Kyle West - Evolution

Samuel frowned, thinking. I didn’t blame him. Augustus had given him a lot to think about, and a lot of what he said actually made sense.

“I don’t know what Ashton told you about me, but it wasn’t the entire picture,” Augustus said. “Always remember, there are at least two sides to every story, and most times more. Always be skeptical of what people tell you, especially your friends. You are more liable to believe them.”

“Our loyalty is to Ashton,” Samuel said. “First and foremost. I do not have the authority to give you what you ask. Only Ashton does.”

Augustus smiled again. There was something…insistent about it. “Believe me, Samuel. At the head of my army, we can be very persuasive. And Ashton…if he cared so much about the fate of the world, then why was he too cowardly to come and meet me himself? I would have let him right in.”

“Because you still have a score to settle,” Anna said.

“That is all in the past,” Augustus said. “I am looking to the future. If I hadn’t been looking to the future, could I have built all this ?”

He gestured around the room, and in so doing we knew he was talking about Nova Roma.

The light of the day had almost been extinguished, and the sitting room was darkening. Despite the warmth of the breeze, I felt a chill pass over me.

“Your Wasteland is nothing more than a series of fractured city-states, gangs, and competing agendas. You will accomplish nothing there without my help, Samuel. Surely, you know of the man, Carin Black?”

Carin Black. He was the leader of the Black Reapers, the gang that had supplanted the Lost Angels in L.A.. Had Augustus been corresponding with him?

“Of course we know of him,” Samuel said. “He is our enemy. He destroyed the Lost Angels several years ago.”

Augustus nodded. “It would be wise to not consider him an enemy, Samuel. He is a powerful man — the most powerful man in the Wasteland at present. And he will not give up his power easily. Trying to convince him otherwise, as you plan to do, might be even more suicidal than walking into my Empire.” Augustus smiled in the darkness. “We all know how that almost turned out.”

“Nonetheless,” Samuel said, “He is an evil man. He has committed unspeakable crimes, against the Lost Angels, against my sister, and against me. Carin forced my sister into a life that I will never forgive him for. And the way he treats his slaves makes your Empire look like paradise in comparison.”

“My Empire is paradise.”

“A paradise for the few.”

“Don’t be naive, Samuel. It has always been that way, even before Ragnarok. The world is a harsh place. All I can hope to do is dim that harshness. It will take time, yes. But as they say, time heals all wounds.”

Samuel said nothing in response.

“If you agree,” Augustus continued, “then you will find a ready ally in Carin Black and the Reapers. Give me the locations of the other Bunkers, and we will have all the weaponry we will ever need to take on the Blights. It is the simplest solution, and you know it.”

“The freedom of the Wasteland is not something to be bandied about,” Samuel said.

“If we give you the locations to the Bunkers,” I said, “those weapons will make it easier for you to conquer the Wasteland. Why would we do that for you?”

Augustus smiled. “Because you have no other choice. I will not hide my intents. I am laying it all out on the table, as any man should. You, however, Samuel…I can tell you are made uncomfortable by this. I tell you now, in my time as Emperor, I have learned that safety always comes with a price. You must decide for yourself if you are willing to pay it.”

Samuel sighed. “And should I disagree?”

Augustus shrugged. “You have no reason to disagree. But if you disagree, nothing changes. I march on the Wasteland. I meet with Black. And there will be war. I will have more trouble finding the Bunkers without the coordinates, but they will be found. I will overwhelm the other Wasteland leaders with sheer numbers, leaders who will undoubtedly cobble together a poor, fractured defense. And then, I will march on the Great Blight, and using the knowledge you have given me, attack the Voice, and destroy it. You will have no choice but to help me at that point, because I will be the only one with the power to stop the Voice.”

Samuel glared at Augustus. “I will not sell you the Wasteland. This mission will be under the direct control of both Dr. Ashton and myself. We are the only ones who know what must be done in order for it to succeed.”

“I grant you that,” Augustus said. “But without me, you cannot succeed.”

“I can say the same for you. So the best we can do is compromise — so that you can get what you want, and I can get what I want.”

“Clearly,” Augustus said, smiling. “I am glad we have come to this consensus. But I will have you remember — the Empire was the only nation that survived the horrors of Ragnarok. I saved thousands of your Americans when your own country could not even do that. True, most of them are slaves now. But they are not dead, and they are treated well in accordance with Imperial law.”

“What about the arenas, then?” I asked, angrily. “What about the Coleseo ?”

“You know nothing. The Coleseo is for the transgressors — the prisoners and malcontents who cannot follow Imperial law. I do not allow innocents to fight there.”

“What about us?” Anna asked. “What about Makara? We came to your Empire to speak with you, and instead I was enslaved the very day I came here. Something is broken about this place that you say is the best hope for humanity. Forgive us for being a little skeptical.”

“It isn’t perfect, I admit,” Augustus said. “But don’t forget that it was my hand that saved you, and I had every right not to.” Augustus turned back to Samuel. “We can either do this the easy way, or the hard way. You can join with me, and by force of arms have all your Wastelander leaders fall into line. Or, you can go your own way. You will never be able to muster all the armies of the Wasteland quickly enough to resist me — and, I would overwhelm them with great force. They are too disjointed, and I will be there in two months, ready, organized, capable.”

Samuel said nothing, only brooded over what must happen next. Augustus didn’t know we had Gilgamesh and Odin . If he did, that would change the balance of power. It meant that, if we could somehow get out of Nova Roma, we could reach the Wasteland and have the time to mount a defense. But even two months would be cutting it very close.

“I would need to let Ashton know about this arrangement,” Samuel said.

Samuel couldn’t be serious. If he was playing along with the Emperor, then he was playing a dangerous game. I was all too aware of the guards surrounding us, and the fact that we had no weapons.

I could see in Augustus’s eyes that he was very interested in meeting Ashton. Perhaps what he was most interested in. He had to have had great self-control to play it cool for so long. “Yes. Go and speak with Ashton, and bring him here to finalize this arrangement. Until this occurs…Makara stays here. Until I am completely satisfied she has recovered from her injury.”

“You bastard,” Anna said.

Samuel placed a hand on Anna’s arm, silencing her. “You have a deal.”

A shadow passed over the garden in a rush of wind, darkening the room. At first, we all thought it was Gilgamesh , come to our rescue once again. But the shadow passed, and there was no sound of an engine. It must have just been a cloud.

“You will remain free, obviously,” Augustus said. “I consider you dignitaries representing the entire Wasteland. But I hope you will consider joining my Praetorian guards. Perhaps, when all of this over, I can arrange a joint governorship for you all over the entire Wasteland.”