34 - Stick to Merchant Things

The world is experiencing an apocalypse. The death of billions, the infusion of mana into the world which destroyed all of human technological progress, and that very same mana mutated animals and opened renders that brought creatures from other worlds to Earth. Maya had seen all of those events occurring in her nearly one month of reconnecting to Earth. Billions of humans have lived it.

She stood before a podium, a simple affair of Cagestuff, with a set of lights and a camera before her. It was an intimate setting, just her and the camera. No one else was in the room, there was no teleprompter, no gaggle of PR people and makeup artists adjusting her ship suit, fixing her hair, or going over her speech for the millionth time. She didn’t have a speech prepared anyway.

Maya stared at the camera and took a long and slow breath. Breathing exercises were a thing Pops pushed as one of those things that everyone needed to know. A deep breath in, hold for four seconds, exhale slowly for another four seconds. He always claimed it stimulated the vagus nerve or something allowing the panic and anxiety that would normally hit a person in a stressful situations to ease up.

She had read somewhere that the top two things that people feared the most was public speaking and death. Maya never had difficulty when it came to speaking to crowds or more than one person. In fact, her brothers claimed she was too comfortable to speaking to crowds, thereby making her embarrassing to be around. Then there was death. She supposed she didn’t fear it as she used to. How many close calls had she had in the months since she arrived to the RSH. She should have been dead the very moment she had been taken by the dimensional instability all those months ago. There had been moments where death was just a hair’s breath away from snatching her, but she had survived.

What Maya feared was asking for help. Headstrong was a word her parents had often used to described her. She had always wanted to do things on her own, it was not the mocking phrase of a ‘strong, independent woman’. It was the fear of weakness that clamped her mouth shut and stilled her when it came to asking for help.

But she was weak. She was incredibly weak in the face of the army that was encroaching upon the Cage and the Hangy. She had defeated the hiveship nearly on her own, she had defeated Shen, and all the other rogue AIs that had threatened her. But she was still weak. She had Tender and Bell to help her in those efforts, but now she needed more help.

Sixty thousand against seven thousand. No matter how strong she personally was, that was a number that was completely overwhelming. No single person could fight against that number of SIL, all whom had Skills, abilities, and levels she did not know.

So she needed help. And she feared to ask for it. For she was the one who was supposed to be helping mankind. She was supposed to be the one that offered the hand to those who were slowly being ground up by Integration.

It just wasn’t the fear of being seen as weak that worried her the most. It was the fear of rejection. Headstrong was also another word for being an asshole. Maya knew that and she had been called it plenty of times in her life. She was not offended by it, she used to revel in it as a kid. Time had not made her any more tactful or less blunt. It was the reason why she had lost the friendship of Shelly, her best friend before Integration.

The weeks and months bringing together disparate settlements and people had been one of yelling, smashing, and semi-threatening people to work together. She knew the US President probably hated her and there were plenty of other settlement leaders who actively disliked her, but due to her power and what she could provide they tolerated her. She wasn’t loved or admired by humanity, but her position gave her clout.

But would that be enough to sway people? Trade and credits was one thing. It helped settlements without asking much of them. They received tools, weapons and resources to help defend their own lands. It was a completely different thing to ask for them to risk their lives to protect her property and equipment. To fight and die to keep her stuff safe. And that’s what it boiled down to.

Humanity was in the midst of an apocalypse. Billions had died. Millions more were dying every day.

Maya looked into the camera. A red light blinked on as it activated.

“Hello. I am Maya Sullivan,” she began.

****

Maya probed with her senses, only a few days ago she would have been able to feel every SIL within in the Cage; if she concentrated enough she could hear what they were saying and practically touch the mana that surrounded them. She could feel the purified mana that wafted off of them when they used their abilities or skills.

With the Mother’s poison within her system, all she could feel was a lack of something. Like a phantom limb, which she had some experience in. It was there, she could almost feel it, but like a chunk of food stuck in her windpipe, she couldn’t get passed it.

