I got lucky. After sending my friend's daughter into the deepest depths of the city, an old flame invited me to visit their rig. I could only watch from a distance as my livelihood was shattered into a million pieces all at once. At least I had a stalwart shoulder to cry on.
* George Baker, in a testimony to the Family after the Gehenna Gulf Incident.
***
The elevator dings to a stop as we reach the bottom floor of the Family’s rig, opening to reveal a small seemingly empty harbor house. I step out, looking around with a raised eyebrow at the completely empty room, nary a boat in sight.
“Uh, Nyvi,” I start, but before I can say anything else, she interrupts me.
Yes, I know. You need to walk to the far end of the docks, it’ll be more clear then.
I shrug, then get moving. As I get a bit farther in, I notice a stack of long crates lining the farthest jetty. I speed up a bit, approaching the small collection to find one with a slightly ajar lid. I kick it off to reveal a long white surfboard with what looks like a jet engine on the back.
“That… doesn’t look safe,” I mutter, leaning down to run my hand over its rather smooth surface, “Why are these even here, considering the rest of the building has been stripped?
Longboard, one of the three samurai residing in New Houston, left them here for newer samurai who need them.
“Ah, Grandfather hates that guy.” I grin as I start looking through the different options. “It’s perfect.”
I’d recommend the blue one, it’ll be easier to use while just sitting. You could try to use it the normal way but with your leg as it is, I’d highly recommend otherwise.
“Yeah, that tracks.” I pick up the indicated board, tossing it onto the slightly churning brine before leaping down onto it. It barely even shakes from the impact, so I take the duffel off so I can rest my shoulder.
Starting the engine. Do you have a preferred destination?
I sit down, frowning at the growing vibration of the vehicle beneath me. It’s not exactly pleasant. “I guess… to shore? We can contact help before coming back.”
Wise decision. Course set for Atlantean waters.
I give a little salute as the mechanical door on the edge of the harbor grinds open, to reveal the gigantic kraken still flailing around in the distance. I grimace, holding on tight to the edges of the board as it shutters, then sputters to a start. We slide across the water out of the rig, turning towards the north before casually gliding off. While it isn’t exactly fast, we do end up accelerating a bit as we move. A minute or two later, New Houston is slowly disappearing behind us.
“How far do we need to go to get access to the global network, anyways?” I tap my fingers on the side of the board, nervously keeping watch for any Anti-thesis pursuers.
Not that far, to be fair. While your augments are atrocious examples of humanity’s corporate greed, they do have a decent connection range.
“Fair enough.” I sigh, looking up at the dull starless night sky. “At least I have something useful.”
Don’t sell yourself short, honey. You are actually quite a bit more skilled in combat than many samurai who are initialized.
“Maybe… It feels shallow though,” I whisper, running my hand through the rushing water beneath me.
You’d be surprised, I think. Your family is definitely an outlier.
I scoff and shake my head, closing my eyes as I feel the wind move through my hair. That was probably an understatement, considering everything. Actually, it makes me wonder how many families have two samurai in them, I can’t imagine it’s very common. Well, blood families, I guess found families would be pretty typical among the Vanguard.
Maybe I can find one too.
I hate to interrupt your rest like this honey, but I’m picking up a faint distress signal a few klicks away.
“Should we-” I blink my eyes open, processing the information. “What even is a klick, anyways? I hear it used all the time but…”
A kilometer, it’s a military term.
I tilt my head, then ask, “Then why not just say kilometer?”
Easier to say and understand once you know the distance.
“Despite what it may seem, that’s one of the things grandfather didn’t insist I learn.” I roll my eyes, then peer out at the horizon. “Anyways, should we go check it out?”
I would recommend it, if just to get your hand on the radio equipment. If we can jack into it, we could perhaps get a message to the Family.
I nod, tapping the harpoon against the top of the board. “We can check it out, see if they’re hurt or something.”
