It took days before the Bouchards would let anyone other than Luna in. When the wall finally parted for Zavier he marveled at the changes that had taken place. Whereas before the wall had opened directly into the compound, it now opened into a tunnel of sectioned glass panels, behind which were compartments of thousands of butterflies.
"The glass is pretty much bullet proof," Owen had said as they walked. "Each section can open up individually so we can release hundreds of butterflies into the tunnel. If they kill the first batch we have plenty more we can open up, flooding them over and over. Madison worked up a pretty clever venting system too, so we can actually vent in the fairy dust that they generate and knock people unconscious without even needin' to let the butterflies out."
"Fairy dust?"
"Yup. That's what your daughter called it and it stuck."
Zavier laughed. He should have recognized Luna's influence on the name.
They sat for hours, discussing nothing and everything, just enjoying the feeling of not being in mortal danger for a change. But, just as with any peace in this new world, that reprieve couldn't last forever.
"So you're going up to the power plant then?"
"Yep," Zavier replied. "Need to see if we can get the power back on."
"You ever restarted a power plant before?"
Zavier laughed. "No, can't say as I have. I'll either figure it out and we'll get power back, or I won't and we won't be any worse off than we are now."
Owen humphed at that but didn't say anything else on the matter.
"So listen, Owen," Zavier had been apprehensive to broach the subject but he didn't want to delay any longer. Ill omens were in the air and he didn't want to leave anything unsaid. "I don't know how long we'll be gone. Plenty can happen in that time. You know about the marauders we ran into when we went to the zoo, and Father Gabriel is still out there somewhere, possibly ready to show back up. There are also plenty of other dangers that could show up, not all the human variety."
He saw Owen silently appraising him and decided to press onward. "We can't just all go it on our own anymore. Gabriel showed us that we're not going to survive if we all try to operate individually. These were just the first threats we have run into and they may be the weakest. We need to build a community that's strong enough to stand against anything. I've been trying, but I'm not the best at that kind of thing. This neighborhood needs you to step up."
A long silence followed that, then Owen just re-lit his pipe and shook his head. "Nah."
"Why not?"
"Well first off, we don't need others. We're doing pretty damned well ourselves. Second off, they don't seem inclined to come ask for help." He fixed Zavier with a hard stare then. "And third off, they fuckin' tried to kill my family. Fuck them, fuck that Gabriel, and fuck the neighborhood that decided it was going to try take what was mine."
Zavier felt his blood rising. "Fuck them? They were under a god damned spell, Owen. They didn't have any control over their minds."
"They still did it though. That's not on me, that's on them. They made the choice to listen to that bastard - I turned him away."
"And have you considered why they might have done that, man? A world of monsters out there ready to kill them - hell, that have already killed a lot of them! Some of them have lost family and friends to the world outside. Can you blame them for wanting someone to take charge? Someone to lead them? Or was it too hard to see the faces of your friends and neighbors from behind this big ass wall that you refuse to let anyone else inside of?"
Owen grew red-faced and Zavier didn't think he'd ever seen him this angry. "I fuckin' let you in, didn't I? I sheltered you when you needed it, my family healed you, we gave you weapons. You sittin' there calling me out as a selfish bastard when all I did was try to protect my family? I never asked NOTHING of you, of them - of anyone. We just did our best to survive and it turns out we're pretty good at it. We even worked our hardest not to kill any of them that attacked us UNPROVOKED."
"There's nothing wrong with any of that!" Zavier yelled. Both he and Owen were standing now. "But we have to do more than just protect ourselves! We have to band up! This is boot camp and we're training for some sort of galactic war or some shit right now - we don't have the luxury of everyone getting stronger individually! We need to make ourselves a community that can withstand anything. Sure as shit you can bet that something worse is coming. I feel it, Owen, something IS coming. I don't know if it'll be too big to fight alone or if it'll be too many things for us to handle as individuals, but we all need to be helping each other out."
Owen gave him a shrewd look. "And what are you doing to help them out?"
The wind blew out of Zavier's sails and he dropped back into his chair, rubbing his forehead. "I don't know, man, I'm lost too." He looked up at Owen, the anger leaving him. "I get it man, I really do. You guys did great here and you did what I would have done if I'd been you."
Owen snorted and sat down himself. "If you'd been smart, you mean?"
Zavier laughed and flipped him the bird. "Yeah, if I'd been 'Owen' smart instead of just 'Engineer, problem solver, renaissance man Zavier' smart."
Owen harrumphed at that and they both chuckled, the tension leaving them. They fought sometimes, but their friendship had weathered worse.
"I don't know what to do, I just know that we need to do something. I'm going to try to get the power on because I think it'll help everyone here and who knows how many other people. I'm going to keep getting stronger because, even though we do need to get stronger as a community, we still need some big guns to step in against the bigger threats. I am analyzing our situation and see major holes in it. We have strong defensive and engineering capabilities with your family, and a team of future powerhouses with mine - if I have anything to say about it. What we lack are the infantry or army or whatever you want to call it. We need to build our own army with a diverse set of skills. We need people who can heal, some ranged fighters, and a healthy stock of up-close-and-personal melee folk. Whatever comes at us is going to get stronger and stronger with each passing day and we need to be ready for it."
He fixed Owen with a hard stare. "I'm telling you, man, these walls won't keep everything out. There's no such thing as an impregnable castle, and the battle is won outside the castle walls. You may think you're safe in here, but what happens when everyone outside is dead and something comes along that can step right over these walls?"
They sat in silence while Owen considered the walls, his compound, and his family. "I ain't forgivin' them, Z," he said.
Zavier nodded. "I don't blame you there, but standing on principle will just mean you're standing alone against everything The System is going to throw at you. Is your family ready to fight everything that comes against you? Will they survive taking on the whole world? Could one of them even kill a Scamperer if your defenses failed you? You've built yourself a very pretty cage here, Owen."
Owen bristled but Zavier held up a hand. "I'm not saying it's not impressive or effective, because it is. Damned impressive. But it only works while you're all inside and everything else is outside."
He stood up then and held out his hand. "At least consider it. You can build anything, I think it might be about time for you to build some bridges."
Owen looked at his hand in silence, then reached out and shook it.
"Anyway, I'll see myself out. I'll come grab Luna when we're ready to go, okay?"
Owen nodded absently, his eyes moving over his sanctuary and seeing it with a new set of eyes.