Chương 141: CDM 3, Chapter 17: Teambuilding

"I didn't know you were back," I said as I stepped into McDouglas' office. His polo was periwinkle blue.

"Got back last night," he replied.

"Wanted to check in. We haven't talked since your Cinci trip."

"Sure. What would you like to know?"

"How'd you decide to check for underground breweries of all things?"

"A new person joined the team, and they had some knowledge about German brewing practices. Throw in a little bit of luck, too, probably."

"Was that your first helminth?" I nodded.

"Most of the crawling parties that run into those in gates have mages. They cook pretty quick in those circumstances, but if you don't have a mage, that shell is a son of a bitch. You're safest if you stick close to their tail, and then you can smash your way through the bone like you all did, but their stomachs are the most vulnerable parts of them."

"How do you get to the stomach, though?" I asked.

"Rolling that thing over wasn't an option."

"If you get a lever working, they flop over pretty easily. A spear shaft usually does the trick. I know that wasn't an option for you guys and that you got caught by surprise, but you were surrounded by all kinds of boards. Someone with a strength stat like Osheski can make quick work of that tactic." I took my time absorbing his advice, picturing how the battle could have played out differently.

"Did you see any other areas for improvement?"

"That troll takedown was solid work," he answered.

"Good awareness of your environment. Good use of terrain. Good use of your party's skill sets."

"Thank you."

"Heard you did a ride-along with the EPA yesterday. Pick up anything useful from that?"

"We are definitely undercharging for our services by a huge amount." McDouglas laughed.

"Big extermination team, I take it?"

"Three squads, four drones, a fancy mobile command center." He nodded.

"What did you think of their effectiveness?"

"If that measurement is 'did they kill the monsters?' then yes, they were effective."

"How else would you measure it?"

"You suggested to me that budget matters," I answered.

"They also mentioned that they found the nest but lost it because the bugbears moved before they could coordinate. I don't really know anything, but if I were being critical, those seem like points of concern. I mean, I've seen a bunch of SOCs sit for a long time before they get cleared."

"You're right about budget, but tread carefully on how you think about what an operation costs, and be especially mindful of your audience."

"What do you mean?"

"The stereotype that the government goes with the cheapest option and not the best option is well-deserved. Those kinds of folks will always see the world as spreadsheets where the game is to get that final number as low as possible. Meanwhile, the people who spend their careers in the field know very well that cheaping out gets people killed. If you get sucked into a discussion about budgets, keep your focus on the most effective use of budget, not on how to trim it."

"I think I understand," I said.

"If you were given the same budget for the same op, what do you think would be more effective?"

"For the firepower they brought in, it was hard not to think they could have been more agile with a team half that size, so in theory they could have cleared two SOCs with the resources they spent on one and been faster about it at the same time."

"By now, you should know that I'm biased and have strong opinions that aren't necessarily shared by my peers," McDouglas cautioned.

"Agent Kipinski knows her shit, and she gets the job done, so don't interpret this as a knock against her or the EPA. They have all sorts of reasons to justify what they do and how they do it, and a lot of those are beyond Kipinski's purview."

"But you felt the topic was important to highlight," I said. McDouglas cracked a smile.

"If another agency, like the CDM, duplicated the processes the EPA uses, then you end up building a machine with all the same weaknesses. The EPA exists. They get work done. We don't need two of them, so now that the CDM is taking another crack at wild monster hunting, the approach has to be different if we want the results to be different."

"That logic makes sense to me."

"If you look at the elite of any military branch, they're known for small teams. Why would that be?" I liked having a mentor, but 7: 00 a. m. pop quiz thought experiments were rough.

"Because very few soldiers have the skills to qualify?"

"Which skills specifically?"

"Weapons, tactics, fitness."

"Keep going."

"Umm… Communication?" McDouglas shook his head.