Understood, modifying our course.
With a sudden jerk, we start heading farther west then we were originally intending, and it doesn’t take long for the culprit to come into sight. I squint, pointing my weapon out towards the anomaly. “What even… is that?”
It seems to be a submarine of some sort.
In the distance, a gigantic metal blob, kinda shaped like a weirdly compressed egg slowly crawls in the exact same direction we are moving. As we get a bit closer, I can’t help but notice an obtuse entrance hatch on the side. Over the next few seconds, I prepare myself as the board roams closer and closer, then crouch down a bit in preparation.
Leaving the duffel on the board, I take a breath, then leap, barely managing to make the jump while landing on my not shattered leg. I grunt as I twist the door’s latch open, pulling it upwards before dropping down onto more solid ground.
The first sight of the egg’s airlock is a roughly welded steel interior, which does not reassure me that this thing is well built. The hatch behind me clicks shut, and the familiar hiss of pressurization starts. A few moments later, the entrance to the interior of the vehicle clicks open to reveal a short hallway with two different doors beckoning to me. A major problem becomes clear once I am inside, however.
I flip a switch on the side of the harpoon, and almost immediately a heat haze spreads out around the weapon’s tip. “Nyvi… that’s really bad right?”
Most likely.
Slightly moving vines sprout out from beneath the door on the stern side of the vessel, making it abundantly clear what is on the other side. I clench the weapon in my hand, a couple scenarios running through my head.
I should probably warn you, this is most likely a hive, and I’m detecting the biological agent of a model four. It seems to be contained for now, but if you decide to take care of it, there will be fierce resistance. I recommend you get the submarine’s helmsman to navigate it to a spot where we can get a more experienced-
I shake my head, then sniffle. “No, Nyvi, I should do it myself. There’s the risk of the survivors on board agitating the hive enough that it strands them here.”
Just… Please be careful with your leg. If it gets damaged again, the brace will likely cease functioning.
“Noted.” I stab the harpoon into the vine wall, finding that to my pleasant surprise, it moves through the steel like it isn’t even there. Dragging the harpoon along to create a rough circle, it slices through the metal like butter, and finally the metal disk I cut out falls down to reveal what is inside. I blink, then clench my teeth as I leap to the side to dodge a few barbed tentacles that pierces the air where I had just been standing.
Not wasting the opportunity, I dash forward, stabbing my harpoon forwards into a stocky quadruped, its body a mix of bark and tangled vines. It immediately catches aflame as it crumples, and I pull back the harpoon just in time to slash the crude glowing metal blade hanging from its tip through another vine flying towards me from across the room. I duck through the hole, only to find a room absolutely covered in Antithesis pods circling around a central stem, aliens quietly growing within each one.
The most pressing issues aren’t those though- It’s the three aliens just like the one I turned into a burning mess, each within a separate corner of the room, and two small monkey like Models with six arms which are seemingly extremely agitated at my presence. Fours and tens, if I had to guess.
A wave of tentacles shootout at me, but another sidestep plus a quick parry on one neutralizes that barrage. I take large steps as I stride forward towards my first opponent, ducking to dodge another stab. I leap forward twice, managing to reach the first four. I raise the harpoon for a downward slash, only to have to reel back, foregoing the blow to avoid a swing of its arm. I grin at my fortunate read, quickly slashing the monster in half, before vaulting over its body to sprint at the next target.
Unfortunately, the monsters don’t stay still, both the fours and one of the tens immediately rushing at me. I take just a moment to calculate, then decide to take a chance. I wait for their strikes, which turn out to be six of the barbed vines going towards my chest and four small blades for my legs. Thankfully though, they’re disjointed, so I am able to use an upwards strike with my reach advantage to cut the ten in half, as well as cut through the vines. Unfortunately, I hadn’t accounted for the second ten, which had flanked around to behind me.
