Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen, Manny Manny woke up feeling like his mouth
Speaker 1: was filled with cotton and his head was filled with spiders.
Speaker 1: It took him a few long seconds to remember where
Speaker 1: he was and what had happened to bring him here.
Speaker 1: He activated his deck and was shocked to see that
Speaker 1: more than a day had passed since he dropped into bed.
Speaker 1: His first guess was that he was suffering some side
Speaker 1: effect from Skullfucker Mike's blood. He couldn't think of any
Speaker 1: other times he'd slept that long, although he also couldn't
Speaker 1: think of any other times he'd survived a drone attack
Speaker 1: and an intentional car crash in the same minute. Meret.
Speaker 1: He cursed and then called out Reggie. He looked over
Speaker 1: to the cot the journalist had been sleeping on. It
Speaker 1: was dark in the little room Nana Yazi had provided.
Speaker 1: He could see the outline of Reggie's empty cot and
Speaker 1: not much else. The room was just one tin by
Speaker 1: tin section of an old shipping crate. Manny knew the
Speaker 1: only things in the room besides their cots were a
Speaker 1: table with a built in coffee maker and a pair
Speaker 1: of folding chairs. Manny sat up owned as every palpable
Speaker 1: thing in his body popped and then rose to his feet.
Speaker 1: As he stumbled to the door, his deck started to
Speaker 1: populate with messages from friends and family back in Austin.
Speaker 1: By the time his hand touched the knob, there were
Speaker 1: more than fifty translucent messages hovering at the edges of
Speaker 1: his field of vision. He blink selected a mass response template,
Speaker 1: filled it with the names of everyone who had sent
Speaker 1: him something, and typed out an update not dead details later.
Speaker 1: He almost sent it, but then he noticed one of
Speaker 1: the names, Ayisha Martinez, Oscar's wife. He could only see
Speaker 1: the first few lines of the message without opening it,
Speaker 1: but what he saw made it clear she was terrified
Speaker 1: for her husband. Manny De selected her from the list
Speaker 1: and sent the mass message off to everyone else, and
Speaker 1: then scrolled through his messages until he found Oscar's message stack.
Speaker 1: The other fixer still hadn't said anything, not since the
Speaker 1: assault had begun. Many opened up Aisha's message. He tried
Speaker 1: to read it, he really did, but his brain wouldn't
Speaker 1: let his eyes focus on the words. His heart started
Speaker 1: to pound, his gut curdled, and instead of reading it,
Speaker 1: he typed her a quick response, I'm alive. I'm so sorry,
Speaker 1: but I don't know where Oscar is or if he's
Speaker 1: made it out, And then he typed a sentence he
Speaker 1: knew instantly he'd regret. I will do everything I can
Speaker 1: to find your husband. Then he sent the message and
Speaker 1: stepped out of the room into the dying light of
Speaker 1: the late North Texas afternoon. Rolling fuck unspooled around him.
Speaker 1: It was crowded, or at least more crowded than it
Speaker 1: had been yesterday. Dozens of people and non human people
Speaker 1: were packed onto the gantry ways and into the sundry
Speaker 1: buildings added around the rollers and up on the spires.
Speaker 1: One building that jutted off the rear roller looked like
Speaker 1: a carousel ride, with little rocket ships instead of horses.
Speaker 1: It appeared to function as a spinning bar. Drunk people
Speaker 1: rode little ships while bartenders in the middle kept them
Speaker 1: liquored up. Someone shoved by him, a heavily chromed person
Speaker 1: with three tails, each topped by the fully articulated and
Speaker 1: seemingly sentient head of a cat. One of the cat
Speaker 1: heads belched a small puff of fire at manny As
Speaker 1: where we passed. He shook his head and squeezed his
Speaker 1: way over to the main roller. It helped little to
Speaker 1: pretend he was just pushing his way onto the Austin Metro.
Speaker 1: While he walked, he noticed a message from Reggie. He
Speaker 1: blink clicked it open and heard Reggie's voice in his
Speaker 1: ear at the rooftop bar, drinking my way through some research.
Speaker 1: Fund me when you wake up, I'm onto something. Of course,
Speaker 1: Manny had already been on his way there before he'd
Speaker 1: seen Reggie's message. That was the simple reality of British journalists.
Speaker 1: If it was possible for one to be drinking, that's
Speaker 1: what they'd be doing. The walk took about ten minutes.
