculous melange of medieval weaponry, small arms and handheld field artillery.

646
00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:32,239
Speaker 1: And then to the right where the quadrifracts. The sight

647
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:34,960
Speaker 1: of them took Manny's breath away. There were well over

648
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:38,160
Speaker 1: a hundred of the strange horse like robots. Most of

649
00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:40,759
Speaker 1: them were still being fussed over by the riders, having

650
00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:44,120
Speaker 1: bolts tightened, weapons belted on to their chassis, or, in

651
00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:47,800
Speaker 1: a few cases old timey leather saddle strapped onto their backs.

652
00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:50,640
Speaker 1: Manny saw one saddle with what looked like a large

653
00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:54,560
Speaker 1: purple dildo attached to it. The quadrifract riders were the

654
00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:57,880
Speaker 1: most uniform group of warriors on the field. While rolling

655
00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:01,400
Speaker 1: Fox infantry wore everything from romanly genery armor to bikinis

656
00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:04,879
Speaker 1: made of bullets, the cavalry ward nothing. Even from here

657
00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:06,880
Speaker 1: he could see that every nipple in the group was

658
00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:09,600
Speaker 1: as hard as diamond. They were all covered in the

659
00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:13,000
Speaker 1: same sort of led tattoos that Jim wore, but where

660
00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:16,160
Speaker 1: his took the form of ever writing snakes, theirs appeared

661
00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:18,960
Speaker 1: in blotches of gray black static all up and down

662
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:24,320
Speaker 1: their bodies. What are they? Sasha asked, voicing Manny's thoughts too.

663
00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:28,640
Speaker 1: The elite skullfucker Mike said. The best of the city's

664
00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:32,960
Speaker 1: warriors real tough motherfucker's mostly former soldiers who augmented their

665
00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:36,120
Speaker 1: government issue upgrades way back in the day. Some of

666
00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:38,880
Speaker 1: them have five or ten thousand hours of combat experience

667
00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:42,680
Speaker 1: stored in their bodies. Why aren't you out there, Manny asked.

668
00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:46,920
Speaker 1: H He grunted. Quadrafracts make my ass look big. Besides,

669
00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:49,920
Speaker 1: Topez is a sniper. She keeps to the rear and

670
00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:52,120
Speaker 1: I keep to her. It's not as fun as fucking

671
00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:54,799
Speaker 1: ship up at the front eFront. His lips curled up

672
00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:57,359
Speaker 1: into a wistful smile. But we all got to grow

673
00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:01,200
Speaker 1: up sometime well. Sasha and Manny gawkeed the main rollers.

674
00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:04,440
Speaker 1: Other lift descended. The doors opened just twenty feet to

675
00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:07,480
Speaker 1: their right. Nani Yazzi was the first one out. She

676
00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:10,359
Speaker 1: moved slowly. Some of that was surely due to her

677
00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:13,120
Speaker 1: advanced age, but there was also a note of ritual

678
00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:15,640
Speaker 1: to her movements. It was something in the arc of

679
00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:18,560
Speaker 1: her spine, the cadence of her step, the way she

680
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:21,600
Speaker 1: held her head. The enormous gold bladed knife in her

681
00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:25,560
Speaker 1: hand didn't hurt either. Behind her walked the citizens of

682
00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:28,880
Speaker 1: Rolling Fuck. There were around fifty of them in the lift,

683
00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:32,160
Speaker 1: but as that group walked forward, ropes and ladders began

684
00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:35,000
Speaker 1: to roll out from all around the enormous wheeled city.

685
00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:37,920
Speaker 1: Within a matter of minutes, hundreds and hundreds of people

686
00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:41,239
Speaker 1: had descended. More continued to disgorge from the lifts under

687
00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:43,880
Speaker 1: the main roller. In the rear roller, the riders had

688
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:46,879
Speaker 1: all formed into ordered ranks. They stood at something very

689
00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:50,120
Speaker 1: much like a military attention. It was the only time

690
00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:53,120
Speaker 1: he'd seen post humans do anything in an orderly fashion.

691
00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:56,319
Speaker 1: Nani Yazzi stood in front of the cavalry, and the

692
00:37:56,360 --> 00:37:59,840
Speaker 1: human civilians clustered behind her in a big semicircle. The

693
00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:03,240
Speaker 1: other warriors gathered behind them. Mike maneuver their little group

694
00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:05,839
Speaker 1: to a hill that overlooked the whole scene. It took

695
00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:09,120
Speaker 1: almost twenty minutes for the entire city to gather. What

696
00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:13,120
Speaker 1: are they doing, skulp fucker, Mike, Sasha asked, only stumbling

697
00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:16,000
Speaker 1: a bit over the curse word in his name. This

698
00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:18,640
Speaker 1: is what I wanted you to see, he replied. She's

699
00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:24,919
Speaker 1: about to take their faces. Roland, the process of getting

700
00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:27,800
Speaker 1: ready for war made the bile rise up in his gut.

701
00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:32,160
Speaker 1: That was curious. Roland's stomach didn't still produce bile, not

702
00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:34,200
Speaker 1: the same kind of vile it had when he was human.

703
00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:36,839
Speaker 1: It had been years since his nervous system had been

704
00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:39,560
Speaker 1: natural enough to respond to anxiety with any kind of

705
00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:43,480
Speaker 1: physical symptom, and yet there it was. The bile, or

706
00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:46,319
Speaker 1: the hallucination of bile, curdled at the bottom of his

707
00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:49,160
Speaker 1: stomach while Jim's men strapped him into the murder suit.

708
00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:52,760
Speaker 1: The armor they'd constructed was altogether different from the powered

709
00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:55,400
Speaker 1: armor he'd faced a few days ago in Dallas. It

710
00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:57,920
Speaker 1: was also different from what little he remembered of the

711
00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:01,200
Speaker 1: armor he'd warned as an American soldier. That made sense,

712
00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:04,839
Speaker 1: of course. Roland's wet waar got better with time and experience.

713
00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:09,000
Speaker 1: Gear did not age so well. He watched while Sardar

714
00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:12,160
Speaker 1: bolted a gauntlet into place over his left forearm. In hand,

715
00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:15,560
Speaker 1: he could tell it was made of boron nitride carbon tubes,

716
00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:18,640
Speaker 1: but the weapon's blister carried a sextette of tiny rockets

717
00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:22,480
Speaker 1: that were not familiar to him. Sar, what are these things?

718
00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:28,320
Speaker 1: A smile split the little man's dark, handsome features scatter rocklets,

719
00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:31,760
Speaker 1: he said with relish. Each of them contains twelve guided

720
00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:35,160
Speaker 1: solid fuel warheads the left hand or all anti personnel

721
00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:37,960
Speaker 1: built to blow up big the right hand rockets. He

722
00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:40,520
Speaker 1: tapped the second gauntlet, which sat on the work table

723
00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:43,480
Speaker 1: next to him. Those pack a tiny bronze dart. One

724
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:47,279
Speaker 1: will penetrate a Leopard Mark five's front armor, no problem.

725
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:50,240
Speaker 1: Roland's sighed and looked around at the Workshop of Death

726
00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:52,880
Speaker 1: that Jim had flown out here. From the outside, it

727
00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:55,240
Speaker 1: had looked a bit like a shipping container, but painted

728
00:39:55,239 --> 00:39:58,759
Speaker 1: a glossy white. Its edges were rounded and smooth, and

729
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:00,840
Speaker 1: the whole thing looked sl enough that it could have

730
00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:04,320
Speaker 1: been an apple product. Inside the box was wall to

731
00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:09,120
Speaker 1: wall weaponry in armor Jim's personal stash. Roland couldn't actually

732
00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:12,239
Speaker 1: name any of the weapons inside. Most were similar enough

733
00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:15,000
Speaker 1: to older weapons systems that he could make an educated

734
00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:18,399
Speaker 1: guess as to their capabilities, but there were strange new

735
00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:22,000
Speaker 1: things on the walls that he'd never seen before. Jim

736
00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:23,920
Speaker 1: sat in a comfy chair at the rear of the

737
00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:27,000
Speaker 1: workshop and watched start our work while he sipped scotch

738
00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:30,399
Speaker 1: out of an enormous ram's horn. So this so's it's

739
00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:34,040
Speaker 1: like your man cave or what Roland asked him Jim

740
00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:37,400
Speaker 1: took a deep gulp and then smiled. I find it

741
00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:40,680
Speaker 1: relaxes me, he said. I spent a lot of time

742
00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:43,320
Speaker 1: carried in this collection over the years. I spent a

743
00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:46,040
Speaker 1: lot of time working on that suit, too, so don't

744
00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:49,799
Speaker 1: fuck it up. Something tingled at the back of Roland's mind.

745
00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:53,480
Speaker 1: The suit had clearly been built to his specifications. That

746
00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:56,480
Speaker 1: suggested Jim had been planning this for a while, but

747
00:40:56,640 --> 00:41:00,359
Speaker 1: Rowland had been retired at Cammeltoe until very recently. So

748
00:41:00,440 --> 00:41:03,480
Speaker 1: how hey, man, I need your port, Sardar said. The

749
00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:06,240
Speaker 1: squat mechanic held up a pair of fiber optic cables

750
00:41:06,239 --> 00:41:10,440
Speaker 1: that terminated in peculiar boxy plugs. Not unlike old ethernet cable,

751
00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:13,280
Speaker 1: they were connected to a metal breastplate on the table.

752
00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:16,480
Speaker 1: Roland pointed to a pair of lumpy, white scars on

753
00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:19,839
Speaker 1: his lower back. The input sockets are in there. They've

754
00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:21,960
Speaker 1: scarred up. You'll have to cut em back open, but

755
00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:24,560
Speaker 1: it should fit. But it should still fit. The nice

756
00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:26,640
Speaker 1: thing about DARPA engineering is that a little bit of

757
00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:30,040
Speaker 1: blood and skin never gets in the way. Sardar set

758
00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:33,040
Speaker 1: to work carving the sockets back open. Roland felt the

759
00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:35,520
Speaker 1: pain as a distant sort of itch. He was having

760
00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:38,879
Speaker 1: a hard time focusing his senses on his immediate surroundings.

761
00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:42,920
Speaker 1: The smells of the advancing army presented an almost overpowering

762
00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:45,920
Speaker 1: flood of data. Roland had loaded up on ketamine and

763
00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:49,080
Speaker 1: vodka to quiet his hind brain, but all that interfered

764
00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:52,600
Speaker 1: with his introspection. He built this thing for me to wear. Jim,

765
00:41:52,719 --> 00:41:56,600
Speaker 1: how long have you been planning this? He is, Jim said,

766
00:41:56,920 --> 00:42:00,360
Speaker 1: his fourth rightness, surprised Roland. You'll pass as hum is

767
00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:04,759
Speaker 1: a mistake, Jim continued, brought on by your overactive conscience.

768
00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:07,480
Speaker 1: They are still so much you need to do in

769
00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:11,239
Speaker 1: the world. I figured at some point you'd realize that yourself,

770
00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:15,200
Speaker 1: so I kept my men working. Sardar lifted the heavy

771
00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:18,160
Speaker 1: metal breastplate up over Roland's head and settled it over

772
00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:22,200
Speaker 1: his shoulders. The weight was comforting. A cold electric shock

773
00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:24,440
Speaker 1: ran through his body as the armor connected to a

774
00:42:24,520 --> 00:42:28,239
Speaker 1: central nervous system. Roland felt parts of himself wake up

775
00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:31,799
Speaker 1: that he hadn't truly realized were asleep. Something in him

776
00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:34,480
Speaker 1: had missed that feeling, and he felt guilty for that.

777
00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:38,080
Speaker 1: I'm taking this thing off the instant. The fight's over, Jim,

778
00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:42,600
Speaker 1: you wasted your money. Jim smile only deepened. You've forgotten

779
00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:46,000
Speaker 1: how fun it is, Rowland, and you've forgotten what it's

780
00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:48,840
Speaker 1: like to be a fucking human. Roland countered, have you

781
00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:51,440
Speaker 1: always been a sociopath? Is this what I was like

782
00:42:51,600 --> 00:42:55,640
Speaker 1: back before whatever took my memories? Jim's amused, smiled and

783
00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:58,800
Speaker 1: shift by so much as a nanometer. Roland felt a

784
00:42:58,840 --> 00:43:02,719
Speaker 1: spike of irritation before he was distracted by Sardar. Raise

785
00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:05,480
Speaker 1: your hand, please, the mechanic said. He lifted a four

786
00:43:05,520 --> 00:43:08,160
Speaker 1: barreled machine gun on a circular frame and slid it

787
00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:11,920
Speaker 1: around Roland's right arm. Sardar bolted the weapon into place

788
00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:16,200
Speaker 1: while he explained it's a stack charged machine gun magnetically fired,

789
00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:19,040
Speaker 1: similar to the old metal storm weapons. But this fucker's

790
00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:22,640
Speaker 1: capable of putting out twenty thousand rounds per second. How

791
00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:25,799
Speaker 1: long an a fire? Sardar laughed a little less than

792
00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:28,960
Speaker 1: a second. The mechanic turned back to his table, and

793
00:43:29,120 --> 00:43:31,799
Speaker 1: Roland tried to direct his wandering mind back to the

794
00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:36,000
Speaker 1: conversation with Jim. You're going to love it, his old

795
00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:39,080
Speaker 1: friend said, I know you've been lovin' it when you've

796
00:43:39,080 --> 00:43:41,400
Speaker 1: fought your way out of that citia could smell the

797
00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:44,399
Speaker 1: dopamine waftin off your brain from all the way out here.

798
00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:48,439
Speaker 1: Sardar snapped a queasts around Roland's thigh. The armor also

799
00:43:48,520 --> 00:43:52,040
Speaker 1: sported a bulky weapon's blister on its outside edge gas

800
00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:55,399
Speaker 1: grenade launcher. The mechanic explained, should co great with all

801
00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:58,839
Speaker 1: the frag rocklets. Uh so we're committing war crimes now,

802
00:43:59,120 --> 00:44:02,240
Speaker 1: Roland asked him, with more indignation than he really felt.

803
00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:06,000
Speaker 1: Jim rolled his eyes. Is just he a gas? He said,

804
00:44:06,320 --> 00:44:09,880
Speaker 1: mostly at least I may have included some aresolazed l

805
00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:12,680
Speaker 1: s D in there. I've been on a big psychochemical

806
00:44:12,680 --> 00:44:17,280
Speaker 1: warfare kicked lately For a little while Sardar worked in silence,

807
00:44:17,440 --> 00:44:21,080
Speaker 1: Jim drank and Roland stared near him, but not at him.

808
00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:23,480
Speaker 1: The self inflicted haze in his head had cleared a bit.

809
00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:26,719
Speaker 1: That meant his hind brain grew louder. By now it

810
00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:30,160
Speaker 1: was all but shouting about the approaching army. Roland felt

811
00:44:30,160 --> 00:44:33,919
Speaker 1: a trickle of adrenaline, oxytocin, and endorphins. His left hand

812
00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:37,520
Speaker 1: twitched involuntarily. He felt the power of the weapons system

813
00:44:37,560 --> 00:44:40,200
Speaker 1: around him, and he felt the power in his own body,

814
00:44:40,680 --> 00:44:43,680
Speaker 1: something like a rousal gripped him. Roland fought it down

815
00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:46,360
Speaker 1: as best he could, but it lingered there at the

816
00:44:46,480 --> 00:44:50,799
Speaker 1: edge of his consciousness. I've been remembering more, he said

817
00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:53,200
Speaker 1: to Jim, as much to distract himself as out of

818
00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:56,520
Speaker 1: a desire to get it off his chest. M Jim

819
00:44:56,560 --> 00:44:59,960
Speaker 1: cocked an eyebrow in interest. I've had a few big

820
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:02,560
Speaker 1: sshes of memories. Once, when we drove into Dallas, past

821
00:45:02,600 --> 00:45:06,080
Speaker 1: the side of the Lakewood Blast, I remembered. He locked

822
00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:09,360
Speaker 1: eyes with Jim, and Jim nodded back his eyes said,

823
00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:13,919
Speaker 1: I know so, Roland moved on. The memories come most

824
00:45:13,960 --> 00:45:17,719
Speaker 1: intensely when I'm in combat. I remembered hiking with Topaz.

