With a standing military and no enemies except for small groups of bandits and marauders, Denver begins to expand its sphere of influence.
70.
"Northwest, into the mountains."
— Wild Speculation Studios, Andrew Reising 🌈 (@WSpeculation) June 5, 2019
"Shit. It'll be hard to track them there. Did they leave any food?"
"A little."
"Good. We need it."
"What?! We'll starve!"
"Here," *writes note* "take this to Denver. Say Colonel Meyer sent you. They'll compensate you."#microfiction#scifi
2/2
71.
"That's fine, but it's there should you decide you do want it."
— Wild Speculation Studios, Andrew Reising 🌈 (@WSpeculation) June 5, 2019
"Why? Out of the kindness of your hearts?"
"In exchange for taxes."
"Get out."
BREAKING NEWS: A small farming town to the east rejected Denver protection and was destroyed by marauders!#microfiction#scifi
2/2
72.
"Why the hell would we do that?"
— Wild Speculation Studios, Andrew Reising 🌈 (@WSpeculation) June 6, 2019
"Because we want to own these street covers. They'll be made with solar panels. If we own them, we can sell the power to the city, make our profit that way."
"I see. Got a name for this project?"
"The Canopy Initiative."#microfiction#scifi
2/2
73.
*click*
— Wild Speculation Studios, Andrew Reising 🌈 (@WSpeculation) June 8, 2019
"Turn that back on!"
"No. It's too good to be true. Either he's lying, or it'll cost something awful and they won't tell us until it's too late."
"Maybe not! The Denver Council's been good so far."
"Yeah? And who's gonna pay for these projects?"#microfiction#scifi
2/2
74.
"I'm collecting the harvest tax. It'll be used to fund public works, like medical research and defensive walls around the city."
— Wild Speculation Studios, Andrew Reising 🌈 (@WSpeculation) June 8, 2019
"The walls aren't here; why are we paying for 'em?"
"You want protection from bandits."
"Is that a threat?"
"Of course not."#microfiction#scifi
2/2
75.
Artillery or aircraft could assault the place, but with the oil industry dead, fuel's hard to find.
— Wild Speculation Studios, Andrew Reising 🌈 (@WSpeculation) June 9, 2019
The closest functioning city to Denver, Cheyenne, is 100 miles away and doesn't have that any real firepower.
So here's the question:
Who is Denver afraid of?#microfiction#scifi