Speaker 1: He crossed a combination of gantry ways, staircases, and even
Speaker 1: one webbed net. The bar was packed when he arrived,
Speaker 1: but it was easy enough to pick out Reggie. Both
Speaker 1: his holographic screens were up and active on the bar
Speaker 1: top in front of them. He was seated next to
Speaker 1: Skullfucker Mike, and they were deep in conversation when Manny
Speaker 1: walked up. Hey, brother, Reggie said, you've been out for
Speaker 1: a long time. Yeah, Manny said, nothing like that's ever
Speaker 1: happened to me before. How long were you out? The
Speaker 1: journalist thought for moment and then answered, odd. Guess like
Speaker 1: a day he said, Mike told me that's not weird. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the chrome man chuckled. All medicines got side effects, My
Speaker 1: weird ass blood is no different. Y'all. Cute little humans
Speaker 1: ain't made for it. Schoolfucker. Mike and Reggie were both
Speaker 1: clearly drunk, and just as clearly not as drunk as
Speaker 1: they planned to be by the end of the night.
Speaker 1: Mike flashed a grin at Manny and offered a hug
Speaker 1: that the fixer accepted awkwardly. Guy, it's good to see you,
Speaker 1: Mike said, I gotta tell you, I'm kind of jealous
Speaker 1: of your nap. I miss sleep like that with all
Speaker 1: this chrome in me. He waved a hand vaguely over
Speaker 1: his head. I can't get exhausted like that anymore. You
Speaker 1: miss it when it's gone. I gotta drink like thirty
Speaker 1: of these fucking things. Mike gestured to the half full
Speaker 1: drink in front of him. It looked like a pina colada,
Speaker 1: a strange incense. The odor wafted it up from it
Speaker 1: just to pass out like a normal person. Reggie was
Speaker 1: drinking the same thing. He offered his half full glass
Speaker 1: to Manny, these things are the best man vodka and
Speaker 1: opium colattas. They got a little bit of th HC
Speaker 1: in them too. Mike at it in a high sing
Speaker 1: song voice. Manny waved them off. I'm good, thanks, I
Speaker 1: just woke up a minute ago. I probably shouldn't immediately
Speaker 1: take three different drugs. Reggie and Skullfucker Mike both looked
Speaker 1: at him like he was an alien. Weird, they said
Speaker 1: at the exact same time. Mike laughed and Reggie looked
Speaker 1: back at his screen as a push notification popped up
Speaker 1: with a cheery shitting tits. He cursed Manny and skullfucker
Speaker 1: Mike leaned into the screen. The notification was a newswire
Speaker 1: update with a journalist who must have been embedded with
Speaker 1: either the SDF or Austin's forces. The title said, at
Speaker 1: all as the Heavenly Kingdom prepares for another assault, SDF
Speaker 1: and Austin abandoned WACO. I'm not surprised they're pulling out,
Speaker 1: Mike said. Your people are good enough fighters on a
Speaker 1: normal day, but the SDF s built to dominate a
Speaker 1: bunch of squabbling militias. They were never going to hold
Speaker 1: off a sustained assault from a real army. The sleep
Speaker 1: was fully banished. Now Manny was awake, and the gravity
Speaker 1: of what had happened over the last few days sank
Speaker 1: in again. Amid and de Shaun, We're probably dead, so
Speaker 1: was Mr Perrone an Oscar. Holy shit, Holy shit? What
Speaker 1: am I going to tell Ayesha? And then the darker,
Speaker 1: more selfish thoughts. Am I going to have time to
Speaker 1: fly out of Austin? How the hell did the martyrs
Speaker 1: turn into a real fucking army overnight? He asked, with
Speaker 1: more fear in his voice than he meant to display. Well,
Speaker 1: Reggie said as he gestured to a series of curated
Speaker 1: social media posts from people in and around Siadad de Muerta.
Speaker 1: Best as we can figure, they sort of stole most
Speaker 1: of the Republic's army. There are reports of entire units
Speaker 1: of Republic soldiers, thousands of fight us turning at once.
Speaker 1: He gestured to a live, updating political map of Texas.
