Chapter 8: Squad Blender

Ian woke to the sun in a pile of notes and a little drool on the table in the command center. He only muttered, “Fuck,” as he got up and organized his work from the night before. Cano and Donaldson entered the room about the same time, both were laughing from talking about Richard Jenkins on the way up to the Command Center.

“Well then Ian,” Cano said. “You’re up early. How long you been up here?”

“Since last night,” Ian explained. “I passed out up here, only got up about thirty seconds ago.”

“I see,” Cano said as he opened a cabinet. “Coffee anyone?”

“I’d love some,” Donaldson said.

“Me too,” Ian chimed in.

“Haven’t had coffee in like four months,” Donaldson continued. “Not since we left San Diego.”

“Holy shit man,” Cano said as he started the coffee maker. “How’d you do it?”

“Lot’s of cigarettes,” Donaldson responded.

“Wait,” Ian interjected. “So it took you guys four months to get from San Diego to here? How? It’s like a six hour drive.”

“We had to take the long way,” Donaldson said.

“Ha!” Cano laughed. “Really?”

“But you told us you had only been monitoring us for about a month,” Ian continued. “How is it that you left for us six months ago?”

“Oh shit,” Cano said. “Yeah. How does that work?”

“We didn’t leave San Diego for you,” Donaldson said. “We left before we even knew about you. We were under the impression that nothing around Tucson survived. Our mission took us up through the north west, even into Canada. Later we acquired the truck and finally we arrived here, our final stop until we get ‘rescued’ with the ‘Bios’.”

“The what?” Ian asked.

“‘Bios’,” Donaldson responded. “It’s short for ‘Biospherians’, it’s an abbreviation of a word we came up with to talk about your group.”

“What were you doing in Canada?” Cano asked.

“It’s Classified,” Donaldson said.

“Lame,” Cano said as he poured three cups of coffee and passed them out.

“Last night I was going over paths to Denver,” Ian said as he shuffled through papers on the table. “Do you have any suggestions?”

“Yes,” Donaldson said. “Come with me, let me take you to the truck, or as Mr. Gauss called it, ‘The Rig’. I like that better. No need for those…just come on.” He referred to the stack of files Ian was trying to deal with on the table.

“What?” Ian was stunned. “Why?”

“We have an entire plan mapped out for you, sorta’,” Donaldson said as they walked toward The Rig. “Intel worked on it since we learned of your whereabouts, the problem is that as the war continues we have no level of certainty to what is and is not safe anymore. Dead Zones are a specific classification of territory, they are not only patches of deadly habitat that no longer sustain life, they are the ones that are expanding. It feeds on it’s own destruction, the bigger it grows the faster it destroys. The more it destroys the bigger it gets, you see the runaway effect. There were multiple level one and two Dead Zones between here and Denver last month, since then they have done nothing but increase to level three and four Zones. That last estimate was based on a report from over a week ago. For all we know they could be one gigantic level seven mess by now.”

“So we have to go around them?” Ian asked. “No wonder it took you forever to get here.”

“Well sort of,” Donaldson said. “It will be easier to explain once we get to The Rig.”

“So on our way there,” Cano said. “Why not tell us what The Rig really is, you just said ‘all terrain greenhouse’ or something last night, I‘ve been all curious since.”

“Alright,” Donaldson stated. “The Rig is that and more. It’s a mobile self-contained terrarium. It can uncomfortably sustain eight humans and about 100 plants. It has a carbon dioxide and oxygen converters, filters and modifiers that on their own could sustain life for a year or so. With the added effect of plants and animals, the bipartisan system can sustain life for decades, provided there is sunlight and a nifty set of water filters you already have.”

“Damn,” Cano said as they walked outside, into a light morning drizzle of rain. “Those are some fancy satellites if you’re identifying those EERF H2O Purifiers.”

“Indeed,” Donaldson agreed as he approached The Rig. “It’s not the only ‘fancy’ thing we’ve got.” He then rolled his sleeve up and reveled a stunning piece of electronics wrapped around his wrist and half of his forearm. He hit a few buttons on it and The Rig’s four door cab unlocked while step ladders extended from the undercarriage.

“Sick!” Cano yelled as he ran toward the truck.

Donaldson’s men exited the Biosphere and joined the group around the vehicle.

“Boys!” Donaldson said to his unit. “Perfect timing. Let’s give these guys a tour of…check it out…new name…’The Rig’.”

“Yea!” one man responded.

“That’s way better,” another chimed in.

“You got to check this out,” a third said as he ran over to the back.

“Let’s start with the trailer,” Donaldson said as he walked toward the back of the huge vehicle, his men were already positioned around it. “Fold it down!” he yelled to the men.

