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Speaker 1: What girls in the forest, our imagination and our family bonds.

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Speaker 1: After thirty years, it's time to return to the halls

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Speaker 1: of West Beverly High and hang out at the peach pit.

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Speaker 1: On the podcast nine O two one o MG, visit

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Speaker 1: Jenny Garth and Tory Spelling for a rewatch of the

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Speaker 1: hit series Beverly Hills nine O two one oh. From

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Speaker 1: the very beginning, we get to tell the fans all

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Speaker 1: of the behind the scenes stories to actually happen, so

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Speaker 1: they know what happened on camera obviously, but we can

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Speaker 1: tell them all the good stuff to have an off camera.

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Speaker 1: Listen to nine O two one o MG on the

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Speaker 1: I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get

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Speaker 1: your guess. Chapter eighteen Sasha. Sasha didn't feel safe out

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Speaker 1: on the street. After Anne's abduction. The next day, she'd

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Speaker 1: volunteered for four extra hours of duty in the emergency ward.

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Speaker 1: She changed bandages and administered antibiotic salves and delivered food

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Speaker 1: to wounded soldiers until her eyes started to glaze over

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Speaker 1: and doctor Brandt ordered her home. She'd barely had the

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Speaker 1: energy to eat that night, but by the time her

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Speaker 1: driver dropped her off at the House of Miriam, it

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Speaker 1: was dark and there'd been no one waiting for her.

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Speaker 1: That strategy hadn't worked. The day after that, doctor Brandt

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Speaker 1: had even tried to send her home early. Sasha had

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Speaker 1: talked him out of it, but not out of sending

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Speaker 1: her back downtown at the normal time. She was sure

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Speaker 1: her driver must have noticed how anxious she was. By

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Speaker 1: the time they reached the main drag, she was drenched

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Speaker 1: in sweat her hands were shaking. She asked him to

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Speaker 1: drop her off a half block down from the normal

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Speaker 1: spot so she could enter the square from the left

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Speaker 1: side and get a good look at who was hanging

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Speaker 1: out near the house us of Miriam. Alexander had been there,

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Speaker 1: of course, sitting out in front of a building two

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Speaker 1: doors down from the house, along with one of his friends.

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Speaker 1: Avoiding them had brought her to the Cafe Clement, and

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Speaker 1: then something she could only assume was God's providence had

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Speaker 1: bumped her into a manual. He was sweet and fun

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Speaker 1: to talk to, and it was actually refreshing to have

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Speaker 1: a conversation with someone who didn't constantly quote scripture or

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Speaker 1: pastor Mike. She was surprised at herself for feeling that way.

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Speaker 1: A few weeks ago, she'd have given anything to have

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Speaker 1: an open conversation about her beliefs, but now that she

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Speaker 1: was deep within the Kingdom, it was nice to talk

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Speaker 1: about normal things with a normal boy. The next day

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Speaker 1: had brought her back to the hospital, which was filled

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Speaker 1: with wounded soldiers from an air strike on a troop transport.

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Speaker 1: Sasha had spent nine hours without a break helping doctor

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Speaker 1: Brandt cut clothing off of horribly burned young men. She'd

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Speaker 1: applied slick, gummy burned dressings and changed ivy drips of

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Speaker 1: pain killers. The day was long, bloody, and brutal. Four

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Speaker 1: men died in front of her eyes, and there was

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Speaker 1: no time to really think about it. She knew that

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Speaker 1: she should have been more horrified at what she was seeing,

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Speaker 1: but the exposed organs and burnt, shriveled limbs didn't feel

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Speaker 1: like parts of people. Even the screams felt more like

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Speaker 1: rhode hazards or bad weather than damaged pieces of human beings.

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Speaker 1: They were obstacles to be dealt with. She and doctor

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Speaker 1: Brandt dealt with them well. A still small voice in

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Speaker 1: the back of her mind recoiled in horror at the

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Speaker 1: sheer volume of human misery she saw that day, But

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Speaker 1: that voice was quieter than it had been on other days,

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Speaker 1: and it grew quieter as the day went on and

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Speaker 1: the death toll mounted. Sasha had read about post traumatic

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Speaker 1: stress disorder back in school. She understood the mechanics of it,

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Speaker 1: that people tended to cope with terrifying situations by suppressing

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Speaker 1: their fear. But this didn't feel like that. It felt

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Speaker 1: like she was just doing her job, and she enjoyed

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Speaker 1: her job. Before she knew it, ten hours had gone by,

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Speaker 1: and doctor Brandt demanded she find a ride back to

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Speaker 1: the House of Miriam and get some rest. That was

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Speaker 1: the first time in the entire day when Sasha felt

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Speaker 1: truly scared. It started in her chest. Her heart fluttered

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Speaker 1: faster and faster, until the flutter turned to a pounding

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Speaker 1: so loud it felt like someone was smashing a hammer

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Speaker 1: on the inner walls of her cranium. She pressed her

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Speaker 1: back hard into the seat of the jeep and hoped

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Speaker 1: her growing panic wasn't obvious to the driver. He dropped

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Speaker 1: her off on the other side of the square again.

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Speaker 1: She didn't see Alexander or his comrades near the House

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Speaker 1: of Miriam this time, but she knew that didn't mean

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Speaker 1: they weren't watching the place. She had plans to meet

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Speaker 1: Emmanual again anyway. Sasha half expected him to have moved

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Speaker 1: on since she'd been so late, but he was there

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Speaker 1: standing out in front of the Cafe Clement when she arrived.

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I'm so late, she said. He shrugged in response,

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Speaker 1: I just got here myself. They dismissed us late. We

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Speaker 1: had a special lecture before dinner about a His face

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Speaker 1: grew red and he trailed off about what she poked.

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Speaker 1: Maybe let's just sit down first, huh. So they found

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Speaker 1: a seat and ordered their coffee. Manny tried to change

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Speaker 1: the subject by asking Sasha about her day, but she

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Speaker 1: is curious about his reaction and would not be dissuaded.

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Speaker 1: I'll tell you all about my day. If you tell

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Speaker 1: me about that lecture and why just thinking about it

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Speaker 1: made your face go red. He grew redder and stared

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Speaker 1: down into his coffee. Pastor came over to lecture us

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Speaker 1: about our duty and helping to heaven the kingdom grow.

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Speaker 1: You know our duty, Emmanuel gave her a significant look.

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Speaker 1: She gathered his meaning, and then she blushed too. That's

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Speaker 1: why they bust us out here every day, he continued.

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Speaker 1: It's so we can get to know the local women

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Speaker 1: and then get to know them in the biblical sense.

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Speaker 1: She laughed in spite of herself. I think that was

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Speaker 1: the first off color joke I've heard in weeks. It

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Speaker 1: felt good and risque. It was actually the same sort

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Speaker 1: of thrill she'd gotten back home when she'd sneakily read

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Speaker 1: issues of Revelator and browsed the media feeds of various

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Speaker 1: martyrs brigades. You know, Emmanual, she said, You're not quite

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Speaker 1: like anyone else I've met here. It's nice to meet

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Speaker 1: someone who wasn't afraid to joke. I didn't think I'd

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Speaker 1: as that. He was quiet for a little while. Manny

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Speaker 1: stirred his coffee awkwardly cast his eyes down. He went paler,

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Speaker 1: you seem different too. I don't know this place. Maybe

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Speaker 1: it's not exactly what we thought it would be. She

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Speaker 1: should have gotten angry at that. It was the kind

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Speaker 1: of common that could have gotten a manual into a

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Speaker 1: lot of trouble. Why would he say that to me,

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Speaker 1: she wondered, And why am I okay with all this?

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Speaker 1: Maybe it was Marigold rubbing off on her. Maybe it

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Speaker 1: was just gradual disillusionment, the climax of a process that

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Speaker 1: had started with Alexander's betrayal. But the heavenly Kingdom no

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Speaker 1: longer felt magical or even all that holy. It's complicated here,

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Speaker 1: she finally said. I mean, before I came here, I

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Speaker 1: knew it couldn't be perfect no places, but yes, it's

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Speaker 1: not what I'd hoped to find exactly. Sasha felt a

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Speaker 1: spike of panic as soon as the words left her mouth.

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Speaker 1: You barely know this man, Sasha. His whole job might

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Speaker 1: be ferreting out potential disloyalty. She coughed and tried to

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Speaker 1: walk her admission back a little. It's still better than

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Speaker 1: the STF or any of the other Heathen states. I

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Speaker 1: have to keep telling myself that what's important is what

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Speaker 1: we're fighting for, not the imperfections we have to live

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Speaker 1: with in this moment. Hmm. He gave an oncommittal grunt

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Speaker 1: that surprised her. She hadn't expected anything specific exactly, but

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Speaker 1: that surprised her. He started to say something else, then

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Speaker 1: his eyes went wide. Who he started to say? Sasha

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Speaker 1: heard boot falls, She felt the presence of several tall

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Speaker 1: men behind her. The heavy, familiar scent of Alexander's cologne

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Speaker 1: filled her nostrils. Modern Emmanuel Sanchez, Miss Sasha, May the

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Speaker 1: blessings of the Lord be with you and also with you,

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Speaker 1: Sasha replied by rote. Emmanuel chimed in a second or

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Speaker 1: two later. He sounded a bit awkward, like he wasn't

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Speaker 1: exactly sure which words to use. Alexander pulled up a

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Speaker 1: chair and set it against the right side of the table.

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Speaker 1: He sat down, placing himself between them. He rested one

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Speaker 1: arm on the table, but his left arm hung directly

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Speaker 1: over his eyed arm. He looked at Emmanuel, smiled, and

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Speaker 1: then looked at Sasha. She felt a wave of nausea,

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Speaker 1: grabbed her by the guts and tug His lips curled up,

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Speaker 1: revealing his straight white teeth. Excuse me, Manny said, but

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Speaker 1: who are you? Alexander looked back to Manny, his expression unchanged. Mada,

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Speaker 1: Alexander du Bois, I'm a friend of Sasha's, he glanced

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Speaker 1: back at her with a wink that curdled her stomach.

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Speaker 1: And I'm also in charge of recruitment for the Storming Battalion.

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Speaker 1: Never heard of it, Emmanuel said, in a gruff, clipped tone.

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Speaker 1: Sasha realized she was shaking a little. Alexander's lips curled

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Speaker 1: up into an even more ghoulish variant of his already

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Speaker 1: unsettling smile. He replied, there's a reason for that, Mada Sanchez.

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Speaker 1: The Storming Battalion plays a key role in our success

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Speaker 1: on the battlefield. They've been central in every one of

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Speaker 1: our victories. We don't publicize their work for various reasons,

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Speaker 1: but I assure you it's a distinct anna to be

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Speaker 1: recruited by me. That's actually why I'm here, Emmanuel. We've

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Speaker 1: chosen you. By now, it felt like the pit of

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Speaker 1: Sasha's stomach was boiling. Something terrible was clearly happening. Even

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Speaker 1: Emmanual seemed to realize that his face had gone pale.

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Speaker 1: His pupils were the size of dinner plates. I ah,

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Speaker 1: thank you for the honor, but I'm happy with my unit.

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Speaker 1: I e feel that's where the Lord needs me. My

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Speaker 1: friend Aaron Alexander put a hand up, flat palm facing Emanual,

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Speaker 1: your comrade will be taken care of, and we'll be

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Speaker 1: the judges of where the Lord needs you. Trust me,

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Speaker 1: We've got a lot more experience interpreting his will than

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Speaker 1: you do. There's a reason the cross flies over this

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Speaker 1: entire city. Emmanuel half stood in his chair. It was

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Speaker 1: a sudden gesture, and a faintly aggressive one. Sasha noticed

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Speaker 1: his hands were bawled up into fists. His eyes darted

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Speaker 1: left and right. He seemed to be looking over the

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Speaker 1: heads of Alexander and his men. Alexander tensed. Both the

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Speaker 1: men put hands over their side arms, but Emmanuel didn't

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Speaker 1: take any further action. After a few turns of his head,

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Speaker 1: he stopped looking, relaxed his hands, and sat back down. Okay,

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Speaker 1: he said, I get the feeling you want me to

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Speaker 1: go with you now. Alexander smiled. It was a vicious,

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Speaker 1: oily thing, and it confirmed in Sasha's heart that he

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Speaker 1: had something terrible planned. Yes, that's exactly what I want

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Speaker 1: He cocked his head up and pursed his lips in

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Speaker 1: an exaggerated gesture of consideration. Well, actually, I want you

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Speaker 1: to go with these men. I need to stay here

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Speaker 1: and have a wood with Sasha. Emmanuel looked into her eyes.

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Speaker 1: He was scared clearly, but he kept his voice steady

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Speaker 1: when he spoke, Sasha, I've got to go do my

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Speaker 1: duty find errand for me. Will you tell him I

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Speaker 1: am wish him the best and I hope to see

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Speaker 1: him soon. He put definite emphasis on that last word,

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Speaker 1: and then he gave Sasha a very deliberate and odd

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Speaker 1: before he stood and stepped towards Alexander's men. Take him

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Speaker 1: to the factory for his intake process, and I'll be along, showtly,

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Speaker 1: Alexander said. He put a hand on Emmanuel's forearm as

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Speaker 1: the young man passed by, and said, you should give

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Speaker 1: a prayer of thanks, brother, God has blessed you with

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Speaker 1: a great honor. Emmanuel smile was as false as Alexander's

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Speaker 1: God bless you, Martyr du Bois. I'll pray that you

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Speaker 1: and all your men grow closer to our lord. Was

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Speaker 1: that a threat? She wondered, before deciding, of course, it

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Speaker 1: was in a more normal situation, Sasha would have molled

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Speaker 1: that over it certainly was not the sort of comment

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Speaker 1: she'd have expected from a true martyr, But just then

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Speaker 1: she was far too consumed with terror, both for Emmanuel

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Speaker 1: and for herself. Alexander's guards led Manny away, and Alexander

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Speaker 1: took his place at the table. He took a long

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Speaker 1: sip from Emmanuel's cooling coffee and smiled his snake smile again.

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Speaker 1: I must say, Sasha, I thought you had better taste

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Speaker 1: than that. For the first time in her life, Sasha

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Speaker 1: found herself trying to stare daggers at some one. Oh

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Speaker 1: if only I could shoot knives out of my eyes,

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Speaker 1: she thought, as she imagined one striking Alexander in the

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Speaker 1: forehead with enough force to burst out the back of

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Speaker 1: his skull. Is that something chromed people can do, she wondered,

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Speaker 1: and decided she'd ask Marigold if she had forgot another

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Speaker 1: chance to talk to the woman. Hey, he snapped his

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Speaker 1: fingers in front of her eyes, and she hated him

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Speaker 1: a little more. She was sort of surprised to learn

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Speaker 1: that was possible. Look, I know coming here can be disorienting.

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Speaker 1: I know this is a lot to get used to,

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Speaker 1: but him a fuckin's it's people like him who filled

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Speaker 1: this continent with them mongrel spawn and tore American civilization

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Speaker 1: to splint us. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ,

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Speaker 1: she said. We are all the fruit fruit of the

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Speaker 1: same tree. Yeah, I know, I've met past A Mike.

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Speaker 1: I know God made us all, and I also know

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Speaker 1: he made some of us better than others. There's a

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Speaker 1: reason civilization reached its peak under white men, and there's

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Speaker 1: a reason it crumbled once we let them take the reins.

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Speaker 1: For a while, it's not worth arguing with him, she

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Speaker 1: told herself. So Sasha decided to ask a blunt question.

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Speaker 1: What's going to happen to Emmanuel? Alexander smiled, Exactly what

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Speaker 1: I said was going to happen to him. He's going

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Speaker 1: to the factory for a trainin' and then he'll participate

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Speaker 1: in the invasion of Waco as part of the Storming Battalion.

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Speaker 1: And what is that? In a way, it's the luckiest

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Speaker 1: unit in the heaven, the Kingdom's whole military. They are

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Speaker 1: the first ones in guaranteed glory. He took another long,

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Speaker 1: slow sip from Manny's coffee. His eyes bored into her

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Speaker 1: all the while and guaranteed modydum. Sasha felt a little

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Speaker 1: pride for not crying. Tears threatened at the corners of

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Speaker 1: her eyes. Praise be to God, she choked out, followed

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Speaker 1: by I still have duties tonight at the house. May

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Speaker 1: I go? Alexander sneered at at and then he waved

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Speaker 1: his hand in a gesture that was surely meant to

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Speaker 1: be casual and dismissive. It looked calculated, though, like it

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Speaker 1: was important to him that she feel like this didn't

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Speaker 1: matter to him. For some reason, that observation made Sasha

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Speaker 1: feel a little stronger. Go on. Then he said, we'll

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Speaker 1: talk tomorrow. Maybe we'll do more than talk. Maybe not.

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Speaker 1: She stood up, still fighting back tears, and left the

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Speaker 1: cafe without a response. Sasha wanted to go to someone,

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Speaker 1: anyone in the wake of all this. There's nothing to do.

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Speaker 1: The smarter, colder part of her brain, the part that

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Speaker 1: always sounded like her mother, warned her, anything you say

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Speaker 1: will only make it worse. She knew that was true.

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Speaker 1: Even Helen couldn't do anything for emmanual. Now she'd made

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Speaker 1: it very clear that military matters took precedence over everything

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Speaker 1: else in the heavenly Kingdom. It made sense, and yet

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Speaker 1: shouldn't right and wrong be what matter most here? She

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Speaker 1: wasn't even sure what either of those words meant anymore.

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Speaker 1: Was this really what God wanted? Was this how a

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Speaker 1: society based on his laws operated? Sasha told herself over

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Speaker 1: and over again that she'd made the right decision, that

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Speaker 1: the Kingdom wasn't perfect, but it was the best of

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Speaker 1: all the other options. That voice grew quieter and less

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Speaker 1: convincing as she walked through the doors at the House

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Speaker 1: of Miriam and noticed another missing person. Where's Suzanne, she

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Speaker 1: asked Helen, after scanning the dining room for her friend.

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Speaker 1: The older woman smiled, but it wasn't the warm look

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Speaker 1: Sasha had come to expect. Helen looked strained, tired, perhaps

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Speaker 1: even a little ill. Suzanne met her husband to day,

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Speaker 1: Sasha narrowed her eyes and fought down an immediate surge

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Speaker 1: of rage. She met him or did he see her

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Speaker 1: and claim her? Like Anne's suitor. Helen did not like that.

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Speaker 1: She almost growled her next words, be very careful with

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Speaker 1: what you insinuate, miss Sasha. I know this isn't what

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Speaker 1: any of you dreamed of but you did come here

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Speaker 1: to help further the kingdom. This is how that looks

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Speaker 1: Sasha knew in that moment that there was nothing else

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Speaker 1: she could say to Helen. What would be the point?

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Speaker 1: So she nodded meekly, and she apologized, and then she

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Speaker 1: ate her dinner like a robot and cleaned up for bed.

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Speaker 1: Throughout all that, Marigold's words rang louder in her memory.

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Speaker 1: You got suckered into a fucking nightmare. It's time to

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Speaker 1: wake ups, Time to wake ups, time to wake up

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Speaker 1: to Sasha went to bed around nine. She'd had a

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Speaker 1: long and exhausting day. Tomorrow was sure to be more

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Speaker 1: of the same, but she couldn't sleep. Now that she

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Speaker 1: was safely in bed, hidden from the world, the tears

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Speaker 1: refused to stay hidden behind her eyes. It was all

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Speaker 1: Sasha could do to avoid audible sobs. She lay awake

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Speaker 1: for an hour, maybe more, until she heard a thwack

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Speaker 1: followed by a thump. She opened her eyes and rolled

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Speaker 1: over to face the door, and the time it took

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Speaker 1: to complete that motion. She heard the door whosh open,

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Speaker 1: and then a series of thumps so rapid they sounded

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Speaker 1: like one long drum roll. Sasha felt a rush of air,

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Speaker 1: and then since the presence of a new person. The

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00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,600
Speaker 1: instant before she completed her roll, she looked up to

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Speaker 1: see him man at the side of her bed. He

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Speaker 1: was big, broad, and clad in a torn and bloodied

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Speaker 1: martyr's uniform. He had a heavy metal pipe in his hand.