Speaker 1: It was a map Manny consulted regularly. The Heavenly Kingdom's
Speaker 1: territory was outlined and read. There was a lot more
Speaker 1: read on the map today. It seemed impossible that Sancharados,
Speaker 1: Manny breathed, Galveston. Yeah, Reggie gave a grim nod. Fell
Speaker 1: about ten hours ago. Heavenly kingdoms pushing into the Lake
Speaker 1: Houston suburbs right now the holding position Nan Dallas, though
Speaker 1: digesting the gains, still ain't gonna be long before they
Speaker 1: hit Austin. Mike said, maybe a week, maybe two. Many
Speaker 1: stood there for a moment. He thought about his father,
Speaker 1: his friends. He thought about the house where he'd grown up.
Speaker 1: In the view of Austin Sprawl from his roof, He
Speaker 1: imagined golden cross banners flapping in the breeze above burnt
Speaker 1: out buildings. He pictured gallows filled with people strung out
Speaker 1: along Sixth Street. A knot of nausea started to build
Speaker 1: in his belly. What will you do, Emmanuel? He heard
Speaker 1: mister Perrone's voice echo in his conscience. Many shook the
Speaker 1: dead man's words away. I need to get back home,
Speaker 1: he insisted. Is there some way you can get me
Speaker 1: a ride? Schofucker. Mike took a long pull from his drink.
Speaker 1: He squinted it, Manny, and the chrombed man's eyes focused.
Speaker 1: One iris looked a lot larger than the others. Mike
Speaker 1: swayed a bit in his seat, but he seemed lucid mostly.
Speaker 1: And what are you gonna do in Austin, he said,
Speaker 1: pick up a gun and die fighting, unless you're hiding
Speaker 1: some serious mods under that skin. I don't think your
Speaker 1: help make a rat ship worth a difference. I know
Speaker 1: I'm not going there to fight. I need to what
Speaker 1: fly away, Go to fucking California. Try your luck in Europe.
Speaker 1: Mike shook his head. You've got a chance to actually
Speaker 1: do something. Help us get our people out of Dallas,
Speaker 1: and we can fuck the Kingdom's advance, maybe even throw
Speaker 1: him back. Many thought about it, sighed, and said, I
Speaker 1: think I do need a drink, skullfucker. Mike nodded. He
Speaker 1: pointed over to a table lined with a dozen different
Speaker 1: beer taps. The normal stuff, self service. I recommend the
Speaker 1: Wheat Hayes. Pretty mild, but it's good for stock humans
Speaker 1: like yourself. Many got up, grabbed a glass from a
Speaker 1: dispenser at the edge of the bar, and walked over
Speaker 1: to the beer table. Each keg had a thick strip
Speaker 1: of white tape across the front. The only details given
Speaker 1: about each beer were vague, almost allegibly scrawled names. Many
Speaker 1: found two labels that both looked like they might say,
Speaker 1: wheat Hayes. He picked one at random, then headed back
Speaker 1: to the bar and sat next to Reggie. Mike looked
Speaker 1: impressed for some reason. Good choice, he said with a nod.
Speaker 1: Manny took a sip. It was really good, a mild
Speaker 1: pale ale with just a hint of sour. He leaned
Speaker 1: in and looked at the maps and scrolling updates on
Speaker 1: reggie screen. The journalist finished writing down a couple of
Speaker 1: notes and shook his head. I'm really sorry, man, truly,
Speaker 1: he gestured towards the live map. This is so fucked.
Speaker 1: You're gonna stay here to cover the fall, Mike asked.
Speaker 1: Reggie shook his head. He looked frustrated. Got a message
Speaker 1: from my editor a bit ago, and they're trying to
Speaker 1: work out an extract for me. Gonna send a team
Speaker 1: at here to drive me west to El Paso. I
Speaker 1: guess it's not safe to fly out of Austin right now,
Speaker 1: so he trailed off. The three of them drank in
Speaker 1: silence for a minute. Schoolfucker might gulp down the last
Speaker 1: of his glass and ordered another, along with three shots
Speaker 1: of bourbon. Manny started to turn down the shot, but
Speaker 1: it was soon apparent that Mike wanted all three shots
Speaker 1: for himself. He downed them all in the space of
Speaker 1: around a second, belched loudly, and then returned to staring
Speaker 1: at Reggie screen. Fuck, he sighed out again. Fuck it
Speaker 1: he fuck fuck. Manny was halfway through his beer when
Speaker 1: Donald Ferris approached. The old documentarian wore a burgundy velvet
Speaker 1: waistcoat underneath a slightly battered but well tailored tweed jacket.
Speaker 1: He had a glass of probable whiskey at his hand
Speaker 1: and the soberst eyes Manny had seen that day. Hello,
Speaker 1: the gentleman school funcker, Mike, getting caught up on the
Speaker 1: latest catastrophes. All way yep, said Mike, how you been.
