Timothy Nugent Author
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Interlude - Schemes
🕑 Added 2024-11-27 20:15:52 +0000 UTCRajesh sat patiently opposite Zahir in his dorm room, and awaited an answer.
Once he had returned home to Arizona State University in Phoenix, he had immediately cornered his fellow graduate student. Rajesh had chosen the young man to be his first recruit specifically for his dominant traits - trust and loyalty.
The same flaws as Blake.
During the pause, he considered the enigma.
After Blake transferred the nanomachines to his body months ago, Rajesh had immediately rushed to the Electrical Engineering labs. When he failed to ascertain how they functioned, and was unable to alter them in any way, he reluctantly turned to the only source of knowledge on the subject, Blake himself. He performed a cursory background investigation into the teenager, which revealed he was wanted by the police.
Initially, Rajesh had planned to glean what information he could from the kid, and then collect the bounty from the local sheriff’s office. However, the more he learned about Blake, the more he adjusted that course of action.
At their first meeting, Rajesh’s instincts had screamed at him to avoid contact. Based upon the kid’s youth and poor attempt at charm, he had initially interpreted the recruiting effort to be some type of scam. However, once he visited the compound, that was proven incorrect, and he quickly adjusted his thesis.
Blake was frighteningly powerful.
Not only was the child capable of ferocious violence, but he had a temper to match. After Rajesh heard how Blake killed the law enforcement officer who shot him in the back, he almost fled the compound.
However, rather than act rashly, he considered his options and instead bided his time. Soon after, a flaw revealed itself. Blake was far too trusting, and gave his friends and family undeserved loyalty.
Those flaws make for an excellent follower, but an inept leader.
Blake also foolishly attempted to hide his brutal psyche from his parents. He failed at the effort, miserably. It was obvious to anyone that spent time with him that he was completely desensitized to violence and murder. Blake was not civilized by modern standards, no matter how much he wished to appear so.
If he clamped down on his emotions and fostered a healthy distrust of others, he could become an acceptable leader.
Humanity’s future was on the line, and Rajesh hoped Blake flourished. Especially since he was so far away from Rajesh’s future seat of power. While it would be lovely for the kid to succeed, and take the brunt of the coming apocalypse, it seemed incredibly unlikely. That was why he took the calculated risk to point out the kid's flaws.
Perhaps he will consider my insights and change for the better.
Rajesh snorted and shook his head at the humorous thought.
They never do.
It was so easy for him to see other’s imperfections. If there was one small flaw of his own, it was that he constantly pointed them out so they could be corrected. Unfortunately, people did not take kindly to being shown their shortcomings.
It’s for their own good.
“I’ll do it,” Zahir suddenly announced, breaking Rajesh from his thoughts.
“Excellent.” Rajesh extended his hand and transferred a million nano to the man seated across from him. “In a few minutes, you will be inducted into the Collective and will receive a heads-up display. As we agreed, I will gift you enough nano for you to purchase a combat skill and two attributes.”
Zahir’s mouth split into a grin at the prospect. He rubbed his hands together and let out a short giggle.
Rajesh allowed a small portion of his scorn to seep through his mask.
“Sorry,” Zahir apologized sheepishly.
Now that the graduate student had agreed, Rajesh’s mind moved on to his next steps. He had already demonstrated his superhuman strength to Zahir, and would soon do so to two others. With Zahir on his side, it would be even easier to convince more to follow him.
Herd mentality is strong.
Rajesh planned to repeat the same deal with everyone he recruited. Each person would receive thirty-one mega nano, and the large amount of nano-enhanced gear he had smuggled out of Blake’s faction. Unlike the others on his team, he had not handed over his unused equipment he received from the Architect. Instead, he stored the armor, weapons, and jewelry in the trunk and back seat of his vehicle, and carefully concealed them with a tarp.
Rajesh estimated he had enough equipment to outfit twelve people.
He had always planned to exit Blake’s doomed faction and begin one of his own. Unfortunately, it took far longer to accumulate nano than he anticipated. By the time he left, he only had ninety-six million nano and his attributes maxed. That meant he would be left with only three million nano after he recruited his three new team members.
If only that girl hadn’t gotten herself killed, I could have convinced Blake to fund the creation of my faction.
