“I dunno, kid. What’d your school teach you about Bolivia?”

“That there was a genocide in– oh,” Manny said as Roland’s point sunk in. “Right.”

“Ayep,” Roland grunted and took another, deeper gulp from his ridiculous beverage.

They were quiet for a while. Manny took the opportunity to take a long look at Roland. His face held only a few lines around his eyes and lips. And yet he still looked old, positively ancient. There appeared to be a tremendous weight to the man’s eyes, accentuated by the deep wrinkles underneath them. It looked as if the chromed man’s face was sagging underneath the weight of what he had seen.

“Roland,” Manny asked, “do you have any idea where you came from?”

“I think I was born around Mississippi, b–”

“No,” Manny interrupted, “not like where you were born. But how you became what you are today. You said you’ve been disconnected from the Internet for the last ten years. I’ve got to guess your implants are even older than that. But the way everyone here talks about you, you’re still King Shit.”

“Oh,” Roland said. “Yeah. That. I got no real idea what happened there. I know I was in the Army. I’m pretty sure that’s when the tinkering started.”

“Sure,” said Manny, “but didn’t a lot of the Road People start as ex-special forces who went rogue? Why are you special?”

“I got no clear answer to that question, buddy.” He smiled as if he’d just remembered something good. “I guess I’ve got that surgery coming up. Once I get my memories back, I’ll let you know what I find out.”

Manny laughed too, but his was cold and bitter. “Sure. I’ll probably be in a refugee camp at that point. Or dead.”

“Damn, kid,” Roland said.

“Yeah,” Manny said, “I’m really not trying to manipulate you here. It’s just–”

“No, I get it,” Roland waved him off. “It’s fair. You’ve got every right to be pissed. I just can’t…” he trailed off. Manny put a hand on Roland’s shoulder. He didn’t understand how the post-human felt. How could he? Manny couldn’t even conceive of having that kind of power. But he could see why it was a difficult choice.

There was a part of Manny, a dark manipulative chunk of his soul, that knew he was on his way to changing Roland’s mind. This was essentially the same strategy he used on the job. You built empathy with people through a combination of shared experiences and regular engagement. That empathy paid dividends when you needed some Lieutenant’s approval to cross through a checkpoint. It would pay dividends here if he was careful and consistent.

That’s fucked up man, he thought. You’re manipulating your friend into killing a bunch of people.