A Perfectly Logical Guide to a Superhuman Apocalypse: 89

A Perfectly Logical Guide to a Superhuman Apocalypse: 89

…

Wordcount: 2500

Commissioned by Arksoul

…

Honestly, the asteroid base had me wondering if the destruction of global civilization was just a power play.

“Hey, Parvati, how likely is it that the rich and powerful broke up civilization just to consolidate power after things settled down?” The asteroid base had marks of being at least a decade older than the apocalypse. What I thought was just the world boiling after their heroes were proven to be corrupt and crazy, may have actually been just a cover for a world takeover. “Because after seeing that asteroid base, I’m starting to think that we’ve all been tricked into thinking it’s our fault.”

“It is possible. The deterioration of society was swift and brutal. Nuclear exchanges. Clashes by ideology and nation. All forces that could guide people away destroyed in the initial exchange.” Parvati walked beside me, thankfully not in the tanned!Maelstrom chassis, as we made our way to Maelstrom’s cabin. Lots of things have changed since I first came here. It was all still dispersed and rural, but there were stone roads instead of dirt, new signposts, and little improvements like benches and flower beds. Things that made the place a bit better. “It could all be just war plans by various nations working all at once. But what if those war plans weren’t triggered by leaders of nations and generals who would’ve otherwise hesitated and chosen compromise?”

“You’d think someone would go and say ‘let’s not kill each other,’ yeah?” There were multiple historical situations where people chose not to let the bombs loose, even with all their protocols and training telling them to do so. Everyone kept diplomatic lines open, worked together, and made sure to keep at it via proxy wars rather than go with nukes. What happened to diplomacy when the nukes launched years ago and humanity went from billions to millions? “Even if tensions were boiling over because of heroic organizations being corrupt, nukes shouldn’t have gone off, right?”

“The only way to know for sure would be to be there. Perhaps, if we gather old satellites and access facilities that have communications logs, we can evaluate it… but even then data can only give so much.” Parvati shook the head of the officer-looking gynoid it inhabited. This AI really also discerned my bias towards women in suits/uniform. Yeah, it’s a pretty rare bias. Actually, Maelstrom’s the only one who wears formal wear like it besides Seran. Huh? Did I look at Seran that way? I’ll ask Parvati for the rundown later. “Capturing and questioning one of their members would be the best method of verification. However, Egress, we mustn’t also keep in mind that their hands may be clean of that tragedy and that they are simply opponents with their own plans for the planet.”

We entered the cabin.

As usual, dinner was being prepared.

“Egress. Parvati. Thank you both for coming early.” Maelstrom had her hair in a high ponytail and wore a white apron over her suit sans jacket. The house was filled with the scent of grilling meat, and the chill inside was similar to the outside. All the windows were open. “Can you help set the table, Egress? Parvati, the vegetables, please.”

I gave a nod in response and moved to set the table up, while Parvati broke the news as she prepped a basket of vegetables for grilling.

“Maelstrom, while expanding our surveillance network, we’ve encountered a hidden satellite base older than the apocalypse. We have reason to believe that the space-faring faction we’re now fighting may have left Earth well before the bombs dropped.” Maelstrom’s brow furrowed, while I set the table with a wave of my hand. Plates and utensils arranged themselves across the long table. Twelve people were attending tonight. “We have no conclusive evidence, but—

“There might have been people in league with them that made sure everything went the way that it did.” Maelstrom finished Parvati’s statement with a nod. She tended to some steaks and flipped them to create some diamond-shapes with the grill marks. She used a simple pair of tongs, and moved the ones cooked to certain doneness to a low oven. People were going to start trickling in within twenty minutes, so there was time for each steak to rest after finishing. The vegetables were going to be served as fresh as possible. I meandered over to the kitchen counter and got to work helping with prep-work. Ripe avocados caught my attention. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had guacamole. “I’ll speak to a few people who might know more.”

That made me raise an eyebrow and Maelstrom sighed.

