The incursion was stopped for the most part but not entirely. The guys from Gryffon Security informed me this morning that they were pulling out of the city today. I just got out of an hour-long meeting with the heads of the local PMCs, including General Wilkenson, Sam Cross who was now nominally in charge of the Kittens, the commander of Gryffon company, and of course, Ms. Baker. It was weird to see how subdued the woman had become after River Heights had been overrun by the Antithesis.

The only other big difference was the way everyone kept sneaking glances at me. None of them seemed terribly intent on getting too near me and I was rather curious what the deal was. I finally caught the eye of Commander Fischer of Gryffon company and he just straight up asked me about what everyone else seemed to have been tiptoeing around. “Son, you look a little green. You sure you should be here? You didn’t catch something from one of those damn plant bastards didja’?”

With it finally on the table, I was able to ease all of their worries a bit. “No, it’s nothing like that. I just got a new catalog with some new plant things in it. The green color *I lifted my hand up to look at it* is caused by some type of protector microorganism in my skin.”

For the next ten minutes, I had to fend off offers to take skin samples and such. I did end up selling a vial of the Pollenary Pacifier to Commander Fischer. I was a little startled to see him jump up from his seat and rush to make a call to some corporate type. I was way more surprised to see the number of zeros in the amount being offered for this one tube!

He explained for a couple of minutes about the importance of a biological deterrent that could be bred and grown and why that was the reason for the offered amount. General Wilkenson looked jealous of the guy and his ability to throw that much money out for something he obviously would have loved to have. Inyris warned me that Gardener technology was famously hard to cultivate but said that with enough tenacity that humanity might eventually be able to do it. I of course passed this information along and Commander Fischer was practically drooling.

For the largest portion of the meeting, the formerly arrogant and overbearing woman barely said anything, only interrupting to ask when the reclamation efforts would be turned towards River Heights. I was sure that only a week ago she would have been demanding that every effort be made to make the reclamation of the rich neighborhood everyone’s first priority.

I wondered what had happened to change her demeanor so much and asked the only one I trusted to be discreet about it after we left the meeting. “Inyris, can you find any relevant data about Ms. Baker over the past few days? She seems rather different than she was before.”

Inyris, being the ever-efficient AI, had an answer for me by the time I finished my question. “I would surmise that the cause of the changes in personality you are seeing in Ms. Baker are due to shock. Some of the River Heights residents postponed and delayed their departure against all warnings. All of said residents are now deceased. One of the households that was delaying departure in hopes of forcing more defenses to be diverted back to River Heights was that of her younger brother.”

I wasn’t sure what to do. I felt the desire to try comforting her but I didn’t want to intrude on her private life. I also wasn’t sure if she was close to her brother or not and in the end, I decided to just leave it alone. There were too many unknowns when dealing with people. I liked plants so much better. Even the Antithesis were easier to understand than people were.

I hitched a ride on one of the police vans that had until a day ago still had some kind of equipment that Stray Cat had left in them. I needed to get to the front lines and shore them up a bit better. Some of my plants had been destroyed the other day and I needed to fix those spots.

Things were going to get even tougher now. I found out in the meeting that the underwater specialist had left a couple of days ago without telling anybody but the Gryffon Company guys and they didn’t bother to tell anybody else. It seems that underwater specialized Samurai are in rather great demand and he left after making sure that the big hive in the lake was totally gone and that no other hives could settle back into that spot.

At least he did that much before he left but that still leaves the smaller newer hives that keep being rooted out as our problem. Also, the Antithesis seem to be coming in from outside the city at several spots too. This is getting to be a huge hassle.

I hoped for a moment that the news that some of the tunnels that Cat had cleared out were in use again was just a rumor. My musings were cut short when the van I was in pulled to a stop. The woman up front, a tall, broad-shouldered, brunette with a sizable midsection and thighs, yelled into the back. “Eh, farmer boy! We’re here. Shake a leg. It looks like there’s incoming and they want you to help hold the wave.”

I sighed and reached for the handle of the sliding side door. After getting out, it didn’t take long for me to be spotted and a short, freckle-faced, red-headed girl in a helmet with cat ears came over in a hurry. “Sprout sir, We’ve got a lot of the damn bugs coming this way.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“It looks like this wave is a probe from one of the bigger outside hives. What drones we’ve been able to keep in the air have been tracking this bunch since they entered the city. Just a few minutes ago, they diverted down Abbey Rd and are therefore going to coming right to us in the next couple minutes.”

