A sheet of low February rain veiled Midtown, turning traffic lights into smeared rubies and gold doubloons. From the mezzanine balcony of Chase Private Client at Madison?&?55th, I looked down on it all—the limestone shoulders of old skyscrapers, the anthracite sparkle of newer glass, the endless red?white pulse of brake lights. It felt like standing above a gargantuan Monopoly board: gray rectangles people called co?ops, thumb?sized emerald parks, taxis scurrying like top?hat tokens toward the next chance square. Only the money at stake was no plastic pastel; it was mine—freshly conjured from blood, pearls, and one absurdly rare necklace.
Behind me, an espresso machine hissed. The scent of dark roast drifted with notes of citrus furniture polish, leather chairs, and the subtle musk of wealth—cashmere wet from the drizzle, wool overcoats shedding droplets onto Persian runners. I rolled my shoulders, trying to loosen muscles still knotted from last night’s HEMA sparring. This world, for all its polish, suddenly felt flimsier than plywood.
Senior Private Banker Alessandro D’Agostino emerged from the glass?walled cubicle, impeccably pressed pinstripes slicing through the muted navy of the lounge. He carried a thin folder stamped with my name and the Chase griffin, his silver Montblanc glinting like a scalpel between fingers.
D’Agostino: “Apologies for the wait, Mr?Reeves.”
Me: “Ink needs time to dry.”
D’Agostino chuckled—rich, practiced. “Your wire cleared at 09:42. Phillips forwarded their final schedule of sale proceeds as well. Quite a successful evening.”
I couldn’t keep the grin from tugging. Successful. Translation: the 1920s Van?Cleef “Diamond Tie” Add Anna’s haul of pawn?shop gems, and my personal checking had ballooned to an absurd $3.3 ?million overnight.
He slid the statement across the frosted glass café table. Paper whispering against paper—money making its own polite applause.
Snapshot — 11:04 a.m.
My pulse skipped. That number could buy three Brooklyn brownstones, or a hundred years of rent on a Midtown micro?flat—an entire future for two people who, in a parallel timeline, were patching windows with coffin lids.
D’Agostino: “That’s serious dry powder, Mr?Reeve. Any portfolio targets? Market’s still digesting last week’s CPI, but—”
Me: “Not looking for equities.”
“Fixed?income, then? Five?year Treasuries—”
“Brick, stone, and steel,” I interrupted, tapping the statement. “Just not the brokerage kind.”
He lifted an eyebrow—interest, not offense. Experienced bankers learned to mask surprise. An eccentric trust?fund kid? Maybe. But big money always bought benefit of the doubt. Brick, stone, steel sounded like a Manhattan megalo?renovation. D’Agostino only cared that the ACH instructions were legit and the fees flowed upstream.
We moved to a touchscreen podium. I scrawled e?signatures until my wrist cramped. In twenty minutes:
Copper Horizon Holdings LLC was born—Delaware registry, §203 protections, fresh EIN.
Chase Business Checking — opening deposit $3,000,000.
Automated weekly sweep → Treasury MMF for idle cash at 4.6?% until draws.
“Purpose of business?” the form asked.
“Development & Specialty Construction,” I typed. A fortress counted as specialty, right?
The remaining $300 Thousand stayed in personal liquidity. Gate tolls and contingency against cosmic extortion.
While compliance ran Know?Your?Customer cycles, I sipped that espresso—velvety, orange?zest nose, nothing like the burnt?rubber instant brew Anna regarded as ambrosia. Memory stabbed: her face when she tore open the first tampon pack, a squeal of half?forgotten comfort. These marble floors and whisper?quiet HVAC systems felt offensively safe by comparison.
D’Agostino: “Your LLC debit cards will courier by tomorrow. Construction wire amounts?”
Me: “Likely seven?figure draws. I’ll forward GC invoices.”