It had been months since she had melded herself with the Cage. Blood, tesseracts, weird Tier 2 rogue and system tech combining had made the Cage apart of her. She hadn’t realized how used she was to it being there, how she could just summon items, how it made her life so much easier.

A headache began as she pushed the connection. It wavered and stretched like a film of plastic, but it did not break. The Cage wasn’t entirely Dimensional Skills, it was a machine at its simplest. It was a machine that existed in a bubble of reality within void space. The control panel originally built into the Cage still functioned, even if it was slower and harder to use than her own will. It would still work and Maya did what she could with what she had.

“You should be resting,” Tender said.

Maya opened her eyes to see the tall black clad rogue AI looking down at her with his half a dozen red eyes. He held a serving tray with food and drink on it.

“No rest for the wicked,” Maya stated.

“I suppose,” Tender replied. He settled down on a chair, setting the tray before her.

Maya felt her stomach growl and checked the time. It had been seven hour since she had sent out her message to the world. Seven hours she had spent meditating on getting in touch with her inner Cage. The drugs and potions that the High Poisoner had prescribed might be working, but Maya didn’t feel any different.

“Thanks,” Maya said, reaching for the tray of sandwiches. She sighed, thinking about her ability to simply summon a ration bar and eat it. With her dimensional abilities blocked, it made life just that little bit harder. There were some high value items that she would need in the coming fight. Her enchantments, an extra set of armor, weapons, and tools. All of it was locked away behind the poison’s effects.

Tender set a dimensional bag on the table. Maya looked at it and then at Tender. It was her own bag, the one she hadn’t been able to access since the poison.

“It should work now,” Tender said. “The poison you are afflicted with seems to block natural dimensional abilities, not enchanted ones.”

Maya chewed on her sandwich and picked up the bag with her other hand. She focused on the bag and saw the inventory window appear before her.

“Cool,” she said. “That’s one less thing to worry about. Now the only thing to focus on is defending the Cage and winning this little battle ahead of us.”

“We haven’t received any responses from the message we sent out,” Tender replied.

“It’s been only seven hours,” Maya said. “They’ll barely have had enough time to digest the severity of our situation and then they’ll have to get things organized and ready, if they’re going to help. Hopefully.”

Maya tried not to focus on the message she had sent out. It was one of those things that if she thought on it, it would drive her insane. It felt as if it were some kind of referendum on her actions the last year. It was a declaration on what the other settlements, enclaves, and nation felt about what she had been doing for them.

“I was sent to see about your mental health,” Tender said. Maya looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. The good thing about Tender was his general lack of beating around the bush on a topic.

“I’m not going crazy nor am I depressed and wallowing in misery,” Maya said.

“The others will be pleased to hear that,” Tender said. “Hanna has been worried that with your lack of dimensional skills, you would feel useless and powerless.”

“I still have power,” Maya said. “I’m still Tier 2 and I still have all the other stuff I gained. Just no Dimensional Skills.”

“Which were your highest leveled Skills,” Tender said.

“Are you intentionally prodding me?” Maya demanded, tossing down her meal.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“To judge your emotional status.”

“Well, I’m pissed off, stressed, and ready to kick some Tarvana ass,” she said.

“You do have a tendency to become self destructive when faced with near insurmountable odds,” Tender said.

“All apart of being me,” Maya said. “I’d be less self destructive if people just let me be. No Shens, Hiveships, rogue AIs, or crazed Tarvana threatening me with an army. I could just be a peddler of wares, a builder of crappy machines, and an eater of chocolates.”

“I suppose the lack of usual bravado and confidence in the face of the evidence is making people worried,” Tender said. “Your public address to humanity at large is also worrisome, as it has painted our situation as dire.”

“Well, it is fucking dire,” Maya said, picking her sandwich back up. “I thought my being idiotic and unworried by the odds stacked against me was what was making people worried? Now it’s being serious and cautious is what’s making people worried? Talk about damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”

Tender gave her a human shrug, raising all four of his shoulders. “SIl. They’re weird.”

