As the first press questions shift from spectacle to substance, V’ren leaders speak for themselves—revealing a culture of quiet empowerment, earned trust, and the kind of leadership that doesn’t need a microphone.
At the edge of a wheat field destined for permanent shadow, Matt offers three hundred untouched acres to the V’ren for their dead. What begins as a practical choice becomes a covenant—one that binds him not just as host, but as kin to a grieving people.
Over a simple farm dinner, Matt offers T’mari the ancient welcome of his family’s land—guest right at his hearth and table. Between shared histories, cultural respect, and talk of futures under open skies, a bond begins to form, rooted in hospitality and the promise of sanctuary.
T’monn stared out the window, the Missouri night rolling past in streaks of dark and light.
“If you told them to leave,” she said, “they would. But most would rather stay.”
Matt didn’t answer right away. The red demon called Pickup growled beneath them, chasing its own headlights through the gravel dark.
“They’re not going anywhere,” he said. “This is home now.”