"This is an extreme example, but in World War I, a single Canadian sniper was confirmed to have 378 kills. He went into no-man's-land to get ammo when his unit ran low. Other times, he scouted ahead alone and brought back valuable intel, often traveling through enemy territory both ways to do so. It's probably bullshit, but it's a good war story: Supposedly, he took the medals off sleeping German soldiers just to prove he could. Francis Pegahmagabow was his name.

He almost didn't get to serve because he was indigenous. The Canadian government didn't allow minorities at the time." Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

"Alright…"

"What makes a man like that successful? And you're not allowed to say bravery."

"I was going to say bravery." McDouglas chuckled.

"Elite soldiers are capable of operating alone, cut off from the massive support network that backs most soldiers. They're brave, sure, but that's too much of a catchall. They can make risky decisions on their own. They can follow through on a mission even when it's dangerous. That unshakeable independence in extreme stress is at the heart of any elite unit. Very few people can be trusted to persevere on their own under circumstances like that." This was definitely sounding like Unsung Hero territory.

"I have an opportunity for you, and I know you're the kind of person who would say 'yes' before you even hear me out," McDouglas began.

"Resist that for the time being because it's important you say 'no' if you're not ready for this, and there's no shame in it."

"Okay."

"The Stage 2 Rapid Dungeon Surge Response initiative is shaping up to be a clone of the EPA's extermination program, and I'm one of the people who disagrees with taking that approach. Chapman and I got approval to run a pilot within a pilot, so to speak, to prove that an alternate strategy can work. The foundation of this plan is what I described: You will be in dangerous situations with minimal support and backup.

You will have to adapt quickly in situations where the wrong choice could get you and your teammates killed. If this already sounds like it isn't a fit, stop me here."

"No, I'm interested.""' Rapid' is the keyword underlying all of this. What the EPA did with 22 people, we would do with 6–4 hunters and 2 support personnel. Cut out all the bureaucratic red tape. When we identify a nest, we send in the team as soon as possible. If we have confirmation of the exact location, I'm talking within hours rather than days." Agent Kipinski had made a convincing argument for why running that lean was a bad idea. Now McDouglas was asking me to do the opposite.

In that same vein, something Investigator Dempson said about McDouglas had long stuck in my mind: He's got a heart of gold and is one of the most loyal people you'll ever meet, but he's dangerous. He won't coddle you. He'll put you in the driver's seat and push the car down the hill. If you don't feel ready to get in the car, don't get in. You hear what I'm saying to you? Bravery is sometimes foolishness in a nice coat. Kipinski and Dempson were likely to disagree with the methodology McDouglas described.

"So I could get a call at midnight and be on a hunt by 3?" I asked.

"That's the idea."

"Who would be on the team?"

"Asking that kind of question is a good sign," McDouglas said.

"Chapman is giving Osheski this same speech as we speak. Well, probably not at all the same, but the intent matches. I should warn you that one of Chapman's conditions for supporting this is that Osheski leads the unit."

"I have no issue with that. She's smart."

"So you trust her."

"Completely." He nodded approvingly.

"That kind of trust is what makes teams like this work, so that's another good sign."

"Who are the other four?" I asked.

"Undecided."

"I have two suggestions for the support team." McDouglas gestured for me to continue.

"Enforcer de Saint and Nathan Meehan."

"De Saint is a solid pick, but a civilian is a tough sell." I shrugged.

"I trust both of them as much as I trust Osheski. If I hear either of their voices in my ear, I don't question what they tell me."

"You could learn to do the same with another drone pilot."

"You wanted to spin this up quickly, right? We're all used to working with each other already, and civilian contractors are pretty common, especially for tech. At least, that's what I understand." McDouglas narrowed his eyes and didn't speak for several long seconds.

"Okay," he said finally.

"I can argue for it, but I can't promise it happens. We're already getting quite a bit of leeway for this whole thing, and pushing for a civilian contractor might be a step too far, but I get it, and the results speak for themselves already in terms of how well you work together."

"Thank you."

"Is this you saying 'yes?'" he asked.

"Yes."

