After the Second Fall

"On this topic, Mr. Rogers and I talked at length. The most obvious targets are always the typical 'magic bullet' areas, like the genitals or liver, which, as you know, all fighters are trained to defend instinctively. After that, there aren't a lot of choices when the bones are nearly unbreakable. Joints make good sense, but I expected that Presto would be very careful about his knees, because that's how I won the fight against his predecessor. I was hoping for the elbow, but would have also settled for the wrist or the shoulder."

"Amazing," said Director Humbolt, sitting back and folding his arms. "The amount of information you were considering in real time is truly astonishing." Pip didn't reply, and pointedly avoided looking at the Executive Director.

When he came to his description of snapping Presto's femur, it was Director Baker who asked, "How did you know it would break?"

"As I mentioned, Dr. Shepard gave me an idea of the durability to expect, and I had been counting the number of strikes. I had hoped that it would give way before, so the opportunity was too good to pass and I put more power into the strike than the previous ones. By coming down with my heel, I protected the bones in my foot so there won't be a long recovery time."

Director Humbolt followed up, "And how many strikes landed before the last one?"

Pip tilted his head to the side, the answer seeming obvious. "All of them."

Geoff Humbolt's eyes got wide. "All of them?" Pip nodded. "You mean that you didn't miss with a single kick?" Pip nodded again, waiting for a follow-up question from the man.

"Excuse me, Pip," interjected Doctor Shepard, speaking for the first time. "I think Director Humbolt means, what was the number of hits."

"Ah," said Pip, understanding, "my apology. Including the final one, thirty-eight, but as I said, they weren't all as hard as the last one. I started with probing kicks to figure out which ones hurt him the most, then I started concentrating on that spot." Seeing the question in the doctor's eyes, Pip pointed to a location on the outer edge of his quadraceps. The doctor nodded appreciatively and sat back in his chair.

"Sorry, Pip, I'm not following," said Director Baker. "What exactly does pain have to do with breaking bones?"

"Well," said Pip pausing, "not much, I suppose. My idea was to make sure every kick hurt, in case I couldn't actually break the bone. By the time the final quarter started, he could barely stand, so I don't think it was actually crucial that the bone break."

"Another of your conversations with Mr. Rogers?" asked Director Humbolt with a smile.

"Actually," replied Pip, "it was Loren that suggested it." All eyes turned to look at the undersized giant, who still remained silent. "It's how he survived so long as a fighter in Brock-Loren. He couldn't break bones because his own aren't modified at all, but he is good at making fighters want to stop because he hits the same spots over and over again."

Humbolt just shook his head disbelievingly, then pointed at John while mouthing, 'We need to talk.' John acquiesced with a nod.

As Pip wrapped up his recap, talk abruptly turned to strategy as Humbolt, Baker, and Richards began to debate next steps. "Gentlemen," interceded the Executive Director, "we will not come to any agreements this evening. Please reflect on what Pip has told us, and we will meet again tomorrow morning at the ninth bell."

The directors nodded their agreement and the meeting broke up rapidly. Pip didn't bother to rise, and instead looked down the length of the table at the Executive Director, who was staring back. It almost seemed as if the corner of her mouth was trying to turn up. John was the last to leave, and he gave Pip a pat on the shoulder as he did.

"Here we are again, it seems," she said. "This time, however, I would like to make a request." Pip nodded once, making it clear that he was listening. "I want you to be honest with me this evening. Moreover, I want you to be forthright. I know there is more happening than I understand, and that must change tonight. Is this clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," replied Pip, "although I have a request of my own." Her eyebrows raised in momentary surprise, then she also nodded once. "I would like to bring my... I don't have a word for them. The people I care about, the ones who already know part of what is going on. I would like for them to join us."

The Executive Director sat back in her chair with her hands on the armrests. After a full hundred beats she asked, "And who is in this inner group of yours? John Rogers, of course. Probably your trainer. Who else?"

"The women."

"That is surprising," she said fully intrigued. "You've entrusted what may be the biggest secret in the city to women who are collectively known as the worst gossips in the Complex." Again she paused. "It seems there may be even more going on than I suspected.

