It's Not Easy Making Money in the Apocalypse

Riker, Daft, and Conrad were the pillars of this anti-Marsh group within Cock and Balls. Calling them allies would be an overstatement. They were more like people with an aligned goal. Riker and Conrad were two lieutenants, although they couldn't be more apart. Conrad was a bald man with a leather jacket and a laid-back personality. Riker had dark hair and almost seemed like a military leader. Daft was Riker's right-hand acolyte and the guy I was assigned to for the upcoming mission.

"Listen up, scrub," Daft growled. "The school is currently under the control of a hive of grunts. They're not the most imposing of the mutant ferals, but they make up for it in numbers. They're smarter than beasts and can even strategize. If you don't want to end up dead, you'll stick to the plan."

Daft didn't seem to like me very much. As soon as I joined, he glared at me. Riker had already gone over the main plan as a group. When then assembled into three groups of three to speak about our roles. Conrad's group was going to be a distraction, attacking the school and drawing the attention of the grunts. Riker's team was going to strike from the back, aiming for supplies and securing an escape route. As for Daft's group, my group planned to enter an adjacent building that connected to the main school via an underground tunnel system. Specifically, we were entering through the laboratory.

It wasn't just Daft and I. The one who invited me into this group, I learned his name was Scope, also was put on my team. He listened carefully, nodding his head as Daft spoke.

"Are you listening?" Daft snapped at me.

"Yeah?" I looked back at him.

"You're going to break through the locked doors and disable any security. Understand?"

"I understand," I responded.

He looked at me and grimaced before turning to Scope. "You invited him. If he causes trouble, it'll fall on you."

"O-of course!" Scope declared, stiffening quite a bit before shooting me a worried look.

I shook my head. "As long as I get my cut at the end, I don't care."

He let out a breath and gave a nod. After that, we finalized the plans and then went to bed. The next morning, I met the party at the gate. I couldn't help but feel like I had a lot of eyes on me. Then again, how could such a large party of acolytes and lieutenants move without drawing attention? I told myself that the attention was on Riker, not me.

These raiders moved a lot like Raven's group. That was to say that they moved down the street like they owned the city. They didn't seem to fear mutants, ferals, or other raiders at all. While Wastelanders and peddlers snuck down the streets, moving from hiding spot to hiding spot while leaving as little presence as possible, raiders moved boldly, unconcerned with their lives.

I wished I could move with that kind of confidence, but even with a gun in my hand, I found myself looking everywhere. When a group of ferals suddenly burst from the alleyway, a hole was skillfully drilled into each of their heads before I could even raise my gun.

"Is Marsh still wanting ferals caught live?" Conrad asked, casually wiping his gun with his shirt, like firing it had somehow dirtied it.

"His attacks on that bazaar all failed. According to reports, a couple of days ago, a murderdragon took up residence nearby. It eats any ferals we drop off at the area. None of them even end up making it to the bazaar, so it became a waste of time." Riker explained.

I leaned forward instinctively when I heard them mention the bazaar. They couldn't possibly be talking about my bazaar, could they? I was concerned about the news of a murder dragon, but then a thought hit me. They couldn't be talking about Lilith, right?

"What bazaar?" I asked, trying to look casually curious.

"Heh… just some soft colonist with delusions of grandeur." Conrad snorted.

I quickly hid my frown behind a cough. "Is that so? Sounds strange Marsh cares…"

"Mmm." Conrad nodded in agreement. "This guy seems harmless. Worst case scenario he increases trade to the city and we can get more raid targets. Marsh had plans to overthrow Ascension, I think, and this kid somehow got in the way of that. I think Marsh was aiming for that power armor, but when it got destroyed, he blamed that colonist."

"We're coming up on the school. It's time to get into positions. Keep low! Don't blow it!"

Like that, the conversation ended and the two groups broke off without another word, crouching as they snuck to their relative positions. Daft jabbed me in the shoulder.

