Chapter 53 - 53. The New Deal

Jason Walker?

It couldn't be the same Jason Walker. Right? But in Zane's gut, he knew.

It had to be. This was Zane's brother he was talking about. It would've been more shocking if he were not elite.

The last Zane had heard of him, he'd graduated top of his class at Harvard and was working at some executive level somewhere important—the World Bank, or the president's cabinet, or something. Zane had lost track. He'd tried not to know. He wasn't even sure if Jason was still in America.

Jason was the type of man you could throw on an island infested with cannibals, and when you returned a year later, you'd find they'd made him king. He had a strange idea of love. He'd throw you into shark-infested waters to teach you how to swim—and if you died, that was on you. You weren't strong enough. You didn't deserve to be Jason Walker's brother.

When Jason had shoved him over the railing at Yellowstone, and Mom berated him afterward, Jason claimed it was Zane's stupid fault. Maybe he shouldn't have stuck his head over the railing so far, like an idiot. Jason was teaching him a lesson.

When Brad made fun of Zane's parents' death, Zane had tackled him through a wall.

That same week, an upperclassman, jealous his girlfriend had a crush on Jason, had made a dig too.

Jason put him in the hospital. The man couldn't eat solid food for six months straight.

If Zane saw Jason… he wondered if, somewhere out there, his brother could see him too.

***

Zane moved past the rankings to the next tab. This one was a progress bar—it showed:

𝕀𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕙𝕒𝕤𝕖: 𝟘

𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝔻𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕠𝕟 ℂ𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣 ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕖: 𝟛𝟠%

So, about a third of the world's dungeons were cleared. Seemed about right. It looked like a progress bar—like once they hit 100%, they'd go to the next Integration Phase. Zane wondered what it meant.

So far the aliens—or whoever threw this System on them—were awfully quiet. Earth's people only got hints of their existence through Treasures. Like that Azure Flame Faction tome. What were they waiting for?

Zane checked out the next tab. This one was marked 'Quest Board.' It showed a map similar to the Dungeon/Safe Zone map, except it had little 'Q' markings all over the place. When he checked one of them down the West Coast, he found—

ℚ𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥: ℝ𝕖𝕤𝕔𝕦𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟

𝕀𝕤𝕤𝕦𝕖𝕣: ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕥𝕖, 𝕃𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣, 𝕄𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕪 𝕊𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕠𝕚𝕒 𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟—

"ℂ𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕠𝕡-𝟙𝟘𝟘 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 ℝ𝕒𝕟𝕜𝕖𝕣𝕤! 𝕆𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕊𝕒𝕗𝕖 ℤ𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕕𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕒 𝔹-𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝔻𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕠𝕟. 𝕊𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕗𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕖𝕟 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖, 𝕗𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕤! 𝕋𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖! 𝕎𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔻𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕔𝕦𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞."

ℝ𝕖𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕: 𝔹-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕋𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖

This was pretty cool. You could put out a System-mandated call to pretty much the whole country, and see who'd answer. The System even let Zane make quests of his own—only it warned him that there would be a severe penalty if he failed to produce the reward.

Some quests offered hundreds of high-grade essence stones for clearing certain A-rank dungeons. He imagined only a team of World Rankers could take those up.

Worth looking at as he went down his road trip, he figured.

Which brought him to the world map, expanded now. He could see a vast chunk of the West Coast—down past San Diego and up to nearly Alaska. And east, too, so far he could make out some Dungeons on the edges of what used to be Texas.

He focused on where he was, and went down. His imagination went wild seeing all those high-ranked Dungeons—you could string them up on a route. There was the C-ranked Abyssal Crater Dungeon in Oregon, about where Crater Lake National Park used to be. The Gorge of Elemental Winds, which looked to be the Columbia River Gorge transformed. The Titan Wood Forest Dungeon, where the redwoods were. The Bridge of Fate near San Francisco, a B-ranked dungeon that even Elias's Faction hadn't cleared. That had to be the Golden Gate. They just went on and on…

Elias made it sound like C-ranked Dungeons were overflowing with rare Treasures. Zane would soon see. And what did B-ranked dungeons look like?

A lot of them had quests attached. He had a feeling he wouldn't be the only one trying to clear them.

