A two-sided scene unfolded in the confines of the book factory camp.
Downstairs, a situation of damage control required the BIT students to explain to the other survivors the situation regarding aliens: that the Rifts were possibly gates to different worlds, and that, while bringing savagery and monsters, they also introduced two alien civilizations, possibly more.
Upstairs, Raj watched with obvious worry as he listened to Adam and Professor Hendrick debating the rescue operation back and forth.
"I'm telling you, dear boy, but you aren't listening. I don't give orders to anyone here. Everything is organized by common understanding, not some military hierarchy. I don't just give a word and send people to their death."
"I understand, Professor, but I can see how these guys respect you and how you essentially organized this whole thing. I just need your help with reinforcements."
"I can't send more kids to die, Adam. If they want to go with you, you have to ask them yourself."
Adam may have misunderstood the situation regarding Professor Hendrick's leadership, which was nothing more than an advisory type of leadership at best. He merely guides his students and the other refugees with his knowledge and researches runes and monsters all day.
This camp was similar to the situation at Brighthaven Airport, where each group was autonomous, served a purpose, and acted in coordination yet remained independent. However, the small scale of this camp meant that the network of operations would be tighter, akin to a single organization, which gave away the facade of the Professor's leadership.
Despite this understanding, Adam still pressured the Professor for support:
"Professor, time is running out for Megan."
"Then you'd better get going." Professor Hendrick raised his hands in a gesture of cooperation. "Ask Raj or one of the team leaders to come with you."
"If that's the case, what do you say, Raj?"
Adam immediately turned to the young man standing by the window overlooking the space below, but Raj only shook his head.
"We have rules, Adam. Mine is to defend the base," Raj replied.
"What about Candice and her team?" Adam asked.
"She hunts around the base." Raj shook his head before clarifying, "You should understand what you're asking of us first, Adam. You're going out there against raiders and other survivors, killing people, not monsters. Not everyone would sign up for this."
Raj's reply made sense, but the first to get agitated wasn't Adam; rather, it was Tommy, who stood to lose the last member of his family:
"And Megan? We'll just leave her like that?"
"I'm sorry, Tommy. Under normal circumstances, it would be easy to go, but out there, it's a war zone. You heard the message yourself." Raj shook his head, not wanting to bear the responsibility of risking his team members' lives.
"Fuck this. I'll go with you!" Tommy immediately slapped the desk with his palm.
"Nope!" Adam shook his head.
"I can't allow that, Tommy," Professor Hendrick refused immediately.
"Megan will kill us if we let you go," Raj added.
"Then someone has to do something!" Tommy exploded with rage and stormed out of the office, dissatisfied with the outcome of the conversation.
The situation reached a stalemate where Adam wasn't able to secure an alliance, and the survivors of this camp were too scared to go out against odds they weren't ready to face.
Yet, amidst such a fruitless exchange, one voice of reason presented itself as a mediator:
"Sage Hendrick, Herald Clay, may I speak my words?"
Envoy Kahori of the Elden of Alfar stepped forward, joining her hands in a refined gesture of respect, her eyes lowered, and her voice serene and calm.
"Of course, Miss Kahori," Professor Hendrick replied right away, whereas Adam averted his eyes and Elena scoffed in disdain.
"Herald," Envoy Kahori turned to Adam and spoke softly, "In my hometown, we have a saying that goes: 'When neighbors conflict, split their houses in half.'"
Adam stared at Kahori, waiting for a grand reveal, but it seemed more cryptic than enlightening to him. He exchanged glances with Elena, who had nothing but frowns on her face.
"I'm afraid the meaning is lost to me, alien, and your hometown's saying doesn't rhyme well for a proverb," Adam replied with obvious scorn.
"But it does, Herald," Kahori replied with a smile. "My translating rune may be limited and literal, but all our sayings and proverbs are very musical. That aside, it means when opinions differ, offer an exchange of material."
"Careful." Before Adam could think, Elena spoke right away, "Xenos like this appeal to your senses with honeyed words, but there's always poison."
"You are a woman of a warrior caste, yet you distrust everything as a hunter caste would. I can only wonder!" Kahori turned to Elena, addressing her with the same air of mystique.
"I've killed thousands of Xenos before. Play as coy as you want, but you won't fool me." Elena still displayed hostility and agitation.
"Goodness! You feel like you came out of Wartopia fiction or something. Take it easy!" Raj joked about Elena's mannerisms, causing both Elena and Adam to stare blankly at each other.
Adam's eyes were saying, "See what I told you!", while Elena tried her best not to react to anything, maintaining the best poker face she could muster.
As for Adam, he looked back at the alien and applauded her suggestion in his heart.
"Despite my inclinations, I find that suggestion appealing," he said, and turned to the Professor. "There must be something this camp needs, something my camp can provide."
