Olivia Annealth

"Stand by"

"…But before we get closer, we need to speak about why Armand decided to build it here. The country, years prior to his arrival, was in decline, gangs were fighting for the scraps with the military that had lost control over the weapons, and the prolific drug gangs took and bought more from elsewhere, the place became a war zone…"

"Reporters informed this as yet another country in the brink of decline, money had no value, exports got held, with the exception of drugs of course, governments refused to get closer, world aid organizations were still debating about how much help they could provide, even when foreign companies demanded protection…"

"that request hit the can right away, even if they could put to safe people, government officials, and tourists, the country was nearly lost, any resource of use taken, which was water and land to make drugs; after all that is the whole extent of their abilities and they needed land for it…"

"this created a new battlefield, land that already served big companies got taken, the companies got furious, we all know what they did… it even was a think in this areas, we the people… Ha, land only that… 'but you don't know how to work it properly, it would be of better use to us' or so they said, and in some cases even took the land, which is another thing in this kind of countries…"

"yeah the so call third world countries, known for their natural resources had been used by private companies for ages with the permission of the leaders, taking, using, and over producing to the point where the land soured, and the water polluted, such was the case of this lands"

"funny thing by the way, before those times, they used to play so many advertisements urging people to save water and recycle and be mindful about garbage, and yet, most of the pollution came from the factories of private companies, check it on your country, but don't take it as an excuse to pollute, try to be better"

"Take your friends to school or work, make lunch at home, and have with you an extra bag for groceries, that's the advice of the day." Olivia said while she sat on the ground with the camera aiming at the nest.

"As I was saying, the land was already in decay, and oddly enough, the gangs got tired of this, it was their new land, and proceeded to take it back, the government was unable to avoid it, and no amount of money was enough to secure it, the best they could come up with was protecting and sending back any foreigner and politician to safety, little by little the livable zones got reduced"

"After that, gangs had free reign to fight amongst themselves, people moved away from central places, avoiding the forced recruitment of the children or worst for others… yeah, no new concepts in those areas… indeed no geniuses in street fights; plundering became the best paid work."

"And so the people, the good people started gathering, each time in bigger and bigger groups; raids where a common thing as the times got more desperate, human aid only served to feed the gangs who were now small military factions; only a few people were able to find old structures, ancient at times to hide themselves, or even use forests for this"

"But at the end, even while fighting back, that same back and forth only managed to increase the number of deaths which made the gangs figure out how much they needed the people; and so, after a couple of years of this, Armand arrived to the scene…"

"but even that wasn't enough for him, their guns weren't enough to fight him off, for some reason they were unable to sustain themselves, nor the people, at times they met their end through inner fights, then despair, and the rest decided to pay and surrender to the new leadership…" Olivia's knowledge of the battles is based on what was published, few people know how he was able to push them back, either the government keeps it as a secret or Armand is the only one who knows how he was actually able to do it; the only facts they know is that he never saw battle, and the use of weapons were minimal.

"People say that there still are anarchist, the violent ones, I bet they are remnants of the people that used to be part of a gang; some others, people with rooted fear of technology, and the rest, who had taken the most peaceful protestors, fear the power, reach and control of the nest…"

"but those are thinking of the tower and of Armand as one of those rich and entitled people in the magazines of the western and popular media. Which are the very ones creating misinformation about the place and its rule, using bot farms, AI feeds and troll news."

"They had called Armand a vulture taking advantage of a country in despair, they had said this is his way, after all that is his business, he created from waste."

"He bought two companies in bankruptcy one made industrial level diamonds and another solar panels, with a bit of tinkering and more funds they developed windows, we will see them up-close and talk about it when we visit the research lab, in this case technology"

"Yeah, to them Armand feeds on death, like a hyena, the why is simple, to make industrial level diamonds you need either methane, carbon dioxide or monoxide, and those are mostly obtained from human wastes or pollutants, actual poisons. Same as the nest Armand has an alias depending on who you are talking to…"

"Getting back at the short story of the land, if you ask me, the only way to keep a secret for too long is by keeping the circle small, which means it also requires drones' movements, some misinformation, and then swift movements; yeah, I watch a lot of movies, maybe too much robocop lately"

"I also know the art that came out of it, my favorite right now is Velazcos' night raid of 2029, oil on canvas, a starless night illuminated by the flickers of a torch and flashlights, the torch being carried by the raid commanders with the orders to burn any opposition…"

"but funny thing in this countries that had faced different armies in the past, they get good at knowing danger, in this case the houses are deprived of light, BAZ5 get off there, anyway, you can see how this raiders are watching on top of the hill at the dark town, there are no street lights on…"

