Bonus points for correctly identifying the popular culture reference.
Drishya Chandran blinked her big brown eyes. On paper, she was twenty-one. To Elias, she looked about fifteen at most.
It’s not that the kids are getting younger; it’s that I’m getting older.
“I’m sorry,” Drishya said. “I honestly didn’t see anything.”
They had commandeered the Elmwood Public Library and through the glass window of the conference room Elias could see the gate looming like a dark hungry mouth, bathed in the glow of the floodlights. No matter how many lives they threw into it, it would never be enough. It was past one in the morning, and he was out of coffee.
“Walk me through it one more time,” he said.
“The drill head jammed,” Drishya said. “I showed it to Melissa. She said to go get the new one from the cart in the tunnel. I went to get it. The next thing I know Wagner is running out of the tunnel, and Melissa is behind him, and her face doesn’t look right. I’m like okay, I guess we are doing that now, so I turned around and ran to the gate. I heard an explosion behind us, so I didn’t look back. I didn’t even know London made it until I was out.”
“Why was the cart in the tunnel and not at the site?” Elias asked.
“It didn’t fit. The site slopes to the stream and there wasn’t a lot of flat ground, so we could only get three of the four carts in.” Drishya counted off on her fingers. “Cart One had the generator, lights, and first aid, so it had to come in. Carts Two and Three were for the ore. Adamantite is heavy, so we didn’t want to carry it too far. Cart Four with the spare parts had to live outside.”
“So there was adamantite at the site?” He’d read Leo’s notes of Melissa’s interview, but it seemed almost unbelievable that so much adamantite could exist in one place.
“Oh yes. That’s how my drill broke. Chipped off a chunk this big.” Drishya held her hands out as if lifting an invisible basketball.
“Was the adamantite in plain view?”
The miner shook her head. “No. Buried, and half of it underwater. It took the DeBRA about 10 minutes to find it. She had to mark it with paint for us.”
Was this why they were attacked? Was something protecting the ore?
Drishya sighed. “It’s awful, isn’t it? Everyone is dead.”
“It is, and they are,” Elias confirmed.
“I knew we would get a big bonus when we found the gold, and then the DeBRA came up with adamantite. I was so excited. I thought I could finally put a deposit on the house. My mom isn’t doing so well. I’ve got to get us out of the apartment, and I’m the only one working.”
Gold? What gold? “I’m sorry your mother is in bad health, and that you had to go through this trauma. You may want to see Dr. Park. He has a room set up downstairs.”
“I’m okay. I didn’t see any of it,” Drishya said. “I’ve only been working for 6 months. I didn’t even know people that well…”
He’d seen this before. Some people grieved when faced with death, others got angry, and some tried to disconnect themselves from what happened.
“I understand,” he said. “Still, it might be a good idea. You’ve lost colleagues in a sudden traumatic way. Things like that can fester.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said.
“So how much gold was there?”
“A lot. It was everywhere in the water, like rocks. We weren’t even drilling; we were pulling it out by hand. Nuggets the size of an apple. We ended up dumping like fifty pounds of it to make room for the adamantite, and we’d been only gathering it for about five minutes.”
“I see. I appreciate your help, Ms. Chandran. The guild is grateful for your assistance. Please get some rest.”
She got up and paused. “You are a lot less scary than I thought you would be.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Just so you know, Wagner told me not to talk to you.”
Elias raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”
“He said that miners don’t go into the breaches with guildmasters. They go with escort captains. He said it was something to keep in mind.”
“Thank you for your honesty.”
She nodded and walked out.
Elias pulled up the interview notes on his tablet. Neither Melissa nor London said anything about the gold. Malcolm wouldn’t have seen the adamantite, but gold was an entirely different beast.
Was it just gold? Was that it? He’d been wracking his brain, trying to find the reason for the lapse in procedure, having this back and forth with Leo, wondering what he was missing, and all this time, the answer was depressingly simple. Well, no shit, Sherlock, here it is. Greed.
He had put so many regulations and checks in place, and somehow greed always won. He was so fucking tired. Things were much simpler in the breach. The enemy was in front, the support was behind, and he didn’t have to wade through the swamp of human failings. He couldn’t wait to get out of this conference room and into his armor. He had a powerful urge to slice something with his sword.
Leo appeared in the open doorway like a wraith manifesting, met his gaze, and stepped back.
“Come inside and shut the door,” Elias growled.
