Grinding his teeth Evan attempted to keep his spasming jaw from revealing him to the drones watching above He reached out and lightly touched the arm of his companion Slow down LetÆs let the government vehicle arrive first I want to see the fear on their faces when they understand the news
The figure next to Evan was a scarred man who called himself Thirteen Although his skin was dirty and rough his teeth were almost immaculately white when he smiled Heh alright But no matter what happens you canÆt back out on your end of the deal IÆm going to have quite a lot of fun in Erickson Steel
EvanÆs smile was sharp After taking a long drag to finish his cigarette Evan dropped it on the ground and stomped it out DonÆt you worry The more damage you can do to Erickson Steel
Both men froze as a drone zoomed down toward their position EvanÆs immediate reaction was to draw his pistol and blow the piece of garbage out of the sky but he managed to suppress that impulse to an ineffectual twitch of his right hand Then he began to sweat Did the drones have enhanced listening capacity If they did
By this point all of Erickson Steel would know that he was antagonistic against them Even if all they did was lock him up for several days they would undoubtedly realize he was disguised And then
A metallic voice echoed out of the floating drone Please sirs allow me to take your refuse
The drone floated down toward the ground An aperture slid open and a small arm stretched out to take the cigarette butt Then the drone floated back up above the road Both men were tight lipped as they watched it retreat They exchanged a wary glance
Before either could say anything the government humvee ahead of them arrived at the gate of Erickson Steel After the car was parked a tall man got out of the backseat His gaze was as pitiless as a hawk as he scanned the surroundings
The several guards at the wide open gates hurriedly straightened Colonel Maude
mm The Colonel hummed softly while continuing to scan the surrounding area One of the guards at Erickson Steel turned around and spoke into his watch and within a minute a rather tough looking older woman hurried out It was clear she was someone relatively important in the structure of Erickson Steel
Colonel Maude She said with a smile To what do we owe the pleasure of a visit from our government liaison Is there a problem with the previous batch of steel
There were no problems The Colonel said stonily His eyes finally ceased their roving and settled on the older woman But there is something pressing on which we need to speak
Please follow me We can discuss the details in a more comfortable
Actually The Colonel interrupted I believe it is only fair that we talk about it here After all I have news that impacts everyone who has traveled today to Erickson Steel To hide this news would be a disservice to them
The fact that the government humvee had stopped and an important military figure stepped out of it hadnÆt escaped the notice of the almost two hundred travelers who were briefly dallying at the outdoor fair to amuse themselves And when the Colonel said that he came with news that impacted them all they all looked up from the stalls and focused on the Colonel standing in the middle of the road
The Colonel coughed lightly into his hand and then said Everyone IÆm afraid you must return this time without being able to purchase steel Due to the dangerous new threat coming out of Zone Eleven Congress has determined that military projects need to be emphasized beyond all others Therefore
The Colonel turned back to the older woman we will require the delivery of the entire amount of promised steel now rather than over the course of the rest of the month Unfortunately we have no other choice Some of the monsters wandering into our heartlands are Level 70
Behind them on the road Evan CraneÆs mouth curled into a smile This was the first of the three part plan that Senator Heathridge had come up with to suffocate Erickson Steel The danger was exaggerated of course but there were truly isolated incidents of high Level monsters wandering down from Zone Eleven
And if Erickson Steel canÆt fulfill the order immediately We will be forced to find other suppliers The need is immediate The Colonel said ominously Around the fair various individuals looked at each other with serious expressions They had understood that recently the government had been applying additional pressure to Erickson Steel but to see it so blatantly and publically done
Perhaps Erickson Steel wouldnÆt exist for very much longer
Even more intoxicating than nicotine Evan inhaled that confused and hesitant scent that filled the air With Erickson SteelÆs monthly order from the government and as this is only the 18th of the month what the government is demanding is a little over one third of their total order immediately An order that generally takes Erickson Steel ten days to produce
Even if you have enough stock on hand to satisfy the Colonel EvanÆs gaze when to the representatives of other business ventures and the Orders that were present You will be forced to disappoint someone I donÆt think business will be quite so booming tomorrow Will it Erickson Steel
The older woman blinked
Then she thought about it and nodded firmly Oh thatÆs perfect We can do that
I The Colonel began but now it was his turn to blink What
The womanÆs smile brightened further and she nodded emphatically Actually we currently have a surplus of stock The founder of the company did a forging demonstration yesterday so all of our best workers have been producing metal frantically to try and imitate his technique We honestly have more metal than we know what to do with Your arrival couldnÆt be better timed Colonel if youÆll just follow me
Then the woman froze Ah there is one thing
Finally the predatory air returned to the ColonelÆs eyes As Senator Heathridge had motivated him to find any possible excuse to change suppliers even if just for a short while the Colonel seized this chance Oh
The woman shook her head helplessly Because of the guidance of Erickson SteelÆs founder some of these new metals are even more high performing than our regular products As such the Colonel may require more powerful tools in order to create drones with them but we have had to deal with those same problems recently as well so you are in good hands
The older woman led away a befuddled Colonel Evan jerked his chin sharply at Thirteen who nodded and discretely proceeded into the Erickson Steel compound Evan retreated some distance away and then called Senator Heathridge
After hearing EvanÆs explanation of what had occurred Senator Heathridge was pensive To think they had prepared this so far in advance no the story about the founder is probably just PR They must have been secretly working on a new product line for months now well no matter Did Thirteen enter successfully
Yes all according to plan Evan twitched slightly He was craving a cigarette but was too wary of the drones above to smoke another one
Then we just wait Senator said gently Soon they will be begging for our help
Thirteen sat on a rooftop grinning down at the peaceful Erickson Steel campus below
ThirteenÆs given name was Theodore but he had always hated that name So much so that he had begun acting out at a young age resentful of his parentÆs overbearing and controlling nature It had all been rather harmless transgressions until he had run a red light while drunk and killed a couple while turning their smart car into a crumpled tin can
When the System arrived Thirteen had been halfway through a ten year sentence And when chaos descended he finally found himself free to share that horrible venom that had bubbling in his chest for five years
Now Thirteen was employed by the rich to make trouble for each other Generally no one ever requested any deaths but neither did they say anything when bodies inevitably cropped up ThirteenÆs smile expanded And now this whole company is mine to play with
Sniff
Thirteen spun around finding him face to face with a lithe young woman with brilliant mahogany hair and sharp eyes She was one of the prettiest women that Thirteen had ever seen and she was currently sniffing him And Thirteen was immediately floored that she had been able to arrive behind him without him noticing