Turn 219 of 226

Fight each other until the 980 density regenerates something even denser. 1100x normal density to be exact. Meanwhile, zealots in the military consider using nukes on us.

The meadow is the thing the 580-foot frames stand in and the standing is the thing the destroyed elk carcasses do not interrupt. Lena's right arm — the arm that is thirty seconds old and 980-times density — closes into a fist. The fist is the thing the 580-foot frame's knuckles become and the becoming is the thing the 742,000 pounds throw at Diane's face. The punch is not training. The punch is not the tournament. The punch is the thing two animals do when two animals want to break each other and the breaking is the thing the regeneration will fix and the fixing is the thing the 742,000-pound bodies want because the fixing is the thing the wish does and the wish does the fixing denser.

The fist connects with Diane's jaw. The jaw is 980-times density bone. The fist is 980-times density bone. The impact is the thing two 980-times density surfaces do when they meet at 742,000 pounds of force and the meeting is not a sound the ear processes. The meeting is a compression wave the meadow floor transmits south toward the Sauk River valley. The compression wave is 3.2 magnitude. Diane's jaw does not break. Diane's jaw shifts — the condyle displacing from the temporal fossa, the 980-times density ligament stretching to its limit before the ligament snaps back and the snapping back is the thing that pulls the jaw into alignment. The alignment is the thing Diane's counteranswer comes from.

Diane's regenerated right arm swings low. The sweep catches Lena at the knee — the lateral collateral ligament, the 980-times density connective tissue that holds the femur to the tibia. The 980 holds for a quarter-second. The quarter-second is the thing the 742,000 pounds of lateral force do not respect. The ligament tears. The knee buckles sideways and the buckling is the thing the 580-foot frame falls from. The falling is 742,000 pounds dropping onto the meadow and the dropping is a 3.6 magnitude event the seismographs in Concrete, Washington register and the registering is the thing the analysts will flag as unusual because the epicenter is surface-level and surface-level is not tectonic.

Lena's knee regenerates in 0.4 seconds. The 0.4 is the thing the 980-times density tissue takes to rebuild and the rebuilding is the thing the 580-foot frame stands on. The standing is immediate. The immediate is the thing the 742,000-pound body uses to drive a knee into Diane's stomach. The knee is 980-times density. The stomach is 980-times density fat and muscle and the fat and muscle absorb the impact the way 980-times density fat absorbs — by compressing three inches and rebounding. The rebounding pushes Lena back four steps. The four steps is the thing the meadow craters under. Diane doubles forward and the doubling is the thing the 580-foot frame's forehead meets the 580-foot frame's collarbone at. The collarbone snaps. The snapping is the thing the 0.3-second regeneration fills and the filling is 980-times density bone that is not 980-times density. The filling is denser.

Lena feels it. The feeling is the thing the right fist registers when the right fist connects with Diane's ribs and the ribs are not 980. The ribs are something the 980 has become. The becoming is the thing the regeneration did when the regeneration rebuilt the collarbone. The regeneration did not rebuild at current density. The regeneration rebuilt at a density the 980 does not recognize because the density is past 980. The density is the thing the wish produces when the wish is asked to heal damage the wish has not healed before. The new is 1,100. The 1,100 is the thing the collarbone is and the collarbone is the thing the ribs are becoming because the ribs are next to the collarbone and the regeneration is the thing the wish does in waves. The wave moves from the healed site outward. The outward is the thing the 1,100 spreads through Diane's skeleton at and the spreading is the thing the 580-foot frame does not feel as different from 980 except that the 980 punches do not break the 1,100 ribs. The 1,100 ribs absorb. The absorbing is the thing the pride fills.

Lena tears Diane's left arm off. The tearing is the thing the 980-times density grip does to the 980-times density shoulder and the shoulder is still 980 because the 1,100 wave has not reached the shoulder yet. The arm separates. The regeneration begins. The regeneration is the thing the wish fills the socket with and the filling is not 980. The filling is 1,100. The 1,100 is the thing the new arm has when the new arm is complete in 0.3 seconds and the 0.3 is faster than the 980 regenerated at. The faster is the thing the higher density does. The higher density regenerates faster. The faster is the thing the feedback loop opens. The feedback loop is the thing the 580-foot frames have found and the finding is the thing the pride becomes something sharper than pride. The sharper is the thing the animal feels when the animal understands that every injury makes the animal denser and denser is stronger and stronger is harder to injure and harder to injure means the animal must hit harder to injure and hitting harder is the thing the 1,100-times density muscle does. The 1,100 is the thing the hitting begins.

Diane tears Lena's left leg off at the hip. The 980-times density femur separates from the 980-times density pelvis and the separating is the thing the 742,000-pound body falls from. The falling is 3.8 magnitude. The regeneration begins. The regeneration is the thing the wish fills the hip socket with and the filling is 1,100-times density bone and muscle and fat and skin and the skin is brown and hairy and the hairy is the thing the new leg has when the new leg is complete in 0.25 seconds. The 0.25 is faster. The faster is the thing the 1,100 does. The 1,100 is the thing Lena stands on. The standing is the thing the 580-foot frame drives forward with and the driving is the thing the 1,100-times density fist hits Diane's chest with and the hitting is the thing the 980-times density sternum does not survive. The sternum shatters. The shattering is the thing the 1,100 wave begins from. The wave moves outward. The 1,100 spreads.