Leo came in and closed the door behind him.
“Sit.”
Leo sat.
“Why do baby miners think I’m scary?”
“Because you are, sir. Most people find a man who can cut a car in a half with a single strike and then throw the pieces at you frightening.”
“Hmm.”
“Also we offer the highest pay and the best benefits among the top tier guilds, and you are their boss who holds their livelihood in his gauntleted fingers…”
Elias raised his hand. “Did you know there was gold at the mining site?”
Leo’s eyes flashed with white. “I did not.”
“Apparently it was in the water. Nuggets the size of apples. Finally, I know something before you do.”
“Congratulations, sir.”
Elias let that go, pulled up the map of the site on his tablet, and pointed at the three tunnels, each carrying a current of water that merged into a single stream. “Gold washes downstream.”
“Malcolm left the tunnels open because he wanted to maximize the profit from the site.” Leo’s face snapped into a hard flat mask. “He must’ve expected that once they cleared the site, they would gather more gold upstream.
“Remind me, how much did Malcolm make last year?”
“Seven million.”
“I want to know why gold got him so excited that he risked nineteen lives by leaving the tunnels unsecured.”
“Nineteen?” Leo frowned. “The mining crew, the escort, the DeBRA…”
“And the dog.”
“Oh.”
“Malcolm took a significant risk. That’s not just greed. That’s desperation. How are his finances?”
“Squeaky clean as of the last audit, which was two months ago. Credit score of 810, low debt to assets, less than 10K owed on credit cards. I’m following up on a couple of things. We should know more in a few hours. Do you want me to get Wagner in to talk to you?”
“He won’t tell me anything. Wagner is forty-nine years old. He was a coal miner before the gates appeared, and we are his third guild. He’s used to getting screwed over by his bosses.”
“So, he developed an adversarial relationship with us despite fair treatment,” Leo said. “Seems counterintuitive.”
“It doesn’t matter what kind of treatment he gets. He’s cooked. He doesn’t trust us, he will never trust us, and he will always resent us no matter how many benefits he gets.”
“That’s not even logical.”
“It isn’t. It’s an ingrained emotional response. Trust me, we won’t get anything out of him. I’d like you to reinterview Melissa instead. As you said, I’m scary, so she may do better with you. Don’t be confrontational. Be sympathetic and understanding. Make it us against the government: we need to tell the DDC something and we need her help to make them go away. Imply that her cooperation will be remembered and appreciated.”
Leo nodded. “Should I bring up the families?”
Elias shook his head. “Normally the foreman would be the last to get out, just before the escorts. She was at the head of the pack. Either she was incredibly lucky, or she abandoned her crew and ran for her life. Either way, there is guilt there. If you lean too hard on it, she might shut down. Go with ‘you were just doing your job, and we don’t blame you for surviving’ instead. Get her a coffee, get some cookies, interview her in a comfortable setting, and see if she thaws and starts talking. If she goes off on a tangent, let her. Don’t rush. You are her friend; you are there to listen.”
Leo nodded. “Will do.”
“Did Haze get the children?”
“Yes. They’ve just arrived at HQ. I still don’t think this is wise.”
Twenty-eight people died in the breach. Fourteen members of the assault crew, nine miners, four escorts, and Adaline Moore. Twelve of the deceased left behind minor children. Of all of them, only Adaline Moore’s kids had no immediate family to take care of them.
The media devoured any news related to the guilds and gates, and the death of a prominent DeBRA would set off fireworks. Once the news broke, Adaline’s children would become the center of a news cycle. They would be overwhelmed, used, wrung dry for the sake of the cheap emotional punch, and then abandoned to their grief. If they were lucky, the country would forget they existed. If they were unlucky, someone would take note of two vulnerable orphans with a million-dollar life insurance payout.
“I will not allow Adaline’s children to be fed to the media circus,” Elias said. “They are safer at the Guild HQ. DDC hasn’t made any notifications yet, but we both know it will get out. I don’t need some asshole showing up at their door, sticking a microphone into their faces, and asking how they feel about their mother dying. All Haze told them was that Adaline is missing in the breach. They will find out what happened from me, personally.”
He would take care of that in the morning.
“Adaline Moore would have made provisions,” Leo said.
“I’m sure she did. Until we know what they are, we will take care of it.”
“This will be seen as Cold Chaos controlling access to the children because we have something to hide. We are trying to minimize the media’s attention, but they love conspiracies. In an effort to keep the story small, we may end up making it bigger.”