Speaker 1: The older man shrugged and took his seat at the table.
Speaker 1: He gulped his whiskey and looked down the table at Manny.
Speaker 1: It was strange to see an actual old person this
Speaker 1: close up. The creases on his forehead and around his
Speaker 1: lips were so deep they could have been carved with
Speaker 1: a knife. There were spots on him, a clear sign
Speaker 1: he'd taken no juven treatments at all. His face had
Speaker 1: a deep, craggy richness that lent every word, he said,
Speaker 1: a certain vague majesty. Donald Ferris spoke, and Manny felt
Speaker 1: compelled to listen. You can hope this. You know who
Speaker 1: was stuck negotiating with the kingdom now, and they are
Speaker 1: most recalcitrant. But the fucky quite a second, Reggie interrupted,
Speaker 1: fuckyans really. Donald and Mike exchanged a look, then a laugh.
Speaker 1: Donald replied, the city's not exactly famed for consistency. Almost
Speaker 1: any collective now and you can think of would be appropriate.
Speaker 1: He took another sip from his glass and set it
Speaker 1: down on the bar top with a clack. Donald Ferris
Speaker 1: leaned in at that and eyed the glasses. He rotated
Speaker 1: it around on the table. He tapped it again, smiled,
Speaker 1: and looked back up to the group. Now, young man,
Speaker 1: let me explain why you should go risk your life
Speaker 1: on a daring and dangerous rescue mission. Manny grunted and
Speaker 1: shook his head reflexively defensive. I'd rather not talk about
Speaker 1: it right now, if that's cool, he said. I just
Speaker 1: woke up. This place is ridiculous, and I'm not going
Speaker 1: to decide to go into terrible danger because some old
Speaker 1: man gilt trips me at a bar. Suit yourself. Donald smiled,
Speaker 1: I can't imagine how stressful this is all bidden for you.
Speaker 1: I'm a little surprised you'd choose to trip balls at
Speaker 1: a time like this. What do you mean, Manny asked,
Speaker 1: with growing anxiety. That's a white haze, right, I think
Speaker 1: Mike said it was a wheat haze, but I couldn't
Speaker 1: really read the labels. Shit, Mike cursed, while Donald Ferris
Speaker 1: fought back a laugh. What, Manny asked, Mike should have
Speaker 1: warned you. The wheat haze is normal alcohol. The white
Speaker 1: haze packs about two hits of the surgic diethyl acid.
Speaker 1: Put pint be anxious, not in. Manny's gut began to
Speaker 1: pound in pulse. He looked to skullfucker Mike, furious. What
Speaker 1: the funk man? Mike winced, he looked genuinely rueful. I'm
Speaker 1: really sorry, he said. I'm not used to it making
Speaker 1: a difference. Most people here take two or three hits
Speaker 1: acid with their breakfast cigarettes. Oh shit. Manny slumped forward
Speaker 1: and put his head in his hands. He started to hyperventilate.
Speaker 1: The edges of his vision blurred, and Manny couldn't tell
Speaker 1: if that was from the drugs. Kicking in or just
Speaker 1: a consequence of his own panic. He could feel Oscar's
Speaker 1: face hanging out just at the back of his mind,
Speaker 1: afloat on a river of guilt. He didn't want to
Speaker 1: know what a headful of acid would do with those feelings.
Speaker 1: I gotta get back to the room, he said, I
Speaker 1: can't handle that. Donald put a hand on his shoulder.
Speaker 1: He was stronger than Manny would have guessed. You've got
Speaker 1: a headful of surprise, I said, boy, the last thing
Speaker 1: you need is to sit in a dock room and
Speaker 1: stew with your demons. He exchanged another look with skullfucker
Speaker 1: Mike and said, brain breakers ought to be kicking off
Speaker 1: right now. That's the place for a man in your condition.
Speaker 1: But started Manny, what the hell is that? Reggie asked, Wait,
Speaker 1: Manny continued. Donald ignored him and replied to Reggie, it's
Speaker 1: the best damn party on the continent, or at least
Speaker 1: the best one humans can attend and survive. I don't
Speaker 1: really want to, Manny started. Scoffucker Mike added his hand
Speaker 1: to Manny's shoulder. You really do trust us on this.
Speaker 1: In the end, scofucker Mike and Donald convinced him to go.
