Global headlines and social media explode as Matt Marmaduke, Freeholder of Missouri, offers sanctuary to 120,000 V’ren refugees. His defiant, grounded leadership redefines first contact—turning a cornfield into the fulcrum of human history.
Past midnight, Matt and Leonard discuss the million V’ren refugees still in orbit, their skills, and the politics of settlement. Matt plays for time, looking to secure long-term leverage and stability in the continental interior—offering Missouri hospitality as part of the plan.
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.
At noon local time, V’ren medics announced two new vaccines—one for their crew, one for humans. Matt Marmaduke took the first dose personally. A public Q&A is scheduled for later this evening.
At the top of Chicago’s corporate skyline, Amazon’s most powerful executives weigh an unconventional offer from a man on the ground—one that could reshape the refugee crisis, their power structure, and the game they think they’re playing.
Matt Marmaduke only has hours to scale Missouri’s capacity for one hundred twenty thousand V’ren refugees. In a tense holotank briefing, he and General Leonard Wood trade requests, concessions, and political jabs—balancing construction gear, medical personnel, and the delicate power game that comes with being a legally neutral Freeholder.