"Good. Chapman and I will keep you updated on next steps. When this catches fire, everything will happen quickly." I knew that was a subtle way of saying this meeting had concluded, but I lingered.

"Something else on your mind, Gray?" McDouglas asked.

"Of all the options you have for people to do this, why me?"

"Training up green CDM to be hunters is part of the rapid pitch, so where you are in your career is the right fit. For you personally… This might sound like a topic change, but how much money did you have when you left your church?"

"500 bucks or so."

"For what life costs, that's basically nothing. You were 18, and you voluntarily made yourself homeless. How'd you get from West Virginia to Pittsburgh?"

"Walked. Hitched."

"Did you have somewhere to stay when you got there?"

"Shelters, if there was space."

"If there wasn't?" I shrugged.

"Anywhere I didn't feel totally exposed."

"But on the streets."

"Yes."

"Very few people understand how fucking hard it is to be homeless," McDouglas said.

"Shelters aren't safe places. Sleeping on the streets isn't safe. Everything costs money. If you can't afford a smartphone, you basically can't participate in society. All of the job applications are online. Most communication is done via email. Not having a real address makes that even harder. Our country assumes you'll own a car, so when you don't, you're disqualified from a ton of jobs by default." I felt the tension of tears welling behind my eyes and swallowed to fight them back.

Nathan was the only other person in my life who ever got it, who ever understood how hard it was to leave, to start a new life from nothing.

"This isn't me fluffing you. Getting to the other side of that requires an intense kind of self-reliance and perseverance. Everything I've seen you do since has proven that's part of your character, not a fluke. The path you're on? You need that kind of grit to get through."

"Thank you, sir." Nathan had a mouthful of burger when Megan said, "We might have gotten you a job at the CDM." The High Bar Pub had its usual sprinkling of locals, enough to keep the lights on but not enough for the bar to feel busy. Minutes after I left my meeting with Enforcer McDouglas, Megan pulled me aside and shared her conversation with Enforcer Chapman. The presentation was much different, but the offer was the same: Join a test project within the budding Stage 2 Rapid Dungeon Surge Response initiative.

Megan also requested that Nathan and de Saint take the support roles on the six-person team. Neither of us knew these meetings were going to happen or what they would be about, but we arrived at the same conclusion. If we were going to take big risks, we knew who we wanted backing us up, even if they were as green as we were. Nathan stopped chewing but didn't swallow.

"What?"

"You would do what you do with Kimmy but as an official government contractor. We would be on call for hunts, and you would be half the support team." He slowly chewed before finally swallowing.

"This isn't a joke?" Megan and I shook our heads.

"How is something like that possible? I install air conditioners."

"They offered the job to Dor and me, and we both said we wanted you and de Saint as our support team," Megan explained.

"Your role would be the same as it is for the Divas. Use a drone to give us intel on terrain and monster movements."

"What did Rainy say?" Nathan asked.

"She doesn't know yet," I answered.

"There's a chance our request for both of you gets denied, but we figured you would be the most blindsided by an offer like this. We decided we owed it to you to give you a heads up." Megan reached across the table to put her hand on Nathan's.

"This is entirely optional. We know this isn't what you signed up for, and there are a hundred good reasons why you would say 'no' to this. We wouldn't fault you for any of them."

"How would this work with my day job?"

"That's a fair question," Megan replied.

"I don't have an answer for that." When she looked at me, I shook my head to say I didn't have one either. Megan continued.

"If you're interested, then we figure it out, I guess. Please hear me when I say this is really up to you. I don't want you to-" Nathan waved her off.

"Dudes, I believe you. I don't feel pressured, and I believe you when you say you wouldn't hold it against me. Most people would, but not you two. I do like the Diva work better than my normal job…" I let Nathan sit with his thoughts rather than speak or ask more questions. Megan had the same idea.

"You said there's a chance this doesn't get approved, so my answer might not matter at all in the end."

"Correct," Megan said. Nathan stared into the distance, completely absorbed in his thoughts. After a time, he said, "Okay. I'm willing to hear it out if I actually get the offer."