Chapter Nineteen

Manny has a bad time.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Chapter nineteen. Manny he knew where they were taking him
as soon as the transport exited Highway seventy five. It
took Exit forty B White Avenue, McKinney. He visited the
town a few times as a kid, before things in
this part of d f W had gone entirely to ship.
Manny thought of the satellite photos Reggie had shown them.

(00:23):
He thought about that Tesla plant and what strange mysteries
it must hide. Somewhere in that plant was the answer
to how the martyrs had so thoroughly befucked the stf's
defense network. Manny hadn't exactly planned to find an answer
to that question on this trip. Now it seemed like
he wouldn't have a choice in the matter. His escorts,
Alexander's men, hadn't said much. They directed him to the

(00:45):
proper transport and told him to keep his mouth shut
when he asked for an explanation. Manny did as they asked,
because he half expected them to gun him down if
he made a real fuss. Roland's bound to find me.
He can find any fucking one. I just need to
stay alive long enough for him to get here. Once
upon a time, the Tesla factory had been an immaculate

(01:06):
sign of what some commenters called the Texan Renaissance. After
the fall of the old United States, the Republic of
Texas had been one of the first functional states to
arise in the southwest. Dallas had been wrecked by the
Lakewood Blast, but the rest of the state still had
tens of millions of people and abundant natural resources. For
a while, the hardcore libertarian policies of the Republic had

(01:27):
created a minor economic miracle. Tesla had gotten this factory
going about three years before that boom went bust. The
first room they were taken to had clearly been some
sort of reception area and probably a showroom at one point.
There were three large, oval shaped plinths that had once
held cars, and a handful of metal desks bolted hard
into the ground. There were also several benches stripped of

(01:49):
whatever they had once been upholstered with, and a few
dozen folding chairs that were clearly recent additions. Many could
see signs that the walls had been attacked at several
places in an attempt to strip them of wires. The
damage was obvious, but not as extensive as he'd expected.
Bessierda de MARTA's standards. This building was in good shape.
A dozen martyrs occupied the room. They wore quality, non

(02:11):
powered body armor and toted rifles that must have been
looted new from their republic's armories. One of the desks
was manned by a haired looking young man in an
off white suit. He wore no sign of rank, but
did have a white cross arm band around his left
bicep and a golden cross pin on his lapel. He
was balding, baby faced, and the deep bags under his
eyes spoke of severe exhaustion. His face lit up when

(02:34):
he saw Manny another. My prayers have been answered, as
the Lord wills it, one of Manny's escorts replied. They
brought him to the desk, and the besuited man looked
up at him. He had a hungry look in his eyes.
He'd started to sweat a little too. You may call
me Isaac. What's your name, young man? Me Emmanuel Emmanuel Sanchez.

(02:55):
The little man jotted that down on a piece of
paper and then continued asking questions. What's your date of birth?
Do you have any family history of allergies or illnesses?
Have you ever undergone surgery? Before, what biomodifications, if any,
are currently active in your system, do you have any
inactive modifications? And so on. After about ten minutes of questioning,
the little Man told Manny to stand up and follow

(03:17):
him into an examination room. His tone was cordial, even warm,
but Manny tasted doom behind it. He smelled death in
this place, and his soul cried out against heading further
into its bowels. But there was nothing to do but follow.
Alexander's men left after dropping him off, but there were
plenty of guards on the front room. Two of them
followed Manny and the young man backed through the double

(03:39):
doors and into the heart of the facility. They walked
through what had once been an open floor office. There
were a few overturned desks and chairs, but mostly the
place was barren and half cannibalized for scrap. It was
ill lit and derelict. What are we doing here, Manny asked.
Isaac put a hand on his shoulder and smiled. We're
doing God's work, he said, the same as everywhere in

(04:01):
this blessed kingdom. I know that, Manny said, in a slow,
careful tone, but I don't understand why I was pulled
out of training or why I was removed from my unit?
What is this place? Isaac didn't answer. Instead, he walked
Mannie to a door in the back of the empty
office and opened it to reveal a small, well lit,
white room with a bench, a weight scale, and a

(04:23):
computer terminal built into the wall above a rolling cabinet.
Isaac weighed him, marked down his height, and then pulled
a strange measuring device out of the cabinet. It looked
like a cross between a protractor and a pin vice.
This is a craniometer, Isaac explained, once he saw the
confusion on Manny's face. It's for measuring the size of
your skull. Isaac set right to work. He fit the

