Professor Anthony Hendrick and Senator Ned Carter both arrived at the military base uphill in what was considered the first official delegation accepted to enter this restricted area.
Unlike what they expected, the uphill base was far less impressive than they had imagined, since Adam had oversold the image of his military operation. Most buildings were made of salvaged metal and silicate bricks, supporting old structures, especially the patchwork-style house surrounded by many antennas and wires. There were foundations where suburban houses once stood, now empty, as it seemed that everything had been stripped clean and stacked in piles of scraps beside a blender-like contraption.
The base itself was surrounded by an earthen trench, fortified by many defensive lookout posts and automatic turrets. While it was unusual to have trench tactics in this day and age, they would be quite beneficial against enemies like the Gobzkin horde, who rely on fear tactics to overwhelm the survivors with ranged terror attacks before charging them with sheer numbers.
As for the other buildings, some of them seemed to have been built in quick succession, the quality of each newer building visibly superior to the older ones, illustrating the base's developmental timeline.
The central control building was visibly the crudest, as it was built on the bones of a former house, followed by two large buildings with many solar cells strapped all over them: the Solar Plants. After that came a wide building of three large units joined together, built mostly with light metal and silicate bricks, and bearing traces of combat; it was mostly used as a drill facility. Lastly, there was a large tower made of many antennas, salvaged cameras, and sensors that seemed to be surveillance equipment, heavily wired to the central control building.
These were the buildings with coherent purposes, at least; aside from them, there were others, such as a depot-style industrial building, a campsite that seemed to be used as a residence by the soldiers but was now vacant, and lastly, a shelter dug in the yard not too far from the central building, with heavy human activity surrounding it.
In other parts of the base, there were 3D-printed walls like the ones used to build the shelters of the survivors' base downhill. Their walls were rather low and seemed more like experiments rather than actual structures, mostly postponed until the last few buildings below are completed.
Another highlight of the military base was the smoothness and solidity of the ground. It seemed like some sort of silicate compound used to level the ground, but as soon as Professor Hendrick crouched down and started checking its nature with his hand, he discovered that it was nothing more than tightly pressed dirt, as it felt grainy to the touch. The Professor and the Senator understood right away that it was mostly Adam Clay's doing, using his Bending Rune to level the ground into its perfect shape.
Speaking of which, Adam stepped out of the main building, followed by his girlfriend, still arguing, as usual, with Megan clearly the upset one. Their quarrel soon ended as the two walked toward the two elders and greeted them with smiles.
The two elders could tell a lover's quarrel when they saw one, so neither of them said anything until Adam got down to business:
"So, let's make this less ceremonious. The two of you have requested to meet and discuss things officially now that everyone has settled down, but let me ask a few questions for you first, Senator."
"Shoot straight, Mr. Clay!" Senator Carter replied, standing confidently while resting his hands on his belt buckle.
"Now that everyone has settled, are there any problems with the buildings? Any quality issues? Air drafts? Heating problems?" Adam asked.
"None so far. Thank you for asking." The Senator replied, then looked, "It's all better than anticipated, but if you want blunt honesty…"
"I'd appreciate so."
"There's more we'd need to establish if you could spare the resources for it."
"Resources, I can spare. Manpower…" Adam gave an uncertain look as he said so.
"I get it. You've already provided us shelter; more than that, we'd have to rely on ourselves." The Senator wore an understanding expression. "But that construction vehicle is rather handy. If it is possible…"
"I'm afraid not." Adam shook his head. "The Crawler is a military vehicle that operates strictly for military purposes."
"Oh!" The Senator frowned. "Then I suppose there are other resources you have that can make any civilian construction processes smoother?"
"Sure thing." Adam nodded. "I've worked on a new design for the silicate bricks we produce around here, hollowed out from the inside for installing foamed glass insulators through them. Use cement for mortar, and you can build anything."
"Fine by me." The Senator nodded, looking at the other two.
"But there is a catch," Adam then added.
"Here it comes." The Senator smirked, knowing that what he heard was too good to be true.
"All buildings must be authorized, organized, and connected to the infrastructure grid that will be laid down. All buildings must be part of the Urban Cluster as well."
"Meaning that we can't do our own planning," the Senator concluded.
"Nope!" Adam shook his head. "The base downhill may be a civilian housing base, but it is still military under our command."
The Senator seemed not too pleased with that last part, but he had no right to object.
"Also, the survivors will have to vacate the buildings that have been constructed." Adam then dropped another bomb.
"What?" Senator Carter frowned fiercely upon hearing that.
"Why? The people need shelter." Even Professor Hendrick stepped into the conversation, despite the fact that he was no longer representative of the Survivors.
"Just let me finish what I'm saying." Adam raised a hand before continuing. "The four buildings we made, and the fifth on the way, each serve a different purpose, but for now they will serve as shelters."
"Meaning?" The Professor asked.
"Once each survivor gets their own living quarters, depending on their situation, these buildings will be used for community services and organization: a Base Command Center, a Hospital, a Guild Hall, a Law House, and a Temple. We're also planning a Mess Hall, maybe a Free Market; the School will be part of the Temple. An orphanage would be a huge undertaking, but I was hoping we could get some adoption traditions started; I've seen a lot of kids without family, though, and it would be a great thing."
Both the Senator and the Professor looked at Adam with expressions that were difficult to interpret, yet as soon as he finished explaining, the two men fell silent, looking at the ground before the Senator let out a big sigh.
"That's… more than great." He said, patting Adam's shoulder. "You're a good man, Adam Clay." He then looked at Professor Hendrick and continued, "This old man and I were bickering all the way up here about survival and just making it another day, and you're here planning to build civilization from the ground up. It's… admirable."