825
00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:21,040
Speaker 1: I remembered burning the Taz in Denver. I got flashes

826
00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:23,680
Speaker 1: of you and me in Mexico, and a lot more.

827
00:45:24,239 --> 00:45:27,040
Speaker 1: I'm still certain through it. It's confusing because there's no

828
00:45:27,120 --> 00:45:30,960
Speaker 1: timeline for any of this, just associated memories I know happened.

829
00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:34,920
Speaker 1: At some point, Jim leaned forward, his eyes flashed with

830
00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:39,600
Speaker 1: excitement interest, and he said, tell me, have you been

831
00:45:39,600 --> 00:45:42,600
Speaker 1: able to draw any conclusions about who you were from

832
00:45:42,600 --> 00:45:45,920
Speaker 1: what you've remembered? Have you gotten any insight into the

833
00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:50,320
Speaker 1: old Roland. Roland frowned. He'd been so focused on trying

834
00:45:50,320 --> 00:45:52,359
Speaker 1: to remember his old life that he hadn't given much

835
00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:54,440
Speaker 1: thought to what the memories he had said about the

836
00:45:54,480 --> 00:45:57,920
Speaker 1: man he'd been. As he pondered, Roland's mind lingered on

837
00:45:57,960 --> 00:46:00,239
Speaker 1: the memory of shooting the Cheney Boy in the act

838
00:46:00,239 --> 00:46:02,759
Speaker 1: of the head. I think I used to be a

839
00:46:02,800 --> 00:46:07,120
Speaker 1: lot more like you, Roland said. Jim grinned, his lips

840
00:46:07,120 --> 00:46:10,440
Speaker 1: curled up to reveal long rows of white, straight teeth.

841
00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:14,319
Speaker 1: That's true, he said, Why else do you think I've

842
00:46:14,360 --> 00:46:29,920
Speaker 1: missed you so much? Sasha? A part of Sasha had

843
00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:33,440
Speaker 1: believed that after the Heavenly Kingdom, nothing she saw whatever

844
00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:36,680
Speaker 1: shock her again. That part of her was proven wrong

845
00:46:36,760 --> 00:46:40,480
Speaker 1: when Nana Yazzi's aged, darthritic hand began to messily carve

846
00:46:40,560 --> 00:46:43,680
Speaker 1: at the first warrior's face. Her target was the young

847
00:46:43,719 --> 00:46:45,920
Speaker 1: woman with the chrome hawk Sasha had seen in the

848
00:46:45,960 --> 00:46:49,480
Speaker 1: War Council. The carving was a messy thing. It took

849
00:46:49,520 --> 00:46:51,520
Speaker 1: the better part of a minute for her to slice

850
00:46:51,520 --> 00:46:54,640
Speaker 1: and peel the skin free. Sasha noticed that there was

851
00:46:54,840 --> 00:46:57,960
Speaker 1: very little blood. It was messy, but not as messy

852
00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:00,759
Speaker 1: as it should have been. Once she was finished, Nana

853
00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:03,320
Speaker 1: Yazzi stepped back with the woman's face in her hand.

854
00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:07,400
Speaker 1: As she did, dozens of citizens stepped forward. They pulled

855
00:47:07,400 --> 00:47:10,879
Speaker 1: out daggers, swords, straight razors, and switchblades of their own.

856
00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:14,240
Speaker 1: Each civilian paired off with a warrior and began to carve.

857
00:47:14,719 --> 00:47:17,239
Speaker 1: Some of them were quick and practiced. The motion of

858
00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:20,520
Speaker 1: their hands reminded Sasha of an autopsy video she'd watched

859
00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:23,120
Speaker 1: in one of her pre met classes, but the other

860
00:47:23,200 --> 00:47:26,600
Speaker 1: citizens were cruder with their cutting. A few verged on

861
00:47:26,760 --> 00:47:29,600
Speaker 1: brutal hacking and slashing at the faces and necks of

862
00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:32,959
Speaker 1: their persons. None of the post human warriors showed any

863
00:47:33,000 --> 00:47:36,640
Speaker 1: signs of pain or discomfort. They just stood, unmoving and

864
00:47:36,840 --> 00:47:42,680
Speaker 1: without their faces, seemingly without emotion. I don't understand, Sasha said.

865
00:47:43,080 --> 00:47:46,040
Speaker 1: She hadn't expected to say it out loud. The words

866
00:47:46,120 --> 00:47:51,040
Speaker 1: just slipped out. It's a symbolic thing, Scoffucker Mike explained.

867
00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:54,400
Speaker 1: Before they leave, the city's warriors give up their identities

868
00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:57,600
Speaker 1: to the group. They leave their humanity behind and bloodied

869
00:47:57,600 --> 00:47:59,919
Speaker 1: tatters in the hands of their friends and loved ones.

870
00:48:00,360 --> 00:48:03,120
Speaker 1: It's a way of making sure the city civilians don't

871
00:48:03,160 --> 00:48:05,920
Speaker 1: leave a war without blood on their hands, and it

872
00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:09,080
Speaker 1: makes them look fucking terrifying, someone said from behind them.

873
00:48:09,480 --> 00:48:13,080
Speaker 1: Sasha turned around. A short, fit man approached them. He

874
00:48:13,160 --> 00:48:15,320
Speaker 1: had a thin build, but his body was girded with

875
00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:18,680
Speaker 1: lithe muscle. There was something familiar about his face, the

876
00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:21,719
Speaker 1: short mop of curly black hair atop his head. The

877
00:48:21,760 --> 00:48:25,800
Speaker 1: man smiled when Sasha saw him, revealing pointed metallic fangs.

878
00:48:26,160 --> 00:48:31,280
Speaker 1: Hey wait a second, low, Topez, Skolfucker, Mike said. Manny

879
00:48:31,360 --> 00:48:35,520
Speaker 1: looked shocked as well. He stared at the man in surprise. Topez,

880
00:48:35,760 --> 00:48:38,919
Speaker 1: what happened? There was a woman with those exact same

881
00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:42,120
Speaker 1: teeth yesterday when we arrived at the city. Sasha hadn't

882
00:48:42,120 --> 00:48:45,040
Speaker 1: gotten a woman's name, but she'd borne a striking resemblance

883
00:48:45,080 --> 00:48:47,399
Speaker 1: to this man. I felt like a man to day,

884
00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:51,240
Speaker 1: Topez said, what with the war and all? Sasha finally

885
00:48:51,280 --> 00:48:54,600
Speaker 1: realized what had happened. Of course, she thought these people

886
00:48:54,600 --> 00:48:58,279
Speaker 1: can change their physiology on a dime, Ah, Manny said

887
00:48:58,320 --> 00:49:01,360
Speaker 1: with a nod. Skolfucker. Mike walked up to Topaz and

888
00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:04,960
Speaker 1: the two embraced and then kissed. They twined their arms together,

889
00:49:05,040 --> 00:49:08,240
Speaker 1: and a few seconds later, Topaz seemed to finally notice

890
00:49:08,239 --> 00:49:11,960
Speaker 1: Sasha's presence. Sorry, he smiled as he spoke, But I

891
00:49:11,960 --> 00:49:17,080
Speaker 1: don't believe I got your name, Sasha. Sasha Mariian. Topaz

892
00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:20,920
Speaker 1: stepped closer. Well, Sasha Mariian, He said, in a low voice,

893
00:49:21,160 --> 00:49:26,080
Speaker 1: how are you liking? Are strange ways and customs? They're interesting?

894
00:49:26,280 --> 00:49:30,200
Speaker 1: Sasha said diplomatically. Do you find this place more to

895
00:49:30,239 --> 00:49:34,240
Speaker 1: your liking than the heavenly Kingdom? Topaz stepped closer. Sasha

896
00:49:34,280 --> 00:49:37,160
Speaker 1: took a step back and then another. The man's expression

897
00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:39,240
Speaker 1: was friendly enough, but there was a sort of queer

898
00:49:39,280 --> 00:49:41,560
Speaker 1: menace in the set of his shoulders. It may have

899
00:49:41,600 --> 00:49:44,200
Speaker 1: had something to do with the very large rifle slung

900
00:49:44,239 --> 00:49:48,720
Speaker 1: across his back. Sasha started to sweat. Fear gripped her mind.

901
00:49:49,440 --> 00:49:53,320
Speaker 1: Topaz back off, schoolfucker. Mike's voice was devoid of anger,

902
00:49:53,400 --> 00:49:58,120
Speaker 1: but firm. You're scaring her. Topaz stopped and stared at Mike.

903
00:49:58,640 --> 00:50:01,319
Speaker 1: His expression went from plo said smile to rage, and

904
00:50:01,320 --> 00:50:05,800
Speaker 1: then back to a smile, almost faster than Sasha could process. Sorry, darling,

905
00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:08,920
Speaker 1: he said, in an artificially chipper voice. I just wanted

906
00:50:08,960 --> 00:50:11,439
Speaker 1: to make sure our guest was enjoying her stay here.

907
00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:17,120
Speaker 1: He looked to Sasha, again. You are, aren't you? Yes, good,

908
00:50:17,560 --> 00:50:20,880
Speaker 1: Topaz purred, Hopefully you won't be joining any more extremist

909
00:50:20,920 --> 00:50:23,840
Speaker 1: groups to get my friends killed. He turned immediately to

910
00:50:23,880 --> 00:50:26,960
Speaker 1: Manny and with barely a pause for breath, embraced him

911
00:50:26,960 --> 00:50:29,879
Speaker 1: and kissed his forehead. I'm proud of you, buddy, as

912
00:50:29,880 --> 00:50:34,000
Speaker 1: far as I'm concerned your family. Manny mumbled his thanks

913
00:50:34,000 --> 00:50:36,520
Speaker 1: and returned the hug, but he glanced at Sasha and

914
00:50:36,520 --> 00:50:40,120
Speaker 1: they shared a what the hell look? Schoolfucker. Mike seemed

915
00:50:40,160 --> 00:50:43,200
Speaker 1: to want a plaster over the awkwardness. Yep, he said,

916
00:50:43,440 --> 00:50:46,400
Speaker 1: We've made some wonderful friends these last couple of days.

917
00:50:46,560 --> 00:50:49,440
Speaker 1: He pantomime looking down at his watchless wrist and checking

918
00:50:49,440 --> 00:50:52,600
Speaker 1: the time. Oh my goodness, he said, in mock surprise.

919
00:50:52,920 --> 00:50:54,960
Speaker 1: Look at the time, Topaz, We've got a war to

920
00:50:55,000 --> 00:50:57,680
Speaker 1: get to. You kids had better find some decent seats.

921
00:50:58,600 --> 00:51:01,759
Speaker 1: Topaz smiled at skulf Ger Mike, his eyes lingered on

922
00:51:01,840 --> 00:51:05,160
Speaker 1: the big man's face, and then drifted back to Sasha.

923
00:51:05,520 --> 00:51:10,760
Speaker 1: Enjoy the show, he said, with an empty smile. Rowland,

924
00:51:11,920 --> 00:51:14,479
Speaker 1: it was windy on the landing pad. He and Jim

925
00:51:14,520 --> 00:51:18,080
Speaker 1: stood next to a heavy black feetole aircraft, the steed

926
00:51:18,120 --> 00:51:21,760
Speaker 1: that would carry him into today's massacre. Roland could taste

927
00:51:21,800 --> 00:51:24,279
Speaker 1: the dying summer and the faint stirrings of a North

928
00:51:24,360 --> 00:51:27,279
Speaker 1: Texas fall in the air. It was cooler than he'd

929
00:51:27,280 --> 00:51:30,279
Speaker 1: have expected this time of the year, grayer too. A

930
00:51:30,360 --> 00:51:33,440
Speaker 1: gust of chill wind blew across his face, and Roland

931
00:51:33,480 --> 00:51:37,120
Speaker 1: found himself falling back in time again. He was shorter,

932
00:51:37,280 --> 00:51:39,839
Speaker 1: The world seemed sharper, even though his senses were dim

933
00:51:39,840 --> 00:51:42,880
Speaker 1: and unenlightened. Roland felt a hand about his own. It

934
00:51:43,000 --> 00:51:46,080
Speaker 1: felt big, powerful, and comforting. He looked up and saw

935
00:51:46,120 --> 00:51:49,120
Speaker 1: a woman standing over him. She was tall, a giant.

936
00:51:49,280 --> 00:51:51,399
Speaker 1: Her hair was brown and straight and long and clear

937
00:51:51,440 --> 00:51:54,080
Speaker 1: as day in his mind's eye, but her face was blank,

938
00:51:54,200 --> 00:51:57,160
Speaker 1: obscured even in memory. His head turned to track the

939
00:51:57,200 --> 00:51:59,920
Speaker 1: passage of a blowing leaf. He felt chill winter air

940
00:52:00,160 --> 00:52:01,960
Speaker 1: on his arm, and he watched as a red sedan

941
00:52:02,040 --> 00:52:04,680
Speaker 1: rumbled past them, spraying water into the airs, and hit

942
00:52:04,719 --> 00:52:08,919
Speaker 1: a puddle on the asphalt. Rowland pay attention. Jim's voice

943
00:52:08,920 --> 00:52:12,000
Speaker 1: snapped him back to reality. The other chrombed man held

944
00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:14,759
Speaker 1: a paper thin tablet in front of Roland's face. That

945
00:52:14,840 --> 00:52:17,520
Speaker 1: memory flash had been the most immersive yet, although not

946
00:52:17,680 --> 00:52:20,480
Speaker 1: the longest. He was a little confused at that why

947
00:52:20,560 --> 00:52:22,960
Speaker 1: that moment? Had it just been the similarity in weather

948
00:52:23,120 --> 00:52:27,280
Speaker 1: or Rowland? Jim was angry. It was actually somewhat refreshing

949
00:52:27,320 --> 00:52:30,160
Speaker 1: to see genuine emotion on the other man's post human face.

950
00:52:30,719 --> 00:52:33,480
Speaker 1: Veins bulged at his neck and his eyes were fully open.

951
00:52:33,880 --> 00:52:36,960
Speaker 1: Roland caught a harsh whiff of methamphetamine from his breath.

952
00:52:37,640 --> 00:52:40,400
Speaker 1: All right, all right, fucking chill, Roland muttered, what am

953
00:52:40,400 --> 00:52:43,720
Speaker 1: I looking at? He needn't have asked. Once he focused

954
00:52:43,719 --> 00:52:45,640
Speaker 1: on the tablet, it was obvious that it displayed a

955
00:52:45,680 --> 00:52:49,320
Speaker 1: map of the area around Lake Waco. Rolling Fox warriors

956
00:52:49,320 --> 00:52:52,880
Speaker 1: and vehicles were displayed in little blue pinpoints. Jim scrolled

957
00:52:52,920 --> 00:52:55,400
Speaker 1: up a few inches and Roland saw a swarm of red.

958
00:52:55,719 --> 00:52:57,960
Speaker 1: It was half over the Brazos right now, and it

959
00:52:58,000 --> 00:53:02,200
Speaker 1: crept millimeter by millimeter towards their position. The river slowed

960
00:53:02,280 --> 00:53:04,600
Speaker 1: him down a bit, Jim said, but the bridges there

961
00:53:04,680 --> 00:53:07,000
Speaker 1: was still in good order. I'd say they'll hit rock

962
00:53:07,080 --> 00:53:11,040
Speaker 1: Creak in about ten minutes. Roland nodded and asked, couldn't

963
00:53:11,040 --> 00:53:14,160
Speaker 1: we have killed those bridges bought some hours? Jim gave

964
00:53:14,160 --> 00:53:16,960
Speaker 1: a careless shrug. Why would we want to slow em down?