Two blades slash into my good leg from behind, and though the pain is slightly dulled from the drugs in my system, I still gasp in anguish as I crumple to the ground. As the edges of my vision slowly begin to be dyed crimson, I move the harpoon to my left hand as I reach behind me with my right to grab the second ten, then use all my strength to chuck it at the central spire of the Hive. It rams into it with a sickening crack, denting both the stem and the Ten’s chest.
The muscles in my legs don’t seem to be working right, so despite my best efforts I am unable to stand up again. While I know she’s trying to speak to me, I find myself unable to parse Nyvi’s words past the anxiety in her tone. I heave a breath, then push myself in a roll to avoid three more barbs.
“N-Nyvi,” I manage to wheeze out as I shift my head to avoid another strike, “Something ranged please.”
Right on cue, a chunky metal cuff appears on my right wrist, a single large spherical gem producing a dull white glow. Using the harpoon to quickly reposition myself out of danger again, I raise my arm only to blink in surprise as a beam of incredibly bright rainbow light shoots out, slamming right into one of the model fours. I bite my lip at the gigantic aura it leaves behind in my eyes, but I can’t deny the result, a huge smoldering hole having been burned straight through my enemy.
Seeing its range advantage is lost, the final foe takes its chance and runs at me. I raise my arm, only to find that to my horror no laser shoot outs, so I quickly improvise. Clenching my teeth, I raise the harpoon up into the air, then throw it straight at the rushing model four. It easily pierces through its center of mass, slowing the plant just enough so that when it slides towards me, it only barely bumps into my legs.
I reach over to grab my harpoon, and as I take hold of it, the cuff on my arm clicks against my skin. I raise it towards the brain of the Hive with my eyes closed, and after a brief hiss, open them to reveal the stem is truly severed, and the hive and pods around me start quivering for some reason. Nyvi says something again, but I simply can’t seem to understand what.
As I sit there on the ground, my entire body throbbing and my brain ringing, I begin to systematically burn holes through every pod around me, just to be safe. The laser seems to be only available for use a fraction of a moment every four seconds, which is probably unideal, though it did save my life, so it gets a pass.
About halfway through the pod culling, I start getting very light headed, and when I look down at my leg I feel my consciousness waver for a moment at the sight. The wound is worse than I thought, there are two major cuts, one on my ankle and the other on my calf, both deep enough to see the fragments of my shattered bones through the flowing crimson.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“N-Nyvi,” I gasp, swallowing some stomach acid as I look away from the oozing wounds. “Healing please.”
A injector pops into existence beside me, larger than the others I used with a thick blue substance within its vial. Doing my best to take deep breaths, I take it and stab it onto my leg, gasping in discomfort as the blue substance splits up through my body. Half of it oozes out through my skin, covering the wound entirely, while half enters my veins as it moves through my body. The pain numbs completely, thankfully heavily reducing the throbbing I had been experiencing. I resume my xeno-pod massacre, taking a few extra seconds between shots to try and calm myself a bit. Unfortunately, I only manage to do so after I take the final shot.
Well, you’re done with that, are you perhaps able to hear me now?
I give a shaky nod, letting myself fall onto my back, trying my best to ignore the antithesis goop mixed with my own blood covering everything around me.
For what it’s worth, I think that might have gone as well as it could have. The injured leg is a problem though, your muscles are completely ruined. There was a Hemo-Restore mixed into the nanite gel, so you shouldn’t bleed out thankfully.
Unsure of myself, I close my eyes for a few moments. When I open them, I grit my teeth, then use my harpoon to stand as I hobble towards the normal door I had sort of ignored earlier, shakily opening the latch before moving through it.
I’d highly recommend you don’t move, to be honest.
I shake my head, my breath heaving as I stumble into the hallway. Using the wall as leverage, I slide over to the other entryway, trying not to cry. Reaching over, I try to wrench it open, only to find that it doesn’t budge. I grind my teeth, then slam my fist into the metal a few times. “Open up! It’s safe!”
