Saturday, August 31, 2047
I stared into the evening sun from the top of the CalWestTech tower, where a fellow student had invited the latest batch of Victoria University graduates to a party. In my case, graduation for a bachelor’s degree in physics.
But it was really his parents who sponsored the evening. As major shareholders of CalWestTech they had the clout to reserve the rooftop lounge for an evening. Overall we were around fifty people, including our hosts and some friends and parents who had come along. The party had begun a few hours ago, and it was gradually becoming a bit too loud and rude for my taste. Not that I was overly prudish, but there was a certain standard conversation should not fall below. I needed a break. So I made my way to the stairwell for some quiet.
Beyond the door, I noticed a pair who had retreated to a secluded corner for privacy. Which was understandable, as they were halfway through dropping their clothes and getting busy with each other’s private parts. I silently went down another flight of stairs to let them fuck in peace. As I said, I’m not a prude. I just didn’t feel like having bawdy jokes shouted into my ears that day.
Hanging over the balustrade on the lower floor for a moment, I felt a moment of vertigo. The stairwell was open to all directions, with little side corridors going away from the landings. But most of all, it was deep. Twenty floors from top level to the 20th floor, where it ended in a small open space.
A few minutes later, I heard something coming up the stairs. It made a sound like the clicking of dogs’ claws on the stone of the stairs. Which seemed wrong as CalWestTech had a strict policy of no animals on their premises.
Seconds later, a message flashed in my visual augments. It said “Emerg##33e d37xxted” in red flashing letters. I could only guess it meant “Incursion detected”. My augs has been flaky since a few weeks ago, when I got too close to a high voltage experiment in the lab and got zapped in the head. Sadly, I was over my ears in student debt and could not afford a replacement.
At this point, I had a pretty good idea of what was approaching. I had read the guides about Antithesis incursions. Alien plant monsters that were regularly invading Earth. So I sprinted up the stairs and looked for something that might help fighting off a bunch of Model 3s, dog sized scout and light fighter units of the Antithesis.There. A fire hose. A big fire hose. Its water jet might just be enough to flush those aggressive weeds back down the stairs. I pulled it out of its case and started opening the water tap.
The noise alerted the two lovers in the corner and one of them got up to complain, panties still hanging around his ankles. I did not wait for him to get his act together. Instead I shouted “Antithesis in the stairwell! Get back to the lounge and alert the others!”
“What the fuck is going on? Can’t we have some undisturbed cozy time?”
That guy was really dense. I got louder. “ONLY IF YOU WANT TO BE FUCKING EATEN!! Now go, build some barricades or whatever. I’ll stall them as best I can!”
That finally got through and he skedaddled, panties left behind in the panic. But I could not watch his ignominious retreat any further, as the first Antithesis was already close to me.
I opened the spigot at the fire nozzle. A strong water jet pushed the critter back down the stairs. On the wet and slippery floor it had problems keeping its footing. A second Model 3 arrived, and it became really difficult to keep both from getting up the stairs to me. But I managed. Until the water ran out. I was standing there with a limp hose, and the Antithesis advanced again. I grabbed the hose a meter behind the nozzle and switched to using it as a flail. With a mighty swing, I brought it down on the head of the first monster that reached me. A wet, cracking sound signaled the demise of the critter. It slipped halfway down the stairs and stopped moving.
Unfortunately, I had lost sight of the other plant beast. It jumped at me from the side and planted its teeth in my right arm, bowling me over. We rolled on the floor for a bit, it trying to rip my arm out and I trying to find a way to fight back. Then I saw the chance to get my feet under the alien. Doing so, I pushed it away with all my strength.
I felt something in my arm tearing, but then the alien lost its grip on my arm. I finally kicked the monster over the balustrade and it fell down the staircase. I did not see where it landed, but it took a few seconds to get there and the sound suggested that it broke apart thoroughly.
Suddenly, a blinding headache ripped through my brain. Worse than on the day of the high voltage experiment. As the pain receded, I heard a voice in my head.
System Initialized!
Congratulations. Through your actions you have proven yourself worthy of becoming one of the Vanguard, a defender of humanity. I am Elya. I will assist you to uplift humanity so that you may defend your home world from the Antithesis threat!
Rise, Caitlin McCallan, and become a protector of the weak!
Great, now I had voices in my head. Still shaking with adrenaline from the fight, I got to my feet and looked around. A few meters down the stairs lay the alien with the smashed in head. The smell of freshly cut grass hung in the air.
In case you have not noticed, you are bleeding out. At the current rate you have about five minutes before you lose consciousness. Medical attention is required. Fortunately, as a Vanguard you can buy medical supplies for points earned by defeating Antithesis.
That voice seemed more than a hallucination. It actually made some sense. So I replied “What, bleeding out? And what points?”. Then I noticed that my arm was badly mangled and bleeding profusely. In one place, the bone was visible.