Speaker 1: Reggie surprisingly opted to stay at the bar and continue
Speaker 1: his work. He said he was close to something. Manny
Speaker 1: really wished he chosen to come along. He didn't know
Speaker 1: the journalist well, but Mike and Donald were complete strangers.
Speaker 1: Manny was not looking forward to the drugs kicking in.
Speaker 1: He also was sure a giant rave room was the
Speaker 1: best place for him to be when they did. As
Speaker 1: they approached it, many realized he'd seen the structure when
Speaker 1: they first arrived at the City of Wheels. Brain Breakers
Speaker 1: was a three story cube at the top of Rolling
Speaker 1: Fox highest gantry. The cube appeared to have been knitted
Speaker 1: together from long strands of black metal. Multi colored light
Speaker 1: pulsed inside it and bled out through the gaps and
Speaker 1: the knitted metal of the sides. Schoolfucker Mike led them
Speaker 1: down the gantry towards the cube. There didn't appear to
Speaker 1: be any kind of entrance. The wall on this side
Speaker 1: was the same knitted steel as every other side, but
Speaker 1: once they reached it, Mike simply stepped into the wall.
Speaker 1: The woven metal writhed like something alive and curled back
Speaker 1: to admit the big post human. The metal tendrils caressed
Speaker 1: Mike's body. As he walked through, Manny flashed a questioning
Speaker 1: look at Donald. De it feels nice, he explained Manny side,
Speaker 1: exasperated and furious. Is this whole damned city built around
Speaker 1: drugs and fondling? Yes? Donald grinned, a spidery old man grinned.
Speaker 1: Now inside with you, many sides swallowed and walked up
Speaker 1: to the wall. The metal, which felt surprisingly soft and warm,
Speaker 1: slithered around him, and mother of god, it felt good.
Speaker 1: That might have had something to do with the acid
Speaker 1: percolating in the back of his brain. The sensation was
Speaker 1: a cross between being tickled and being caressed. He was reminded,
Speaker 1: uncomfortably of his mother's stroking his forehead when he had
Speaker 1: a fever as a child. And then he was through.
Speaker 1: It took him a moment to realize he was breathing
Speaker 1: heavily and covered in cold sweat. It was then that
Speaker 1: Manny got his first view of the interior of Brain Breakers.
Speaker 1: It looked a little like a space station designed by
Speaker 1: m c esher with a drunken hr Geiger as the contractor.
Speaker 1: There were a half dozen different stages protruding at various
Speaker 1: levels from the walls. Three of the stages were currently occupied.
Speaker 1: One performer was an enormous, seemingly sentient xylophone that pranced
Speaker 1: about on stage, playing itself with eight knob and arms.
Speaker 1: Another stage held four human looking individuals. They were all naked,
Speaker 1: and they were all fighting. Many watched and slack jawed
Speaker 1: awe as they punched in and kicked and choked each other.
Speaker 1: Every impact sent a chorus of warbling sounds pouring out
Speaker 1: from speakers at the base of the stage. The longer
Speaker 1: he listened, the more hypnotic the music seemed. The third
Speaker 1: inhabited stage held what looked like a normal d J
Speaker 1: booth with a presumptive person behind it. Manny guessed that
Speaker 1: was the source of the bass, heavy rhythmic pounding that
Speaker 1: filled the square. The remaining stages were empty for now,
Speaker 1: but the place was so full of sound that Manny
Speaker 1: couldn't imagine two more acts making things any louder. It
Speaker 1: was chaotic and confusing and a little uncomfortable, but after
Speaker 1: a few seconds, Manny started to pick up on an
Speaker 1: overarching rhythm. All three acts were making very different music
Speaker 1: at very different paces, but somehow it all tied together.
Speaker 1: The inner walls of the place were covered in projection art.
Speaker 1: Giant human sized silhouettes stalked the walls, floor, and roof.
