The rest of the week Ryan settled himself into a comfortable routine.

Mornings were spent practicing with the security team in the grass and dew of the field. Breakfast followed after, served up hot with staff reports on the side. Ryan focused the main chunk of his daylight hours on clearing more and more of the forest, converting walls into proper structural supports, or making equipment on an as-needed basis.

Day by day, their new home, dubbed ‘Ground Zero’ by popular vote, was making substantial progress. It wasn't at the comfort level of a modern apartment, but it was a far cry from the third world shanty it had been.

Evenings were spent first with Renee if she was available then Ryan would spend the rest of his nocturnal hours with Lucas and his wife as the editor made the materials needed for the next day’s projects. It was strange being awake for so long without sleeping. He would grow tired, then pay the upkeep cost to ignore it and immediately feel as if he had just taken an 8 hour nap. The cost was still prohibitive, but it was hard to deny the results of 6 straight days worth of work.

And on the 7th day… Ryan thought magnanimously, chuckling to himself. The editor clapped his hands together, dusting off the leftover sawdust from the last tree for the morning and headed back. It was time to spend the day with his council and newly formed ops team to prepare for tomorrow. So we can bring our end of the fight back to Marcus and start rescuing families. And, hopefully, my father and friends too.

Brushing worry from his mind, Ryan made sure to check on the solar panels. Last night’s mini-storm had been rough. He needed to make sure they weren't damaged. With about 200 of them going now, bringing in roughly 40 thousand points worth of energy each day, they were a valuable investment. Even if it was a resource he left purposefully untapped.

Since the base needed a decent chunk of power to run, Sheila's crew had walked him through creating cables that led to wall-mounted batteries down below. It wasn't the most tech-savvy setup, but enough points had made it a working reality. Now they were able to conserve power in case they needed it for some reason. Like a rainy day. Ryan thought with amusement.

Aside from a few fallen twigs and some smaller forest debris though, the panels were fine. Ryan walked the lines between the arrays, cleaning them off where possible and repairing the few scratched panels he found. To his pleasant surprise, there were rather few of the latter. Bit sturdier than I'd thought, thankfully.

Ryan tapped the buzzer outside of the heavy steel vault door now serving as their front entrance. The doorbell it served as was more for convenience than anything else, really. There were three separate hunting cameras pointed right where he was standing. Nobody would be opening the door without checking them.

Using secret knocks, a suggestion from a young lad named Melvin, was a great plot device for comedy movies… if you wanted to let the wrong people in, that is. And a peephole was just another way in as far as Sheila was concerned. She’d gone to great lengths to ensure the entirety of Ground Zero was sealed off.

The dark dwarf had been captured by a man capable of turning his body into gas. Rather than be angry about it, the feisty dwarf woman happily told anyone who asked that she was eagerly looking forward to the day she could put her former captor in a jar. “To see if he ferments”, she’d explained, when Ryan had given her a strange look. The editor had no further questions after that.

Jake, the guard on duty, wasted no time cranking the handle on the other side. Sliding it open for Ryan as he waited in his thoughts.

“Morning, Jake.” Ryan said as he stepped through and gave the young man a friendly nod.

“Mornin’, Boss.” Rumbled the stone-man in a voice like grinding rock. “Quittin’ early?”

Ryan shook his head. “Planning for tomorrow. Kelly and Lily are still out at the farm I think.”

Jake nodded his stone-formed head in gratitude for the reminder and updated the in/out whiteboard at his post. Black rocks in roughly the shape of human fingers yet sized as bananas delicately picked up his special-made oversized marker. Carefully fumbling it into place, Jake updated the change in status of Ryan, Kelly, and Lily. Then he carefully placed the marker back down and began to close the door.

John certainly picked the right guy for this. Who better to block the doorway than a living boulder? Ryan mused. The guy’s evolution was perfect for security work, even if he was a big softie underneath.

Jake Granitol

Race: Rock Giant - A race of evolved humans with enhanced capabilities stemming from the world of Argonak.

In the game, rock giants had been large humanoids made entirely out of living stone. Jake was… pretty much exactly that. He wasn’t fast, but if the giant hit someone… there’d be little left save a pink mist. It’s not like rock cares much for bullets either, so there’d be little to stop him from closing the gap to melee range.

Ryan descended the ramp leading down to the first floor and headed towards the staircase leading down. He passed two minigun nests on the way. Both held actual weaponry shored up behind bags of earth, but were more for show than anything. Anyone coming down the hall would focus on them first, according to John. That was by design, and would be a fatal mistake.

