NOVEL NEXT Book 2 - Prologue: Alicia's Report
6/18/24
Washington D.C.
The White House
11:15 AM
“Two former Army Rangers, Jun Kyung Han and Jose Amarillo were working in the Carrollton, Texas Get! store.” Alicia Bennet, who was giving the presentation, was in a standard issue grey CIA business suit.
An aide whispered to the president, “Carrollton is a suburb of Dallas.”
Alicia continued. “They got classes in the first wave, as soon as the Get! became a dungeon. This was back when you could still start with 3rd Step and higher classes. Amarillo took Sharpshooter and Han took Synergist, which is why he's so strong.”
Alicia changed the slide to a diagram of the Get! dungeon. “The two Rangers fought their way out of the dungeon, saving others in the process. As you can see from this diagram, the dungeon was only five floors, but it was much denser and more complex than most dungeons. More on that later.”
President Egerton sternly said, “I'm familiar with the Dracosys interpolation theory, miss Bennet, you may skip that aspect.” Pretty much everything President Egerton said was stern, so this wasn't a reprimand.
“Ah, yes sir.” Alicia Bennet quietly slipped three index cards from her stack and continued. “These two were then asked to form a special, extra-governmental team, to try and close dungeons. This plan was led by Lieutenant Colonel Davis.”
Jetta Davis, who was in the White House conference room with them, just nodded.
“Why?” asked the president.
“Why what?” replied Alicia Bennet.
President David Egerton turned to Lieutenant Colonel Davis. “Why them? Why not one of your Ranger teams?”
Davis took a moment, then she said something unexpected. “I expected them to succeed. I knew those two could do it. And I wanted it to look like a total government success, rather than just the Army's success. The Army didn't need a win. We, the U.S., needed the win.”
Later, in his memoir, David Egerton would point at that moment and say that's when he knew Jetta Davis would be president one day.
Egerton nodded for them to continue.
“This cross-governmental team, assembled by Lieutenant Colonel Davis, was composed of those two, one more Ranger, a Navy SEAL, an FBI agent and a civilian mathematician. They destroyed the Get! dungeon the night of the first dungeon breaks.”
Alicia changed the presentation to a slide listing all six members of that first team.
Jun Kyung Han, former Ranger
Jose Amarillo, former Ranger
Odysseus Grant, Ranger
Henry Gallup, Navy SEALs
Madeline Diaz, FBI
Gwen L'Ronge, civilian mathematician
“Didn't they get to it before it actually had a dungeon break?” asked Will Monds, Chief of Staff.
“Correct,” said Bennet. “They went in as soon as they saw other dungeons breaking. After the Get! was cleared, that's when this group formally became a private military contractor called the Pathbreakers.”
Alicia then pulled up a list of the Pathbreakers’ accomplishments.
4/10/2024 - Dungeon: Carrollton, TX. Escaped.
4/16 - Dungeon: Carrollton, TX. Destroyed.
4/27 - Ruin: Ellis Island, NY. Destroyed.
5/1 - Dungeon: St Louis, Missouri. Destroyed.
5/6 - Ruin: San Francisco, CA. Destroyed.
5/11 - Dungeon: Tuscaloosa, AL. Mapped and Cleared.
5/16 - Ruin: Chicago, IL. Destroyed.
5/21 - Ruin: San Antonio, TX. Destroyed.
5/26 - Dungeon: New Orleans, LA. Destroyed
5/31 - Dungeon: Oklahoma City, OK. Destroyed.
6/5 - Dungeon: Macon, GA. Destroyed.
6/10 - Dungeon: Afghanistan, cave R-32. Destroyed.
6/12 - Dungeon: Harrisburg, PA. Destroyed.
6/14 - Ruin: Dallas, TX. Destroyed.
6/15 Ruin: Grand Canyon. Destroyed.
6/16 Ruin: Devil's Lake, ND. Destroyed.
“We have detailed records of some of these, correct?” asked the President.
Alicia answered quickly. “The Carrollton dungeon, the Ellis Island ruin and cave R-32. Mr Han has been kind enough to keep records of his experiences since the Dracosys started, and shared the documents with us. He writes on his phone so his editing isn't always the best.”
The President folded his fingers in front of him. “I see. Continue.”
“The Pathbreakers are absolutely the most effective anti-Dracosys unit anywhere. They work quickly and effectively. They've only lost one person in all their operations.” Alicia was coming to the point of her presentation. “This is all why I've asked for assistance in bringing them under our direct control.”
President Egerton leaned forward in his chair. “You want me to take control of a private company, unilaterally?”
Alicia braced herself to correct the President of the United States. “When you meet with them, I think that you can ask Jun Kyung Han and Jose Amarillo to return to the Army. Then they'd be under our control.”
The President leaned back. “They're loyal?”
“To the cause, yes. They're amping up their activities to help reduce deaths. They want to help. We can use that as leverage to get them back on our side.”
“Under your direct control, I'd guess?” asked Will Monds, skeptical of the whole thing.
“I have experience with them personally,” Alicia defended herself. “I can be the point of contact between your office and their team.”
“This needs to be a nudge, not a push,” Deborah Smart, Press Secretary, said to the President. “This goes bad and we'll look like shit to the people, private enterprise and veterans.”
“I'm not sure what we're getting out of this,” said Mounds. “They're doing the job, why not let them keep doing the job?”
Alicia had a response for that ready. “Jun Kyung Han is currently the most powerful person on our side, and we need to be able to deploy him when we need to. Not when he wants to.”
“This is about those dossiers you've been sending me, then?” Egerton asked.
Alicia nodded. “Those enemy agents who are Leveled represent the greatest threat to America since Hitler. Hante killed hundreds of people in half an hour. If Russia or China gets serious-”
Mounds interrupted, “Russia's not a threat anymore.”
In the wake of the Ambrose Society's nuclear attacks on Kazan in Russia, Chicago, Illinois and Abha in Saudi Arabia, things had gotten tense across the globe. Russia was currently starting up a civil war and rumors were that more nukes might be deployed, this time against their own people.
“Be that as it may,” continued Alicia Bennet, “I still think that having our most potent weapon be actually our weapon is the right move.”
“We're meeting them in five days, right?” Egerton asked his chief of staff.
“3:30 PM, Saturday,” Mounds answered. “Assuming they actually clear the Capitol Building.”
Egerton nodded. “I'll see what their callings are before I make a decision. I want to know what's in their hearts. I need to know if these are the men and women who will defend America.” What he didn't say was that they might not defend America. They might have to defend the world.