“That’s fine. If they want to paint us as the villain of that story, let them. We will survive. We are the third largest guild in the country.”
Leo sighed quietly.
“I called Felicia,” Elias told him.
Felicia Terrell was a powerhouse attorney, and she specialized in guild-related litigation. He spoke to her two hours ago. She called him a marshmallow and promised to show up first thing in the morning. The children would be well protected from everyone, including Cold Chaos.
Elias leaned back. He was so over it. As soon as he hammered the assault team together, he would enter the gate. He couldn’t wait to get out of this conference room. There was no politics in the breach.
Leo was still sitting in the chair. Some other problem must’ve reared its ugly head.
“Lay it on me,” Elias said.
“We can’t find Jackson.”
“What do you mean, you can’t find him?”
“He was supposed to fly out of Tokyo twenty minutes ago. He didn’t make it to the plane, and he isn’t answering his phone. I’m on it.”
Jackson was arguably the best healer in the US. He didn’t drink, he didn’t do drugs, and his biggest vice was collecting expensive bonsai. The man did not go AWOL. Jackson was always where he was supposed to be. He was calm, competent, powerful, and respected wherever he went, because he did things like walk into other guilds’ gates and rescue their assault teams from disaster when asked. Nothing could happen to Jackson.
“Do whatever you have to do, but find him, Leo.”
The XO nodded. “I will.”
First?
Certified, same second as posting! 😀
Damn, just missed it.
Very honourable second place!
Thank you!
Darn it. I stopped to read the whole thing before posting. LOL. Now I can’t wait for Friday!
Again thank you.
Wohoo!! 8th? so top 10 lol
K, Elias is a good guy. “And the dog.”
Not first, but happy Victoria Day anyway!
+1！
Just what I thought when I read that!
I am so glad someone else tagged that. “And the dog.” Ilovehimalready.
+1
+1
Love competent people!
Is there a loose idea of when you hope to have the full story available? I am… incredibly engrossed by this and a getting more with each snippet…
House Andrews said this summer 😊
Nooooo. That’s too long. I’m getting impatient already, waiting for the team to go in..
Love it! 😍
This is the closest I think I’ll ever be to getting first comment on a post 🤣
so good!!! camt wait until Friday!
ditto +1000.
Yippee
I’ve had time to read the article twice.
Someone definitely has it out for either Elias or Cold chaos in general.
Now Jackson, their healer who they need to go into the breach is missing.
One wonders if it’s an inside job (like Leo) or someone has been watching Cold Chaos’ every move closely.
So good!
So good. I am impatient! I want the rescue team to go into the breach. Serials are hard.
Serials are a love-hate relationship – at least for me 😀
True
Whoa! I’ve NEVER been THIS nearly! Woo hoo, it’s Monday. Happy Inheritance Day. And I called it. I guessed that the mean old author lords wouldn’t be relieving are justified anxiety for our intrepid heroine. We must endure until Friday (I hope) to find out if a hearty helping of stalker heart tartare is a effective palliative for a case of poison spore infection. 0_0
Can certify, you did call out the sneakiness 🤣
Ah, but both you and Ilona insisted that sneakiness is an attribute that knows no place in the heart of our (hmm, what verb applies here?) crafty? sly? cunning? wily? clever? scheming? tricky? devious? DEVIOUS! I like devious. A descriptive word used to describe our wonderous provider of a suspenful and delightful literary masterpiece! Thank you for another wonderful chapter! 0_0
Mane a fixation on the value of heart tartar. That’s what kept Spider alive in the swamp.
But I’m a Facts be Damned commenter who has spaghetti slash scars.
Maybe not Mane.
Thank you – now to wait challantly for Friday!
Thank you……
(A great start to chapter 6 to cheer me up after cleaning up from my newly adopted 8 yr old cat…..no turkey for him anymore…🙄)
Thanks
Friday can’t come soon enough
I love the snippets back and forth!
Another excellent chapter that just gives us enough to want more (let’s stay chalant about this eh)
I like him, k always like your « no bullshit » characters and he fits to the T. Glad that the children are taken care of, even though it must be devastating to them. Mom is coming kids !!
I can’t wait for Elias to enter the breach either! Now I need to re-read a bit more slowly and try to spot the cultural reference!
I also missed any cultural references!
no shit Sherlock, this is getting good! I am waiting for the rest. I need to know what happens to Ada when she eats the heart.