“More than a few people under my protection are prisoners. There were very many missiles aimed at them, and they’re mostly in isolated areas. For the most part, I don’t ask questions as long as they don’t create problems. They paid for their sentences surviving being left behind.” Maelstrom stated with a firm nod. I wasn’t about to argue with that. Prisons are bad enough. Surviving in a prison after civilization went to shit? I bet that a lot of people had to do messy things in order to survive. “A few of them performed white-collar crimes. Fraud and bribery. They had connections with some institutions. The ones who had longer sentences may know of larger organizations.”

I raised a hand to ask a question, but Maelstrom answered it for me.

“I didn’t accept any supremacists into my community, Egress. I’m eager to give people a chance, but not deluded.” That answered my question and I lowered my hand. The guacamole was coming along nicely with all the avocado scooped out. With my power acting as a scoop of sorts, I was able to get super lose to the inside of the skin. Tomatoes, onions, parsley, and some spices were mixed into everything and before I knew I had a fresh bowl of guacamole. I gave it some squeezes of lemon to keep it from going brown, before sending it covered to the fridge. “I doubt they’ll know anything. It would be better to search military command bunkers or find people with tracking data of launches.”

“I will compile a list of sites and investigate them if they are abandoned. If they are populated, then it may be prudent to have you or Egress come forward.” Parvati turned to me and paused. “I believe that there was a military junta in Hawaii that you interfered with shortly after your exit of your bunker? There are many observatories on that island.”

I grunted.

“I haven’t taken a look at the place, but I’ll go check it out. It’s been months since I abducted their crazy leader and put him in a cave with no exits.” That got me looks from both of them. I just shrugged. “Didn’t want to kill him myself. He could’ve gotten out. Maelstrom didn’t pay me enough to kill him outright.” Then, I looked at Maelstrom. “He was a rapist and a serial killer, and I confirmed it.”

“We’ll need to speak regarding any excursions you’ve had that involve heads of state, Egress.” Parvati shook her head and looked over at Maelstrom. “I was unaware that you commissioned him to do such a thing.”

“They were planning on reconquering the west coast and reestablishing a government based on superhuman supremacy.” Maelstrom stated, and Parvati gave a nod. She’ll probably verify that situation on her own. “Since their vice-president has been abducted, they’ve been far more focused on improving their infrastructure and sensor capabilities. The loss of the vice president also allowed more moderate elements to act.”

“And, when are you planning to bring the state of Hawaii back into the fold, Maelstrom?”

“I don’t have such a desire. Their inclusion into the current paradigm will cause too many problems, since they have such a large fleet at their disposal including submarines with nuclear arsenals.” Maelstrom glanced at me.

“I saw operational submarine pens, but not submarines themselves.” I confirmed, and Maelstrom nodded. “Yeah, I think that place needs some time to cool off. But it’d be good to get access to whatever databases they have.”

A thought crossed my mind.

“Hey, can you take a look at any mountain complexes in the US that are still active? Maybe, we can find one that’s not smashed up?”
Parvati gave a nod at my request.

“I’ll cross-reference some data that I have with satellite scans. I should have something within the hour.” Parvati confirmed, before turning towards the door. “Everyone’s here.”

“We’ll get back to this talk after dinner. For now, let’s celebrate our small victory.”

I wasn’t about to argue with that.

There’s time for thinking and time for eating.

…

With the addition of spices from China and India, the meal was transformed.

When I came out of the bunker and contacted Maelstrom, I recalled having some fresh, juicy steaks with some salt and pepper. The pepper in question was scavenged and almost stale. The rest of the vegetables were prepared on the grill with the only seasoning being salt, though they were marinated in some oil with garlic and onions. There was cheese from the cows. Nothing fancy, just something close to mozzarella and nothing like sharp cheddar or anything with any funk. For grains, we had freshly baked flatbreads and some sourdough available to us, though some people were already trying to grow rice back them.

Now, things were different.