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Speaker 1: Sasha rose her hands up in an instinctive gesture of

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Speaker 1: self defense the moment before she saw the hooking man's

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Speaker 1: face and realized who he was, Aaron. The man blinked.

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Speaker 1: He looked confused for a moment, and then he laughed,

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Speaker 1: all right, yes, not my name, Han, you can call

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Speaker 1: me Roland. What do you what's happening? Are we under attack? Yes,

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Speaker 1: sorta by me. I knocked out the old lady. He

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Speaker 1: gestured his head back towards the other girls sleeping in

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Speaker 1: their beds. I knocked them all out too, just minor concussions,

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Speaker 1: but they're out cold. I am very confused, Sasha said,

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Speaker 1: in a flat voice, and very frightened. You're not frightened.

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Speaker 1: She was surprised to realize that he was right. Sasha

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Speaker 1: knew she should have been scared, but her heart rate

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Speaker 1: didn't elevate. She didn't start to sweat She did feel confused,

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Speaker 1: but she also felt calm. Maybe I've just been so

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Speaker 1: scared the last few days my body can't handle any

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Speaker 1: more of it. Maybe I've reached the limit of my

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00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:08,560
Speaker 1: capacity for fear. I guess you're right, she said, I

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00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,160
Speaker 1: should be afraid. This is also She trailed off, grasping

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00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:15,600
Speaker 1: for words. Yeah, it's fucked, Roland said, and then he

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Speaker 1: pulled up a canteen that had been hanging from his

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Speaker 1: shoulder and took a deep poll. The scent of alcohol

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00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:23,760
Speaker 1: wafted over to her. You want some, he asked. I

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00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:25,960
Speaker 1: made it in my guts, filled a canteen as I

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00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:30,240
Speaker 1: finished up at the base. Wait, Sasha said, what happened

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00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,640
Speaker 1: at the base? Roland gave another shrug and took another pull.

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00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:36,600
Speaker 1: The boss guys told me Manny had been reassigned to

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Speaker 1: some sort of I don't know, suicide battalion. This pissed

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Speaker 1: me off, so I broke exactly half of their bones.

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00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:46,480
Speaker 1: Sasha could hear sirens now often the distance. It sounded

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Speaker 1: like there were rather a lot of them. She imagined

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00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:53,200
Speaker 1: this was connected to whatever Roland had done. I'm going

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Speaker 1: to guess you and the manual aren't really martyrs. Are you,

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Speaker 1: he chuckled. I mean maybe some days, sister. Just now,

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00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:02,760
Speaker 1: I don't say any causes worth dying for, but I

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Speaker 1: get your meaning. And no, I don't give a shit

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Speaker 1: about your heavenly kingdom. Many actively hates it. We're spies,

353
00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,480
Speaker 1: or we were spies. Now he's a captive and I'm

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Speaker 1: a terrorist again. Oh, she said, And then I think

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Speaker 1: I would like a drink. He handed her the canteen

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Speaker 1: and she took a generous gulp. Sasha had only tried

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Speaker 1: alcohol once before. She'd been thirteen, not yet a Christian,

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Speaker 1: and at a party she'd been far too young to attend.

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00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:32,560
Speaker 1: She remembered the sensation of gentle warmth spreading down her throat,

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Speaker 1: and the sense of elation and well being that had followed.

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00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:37,600
Speaker 1: She'd taken a few more SIPs, which had made the

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Speaker 1: world far too spinny for her comfort. She'd vomited not

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00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,000
Speaker 1: long after, but she figured if there was ever a

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Speaker 1: time to try alcohol again, it's now. The drink tasted

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Speaker 1: like beer, but it burned like a shot of hard liquor.

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Speaker 1: Sasha passed the canteen back. She felt like taking more

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Speaker 1: would be a bad idea. All right, Then Roland said

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna make a few guesses. I guess one is

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Speaker 1: that you're a little less than enthusiastic about the heavenly

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Speaker 1: Kingdom now that you've seen it up close. Guests too

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00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:08,479
Speaker 1: is that you're looking for a way out. And Guests

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00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:10,800
Speaker 1: three is that you know something about where my little

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Speaker 1: buddy went. Huh, Immanuel, Manny, you know where he is?

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Speaker 1: I don't, she started. I'll bet you do, even if

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Speaker 1: you don't know, you do. I know you were there

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Speaker 1: when he was taken. I could smell it in the street.

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Speaker 1: Smell it. He sighed, and needed the bridge of his nose.

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Speaker 1: This is the time where you explained things. The time

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Speaker 1: where I explained things comes later, or maybe never. He

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00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:35,680
Speaker 1: lifted up the pipe in his hand so she could

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Speaker 1: see how bloody and dented it was. I have the pipe.

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Speaker 1: Whoever's got the pipe doesn't have to explain shit. Sasha

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00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,159
Speaker 1: couldn't argue with his logic, and she did want to

384
00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:49,920
Speaker 1: see Emmanual free and safe. Look, she said, this, this boy,

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00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:53,000
Speaker 1: I know, Alexander. He found us at the cafe. We

386
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,320
Speaker 1: were just sitting down to coffee. He had two men

387
00:20:55,359 --> 00:20:57,399
Speaker 1: with him, and he said Emmanual had been selected for

388
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Speaker 1: the storming battalion. Do you have any idea aware they

389
00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:03,199
Speaker 1: took him the kids sent trail grows cold about a

390
00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,679
Speaker 1: mile from here. Sasha racked her brain. Of course, she

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00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,400
Speaker 1: didn't know where the Heavenly Kingdom did this sort of training.

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00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:14,399
Speaker 1: But Alexanders said something about the factory, and at that

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Speaker 1: Roland's eyes lit up. He turned around as if to leave.

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00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:21,280
Speaker 1: I know where he is. Then he looked back and

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00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:24,639
Speaker 1: down to Sasha and said, moment of truth time, Darlin,

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Speaker 1: you want to stay here in this ship pile kingdom?

397
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:29,359
Speaker 1: Or He jerked his thumb to the door. Do you

398
00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:31,840
Speaker 1: want me to break you out? And I'll make offers

399
00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:35,359
Speaker 1: like that often, so take it as a compliment this time.

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00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,920
Speaker 1: It didn't take long for Sasha to make up her mind. Yes,

401
00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:48,679
Speaker 1: she said, I'd like to go with you. What grows

402
00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:52,199
Speaker 1: in the forest trees? Sure know what else? Girls in

403
00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:56,040
Speaker 1: the forest. Our imagination, our sense of wonder, and our

404
00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:59,360
Speaker 1: family bonds grow too, because when we disconnect from this

405
00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:06,520
Speaker 1: and connect with this, we reconnect with each other. The

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00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:09,600
Speaker 1: forest is closer than you think. Find a forest near

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00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:12,880
Speaker 1: you and start exploring. I discover the Forest dot Org

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00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,760
Speaker 1: Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and

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00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:19,119
Speaker 1: the Ad Council. Hello, and welcome to our show. I'm

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00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,520
Speaker 1: Zoe de Chanelle and I'm so excited to be joined

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Speaker 1: by my friends and cast mates Hannah Simone and Lamar

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00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,640
Speaker 1: and Morris to recap our hit television series New Girl.

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Speaker 1: Join us every Monday on the Welcome to Our Show podcast,

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00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,439
Speaker 1: where we'll share behind the scenes stories of your favorite

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00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,440
Speaker 1: New Girl episodes, reveal the truth behind the legendary game

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00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,840
Speaker 1: True American, and discuss how this show got made with

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00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:42,480
Speaker 1: the writers, guest stars, and directors who made the show

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Speaker 1: so special. Fans have been begging us to do a

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Speaker 1: New Girl recap for years, and we finally made a

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00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:51,520
Speaker 1: podcast where we answer all your burning questions like is

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00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:54,400
Speaker 1: there really a bear in every episode of New Girl?

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00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:58,720
Speaker 1: Plus each week you'll hear hilarious stories like this at

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Speaker 1: the end when he says you got some Schmidt on

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00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:03,520
Speaker 1: your face. I feel like I pitched that job. I

425
00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:05,280
Speaker 1: believe that I feel like I did. I'm not on

426
00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,240
Speaker 1: a thousand percent I want to say that was I

427
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:09,719
Speaker 1: tossed that one? Now? Listen to the Welcome to Our

428
00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:13,040
Speaker 1: Show podcast on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast,

429
00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:17,119
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. Conquer your new year's

430
00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:20,879
Speaker 1: resolution to be more productive with the Before Breakfast podcast.

431
00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:25,080
Speaker 1: In each bite sized daily episode, time management and productivity

432
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,000
Speaker 1: expert Laura vander Caam teaches you how to make the

433
00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:30,720
Speaker 1: most of your time, both at work and at home.

434
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,960
Speaker 1: These are the practical suggestions you need to get more

435
00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:36,800
Speaker 1: done with your day. Just as lifting weights keeps our

436
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,800
Speaker 1: body strong as we age, learning new skills is the

437
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:44,120
Speaker 1: mental equivalent of pumping iron. Listen to Before Breakfast Wherever

438
00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:52,800
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts, Chapter nineteen. Manny he knew where

439
00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:55,240
Speaker 1: they were taking him as soon as the transport exited

440
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:59,960
Speaker 1: Highway seventy. It took Exit forty B White Avenue, McKinney.

441
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:02,560
Speaker 1: He visited the town a few times as a kid,

442
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:04,880
Speaker 1: before things in this part of d f W had

443
00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:08,800
Speaker 1: gone entirely to ship. Manny thought of the satellite photos

444
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:11,600
Speaker 1: Reggie had shown them. He thought about that Tesla plant

445
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:15,040
Speaker 1: and what strange mysteries it must hide. Somewhere in that

446
00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:17,360
Speaker 1: plant was the answer to how the martyrs had so

447
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:22,240
Speaker 1: thoroughly befucked the stf's defense network. Manny hadn't exactly planned

448
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:25,000
Speaker 1: to find an answer to that question on this trip. Now,

449
00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,320
Speaker 1: it seemed like he wouldn't have a choice in the matter.

450
00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:32,160
Speaker 1: His escorts, Alexander's men, hadn't said much. They directed him

451
00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,199
Speaker 1: to the proper transport and told him to keep his

452
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:37,360
Speaker 1: mouth shut when he asked for an explanation. Manny did

453
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:39,760
Speaker 1: as they asked, because he half expected them to gun

454
00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:42,760
Speaker 1: him down if he made a real fuss. Roland's bound

455
00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:45,639
Speaker 1: to find me. He can find any fucking one. I

456
00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:47,639
Speaker 1: just need to stay alive long enough for him to

457
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:51,560
Speaker 1: get here. Once upon a time, the Tesla Factory had

458
00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,359
Speaker 1: been an immaculate sign of what some commenters called the

459
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:58,000
Speaker 1: Texan Renaissance. After the fall of the old United States,

460
00:24:58,000 --> 00:24:59,960
Speaker 1: the Republic of Texas had been one of the first

461
00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:03,639
Speaker 1: functional states to arise in the southwest. Dallas had been

462
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:05,800
Speaker 1: wrecked by the Lakewood Blast, but the rest of the

463
00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,600
Speaker 1: state still had tens of millions of people and abundant

464
00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:12,879
Speaker 1: natural resources. For a while, the hardcore libertarian policies of

465
00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,639
Speaker 1: the Republic had created a minor economic miracle. Tesla had

466
00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:19,600
Speaker 1: gotten this factory going about three years before that boom

467
00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:22,800
Speaker 1: went bust. The first room they were taken to had

468
00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:25,960
Speaker 1: clearly been some sort of reception area, and probably a showroom.

469
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,160
Speaker 1: At one point. There were three large oval shaped plinths

470
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:31,359
Speaker 1: that had once held cars, and a handful of metal

471
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:34,639
Speaker 1: desks bolted hard into the ground. There were also several

472
00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,520
Speaker 1: benches stripped of whatever they had once been upholstered with,

473
00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:40,840
Speaker 1: and a few dozen folding chairs that were clearly recent additions.

474
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:43,920
Speaker 1: Manny could see signs that the walls had been attacked

475
00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:46,720
Speaker 1: at several places in an attempt to strip them of wires.

476
00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:50,160
Speaker 1: The damage was obvious, but not as extensive as he'd expected.

477
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:54,760
Speaker 1: De Muertas standards, this building was in good shape. A

478
00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:58,520
Speaker 1: dozen martyrs occupied the room. They wore quality, nonpowered body

479
00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:00,920
Speaker 1: armor and toted rifles that ust have been looted new

480
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,439
Speaker 1: from the Republic's armories. One of the desks was manned

481
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,040
Speaker 1: by a haired looking young man in an off white suit.

482
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,520
Speaker 1: He wore no sign of rank, but did have a

483
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:12,399
Speaker 1: white cross arm band around his left bicep and a

484
00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:16,280
Speaker 1: golden cross pin on his lapel. He was balding, baby faced,

485
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,440
Speaker 1: and the deep bags under his eyes spoke of severe exhaustion.

486
00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:22,760
Speaker 1: His face lit up when he saw Manny another my

487
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,920
Speaker 1: prayers have been answered, as the Lord wills it. One

488
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:28,960
Speaker 1: of Manny's escorts replied. They brought him to the desk,

489
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:31,359
Speaker 1: and the besuited man looked up at him. He had

490
00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:33,879
Speaker 1: a hungry look in his eyes. He'd started to sweat

491
00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:37,080
Speaker 1: a little too. You may call me Isaac. What's your name,

492
00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:43,000
Speaker 1: young man, Emmanuel Emmanuel Sanchez. The little Man jotted that

493
00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:45,960
Speaker 1: down on a piece of paper and then continued asking questions.

494
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,679
Speaker 1: What's your date of birth, Do you have any family

495
00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:52,600
Speaker 1: history of allergies or illnesses? Have you ever undergone surgery before?

496
00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:56,320
Speaker 1: What biomodifications, if any, are currently active in your system?

497
00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:00,280
Speaker 1: Do you have any inactive modifications? And so on. After

498
00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:02,960
Speaker 1: about ten minutes of questioning, the little Man told Mannie

499
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:05,560
Speaker 1: to stand up and follow him into an examination room.

500
00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:09,480
Speaker 1: His tone was cordial, even warm, but Manny tasted doom

501
00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,439
Speaker 1: behind it. He smelled death in this place, and his

502
00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:15,840
Speaker 1: soul cried out against heading further into its bowels. But

503
00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:19,000
Speaker 1: there was nothing to do but follow. Alexander's men left

504
00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,440
Speaker 1: after dropping him off, but there were plenty of guards

505
00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,080
Speaker 1: on the front room. Two of them followed Mannie and

506
00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:26,320
Speaker 1: the young man backed through the double doors and into

507
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,200
Speaker 1: the heart of the facility. They walked through what had

508
00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:31,920
Speaker 1: once been an open floor office. There were a few

509
00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:35,119
Speaker 1: overturned desks and chairs, but mostly the place was barren

510
00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:38,800
Speaker 1: and half cannibalized for scrap. It was ill lit and derelict.

511
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,480
Speaker 1: What are we doing here, Mannie asked. Isaac put a

512
00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:45,800
Speaker 1: hand on his shoulder and smiled. We're doing God's work,

513
00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,959
Speaker 1: he said, the same as everywhere in this blessed kingdom.

514
00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:52,720
Speaker 1: I know that, Manny said, in a slow, careful tone,

515
00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:55,560
Speaker 1: but I don't understand why I was pulled out of

516
00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:58,399
Speaker 1: training or why I was removed from my unit. What

517
00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:03,000
Speaker 1: is this place? Isaac didn't answer. Instead, he walked Mannie

518
00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:04,919
Speaker 1: to a door in the back of the empty office

519
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:07,480
Speaker 1: and opened it to reveal a small, well lit, white

520
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,080
Speaker 1: room with a bench, a weight scale, and a computer

521
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:13,640
Speaker 1: terminal built into the wall above a rolling cabinet. Isaac

522
00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:15,760
Speaker 1: weighed him, marked down his height, and then pulled a

523
00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,679
Speaker 1: strange measuring device out of the cabinet. It looked like

524
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:22,080
Speaker 1: a cross between a protractor and a pen vice. This

525
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,480
Speaker 1: is a craniometer, Isaac explained, once he saw the confusion

526
00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:28,679
Speaker 1: on Manny's face. It's for measuring the size of your skull.

527
00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,399
Speaker 1: Isaac set right to work. He fit the strange device

528
00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:34,800
Speaker 1: around Mannie's head and tightened it until the vice grip

529
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:38,200
Speaker 1: bit into Mannie's scalp. Isaac jotted down some more numbers

530
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:41,320
Speaker 1: on his notepad and removed the craniometer. He looked pleased

531
00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:44,800
Speaker 1: that alone was enough to turn Mannie's stomach. Can you

532
00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,960
Speaker 1: please tell me what this is all about? Isaac's eyes

533
00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,280
Speaker 1: darted up from his paper. For just a moment, he

534
00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:54,760
Speaker 1: gave Mannie an insincere, distracted smile. Everything will be explained

535
00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:57,280
Speaker 1: soon enough, young man, right now, which should be enough

536
00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:00,160
Speaker 1: to know you're doing the Lord's work. May and he

537
00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:04,360
Speaker 1: was very, very tired of that response. Isaac finished his

538
00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:06,160
Speaker 1: notes and led Many out a back door in the

539
00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:08,400
Speaker 1: room and into what Manny had to assume was the

540
00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:10,960
Speaker 1: final step in their journey. The scent of blood in

541
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:12,880
Speaker 1: the air was too heavy for anything else to be

542
00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:15,840
Speaker 1: the case. Many felt hair stand up on the back

543
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,520
Speaker 1: of his neck, his shoulders went tents, and a moment

544
00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:20,720
Speaker 1: later he felt the strong hands of his guards on

545
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:25,160
Speaker 1: either bicep. This new room was part mechanic shop, part abattoir.

546
00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:27,920
Speaker 1: It had once been the main factory floor, and it

547
00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:31,200
Speaker 1: was filled with the half looted carcasses of robotic auto workers.

548
00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:34,200
Speaker 1: Several of those machines had been restored to some level

549
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:37,800
Speaker 1: of functional capacity. Many could see twentish new vehicles and

550
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,920
Speaker 1: various states of construction across the vast space. Instead of sleek,

551
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,160
Speaker 1: consumer grade electronic cars, most of these vehicles seemed to

552
00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,360
Speaker 1: be very old and worn sedans and trucks. A handful

553
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:52,400
Speaker 1: of them were outdated and nigh obsolete. Military drones. Palettes

554
00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:56,080
Speaker 1: of plastic explosives sat outside several of the vehicles. Many

555
00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:58,760
Speaker 1: could see human workers packing blocks of it into a

556
00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,440
Speaker 1: battered off white key a few dozen feet in front

557
00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:05,360
Speaker 1: of him. None of this was particularly shocking. Vehicle based

558
00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:09,080
Speaker 1: improvised explosive devices had been de rigueur for terrorists insurrections

559
00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:12,440
Speaker 1: for the last seventy years. Two things about this factory

560
00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,600
Speaker 1: struck Manny as strange. The first is that none of

561
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,360
Speaker 1: the vehicles in construction had any armor added to them.

