Consolidation: 13:09:51:23

  We found a little diner near the border between Nova and Pine Ridge sectors. It looked like an All-American affair, with vintage decorations, red stools and booths, and a black and white tiled floor. We took a booth toward the back, Aria sliding in beside me, and picked up the sticky plastic menus. Aria tugged her new Echo trucker hat in place around her purple pigtails. She’d been delighted when she found it on one of the chainsaw greenskeepers, since her John Deere hat was ruined.

  A human waitress came around, her nametag read Martha, and asked for our drinks. In short order I had an iced tea, Marko had a Coke, and Aria was sipping sarsaparilla from a brand I didn’t recognize. I looked around and noticed this was the first place I’d been where humans made up the majority. It seemed kind of odd and I wondered why that was. Martha eventually came back a third time and asked what we’d like. I ordered a BLT with a side of coleslaw, Aria had a Cobb salad with chicken noodle soup, and Marko went for the strip steak with mashed potatoes.

  “When did you learn martial arts?” Marko asked while we waited for our food.

  “I started pretty little,” I said. “I was in the system after my parents died and it was a cheap way to keep us busy. My first teacher was a volunteer named Frank Baccay. He was second generation Filipino and knew eskrima.”

  “Not trying to be a dick,” Aria said. “But I never heard of it.”

  I laughed.

  “No reason you should have, unless you’re into MMA or something. It’s also called Arnis or Kali. The style teaches open hand and basic weapon techniques. I moved on to dabble in other styles as I got older, like Taekwondo, but I always went back to Frank. My first job was at Ripple, his studio.”

  “Frank sounds like a good guy,” Marko said.

  “He’s the best,” I said. “I feel no shame in saying he was the closest thing I had to a father growing up. Frank taught me discipline, respect, and how to beat the shit out of people taller than me, which is almost everyone.”

  Aria snickered and blew bubbles into her drink.

  “When I turned eighteen and was booted out of foster care, I got a job with Brinks because Frank knew one of the supervisors. That’s where I learned to shoot a gun. I’m not great, but I know where to point it.”

  I looked at Aria.

  “You seem to know your way around firearms.”

  “My mom was a gun nut,” Aria said. “Guns went with being a dealer. I could field strip an AR-15 by the time I was twelve but couldn’t cook or do laundry.”

  “That sounds rough,” Marko said, frowning.

  “It didn’t get any easier when she OD’d.”

  She looked at me.

  “I know all about the system, but going in as a teenage girl is its own kind of hell.” Her face darkened. “It didn’t take me long to run away and shack up with a boyfriend who didn’t care how old I was, and I started bartending as soon as I got a fake ID.” She smiled grimly, chasing ice with her straw. “We’re a couple of sad sacks, Victor.”

  “Hmm,” Marko said. “I feel almost fortunate. Dad died of cancer when I was a kid, and mom popped off with an aneurysm when I was 20. Nana took me in, though. Lived with her through college.”

  A message appeared.

  Achievement Unlocked: How Original!

  You’re an orphan with a sad family history!

  No one’s ever heard that one before!

  You receive: The Batsuit (No, not really).

  “Oh, fuck you!” Aria said, eyes staring into the middle distance.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “That seems unnecessary,” Marko said, also staring.

  “Did you two get that achievement?” I said.

  “Whoever writes those things needs my boot up their ass,” Aria said.

  Martha cut off our indignation before it could really get started by setting out our food.

  “Anything else?” she said.

  “I think we’re good, Martha,” Marko said.

  The waitress gave him a professional smile and left. Aria rolled her eyes.

  “You know we hate it when customers do that, right?” she said.

  “Do what?” Marko said, starting to cut into his rare steak.

  “Call us by name,” Aria said. “It’s so fucking pretentious.”

  “Eat your salad, Aria,” he said.

  She fished up a middle finger for him.

  “That thing is going to kill you,” I said, pointing at Marko’s greasy steak. “That is a heart attack waiting to happen.”

  “I’ll be lucky if it’s the steak that kills me.”

  “Truth,” Aria said, around a mouthful of salad.