(04:45):
strange device around Manny's head and tightened it until the
vice grip bit into Manny's scalp. Isaac jotted down some
more numbers on his notepad and removed the craniometer. He looked,
pleased that alone was enough to turn Manny's stomach. Can
you please tell me what this is all about? Isaac's
eyes darted up from his paper For just a moment.
He gave Manny an insincere, distracted smile. Everything will be

(05:07):
explained soon. Enough, young man, right now, which should be
enough to know you're doing the Lord's work. Manny was very,
very tired of that response. Isaac finished his notes and
led Manny out a back door in the room and
into what Manny had to assume was the final step
in their journey. The scent of blood in the air
was too heavy for anything else to be the case.
Manny felt hair stand up on the back of his neck,

(05:30):
his shoulders went tinse, and a moment later he felt
the strong hands of his guards on either bicep. This
new room was part mechanic shop, part abattoir. It had
once been the main factory floor, and it was filled
with the half looted carcasses of robotic auto workers. Several
of those machines had been restored to some level of
functional capacity. Manny could see twentyish new vehicles and various

(05:51):
states of construction across the vast space. Instead of sleek,
consumer gray electronic cars, most of these vehicles seemed to
be very old and warns sedans and trucks. A handful
of them were outdated and ni obsolete. Military drones palettes
of plastic explosives sat outside several of the vehicles. Many
could see human workers packing blocks of it into a

(06:12):
battered off white Kia a few dozen feet in front
of him. None of this was particularly shocking. Vehicle based
improvised explosive devices had been de rigueur for terrorists insurrections
for the last seventy years. Two things about this factory
struck Manny as strange. The first is that none of
the vehicles in construction had any armor added to them.
Most V B I E d S would be covered

(06:34):
in thick slabs of concrete and welded scrap metal to
ensure they made it safely to their target. The vehicles
here seemed like they would look normal when they finally
rolled off the reassembly line. The second odd thing was
the dozens of surgical tables and the rather significant amount
of red blood coating the floor underneath them. Five of
the beds were occupied with bodies covered by blood speckled

(06:55):
white sheets. The men under them appeared dead. Oh God,
Manny forgot his cover in the dawning horror of the moment.
What the hell is this place? What's your mouth? Young man?
Isaac snapped, This is a temple of the Lord where
young heroes delivered themselves into the waiting arms of Eternity.
A tall man in a lab coat made his way
over to them. He had gray hair and warm brown

(07:17):
eyes behind horn rimmed spectacles. He gave Manny a warm
smile and extended out a hand in greeting the Lord
be with you, Emmanuel. I'm doctor Ernest. I'm sure you
must be full of questions right now, gentlemen. He glanced
towards the guards, who still had their hands on Manny.
You can let him go now. This young man is
a hero and he should be treated as such. The

(07:37):
hands loosened. Manny heard the men step back. He flashed
a nervous smile back at the doctor. Keep him talking,
Manny thought, The longer you drag this out, the more
time Roland will have. What is going on here? These
ah He grappled for the correct terminology. These martyrdom devices
seem different. And I don't know what's going on with

(07:57):
with with all the medical equipment and the bodies. Doctor
Ernst finished his question without so much a break in
his warm smile. Yes, God bless him, but diplomacy is
not Isaac's strong suit. He gets rather focused on the
task at hand. Many noticed that the odd little man
had already wandered off towards a rolling tray of medical
equipment near one of the surgical beds. That set Manny's

(08:19):
heart beating even faster. Follow me, said doctor Ernst, and
I'll explain everything. The doctor led him to one of
the shrouded bodies and pulled its covering down, revealing the
dead man's face. Manny wasn't exactly surprised to see that
it was Jonathan, the young man from Atlanta he'd met
just a few days before. Jonathan was, of course quite dead.

