Chapter 94: Seeds of Affection
The grand celebration for the heroes’ return had finally wound down, leaving behind a happy, hopeful buzz that filled all of Outpost #7.
The next morning, it was back to business. Ryan called a meeting of the new Sector Council in the command center at the very top of the god Spire.
The room was sleek and new, with a large holographic table in the center that showed a map of their entire sector. The view from the giant windows, looking down on their bustling, futuristic little city, was breathtaking.
Ryan sat at the head of the table, flanked by his closest companions. Scarlett was there, quiet and watchful as always. Chris "Boulder" Magnus sat next to her, his massive frame barely fitting into the high-tech chair. He fidgeted slightly, still not used to these formal meetings.
The rest of the council, made up of representatives from their allied outposts, looked at Ryan with expressions of deep respect.
The meeting began with reports. Emma Thorne stood up first. She had traded her usual practical engineering jumpsuit for a smart, simple uniform, but she still had a datapad in her hand. She projected a series of simple charts and graphs above the table.
"As you can see, since the establishment of the Sector Exchange and our new alliances, our growth has been... well, it’s been amazing," she said, a proud smile on her face. "Food production is up by two hundred percent.
Our defensive walls are stronger than ever, thanks to the new power grids. And most importantly," she pointed to a line that was shooting straight up, "our population’s average ’happiness level,’ according to the god Warden’s passive monitoring, is the highest in this entire region of the god."
Chris Magnus leaned over to Ryan and whispered, not very quietly, "We even have a new ice cream shop. It’s a big hit. That definitely helps with happiness."
Next, Zara Khan from Outpost #3 took her turn. She was sharp, professional, and radiated an aura of pure intelligence. "On the technology front," she began, projecting a new set of images, "the Precursor Studies Institute has made incredible leaps.
By studying the data we brought back from the Outer Voids, we have successfully reverse-engineered Precursor energy cells. They last five times longer than our old ones."