“So you pulled a weapon on a government official.” Ezio said as the meeting began. Teresa was back in Arconette again, having returned for what would hopefully be the last meeting needed regarding the Contaminated Zone. A lot of her time had been spent with the others in The Mall figuring out exactly what they needed to work on to eventually develop plausible space travel, so she was going into this while actually informed. She was doing her job as an Ambassador along with Saylee and Nikolas.
“I’d do it again, he’s a fucking idiot. They were still talking about status screen privacy rights, meanwhile people are being kidnapped and trafficked in real time.” Teresa countered. She had zero regrets, aside from possibly not just outright killing him. “Now let’s get this show on the road already, I’ve got places to be.”
Nikolas, Saylee, Teresa and her party, Ezio and his party, and several of Arconette’s officials were in the town hall having this conversation. Jake’s words were kind of haunting her, the idea that maybe his mother would still be alive if they were just quicker. Even if she had no way to travel to her remaining family, Teresa still wanted to keep that same urgency for helping the others.
“You can’t just rush this along because you’re impatient. While we do need to discuss some things regarding the Contaminated Zone, you blatantly committed a serious crime.” Ezio continued. “We can’t just brush past that.”
“Yeah you can.” Teresa said, proceeding to brush past it. “First, the casualties. Nikolas?”
“We entered the Contaminated Zone with 18 Completionists from Arconette and 40 citizens from The Mall. Of those 18 Completionists, 10 are still alive, half of which belong to Ezio’s party. From The Mall, 25 of the original 40 remain, not accounting for the new addition of Randall.” Nikolas reported. “Both sides suffered catastrophic casualties from this operation, and from what I have heard from Teresa The Mall is currently working to ensure we never have such a disastrous operation again.”
“What of injuries that can’t be treated by current Restoration Magic?” Teresa asked, continuing the rehearsed questioning.
“Three have suffered the loss of a limb such as a hand or foot. One is missing their right pinky and ring finger, another lost their left ear.” Nikolas stated. “This is exclusively from The Mall, no Completionists that returned have any lasting injuries such as that.”
“Thank you Nikolas.” Teresa said, turning to Saylee. “You’re up.”
“The destruction of the Contaminated Zone leaves behind a number of issues we still need to deal with, particularly concerning the matters of Arid Junction, the remnants of Chernobyl, and the destroyed Avatars.” Saylee said. “We are willing to cede Chernobyl to Arconette, it will be yours to do with as you please. However, we want control of Arid Junction, along with ownership of every destroyed Avatar over level 70.”
The Mall couldn’t really use the remnants of Chernobyl effectively. There were the Assembly Stations, but The Mall didn’t have the population to utilize everything there. Rather, they technically did, but it would completely stunt their ability to do pretty much anything else since they would be working in factories all the time just to keep things running.
What they did need was Arid Junction. Ezio was always keeping his secrets even to the detriment of others, so it was about time for some just desserts. Nations weren’t made up of just a single city, and the System recognized this. The Mall was made up of more than just The Mall, it also had the Scilian’s settlement ‘Blue Waters,’ as a part of their domain. Adding more City Monoliths to their ‘faction,’ under their control provided numerous benefits for The Mall. It resulted in new purchases from System stores becoming available, teleporting from a City Monolith under their control to another was significantly cheaper, it allowed for more city based titles like Ambassador or General, and a lot more.
Due to this, there had actually been a very brief consideration of voluntarily uniting under Arconette’s rule since it would provide a lot of benefits for a lot of people, but that idea was tossed out the window very fast. Arconette was unfriendly towards non-human species, had a very sketchy and slow moving government, and numerous safety problems. After recent events especially, The Mall started thinking of itself less as a settlement looking to rejoin the rest of humanity and more as an independent group.
While they were primarily human, it was pretty unlikely it would stay that way forever. It was only a matter of time before The Mall would meet new species, potentially welcoming them with open arms. Even now, the Albino Gorillas and Scilians were involved in government affairs. Their president was literally a dog, not that anyone outside of The Mall knew that. Actually, it turns out this whole time Arconette thought Teresa was the leader of The Mall for some reason.
“May I ask why you are interested in the acquisition of Arid Junction? It was not a part of the operation at all.” Ezio asked.
“As you may or may not know, The Mall is still developing the majority of its infrastructure. We have all of the children and elderly currently housed, though everyone else has been camping out in tents. While we are developing further at rapid speeds, in the event of a natural disaster or particularly inclement weather then we may have problems. Arid Junction is currently still radioactive, so we aren’t planning on making a large scale move anytime soon. We are simply preparing for the long term.” Saylee explained.
This was also true, but still not the whole truth. In addition to the System benefits and using it as a backup location, The Mall was conducting its own Manhattan Project. No, they weren’t building nukes or anything like that, but if they wanted to travel into space then there would be a lot of explosive experiments that can’t be safely conducted in a densely wooded forest.
One of George’s experiments early on that had resulted in him being banned from playing with fire magic had nearly caused a catastrophe on accident. While they were beginning their operation in the Contaminated Zone, he had wanted to figure out how combustion works. With magic being a part of life, even the most basic scientific principles were put into question.