The long table was covered in numerous dishes supporting the mean entrée of grilled meat and grilled vegetables. We had salads that had some crumbled, feta-like cheese with candied nuts and dried barriers. There was some whole fished steamed courtesy of Qin, and it was served with green onions in a sauce of light soy sauce, ginger, and some Chinese cooking wine. Clancy brought plenty of potatoes along that were great for mash and several that were great for roasting quickly, and he prepared them fairly quickly. Anderson didn’t decide to come, but she told me to pick up some pies and I got them for dessert. Seran was more than happy to provide some lox, while Lady Edel brought some cheeses made from their lands.

The whole table was a mess of different foods from all over the world.

A mess without any coordination whatsoever.

Yet, we almost all paused to look at all of it with no small amount of astonishment.

“Man, we really had things good a couple of years ago, huh?” Clancy was the first to break the silence at the table, while looking at the plate. His daughter sat between him and Qin. Qin was speaking Mandarin to her daughter, explaining the variety of foods, and telling her which ones to not waste her time on. “I don’t even remember the last time I had some pop!”

He seemed the most enthused with soda, and was already on his second bottle of some cola.

“Y-yeah, I don’t remember the last time I ate rice.” Seran was sticking close to me. She was dressed as a mayor, suit-clad and all, but didn’t look at all pleased with all the attention. Lady Edel raised an eyebrow with her attempt to hide behind me, but made no mention of it. She was focused on tearing into some steaks. “This steamed fish is amazing.”

That brought Qin into the conversation.

“Thank you, it’s a family recipe.” Qin preened, and I was tempted to ask when she learned to cook. From what I remembered, she ran away from home to earn a lot of money. Did she go back and help her family out and reconnect? “I enjoy the smoked fish that you’ve brought.”

“Thanks!”

It was a potluck of sorts. Not that I’ve ever been to one, unless dinners hosted by warlords count. Shady government agencies don’t usually hold get-togethers with catering, let alone have potluck days. Actually, now that I thought about it, I received way more free food working for authoritarian dictators than I did with the alphabet agencies. What’s the point of having an infinite budget if you can’t use it to feed your guests?

But moving on.

I was sampling most of the food present, but I naturally gravitated towards the steamed fish since I haven’t had any of it recently. The few times that I had it before I went into my bunker were also with Qin, though she didn’t make it herself. It was a whole spectacle with a massive, steamed fish brought in to the center of the table for everyone to enjoy with fresh rice. I enjoyed it mostly for the broth made by the fish, the seasonings, and the heated scallion oil poured over the fish to finish it. The fish itself was nice, tender, and flaky, but I could eat the sauce created by the dish with just bowls of plain rice.

If you could bottle that stuff, you’d make a killing.

“I am enjoying the steak very much, Walker-san.” Nori spoke up while I was ladling on some more of the sauce onto a new bowl of fresh rice. The Japanese submarine captain was dressed in formal military dress whites, and looked pretty out of place, but no one minded. She elected to bring dessert in the form of various kinds of mochi confections, along with plenty of leaves for green tea. From a glance, I knew some were stuffed with fruits while others had sweetened bean paste. A good way to finish the meal, and a sign that things were getting a bit better food-wise over there. “We must use our lands for growing rice and other staple crops for now. May we trouble you for some pastures, so that we can bring herds of dairy cattle back?”

“Do those dairy cows happen to be of the Hokkaido region?” Parvati spoke up. Her gynoids were capable of eating, but she just took small portions. She had perfect memory and could just replay the sensation. Her meals were more aimed towards creating the perfect bite, then just enjoying that straight from memory again and again. I was almost jealous. “I’ve heard great things regarding the quality of their product.”

Nori seemed to brighten up at that and started talking to Parvati, while I noticed Seran tugging on my sleeve.

“Get me some of the steak.” She said to me conspiratorially. I wondered why she was being sneaky, then I realized that the platter of meat by her side was already looking empty from where she could reach. The farther ones were closer to the new Canadian nobility. Right, her place doesn’t eat land-based animals. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

I rolled my eyes at her antics, but complied, while the dinner party and potluck continued.

This was shaping up to be a pretty fun evening.