A shuffling occurs from behind the door before a camera pops down out of the ceiling. Murmured voices I can’t understand begin to discuss something for what feels like an eternity before a speaker crackles to life. The voice that comes out is deep, the rough undertones of a smoker within it.
[“Sorry kid, I get you’re a samurai, but this shelter is joint property of Montero-Wisteria Labs and the Central Reef administration.”] The man pauses for a second. [“I see that you are hurt, but we can’t risk letting you in.”]
I freeze, taking a few moments to process what he just said. “Montero… Wisteria? I didn’t know that moth- I-I mean, that woman and my father had a joint research company.”
According to the records I have access to, they shouldn’t. Be careful, honey.
Obviously taken aback, the man starts coughing through the mic before muttering, [“Your… father? Oh, oh no. Please come in, I didn’t recognize you in that outfit, young master.”]
I flinch at the use of ‘young master’, then I watch in vexation as the door clunks open, a verifiably huge man stepping out to loom over me. He is probably a foot taller than me, his biceps bigger than my head. What the hell were they feeding this guy? Pure steroids?
“I’m not sure we’ve met,” the man says, offering me a hand, “But I’m the head guard of the lab facilities from the twelfth floor, Horace Freezeman.”
I hesitantly shake his hand, then slowly follow as he leads me into the main body of the submarine. Around five doors line the hallway, and he leads me to the one furthest in. Opening with a clunk, what I assume has to be the command center of the craft is revealed. The entire thing is filled with rather ancient computers attended to by a bunch of people in lab coats. Noticing a rather fancy looking leather chair, I immediately move to flop down into it, take a moment to collect myself, then look up to see that everyone in the room has gathered in full military attention before me, Horace and a man in a rather fancy suit at the very front.
I pause just for a second, then take a deep breath, summoning my best impression of my Grandfather as I point the harpoon at the figure beside the guard captain. “Your name?”
Completely stiff, the man stutters out, “J-Jeremiah Greenwood, Head Scientist, Sir!”
I nod while grimacing internally, then with my best facade of authority, command: “Okay, one of you two, give me a briefing on the situation.”
Horace clicks his foot on the ground, then salutes as he loudly states, “Sir! The ‘Davy Jones’ project has gone completely out of hand! We evacuated early with the administration as planned, but an out of control fire in the labs caused the twelfth floor to be entirely destroyed!”
Oh, that’s not good.
Doing my best to not make a face at the knowledge that a lot of people probably died because of that, I tap the harpoon against my hand as I ask, “And how exactly did it get out of hand?”
Jeremiah is the one to answer this time, rapidly explaining: “The modified Model-Sevens were released into the water supply as intended, but we failed to account for the speed at which they could replicate.”
Oh honey, that's…
Biting down on my tongue hard, I take a deep breath. Scowling, I slam the bottom of the harpoon into the floor then screech, “You fools! How could you let such an important project fail like this?! You even grew a hive in the rear of this vessel! What if you were hurt?!”
Everyone else in the room freezes, and Horace’s hand begins to slowly roam to the holster on his hip. I immediately raise my hand, pointing my bracelet at the giant guard. What did I say? I don’t see how my words would have-
Oh, right. Human capital. I fucking hate corporate culture.
“Don’t do it.” I declare, tapping my weapon against the cuff. “This will go off before you even get it out of the holster. Go into more detail on this project.”
For a tense few seconds, nothing happens. The scientists nervously shift in place, many of them showing signs of panic. Jeremiah, who is as tense as the rest of them, suddenly relaxes as he sighs. He sticks his hand into his pocket, then turns to the people behind him, chuckling before morosely saying:
“Sorry everyone, it was good working with you.”
What does that even-
A loud click comes from the head scientist, and everything goes to hell.