He nodded. “We’ll assign you a dedicated treasury rep. Also—regarding insurance—”
Insurance. Mortared walls thirty feet thick. Solar arrays. Underground cisterns. Fire, flood, riot, civil authority. My plan would set off every underwriting algorithm like a slot machine. But that was tomorrow’s migraine.
Rain had slowed to a glistening mist when I stepped onto Madison. Taxi horns bleated; a food?cart hissed gyro fat onto steel. My reflection ghosted in a Dior storefront: stubble two days old, sling bag bulging with cashier’s checks, and eyes that had seen feral skulls split under a hammer.
With a thumbprint I unlocked the RAV4 parked in a garage one block north—$58 for two hours of mid?town real estate. Hybrid engine purred, cocoon quiet. I rested my forehead on the wheel, inhaled leather and the faint peanut?dust smell trapped since Costco. My phone pinged: IronRoot Steel requesting deposit for the prefab warehouse—$88?K due on acceptance. A handyman truck honked; I jerked upright.
Time to move the Monopoly money into the real world—before cosmic customs multiplied the toll or, worse, Anna needed antibiotics I hadn’t bought yet.
I pulled into traffic, wipers shushing drizzle, and plotted a route: Chase → Notary for lien releases → Department of Buildings for pre?filing meeting. By dusk I’d either own the ugliest retaining?wall permit in Westchester or discover that New York bureaucracy could out?nightmare a roamer swarm. Either way, the clock between worlds kept ticking, and brick, stone, and steel waited to be born from blood?bought diamonds.
14?:?00 — York?Avenue, Jewelry Valuations Suite
Sotheby’s headquarters rose like an ivory inlet amid the red?brick tide of York Avenue—polished travertine fa?ade, brass revolving doors buffed to a mirror hush. Inside, every surface exhaled curated restraint: faint bergamot mist from hidden diffusers, silk?damask wall panels, carpet thick enough to swallow footfalls. The place smelled the way old money sounded—subtle, confident, never in a hurry.
A bronze placard directed me to “JEWELRY, WATCHES & NOBLE OBJECTS — Suite 4C.” A security guard in an earpiece scanned my messenger bag, then keyed me into a private elevator whose walls glimmered with muted gold leaf. Forty?three seconds later, doors parted onto a hush of climate?control and fiber?optic pin?spots: the Valuations Suite.
A gemologist in dove?gray Prada—Dr?Elena Radovi?, FGA, DGA—greeted me with a practised micro?smile. Her fingers, slender and unadorned, adjusted the loupe suspended on a silk cord round her neck.
Radovi? (Serbian lilt): “Mr?Reeve? Copper Horizon Holdings?”
Me: “Correct. Nine pieces for assessment and consignment.”
I produced Anna’s pawn?shop haul, each item double?bagged in anti?static film. The pouch made a dull clink on the suede?lined counter: Cartier “Panthère” bracelet, Verdura Maltese brooch, one Art?Deco diamond rivière, a Chaumet cabochon emerald ring, and five miscellaneous pieces heavy with old?world guilt.
Radovi? logged serial numbers, then led me to a workstation lit by articulated fiber?optic lamps. The light felt surgical. White gloves on, she set the Cartier bracelet beneath the loupe. Micro?movements of her wrist flicked facets into starbursts of ice.
“Exceptional claw work,” she murmured. “No heat treatment on the sapphires. Original 1988 issue—the first post?Panthère relaunch.”
She tapped numbers into a Leica microscope camera: table %?, crown angle, pavilion depth. A spectrometer hummed like an obedient cat. Finally, she pushed back, eyes gleaming.
Radovi?: “Auction estimate one twenty to one hundred and fifty thousand U.S.”
Me: “Hammer or low estimate?”
“Our reserves sit ten?percent below low estimate. If you’ll allow, we’ll place it in the May Magnificent Jewels evening sale. High visibility.”
I nodded. One hundred?plus thousand—transmuted from a feral?infested storefront—would soon become limestone, rebar, diesel fuel, maybe a solar inverter.