965
00:53:17,120 --> 00:53:21,120
Speaker 1: We're ready enough. No sense in dragging this out. There

966
00:53:21,160 --> 00:53:23,319
Speaker 1: was a strong smell of ozone as the V Toll

967
00:53:23,360 --> 00:53:26,400
Speaker 1: aircraft next to them woke up. Red lights glowed on

968
00:53:26,440 --> 00:53:29,439
Speaker 1: the missile pods slung under its belly. The chain gun

969
00:53:29,520 --> 00:53:32,800
Speaker 1: on its nose cycled. The whole thing hummed with potential energy.

970
00:53:33,040 --> 00:53:35,120
Speaker 1: It was too modern for Rolland to know the make

971
00:53:35,200 --> 00:53:37,320
Speaker 1: and model, but it reminded him of the Russian Coba

972
00:53:37,360 --> 00:53:40,040
Speaker 1: Assault transport, which had been state of the art back

973
00:53:40,040 --> 00:53:43,520
Speaker 1: in the mid forties. So is the plan, he asked

974
00:53:43,600 --> 00:53:46,759
Speaker 1: Jim Well, His friend said, we know they've got at

975
00:53:46,840 --> 00:53:50,120
Speaker 1: least a half a dozen mobile antire batteries old US

976
00:53:50,200 --> 00:53:54,719
Speaker 1: Patriot threes inaccurate garbage. Nothing I'm worried about. The name

977
00:53:54,800 --> 00:53:58,000
Speaker 1: conjured up a ghost of another memory. A big Patriot

978
00:53:58,000 --> 00:54:01,200
Speaker 1: battery wheeled around on its truck size chassis. He heard

979
00:54:01,239 --> 00:54:03,160
Speaker 1: the machine whine of the motors, and then the reek

980
00:54:03,200 --> 00:54:05,319
Speaker 1: of fear hit his nose, as rich and heavy as

981
00:54:05,360 --> 00:54:08,000
Speaker 1: Texas thunder. There were missiles in the air aimed at

982
00:54:08,040 --> 00:54:10,319
Speaker 1: him as he fell. They were child's plated dodge in

983
00:54:10,360 --> 00:54:13,160
Speaker 1: his suit. He descended his fear stink rolled up towards

984
00:54:13,239 --> 00:54:17,480
Speaker 1: him from the soldiers below. The poor fucker's Rowland. Jim shouted,

985
00:54:17,640 --> 00:54:19,840
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna have to find another murder guerilla to

986
00:54:19,880 --> 00:54:23,720
Speaker 1: take your place. What No, Roland shook his head. Sorry,

987
00:54:23,800 --> 00:54:27,400
Speaker 1: he said, just memories. Jim gave him a long look

988
00:54:27,920 --> 00:54:31,040
Speaker 1: and if then you need to talk about right now? No,

989
00:54:31,600 --> 00:54:34,960
Speaker 1: Roland said, it's just the memories are coming at me

990
00:54:35,040 --> 00:54:40,359
Speaker 1: faster now. It's distracting. That makes sense, Jim said, I'd

991
00:54:40,400 --> 00:54:43,560
Speaker 1: imagine stimuli that reminds you of your past could prompt

992
00:54:43,560 --> 00:54:47,279
Speaker 1: your brain into sudden healing. He reached into a bag

993
00:54:47,320 --> 00:54:49,640
Speaker 1: at his hip. It looked like a standard dump pouch

994
00:54:49,880 --> 00:54:52,280
Speaker 1: meant for half spent magazines in the heat of battle,

995
00:54:52,600 --> 00:54:55,840
Speaker 1: but Jim pulled out a fully loaded crack pipe. Even unlit,

996
00:54:56,000 --> 00:54:59,720
Speaker 1: it smelled like burning tires at a non percent pule.

997
00:55:00,120 --> 00:55:03,760
Speaker 1: Jim held the pipe up to Roland right. Roland grabbed

998
00:55:03,760 --> 00:55:06,080
Speaker 1: the pipe and lifted it to his lips. Jim reached

999
00:55:06,080 --> 00:55:08,800
Speaker 1: out and flipped on the lighter built into his index finger.

1000
00:55:09,200 --> 00:55:11,240
Speaker 1: He held it under the glass bubble of the pipe.

1001
00:55:11,560 --> 00:55:15,279
Speaker 1: The rocks vaporized into white smoke rolland inhaled and felt

1002
00:55:15,320 --> 00:55:18,799
Speaker 1: the vapor dissolve into his blood stream through his mucous membranes.

1003
00:55:19,160 --> 00:55:21,640
Speaker 1: There was a tingle as the crack reached his brain's

1004
00:55:21,760 --> 00:55:24,920
Speaker 1: ventral tegmental area, and said, in essence, you know how

1005
00:55:25,000 --> 00:55:27,480
Speaker 1: much dopamine you were planning to produce? Make a ship

1006
00:55:27,520 --> 00:55:31,479
Speaker 1: load more than that. The happy chemicals flooded Roland's mind.

1007
00:55:31,760 --> 00:55:34,919
Speaker 1: His anxiety at their recently churned up memories faded, as

1008
00:55:34,920 --> 00:55:40,440
Speaker 1: did the memories themselves better. Jim asked, super good, Roland said,

1009
00:55:40,680 --> 00:55:43,720
Speaker 1: can I Jim waved, show a man keep the pipe.

1010
00:55:43,800 --> 00:55:46,400
Speaker 1: In fact, he pulled his index finger free from his

1011
00:55:46,440 --> 00:55:49,200
Speaker 1: hand and gave it to Roland. Keep that, I'll grow

1012
00:55:49,280 --> 00:55:52,920
Speaker 1: a new one. Cool. Roland took the finger, flicked it

1013
00:55:52,960 --> 00:55:55,360
Speaker 1: a light, and took another deep pole of burning crack,

1014
00:55:56,400 --> 00:55:59,200
Speaker 1: so he said, as he exhaled a plume of crack smoke.

1015
00:55:59,560 --> 00:56:03,480
Speaker 1: The plan right, said Jim, like I told you, Rock

1016
00:56:03,520 --> 00:56:05,680
Speaker 1: Creek is where we planned to hit him. The Edmund

1017
00:56:05,719 --> 00:56:08,560
Speaker 1: Fitzgerald here. Jim banged a hand on the side of

1018
00:56:08,600 --> 00:56:11,360
Speaker 1: the vToll craft. It's gonna take you up to around

1019
00:56:11,480 --> 00:56:14,640
Speaker 1: fifteen thousand feet and then drop you right on the heads.

1020
00:56:15,160 --> 00:56:17,959
Speaker 1: I expect we'll take some flak afterwards. But this bird

1021
00:56:18,000 --> 00:56:20,960
Speaker 1: can handle it. And besides, he raised his voice and

1022
00:56:21,040 --> 00:56:24,960
Speaker 1: jerked his head towards the cockpit. Anderson's piloting it today,

1023
00:56:24,960 --> 00:56:27,040
Speaker 1: and it's not like I give a shit if he does.

1024
00:56:27,880 --> 00:56:30,400
Speaker 1: In response, the nosegun wheeled around on its mount and

1025
00:56:30,440 --> 00:56:32,880
Speaker 1: locked on to Jim. There was a clinking sound as

1026
00:56:32,880 --> 00:56:36,200
Speaker 1: it ratcheted around into its chamber. Jim rolled his eyes.

1027
00:56:36,480 --> 00:56:39,840
Speaker 1: Fucking pilots. Anyway, me and my people will be with

1028
00:56:39,880 --> 00:56:43,640
Speaker 1: the Roland fuck folks getting shot at. He tapped Roland's helmet.

1029
00:56:43,960 --> 00:56:46,239
Speaker 1: When we're ready for you, I'll ping you both, and

1030
00:56:46,239 --> 00:56:49,319
Speaker 1: Anderson can drop you on top of the asses. So

1031
00:56:49,800 --> 00:56:52,319
Speaker 1: Roland asked, I've just got a fall on top of

1032
00:56:52,320 --> 00:56:56,520
Speaker 1: a hostile army and start shooting. Jim nodded, right, then,

1033
00:56:56,920 --> 00:57:03,040
Speaker 1: let's get started. Manny. Years ago and what now seemed

1034
00:57:03,040 --> 00:57:05,720
Speaker 1: like another life, Manny had gone to watch an outdoor

1035
00:57:05,760 --> 00:57:09,920
Speaker 1: movie at Silker Park in Austin Ghostbusters. He was pretty

1036
00:57:09,920 --> 00:57:13,360
Speaker 1: sure it had been Ghostbusters. Hundreds and hundreds of people

1037
00:57:13,400 --> 00:57:16,240
Speaker 1: had shown up, families with children and couples on dates,

1038
00:57:16,240 --> 00:57:19,680
Speaker 1: and so so many dogs. The sound hadn't been great,

1039
00:57:19,720 --> 00:57:22,360
Speaker 1: and the projectionist could have been better, but he remembered

1040
00:57:22,360 --> 00:57:27,440
Speaker 1: the evening fondly. Rolling fuck before a battle reminded him

1041
00:57:27,480 --> 00:57:30,800
Speaker 1: of that experience. The people were different. Very few of

1042
00:57:30,840 --> 00:57:34,160
Speaker 1: them were children, but clusters of citizens, friend groups, and

1043
00:57:34,240 --> 00:57:37,120
Speaker 1: families and families of friends had set up little viewing

1044
00:57:37,160 --> 00:57:40,040
Speaker 1: nooks across the wheeled city itself and in the field

1045
00:57:40,040 --> 00:57:42,160
Speaker 1: in front of it. The whole scene would have been

1046
00:57:42,200 --> 00:57:45,200
Speaker 1: idyllic if they weren't about to watch a battle. The

1047
00:57:45,280 --> 00:57:48,760
Speaker 1: vehicle's cavalry and infantry were already almost out of view.

1048
00:57:49,200 --> 00:57:52,240
Speaker 1: He could just barely see shapes out on the horizon

1049
00:57:52,560 --> 00:57:55,760
Speaker 1: setting up firing positions on top of buildings in Rock Creek.

1050
00:57:56,320 --> 00:57:59,400
Speaker 1: They moved so damn fast. Manny didn't think he'd ever

1051
00:57:59,440 --> 00:58:01,960
Speaker 1: get used to the pace of post human life. He

1052
00:58:02,040 --> 00:58:05,080
Speaker 1: knew Topaz and Skullfucker Mike were somewhere out there, he

1053
00:58:05,160 --> 00:58:07,960
Speaker 1: knew where they'd be soon, and in spite of their confidence,

1054
00:58:08,240 --> 00:58:11,880
Speaker 1: he worried for them more than anyone. He worried for Roland.

1055
00:58:13,080 --> 00:58:16,280
Speaker 1: Drinks for everyone. Donald Ferris said he had a tray

1056
00:58:16,320 --> 00:58:18,360
Speaker 1: full of drinks in his hands, fresh from the bar.

1057
00:58:18,760 --> 00:58:21,640
Speaker 1: He sat down next to Nana Yazi and smiled. Manny

1058
00:58:21,680 --> 00:58:23,800
Speaker 1: and Sasha sat on the opposite side of them in

1059
00:58:23,800 --> 00:58:26,760
Speaker 1: a booth in the main roller's bar, looking out over Waco.

1060
00:58:27,520 --> 00:58:31,160
Speaker 1: Donald started handing out beverages, first bubbly drinks and long

1061
00:58:31,200 --> 00:58:36,040
Speaker 1: brown bottles that smelled familiar Coca cola. The old documentarian said,

1062
00:58:36,360 --> 00:58:39,120
Speaker 1: not the stuff they still sell all over, the original

1063
00:58:39,160 --> 00:58:42,640
Speaker 1: recipe with cocaine and alcohol. It's great ship. We go

1064
00:58:42,840 --> 00:58:46,160
Speaker 1: through gallons of it every day. Nana Yazi took a

1065
00:58:46,200 --> 00:58:49,280
Speaker 1: sip from hers and smiled. It's quite good, she said,

1066
00:58:49,640 --> 00:58:53,360
Speaker 1: and the intoxicating effect is mild. Our chromed comrades have

1067
00:58:53,400 --> 00:58:57,520
Speaker 1: a stronger variant. Of course, we're all humans here. Donald

1068
00:58:57,560 --> 00:59:01,000
Speaker 1: smiled more or less Many took one of the cokes,

1069
00:59:01,160 --> 00:59:04,520
Speaker 1: sipped it, and nodded to Sasha. It's really good, he said,

1070
00:59:04,840 --> 00:59:07,720
Speaker 1: you should try it. It was good, and it didn't

1071
00:59:07,760 --> 00:59:10,640
Speaker 1: seem like it was too strong. Nanny took another sip

1072
00:59:10,680 --> 00:59:13,280
Speaker 1: and smiled. As Sasha grabbed her bottle and took a gulp.

1073
00:59:13,640 --> 00:59:16,200
Speaker 1: She seemed to like it. There was a loud pop

1074
00:59:16,240 --> 00:59:19,400
Speaker 1: sound from somewhere up above. Manny tensed up, but then

1075
00:59:19,440 --> 00:59:21,760
Speaker 1: he tracked its origin to one of the landing pads

1076
00:59:21,760 --> 00:59:24,200
Speaker 1: that extended from a gantry tower at least a hundred

1077
00:59:24,200 --> 00:59:27,720
Speaker 1: feet above them. Dozens of small black shapes flitted out

1078
00:59:27,800 --> 00:59:30,520
Speaker 1: from it and soared forward off in the same direction

1079
00:59:30,560 --> 00:59:34,880
Speaker 1: the army had gone spy drones. Donald Ferris explained, they'll

1080
00:59:34,920 --> 00:59:37,040
Speaker 1: be at the front by the time the fighting starts.

1081
00:59:37,880 --> 00:59:41,240
Speaker 1: This all seemed so weird, Sasha said, I think I

1082
00:59:41,280 --> 00:59:44,000
Speaker 1: read about people doing something similar during the Civil War.

1083
00:59:44,400 --> 00:59:47,120
Speaker 1: They'd set up picnic blankets on hills overlooking the battle.

1084
00:59:47,760 --> 00:59:51,160
Speaker 1: Donald Ferris grunted and shifted in his seat a bit awkwardly.

1085
00:59:51,560 --> 00:59:54,440
Speaker 1: Nani Yazi smiled and said, it is a bit like that.

1086
00:59:54,960 --> 00:59:57,800
Speaker 1: The differences that we're not doing this to be voyeurs.

1087
00:59:58,120 --> 01:00:02,600
Speaker 1: We won't see much fighting. What will we see? Just watch?

1088
01:00:02,840 --> 01:00:05,600
Speaker 1: Donald Ferris said, and reached for a tiny shot glass

1089
01:00:05,600 --> 01:00:08,800
Speaker 1: filled with a yellow brown liquid. But ever drink first,

1090
01:00:08,960 --> 01:00:12,200
Speaker 1: it'll help. Manny took one of the shot glasses and

1091
01:00:12,240 --> 01:00:14,760
Speaker 1: moved to belt it down, but Nanyazzie put her hand

1092
01:00:14,800 --> 01:00:18,400
Speaker 1: on his. That's fine, te quel a son, I'd recommend sipping.

1093
01:00:19,400 --> 01:00:22,200
Speaker 1: So he sipped it and it was good. The burn

1094
01:00:22,360 --> 01:00:24,600
Speaker 1: rolled down his throat and mixed with the cocaine and

1095
01:00:24,640 --> 01:00:28,360
Speaker 1: alcohol from the Coca cola. A comfortable, warm haze settled

1096
01:00:28,400 --> 01:00:31,320
Speaker 1: over Mannie. He was about to encourage Sasha to try

1097
01:00:31,360 --> 01:00:34,680
Speaker 1: some when another sound intruded. The high hum of drones

1098
01:00:34,720 --> 01:00:38,760
Speaker 1: filled the air. Mannie fought down an irrational surge of anxiety.