(08:40):
A bloody red line ran across his skull, just above
his ears. His eyes were closed, and his lips were
turned up in a beatific smile. You know this man, yes,
doctor Ernst asked gently. Yes, of course you do. The
doctor chuckled. You're both colored men and the heavenly kingdom.
I'd be surprised if you hadn't developed a connection. It's
only natural to gravitate towards your own kind. Many fought

(09:03):
down the urge to slap Doctor Ernst. Jonathan here started
his journey to martyrdom just a few hours ago. I
know he appears dead, but as it was with our
Lord and savior appearances. Quanby quite deceiving. His brain is
still quite alive and alert. It's just been moved. Doctor
Arn't gestured over to the Kia. Many saw that another

(09:24):
lab coated worker was now carrying a peculiar metal box
over to the v B I e ed. The box
was about head sized and covered with sockets and plugs.
A single green light flickered on one side. See they're
loading him into his chariot now, and soon he'll pilot
this anointed engine of heavenly will to the ruin of
our enemies, many thought, backed that last day before the invasion,

(09:46):
to Reggie's questions about that mysterious checkpoint bombing, This must
be how they did it. He realized the STFs checkpoints
were perfectly capable of reading the itinerary of any autonomous
vehicle that drove towards them. They'd shoot anything that didn't
broadcast to its destination. But the Kingdom had found a
way to hide a human driver capable of taking over
once the car was past the checkpoint. His eyes drifted

(10:08):
over to a combat drone lying half disassembled on the
table a few yards to his left. It was a
hefty beetle black monster with a heavy underslung machine gun.
It reminded Manny terribly of the drone that had almost
killed him in Reggie a few days earlier. This explains
why the STF drone jammers didn't work. The Heavenly Kingdom
wasn't really using drones. Manny realized with downing horror that

(10:30):
the drone's open cavity was likely the intended resting place
of his brain. Ah. Doctor Ernst smiled, I see you've
already spotted your chariot. Yes, Emmanuel, you are quite fortunate.
Martyre Ditmar noted your intelligence and suggested you be implanted
into a drone. I assure you it's a high honor,
even in this sacred place. Manny's heart thudded like the

(10:53):
tolling of a church bell. For a while, he couldn't
hear anything else. He felt himself gripped by a sudden,
clustrophobic arr were. The worst thing wasn't even the thought
of being cut open, torn apart. It was the thought
of being trapped inside that little metal box, forced to
kill and die in the name of a cause he abhorred.
Many knew he'd started to shake, but there was nothing
he could do to quell the terror. Doctor Ernst to

(11:15):
put a hand on his shoulder. Many assumed it was
meant to reassure him. It did not have that effect. Immanuel,
I know this is quite a lot to take in,
but all you really need to know is that you've
been blessed, truly blessed with the chance to play a
real role in making the Heavenly Kingdom a reality. The
Storming Battalion are God's elite, the holiest of our martyrs.

(11:36):
I'm sure once the shock wears off, you'll realize what
a privilege this is. Many heard footsteps. He didn't need
to look to know his guards were stepping back up
behind him. He felt the noose titan and his hope
slip ever farther away, Where the hell is Rowland? I
am um, he stuttered, Can I have some time to
h to prey on this? Of course, emmanual. Doctor Ernst

(11:59):
smile ever looked false or forced. He put a hand
on Manny's shoulder. It will be a few minutes before
we're ready to begin the operation. I commend you devotion.
This is an ideal time to pray for guidance. A
few minutes his heart pounded so hard, he thought it
might beat its way free from his chest. He was
sure doctor Ernest must have heard it, but if he did,

(12:19):
he said nothing about it. Instead, the doctor led Manny
over to a small carpeted area that looked to have
been set aside as a prayer room for the soon
to be martyred members of this battalion. It consisted of
a half dozen shares, at least they're padded, a three
foot tall white stone statue of Christ on a cross,
and two small inn tables, each with a couple of
dog eared bibles. Manny sat down, bereft of any better idea,

(12:43):
he grabbed a Bible and flipped it open to a
random page. King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty
cubits high and six cubits wide. Manny rolled his eyes
the flaming ale as a cubit. He skimmed the next
few verses until he realized which story he'd stumbled upon.
His religious school hadn't been intense, but he had gone
to church most Sundays for the better part of a decade.