562
00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:20,800
Speaker 1: Most V B I E d S would be covered

563
00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:23,480
Speaker 1: in thick slabs of concrete and welded scrap metal to

564
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,520
Speaker 1: ensure they made it safely to their target. The vehicles

565
00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:28,920
Speaker 1: here seemed like they would look normal when they finally

566
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:32,800
Speaker 1: rolled off the reassembly line. The second odd thing was

567
00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:35,840
Speaker 1: the dozens of surgical tables and the rather significant amount

568
00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:38,880
Speaker 1: of red blood coating the floor underneath them. Five of

569
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:42,200
Speaker 1: the beds were occupied with bodies covered by blood speckled

570
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:46,080
Speaker 1: white sheets. The men under them appeared dead. Oh God,

571
00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:49,120
Speaker 1: Manny forgot his cover in the dawning horror of the moment.

572
00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:52,680
Speaker 1: What the hell is this place? What's your mouth, young man,

573
00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:55,520
Speaker 1: Isaac snapped. This is a temple of the Lord, where

574
00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,600
Speaker 1: young heroes delivered themselves into the waiting arms of eternity.

575
00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:01,360
Speaker 1: A tall in in a lab coat made his way

576
00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:03,760
Speaker 1: over to them. He had gray hair and warm brown

577
00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:07,040
Speaker 1: eyes behind horn rimmed spectacles. He gave Manny a warm

578
00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:10,080
Speaker 1: smile and extended out a hand in greeting the Lord

579
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:13,120
Speaker 1: be with you, Emmanuel, I'm doctor Ernst. I'm sure you

580
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:16,160
Speaker 1: must be full of questions right now, gentlemen. He glanced

581
00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:18,800
Speaker 1: towards the guards, who still had their hands on Manny.

582
00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:21,120
Speaker 1: You can let him go now. This young man is

583
00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:24,200
Speaker 1: a hero and he should be treated as such. The

584
00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:27,800
Speaker 1: hands loosened. Manny heard the men step back. He flashed

585
00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:31,200
Speaker 1: a nervous smile back at the doctor. Keep him talking, Manny, thought,

586
00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:33,960
Speaker 1: The longer you drag this out, the more time Roland

587
00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:37,480
Speaker 1: will have. What is going on here? These uh, he

588
00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:42,440
Speaker 1: grappled for the correct terminology, These martyrdom devices seem different.

589
00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:45,200
Speaker 1: And I don't know what's going on with with with

590
00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:48,520
Speaker 1: all the medical equipment and the bodies. Doctor Ernst finished

591
00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:51,720
Speaker 1: his question without so much a break in his warm smile. Yes,

592
00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:54,960
Speaker 1: God bless him, but diplomacy is not Isaac's strong suit.

593
00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:58,680
Speaker 1: He gets rather focused on the task at hand. Many

594
00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:01,000
Speaker 1: noticed that the odd little man End had already wandered

595
00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:03,640
Speaker 1: off towards a rolling tray of medical equipment near one

596
00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:07,320
Speaker 1: of the surgical beds. That set Manny's heart beating even faster.

597
00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:12,080
Speaker 1: Follow me, said doctor Ernst, and I'll explain everything. The

598
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:14,480
Speaker 1: doctor led him to one of the shrouded bodies and

599
00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:18,360
Speaker 1: pulled its covering down, revealing the dead man's face. Manny

600
00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:21,320
Speaker 1: wasn't exactly surprised to see that it was Jonathan, the

601
00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:24,040
Speaker 1: young man from Atlanta he'd met just a few days before.

602
00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:27,920
Speaker 1: Jonathan was, of course quite dead. A bloody red line

603
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:30,800
Speaker 1: ran across his skull, just above his ears. His eyes

604
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:32,800
Speaker 1: were closed, and his lips were turned up in a

605
00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:38,600
Speaker 1: beatific smile. You know this man, yes, doctor Ernst asked gently, Yes,

606
00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:42,160
Speaker 1: of course you do. The doctor chuckled. You're both colored

607
00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:44,520
Speaker 1: men and the heavenly Kingdom. I'd be surprised if you

608
00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:47,760
Speaker 1: hadn't developed a connection. It's only natural to gravitate towards

609
00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:51,520
Speaker 1: your own kind. Many fought down the urge to slap

610
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:55,720
Speaker 1: doctor Ernst. Jonathan here started his journey to martyrdom just

611
00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:58,120
Speaker 1: a few hours ago. I know he appears dead, but

612
00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:01,000
Speaker 1: as it was with our Lord and Savior, appearances, quanby

613
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:04,400
Speaker 1: quite deceiving. His brain is still quite alive and alert.

614
00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:09,280
Speaker 1: It's just been moved. Doctor Aren't gestured over to the KIA.

615
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:12,680
Speaker 1: Many saw that another lab coated worker was now carrying

616
00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:14,960
Speaker 1: a peculiar metal box over to the v B I

617
00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:18,240
Speaker 1: e ed. The box was about head sized and covered

618
00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:21,720
Speaker 1: with sockets and plugs. A single green light flickered on

619
00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:25,120
Speaker 1: one side. See they're loading him into his chariot now,

620
00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:28,000
Speaker 1: and soon he'll pilot this anointed engine of heavenly will

621
00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:31,440
Speaker 1: to the ruin of our enemies. Many thought, backed that

622
00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:34,400
Speaker 1: last day before the invasion, to Reggie's questions about that

623
00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:37,560
Speaker 1: mysterious checkpoint bombing, This must be how they did it.

624
00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:41,440
Speaker 1: He realized the SDFS checkpoints were perfectly capable of reading

625
00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:44,440
Speaker 1: the itinerary of any autonomous vehicle that drove towards them.

626
00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:48,040
Speaker 1: They'd shoot anything that didn't broadcast its destination, but the

627
00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:50,360
Speaker 1: Kingdom had found a way to hide a human driver

628
00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:53,440
Speaker 1: capable of taking over once the car was past the checkpoint.

629
00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:56,880
Speaker 1: His eyes drifted over to a combat drone lying half

630
00:33:56,880 --> 00:33:59,400
Speaker 1: disassembled on the table a few yards to his left.

631
00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:02,280
Speaker 1: He was a hefty, beetle black monster with a heavy

632
00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,440
Speaker 1: under slung machine gun. It reminded Manny terribly of the

633
00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:07,440
Speaker 1: drone that had almost killed him in Reggie a few

634
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:11,439
Speaker 1: days earlier. This explains why the STF drone jammers didn't work.

635
00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:16,120
Speaker 1: The Heavenly Kingdom wasn't really using drones. Manny realized with

636
00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:19,239
Speaker 1: dawning horror that the drone's open cavity was likely the

637
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:23,640
Speaker 1: intended resting place of his brain. Ah. Doctor Ernst smiled,

638
00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:27,440
Speaker 1: I see you've already spotted your chariot. Yes, Emmanuel, you

639
00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:31,640
Speaker 1: are quite fortunate. Martyre Ditmar noted your intelligence and suggested

640
00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:34,680
Speaker 1: you be implanted into a drone. I assure you it's

641
00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:39,040
Speaker 1: a high honor even in this sacred place, Manny's heart

642
00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:41,640
Speaker 1: thudded like the tolling of a church bell. For a while,

643
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:44,880
Speaker 1: he couldn't hear anything else. He felt himself gripped by

644
00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:48,160
Speaker 1: a sudden claustrophobic terror. The worst thing wasn't even the

645
00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:50,719
Speaker 1: thought of being cut open, torn apart. It was the

646
00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:53,960
Speaker 1: thought of being trapped inside that little metal box, forced

647
00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:55,760
Speaker 1: to kill and die in the name of a cause

648
00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:58,960
Speaker 1: he abhorred. Manny knew he'd started to shake, but there

649
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,840
Speaker 1: was nothing he could do to quell the terror. Doctor

650
00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:04,640
Speaker 1: Ernst to put a hand on his shoulder. Many assumed

651
00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:07,000
Speaker 1: it was meant to reassure him. It did not have

652
00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:10,480
Speaker 1: that effect. Immanual. I know this is quite a lot

653
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:12,560
Speaker 1: to take in, but all you really need to know

654
00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:15,640
Speaker 1: is that you've been blessed, truly blessed with the chance

655
00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:18,040
Speaker 1: to play a real role in making the Heavenly Kingdom

656
00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:21,960
Speaker 1: a reality. The Storming Battalion are God's elite, the holiest

657
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:24,879
Speaker 1: of our martyrs. I'm sure once the shock wears off,

658
00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:28,759
Speaker 1: you'll realize what a privilege this is. Manny heard footsteps.

659
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:30,880
Speaker 1: He didn't need to look to know his guards were

660
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:33,560
Speaker 1: stepping back up behind him. He felt the noose titan

661
00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:36,520
Speaker 1: and his hope slip ever farther away. Where the hell

662
00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:40,360
Speaker 1: is Rowland? I am um, he stuttered, Can I have

663
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:44,880
Speaker 1: some time to er to prey on this? Of course? Emmanual?

664
00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:48,399
Speaker 1: Doctor ernst smile never looked false or forced. He put

665
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:50,799
Speaker 1: a hand on Manny's shoulder. It will be a few

666
00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:53,600
Speaker 1: minutes before we're ready to begin the operation. I commend

667
00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:56,920
Speaker 1: you devotion. This is an ideal time to pray for guidance.

668
00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:00,520
Speaker 1: A few minutes, his heart pounded so hard he thought

669
00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:03,080
Speaker 1: it might beat its way free from his chest. He

670
00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:05,640
Speaker 1: was sure Doctor Ernest must have heard it, but if

671
00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:08,560
Speaker 1: he did, he said nothing about it. Instead, the doctor

672
00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:11,200
Speaker 1: led Manny over to a small carpeted area that looked

673
00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:13,000
Speaker 1: to have been set aside as a prayer room for

674
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:15,840
Speaker 1: the soon to be martyred members of this battalion. It

675
00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:19,040
Speaker 1: consisted of a half dozen shares at least they're padded,

676
00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:21,680
Speaker 1: a three foot tall white stone statue of Christ on

677
00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:24,480
Speaker 1: a cross, and two small inn tables, each with a

678
00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:28,520
Speaker 1: couple of dog eared bibles. Manny sat down. Bereft of

679
00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:30,960
Speaker 1: any better idea, he grabbed a bible and flipped it

680
00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:34,600
Speaker 1: open to a random page, King Nebuchadnezzar made an image

681
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:38,319
Speaker 1: of gold sixty cubits high and six cubits wide. Manny

682
00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:40,920
Speaker 1: rolled his eyes with the flaming ale is a cubit.

683
00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:43,960
Speaker 1: He skimmed the next few verses until he realized which

684
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,400
Speaker 1: story he'd stumbled upon. His religious schooling hadn't been intense,

685
00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:49,360
Speaker 1: but he had gone to church most Sundays for the

686
00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:52,400
Speaker 1: better part of a decade. He'd listened to enough sermons

687
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:55,040
Speaker 1: and attended enough Sunday school classes to know the story

688
00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:59,160
Speaker 1: of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, three stupid assholes who'd wandered

689
00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:03,319
Speaker 1: into a furnace entrusted in Deus ex deos to save them.

690
00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:05,839
Speaker 1: If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God

691
00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:07,880
Speaker 1: we serve is able to deliver us from it, and

692
00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:10,399
Speaker 1: he will deliver us from your Majesty's hand. But even

693
00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:12,920
Speaker 1: if he does not, we want you to know, your Majesty,

694
00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:15,080
Speaker 1: that we will not serve your gods or worship the

695
00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:18,120
Speaker 1: image of gold you have set up. It struck Manny

696
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:20,200
Speaker 1: that his current predicament had more than a little in

697
00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:22,759
Speaker 1: common with these ancient men, if they'd ever existed in

698
00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:25,600
Speaker 1: the first place. The chief difference was that, of course,

699
00:37:25,719 --> 00:37:29,000
Speaker 1: Manny wasn't praying for the help of a god. He was, however,

700
00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:32,520
Speaker 1: strongly hoping for rescue from a godlike being that felt

701
00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:34,640
Speaker 1: close enough to give him a sense of kinship Towards

702
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:37,359
Speaker 1: the men and the story. The king's command was so

703
00:37:37,480 --> 00:37:39,840
Speaker 1: urgent and the furnace so hot, that the flames of

704
00:37:39,880 --> 00:37:42,560
Speaker 1: the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrak Mishak

705
00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:45,600
Speaker 1: and to bed Nego. And these three men firmly tied

706
00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:49,160
Speaker 1: fell into the burning furnace. He hadn't remembered that bit

707
00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:51,520
Speaker 1: from Sunday School, the part where the king's soldiers were

708
00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:54,400
Speaker 1: burnt alive by the heat of his fire. Many wondered

709
00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:56,840
Speaker 1: what kind of soldiers would so willingly step into a

710
00:37:56,880 --> 00:38:00,560
Speaker 1: pointless death at some mad king's command, and he remembered

711
00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:02,880
Speaker 1: where he was. He looked up from the Bible at

712
00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:05,680
Speaker 1: the twenty or so armed men stationed around the factory.

713
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:09,120
Speaker 1: I really really hope someone comes along to burn them

714
00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:12,839
Speaker 1: to death. Many heard footsteps behind him. He looked back

715
00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:15,800
Speaker 1: this time and saw doctor Arnst advancing with two guards.

716
00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:19,040
Speaker 1: In Isaac, the bald little man was visibly excited an

717
00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:22,480
Speaker 1: obscene smile played across his features. He held an almost

718
00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:25,839
Speaker 1: comically large needle in his hands. Manny looked over from

719
00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:30,040
Speaker 1: him to the Doctor Emmanuel. Doctor Arnist said it's time.

720
00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:34,960
Speaker 1: Many stood. His mind raced for some sort of delaying tactic.

721
00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:38,840
Speaker 1: I need to uh pray more. I I need more pray. Time.

722
00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:42,600
Speaker 1: Confusion passed over all the men's faces. Time is of

723
00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:46,200
Speaker 1: the essence here. Doctor Arnst insisted, don't delay this important

724
00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:49,040
Speaker 1: work because you're scared. Trust in the Lord, open your

725
00:38:49,080 --> 00:38:52,600
Speaker 1: heart to his will. See, I have, I I totally have.

726
00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:55,719
Speaker 1: Manny stammered, and I'm pretty sure he's actually not down

727
00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:57,319
Speaker 1: with us. Yeah, I think he wants me to be

728
00:38:57,360 --> 00:39:00,040
Speaker 1: a soldier, a regular soldier with a gun, not a

729
00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:03,200
Speaker 1: brain in a drone. Doctor Ernst glanced back at the

730
00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:06,759
Speaker 1: two guards flanking him. He nodded, and they advanced. One

731
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:09,319
Speaker 1: man had a kalashnikov on his back, the other had

732
00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:12,319
Speaker 1: a holstered side arm. Both men were much larger and

733
00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:15,360
Speaker 1: more muscular than Manny. He glanced around for a weapon,

734
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:18,680
Speaker 1: as if anything left around would be useful against two firearms.

735
00:39:19,160 --> 00:39:21,520
Speaker 1: There was still a bible in his hands that probably

736
00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:24,040
Speaker 1: would have been enough for Roland Manny had no doubt

737
00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:26,120
Speaker 1: the posthuman could kill a dozen men with a book,

738
00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:30,319
Speaker 1: more if it was hard cover. Immanuel, the doctor's voice

739
00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:33,680
Speaker 1: was low, soft and as comforting as a lullaby. I

740
00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:36,840
Speaker 1: know this is a frightening thing, but you must trust me,

741
00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:40,120
Speaker 1: You must trust all of us. The heavenly Kingdom would

742
00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:42,080
Speaker 1: not spend your life this way if we were not

743
00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:45,080
Speaker 1: certain your sacrifice would further the will of our Lord.

744
00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:48,440
Speaker 1: That is why you came here, Emmanuel. I know if

745
00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:52,680
Speaker 1: you listen to God, you'll see what's right. Manny closed

746
00:39:52,719 --> 00:39:55,760
Speaker 1: his eyes. He listened not for the voice of God,

747
00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:59,080
Speaker 1: but for the sound of footsteps. After a few seconds pause,

748
00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:01,880
Speaker 1: he heard the guards move towards him again. He gripped

749
00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:03,680
Speaker 1: hard on the Bible in his hand, and he tried

750
00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:05,720
Speaker 1: not to think too much about what he had already

751
00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:09,279
Speaker 1: decided he had to do. The footsteps grew closer until

752
00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:11,680
Speaker 1: Manny could almost feel the heat coming off the other

753
00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:17,040
Speaker 1: men's bodies. Very good, Emmanuel, Doctor Ernst Cood, God loves you.

754
00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:20,799
Speaker 1: Manny opened his eyes. The guards were right in front

755
00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:23,800
Speaker 1: of him, now reaching for him. Manny swung the Bible

756
00:40:23,880 --> 00:40:27,560
Speaker 1: up underhanded into the kalashnikov. Man's chin. Then he dove

757
00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:29,440
Speaker 1: to the right and slammed his head into the other

758
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:31,719
Speaker 1: man's crotch with all the force his five foot ten

759
00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:35,040
Speaker 1: inch frame could bring to bear. The man howled. Manny

760
00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:38,000
Speaker 1: half fell, caught himself, and dropped into a dead run,

761
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:41,279
Speaker 1: aimed straight for Isaac. Both the bald headed needleman and

762
00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:45,320
Speaker 1: doctor Ernst stared at him in astonishment. Belatedly, Isaac raised

763
00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:47,759
Speaker 1: his arms up in defense. The gesture did nothing to

764
00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:50,120
Speaker 1: stop Manny from plowing into him and knocking him to

765
00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:53,000
Speaker 1: the ground. He punched the other man in the face hard,

766
00:40:53,040 --> 00:40:55,759
Speaker 1: and then scrambled back to his feet too. He felt

767
00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:58,680
Speaker 1: the pain of the gunshot before he heard it, or rather,

768
00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:01,320
Speaker 1: he didn't register the sound of the gunshot as a

769
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:04,040
Speaker 1: gunshot until the pain made it clear he'd been shot.

770
00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:07,320
Speaker 1: And then Manny was on the ground. His world shrunk

771
00:41:07,360 --> 00:41:10,080
Speaker 1: to the space below his belly button, which now pulsed

772
00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:13,280
Speaker 1: with spurts of deep red blood. His hands covered the wound,

773
00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:16,840
Speaker 1: pressing back against it in an instinctive attempt to protect himself.

774
00:41:17,360 --> 00:41:20,520
Speaker 1: He stared in fascination at the spreading red. He watched

775
00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:23,680
Speaker 1: as his blood turned chunky and thick. The spurting faded

776
00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:26,360
Speaker 1: away to a slow ooze. The pain caught up to

777
00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:28,920
Speaker 1: him now, and Manny's vision went black for a moment.

778
00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:32,560
Speaker 1: The world faded into view after a while. Doctor Ernst,

779
00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:35,600
Speaker 1: Isaac and both guards were standing above him. The guard

780
00:41:35,640 --> 00:41:37,920
Speaker 1: with a handgun had a drawn a wisp of smoke

781
00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:41,319
Speaker 1: trailed up from the barrel. Manny watched, enthralled as it

782
00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:44,080
Speaker 1: curled up to the sky and gradually disappeared into the

783
00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:48,400
Speaker 1: air around them. You've made a grievous error, my boy.

784
00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:51,880
Speaker 1: Doctor Ernst's voice was grave, now, devoid of all compassion.

785
00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:55,520
Speaker 1: You was so close to paradise it almost brings me

786
00:41:55,560 --> 00:41:59,000
Speaker 1: to tears. The doctor was only a few feet away,

787
00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:02,200
Speaker 1: but his voice sounded distant and muffled. I'm dying, aren't I?

788
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:05,160
Speaker 1: Manny thought, no, if that was a kill shot, I'd

789
00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:08,840
Speaker 1: be dead by now. The bleeding's already stopped. The thought

790
00:42:08,840 --> 00:42:11,959
Speaker 1: did little to calm his nerves. He'd thoroughly blown his cover.