"Thank you, sir." Adam smiled.
"No. Thank you." Professor Hendrick spoke. "I'm glad I was wrong about you after…"
"It's alright." Adam nodded. "I know the last five months were nothing short of Hell on Earth. We lost everything, everyone. And looking back at them, we were too helpless to do anything, but surviving, we may have forgotten how to live like decent humans. We're not out of the woods yet, but building up is the way out."
"True." The Senator nodded.
"Well, that was heartwarming and all, but we'll lose daylight hours if we keep standing here," Megan said, concluding the moment between the men. "You came here to ask questions, and we prepared more than just urbanization plans for you."
"Right." The Senator nodded. "We've been trying to talk with the man in charge for a while. Is it possible?"
"Regarding the Survivors' Affairs, that would be me," Adam replied flatly.
"And the military affairs?" the Senator asked. "That large armored man the young ones keep calling the Paladin. Isn't he the Commander?"
Adam and Megan looked at one another and then back at the two curious old men. They came here not just to assert things, but to figure out who they were working with, and it was not wrong for them to do so, but it would be bad for Adam's plans.
He had Yuki plan a very expensive scheme just to avoid the two worst-case scenarios: being seen as a weakness and losing political weight. Thus, he started his performance right away.
"I can understand why you mistook the great warrior in power armor to be the Commander, but that is not the case," Adam said, smiling as he crossed his arms.
"Then who is he?" Professor Hendrick asked. "I'm familiar with the reference my students call 'Wartopia,' but isn't this awfully similar?"
"Oh, yes. That's on me." Adam smiled and looked apologetic. "I'm designing the bases, the buildings, and the order of things based on my knowledge of Wartopia. It is a military game, as you two understand. Not exactly science, but it aligns well with our alien allies."
He said, but it seemed the two elderly men weren't buying it. It didn't matter, though; the plan was about reverse psychology: to tell the truth but to make others think it was a lie.
"As for the power-armored supersoldier, he is quite high-ranked, outranks the Commander even," Adam said.
"Doesn't this make him the Commander by default?" Professor Hendrick asked.
"I asked the same question myself," Adam agreed. "Well, it turns out supersoldiers like him are a different branch of the military that serves under private orders."
"Think of it like he's US Air Force and the others are US Army. They work together but have totally different chains of command," Megan added.
"That doesn't explain this Wartopia game thing," the Senator pressed from his side.
"Senator. I know Wartopia is a big thing, and I'm a huge fan. But…" Adam mixed a smirk with a scoffing undertone. "… You're telling me some fiction made up by some British nerds in the 80s is coming to life or something?"
"Hah! Those Brits and the stuff they make up!" The Senator laughed heartily, no longer seriously entertaining the idea, turning it into a joke. "Wouldn't be the first time, though! We all saw how it turned out with the Balfour Declaration."
The Senator seemed not in favor of the fan theories circulating among the survivors, unlike the Professor, who was still suspecting something.
"As I said, all the Wartopia misunderstanding is just me taking liberty with naming things, since setting up the translation technology between their language and ours was done by me, so I indulged myself. I apologize for the mix-ups."
Adam's words still held true, and everything he said was twisted in clever ways to serve his purpose well.
Professor Hendrick wanted to further pursue the matter, but Senator Carter stopped him, already satisfied with Adam's explanation and no longer caring about some game terminology nerds use.
"Since we arrived at the subject of technology, let's get to the serious business, shall we?" Megan said.
"Sure." The Professor and the Senator both agreed right away.
"So, I remember once that you gave us a lecture on optical technology in biorobotics, Professor," Megan said.
"Yes. That was last year." The Professor finally became distracted by the subject of a technology he understood.
"Well, we were trying to set up an Optics Lab for crystal manufacturing. They are essential for Blazer-arms," Megan explained.
"The laser guns?" The Professor asked with wide eyes.
"Yes. They use optics to focus energy into bolts. So far, we have been using the weapons the aliens brought, but we must start manufacturing our own to arm every capable fighter in the two bases. Yuki has been working on setting up the lab, but none of us know how to proceed. Even the aliens don't have an optics expert with them."
Megan's explanation made the bells ring in the heads of both Professor Hendrick and Senator Carter.
Arms manufacturing! This is important! The two thought in unison.
"Professor." Senator Carter looked at the Professor, and the latter understood the look in his eyes.
Not in a million years would these fundamentally different types of men agree this fiercely on such a subject regarding weapon-making, if not for the apocalypse.
Immediately, the Professor was following Megan to the industrial building where they joined Yuki, who was working on the Optics Lab, the last step to make actual Blazer-arms for humanity for the first time.
As for Adam and the Senator, they had a different conversation.
"We have an equally important task, Senator," Adam said and led the man toward the Refinery Rig at the center of the base. "I want you to list all the individuals who have manufacturing skills, and list their capabilities: Chemists, Tailors, Cooks, etc."
The Senator looked at Adam and stroked his beard before asking:
"You want to move your industrial work to the base downstairs?"
"You read my mind." Adam nodded. "Currently, we are working on a machine called the Textile Printer. As the name suggests, it can make clothes, beddings, and many items, and we'll move it immediately downhill. It is not perfect, but it needs skilled tailors to finish its products."
"Say the word, and we'll start the work. I have candidates in mind already," the Senator agreed.
"Perfect. The Survivor Base shall focus on the production of everything except weapons, as well as energy production. The Military Base will make weapons from light to heavy and provide total security."
"You do all that, and we'll be golden."
Adam and Senator Carter shook hands on their deal, each knowing that the other would come later and ask for more, but right now, it was all about assessing one another for the even greater list of demands each of the two was brewing in their minds.
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