“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking that after talking to the newbie’s cousin, I need a nap.”

-Audio log from the Firehawk, 2056

30 minutes ago:

“Pyri, can you call through my augs?”

[Yes Evie, I can.]

“Can you do that and get one of Spark’s drones to escort me please?” She glared at her mother, “The air’s getting a bit stagnant around here.”

Before Nyra could even respond, Evie was already walking through the bunker door and out into the yard.

[I take it you wanted to get away from your mom for a while?]

“Yeah,” she replied, “I don’t know who the hell she thinks she is threatening to kick Spark out like that.”

[Your mom is under a lot of stress right now. Between the tragic events of today, and her personal history, she has lost all of her family except for you, Spark, and the children.]

Evie kicked at the gravel driveway, “That just makes her ultimatum even worse! She only has us five left, and we both know the twins idolize Spark too much to not go with her!”

The sound of crunching gravel from behind had her spinning around, only to find Robin limping along behind them.

“Spark needs to fix your leg up, doesn’t she?” Autumn muttered while crouching down to give the robot some much deserved pats.

[What about you and Benny?]

She sighed, “I don’t know, Benny is almost always in his own world, but when it comes to cooking the kids’ eyes light up like you wouldn’t believe!” Evie continued with a wistful smile, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes with Spark as well because of the fact she can just buy incredibly tasty food off you whenever.”

Standing up, she walked into the breeding barn. “As for me? I’m… torn about it. She’s my mom, but Spark’s my best friend! We’ve been there for each other our whole lives. And… oh goddess.”

Evie trailed off, looking at the massive hole in the floor. “What made this?”

[That breach was made by a Model Eight trying to get into the manure pit below.]

Evie’s face scrunched up in disgust, “That’s fucking disgusting.”

[Most everything regarding the antithesis’ hunger is.]

Turning around, she continued. “Like, no matter who I choose to go with, I’ll be betraying someone. If I stay with Nyra, I’ll betray Spark when she needs me most, especially when she starts digging into her mom’s past and whatever that looked like.”

She walked outside and saw a pair of robots moving from corpse to corpse and injecting something into each one. “Yet if I go with Spark, I’ll abandon my mom when she won’t have anyone left.”

[If I may be so bold, in both choices you only address how it would affect others. What about what you want?]

Chuckling darkly Evie answered, “Y’know, I figured you would say I should go with Spark, being her assistant and all.”

[But if you weren’t happy and Spark found out you were making yourself unhappy for her she wouldn’t forgive herself.]

Evie turned to look at the south barn, it looked mostly okay from a distance, but so did the breeding barn.

“I can’t really argue with that can I?”

[Not really, no.]

“Well then, I want to get out of this dump!” She said with a stamp of her foot. “Spark would disagree with me on this, but like, this area is a wasteland! Sure, it might be able to grow crops and such, but only after loading everything up with chemicals that harm the land even further! We don’t get help, and that doesn’t even begin to include the antithesis!”

“And if Spark leaves, we just lost the only person who can make sure we survive.” After taking a deep breath and starting to walk towards the smoldering ruins of the finishing barns she continued. “Sure, she’ll send money and supplies especially if we ask, but that feels incredibly shitty. Especially if mom throws them all out the second they arrive.”

“I know with me gone she’ll be alone, but unless she can pull the stick out of her ass I don’t know what will happen. Her only options would be to move to Indy, or, in with another family here I guess.”

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

[Spark would almost definitely want her taken care of regardless.]

Evie chuckled, “Yeah, Spark doesn’t ever really let anyone suffer in the cold if she can help it. Hell, you probably already know this, but there was this one time her third grade bully ended up on our front porch when his family’s farmhouse burnt down.”

“Pretty much everyone’s parents were in Indy because of Nonsanto showing off their newest hybrids and such. So it was just Spark and I, alone here.”

“Now this kid, he would do the most demented shit to Spark, nothing physical, but he’d start jokes about how Spark’s mom was this or that. I don’t want to repeat anything ‘cause it was all truly disgusting stuff that he was most likely repeating from home.” Finally reaching the corner of the farrowing house closest to the wreckage Evie leaned up against it.

“It tore Spark apart, she didn’t let it show back then, but the fact that she couldn’t hardly remember her mom at all made the whole thing even worse.” Evie wiped the tears from her eyes, “Spark never once rose to the bait, or even showed it bothered her. The only reason I know is that I saw them taunting her about it in the hallway one time, and I demanded to know what was going on.”

