Chapter 547 (1/2)

“I’m really sorry I haven’t had time to talk,” Tatiana said to Randidly as she moved a pot off the fire to a stone slab to cool. “I’ve been rather preoccupied with nursing the injured we received back to health.”

Randidly scratched his chin. “... no worries. That’s actually why I’m here. Recently… we discovered a group of similarly abused individuals. We brought them here, because… well, I wouldn’t know where else to turn. I have a lot of Skills… but this is an area where I don’t think I’d be very helpful.”

Tatiana looked up at Randidly sharply, his eyes searching his face for something. Inwardly, Randidly wondered if something had gone wrong with his Baloo Erickson illusion. But after several seconds, she gave him a tired smile.

“More huh? Well, this is definitely the place for them. We won’t let those fucking Unity Church goons touch a single hair on their heads. Where are they?”

“That woman Monica,” Randidly said, gesturing over towards the central hut. “Last time I was here, she seemed like she knew what was going on. We gave them to her. Eight more, this time. Are you… do you have proof the Unity Church is responsible for them?”

Honestly, Randidly had the same impression. But he would appreciate some proof.

Tatiana hissed, sitting down on a wooden chair. “Well… no. But those that were willing to talk did all confirm they were staying in one of the Unity Church Refugee camps. The last thing they remember was heading to bed, like any other day. If someone really was going into Unity Church camps and body snatching, I have a hard time believing the church wouldn’t know about it.”

Inwardly, Randidly wondered if that was true. It seemed like more and more people were being vindicated from the borderlands every day. The methods of rescuing had become much more refined, and now there was a constant stream of new blood to the System. Of course, there was apparently a super camp in the East, that was a city entirely composed of refugees, but that was still unable to handle the sheer volume of people.

“Fuck!” Tatiana swore abruptly. She glared at the ground, shaking her head back and forth. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and Randidly found himself oddly comforted by the way it swung back and forth. “It’s true, it's just a gut instinct. But even worse than their wounds is what some of the girls said about life in the refugee camps. How they need to repeat the chants of the priests. How they are told they need to indicate specific flaws they see in other people in their daily prayers, so they can stomp such behavior out of themselves. How the primary virtue in the Unity Church is faith in God and trust in your fellow man. Asking questions is frowned upon, especially in regards to the System. They say that everything will be revealed in time…”

Tatiana trailed off, seeming to run out of gas. Suddenly, she just seemed tired. She was definitely a woman who had fought her way through some tough times to get where she was. The time spent struggling became the bags under her eyes.

Then she sighed. “Well, if Monica has them, they should be fine for a while. I just made bean casserole, would you like any?”

Randidly nodded.

So for the next 10 minutes, the two of them sat outside and slowly ate in silence. Tatiana seemed lost in her thoughts and Randidly was already thinking about the drones he had recovered from the spat earlier as he was leaving the bunker. There were a half-dozen different varieties he had recovered, and Randidly was pleased to find that they were some of the most expensive.

Besides, it was nice to just sit and think. Slowly, Randidly was learning the role of rest in his life.

“...I have a strange question,” Randidly said finally.

Tatiana looked up at him, her eyes curious. Randidly scratched the back of his head.

“I’m not sure if I should even say it. It just sounds… well, anyway, why are all the girls who live here with you so attractive? That can’t be normal, right?”

Tatiana burst out laughing. “Ha! And here I thought you were near celibate.”

Randidly gave her a sour look, but she ignored him.

“No, it’s not a coincidence. A lot of these gals were people that I knew… before the System. They were recently freed from the borderlands. Worked as escorts, or were reporters, or the “pretty lawyer” at the firm. Back in old Washington, when the same older men with wives were hitting on you, you swiftly learned to rely on social cues from other women to understand what sort of situation you were in for if you decided to humor the man. Did he have weird kinks? Would he try and blackmail you? If it was a transaction for money, would he stiff or shortchange you?

“Saying it now, it sounds seedy. But that’s just what life was like. Now, I dare not let these girls go. I mean look at them, they are gorgeous. It was one thing to have threats hanging over them was just how much more upper body strength men have than women. And when men got old enough in the old world, that went away. Now? They would be devoured.”

As they were speaking, two women walked from one hut towards the central hut. It was clear from the breathy laughter of the one, and the constant spinning and posing of the other, that the latter woman was wearing a new dress and showing off. Her friend was more than happy to laugh and compliment.

It was a simple thing, a sapphire blue number that stopped a bit above the woman’s knees. She paired it with a leather belt that was probably from some of the oversized wolverine monsters that Tykes had helped kill last week. When they noticed Randidly and Tatiana, they both waved and continued on their way.

Both were tall and slender, with high cheekbones and thick hair that cascaded down their backs. They seemed more at home in a catalog than a series of brick huts.