“You’re telling me, buddy,” Maya grinned. “Eh, I’ve not be completely moping about. I’ve been working on the control panel and updating the Cage structure.” Maya pulled up a holographic image before Tender.

“People have been noticing the extensive reworking of various areas,” Tender said, peering at the image. “Some are angry at the destruction of Sanctuary Nexus.”

“It’s not destroyed, it’s just… fortified.” Maya brought up the image of the idyllic town. It was all still there, just added upon. There were narrow streets, fortified buildings, small bunkers and pill boxes, and spots that made for good sniping and watching. The town wasn’t that big, but if the Tarvana pushed into it, they would be forced to fight through it. And it wasn’t the only area she was redesigning. “We can’t do a stand up fight, so we hit them, slow them down, force them into choke points, blast them to hell, and then fall back. Bit by bit, chew them up and kill as many as we can.”

Maya frowned at the words. “Maybe they’ll suffer enough damage to retreat, but in the end we need to make them hurt for every inch of Cage they take.”

“Is there any chance that they will be able to access the tech of the Cage?” Tender asked. “As the Hiveship tried to do?”

“I don’t know. The system tech was pretty defensible against the Hiveship’s attempted hacking, now with all the tesseracts, rogue, and system tech making this Cage up, it might be stronger and more resistant to hacking. I just don’t know.”

“Then we shall find out,” Tender said.

“Yup.”

***

“This is good stuff,” Maya said peering at the railgun presented before her. She brought up a diagnostic of the weapon and began skimming through the information. The man before her was sweating and grinning at the same time. He looked completely exhausted and his ship suit was stained.

A reduced number of Suds were around her. Even though she had ordered everyone who wasn’t necessary to be removed from the Cage, there were scores of students who weren’t ready to leave just yet. They were still cobbling together railguns and weapons, preparing for the fight ahead of them.

Maya clapped the man on the shoulder, smiling at him.

“Good work, real good work. Every railgun that’s built is one more soldier that can defend the Cage.”

The man appeared far too proud, in the eerie fanatical way she had seen some people become. He had been apart of her class, when she still had time to teach, but most of the classes had been combined when they reached various levels in Engineering and other abilities.

Hanna had dragged her from her room, demanding that she need to have face time with some of the people who were still in the Cage. She needed to go about and glad hand, encourage them, and tell them that everything was going to be alright. It felt like lying and scamming to Maya, but it was something that needed doing. She understood it even if she didn’t like it.

Maya spent another hour checking out the railguns and complimenting the people who made them. After a while she was actually impressed by their work, so much so that she had to be dragged away by George after another hour of talking shop with the budding mechanics, technicians, and engineers.

“We’ve got a response,” Yosi said as George and Maya entered the control room.

“From who?”

“I’ll show you,” Yosi said.

“Ugh, just tell me. There’s no need to make a show of it and drag it out,” Maya said.

“That’s what I said!’ Roci said. “It’s from Anisa, she’s agreed to help.”

Yosi growled at Roci. “This is a momentous occasion. It needs to be treated as such,” she said.

“Cool. Open a threshold and let her march in with all her peeps.”

Yosi and Roci exchanged glances.

“It’s only Anisa coming,” Roci said.

“What?”

“She’s resigned her position as Settlement leader because they’ve chosen not to support you in your time of need,” Yosi added.

“Holy shit,” Maya muttered. “She’s like the strongest human on Earth. She can’t just leave Beirut.”

“But hey, it’s a PR win,” George said. “Strongest human stands by Maya Sullivan. I suppose it’ll help sway others.”

“We don’t have time for that kind of BS,” Maya muttered. “We’ve got only a few standard days before we’re hip deep in Tarvana fanatics. It’ll take hours for that news to get around the globe and hours more before it sways anyone to join or refuse. Hours we don’t have due to the damned time difference.”

“She’s the first to respond,” Yosi said quickly. “The other settlements and nations are still deciding.”

