Most major philosophies are based on a negation of one point of Ginsburg's Theorem.
Capitalists believe you can win the game.
Socialists believe you can break even.
Mystics believe that you can quit the game.
- Freeman's Commentary on Ginsburg's Theorem.
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New Harrisburg: Bertarelli Compound, 4 hours into New Pittsburgh incursion
"Millie, please calm yourself!" Reginold said "What's this about Eliza and Samurai?" I love my little sister dearly, but she is prone to talking too fast when extremely excited or worried. From the tone of her voice, I could tell that she was worried now. She took a couple of breaths, and explained how my daughter had become a Samurai, then went to check on my brother in-law, Winston, but hadn't shown up yet. Both had tried to call her and sent messages, but they'd gone unanswered. She had tried to get Winston to get to call Eliza's childhood friend, William Grazer, to look for her.
Winston said the same thing I thought, that as impressive as that boy was, the urban landscape was not his favored terrain. While he had a better chance than the average person in surviving against antithesis, he was still a normal person. If Eliza was now a Samurai, and was in trouble, there wasn't much the boy would be able to do, assuming he would be able to find her in the first place. I had ordered my company's PMC into action at the beginning, but it takes time for soldiers to travel. I told her I'd have the PMC look for her and not to worry too much. I ended the call and headed into the living room where everyone was watching the screen.
The news was reporting on the incursion in New Pittsburgh. On the screen, a Samurai in power armor, cut into the broadcast and issued an ultimatum in Wiliam Grazer's voice. There was no emotion to his voice. It reminded me of almost four years ago, but this was worse somehow, much worse.
"Luxury Furs Company I, the Woodland Wraith, or Sasquatch, whichever you know me by, demand that you assholes surrender, and release both of your prisoners, the Samurai and the five-year-old girl, unharmed. You have five minutes! If they are not released within that time, or they are not unharmed, your fucking lives are forfeit."
"I don't think he was this angry when I was kidnapped." my son's girlfriend Mary, who was also William's little sister, said.
"He doesn't sound angry to me. He sounds almost bored." my son Junior said.
"Trust me, he's anything but bored right now. This will not end well." My wife's friend, Mary and William's mother, Lynn said.
"Wait, isn't that the name of the company, that Bill said he was going to leave New Pittsburgh, because of the shit they were pulling, Sis?" Robert asked
I ordered my PMC to send men to that location. I was told it would take them half an hour to get there.
"Are you okay dear? You look like you've seen a ghost." Helena, my beautiful wife, said, looking at me.
"Millie called. She watched Elizabeth become a Samurai."
"That's awesome! All those 'suitors' that have been stalking her will have to go pound sand." Junior said.
"What's wrong, Reginold?" My wife asked again. Her voice had raised an octave.
"She was supposed to have made it to Winston's shop by now, and hasn't. Winston and Millie tried to call, and she hasn't answered. I tried calling her after I hung up with Millie, she didn't answer for me either."
A heavy silence descended on the room. All eyes were on the screen. Hoping that the Woodland Wraith could pull off something on his own, that he hadn't been able to, almost four years ago.
"It looks like a corp is about to remind everyone why you don't fuck with Samurai, or anyone connected to the Woodland Wraith." My friend George Grazer said.
"You aren't worried?" Helena asked.
"No, he's been on his own for almost four years, with very little support, according to Winston. In order to pull that off, he has to be stronger and smarter than he was. Plus, he's apparently a Samurai with power armor. This will not end well for the corp that pissed him off, but he'll be fine." George explained.
"Besides it's not guaranteed that Elizabeth is in trouble, some other Samurai might have decided to take her under their wing and taken her to a portion of the city that doesn't have service." Mary said, to try and lift my family's spirits.
On the screen the anchors were speculating on what William had said. Exactly five minutes later, the screen changed to a view of a street where twelve men, in the same uniforms, were shooting at each other.
"Five minutes have passed and I have not seen the prisoners walk from the building. Nor have I heard from Luxury Furs Company. They have chosen death. I will show you all what you have fucking forgotten! I will show you why the damned corps used to fear my name. This will not end here at this particular location. I will raze any building they own to the ground. Luxury Fur Company shall only be an unpleasant memory by the end of the week."
An invisible force descended on six of the combatants in the street. It wasn't a pleasant sight. Then he just appeared out of thin air. Raised a massive gun in the direction of the other six, who had lined up as if waiting for a firing squad, and shot a 4 behind them. Said something about their actions having saved the prisoners from more pain and disappeared again.
"Junior, see if you can get those men hired into our company and get their families, if they have them, protected from retaliation from LFC. Make sure they aren't standing there when he comes back out."
The camera focused on a building as its door disintegrated. The camera got closer. Gunshots and screams could be heard, then silence. When the camera entered the building, only the dead could be seen.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
"Lynn, didn't you give Bill a program that could hack cameras, so he could see through them and also allow you to see through them as well?" George asked.
"Yes, but he stopped using it a couple of hours ago." She replied, "If he started using it now, not only could the corp he's currently fighting, but any who have sophisticated enough spyware, would be able to track the connection back here to us, if we used it to see what's in the building."
I called and had to leave a message to have him do just that. As I finished the call all eyes were now on me. Lynn's augs chimed, her eyes widened and she opened a new screen. We watched as the invisible force we knew was William, moved down yet another hall. Leaving nothing living behind him. Lynn started switching to cameras in areas of the building he hadn't got to yet. She stopped on one that had two bound and injured girls then switched to a different camera quickly. The room was silent again. William was fully justified.