The child was easily manipulated, and if Rajesh had approached Blake strategically, would have likely given him hundreds of millions of nano. Unfortunately, Dahteste’s death formed a rift, and made that almost impossible to accomplish.
Rajesh allowed himself a small frown as he continued to review his plans. In return for his investment, any recruit would be required to transfer over all nano they earned from kills and directives until he was able to raise the billion nano required to form a faction. Only then would they be allowed to increase their attributes. And only under strict supervision to prevent waste.
Unfortunately, with only five weeks left until Invasion day, he knew a single group would not be able to accumulate that amount in time. To remedy this, he planned to form multiple teams simultaneously. Rajesh would recruit from people he had known for years. People his intuition told him would be loyal, or at least biddable.
Of course, while everyone would receive a full set of gear, only his own team would be granted an extra thirty million nano. After all, his own safety was paramount. If the other teams failed, he would only be out a bit of equipment, and the four million nano required for their induction.
If they attempted to withhold his rightful nano, Rajesh had no problem with ending their lives. After he made an example of those who broke the agreement, the others would immediately fall in line.
Fear is the best form of control.
If his math was correct, and he knew it was, with four teams, it would take three weeks to gain a billion nano. However, he knew death, injury, and failure were likely, so he planned to recruit twice that many.
Once his faction was formed, he would quickly accumulate power. Rajesh had already considered multiple methods of using his faction leader position to his advantage. He scoffed that Blake had not done so himself. He was uncertain if the kid had never considered them, or more likely, was unwilling to use his member’s efforts to increase his personal power.
For one, each person he recruited to the faction gained two and a half million nano for completing a directive. However, it only cost a million nano to induct them into the system. There was no reason to allow them to keep that reward, when he could take it for himself.
Too bad, faction members are limited by the faction hall.
Rajesh had learned from the mother that he could only invite fifty people to his faction with a level one faction hall. That was one hundred and twenty-five nano he could confiscate immediately. However, once it was upgraded to level two, it allowed ten times the amount.
With two weeks to spare before Invasion day, he could easily upgrade the faction hall to level two. After everyone in the world was inducted into the Collective, he could then invite a full five hundred people to his faction and immediately gain over a billion nano.
Then, like Blake, he could choose all four energy types.
The ability to learn four spells per level was too powerful to pass up, no matter the cost. That was especially true when nano was so easily taxed from his faction members.
Of course, this possibility was not the only thing Blake had failed to take advantage of. For some reason, the kid had built his faction town in the middle of nowhere.
Foolish.
Rajesh had carefully considered the location of his town. He planned to build his faction hall in the basement of his dorm hall. It would not only provide housing for thousands, but was easily defensible as well. The emergency exits could be barricaded, and the single main entrance reinforced.
As the entire building would fall within his faction’s territory, no monsters would spawn within its confines. People would pay handsomely for the safety he could provide, and Rajesh could charge them accordingly. If they did not have any nano when they begged him to be let in, he would gladly accept a loan.
One hundred million nano was a small price to pay for their lives.
With interest, of course.
There were plenty of other opportunities he planned to take advantage of as well. He did not need large amounts of money to gain the supplies he needed.
On Invasion day, Rajesh could easily use the spells he would gain to rob a gun store, and then distribute those firearms to those he trusted. Then, his underlings could confiscate all the supplies his faction needed while he remained within his fortress.
No need to risk my safety.
However, despite Blake’s many foolish decisions, there was one thing he vehemently agreed with. He would not attempt to contact the government, nor would he spread information about the apocalypse online. If the government became aware of him, the best he could hope for was detainment for questioning. More likely, he would disappear, never to be heard from again. He did not have the tenuous advantage of American citizenship.
Likewise, if information on how to navigate the Collective was disseminated to the masses, he would lose a key advantage.
Knowledge.
Blake had given it freely to Rajesh. When he discovered the child had not already posted the information online, he inquired about the discrepancy.
Blake gave a simple answer.
No one would believe it, and by the time they did, the internet would be destroyed. If Blake chose to post the information regardless, and the government treated him seriously, they would trace his location like the police had done with his phone, and attempt to kidnap him.