Oh, I love this scene! Elias’s deft questioning and compassionate response to Ada’a children are marvelous.
I do like the wrench thrown in about Jackson being missing. More characters to worry about!
Right? i dont even know Jackson, but am invested in his well being now!
Thank you 😃
I hope there is a GA version coming out, I’d love to hear Elias’s voice.
I’m getting Tommy-Lee Jones vibes. 😉
These Chapters are amazing, as a happy BDH member, I will repeat the chant “Here take my money!!” 😆
+1000 on the chalant chanting!
Thanks for the chapter ^^
Well, now, did someone snatch Jackson to delay Elias from going through the gate?
I wonder if Elias will make Melissa and London lead them into the breach? I hope so. However the reunion with Ada happens, I hope we get to see their reaction.
Whoa! Great idea except that Melissa will be useless, shaking and crying and all around guilting. London will probably still try to grab that there gold in those not-hills.
Ok, so I thought twice a week, we would know all…. Come on Friday!
I don’t have a hope of finding a popular culture reference! 😂
I will have to keep coming back in the hope that someone relieves my curiosity. (Hint, hint)
+1!!
I’m so chalant, I’m nearly vibrating…
AWW he’s looking out for her kids ❤️ Who wouldn’t love a responsible, competent, compassionate man?? *waves ship flag* 🤭
+1 And the dog!
96 hours till next update. Wait is unBEARable but I will be chalant. I will be so damn chalant….
That was lovely, thank you!
But now we have to w##t till Friday to find out if Ada and Bear made it…
laughed when Elias said the miner guy was cooked, and loved him a little more when he considered the dog a person too.
+1!
Thank you for the part. I am glad that the kids are being looked after. I am looking forward to Friday
Ah, Elias! The weariness of filling the ballooning vacuum of responsibility, leadership and values in the world; of seeing human frailty so clearly and stepping up rather than despairing. Smart, strong, scary AND caring: sigh, I‘m a sucker for this pure competence porn.
Love his voice. Thank you!
No mention of London yet:(
I really want to see him get grilled.
Also, does anyone find it weird that Elias lets the mention of the explosion slip by?
I believe he already knew about the explosion, he read Leo’s interviews with the survivors 🙂
Woohoo! Great chapter – love getting to see more about Elias… but also I want more Ada! More Bear! More more mo-
Must practice fluffiness. Must have patience. Must w@!t….
Also: is this for real-for real a stand alone? I could see this world making for a fun series… I know, so many worlds, so many stories to tell – but this is lots of fun and an easy way in for new readers! I’ll keep my fingers crossed!
At the moment, it is a stand-alone.
But it’s not finished yet, and I haven’t sung, so things may change 😀
When I read Leo’s “Because you are, sir. Most people find a man who can cut a car in a half with a single strike and then throw the pieces at you frightening.”, I thought of Connor Rogan (Mad Rogan anyone?) tearing Nevada’s minivan apart before throwing the pieces.
If the media would go crazy with Ada’s kids, just wait until everyone finds out she and Bear are alive. I know we have to go through the “will they or won’t they survive?” question (which we already know thanks to our wonderful Mod R) hopefully Friday.
To be continued! 😀
I am already in love with this and it’s just the beginning! Not sure how you always hook me in, but I am so happy that you do! Your books/series are always incredible, thanks so much! Can’t wait to purchase the full release!
Just absolutely love this story.
Like an old fashioned serial, hanging on till the next installment.
So damn good!
pure competence p0rn. I am here for this. #TeamElias all the way.
Each post, new questions. I love this ! Thank you !
Also, I’ve seen comments about Elias, but I’m team Leo.
ModR, is there a chance that we could get a poll about characters at some point ? Please ?
Good week to everyone one
Sure, what type of poll would you like? 🙂
Pure popularity wouldn’t be fair, because Bear would sweep the competition 😀
Well, I was exactly thinking about popularity 😅.
Knowing it wouldn’t be fair, but still… I’m curious what the other BDH members would answer :).
After posting, I realised that, while I picture Leo as intelligent, wich contributes to make him attractive -, there’s more the fact that I can identify myself with him.
So maybe more about that? Wich character are you in tune with? Who would you want to be? (I know, we already had the Talents test… wich was really fun)
While reading, I would want to be him.
