Frostbound

Chris

Tutorial End: 00:00:25:12

I knew that Tracy was stalling but I allowed myself the chance to voice my thoughts. I wasn't required to do so but it felt good to get it off my chest. It was different than discussing it with Austin or Abigail, they were biased to what I had to say.

Tracy, though, jumped headfirst into the kind of thinking that was required when back on Earth. Maybe a bit too much for my tastes, but she would see what I was talking about without me having to explain it or justify myself.

And if I was reading her expression correctly, she thought I wasn't going far enough with what I was asking for. The initial surprise when I asked for subjugation was hard to miss along with the glint that arose after hearing it was only that. Like she was looking at her future reward for keeping her pylon.

That didn't bother me though. I was asking for what I felt was right. A fair enough compensation that it didn't feel like extorsion or stealing, but enough to feel rewarded for the work we put in. We helped with the waves, helped her survive, and now we would be getting something out of it.

My challenge also gave her the opportunity to defend herself. As the challenged, she would be able to dictate the kind of battle that would ensue.

One-on-one, group, army, it didn't matter much to me, and was left up to what she wanted to do.

Refusal was also an option but at that point, I could say I tried the honorable way first.

When Austin first proposed the idea, I wanted nothing to do with it. It was a needless way to make enemies and was ultimately unnecessary. The marginal gain wasn't worth antagonizing her or others in the future.

I wanted to build a city without the fighting or wars that most would endure. A way to isolate myself and my family away from the fighting we had been forced to go through.

Making enemies was counterproductive to that goal and antagonizing her would turn her into an enemy for later. Killing her would accomplish the same without making enemies but I was unwilling to stoop so low.