WEBVTT - Chapter One 0:00:01.639 --> 0:00:09.120 After the Revolution. Richardson, Republic of Texas, twenty, Chapter one. 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:15.120 Manny Manny smiled the way the British journalist's face blanched 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:18.200 as the old Toyota hit the pothole. Reggie wasn't used 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:21.439 to bad roads, cars driven by actual humans, or the 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:23.480 way the heavy metal of the gun mountain the truck 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:27.040 bed made the aluminum frame groan. That was all familiar 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:30.280 to Manny. He'd grown up in Siodad de Muerta, back 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:33.400 before the lake would blast, back when people had still 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:37.000 called it Dallas. The truck's driver veered around the bloated 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:39.159 corpse of a large dog lying in the middle of 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:42.159 the road. Reggie gripped the truck bed with white knuckles 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:44.720 and eyed the swaying AMMO belt of the twenty millimeter 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:49.200 cannon like it was a coiled snake. The gunner, Manny's cousin, Alejandro, 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:53.280 grinned down at the journalist. The Suspeneon's a little fact, yeh. 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:56.760 The Briton nodded and turned greener. When the technical hid 0:00:56.800 --> 0:01:00.040 another pothole. Manny supposed he should offer a comfort and 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:03.360 word to the man. That would be good business, but 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:05.520 a louder part of him looked at Reggie's brand new 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:08.520 boots and thought he can stand a little less comfort. 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:11.640 The journalist would brag about this ride for months once 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:15.720 he got home. Escorting reporters from the safety of Austin 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:18.480 to the sundry hotspots of the Old Metroplex was not 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:22.200 Manny's ideal career. Two years ago, he'd been working on 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:25.520 a bachelor's in business administration from the University of Austin. 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:29.000 The plan had been to get a job with Ages Biosystems, 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:31.319 then charm his way into a working visa and a 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:34.919 gig in the California Republic. But the fighting had started 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:38.000 up again and ruined all that. The culprit this time 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:42.319 was the Heavenly Kingdom, a loose assortment of Christian extremist militias. 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:45.240 They'd boiled out from the suburbs of the Old Metroplex 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:48.960 and all but broken the Republic of Texas. The Autonomous 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:51.840 City of Austin had stabilized the situation with the help 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:55.840 of an alliance of leftist Texan militias the Secular Defense Forces. 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.000 Beating them back had cost a lot in blood and time, 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:01.800 and forced Manny to change every plan he'd ever had 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:05.040 for his life. So he'd embraced the situation and started 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:08.800 his own business, hiring on some friends as employees. Together 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:11.600 they'd built the best network of stringers in North Texas. 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:15.400 His boys fed him video contacts and news updates, and 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:18.680 he sold what he could to the big foreign media conglomerates. 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:21.200 In a couple more months, he'd have enough saved up 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:23.480 that he could fuck off, fly to Europe and apply 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:26.600 for a refugee visa. My ans are pretty good as 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:29.960 long as the war doesn't end too soon. The technical 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.280 rolled to a creaky stop in front of a checkpoint 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:34.760 that had clearly been erected within the last few days. 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:38.320 It was just a collapsible electronic gate and two sandbag 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:41.600 emplacements on either side of the battered highway. A street 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:44.280 sign nearby announced that they were on the edge of Richardson, 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:47.639 formerly a suburb of Dallas and currently a forward position 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:52.160 of the People's Protection Army. A local anarchist militia manny 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.360 could see the p PA's red black triangle emblem stitched 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:58.840 onto the jackets of the soldiers guarding the checkpoint. One 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:00.560 of the p p A men walked up to the 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.520 driver's side window and started chatting with Philip. The driver. 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:07.480 Phil and Manny's cousin Alejandro were both with the Citizens Front, 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.519 a more or less a political militia from the suburbs 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:14.120 of Austin. Both militias co existed under the broad umbrella 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:17.840 of the Secular Defense Forces. The SDF had been organized 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:20.680 by the Canadian government to lump all of North Texas's 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:23.640 palatable militant groups into a single package that could be 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:27.320 conveniently armed. While the first guard talked with Philip, his 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:29.520 partner did a circuit around the back of the truck. 