“It’s an old Tesla plant. They finished it about a year before the civil war. It’s been in and out of operation since then. As best as I can tell the last normal vehicle rolled off the line three years ago, before the Heavenly Kingdom started cocking things up. McKinney was one of the first parts of the old Metroplex to fall, so they’ve had plenty of time to fiddle with shit.”

Roland raised his arm and realized belatedly the needle was still dangling out of it. The old man sighed again, but Roland bravely ignored him.

“So what does this have to do with your captives?” he asked. “I didn’t sign on to help you guys spy, or to blow up a factory. Send this data to the SDF or Austin if you think it matters.”

Skullfucker Mike put a hand forward in a placating gesture. “We’re not asking you to do anything about this,” he said. “But you and Manny will be our only eyes and ears inside the Kingdom. If you get a hint of how they’ve accomplished all this, it’ll be valuable to us and the SDF. We’ll find a way to make it worth your while.”

“I mean, the drinks are free here right?” Roland asked. “I don’t know what else you’ve got that I might want.”

Mike smiled and gestured to Roland’s backpack of narcotics, which sat next to him on the big redwood table.

“By my count you’ve gone through about half your stash since coming out here. If you’re able to get us any worthwhile info, I’ll make sure the bag’s full before you leave.”

Roland narrowed his eyes. It would be a giant pain in the ass to find good Percocet between here and CamelToe. He sighed, “Alright, fucking fine. If we hear something, we’ll look into it. But don’t hold your breath.”

After the meeting, Skullfucker Mike took Roland down to the city’s makeshift morgue so he could steal a dead man’s face. Rolling Fuck’s militia had found the fresh corpse of some guy Roland’s rough height and build. He’d fled Dallas and made it almost as far as Waco before getting hit by a drone attack. The poor fucker’d been gutted by shrapnel, but his face was intact enough for his Chameleon implant. Roland hadn’t used the thing in so long he worried it might not work.