Maya sat down on a chair, her spirits that had been uplifted while talking with the Suds settled back down into it’s nice low spot. She tried summing a ration bar, but cursed as she had to open her dimensional bag’s inventory.

“Sixty percent of the recruits for the Infantry who haven’t been brought into the Cage have rescinded their contracts,” Roci said.

“Roci!” Yosi snapped.

“She needs to know,” Roci replied. “Those turds have gone back on their word just because there’s a potential for a lopsided fight. What did they think they were getting into joining the Infantry, a stroll in the park?”

“No one from the recently trained recruits have rescinded their contracts,” George added.

“They can’t,” Maya said. “It’s in their contracts. If its an emergency and they’re trained, then they have to fight. They can’t rescind their contracts and quit.”

“Oh.”

A beep filled the room. Maya looked up to see Yosi stab some buttons. An image of the President of the USA appeared before them. Maya already knew what she would say.

“The United States has decided against providing assistance-“

***

Bell found her overlooking the Dock. There were still soldiers and sailors working, but the mad dash to get the ships ready had begun to ebb. With the US not supporting Maya in defending the Cage, the soldiers and sailors had decided that it was best to get off a sinking ship. Although a few had refused to stop working, the majority had begun an exodus.

She would wait until they had all decided before opening a threshold to the US. She just couldn’t afford to waste the mana to open a doorway. Every gen was needed now.

“It’s not like you to run away,” Bell said.

“You obviously don’t know me that well,” Maya said. “I’ve been running away from things since the beginning.”

“I have asked for help from my family,” Bell said.

“They’ve got a war of their own to fight,” Maya said. “One that I hear isn’t going that great for them.”

“Yes, well,” Bell said, sitting down beside her. He sighed. “Not all settlements have replied just yet.”

“I don’t blame them,” Maya said. “I can’t hold this against them. It’s still only a month ago that Integration occurred. They’re still reeling from it, they’re still trying to find their footing after it happened, most are still battling against mana mutations that are threatening their settlements. They can’t afford to send me troops and risk losing them. I get it. It sucks, but that’s the way it is. The 3S Settlement Alliance isn’t a nation even if they’re under the Sullivan umbrella. I can’t force them to send me troops, it’s not why it was set up. It’s supposed to be a trade and logistic setup.

“I suppose that’s the ultimate weakness of it all. Too much autonomy and self-rule,” Maya chuckled. “I should have chosen to become a dictator and conqueror instead.”

“There’s enough petty warlords in the Multiverse at Large,” Bell said. “Force seems to be the only method that SIL know how to use.”

“Yup.”

“What are we going to do?”

“I don’t blame them. From the beginning I sold them stuff, weapons, tools, all the things they needed to survive, well mostly survive. It’s always been a transactional relationship between me and the rest of Earth. I guess I shouldn’t have tried going the tug on their heartstrings route.”

“It’s in their interest to ensure that the Cage continues to exist,” Bell said.

“Totally, but I’m not some grand leader. I’m not a wordsmith dripping with charisma who is able to sway the hearts and minds of SIL. I’m just a garbage merchant stuck in a hellscape. I should have realized that sooner.”

“That’s not all you are,” Bell said. “You have done good in this world and for your people.”

“What is the one thing that everyone wants in this Integrated Multiverse? What is the one thing they all strive for?”

“Levels,” Bell said.

“Yup.” Maya grimaced and held out her hand. Sweat beaded on her forehead and light began forming on her palm. A few seconds later, an experience shard formed. “I should just stick to merchant things. I have experience shards, I need people to fight, people want levels, I can give them levels.”

Maya tossed Bell the shard, he caught it deftly.

“Wanna fight for me?”

Bell looked down at the shard and then tossed it back at her. Maya fumbled for it and nearly dropped it.

“I feel insulted,” he said. “I’ll fight for you, Maya, because we are friends. You owe me nothing and I expect nothing. I do it because I believe in what you are doing.”

Maya looked down at the shard in her hands. “Thank you.” If only there were more people like Bell.