Because he’s thinking ahead, anticipating questions and bringing up the next problem – he’s a good XO -, and I real life I’m more a problem solver than a leader, so that’s a role that fits well with me.
Also the lightning in the eyes is a real plus.
I have a… Week ahead of me and so haven’t had brain space to think of much else so the surprise of the next installment smashes thru the anxiety and just makes me so so happy 😊 I look forward to forgetting about the serial until Friday, yay!
According to my internet search:
The phrase “no shit, Sherlock” is believed to have originated between the 1940s and 1950s, with its first known use in popular culture being in the 1986 movie “Little Shop of Horrors”. While some sources suggest it may have been in common usage as early as the 1930s, these claims are largely anecdotal.
Is this the cultural reference?
Not that one, keep looking 🙂
Is it the “Congratulations, sir”?
Ah. Someone already got it. From Die Hard. 😆
Felicia? as a cultural reference
No, the pop culture reference has been identified higher in the comments, it is Die Hard and “some asshole showing up at their door, sticking a microphone into their faces, and asking how they feel about their mother dying” 🙂
I don’t watch many movies or TV shows so I’m not familiar with a lot of pop culture. That being said, my best guess is that the line about cutting a car in half and then throwing the pieces is the pop culture reference.
Not that one either.
I will give a clue and say it’s a reference that doesn’t require someone to have watched recent movies or tv shows :D. Think more classic blockbusters…
John Wick?
“…and the dog”
No, it’s not so lightly referenced 🙂
The correct guess was made already higher in the comments, it’s a Die Hard call-out to the scene where to Die Hard when Thornburg drives over to Holly’s house to interview the children about how they feel about their mother’s death.
Thank you! (But what’s going on with Jackson???)
Okay, I got real confused who Wagner was so I just spent an hour re-reading episodes & made a list of characters. I’ve listed them below for reference (& really need to get back to work).
Survivors: Alex Wright (“London”) – Escort captain; Melissa – Mining foreman; Drishya Chadnran – miner; Wagner – miner.
Casualties: Malcolm – assault team leader; 13 assault team members; 9 miners; 4 escorts; K9 handler.
The names shouldn’t be needed, it’s all obvious from context 🙂 . We know 2 miners survived besides London and Melissa, and Elias is interviewing one of them. Of course, the other person named as uncooperative can only be the second miner.
Among the deceased, identified victims are also:
Stella- Bear-handler’s name
Miners names: George Payne, Anja , Sanders, Hotchkins, Ella Gazarian
Strikers: Aaron (Tank), Alex Costa (striker)
Thank you both for this info. My detail-oriented, nerdy mind appreciates this. 😁
Waiting till Friday with my breathe held🥹😭
Also is the pop culture reference no shit Sherlock? only one I know in here 😅(Nigerian)
Thank you
“No shit, Sherlock”
Cultural reference?
No, that’s more of a colloquial idiom at this point. No one gets extra points for having heard about Sherlock Holmes, sorry 😀
The pop culture reference cuts a bit deeper, but is by no means obscure. Ok, I’ll give another hint: it belongs to a classical blockbuster we bring up around the same time every year.
The one which I always argue is a Christmas Movie and I either get disbelieving looks or thumbs up.
ohhhh, I didn’t get the email, so I came on the site, directly for the instalment. oohhhh so good.
The newsletter email usually arrives around 20 hours after the blog post goes live 🙂
Y’aaaalllllllllll where is Jackson?!?!
I had a Catalina-before-the-wedding style wide-eyed moment and have read this through twice now.
“Nothing could happen to Jackson.” I agree, Elias!
So what happened to Jackson???
Cold Chaos can’t catch a break lately. Sheesh.
“Cold Chaos can’t catch a break” is a perfect tagline 😀
Say that five times fast. That’s a really good tongue twister. 😀
Oh, look . . . even more reasons to continue to love both Elias and Leo. 🙂
Another great instalment! I’ve become totally invested in the story, my calendar has only two days, Monday and Friday. Everything else is just The Time Between Chapters.
My guess at the culteral reference is the image of some reporter sticking a microphone into the faces of Ada’s kids, reminded me of the smarmy reporter from Die Hard.
POOOOOOINTS!
Mitch gets the extra points! Well done 😀 , you guessed the reference!
Aww shucks! Missed it by a minute!
That’s cool, we can split the points.
Unless I can trade them in to get an early look at Friday’s instalment, in which case they’re mine, all mine!!! Mwahahahaha….