1099
01:00:39,160 --> 01:00:41,600
Speaker 1: He wasn't sure he'd ever feel comfortable with the sound

1100
01:00:41,600 --> 01:00:44,800
Speaker 1: of drones again. Each of these drones was the size

1101
01:00:44,840 --> 01:00:47,560
Speaker 1: and rough density of a rottweiler. They flew in pairs,

1102
01:00:47,640 --> 01:00:50,200
Speaker 1: connected by what looked like a thick, bindy white tube

1103
01:00:50,240 --> 01:00:53,120
Speaker 1: that hung between them. Several pairs settled in front of

1104
01:00:53,120 --> 01:00:55,600
Speaker 1: the main roller's bar in a stable hover. With a

1105
01:00:55,600 --> 01:00:57,800
Speaker 1: whirr and a click, the white tubes in between them

1106
01:00:57,800 --> 01:01:01,200
Speaker 1: opened up and unfurled into screens. A second later, the

1107
01:01:01,280 --> 01:01:05,160
Speaker 1: screens lit up. Manny took another sip of Truly Fabulous

1108
01:01:05,160 --> 01:01:09,080
Speaker 1: tequila and looked back across his new friends. Donald Ferris

1109
01:01:09,080 --> 01:01:11,920
Speaker 1: looked somber as solemn and gray as a granite wall.

1110
01:01:12,520 --> 01:01:15,360
Speaker 1: Nana Yazi seemed almost excited, as if she'd reached the

1111
01:01:15,400 --> 01:01:18,680
Speaker 1: first jump scare in a good horror movie. Sasha hadn't

1112
01:01:18,680 --> 01:01:21,120
Speaker 1: touched her liquor. She didn't seem to have taken more

1113
01:01:21,160 --> 01:01:23,840
Speaker 1: than a few SIPs of the coke Manny found himself

1114
01:01:23,840 --> 01:01:26,520
Speaker 1: wondering what would happen to her after all this? What

1115
01:01:26,640 --> 01:01:29,320
Speaker 1: am I going to do after this? Manny realized with

1116
01:01:29,360 --> 01:01:31,400
Speaker 1: a bit of shock that Oscar's wife was the only

1117
01:01:31,440 --> 01:01:34,120
Speaker 1: person he'd messaged in almost a week. He hadn't sent

1118
01:01:34,160 --> 01:01:37,160
Speaker 1: anything to his family or his friends back in Austin.

1119
01:01:37,520 --> 01:01:40,000
Speaker 1: He'd had the excuse of his deck being deactivated when

1120
01:01:40,000 --> 01:01:42,200
Speaker 1: he'd been inside the Kingdom, but now that he was

1121
01:01:42,280 --> 01:01:45,320
Speaker 1: back and his deck was functional, his lack of communication

1122
01:01:45,400 --> 01:01:48,840
Speaker 1: felt less and less defensible. Just thinking about Ayisha and

1123
01:01:48,880 --> 01:01:51,520
Speaker 1: the terrible news he still had yet to deliver brought

1124
01:01:51,520 --> 01:01:53,800
Speaker 1: a spike of anxiety that was somehow worse than his

1125
01:01:53,880 --> 01:01:57,400
Speaker 1: fear over the coming battle. There's a certain sound that

1126
01:01:57,520 --> 01:01:59,880
Speaker 1: happens when a large group of people all noticed some

1127
01:02:00,040 --> 01:02:03,240
Speaker 1: thing at the same time. That sound shook Manny out

1128
01:02:03,240 --> 01:02:05,600
Speaker 1: of his contemplation and alerted him to the fact that

1129
01:02:05,720 --> 01:02:09,040
Speaker 1: something had started to happen on the screens. He looked up,

1130
01:02:09,040 --> 01:02:11,360
Speaker 1: and he saw that all the screens scattered around the

1131
01:02:11,360 --> 01:02:14,400
Speaker 1: city and hovering over the field now shared the same images.

1132
01:02:15,040 --> 01:02:17,360
Speaker 1: One side of the screens displayed a video feed of

1133
01:02:17,360 --> 01:02:20,200
Speaker 1: a man in full tactical armor. His eyes covered by

1134
01:02:20,240 --> 01:02:23,200
Speaker 1: goggles and his head protected by a black helmet. He

1135
01:02:23,320 --> 01:02:25,960
Speaker 1: was seated in the cupola of an armored vehicle rolling

1136
01:02:26,000 --> 01:02:29,120
Speaker 1: fast over the highway. Next to that video feed was

1137
01:02:29,160 --> 01:02:31,800
Speaker 1: a picture of the same man Sam's armor in more

1138
01:02:31,840 --> 01:02:34,920
Speaker 1: peaceful days. He was fair skinned, with red hair and

1139
01:02:34,960 --> 01:02:38,040
Speaker 1: an easy smile. He wore a shirt that Manny guests

1140
01:02:38,160 --> 01:02:40,760
Speaker 1: signified his allegiance to some sports team. In the am

1141
01:02:40,840 --> 01:02:46,160
Speaker 1: fed the images sat there alone for a second. Manny

1142
01:02:46,240 --> 01:02:48,840
Speaker 1: looked out at the horizon towards Rock Creek, where Rolling

1143
01:02:48,840 --> 01:02:52,200
Speaker 1: Fox soldiers had embedded themselves. He saw three black gray

1144
01:02:52,240 --> 01:02:54,800
Speaker 1: contrails rush out from an old office building and out

1145
01:02:54,880 --> 01:02:58,440
Speaker 1: towards the highway. The Heavenly Kingdom's forces were just barely

1146
01:02:58,520 --> 01:03:02,400
Speaker 1: visible to his naked eye, tiny ant sized tanks and transports.

1147
01:03:02,760 --> 01:03:05,400
Speaker 1: All three rockets hit, and the black smoke of the

1148
01:03:05,480 --> 01:03:09,480
Speaker 1: detonations obscured the head of the vehicle column. And then

1149
01:03:09,640 --> 01:03:12,320
Speaker 1: on the video feed, a rocket burst right above the

1150
01:03:12,320 --> 01:03:15,200
Speaker 1: man in the cupola. Manny watched as he was torn

1151
01:03:15,280 --> 01:03:18,200
Speaker 1: apart in a hail of shrapnel. The video and the

1152
01:03:18,240 --> 01:03:21,160
Speaker 1: still image of his smiling face were replaced a second

1153
01:03:21,240 --> 01:03:23,760
Speaker 1: later by a looping video of an older man playing

1154
01:03:23,760 --> 01:03:26,240
Speaker 1: with a baby girl. He picked her up and spun

1155
01:03:26,280 --> 01:03:29,000
Speaker 1: her around, and the camera zoomed in on his joyous smile.

1156
01:03:29,480 --> 01:03:32,320
Speaker 1: Another video played of a younger man attending his high

1157
01:03:32,320 --> 01:03:36,520
Speaker 1: school graduation. More videos and still images popped up, displaying

1158
01:03:36,560 --> 01:03:38,880
Speaker 1: gentle moments in the lives of at least a dozen

1159
01:03:38,920 --> 01:03:42,920
Speaker 1: different men, and then all the screens cut violently to

1160
01:03:43,040 --> 01:03:47,240
Speaker 1: video of and exploding a PC. Manny jerked back in surprise.

1161
01:03:47,800 --> 01:03:51,520
Speaker 1: He saw that Sasha had reacted similarly. Naniazi just sat

1162
01:03:51,560 --> 01:03:55,640
Speaker 1: and stared, her face unreadable. Donald Ferris frowned, and when

1163
01:03:55,640 --> 01:03:58,240
Speaker 1: he noticed Manny looking back at him, he waved a

1164
01:03:58,280 --> 01:04:02,880
Speaker 1: gentle hand towards the screen and the word watch. Manny

1165
01:04:02,960 --> 01:04:04,920
Speaker 1: turned back to the screens in time to see them

1166
01:04:04,960 --> 01:04:08,800
Speaker 1: populate with more faces and more looping videos. He watched

1167
01:04:08,800 --> 01:04:12,680
Speaker 1: his children open birthday presents and celebrated graduations. He saw

1168
01:04:12,720 --> 01:04:15,200
Speaker 1: young men pose with team mates or hug their kids.

1169
01:04:15,480 --> 01:04:18,640
Speaker 1: He saw pizza parties and Christmas mornings and laughter and love,

1170
01:04:18,680 --> 01:04:22,760
Speaker 1: and then another vehicle detonated. The screen cleared, and then

1171
01:04:22,800 --> 01:04:26,360
Speaker 1: it populated again with scenes from four more lives. Next

1172
01:04:26,400 --> 01:04:29,480
Speaker 1: to video of a detonating leopard tank, the parade of

1173
01:04:29,480 --> 01:04:32,600
Speaker 1: shattered lives went on as rockets, mortars, and now gunfire

1174
01:04:32,720 --> 01:04:35,520
Speaker 1: lashed out from Rock Creek and towards the vehicle column.

1175
01:04:36,080 --> 01:04:38,760
Speaker 1: Rowland isn't even there yet. This is just the beginning,

1176
01:04:39,400 --> 01:04:42,200
Speaker 1: Manny stared out, numb and queasy, and watched as the

1177
01:04:42,200 --> 01:04:46,120
Speaker 1: Heavenly Kingdom's armored spearhead changed direction and began the drive

1178
01:04:46,160 --> 01:04:49,880
Speaker 1: to Rock Creek. They were firing now, too, pouring explosive

1179
01:04:49,920 --> 01:04:53,160
Speaker 1: shot and long range rockets into the neighborhood. This is

1180
01:04:53,200 --> 01:04:55,840
Speaker 1: what you wanted, he reminded himself, as the parade of

1181
01:04:55,880 --> 01:05:02,160
Speaker 1: death sped up Rowland. It was downright cold at fifteen

1182
01:05:02,160 --> 01:05:05,040
Speaker 1: thousand feet. Rowland relished the bite in the air and

1183
01:05:05,160 --> 01:05:08,040
Speaker 1: stared out the Edmond Fitzgerald's side window. As he hit

1184
01:05:08,120 --> 01:05:11,680
Speaker 1: Jim's crack pipe for the last time, his synapses bubbled

1185
01:05:11,680 --> 01:05:14,640
Speaker 1: with dopamine. Now he couldn't stop his lips from curling

1186
01:05:14,720 --> 01:05:16,640
Speaker 1: up into a grin as he looked out onto the

1187
01:05:16,680 --> 01:05:20,680
Speaker 1: distant fields below. Five minutes to drop point, the pilot's

1188
01:05:20,720 --> 01:05:23,840
Speaker 1: voice echoed through the cargo compartment. Normally it would have

1189
01:05:23,880 --> 01:05:26,480
Speaker 1: held an array of smart bombs or close as salt drones.

1190
01:05:26,880 --> 01:05:30,560
Speaker 1: Today it held only Rowland. He stepped forward towards the

1191
01:05:30,560 --> 01:05:33,200
Speaker 1: rear bay doors of the craft. The feeling of the

1192
01:05:33,240 --> 01:05:36,240
Speaker 1: cold deck under his feet and the elevated hemoglobin levels

1193
01:05:36,240 --> 01:05:38,760
Speaker 1: in his blood brought the threat of another rush of

1194
01:05:38,800 --> 01:05:41,960
Speaker 1: memory to Roland's mind. The dizzy glee of the crack

1195
01:05:42,000 --> 01:05:45,880
Speaker 1: high helped him shrug it off. Combat soon, battle and

1196
01:05:46,040 --> 01:05:50,080
Speaker 1: battle drugs. He tried to temper his excitement. He didn't

1197
01:05:50,120 --> 01:05:52,240
Speaker 1: want to crave that high as much as he did.

1198
01:05:52,680 --> 01:05:55,200
Speaker 1: It'll just take a few seconds, he told himself, and

1199
01:05:55,280 --> 01:05:58,400
Speaker 1: then I can disengage. He could already feel the Heavenly

1200
01:05:58,480 --> 01:06:02,000
Speaker 1: Kingdom's army far below settling in Their nose had been

1201
01:06:02,000 --> 01:06:06,320
Speaker 1: bloodied by rolling Fox rocketry, but they'd suffered relatively few casualties.

1202
01:06:06,360 --> 01:06:09,680
Speaker 1: So far, the plan did seem to be working. Dozens

1203
01:06:09,680 --> 01:06:12,120
Speaker 1: of vehicles and thousands of men had already moved into

1204
01:06:12,120 --> 01:06:15,440
Speaker 1: position around the Rock Creek neighborhood. Roland could hear the

1205
01:06:15,480 --> 01:06:19,280
Speaker 1: sounds of their mortars, recoilless rifles, and assault guns opening fire.

1206
01:06:20,000 --> 01:06:22,200
Speaker 1: He reached out with his senses and tried to find

1207
01:06:22,240 --> 01:06:25,320
Speaker 1: Topaz and Skullfucker Mike in the mess, but their scents

1208
01:06:25,320 --> 01:06:29,040
Speaker 1: and heat profiles were obscured by shellfire and smoke, Roland

1209
01:06:29,040 --> 01:06:31,240
Speaker 1: was able to locate Jim, as well as Bigsby and

1210
01:06:31,280 --> 01:06:34,000
Speaker 1: his assault team. They were hunkered down at the edge

1211
01:06:34,000 --> 01:06:37,200
Speaker 1: of the neighborhood, embedded in an abandoned apartment complex, and

1212
01:06:37,280 --> 01:06:40,600
Speaker 1: engaged in a furious firefight with the Heavenly Kingdom's vanguard.

1213
01:06:41,120 --> 01:06:44,240
Speaker 1: Roland could smell the dopamine rushing into jim synapses from

1214
01:06:44,280 --> 01:06:47,440
Speaker 1: fifteen thousand feet in the air. His heart began to

1215
01:06:47,480 --> 01:06:50,400
Speaker 1: beat faster. He felt his left hand start to shake,

1216
01:06:50,720 --> 01:06:54,360
Speaker 1: not in fear, but in delirious anticipation of the battle drugs.

1217
01:06:54,760 --> 01:06:57,720
Speaker 1: Another flash of memory took him, and his hand shook

1218
01:06:57,720 --> 01:06:59,880
Speaker 1: so bad he could barely hold the needle straight. He'd

1219
01:07:00,000 --> 01:07:02,520
Speaker 1: already missed the vain troice. God darn it, God damn it,

1220
01:07:02,560 --> 01:07:05,320
Speaker 1: he cursed, before taking a deep breath and preparing himself

1221
01:07:05,360 --> 01:07:08,959
Speaker 1: to try again. Sixty seconds to drop. The pilot's voice

1222
01:07:08,960 --> 01:07:12,240
Speaker 1: pulled Roland back into the moment. That memory had felt weird.

1223
01:07:12,440 --> 01:07:14,760
Speaker 1: It had been blurry in his mind's eye, but Roland's

1224
01:07:14,840 --> 01:07:17,400
Speaker 1: arms and hands had felt smaller than was I shooting

1225
01:07:17,480 --> 01:07:20,440
Speaker 1: up dope as a teenager. He knew the answer based

1226
01:07:20,480 --> 01:07:24,880
Speaker 1: on his current predilections was probably Roland shook his mind

1227
01:07:24,920 --> 01:07:28,200
Speaker 1: away from the past and focused again on the war downstairs.

1228
01:07:28,720 --> 01:07:31,680
Speaker 1: The Kingdom had moved quickly. He guessed around four thousand

1229
01:07:31,720 --> 01:07:34,280
Speaker 1: of their men were already in position. These would be

1230
01:07:34,320 --> 01:07:37,960
Speaker 1: the elite, their most veteran fighters, the soldiers wearing power

1231
01:07:38,080 --> 01:07:40,840
Speaker 1: armor or writing in real armored transports and not up

1232
01:07:40,840 --> 01:07:43,600
Speaker 1: gun trucks. He could feel the rest of the Kingdom's

1233
01:07:43,680 --> 01:07:46,480
Speaker 1: army flung out far behind them in a long tale

1234
01:07:46,480 --> 01:07:49,439
Speaker 1: that stretched back to the brazos. How many of these

1235
01:07:49,440 --> 01:07:54,080
Speaker 1: men will die today? How many are already dead? Seconds

1236
01:07:54,120 --> 01:07:57,120
Speaker 1: his nose caught the distant gasoline reek of a flamethrower

1237
01:07:57,160 --> 01:08:00,120
Speaker 1: opening up on a squad of advancing martyrs. That's out

1238
01:08:00,120 --> 01:08:03,800
Speaker 1: to be Gym Right five seconds, the jump light turned

1239
01:08:03,840 --> 01:08:06,360
Speaker 1: from red to green, and the bombay doors opened with

1240
01:08:06,400 --> 01:08:09,000
Speaker 1: a rush of air and wind that cracked the uncovered

1241
01:08:09,040 --> 01:08:13,200
Speaker 1: skin on Roland's face. Three, said the pilot. He stepped

1242
01:08:13,200 --> 01:08:15,680
Speaker 1: out to the ledge and planted his feet. The world

1243
01:08:15,720 --> 01:08:19,200
Speaker 1: whipped by around them at a maddening speed. Roland looked down,

1244
01:08:19,360 --> 01:08:22,920
Speaker 1: focused and saw the heavenly Kingdom's army underneath him, dozens

1245
01:08:22,920 --> 01:08:25,360
Speaker 1: of vehicles and thousands of men had taken up position

1246
01:08:25,360 --> 01:08:28,280
Speaker 1: in a large park and several buildings surrounding Rock Creek.

