NOVEL NEXT Chapter 104: Day Six Negotiations
Atlas and the team rushed towards the teleportation point. What they saw, though, was not an attack as they had feared, but Olivia and two other women who had shown up with no visible weapons drawn.
Olivia looked calm but determined, her eyes scanning the rough setup of the settlement. Atlas sized her up quickly, wondering why she was here.
She was mentally freaking out though, ‘Clark was right, they clearly are practicing satanic rituals. There are people dressed in bone and even the tower here is built with remnants of the dead. No matter what though, I must see if I can use diplomacy for a chance of nonviolence.‘
"Atlas, right?" Olivia asked, her voice steady. "My name is Olivia, leader of the Earth’s Children. I'm here to talk."
Atlas nodded slowly, "Talk about what? You've come a long way just for a chat."
Olivia gestured to the two women beside her, "We're here on a diplomatic mission. We’ve heard... disturbing rumours about what you’re doing out here."
Atlas raised an eyebrow, "Disturbing, huh? And you believed them enough to come all this way?"
"We believe in finding peaceful solutions," Olivia replied. "We’ve heard stories of enslavement, satanic rituals, and bone structures meant to summon demons. Are any of those true?"
Atlas laughed sharply, "Satanic rituals? Really? Who's been feeding you that crap?"
She looked at the watchtower, and the crafters dressed in skeleton armour. The leather helmets made with the skin of the demon dogs were also disturbingly displayed. The eyeless faces of the demon dog helmets seemed to stare into her soul.
One of Olivia’s companions spoke up, "Clark. He was quite convincing. And from what we can see, he was right.” Indicating the skeletal crafters.
Atlas's eyes narrowed. "Clark, huh? Figures. So that’s where that fucking traitor went went."
Olivia stepped forward, "Regardless of the source, we want to ensure there’s no hostility between our groups. We’re here to discuss terms of peace, maybe even cooperation."
Atlas crossed his arms, thinking for a moment. "Terms of peace, you say? What exactly are you offering, or should I say, asking for?"
Olivia hesitated, clearly not expecting him to be so direct. "We want assurances that you won’t attack us, that you’ll leave our people in peace."
Atlas sighed, "Look, lady, I’m not interested in picking fights with people unless they give me a reason. But I’m not gonna lie, the wasteland isn’t a place where peace and cooperation comes easy. You’ve got to be ready for anything."
The conversation continued, and at this point, John stepped in. "Atlas, maybe I can handle this." Atlas thought, ‘That’s a good idea. This political shit is definitely not my forte.‘
John stepped forward with a friendly smile. "Hi, I’m John, the leader of this camp."
Olivia looked confused. "I thought Atlas ran this camp."
"No," John replied, "Atlas is our war leader. He keeps us safe and runs our security. I manage the settlement, and Amber," he pointed toward a nearby woman who was busy organising supplies, "runs the crafters."
"So, how does that work?" Olivia asked sceptically. "Hasn’t Atlas already enslaved you all?"
John burst out laughing. "Are you kidding? Do we look like slaves?"
Olivia glanced around again, noting how relaxed and purposeful everyone seemed.
John gestured warmly. "Why don’t we take you on a tour? Amber, could you show them around?"
Amber smiled and added, "And we have breakfast, too. Have you eaten?"
Olivia and her group shook their heads. "No, we haven’t."
Amber passed each of them an Ultra Manly Buff Bar, vegan lasagna flavour. Olivia took the bar, surprised by the thoughtfulness of the preparation. ‘How nice of them,‘ she thought. ‘They even brought out vegan food just for us. Maybe there’s more hope for a diplomatic solution than I thought.‘
Meanwhile, John was silently praying, ‘I hope these god awful bars don’t cause any problems or start a war.‘
As they began the tour, Amber pointed to a tall structure. "This is our watchtower. It gives us a view for miles, and with a guard stationed at the teleportation port, any army that tries to port in won’t get close to the settlement before we can take them out."
Olivia nodded, acknowledging the practical value of the watchtower. "But there’s no need for a watchtower, is there? The Mana Dome of MegaAwesomeness protects us all."
John’s expression grew serious. "You have Clark in your group, don’t you?"
Olivia, knowing this could be a tricky topic, replied cautiously, "Yes, but he joined us later. Why?"
"And he never told you about the problems with the Mana Dome of MegaAwesomeness?" John pressed.
Olivia frowned. "What would he know about the problems?"
Atlas, who had been trying to stay quiet to let John lead, finally couldn’t hold back. "That fucker Clark is the reason I didn’t get home the first time. He betrayed me at the last moment, probably just like he’s planning to betray you. But he’s been through this apocalyptic wasteland before, just like me. And he knows the problems with the Mana Dome of MegaAwesomeness."
Olivia, taking in this information cautiously, asked, "And what would that problem be?"
John explained, "Have you noticed how many demon dogs are building up, attacking you overnight?"
"Yes, we have," one of Olivia’s companions replied, "but they still can’t get through. They could pile up another 50, 100—we’re safe."
"And you haven’t noticed the costs are getting higher and higher to turn it on?" John inquired.