One of the men lifted his shirt sleeve and hit some buttons on his wrist computer. A loud hiss happened like that of a bus lowering, it was the heavy hydraulics in action. The entire trailer started splitting in half long ways. The driver side stayed stationary but the passenger side began breaking away at the top and folding down toward the ground. It only took about twenty seconds for the entire side of The Rig to fold down, stilt legs folded out from the side and turned it into a platform. Inside, packed against the driver’s side were multiple sized greenhouses that had pipes running above and to them and a large glass air vent on top. After the truck was done unfolding, another of Donaldson’s men hit some buttons on his wrist computer and every other greenhouse rolled out on rails on top of the new stabilized platform. The larger houses and plants were kept stationary, where the shallow soil gardens were not. Each greenhouse had an entire panel of gauges, knobs and dials. The entire process took only a minute.

“It’s incredible,” Ian said as his jaw dropped in awe. “I love it.”

Cano just mumbled to himself how awesome it was as he jumped up on the platform and checked everything out.

“She’s a real beauty,” Donaldson said. “I will miss her dearly, but then again we are kind of trading you for a larger immobile one.”

“I guess you’re right,” Ian said.

“Dude!” Cano yelled. “It’s got a Soil Refurbisher!”

“Sweet?” Ian asked sarcastically while shrugging his shoulders. He then looked to Donaldson with a questioned look on his face.

“Yes,” Donaldson replied. “Very sweet. The environment this truck makes for these plants is so ‘rich’ in…everything…that plants grow and produce oxygen and food at least twice as fast.”

“Very sweet indeed,” Ian responded.

“You will have to make a few hour stops every day for a boost in sunlight,“ Donaldson explained. “The openings in the top cover the rest. It’s better to stagger it, the best is to travel by night and leave it open during the day, if you have the man power to alternate shifts like that.”

“How many people do you suggest we bring?” Ian asked. “How many do we need? How many can we take?”

“As I said before the truck can uncomfortably keep eight,” Donaldson said. “We had engineers draft plans for your convoy, I have to check but I believe the max capacity is twenty. You honestly only need five people to operate and maintain The Rig, but they suggest you maintain a crew of around fifteen.”

“They?” Cano asked as he returned from scoping out The Rig.

“The engineers,” Donaldson responded. “Back at our stronghold in San Diego, at least it used to be. I haven’t heard from anyone there in over two weeks.”

“So,” Ian inquired. “Where have your orders been coming from.”

“Texas,” Donaldson said. “Another big stronghold of ours, it’s much of what we have left. Look I could bore you all day with stories about how things have changed and what it means to be an ‘American’ but we have much more important matters at hand. I have to get you boys on the road in less than forty-eight hours.”

“Wow,” Ian exclaimed. “Forty-eight hours, why so exact, so soon?”

“Listen,” Donaldson said in a very serious manor. “Me, my squad, we were trained for the most intense combat situations. Not one of these men has been in special operations for less than five years. We are a supreme tactical force composed from every division of military. We aren’t some run down local unit, we aren’t some hobo’s they gathered to do something. This shit is important. Pay attention. I am fucking serious. Every power above me wants this done, from my immediate commanding officer to God. You and your group must make this voyage. You must meet Blundquist at the DIS. As far as I and everyone I work for and with is concerned, if you do not reach Denver soon enough, humanity will be lost. That is not metaphorical either. Literally humans will no longer exist.”

“Wow,” Cano said, he laughed a little as he turned to Ian. “Turn’s out you’re important.”

“Ha!” Ian exclaimed sarcastically as he turned to Donaldson. “How is it that you believe this as whole heartedly as you say?”

Donaldson had begun to walk toward the front of The Rig to complete their general tour. As Ian spoke he only turned his head back to look at him. A smile came over his face and he said, “I just know alright…if you have to chalk it up to something, let’s just say I dreamt it.”

Cano looked at Ian and slapped him on the shoulder while he quietly, but still intensely, said, “No way!”

Ian just looked at Cano in a perplexed manor that gradually grew into a smile as they walked behind Donaldson to the front of The Rig. At this point Cano’s mind was completely blown. Shocked and bewildered he stumbled behind them only thinking about what Donaldson said and what it meant. Donaldson showed them the rest of the vehicle including it’s advanced life support systems, living quarters, mobile command center aspects, and it‘s extensive defense system against enemies and the environment. He also went in some detail about ‘Squad Blender’.