1247
01:08:28,720 --> 01:08:31,400
Speaker 1: Two large gatherings of mortars and a trio of Leopard

1248
01:08:31,400 --> 01:08:33,880
Speaker 1: tanks made up the bulk of the artillery now pouring

1249
01:08:33,920 --> 01:08:37,519
Speaker 1: fire into rolling Fox forces. There were also several large

1250
01:08:37,560 --> 01:08:40,800
Speaker 1: field guns and rocket batteries currently being bolted into place

1251
01:08:40,840 --> 01:08:44,840
Speaker 1: in an old parking lot behind the park. Competent Roland

1252
01:08:44,920 --> 01:08:47,120
Speaker 1: was impressed by how the Kingdom's soldiers had parked their

1253
01:08:47,160 --> 01:08:50,360
Speaker 1: armored transports to help complete a fortress wall around one

1254
01:08:50,400 --> 01:08:53,439
Speaker 1: side of Rock Creek. They'd sent a few probing attacks

1255
01:08:53,439 --> 01:08:56,400
Speaker 1: of power armored troopers, but he could tell they wouldn't

1256
01:08:56,439 --> 01:08:59,360
Speaker 1: launch a full assault until they'd flattened the neighborhood to

1257
01:09:00,160 --> 01:09:03,280
Speaker 1: a trickle of endorphins and serotonin enjoined the soggy mush

1258
01:09:03,320 --> 01:09:06,760
Speaker 1: of dopamine and Roland's synapses. He closed his eyes and

1259
01:09:06,880 --> 01:09:10,240
Speaker 1: with a thought, activated the sundry weapons systems that Sardar

1260
01:09:10,320 --> 01:09:13,679
Speaker 1: had wired into his body. The missiles in their pods hummed,

1261
01:09:13,680 --> 01:09:16,280
Speaker 1: and the barrels around his right arm chimed in readiness.

1262
01:09:16,760 --> 01:09:21,799
Speaker 1: Lyrics from a half remembered song flitted across his mind. Time, time,

1263
01:09:21,920 --> 01:09:27,000
Speaker 1: time for another peaceful war. One Roland stepped off the

1264
01:09:27,000 --> 01:09:32,080
Speaker 1: back of the craft and into the skies embrace Sasha.

1265
01:09:33,000 --> 01:09:36,280
Speaker 1: The faces flashed by, along with video clips and curated

1266
01:09:36,280 --> 01:09:39,599
Speaker 1: posts from social media, and of course, scenes of death.

1267
01:09:40,160 --> 01:09:42,559
Speaker 1: Some of the men died from sniper fire, cut down

1268
01:09:42,560 --> 01:09:45,360
Speaker 1: as they ran for cover. Others died in long range

1269
01:09:45,360 --> 01:09:49,000
Speaker 1: firefights or from shrapnel. The pace of death had gradually

1270
01:09:49,120 --> 01:09:51,800
Speaker 1: risen over the course of the battle. Some of that

1271
01:09:52,000 --> 01:09:53,840
Speaker 1: was due to the fact that the martyrs had sent

1272
01:09:53,880 --> 01:09:56,840
Speaker 1: in several assault teams to test the metal of the Defenders.

1273
01:09:57,240 --> 01:10:00,680
Speaker 1: Those men had died fast and badly. Many of them

1274
01:10:00,680 --> 01:10:03,160
Speaker 1: had been burnt alive. The sight of it all should

1275
01:10:03,160 --> 01:10:06,519
Speaker 1: have horrified her. She wanted it to horrify her. Everyone

1276
01:10:06,560 --> 01:10:08,840
Speaker 1: else at the table had tears in their eyes. Even

1277
01:10:08,920 --> 01:10:11,439
Speaker 1: Nanny Ozzie was crying, and that lady looked like she'd

1278
01:10:11,439 --> 01:10:14,400
Speaker 1: been through some ship. Since when a you curse like that?

1279
01:10:15,280 --> 01:10:17,640
Speaker 1: Sasha felt a pang of guilt at how easily the

1280
01:10:17,720 --> 01:10:20,880
Speaker 1: swear word had come to her mind. Then she felt really,

1281
01:10:21,080 --> 01:10:25,759
Speaker 1: really stupid. She was literally watching people die. She'd killed

1282
01:10:25,760 --> 01:10:29,000
Speaker 1: two human beings less than forty eight hours ago. What

1283
01:10:29,040 --> 01:10:32,559
Speaker 1: the fuck does cursing matter, but still the guilt was there.

1284
01:10:32,960 --> 01:10:35,639
Speaker 1: Perhaps what she felt was a betrayal of her past self,

1285
01:10:36,240 --> 01:10:38,880
Speaker 1: or maybe she was just dumb. Sasha shook it off.

1286
01:10:39,120 --> 01:10:42,160
Speaker 1: She tried to focus on the carnage. It was horrible,

1287
01:10:42,400 --> 01:10:45,679
Speaker 1: She knew that in a detached, academic sense. She couldn't

1288
01:10:45,760 --> 01:10:48,519
Speaker 1: quite feel the horror, though. It was as if shooting

1289
01:10:48,600 --> 01:10:51,880
Speaker 1: Darrell had opened up a great, gnawing hole inside her heart,

1290
01:10:52,200 --> 01:10:55,200
Speaker 1: and that hole had spread like a black film over

1291
01:10:55,240 --> 01:10:59,200
Speaker 1: her entire body. All her feelings seemed so distant now.

1292
01:11:00,040 --> 01:11:02,679
Speaker 1: She wanted to cry about Darrell. She wanted to cry

1293
01:11:02,720 --> 01:11:05,799
Speaker 1: about this. She wanted to cry for Susannah and Anne,

1294
01:11:06,000 --> 01:11:08,559
Speaker 1: left alone in that living hell of a kingdom. She

1295
01:11:08,640 --> 01:11:11,880
Speaker 1: wanted to cry for herself too, but she couldn't, and

1296
01:11:11,920 --> 01:11:15,040
Speaker 1: so she didn't. Instead, she sat and watched as the

1297
01:11:15,080 --> 01:11:18,160
Speaker 1: warrior gods of this strange city helped the martyrs earn

1298
01:11:18,240 --> 01:11:22,000
Speaker 1: their title. Sasha looked out at the citizens of Rolling Fuck.

1299
01:11:22,560 --> 01:11:24,640
Speaker 1: Most of the people she could see were crying, and

1300
01:11:24,720 --> 01:11:28,799
Speaker 1: even those who weren't looked shaken, horrified. The perpetual party

1301
01:11:28,840 --> 01:11:31,519
Speaker 1: atmosphere she'd come to associate with the city of Wheels

1302
01:11:31,560 --> 01:11:34,400
Speaker 1: was gone. It had been suspended to allow for pain.

1303
01:11:34,920 --> 01:11:38,240
Speaker 1: Sasha wanted to hurt with them, but instead she thought

1304
01:11:38,240 --> 01:11:40,960
Speaker 1: about the offer that man Jim had made. She thought

1305
01:11:40,960 --> 01:11:43,519
Speaker 1: about the squeaking sound of the razor blade ripping out

1306
01:11:43,520 --> 01:11:46,960
Speaker 1: of Roland's forearm. She'd seen the way he fought. She

1307
01:11:47,080 --> 01:11:49,160
Speaker 1: longed for the high that had come with the violence

1308
01:11:49,160 --> 01:11:51,320
Speaker 1: and the clinic, but she couldn't stand more of the

1309
01:11:51,320 --> 01:11:54,240
Speaker 1: guilt killing Darrell had brought her. I could be a medic,

1310
01:11:54,400 --> 01:11:57,720
Speaker 1: Sasha thought, Jim said so. She looked up to the

1311
01:11:57,760 --> 01:12:01,040
Speaker 1: screens again at the parade of death. She wasn't sure

1312
01:12:01,040 --> 01:12:03,480
Speaker 1: if any of the dead had been rolling Fox soldiers.

1313
01:12:03,720 --> 01:12:06,280
Speaker 1: It didn't look like it, But as she settled back

1314
01:12:06,320 --> 01:12:09,719
Speaker 1: in to watch, something glitched on the screens. The stream

1315
01:12:09,760 --> 01:12:12,200
Speaker 1: of faces sped up well past the point where she

1316
01:12:12,240 --> 01:12:15,799
Speaker 1: could focus on any of them. Then the floe stopped, sputtered,

1317
01:12:16,000 --> 01:12:19,880
Speaker 1: the picture glitched out, and then righted itself. Whatever algorithm

1318
01:12:20,000 --> 01:12:23,320
Speaker 1: handled the show eventually stabilized, and the individual images on

1319
01:12:23,400 --> 01:12:27,160
Speaker 1: each screen shrank to accommodate many many more people, a

1320
01:12:27,240 --> 01:12:30,080
Speaker 1: flood of the dead and moments from their lives. The

1321
01:12:30,200 --> 01:12:33,280
Speaker 1: nature of their deaths changed too. Most of the first

1322
01:12:33,360 --> 01:12:36,560
Speaker 1: waves seemed to come from a sudden burst of explosive detonations.

1323
01:12:36,840 --> 01:12:40,160
Speaker 1: But the explosions stopped and the dying continued, and whatever

1324
01:12:40,280 --> 01:12:42,840
Speaker 1: was killing the martyrs now moved too fast to be

1325
01:12:42,920 --> 01:12:48,400
Speaker 1: clearly seen. What's happening? She heard Manny ask, is something wrong? No,

1326
01:12:49,040 --> 01:13:04,800
Speaker 1: the old man said, that's just Rowland. Rowland. Forty five

1327
01:13:04,840 --> 01:13:07,719
Speaker 1: seconds after his feet hit dirt, Rowland was out of AMMO.

1328
01:13:08,120 --> 01:13:10,600
Speaker 1: He'd managed to do a tremendous amount of damage in

1329
01:13:10,640 --> 01:13:13,519
Speaker 1: that short span of time, decimating their mortar batteries with

1330
01:13:13,520 --> 01:13:16,320
Speaker 1: cluster rockets and clearing the martyrs away from their field

1331
01:13:16,320 --> 01:13:19,960
Speaker 1: guns with a mix of gas and fragmentation grenades. He'd

1332
01:13:19,960 --> 01:13:23,280
Speaker 1: emptied his machine gun and three long bursts, mostly aimed

1333
01:13:23,280 --> 01:13:25,679
Speaker 1: at the infantry who had been clustered behind the APC

1334
01:13:25,800 --> 01:13:29,439
Speaker 1: barricades when he landed. Then he'd taken to scavenging rifles

1335
01:13:29,479 --> 01:13:32,280
Speaker 1: from the dead and emptying those into targets of opportunity.

1336
01:13:32,840 --> 01:13:35,720
Speaker 1: By the one minute mark, Rowland's high brain estimated he'd

1337
01:13:35,800 --> 01:13:38,800
Speaker 1: killed or wounded close to a thousand men. The sheer

1338
01:13:38,840 --> 01:13:42,280
Speaker 1: ferocity of his initial assault sent the Kingdom's forces reeling

1339
01:13:42,320 --> 01:13:44,640
Speaker 1: and cleared a circle of ground around him. About two

1340
01:13:44,760 --> 01:13:48,160
Speaker 1: hundred meters wide. Roland finished gunning down the crew of

1341
01:13:48,160 --> 01:13:50,800
Speaker 1: a Patriot battery and ran for an abandoned anti tank

1342
01:13:50,880 --> 01:13:54,320
Speaker 1: rifle lying next to a pile of bodies. Bullets smacked

1343
01:13:54,320 --> 01:13:57,799
Speaker 1: into him from all sides, diversionary fire meant to distract

1344
01:13:57,880 --> 01:14:00,960
Speaker 1: him from the uparmored Mattis a PC that suddenly gunned

1345
01:14:00,960 --> 01:14:03,479
Speaker 1: its engine and barreled towards him. They think they can

1346
01:14:03,560 --> 01:14:07,320
Speaker 1: run me over, Roland realized with something like glee, so

1347
01:14:07,360 --> 01:14:10,160
Speaker 1: he slowed down, reducing his sprint to something like a

1348
01:14:10,200 --> 01:14:13,080
Speaker 1: normal human running speed, while the vehicle closed the gap

1349
01:14:13,160 --> 01:14:16,240
Speaker 1: between them. He jumped at the last moment, landed on

1350
01:14:16,280 --> 01:14:18,719
Speaker 1: the APEC's roof and punched a hole through the top

1351
01:14:18,800 --> 01:14:21,439
Speaker 1: armor with both of his fists. Then he gripped the

1352
01:14:21,479 --> 01:14:23,639
Speaker 1: ragged metal at the sides of the hole and tore

1353
01:14:23,680 --> 01:14:26,639
Speaker 1: the APC open. The smell of fear hid his nose

1354
01:14:26,680 --> 01:14:29,200
Speaker 1: as he tore through the concrete wall. The room held

1355
01:14:29,240 --> 01:14:31,920
Speaker 1: a dozen men, a mix of guards and officers. One

1356
01:14:31,920 --> 01:14:33,839
Speaker 1: man in the middle wore the stars of a general

1357
01:14:33,880 --> 01:14:37,000
Speaker 1: in the United States Army. Some of the soldiers screamed,

1358
01:14:37,160 --> 01:14:39,720
Speaker 1: a few opened fire, but the general just stood there

1359
01:14:39,720 --> 01:14:43,400
Speaker 1: while Rowland killed. He didn't even blink, No fear poured

1360
01:14:43,439 --> 01:14:46,680
Speaker 1: off him. It's our fault, the general said once they

1361
01:14:46,680 --> 01:14:49,000
Speaker 1: were the only men left alive in the room. This

1362
01:14:49,160 --> 01:14:51,680
Speaker 1: is all our fault, Rowland time. A bullet hit his

1363
01:14:51,720 --> 01:14:54,840
Speaker 1: face and Roland snapped back to reality. The men in

1364
01:14:54,880 --> 01:14:57,280
Speaker 1: the apec below him were dead. It looked as if

1365
01:14:57,320 --> 01:14:59,880
Speaker 1: he'd shredded them with his bare hands. But while he'd

1366
01:15:00,080 --> 01:15:02,639
Speaker 1: lost in a memory, two more a PC's had roared

1367
01:15:02,720 --> 01:15:06,439
Speaker 1: up and disgorged a dozen power armored soldiers. They shot

1368
01:15:06,479 --> 01:15:09,559
Speaker 1: him with big guns, weapons meant to hurt monsters. He

1369
01:15:09,640 --> 01:15:12,920
Speaker 1: avoided some of their rounds, but not most. Roland lost

1370
01:15:12,960 --> 01:15:14,800
Speaker 1: the better part of his right hand, a chunk of

1371
01:15:14,840 --> 01:15:17,439
Speaker 1: his skull in his left knee. It hurt, but that

1372
01:15:17,560 --> 01:15:20,400
Speaker 1: didn't stop him. He leapt off the Maddison. Soon he

1373
01:15:20,479 --> 01:15:23,799
Speaker 1: was among them, ripping off armored plates and shattering bones

1374
01:15:23,840 --> 01:15:27,160
Speaker 1: with his bare hands. The battle drugs poured into his

1375
01:15:27,240 --> 01:15:30,360
Speaker 1: brain and lit his synapses up like the New York Skyline.