"Very well. How soon can you be back here with them?"

"I expect that they are in the hallway waiting for me, ma'am," replied Pip nonchalantly.

Again, the Executive Director seemed surprised, then she smiled, the first that Pip had ever seen. "You really are something else, Pip." She motioned to the door. "Please see if you are correct."

Pip complied immediately, and as he thought, there was a crowd standing in the hallway. "Done already?" asked John, breaking off conversation with Director Humbolt.

"No," Pip said, shaking his head, "please come inside." He stepped back and held the door open.

"All of us?" asked John.

Pip nodded and the group slowly moved in, clearly confused.

John took Director Baker's seat while Directors Humbolt and Collins retook their own. Lilith, having some idea what was coming, looked like she didn't want to be there, while Geoff Humbolt appeared completely baffled at what was happening.

Loren tried to stay in the back again, but Pip pointed at Director Richards' seat, and the smaller man reluctantly sat down, finding, like John, that the seat was too small to be comfortable. The girls once again stood near the door, but Pip quickly pulled chairs over to the table so that they could sit near him, Rosie on his left, and Maggie and Rachel on his right.

Once the group was assembled, the Executive Director looked around the table, slowly moving from one person to the next. After several hundred heartbeats of excruciating silence, she sat forward in her chair and placed her arms on the table. "I have suspicions, conjecture, hypotheses, as to what is happening in Pip's fights. After today, I expect that this ambiguity will no longer exist. Is this absolutely clear?" Again, she looked around the table, fixing each person present with her legendary stare.

When she had received nods of agreement from everyone, she sat back and her expression softened. "Well then," she began, "it seems that I am about to become a member of the most exclusive club in the Complex: Pip's inner circle." Looking directly at John, she added, "Finally." John shrugged, but did look a little guilty.

Reaching up, the Executive Director undid the tie that maintained her bun and let the bound auburn hair fall loose. Then she removed the thick black glasses that she always wore and set them on the table. Humbolt's jaw dropped and Lilith's eyes got wide; John looked on curiously. "I hope that you will not see this as such a bad thing."

Director Humbolt had finally reached his end, and spoke up, "Excuse me, Executive Director -"

She cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Please, no more of that tonight. Just call me Cassidy. If we're going to be open with each, the least we can do is use first names. Is that okay with you, Geoff?"

"Okay... Cassidy," he replied cautiously. "My friends normally call me Geo." She nodded and his confidence returned somewhat. "But that's the thing. I'm not part of any sort of cabal, and I'm only really friends with John, although he really pushes my patience sometimes. I was just in the hallway because I was trying to get information out of him."

"Actually," Pip said, "I was hoping you would be able to join. Most of what needs to be discussed tonight is within your purview.

"And," added John, "you and Lilith are the ones that made this possible." Geo didn't understand, but gave up arguing and sat back in his chair.

"Okay, so that's settled," Cassidy said. "So how do you all fit together?" John and Pip shared a look and a brief series of facial expressions, after which John sat forward.

"It started with Pip's sparring match against one of the juveniles, the one that he killed with the blow to the ribs." Cassidy and Geo both nodded. "I saw something on the fight replay and talked with Geo about it. Then we started experimenting."

John went on to explain the long sequence of events that had brought them to the table, with only occasional clarifications or supplemental information from Pip. Rosie and Maggie were silent, overwhelmed at being included in such a discussion. Rachel continued to look content.

When the tale finally wound down, Geo sat back in his chair. "Holy shit."

Cassidy nodded. "That is quite the story. Not that I don't believe you given the Arena results, but can you give us a simple demonstration, Pip?"

Pip looked up at the vaulted ceilings above the table. "Sure. If I'm careful, I can avoid hitting my head."

Everyone around the table looked up. "Bullshit," said Geo without conviction. Pip smirked and asked John and Loren to clear the table and chairs off to the side, then asked Cassidy to join him in the center of the room.

"Stand still, okay?" Her eyebrows raised questioningly, but she nodded. Without any extreme effort, they watched Pip squat down then jump directly up into the air, easily clearing the woman's head to land on the other side as softly as if he had simply bunny hopped. While Cassidy wasn't quite as tall as John or Loren, she was still well above the mean height for men in the city and the experience shocked her to the core.