Surprisingly well-thought-out.
Of course, Rajesh had immediately thought of ways to share the information without revealing their identities. VPNs, laptops on public Wi-Fi networks with spoofed MAC addresses, and a plethora of additional measures could be utilized to remain anonymous. However, Rajesh preferred the Luddite to remain unaware of the possibility.
“I see it!” Zahir announced. “I’m in the Collective.”
“Good,” Rajesh nodded. “Now, I will transfer thirty million nano to you. You will purchase the Sword Mastery skill and increase your Physical Power attribute twice.”
“Uh…” Zahir hesitated. “How do I do that?”
Rajesh smiled. “Just do as I say, and everything will work out fine.”
Comments
Bakerbob
I realise I don't like Rajeesh, but he was being shown as an intelligent man. He jumped to conclusion without knowing anything relevant. Why did they decide to build fresh instead of getting a building somewhere? why focus on fortifications instead of personnal power? Rajeesh just went and decided that the opposite of what a man surviving for years under monsters incursions was smarter then listenning.
Josh
Oh I can't wait for Rajesh to crash and burn. I love the POV, its a really good insight into a narcissistic asshole that doesn't understand people. If you want people to stand behind you and serve you with enthusiasm you also have to serve them. Its ironic some people want Blake to act and think like Rajesh considering how unlikeable and shortsighted his perpective is
Timothy Nugent
Maybe I should create a second tier that is $10 if someone wants to pay more for the same benefits. LoL
Thundermike00
I think you could ask for more money from your patreons and would gladly pay for it. 2$ is chump change. I was expecting to pay 10$
gideon ferrier
Interesting idea. Take some taxes and instead of pputting it into the base make some people stronger. It would be a good though.
John Doe
I was not clear. My bad. I am wondering about knowledge of portals near Phoenix that have not yet been discovered by anyone, that Blake may remember from his combat travels in the other timeline. I can understand Blake telling current Mayberry RFD members about local portals, but what about obscure ones as far away as California, Nevada, New Mexico, etc. that may not be currently pertinent to team members in Arizona until after D-Day?
L Pedersen
The irony of it all is that if Blake had taken Rajesh's "critique" to heart he wouldn't have just cut him loose. He would have killed him right there and then in that jail cell. Rajesh isn't smart, he's runs the whole spectrum of personality disorders. In that moment it was more important to his ego to point out the "flaws" in Blakes character because he was certain Blake wouldn't react violently. Even though he knew Blake to be a very emotional violent person, Rajesh is the idiot here.
Undead Writer
It seems I misjudged you little one.
Djinko
It’s just a question of giving your population just enough hope to survive that confronting you will be a much higher risk than living the meager life you have.
Djinko
The point is not that tyrant always loose. If it would be so most of history would’ve been deleted because let’s face it kings are a form of tyrant and they constitute most of our history and even today some democratic government are also tyrannical and do the same things that you say about putin and company. my point is that if you take all from your population and let them with nothing you destroy the hope that bind them to you. so when people have no hope and have nothing else to loose tyrant falls. You can see it like this : a rat in a brass pot on a fire have no issue than the top of the pot or die but as the lid there is a man tied to it the cornered rat will without an issue dig through the man to reach the last hope he can have.
L Pedersen
Are you kidding? If anything the author nailed it, I've known several people just like Rajesh.
L Pedersen
I hope the Blake builds one before it's time for his first string of combat classes to pick their classes.
L Pedersen
I already asked that question in this thread and the author answered. Yes, Rajesh got the portal locations.
L Pedersen
Why does everyone in the comments think Blake is an idiot and Rajesh the smart one? They both have flaws in their thinking but Rajesh doesn't understand human emotions of, he only thinks he does.