"They are," Olivia admitted, "but the cost for peace is well worth it."
Atlas interjected again, his tone insistent. "You have to stop using that Mana Dome of MegaAwesomeness. What’s going to happen is that those demon dogs aren’t going to go away. They’re going to kill your forest, and then every step you take out of that settlement, even during the day, the demon dogs are going to rip your hunters apart."
Olivia remained sceptical. "Well, we’ll see," she said, clearly thinking, ‘I don’t think that’s going to happen. We can just tell our hunters to be careful.‘
Sensing that the conversation was veering toward an unproductive direction, John quickly suggested, "Here, let me continue taking you on the tour."
Amber led them to the next part of the settlement, pointing out the crafting stations, the storage areas, and the barracks where the Portal Crushers slept. Olivia observed everything carefully, noting the efficiency and organisation. Despite the warnings from Clark and Ronald, she found it hard to believe that these people were involved in anything nefarious. But doubt still lingered in her mind as they continued the tour.
Amber gestured toward the crafting station. “As you can see here, this is where we use the skeleton bones.”
‘Satanic ritual, ‘ Olivia’s group thought in unison.
John quickly picked up on their concern. “I know you’re all thinking that this is used for some sort of demonic ritual, but it’s not. It’s just repurposing what the Wasteland has given us. Don’t you guys use the skeleton bones to provide armour? The costs of armouring and providing weapons to all of our people are really high. Without the bone armour most of our porters and crafters would be unarmoured.”
“Oh, we don’t armour our people, a couple of the hunters have armour and we also provide weapons for them.” Said Olivia.
‘That’s useful information.‘ Atlas thought.
Olivia’s group stayed quiet, still sceptical.
“And over here is our cooking station, where we’re making a whole bunch of pudding pops,” Amber continued.
“Oh, those look delicious. Are they vegan?” Olivia asked.
“No,” John said, “they’re not. Unless you consider slimes vegan?”
“Oh, what a shame,” Olivia replied, her disappointment apparent.
Amber pointed out another area. “And over here’s our new bathhouse.”
Olivia raised an eyebrow. “Oh, that’s an interesting use of your coins.”
“What do you mean by that?” Amber asked, curious.
“Well, what we’ve discovered is that by not using soap or bathing too often, it allows our body to let the microbes and oil production balance itself out, returning our bodies and chakras to their natural state,” Olivia explained.
“Oh, I see,” Amber replied, a bit puzzled.
John, on the other hand, was thinking, ‘I was wondering why you guys all smelled so bad.‘
He quickly steered the conversation back. “Anyway, the end of our tour is here. Of course, we have the same vending machines that you guys do.”
One of Olivia’s group members noticed something. “I noticed you don’t have a co-op centre.”
“A co-op centre?” John asked, intrigued.
“Yes,” the group member explained. “That’s where we can meditate, find inner harmony and gather information on the wasteland. It helps replenish our souls and guides us towards calm flow.”
John smiled politely. “Well, we definitely don’t have one of those, but maybe we’ll get one in the future.”
Atlas, overhearing this, thought, ‘Yeah, right. We’ll get one of those about the same time we start pushing up daisies. There are a million things we’d buy before that.‘
As they finished the tour, John concluded, “And that’s it. That’s our camp. As you can see, no satanic rituals, no slaves, and we’d be happy to talk to you about peaceful settlement and diplomatic ties.”
Olivia looked relieved. “I’m so glad I came here. I don’t know why Clark would think that you were enslaving people and having satanic rituals, but we’ll definitely go back and talk to him. Why don’t we plan to meet up again tomorrow? We can bring some of our colouring books and journals from the co-op centre so that you, too, can enjoy them.”
John nodded, still smiling. “That would be great. Thank you very much,” he said, thinking, ‘I don’t think any of our people would really need colouring books, but it’s the thought that counts.‘
As the conversation was winding down, Olivia thanked them for the tour. Just as they were about to leave, Atlas stopped them. “Wait. Clark and Ronald are both still at your camp?”
“Yes,” Olivia said, wondering where he was going with that.
Atlas’s expression turned serious. “Be careful. Those two have betrayed me. Clark has done it twice, and once a snake shows its fangs, it’s never to be trusted again.”
Olivia, still hopeful, replied, “We always believe that people can change their minds and become better. And Clark has been nothing but an exemplary member of our group.”
John stepped in diplomatically. “Well, be that as it may, please take this box of vegan lasagna bars with you as our gift, and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”
Olivia nodded. “And us you.”
She crushed the return token in her hand when they got to the teleportation spot in front of the fence, and the group of three vanished, returning to the Earth Children’s Settlement.
After they left, Atlas turned sharply to John,"Hold on here a second," he said, before yelling out, "Isabella, Alexander, Portal Crushers, over here!"
The group gathered quickly, sensing the urgency in Atlas's tone. "Get your armour and weapons on," Atlas ordered, his eyes scanning the faces of his team. "You too, John."
Amber, still trying to process what was happening, stepped forward. "What's going on?" she asked, her voice tinged with concern.
Atlas didn't hesitate. "We need to attack their camp this afternoon.”
***
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