“Anyways, the guy comes over, his house burnt down ‘cause old wiring caught fire. He has nowhere to go, the antithesis forecast wasn’t bad, but being outside with no shelter out here can kill.”

“I don’t think the kid knew this was where Spark lived ‘cause when she opened the door and he saw her… the guy clearly realized just how much power Spark had over him ‘cause his eyes were wide as saucers and his skin went white as a sheet.”

“Spark asked him what was going on, and the kid stammered out an explanation.”

“She didn’t even hesitate and let him in. Even got him some breakfast to eat, a phone to call his parents, the full nine yards.”

Evie sighed, “His parents couldn’t look Spark in the eye when they thanked her for not turning him away, and the kid did a full one-eighty in school to the point of defending her from other kids. I asked Spark why she even let him in, cause this kid tortured her for years.”

“She said that there was no point in it, and that one-upping someone who got hurt like that was a scummy move. And when I compare her in that moment to now I just-“ Evie choked back a sob, “I can see why you picked her.”

[Spark is an amazing individual, and I had my eye on her for a while when it came to selecting her. She just needed to take the last step to prove to the world that she has what it takes.]

“I’m glad you did, not just for everything she did today, but for her own mental health too. I’ve never seen her happier than when shopping with you, and fighting with stuff she could only dream of building. That look of pure glee she gets is something I’ve never seen before!”

[I’ve seen it once before, on my previous Vanguard before Spark.]

Evie frowned, “You okay Pyri? I’m fine with being a shoulder to lean on for you if you need.”

[I’ll be fine, if anything watching Spark work helps with the melancholy more than enough. As for- Evie there is an aerial craft approaching.]

“What kind?”

[Class III military vessel, it’s almost assuredly a Vanguard’s transport.]

Hauling herself up Evie stretched, “Might as well say hello to whoever it is, and point them in Spark’s direction then.”

“I’d rather not lose anymore family to the weeds today.”

***

Meanwhile aboard the Firehawk:

“You gotta give the new sam a lot of credit,” Sky muttered. “They built a nice firebreak, and used simple yet efficient fuel sources. I’m picking up increased hydrogen and oxygen near those barns.”

Cryo snorted from beneath her hood. “Yeah yeah, you want to shove your tongue down their throat already. Set us down already so we can talk to ‘em!”

Landing with a soft thump, the Firehawk’s engines began spooling down to an idle. Inque got up shaking xeir head, “You both need to finish your flirting if you even want to talk to them. They’re outside now.”

The three Samurai quickly disembarked and came face to face with a tall girl with brown hair that was giving them a look.

“Hey miss!” Cryo began, “We’re the Indy Magical Girls. We picked up the massive energy readings your gear was putting off and came by to investigate. We-”

“You think that stuff’s all mine?” the girl questioned, then shook her head. “Nah, it’s all my cousin’s.”

“I- uhhhh”

“What CryoFlare is trying to ask,” Sky asked while rolling her eyes. “Is where your cousin is at right now. We don’t get many Sams in the area, and we’d like to talk to them about some stuff.”

“Nope.”

Sky blinked, “I’m sorry?”

The girl crossed her arms, “We’ve all had a long day here, some of ours are still ongoing. My cousin told me the stuff that gets written about you was most likely completely untrue, and given the fact she’s one of y’all now I can’t get you to leave just for being Samurai unlike some people.” Her tone at the end startled the trio. “So before I give y’all an idea of where she’s at why don’t you tell me exactly what this stuff is.”

Before they could respond a chime rang from a phone the girl was holding.

[If I may interrupt? I’m the Vanguard you are seeking’s AI.]

Inque stepped forward, “Greetings to both of you, the things we would like to discuss with her are primarily ‘housekeeping’ type things in nature. Things like offering support be it combat, social, or material. We also want to ensure she survives.” Xey looked down at xeir shoes, “There aren’t many Samurai active in the region whatsoever, and we need all the help we can get.”

The girl sighed, “Alright, Pyri what direction did Spark go?”

[If you follow the trail left by the antithesis horde, you will find us in the midst of combat within an underground hive network.]

Sky’s eye twitched behind her mask, “She went into a hive network alone!?”

[In her defense, you three are arriving long after all non-antithesis life would be extinguished, if not for my Vanguard initializing at a very opportune time.]

The trio flinched, it was completely true. Just the ruins of the barns next to them was easily a few hours old by now.

Sky turned and began walking back towards the ship, “No use complaining about it, come on! We’ve got a newbie to pull out of the dirt!”