John Doe
uhhhh...on that whole tyrants don't win thing. Have you recently spoken to Putin, Xi or Kim Jong Un? Idi Amin Dada also enjoyed a very nice retirement in Saudi Arabia until his "natural" death in 2003. BTW: It has been alleged that Putin has accrued more personal wealth than Musk, Buffet or Gates. Bad guys DO win, often. :-)
John Doe
Now, here is the most important question. Did Blake tell Rajesh where he could find undiscovered portals in the future. I hope he didn't, but Blake is Kumbaya enough to have given such valuable info away for nothing. If Rajesh can't get his slaves into portals NOW before D-Day, growth/nano will be rather minimal. :-)
John Doe
While it may not lead to a win in this book/series, let's face it: Rajesh's brutal pragmatism and suck all control/power to "me" approach, has been a VERY successful methodology that has worked on Wall Street/Lombard Street for a disturbingly long time. There is a reason so many young financiers spin off their own investment/hedge funds as soon as they can. Ego makes the world go round. By the time their firms crash from competition or changes in global trends, their personal funds are already in the Cayman Islands. Churn and Burn is Profitable (for a few). Rajesh's outlook is just a variation on this theme. What Rajesh is NOT considering is that while Blake may be an angst ridden, idealistic Pollyanna, Blake HAS seen how the real future unfolds. Pain is the Universe's BEST teacher. Blake is an altruistic idiot, but he is an EXPERIENCED idiot. Heh! Blake sucks at strategic thinking vs emotional navel gazing, but he ain't bad on the tactical level stuff. P.S.: Thanks author for 3 chapters by Wednesday this week. These ARE the Patreon chapters that I look forward to the most. My other Patreon authors must think that I don't love them anymore because I wait a few days to read their releases. :-)
Evernigh
Wondering is Blake going to get more people to take more than one affinity they might not be as strong as him amd cost more to level but shurly would be better building some "Elites" than just taking one and repeating what happened last time arround.
Moonsiren10
I’m not a fan of Rajesh but there are some things about Blake that I agreed with. He’s not a good leader and he has not used his future knowledge to his full advantage. Plus he is too trusting, Rajesh should not have been given so much information.
Timothy Nugent
Technically, Rajesh will have a POV in the epilogue of book 1. However, since you hate Rajesh so much, you will likely enjoy reading it. Things will not go his way, and he will suffer for his own deficiencies in leadership as well as his toxic personality.
Undead Writer
The author made this chapter strictly to piss off the Rajesh haters. Very difficult to read. Need Rajesh to die, but finally glad we never have to see him again until book 2 where MC kills him. F Rajesh. Good riddance. I preferred the native woman. She could have been great. Rajesh is an A-hole.
Undead Writer
Good. F Rajesh
Undead Writer
Ya, it’s very hard to take anything that happens with Rajesh seriously. It’s like the author made a self obsessed kid and put him in a grown mans body. How did he survive this long in the real world with that kind of attitude is beyond me. But then again he is from the “highly educated college doctorate with no idea how to act in the real world people,” so I guess he got that stereotype right.
Timothy Nugent
It was in the onboarding document. Rajesh knows. But that takes months for the buildings to completely disintegrate. In that time, Rajesh can have a level 4 faction hall and town.
Thundermike00
I would say the same about why Blake doesn't build in preexisting buildings. I'm surprised Blake forgot to mention buildings disappearing after Invasion Day.
Timothy Nugent
That equipment was his, it was his scenario rewards. He just didn't gift it to the faction like the others.
L Pedersen
Thank you. I cannot stand people who will exploit the kindness and generosity of others while looking down on them. The fact that he has the gall to "wish Blake the best" while at the same time robbing him...
Timothy Nugent
Oliver will have a redemption arc. Rajesh will have a fck around and find out arc.
Timothy Nugent
Yes, Rajesh got the full onboarding document along with portal locations and descriptions of the monsters found within.
L Pedersen
Please don't tell me you're gonna redeem this man. He doesn't deserve it
L Pedersen
Honestly can't wait to see him suffer. This chapter was actually kinda tough to read, I already disliked Rajesh but this chapter made me hate him. What I don't get is why he's so different to his alternate future self? The man was clearly a scumbag psycho from the beginning, how come in Blake's future he was a stalwart and loyal friend? Or did he just get better at acting like he's human? Did he spend 8 years fooling his 3 teamates? I honestly can't wait to see him suffer. He's the worst humanity has to offer and I guess that explains why he did so well in the apocalypse. I don't know if I want to see him stabbed in the back by his abused subordinates or see Blake roll into town for some unrelated business and find that his good ol pal Raj has become a monster and decide to take his head off. Another thing I really want to know is if Rajesh got a bunch of portal locations from Blake.