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:32.920 The man was big, bulging, with muscles so sculpted and 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:35.520 prominent they had to be vat grown, and he moved 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:37.880 with the twitchy ungrace of a man who replaced his 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:41.240 nervous system with circuitry. His weapon was a very old, 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:44.120 very battered a R fifteen with an M two four 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:47.560 three grenade launcher below the barrel. The latter was old 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:50.640 U S military gear. The former had been someone's toy 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:54.120 before the revolution gave America's half billion civilian guns a 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:57.640 new riz on debt. The man moved back to the barricades. 0:03:57.680 --> 0:03:59.840 When he had finished his lap. Reggie looked up at 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:04.200 me and asked was he a was he chromed? Many smiled. 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:06.480 That was always one of the first questions as soon 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:08.720 as any foreign journal saw a trooper with a large 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:11.480 enough filled skin with an off shade, or who just 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:15.120 moved a little too fast to seem completely right. Anything 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:18.880 beyond basic aesthetic and medical modifications were banned in civilized 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:22.920 countries like the UK. The real chrome, the implants that 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:24.600 would let a man lift a truck or take a 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:27.440 rocket to the belly that ship was locked up tight. 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:30.719 A few national militaries even used the stuff these days, 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:35.040 not after the revolution. He's got some vat grown muscles, 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:37.640 Manny said, in an off handed way that suggested such 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:41.320 things were common aftermarket nerves too. Probably his stuff is 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:45.039 low grade, that's why it's so visible. Reggie nodded. His 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:47.880 eyes stayed locked on the big man. He was quiet 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:51.200 for a while before he spoke again. You just live 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:55.600 right alongside them, don't you, Manny shrugged. Everybody's got something 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:57.599 out here and the wet wears. But lets us hold 0:04:57.600 --> 0:04:59.680 back the martyrs. They own the whole city if it 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:03.200 weren't half fats like him. The journalist nodded, and his 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:06.080 gaze stayed fixed upon the militiaman, until a troubled look 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:09.440 crossed his face. He glanced back to Manny. Are you 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:14.240 all chromed, Reggie asked. Manny smiled, I don't expect either 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:16.600 of us as stock sabien eh, but I doubt I've 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:20.160 got anything you don't. Reggie seemed somewhat comforted by this. 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:23.080 Most of what I've read about the really heavy mods 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:26.760 says they cause a lot of well unstable behavior. That's why, 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:29.560 that's why this city such as ship Hole, Manny asked. 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:33.200 The journalist had the grace to blush. Manny looked away 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:35.640 for a moment. His eyes landed on the bones of 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:39.359 three large public housing buildings. A barrel bomb had detonated 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:41.599 in the center of the courtyard. All three shared. It 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:44.240 had peeled away the walls, some of the floors, and 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.880 the resulting firestorm had burned up everything that wasn't concrete, steel, 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:51.279 or rebar. For just a moment, Manny felt bad about 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:54.919 hoping the war hung on. In other six months, the 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:57.479 old government blamed a lot on roided up veterans with 0:05:57.560 --> 0:06:01.680 military grade mods. He told Reggie, most was just propaganda, 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:05.120 fear mongering. People were pissed after twenty years of plague, disaster, 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:08.320 and poverty. Manny shrugged. It's true, though a lot of 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:10.920 chromed up vets turned on the government. You can't make 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:13.360 men into gods and expect them to keep fighting from men, 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:17.080 Reggie pointed back to the bolding Militiaman, I take it, 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:20.679 muscles there is pretty far from a god. Nah, Manny laughed. 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:23.159 He's just a guy with too much meat money. Gods 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:26.880 don't man check points. The Brit was excited. Now. These 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:29.520 were the questions he'd wanted to ask since they met yesterday. 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:32.120 Do you know where some of those people are? Reggie 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:34.359 couldn't keep the excitement out of his voice. Could we 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:37.800 talk to them? Manny didn't have any of those contacts, 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:40.360 nor did he know any other fixers who did. He 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:43.000 tried to let the Brit down easy. Most of those 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:46.360 folks live ah on the road in between the civilized 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:50.360 parts of Texas and the Republic of California, Oh. Reggie 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:53.040 looked disappointed. The truck rolled past the wreckage of an 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:56.600 old Catholic school. It bore signs of being fortified, destroyed, 0:06:56.800 --> 0:07:01.080 re fortified, and redestroyed several times. The Brit was inches 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:03.680 from asking another question when the gate man waved them on, 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:06.920 and the battered Toyota farted its way into drive, belching 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:09.480 and complaining, past a network of potholes until it hit 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:13.440 a relatively straight chunk of asphalt. Only a few minutes now, 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:16.840 hefe Manny said, the p PA's forward position is about 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:19.600 five minutes out. He'll be in the ship then, or 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:23.600 at least shit adjacent. The journalist's face washed over in 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:26.640 an even mix of anxiety and pride. One of the 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:28.720 first lessons Manny had learned at this job was that 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:32.760 phrases like the ship made rich gringo writers unreasonably excited. 