(13:04):
He'd listened to enough sermons and attended enough Sunday school
classes to know the story of Shadrak, Mishak and Abednego,
three stupid assholes who'd wandered into a furnace and trusted
in Deus ex deos to save them. If we are
thrown into the blazing furnace, the god we serve is
able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver
us from your Majesty's hand. But even if he does not,

(13:24):
we want you to know, your Majesty, that we will
not serve your gods or worship the image of gold
you have set up. It struck Manny that his current
predicament had more than a little in common with these
ancient men, if they'd ever existed in the first place.
The chief difference was that, of course, Manny wasn't praying
for the help of a god. He was, however, strongly
hoping for rescue from a godlike being that felt close

(13:46):
enough to give him a sense of kinship towards the
men and the story. The king's command was so urgent
and the furnace so hot, that the flames of the
fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrak, Mishak and Abednego,
and these three men firmly tied fell into burning furnace.
He hadn't remembered that bit from Sunday School, the part
where the king's soldiers were burnt alive by the heat
of his fire. Many wondered what kind of soldiers would

(14:09):
so willingly step into a pointless death at some mad
king's command. And then he remembered where he was. He
looked up from the Bible at the twenty or so
armed men stationed around the factory. I really, really hope
someone comes along to burn them to death. Many heard
footsteps behind him. He looked back this time and saw
Doctor Arnst advancing with two guards in Isaac. The bald

(14:30):
little man was visibly excited. An obscene smile played across
his features. He held an almost comically large needle in
his hands. Many looked over from him to the doctor Immanuel.
Doctor Arnist said it's time. Many stood. His mind raced

(14:53):
for some sort of delaying tactic. I need to uh
pray more, I need more pray. Time confused, jan passed
over all the men's faces. Time is of the essence here.
Doctor Ernst insisted, don't delay this important work because you're scared.
Trust in the Lord, open your heart to his will.
See I have I I totally have, Manny stammered, and

(15:13):
I'm pretty sure he's actually not down with us. Yeah,
I think he wants me to be a soldier, a
regular soldier with a gun, not a brain in a drone.
Doctor Ernst glanced back at the two guards flanking him.
He nodded, and they advanced. One man had a kalashnikov
on his back, the other had a holstered side arm.
Both men were much larger and more muscular than Manny.

(15:33):
He glanced around for a weapon, as if anything left
around would be useful against two firearms. There was still
a bible in his hands that probably would have been
enough for Roland. Manny had no doubt the posthuman could
kill a dozen men with a book, more if it
was hardcover. Emmanuel, the doctor's voice was low, soft and
as comforting as a lullaby. I know this is a

(15:54):
frightening thing, but you must trust me, You must trust
all of us. The heavenly Kingdom not spend your life
this way if we were not certain your sacrifice would
further the will of our Lord. That is why you
came here, Emmanuel. I know if you listen to God,
you'll see what's right. Manny closed his eyes. He listened
not for the voice of God, but for the sound

(16:16):
of footsteps. After a few seconds pause, he heard the
guards move towards him again. He gripped hard on the
Bible in his hand, and he tried not to think
too much about what he had already decided he had
to do. The footsteps grew closer until Manny could almost
feel the heat coming off the other men's bodies. Very good, Emmanuel,
doctor Ernst cood, God loves you. Manny opened his eyes.

(16:39):
The guards were right in front of him, now reaching
for him. Manny swung the Bible up underhanded into the
kalashnikov man's chin. Then he dove to the right and
slammed his head into the other man's crotch with all
the force his five foot ten inch frame could bring
to bear. The man howled. Manny half fell, caught himself,
and dropped into a dead run, aimed straight for Isaac.

(16:59):
Both the bald headed needleman and doctor Ernst stared at
him in astonishment. Belatedly, Isaac raised his arms up in defense.
The gesture did nothing to stop Manny from plowing into
him and knocking him to the ground. He punched the
other man in the face hard, and then scrambled back
to his feet too. He felt the pain of the
gunshot before he heard it, or rather, he didn't register

(17:19):
the sound of the gunshot as a gunshot until the
pain made it clear he'd been shot. And then Manny
was on the ground. His world shrunk to the space
below his belly button, which now pulsed with spurts of
deep red blood. His hands covered the wound, pressing back
against it in an instinctive attempt to protect himself. He
stared in fascination at the spreading red. He watched as

(17:40):
his blood turned chunky and thick. The spurting faded away
to a slow ooze. The pain caught up to him now,
and Manny's vision went black for a moment. The world
faded into view after a while. Doctor Ernst Isaac and
both guards were standing above him. The guard with the
handgun had a drawn a wisp of smoke trailed up
from the barrel. Manny watched, enthralled as it curled up

(18:01):
to the sky and gradually disappeared into the air around them.
You've made a grievous error, my boy, Doctor Ernst's voice
was grave, now devoid of all compassion. You was so
close to paradise it almost brings me to tears. The
doctor was only a few feet away, but his voice
sounded distant and muffled. I'm dying, aren't I? Manny thought, no,