You have currently 120 points. 100 of these are a freebie for new Vanguard. You also get 10 points for each of the Antithesis you have killed. May I suggest a purchase?
I needed all the help I could get. “Yes, please.”
For 50 points you can unlock Class I Medical Utilities, a catalog of Vanguard grade first aid items. For 10 more points you can purchase a Class I RegenBandAid. It will bond to your arm and administer a variety of antibiotics and repair nanites. It will also seal the wound to prevent infection and further blood loss.
“Damn yes, make it quick!”
Class I Medical Utilities unlocked!
Points reduced to... 70
Purchased: RegenBandAid
Points reduced to... 60
A small plastic box appeared near my feet. I knelt down and fumbled the box open with my left hand. Inside I saw a sort of a band-aid in XXL size. On the inside of the lid was a manual in the form of a repeating little movie. It was easy to follow, even without further advice from Elya.
I unfolded the RegenBandAid and with my teeth, I pulled off the sealing foil. Then I pressed the band-aid to a point just outside the largest wound, where it immediately anchored itself. Ignoring the pain, I pulled the band-aid across the wound and pressed it against my arm. With a fizzing sound, the inner surface liquefied and the band-aid firmly stuck to my arm. Apparently it contained an anesthetic too, as the pain dropped to a fraction of what it had been.
Very good, but there are more problems to solve. The Antithesis you just killed are not the only ones in the building. You might need some weapon to survive the next encounter.
“Something easy to use one-handed. Preferably a ranged weapon for beginners.”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
For fifty points you could unlock Kinetic Handguns I. The remaining points would buy you a very basic weapon. I recommend the Hummingbird Mark I-D for its aiming assistance features.
“OK, give me that Hummingbird”
Hold up your hand, palm-up.
Class I Kinetic Handguns unlocked!
Points reduced to... 10
Purchased: Hummingbird Mark I-D
Points reduced to... 0
A boxy pistol fell into my left hand. It looked a lot like a taser pistol, except for the fact that thirty-six spikes peeked out of the square barrel. The brushed aluminium look was unusual for taser pistols too, usually those came in plastic chic. As I wrapped my hand around the grip, a circle popped up in my visual augs. It followed where I was aiming the pistol like a virtual flashlight.
“Where is the safety?” Yes, I had learned some basics about gun safety.
It is based on image recognition. Just aim at a target. When the reticle turns red, fire. The Hummingbird fires in salvos of four micro-missiles. This means you have nine shots before you run out.
Another two monsters came running up the stairs. I aimed the Hummingbird at them and fired as fast as I could. The reticle barely had time to turn red. With each shot, four lines of smoke filled the air, each one curving unerringly towards an Antithesis, even when my aim had been off. I heard some bangs coming from within the beasts, and scraps of plant matter were ejected from the entry holes. Both of the Antithesis immediately collapsed.
Targets eliminated: 2 x Model 3
Reward... 20 points
“Elya, what was that? Guided missiles?”
No, the missiles fly on pre-calculated trajectories and are otherwise dumb. A weapon with true guided missiles would be out of your point range. But they do have small warheads that explode after punching through the target’s skin. Remaining propellant is also detonated. You may have heard the small explosions.
The monsters kept coming, this time half a dozen in a loose group. I nailed five of them in a glorious hail of missiles, but missed the last one as it fled into a side corridor.
Targets eliminated: 5 x Model 3
New balance... 70 points
I dropped the almost empty Hummingbird. “Elya, another one!”
As I held up my hand, a new Hummingbird dropped into my hand. Getting a new gun each time seemed wasteful, but with my messed up arm reloading would be difficult. Were there reloads for the Hummingbird? Anyway, as long as I made more points than I needed for new Hummingbirds, all was well.
Even more Model three assembled at the bottom of the stairs. I could not see how many exactly, but there were two that looked different. A bit larger and definitely more massive. They reminded me somewhat of tigers.
“Elya, I’m gonna be overrun here. Some help, please!”
In your situation, I recommend some kind of autonomous weapon system. If you shoot at least one more attacker, you can afford a simple auto turret and a weapon to mount on it.
“I’ll shoot, you pick something suitable!”
I took careful aim at a plant monster in the open and let the tiny missiles fly. Gotcha!
Target eliminated!
Reward... 10 Points
Class I Auxiliary Weapon Utilities unlocked!
Points reduced to... 30
Purchased: Auto turret “Death’s Hand” Mk III
Points reduced to... 10
Purchased: Foxteeth Model D
Points reduced to... 5
Purchased: 4 x Magazine for Foxteeth Model D
Points reduced to... 1
I set the Hummingbird on the floor before me and started unpacking the results of my shopping spree. The first thing I got was a - plain pistol?