The real defenses were the hidden rooms lining the hallway. Each could open small slits along the reinforced wall at various heights, providing different angles for defenders to shoot back from. Effectively turning the walkway into a murder hole. It was a setup that his security captain assured him would be far more effective than just spray and pray at the door. The editor was inclined to believe him.

I get the feeling this isn’t the first time John has made something like this.

Not that he particularly cared about the man’s past. Useful was useful. Even if it was nasty.

The meeting was on the fifth floor, operations. Or as Kevin called it, the 'Fuck 'em up Floor'. Ryan headed in that direction. They didn’t have an elevator yet, despite the multiple levels, but they’d get one eventually. Until then - stairs it was. Besides. Ryan thought to himself. A little exercise never hurt anyone.

The editor organized his thoughts as he descended further downward. It would be nice if his family showed up to join them at some point. His uncle and cousin had a lot of mechanical skills between them that Ryan had only a passing familiarity with. Not to mention his aunt could whip up meals on a handful of ingredients that would make a chef’s tongue fall out cartoon-style.

If he was honest with himself though, the real reason was: he missed them. Now that Ryan was fairly sure they’d be safer with him rather than risking themselves for a visit - it would be nice to see them. Give his aunt a hug that wasn’t an awkward head nod on his part. As luck would have it, Ryan had received some good news on that front just yesterday.

A security team member Lucas had sent to the farmhouse to check on it had flagged him down. Apparently the letter Ryan had left in the (mostly emptied) basement was now gone. Presumably taken by his cousin. Which meant his uncle would most likely be able to find them, even if the clues to their location were somewhat obscure.

Ryan hadn’t been willing to put more than a compass rose with a somewhat thicker line that pointed in the general direction of camp. Still, even with only that vague notion to go on, the old man knew these woods better than most. If his uncle figured it out and came looking, Ryan had no doubt he'd find them. Since his cousin was fairly good with puzzles anyway, that made it only a matter of time.

To be safe, Ryan had also made sure to give his people a description of who might be coming in case they showed up when Ryan wasn’t around to vouch for them. A few of his people had even seemed eager to meet them as well. Wanting to thank the man whose hoarding habits had kept them all fed. Which was good, because family or not Ryan was sure the first thing his uncle would demand to know was how in the blistering hell his nephew had eaten through an entire basement.

The temperature in the stairwell wasn’t regulated yet, so it was cold, but Ryan hardly noticed. His thoughts had drifted to his new family. Lucas was almost two hours late returning from his scouting mission. There could be any number of legitimate reasons, especially given the risk involved, so Ryan wasn’t terribly worried. Yet. Besides, Kevin had gone with and between the two of them - not to mention their new equipment - there shouldn’t be much the pair couldn’t handle. Or at worst, run from.

If they’re not back by lunch, I’ll take a few with me and we’ll go after them. Ryan promised himself. Carrie would no doubt demand to go as well, though he’d be happy to take her up on it. As much as the ribald woman loved to crack jokes, the she-wolf could be more frightening than her husband. If her strength hadn’t been so easily countered by the powers of the men who took her children... Ryan had no doubt she would’ve torn the limbs right off of the trio. And possibly eaten them. Those two are a bit feral when they get worked up.

With her new upgrades however, the editor was honestly looking forward to seeing how round two would play out. The only thing that’d stopped Carrie from going in for it so far was their lack of leads on the twins’ whereabouts and how helpless she’d been the first time. The former would hopefully be addressed at the meeting when her husband returned. The latter had been resolved by Ryan.

Her upgrades had been costly, but they’d also been worth it. While he’d originally intended to upgrade everyone as he went, the logistics of points acquisition and the scaling costs associated with granting higher stats and super powers just didn’t support that level of ambition. So Ryan had decided to enhance only those who were likely to see combat for now. The rest could wait and earn their keep until he had a more reliable source than lumberjacking.

When he got to the fifth floor, John was waiting by the door. The usually energetic old man was holding his left shoulder as he attempted to rotate it, grimacing each time it rotated and popped.

“Something I can help with, Captain Stone?” Ryan asked as he descended the last flight of stairs. Ground Zero didn’t have any medical staff. Then again, they didn’t really need any. At least, not right now. Not when Ryan could just boop injuries away if he was charged up.

To his surprise, the older man shook his head. “Just my shoulder acting up. Old age keeps trying to hold me down, an’ I keep refusing to let it.” There was a sickening pop that sounded louder than the rest and John shivered. Then he relaxed his arm and let out a satisfied sigh. “Ahh, much better. Shall we?”

Ryan nodded and followed his captain in. As they walked, Ryan couldn’t help himself from visualizing a hypothetical change. One that John’s words had provoked out of him. A few mental tweaks and a cry of ‘For Pony’ brought up a prompt that took the breath right out of his lungs.

