Democracy is based on the idea that ten thousand people are smarter and more stable than ten, or one. That only works when those thousands of people actually know something about the situation. Ten thousand ignorant people won’t come to a better conclusion than ten who understand the factors involved and what it affects.
Modern media makes it too easy to distract volumes of people away from the important issues and manipulate them wholesale. And that’s not even taking into account deliberate attempts by foreign powers to force a bad decision.
Democracy fails when too many people vote based either on feelings or on superficial factors that have nothing to do with the merits of the candidates or issue, like the shape of a person’s chin.
Every person does have a stake in government and should have some say in it. But we need some way to ensure that the people voting at least care enough to pay attention to the actual problem.
-- Professor Lazarus L. Harshaw, PhD, Political Science, Washington State University, 2026
***
Four boxes landed beside me seconds before Ginny fired on an approaching M-3, reminding me that we had monsters incoming. I started selecting targets and dropping Anti’s. Knowing that the M-5s were coming, I changed my tactics. Normally, I would start with the closest and work my way back. This kept the tide away for as long as possible. However, I wanted to engage the ranged models quickly, so I concentrated on the ones coming in, keeping my aim near the back wall. That way, once I spotted the M-5c, it would be faster to switch before it could become a danger. The others would have to deal with the leakers as they got closer.
It half worked. I spotted an M-5c while it was still along the back wall, between two pipes. I was instantly on it, sending a rare double tap into the monster’s shoulder and neck. The heavier rounds of the Tribulator had made such quick work of the other models that I underestimated the amount of damage an M-5c could take. My rounds hit clean, and I could see clear penetration wounds. It shrugged the damage off and pulled back behind a chunk of inert machinery. It briefly left behind its tail, which flicked in my direction. “Down!” I called, dropping to my knees behind the console and banging my helmet on the edge.
Ginny bounced behind the barrier, quick as a rabbit. She leaned out slightly to keep firing past Kaitlyn, who was already mostly covered. Behind and above me, I heard three hits on the wall. Whack-whack-whack.
I poked my head and rifle around the side of the console until I could see the M-5c. It had jumped on top of a pair of pipes and was retracting its tail for another launching flick. Blood dripped down its neck where I had wounded it. I quickly lined up again, and this time my shots found the head. Its jaw burst into a pulp, and one eye became a bloody hole moments before it fell off the machine.
As it fell, I gave it another shot for good measure before tracking down and to the right, where the other M-5c had started to emerge. I served it three high-velocity rounds, clustered tight on what would have been the nose. After the third shot, a spray of blood painted the cabinet behind it, and it too collapsed.
"Clear,” I called, standing up to continue targeting aliens. After a few minutes, we’d cleared the room again, and Tara confirmed no new Anti's were coming. As I turned to the boxes containing the masks, I saw Ginny’s face turn white.
“Are you alright?” She asked. She was searching my face and head; her hands twitched as if to try to run them over my head.
“I’m fine. Not a scratch,” I said.
“You might want to look at your helmet.” Kaitlyn, too, had a worried look.
I unbuckled my helmet and felt the cooler air chilling my sweaty hair. A long gash ran down the headpiece from front to back along the crown. Fibers stuck out at odd angles from the damage. I turned it over and could see the deep bulge on the inside mirroring the damage on the outside. Looking up at the wall behind us, there was a close cluster of quills, no more than a hand’s spread apart. Above the others, a single quill stuck at a different angle, deflected from the group by my helmet.
“Right, uh…” I ran my fingers through my hair. Other than more sweat, I only found a slight lump. I hadn’t even noticed the blow in the excitement of combat. I tried to pull the quill out of the wall, but it wouldn’t come free, so deeply was it buried. A chill came over me, as if the breeze from the reaper's scythe had blown down my spine. On the heels of that chill, I felt a longing for my parents’ embrace and to see my sister’s smile again.
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Ginny shifted, bringing me back to here and now. The concern in their eyes reminded me that the three needed me present and focused. I cleared my throat. “Yes. Corie, I think I’ll need a new helmet. Maybe something with a partial face shield to hide these ugly glasses.” As a rule, I wasn’t the kind to care deeply about my looks. For these glasses, however, I would make an exception. I hoped that my sister never saw them, or I’d never hear the end of it.