For example, how come
George had a bunch of mages shoot
Arid Junction was in the middle of a badlands type environment with the terrain being made of porous rock. The ground might burst apart with excessive heat, but at least if George started a super fire it wouldn’t spread anywhere. He already had multiple guesses as to how it worked, but he wouldn’t be able to really know for certain how it worked without testing things.
There were multiple things to figure out, especially if they wanted to go to space. They couldn’t travel in a deadly vacuum for millions of miles without understanding something as simple as combustion. He also wanted to verify Newton’s laws of motion, some thermodynamic principles, how high the planet’s atmosphere extended, and a whole lot of scientific stuff that resulted in Preston being grateful that apparently friggin Dr. Stone was on their team. Teresa actually got that reference.
“You’re asking for quite a lot here, I’m not sure-” Ezio started, but Teresa decided to interrupt him with a reminder.
“Oh, and I’m keeping the Elephant’s Foot along with Cher’s Blade. I have both with me actually, stored safely in my Soul.”
“That’s a thinly veiled threat. Are you saying you’ll drop it in Arconette if we don’t comply?” Ezio asked, glaring at her. He seemed ready for a fight there and then.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“What? I would never say something like that. For the record, you were the one to come up with that idea.” Teresa said, knowing damn well that was exactly what she had been insinuating. “The continued existence of the Elephant’s Foot is information that will not leave this room. I only brought it up because I’m sure you were already aware it was in my possession, and I don’t want anyone to accuse us of keeping secrets.”
They were also keeping the space travel project a secret, at least from Arconette. For multiversal invaders, a lot of their advantage came from the fact that they could hold hostages while on another planet, and Arconette had a pretty big problem with that. Teresa heavily suspected their government was already compromised, though to what extent she was unsure of.
For now, there wasn’t much Teresa could do about it. She wasn’t strong enough to fight Arconette herself, and getting The Mall involved would have too many casualties for both sides. The Mall would lose in a war against Arconette, but Arconette certainly wouldn’t win a war against The Mall. There would be no true victors except for the multiversal invaders, who would freely pick through the scraps left behind.
“Don’t be coy, I know what you’re getting at. You want Arid Junction and high level Avatar corpses, but why should we agree to these terms? Just because you’re willing to cede Chernobyl doesn’t mean that’s enough. What’s stopping us from taking control of the Contaminated Zone ourselves?” Ezio asked. “Look, I don’t want our cities to be hostile with one another, and this back and forth threatening is counterproductive.”
“We’re trying to negotiate first and foremost.” Saylee said. “What we have offered is more than fair, gaining access to Chernobyl will allow Arconette to produce a wide variety of goods and materials that very few cities will be able to compete with.”
“While we are willing to hear you out on the matter of Arid Junction, exclusive rights to high level Avatar corpses is too much. We will let you take Arid Junction if we get access to all of the dead Avatars.” Ezio replied.
“We do not agree to those terms. While there is room for negotiation with Avatar looting, we will not grant you full ownership under any terms.” Saylee countered. It wasn’t just the electrical components that were desirable, but the metal the Avatars were made of. Even after death, a body with high Fortitude would remain very durable. On top of that, the Avatars all had inherent heat resistance, making their bodies perfect for constructing rocketry. The alternative option would be to cover the exterior with monster parts, but that wouldn’t be as good.
“The Avatars were equipped with gun turrets and magically augmented storages for bullets. There are also lightweight power systems in each of the Avatars that are similar to nuclear reactors, although not exactly the same. I wouldn’t feel comfortable knowing you possess these components.” Ezio said.
“We’re trying to do this the easy way Ezio, so let’s be fair. We both get half of the destroyed Avatars, dividing by level evenly. You’re gonna want to take that offer.” Teresa said, her voice gaining an edge to it. Nikolas glanced over at her, but didn’t say anything. “Arconette’s people attacked our own on that mission. I understand it was a rogue group, but that does not mean you don’t hold a share of the responsibility. You repeatedly withheld vital information and continue to do so. In our current circumstances, we shouldn’t care about cities or political power. We’re in an apocalypse for fuck’s sake, and you have been keeping information secret that could have saved lives. It should have been humanity against the monsters, but in barely a month you have been focused on gaining power and withholding it from others. Trying to get anything from you requires way too much, so if you aren’t willing to accept this then we’ll simply ignore any agreements and take what we want anyways.”
“You sure you want to do that?” Ezio asked.
“Positive. You knew people were on another planet, but didn’t say anything. You have knowledge of magical inscriptions, but you’re reluctant to talk about any of the details. You have an alchemist, but she’s not allowed to discuss how potions are made with anyone. You are actively stifling progress, and you aren’t a reliable ally. We got through Chernobyl together and I’ll admit that it wouldn’t have been possible without you, but that doesn’t mean your behavior hasn’t been outright ridiculous. We’re taking Arid Junction, you’re getting Chernobyl. We’ll split the Avatars fifty-fifty and call it good.” Teresa was not going to budge. She was being a bit extra, at least in her own opinion, but it really was getting ridiculous at this point.