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:36.080 An excited journalists always called Manny the next time they 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:38.720 were in country. Giving white kids in caffie as a 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:41.160 lifetime of bragging rights for surviving a couple of days 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:43.640 in his home killed his soul just a little bit, 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:46.640 But Manny pushed down the anger and told himself that 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:48.800 a chip on the shoulder was a lot less useful 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:51.800 than money in the bank. The Technical rolled off the 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:55.320 old highway. Manny could see twenty three and Spring Valley 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:58.320 Road and blasmed on a weather beaten bullets guard sign. 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:01.440 The Technical pulled to the right, The guns swayed in 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:04.680 its mount. Manny couldn't help smiling as the brit instinctively 0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:07.120 pulled away from it. They rolled up to what had 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.280 once been a strip mall and was now a forward 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.960 operating base for the People's Protection Army. An old laundromat, 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:15.400 a bookstore, and a half dozen restaurants now had their 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:19.119 roofs ringed with barbed wire and machine gun emplacements. Manny 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:21.560 could see a line of bullet hole stitched across three 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:24.280 of the shops. None of the windows were intact, but 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:28.000 otherwise the buildings had weathered the war rather well. Three 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:31.360 M one howitzers were parked next to a taco shop 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:33.719 that had once served the local college kids, beer and 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:36.360 cheap grub. There was a flagpole out in front of 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:38.240 the shop, and from it hung the blue and white 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:42.040 starburst flag of the SDF. Three men in uniforms stood 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:44.439 waiting as the old Toyota rolled to a stop in 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:54.160 Manny and Reggie disembarked. Two of the men were officers 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:56.680 in the p P, A Colonel Jacob Milgram and Major 0:08:56.760 --> 0:08:59.960 de Shaun Clark. Milgram was a boring, tight lipped near 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:02.920 D type, but DeShawn was one of Mannie's favorite sources. 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:05.920 He was an old infantry guy, a consummate brawler with 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:08.280 a face full of scars and three published books of 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:10.720 poetry to his name. He actually had a base of 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:15.479 international fans, mostly in Spain. The third man was Hamid Mohammed, 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:19.000 an adviser from Syrian Kurdistan. The Curds had been giving 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:21.600 aid to the Sundry militias of the Secular Defense Forces 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:25.560 for years now. Mannie considered Hamid almost a local. He 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:28.560 shook hands with Jacob, since Manny knew DeShawn better. He 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:30.480 met the man with a full embrace and used it 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:32.760 as an opportunity to palm the major a packet of 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:35.880 his favorite cigarettes. Deshaun gave him a wink and a smile. 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:38.719 Manny shook Hamid's hand next, and then kissed him on 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:41.640 the cheek. Hamid returned the kiss, clapped him on the shoulder, 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:44.719 and said, Emmanuel, my friend, you really should get out 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:47.080 of this business. One of these days you'll come up 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:50.440 here and it won't be safe. Manny frowned a little 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:52.280 at the use of his birth name, but he didn't 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:54.360 make an issue out of the matter. There's still a 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:56.800 war on right. He smiled at Hamid he'll get that 0:09:56.800 --> 0:09:59.480 ship under control. Maybe I'll work a straight job again. 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:02.480 Not too soon, though, he thought. The least this war 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:04.559 can do was last long enough to get me out 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:08.800 of Texas. Hamide smiled back, and Manny introduced Reggie to 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:12.320 the officers. The journalist was clearly awkward in that special 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:15.280 way Manny had come to expect from new war correspondents. 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:18.160 It was the norm for young writers to be intimidated 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:21.040 by grizzled military men. Some of them got over that 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:23.880 Manny had worked with a middle aged Der Spiegel reporter 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:26.400 last week could probably take in as much incoming fire 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:30.479 as Major Clark. Colonel Milgram led them into the militarized 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:34.280 taco shop. A brief blast of nostalgias squeezed Manny's lungs. 