Awakening Book One of the Trust Series(67)

Caitlyn raised an eyebrow. “Well, most urban legends are usually based on a grain of truth.”

“You are right. Dr. Brida did try to develop a formula that could do that. It did not work and failed after multiple attempts. The formula itself is no longer even in existence; when she failed on such a huge level, she destroyed all evidence of the experiment. Anyways, word spread about this experiment and it somehow changed into we had this super injection. If we did, we would have all these super Actuals around us.” Declan laughed to himself slightly.

“What?”

Declan laughed harder. “I had forgotten this until now, but I had overheard someone at the Gala suggest that you were shot with Brida’s formula.”

Caitlyn could not help but laugh herself. “Could you imagine?”

Declan tipped back the rest of his liquor. “You would be fearsome. Not that you are not now.”

She snorted. “Yeah, right. I am completely fearsome. All be afraid of Caitlyn Young.”

Derrick arrived a few minutes later with Chinese food in one hand and rolled up Maps in the other. Caitlyn grabbed a container of Beef with Broccoli and plopped down on the floor, spreading the maps in front of her. The various maps showed everything from the recruiting land shifts of the past thirty years to information regarding the Trust’s recruiting stats over the past fifty years. She looked at them with keen interest as Declan and Derrick talked at the table.

“We cannot give them more land, Derrick.”

Derrick waved a chopstick in his hand. “You knew that it might be a possibility, Declan. We have to give them something.”

“Well, what if we offer them changes in trading rights?”

Derrick shook his head. “They are not going to agree to that. The trading rights were already being reviewed by a board as per the 2011 treaty; they would be giving us something for nothing in their opinion.”

“What about offering them the release of one of their spies?”

Caitlyn perked up in interest. That would explain Garrett’s recent disappearances for extended periods. Derrick again, shook his head. “I do not want to offer that to them. As it is, I know that is what they are hoping for, but they are not willing to even acknowledge spies on their end. They are waiting for us to offer the releases so they can push for more. I’ll mention to Monroe that we are interested in a possible release, but will not offer it out on the table flatly. That will need to come from Monroe’s mouth directly as a judgment, not from ours.”

“I will not give them Texas or Chicago. Texas has been a large recruiting area for us.”

“They will not accept if we give them other lands.”

Caitlyn interrupted. “Why don’t you give them half of Texas? Derrick, does the Cine Tofa have access to the maps in front of me?”

His brow furrowed. “Not most of them. Those I brought with me.”

“Well,” She lifted up the map of the recruiting history and placed it on the countertop in front of them. “Texas seems quite unique. To the outside observer, it is a boon for recruiting. However, if I am reading this map correctly, it is fairly deceiving. Austin, Houston, and El Paso used to be meccas for potentials, however, over the past two decades, those numbers have dwindled significantly, and instead, Fort Worth, Dallas, and Arlington numbers have all been on the rise. On this map-”

Caitlyn grabbed another map from the floor. “It shows the current potentials. While we would lose some in the Houston and Austin areas, it’s not a significant number. Besides, you need to look at the larger picture.”

Declan was interested in where she was going with this. “The bigger picture?”

“Yes. In several years, these recruiting treaties are going to be obsolete anyways. When there are so many people waking, the Cine Tofa is going to go public at that point and the Trust will need to as well. And then the Potentials will be able to make up their own minds, if they choose sides at all.”

Derrick chewed methodically before looking at Declan. “She has a very valid point.”

Declan frowned. “I still don’t like it. What if the treaty upholds somehow through it? Then we permanently lose that land. But… what other choices do we have?”

They stayed up into the wee hours of the night discussing alternative options, weighing the pros and cons. Caitlyn was impressed at how thorough the both of them were and how dedicated they were. Finally, they glanced at the clock, seeing it was two am in the morning.