My anxiety was spiking a bit having this cute girl so close to me and then there was the way she looked at me like I was some kind of miracle or something. My nerves were getting raw and I could tell I was going to need a Stablemax before much longer but I tried to focus on what had to be done for now. “What’s the composition of the group? Any idea?”

She winced before frowning in concentration and seemed to hesitate before slowly turning and answering a bit shyly. Almost as though she was afraid that saying whatever news she had would make me turn around and leave them to their fate. “At least one model six has been confirmed, possibly two. Also, more than a hundred model threes and fives. I’m also worried that the bugs may use those big worms to push through the wall.”

I could feel it, the nausea, my breath shallowing and getting faster, and my hands starting to shake. It was coming and before I lost control to a really bad anxiety attack, I acted. “In-Inyris, I n-need my…”

I didn’t even have to finish the sentence and a small foil pouch of translucent yellowish liquid materialized in front of my hand. I grabbed it and tore the top of the pouch open, transforming it into a shot-sized cup. Before the startled girl in front of me could ask any questions that would make the situation worse, I downed the liquid and held up a finger to forestall the questions that I knew were coming.

My concentration went fully to the remains of the packaging that I held up before me. The foiled, plastic-like package had a red oval on one side and when you took the dose, it made contact with the torn-off end of the oval. After a moment, the oval began to turn green, starting from where the liquid touched it. Once the entire oval had turned green, I could tell that the Stablemax had done its job and I could think clearly again.

I turned to the woman in a somewhat cat-themed jumpsuit and could tell that her entire attention was focused on the packaging in my hand. “Sorry about that. I had to take my meds before I lost it there. So, model threes, fives, and at least one six. Got it. Anything else?”

She looked reluctant to look away from the package. “I think that’s it. What is that, anyway?”

I looked at her with a calm confidence that I knew was chemically induced and smiled. “I have anxiety really bad and have to have something fairly strong to counter it. I wish I had the confidence to just walk right into danger like Johnny and Manic. I guess it’s fine as long as I manage to overcome the problem in the end. Saving people is all that really matters.”

The girl had a strange look on her face that I couldn’t really place. Suddenly, she turned a bright smile at me and my heart started to hammer in spite of the medication. “Honestly, I think the fact that you have such a hard time but you protect people anyway is really cool. I think that makes you a lot braver than other people if you ask me.”

She startled me and made my heart start really hammering in my chest a moment later when she reached up and grabbed my hand holding the remains of the foil container in both of hers. She stepped a bit closer and I was suddenly acutely aware of the muted curves of her uniform and the subtle musk of her body. Even though she looked like she hadn’t had a shower in the last few days and her hair curly red was drooping with the accumulated oils and grime of the environs, she still had an alluring aroma about her that was making me feel like I needed something stronger that the Stablemax Ultra I had just downed.

There was a crackle over the comms channel and blessedly relief from the situation came in the form of an older chiding female voice with a southern drawl. “Winnie, Stop pesterin’ our Samurai and bring ‘im over to the wall. *At the words over the channel, the girl, Winnie apparently, dropped her hands behind her back and looked bashful* Sorry if she’s a bit forward sir, she’s a good girl but a bit of an airhead at times like this.”

As we walked to the wall, Winnie was silent but would steal furtive glances my way every now and again. I wasn’t sure what to think of it at first. I had heard that some people had a thing for Samurai and would go to great lengths to insinuate themselves with one but that wasn’t the kind of thing that could happen to me. I’m not the kind of person that could ever have women throwing themselves at me. Right?

Once we reached the wall, I found the rickety ladder, probably procured from the fire escape of a building, which led to the platform at the top. I got up to the top and began scanning the distance of the street but there weren’t any Antithesis to be seen yet. Suddenly someone was beside me on both sides.

On one side I recognized the short cat-eared form of Winnie but on the other side was another woman I didn’t know. This one also wore the cat-eared helmet and jumpsuit of the Kittens. When I looked to the side, I could tell that this woman was a little older or at least more mature that the other. She was also very well endowed and had long black hair cascading down her back in a braid that rested between her shoulder blades and looked like it might go all the way down to her hips.

When she looked up at me, I got a glimpse of a long face set with long lashes over blue eyes, a long thin nose, and full lips with a mole on her right cheek completing the look. She seemed to be studying me as much as I was her in that brief glance. “Name’s Yvonne. Ya’ think we’ll be able to hold them critters off?”

I nodded with more confidence than I really felt and began to consider my options. I had a whole new catalog to peruse and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it out! I certainly wasn’t thinking about trying to impress the two women pressed to either side of me. Oh god, am I ever going to need my medication now!