791
00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:14,520
Speaker 1: Even if they never guessed his true purpose in coming

792
00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:17,480
Speaker 1: to the Heavenly Kingdom, he'd be executed for trying to flee.

793
00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:20,480
Speaker 1: This is going to put us even further behind schedule.

794
00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:23,200
Speaker 1: That was Isaac. His nose was bleeding, but it didn't

795
00:42:23,239 --> 00:42:26,680
Speaker 1: look broken. I wish I was better at punching. Take

796
00:42:26,680 --> 00:42:29,839
Speaker 1: about side, Doctor Arts said to the guards, and make

797
00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:32,040
Speaker 1: it quick. There's no sense in stringing him up in

798
00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:35,319
Speaker 1: public for simple cowardice. So this is how it's going

799
00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:38,160
Speaker 1: to end. Manny was confused by how it peace. He

800
00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:41,319
Speaker 1: felt with that some of it was guilt. Alejandra was dead,

801
00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:44,319
Speaker 1: Amide was dead, Oscar was dead, mister Perrone was dead.

802
00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:47,560
Speaker 1: This was nothing more than he deserved. He was pleasantly

803
00:42:47,600 --> 00:42:49,960
Speaker 1: surprised to find that. As the little robots in his

804
00:42:49,960 --> 00:42:52,840
Speaker 1: blood flooded his system with happy drugs, that sense of

805
00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:56,440
Speaker 1: guilt began to fade. He felt wonderfully detached from the world.

806
00:42:56,760 --> 00:42:59,120
Speaker 1: He wondered if this was how Roland felt all the time,

807
00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:02,960
Speaker 1: disconnect it and pleasant in a vague, indefinable way. The

808
00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:06,000
Speaker 1: guards bent down, many felt their hands on his arms.

809
00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:08,400
Speaker 1: He felt them lift him up. He felt a terrible,

810
00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:11,000
Speaker 1: shifting pain in his gut as another rush of clotting

811
00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:14,120
Speaker 1: blood poured out of him. Manny thought of mister Perrone.

812
00:43:14,239 --> 00:43:17,120
Speaker 1: He could almost see his face. Maybe the Christians were

813
00:43:17,160 --> 00:43:20,120
Speaker 1: right about the afterlife. That was a nice thought, actually,

814
00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:23,000
Speaker 1: he thought, mister Perrone would be proud of him. I

815
00:43:23,080 --> 00:43:27,720
Speaker 1: tried to do something, Sir, I really did. Many didn't

816
00:43:27,719 --> 00:43:30,320
Speaker 1: see the source of the noise. It sounded like something

817
00:43:30,360 --> 00:43:33,600
Speaker 1: heavy falling from a high height onto something soft and squishy,

818
00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:38,160
Speaker 1: some one soft and squishy. He realized. The guards dropped him.

819
00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:43,520
Speaker 1: Men started to yell. Gunshot gunshot gunshot, Manny thought, and

820
00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:46,080
Speaker 1: he giggled a little bit. The sounds of chaos and

821
00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:48,680
Speaker 1: violence that had erupted inside the factory could only be

822
00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:52,360
Speaker 1: Roland's doing. Manny lifted up his head with considerable effort

823
00:43:52,360 --> 00:43:54,759
Speaker 1: and looked over towards the waiting area, where most of

824
00:43:54,800 --> 00:43:57,359
Speaker 1: the guards had sat idle. It was a mess now.

825
00:43:57,680 --> 00:43:59,520
Speaker 1: Several of the chairs in one of the big tables

826
00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:02,320
Speaker 1: were mashed together with a chunky red paste that resembled

827
00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:06,040
Speaker 1: good salsa. People salsa, he thought, and then giggled again.

828
00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:09,160
Speaker 1: Manny caught a glimpse of Roland as the chromed man

829
00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:12,400
Speaker 1: rocketed across the factory floor and into a trio of guards.

830
00:44:12,840 --> 00:44:15,400
Speaker 1: The men didn't even have the chance to fire their weapons.

831
00:44:15,880 --> 00:44:18,480
Speaker 1: The first guard burst like a balloon full of jelly.

832
00:44:18,719 --> 00:44:21,000
Speaker 1: It was hard to tell exactly what happened next, as

833
00:44:21,040 --> 00:44:24,120
Speaker 1: it occurred under a red cloud of human viscera. Manny

834
00:44:24,160 --> 00:44:26,920
Speaker 1: slipped in his own blood and fell back onto the floor.

835
00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:29,240
Speaker 1: He stared up at the ceiling for a little while

836
00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:31,760
Speaker 1: and just focused on trying to keep his breath steady.

837
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:36,200
Speaker 1: There was nothing else he could do here anyway. Immanuel Sasha,

838
00:44:36,400 --> 00:44:40,239
Speaker 1: he thought, Lah, he said, it's okay. He felt her

839
00:44:40,280 --> 00:44:43,160
Speaker 1: warm hand on his forehead. Don't talk. You've been shot,

840
00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:46,640
Speaker 1: but you're probably not going to die. Probably, he had

841
00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:49,520
Speaker 1: to admire her fundamental honesty. I'm going to try to

842
00:44:49,600 --> 00:44:51,520
Speaker 1: drag you out of here. If you can walk, that

843
00:44:51,560 --> 00:44:55,240
Speaker 1: would be really helpful. She grabbed Manny under the armpits

844
00:44:55,239 --> 00:44:57,040
Speaker 1: and tried to pull him up. He let out a

845
00:44:57,080 --> 00:44:59,560
Speaker 1: coughing cry at the pain of being moved again, but

846
00:44:59,600 --> 00:45:02,120
Speaker 1: he also realized late in the game that he still

847
00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:05,160
Speaker 1: had some control over his legs. He pushed up, and,

848
00:45:05,239 --> 00:45:08,000
Speaker 1: with Sasha's help, fought gravity well enough that he soon

849
00:45:08,040 --> 00:45:11,520
Speaker 1: stood under mostly his own power. Sasha wrapped one of

850
00:45:11,560 --> 00:45:13,360
Speaker 1: his arms around her shoulder and took some of the

851
00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:17,000
Speaker 1: weight off his weakened limbs, and then together they hobbled

852
00:45:17,040 --> 00:45:19,560
Speaker 1: free of the chinel factory that had almost been his

853
00:45:19,640 --> 00:45:23,680
Speaker 1: tomb An hour later, Manny sat with Roland and Sasha

854
00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:25,600
Speaker 1: on the roof of an old Bank of America and

855
00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:29,120
Speaker 1: watched as the Tesla factory burned in the distance. Manny

856
00:45:29,200 --> 00:45:31,279
Speaker 1: had passed out almost as soon as Sasha had got

857
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:33,759
Speaker 1: him out the door. He recalled waking up a few

858
00:45:33,760 --> 00:45:36,400
Speaker 1: times during the run away from the factory. At some

859
00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:39,200
Speaker 1: point Roland had met up with them and started carrying him.

860
00:45:39,840 --> 00:45:42,240
Speaker 1: He'd come too, on the roof of the old bank building,

861
00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:44,640
Speaker 1: just in time to see Roland dribble a trail of

862
00:45:44,640 --> 00:45:47,959
Speaker 1: weirdess blood into his gunshot wound. He'd felt a little

863
00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:50,120
Speaker 1: revulsion at the act, but it had passed once his

864
00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:52,880
Speaker 1: pain dissolved. I should really find a way to bottle

865
00:45:52,920 --> 00:45:57,719
Speaker 1: that stuff, he thought. What happened, Manny asked, Once reality

866
00:45:57,719 --> 00:46:01,879
Speaker 1: had solidified a little more. Roland found me, Sasha said,

867
00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:04,759
Speaker 1: just after they took you. I told him that Alexander

868
00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:07,160
Speaker 1: had mentioned a factory, and then well, he seemed to

869
00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:09,360
Speaker 1: know this must be the factory they'd been talking about.

870
00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:12,759
Speaker 1: Thanks for that, Reggie, he told me he was going

871
00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:16,080
Speaker 1: to She coughed a little and her cheeks reddened. An

872
00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:19,720
Speaker 1: embarrassment feed them their own dicks, and that I should

873
00:46:19,719 --> 00:46:22,399
Speaker 1: wait until they were engaged to run and drag you out.

874
00:46:23,360 --> 00:46:26,279
Speaker 1: A large explosion echoed across the city. Escape and the

875
00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:29,200
Speaker 1: Trio watched a small orange mushroom cloud light up the

876
00:46:29,200 --> 00:46:32,960
Speaker 1: sky where the Testla factory had been. It's about damned time,

877
00:46:33,239 --> 00:46:36,600
Speaker 1: Roland grumbled. The detonators those fuckers stole from the Republic

878
00:46:36,640 --> 00:46:39,839
Speaker 1: were garbage. Hey, He looked over to Manny. The hell

879
00:46:39,920 --> 00:46:44,200
Speaker 1: was that place anyway? Yes, Sasha added, and how exactly

880
00:46:44,239 --> 00:46:47,480
Speaker 1: did you end up getting shot there? Manny related the

881
00:46:47,480 --> 00:46:50,520
Speaker 1: whole story as best he could. Sasha's face went pale

882
00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:53,479
Speaker 1: white with outrage and disgust when he explained exactly how

883
00:46:53,520 --> 00:46:56,360
Speaker 1: the Heavenly Kingdom had managed to get its suicide vehicles

884
00:46:56,360 --> 00:47:01,480
Speaker 1: past the SDFS checkpoints. Oh god, she moaned, Oh God, above, no, no, no.

885
00:47:02,719 --> 00:47:05,799
Speaker 1: Roland just laughed. That's as clever as a two headed crow.

886
00:47:05,840 --> 00:47:08,520
Speaker 1: I'll give him that. He clapped Sasha on the shoulder.

887
00:47:08,680 --> 00:47:10,719
Speaker 1: Come on, lady, you can't still be surprised by how

888
00:47:10,760 --> 00:47:13,479
Speaker 1: funk the Kingdom is? How many people did you watch them? Hang?

889
00:47:14,280 --> 00:47:17,840
Speaker 1: Sasha didn't respond. She just sat there, eyes red and watery,

890
00:47:18,120 --> 00:47:21,080
Speaker 1: and stared out at the burning factory. Manny felt like

891
00:47:21,120 --> 00:47:23,279
Speaker 1: he should have said something, but his mind was still

892
00:47:23,320 --> 00:47:25,239
Speaker 1: catching up to his body after the events of the

893
00:47:25,320 --> 00:47:28,720
Speaker 1: last couple of hours. Staring straight ahead represented the extent

894
00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:32,480
Speaker 1: of his abilities right now, Sorry, Roland said, in response

895
00:47:32,520 --> 00:47:35,080
Speaker 1: to the silence, I forget your kids aren't used to

896
00:47:35,120 --> 00:47:37,520
Speaker 1: this sort of ship. I'll tell you it gets easier.

897
00:47:38,040 --> 00:47:41,520
Speaker 1: What almost dying, asked Manny. We're being betrayed by the

898
00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:45,919
Speaker 1: only thing you ever believed in, asked Sasha. Roland shrugged. Both.

899
00:47:45,960 --> 00:47:48,080
Speaker 1: I guess, I mean neither is much fun. But hey,

900
00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:50,000
Speaker 1: y'all pop some cherries today, so it's got to be

901
00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:53,719
Speaker 1: nothing but downhill from here on out. Neither of them responded,

902
00:47:53,880 --> 00:47:56,840
Speaker 1: but Roland plowed right along. I meant downhill and like

903
00:47:56,920 --> 00:47:59,200
Speaker 1: the positive sense of the word, you know, sledding like

904
00:47:59,280 --> 00:48:03,120
Speaker 1: that or something more. Silence Roland's side and took a

905
00:48:03,120 --> 00:48:05,120
Speaker 1: loud gulp from a piece of sheet metal he'd been

906
00:48:05,160 --> 00:48:08,640
Speaker 1: into a makeshift cup. The beverage inside smelled like another

907
00:48:08,680 --> 00:48:11,440
Speaker 1: batch of his gut liquor. It burned Manny's nose from

908
00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:14,280
Speaker 1: three feet away. A minute went by, and then another

909
00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:17,600
Speaker 1: without a word. They listened as emergency sirens sounded and

910
00:48:17,719 --> 00:48:20,440
Speaker 1: drew closer to the side of the blast. So what

911
00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:24,120
Speaker 1: the fund do we do now, Manny asked. Roland grunted

912
00:48:24,200 --> 00:48:28,120
Speaker 1: and then belched, Well, he'd probably gotta roll back into town,

913
00:48:28,239 --> 00:48:30,600
Speaker 1: break those ladies out of jail, and then I don't know,

914
00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:34,400
Speaker 1: we should probably leave, right. Manny rolled his eyes. The

915
00:48:34,440 --> 00:48:37,839
Speaker 1: casual recklessness of Roland's confidence had been fun and reassuring

916
00:48:37,880 --> 00:48:41,080
Speaker 1: when he wasn't recovering from a gunshot wound. The events

917
00:48:41,080 --> 00:48:43,080
Speaker 1: at the Tesla plant had proved to Manny that the

918
00:48:43,080 --> 00:48:47,560
Speaker 1: post humans protection wasn't enough to guarantee his safety or Sasha's.

919
00:48:47,560 --> 00:48:50,000
Speaker 1: He was the deadliest thing Manny had ever seen, but

920
00:48:50,040 --> 00:48:53,440
Speaker 1: he couldn't be everywhere at once. Wait, who are you

921
00:48:53,480 --> 00:48:58,040
Speaker 1: breaking out of jail? Sasha asked those three negotiators, Manny said,

922
00:48:58,160 --> 00:49:00,560
Speaker 1: from the City of Wheels, the woman he examined, and

923
00:49:00,600 --> 00:49:04,880
Speaker 1: their male companion. Sasha gave Manny a look he couldn't

924
00:49:04,920 --> 00:49:08,360
Speaker 1: quite parse out what he asked. Is that why you

925
00:49:08,400 --> 00:49:10,520
Speaker 1: started talking to me? She asked, Because you knew I

926
00:49:10,560 --> 00:49:12,200
Speaker 1: was working with those women, and you thought I might

927
00:49:12,239 --> 00:49:15,960
Speaker 1: be able to get you into the jail. No, started Manny,

928
00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:18,399
Speaker 1: I mean sort of right, finished Roland. That was sure

929
00:49:18,400 --> 00:49:21,279
Speaker 1: as shed a big BLUs. Many glared at the post

930
00:49:21,360 --> 00:49:24,360
Speaker 1: human Rowland had all the tacked in diplomacy of a chainsaw.

931
00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:28,400
Speaker 1: That's why I'm here in the first place, he reminded himself. Look,

932
00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:31,960
Speaker 1: Roland continued, there's no point in dressing any of this up. Sasha,

933
00:49:32,080 --> 00:49:34,680
Speaker 1: you fled your home to join a militant terrorist organization

934
00:49:34,680 --> 00:49:37,920
Speaker 1: that butcher civilians. Manny, you kind of manipulated her in

935
00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:40,800
Speaker 1: the hope of getting information. I just beat like twenty

936
00:49:40,800 --> 00:49:43,879
Speaker 1: people to death, plus I fed Martyr Dittmar his own hand,

937
00:49:43,920 --> 00:49:47,239
Speaker 1: and I feel genuinely bad about that. Roland shook his head.

938
00:49:47,600 --> 00:49:49,959
Speaker 1: I'm really trying not to fall completely off the murder

939
00:49:49,960 --> 00:49:51,759
Speaker 1: wagon here, guys. But when I get angry and the

940
00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:56,200
Speaker 1: battle drug start flowing, he shivered, I get ugly. Once again.

941
00:49:56,360 --> 00:49:59,320
Speaker 1: Roland's words were met with stunned silence, and once again

942
00:49:59,440 --> 00:50:02,839
Speaker 1: he plowed forward. Nonetheless, what I'm saying is this whole

943
00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:04,799
Speaker 1: situation as ugly as fun, and none of us as

944
00:50:04,840 --> 00:50:07,000
Speaker 1: a hero. But we're probably the least shitty people in

945
00:50:07,000 --> 00:50:09,359
Speaker 1: the city with any kind of power. So let's all

946
00:50:09,520 --> 00:50:11,839
Speaker 1: forgive each other's trespasses and use that power to try

947
00:50:11,880 --> 00:50:14,200
Speaker 1: to save a couple of nice people from being crucified

948
00:50:14,440 --> 00:50:16,359
Speaker 1: or whatever it is Christians due to the people who

949
00:50:16,360 --> 00:50:20,280
Speaker 1: piss them off. Is it just hanging I? Sasha started

950
00:50:20,320 --> 00:50:23,960
Speaker 1: to respond, then shook her head in exasperation. Probably not,

951
00:50:24,400 --> 00:50:27,480
Speaker 1: she said. Instead, all right, Roland clapped and put on

952
00:50:27,520 --> 00:50:29,839
Speaker 1: a bright smile. So how do we get in there?

953
00:50:29,920 --> 00:50:31,560
Speaker 1: I mean, I can just sort of bawls my way

954
00:50:31,600 --> 00:50:34,040
Speaker 1: through the front door or the ceiling. But since this

955
00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:37,000
Speaker 1: is an actual jail, it's probably reinforced. There's a good

956
00:50:37,080 --> 00:50:39,319
Speaker 1: chance they'll kill the hostages before I punched my way

957
00:50:39,360 --> 00:50:42,560
Speaker 1: into the cells. Manny could almost hear the wheels turn

958
00:50:42,640 --> 00:50:44,640
Speaker 1: and Sasha's head as she caught her thoughts up with

959
00:50:44,680 --> 00:50:47,920
Speaker 1: what was now apparently her reality. To her credit, she

960
00:50:48,000 --> 00:50:52,040
Speaker 1: responded in short order, that's probably the case, she nodded.

961
00:50:52,320 --> 00:50:54,759
Speaker 1: There are armed guards outside of each cell, and there's

962
00:50:54,760 --> 00:50:57,560
Speaker 1: a real disgust for those captives among the martyrs. They

963
00:50:57,600 --> 00:51:00,160
Speaker 1: probably would shoot those women rather than let them escape.

964
00:51:00,880 --> 00:51:03,239
Speaker 1: And what about the guy? I never saw him. I

965
00:51:03,320 --> 00:51:06,320
Speaker 1: dealt with the women Marigolden Oh what was her name? Tully,

966
00:51:06,760 --> 00:51:09,440
Speaker 1: but I assume he was in the same jail. He is,

967
00:51:09,680 --> 00:51:11,920
Speaker 1: Roland confirmed, or at least he was last time I

968
00:51:11,960 --> 00:51:16,120
Speaker 1: sniffed around there. Manny's mind finally spun up to full speed.

969
00:51:16,400 --> 00:51:18,719
Speaker 1: The pain in his guts had subsided, as had the

970
00:51:18,800 --> 00:51:21,720
Speaker 1: light headed, bloodless feeling he'd woken up with. He felt

971
00:51:21,760 --> 00:51:24,280
Speaker 1: comforted by the mere fact of having a simple problem

972
00:51:24,280 --> 00:51:27,520
Speaker 1: to solve. At the core, this question was a logistical one,

973
00:51:27,680 --> 00:51:30,080
Speaker 1: just like the problems he faced every day as a fixer.