Speaker 1: At times, they moved so fast they looked almost like
Speaker 1: wisps of smoke. But here and there one would stop
Speaker 1: long enough for Manny to get a solid look. He
Speaker 1: saw several different figures. A tall, muscular but androgynous person,
Speaker 1: a small, lithe young woman, a broad squat man with
Speaker 1: a bald head. They danced around each other, flittering up
Speaker 1: and down the walls. Their pace in the nature of
Speaker 1: their motions varied depending on the tempo and pitch of
Speaker 1: the music nearest to them. It was mesmerizing. Manny stared
Speaker 1: for what felt like minutes. The sensation of his body
Speaker 1: faded away from him, and his vision tunneled in on
Speaker 1: the dancing figures. Their dance had looked joyous and sensual
Speaker 1: at first, but the longer he watched, the more frenetic
Speaker 1: it seemed. The more danger he spotted in their jerking limbs,
Speaker 1: the arc of their necks, the uncontrolled way they spun
Speaker 1: round and into one another. Anxiety started to build in
Speaker 1: the pit of his stomach. And then there was a
Speaker 1: person beside him, Mike, Hey, Buddy. He grinned. The other
Speaker 1: man's pupils were the size of dinner plates. He clenched
Speaker 1: and ground his teeth back and forth. It o'kaiefa, put
Speaker 1: a hand on your shoulder. Uh sure, Manny said, surprising himself.
Speaker 1: Cool Mike smiled and did so. His hand felt supportive, comforting.
Speaker 1: How you liken the party? Manny really wasn't sure it
Speaker 1: was beautiful here. Now that skullfucker Mike had pulled his
Speaker 1: attention from the dancing silhouettes, he'd started to focus more
Speaker 1: in the crowds of people dancing and drinking and fucking
Speaker 1: across the assorted dance floors, cuttle spaces and bar tops
Speaker 1: of brain breakers. Most of the celebrants were visibly chromed.
Speaker 1: He saw a woman with six arms, a couple of
Speaker 1: things he could only describe as dick centaurs, a man
Speaker 1: with the head of a dolphin, and countless people in
Speaker 1: bizarre costumes built of light and fur and liquid metal.
Speaker 1: It was hard to tell how much of this was
Speaker 1: real and how much of it was the drugs. The
Speaker 1: acid was hitting his head pretty damn hard. Skullfucker Mike
Speaker 1: squeezed his shoulders and brought Manny back again. The fixer
Speaker 1: blinked and then finally responded, it's a good, good, fucking great.
Speaker 1: Let's get you some whippets and head over to the
Speaker 1: fireworks table. They're about to open it up fireworks inside.
Speaker 1: Mike laughed. It's hardly a party without explosives, brother, Just
Speaker 1: go with it in so many did. He and Mike
Speaker 1: did some whippets, which meshed gloriously with the acid. Then
Speaker 1: they stood up on stumbling feet and headed over to
Speaker 1: the fireworks table. Things seemed to be just getting started
Speaker 1: over there. Manny inspected a few different brightly colored explosive
Speaker 1: toys before something burst next to his ear, and he
Speaker 1: looked up to see skullfucker Mike firing a massive Roman
Speaker 1: candle towards the musical, punching people on the stage. The
Speaker 1: sound of it, Holly hell, the sound it might have
Speaker 1: been the most compelling thing his ears had ever heard.
Speaker 1: The acid is definitely hitting hard now, Manny thought, Holy funk,
Speaker 1: Holy funk, what is this? The rest of his night
Speaker 1: faded into a blur of lights and music and strange,
Speaker 1: indefinable sense memories. It was disorienting and exhilarating an equal measure.
Speaker 1: Hours went by the acid faded, and eventually Manny found
Speaker 1: himself on a bunch of cushions, sitting around a table
Speaker 1: with Skullfucker Mike and other Fuccians. He couldn't remember any
Speaker 1: of their names, but after a few minutes of relative lucidity,
Speaker 1: Manny was able to piece together that they were all
Speaker 1: friends of the people who had been captured. One of
Speaker 1: the men, a bearded guy with multi jointed fingers the
Speaker 1: length and with the rulers, reached over Manny to grab
Speaker 1: a beer. He pulled it back, took a sip, and
Speaker 1: settled into his seat. My favorite memory of Marigold, he said,
Speaker 1: it's from back when we were still building this city,
Speaker 1: right after we stole the bagger. She got a hair
Speaker 1: up her ass that there ought to be a big
Speaker 1: purple clubhouse at the top for folks to do cocaine
Speaker 1: in and watch sunsets. I remember she strapped an armed
Speaker 1: little wood to her back, grabbed a can of spray paint,
Speaker 1: took a big rail of meth, and just started climbing
Speaker 1: up the center spindle like she was gonna do the
Speaker 1: whole damn job herself. She got fucking stuck two thirds
Speaker 1: of the way up, just hanging out there with her
Speaker 1: panties in the breeze, screaming like a scared cat. Mike laughed,
Speaker 1: I remember that me and Topez had to climb up
Speaker 1: in freer and then she climbed the rest of the
Speaker 1: way up and started laying down boards. Fingerman nodded, yeah,
Speaker 1: I remember when I climbed up there. An hour or
Speaker 1: so later. She's all frantic and fiddling with nails and
Speaker 1: bolts and turned to funk, but like making progress too,
Speaker 1: And I asked her, Marigold, why are you doing this?