Each of the individuals in Donaldson’s group wore identical computers on their left or right arms. The touchpad arm computers were connected to the central command unit within The Rig. With confirmed clearance, each computer could retrieve and display any and all information in reach of The Rig’s central command. From WiFi to Bluetooth to Satellite. Squad Blender was not just mobile internet either. It incorporated multi-level real time alert settings from things like plant health, radar activity, toxicity levels, and vital signs.

There were a total of ten arm computers that connected to The Rig. Donaldson instructed his group to remove their arm computers, or ‘Blenders’ as they called them and put them in something he called a “Formatter”. They bitched about missing it already but it was all kept to a minimum. The men loaded the Blenders into a box and Donaldson hit some switches and dials and a light came on.

“This,” Donaldson explained. “This is like a special microwave that ‘Formats’ the Blenders , it restores them to original specs. In just a few seconds it will be done and we can attach them to you two.”

“Sweet,” Cano and Ian said in unison as they watched the arm computers contort back into a perfect cylinder shape.

“Put the other shit in the cleaner and start a charge will you?” Donaldson said to his men who were already on it.

The Formatter made a ding and Donaldson opened the door and handed Blenders to Ian and Cano. They were composed of a thin layer of breathable foam for comfort, a thin polymer silicate for the computer and a thin durable touch sensitive LCD screen for display and interface. The three layer compound was heated and struck with electromagnetic pulses by the Formatter It cooled rapidly and Donaldson placed it around their arms like gigantic eight inch bracelets. He attached a six-inch antenna that ran parallel with the arm. Donaldson then plugged a cable from the Formatter into the antenna housing and hit a few buttons.

“Woah!” Cano said as the entire devise lit up in colors and designs.

“’Xen Group’,” Ian read off the welcome screen.

“Perfect,” Donaldson said. “Ok I’m going to initiate the form fitting sequence. First you will feel pressure, then it will ask you to flex and then you will feel a prick.”

“Why?” Cano asked. “I get the flexing and pressure but why a prick?”

“Skin sensitivity,” Donaldson said. “Have you ever had a cast?”

“Actually,” Cano responded. “I’ve never broken a bone but please continue.”

“It’s gonna’ itch you dumb-ass,” Ian interrupted. “It’s checking how sensitive our skin is so it can form to us better or something.”

“Correct,” Donaldson said as he started the sequence. “It’s also got variable scratch and rub features.”

“Awesome,” Cano said as he watched the cylinder collapse around his arm.

It formed perfectly to both of their arms, Cano’s left and Ian’s right, then there was the pressure and flex and prick, as expected.

“Jackson!” Donaldson yelled to one of his men. “Fetch Gauss and…um…Smith…and…Weigand…uh…Prescott…damn it, and the rest on the convoy list will ya?”

“Sure thing sir!” Jackson yelled from somewhere unseen.

“We need to make sure you boys are familiar with this system…” Donaldson started to say.

“What about the convoy?” Cano asked impatiently.

“…so we can get the convoy built faster…” Donaldson continued his statement. “Because there’s detailed diagrams you can individually pull up to make necessary modifications to your vehicles for the trip…oh, I’m sorry. Where you asking something?”

“No,” Cano said. “I was just doing the mouth’s mating call to the foot, I’m sorry but it is mating season…can’t fight nature.”

“Ahh, so you think,” Donaldson said as he grabbed two baskets of things out of ‘The Cleaner’ and directed their attention back to the Blenders. “This thing is surprisingly easy to set up, just follow the instructions and you’ll do fine. Here are your ear and eye pieces, vitals sensors, GPS locators, antenna packs, power and electricity modulation packs, environmental sensors, audio and optical devices and other shit. As you follow the tutorial it will show where and how to attach them to your body. I’m going to prep the main command center for your administration, within the next few hours you will be in complete control of The Rig, wirelessly once your packs charge. Use that solution to clean wherever on your body you‘re going to put whatever. Oops! First you got to attach these screens, they hinge off the antenna. Ok good luck.”

Donaldson then walked over to a control panel and prepped The Rig for it’s new commanders . As he worked the computer Cano and Ian went through the tutorials connected all the little do-dads to their bodies and The Rig. Though the process wasn’t complicated, it was time consuming. While they were doing it, Jackson returned with those on the convoy list. Brent, Brad, Megan, Michelle, Eric, Matt, Topher, and Cole. Cano and Ian showed them how to attach the Blenders to their arms and explained all the things that Donaldson told them earlier.

The group was amazed at the flexibility and functionality of the Squad Blender system. They all silently dove into customizing the physical and virtual aspects of their Blenders. It was almost noon by the time Donaldson was done. “Ok everyone, it’s time to eat. We are going to eat from the food available on this truck today so you can learn as you go. But, before that, I need you to connect to The Rig and create an account. I’m sending a request now, it will appear on the flip up screen. Just tap it, it will open then hit accept. A few prompts will appear and once you get through that, a download will start and we can begin lunch.”