974
00:51:30,440 --> 00:51:32,880
Speaker 1: He needed to deliver his team to a certain location,

975
00:51:33,040 --> 00:51:36,120
Speaker 1: the jail, in a limited time frame, so Manny's first

976
00:51:36,200 --> 00:51:38,440
Speaker 1: job was to figure out what connections he'd need to

977
00:51:38,480 --> 00:51:42,280
Speaker 1: make in order for that to be possible. Sasha, he asked,

978
00:51:42,400 --> 00:51:44,480
Speaker 1: who can help us get inside that jail? Do you

979
00:51:44,480 --> 00:51:46,319
Speaker 1: know anyone who has the authority to come and go

980
00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:50,400
Speaker 1: from there with impunity? Doctor Brandt? She replied. He's a

981
00:51:50,400 --> 00:51:52,799
Speaker 1: good man, I think, but he's committed. He's not going

982
00:51:52,880 --> 00:51:55,480
Speaker 1: to work with us to betray the Kingdom. He doesn't

983
00:51:55,520 --> 00:51:58,040
Speaker 1: need to, Manny assured her. I'm going to guess he's

984
00:51:58,040 --> 00:52:00,319
Speaker 1: a smart guy, right. He has to be somewhat roldly

985
00:52:00,360 --> 00:52:03,719
Speaker 1: to be an actual doctor. Sasha nodded, He's not a

986
00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:06,440
Speaker 1: mindless zalid If that's what you're asking. Most of us.

987
00:52:06,480 --> 00:52:09,080
Speaker 1: Aren't you know there was a reasonable case for supporting

988
00:52:09,080 --> 00:52:12,200
Speaker 1: the Heavenly Kingdom at just She trailed off, and Many

989
00:52:12,280 --> 00:52:15,319
Speaker 1: put his hands out in a placating gesture. No, No,

990
00:52:15,520 --> 00:52:17,520
Speaker 1: that's not not what I'm getting at. I want to

991
00:52:17,520 --> 00:52:20,759
Speaker 1: make sure this guy has a sober, realistic understanding of

992
00:52:20,760 --> 00:52:24,720
Speaker 1: what someone like Roland can do. Sasha's eyes went cloudy,

993
00:52:24,840 --> 00:52:28,360
Speaker 1: but she nodded. He talked about them with me a little,

994
00:52:28,600 --> 00:52:31,280
Speaker 1: she said, I would say he has a healthy respect

995
00:52:31,320 --> 00:52:35,120
Speaker 1: for post humans. Good Manny said, So we find him

996
00:52:35,160 --> 00:52:37,480
Speaker 1: and we make him an offer. Either Roland tears the

997
00:52:37,520 --> 00:52:39,640
Speaker 1: heart out of the Kingdom or doctor Brandt helps us

998
00:52:39,680 --> 00:52:41,840
Speaker 1: get those captives out of the jail. If he's a

999
00:52:41,880 --> 00:52:44,399
Speaker 1: sensible man, who'll have to see the reason in that.

1000
00:52:45,400 --> 00:52:48,839
Speaker 1: Sasha didn't look so sure about that, but after some consideration,

1001
00:52:48,920 --> 00:52:52,600
Speaker 1: she nodded and agreed that it was at least possible. Okay,

1002
00:52:52,640 --> 00:52:54,440
Speaker 1: so we find this doctor Brandt, We use him to

1003
00:52:54,440 --> 00:52:56,880
Speaker 1: get inside the jail, Roland does Roland things, and then

1004
00:52:56,920 --> 00:53:00,360
Speaker 1: we beat feet to get out of Demuerta. Roland shrugged

1005
00:53:00,360 --> 00:53:02,640
Speaker 1: and took another deep pull from his gut beverage. He

1006
00:53:02,719 --> 00:53:06,879
Speaker 1: seemed on board. Sasha raised another question though. Okay, so

1007
00:53:07,160 --> 00:53:09,319
Speaker 1: who are you two supposed to be? Then? Every time

1008
00:53:09,400 --> 00:53:11,560
Speaker 1: Dr Brandton I visited the jail, we had a driver

1009
00:53:11,640 --> 00:53:14,319
Speaker 1: in an armed guard. But you two don't exactly look

1010
00:53:14,360 --> 00:53:17,080
Speaker 1: like you fit the bill. Right now, you, she pointed

1011
00:53:17,120 --> 00:53:19,560
Speaker 1: to Manny, clearly just took a bullet, and you, she

1012
00:53:19,680 --> 00:53:22,160
Speaker 1: jabbed a finger at Roland, look like you just murdered

1013
00:53:22,160 --> 00:53:25,800
Speaker 1: dozens of people, which I guess you did. Right, Manny

1014
00:53:25,840 --> 00:53:28,080
Speaker 1: clapped his hands. That's easy enough to fix. It's what

1015
00:53:28,280 --> 00:53:30,319
Speaker 1: five am. Now the city is starting to wake up.

1016
00:53:30,560 --> 00:53:34,600
Speaker 1: Do you know what shift Doctor Brandt's expected to work today, Sasha?

1017
00:53:34,719 --> 00:53:38,440
Speaker 1: Lately he's been doing seven to seven and Roland. Manny continued,

1018
00:53:38,600 --> 00:53:40,839
Speaker 1: Do you know where the vehicle pool is? The big

1019
00:53:40,840 --> 00:53:43,120
Speaker 1: man nodded, Oh yeah, I dragged that down there in

1020
00:53:43,120 --> 00:53:45,560
Speaker 1: my first recon day. It's about thirty minutes away on

1021
00:53:45,600 --> 00:53:49,520
Speaker 1: foot for you guys five minutes from me. We'll go slow,

1022
00:53:49,640 --> 00:53:52,400
Speaker 1: said Manny. Sasha, you let us know when you recognize

1023
00:53:52,480 --> 00:53:55,239
Speaker 1: Dr Brandt's jeep and driver will stop them, relieve them

1024
00:53:55,239 --> 00:53:58,480
Speaker 1: with their uniforms and drive on to the doctor's house. Roland,

1025
00:53:58,560 --> 00:54:00,840
Speaker 1: you think you can take out two men without bloodying up?

1026
00:54:00,880 --> 00:54:06,440
Speaker 1: Their uniforms. He gave another shrug. All right, Manny nodded,

1027
00:54:06,600 --> 00:54:10,240
Speaker 1: that's plan A then, and what's planned B? Sasha asked,

1028
00:54:10,640 --> 00:54:19,880
Speaker 1: close your eyes and hide behind Roland. Hi. I'm Robert

1029
00:54:19,920 --> 00:54:23,120
Speaker 1: sex Reese, host of The Doctor Sex re Show. And

1030
00:54:23,200 --> 00:54:26,360
Speaker 1: every episode I listened to people talk about their sex

1031
00:54:26,360 --> 00:54:30,160
Speaker 1: and intimacy issues, and yes, I despise every minute of it.

1032
00:54:30,600 --> 00:54:34,800
Speaker 1: And she she made mistakes too, kill everyone at her wedding.

1033
00:54:35,160 --> 00:54:38,000
Speaker 1: But hell is real. We're all trapped here and there's

1034
00:54:38,040 --> 00:54:40,759
Speaker 1: nothing any of us can do about it. So join me,

1035
00:54:40,880 --> 00:54:43,800
Speaker 1: won't you? Listen to The Doctor Sex re Show every

1036
00:54:43,800 --> 00:54:46,840
Speaker 1: Tuesday on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or

1037
00:54:46,880 --> 00:54:51,000
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast. I'm Colleen Wit Join me

1038
00:54:51,160 --> 00:54:53,960
Speaker 1: the host of Eating Wall Broke podcast while I eat

1039
00:54:53,960 --> 00:54:58,319
Speaker 1: a meal created by self made entrepreneurs, influencers, and celebrities

1040
00:54:58,360 --> 00:55:00,320
Speaker 1: over a meal they once ate when they were broke.

1041
00:55:00,440 --> 00:55:03,680
Speaker 1: Today I have the lovely aj Crimson, the official Princess

1042
00:55:03,800 --> 00:55:08,000
Speaker 1: of comfin Asia Kidding, and Assia. This is the professor.

1043
00:55:08,160 --> 00:55:10,560
Speaker 1: We're here on Eating Wall Broke, and today I'm gonna

1044
00:55:10,560 --> 00:55:13,319
Speaker 1: break down my meal that got me through a time

1045
00:55:13,360 --> 00:55:16,000
Speaker 1: when I was broke. Listen to Eating wall Broke on

1046
00:55:16,040 --> 00:55:19,080
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1047
00:55:19,120 --> 00:55:23,040
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. The art world it is essentially

1048
00:55:23,080 --> 00:55:26,760
Speaker 1: a money laundering business. The best fakes are still hanging

1049
00:55:26,760 --> 00:55:29,800
Speaker 1: off people's walls. You know they don't even know or

1050
00:55:29,920 --> 00:55:33,719
Speaker 1: suspect that they're fakes. I'm Alec Baldwin and this is

1051
00:55:33,760 --> 00:55:38,280
Speaker 1: a podcast about deception, greed and forgery in the art world.

1052
00:55:38,719 --> 00:55:44,160
Speaker 1: You knew that the painting was fake. Um listen to

1053
00:55:44,400 --> 00:55:48,560
Speaker 1: Art Fraud starting February one on the I Heart Radio app,

1054
00:55:48,640 --> 00:56:03,320
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, Chapter twenty,

1055
00:56:04,360 --> 00:56:08,719
Speaker 1: Rowland that looks like them, Sasha whispered into his ear.

1056
00:56:09,200 --> 00:56:11,360
Speaker 1: The three of them were stationed on the third floor

1057
00:56:11,400 --> 00:56:14,520
Speaker 1: of an old office building that overlooked the Kingdom's vehicle pool.

1058
00:56:14,920 --> 00:56:17,640
Speaker 1: Based on the posters and decorations inside, the people in

1059
00:56:17,680 --> 00:56:20,080
Speaker 1: this office had once helped co ordinate for a string

1060
00:56:20,120 --> 00:56:23,719
Speaker 1: of restaurant supply stores. Roland suspected the coming of the

1061
00:56:23,719 --> 00:56:25,600
Speaker 1: war might have been a relief to the people who'd

1062
00:56:25,640 --> 00:56:28,800
Speaker 1: been stuck working here. He was positioned by the window,

1063
00:56:29,000 --> 00:56:31,120
Speaker 1: sitting down, so only the edge of his face would

1064
00:56:31,120 --> 00:56:33,759
Speaker 1: have been visible to any one looking in from the outside.

1065
00:56:34,280 --> 00:56:36,479
Speaker 1: Manny had elected to take a nap out of view

1066
00:56:36,640 --> 00:56:39,480
Speaker 1: behind one of the desks. His ability to fall asleep

1067
00:56:39,520 --> 00:56:42,480
Speaker 1: any time, anywhere marked him out as a true expert

1068
00:56:42,480 --> 00:56:46,040
Speaker 1: in war zone survival. Sasha had situated herself on the

1069
00:56:46,040 --> 00:56:48,719
Speaker 1: other side of the window frame. Roland had warned her

1070
00:56:48,719 --> 00:56:50,439
Speaker 1: to keep her head out of view until he saw

1071
00:56:50,520 --> 00:56:53,440
Speaker 1: new arrivals to the vehicle depot. He'd called for her

1072
00:56:53,440 --> 00:56:57,000
Speaker 1: eyes six times already and gotten six negatives. Now it

1073
00:56:57,080 --> 00:57:00,840
Speaker 1: seemed their target had arrived. Are you sure, he asked.

1074
00:57:01,320 --> 00:57:04,400
Speaker 1: Pretty sure, she said, and nodded. The driver walks with

1075
00:57:04,440 --> 00:57:06,680
Speaker 1: a limp. One of his legs is shorter than the other.

1076
00:57:06,880 --> 00:57:09,000
Speaker 1: I think it's a birth defect. He must have come

1077
00:57:09,040 --> 00:57:11,120
Speaker 1: from some part of the continent where those still happened.

1078
00:57:11,880 --> 00:57:15,800
Speaker 1: Good eye. Roland was genuinely impressed. The girl had potential.

1079
00:57:16,560 --> 00:57:19,720
Speaker 1: So what do we do now, she asked, you rouse, Mannie.

1080
00:57:19,880 --> 00:57:22,160
Speaker 1: I'll keep an eye on things. When they depart, I'll

1081
00:57:22,200 --> 00:57:26,240
Speaker 1: carjack them into unconsciousness and bring back the uniforms. And

1082
00:57:26,360 --> 00:57:29,240
Speaker 1: that's more or less how it went. The garden driver

1083
00:57:29,320 --> 00:57:32,360
Speaker 1: departed in a jeep. Five minutes later. Roland bounded down

1084
00:57:32,440 --> 00:57:34,280
Speaker 1: from one of the rear windows and landed on the

1085
00:57:34,320 --> 00:57:36,280
Speaker 1: hood as they took a right hand turn out of

1086
00:57:36,360 --> 00:57:39,160
Speaker 1: view of the vehicle depot. The guard did not do

1087
00:57:39,320 --> 00:57:42,440
Speaker 1: his job title proud, Roland slammed his face into the

1088
00:57:42,480 --> 00:57:45,200
Speaker 1: dashboard and knocked him out. He also knocked out most

1089
00:57:45,200 --> 00:57:47,320
Speaker 1: of the man's teeth, but his hind brain told him

1090
00:57:47,360 --> 00:57:49,480
Speaker 1: the guy's odds of a fatal brain hemorrhage were only

1091
00:57:49,520 --> 00:57:53,360
Speaker 1: about six percent acceptable. He broke the driver's job with

1092
00:57:53,360 --> 00:57:55,880
Speaker 1: a right cross, took the wheel, and steered the vehicle

1093
00:57:55,920 --> 00:57:58,040
Speaker 1: to a stop while he was still hanging outside it.

1094
00:57:58,680 --> 00:58:00,840
Speaker 1: Roland tossed both men and back of the jeep and

1095
00:58:00,880 --> 00:58:04,320
Speaker 1: pulled into the office buildings underground parking lot. He stripped

1096
00:58:04,320 --> 00:58:06,480
Speaker 1: them both and cursed when he realized that the guard's

1097
00:58:06,520 --> 00:58:09,080
Speaker 1: bleeding face had stained the neck of his uniform shirt.

1098
00:58:09,520 --> 00:58:11,840
Speaker 1: He found some bottled water in the trunk and managed

1099
00:58:11,880 --> 00:58:13,560
Speaker 1: to wash out the worst of it, but the stain

1100
00:58:13,600 --> 00:58:15,840
Speaker 1: would still be visible to anyone who really took the

1101
00:58:15,880 --> 00:58:19,160
Speaker 1: time to look. Still, it'd probably be enough to get

1102
00:58:19,200 --> 00:58:21,680
Speaker 1: them through the door of the jail. He stashed both

1103
00:58:21,680 --> 00:58:24,160
Speaker 1: men in a janitorial closet and dragged an old metal

1104
00:58:24,240 --> 00:58:26,240
Speaker 1: dumpster in front of it to wedge the door shut.

1105
00:58:26,760 --> 00:58:29,360
Speaker 1: Someone would probably find them before they starved to death.

1106
00:58:29,680 --> 00:58:31,520
Speaker 1: He felt a pang of guilt for how little he

1107
00:58:31,560 --> 00:58:34,240
Speaker 1: cared about what happened to those men. I should feel

1108
00:58:34,280 --> 00:58:37,480
Speaker 1: worse about this. Roland knew the battle drugs had suppressed

1109
00:58:37,480 --> 00:58:39,880
Speaker 1: his conscience. He knew that the longer they stayed in

1110
00:58:39,880 --> 00:58:42,320
Speaker 1: this dangerous place, and the more fighting he did, the

1111
00:58:42,320 --> 00:58:46,000
Speaker 1: more tempted he'd be to kill outright. Roland leaned against

1112
00:58:46,000 --> 00:58:48,320
Speaker 1: the dumpster and closed his eyes. He tried to force

1113
00:58:48,400 --> 00:58:50,960
Speaker 1: himself to take long, slow breaths and meditate on the

1114
00:58:51,000 --> 00:58:53,280
Speaker 1: flow of air in and out of his lungs. He

1115
00:58:53,360 --> 00:58:55,880
Speaker 1: helped taking a breather would prompt his system to reduce

1116
00:58:55,920 --> 00:58:59,680
Speaker 1: the drip. Instead, he found himself flashing back to more violence.

1117
00:59:00,280 --> 00:59:03,320
Speaker 1: Red siren lights screeched and blinked on walls of institutional

1118
00:59:03,320 --> 00:59:05,760
Speaker 1: White men and women in lab coats ran and screamed

1119
00:59:05,760 --> 00:59:08,200
Speaker 1: and died, died, died as he squeezed the trigger of

1120
00:59:08,280 --> 00:59:11,080
Speaker 1: his sig sour. Roland kicked at a locked door and

1121
00:59:11,080 --> 00:59:14,040
Speaker 1: the metal buckled inwards, revealing a room with giant glass

1122
00:59:14,240 --> 00:59:17,320
Speaker 1: organ filled vials. He shook his head and tried to

1123
00:59:17,360 --> 00:59:20,560
Speaker 1: banish the memories. He'd started flashing back to this place

1124
00:59:20,560 --> 00:59:22,840
Speaker 1: when they had rescued Manny, but the memories had kept

1125
00:59:22,840 --> 00:59:26,600
Speaker 1: coming even once the violence subsided. Please, Rowland, the old

1126
00:59:26,600 --> 00:59:29,200
Speaker 1: woman begged through blood stained teeth. He looked down at

1127
00:59:29,200 --> 00:59:31,000
Speaker 1: the hole in her gut, the red blood on her

1128
00:59:31,040 --> 00:59:33,720
Speaker 1: white lab coat. She slid backwards on the tile floor

1129
00:59:33,800 --> 00:59:35,680
Speaker 1: until her shoulders hit one of the racks of that

1130
00:59:35,840 --> 00:59:39,840
Speaker 1: grown organs. Please don't do this, Roland shook his head.

1131
00:59:40,160 --> 00:59:42,680
Speaker 1: He didn't know why this was happening exactly. It was

1132
00:59:42,760 --> 00:59:45,680
Speaker 1: likely just a glitch, some unforeseen interaction between the wet

1133
00:59:45,720 --> 00:59:48,400
Speaker 1: wear of his hind brain, the procedural memory stored at

1134
00:59:48,440 --> 00:59:51,040
Speaker 1: his DNA, and the battle drugs that flowed through his system.

1135
00:59:51,440 --> 00:59:54,760
Speaker 1: He questioned again whether he really wanted his memories back.

1136
00:59:55,480 --> 00:59:58,160
Speaker 1: This wasn't the time to ponder that question, though. Roland

1137
00:59:58,240 --> 01:00:01,200
Speaker 1: headed back upstairs to grab Manny and Sasha. He led

1138
01:00:01,240 --> 01:00:05,280
Speaker 1: them down to the garage and handed Manny the unbloodied uniform. Dude,

1139
01:00:05,320 --> 01:00:08,840
Speaker 1: that's really obvious, Manny pointed to the bloodstains on Roland's

1140
01:00:08,840 --> 01:00:12,200
Speaker 1: own uniform. They're going to notice that, you think so.

1141
01:00:12,760 --> 01:00:15,240
Speaker 1: Roland was so used to normal humans not noticing much

1142
01:00:15,280 --> 01:00:19,080
Speaker 1: of anything. He sometimes underestimated their senses. I've got an idea,

1143
01:00:19,240 --> 01:00:22,360
Speaker 1: Sasha said, pop the hood. Roland and Manny were both

1144
01:00:22,400 --> 01:00:24,960
Speaker 1: a little surprised, but he popped it for her. The

1145
01:00:25,000 --> 01:00:27,480
Speaker 1: girl stared at the engine, reached for the dipstick and

1146
01:00:27,520 --> 01:00:30,000
Speaker 1: pulled it free from its slot. She rubbed her hand

1147
01:00:30,040 --> 01:00:32,240
Speaker 1: down the shaft and it came away covered in sticky

1148
01:00:32,240 --> 01:00:35,360
Speaker 1: black grease. She rubbed the grease onto Roland's collar, coated

1149
01:00:35,400 --> 01:00:38,200
Speaker 1: the dipstick again, and repeated the process two more times.