"and this is when my work takes value, in the painting the gang is ready to take, to burn and make clear who was boss… and yet they are standing, they are not moving at all, nor is the town… like I told you, people get smart, you don't want trouble, you don't want violence, and so you act accordingly…"

"so in this case they hide, the raiders have the torches so of course it means troubles, it is the middle of the night, of course they weren't just taking a midnight group stroll, in contrast, I have heard that during the day light, the elders are able to distinguish who the gangs are and what are they looking for…"

"to point that out, Velazcos added this into the mix, by using a single light at the bottom of one house, at a place the gangs wouldn't be able to see… near the furthest end of the town, there, in the door of the basement…"

"lets go there I will show you. Do you want to quick travel with me and see me fall once or hundreds of times? or you wanna travel with BAZ5? …BAZ5 of course, well see you in a bit…"

"Welcome home Livvy… the shopping-kart will arrive in one hour, would you like to add dinner to the list? You have a hundred and fourteen new comments on eleven videos, a hundred and fifty seven comments in twenty posts, forty four new messages, thirty two pending mails, thirty six home notifications, fourteen desktop notifications, twelve on your laptop, seven on your phone… only sixteen are priority; the weather tonight will be cold, clear sky, strong winds, pollution level… low for tonight and tomorrow morning… new notification, Cilax new configuration and profile has been updated, no errors; would you like to see Cilax new look? How is your knee? Congratulations on your new video and new followers"

– The upgrades at the tower are no joke; you work far better than back home; it's scary. The knee is fine. Put Cilax new look on the TV… and finish with the greetings, or better yet, jump to the updates. – Olivia had been at the tower for two months, the speed in which it moved was different, at times she felt like a snail stuck in a slow pace, overwhelmed by the gentle hum of people moving around in e-bikes, and e-cars, drones, the wind hitting the bird cage Armand built around the residential area and flickers of lights at night, but those were the only loud noises around; at times the silence made her anxious, so most of the time she used headphones to ignore the silence, in contrast to when she needed the noise to drown down the loud sound of the city where she used to live with her roommates. At that moment, she felt overwhelmed by the welcome of her digital assistant, back at home she was welcomed the same way, Esm3 gave her the notifications directly to her ear once her phone connected to the wi-fi device at the apartment. And gave her the news; it wasn't like that at the tower, she lived alone now, the small apartment she was able to get in the residential area of the tower had a better internet service, so Esm3 was able to control the entire apartment, it knew everything about it, every problem, box, space, and stuffs lying around the place, it was small, but with the watchful eye of Esm3 it felt even smaller. She knew the reason, her father had told her stories about how technology is a danger, and they used to watch movies where some of the very same technologies the tower uses had been the downfall of the human race; but the stories that scared her the most where the stories of the people who worked during the construction of the tower, things that she wanted to investigate herself.

"That is correct, one is working at a forty six percent more speed, processing capabilities have extended; the updates are as follow, you have twenty-five, three had been greenlighted, you can send a copy of three characters to KUo'SAR main server, including Cilax, would you like to start the migration?"

– No, I will check the characters first before that, what do we have for dinner? –Olivia asked for the first time trying to use some of the potential of her new apartment.

"With what you have around we can get ready five dishes; one can make at least twenty in fifteen minutes; what would you like to have?"

– That was actually funny, I do have time to try something new, let's make tuna cakes.

"Understood, would you like to hear the rest of the updates?"

– Oh right, yes, go on – Olivia had set Esm3 to keep reminding her of things, her memory span was short, she has always been like that, forgetting things once she started doing others; but it was also a thing she hated, she could focus, but at times, with technology, she didn't really need to, and that was a reason why she avoided the innovations she was entitled to have at the tower given the status she was given when she tried for the visa into that country.

"You have two series with new chapters, six new comics updates, five movie trailers, six headline news marked priority four, 22 sell updates, and an update on the digitalization of a VHS tape you found after your arrival"

– Oh nice, it took a while, how long did it take? – Olivia manages to get the spatula down, next to the stove to hurry and look at the screen of the tv and put on the wrist controller to move the notification front and center, after all she had found a relic, or so it felt that way as she held it in her hands, Olivia was like that, lucky enough to find interesting things amongst piles of garbage; for her it wasn't about finding the needle in the haystack, but the straw that once held the needle.

"Twenty-six hours, thirty-eight minutes and fifteen seconds; thirty-three hours, twenty-two minutes and forty five seconds less than the estimation, you were right, current score, Livvy thirty eight, Esm3 twenty two thousands four hundred and fifty seven; how did you narrowed down the digitalization to less than twenty four hours"

– You only considered what the computer told you, I saw the tape, clean it and assessed it… I was testing the surveillance of the apartment when we arrived, conclusion, too focused on one hand to see the other; I guess you can only see what and where I am but no closer. Rewind the tape, get the next ready, aaaand we have tonight's entertainment for dinner, I'm gonna check the rest of the notifications while at it.