Piece by piece she repeated the ritual. Numbers stacked.
Lot Description Low Est. High Est.
1 Cartier “Panthère” bracelet, 7.41?ctw diamonds, onyx spots $120?K $150?K
2 Chaumet emerald cabochon ring, 6.2?ct Type?III $45?K $60?K
3 Art?Deco diamond rivière, 11.8?ctw $60?K $80?K
4 Verdura Maltese Cross brooch, mixed cab gems $25?K $30?K
5–9 Misc. retro gold bracelets, charm watch, Georgian paste tiara $35?K $50?K
Aggregate low estimate: $285,000. High: $370?K. After Sotheby’s 12.5?% seller’s commission, net around $250?K–$325?K—a poured?concrete retaining wall and half the solar array.
Radovi? printed the Consignment Agreement. Ten pages of legal silk: insurance at declared value, right to recall unsold lots, mandatory anti?money?laundering attestation. I initialed clause after clause—thinking how surreal the contrast: in one timeline, I peeled pearls from neck meat; in this one, I signed cross?border VAT statements.
When the Cartier paperwork required an OWNER OF RECORD, I pencilled Copper Horizon Holdings?LLC. The banker’s words echoed: dry powder. Dry enough now to mix mortar.
A discreet man in Loro Piana cashmere entered mid?signing—salt?and?pepper hair, hunger in his eyes. He pretended to examine Art Nouveau cigarette cases in a vitrine yet kept glancing at the Panthère bracelet. His assistant, tablet in hand, whispered comps. Predators circling shiny bait. Good—let competition drive the hammer high.
Radovi? slid me duplicate copies, then produced a slim black gift bag containing an envelope.
“Your complimentary valuation dossiers,” she said. “And passes to the Magnificent Jewels preview. You may find the atmosphere… instructive.”
I thanked her, shook gloved hands, and pocketed the passes. Instructive, yes, but time was a thinner currency: eleven days until the Gate reopened; permits would need filing now.
Rain had stopped. The air smelled of wet masonry and roasted nuts from a vendor on the corner. I ducked under the RAV4 liftgate and opened my field notebook.
Updated War Chest:
Personal Liquid: $1.88?M
Copper Horizon Holdings: $3.0?M (minus $88?K deposit to IronRoot)
Expected Sotheby’s net: ≈ $300?K (June availability)
I pencilled supply?chain arrows:
Auction ? Cash ? Stone Wall (10?ft?H × 30?ft?Thk, 120?ft perimeter) ? Compound security.
Next stop: DOB Borough Office, Hartsdale. Westchester required an Alteration Type?1 filing for “detached accessory structures” over 1,500?sq?ft—in my case a 3,600?sq?ft warehouse. The stone curtain?wall would be classed as Fence/Retaining Wall Over 6 Feet—triggering geotech soil borings, seismic loading calcs, and a Site Safety Plan if height exceeded ten feet. Check, check, check
Architect of record? I’d lined up Gemma Leong, PE—$45?K retainer. GC? Brennan & Sons Civil—union crew, heavy?equipment ready, $320?per cubic?yard poured for high?PSI concrete, plus $150?/?linear foot for granite veneer.
I scribbled the numbers:
Stone wall package :
Site survey & borings…………………$22,000
Concrete 1,100?cu?yd @?$320……$352,000
Granite facing 480?lf @?$150………$72,000
2 gates, ballistic steel…………………$38,000
Labor & crane rentals…………………$110,000
Subtotal…………………………………≈ $594,000
Throw in 10?% contingency → $653?K. A gulp, but the diamond tie alone covered it.
Warehouse shell: pre?engineered steel, 60′ × 60′, 18′ clear, insulated panels—quote $410?K turnkey. Rainwater cistern, solar array, and battery stack another $180?K. Total fortress budget: ≈ $1.25?M.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Plenty of powder left for interior build, bulk food, and yes—the inevitable 10?% Gate tithe on outbound supplies.