1150
01:00:38,600 --> 01:00:40,640
Speaker 1: When she was done, he looked like he'd been working

1151
01:00:40,680 --> 01:00:43,000
Speaker 1: on an engine rather than beating a man half to death.

1152
01:00:43,680 --> 01:00:47,840
Speaker 1: Fucking brilliant, Roland said. Manny nodded his agreement. Then he said,

1153
01:00:48,360 --> 01:00:52,720
Speaker 1: all right, let's go abducted doctor. The abduction itself was easy.

1154
01:00:53,080 --> 01:00:56,120
Speaker 1: Doctor Brandt lived in an undamaged mansion about two miles

1155
01:00:56,120 --> 01:00:59,600
Speaker 1: away from downtown. As one of the kingdom's few medical professionals,

1156
01:00:59,640 --> 01:01:03,160
Speaker 1: Doctor Aunt had apparently earned himself some luxury. Sasha hid

1157
01:01:03,160 --> 01:01:05,320
Speaker 1: in the trunk so the doctor wouldn't notice anything was

1158
01:01:05,360 --> 01:01:09,160
Speaker 1: off until he entered the vehicle. Where's Jerry and Samuel,

1159
01:01:09,480 --> 01:01:11,600
Speaker 1: Doctor Brandt asked as he opened the door and sat

1160
01:01:11,640 --> 01:01:15,040
Speaker 1: down inside the jeep, Many gunned the engine and peeled away.

1161
01:01:15,280 --> 01:01:17,960
Speaker 1: Roland put a hand on doctor Brandt's thigh and squeezed

1162
01:01:18,000 --> 01:01:19,720
Speaker 1: just hard enough for the man to feel like his

1163
01:01:19,800 --> 01:01:23,120
Speaker 1: thigh bone might shatter. I stuffed him in a closet somewhere,

1164
01:01:23,240 --> 01:01:26,280
Speaker 1: he explained, with a smile. My name is Manny, the

1165
01:01:26,320 --> 01:01:28,480
Speaker 1: fixer said. The guy who's about to break your leg

1166
01:01:28,560 --> 01:01:33,040
Speaker 1: is named Roland. We're kidnapping you, ah, said doctor Brandt.

1167
01:01:33,320 --> 01:01:35,880
Speaker 1: Roland had to give credit where credit was due. The

1168
01:01:35,960 --> 01:01:38,600
Speaker 1: doctor endured the pain with a stony face and without

1169
01:01:38,640 --> 01:01:41,040
Speaker 1: any signs of panic. We need you to help us

1170
01:01:41,080 --> 01:01:44,160
Speaker 1: get into the jail, Manny continued, where those negotiators from

1171
01:01:44,240 --> 01:01:47,880
Speaker 1: Rolling Fuck are being held. Doctor Brandt grimaced, either from

1172
01:01:47,880 --> 01:01:50,120
Speaker 1: the obscenity or just due to the continued pain of

1173
01:01:50,200 --> 01:01:53,040
Speaker 1: Roland's iron grip. And what makes you think I'll give

1174
01:01:53,080 --> 01:01:55,160
Speaker 1: you any aid? There was a bit of strain in

1175
01:01:55,200 --> 01:01:58,400
Speaker 1: his voice now, but the doctor's features stayed decidedly neutral.

1176
01:01:58,800 --> 01:02:00,800
Speaker 1: I may be a doctor, but I'm no less prepared

1177
01:02:00,840 --> 01:02:03,120
Speaker 1: to die for my kingdom than anyone else here. You

1178
01:02:03,200 --> 01:02:06,120
Speaker 1: might as well just go ahead and kill me. Roland

1179
01:02:06,200 --> 01:02:09,880
Speaker 1: relaxed his grip The doctor's sighed in relief. Yeah, we

1180
01:02:09,920 --> 01:02:12,640
Speaker 1: thought you might say something like that, said Manny. That's

1181
01:02:12,640 --> 01:02:16,280
Speaker 1: why Roland and I prepared an alternate proposal. Roland drew

1182
01:02:16,280 --> 01:02:19,120
Speaker 1: the guards stolen side arm from its holster. He gripped

1183
01:02:19,120 --> 01:02:21,000
Speaker 1: the pistol in one hand and then crushed it in

1184
01:02:21,080 --> 01:02:23,200
Speaker 1: his grip like he was bawling up a piece of paper.

1185
01:02:23,520 --> 01:02:28,000
Speaker 1: The doctor's eyes widened in shock and horror. So Manny said,

1186
01:02:28,280 --> 01:02:30,920
Speaker 1: my friends just full of chrome, high grade stuff. He

1187
01:02:30,920 --> 01:02:32,760
Speaker 1: could walk right through a tank if he wanted. You're

1188
01:02:32,760 --> 01:02:35,280
Speaker 1: an educated man, you know what people like him can do.

1189
01:02:36,080 --> 01:02:39,560
Speaker 1: The doctor nodded, but didn't say anything. Our offer is simple.

1190
01:02:39,800 --> 01:02:41,840
Speaker 1: You help us out and we'll leave with our people.

1191
01:02:42,120 --> 01:02:44,560
Speaker 1: You refuse to help, and we'll get our people anyway.

1192
01:02:44,760 --> 01:02:47,120
Speaker 1: Only Roland here will take a little detour to burn

1193
01:02:47,160 --> 01:02:51,080
Speaker 1: half the city to the ground. I see Roland could

1194
01:02:51,080 --> 01:02:53,600
Speaker 1: smell the fear wafting off doctor Brandt now, but the

1195
01:02:53,600 --> 01:02:56,800
Speaker 1: man's expression didn't change. You wouldn't be a doctor if

1196
01:02:56,840 --> 01:02:59,920
Speaker 1: you didn't see value in human lives. Manny's voice was soft.

1197
01:03:00,240 --> 01:03:02,360
Speaker 1: His reasonable tone wouldn't have been out of place in

1198
01:03:02,360 --> 01:03:04,960
Speaker 1: a boardroom. If you refuse to help us, We won't

1199
01:03:05,040 --> 01:03:07,000
Speaker 1: hurt you, won't harm a hair on your head. But

1200
01:03:07,120 --> 01:03:09,439
Speaker 1: my friend here will break this city and a few

1201
01:03:09,480 --> 01:03:12,160
Speaker 1: thousand of the people in it. You'll be hail and healthy,

1202
01:03:12,160 --> 01:03:14,320
Speaker 1: so you can pick up the pieces, and you'll know

1203
01:03:14,400 --> 01:03:16,680
Speaker 1: that every ounce of that suffering could have been prevented

1204
01:03:16,720 --> 01:03:20,920
Speaker 1: if you just helped us out. It's true, sir, Sasha

1205
01:03:20,960 --> 01:03:24,000
Speaker 1: spoke up. Doctor Brandt stiffened. She sat up from her

1206
01:03:24,080 --> 01:03:27,040
Speaker 1: hidden position in the back. The doctor was a smart man.

1207
01:03:27,280 --> 01:03:29,320
Speaker 1: He put together that she was not being held as

1208
01:03:29,320 --> 01:03:34,000
Speaker 1: a prisoner. His eyes narrowed in contempt Sasha. Doctor Brand's

1209
01:03:34,040 --> 01:03:36,959
Speaker 1: voice was cold. I'm sorry to see you in such

1210
01:03:37,040 --> 01:03:41,520
Speaker 1: poor company, Sir, I'm really sorry. But but nothing, he snapped,

1211
01:03:41,600 --> 01:03:43,800
Speaker 1: and now the anger showed on his face. Have you

1212
01:03:43,840 --> 01:03:46,040
Speaker 1: been a traitor this whole time? Or did your will

1213
01:03:46,120 --> 01:03:50,120
Speaker 1: simply fail Sasha. Manny spoke up, We really don't have

1214
01:03:50,240 --> 01:03:54,040
Speaker 1: time for this. Rowan disagreed. His hind brain estimated Sasha

1215
01:03:54,080 --> 01:03:56,040
Speaker 1: and the doctor could afford a solid eight minutes of

1216
01:03:56,080 --> 01:03:58,560
Speaker 1: emotional closure before they got too close to the jail.

1217
01:03:59,280 --> 01:04:02,080
Speaker 1: Is eight minutes out of time for you people. Everyone

1218
01:04:02,160 --> 01:04:05,280
Speaker 1: stared at him, their individual disagreements forgotten for a moment.

1219
01:04:05,600 --> 01:04:09,400
Speaker 1: Roland realized late that he had spoken out loud. Sorry,

1220
01:04:09,520 --> 01:04:11,680
Speaker 1: he said, I was just supposed to be in my head.

1221
01:04:12,400 --> 01:04:15,640
Speaker 1: They still stared. Well, now you only have like seven

1222
01:04:15,640 --> 01:04:19,360
Speaker 1: minutes and forty seconds. Ignore that, said Manny. He's a maniac.

1223
01:04:19,480 --> 01:04:20,959
Speaker 1: That's why you don't want us to let him loosen

1224
01:04:21,000 --> 01:04:24,160
Speaker 1: your city, doctor Brandt. Sasha added, I know you're a

1225
01:04:24,160 --> 01:04:26,080
Speaker 1: good man. The Lord put you on this earth to

1226
01:04:26,120 --> 01:04:29,400
Speaker 1: save lives. This is your chance to do that. The

1227
01:04:29,480 --> 01:04:31,640
Speaker 1: doctor needed the bridge of his nose with his hand.

1228
01:04:31,960 --> 01:04:34,640
Speaker 1: Hated an admirable job of not giving too much away

1229
01:04:34,680 --> 01:04:37,480
Speaker 1: with his body language. But Roland could smell the truth.

1230
01:04:37,880 --> 01:04:40,640
Speaker 1: The scent of stress wafting off the doctor faded. It

1231
01:04:40,760 --> 01:04:42,960
Speaker 1: was a sign the man had made a decision. There

1232
01:04:43,000 --> 01:04:46,840
Speaker 1: was something about choosing that calmed the human soul. You

1233
01:04:46,920 --> 01:04:49,680
Speaker 1: are correct, of course, Sasha. I never approved of us

1234
01:04:49,720 --> 01:04:52,160
Speaker 1: holding those women in the first place. It was foolish

1235
01:04:52,160 --> 01:04:56,040
Speaker 1: to antagonize things like him. He nodded towards Roland. If

1236
01:04:56,080 --> 01:04:58,920
Speaker 1: I can avert a massacre, I will, But I sincerely

1237
01:04:58,960 --> 01:05:01,360
Speaker 1: hope you planned to a gape with them, Sasha. I

1238
01:05:01,360 --> 01:05:05,440
Speaker 1: won't hide to protect a traitor. I'll leave Sasha said.

1239
01:05:05,840 --> 01:05:08,600
Speaker 1: The doctor gave a somber nod. I won't be able

1240
01:05:08,600 --> 01:05:10,400
Speaker 1: to get you out of the jail with those prisoners,

1241
01:05:10,440 --> 01:05:13,040
Speaker 1: you know, he said to Roland. I can get you inside,

1242
01:05:13,080 --> 01:05:14,920
Speaker 1: and I can probably get them to send the prisoners

1243
01:05:14,920 --> 01:05:17,560
Speaker 1: into an examination room, but the guards won't let them

1244
01:05:17,640 --> 01:05:21,160
Speaker 1: leave the building. I'll take care of that part, Rowland promised.

1245
01:05:21,280 --> 01:05:24,760
Speaker 1: I'm real good at making doors. Rowland was aware of

1246
01:05:24,800 --> 01:05:27,960
Speaker 1: the old saying no plan survives contact with the enemy.

1247
01:05:28,280 --> 01:05:31,000
Speaker 1: For some reason, his hind brain remembered the original version

1248
01:05:31,000 --> 01:05:33,720
Speaker 1: of the quote from an old Prussian general named Moltke.

1249
01:05:34,240 --> 01:05:37,280
Speaker 1: No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond first

1250
01:05:37,320 --> 01:05:41,120
Speaker 1: contact with the main hostile force. People who observed Roland

1251
01:05:41,120 --> 01:05:43,000
Speaker 1: and battle tended to think he just sort of winged

1252
01:05:43,000 --> 01:05:45,560
Speaker 1: it and ballsed his way through on violent potential alone.

1253
01:05:46,040 --> 01:05:48,880
Speaker 1: But Rowland was at his core a planner. Having a

1254
01:05:48,920 --> 01:05:51,640
Speaker 1: plan was essential to take maximum advantage of the way

1255
01:05:51,680 --> 01:05:54,360
Speaker 1: his hind brain worked. A plan was nothing more than

1256
01:05:54,360 --> 01:05:57,320
Speaker 1: a clear set of tactics meant to accomplish a concrete goal.

1257
01:05:57,720 --> 01:06:00,280
Speaker 1: In this case, the goal was free the prisoner and

1258
01:06:00,280 --> 01:06:03,280
Speaker 1: take his new friends to safety. The plan he constructed

1259
01:06:03,280 --> 01:06:06,200
Speaker 1: to achieve That goal was based mainly on Sasha's recollections

1260
01:06:06,200 --> 01:06:08,600
Speaker 1: and his own espionage on the jail. He knew it

1261
01:06:08,600 --> 01:06:10,800
Speaker 1: would change once the shooting started, but the fact that

1262
01:06:10,840 --> 01:06:12,880
Speaker 1: he had a rubric would give his hindbrain something to

1263
01:06:12,920 --> 01:06:15,200
Speaker 1: focus on while it zeroed in on the best tactics

1264
01:06:15,200 --> 01:06:18,560
Speaker 1: for the evolving situation. At any rate, the plan Manny

1265
01:06:18,600 --> 01:06:21,520
Speaker 1: and Sasha had cooked up actually did survive first contact

1266
01:06:21,520 --> 01:06:24,160
Speaker 1: with the enemy. Rowland and Manny had posed as guards

1267
01:06:24,160 --> 01:06:26,480
Speaker 1: and followed doctor Brandt and Sasha right through the door.

1268
01:06:27,000 --> 01:06:29,280
Speaker 1: The martyrs inside were all used to seeing the doctor

1269
01:06:29,280 --> 01:06:31,439
Speaker 1: and his assistant, and they didn't pay a different set

1270
01:06:31,440 --> 01:06:34,360
Speaker 1: of armed guards any mind. When doctor Brandt requested they

1271
01:06:34,400 --> 01:06:37,040
Speaker 1: send all the prisoners into the examination room, the officer

1272
01:06:37,080 --> 01:06:40,200
Speaker 1: in charge didn't even blink at the request. The only

1273
01:06:40,240 --> 01:06:42,280
Speaker 1: thing that had seemed off to Rowland was an odd

1274
01:06:42,320 --> 01:06:44,720
Speaker 1: scent of anxiety in the air. It wafted off the

1275
01:06:44,720 --> 01:06:47,240
Speaker 1: guards and hung in a thick cloud above the entrance room.

1276
01:06:47,640 --> 01:06:50,640
Speaker 1: The Odor reminded Rowland of countless hours spent sitting with

1277
01:06:50,720 --> 01:06:52,800
Speaker 1: nervous men in the cramped belly of an a PC

1278
01:06:53,080 --> 01:06:55,960
Speaker 1: or a drop aircraft. He assumed this had something to

1279
01:06:55,960 --> 01:06:58,480
Speaker 1: do with a giant explosion he'd caused earlier, or his

1280
01:06:58,600 --> 01:07:01,160
Speaker 1: escape from the training facility. Of course, these guys are

1281
01:07:01,240 --> 01:07:04,200
Speaker 1: unhigh alert, he thought. Some nut fuck monster man blew

1282
01:07:04,280 --> 01:07:07,840
Speaker 1: up a factory this morning. Doctor Brandt led them into

1283
01:07:07,840 --> 01:07:10,360
Speaker 1: a large waiting room and closed the door. He let

1284
01:07:10,360 --> 01:07:14,840
Speaker 1: out a long nervous sigh and slumped back against the wall. Okay,

1285
01:07:15,080 --> 01:07:17,200
Speaker 1: you'll have your prisoners soon enough, and no one else

1286
01:07:17,200 --> 01:07:20,880
Speaker 1: will need to die. Right, he looked straight at Roland. Right,

1287
01:07:21,160 --> 01:07:24,560
Speaker 1: Roland said, and then added up till you Fox invaded Dallas.

1288
01:07:24,600 --> 01:07:27,200
Speaker 1: I've gotten years without killing anyone. I'm actually pretty good

1289
01:07:27,200 --> 01:07:30,640
Speaker 1: at it. The doctor did not seem comforted by this fact.

1290
01:07:30,960 --> 01:07:33,360
Speaker 1: Roland opened his mouth again, but Manny put a hand

1291
01:07:33,360 --> 01:07:37,440
Speaker 1: on his shoulder. No, he said, and Roland nodded. I

1292
01:07:37,480 --> 01:07:40,720
Speaker 1: could have avoided so many violent misunderstandings with his kid's help.

1293
01:07:41,400 --> 01:07:43,680
Speaker 1: Roland molled this over and wondered if Manny might be

1294
01:07:43,720 --> 01:07:47,120
Speaker 1: interested in an adjoining mountain top shack. Just then the

1295
01:07:47,200 --> 01:07:50,200
Speaker 1: door opened, a guard entered. He was followed by the

1296
01:07:50,240 --> 01:07:53,919
Speaker 1: three prisoners and then two more guards. Rolling Fox negotiators

1297
01:07:53,920 --> 01:07:56,800
Speaker 1: were all handcuffed to each other. Roland had been shown

1298
01:07:56,840 --> 01:07:59,360
Speaker 1: pictures of all three captives before they departed the City

1299
01:07:59,360 --> 01:08:02,360
Speaker 1: of Wheels, so it wasn't hard to recognize Marigold, Toulli,

1300
01:08:02,440 --> 01:08:05,920
Speaker 1: and Rick, but they all looked different. Marigold's bright purple

1301
01:08:06,000 --> 01:08:08,840
Speaker 1: hair was limp and greasy. The sockets on her augmented

1302
01:08:08,920 --> 01:08:12,120
Speaker 1: arm had been filled in with some sort of resinous substance. Toulli,

1303
01:08:12,360 --> 01:08:14,520
Speaker 1: bald in her pictures, now had a head full of

1304
01:08:14,520 --> 01:08:17,599
Speaker 1: peach fuzz. Her necklaces and amulets and rings were all gone.

1305
01:08:17,640 --> 01:08:20,920
Speaker 1: Of course, she looked pale and deflated. Roland could see

1306
01:08:20,920 --> 01:08:23,439
Speaker 1: the ghost of an old black eye, likely earned during

1307
01:08:23,439 --> 01:08:26,639
Speaker 1: the initial capture. She walked with a limp, but otherwise

1308
01:08:26,680 --> 01:08:30,280
Speaker 1: looked healthy enough. And then there was Rick. His wounds

1309
01:08:30,280 --> 01:08:33,080
Speaker 1: were fresh and extensive. He was covered in bruises, and

1310
01:08:33,120 --> 01:08:35,479
Speaker 1: it looked like his guards had cut into him, writing

1311
01:08:35,520 --> 01:08:38,559
Speaker 1: over several of his scarified tattoos with a combat knife.

1312
01:08:39,120 --> 01:08:41,840
Speaker 1: His left eye was broken and looked dead. Roland could

1313
01:08:41,840 --> 01:08:44,360
Speaker 1: tell the man's orbital bone had been shattered, and with

1314
01:08:44,400 --> 01:08:47,040
Speaker 1: the slow juttering way his good eye looked around the room,

1315
01:08:47,120 --> 01:08:50,400
Speaker 1: it was likely he'd suffered at least one concussion. Doctor

1316
01:08:50,439 --> 01:08:52,800
Speaker 1: Brandt sighed and went right to the injured young man.