Speaker 1: This ain't a one person job, and she said, I know,
Speaker 1: but unless I start building it, it'll never be real.
Speaker 1: There was quiet for a while. Many could feel the
Speaker 1: pain in the pause and see it on everyone's face.
Speaker 1: He didn't want to say anything. He was pretty sure
Speaker 1: there was nothing worthwhile he could say. But then he spoke, anyway,
Speaker 1: can you tell me about the others, the other two
Speaker 1: who were captured. Another of Mike's friends, a tall black
Speaker 1: woman in a bright blue shark Onesie nodded and replied,
Speaker 1: Rick's a little dude, great painter and a pretty good pyrotechnician.
Speaker 1: He's no kind of fighter, but he's got a real
Speaker 1: sweet way about him. He puts people at ease, so
Speaker 1: he goes out on a lot of these delegations to
Speaker 1: be a good face for the city. Marigold is always
Speaker 1: the main negotiator, but we sent Tulli out too. She's
Speaker 1: newish to the city. Used to be an activist in
Speaker 1: Albuquerque before the king took over and started boiling people.
Speaker 1: She's a good talker. We had her studying under Mary
Speaker 1: so she could pick up some of the load in
Speaker 1: the future. They're all good people, Fingerman added, Marigolds saved
Speaker 1: my life a few times back during the revolution. She
Speaker 1: helped found this place. It started out as just a
Speaker 1: big caravan RVs and mobile hydroponics units. She'd find isolated
Speaker 1: communities bring him food and such. No government was much
Speaker 1: use back then, so for a lot of folks, Mary's
Speaker 1: caravan was the line between life and death. Yep, said
Speaker 1: skullfucker Mike. She's the one who found topaz in me.
Speaker 1: After the boss went missing. We were pretty lost, doing
Speaker 1: a lot of freelance violence, but not making anything, not
Speaker 1: building a damn thing. Marigold told us her vision for
Speaker 1: this big, stupid city got us hooked on the idea.
Speaker 1: Many noticed tears at the corner of Skullfucker Mike's eyes
Speaker 1: that felt somehow wronged him. Someone so powerful and inhuman
Speaker 1: shouldn't be able to cry and make it look so normal.
Speaker 1: But there he was crying. And then, for the first
Speaker 1: time in the trip, the thing Manny had most feared happened.
Speaker 1: He thought about Oscar. He remembered a picnic he'd taken
Speaker 1: with the Stringer, his wife, Aisha, and their two kids.
Speaker 1: It had been a lovely spring day, one of the
Speaker 1: dozen ish days a year in Austin where the air
Speaker 1: felt good on your skin. They drank cheap beer and
Speaker 1: eating hot dogs and watched the kayakers roll along the
Speaker 1: Colorado River. I sent him out there, and now he's
Speaker 1: probably dead. You know there's something else we share, Mike said,
Speaker 1: his voice low and somber. We've both spent way too
Speaker 1: much of our lives feeling helpless. Manny cocked a disbelieving
Speaker 1: eyebrow up at Skullfucker Mike. Yeah, the chrombed Man chuckled.
Speaker 1: I know what you're thinking, but you'd be surprised how
Speaker 1: often the fancy hardware doesn't matter. Mike's face twitched and
Speaker 1: more tears poured down his face. He took a deep breath,
Speaker 1: fixed Manny with bloodshot puffy eyes, and spoke again. We
Speaker 1: all spend a lot of life helpless, so when you
Speaker 1: have a chance to do something to make a difference
Speaker 1: for someone personally, I recommend you fucking take it. Manny
Speaker 1: woke up the next day feeling out of place and
Speaker 1: vaguely unstuck from time. He could hear Reggie snoring on
Speaker 1: the next bed. The room was very dark and it
Speaker 1: was impossible to tell what time it might be. Manny
Speaker 1: thought about activating his deck, but decided against it. There
Speaker 1: was something almost nauseating about the thought of being flooded
Speaker 1: with the outside world right now. He stood up and
Speaker 1: went outside to wander the spindles and gantries of rolling
Speaker 1: Fuck for a while. At one point a man walked
Speaker 1: by with a plateful of breakfast burritos, and so Manny
Speaker 1: had breakfast. A little while later he found a self
Speaker 1: served coffee house stationed next to one of the Fondle boats,
Speaker 1: and so he had coffee. He was just starting to
Speaker 1: think about turning on his deck and welcoming in the
Speaker 1: world when Donald Ferris found him. Manny, my boy, I
Speaker 1: hope your ascid hangovers not too bad, Manny shrugged. I
Speaker 1: actually feel all right. It was a it was good
Speaker 1: and help me sort some things out. The older man smiled.