***

After the war came rebuilding. Reina had to integrate all their new territory. She had her work cut out for her.

First, she gathered representatives from every Safe Zone in the state in Seattle. She formed councils, one for the northern half of the state, one for the southern half. They'd report directly to her.

In the meeting, she made sure to have Zane sit directly at her left-hand side, glowering. So everyone seemed pretty happy with the arrangement.

She got to making maps of all the Treasure Areas and Safe Zones under Luminous Faction control. She marked regions that needed development. She drew up plans for what to do in case a Safe Zone devolved. She made keeping militias mandatory for each Safe Zone. She put into motion standardized training programs for each Class.

She made plans for a diplomatic corps made of folk she trusted. Almost as soon as they won, messages started pouring in from Factions all over the West Coast. There were trade offers to be negotiated, alliances, non-aggression pacts…

Then there were her plans for infrastructure—making roads between each Safe Zone, making sure each Safe Zone was livable, with ample training resources. And on and on…

Most of it flew over Zane's head.

It took Reina nearly a week of back-to-back sleepless nights before she got most of her plans underway. To Zane she was pretty much superhuman.

***

Around the end of the week, Elias paid them another visit. Just as they'd expected. This time, Zane, Avery, and Reina were all waiting for him as he sauntered up the dead forest.

"Zane Walker! You just keep exceeding my expectations, don't you?" said Elias. "You've really outdone yourself this time. Oh, my."

"Elias Ventor," said Reina coolly. "I've heard a lot about you."

"You must be Reina Torres! It's an honor."

"You were the one who gave Marcus that suit of armor, weren't you?"

Elias blinked, then chuckled. "Straight to the point, eh? Wow. That's quite an accusation. What makes you say that, Miss Torres?"

"Who else could have given it to him?" Reina shrugged. "You told Zane some 'northern allies' had done it. Northern allies whose reinforcements, by the way, failed to materialize. Almost as though they never existed at all."

Elias paused. "That's an interesting theory. Now, why would I do that?"

"Because this was all an elaborate test," said Reina. "You wanted to see what Zane was capable of. So you played us off each other. For your amusement."

There was a long silence.

Then Elias laughed.

"Clever girl. You got me. Guilty as charged! Honestly? I'm just here to make essence. So I gathered data on an investment. And what of it? You can't be that mad, surely." That last bit he directed to Zane.

"I gave you so much stuff! For free! A Major Law and C-ranked Skill! Well done mastering it, by the way."

"I don't appreciate your games," said Zane calmly. "If you continue to insist on playing them, we'll have a problem."

"Fair enough," Elias held up his hands. "I'm done! I've seen all I needed to see. And I've made my judgment. If I may—I feel like it's the 80's, and I just stumbled upon two hippies working on a little old thing called the Macintosh."

"…"

"What I'm trying to say," said Elias, smiling, "Is I have a lot of shit. I'm really, really rich, Zane. And right now, I really want to give some of that shit to you."

"'Give'?"

"Well… in exchange for a small stake in your future essence earnings, of course. You understand."

"No."

"Just hear me out," said Elias quickly. "If you thought that Whetstone and that Skill tome were cool—"

"No."

Elias's grin turned helpless. He wrung his hands. "Come on—there has to be some kind of deal we can come to? Do you want me to beg? I'll do it! Look, just keep an open mind, alright? This doesn't have to be a zero-sum game. We both have so much to gain!"

"I believe that," said Reina, and she stepped forward. "I believe there's a way you can help Zane, and yourself. I also believe whatever contract you offer would never do that. You'd try to screw us every chance you get."

Elias sighed. "You wound me."

She tapped her bag of holding and pulled out a Treasure. A golden headband that curled up at the ends.

𝕎𝕦𝕜𝕠𝕟𝕘'𝕤 ℂ𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕟 (ℂ)

𝕎𝕦𝕜𝕠𝕟𝕘'𝕤 ℂ𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕚𝕤 𝕒 𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕥𝕙. 𝕀𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕤 𝕒 𝕝𝕚𝕖, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℂ𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕥 𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕡𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞.

A few nights before, Reina had cataloged every one of the hundreds of items in the Beacon shop. When she came across this one, she'd immediately drawn up a plan in case Elias came again. It cost a small fortune… but if this worked out, Reina said it'd be worth it.