1376
01:15:30,880 --> 01:15:33,719
Speaker 1: Roland let out a terrible whooping cry that was half

1377
01:15:33,800 --> 01:15:36,160
Speaker 1: laugh and half scream, and he tore into the men

1378
01:15:36,200 --> 01:15:39,440
Speaker 1: as they tried in vain to do him real harm.

1379
01:15:39,479 --> 01:15:42,720
Speaker 1: It took nineteen seconds to eliminate them all. As the

1380
01:15:42,800 --> 01:15:45,840
Speaker 1: last man dropped, Roland realized with some surprise that he

1381
01:15:45,880 --> 01:15:49,479
Speaker 1: could hear Jim's voice, distant but getting closer. His old

1382
01:15:49,520 --> 01:15:52,599
Speaker 1: friend was charging, screaming out war whoops, and firing those

1383
01:15:52,640 --> 01:15:55,800
Speaker 1: big dumb pistols. Then he heard the familiar crack of

1384
01:15:55,840 --> 01:15:59,640
Speaker 1: a Dragonov sniper rifle Topaz his rifle. He remembered it

1385
01:15:59,680 --> 01:16:01,840
Speaker 1: now the sound was as familiar to him as the

1386
01:16:01,920 --> 01:16:05,680
Speaker 1: voice of his own mother. Holy shit, Roland realized that

1387
01:16:05,960 --> 01:16:08,360
Speaker 1: for the first time in years, he could remember the

1388
01:16:08,400 --> 01:16:11,360
Speaker 1: sound of his mother's voice. Her name and face were

1389
01:16:11,400 --> 01:16:14,120
Speaker 1: still lost in memory, but all this violence was clearly

1390
01:16:14,200 --> 01:16:17,559
Speaker 1: knocking some things loose. He took a step back behind

1391
01:16:17,600 --> 01:16:20,320
Speaker 1: what of the intact a PCs to avoid a spray

1392
01:16:20,360 --> 01:16:23,240
Speaker 1: of heavy machine gun fire and take stock of the situation.

1393
01:16:23,800 --> 01:16:26,160
Speaker 1: Now that he focused, he could feel the hoofbeats of

1394
01:16:26,240 --> 01:16:28,920
Speaker 1: rolling Fox cavalry. He could sense that many of the

1395
01:16:28,960 --> 01:16:31,760
Speaker 1: city's infantry had charged out from their positions in Rock

1396
01:16:31,840 --> 01:16:34,519
Speaker 1: Creek to meet the martyrs in hand to hand combat.

1397
01:16:35,240 --> 01:16:38,360
Speaker 1: The Heavenly Kingdom was not in flight, not yet, but

1398
01:16:38,439 --> 01:16:41,439
Speaker 1: they would break soon. Roland knew it he could smell

1399
01:16:41,439 --> 01:16:44,080
Speaker 1: it in the air. Time to stop, now, time to

1400
01:16:44,160 --> 01:16:46,920
Speaker 1: let Schoffucker, Mike Topaz and the others finish the fight.

1401
01:16:47,479 --> 01:16:51,160
Speaker 1: He'd done enough, He knew he'd done enough, and yet

1402
01:16:52,000 --> 01:16:55,320
Speaker 1: the drugs. Even after just a few seconds out of

1403
01:16:55,320 --> 01:16:58,559
Speaker 1: direct combat, the high was starting to fade, and Roland

1404
01:16:58,560 --> 01:17:02,200
Speaker 1: wanted more. He thought about cracking another skull in his hand. Itched.

1405
01:17:02,479 --> 01:17:04,280
Speaker 1: He heard one of the martyrs open up with an

1406
01:17:04,280 --> 01:17:07,679
Speaker 1: automatic grenade launcher and thought about how good that gun

1407
01:17:07,720 --> 01:17:10,840
Speaker 1: would feel bucking against the meat of his shoulder. The

1408
01:17:10,880 --> 01:17:13,840
Speaker 1: man with the grenade launcher was close. Roland could close

1409
01:17:13,880 --> 01:17:17,120
Speaker 1: the distance between them and two maybe three seconds. No,

1410
01:17:17,760 --> 01:17:20,840
Speaker 1: you don't need to do this. Stop. Fewer people will

1411
01:17:20,840 --> 01:17:27,479
Speaker 1: die if you just, Roland charged Manny. Manny had seen

1412
01:17:27,600 --> 01:17:30,360
Speaker 1: nine people killed by bullets or bombs. He'd seen a

1413
01:17:30,360 --> 01:17:33,960
Speaker 1: good deal more fresh corpses in the aftermath of firefights.

1414
01:17:34,000 --> 01:17:36,479
Speaker 1: He had a strong stomach, and he was not easily

1415
01:17:36,520 --> 01:17:39,960
Speaker 1: distressed by gore. The opening stages of this battle and

1416
01:17:40,000 --> 01:17:43,040
Speaker 1: the war ritual had been unsettling, but not because of

1417
01:17:43,080 --> 01:17:47,840
Speaker 1: the violence that changed soon after Roland landed. He's just

1418
01:17:48,160 --> 01:17:52,120
Speaker 1: tearing people apart, Manny said, without really meaning to say

1419
01:17:52,160 --> 01:17:55,800
Speaker 1: anything at all. Donald Ferris replied with a grim nod.

1420
01:17:57,040 --> 01:18:00,160
Speaker 1: It's hard to watch. Nanny Azi admitted as an their

1421
01:18:00,240 --> 01:18:03,000
Speaker 1: dozen lives and did messily on the screens before them.

1422
01:18:03,439 --> 01:18:06,439
Speaker 1: It'll be over soon, though they can't take much more

1423
01:18:06,479 --> 01:18:09,840
Speaker 1: of this. I haven't seen any of your people die yet,

1424
01:18:10,000 --> 01:18:15,400
Speaker 1: Sasha said, is that abnormal? No. Donald's voice was grim.

1425
01:18:15,439 --> 01:18:17,479
Speaker 1: There will be a lot of injuries, but I don't

1426
01:18:17,520 --> 01:18:22,519
Speaker 1: expect Rolling Fuck will lose a single warrior, good, Sasha said,

1427
01:18:23,120 --> 01:18:26,679
Speaker 1: is it? Donald asked, of course, it's good. You silly fuck.

1428
01:18:27,040 --> 01:18:30,000
Speaker 1: Nana Yazzi snapped, that was the first time Manny could

1429
01:18:30,040 --> 01:18:34,120
Speaker 1: recall hearing her angry. I disagree, the old man grumbled.

1430
01:18:34,360 --> 01:18:37,040
Speaker 1: We're on a precipice here, the edge of a deep cliff.

1431
01:18:37,400 --> 01:18:39,800
Speaker 1: Every time this happens, we get a little closer to

1432
01:18:39,840 --> 01:18:44,280
Speaker 1: falling off. What do you mean, Manny asked, He means,

1433
01:18:44,640 --> 01:18:47,120
Speaker 1: Nana Yazzi replied with a bit of drunken slur to

1434
01:18:47,200 --> 01:18:50,000
Speaker 1: her voice. He doesn't trust the people of this city.

1435
01:18:50,320 --> 01:18:52,280
Speaker 1: He thinks they'll get a taste for war and this

1436
01:18:52,360 --> 01:18:55,960
Speaker 1: whole experiment will turn into a nightmare. You can't trust

1437
01:18:56,000 --> 01:18:59,679
Speaker 1: the dark, Donald Ferris insisted, and We're in the dark here,

1438
01:19:00,280 --> 01:19:02,280
Speaker 1: he waved out at the field and the hundreds of

1439
01:19:02,320 --> 01:19:05,120
Speaker 1: people watching the faces of the dead and tearful silence.

1440
01:19:05,600 --> 01:19:08,200
Speaker 1: Right now, we've managed to lash together a chain of

1441
01:19:08,280 --> 01:19:11,360
Speaker 1: rituals that keep them peaceful. How long can that last?

1442
01:19:12,080 --> 01:19:15,120
Speaker 1: Naniyazi glared at him, and then shifted her gaze to Nanny.

1443
01:19:15,479 --> 01:19:18,519
Speaker 1: She pointed a finger at Donald. He thinks we should

1444
01:19:18,520 --> 01:19:21,160
Speaker 1: have let your people die. I think we have a

1445
01:19:21,200 --> 01:19:26,919
Speaker 1: responsibility to intervene. I'm not saying we don't. Donald Ferris insisted,

1446
01:19:27,200 --> 01:19:31,120
Speaker 1: I'm just saying I've seen how this story ends. History

1447
01:19:31,160 --> 01:19:36,360
Speaker 1: may not repeat itself, but it does. Rhyme, pithy, Naniyazi said,

1448
01:19:36,560 --> 01:19:40,479
Speaker 1: But oh. She stopped mid sentence and stared out into

1449
01:19:40,479 --> 01:19:43,719
Speaker 1: the screens. Mannie looked back just in time to watch

1450
01:19:43,760 --> 01:19:46,719
Speaker 1: the flow of dead faces speed up again. The screens

1451
01:19:46,800 --> 01:19:50,440
Speaker 1: jerked and shuddered to accommodate the new flow. Once they adjusted,

1452
01:19:50,520 --> 01:19:53,600
Speaker 1: Mannie was shocked again at the violence on display. He

1453
01:19:53,680 --> 01:19:56,800
Speaker 1: saw men run through with lances, gutted by scimitars, burnt

1454
01:19:56,800 --> 01:19:59,920
Speaker 1: by napalm, and trampled under the spiked hoves of quadrufrats.

1455
01:20:00,720 --> 01:20:05,920
Speaker 1: Oh God, he moaned. Ah Yes, Naniyazi sighed, that would

1456
01:20:05,920 --> 01:20:09,360
Speaker 1: be the cavalry. It won't be much longer now they're

1457
01:20:09,400 --> 01:20:15,559
Speaker 1: here to finish the job. Rowland, the Knights of Rolling

1458
01:20:15,560 --> 01:20:18,880
Speaker 1: Fuck were a sight to see. Truly. It wasn't often

1459
01:20:18,880 --> 01:20:22,080
Speaker 1: that Roland came across something that registered as completely new

1460
01:20:22,160 --> 01:20:25,240
Speaker 1: to the deep, battered banks of his memory. But there

1461
01:20:25,320 --> 01:20:28,240
Speaker 1: was no deja vous here, no sense that he'd watched

1462
01:20:28,320 --> 01:20:31,880
Speaker 1: anything like it before. Rolling Fox riders worked in two

1463
01:20:31,880 --> 01:20:35,559
Speaker 1: and three person squads, mostly using a mix of hand grenades,

1464
01:20:35,600 --> 01:20:38,839
Speaker 1: small arms, flame throwers, and melee weapons for shock value.

1465
01:20:39,360 --> 01:20:43,120
Speaker 1: Their timing was exquisite. One hundred riders hit the martyrs

1466
01:20:43,160 --> 01:20:46,240
Speaker 1: at the same time. They didn't seem to have specific

1467
01:20:46,280 --> 01:20:50,600
Speaker 1: targets or goals beyond causing mayhem, but they did this expertly,

1468
01:20:50,800 --> 01:20:54,400
Speaker 1: spiking armored vehicles and field guns with white phosphorus charges

1469
01:20:54,640 --> 01:20:58,080
Speaker 1: and scattering any clusters of martyrs they could find. The

1470
01:20:58,120 --> 01:21:01,679
Speaker 1: woman Kashore rode past him, her face skinned and weeping

1471
01:21:01,680 --> 01:21:04,040
Speaker 1: blood as she lobbed a hand grenade towards a group

1472
01:21:04,080 --> 01:21:08,240
Speaker 1: of martyrs hunkered behind the shattered remains of a public restroom.

1473
01:21:08,280 --> 01:21:10,960
Speaker 1: She pulled a maqua wheedle with an iron trunk and

1474
01:21:11,000 --> 01:21:14,120
Speaker 1: gleaming obsidian blades free from her belt as her steed

1475
01:21:14,200 --> 01:21:16,879
Speaker 1: leapt over the burning wreckage of a jeep and bounded

1476
01:21:16,920 --> 01:21:20,640
Speaker 1: towards the survivors. Roland followed her, tearing a piece of

1477
01:21:20,680 --> 01:21:24,360
Speaker 1: rebar free from some rubble as he charged. The restrooms

1478
01:21:24,360 --> 01:21:25,840
Speaker 1: were at one end of what had once been a

1479
01:21:25,880 --> 01:21:29,160
Speaker 1: giant playground in a public park. It had been derelict

1480
01:21:29,200 --> 01:21:31,479
Speaker 1: for more than a decade, but the corpses of swing

1481
01:21:31,560 --> 01:21:35,120
Speaker 1: sets and remnants of slides were still visible. Several hundred

1482
01:21:35,160 --> 01:21:37,599
Speaker 1: of the martyrs had fallen back to this position, trying

1483
01:21:37,640 --> 01:21:41,200
Speaker 1: to create some sort of defensive line. Panic and mass

1484
01:21:41,240 --> 01:21:43,519
Speaker 1: death had robbed them of a lot of cohesion, but

1485
01:21:43,560 --> 01:21:46,160
Speaker 1: they still managed to pour a lot of fire into

1486
01:21:46,240 --> 01:21:49,839
Speaker 1: Roland and Cashori as they charged. A rocket propelled grenade

1487
01:21:49,920 --> 01:21:52,840
Speaker 1: hit the chest of her quadrifract and burst, ripping off

1488
01:21:52,880 --> 01:21:55,280
Speaker 1: one of the machine's legs and sending the Chrome Woman

1489
01:21:55,360 --> 01:21:58,639
Speaker 1: tumbling to the ground, gravel and rubble embedding itself into

1490
01:21:58,640 --> 01:22:02,400
Speaker 1: the red musculature of her bleeding face. Roland didn't stop

1491
01:22:02,439 --> 01:22:05,559
Speaker 1: for her. He charged ahead, absorbed a few dozen rounds

1492
01:22:05,600 --> 01:22:08,120
Speaker 1: of small arms fire, and dodged a handful of rocket

1493
01:22:08,120 --> 01:22:11,160
Speaker 1: propelled grenades. He hid a group of twenty three men

1494
01:22:11,360 --> 01:22:14,599
Speaker 1: clustered behind a long, still glass barricade and several heavy

1495
01:22:14,600 --> 01:22:17,559
Speaker 1: metal crates. These martyrs had been trying to get a

1496
01:22:17,560 --> 01:22:20,680
Speaker 1: trio of anti tank guns back into the fight. They

1497
01:22:20,720 --> 01:22:23,200
Speaker 1: gave up on that once Roland had closed to about

1498
01:22:23,200 --> 01:22:26,240
Speaker 1: twenty feet. One of them, an older man with a spine,

1499
01:22:26,400 --> 01:22:29,880
Speaker 1: shouted words of encouragement and charged forward, firing with a

1500
01:22:29,920 --> 01:22:33,639
Speaker 1: dozen of his men. These soldiers weren't wearing powered armor.

1501
01:22:33,880 --> 01:22:35,559
Speaker 1: They weren't good enough to hit more than one and

1502
01:22:35,600 --> 01:22:39,240
Speaker 1: twenty shots. They wore old, up cycled body armor. Only

1503
01:22:39,280 --> 01:22:42,799
Speaker 1: a few of them had bayonets. They presented no real threat.

1504
01:22:43,320 --> 01:22:45,280
Speaker 1: Twenty seconds n I can put every one of these

1505
01:22:45,280 --> 01:22:47,920
Speaker 1: fuckers down for the rest of the fight. No one

1506
01:22:48,000 --> 01:22:51,760
Speaker 1: needs to die. His hand twitched, the river of dopamine,

1507
01:22:51,760 --> 01:22:55,200
Speaker 1: and his synapses shrank to a babbling brook. Roland felt

1508
01:22:55,200 --> 01:22:59,160
Speaker 1: a craving rise. Maybe just a few more he was

1509
01:22:59,200 --> 01:23:02,280
Speaker 1: among them. Roland found that brave old fucker picked him

1510
01:23:02,320 --> 01:23:04,200
Speaker 1: up by the skull and used him as a flail

1511
01:23:04,280 --> 01:23:07,519
Speaker 1: until the bones of his face came loose and Roland's hands.