Speaker 1: I'm genuinely happy to hear that. There's nothing like a
Speaker 1: headful of acid to help you see what's important. Now. Listen,
Speaker 1: I hate to interrupt your morning, but there have been
Speaker 1: some developments. None a Yazzie and I need to talk
Speaker 1: to you. Manny went with him back down into the
Speaker 1: main roller in that weird conference room where they'd met
Speaker 1: on his first in the city. There were more people
Speaker 1: there now. Nana Yazzi sat in the same spot at
Speaker 1: the end of the table. Reggie was there fiddling with
Speaker 1: one of his screens. Schuffucker Mike sat next to him,
Speaker 1: and then at the other end of the table was
Speaker 1: a large black dude Manny had never seen before. He
Speaker 1: was muscular, but in the lean, wiry way of a
Speaker 1: construction worker or a particularly swollen hobo. He had a long,
Speaker 1: gaunt face with prominent sheet bones and an oft broken nose.
Speaker 1: His hands were big, there was something menacing about them,
Speaker 1: but his face was the least threatening thing in the world.
Speaker 1: His eyes were litted, half, focused and dreamy. His jaw
Speaker 1: was just a little slack. He had short hair, stubble really,
Speaker 1: and a patchy six day beard. He looked stoned. Welcome, Nanny,
Speaker 1: said Nana Yazzi. She gestured towards the big man. This
Speaker 1: is Rowland. If you choose to help us rescue your people,
Speaker 1: he'll be your escort into the Heavenly Kingdom and your
Speaker 1: escape plan. Donald shut the door behind them, walked around
Speaker 1: to the other side of the table and sat down
Speaker 1: next to Nana Yazzi. We've tried to give you. I'm
Speaker 1: in space on this, he said, but I'm afraid both
Speaker 1: of those things are running out. All our intelligence suggests
Speaker 1: the Heavenly Kingdom is very close to another roll out assault.
Speaker 1: They'll move on Waco in four or five days. It
Speaker 1: could be outside of Austin in a week's time. You
Speaker 1: are free to make whatever call you want, or offer
Speaker 1: to fly you to Austin. Still stands, Miho, said Nana Yazzi.
Speaker 1: But I am afraid we need you to make a decision. Now,
Speaker 1: I'll do it, Manny said. Almost everyone looked surprised. Donald coughed.
Speaker 1: Nana Yazzi's eyes went wide. Reggie did a double take. Schoolfucker.
Speaker 1: Mike just smiled and nodded at Manny. Roland didn't look
Speaker 1: as if he'd been affected in any way. In fact,
Speaker 1: Manny was pretty sure he was drumming along to some
Speaker 1: music only he could hear. It might have been Ronnie
Speaker 1: James Dio's Holy Diver. Hey, I'm Robert Evans. I hope
Speaker 1: you enjoyed this chapter. I hope you enjoyed the chapters
Speaker 1: to come. You can find the free e pub of
Speaker 1: every chapter and eventually the whole book at a t
Speaker 1: r book dot com, complete with illustrations. If you want
Speaker 1: to support me in writing the sequel, you can crowdfund
Speaker 1: me at After the Revolution the Sequel at go fund me.
Speaker 1: Just type and go fund me after the Revolution the Sequel. Um.
Speaker 1: I'd like my books to always be free, so I'm
Speaker 1: just going to try to crowdfund the next one and
Speaker 1: see how that works. So After the Revolution the Sequel
Speaker 1: on go fund me. You can also find the community
Speaker 1: of fans of this book online at our slash after
Speaker 1: the Revolution on Reddit. So after the Revolution the Sequel
Speaker 1: on go fund me and our slash after the Revolution
Speaker 1: on Reddit. A t r book dot com for the
Speaker 1: whole book thanks