The light of streetlights crashed through Willow’s car as they passed under them, driving along a new stretch of road that split right through the middle of abandoned farmland. Dilapidated and collapsing buildings were scattered along the sides of the road; fence lines that had been cut through were interspersed with leaning posts beaten down by the weather.

That was normal here; all the land around Greeley had been purchased by the government. Ostensibly, they had used imminent domain laws to purchase it, but they didn’t really apply. When the government came to buy the land, few people fought it. In the wake of the massive death toll on the city and in the following months of repeated bombing, there weren’t many who wanted to stay around.

That left the area full of a lot of valueless, US government land, right in the shadow of NORAD, which had been reactivated and renovated as a center to manage the ongoing crisis. A savvy weapons manufacturer had leased the land from the government for pennies on the dollar, building a sprawling convention used to host regular conferences— and weapon demos.

“There it is.” Willow pointed out the window.

“Yeah, I can see it. Its the only building for miles.” Rose replied, turning onto the offramp.

The typical signs that hung from metal scaffolding offering directions to people driving up and down the freeways were gone; in their place were bright red and well lit signs, equipped with flashing lights.

The writing on the signs hadn’t changed at all, despite the fancy new lights and warnings, but they did make the message more ominous. The signs on the highway simply read: approaching Greeley.

Willow and Rose cruised onto the street leading to the entrance, stopping as a valet waved them down.

“Valet service?” He asked.

“Yes please.” Rose said, popping the door open. “The fob is in the cup holder.”

The man smiled, and Rose and Willow made their way across the carpet outside. Despite being a weapons convention, many of the Awakened inside treated it like the Met Gala. It made sense to show themselves off; after all, they were living weapons. Beyond that, though, most of the development and technology based on Artifacts collected from beyond the gates as well as the use of mana came from companies partnered with or founded by operating Guilds.

The popularity of the event among Awakened meant that the press found their way there, bearing down on them outside, and cameras flashed incessantly as they crossed the thresh hold.

They didn’t stop to pose.

Crossing inside, the atmosphere immediately quieted. The strange confluence of Awakened and arms dealers trying to push contracts onto guilds lead to three types of people at the event: Super humans in high fashion clothing, super humans in armor, and businessmen and women in suits. Crossing the entrance alone, Rose and Willow captured the attention of every person standing outside, but here, but they were inconspicuous.

“This place is always such a maze…” Willow complained. “He always picks the weirdest spot for meetings…”

Willow and rose deftly navigated their way through the crowd, dodging around stalls where people demonstrated various technology or Artifacts. Displays, presentations, salesmen… the convention center was huge. And loud.

“What are you talking about? Its a straight shot.” Rose replied, looping herself through Willow’s arm and leading her through the hall.

After crossing through the busy crowds, they arrived at an area in the back of the center. A long hallway opened into rooms set out for private renting. Most of the rooms had lights indicating they were occupied— which Willow thought was strange. This wasn’t a place people often used for meetings— the price was exorbitant, plus most Guild’s had a bit of their own real estate. Counting the numbers on the wall, they found and entered the room their guild had rented, and pushed the door open.

All 11 members of Horizon were in the room, sitting absently around tables and chatting. It was way, way too big for their little guild.

“Bart?” Willow asked, “I thought you were in Seattle.” Rose and Willow walked to take seats in the room. Bart looked up from his conversation with Xavier, running a hand through his shock blue hair.

“All of our city defense contracts are on pause.” Bart replied.

Willow scanned the room. Something bad was going on. The weapons conference off schedule, the sudden meeting called between her guild— and all of its members were here in person.

“You always pick the weirdest places to have meetings, Paxton. Or should I call you Prometheus, now?” Willow said, turning to her guild leader. Even sitting down, his face was level with hers. He must have been what— seven feet tall?

He laughed. “No need to be so formal. I was in the area already. Figured I’d call everyone here. Just like old times. Remember when this place opened?”

“It was a mess. I still can’t believe anyone wanted to buy land in this shit hole.” Willow replied.

“You know government work. They’ll do things the cheapest way they can. Military grade land for lease!” Xavier said.

In the center of the room, in the middle of the circular seating, a set of televisions turned on. The main event of the conference was beginning— a weapons demonstration, by the looks of it. A woman in a designer dress hefted a gigantic, bulky piece of technology over one shoulder. It must have weighed hundreds of pounds, but she looked bored. Information scrolled down the screen like an infomercial, offering pre-quote prices and capabilities.

“What did you call us all here for?” Rose turned towards Paxton, the guild leader. All the conversations in the room stopped as everyone looked towards their guild leader. Xavier rose from his seat, moving to stand beside him. He held the second position in the guild, as Paxton’s right hand man.

Paxton folded his fingers together, leaning forward.

“I’m sure you’ve all noticed.” He said. “The Dead Slide is intensifying. The worlds that are sticking to ours and opening as gates are becoming progressively more powerful. In the early days, almost every gate that opened was Iron or Bronze— Silver at the worst. Well, except for the Cataclysms… like Greeley.”

“They’ve been getting worse for a year. Whats new?” Xavier said.

“The US Government predicts they are going to rapidly accelerate over the next twelve months. According to the stats they gave us, they predict there are a thousand Awakened still working their day jobs for every individual that actively raids.”

“So what? Are they going to up those sign on bonuses for Awakened?” Willow asked.

“They’re reactivating the draft.”

“What?” Willow blurted at the same time as most of the other people in the room. The US government had taken the gates seriously, declaring it a global crisis and founding an entire branch of the government dedicated to dealing with it, but this was the first time the government had taken such extreme measures.

On the TV, the woman aimed the gigantic lump of technology. Huge cables, inches around, dangled behind her. The barrel on the weapon began to glow. The machine fired, a red lance cutting through the field as the camera panned out. A raised hill exploded on contact, and a distant boom echoed through the room. They were live firing just outside of the facility.

“Fucks sake…” Rose whispered. “There’s going to be so many protests.”

“This can’t be all you called us here for.” Xavier said. “It could’ve been a text.”

“You’re right.” Paxton replied. “I want to get the entire guild together for a dive.”

This statement changed the room even more than the previous— everyone stilled.

“What kind of gate… would require the entire guild?” Someone asked. “I mean, we haven’t raided all together in what… three years?”

Paxton only grinned.