Homeowners Association

After a quiet night, Lier headed out with Matt first thing in the morning.

The first step was to connect the property owners.

Humans could build skyscrapers hundreds of meters tall, kill thousands upon thousands of lives in an instant with firearms, and escape the six-sextillion-ton planet beneath their feet to fly into space.

Yet a lone human could easily trip over a small stone and fall to his death.

The more scattered they were, the more they distrusted one another, the easier it was to play straight into the enemy's hands.

"...Mr. Rigordo, what happened yesterday will happen many more times. But if we band together, we can stop those thugs."

Mr. Rigordo was in his fifties, his hair graying, but he was still in good shape.

That much was obvious from how he had nearly fought the thugs the other day. He was not just physically tough; he had a fierce temper, too.

Mrs. Rigordo seemed to have died of an illness years ago, but he still had a young son-

Unfortunately, his son had ignored his advice and joined a gang. Father and son had not spoken in a year.

"You sound like my father, except you're a kid who hasn't even grown his whiskers yet-you probably haven't watched the news..."

"I'll be the president of the Homeowners Association. I can take that risk, and I've also brought in Mr. Murdock as our legal adviser."

Rigordo gave Lier a surprised look. "Kid, your mom still owes me three months' rent. Where did you get the money?"

"Uh..." Lier faltered awkwardly. "I convinced him to be my legal adviser for free.

"As for the rent, I'll pay you back. If you don't mind, I can clean for you every day. Consider it interest."

Rigordo took a sip of tea, glanced at Matt beside him, then looked Lier up and down.

"If you'd only said that first part, kid, I might have considered throwing you and your mother out tomorrow.

"But forget the cleaning. It'd be a problem if you worked yourself to death.

"What are you planning to do?"

"The first reason to bring in more people is to put pressure on the NYPD. With something like yesterday's incident, if only one person calls the police, the NYPD can simply ignore it.

"But if everyone in the building, or even everyone on the street, calls at once, that changes things."

"Naive..."

"And with enough people, we can catch those thugs ourselves. In fact, that's exactly what I'm planning. I'll handle the evidence, and Matt will provide legal support."

That clearly appealed more to Rigordo, and he swallowed what he had been about to say.

Yes, he simply wanted to catch those thugs and beat them up.

"Catching them is about making it more expensive for the other side to send thugs after us.

"If they've bought off the NYPD, then the more people we get arrested, the more money the NYPD will demand from them.

"They use violence and fear to divide us. We can use their greed."

Clearly, Rigordo had no interest in hearing an explanation of those strategic calculations. Seeing the landlord's brow furrow again, Lier hurried on.

"And obviously, the people they send to intimidate us are just punks. They look tough normally, but they run the moment they meet someone who fights back.

"We deal with one, and more people will be willing to band together. Then they send more people, and we keep beating them up.

"In short, we beat them until they're too scared to come back."

"That's how it should be!" Rigordo breathed heavily through his nose. "Fuck, I've been sick of those little bastards for ages!"

As he spoke, Rigordo pounded on the wooden staircase, the bangs sounding like a battle had broken out.

"Everyone, get out here! Get out here-I know you're all home! Not one of you had the guts to stand up yesterday. Now-get out here!"

The tenants hesitantly opened their doors, their families in tow: men, women, and children.

It was working hours, yet they were still home-clearly, they were unemployed.

"Listen, we can't let those goddamn thugs push us around anymore. Starting now, I'm joining Lier's Homeowners Association, and you're joining too.

"Don't think you can stay out of it like you did yesterday. If I finally can't take it anymore and get driven out, you'll have to leave too!

"At worst, I lose some money. But who else would let you live here on credit?

"Nat, Fakado, John, Dean-you're grown men, built like that, and you're as timid as women!"

Just then, a woman from one of the households spoke up. "Rigordo! Cut the fucking bullshit! I've been saying we should fight back all along! If this coward hadn't held me back, I would've gone out and beaten those guys up yesterday!"

Her voice was as raspy as a goose's honk. Her shoulders were almost as broad as her husband's, and her six-foot husband looked more like her brother.

"Heh." Rigordo smiled and bowed like a gentleman. "To you, my Natalia, I apologize."

Now the husband beside Natalia looked displeased. He appeared to be Latino. "We have children, Rigordo.

"But you're right. If things really are as complicated as you say, we should band together."

"No, we have children!" someone objected. "Have you forgotten what happened last month?"

Rigordo suddenly flew into a rage and shouted at the scrawny Irishman. "Then get the hell out! We do the work, and you enjoy the good life? That's not how the world works!"

The man sheepishly shut his door.

Lier had to admit that Rigordo really did have some force behind him. Those few bellows had left his ears aching.

Lier knew it was time for him to step forward. "Everyone, Mr. Rigordo is telling the truth! If we don't stand up, we'll end up homeless!

"New York is a dump, but our homes are here! This is our home!

"Think it over! Helping one another is the key to our survival!"

There was no need to say more. The stakes were plain, but Lier knew they needed some time to digest it all.

Yesterday, the thugs had kicked open the building's front door. The day after tomorrow, they might break into their homes.

Lier did not think they would fail to understand that.

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Rigordo."

"Hmph, it was nothing." Rigordo took another sip of tea, then said solemnly to Lier, "But like they said, they have families.

"You have to promise me you'll protect them."

"Of course." Lier raised his right hand. "I swear I'll protect them. In fact, we'll all protect one another. That's what mutual protection means."

"Heh-mutual protection. You really do sound like...

"Get going. I assume you're not planning to just sit here and wait for people to come knocking? If you are, I might as well take the United Construction Company's money tomorrow and find somewhere to retire..."

Mr. Rigordo turned and went back into his apartment.

Matt said, "That went pretty well, all things considered. But convincing the rest of the neighborhood won't be so easy."

"Right. So we need to get the word out, and then we need to make sure everyone's safe."

"How?"

Lier smiled slightly. "Technology changes lives. We'll use the internet, but before that, we need to formally register the Homeowners Association.

"Then I need to register a company that provides services to the public. That way, I can provide technical support to the Homeowners Association in an official capacity.

"For example, replacing all this old wiring in the building, then reworking the security system.

"I know nothing about the law, so I'll need to entrust that side of things to your firm."

Matt shrugged. "I'd already decided to help you, but you really are a natural when it comes to giving orders.

"Give me some time. Honestly, though, I've never helped anyone register a company before...

"Does this mean I've got a major client now?"

"Not yet," Lier said meaningfully. "But you will."