As I merged onto FDR south, skyline glass threw shards of soft afternoon sun into the grey river. I imagined those rays hitting the copper door, ricocheting into Anna’s timeline as a promise carved from diamond money. Brick, stone, steel—no, not brokerage kinds. The kind that could stop a feral charge or an Empire .223 round.
By the time I reached the county clerk, my signature hand already cramped again, but my mind felt clear: glamour was currency, but its only worthwhile form was concrete that would not burn, steel that would not bend, and walls tall enough to give two stubborn survivors one more dawn.
The farther I drove up the Saw Mill Parkway the more Manhattan’s glass skin dissolved into February hardwoods and colonial stone walls. My mind, however, remained inside spreadsheets and shear diagrams, sculpting the cottage’s future shell while the RAV4’s hybrid engine whispered beneath me.
1?6?:?3?0 — Leong & Partners, Structural Studio, Hartsdale
Gemma?Leong, PE—fortyish, ex?SEAoNY board—waited in a conference room whose plaster smelled of recent renovation. Two junior engineers flanked her, tablets ready. On the table stood a 1:200 foam?core mock?up of my property: cottage in the center, drive cutting in from the county road, maple trees rendered as green pom?poms. Around it, Gemma had pinned a white perimeter ribbon labelled “WALL SECTION α.”
Gemma (tapping the ribbon):
“Mr?Reeves, you asked for deterrence, historic camouflage, and a build window under eight months. Draft α is our first stab.”
She flicked on the Christie projector; the wall cross?section exploded onto a screen like a medical scan of a mythic beast.
Wall Concept—Technical Sheet
Parameter Draft α Specification Engineering Rationale
Height 10?ft clear from finished grade Exceeds Code §23?451 (“fence/retaining walls”) by 4?ft; triggers DOB variance but still under Landmark sight?line thresholds.
Thickness 30?ft at base tapering to 6?ft at crest Triple?shell composite acts as ballistic baffle and thermal battery for interior micro?climate.
Outer Face 12″ reclaimed fieldstone on Type S mortar Matches circa?1900 estate garden walls—Landmarks will sign off.
Primary Structure 24″ 6,000?psi reinforced concrete (A615?Gr60 rebar, #8 spacing @ 12″ o.c.) Stops .50 BMG at
Cellular Core 24?ft void infilled with alternating lifts of crushed demolition rubble (rebar shear ties every 4?ft) and closed?cell geo?foam billets Weight reduction vs. solid concrete; shrapnel dispersion; R?value ≈ 32 for passive insulation.
Inner Face Mirror image concrete + 12″ fieldstone veneer Symmetry simplifies formwork; inner veneer prevents ricochet spall in courtyard.
Footprint 75′ × 95′ rectangle Allows 10?ft interior maintenance ring and 25?ft setback off septic leach fields.
Drainage French?drain channel @ footing, daylight to bioswale Prevents hydrostatic pressure on wall toes.
Access Two 8′ × 8′ swing gates, AR500 steel cores clad in oak Historic look, ??in plate core defeats .308.
Watch Gallery 2′ wide catwalk inset at 9′ elevation, hidden behind crenellation?style stone cap Patrol path + solar light conduit routing.
Gemma slid me a bound Pre?Filing Project Scope. The budget page read $643,200 construction, $36,000 A/E fees, $58,000 DOB & Landmarks filings, 10?% contingency. Almost bull?eye with my earlier napkin figure.
Me: “DOB variance? How ugly?”
Gemma: “We’ll file Alteration Type?I—detached accessory structure over six feet. Height variance hearing in White?Plains, expect six?week clock if we pre?meet zoning.”
Junior?Eng#1: “Geotech borings show silty till at eight feet, but bearing capacity fine; we’ll specify 40?inch caisson footings.”
Junior?Eng#2 (scrolling tablet): “Stone veneer salvage from Tarrytown carriage house demolition—cost neutral compared to quarried Ashlar.”
