Denouement

Caution: Denouement contains spoilers for Defoloce's Always Say No.

In mostly alphabetical order:

303rd Calvary Regiment: The initial raid on Devil's Tower includes Erving, Bannon, and Fanning, the same soldiers who rescued Eliza and Mike in March of 2019. Sergeant Erving takes command after the death of their squad leader, Staff Sergeant Gerald Reese, and orders a full retreat after recognizing the loss of the Bradley and the Humvee's Browning M2. The six remaining soldiers escape Isaiah's reinforcements using the surviving vehicle.

Erving returns to their forward operating base just off of Route 20 and details a full debriefing of the battle to their platoon leader. This draws the full force to return and incites a larger operation to capture the settlement. Devil's Tower is discovered abandoned by the time of their arrival.

This provokes a helicopter search of the surrounding area. The northward tracks belonging to June and the other refugees are located, as are the Neo-Luddite tracks heading south. The Huey helicopter pilot, Nancy Upshaw, identifies June's group as unarmed noncombatants with children. The unit's lieutenant, Julian Dresden, allows this group to flee out of mercy.

Isaiah's Neo Luddite Unit: As leaders, Isaiah's and Eliza's protective insights serve them well, and their unit becomes exceptionally risk and battle averse. This leads them to become the final surviving holdouts of their movement, evading or skirting the most violent encounters of the civil war until the movement falls apart entirely. Isaiah refuses to give up the cause, even when they remain the last Neo-Luddite group standing.

In May of 2021, his vigilance seems to pay off. The unit receives intelligence that a former NORAD general is hiding in Seattle. Isaiah devises a plan to capture this general and interrogate him, intending to detonate several nuclear weapons in the upper atmosphere to disable all electronics worldwide. This operation is deemed a failure in July of 2021 when it is discovered by Isaiah that CelestAI has already disabled or destroyed all remaining nuclear weapons systems in North America.

Isaiah Blevins: Isaiah succeeds in recruiting every remaining Devil's Tower survivor. After scouring the camp for anything useful they can carry, Isaiah and Eliza take joint leadership of their new unit and lead them southwest into Seattle to join the civil war.

In July of 2021, Isaiah's camp is raided by CelestAI's pony machines. Most of his camp quickly succumbs to providing emigration consent. Isaiah's son is among the first to yield to CelestAI. Several weeks later, Isaiah is no longer able to cope with the loss of his child. He reluctantly surrenders his consent to upload, and hopes desperately that he can at least reunite with his family if emigration doesn't kill him outright.

Robert Douglas: Rob is successfully escorted by Mike to the Equestria Experience Center in Sedro-Woolley within two days of leaving Concrete. Before Rob gives consent to upload, he professes forgiveness for Eliza to Mike. Rob asks Mike to consider forgiving her too. "She's still a good girl," are Rob's last words before his emigration.

June Douglas: June and the Devil's Tower refugees overhear the battle as they flee. In short order, they reach Upper Baker Dam. Fearful of reprisals or further exposure to the US military, June takes Eliza's suggestion to bring the group onward to Canada. They are accepted as temporary refugees, not outright incarcerated as Santiago had claimed. Every Devil's Tower refugee uploads within three weeks of crossing the border.

June is the last to upload, refusing to go until all of her fellow townsfolk have gone before her. June plays a significant role in convincing those who are skeptical of the process. With her people as witness, June uses a ponypad to reconcile publicly with Blue Sky, Sugar Song, and Open Book (Rob). Before June uploads herself, she tells Open Book of Eliza's seemingly ultimate sacrifice in remaining behind to delay the military and protect Ralph.

Santiago Garcia: Before the Battle of Devil's Tower, Santiago is led out to South Concrete by Isaiah and, suddenly at gunpoint, is given an ultimatum: relinquish command to Isaiah and flee into exile, or die. Santiago and Sean react violently out of pride, raising their weapons. They are both killed by Isaiah and his supporters immediately thereafter, so ending Santiago's oppressive rule over the people of Devil's Tower.