(18:23):
if that was a kill shot, i'd be dead by now.
The bleeding's already stopped. The thought did little to calm
his nerves. He'd thoroughly blown his cover. Even if they
never guessed his true purpose in coming to the Heavenly Kingdom,
he'd be executed for trying to flee. This is going
to put us even further behind schedule. That was Isaac.
His nose was bleeding, but it didn't look broken. I

(18:44):
wish I was better at punching. Take ab outside, Doctor
Arnest said to the guards, and make it quick. There's
no sense in stringing him up in public for simple cowardice.
So this is how it's going to end. Manny was
confused by how it peace. He felt with that some
of it was gil Alajandra was dead, Amide was dead,
Oscar was dead, mister Perrone was dead. This was nothing

(19:05):
more than he deserved. He was pleasantly surprised to find
that as the little robots in his blood, flooded his
system with happy drugs. That sense of guilt began to fade.
He felt wonderfully detached from the world. He wondered if
this was how Roland felt all the time, disconnected and
pleasant in a vague, indefinable way. The guards bent down.
Many felt their hands on his arms. He felt them

(19:26):
lift him up. He felt a terrible, shifting pain in
his gut as another rush of clotting blood poured out
of him. Many thought of mister Perrone. He could almost
see his face. Maybe the Christians were right about the
after life. That was a nice thought. Actually, he thought
mister Perrone would be proud of him. I tried to
do something, Sir, I really did. Many didn't see the

(19:48):
source of the noise. It sounded like something heavy falling
from a high height onto something soft and squishy, some
one soft and squishy. He realized the guards dropped him.
Men started to yell gunshot, gunshot gunshot. Manny thought, and
he giggled a little bit. The sounds of chaos and
violence that had erupted inside the factory could only be

(20:08):
Roland's doing. Manny lifted up his head with considerable effort
and looked over towards the waiting area, where most of
the guards had sat idle. It was a mess now.
Several of the chairs in one of the big tables
were mashed together with a chunky red paste that resembled
good salsa. People salsa, he thought, and then giggled again.
Manny caught a glimpse of Rowland as the chrombed man

(20:29):
rocketed across the factory floor and into a trio of guards.
The men didn't even have the chance to fire their weapons.
The first guard burst like a balloon full of jelly.
It was hard to tell exactly what happened next, as
it occurred under a red cloud of human viscera. Manny
slipped in his own blood and fell back onto the floor.
He stared up at the ceiling for a little while

(20:49):
and just focused on trying to keep his breath steady.
There was nothing else he could do here anyway. Immanuel Sasha,
he thought, Ula he said, it's okay. He held her
warm hand on his forehead. Don't talk. You've been shot,
but you're probably not going to die. Probably, he had
to admire her fundamental honesty. I'm going to try to

(21:09):
drag you out of here. If you can walk, that
would be really helpful. She grabbed Manny under the armpits
and tried to pull him up. He let out a
coughing cry at the pain of being moved again, but
he also realized late in the game that he still
had some control over his legs. He pushed up, and,
with Sasha's help, fought gravity well enough that he soon
stood under mostly his own power. Sasha wrapped one of

(21:31):
his arms around her shoulder and took some of the
weight off his weakened limbs, and then together they hobbled
free of the Chinel factory that had almost been his tomb.
An hour later, Manny sat with Roland and Sasha on
the roof of an old Bank of America and watched

(21:52):
as the Tesla factory burned in the distance. Manny had
passed out almost as soon as Sasha had got him
out the door. He recalled waking up a few times
during the run away from the factory. At some point
Roland had met up with them and started carrying him.
He'd come to on the roof of the old bank
building just in time to see Roland dribble a trail
of weirdess blood into his gunshot wound. He'd felt a

(22:13):
little revulsion at the act, but it had passed once
his pain dissolved. I should really find a way to
bottle that stuff, he thought. What happened, Manny asked. Once
reality had solidified a little more, Roland found me, Sasha said,
just after they took you. I told him that Alexander
had mentioned a factory, and then well he seemed to
know this must be the factory they'd been talking about.