1512
01:23:07,960 --> 01:23:10,599
Speaker 1: He deployed the razor in his wrist and started slicing

1513
01:23:10,600 --> 01:23:13,759
Speaker 1: off hands and ears. He moved on to slashing tendons

1514
01:23:13,760 --> 01:23:16,880
Speaker 1: and muscles, and eventually just hacked at his enemies like

1515
01:23:16,920 --> 01:23:20,479
Speaker 1: a drunken butcher. One boy dropped his gun, tried to

1516
01:23:20,520 --> 01:23:23,120
Speaker 1: back away, and fell on his ass. As Roland stalked

1517
01:23:23,200 --> 01:23:26,719
Speaker 1: towards him, the protesters screamed and screamed. They swung sticks

1518
01:23:26,720 --> 01:23:28,479
Speaker 1: and tried to bash him with their shields, and he

1519
01:23:28,560 --> 01:23:31,400
Speaker 1: knocked their clumsy strikes aside and waded into the mass.

1520
01:23:31,840 --> 01:23:35,400
Speaker 1: Roland didn't even consider drawing a gun. He tore every

1521
01:23:35,439 --> 01:23:38,679
Speaker 1: fistful of human flesh, sent a wave of orgiastically bubbling

1522
01:23:38,720 --> 01:23:41,559
Speaker 1: through his brain. A young woman screamed and tried to run,

1523
01:23:41,560 --> 01:23:43,479
Speaker 1: and he grabbed her hair and pulled in the sound

1524
01:23:43,479 --> 01:23:47,160
Speaker 1: of her neck snapping almost made in shriek with joy, Please,

1525
01:23:47,360 --> 01:23:50,280
Speaker 1: said a different man, before Roland shattered his skull against

1526
01:23:50,280 --> 01:23:52,840
Speaker 1: the pavement and left up to chase down a trio

1527
01:23:52,880 --> 01:23:56,080
Speaker 1: of fleeing martyrs. He was back and in serlick, bloody

1528
01:23:56,080 --> 01:23:59,320
Speaker 1: and injured, an almost snowblind from the battle drugs. Roland

1529
01:23:59,320 --> 01:24:01,320
Speaker 1: shoved his way through the door and into the air

1530
01:24:01,400 --> 01:24:04,040
Speaker 1: raid shelter he'd already pulled a grenade free from his

1531
01:24:04,080 --> 01:24:06,400
Speaker 1: harness when he found himself face to face with a

1532
01:24:06,479 --> 01:24:10,160
Speaker 1: room full of women and children, old men and young boys, civilians,

1533
01:24:10,479 --> 01:24:15,000
Speaker 1: unarmed and with sudden shock, Roland realized he didn't care

1534
01:24:15,040 --> 01:24:19,080
Speaker 1: about that last part. His synapses screamed for more. Roland

1535
01:24:19,160 --> 01:24:23,479
Speaker 1: obliged them, My god, stop stop. He came back to

1536
01:24:23,600 --> 01:24:26,200
Speaker 1: himself and realized he was on the ground and locked

1537
01:24:26,200 --> 01:24:28,519
Speaker 1: into a pretty darn good half nelson. It took him

1538
01:24:28,560 --> 01:24:31,439
Speaker 1: a moment to realize that woman Kaushore was the one

1539
01:24:31,479 --> 01:24:36,519
Speaker 1: holding him. Oh, he said, what the fuck man? Roland

1540
01:24:36,560 --> 01:24:39,799
Speaker 1: looked around. None of the martyrs near him were still standing.

1541
01:24:40,160 --> 01:24:43,160
Speaker 1: It was hard even for his hindbrain to identify how

1542
01:24:43,160 --> 01:24:46,320
Speaker 1: many people had fallen around him. He guessed south of

1543
01:24:46,360 --> 01:24:49,519
Speaker 1: a hundred, but not far south. The number was shocking.

1544
01:24:49,720 --> 01:24:52,400
Speaker 1: It implied a longer blackout than any of the others.

1545
01:24:52,800 --> 01:24:55,760
Speaker 1: What was scarier was the sheer violence evident in these

1546
01:24:55,760 --> 01:24:59,080
Speaker 1: men's death. Most of them were in more than two pieces.

1547
01:24:59,479 --> 01:25:02,400
Speaker 1: Are you not flip out? If I let go? Roland

1548
01:25:02,439 --> 01:25:05,519
Speaker 1: shook his head and Cashorey released him. He turned around,

1549
01:25:05,680 --> 01:25:08,640
Speaker 1: still seated, and looked at the young woman. She was

1550
01:25:08,720 --> 01:25:11,120
Speaker 1: filthy with grime and blood, some of it her own.

1551
01:25:11,439 --> 01:25:14,920
Speaker 1: Her skinless face wept red. But even so he could

1552
01:25:14,960 --> 01:25:18,519
Speaker 1: still see the judgment in her eyes. That was not

1553
01:25:18,760 --> 01:25:24,880
Speaker 1: fucking necessary. She said, I'm sorry, I Roland, it was skufucker.

1554
01:25:24,960 --> 01:25:28,919
Speaker 1: Mike Topaz trailed behind him at a sizeable distance, sweeping

1555
01:25:28,920 --> 01:25:31,960
Speaker 1: the field with a rifle. Roland tried to catch his eye.

1556
01:25:32,200 --> 01:25:34,800
Speaker 1: He avoided Roland's gaze for a second or two, but

1557
01:25:34,840 --> 01:25:38,160
Speaker 1: then they connected and she stared at him with those big, brown,

1558
01:25:38,280 --> 01:25:41,439
Speaker 1: tear stained eyes. This isn't what I wanted, Rowland, This

1559
01:25:41,479 --> 01:25:43,720
Speaker 1: isn't what we said we were fighting for. This is

1560
01:25:43,760 --> 01:25:47,320
Speaker 1: just butchery. He felt angry at her blind rage that

1561
01:25:47,400 --> 01:25:50,479
Speaker 1: warred with his love. Of course, it's butchery, he screamed.

1562
01:25:50,680 --> 01:25:54,479
Speaker 1: The world is built by butcher's dude, kashore He slapped

1563
01:25:54,560 --> 01:25:58,040
Speaker 1: him hard, and Roland came back to himself, scofucker. Mike

1564
01:25:58,120 --> 01:26:01,280
Speaker 1: was closer now. Roland looked for Topaz and found him.

1565
01:26:01,400 --> 01:26:04,200
Speaker 1: He was closer to and looked worried, but he didn't

1566
01:26:04,200 --> 01:26:08,760
Speaker 1: say anything. Is Roland all right? Mike asked Kashouri. Was

1567
01:26:08,800 --> 01:26:12,519
Speaker 1: he hit? Sure, But that's not the problem, Kushorey said,

1568
01:26:12,760 --> 01:26:14,880
Speaker 1: he just went bug funk on like a company of

1569
01:26:14,920 --> 01:26:18,760
Speaker 1: those guys, ripped them apart with his bare hands. It's

1570
01:26:18,760 --> 01:26:22,640
Speaker 1: a fucking relapse, said skullfucker Mike. He knelt down in

1571
01:26:22,680 --> 01:26:25,719
Speaker 1: front of Roland and put a hand on his shoulder. Buddy,

1572
01:26:25,840 --> 01:26:29,599
Speaker 1: he said, it's done. They're starting to run whole army.

1573
01:26:29,600 --> 01:26:32,280
Speaker 1: You'll be routed in a few minutes. You just sit

1574
01:26:32,400 --> 01:26:36,599
Speaker 1: here and catch your breath and routed. Roland looked around

1575
01:26:36,640 --> 01:26:39,679
Speaker 1: and realized his hands were shaking. He felt a vast,

1576
01:26:39,880 --> 01:26:43,840
Speaker 1: throbbing emptiness in his synapses. He realized that the emptiness

1577
01:26:43,880 --> 01:26:46,200
Speaker 1: was always there, and had been for as long as

1578
01:26:46,240 --> 01:26:48,880
Speaker 1: he could remember. Most days he hid it under a

1579
01:26:48,920 --> 01:26:51,559
Speaker 1: haze of narcotics, But now that he'd had it filled

1580
01:26:51,640 --> 01:26:55,799
Speaker 1: for just a minute, it's emptiness hurt like an amputated limb.

1581
01:26:56,280 --> 01:27:00,360
Speaker 1: He looked out and saw that, yes, skullfucker Mike was wrecked.

1582
01:27:00,720 --> 01:27:03,599
Speaker 1: Several pockets of Martyr still held out, but the bulk

1583
01:27:03,680 --> 01:27:06,240
Speaker 1: of the vanguard was either dead or fleeing for the

1584
01:27:06,280 --> 01:27:09,840
Speaker 1: line of transports and technicals that stretched back to the Brazos.

1585
01:27:10,760 --> 01:27:12,880
Speaker 1: It felt like the rest of the army had started

1586
01:27:12,920 --> 01:27:16,360
Speaker 1: the slow process of halting and reversing its advance. The

1587
01:27:16,479 --> 01:27:19,840
Speaker 1: Kingdom had decided to pull back. Are you done or not,

1588
01:27:20,080 --> 01:27:22,720
Speaker 1: Roland asked an evil voice in the back of his head.

1589
01:27:23,000 --> 01:27:26,240
Speaker 1: If you're not done, if you want more, you'd better

1590
01:27:26,320 --> 01:27:30,800
Speaker 1: go get it. Roland leaned back. He looked from skullfucker

1591
01:27:30,880 --> 01:27:34,120
Speaker 1: Mike took a shore and finally to Topaz. Then he

1592
01:27:34,200 --> 01:27:37,040
Speaker 1: reached behind him, grabbed a busted rifle he could use

1593
01:27:37,080 --> 01:27:41,760
Speaker 1: as a club, and stood up Roland. No, skullfucker, Mike

1594
01:27:41,880 --> 01:27:45,280
Speaker 1: started to say. Roland didn't hear the rest. He bolted

1595
01:27:45,280 --> 01:27:47,959
Speaker 1: off as fast as he could run in the direction

1596
01:27:48,120 --> 01:27:54,120
Speaker 1: of the fleeing martyrs. Sasha it was amazing how much

1597
01:27:54,120 --> 01:27:56,000
Speaker 1: she could tell about the course of the battle just

1598
01:27:56,160 --> 01:27:59,000
Speaker 1: from watching the faces of its casualties. The pace of

1599
01:27:59,000 --> 01:28:01,360
Speaker 1: the killing and escalate it to a certain level, and

1600
01:28:01,400 --> 01:28:04,240
Speaker 1: then started to slowly fall. More and more of the

1601
01:28:04,240 --> 01:28:07,439
Speaker 1: men died with their backs to the enemy running. Sasha

1602
01:28:07,520 --> 01:28:09,720
Speaker 1: guessed that meant the army, or at least a lot

1603
01:28:09,760 --> 01:28:12,479
Speaker 1: of it, had started to break. The pace of death

1604
01:28:12,560 --> 01:28:16,960
Speaker 1: slowed to a trickle. Well. Then Donald Ferris grumbled, it

1605
01:28:17,080 --> 01:28:19,600
Speaker 1: seems like that's more or less settled. I'm going to

1606
01:28:19,600 --> 01:28:22,599
Speaker 1: get us another round. I think we've all eaten enough guilt. Father,

1607
01:28:23,160 --> 01:28:28,360
Speaker 1: He stopped, his jaw dropped. Oh no. Sasha turned back

1608
01:28:28,360 --> 01:28:30,000
Speaker 1: to the screen to see that the roll of the

1609
01:28:30,040 --> 01:28:33,280
Speaker 1: dead had started to increase again. These men were running too,

1610
01:28:33,479 --> 01:28:36,400
Speaker 1: but most of them weren't dying to ranged weaponry. They

1611
01:28:36,400 --> 01:28:39,320
Speaker 1: were being grabbed from behind, ripped apart, or club to

1612
01:28:39,360 --> 01:28:42,160
Speaker 1: death by something moving far too fast for human eyes

1613
01:28:42,200 --> 01:28:46,840
Speaker 1: to focus on. Roland Manny said in a dull voice

1614
01:28:46,880 --> 01:28:50,639
Speaker 1: filled with sorrow. Sasha scanned the faces of her table mates.

1615
01:28:51,120 --> 01:28:54,559
Speaker 1: Manny looked almost overwhelmed with guilt. His eyes were watery,

1616
01:28:54,600 --> 01:28:57,360
Speaker 1: and he just kept shaking his head and muttering to himself.

1617
01:28:57,760 --> 01:29:01,080
Speaker 1: Nanny Yazzi's mouth was closed, her face looked tight and

1618
01:29:01,160 --> 01:29:05,479
Speaker 1: frozen in horror. Donald Ferris was quite clearly furious. His

1619
01:29:05,600 --> 01:29:08,360
Speaker 1: face was so red. Sasha worried his heart might give out,

1620
01:29:08,880 --> 01:29:13,280
Speaker 1: and yet she felt nothing. That's curious, isn't it. Sasha

1621
01:29:13,320 --> 01:29:15,880
Speaker 1: could remember how angry she'd gotten as a girl when

1622
01:29:15,880 --> 01:29:19,160
Speaker 1: she read some story about anti Christian brutality in Turkey

1623
01:29:19,280 --> 01:29:22,720
Speaker 1: or Illinois. She remembered being horrified by the execution she

1624
01:29:22,800 --> 01:29:25,800
Speaker 1: had witnessed, but she could only picture her emotional state

1625
01:29:25,840 --> 01:29:28,680
Speaker 1: and those moments from a great distance, as if she

1626
01:29:28,720 --> 01:29:30,880
Speaker 1: were staring at it through the fogged up lens of

1627
01:29:30,880 --> 01:29:34,559
Speaker 1: a telescope. Why am I not angry? Why am I

1628
01:29:34,600 --> 01:29:38,640
Speaker 1: not horrified? Her concern over this fact actually generated a

1629
01:29:38,680 --> 01:29:43,120
Speaker 1: stronger emotional reaction than anything happening out on that battlefield.

1630
01:29:43,160 --> 01:29:46,400
Speaker 1: Sasha stared out at the cameras and the continuing parade

1631
01:29:46,400 --> 01:29:49,880
Speaker 1: of violence. She heard Manny cursing under his breath. She

1632
01:29:50,000 --> 01:29:53,639
Speaker 1: heard Nana Yazi fight back a sob, but Sasha felt nothing,

1633
01:29:53,960 --> 01:30:00,160
Speaker 1: save perhaps a bit of jealousy. Rowland, the scene out

1634
01:30:00,160 --> 01:30:02,599
Speaker 1: by the Brasos felt less like a battlefield and more

1635
01:30:02,680 --> 01:30:05,880
Speaker 1: like a playground. This might be the highest I've ever been,

1636
01:30:06,200 --> 01:30:08,240
Speaker 1: he thought, as he broke a man's neck with the

1637
01:30:08,240 --> 01:30:11,120
Speaker 1: back of his hand. Bullets whizzed by as a few

1638
01:30:11,120 --> 01:30:13,400
Speaker 1: of the braver soldiers tried to cover the retreat of

1639
01:30:13,400 --> 01:30:16,799
Speaker 1: their comrades, most of them, even the drivers, had abandoned

1640
01:30:16,840 --> 01:30:20,320
Speaker 1: their transports. Hundreds of men were already wading into the river,

1641
01:30:20,560 --> 01:30:23,160
Speaker 1: tearing off their armor and tossing aside their weapons as

1642
01:30:23,160 --> 01:30:26,799
Speaker 1: they plunged in. The Heavenly Kingdom's army would not rally

1643
01:30:26,880 --> 01:30:30,320
Speaker 1: any time soon. A martyr turned and drew his knife

1644
01:30:30,360 --> 01:30:33,400
Speaker 1: in a feeble attempt at resistance. Roland caved in the

1645
01:30:33,439 --> 01:30:35,760
Speaker 1: man's stern hum with a fist and squashed his heart

1646
01:30:35,800 --> 01:30:38,760
Speaker 1: like a june bug. Ten meters ahead, he saw three

1647
01:30:38,800 --> 01:30:42,679
Speaker 1: soldiers preparing to make their stand behind an overturned flatbed truck.