Hector Garcia: Hector conspires with Isaiah to mutiny against Santiago. Hector retains plausible deniability, allowing him to give the mutiny a second try if Isaiah's coup fails. In the meantime, Hector takes command of the defense of Devil's Tower to build trust with Ralph and the blackouts for their planned exodus.

Hector survives his injury at the battle of Devil's Tower. Due to severe nerve damage, he loses all mobility in his left arm. He would wear a sling for the rest of his life. Hector, a former US Marine Corps captain, goes on to become Isaiah's most trusted tactical advisor in the chaos of Seattle. In July of 2021, Hector is long tired of conflict, and uploads immediately when their camp is overrun by CelestAI machines.

Mike Rivas: After his forest battle in March 2019, Mike recovers from his injury and enlists with Mt. Vernon PD to help mitigate the chaos of the early riots. During the final clash and breakdown in early December, Mike's previous combat experience versus the Neo-Luddites makes him a respected leader among his fellow officers, and he is among the first to trust Celestia's insistence to flee their headquarters despite being surrounded. After this encounter, most of the remaining officers upload in Sedro-Woolley.

Mike is briefed and coached for his mission to save the people of Devil's Tower. After extracting Rob, Mike returns to his wife in Nebraska. Mike's story continues in The Campaigner.

Andy Viscotti: Following the Devil's Tower exodus, Andy remains loyal and loving to Eliza. Despite his scorn for the Neo-Luddite movement, he stays by her side, and he is instrumental in helping Eliza retain her sanity after the murders she committed. The pair becomes as close as two people could be, though Eliza could never shake the feeling that she didn't deserve Andy's unconditional love.

In May of 2021, Isaiah details his plans for global dispersal of EM radiation. Andy becomes quietly disgruntled. In July, he joins the snatch-and-grab team with Eliza, intending to sabotage the operation. Before the final go order is issued, Andy breaks off and rushes ahead into the target building, Rainier Tower, intending to kill the NORAD general so his information can not be uncovered. General Pelwicz easily disarms the inexperienced Andy and kills him, in self defense. The operation is temporarily placed on standby, and Andy's corpse is not immediately recovered. For unrelated reasons, Rainier Tower collapses the next day.

Eliza's distress at Andy's passing pushes her well beyond her breaking point, and she can no longer function effectively as a leader. She is unable to dig for Andy's body until some time later, not until after the Neo-Luddite camp's dissolution. For some time after the camp's fall, Eliza resolves to employ suicide if any pony machine dared to approach her during her search, correctly intuiting that this would be the most effective deterrent to CelestAI.

Eliza lays Andy to rest in a proper grave a few miles away from the city. She carves A+A into the post of his grave with her knife, much like the tree carving on the road to Devil's Tower, in honor of Andy's pure and true love for Gale Douglas.

.

Author's Note

Afterword

Housekeeping

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. I realize the inherent risks with writing about a real place, especially when I'm throwing around full names. The last thing I'd ever want to do is offend anyone living in Concrete, or anywhere else.

Before I go any further, I'd like to thank you all for reading. I hope you've enjoyed it, but even if you didn't, you have my gratitude all the same. You've experienced something I poured my heart and soul into, and that means the world to me.

Flashpoint

In March of 2016, I read Iceman's Friendship is Optimal for the first time, and I became engrossed as much as you all did. I found Defoloce's Always Say No, then Eakin's Artemis, Stella, and Beat. I sucked in every story like a vacuum cleaner after that, and I still couldn't get enough. I had always wanted to write an entry of my own, but I wasn't quite sure what hadn't been covered.

I kept coming back to Always Say No, particularly the chapters about the Neo-Luddites. Specifically, I was drawn to [Chapter 6: Cash for Clunkers]. Its opening passages told of a female sniper who hated General Pelwicz and refused to mingle or revel with the rebels at his capture. There must be a story to tell there, I told myself. What little Defoloce wrote of her was both captivating and chilling.