I initialed every page. Brick, stone, steel…
We pivoted to the second model: a 60′ × 60′ Butler pre?engineered metal building tucked against the wall’s west interior, slab?on?grade with radiant PEX, insulated R?30 roof, R?24 walls. Brennan & Sons priced it at $410?K turnkey. Permitting fell under Accessory Storage Building, no sprinklers required under 12,000?sq?ft. I signed.
Projected Timeline
Milestone Target Date
Submit Alteration I & Variance 15?days
Landmarks presentation 28?days
Geotech borings complete 35?days
Footings & caissons start 60?days
Core wall concrete complete 120?days
Stone veneer finish 200?days
Warehouse shell erected 140?days (parallel stream)
Practical completion 240?days
Eight months. Tick, tock.
Financing Flow
Sotheby’s net (conservative): $300?K
HoldCo cash: $3.0?M – 88?K = 2.912?M
Wall + Warehouse + soft costs: ≈ $1.25?M
Solar, cistern, internal fit?out: $420?K
Leftover dry powder: ~$1.55?M—enough to stage the next five Gate cycles of supplies and tolls.
1?8?:?2?0 — Return Drive, Design Churn
Rain streaked across the windshield; wipers sketched metronome arcs. Every red light became a design note:
Add recessed murder?holes? 4″ PVC sleeves through concrete, position every 15?ft.
Anchor points on catwalk for solar panels + ballistic drop?shields.
Wireless PTZ cams above crenellations—need conduit sleeves before veneer.
I dictated notes to my phone, each one a brick in a world Anna hadn’t imagined possible:
“Core temperature equalization—maybe root?cellar inside wall void for produce?”
“Plan for greenhouse lean?to on south courtyard, polycarbonate glazing.”
1?9?:?0?0 — Cottage, Whiteboard Session
Back home, the familiar basement funk smelled almost comforting. I rolled out new whiteboard sheets:
Permit Flowchart — arrows from Landmarks → DOB → Environmental Health (septic impact) → Con?Ed interconnect for solar export.
Cash?Burn Gantt — plotting draw schedule vs. Sotheby’s settlement line.
Gate Cycle?Δ — every 14 Earth days = 16 RU?NY hours → work–supply cadence.
I pinned Gemma’s foam?core mock?up above my desk. The 30?ft?thick wall looked absurd, like something from Helm’s Deep, yet on paper it was legal, funded, and soon to be poured.
In that quiet, I pictured Anna running fingertips over the first stone, eyes widening the way they had when she discovered hot coffee and peppermint soap. I heard again her gasp when the faucet ran clear. This wall wasn’t just ballistic engineering; it was proof to her—and to whatever gods toyed with Rifts in Spacetime—that humans could still build.
2?2?:?0?0 — Email Barrage and Permit Prep
I fired twenty emails:
To Gemma: drone topo survey booking.
To Brennan & Sons: reserve Liebherr 110?ton mobile crane, confirm union labor rates.
To IronRoot Aggregates: lock?in price for 1,100?cu?yd 6k?psi mix, escalation clause capped at 8?%.
To Con?Ed Net Metering: application Form 15D, expected interconnect size 36?kW.
To an upstate quarry: request quote for 2,400?sq?ft reclaimed fieldstone veneer.
Each “sent” ping felt like mortar setting.
3.3 ?million upside?down due to a diamond tie necklace that had once sparkled on a socialite’s collar; soon the sparkle would become a granite bulwark shielding a chance at post?apocalyptic sanity. Money remained an abstraction until you transmuted it into something that could not be pick?pocketed by fate.
The Gate reopened in eight days. I wanted Gemma’s borings started before then. I wanted to cross back carrying OSHA hard hats and blueprints as war trophies.
I shut off the lamp. The room faded to shadows except the glow?tape outline of the copper door downstairs, pulsing faintly—as if amused by human ambition.