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:37.520 The place had obviously been closed since the revolution. The 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:40.040 drink specials and meal prices printed on the wall were 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:42.600 given in U S dollars, a currency as dead as 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:46.520 the last American president. Many recognized ads for bands and 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.640 movies he remembered from his childhood. The glass facade had 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:52.439 shattered years ago. The kitchen had been gutted and replaced 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:55.760 by wall length screens displaying maps of the city. At 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:58.240 least a dozen uniformed men and women milled around the 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:01.760 space in small groups. He and Reggie sat down at 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:04.359 a long picnic table with Hamid and the two officers. 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:07.560 Reggie set his camera up on the table. It was 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:10.080 just a small silver sphere, but Manny knew it could 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:13.040 record everything happening around it at a higher resolution than 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:16.640 the human eye. An orderly brought in three beers, shiner 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:19.200 box from Austin and one dark brown tea and a 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:22.480 glass cup for Hamede. The brit raised his glass in 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:25.320 a friendly salute, thank you for meeting with me, and 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:28.240 then he started to ask questions. Manny leaned back in 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:30.600 his chair and enjoyed a long gulp of cold beer. 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:33.719 If he wasn't needed to translate, he generally checked out 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:36.680 during interviews. He used the free time to activate his 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:38.600 deck and check in on the two stringers he had 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:41.840 working right now. David Allenby was up in Addison today 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:44.679 taking a Californian documentary crew on a tour of an 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:47.760 st F training facility. He'd messaged Manny to let him 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:51.000 know they'd gotten through the checkpoints without any issue. Oscar 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:54.080 Martinez didn't have any journalists with him. He was embedded 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:56.920 with a Republic of Texas police unit getting footage from 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.520 inside a neighborhood that had recently been liberated from the 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:03.080 Heavenly Kingdom. There were no new messages from Oscar. His 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:05.600 last check in had been the night before. It was 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:09.040 probably nothing, but it concerned Manning. Nonetheless, what if Oscar 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:11.600 got a better offer for his footage. He'd always been 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:13.960 loyal before, but if that funk from the Guardian had 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:17.319 gotten to him. I'm interested in the Abrams Road bombing, 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:20.360 Reggie told the colonel, and Many's attentions swung back to 0:12:20.400 --> 0:12:23.280 his reporter. That's an odd thing to ask about. The 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:25.960 bombing had occurred two weeks back. It had been big 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:28.400 news for a couple of hours. Manny had paid one 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:30.560 of his contacts and rossa Front for a video of 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:32.680 a walk through of the wreckage. It had brought in 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:36.880 about three grand profit. The Abrams Road bombing was not 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:41.760 a martyrdom operation. Colonel Milgram sounded almost angry, terribly sorry. 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:44.160 Reggie said, you're right, of course, there was no driver, 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:48.559 so no martyr right right, Deshaun Clark said. He pulled 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:50.600 a folded piece of white paper out of his pocket, 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:52.720 opened it up and smoothed it out on the table. 0:12:53.120 --> 0:12:55.520 It was a map of the df W area, color 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:57.880 coded to show the positions of the various militias in 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:01.080 the region. We operate eight checkpoints on that part of 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:04.040 the Richardson line, DeShawn said, as he pointed each one. 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:07.640 Five of them boarder Republic controlled territory. The traffic from 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:11.000 there is mostly autonomous, and those vehicles slaved themselves to 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:14.319 our traffic management system before they can enter our territory. 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:18.160 The other three checkpoints border territory controlled by the martyrs. 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:21.040 They don't see much traffic and they're all heavily manned. 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:24.600 Reggie was quiet for a few seconds. Manny could almost 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:26.640 hear the gears turning in the journalist's head as he 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:29.600 struggled to find the words for his next question. Would 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:32.160 it be fair to say the autonomous checkpoints are less 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:36.679 secure than Deshaun smiled a thin, quiet smile amid grimace. 