"What the fuck did he mean by that?" Will stood, arms crossed, in Vera's office while she sat at her desk, welding goggles perched on her head. "Quite the gal?"

"I told you not to trust him, Will."

"This isn't about trust, I just, what the fuck did he mean?"

"I was talking to you about this before. Branch and his two cronies cornered me last night before they ran off. Just like he had gotten to Jenna, he was trying to get to me. You've gotta smarten up. Whatever plans he has for you, they aren't what they seem to be."

"Bollocks," he said.

"That's what you think, but c'mon, Will. Think for once. He wants to get into your head, he wants control over you. That is what this is all about; control."

"Oh, bugger off—"

"No, Will. He wants to control you. Do you know why he hates TK Gabriel?"

"Because he's a cunt?"

"No, dumbass, it's because he can 't control TK Gabriel. He brought him into this little idyllic society as another of his puppets. TK Gabriel, Movie Star was a win for him. That was a show of his power, and Gabriel slighted him in front of everyone. Twice. Control, Will."

"Did you hear that poofter Gabriel tried to steal something from Branch last night and run off with it? What an idiot. He's down in a cell by Crusher now in the dungeon, I suppose."

"Guess he'll be needing this sooner rather than later, then," she picked up a metal contraption from her desk and inspected it.

"What in bloody hell is that?"

"Oh, he asked me to make him this shin guard the other night to use in the arena."

"So now you are making doodads for every bloke that stops by? What's next? Giving him a wank?"

"Oh fuck off, Will," she said.

"I don't know what the bloody fuck you do down here at all hours. Who else you been fuckin' down here? Do I even not want to know?"

"I'm not fucking anybody, you doofus. You don't control me, anyway, I can do whatever and whoever the hell I want."

"Oh, well, I guess I can tell Branch that you don't need to live with me no more, see what happens to you then. You'll be zombie bait in no time, I figure."

"That's what you want, then? You want me to be turned into some toy for Branch to play with until he's bored with me and tosses me to his dogs? Get the fuck out of here, Will. I try with you, I truly try, but you drink yourself into a blind stupor night-in and night-out, you pull the blinders over your eyes for another blowjob from Jenna and you can't see what is going on."

"I can see what this is. Oh I see this, ya cunt."

"I've done nothing but help you, yet somehow you can't see that. You can't see what Branch is doing. It's right in front of your face. Damnit, Will."

"Damnit, woman. I don't want to fight right now. I have a splittin' cocksuckin' headache right now."

"You need to trust me, then. It's as simple as that. Both of our lives are on the line here, maybe even Jenna's."

"I guess so..."

"What does Branch want you to do? This is very important."

"To beat Crusher in the arena."

"Poor Demoreo," she said. "Is that even possible at this point?"

"Don't poor anything, he's a big fucker, innit he? I can beat 'em, Branch even said there is some mind control doodad in his skull that'll let me win."

"They're controlling his mind now?"

"Yessim," he said.

"How is that even possible?"

"How the fuck do I know? He just told me I can beat 'em, that's all."

"My god, he is a madman. Then what?"

"What?"

"Can you retire then? Have you earned your spot here permanently yet?"

"Not exactly, no..."

"What do you mean, not exactly?"

"I dunno, I think he wants me to take out that Gabriel cunt as well."

"And you are going to do it?"

"I don’t have much choice, do I?"

"That's the problem, though, isn't it? Or are you not seeing that? You don't have a choice in any of this."

"It was our bloody choice to come here."

"And everything since then has been at the whim of Jordan Branch."

"So what, it's his tower, innit?"

"Then can we leave, go find somewhere else to stay?"

"Why would we want to?" He was losing his patience. His head was throbbing and she wouldn't just come out with her point already. He knew Branch wasn't on the up-and-up with him always, but remembering back to the vast nothingness, the raiders, the undead, well, that wasn't the kind of place he set out into hoping to find a new home. Branch Tower felt like the only thing going, even if it was fucked up.

"I don't know, because Jordan Branch won't be there experimenting on people, feeding others to monsters and making people kill each other for his own sick enjoyment?"

"This ain't an ideal world, this ain't an ideal anything and—"

"Stop making excuses, Will."

"Fuck it, Imma lay down."