It was two days before Julian was able to go through the data Mercy had given me hidden in the hollowed out book she’d borrowed from Nico. Nico would have had no difficulty finding another copy of Pride and Prejudice, so that made perfect sense as her choice for smuggling information. I had been tempted to leave Pott's after I’d retrieved the data, but something told me I should wait to see what was on it. Mercy herself had given no hint other than that she believed it was important. I spent my additional three days in Pott’s continuing the walks I’d been going on, trading Patriot Points for a new 9mm and some ammo, and grinding my teeth.

The amount of Patriot Points I’d been paid had led to me gaining another level in Marshal, but that level hadn’t come with any additional abilities, only stat increases. The rest was mine to spend. I was hoping that Murphy was sitting on a number of things from my list, and was fairly certain that he’d be more than happy to take the extra points off my hands.

I was taking one of my anxious walks through Pott’s when a white robe approached me. She was panting heavily and after getting me to stop she took a moment to catch her breath. She looked up at me.

“The Honored Dead request your immediate presence at the mausoleum.”

I nodded, and she started to walk again, back toward the center of the city, but I put up my hand. “You don’t have to lead me, I know the way.”

She nodded, grateful for the chance at a respite.

I made a beeline for the Mausoleum, its sleek black dome inviting me inside to nods from the undertakers and white robes who were either on their way into, or out of it. I pushed my way through the doors into the council room where I found Mama, Kit, Julian, Solomon and Jim, waiting for me as was Nix, which surprised me. The air in the room felt heavy, and all of their faces looked hollow and exhausted, as if they’d been talking non stop through the night.

In spite of her obvious exhaustion, Mama managed to offer me a warm smile when she noticed me. “Donovan. I’m grateful you came so quickly.”

I nodded at her, and let my eyes move across the rest of them. “What do you need?”

Julian picked up a data square from in front of it, and held it in the air. “This information that you retrieved from Mercy. Do you know what’s on it?”

I shook my head. “I’m not certain she knew what was on it.”

“It’s…” Julian’s expression twisted in disgust. “It’s genocide.”

“What?” I asked.

“Tell him exactly what it is Julian. I know you’re angry, but let’s present the information as it is,” said Kit.

Julian took a deep breath. I’d never seen him distraught, and felt a pit build in my stomach.

“It’s a vaccine. A formula for an inoculation that’s very near complete.”

“A vaccine? How is that a genocide?” I asked.

“It’s a vaccine against the creation of more Deadmen. Those who receive it won’t produce deadman children, nor will their offspring.”

I let that thought settle. Humans wouldn't have Deadmen children anymore, that meant that Pott's wouldn't have any new deadmen joining it. Eventually, there would be none of them left, and the one safe place in the wastes, the one bastion of reason and comfort, would die. I clenched my fist, the leather of my gloves straining as I did so. My vision went red for a moment. I had just enough clarity in that moment to keep from breaking something and to realize that this was my fault. When I’d gone to the rEvolutionary Virus bunker and scanned all that data, they must’ve used it to develop this…vaccine. I’d done it before I’d realized it wasn’t the system itself making me, but Leah and the Remnants.

"That's not all... they're also working on a way of locking us into the deadzones. A kind of artillery barrier that would kill anything or anyone trying to enter Remant and STAR territory through the deadzone... It's not explicit in the data, but my assumption is that they would plan to expand it through any additional territory they conquer... not to mention some of the emplacements seemed designed for airborne distribution of the vaccine when turned toward their own territory."

Solomon shook his head releasing a dark chuckle, his eyes haunted. “They’re keeping their word to the letter. They said they wouldn’t attack us, but instead they’ll condemn our race entirely. Doom us to a slow, rotting death, trapped inside a tomb...fitting”.

I could feel my gloves starting to tear and slowly eased my hands open. I had been drawing in the radiation around me without realizing it and I could feel the heat radiating off my skin. I released it, gradually, and when I spoke I managed to do so calmly. “What are you going to do about it?”

Jim spoke up, his voice cracking slightly as he spoke. “What can we do?” He looked up at the rest of them. “These people hate us. All of them do. We do nothing to harm them and they still do whatever they can to rid themselves of, just to not look at us anymore… Maybe a slow death is the best we could ask for.”

I was on Jim in an instant reaching over the table, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him to my face, my vision reddening again. “What the fuck are you talking about!?” I brought him closer so I could look into his yellow eyes. They looked sad and defeated. “We’ll fucking kill them. We’ll go to war. We’ll burn them the fuck down before they can finish their vaccine!”

"Donovan..." said Mama looking at me. "I don't know that this is something we can fight. The humans... I can understand them wanting this. Not wanting their children to be like us, I remember the look of regret in many a mother's eyes when they gave their children to us. Hoping that they'd be safer, treated better among their own kind."

Nix slammed a fist on the table. "For every one of the mother's like that, I've seen three more than happy to give up their, 'monster' children. Willing to put them into coffins outside their settlements rather than look at them a single moment longer. Willing to have them killed simply because of how they look, even just moments after they're born, helpless and crying." She shook her head. "We should worry about what they want?" She shook her head.