The group inputted various information from their name to fingerprints, the process only took a few moments. Once finished, Donaldson took the group to the back of The Rig and explained to them the quick version of how the air exchange, filter and enhancement systems worked along with the soil refurbisher and water controls. Then he showed them how to retrieve food from greenhouses in a hostile environment and everyone practiced multiple times as they gathered ingredients for a vegetable wrap and fruit salad. As they completed the tour and lunch the downloads and updates finished on their Blenders.

“We need to get working on our assignments now,” Donaldson said. “Command has compiled a list of required tasks before you depart, they were distributed depending on personal skills. Most of you will be helping me and my team prepare your convoy, others will be gathering supplies. On your home screen please open up the file that says your name, it’s a checklist of things that must be accomplished before departure. As we head back inside and complete these lists, please think of any questions you might have. My men and I will be by your sides through all of this, we are all well versed in Squad Blender and The Rig and will be more than happy to explain whatever you need. If there is nothing right now let‘s head in.”

They all opened their task lists and read through them. Everything was self explanatory and without much talking the group headed back inside the Biosphere. Donaldson, Cano and Ian first headed to the Biosphere Command Center where they found Coby doing his daily duties.

“What’s up guys?” Coby asked as they entered the room.

“Not much man,” Cano responded. “Just got a tour of our sweet new toy.”

“Oh yea?” Coby questioned. “What? Do you mean whatever’s in that semi out front?”

“No,” Cano answered. “The Rig itself!”

“What?” Coby asked. “No way! So, what’s that thing all about.”

“Well…” Cano began to answer but was cut off mid statement.

“Nope,” Donaldson interjected. “Sorry, that’s classified.”

“Oh,” Ian said. “Sorry. Sergeant Donaldson, this is Professor and Scientist Coby Crouch. He was here before us, the first person we came into contact with once we reached the Biosphere.”

“I lived here,” Coby said. “This place has been my home for almost two years.”

“Coby is one of the first people I would ask to come with us,” Cano said. “Especially because this is his life. I mean, the man knows how to maintain a life friendly environment and it is his only tie.”

“I see,” Donaldson said. “It’s nice to meet you Professor Scientist Crouch.”

“Likewise,” Coby said with a grin on his face.

“I’m sorry,” Donaldson said. “To all of you. The military mindset is hard to break and seems to last long after the military is broken…”

“Broken?” Cano interjected. “Is that what you call it now? Broken?”

“Simply stated,” Donaldson responded. “Yes. There is little left. The precision nuclear and ionic strikes eliminated a huge portion of the military…of every military. I’m sure you noticed this with the destruction of DMAFB.”

“Somewhat,” Ian said. “It’s just I never expected this to be happening everywhere, more just that I was in the middle of it all, ground zero and everywhere else wasn’t as bad.”

“Everywhere else isn’t just as bad,” Donaldson said. “It’s usually worse. Anyway, this is what I wanted to talk to you about. Who all are you going to bring with you? Including Dr. Crouch you have nine available spots.”

“I think that we need time to figure that out,” Cano said.

“He’s right,” Ian agreed. “With the amount of friends and quality people living here it will be hard to choose.”

“I think it will become more evident as we construct the convoy,” Cano said. “Those who prove useful and knowledgeable about the convoy itself. I mean we have a core group that is well versed in almost everything, we need a pit crew.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Donaldson said. “Command compiled you wisely, so far your combined skills exceed that required to run The Rig. But it’s not just a pit crew you need. You need a group well versed in weaponry, preferably without any major attachments to this place or the people here. A group of individuals that will act like a team and can rough it. Warriors.”

“I think everyone here has proven to act like a team and that they can rough it,” Cano said. “Also, everyone has had weapons training, I figured Intel would have told you that. It’s just finding the individuals who don’t have major attachments that’s going to be the problem. Many of the people I can think of off the bat have families, small children, you know? Some convincing may be in order.”

“We’ll get it done,” Ian said. “Just give us time.”

“You got till you leave,” Donaldson said. “Let’s construct a convoy. You three should show me where your shop is, we’ll go from there.”

The four men exited the Command Center and headed downstairs to the workshop on the other end of the complex. As they walked Ian and Cano discussed the options for who they would ask to go with them. Coby and Donaldson compared the life preserving properties of each and their future capabilities. Everyone else tackled their lists at high efficiency, they were all in motion.

Chapter 7: Situational Reformation - Midlogue 3: Change of Plans