Timothy Nugent
Rajesh will learn he is not as infallible as he assumes in book2
Timothy Nugent
100%
Jamison Schneider
That's because Rajesh is smart enough to realize Blake is struggling as a leader, but too conceited realize that so does he 🥲
Jamison Schneider
I think what he really dropped the ball on was sharing the information and at least some proof with much more people. I think many many people would want to see to their faction first and foremost, but we're talking about months that could have been used by very competent people to devalue the dollar before it's collapse and build the best defensive structure money could but before it became worthless. All it would have taken was a public list of all known portals and the secret is out one way or the other. Gamers could have been in charge of figuring out portals instead of the CIA 🤣
Detrox
I can't help but think the math doesn't math out for Rajesh. What he is effectively thinking is draining all funds and building a pyramid scheme. And that is discounting the fact that he needs weeks/months to train all skills. Especially if he goes the all 4 route and without the ability to fight far above his rank and solo, he wouldn't be getting enough time to train either way. From my point of view, his faction would only have an early advantage but fall apart due to terrible foundations. Yep Rajesh is fucked and delusional if he thinks that taking 2mil from each recruit can rival Blake's growth who is getting three times as much from a single kill Nonetheless, cool chapter!
Puri Iresan
I agree. Blake is… let‘s say simple minded. Perfect for his solo Dungeon Diving though. A Lot of his decisions are Short sighted though. He will get better when he can concentrate on just Dungeon Diving and Other ppl take Care of the daily Business. I can see someone smart Like rajesh seeing his flaws and thinking „i can do a better Job“. But the thing is. Blake knows he‘s dumb. That’s why he will smarter ppl make those decisions as soon as They’re up to Speed. While rajesh thinks he knows the best always
Timothy Nugent
While Blake has made some poor decisions, not all of them were. He will also have the support of most of his faction. Unlike Rajesh, who will rule as a dictator. When heavily taxed and then threatened, people try harder to escape than be productive, and the bare minimum is the most you can hope for.
Timothy Nugent
Rajesh will find out in book 2 that there is a reason Blake decided to put his faction ahead of himself. He will also discover the reason Blake decided NOT to form the faction in Phoenix, despite the higher population, supplies, and portals.
Timothy Nugent
Rajesh will fck around and find out.
Timothy Nugent
That is a function of the upgraded armory. Unfortunately, in Blake's first life, he chose his basic class before a level 2 armory was available to him. As far as increasing affinities, when you complete the level 10 advancement directives and obtain the body enhancement elixir, your affinities are upgraded.
Jamison Schneider
I think this chapter better frames Rajesh's mindset and shows why the two could never workout in this timeline. Blake's biggest flaw is that he's stupid, like legitimately uneducated. Clever in a lot of ways but so ignorant to common sense concepts. Most people are used to putting up with idiots in charge and shrug their shoulders and do the bear minimum to get by. Rajesh knows better and understands that Blake is severely unqualified for most administrative tasks and his mom is barely able to keep up with his extremely limited expansion speed. Rajesh knows there's going to be much better administrators with deep pockets who can still adapt to the coming situation as well as Blake (without the bonuses), they will both be limited unless they can find a top rate boss bitch to take charge and let them do what they're good at.
Puri Iresan
Pretty easy to see that rajeshs method wont work in the long run.
Maurice Jenter
Great chapter. I was wondering, if a fraction has a funktion, that can show a persons energy affinities bevor they choose classes? There kinda has to be, right? And are there ways to increase ones affinities outside of titles? And will Blake ask Metal about it? Sounds important.
Timothy Nugent
This Rajesh is not the same as the one he spent time with. THAT Rajesh had 2 years to be humbled before Blake met him.
Lacan
I get that living in a post-apocalyptic world changes people and maybe makes it harder to see this kind of thing, but there's "cold" and there's narcissistic sociopathy. How, exactly, did Blake spend years with this person and not see this? That's the part that's straining credulity a bit for me.
Djinko
Logical process of thought that lack empathy and forget the strength of humanity. One can only become so strong by themselves. And history can be our witness that humanity isn’t doing good thing to tyrants