Would you like to revert John Stone’s biological age by twenty years while retaining current memories (to include muscle memory)? Cost: 50,000 points. Yes, or no?

The editor stopped dead in his tracks. John didn’t seem to notice and kept moving.

There it was. A cure for aging. Two whole decades shaved off! And all for the cost of what shook out to just over a day’s worth of sunlight or a couple dozen trees. Barring death by violence or some other means, and given sufficient energy, Ryan now had the power to literally make his people immortal. Granted death by violence is increasingly likely these days… but still, holy shit!

Thinking about it, the relatively high cost made sense to him. Removing the toll of time from a body would have to be done across literally all of a person’s cells in order for it to take meaningful effect. Or at least, a sizable majority. Given that all of John’s cells were now super, it was honestly a surprise the cost wasn’t any higher than it was. Ryan was almost tempted to check for himself, but decided he’d rather put that cat back in the bag for now.

Besides, the implications of this were… staggering. And had the potential to make him a far bigger target than he already was… Which is why Ryan promptly decided not to share this discovery with anyone. Not John, definitely not Renee... nobody could know he had this option in his back pocket. And if they asked, he would have to lie.

It was one thing to be able to heal injuries or grant powers. It was quite another to dangle eternal life (even with the not-if-you-get-shot-in-the-face asterisk) in front of people. People like Marcus would be combing the streets and howling for his blood if they knew about it. If they knew there was even a chance. Even his own people, as cooperative they had been so far… long term who knew what they might do? Ryan would have to make the blood oath quite a bit more restrictive before he gave someone a literal eternity to find a loophole.

…

So he just… kept this tidbit to himself. Not wanting John to turn and realize he’d stopped, Ryan hurried after his captain. All the while trying to keep the grin from his face as his ecstatic mind shouted in elation.

That’s right - I am literally the fountain of youth, baby!

Thankfully, it was rather hard to hear down here. Probably due to the shouts, gunshots, and loud whooshing noises reverberating through the walls and down each narrow hallway. The aptly named ‘Fuck 'em Up’ Floor was, all in all, a lively place to stroll through.

As the pair headed to their destination they passed a firing range, a sandbag room (for those with obscene strength), a gymnastics room (for people of… varying talents), an armory, and a number of other specialized rooms tailor-made by Sheila to fit various requests. One of them was just floor-to-ceiling trampoline netting. Ryan was fairly sure that the last one had been added just for fun, but Kevin had assured him there was ‘valuable training’ to be had in there.

According to his head of security during their morning meeting yesterday, the real headache involved in trying to train a group with as many unique powers as they had was trying to figure out who were better off just... using a gun versus those who were better off without it. Then giving those who didn’t need to - or couldn’t - shoot a place to train their power without making a disaster out of their surroundings.

Luckily for Ryan, that was John’s headache to deal with - not his. Ryan’s job was to make things happen. Which he kept in mind as they headed into the command room.

Originally, this room had been planned as a skyrim-inspired nordic meeting hall with a formidably-sized stone table stretching down the middle. The line of thought obviously being that if Ryan was going to be king of the underground, he damn sure was going to have somewhere stunning to unfurl maps and lay out sweet rolls as he surveyed his new kingdom.

Such grandiose dreams were shot down however when Lucas had taken one look at the design and had the nerve to ask where the computers were. And the screens. The wolverine-looking actual wolfman - who couldn’t even work a camera, by the way! - had demanded modern technology in his operations headquarters as if this weren’t some dark age of fantasy where dragons walked the earth.

Unfortunately for the Ops Chief however, despite as sound as the logic might be, Ground Zero just didn’t have the infrastructure in place yet. Lights, a few electronics? Sure. Power-hungry computer networks with carefully managed cabling underground? Nope.

In the end, Ryan’s design had won out. Mostly. Even if everyone had met in here, they still didn’t need a table that large. So the editor had resigned himself to merely making a circular stone table and created the larger one for the dining hall. Lucas had looked puzzled as to why it really mattered they even have such furnishings, but Lily had given him a high five for it. And if at least one person appreciated his aesthetic genius, Ryan judged the effort to be worth it.

When the pair arrived the rest of the council, save Lucas, were already waiting for him. Breakfast was laid out and cooling down. It smelled wonderful. Like freshly heated tv dinners resting on plastic. Just like mom would’ve never allowed. Ryan took a seat at random, grabbed a ‘dish’, and caught up with them as they all waited for the wolf-and-dragon pair to return.