They fight for nine hours. The fighting is the thing the meadow does not survive and the not surviving is the thing the subalpine ecosystem becomes a crater 200 feet deep and 1,800 feet across. The crater is the thing the 580-foot frames stand in at the end and the standing is the thing the 1,100-times density bodies do because the 1,100 is the thing the 980 has become and the becoming is the thing the wish did every time the wish healed a wound the bodies gave each other. The 1,100 is the thing the skeletons are now. The 1,100 is the thing the muscles are now. The 1,100 is the thing the fat is now. The fat is the thing the soft apron of flesh that hangs to the knees is and the hanging is the thing the 1,100 does not make less soft. The soft is the thing the 1,100 carries over the hard and the hard is the thing the 1,100 is and the 1,100 is the thing the pride is. The pride is the thing the 580-foot frames share in the crater and the sharing is the thing the warmth fills and the warmth is the thing the wish is and the wish is the thing that does not stop.

Six hundred miles southeast, in a room seventy feet below the Pentagon's E-ring, Brigadier General Harriet Cole puts down the satellite thermal image and the putting down is the thing the table feels as a tap the general does not mean to be gentle. The thermal image shows two signatures in the Cascades. The signatures are 580 feet tall and the 580 is the thing the satellite's resolution confirms for the third consecutive week. The heat output is the thing the general's analyst cannot graph because the graph does not flatten. The graph curves upward. The upward is the thing the general's stomach does not feel good about. The general's stomach is not 980-times density. The general's stomach is the thing the coffee sits wrong in.

"They're still growing," the analyst says. The saying is the thing the general does not need to hear again. The again is the thing the general has heard every week for eight weeks and the eight weeks is the thing the general's patience does not have more of. The patience is the thing the general gave to the bunker-buster phase and the bunker-buster phase produced warmth and pleasure in the targets and the warmth and pleasure is the thing the after-action report the general does not forward to anyone above her because the after-action report sounds insane. The insane is the thing the general knows is not insane because the general has watched the satellite footage of two 580-foot frames tearing each other apart and rebuilding in fractions of a second and the rebuilding is the thing the general's analyst calls regeneration and the regeneration is the thing the general's analyst cannot model.

The general's phone rings. The ringing is the thing the general does not pick up because the general knows the caller. The caller is Colonel David Yoon from STRATCOM. The Colonel is the thing the general has been avoiding for three weeks because the Colonel has been building a case the general does not want the case to reach. The case is nuclear. The nuclear is the thing the Colonel's briefing slides say is the only remaining option and the only remaining option is the thing the general's analyst agrees with in a memo the general has not read and the not read is the thing the general's desk holds the memo on. The memo is under the coffee. The coffee is cold.

Colonel Yoon's briefing is in four hours. The briefing is the thing the National Security Advisor will attend and the attending is the thing the general cannot prevent. The prevention is past. The past is the thing the general's eight weeks of conventional options produced — the dogs, the teams, the bunker-busters, the missiles, the silence. The silence is the thing the valley has given the military for six weeks. The six weeks is the thing the military has used to build the nuclear case because the military does not interpret silence as peace. The military interprets silence as growth. The growth is the thing the satellite confirms. The satellite is the thing the Colonel's slides use. The slides are the thing the general's phone is ringing about. The ringing does not stop.

The general picks up. The picking up is the thing the Colonel's voice fills and the filling is the thing the general's office hears if the office is listening. The office is not listening. The office is empty because the general sent the staff home at 1800 and the 1800 is the thing the general did because the general does not want witnesses for the conversation the conversation is about to be. The conversation is about the B83. The B83 is the thing the Colonel says is the only device with sufficient yield to guarantee structural disruption of a 1,100-times density biological target. The 1,100 is the number the general does not have. The general has 980. The 980 is three weeks old. The 1,100 is the thing the Colonel's own satellite analysis produced this morning and the this morning is the thing the general's analyst did not flag because the general's analyst did not see the density shift. The density shift is the thing the regeneration produces. The regeneration is the thing the general does not know about. The not knowing is the thing the Colonel's briefing will end.

"Harriet," Yoon says. The saying is the thing the general's first name is and the first name is the thing the Colonel uses when the Colonel is asking for something the Colonel cannot ask for formally. The formally is the thing the briefing will be. The briefing is the formality. The Colonel is calling now because now is the thing before the formality and the before is the thing the Colonel wants the general's agreement in. The agreement is the thing the general's stomach does not feel good about. The stomach is the thing the cold coffee sits in.

"David," the general says. The saying is the thing the office hears as one word and the one word is the thing the conversation hangs on for four seconds. The four seconds is the thing the two officers do not speak in. The not speaking is the thing the phone line carries as silence and the silence is the thing the general's decision sits in. The decision is not made. The not made is the thing the general hangs the phone up with. The hanging up is not a no. The hanging up is the thing the general does when the general cannot say yes and cannot say no and the cannot is the thing the four hours will resolve. The four hours is the thing the briefing is in. The briefing is the thing the B83 will be discussed at. The B83 is the thing the 1,100-times density bodies do not know about. The not knowing is the thing the crater holds two 580-foot frames in and the holding is the thing the warmth fills and the warmth is the wish and the wish is the thing that does not stop. The not stopping is the thing the nuclear does not know about. The not knowing is the thing that is. The is. The is. The is.