Eight months, I told it. Then we carve crenellations into destiny.
My inbox bulged like a trench coat full of demolition charges—PDFs, stamped drawings, fee schedules, and those deceptively friendly “Please see attached comments” notes that can derail timelines by weeks. If the copper door confronted me with cosmic tolls, New?York City answered with something just as arcane: bureaucratic blood?letting.
Below is the battlefield ledger—every form, bribe?of?legitimacy, and negotiated concession that would transmute $1.25?million of stone and steel into a structure the Department of Buildings grudgingly called legal.
Agency & Filing Cost Red?Tape Hurdle Solution / Leverage
DoB — Alteration Type 1 (Major) $5,150 filing fee ?+? $0.39?/?ft2 surcharge (7,125?ft2 wall shell???$2,779) ? Total?$7,929 §BC 3308: prove “non?collapse within 90?minute fire exposure,” even though stone doesn’t burn. I retained AEC?OMNI; their senior PE, Lorraine Chen, stamped a 118?page FEA package showing the cellular core as a Class I fire partition with 2?hr rating. Reviewer initialed “OK—exemption granted.”
NYC DEP — Stormwater & Private Well $2,300 filing ?+? $275 processing Impervious surface increase (>5?% triggers on?site detention). Gemma’s rubble?core spec doubled as a 3,000?gal seepage basin. We overlaid permeable pavers in the courtyard; DEP bought the sustainability pitch.
Landmarks Preservation Commission — Certificate of No Effect (CNE) $1,100 Prove “visual congruity” with 1890 carriage walls on adjacent estate. Reclaimed fieldstone veneer + limestone coping + ivy planter ledges. Bonus: I agreed to a “green roof” on the warehouse. Rubber?stamp in single hearing.
FDNY — Propane Storage, Certificate of Fitness G?98 $420 exam + on?site inspection (free re?test) Subsurface 1,000?gal tank feeding emergency generator & hydronic slab. Upgraded to double?walled ASME tank, added methane detectors. Inspector loved the redundant shut?off. Signed on first visit.
DOT OCMC — Street?Opening Permit (Crane Staging) $1,200 application + $90?per lane?day restoration bond (4 nights × two lanes = $720) ? Total?$1,920 Crane outriggers would rest on county?maintained asphalt. Night?shift schedule 23:00?05:00 to minimize traffic fines; bond refunded if pavement passes post?scan.
Con?Ed — Net?Meter Interconnect (36?kW array) $1,750 application fee 200?amp service upgrade & reverse?flow meter. Submitted load calc + rapid?shutdown spec; approval in 14?days under the Community Solar Express queue.
Westchester Dept. of Environmental Facilities — Septic Expansion $720 Warehouse bathroom fixture count exceeded prior permit. Added 1,000?gal dosing tank; soil test pits already passed last year.
NYS DEC — Bulk Fuel Storage (Diesel 500?gal) $500 Registration for double?walled skid tank, generator feed. Used UL?142 LubeCube; no SPDES permit needed under 1,100?gal.
State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) Concurrence Pro?bono (Gemma’s firm) Ensure no disturbance of pre?1850 cultural artifacts. Ground?penetrating radar survey filed—no anomalies.
Total Soft?Cost Burn to Date: $12,535
Not every fee wore a receipt. An expediter named Elias?DiBellis—grey ponytail, Gucci loafers—charged $9,000 flat to walk our file through back?office desks where “lost forms” like to hibernate. He called it “paper?speed grease.” I logged him under Professional Services and didn’t ask whom he bought the single malt for.
Gemma warned me to expect another $4?6?K in revision reviews: DOB loves red?ink notes (“Cloud this detail and resubmit”). I set aside $10?K contingency— cheaper to plan for bureaucratic entropy than to rage at the system.
Procurement Locks & Cash Flow
Stone Veneer
2,400?sq?ft reclaimed fieldstone, Hudson?buff mix @ $38?/?sq?ft = $91,200 FOB Tarrytown.