"About Cilax…"

– Oh right, orange is not his color, I'm not sure about the small sword, add a musket, let's make the parrying dagger bigger, he must keep the small sword… shorten the beard, give me some movements… put him on a ship, nice, nice; sent that one to Gil; the fighting style is off, do a camera roll during the fight… put him against a musketeer, run several scenarios… naval war is the best, give him d'Artagnan… no, give him Porthos, he is more of his league… damn Porthos is a beast, again the sea… excellent shot he is… troublesome if we make them fight ship against ship… on land Cilax holds his ground… give him a new action, tell Cilax to hold its ground while Porthos gets near… save the terzerol until Porthos arrives and Cilax's musket is out of bullets… dang it, I trained Porthos to good; Cilax can hold its ground against real armies, perhaps he'll be able to be our Cornelis. Remove the last action, Cornelis was an offensive kind of commander… he looks good… – This was Olivia's main source of income, she studied coding all her life, at the age of twelve her dad gifted her a computer to develop virtual friends, with that she created BAZ5 base, reaching college she took that path, two years into the college life, and while creating characters for videogames as a side business, she reacquainted with a lost love after she got asked to create more historical based characters and a few originals with historical facts as around their lives. One of her best is being used at museums in the neolithic halls.

– Any calls from the group?

"Carlo, Ludo and Lauka are waiting for your call in the group chat"

–let's see… Carlo doing some drama… I don't have the energy right now, Mondays are a worst… let me send them a quick text "I'm beat guys, reach out you tomorrow" okay food is ready, and the movie is on.

"Understood, Olivia; one has noticed the anomaly you speak of, every Monday, you arrived more tired, some nosebleed, red eyes… shall one arrange a doctor's appointment? Shall one monitor you in any way?"

– You did it just now, I have been poked and probed, new work, new brain pathways; now, lights off, give me the classic look… give me twentieth century tv model setting… – Olivia was never good at office work, not the work per se but having to be stuck on a cycle with no real change, same happened when her dad tried to push her to be a mentor for the kids at a commune to help them with their studies, she ended up modifying their virtual teacher and put them under its supervision when she gave them work, what she liked the best was walking around, ancient places were the best, the issue there was having to do team work or being under other people's rule. She said that where she shines the best is at giving orders, or her good sight; her boss said she has an objective mind but could work at giving advice instead of orders.

"MAGE-eCo is at the door"

– Oh… let them in, I was gonna get some extra goods. – Olivia hurried to open the door, she had already taken off her shoes and was getting comfortable on the couch to watch the movie, but she was going to get some specific food for the new work she was making for Armand's company, which meant that her diet needed to be changed, same for her physical condition.

"Your order has arrived, pantry for one person, order modify and upgraded, 'food for thoughts' packages sorted for conservation method, tagged and preserved; please add a comment, if or not, the food, package or the drone reach your expectations…"

– Tomorrows breakfast will be really good… sorry tuna cakes, you tried your best… so, food for thoughts; coffee, tea… ginseng, turmeric, green tea… no more orange or lemon infusions, or save coffee bags in the vault… oh dried food, and fresh food… no more can food and microwave food for a month…

"…keep you packages to exchange during your next delivery or give them to any field drone doing deliveries, follow the storing instructions on the package; your wellbeing and satisfaction is our main goal…"

– Yeah, yeah, you can go little guy, not my first meshi delivery… Esm3! I got chocolate, I could work for free if I was to get food like this every day… damn… I must eat only two blocks per day… might as well start now… huh… it is best than I remember… I'm gonna cry… let's see… salmon, almonds, berries and seeds… we got a salad for tomorrow… we gonna take a walk around the tower, coffee to go, and a bottle of water… some cereals and a salad…

"One recommends taking the berries as well and visit the mall to add yogurt and…"

– Oh good call Esm3… don't think I will miss this dry strawberry, nor this bag – Olivia thought of her dad, he was still living at a farming commune as a cultivator, he had been working as one since she was born, taking her along during his work, so she thought of sharing the dried berry to show him where she was at the moment, she moved to grab a needle and took some seeds from several straw berries, placed them on a tissue and packed them on one of the bags they came from.

"Is against the rules of the tower plant seeds without the proper license…"

– Relax, I'm gonna send them elsewhere… to be planted… in secret… by my dad; to let him know where I am, it might not even work where he is at… okay… all done, movie time… set the mood.

– …So good… by the way, sent me the shopping list and then shut off everything, probably gonna pass out once I finish my meal or as soon as the first error pop's up…

"Understood, have a good night"