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:40.680 Colonel Milgram responded in a terse voice. The autonomous checkpoints 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.960 have fewer defenders, but they board a Republic territory. The 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:46.280 martyrs haven't pulled off an attack on one in quite 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:50.160 some time. Was Abrams Road not one such attack. Reggie 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:53.400 looked eager now like a hound, following assent, we don't 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.480 know who bombed Abram's road, Colonel Milgram said, no one's 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:59.640 taken credit, but we doubt it was the martyrs. Why 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.080 the journalist asked, Manny leaned in a little interested in 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:06.720 spite of himself, at where this was all going to lead, perhaps, 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:09.400 Hamid said, you should read a bit more about this 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:13.760 heavenly kingdom. They reject all autonomous technology. They even use 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:16.880 remote human pilots for their drones, like it's two thousand 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:20.000 and fucking three. That's why our skies are always clear. 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:24.280 We jammed them. Reggie asked, is it possible they found 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:27.760 some way to hack your defense system? Amid laughed, we 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:30.560 bought this system from the Israelis. If you're telling me 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:32.640 one of the Martyrs brigades has a hacker who can 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:36.400 crack that, then I'm the King of Albuquerque. But something 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:41.160 still went wrong, Reggie insisted, amid smile turned cold. This 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:46.280 is war, mister Reggie. It's mostly things going wrong. That's 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:49.120 where the line of questions petered out. Reggie asked them 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:51.920 for access to the security footage from the destroyed checkpoint 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:55.240 and Colonel Milgram agreed to send it over. We'd like 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:58.600 to speak to the survivors as well, if possible, Manny interjected, 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:00.720 not waiting to see if the journey list would ask. 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:03.480 He knew those men were all stationed behind the line now, 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:05.600 which would make for a safer, easier rest of the 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:09.040 day than heading up to the wire, of course, Colonel 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:11.440 Milgram said, with a smile to Mannie. They said their 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:13.560 good byes, and then Major Clark walked them out to 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:16.520 their waiting Toyota. The Texas heat hit like an oven 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:18.880 as they exited, and Mannie was glad they'd be spending 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.600 most of the rest of their day and doors. DeShawn 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:23.800 clapped a hand on Manny's shoulder as he lit one 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:26.800 of his new cigarettes. It's good to see you, Emmanuel, 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:29.360 he said, and then he smiled at Reggie, and it's 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:32.000 nice to meet you, my British friend. I'm sorry you've 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:36.000 come to the front at a boring time. Why, Reggie asked, 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:40.040 because this Deshaan gestured at the gun emplacements and loitering 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:44.400 militiamen of the command post. This is not war, not really. 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:47.520 Your job is to help your people. Children of peace 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:50.800 and plenty understand what is going on here. You must 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.600 teach them the language of war. And to paraphrase a 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.560 dead poet, the language of war is a language made 0:15:56.560 --> 0:16:00.440 of blood. To be spoken, it must be earned. There 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:02.840 was an awkward pause, A little of the blood drained 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:06.160 from the journalist's face. Hugh Nutty, Old fuck, Manny thought, 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:09.680 with more amusement than fear. Classic de Shaun, he said, 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:12.600 and laughed. To ease the tension. The major bid them 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:15.480 both a good day, hugged Manny, and sauntered off back 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:18.480 to the command post. Smoke from his cigarette curled up 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:21.280 into the air behind him as he walked. Mannie's eyes 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:23.480 lingered on it for a second before he turned back 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:26.440 to Reggie. Ready to go, he asked Jipper as he 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:38.480 could manage. Three hours, a handful of interviews, and one 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:41.320 short drive later, Manny and Reggie arrived at their home 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:45.600 for the night. The Richardson Autonomous Project, once a Walmart, 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:49.080 now a twenty two year old experiment and sustainable urban living. 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:52.600 The project was the furthest island of civilization on the 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:56.480 sd F side of the Front. Its militia steadfastly refused 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:59.760 to involve themselves in the region's greater conflicts. They'd been 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:03.200 targeted a few times by the Heavenly Kingdom. The SDF, 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:05.960 by contrast, left them alone, so when a fixer like 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:08.240 Manny found himself on the wrong side of the lb 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:11.520 J Freeway after dark, he could usually trust the project 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:15.280 to provide food, booze, and shelter for a price. Of course, 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:19.560 sleeping arrangements in the project were broadly communal. The bulk 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:22.200 of the old walmart had been converted into an indoor meadow, 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:24.679 with grow lights hanging from the rafters and a wide, 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:27.919 lush field of native grass sprawling across most of the 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:32.320 inhabited space. Fruit trees, bushes full of berries, cannabis, plants, 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:34.879 and copses of bamboo lined the edges of the space. 