10?% deposit wired. Trucking nets $5,600 delivered palletized.
Concrete & Rebar
1,100?yd3 6?k?psi mix @ $215?/?yd = $236,500 (price?lock with escalation cap 8?%).
A615?#8 rebar, 61,000?lb @ $1.05?/?lb = $64,050.
Placed PO with IronRoot Aggregates; first pour scheduled Day?60.
Crane & Equipment
Liebherr LTM 1100?4.2 (110?ton) night rental $1,850?/?shift × 4 = $7,400.
Operator & rigger union scale $2,100 total.
Warehouse Kit
Butler B?Series pre?engineered package: $312,000 supply + $98,000 erection labor (Brennan & Sons).
30?% deposit yesterday: $123,000 released from HoldCo.
Cash position after deposits & soft?costs:
Ledger Amount
Copper Horizon Holdings (start) $3,000,000
Soft?costs paid ??$12,535
Deposits & equipment locks ??$293,000
HoldCo balance $2,694,465
Personal reserve for Gate cycles $1,880,000
Plenty of fuel left—so long as Sotheby’s hammer prices landed in the middle of estimate ranges.
Evening Strategy Session — 21:30 Basement “War?Room”
I taped the approved variance letter onto the whiteboard like a battle pennant. The foam?core wall mock?up now bristled with neon flags: CRANE PAD, BARBED WIRE STUB?OUT, SOLAR TRUNK. Each tag represented a subcontractor whose cellphone currently buzzed with Outlook invites I’d spammed an hour earlier.
Anna’s world existed 8 days of hell?sky away, but here, I orchestrated a fortress with Wi?Fi and espresso. The irony scraped at me, yet the stones would protect her soon enough.
Before bed I printed laminated ID badges for the first?wave trades. On every badge, beneath a QR code leading to a temporary Slack channel, I added a line from Horace Gemma loved quoting on site walks:
“Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet murum.”
(Those who desire peace, prepare the wall.)
When the copper door pulsed open eight days hence, I would carry a copy for Anna— proof that money, properly weaponized, could turn nightmares into architecture.
*Days until next Gate window: * 8
Critical path risk: DOB second?round comments delay.
Mitigation: Elias’ 48?hour courier service + pre?signed check for overtime plan?exam fees.
Outside, July rain hardened into sleet, ticking against window glass like small, impatient claws. I clicked off the bedroom light, leaving only the green LED glow of the laser?level set up to mark future wall footing alignments—a thin, perfect line cutting through dust and darkness, pointing the way from speculation to stone.
The fortress wall was now a line item in three separate ledgers and a vivid red scar on the DOB’s GIS viewer. Stone, steel, and overtime inspectors were covered; the next battlefield lay in calories, kilowatts, and antibiotics—the invisible armament that would keep Anna breathing while the masons pointed mortar joints.
Personal War?Chest Allocation
Category Specification Units / Volume Vendor Cost
Staple Bulk — Rice / Pinto / Hard?red wheat berries 40,000?lb total, 6?gal mylar?lined buckets with O? absorbers 1 full swing?door reefer trailer My Patriot Supply Utah hub (FOB Newburgh) $82,000
Freeze?Dried Entrées Mountain?House #10 cans, 12?variety pallet 2,400 servings (est. 1.3?yrs at 5?serv/dy) Ready Reserve Foods $59,000
Canned Protein Spam 12?oz, Kirkland tuna, Keystone all?natural chicken 18 CHEP pallets ≈ 16,200 cans BJ’s + Costco Institutional $111,000
Medical Consumables Gauze, sutures, IV start kits, cefazolin vials, tourniquets, nitrile gloves 48 mixed cases Henry Schein Emergency Division $37,000
Power Generation Kohler 20?kW diesel gensets, Tier?4?Final 2 units (1 prime, 1 redundant) Burke Equipment, NJ $38,000
Ammunition Reserve 9?mm 124?gr FMJ, .223 62?gr brass, 12?ga 00 buck 50,000 rds combined (12 gaylords) Freedom Munitions LEO closeout $75,000
Infrastructure Sundry IBC totes 275?gal (food?grade), NSF shelving, respirators, extra DeWalt cordless sets — U?Line, Granger, Northern Tool $26,000
Subtotal Outbound Cargo $428,000
Remaining liquidity in personal account—after deposits, soft?costs, and the shopping spree—settled at $1,452,138.07. Enough to bribe cosmic customs for a decade of round?trips if necessary.