"It's time to go." He started heading the other way.

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Scope gave me a reassuring nod and then followed after him. I had no other choice but to follow them. We ended up coming before a laboratory building. It had a lot of glass windows, which were all broken now. Daft didn't even need to look for a door. He just jumped through the nearest window and was inside. Scope followed him and I followed Scope.

"Are there any grunts nearby?" I asked.

"Doubt it." Daft shrugged. "But if we see one, there will be ten more hiding nearby, so be alert."

I looked around, suddenly feeling like there might be eyes on me. To get my mind off of it, I typed some words into the Perco.

"Any signals?"

"This building has a few signals." Cecelia declared. "One of them is in the room to your right."

I slowed down as I looked at the door. It had already been broken off the lock. There was very little chance that anything here had any value, but I still found myself a bit curious.

"Um… I got to piss." I declared.

Daft looked back at me incredulous. "You serious?"

"Yeah, sorry." I shrugged. "It's better now than when we're fighting for our lives."

He shook his head irritably. "Just go."

"Do you need someone to watch your back?" Scope asked awkwardly.

"Uh, no… just want to pee in peace," I said, grabbing the doorknob and sliding into the room Cecelia indicated while making it look like I just wanted some privacy.

"Ah, right." He responded in embarrassment as I closed the door.

"This guy…" I heard Daft mutter.

I immediately turned on my Perco flashlight and then combed the room. My eyes fell on a flashing terminal. I approached it and then plugged in my Perco. The terminal started to flash with life.

"Is there anything?" I asked quietly.

"Give me a second!" Cecelia shot back. "I can't just scour a database in a fraction of a second."

I waited impatiently, tapping my foot as incomprehensible letters flashed across the terminal.

"Oi, you finishing up?" Daft called, causing me to jump.

"Ah! Y-yeah, almost… n-nervous pee-er." I called back, closing my eyes and shaking my head.

"What?" Scope hissed.

"You're guy!"

"Got it!" Cecelia declared.

I unplugged the Perco and pulled my sleeve back down, running back to the door. Just as I opened it, Daft was pushing it open.

"Hey," I responded. "I'm done."

"About time. We need to get a move on now." Daft responded angrily.

"Of course," I responded, but as soon as they turned and started walking down the hallway, I hissed. "Well?"

"The allknowing is locked up in the school. It's locked up in the superintendent's office on the third floor. Riker's information was good. They likely used the allknowing as a reward."

"For being smart?"

"For doing what you're told." Cecelia snorted. "They only wanted geniuses they could control. Just think about what happened to Anwil."

"R-right. In that case, I need to find some way to get there first. Do you have a place that I can split up with them, maybe a shortcut?"

"I do, but you're not going to want to head to the superintendent's office."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Here, listen to the relevant record."

There was a click, and a short moment later, I could hear a male voice. It was a recording she had downloaded from that terminal.

Intelligence is a difficult thing to grasp. Where does wisdom begin and intelligence end? Is an old man by nature more intelligent than a teenager just by the virtue of knowing more? Ever since Allco developed the allknowing formula, I've been curious about intelligence. What does it mean to be smart? Is there a limit to that intelligence? Allco is paying me to test the limits of the allknowing formula and improve upon it if possible. What better test subjects than the delinquent intercity children of Argos? Their parents proudly submit their children to our care, and vouchers won by lottery offer these kids a second chance at success. Most of them are dumb, violent, and have been removed from any proper school. Yet, within the confines of this school, we'll discover if dumb people can truly become smart. I'll prepare the flowers for my budding new lab rats. Doctor Darin

"This school… was an Allco experiment? Is that why it's connected to a lab?"

"That's not the important part of this." Cecelia sighed.

"Then what is?" I asked.

"The school didn't just give students allknowing." She explained. "This school made it!"

I froze for a moment. "You don't mean…"

"The school likely doesn't just contain allknowing, but the recipe as well."