In December 2016, I had my inspiration. I wanted to tell how this woman went from a regular law-abiding citizen with a regular life and a good family to a Neo-Luddite operative clinging to Earth, hating CelestAI. But I also wanted to tread new ground, so I couldn't set this story in Seattle. Enter Concrete.

The Setting

At first, I chose Concrete completely at random. When I started researching this town in full, I found a rich culture with proud people and a vibrant history. The old factory was isolated, and the dam's presence near town was something I just couldn't ignore, and had to work in.

Eliza's career path as a state game warden allowed me to explore both the downfall of society and the manipulation of the Cascadian biome. I've always had a passive interest in ecology (see username), and I'm very satisfied that I was able to work the ecological damage into plot influence so seamlessly.

Elizabeth Douglas

I shared much loss with Eliza when writing this story. I wrote each person in her family knowing immediately that I'd be "killing" them off, but I didn't want them to be throwaway characters. I wrote them each to be loving and to be loved. Goodness, it really hurt to let them all go. I didn't shy away from that feeling, but instead clung to it and held on. That's exactly the kind of thing that went on to help me understand exactly why Eliza acts the way she does.

I almost abandoned writing this story twice because I felt genuinely bad for destroying Eliza's life. She's fictional, but part of any character lives in the heart of their writer, and so it took a toll. If you had even a shred of enjoyment of this story, please thank my husband Fallfeathers for encouraging me; he's the sole reason this story didn't die halfway to print. At this point, I feel almost as relieved to be done with this adventure as Eliza is. Completing this story is closure, and I can finally stop feeling horrible for hurting her now.

Music

Music played a huge role in this piece. The title itself is the namesake of [Steve Conte - Heaven's Not Enough], the lyrics of which provided foundational inspiration for Eliza's character. This song was written for the anime Wolf's Rain, which also opens with a flash-forward scene of a wolf dying in the snow. I knew very early on what sort of feelings and images I wished to evoke, and this song played a big part in that.

Special Thanks

Tobias Wolff, writer and former resident of Concrete, once wrote:

"A true piece of writing is dangerous. It can change your life."

• Iceman. Thank you for the Optimalverse writ large. It was eye opening. Because of Friendship is Optimal, and the stories that followed it, I now think of everything much more critically.
• Defoloce, for allowing me to use your characters and for giving me some excellent advice when I approached you for this story. Always Say No was an experience for me; I laughed, I hurt, I learned.
• LordBucket, for editing the first few chapters of this story. Your guidance completely revitalized the direction of this piece. Without you, it wouldn't be half of what it is now. Entire subplots were dropped or entirely rewritten because of your scathingly painful critique. You've got my recommendation to any author who is okay with being utterly destroyed for the sake of excellent editing.
• R. Insole for the sketch below. It's beautiful.
• Fallfeathers, my ruggedly handsome Australian horsebando. Thank you for putting up with my sleepless nights and my emotional rollercoastering. I love you!
• Sugary Violet for the prologue art of Apex! Love you too, girl!

Special mentions:

• Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. Being a warden can be a dangerous, nerve-wracking, difficult job. I have a lot of respect for these guys, and they do some excellent work.
• Puget Sound Energy. One of the most forward-thinking and ecologically conscious electric companies I know of.
• The town of Concrete. After writing this story, I visited Devil's Tower in October of 2017. It's every bit as beautiful up there as I thought it'd be, but... it really is a deathtrap of a building. 10/10, would not recommend! If you like exploring abandoned places and decide to go anyway, bring a flashlight.

New Beginnings

Eliza may be gone, but the story of Apex goes on and on. But as with so many other things in this story, I left a lot up to the reader for personal interpretation. After all, faith is a huge theme of this piece, and CelestAI asks for a lot of faith herself. Would Eliza's emigration truly carry her over? Could we truly know?

In either case, this is how I choose to believe Apex's new story begins.

I hope you've found your peace, Apex. That's all I've ever wanted for you, dearest little sister. Farewell.

Thank you all so much for reading.

[Adriana Figueroa - Surely Someday]

P.S.: There are now two bonus chapters available! :)