The Foxteeth Model D is a simple pistol in caliber 9x19 Parabellum. Its magazine holds 15 rounds and it can be reloaded by the auto turret you purchased. If you have provided extra ammunition, that is.
The second item was a small tripod with a robotic, skeletal hand on top of it, roughly the size of a large book. Where the wrist would be in a human, there was a sort of holster for pistol magazines. A small arm at the bottom of the hand looked like it was meant for handling reloads. On the back of the hand was a camera, presumably for tracking the baddies.
The “Death's Hand” is specifically designed to handle handguns in the traditional pistol shape. Its wrist holster can hold up to four spare magazines. It is equipped with an IFF system, pre-programmed to avoid shooting humans.
Even with the band-aid, my right arm still hurt too much to use unless in dire need. But with some one-handed fumbling, I managed to unfold the tripod and set it on the ground. With a small hiss, it glued itself to where I planted it.
Now hand the Foxteeth to the hand.
Very funny. But the robo-hand did grasp the grip of the Foxteeth flawlessly. Finally, I found four magazines that obviously belonged to the Foxteeth.
Put those into the wrist holster as described in the pictograms. Do you need an instruction video?
“I think I can manage. In general, can you see through my augs and tell me if I make a mistake?”
I can do that. But it would work better if we replaced your defective and generally inadequate augmentations.
I stuffed the magazine into the little pouches on the holster and said “Done, weapons free!”
Eight of the bloodthirsty weeds came sprinting up the stairs, among them the big ones. The Antithesis were certainly cooperative in weapons testing. This time the hissing of the Hummingbird’s missiles was drowned out by the staccato fire from the Death’s Hand. Between the Hummingbird and the nine millimeter bullets, they dropped quickly. Except the big ones, these needed several rounds each.
Both my Hummingbird and the Foxteeth ran out of ammo just as they took down the last monsters. By now, the stairs were covered in shredded plant matter. Fortunately, none of the attackers had reached me. But the growing numbers still made me nervous. If the trend continued, we would be drowned in ever larger numbers.
In the ensuing silence, the Death’s Hand dropped the magazine from the Foxteeth. With some whirring and clicking, the little arm grabbed the next magazine from the holster and inserted it. I ordered the next Hummingbird.
Targets eliminated: 8 x Model 3
New balance... 81 points
Nice, but we would need more gear. More points to buy it. We also needed to get to a safer place. A few gawkers had showed up behind me, one of them Alan, the father of the guy who had invited us. When he saw the dead Antithesis, he asked “What, are you a Samurai?”
Yes I was, the Vanguard were colloquially called Samurai. I did not know where the term had come from, but these days only their – no, our – AIs called us Vanguard. Everybody else called us Samurai.
I asked back ”Where’s the next shelter? I don’t think I can defend this place forever!”
“There is one in the basement of the tower. I don’t know if security will be there to help us defend it, but I have the codes to get in and it has automated defenses.”
Great. That was 180 meters down. Using the elevators would be quite stupid. We were looking at a lengthy walk and did not know what would expect us on the way. So I asked “Elya, can you access the building cameras for me?”
The people around me looked as if I had lost my mind. Damn. I had talked aloud.
“Never mind, I was talking to my AI.”
You need to buy some equipment first. I can recommend a basic but adequate set of cyberwarfare equipment and software for 170 points. It is possible to cut some corners, but saving up might be smarter. Just don’t get yourself killed before you have the required points.
It was time to prepare for our trek down the stairs. I asked around “Who has experience with handguns? Real ones, not in FPS shooter games.”
Two people came forward. One of them was an obvious candidate. Brad, a member of a local militia of questionable legality, but he had a reputation as a good shooter with nerves of steel.
The other one was a girl whom I had met at taekwondo training. Jenna had not much experience with firearms, but she knew the basics and was willing to fight. I gave each of them a Foxteeth and two spare magazines.
Purchased: 2 x Foxteeth Model D, 4 x Magazine
Points reduced to... 63
John, the father of Brad, insisted on joining the fighters too. Unfortunately his waning eyesight did not make him the best choice as marksman, but we came up with something else. Someone fetched a simple plastic chair from the lounge and we glued a Death’s Hand to the backrest. John grabbed the chair with the Death’s Hand and held it with the seat before his belly, so the backrest stood out like a tray with the little turret on it.
Purchased: 1 x Auto turret “Death’s Hand” Mk III, 1 x Foxteeth Model D
Points reduced to... 38
Unfortunately my first turret was glued to the floor really strongly, or we could have saved twenty points here. We retrieved the magazines though and put them into the new turret.
That gave me another idea. I asked two guys to get a small trolley from the kitchen and a few broomsticks from the cabinet with the cleaning supplies. Those people were not stupid, they understood what I was up to and brought duct tape as well.