(22:35):
Thanks for that, Reggie, he told me he was going
to She coughed a little and her cheeks reddened an embarrassment,
feed them their own dicks, and that I should wait
until they were engaged to run in and drag you out.
A large explosion echoed across the city. Escape and the
Trio watched a small orange mushroom cloud light up the
sky where the Tesla factory had been. It's about damn time,

(22:59):
Roland grumbled. The detonators those fuckers stole from the Republic
were garbage. Hey, He looked over to Manny. The hell
was that place anyway? Yes, Sasha added, and how exactly
did you wind up getting shot there? Manny related the
whole story as best he could, Sasha's face went pale
white with outrage and disgust when he explained exactly how

(23:19):
the Heavenly Kingdom had managed to get its suicide vehicles
past the sd f's checkpoints. Oh god, she moaned, Oh
God above, no, no, no. Roland just laughed. That's as
clever as a two headed crow. I'll give him that,
He clapped Sasha on the shoulder. Come on, lady, you
can't still be surprised by how funk the Kingdom is.
How many people did you watch them? Hang? Sasha didn't respond.

(23:41):
She just sat there, eyes red and watery, and stared
out at the burning factory. Manny felt like he should
have said something, but his mind was still catching up
to his body after the events of the last couple
of hours. Staring straight ahead represented the extent of his
abilities right now, Sorry, Roland sudden response to the silence
not for get you kids aren't used to this sort
of ship. I'll tell you it gets easier. What almost dying,

(24:05):
asked Manny. We're being betrayed by the only thing you
ever believed in, asked Sasha. Roland shrugged. Both I guess,
I mean neither is much fun. But hey, y'all pop
some cherries today, so it's got to mean nothing but
downhill from here on out. Neither of them responded, but
Roland plowed right along. I meant downhill and like the
positive sense of the word, you know, sledding like that

(24:25):
or something more. Silence Roland's side and took a loud
gulp from a piece of sheet metal he'd been into
a makeshift cup. The beverage inside smelled like another batch
of his gut liquor. It burned Manny's nose from three
feet away. A minute went by, and then another Without
a word. They listened as emergency sirens sounded and drew
closer to the side of the blast. So what the

(24:46):
fund do we do now, Manny asked. Roland grunted and
then belched, Well, we've probably gotta roll back into town,
break those ladies out of jail, and then I don't know,
we should probably leave right Many rolled his eyes. The
casual recklessness of Roland's confidence had been fun and reassuring
when he wasn't recovering from a gunshot wound. The events

(25:07):
at the testa Plant had proved to Manny that the
post human's protection wasn't enough to guarantee his safety or Sasha's.
He was the deadliest thing Manny had ever seen, but
he couldn't be everywhere at once. Wait, who are you
breaking out of jail, Sasha asked? Those three negotiators, Manny said,
from the City of Wheels, the woman you examined, and
their mail companion. Sasha gave Manny a look he couldn't

(25:30):
quite parse out what he asked. Is that why you
started talking to me, she asked, Because you knew I
was working with those women, and you thought I might
be able to get you into the jail. No, started Manny.
I mean sort of right, finished Roland. That was sure,
as she had a big BLUs. Many glared at the
post human Rowland had all attacked and diplomacy of a chainsaw.
That's why I'm here in the first place, he reminded himself. Look,

(25:54):
Roland continued, there's no point in dressing any of this up. Sasha,
you fled your home to join a militant terrorist organization
that butcher civilians. Manny, you kind of manipulated her in
the hope of getting information. I just beat like twenty
people to death, plus I fed Martyr Ditmar his own
hand and I feel genuinely bad about that. Roland shook
his head. I'm really trying not to fall completely off

(26:15):
the murder wagon here, guys. But when I get angry
and the battle drug start flowing, he shivered, I get ugly.
Once again. Roland's words were met with stunned silence, and
once again he plowed forward. Nonetheless, what I'm saying is
this whole situation as ugly as fun and none of
us as a hero. But we're probably the least shitty
people in the city with any kind of power. So
let's all forgive each other's trespasses and use that power

(26:37):
to try to save a couple of nice people from
being crucified or whatever it is Christians due to the
people who piss them off. Is it just hanging I
Sasha started to respond, then shook her head and exasperation.
Probably not, she said. Instead, all right, Roland clapped and
put on a bright smile. So how do we get
in there? I mean, I can just sort of balls
my way through the front door or the ceiling, but

(26:59):
since this is an actual jail, it's probably reinforced. There's
a good chance they'll kill the hostages. Before I punched
my way into the cells. Manny could almost hear the
wheels turn and Sasha's head as she caught her thoughts
up with what was now apparently her reality. To her credit,
she responded in short order, that's probably the case, she nodded.
There are armed guards outside of each cell, and there's

(27:20):
a real disgust for those captives among the martyrs. They
probably would shoot those women rather than let them escape.
And what about the guy? I never saw him? I
dealt with the women, Marigolden. Oh, what was her name? Tully?
But I assume he was in the same jail. Is
Roland confirmed, or at least he was last time I
sniffed around there. Manny's mind finally spun up to full speed.