Seeing this, John walked up to her and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her tight to his side. When she calmed, she looked to Pip. "When you said earlier that you weren't kicking with full force. How hard were you kicking compared to a normal Adam?" Pip smiled inwardly at the oxymoron, but let it go.

"I don't think any of them can kick as hard as I was."

"And that was when you were just feeling him out?"

"Yeah," Pip allowed. "I didn't really think about it like that, but I think that's accurate."

Cassidy turned to look at John. "There isn't a man in the world that can beat him, is there?"

John shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

She walked over and sat down in her oversized chair. "Lilith -- is it okay if I call you Lilith?" Director Collins nodded. "What do you think? You've been entirely silent tonight, so I assume something is bothering you."

Lilith thought about how to respond, then decided that absolute honesty was the only suitable choice. "Pip is amazing. We all know he has a combination of physical skills that just don't normally exist together. I support the path that we've started down, to the ultimate conclusion of the war with Northumberland." She shook her head sadly. "I'm just worried that it will lead to more fighting and more death, when the Arena was always meant as a place to settle disputes that would otherwise escalate."

Lilith looked directly at Cassidy. "I fully appreciate that our entire purpose here in the Complex is to win fights, and I've always felt good about my part in it, because I know I'm helping my city. The problem for me -- for my conscience -- is that I don't want to start gobbling up other territories just because we can. I would much rather use Pip as a last resort, a deterrent against future aggression, than as some sort of autonomous killing machine. We all know what happened the last time leaders had access to the type of power that Pip represents for our city."

The Executive Director raised her hand to say something, but Lilith barreled on, "Ask the girls about Pip and you'll hear how caring and considerate he is with them. Ask John and he'll talk about him like a son. Pip is a real person, just like the other Adams, even though we treat them like disposable resources.

"Ma'am, Cassidy, I really think we're at a watershed moment, and I am terrified -- truly terrified -- that we will collectively take the wrong path, which will lead to a Third Fall." The room was quiet for a hundred heartbeats, and then two, as everyone present considered what Lilith had said. John walked over to her and picked her up, giving her a warm hug. When he sat her back down again, she didn't look quite so shaken.

"I think there is substance in your words," said Cassidy at last, "but I don't know if you have considered the full picture, as it currently looks. Rosaline," she said addressing the much smaller woman, "I know you are relatively new here at the Complex. My understanding is that you came to us from one of the poorer areas of the city."

"Yes, ma'am," replied Rosie, "from the Fourth Quarter, near Apple Gate."

Cassidy's eyebrow arched at the response, but instead of pursuing any of several questions that had formed, she instead said, "I would appreciate it if you would tell us what it is like to live in the city, so far away from the Complex. Please give us the completely unfiltered version; I think it may be crucial to our discussion, which now seems even more important than I expected."

Rosie nodded and took a deep breath. "I grew up in an orphanage, Sankt Pious. At any given time, there were about twenty-five of us. When I turned sixteen, they told me I had to leave. Some of the girls were able to stay until eighteen, but I wasn't, uh, appreciative of the nuns that took care of us. After that, I spent three years on the streets -- never enough food, never enough water -- until I got so desperate and hungry that I showed up here."

"Hey," John said as he folded his arms crossly, "you told me five years when we met."

Rosie reddened, embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Rogers. I really was out of options." Then she said softly, "I can't believe you remember what I said all that time ago."

"He's always been good at pulling things I said out of thin air," interjected Pip. "Just ignore him, he's only teasing you."

John gave Pip a dirty look for ruining his fun, then looked at Rosie and gave her a smirk and a shrug.

Rosie went from mortified to thoughtful to indignant in the span of about a dozen beats. "That first day, you didn't forget my name at all, did you?"

Now John seemed embarrassed, and shook his head slowly. "Yeah," said Maggie, turning to face him. "That's right. You told me to find Rosie, and when I did, she said her name was something else. What was it?"

"Roxy," answered John.