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:37.800 The center of the field was dominated by a large 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:42.600 circular kitchen surrounded by a handsome oaken bar. Table tables, gazebos, 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:45.760 and sundry personal structures dotted the field, along with a 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:48.800 pair of dance floors. Reggie's face lit up when he 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:51.320 saw the bar. By the time Manny had dropped off 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:53.640 their bags and paid Charlie and the driver for the night, 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:57.160 the journalist was already three beers in the brit wasn't 0:17:57.160 --> 0:18:00.080 precisely drunk or sober, but at that productive twilight it 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:02.920 in between He'd unrolled a portable screen and had a 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:06.720 holographic display up, looping four separate sections of the security 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:10.399 footage Colonel Milgrim had sent over. The journalist alternated between 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:13.560 typing furiously scrawling notes in his journal and taking huge 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:16.640 gulps of something brown and foamy. He stopped working when 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:18.520 he saw a Manny approach and waved him into the 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:22.600 adjacent seat. Hey, brother, check this out. Manny pulled up 0:18:22.600 --> 0:18:24.919 a seat and the journalist directed his attention to a 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:28.200 six second loop of footage from immediately after the bombing. 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:31.439 It showed two man size silhouettes standing on top of 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:34.640 an old garage. Manny remembered the building. It stood maybe 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:37.600 two hundred meters from the Abrams Road checkpoint. One of 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:40.320 the silhouettes had a rifle, the other held a short 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:44.240 squat tube that Manny recognized as a camera. Len's notice 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:48.119 anything spotters, Manny said, Probably trying to get a kill count. 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:50.920 No man, look at where he's pointed at. CONT's not 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:53.960 looking at any post. He's looking straight back deeper into 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:56.320 the old town. And I'll bet you, he's high up 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:59.159 enough to be staring right at Colonel Milgram's command post. 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:03.639 Mannie looked again. He thought about the angle. Okay, so what, 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:06.080 he asked, Do you think this was a probing attack 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:10.320 for some big action. The journalists shrugged. Maybe it's something new, 0:19:10.480 --> 0:19:13.439 is what interests me. Two years of modytem operations that 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:15.400 all look more or less the same, and now this 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:18.399 weird one, an autonomous vehicle bomb from a group of 0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:22.800 fanatics who think autonomous vehicles at the devil. Yeah, Manny agreed, 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:26.439 that does seem weird. The bartender walked up and offered 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:28.960 Manny his pick of the finest liquor in this particular 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:32.080 war zone. Manny ordered a Shiner. It was the one 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:34.840 beer drinker could find across both the Republic of Texas 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:37.840 and the Austin Autonomous Region. He looked back at the 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:40.920 looping footage. They both watched it twice more. Then Reggie 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:44.120 spoke up again. What have you heard about pasta Mike, 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:47.200 he asked. Manny stiffened a little bit at the name. 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:50.000 He had heard it, of course, vague stories of rioting 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:53.960 in Kansas, A fundamentalist uprising inside the southernmost territories, of 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:57.199 the United Christian States. He hadn't thought much about it 0:19:57.240 --> 0:19:59.960 at first, but two years ago Pastor Mike had moved 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:03.440 to Texas, shortly before the Heavenly Kingdom had declared itself. 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:06.399 It was hard to say what role exactly the preacher 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:09.360 played in the organization, but he was certainly its most 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:13.080 visible face. I know who he is, Manny said. I 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:14.960 know the Republic led him in because they thought his 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:18.159 followers might provide a buffer against Austin's influence. I know 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:21.160 that blew the funk up in their faces. Manny took 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:24.480 a long drink and continued, that's an old story around here, 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:27.480 the Republic using those gone fondling nut fucks to push 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:30.840 back against the leftists. The journalist raised an eyebrow, and 0:20:30.880 --> 0:20:34.440 Manny instantly regretted his crude response. He didn't really care 0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:36.520 about religion one way or the other, but whenever he 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:38.280 came out to the front, it was hard not to 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:42.280 get a little angry, especially after a drink. Sorry, he said, 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:45.439 it's been a long day. Reggie looked down, coughed, and 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:47.879 took a sip. He looked back at Manny, took another 0:20:47.880 --> 0:20:51.040 sip and said, you know, that's another subject I'd rather 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:55.200 like to cover what Manny asked, anti Christian sentiment in 0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:58.720 North America. Manny grunted and looked down at his drink. 0:20:58.920 --> 0:21:01.600 The brit barreled on, You're not the first North American 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:05.600 I've heard express anger towards Christians, he said, in California, Cascadia, 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:09.000