Kit spoke next, her brows furrowed in thought. "If they created this type of vaccine... couldn't we do something similar? Find a way to counteract it? Or maybe even work on a way for deadmen to have their own children?"

Julian shook his head. "We have scientists and engineers, brilliant minds, but doctors and biologists... That's an area we're lacking in. The Remnants are far beyond us. If we had more data we could begin work on something, but who knows how long it would take? Let's say it takes one decade, two? Let's say it only works on some deadmen and not others? Or it has some side effects we can't even begin to consider? In fifty years without our Undertakers bringing freshly dead back to Pott's, it'll already be too late. Not to mention we'll be trapped in this side of the deadzone, and it'll only get worse if the Remnants move into horde territory and take over." He paused and let out a heavy sigh. "I don't know that there's anything we can do."

I threw Jim back down and looked across at the rest of the Honored Dead. “That's why you asked for me, isn't it? If you wanted things to just go away quietly you could’ve lied and told me the intel was for something different. Or just told me nothing. No, you wanted me here to tell you what you should do about this, or to do it myself.” I gripped the table in front of me in an attempt to calm myself and it cracked under the pressure. “This is the only place in the wastes that’s truly worth protecting. That’s worthy of survival. If anyone should understand that, it’s all of you.” I found my voice cracking as I spoke. "It's worth fighting for."

Solomon placed a hand on Jim’s shoulder, then looked at me. “He’s right.”

I released my grip on the table, surprised to find Solomon in my corner.

Solomon continued, "Even ignoring this...vaccine, there are other reasons to fight them. Locking us within our deadzone as if it's a prison, their war with the Horde who have been more honest allies to us than they have, though I myself am only just realizing it."

"There's also the reports from the Republic. They still won't allow our Undertakers there. The Republic itself insists they don't have deadman children, but I've heard reports of what's in that 'holy book' of theirs. They're almost certainly killing them as their born, and the Remnants are, if not allowing it directly, definitely looking the other way."

Julian nodded, starting to come around as everyone presented their points. "We also need to consider that they did this in secret, with the intent to betray us. The work in the shadows, hiding their intentions and attacking us where we're most vulnerable. Coexistence with them... it was not something they ever really considered, even as we signed agreements and traded with them. War... war is the option. Our survival depends on it."

Kit shook her head. “We have additional facts to consider. What about the deadmen who live in STAR territory? What about a diplomatic solution? We’ve had this discussion before about the Rens and their lack of deadmen children. Are we to kill them as well?”

Solomon shook his head and looked her in the eye. “They don’t act with the intention of wiping us out, and their spread will be much slower. We have time to determine a solution to that. This vaccine though… it’s on an entirely different level."

Mama nodded as well, some of the sadness I'd seen in her eyes fading. "If we do this. If we do fight war, we have to be better than them. It cannot be a genocide, I don't think the average mother and father in STAR deserves our ire. Many of them have been cooperative, and kind, wanting the best for their families. The Remnants though... destroying them, the knowledge they bring to end us and our way of life. That I can support, that is a war I think is worth waging.

Nix shook her head. "The Remnants will almost certainly put STAR soldiers in our path."

Mama nodded. "And we will do what we must in that case, but we should still avoid harming innocents when we can."

Kit gritted her teeth. “With all that everyone has said... I agree." She stopped to look around the room, her eyes moving across the murals and text that surrounded us, becoming unfocused as if lost in a memory. "Nix, we'll need to start pulling the undertakers in the STAR region back, unless we can give them orders for some kind of sabotage.”

Nix Nodded. "I'll start check everyone's current estimated locations and work from there."

“I’ll have Nico reach out to our contacts in the Horde. We’ll keep it at a high level though. The Remnant’s can’t know what we’re up to until we’re ready to strike. We certainly won’t have enough of a force to end the threat of they represent on our own anyway,” said Mama.

“Jim and I will work on determining who will volunteer to fight. Obviously we can’t force people to, but I’m guessing once they hear what’s at stake, we won’t have much trouble putting a force together,” said Solomon.

“I’ll inform my people at the factory to increase production," said Julian. We’ll need to be as armed and armored as possible… I suppose we should produce a set of weapons that can be used in joint actions with the Horde without harming them with radiation… We’ll have to move quickly, the vaccine is getting close to completion, and if they have the right equipment and facilities they could begin producing it very quickly.”

I watched as they dove into logistics, armament, and diplomacy in figuring out their initial plan. All I could think of as I listened to them was blood. I could hear my heart, beating in my ears. I wanted to move right away. To cut a path all the way to the Remnant’s fort and bleed Masters and his cabinet over the battlements. I knew that wasn’t possible though. Alone I could do serious damage, but I doubted they’d let me back into the fort so soon, and storming it by myself would lead to my death with all the gun emplacements they had. I needed to be patient, I needed to work with the Honored Dead and determine exactly where I’d be able to provide the most help or deal the most damage.

I listened to the rest of their initial discussions, watching white robes get summoned in, followed by groups of undertakers, as they answered questions, summoned additional information, and got information on the locations of various groups that could be at risk. At the end of it, they had a new energy, catching a second wind now that a decision as to the fate of Pott’s had finally been decided. Symbiosis and peace was no longer possible with the Remnants. It was time for war.