The whole room was quiet again as Rosie continued to stare at him. As before, her expression changed abruptly and her eyes opened in astonishment as realization struck. "You did it for me, didn't you?" John's mouth turned up, just a little, as he looked at her. "You wanted to let me start over." He didn't say anything, but Rosie could tell she was right by the way that his eyes crinkled and his mouth turned up a bit more. Without saying another word, Rosie ran around the table and hugged him tightly. He looked to Lilith, who was smiling, and then to Cassidy, who seemed to have something in her eye.

When Rosie was done, she stepped back with moist eyes and motioned him to bend down, giving him a light kiss on the lips and a whispered "Thank you." Then she turned to Lilith and mouthed, 'Sorry,' before returning to Pip's side. Maggie and Rachel were already there to meet her with a group hug and whispered words of encouragement and acceptance.

Taking a deep breath, Cassidy said, "Thank you, Rosie. I know that wasn't easy." Turning to face Lilith, she began again, "I don't know if you knew how bad it is in certain parts of the city. Roxy evolved into the beautiful butterfly we know as Rosie, but this is rare, just like she is. The typical life expectancy for an unmarried woman in the Fourth Quarter is less than thirty years." Lilith gasped and put her hand to her mouth; Cassidy nodded. "Terrible, I know. So why is it like this? Why can't the Meister's office make it better?

"To put it simply: because we don't have the resources. We have land, but most of the local aquifers -- that's the underground water -- were contaminated a long time ago and haven't recovered. We're on a semi-arid plain, so there's no runoff from mountains and we don't get much rain." Rosie nodded vehemently. "Our only real option for water is the river, but to make the water safe for drinking takes a lot of power, which comes from turbines in the dam that are also powered by the river. When the river is low, like it is now because Northumberland is diverting it upstream for their own purposes, we quickly run out of options."

"I understand," replied Lilith, "but with the ongoing war, we may be able to change that."

"Yes, that is part of our strategy for how to address some of our water and power concerns, but it won't really address food shortages."

"So Northumberland doesn't have the food we need?" asked Geo, glad that he understood the conversation again.

Cassidy shook her head. "Like us, they largely rely on agriculture for food, but the ground is poor because of residual amounts of the same pollutants that poisoned our aquifers. To my knowledge, the only places that have a surplus of food aren't actually cities as we know them, but smaller settlements that are able to trade specialized goods, usually by moving from place to place."

"Can't we do the same thing?" Pip asked.

Again, the Executive Director shook her head. "We are very limited in what we can trade. For example, if we send fruit, they could extract seeds and reverse engineer our gene mods. Once they did that, it might allow them to copy the modifications to their own food, increasing yields. If they end up with a surplus of food, maybe they trade that away for knowledge from another city. With new information, they could find new enhancements for their fighters. With better results in the Arena, they can start to be more aggressive in who to attack and defeat, which lets them enhance their wealth further. Then the cycle continues.

"This has been the relative stalemate going back several decades, especially with ourselves, Northumberland, Gracia, and Marbelo. Now, as you noted, power is shifting. Pip beat Marbelo's best fighter, as well as the top two from Northumberland. It won't just be us that are looking to take advantage."

"Yes, I understand, but..."

Whatever Lilith was going to argue was interrupted by Rachel, who said simply, "Excuse me," as she stood up. Her voice was not particularly loud, but it carried authority, and everyone turned to look at her. "There may be a way to satisfy both of you." Lilith looked hopeful, but Cassidy's face said she was extremely skeptical.

Undeterred, Rachel began to speak. "Has there ever been a truce?"

"Of course," Cassidy replied. "The smaller cities tend to ally themselves with larger cities, so as not to be seen as easy targets. The bigger cities provide protection in return for goods or services. Since the trade routes are neutral territory, it's possible for alliances to span the entire continent."

"Do large cities ever do the same with each other"

Cassidy shook her head. "No, for the same reasons I spoke of before."

In response, Rachel smiled. "This seems like a chance for there to be a first time."

Cassidy didn't immediately respond, as she tried to work out the reasoning. It was Pip that spoke first, saying, "You mean between Rieckenburg and Northumberland." Rachel nodded and Pip frowned, obviously troubled by the idea, but Lilith had picked up the thread.