  We ate quietly for a few minutes, and I listened “Sh-Boom” by the Crew Cuts while I chewed my sandwich. Marko frowned at his steak and added some A1. It didn’t look like the best cut of meat, but I had no pity for him. You don’t order steak at a diner. I finished my sandwich and took a bite of coleslaw. It was soggy but passable. I ate about half of it before pushing my plate away. The other two were still at work on their meals, so I pulled up the map for something to do.

  I saw that Pine Ridge was now purple and had three new sectors around it. Panoply, Inc., Trimount, and Mount Sylos. I focused on each in turn and looked at their info windows.

  Panoply, Inc.

  Agricultural sector

  Food resource

  Trimount

  MechTech sector

  Defense resource

  Mount Sylos

  Impassable

  No resource

  “Did either of you notice the new sectors?” I said.

  I heard Marko swallow.

  “I hadn’t looked yet. Anything interesting?”

  “Another food resource, something called a MechTech sector that’s a defense resource, and an impassable hex.”

  I closed the map and looked at my companions.

  “That makes two food hexes,” Marko said. “Food doesn’t seem that hard to find. I wonder why they’re an option?”

  “Probably to feed our troops,” Aria said. “I’d guess that each hex can only support so many people before you run out of food. We’ll need more troops to defend our territory, which means we need more food.”

  “That makes sense,” Marko nodded. “I think you have a better grasp on 4X strategy than either of us.” He looked at me, eyebrows raised.

  “Hundred percent,” I said.

  “With that in mind,” he said. “What sector should we visit next? Do we need to focus on any particular resource?”

  Aria’s eyes went glassy and I could tell she was studying the map.

  “We should hit FlexTech next,” she said. “I know we have two weeks, but we’ll want a solid defense in place. FlexTech is nearby and defense is one of its resources. After that, either Clattering Warren or Raging Deevs, unless we start getting warnings about food. We’ll need both Dandy Boy and Splice before we start exploring. It’ll complete our quest and give us some breathing room.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Marko said. “Remember, though, let’s try for less murder and destruction. If we can capture a sector without fighting, we should do it.”

  “That’s fine with me,” I said. “I don’t really love leaving a trail of bodies.”

  Adam (GM): They grow up so fast. No more murderhoboing! I’m proud of you.

  I froze.

  “Adam is back.”

  Adam (GM): That’s a great plan of action and everything, but I’ve almost cracked who’s been pestering you, Victor. When I find out, we’ll have a limited amount of time to act on the information before it gets stale. Be ready.

  Victor: Can you give me a time frame?

  Nothing. The fucker was back to ignoring me.

  “What’d he say?” Aria asked.

  “He said once he finds out who’s been targeting me, we’ll need to be ready to act,” I said. “Fast.”

  “I don’t suppose he gave you an estimate?” Marko said.

  “Of course not.”

  He sighed.

  “We’ll just have to try and roll with it,” he said.

  “This place is always on my tits,” Aria said, and went back to eating.

  “Have either of you figured out anything about Anera?” Marko said. “Noticed any patterns beyond the obvious strangeness?”

  Aria shook her head no.

  “Like what?” I said.

  “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I have a theory, but not a lot of evidence to go with it.”

  “Wanna share?” Aria said.

  “Not yet,” Marko said. “I’d like to look at more sectors before I say anything. And I’d like to see what observations you come up with on your own.”

  “All I’ve observed is a kangaroo trying to shove a sickle up my ass,” Aria said. “But, sure. I’ll keep my eyes open and think about it.”

  “I wish this place had a guidebook or TripAdvisor or something,” I said. “Can you find anything on the magifone? Any useful apps?”

  “It doesn’t have apps,” Marko said. “It has daemons instead. Don’t ask me why, they do the same thing. I haven’t found anything particularly useful and the internet is very, very primitive. Like, GeoCities primitive. You can barely shop on it.”

  “Have you tried message boards?” Aria said.

  Marko rubbed his chin.

  “I didn’t even think of that,” he said. “I’ll try looking when we have some downtime.”

  “Let’s get out of here,” Aria said, waving to get Martha’s attention. “We have places to be.”