Every single person in the room besides me collapses to the ground, my heart stopping for a moment at the sight of the sudden pile of corpses in front of me. All of the computers in the room flash red for a moment right before every single light in the room turns off. I start to stand to figure out what the fuck just happened, only for a sudden lurch accompanied by a weightless feeling knocks me on my ass.
“Nyvi,” I groan as I try to push myself up to no avail, “What’s going on?”
The submarine is descending rapidly. We don’t have much time, there is no way you will be able to manage to get to the exit before it is at lethal pressure levels outside. You need to choose something that will let you survive the failure of this vessel. Here’s what you have to work with.
Points Update!
Starting Total: 40 Points
Targets Eliminated!
4x: Model 4
Reward: 60 points
2x: Model 10
Reward: 2 points
Small Hive destroyed!
Reward: 500 points, 1 token
Total Points Awarded: 562 points, 1 token
New Purchases!
1x: Class-I Hemorestore
Cost: 5 Points
1x: PLCP Cuff MK-1
Cost: 50 points
1x: Class-I Multi-purpose Gel Brace
Cost: 10 points
Total Cost of Items: 65 Points
Final Total: 537 points, 1 token
I pale, anxiously falling back to look at the steel ceiling as I frantically ask, “W-what are my options, exactly?”
You have enough points to have some options. I’d typically recommend a decent EVA suit, since it would provide a multitude of bonuses as well as armor, but it might be impossible to get into with the state of your legs. Thankfully, there are a lot of other methods that we could use. The most important question right now is, do you want something specialized for subaquatic operations, or something more generally useful otherwise?
I bite my lip, considering the dilemma a bit before I murmur, “Let’s do subaquatic, I can get more general stuff later.”
Do you have any qualms about messing with your body?
I groan, taking a deep breath as Grandfather’s body runs through my mind. “No cybernetic augmentations please, I’ve seen what obsessing over that can do to people.”
What about biological modification? Changing your body to fit what you need?
I gingerly place my hand on my chest, taking in the little butterfly in my heart. “M-maybe? What would that entail?”
There are many options at our current budget, including but not limited to bionic implants, symbiotic entities that bond to you at the cellular level, injections to modify your body chemistry, drugs that can enable you to ignore pressure changes…
As Nyvi goes on and on with my options, I frown, then interrupt her. “Is there nothing that can change me… almost entirely? Everything you’re listing seems either temporary or small.”
At this price range for that scale. you have exactly one option. It’s actually from one of the other catalogs containing technology from the Axonfin, the extraterrestrial species whose technology catalog you already purchased, but I didn’t mention it because… the method is highly risky, so it isn’t allowed to be recommended unless it is the only option available to suit a request. It would cost 100 points for the catalog, but the item itself would cost three times that much, while also using the token you just obtained from clearing that nest.
“That’s… strange.” I mutter, tapping my fingers against my chest. “E-Explain it to me?”
The purchase is a set of microscopic biological nanites that, after psychically connecting with your brain, forcibly takes control of all the biological material and energy it can access before mutating your body to suit you and the environment you are in. They’re incredibly volatile in the changes they can make, since they affect all species differently; if used irresponsibly, they can irreparably damage your genetic code. In addition, neither of us would have any control over what the nanites do nor be able to stop it. As no human has taken the risk to use them yet, the scale of the changes it can make are unknown.
“W-What the hell?” I chuckle unassuredly, discomfort churning in my stomach. “W-Why would you ever use that?”
Let me put it into perspective for you, honey. The race that originated the concept, the Axonfin, is a species that originates upon a planet covered nearly ninety-nine percent by ocean. They were one of the few lifeforms on the planet who adapted to both the world above and below, but were only able to exist in the warmer parts of the planet as a result. When population density became a real issue, they worked for a century to create a solution, eventually ending up with this version of the Bionites. Specialized for them, it allowed them to go through and colonize the entirety of their world, free from the restraints of their biology.
