This area hadn’t changed much in the decade since Daniel had been stripped from my arms. Even the destruction zones we bordered weren’t different by much, only the roads around here. The Pruett commitment to the Network, one for which we were not paid, was a source of pride. We added miles a year, only the six of us. Now, there would be seven. Behind our property were the slums. To the south, the main road that we had cleared with our own hands, alive with signs of the birthing season. To the east, the Network-controlled cities and larger populations. And to the west? The other side of the country was a mystery to those here in Network lands. Only the rare visitor from the Coast Outpost came here, and we never went there. Even during all my runs in the Borderlands, I’d never seen someone from that side. The Network news claimed it was uninhabitable… I turned to watch the crate being unloaded from the Network hauler, seeing tense blue eyes through the cracks of boards sealed with a welded Network patch over the top.