At the sight of it, Elias twitched a little. "Oh, come on," he said. There was that oily little grin again. "Must we resort to such... unsavory... tactics?"

"You will negotiate with this on," said Reina firmly. "And you will negotiate with me. I will ask you every little detail about whatever contract you draw up. And if it's not to my satisfaction, no deal either. Got it?"

Elias opened his mouth—

"This is the only condition under which I will negotiate with you," said Reina. "Whatever else you have to say, you can shut it."

The twitch on Elias's face turned into a spasm. He glowered. "Clever girl," he whispered. He thought about it for a few seconds. Then—"Fine, then. Have it your way!"

***

The negotiations went on for nearly an hour. It was interesting to watch Reina work—she asked him to define nearly every word in his contract, to his exasperation—catching him in the act several times. She'd constantly ask him about his intentions, about whether he inserted words that could offer the faintest possibility of future loopholes. When he presented terms she shoved so hard Zane thought he would leave then and there.

All the while, she kept peppering him with questions like—

"If you were Zane, would you take this contract?" "If you were advising someone you cared about, would you accept the contract in its current form?" "Are there any non-obvious hidden costs?" and even— "How much more would you be willing to offer to get Zane to sign? What's your absolute limit?"

That last one had Elias cringing so hard he seemed in genuine pain.

When she asked him, "What do you project as Zane's ceiling in a year?" He said instantly, "Top-3 World Ranker. No question." And to the question, "What do you project as Zane's floor in a year?" He said, "Top-30 World Ranker."

More than a few times she caught him sneaking in a lie. A loophole that would've trapped him in eternal servitude, or a trick of language that gave him far more control than he made it seem. The Crown worked wonderfully each time. Elias was sent rolling around, howling. He always came back up with a 'who me?' expression.

At last, Reina brought Zane a deal she thought was fair. Elias was sweating by the end of it. He looked like he'd just been through a twelve-round boxing match.

"Christ!" said Elias. "Your girl's a goddamn bloodhound. You should feel lucky. That's the only fair deal I've given out in the past decade." He had Wukong's Crown on as he said it.

The terms were as follows:

𝔸 𝟙.𝟝% 𝕟𝕠𝕟-𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕚𝕟 ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕣'𝕤 𝕗𝕦𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤, 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝟜 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤.

𝔸𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟜 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤, 𝕠𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕦𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕗 𝕓𝕠𝕥𝕙 𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕤 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪.

𝔸𝕤 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕤, 𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘:

𝟙 𝔹-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖

𝟙 𝔹-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖

𝟙 𝔹-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖

𝟙𝟘 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤

𝔸𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕤—

𝔼𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕤 𝕍𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕠𝕣 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕙 ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕣, 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕙:

𝟚 𝔹-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕤

𝟙𝟘 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤

𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕞 𝟙: 𝕀𝕗 ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟘𝟘, 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝕦𝕡 𝕥𝕠 𝟛 𝔹-𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝟚𝟝 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤.

𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕞 𝟚: 𝕀𝕗 ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟚𝟝, 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝕦𝕡 𝕥𝕠 𝟝 𝔹-𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝟝𝟘 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤, 𝕠𝕣 𝟚 𝔸-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝟝𝟘 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤.

𝔸𝕕𝕕𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪: ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕘𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪. 𝕀𝕗 𝕟𝕠𝕥, 𝔼𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕤 𝕍𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕠𝕣 𝕞𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕝 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖 ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪.

𝔸𝕕𝕕𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕃𝕦𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕠𝕟 ℂ𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕟𝕠𝕟-𝕒𝕘𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕦𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕠𝕟 ℂ𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣 ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝕦𝕟𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕥-𝕢𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕔𝕖𝕤, 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕠𝕣 𝕋𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝔸𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤.

𝔸𝕕𝕕𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪: 𝔹𝕦𝕪𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖: ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕒𝕪 𝕧𝕠𝕚𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥 𝕓𝕪 𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕟 𝟛 𝔸-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕤. 𝔹𝕦𝕪𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕞𝕒𝕪 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕓𝕖 𝕖𝕩𝕖𝕔𝕦𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕡𝕤𝕖𝕕.

"So," said Elias. His smile was frazzled. "What do you say?"