“The next subject revolves around the remaining Avatars.” Saylee said before Ezio could interject. “As far as we are aware, Cher is still alive. We doubt it can make anymore Avatars, but we are still on the lookout for them anyways. We don’t have an easy way to track them besides literally following their tank tracks, but they are so spread out it is unlikely we will kill them all anytime soon.”
“That’s a huge problem, isn’t it?” One of Arconette’s officials asked, but Nikolas shook his head.
“Not particularly. The danger posed by Cher came from its ability to rapidly grow and produce endless Avatars while simultaneously affecting a large region. The Contaminated Zone will begin shrinking as we wipe out Portals, and I heavily doubt more Avatars are going to come into existence very easily. We have won, that much is certain, but killing an entity like that is not a simple matter. We eliminated the threat to the world, and we have reached the point where our own leveling and power growth outpaces the Avatars.” Nikolas explained. “The biggest risk comes from ambushes, but from what we’ve seen the Avatars are currently fully intent on fleeing.”
“We still aren’t done talking about what to do with the leftovers.” Ezio said.
“Yes we are.” Teresa replied. Maybe being openly aggressive wasn’t the objectively best move, but it accurately represented the feelings of those from The Mall. They could never have a true alliance with Arconette as it currently stood, they would be giving a lot more than they received.
While Ezio didn’t know this bit, a few Completionists were actually planning to move to The Mall. It was a downgrade in terms of lifestyle, but it was safer. Some of the Completionists had family in Arconette, and they didn’t see the point in fighting monsters to protect the city when their family members were still in danger even within Arconette. The trafficking problem was a threat to everyone.
“If this is how you guys are going to conduct negotiations, I find it highly unlikely we will be conducting any further trade agreements.” Ezio told them, which was honestly fine. Saylee had been working on getting a trade route set up between Arconette and The Mall once the Contaminated Zone was dealt with. The plan had been to sell lumber in exchange for goods like potions, but they would have to scrap that idea.
“Very well. We will be out of Arconette today, we actually have a meeting with Zackery Pile from Stormwreck.” Saylee said. “I’ve been talking with his Ambassador here in Arconette, and we’ve already arranged a very temporary teleportation agreement. I’ll be heading there with Teresa’s party after this, and Nikolas will take a regiment out to Arid Junction to get things set up there. For now, we’ll be looting only half of the Avatars, but should you begin to get overzealous we will not shy away from looting everything we see. I believe that is all we need to discuss.”
Jake’s grandfather was determined to most likely be in a city called New Haven which was incredibly close to Stormwreck. New Haven was a city about the same size as Arconette, though it was not to be confused with the city named Haven which was in the wrong direction. Preston found this to be hilarious, and they all wondered how many people thought to name their city something generic like ‘Haven,’ or ‘Sanctuary.’ There had to be two cities with the same name somewhere.
With that, they began wrapping everything up. It was a bit hasty and the atmosphere was very tense, but Teresa caught multiple people giving her side sympathetic glances. Axton, Mordecai, and Elaina hadn’t been fond of Ezio’s secret keeping either from what Teresa knew. None of them would be defecting to The Mall, but Mordecai had certainly overheard discussions about that with his high Perception. Considering Ezio didn’t bring it up, Teresa had a sneaking suspicion that Mordecai had decided not to tell him. She appreciated it.
The Mall’s relationship with Arconette could no longer be described as pleasant, but that was for the best. Multiple people were already making their way out of the city towards Arid Junction, and had been since the meeting started. Some notable figures included the remnants of Jim’s party, Marty and his family along with a bunch of angry muzzled dinosaurs, twenty people from the Guild, and a little under three hundred everyday people who were concerned for their family’s safety.
It was an exodus larger than Teresa had expected. Quite a lot of people knew about the problem, and after a few rumors began spreading about The Mall several people actually asked to move there with their loved ones. They were made aware of the laws and circumstances in The Mall, including their equal rights stance with non-humans, but nobody desperate enough to leave a city for a campground was against any of it.
They would go to Arid Junction with Nikolas and the remaining force from The Mall and teleport from there. It would be really expensive, this actually required a lot of financial investment from The Mall, but it was worth it if it kept people safe. Using Arconette’s City Monolith for that wasn’t a readily available option, as problems might arise if hundreds of people tried using it at once. That, and it would be cheaper to teleport from Arid Junction.
Saylee and Teresa’s party would just use Arconette’s City Monolith since going to Arid Junction would actually be more expensive, and such a small group of people could use it without arousing suspicion.
They approached the City Monolith and opened a screen, ready to teleport. It was expensive again, but it was still cheaper than teleporting back and forth between The Mall and Arconette. Teresa was spending quite a bit on teleportation lately, but it was worth it. What was the point of having money if you weren’t going to use it? Teresa selected ‘Stormwreck,’ and accepted the $2311.99 cost after confirming everyone present could afford their travel fare.
It was time to meet Zackery Pile, the world’s most powerful Necromancer.
FWOOMP
End Of Book 2