Aww! Thanks Mitch!
I’d do the exact same if early peeks were on the line!
Congratulations, Mitch and everyone else on getting the cultural reference! 👏👏👏👏👏
I don’t know if Ilona and Gordon realized that they also had a Hidden Legacy reference, too. I mentioned it above in my comment earlier. 😉😁🥸
This keeps getting better and better… thank you!
Cultural reference is Die Hard (my favorite Christmas movie)? ”I don’t need some asshole showing up at their door, sticking a microphone into their faces, and asking how they feel about their mother dying.”
Points here too, almost the same time as the first correct guess!
I knew it would happen before the 100th comment 😀
This story…never enough
Thank you for another wonderful instalment!
The only pop culture reference that came to mind is the Infinity Stones gauntlet…
I can’t wait till Friday!
lol. Didn’t occur to me Monday would swap POV. Friday we wait for Monday, Monday we wait for Friday. Anyone have a tasseract laying around? Isn’t that thing that helps you jump thru time?
Thank you for this piece of art!
“And the dog.” – loved it!
This is fascinating. Thanks to the Andrewses for this. Again, thanks for so many stories.
Elias is such a good guy! Thanks, this was fun!
Each time I finish reading a new post . Every. Single. Time. My first thought is always ….. Aarrghhhhhhh !! I want to keep reading ! …. definitely a live-hate thing going on here . Love the story. Hate the wait.
Uh , does anyone know of any books or series they could recommend to read that has a similar plot line ?? …. something that I could to read to fill the void while this series SLOWLY plays itself out ….. 😀
Hi Suc, Im so glad you’re enjoying The Inheritence 😊
We have a blog policy to limit book recommendations to specific post clearly designated for this purpose, so this thread is now closed and all the replies will be deleted.
Recent LitRPG recommendations were made here:
https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/life-and-other-dishes/
and on this post: https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/back-to-life-back-to-reality-and-book-recommendation/
Is this the cultural reference?
Die Hard: You were just doing your job, and we don’t blame you for surviving.
And thanks for another great installment.
I think there is a bigger conspiracy coming to light here.
Thank you for brightening a miserable Monday! Keeping fingers crossed for Gordon!
Hm, for the reference I’m thinking
Die Hard – the sticking of a microphone into children’s faces about how they’re feeling about their mother’s death? But I’m not sure, always watched it in German, but it’s a staple in our household at Christmas.
Shoot, took too long typing!
thank you for another wonderful part.
-counting the dog’s life
-protecting the children despite the scandal
-a marshmallow indeed.
swoon
BUT how can the healer of all people go missing when our heroine is about to eat a poisoness heart and has minutes to live?!?! Damn it, Jackson! my anxiety is sky high. how will we all survive until Friday?
is Elias going to get sleep or lean on London while he waits. . .
best wishes on the surgery.
Wow, thank you, yet again.
Man, the conspiracy just keeps getting bigger and bigger! I say this every time I post, but thank you guys for this serial – love the bits and pieces, the anticipation, and something to look forward to on Mondays and Fridays.
ooohhh, what happened to Jackson??
he counted the dog in the tally 😭😭 AND he’s swooping in to help the kids before anyone can get their grimy mitts on them *swoon*
Being a federal employee waiting to lose her job, these Monday AND Friday snippets are giving me LIFE. Thank you House Andrews for providing such amazing stories and distractions from life’s rollercoaster.
I’m so sorry you’re going through that! hugs!
Sorry that is happening to you.
Thank you for all you do.
Excellent update, thank you!
So good. So satisfying but of course need/want more!
Loved that he included Bear in the count! Now we just have to be ummm … patient until Friday.
thank you for making Mondays more bear-able!
So, release in summer, that’s next week right?
Ah, I like Elias more every time he shows up. Definitely more Elias please!!!
I’ve had a terrible week. Inheritance is always a pleasant surprise balm that I didn’t know I needed each time it gets posted.
Thank you, House Andrews and Mod R for keeping the BDH supplied with good stories and awesome commentary.
Loving this!
New phrases by BDH that are resonating with me:
competence porn – YES!
waving the ship flag for Elias…!
loving, and the dog!
injured myself on the weekend, now lying in bed icing body parts, and so glad to have this serial to read!
So this fancy school that is supposed to safeguard the children in case of all sorts of problems just let’s a guild who is neither her employer nor a relative take her children? I’d find another school.