If the story ended there, it’d be less tragic. You see, the story of Vanguards doomed to an inevitable death to environmental circumstances with few points to try and survive, like you are now, is one as old as time. It’s incredibly rare that a Vanguard in that situation ends up purchasing the bionites, but when they do, it has always resulted in one of two different outcomes- Either the Vanguard thrives magnificently with the changes, or succumbs to the effects that the Bionites inflicts upon them, falling into the depths of history. This is why the Bionites are so cheap, yet also cost a token to buy.
Moving my hand, I cover my eyes as I find myself seriously considering something so… ludicrous. All it’d take is me getting one of the other things she listed to be fine, but my dumb brain refuses to consider anything else. Who knows what the hell it could do to me, the potential for a dangerous outcome is definitely there. What if I lost the ability to breathe, to think rationally?
Wait but-
“N-Nyvi, what did you mean by it mutating to suit me?” I run my tongue over my teeth, trying to comprehend what that means. “D-Does that mean I do have a say in it?”
Technically no. To put it plainly, that function’s a fragment of the creators of the bionites, as the Axonfin are a race able to tap into their latent psionic power. They utilized this in the bionites, allowing them to control the changes themselves through the connection. Unfortunately, humans are not that lucky, so the bionites would instead sift through the user’s subconscious to decide on some changes to make, good or bad.
“S-so what, I’d go deaf, again? B-Be able to see faces? N-Not stutter anymore?” I chuckle, finding a small grin coming onto my face as I continue. “S-Stop being seen as a-”
My smile disappears and I freeze, my heart doing about three flips as I process the words I was about to say. A weight falls off my shoulder, only to be replaced by a small anvil falling where it had just been sitting. Undeniably shellshocked, I can’t help but murmur:
“Stop being seen as a boy…”
Ah, I was wondering when you’d realize that. Please don’t-
I interrupt my AI, declaring, “Nyvi, I want the bionites.”
Haa… Let me finish, honey. Please don’t let the potential chance of not being a boy anymore be why you buy this item. You can buy a guaranteed and frankly far, far less dangerous method of transitioning for just a few thousand points, which is not much at all in the grand scheme of things.
I bite my lip, then gasp as the submarine shudders a bit before it tilts, sending me sliding across the ground into a corpse. I then pathetically flail until I manage to get into a less morbid position.
We really don’t have much time, honey. That’s a really bad sign, I think we might have caught the attention of a larger Antithesis. Should I make a few ideal suggestions for the situation?
I grit my teeth, then gather all of the resolve I can muster. I stick my hand out, forcing a smile on my face. “I think it’s worth it. Nyvi, please.”
In order to make this purchase I need you to repeat this statement: I understand the risks, and wish to purchase the EA-Bionite Suite V-Beta for three hundred points and my token.
I clear my throat then loudly declare:
“I understand the risks, and wish to purchase the EA-Bionite Suite V-Beta for three hundred points and my token.”
Catalog Unlocked!
Class-I Axonfin Ecological Technology
Price: 100 Points
New Purchase!
1x EA-Bionite Suite V-Beta
Price: 300 Points, 1 Token
Remaining Total: 137 points
As the submarine around me begins to creak, the handle of the weighty purchase drops into my hand, a rather large cylinder with an ominous spike on the end. I mull over it for a moment, running my hand over its rather shiny bluish gray metal cover, the chill of which makes my fingers tingle. I take a deep breath, only for a disturbing crack to echo from around me.
Stab yourself in the chest, RIGHT NOW!
Not bothering to argue, I ram the spike right in the middle of my breast, beside where my heart would be. A huge spike of pure pain pierces into my brain, and I scream as everything seemingly warps around me. With a resounding impact, the submarine slams into the ocean floor, causing two different things to happen. First, something behind me explodes, then the metal shell of the vessel cracks away to reveal a wall of water rushing towards me like a runaway train.
That’s the last thing I see, however, before my world changes entirely.