"Junior, see if you can get into that company's systems and find out who those girls are. Robert, see if you can get into their financials and freeze or empty their accounts. George, if you don't mind, would you help me see what kind of legal actions we can take?"
We started to leave the room, to work on the jobs I had divvied up amongst us guys, to get us out of the room, so the ladies could assess what medical treatment the girls would need. A female voice none of us had heard before, spoke through the screen with the camera footage.
Please don't be alarmed! My name is Mara. I'm Bill's Vanguard AI partner. I overrode the settings Bill had set, so you, and only you could see the girls. Most of what you have suggested has already been done. I am willing to give you the files that Bill has retrieved from the servers of that location. They have already been scrubbed of any malware or spyware that would compromise your own systems. I think you will find the information useful in lodging complaints through the courts, and compromising the systems of other facilities owned by LFC. As for their financial accounts, all of them have already been zeroed. I only ask that you aid Bill as much as you can in the destruction of this company.
"Do you know who the girls LFC is holding are, so that we can get a hold of their families?" Asked Mary.
I know who both of them are, but can only tell you about one, as the other is a Vanguard. Divulging information about Vanguards that are not your partner, without their consent, is against the rules. Divulging information about your partner Vanguard without their consent, is also against the rules.
Lynn had been getting ready to ask a question until the Mara made the last statement.
"I can shed light on who the other girl is. If you would like to get back to watching over your Samurai?"
Thank you, Winston, it is with that reason in mind that I called you. I will still be monitoring the conversation. If you have questions that I can answer, I will.
"The girl's name is Haley Marselle. She is the daughter of Jean Marselle. Jean has been buying furs, antlers, and other such materials from Bill. She then resold, only the furs, to LFC. LFC was demanding more fur be procured. She told them if that was the case they needed to talk to her supplier. Two days ago, Haley was abducted. Jean only told me about the situation yesterday. No one has been able to reach Jean for the last three and a half hours." Winston reported.
I shall look into Jean's whereabouts. A moment please... It seems the shelter that Jean went to was not built to standard. Instead of a closed air recycling system, an air exchange system was used. This would not be a problem if a proper safety system had been installed. In an effort to cut down on spending further, the safety system to ensure model 7s couldn't enter through the air exchange was never installed. Bribing the inspectors every year was cheaper than paying for the maintenance of the safety system. The shelter is currently full of hosts for model 7s. It is unlikely that Jean Marselle is still alive. I would request that no one tell Bill of this. This is not an uncommon occurrence, from what my sibling AI have told me. Him finding out on his own, and dealing with the situation, as it stares him in the face now, will better prepare him for when it happens again. The primary donor to the construction of this shelter was LFC. There is one other shelter that LFC was the primary donor for. It is for LFC VIPs and has suffered the same fate. I'm transferring the funds of the dead VIPs to two accounts at a 75% to 25% split. The account getting 75% will go to Haley. The account getting 25% is Bill's.
"That's a lot of money for a five-year-old. What about others in her situation?" Helena asked.
As far as I can tell the only other one, in a situation that can be called close to the same as hers, is a Samurai. If you mean children orphaned by the faulty shelter, the money previously seized is in another account that can be used to aid them. You may wish to observe the news broadcast.
On the screen, emerging from the ruined door was the 9' tall power armor, with too many joints on the legs, and covered in a woodland camo pattern. Behind him were two girls both in green antique fashioned dresses with metallic gears placed here and there. There was no audio. One of my men, from the squad that had been dispatched to the area, stepped forward. William stepped in front of him. Then Haley hid behind the other Samurai. A third Samurai who had been waiting with my men stepped forward. A tense standoff of some kind was taking place. Then the other Samurai and Haley moved forward to stand next to William. Suddenly the building collapsed behind them. I looked over to see my wife crying.
"What's wrong, Helena?"
"Eliza- Elizabeth designed that dress."
I fell into a chair. The strange standoff continued for some minutes. My men and the Samurai that had been waiting with them backed away. William watched, and moved to keep himself between them and the girls. George took a call that was meant for me. Robert came over to me and handed me a scotch. When George hung up, the Samurai stepped toward William again.
"You took care of us; we'll take care of you." Robert said.
Another tense moment occurred when a transport showed up. Haley ran from the women who disembarked and hid behind one of William's legs. Nothing happened for a while and then everyone looked as though they had seen a ghost. Then William, Elizabeth, and Haley got in the transport, along with the women who had shown up with it.
"Well, that's my cue. I have guests on the way." Winston said. "Reginold, Helena, I'll make sure she's alright. George, I'll look after your boy too. Take it easy. It's almost over."
George came over and refilled my drink that I hadn't even realized I'd tossed back. Several minutes passed and we had an incoming call. We answered and there was my daughter's face on the screen. We talked for a few minutes, she assured us that she was okay, Samurai medicine couldn't be beat. She spoke to George and Lynn assuring them that Billy, as she called him, was fine. He was currently eating, which he apparently hadn't done since before the incursion. Which, in her words "had been making him ornery." That made George and Lynn laugh, saying some things never change.
After a while Helena and I had regained our composures. We got back to work dismantling LFC. Then we got another call from Elizabeth. This time she seemed to be panicking, causing Helena and I to be less than useful. Lynn took over and got both her and us to calm down. Elizabeth wanted to adopt Haley. Lynn talked her down by pointing out that, as a Samurai, she would be going into danger repeatedly and for days to weeks at a time. The argument that won however, was that she and George would adopt Haley.
It brought a smile to my face. My daughter was facing man eating plants trying to devour a whole city, but she was worried about a single solitary child. As George and Lynn said, some things never change.