The Professor and Raj exchanged looks before the latter spoke:
"We lack everything, from food to ammunition. We don't know how to maintain weapons properly since we lack the supplies and knowledge to do so."
Adam thought and had an idea.
"You seem to have electricity still running," Adam noted, pointing up at the electric light, a rarity in the apocalypse.
"The Professor spent a full month assembling wind turbines and fixing generators," Raj replied.
"Great. If you have power, I think we can do something about the food situation." Adam turned to Elena and asked, "We can assemble a contraption and make it run on the local power grid, right?"
"As long as the power is sufficient," Elena nodded.
"Can we build the Ol' Belly?" Adam asked.
The term "Ol' Belly" was rather vague to Elena, whose eyes couldn't help but frown even more, yet after a good look at Adam, she understood what he meant.
Ol' Belly is a very vague name for the "Belly of the Beast"; this Belly of the Beast is also slang for the ration processing machine, famously known as the Grub Processor.
Adam had probably made up the Ol' Belly slang so that Raj, who was another Wartopia fan, would be none the wiser about it.
"Ol' Belly is buildable, but we'll need time to adjust it for transportation," Elena said.
Adam nodded with satisfaction and turned to the Professor, giving him an offer:
"My alien-human friends here have a food processing technology that can break down all organic materials, detoxify them using intense energy, and process them into edible bars. Albeit tasteless and insanely bland, these bars will keep you from hunger."
The moment Adam dropped such an offer, the entire room froze. Professor Hendrick, Raj, and even Kahori turned to one another frantically.
"T-Truly?" The Professor stepped towards Adam, then towards Elena, holding their shoulders with his bony, malnourished hands.
"Don't touch me!"
Elena quivered, giving a warning to the Professor, who backed away instantly with an apology.
"This is incredible!" Raj said, almost not believing this sci-fi concept, were it not for Elena's demonstration of her bionic arms' abilities.
"We'll provide the machine and its maintenance if needed. The materials you use are up to you. I've read that even monsters, trees, and expired food can be processed, albeit at the price of your soul," Adam said with a shrug.
"We can manage… but, in return, you only require us to rescue Megan with you?" Raj asked.
"Naturally, there are more demands," Adam said, facing Raj. "First, I'll invite Megan and Tommy to come with me. If they accept, please don't protest."
The request was hardly difficult, yet not without a bad aftertaste. To this, the two men nodded.
"Second, I realize that you have many mouths to feed. For that, my people want to offer recruitment to your camp's residents. We don't have many spots open, but we'll start with ten, regardless of age and gender. We'll provide food, shelter, and military-grade training and gear."
That second offer made the two men freeze once more, with complicated expressions and stiff gazes.
Indeed, they were overpopulated, but if vital survivors chose to leave—such as cooks, doctors, and fighters—the camp might well collapse on its own.
However, Adam only had ten recruitment spots open. That wouldn't hurt them much for the first exchange.
In fact, they couldn't even refuse such excellent terms. Whatever Adam could provide, they would opt in immediately.
Aside from the men, the Alfari woman immediately joined the negotiations:
"That's splendid! From my perspective as a Peddler, can we, the Alfari, be integrated into such a mercantile exchange?"
"No!" Elena's voice came out sharply, not a full second after Kahori spoke.
"We can provide spices that can enhance the taste of any food; it is our specialty. This would be very beneficial for your food situation," Kahori said with glee, ignoring Elena's death glares, "In return, we require only some of the bland food you make since we are facing the risk of famine ourselves."
Elena seemed annoyed by the offer, but the moment Raj heard 'spices,' he was already looking at Adam with puppy eyes.
This situation sparked an idea in Adam's head:
"Let's be clear on this subject. If this camp decides to independently sell the food it produces to the Xenos and exchange spices, we will not intervene. And it goes the other way: if the camp wants to sell us spices for other goods…"
"We will not intervene," Kahori spoke, understanding Adam's undertone.
Strangely, an agreement was struck with an archaic theme of military and mercantile cooperation between three parties, elevating Professor Hendrick's camp to high status as a trade outpost.
It got too political, economic, and strategic too quickly. The survivors of this camp became too involved to back down. Understanding that such a relationship could only improve their chances of survival, Professor Hendrick agreed to act as representative of the camp, shaking hands with Adam, then Kahori.
"I'll go speak with the team leaders."
Raj took it upon himself to deliver word of the agreement to his classmates who led the other teams, and the rescue operation finally found a glimmer of hope.
✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧
Liked what you read? You can always read ✨MOAR!✨
Read NEXT CHAPTER(S) on >>> https://patreon.com/donovels
Wanna chat, get spoilers, report typos, be notified on chapters, or just hang out? Join >>> https://discord.gg/rAyrWnD
All my links and libraries >>> https://bio.link/donovel