1648
01:30:43,040 --> 01:30:45,639
Speaker 1: As he ran, Roland grabbed at his scarded rifle off

1649
01:30:45,640 --> 01:30:49,559
Speaker 1: the ground, a Thompson submachine gun. He realized it didn't

1650
01:30:49,600 --> 01:30:52,680
Speaker 1: feel like a reproduction either. Roland brought the gun up

1651
01:30:52,680 --> 01:30:55,400
Speaker 1: to his shoulder. The Thompson gun bucked in his hand.

1652
01:30:55,680 --> 01:30:58,160
Speaker 1: Roland laughed as he danced through the Charnel house that

1653
01:30:58,200 --> 01:31:01,000
Speaker 1: had once been a forward operating bay. Most of the

1654
01:31:01,080 --> 01:31:03,479
Speaker 1: National guardsmen were dead, but his nose told him one

1655
01:31:03,520 --> 01:31:06,080
Speaker 1: of them was still in the game. Roland turned past

1656
01:31:06,080 --> 01:31:08,760
Speaker 1: a hesco and saw the young man propped half up

1657
01:31:08,760 --> 01:31:11,719
Speaker 1: against a pile of sandbags. The boy held a hand

1658
01:31:11,760 --> 01:31:14,400
Speaker 1: to a bleeding hole in his gut. His black face

1659
01:31:14,479 --> 01:31:18,439
Speaker 1: was bloodless, pale, and young. So young. Roland didn't know

1660
01:31:18,479 --> 01:31:20,639
Speaker 1: if he'd ever seen a soldier who looked that young.

1661
01:31:21,000 --> 01:31:25,320
Speaker 1: There was something familiar about the boy's face, Rowland, the

1662
01:31:25,400 --> 01:31:29,599
Speaker 1: kid said, and recognition dawned in Roland's eyes, and then

1663
01:31:29,600 --> 01:31:32,400
Speaker 1: he was back. He was about fifty yards further ahead

1664
01:31:32,400 --> 01:31:35,120
Speaker 1: than he'd been before he blacked out. The Thompson gun

1665
01:31:35,160 --> 01:31:37,400
Speaker 1: was still in his hand, pointed at a man twelve

1666
01:31:37,479 --> 01:31:39,640
Speaker 1: yards to his left who was scrambling to get a

1667
01:31:39,680 --> 01:31:43,280
Speaker 1: wire guided rocket launcher into a firing position. Roland put

1668
01:31:43,280 --> 01:31:46,160
Speaker 1: a bullet through his brain. He turned past the burning

1669
01:31:46,200 --> 01:31:49,080
Speaker 1: wreckage of a semi truck. A dozen bullets impact at

1670
01:31:49,120 --> 01:31:53,240
Speaker 1: his chest inside. Then three martyrs charged him, their bayonets fixed.

1671
01:31:53,560 --> 01:31:56,400
Speaker 1: The hit wasn't bad, nothing but a flesh wound schofucker.

1672
01:31:56,479 --> 01:31:58,960
Speaker 1: Mike looked worse. He lost most of his left arm.

1673
01:31:59,280 --> 01:32:01,600
Speaker 1: Topaz had in three rounds to the dome, but she

1674
01:32:01,720 --> 01:32:04,960
Speaker 1: was still firing her dragon off. Roland's mind stretched into

1675
01:32:04,960 --> 01:32:07,120
Speaker 1: the city of Dallas around them. There were a lot

1676
01:32:07,120 --> 01:32:09,400
Speaker 1: of men coming their way, but those men were mostly

1677
01:32:09,439 --> 01:32:13,479
Speaker 1: police swat officers, nothing substantial, no one who could stop

1678
01:32:13,520 --> 01:32:15,840
Speaker 1: them from getting this bomb where it needed to go.

1679
01:32:16,720 --> 01:32:19,120
Speaker 1: Roland screamed as he broke his Thompson gun over the

1680
01:32:19,120 --> 01:32:21,960
Speaker 1: head of another martyr. Then he reeled back and dropped

1681
01:32:22,000 --> 01:32:25,240
Speaker 1: the gun. That last memory had felt different, like it

1682
01:32:25,400 --> 01:32:28,720
Speaker 1: unlocked something Roland shook his head. The last martyr in

1683
01:32:28,720 --> 01:32:31,479
Speaker 1: front of him broke and ran. Roland didn't even think

1684
01:32:31,520 --> 01:32:33,960
Speaker 1: to chase him. His head hurt in a way he

1685
01:32:33,960 --> 01:32:37,000
Speaker 1: couldn't remember it ever hurting before. What the hell is

1686
01:32:37,080 --> 01:32:39,679
Speaker 1: going on? It had all started the second he'd thought

1687
01:32:39,680 --> 01:32:42,840
Speaker 1: about the bomb. As small as nukes go, just about

1688
01:32:42,840 --> 01:32:46,519
Speaker 1: one megaton. It matches the ones that fought Leonarwood. The

1689
01:32:46,560 --> 01:32:50,280
Speaker 1: Guardian already released the hacked documents showing the government considered

1690
01:32:50,320 --> 01:32:53,599
Speaker 1: bombing several of the separatist camps. I think we can

1691
01:32:53,680 --> 01:32:56,719
Speaker 1: trust the American people to put two and two together,

1692
01:32:57,520 --> 01:33:01,080
Speaker 1: Jim smiled. Roland did not. This was his plan, but

1693
01:33:01,160 --> 01:33:03,559
Speaker 1: he didn't like it. He knew, though, that it was

1694
01:33:03,600 --> 01:33:06,840
Speaker 1: the only way forward for the revolution. There has to

1695
01:33:06,880 --> 01:33:10,679
Speaker 1: be another way, said schullfucker Mike. This feels wrong, really

1696
01:33:10,840 --> 01:33:14,040
Speaker 1: really wrong. The floodgates of Roland's mind opened, and a

1697
01:33:14,040 --> 01:33:17,200
Speaker 1: tidal wave of memory swept him away. He dropped to

1698
01:33:17,280 --> 01:33:20,599
Speaker 1: his knees. The martyrs around him continued to flee, too,

1699
01:33:20,600 --> 01:33:23,880
Speaker 1: shocked and awed to take advantage of his vulnerability. The

1700
01:33:23,920 --> 01:33:26,639
Speaker 1: battle drugs were gone now, or at least he couldn't

1701
01:33:26,720 --> 01:33:31,400
Speaker 1: feel them anymore. Hundreds of memories assaulted his consciousness thousands.

1702
01:33:31,880 --> 01:33:34,800
Speaker 1: For the first time in years, Roland knew who he'd been,

1703
01:33:35,320 --> 01:33:40,320
Speaker 1: who he was again. I'm back, Roland stood. He took

1704
01:33:40,360 --> 01:33:43,439
Speaker 1: one halting step forward, and then another, and then he

1705
01:33:43,560 --> 01:33:46,000
Speaker 1: leaned against the frame of a broken a PC for

1706
01:33:46,040 --> 01:33:48,760
Speaker 1: a little while as he pictured his mother's face and

1707
01:33:48,880 --> 01:33:52,360
Speaker 1: voice for the first time in years. He wanted to sob,

1708
01:33:52,720 --> 01:33:55,599
Speaker 1: but there was no time. He knew who he was now,

1709
01:33:56,000 --> 01:33:57,800
Speaker 1: and he knew what he was bound to do if

1710
01:33:57,800 --> 01:34:01,800
Speaker 1: he stayed this way. Roland's gents wouldn't allow that, so

1711
01:34:01,880 --> 01:34:05,080
Speaker 1: he trudged forward until he found the right tool, a

1712
01:34:05,160 --> 01:34:08,559
Speaker 1: handheld grenade launcher clutched in the dead hands of a martyr.

1713
01:34:09,160 --> 01:34:11,840
Speaker 1: He took the weapon and sat cross legged and the

1714
01:34:11,840 --> 01:34:15,320
Speaker 1: blood soaked Texas dirt. Roland looked up at the sky

1715
01:34:15,479 --> 01:34:18,320
Speaker 1: one last time and allowed himself a long moment to

1716
01:34:18,360 --> 01:34:21,320
Speaker 1: remember his parents and his brother, and the day he

1717
01:34:21,400 --> 01:34:24,320
Speaker 1: and Topaz had first met. And then he closed his

1718
01:34:24,400 --> 01:34:36,799
Speaker 1: eyes and pulled the trigger. Manny Nanni Yazzi, Sasha, Donald Ferris,

1719
01:34:36,800 --> 01:34:39,280
Speaker 1: and Manny had all rushed to a transport as soon

1720
01:34:39,320 --> 01:34:42,599
Speaker 1: as Roland's face showed up on the screen. It seems

1721
01:34:42,600 --> 01:34:44,880
Speaker 1: the drones either didn't know or didn't care enough to

1722
01:34:44,920 --> 01:34:47,880
Speaker 1: separate dead friends from dead foes. Maybe that was the

1723
01:34:47,920 --> 01:34:51,519
Speaker 1: point Nani Yazzi drove. It took about six minutes for

1724
01:34:51,560 --> 01:34:53,720
Speaker 1: the shiny green jeep to make its way over the

1725
01:34:53,720 --> 01:34:56,600
Speaker 1: broken roads and towards the side of the battle. No

1726
01:34:56,680 --> 01:35:01,320
Speaker 1: one spoke. They reached the battlefield, there so many dead people.

1727
01:35:01,840 --> 01:35:04,040
Speaker 1: Manny had seen a lot of carnage in his life,

1728
01:35:04,280 --> 01:35:08,000
Speaker 1: but nothing like this. The stinches of burning flesh, opened bowels,

1729
01:35:08,000 --> 01:35:11,240
Speaker 1: and burning fuel were so overwhelming they almost knocked him down.

1730
01:35:11,760 --> 01:35:15,120
Speaker 1: Donald Ferris and Nana Yazzi looked just as queasy. Only

1731
01:35:15,200 --> 01:35:18,479
Speaker 1: Sasha whether the sights and smells with calm. She stayed

1732
01:35:18,520 --> 01:35:21,200
Speaker 1: focused enough to spot skullfucker Mike and the mess and

1733
01:35:21,240 --> 01:35:25,439
Speaker 1: direct Nana Yazzi his way. Rolling Fox soldiers were out

1734
01:35:25,439 --> 01:35:28,320
Speaker 1: in force. They stalked through the killing fields in groups

1735
01:35:28,360 --> 01:35:31,360
Speaker 1: of four or five, searching for survivors or just looking

1736
01:35:31,360 --> 01:35:34,559
Speaker 1: for loot. Mike stood with Topaz and Cashore and a

1737
01:35:34,560 --> 01:35:37,880
Speaker 1: couple of chromed Manny didn't recognize. Most of them were

1738
01:35:37,880 --> 01:35:40,280
Speaker 1: seated by a handful of large metal crates in the

1739
01:35:40,280 --> 01:35:43,840
Speaker 1: center of what had once been a large playground. Oh god,

1740
01:35:44,800 --> 01:35:47,479
Speaker 1: the dead men here had been torn apart. There was

1741
01:35:47,600 --> 01:35:50,400
Speaker 1: so much blood, more than Manny had ever seen. It

1742
01:35:50,520 --> 01:35:53,360
Speaker 1: sluiced around on the concrete like some sort of macab

1743
01:35:53,479 --> 01:35:56,320
Speaker 1: kittie pool. The jeep came to a wet stop in

1744
01:35:56,400 --> 01:35:59,000
Speaker 1: front of the group. The act of breakings into spray

1745
01:35:59,040 --> 01:36:03,160
Speaker 1: of gore out across Skullfucker Mike's legs. Hey, he said,

1746
01:36:03,560 --> 01:36:07,240
Speaker 1: what are you all doing here? Rowland? Manny said, what

1747
01:36:07,360 --> 01:36:11,599
Speaker 1: happened to Rowland? Mike looked confused. Topaz raised his head

1748
01:36:11,640 --> 01:36:14,000
Speaker 1: up to look out at them. Many was surprised to

1749
01:36:14,040 --> 01:36:17,360
Speaker 1: see tears rolling down his face. His lip trembled a bit,

1750
01:36:17,560 --> 01:36:20,000
Speaker 1: but when he spoke there was steel and fury in

1751
01:36:20,080 --> 01:36:24,000
Speaker 1: his voice. He decided to keep killing. I'm sure he's

1752
01:36:24,040 --> 01:36:28,160
Speaker 1: still killing now. No, Manny said, he's dead, or that's

1753
01:36:28,200 --> 01:36:30,880
Speaker 1: what the drone said. We have to find him. Get

1754
01:36:30,880 --> 01:36:33,439
Speaker 1: out of that seat, Mike said to Nanny Yazzie, I'm

1755
01:36:33,560 --> 01:36:37,280
Speaker 1: driving in an instant Topaz. His tears stopped, and before

1756
01:36:37,320 --> 01:36:40,400
Speaker 1: Many could say anything, Topaz hopped into the back seat

1757
01:36:40,400 --> 01:36:44,000
Speaker 1: of the jeep. Fast. Topaz told Skullfucker Mike as he

1758
01:36:44,040 --> 01:36:48,160
Speaker 1: took over from Nanny Yazzi go very fast. It didn't

1759
01:36:48,160 --> 01:36:51,320
Speaker 1: take long to find him. Roland's route through the army

1760
01:36:51,400 --> 01:36:54,400
Speaker 1: was painted in red. Hundreds of dead men, maybe more

1761
01:36:54,439 --> 01:36:57,280
Speaker 1: than a thousand, made a clear path with their corpses.

1762
01:36:57,800 --> 01:37:00,240
Speaker 1: That path didn't end until they were almost at the

1763
01:37:00,240 --> 01:37:04,479
Speaker 1: brazos and they saw where Roland had fallen. Roland's armored

1764
01:37:04,520 --> 01:37:07,200
Speaker 1: body was splayed out limp next to the carcass of

1765
01:37:07,200 --> 01:37:10,320
Speaker 1: an old semi truck. There were two very dead men

1766
01:37:10,439 --> 01:37:12,920
Speaker 1: directly in front of him, but neither of them looked

1767
01:37:12,920 --> 01:37:16,000
Speaker 1: to have done him in. Roland hadn't gone down to

1768
01:37:16,160 --> 01:37:19,000
Speaker 1: enemy fire. He jammed a very large gun in his

1769
01:37:19,080 --> 01:37:21,600
Speaker 1: mouth and blown the top off of his head. To

1770
01:37:21,720 --> 01:37:25,880
Speaker 1: all signs and to all logic, he looked dead. Donald

1771
01:37:25,960 --> 01:37:29,240
Speaker 1: Ferris shook his head and muttered something. Sasha just stared.

1772
01:37:29,680 --> 01:37:33,360
Speaker 1: Nana Yazzi put her hand on Manny's shoulder. He was,

1773
01:37:33,760 --> 01:37:37,160
Speaker 1: she started to say, but she was interrupted by Roland.

1774
01:37:37,400 --> 01:37:40,240
Speaker 1: As he lifted his ruined head up to look at them.

1775
01:37:40,280 --> 01:37:43,799
Speaker 1: His eyes were still unfocused. Blood drooled down his nose,

1776
01:37:43,920 --> 01:37:46,200
Speaker 1: out of his mouth, and down from the gaping exit

1777
01:37:46,240 --> 01:37:49,960
Speaker 1: wound in his forehead. He spat out several teeth Manny

1778
01:37:50,040 --> 01:37:53,639
Speaker 1: saw daylight through his skull, but still Roland was able

1779
01:37:53,680 --> 01:38:08,120
Speaker 1: to speak. How the funk are you people, He asked,

1780
01:38:18,880 --> 01:39:00,120
Speaker 1: so m o o