Calendar Sync — Two Worlds, One Gantt Chart
Gate?World Day Earth?Side Date (sync Δ0) Milestone
T?13?d 6?Mar Crane & lane?closure permits cleared DOT back?desk.
T?10?d 9?Mar Fieldstone first load arrives; staging on timber mats.
T?8?d 11?Mar Concrete batch tickets pre?approved; rebar shop drawings stamped.
T?5?d 14?Mar Masonry crew mobilizes; spread?footing and key?way pour #1.
T?4?d 15?Mar Warehouse slab?on?grade w/ poly?vapor retarder.
T?3?d 16?Mar genset pad poured; propane & diesel tanks delivered.
T?1?d 18?Mar Outer fieldstone leaf first?course set; Ivy planter anchors cast.
T?0 19?Mar 23:37 EST → Gate window Roll the first cashier’s check & ammo totes through fractals.
*Elias texted a selfie with the DOT deputy and two cappuccinos; the man is worth every off?books dollar.
Before the real bulk crossed timelines, I staged a reverse Tetris on the RAV4’s driveway: stacked a 6?ft mock pallet—rice buckets bottom, freeze?dry middle, canned protein on top—shrink?wrapped, then strapped it to the twin?handle garden cart. The dolly bearings screamed but held. Solar?pump output at the well still clocked 4.5?gal/min at noon insolation—more than enough to top every IBC tote before the next trip.
Night fell to sleet, and the cottage driveway glittered under LED work lights. I slid gem?lots receipts from Sotheby’s into a fire?safe, then pinned a fresh sheet on the war?room board:
Phase One is no longer a fantasy—
permits, stone, diesel, ammo, and calories form a bridge wide enough for both worlds to cross.
I forced myself to read it twice. Paper confidence only matters if boots cross the threshold.
Rain hammered the cottage roof like impatient knuckles. A spreadsheet glowed on my laptop, every line a promise or a potential death sentence:
Gate toll this cycle (cargo $428?K → 10?%): $42,800
Cashier’s check for stone second?draw: $261,000
Loose bills vacuum?sealed for on?site barter: $150,000
Remaining physical hundreds (three Pelican 1520 cases): $648,000
Dad’s porch?light photo watched from the corkboard, mustache half?hidden by shadow. Mirabelle—the mother I’d never met—waited somewhere in the feral maze Anna called home. A thought surfaced: what if that 1970 letter meant the wall I was raising would protect her too? Money weaponized as lineage armor.
I snapped the laptop shut, holstered the new war?hammer—fresh Linseed oil still fragrant—and walked the perimeter one more time:
Cart packed with freeze?dry, med crates atop for quick unload
Spare Key fobbed to my belt with a titanium clip
Anna’s wishlist laminated and taped inside the cart lid
The RAV4 idled at the curb, inverter humming, trunk braced with ratchets. I had eight days until the Gate sang open like a migraine of light. Eight days to keep every permit alive, every invoice funded, and every ounce of self?doubt strangled in its crib.
When the metronome struck zero, there would be no tally sheets—only whether the wall rose high enough before screams reached the ivy.
I flicked off the bedrooms LEDs. Crimson numerals on the digital clock read 02:11. Under their glow, the shrike?sharp silhouette of the copper key rested on a map of two cities stitched together by stone—and by whatever stubborn artery still pumped between Anna’s heartbeat and mine.