The school Ada’s children attend is a cross between a private academy and a fortified emergency site. Their role is to safeguard students on campus and during active threat conditions from monsters escaping the gates. Outside of school hours, custody and guardianship of the children remains with their legal guardian (Ada), not with the school. They are not a state agency or temporary foster authority. The children don’t have any other family and Elias addresses the fact that the DDC hasn’t made a move yet and when they do, it won’t be a protective one. He knows the realities of his world and acts accordingly, with the legal implications and ethical fallout being addressed specifically in the text 🙂
As for Cold Chaos: while Ada isn’t directly employed by them, she’s been officially assigned to their breach operation by the DDC. In employment terms, she’s functioning as a loaned specialist, someone whose oversight and safety fall under the operational authority of the Guild for the duration of the mission. That includes rescue, medical care, and the reporting chain in case of injury or death. Cold Chaos may not employ her, but they are legally accountable for her while she’s in their breach. This is part of what makes Elias’s concern both personal and professional. He has a certain fraction of legal leg to stand on.
Worth remembering too that Tia is 16. While still a minor, she’s not a helpless child, and she absolutely has a say in her own care. She and Noah aren’t just handed off or abducted. They are taken in by someone the world respects and trusts as an authority figure, and who feels responsible based on very real stakes that aren’t yet officially confirmed.
I think this a really good point, so I looked back at what we know about the school and I think that the safeguarding is mostly in case of invasion. Ada references the underground shelter specifically. I think Cold Chaos is able to take the children because there is no one else who has custody, which is why they do it; because anybody can until Ada’s “provisions” are found out.
But your comment references the question: what legal standing does Cold Chaos have? and I think that is what Felicia Terrell is going to take care of.
I like Elias, he’s what an executive should be and so rarely is. I’d like to squeeze that Melissa until she pops. Can’t wait to see how it all plays out!
This line: “I’m like okay, I guess we are doing that now” is absolutely the most 21-year-old thing she could have said. Excellent detail.
I love how when we met Elias, his inner monologue was, “I will never do that again! I am meant to be in the office, where it’s safe!” and now he is chomping at the bit to be back in the breach where things are simple. That’s so relatable.
Interesting that Cold Chaos has not marketed Elias’s willingness to breach dive because that is major brownie points in media. This probably speaks to Elias’s “do good quietly” type of mentality.
Also I almost always regret speculating, BUT all that gold would translate to free, untraceable money. So maybe there is some larger coalition in need of cash that Melissa, London, and Malcolm are a part of. Maybe this larger, secret group is widespread enough to pull Jackson off the street in Japan? And they need off-grid money for their dastardly deeds?
Every new piece of the puzzle is puzzling indeed because why Jackson? Surely there are other people who are not as clean-cut as him to use to delay the mission. Surely somebody has a penchant for drinking that would leave an excuse except for “foul play”. Perhaps Jackson was just the option that would delay the team as long as possible because he is so far away. Perhaps this coalition happened to have an operative in Japan and not other places. Definitely Jackson’s absence as the healer is much more nerve wracking than some of the other team members.
I have no doubt all will be explained in due time, but we will just have to wa*t and have pat*ence.
If free money shows up, almost anyone can find a use for it. The need doesn’t have to be prior or existing. It can spring into being, fully formed, at the rumor of free money. Only a strong moral compass keeps people honest* in the face of temptation.
*Fear of getting caught is not at all the same thing as honesty.
Yessss 😀 , I remarked on that too, he is such a crabby man hehe. When he is in the office, he wants to be in the breach; when he is in the breach, he wants to be in the office.
Add a hefty dose of “I’m too old for this shit” and “why are baby miners afraid of me”. A pinch of tremendous weaponised competence, plus a generous helping of marshmallow fluff.
Cook at breach temperatures and you get GRIZZLED PALADIN EXTRAORDINAIRE, apparently the Horde’s perfect male character kryptonite hahahaha.
This is so good it’s driving me crazy!! Thank you!
I read this chapter already 3 times searching for clues…
“He said that miners don’t go into the breaches with guildmasters. They go with escort captains” – so maybe Wagner saw what London did?
Dazed and confused?!
In the midst of a really difficult time, this little ray of delight pops into my life…. I love your writing, thank you for the glimpses of a world even more dysfunctional than my own, in which compassion and hope remain.
Immediate response at the end: Uh-oh. Where is Jackson? Come on, Friday!