“A reasonable-quality helmet will require a new catalog. Have you put any thought into your defense plan?”
“I have some ideas, but now is not the time for big decisions. Something simple, light, and effective will do for now.”
"Catalog Unlocked: Class I Modular Equipment
Cost: 100 Remaining points: 1,193
"Purchased: PP5 Integrated Systems Helmet
Cost: 60 Remaining points: 1,133”
The helmet that I pulled out of the box was a simple armed forces kit. It had integrated protective earbuds and a broad mirrored half-face shield in an iridescent gold with undertones of blue and red.
“The active hearing protection keeps the volume to safe levels, reacting fast enough for you to hear a whispered word in the midst of a gunfight in a windstorm. With how much time you spend around guns, you’ll need all the hearing protection you can get. When the nanites were healing you earlier, they reported also fixing a heavily damaged cochlea. If that had continued, even you would have noticed the hearing loss in a couple of years.
“Oh, and the visor has active tinting to reduce any lights suddenly shining in your eyes. It is detachable too.”
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the hearing protection. I usually avoided it if I could due to the closed-in pressure I felt from the active noise suppression. The technology they used must have been considerably better, as the suppression disappeared from my senses as soon as I put them on.
I handed out the masks (complete with Kaitlyn grumbling about it messing up her hair), then asked Tara if she could handle more than one drone.
“I’m still learning, so I probably should only have one moving at a time. The autopilot is stupid and can’t be trusted. The software can switch between up to six views without any problem. They don’t take much attention when sitting still.”
“Two more drones, please, Corie. One to check deeper and see how far we are from the hive. And the other as a spare.”
Two more boxes dropped, and one drone flew off.
"Purchased: Chibat two-mode drone with low-light upgrade
Cost: 30 (Qty: 2) Remaining points: 1,103”
I kept an eye on the new drone’s progress in the corner of my eye as I turned to the next problem. “I’m starting to get worried about the buildup of bodies. If they stack up too much, they might be able to climb up here. The only thing that comes to mind is to burn them. Do any of you have an idea for how to deal with all these bodies?” I turned to the ladies beside me.
Kaitlyn viewed the mess with dismay. “How much do we want to damage the machinery? I mean, some of it is pretty fucked already.“ She waved her hand to indicate all the bullet holes and dents from missed shots. “Someone is going to have to fix this. Are they going to hold us accountable for it?”
“Nearly all insurance has provisions for damage from Vanguards in the course of doing their duties. Since they are here with you, Kaitlyn and the others should be protected.”
“That’s right, I’m a Samurai now. If any corp comes after you for this, let me know.” I smiled
“How about an acid thing?” Ginny suggested. “Fire’s only going to set off the sprinklers, and then we’ll be soaking wet and still have a pile of bodies.”
“Yeah, because wet clothes would just be the cherry on our cake of problems,” Kaitlyn said. “I think that Exeter Dan uses something chemical for a cleanup. He called it the Kniesen ECR once and often ends his streams by tossing one over his shoulder.” I stared at her for a minute. “It’s one of his signature moves.”
“There is an aerosol of enzymes that matches that name. It can clear out the bodies, but it is not particularly fast. It is cheap, though, and accessible through your Combat Engineering Essentials catalog.”
“How cheap? And how slow?”
“One can would be the standard dose for a room this size and costs 5 points. It will take a couple hours to reduce the hundreds of bodies into a liquid. It’s actually designed for this type of siege battlefield.”
“If it’s Samurai-approved, it must be good,” I said without a hint of irony. All three ladies snickered. “Sounds like we have a winner. And I think we can splurge and get three cans to see if that speeds it up.”
Three boxes appeared, with large cans in them. The tops had a small nozzle and a simple dial to set how long of a delay before release. I tossed them out evenly over the room. Each can released a white smoke that quickly settled down to form a low-hanging, ankle-deep fog. It added a surreal serenity to the killing ground below.