(27:42):
The pain in his guts had subsided, as had the
light headed, bloodless feeling he'd woken up with. He felt
comforted by the mere fact of having a simple problem
to solve. At the core, this question was a logistical one,
just like the problems he faced every day as a fixer.
He needed to deliver his team to a certain location
the jail in a amitted time frame, So Manny's first
job was to figure out what connections he'd need to

(28:04):
make in order for that to be possible. Sasha, he asked,
who can help us get inside that jail? Do you
know anyone who has the authority to come and go
from there with impunity? Doctor Brandt, She replied. He's a
good man, I think, but he's committed. He's not going
to work with us to betray the Kingdom. He doesn't
need to. Manny assured her. I'm going to guess he's
a smart guy, right. He has to be somewhat worldly

(28:26):
to be an actual doctor. Sasha nodded, He's not a
mindless zealot, if that's what you're asking most of us,
aren't you know there was a reasonable case for supporting
the Heavenly Kingdom at just She trailed off, and Many
put his hands out in a placating gesture. No, No,
that's not not what I'm getting at. I want to
make sure this guy has a sober, realistic understanding of

(28:46):
what someone like Roland can do. Sasha's eyes went cloudy,
but she nodded. He talked about them with me a little,
She said. I would say he has a healthy respect
for post humans, good Manny said it. So we find
him and we make him an offer either Roland tears
the heart out of the kingdom or doctor Brandt helps
us get those captives out of the jail. If he's

(29:07):
a sensible man, who'll have to see the reason in that.
Sasha didn't look so sure about that, but after some consideration,
she nodded and agreed that it was at least possible. Okay,
so we find this doctor Brandt, we use him to
get inside the jail, Roland does Roland things, and then
we beat feet to get out of Seda Demuerta. Roland
shrugged and took another deep pull from his gut beverage.

(29:28):
He seemed on board. Sasha raised another question, though, Okay,
so who are you two supposed to be? Then, every
time doctor Brandon I visited the jail, we had a
driver in an armed guard. But you two don't exactly
look like you fit the bill. Right now, you, she
appointed to Manny, clearly just took a bullet, and you,
she jabbed a finger at Roland, look like you just
murdered dozens of people, which I guess you did, right,

(29:51):
Manny clapped his hands. That's easy enough to fix. It's
what five am. Now the city is starting to wake up.
Do you know what shift doctor Brandt's expected to work today, Sasha.
Lately he's been doing seven to seven and Rowland. Manny continued,
do you know where the vehicle pool is? The big
man nodded, Oh yeah, I drag that downer in my
first reconde. It's about thirty minutes away on foot for

(30:12):
you guys five minutes from me. We'll go slow, said Manny. Sasha,
you let us know when you recognize doctor Brandt's cheep
and driver will stop them, relieve them of their uniforms,
and drive on to the doctor's house. Roland, you think
you can take out two men without bloodying up their uniforms?
He gave another shrug. Fifty fifty all right? Manny nodded.

(30:32):
That's plan A, then, and what's Plan B? Sasha asked,
Close your eyes and hide behind Rowland. Hey, I'm Robert Evans.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope you enjoyed
the chapters to come. You can find the free e
pub of every chapter and eventually the whole book at
a t r book dot com, complete with illustrations. If

(30:53):
you want to support me in writing the sequel, you
can crowdfund me at after the Revolution the Sequel at
go fund me. Just type and go fund me After
the Revolution the Sequel. Um. I'd like my books to
always be free, so I'm just going to try to
crowdfund the next one and see how that works. So
After the Revolution the Sequel on go fund me. You
can also find the community of fans of this book

(31:15):
online at our slash after the Revolution on Reddit. So
after the Revolution the Sequel on go fund me, and
our slash after the Revolution on Reddit. A t r
book dot com for the whole book. Thanks