1317
01:08:53,439 --> 01:08:56,160
Speaker 1: Have the other sit down, he told the guards. He

1318
01:08:56,240 --> 01:08:59,519
Speaker 1: started to examine Rick, his jaw clenched, his eyes narrowed.

1319
01:08:59,640 --> 01:09:02,760
Speaker 1: Roland felt the doctor's heart rate accelerate and anger. You've

1320
01:09:02,760 --> 01:09:05,719
Speaker 1: been at him again, haven't you, Doctor Brandt sounded angry.

1321
01:09:05,840 --> 01:09:08,719
Speaker 1: I told you all this had to stop. He's clearly concussed.

1322
01:09:08,800 --> 01:09:11,320
Speaker 1: You could have killed him. The lead guard shrugged and

1323
01:09:11,439 --> 01:09:14,200
Speaker 1: rolled his eyes. One of the other guards snickered. Roland

1324
01:09:14,240 --> 01:09:16,120
Speaker 1: could tell by the look of fury on the doctor's

1325
01:09:16,120 --> 01:09:19,320
Speaker 1: face that he was not used to being treated this way. Soljia,

1326
01:09:19,520 --> 01:09:22,360
Speaker 1: I am the senior medical doctor of this entire kingdom.

1327
01:09:22,400 --> 01:09:24,519
Speaker 1: I will bring your superior into this and I will,

1328
01:09:24,720 --> 01:09:28,160
Speaker 1: Roland heard, and then smelled six new men into the jail.

1329
01:09:28,560 --> 01:09:32,120
Speaker 1: His mind rocketed downstairs, away from the petty argument and

1330
01:09:32,160 --> 01:09:35,439
Speaker 1: started to analyze the new arrivals. There were soldiers, he

1331
01:09:35,439 --> 01:09:37,479
Speaker 1: could tell by the sound of their footfalls and the

1332
01:09:37,560 --> 01:09:40,200
Speaker 1: strong smell of gun oil and powder that wafted off

1333
01:09:40,240 --> 01:09:43,240
Speaker 1: of them. One of them smelled familiar. He'd been present

1334
01:09:43,280 --> 01:09:46,559
Speaker 1: when Manny had been abducted to the factory. Roland guessed

1335
01:09:46,600 --> 01:09:48,800
Speaker 1: this was the guy Sasha had told him about during

1336
01:09:48,840 --> 01:09:53,479
Speaker 1: their impromptu rescue mission. Huh, Roland said out loud. Manny

1337
01:09:53,560 --> 01:09:56,840
Speaker 1: was the only one who seemed to notice what. Manny asked,

1338
01:09:56,880 --> 01:09:58,800
Speaker 1: in a voice low enough that the guards wouldn't hear

1339
01:09:58,800 --> 01:10:00,960
Speaker 1: it over the sound of doctor At dressing them down.

1340
01:10:01,560 --> 01:10:03,880
Speaker 1: That guy, Alexander, he just entered the building with a

1341
01:10:03,920 --> 01:10:07,960
Speaker 1: squad of armed men. What does that mean? Uhh, Roland shrugged.

1342
01:10:08,080 --> 01:10:11,040
Speaker 1: Probably an ambush. Roland was a bit embarrassed that it

1343
01:10:11,080 --> 01:10:13,719
Speaker 1: had taken him this long to piece it together. That's

1344
01:10:13,720 --> 01:10:16,240
Speaker 1: why the guards had been so accommodating of Doctor Brand's

1345
01:10:16,280 --> 01:10:20,160
Speaker 1: unusual request. It's why they'd smelled so nervous. Somehow the

1346
01:10:20,200 --> 01:10:22,759
Speaker 1: rescue attempt had been spotted before it had gone down.

1347
01:10:23,080 --> 01:10:25,439
Speaker 1: The soldiers of the Heavenly Kingdom must have assumed the

1348
01:10:25,520 --> 01:10:29,559
Speaker 1: doctor was a traitor too. Roland stood up. He knew

1349
01:10:29,600 --> 01:10:31,639
Speaker 1: that violence would need to happen here. There were too

1350
01:10:31,640 --> 01:10:34,519
Speaker 1: many decent people's lives at stake for anything else. The

1351
01:10:34,560 --> 01:10:37,360
Speaker 1: instant his forebrain made that decision. His hind brain started

1352
01:10:37,360 --> 01:10:40,639
Speaker 1: pouring adrenaline and battle drugs into his synapses. He felt

1353
01:10:40,640 --> 01:10:43,200
Speaker 1: the electric crackle of chemical glee start deep in the

1354
01:10:43,240 --> 01:10:46,000
Speaker 1: back of his neck. It spread out to his shoulders,

1355
01:10:46,160 --> 01:10:48,799
Speaker 1: down his arms to the tip of his fingers. Roland

1356
01:10:48,840 --> 01:10:52,280
Speaker 1: fought back against the building euphoria. While he analyzed the situation,

1357
01:10:52,880 --> 01:10:55,400
Speaker 1: the world slowed down around him. He had plenty of

1358
01:10:55,439 --> 01:10:57,400
Speaker 1: time to watch as the guards started to reach for

1359
01:10:57,439 --> 01:11:00,080
Speaker 1: their side arms. The word ambush had keyed them in,

1360
01:11:00,560 --> 01:11:03,000
Speaker 1: but it didn't matter. They still moved too slow to

1361
01:11:03,040 --> 01:11:06,599
Speaker 1: effect anything. His hind brain calculated that Manny and Sasha

1362
01:11:06,600 --> 01:11:09,200
Speaker 1: were relatively safe. No one had a gun on them

1363
01:11:09,240 --> 01:11:12,760
Speaker 1: just now. The prisoners were his priority. Then they were

1364
01:11:12,760 --> 01:11:15,920
Speaker 1: exposed both to the door that enemy reinforcements which soon

1365
01:11:16,000 --> 01:11:18,519
Speaker 1: rush through, and to the guards already in the room.

1366
01:11:19,120 --> 01:11:22,320
Speaker 1: Doctor Brandt was a tertiary responsibility. He seemed like a

1367
01:11:22,360 --> 01:11:25,360
Speaker 1: decent enough guy in spite of it all. Alexander and

1368
01:11:25,400 --> 01:11:27,559
Speaker 1: his men are two point oh four seconds from the door,

1369
01:11:27,840 --> 01:11:31,280
Speaker 1: maybe faster if they dropped into a dead sprint. Roland

1370
01:11:31,280 --> 01:11:34,080
Speaker 1: stepped forward into the lead guard. He grabbed the man

1371
01:11:34,160 --> 01:11:36,519
Speaker 1: by the hair, lifted him into the air, and slammed

1372
01:11:36,520 --> 01:11:39,879
Speaker 1: his skull hard into the second guard's face. Bone cracked.

1373
01:11:40,080 --> 01:11:42,679
Speaker 1: Sixteen point three and twenty eight point seven percent chances

1374
01:11:42,720 --> 01:11:46,320
Speaker 1: of fatal hemorrhage respectively. Roland dropped the first man and

1375
01:11:46,320 --> 01:11:49,840
Speaker 1: plunged his fingers into the third guard's eyes. He gouged deep,

1376
01:11:50,120 --> 01:11:52,519
Speaker 1: stopped just short of the man's brain, and then pulled

1377
01:11:52,520 --> 01:11:55,559
Speaker 1: his hand free. The man staggered back, opened his mouth,

1378
01:11:55,560 --> 01:11:58,160
Speaker 1: and started to scream. A surge of battle drugs hit

1379
01:11:58,240 --> 01:12:00,840
Speaker 1: roland synapses at just that moment, and in a fit

1380
01:12:00,920 --> 01:12:03,400
Speaker 1: of gleeful pique, he grabbed the man by the jaw

1381
01:12:03,479 --> 01:12:06,040
Speaker 1: and pulled. His intent had been to yank the man's

1382
01:12:06,080 --> 01:12:08,200
Speaker 1: head into his knee, but he pulled a little too

1383
01:12:08,240 --> 01:12:12,360
Speaker 1: hard and ripped the whole jaw free. The man fell back, gurgled, bled.

1384
01:12:12,840 --> 01:12:15,880
Speaker 1: Huh my bad, Roland said to no one in particular.

1385
01:12:16,360 --> 01:12:18,760
Speaker 1: He shoved the jaw into his front pocket, figuring it

1386
01:12:18,840 --> 01:12:21,280
Speaker 1: might make a useful weapon when the reinforcement showed up.

1387
01:12:21,600 --> 01:12:23,799
Speaker 1: In the meantime, he set to work ripping the prisoner's

1388
01:12:23,840 --> 01:12:26,880
Speaker 1: manacle chains apart. It'd have taken too long to remove

1389
01:12:26,920 --> 01:12:29,000
Speaker 1: the manacles, but at least with the chains free, they'd

1390
01:12:29,040 --> 01:12:30,800
Speaker 1: all be able to move with What are you? Oh

1391
01:12:30,840 --> 01:12:35,080
Speaker 1: my god, Roland? What ha? Doctor brand Manny and Sasha

1392
01:12:35,200 --> 01:12:38,679
Speaker 1: finally reacted. Roland had to remind himself that their brains

1393
01:12:38,680 --> 01:12:41,200
Speaker 1: wouldn't have been able to properly process what he'd done

1394
01:12:41,240 --> 01:12:44,599
Speaker 1: while it was happening. The whole altercation had lasted barely

1395
01:12:44,640 --> 01:12:47,680
Speaker 1: a quarter second. To Manny, Sasha, and doctor Brandt. The

1396
01:12:47,760 --> 01:12:52,000
Speaker 1: violence had been disorienting and almost unintelligible. The three negotiators

1397
01:12:52,040 --> 01:12:55,599
Speaker 1: from rolling Fuck, we're not stock Sapien. They'd reacted faster

1398
01:12:55,720 --> 01:12:57,799
Speaker 1: and gone to ground almost as soon as he'd rushed

1399
01:12:57,800 --> 01:13:00,680
Speaker 1: the first man. At least the women had. The young

1400
01:13:00,720 --> 01:13:03,160
Speaker 1: man was too dazed and battered to react much at all,

1401
01:13:03,280 --> 01:13:05,439
Speaker 1: so his friends pulled him down and shielded him with

1402
01:13:05,479 --> 01:13:08,400
Speaker 1: their bodies. Of the other three, Manny was the first

1403
01:13:08,400 --> 01:13:11,000
Speaker 1: to react. He grabbed Sasha by the shoulder and shoved

1404
01:13:11,000 --> 01:13:13,760
Speaker 1: her down below the window line. Roland was proud. He

1405
01:13:13,800 --> 01:13:17,040
Speaker 1: would have said something about that, but everything went disastrously

1406
01:13:17,040 --> 01:13:20,320
Speaker 1: wrong a fraction of a second later. Roland had known

1407
01:13:20,400 --> 01:13:23,559
Speaker 1: Alexander and his men were rushing the door. He'd estimated

1408
01:13:23,560 --> 01:13:26,799
Speaker 1: a solid one point four seconds before they breached the entryway.

1409
01:13:27,160 --> 01:13:29,639
Speaker 1: That's why he'd occupied himself by checking on every one.

1410
01:13:29,960 --> 01:13:32,599
Speaker 1: He'd trusted his senses and trusted that the Heavenly Kingdom

1411
01:13:32,640 --> 01:13:36,040
Speaker 1: didn't have any gear. He hadn't already seen. That proved

1412
01:13:36,080 --> 01:13:38,720
Speaker 1: to be a mistake, because, unbeknownst to Roland, two men

1413
01:13:38,760 --> 01:13:41,280
Speaker 1: in powered armor hung off the outside wall of the building,

1414
01:13:41,400 --> 01:13:45,120
Speaker 1: directly underneath the window. Their suits were bleeding edge stealth

1415
01:13:45,120 --> 01:13:48,920
Speaker 1: technology utterly absent from Roland's pieda bites of memory. His

1416
01:13:49,000 --> 01:13:52,680
Speaker 1: passive censors had missed them entirely. Roland first realized they

1417
01:13:52,680 --> 01:13:55,599
Speaker 1: were there and that he'd aired terribly when they opened

1418
01:13:55,680 --> 01:14:00,960
Speaker 1: fire close to a hundred thirty cow lebr slugs tore

1419
01:14:01,000 --> 01:14:03,240
Speaker 1: through the wall of the jail at roughly forty two

1420
01:14:03,320 --> 01:14:06,160
Speaker 1: hundred feet per second. They were fired at such close

1421
01:14:06,280 --> 01:14:09,240
Speaker 1: range and with such total surprise that Roland was unable

1422
01:14:09,240 --> 01:14:12,959
Speaker 1: to dodge or prep his subdermal armor for impact. Nineteen

1423
01:14:13,040 --> 01:14:15,720
Speaker 1: rounds hit him fifteen in his center of mass, one

1424
01:14:15,720 --> 01:14:18,080
Speaker 1: in his left thigh, and three in his right shoulder.

1425
01:14:18,479 --> 01:14:20,840
Speaker 1: Two hit Manny, ripping a hole through his left hand

1426
01:14:20,840 --> 01:14:23,760
Speaker 1: and another through his kidney. Doctor Brandt, who had only

1427
01:14:23,800 --> 01:14:26,240
Speaker 1: half turned to face Rowland at this point, was torn

1428
01:14:26,280 --> 01:14:30,240
Speaker 1: apart in a fusillade of steel. Rowland also registered hits

1429
01:14:30,240 --> 01:14:33,320
Speaker 1: on their not yet rescued captives, one in Tullie's left

1430
01:14:33,320 --> 01:14:36,200
Speaker 1: butt cheek, one that severed Rick's index finger, and another

1431
01:14:36,240 --> 01:14:39,600
Speaker 1: in the young man's shoulder. Rowland staggered back from the

1432
01:14:39,640 --> 01:14:42,599
Speaker 1: impact of the rounds just as Alexander's point man burst

1433
01:14:42,640 --> 01:14:46,120
Speaker 1: through the door. The coordination between the two teams was impressive,

1434
01:14:46,280 --> 01:14:48,400
Speaker 1: as was the fact that the suited man hadn't hit

1435
01:14:48,439 --> 01:14:50,880
Speaker 1: their allies on the other side of the door. On

1436
01:14:50,920 --> 01:14:53,240
Speaker 1: a normal day, Roland would have ripped the shotgun out

1437
01:14:53,240 --> 01:14:55,439
Speaker 1: of the point man's hands and castrated him with it.

1438
01:14:55,760 --> 01:14:58,400
Speaker 1: But this was not a normal day, and Roland's brain

1439
01:14:58,520 --> 01:15:01,280
Speaker 1: was occupied with a damage to his body. The point

1440
01:15:01,280 --> 01:15:04,360
Speaker 1: man fired twice and sent one ounce tungsten slugs through

1441
01:15:04,360 --> 01:15:08,200
Speaker 1: both of Roland's knees. He dropped, rolled, moaned, and then

1442
01:15:08,240 --> 01:15:10,439
Speaker 1: the rest of the team was in the room. They

1443
01:15:10,479 --> 01:15:13,280
Speaker 1: moved well, not like vets, but like men who'd trained

1444
01:15:13,280 --> 01:15:16,000
Speaker 1: a lot for entries like this. They all wore heavy

1445
01:15:16,000 --> 01:15:19,240
Speaker 1: body armor. It wasn't powered, but it provided solid protection

1446
01:15:19,240 --> 01:15:23,799
Speaker 1: against small arms fire. The mostly packed auto shotguns smart choice,

1447
01:15:23,920 --> 01:15:27,480
Speaker 1: Roland thought, when fighting post humans, go for tissue damage.

1448
01:15:28,120 --> 01:15:30,360
Speaker 1: He was hurt, nothing fatal yet, but the loss of

1449
01:15:30,400 --> 01:15:33,479
Speaker 1: momentum and control had cost him dearly. Now six men

1450
01:15:33,560 --> 01:15:35,760
Speaker 1: had a beat on him with weaponry powerful enough to

1451
01:15:35,800 --> 01:15:38,479
Speaker 1: do some real damage. Roland listened as one of the

1452
01:15:38,520 --> 01:15:40,880
Speaker 1: stealth suit smashed the remainder of the window in and

1453
01:15:40,960 --> 01:15:44,439
Speaker 1: crawled inside the room. This armor was much more subtle

1454
01:15:44,479 --> 01:15:47,719
Speaker 1: than the standard Air's pattern power armor. Aside from plating

1455
01:15:47,720 --> 01:15:49,400
Speaker 1: at the chest and shins, it didn't look like it

1456
01:15:49,439 --> 01:15:52,240
Speaker 1: added a substantial amount of protection. But the suit was

1457
01:15:52,320 --> 01:15:55,479
Speaker 1: covered in high definition display panels. The man was hard

1458
01:15:55,520 --> 01:15:57,960
Speaker 1: for Roland to see. He would have been nigh invisible

1459
01:15:57,960 --> 01:16:01,519
Speaker 1: to a normal human. Shit Roland's bat blood and looked

1460
01:16:01,600 --> 01:16:04,439
Speaker 1: up just as a very satisfied looking young man stepped

1461
01:16:04,479 --> 01:16:07,439
Speaker 1: into the room. He was tall, handsome, and well built.

1462
01:16:07,720 --> 01:16:09,800
Speaker 1: He wore the same armor as his men, but lacked

1463
01:16:09,800 --> 01:16:12,200
Speaker 1: a helmet. Instead, he had a red beret with a

1464
01:16:12,280 --> 01:16:15,360
Speaker 1: lacquered gold cross pin to the front. Roland took one

1465
01:16:15,400 --> 01:16:18,120
Speaker 1: look at the boy's prominent jaw line and well tanned skin.

1466
01:16:18,520 --> 01:16:20,719
Speaker 1: He grudgingly agreed that it would have been a crime

1467
01:16:20,760 --> 01:16:24,280
Speaker 1: to cover up that face. How new were those fucking suits,

1468
01:16:24,560 --> 01:16:28,000
Speaker 1: he asked the fancy man. The Republic had some very

1469
01:16:28,120 --> 01:16:31,720
Speaker 1: choice gear in its armory. The youth replied, My superiors

1470
01:16:31,720 --> 01:16:34,120
Speaker 1: will be happy to hear how well it worked against you.

1471
01:16:34,840 --> 01:16:37,920
Speaker 1: He sauntered into the room like a conquering king, waving

1472
01:16:37,920 --> 01:16:41,960
Speaker 1: his pistol lazily at the captives. Hello, Sasha, he said,

1473
01:16:42,000 --> 01:16:45,960
Speaker 1: with a smile and a cheery wave of his free hand. Alexander,

1474
01:16:46,240 --> 01:16:49,080
Speaker 1: she replied, in a tone as cold as ice. The

1475
01:16:49,080 --> 01:16:52,160
Speaker 1: young man Alexander stopped in front of Roland, peered down

1476
01:16:52,200 --> 01:16:54,439
Speaker 1: and grinned the ship, eating hist grin in the history

1477
01:16:54,439 --> 01:16:57,840
Speaker 1: of eating shit, you know, he said, It was rather

1478
01:16:57,920 --> 01:17:00,880
Speaker 1: easy drawing you into this trap. Once you played your

1479
01:17:00,880 --> 01:17:03,400
Speaker 1: hand at the training camp. We knew you'd come here sooner.

1480
01:17:03,439 --> 01:17:06,839
Speaker 1: Oh Laeda, I was rather surprised to see you involved, Sasha.

1481
01:17:07,120 --> 01:17:10,000
Speaker 1: He looked up at her, Awanda, Was this your plan

1482
01:17:10,080 --> 01:17:13,280
Speaker 1: all along? Or are you merely an opportunist clutching to

1483
01:17:13,320 --> 01:17:17,920
Speaker 1: these men because my proposition injured your ego? He laughed prickishly.