Roughly an hour later, a disheveled wolfman limped through the door, his tactical gear sporting several tears and multiple bullet holes. His left leg, the one he was dragging, looked and sounded like it was frozen solid.

“Hate to be cliche, but I’ve got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”

The table fell quiet immediately. Then Ryan got up to heal his friend’s wounds.

“Bad news. Always bad news first so we can deal with it and enjoy the good news dessert after. Here, sit.” Ryan responded, pulling out a chair at the table while Lily helped him into it.

As Ryan started fixing injuries, Lucas shared what he’d found.

*************

The last month and a half had apparently not been kind to Arborville.

"The city is fucked." Lucas began in a deadpan tone. As beginnings went, it definitely got the room’s attention.

"It wasn’t far from an active warzone when we left a week ago, and it hasn't gotten better since. Turns out, we aren't the only ones resisting."

Lily piped up immediately at that. "We're not? Who else is--"

"I don't know." Lucas responded honestly. But word is there’ve been a number of fights across the city that spilled out into the streets recently. And not just one or two fighting back or a pissed-off mob looking for food or someone to burn. Targeted hits against the mayor's enforcers. And they're getting more frequent, from what I was told. Despite how many he has on his side."

The dark dwarf folded her arms. "So whoever it is, they be getting bold. I like 'em already." A few nods around the room agreed with her. Any additional strain on the mayor's plate could only benefit them, after all.

John cleared his throat, leaning forward to get Lucas's attention. His eyes were hopeful, even if his voice wasn't. "Any word from the white house yet? Or the state? Surely there should've been some sort of organized military response by now."

Lucas just shook his head and responded slowly, as if he’d known this question was coming and was just as frustrated with the answer. "No. None that I’ve heard about."

John paused, his newly kindled hope fading, then he just nodded and settled back into his chair.

Ryan could understand their frustration. He’d asked this very same question of his people a few times already. He’d wanted to know - as he was sure most probably did - why there hadn't been a federal response to any of this. Or at least a semi-coordinated one from the states themselves.

How Marcus could just take over a city on American soil and broadcast his dictator-level bullshit over the radio without jets flying over Arborville in response?

The only answer he’d gotten back had been every bit as confusing as it was lackluster.

Nobody knew.

Shortly before the mayor had taken power, contact with the outside world had simply been cut off. Signals leaving the town never got a response, and none ever came in. Internet, cellular, radio… the only person who appeared able to communicate at a distance even inside the town appeared to be the mayor. Even the same equipment that played his announcements wouldn’t broadcast much further than a block or two.

And from what Ryan had been told, the reports people had gotten of the larger situation before then… hadn't been great. Rumor was world governments either had fallen apart, or they were in the process of it. Even the larger cities were said to be overrun by gangs of superpowered villains, vigilantes, or self-appointed heroes. Few it seemed were willing to so easily go back to the societal structure they’d left behind. To give up their newfound control.

The worst part was those reports had come from the cities people had been able to reach. Many others had just… gone dark. Rumor had it part of the west coast and even bits of Mexico were straight up gone. Speculation on what had happened to those vanished bits was… not optimistic. There’d also been no word from any other overseas nation. Why that was, was anybody’s guess. Though it probably had to do with an entire ocean filled with pissed off super fish.

All in all, the topic had been rather bleak. One that Ryan had quickly given up on. He would have to deal with those problems eventually, yes. But for now, they were beyond him. So the editor had put them out of his mind and just assumed the present situation meant no help would be coming to get rid of a middling tyrant having his way with a small town.

That’s fine. We’ll just plan for the worst. That way we’re ready if things go wrong. And if help does show up, it’ll be a helpful surprise instead of a necessary crutch.

"That’s alright." Ryan said confidently, in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. The big wolf fully healed, he sat back down. "We’ll be fine without them. Not having Uncle Sam to rely on doesn't change the plan anyway. We’ll get back those who were taken and then worry about the rest of the country. Speaking of, where are we on that? Did you find them?"

"Yes… though you're not going to like it." Lucas responded, turning slightly in his chair to face him.

"Oh?" Ryan was caught off guard by that. "Were we right? The police station? City hall? Don't tell me he built a bunker already."

The big wolf shook his head, and Ryan was momentarily relieved. Even in the most optimistic scenario, there'd be no way out without casualties if his people were forced to fight a pitched battle. Most of them weren’t soldiers. Not yet, anyway.

"Arborview hospital." Lucas announced, fixing Ryan with a meaningful look. They’d spoken at length before about where the editor had woken up. There hadn’t really been a reason to keep it a secret.

"That's where the prisoners are being held. And according to my source, that’s where they've been held. All of them."