1484
01:17:18,439 --> 01:17:21,080
Speaker 1: Roland wanted to hit him, but the situation merited further

1485
01:17:21,120 --> 01:17:24,320
Speaker 1: analysis before action. Much of the damage done to him

1486
01:17:24,320 --> 01:17:26,200
Speaker 1: in the ambush had already healed, and none of it

1487
01:17:26,240 --> 01:17:29,519
Speaker 1: was substantial enough to impede his deadliness, but his position

1488
01:17:29,600 --> 01:17:32,640
Speaker 1: was rather tenuous. The second armored soldier crouched at the

1489
01:17:32,680 --> 01:17:36,040
Speaker 1: window adhered to the outside wall. The first stealth suited

1490
01:17:36,040 --> 01:17:38,439
Speaker 1: soldier had one gun trained on Manny and another aimed

1491
01:17:38,479 --> 01:17:41,759
Speaker 1: at Roland. Alexander's men all had him dead to rights,

1492
01:17:41,920 --> 01:17:45,599
Speaker 1: shotguns leveled in fingers on triggers. He could perhaps move

1493
01:17:45,640 --> 01:17:47,519
Speaker 1: fast enough to take out one or two of them,

1494
01:17:47,680 --> 01:17:49,799
Speaker 1: but the others would do a significant amount of damage

1495
01:17:49,800 --> 01:17:52,439
Speaker 1: in the meantime, and more to the point, Roland could

1496
01:17:52,439 --> 01:17:55,759
Speaker 1: do nothing to insure Sasha and Manny's safety. He considered

1497
01:17:55,800 --> 01:17:59,280
Speaker 1: their deaths unacceptable. I really am a bit disappointed, and

1498
01:17:59,320 --> 01:18:02,680
Speaker 1: how easy the saul was. The young fuck continued, I

1499
01:18:02,800 --> 01:18:04,679
Speaker 1: thought we'd be in for more of a fight here.

1500
01:18:05,000 --> 01:18:08,360
Speaker 1: I guess the stories about your kind were exaggerated, after all,

1501
01:18:08,760 --> 01:18:12,759
Speaker 1: I suspected. So no amount of scientific tinkering can replace

1502
01:18:12,840 --> 01:18:17,439
Speaker 1: the blessings of God behind a righteous men. Roland sensed movement,

1503
01:18:17,760 --> 01:18:20,719
Speaker 1: not from Manny. He was frozen still next to Sasha

1504
01:18:20,840 --> 01:18:22,919
Speaker 1: under the gun of one of the power armored troopers.

1505
01:18:23,320 --> 01:18:25,920
Speaker 1: It didn't come from any of Alexander's men either. It

1506
01:18:26,040 --> 01:18:28,880
Speaker 1: was Marigold. The woman had gritted her teeth and inched

1507
01:18:28,880 --> 01:18:31,000
Speaker 1: her hand towards the body of the guard Roland. A

1508
01:18:31,080 --> 01:18:34,080
Speaker 1: dee jawed, he watched she wrapped her hand around the

1509
01:18:34,080 --> 01:18:37,320
Speaker 1: grip of his side arm. Alexander stepped around him and

1510
01:18:37,360 --> 01:18:40,479
Speaker 1: headed towards Sasha. The other soldiers still had their weapons

1511
01:18:40,479 --> 01:18:43,640
Speaker 1: trained on Roland. They didn't seem to have noticed Marigold.

1512
01:18:44,240 --> 01:18:47,320
Speaker 1: I warn't you, didn't I? Sasha? Alexander asked, as a

1513
01:18:47,400 --> 01:18:50,519
Speaker 1: smile played across his lips. I'll warn't you what came

1514
01:18:50,560 --> 01:18:53,800
Speaker 1: of defying God's will? And then you allied yourself with

1515
01:18:53,880 --> 01:18:56,519
Speaker 1: a beast whose very existence is a sin against our

1516
01:18:56,600 --> 01:19:00,600
Speaker 1: heavenly Father. If Christ had intended, Roll never got to

1517
01:19:00,640 --> 01:19:03,280
Speaker 1: hear the rest of that sentence, because Alexander never got

1518
01:19:03,360 --> 01:19:06,160
Speaker 1: to say it. He was interrupted by Marigold, pulling the

1519
01:19:06,160 --> 01:19:08,559
Speaker 1: pistol free of its holster and swinging it up towards

1520
01:19:08,560 --> 01:19:11,559
Speaker 1: the groin of the squad's point man. She fired twice,

1521
01:19:11,760 --> 01:19:14,919
Speaker 1: switched targets, and pumped two more rounds into the unarmored

1522
01:19:14,960 --> 01:19:17,680
Speaker 1: belly of a second man. Roland was up and off

1523
01:19:17,680 --> 01:19:20,320
Speaker 1: the ground. Between the second and third shot. He swung

1524
01:19:20,360 --> 01:19:22,439
Speaker 1: his fist hard into the face plate of the nearest

1525
01:19:22,439 --> 01:19:26,679
Speaker 1: soldier's helmet. The plexiglass shattered, and Roland's knuckles pushed shards

1526
01:19:26,720 --> 01:19:29,720
Speaker 1: into the man's cheeks and eyes. The martyr screamed and

1527
01:19:29,720 --> 01:19:32,240
Speaker 1: fired a shot that went wide because Roland dove to

1528
01:19:32,280 --> 01:19:34,560
Speaker 1: the left as he retracted his fist and pivoted to

1529
01:19:34,640 --> 01:19:37,160
Speaker 1: rush the power armored man holding a gun on Manny

1530
01:19:37,200 --> 01:19:41,320
Speaker 1: and Sasha. There were no good options here. Marigold's intervention

1531
01:19:41,360 --> 01:19:43,400
Speaker 1: had given them all a chance, but Roland had been

1532
01:19:43,400 --> 01:19:45,719
Speaker 1: forced to make a choice between going after the armored

1533
01:19:45,760 --> 01:19:48,360
Speaker 1: men and saving his friends, or taking out the entry

1534
01:19:48,400 --> 01:19:51,280
Speaker 1: team and saving Marigold and her friends. He heard her

1535
01:19:51,280 --> 01:19:54,080
Speaker 1: fire two more shots and heard them impact, but then

1536
01:19:54,160 --> 01:19:56,960
Speaker 1: his attention was consumed by the two men in powered armor.

1537
01:19:57,560 --> 01:20:00,439
Speaker 1: They had recovered first, and both men opened up Roland

1538
01:20:00,439 --> 01:20:03,200
Speaker 1: as he charged. There was no dodging at this distance.

1539
01:20:03,360 --> 01:20:06,080
Speaker 1: It was barely possible to mitigate the damage in any way.

1540
01:20:06,479 --> 01:20:09,919
Speaker 1: Roland took thirty high velocity rounds to the face, neck, shoulders,

1541
01:20:09,920 --> 01:20:12,400
Speaker 1: and upper chest. Some of them were stopped by his

1542
01:20:12,479 --> 01:20:16,800
Speaker 1: subderm alarmor, most weren't. He felt, holy shit, real pain

1543
01:20:16,920 --> 01:20:19,679
Speaker 1: for the first time in what felt like years. Roland's

1544
01:20:19,680 --> 01:20:22,759
Speaker 1: wired nervous system rewarded this with a flood of chemical bliss.

1545
01:20:23,080 --> 01:20:25,679
Speaker 1: As he charged, he smiled and whooped like a sixteen

1546
01:20:25,720 --> 01:20:28,479
Speaker 1: year old. Railing his first line of blow, he dove

1547
01:20:28,520 --> 01:20:31,240
Speaker 1: into the first man hands first, grabbed his enemy by

1548
01:20:31,240 --> 01:20:33,000
Speaker 1: the neck, and then bum rushed him into the man

1549
01:20:33,040 --> 01:20:35,800
Speaker 1: hanging outside the window. This knocked the top of the

1550
01:20:35,840 --> 01:20:38,040
Speaker 1: second man's body free from the wall and sent him

1551
01:20:38,080 --> 01:20:41,000
Speaker 1: reeling half back into open air. The man's feet were

1552
01:20:41,040 --> 01:20:43,599
Speaker 1: still attached to the building, but his body flailed free.

1553
01:20:44,000 --> 01:20:46,599
Speaker 1: Roland kept his grip and focus on the first armored man.

1554
01:20:46,880 --> 01:20:49,559
Speaker 1: The martyr's neck armor had hardened to resist the crushing

1555
01:20:49,600 --> 01:20:52,120
Speaker 1: strength of Roland's grip, so he shook the man's head

1556
01:20:52,200 --> 01:20:54,120
Speaker 1: back and forth and slammed it into the frame of

1557
01:20:54,120 --> 01:20:57,120
Speaker 1: the building as hard as possible. The soldier pumped another

1558
01:20:57,160 --> 01:21:00,639
Speaker 1: dozen rounds point blank into Roland's body. He saw red,

1559
01:21:00,880 --> 01:21:03,679
Speaker 1: He felt red. He was numbly aware of the tremendous

1560
01:21:03,680 --> 01:21:05,800
Speaker 1: amount of damage being done to him, but none of

1561
01:21:05,800 --> 01:21:08,440
Speaker 1: it had yet rendered him unable to throttle this motherfucker.

1562
01:21:08,600 --> 01:21:12,320
Speaker 1: So he continued to squeeze until the armor's neck seals failed, cracked,

1563
01:21:12,439 --> 01:21:14,840
Speaker 1: and Roland's fingernails bit deep into the meat of the

1564
01:21:14,880 --> 01:21:18,439
Speaker 1: man's throat and crushed his windpipe. Roland tossed the body

1565
01:21:18,439 --> 01:21:21,160
Speaker 1: aside and went for the second man still flailing outside

1566
01:21:21,200 --> 01:21:24,519
Speaker 1: the window. He was interrupted when Alexander fired a slug

1567
01:21:24,520 --> 01:21:27,679
Speaker 1: into his temple. The round impact at his reinforced skull

1568
01:21:27,680 --> 01:21:30,280
Speaker 1: and ricocheted off, but the impact the force of the

1569
01:21:30,320 --> 01:21:34,320
Speaker 1: blow itself made him seize stars it hurt Roland staggered

1570
01:21:34,360 --> 01:21:37,439
Speaker 1: back into the side. Then several things happened in very

1571
01:21:37,520 --> 01:21:41,880
Speaker 1: quick succession. Marigold fired another round her last. It was

1572
01:21:41,920 --> 01:21:44,240
Speaker 1: followed by the sound of the two remaining guards opening

1573
01:21:44,320 --> 01:21:47,519
Speaker 1: up with their shotguns. Roland heard as she was torn apart.

1574
01:21:48,000 --> 01:21:50,799
Speaker 1: Just as his eyes started to focus again, Alexander fired

1575
01:21:50,800 --> 01:21:53,640
Speaker 1: two more shots directly into his head. The man on

1576
01:21:53,640 --> 01:21:56,160
Speaker 1: the wall finally found his grip again, and Roland felt

1577
01:21:56,200 --> 01:21:59,799
Speaker 1: the power armored soldiers steady himself to open fire. Roland

1578
01:22:00,000 --> 01:22:02,559
Speaker 1: akenhind brain advised him that going for the armored man

1579
01:22:02,600 --> 01:22:05,760
Speaker 1: was probably his best decision, so he surged forward, less

1580
01:22:05,760 --> 01:22:08,600
Speaker 1: steady than before, and hunched his shoulders in anticipation of

1581
01:22:08,680 --> 01:22:11,439
Speaker 1: taking another slugger for to the brain pan, but that

1582
01:22:11,520 --> 01:22:14,400
Speaker 1: didn't happen. For the second time to day, Roland was

1583
01:22:14,400 --> 01:22:17,360
Speaker 1: surprised by the actions of a normal human. This time

1584
01:22:17,360 --> 01:22:19,880
Speaker 1: it was Sasha. She'd gotten up from where she and

1585
01:22:19,920 --> 01:22:22,439
Speaker 1: Manny had taken shelter from the gunfight and crawled over

1586
01:22:22,479 --> 01:22:24,920
Speaker 1: to the body of the first guard Roland had disabled.

1587
01:22:25,240 --> 01:22:27,760
Speaker 1: He'd been dimly aware of this in the semi conscious way.

1588
01:22:27,800 --> 01:22:30,800
Speaker 1: He was aware of the traffic passing outside, his brain

1589
01:22:30,880 --> 01:22:32,960
Speaker 1: had opted to not focus on it, since the heavily

1590
01:22:33,040 --> 01:22:36,000
Speaker 1: armed men were a more pressing concern. But then Sasha

1591
01:22:36,040 --> 01:22:39,280
Speaker 1: had removed the unconscious guard's helmet and rushed towards Alexander.

1592
01:22:39,960 --> 01:22:42,720
Speaker 1: She swung first for his gun hand. Roland heard her

1593
01:22:42,760 --> 01:22:44,960
Speaker 1: knock the pistol free of his grip. Then she hit

1594
01:22:45,040 --> 01:22:47,719
Speaker 1: him in the face, over and over and over again.

1595
01:22:48,160 --> 01:22:50,439
Speaker 1: Roland felt the urge to thank her, but just then

1596
01:22:50,600 --> 01:22:53,679
Speaker 1: the power armored man became a concern again. The fucker

1597
01:22:53,760 --> 01:22:56,439
Speaker 1: managed to get off three more shots before Roland ripped

1598
01:22:56,439 --> 01:22:58,600
Speaker 1: the weapon free from its forearm mount and used it

1599
01:22:58,640 --> 01:23:01,679
Speaker 1: to cave in the armored face. Light. Blood spurted out,

1600
01:23:01,720 --> 01:23:04,320
Speaker 1: and the man fell limp back out the window. His

1601
01:23:04,400 --> 01:23:07,320
Speaker 1: feet continued to adhere to the outside wall while his jerking,

1602
01:23:07,400 --> 01:23:11,120
Speaker 1: bleeding body dangled in the breeze. Roland turned just in

1603
01:23:11,160 --> 01:23:14,040
Speaker 1: time to take another two slugs from another two shotguns,

1604
01:23:14,280 --> 01:23:16,400
Speaker 1: but then the men were empty. They'd pumped most of

1605
01:23:16,439 --> 01:23:20,000
Speaker 1: their rounds into Marigold's body. They fumbled to reload, panicked

1606
01:23:20,000 --> 01:23:22,080
Speaker 1: and clearly unused to carrying out the task in a

1607
01:23:22,120 --> 01:23:25,519
Speaker 1: combat situation. Roland could smell the terror as it wafted

1608
01:23:25,560 --> 01:23:28,360
Speaker 1: off their bodies. Their fear hit his nervous system like

1609
01:23:28,400 --> 01:23:31,360
Speaker 1: an ounce of crystal meth. He loomed towards them, and

1610
01:23:31,439 --> 01:23:33,639
Speaker 1: for a second the only sounds in the room were

1611
01:23:33,640 --> 01:23:36,559
Speaker 1: his footsteps and the dull thwap of Sasha pounding her

1612
01:23:36,560 --> 01:23:40,479
Speaker 1: helmet into Alexander's now shattered skull. Roland whipped his left

1613
01:23:40,600 --> 01:23:43,400
Speaker 1: arm out A massive blade not unlike a straight razor,

1614
01:23:43,640 --> 01:23:45,880
Speaker 1: tore through the flesh of his inner forearm and locked

1615
01:23:45,880 --> 01:23:49,080
Speaker 1: into place. The men screamed, one dropped his shotgun and

1616
01:23:49,120 --> 01:23:52,120
Speaker 1: tried to run. Roland tore into him first, using the

1617
01:23:52,160 --> 01:23:55,439
Speaker 1: blade to sever the fucker's arms. Battle drugs and pure

1618
01:23:55,520 --> 01:23:59,519
Speaker 1: liquid satisfaction flowed into roland synapses. His dick went hard,

1619
01:23:59,560 --> 01:24:02,280
Speaker 1: and he dreamed in wordless joy as he slashed downwards

1620
01:24:02,280 --> 01:24:06,320
Speaker 1: and sliced off the man's face. The poor bastard fell away, burbling,

1621
01:24:06,439 --> 01:24:09,519
Speaker 1: and Roland turned towards the last soldier. He died an

1622
01:24:09,520 --> 01:24:13,280
Speaker 1: equally terrible death. And then it was done. The battle

1623
01:24:13,360 --> 01:24:16,600
Speaker 1: was over. Quiet reigned. The only sounds audible to a

1624
01:24:16,640 --> 01:24:19,040
Speaker 1: normal human would have been the blood spurting from dead

1625
01:24:19,080 --> 01:24:22,799
Speaker 1: and dying bodies, and the sound of sobbing. Tully sobbed

1626
01:24:22,840 --> 01:24:26,960
Speaker 1: for Marigold, Sasha sobbed for Roland guest her lost innocence.

1627
01:24:27,400 --> 01:24:30,240
Speaker 1: And then out in the city beyond came the sound

1628
01:24:30,280 --> 01:24:39,160
Speaker 1: of a hundred sirens. The martyrs were coming for them. Hey,

1629
01:24:39,200 --> 01:24:41,400
Speaker 1: I've written a novel. It's called After the Revolution. You

1630
01:24:41,400 --> 01:24:43,760
Speaker 1: can find it as a podcast under After the Revolution,

1631
01:24:43,800 --> 01:24:45,479
Speaker 1: and you can find it at a t r book

1632
01:24:45,479 --> 01:24:48,400
Speaker 1: dot com as a free e pub if you like it.

1633
01:24:48,520 --> 01:24:51,000
Speaker 1: I am crowdfunding the sequel so that I can keep

1634
01:24:51,000 --> 01:24:54,120
Speaker 1: making my books free. That will be it After the Revolution,

1635
01:24:54,200 --> 01:24:56,959
Speaker 1: the Sequel on go fund me. That's After the Revolution,

1636
01:24:57,000 --> 01:25:05,439
Speaker 1: the Sequel on go fund me. We've all felt left out,

1637
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Speaker 1: and for people who moved to this country, that feeling

1638
01:25:08,320 --> 01:25:12,040
Speaker 1: lasts more than a moment. We can change that. Learn

1639
01:25:12,120 --> 01:25:15,120
Speaker 1: how it. Belonging begins with us dot org. Brought to

1640
01:25:15,160 --> 01:25:19,679
Speaker 1: you by the ad Council Adoption of teams from foster

1641
01:25:19,720 --> 01:25:21,960
Speaker 1: care is a topic not enough people know about, and

1642
01:25:22,000 --> 01:25:24,680
Speaker 1: we're here to change that. I'm April Dinnuity, host of

1643
01:25:24,680 --> 01:25:28,679
Speaker 1: the new podcast Navigating Adoption, presented by adopt Us Kids.

1644
01:25:28,680 --> 01:25:32,479
Speaker 1: Each episode brings you compelling, real life adoption stories told

1645
01:25:32,479 --> 01:25:34,960
Speaker 1: by the families that lived them, with commentary from experts.

1646
01:25:35,400 --> 01:25:39,080
Speaker 1: Visit adopt us Kids dot org, slash podcast, or subscribe

1647
01:25:39,120 --> 01:25:42,479
Speaker 1: to Navigating Adoption presented by adopt Us Kids, brought to

1648
01:25:42,520 --> 01:25:44,200
Speaker 1: you by the U. S Department of Health, that Human

1649
01:25:44,240 --> 01:25:47,360
Speaker 1: Services Administration for Children and Families, and the AD Council.

1650
01:25:48,200 --> 01:25:53,000
Speaker 1: What girls in the forest, our imagination and our family bonds.

1651
01:25:53,520 --> 01:25:56,439
Speaker 1: The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest

1652
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1653
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1654
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Speaker 1: ad Council.