Freya
After we finished eating, Mia said “I have to check on a few things around the city. It should only take about two hours. Do you think you will be ok if I leave for that long?”
For some reason I didn’t really want to be alone but said
“That should be fine”
Mia promised to be as quick as they could then left a few seconds after she left I got up and looked around and just like before on the medical floor Antithesis lurked all around so in an instant I drew my swords and sliced at the one that looked like it was getting ready to pounce on me, but to my surprise, my sword went right through it so I immediately jumped away and was about to fire a feather at it when suddenly Titania spoke up.
Freya! Wait what are you fighting?
I paused for a moment, because Titania sounded very serious and additionally she had never called me Just Freya and Titania always insisted on calling me Miss Freya. So I pointed one of my swords at some of the Antithesis around me while keeping the other in a defensive position in case one of the Antithesis used this moment to attack and said “All these Antithesis they are everywhere!”
Freya there are no Antithesis
“What do you mean they are right there” I said once again pointing
Freya there is nothing there you are alone in the tower, you are hallucinating, it would seem out when you are out of combat you may be prone to hallucinate
I picked up a piece of fake fruit, that was a part of a display that I had landed near when I jumped back after my first attack was ineffective, and tossed it at one of the Antithesis just to watch as it sailed right through the damn thing.
“They aren’t real”
That is right they aren’t real
“They were on the medical floor before but they disappeared when Mia got there”
It is likely that her presence is good at calming you as you view her a comforting presence. Also you weren’t hallucinating when fighting against the Antithesis in the tunnels so it is likely that when fighting you won’t have to worry about what is real and what is not. Also if you are ever questioning if something is real you can always ask me, in addition if you wish I can also lightly highlight all real beings you look at.
“That is good at least and please do that, thanks Titania”
Of course, Miss Freya
As I finally sheathed my swords and sat down on a couch I drew my legs to my chest and held them with my arms, and watched the Antithesis move around me. I noted that it was not fear that made me react this way, in fact I don’t think I am capable of being afraid. So why was I reacting like this? I told Titania of my observation and asked if she knew the reason.
After the modifications you are suited to respond to almost any combat threat you may encounter especially so in regards to the Antithesis. Now you have been placed in a situation that you view as a threat but are unable to respond to in any way, this makes you want to close yourself off in response as this situation goes against everything your instincts are telling you is possible. Perhaps it would be beneficial if you were to call Miss Helena now, so that you might have something else to occupy your mind.
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, and thanks again you are the best Titania.”
Happy to be of service, I will call her for you now.
A moment later I was looking at Helena, she was wearing a shirt this time boooooo!!!! Then Helena spoke up and in her smooth sultry voice said
“Hello there, how are you doing?”
I managed to respond without a pause to gather myself and without stuttering purely due to the fact that I could think several times faster. Because even though I may be thoroughly insane, one glance at Helena and I still found herself forgetting how to form sentences.
“Hey, better now.”
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Helena laughed, which shot tingling down my spine and after realizing how true that actually was in the room around me it seemed that the Antithesis were keeping a bit more distance and I un-balled on the couch. Helena replied
“I like the new look.”
Helena not bothering to hide the fact that she was looking at the place were my leotard left my waist bare, I happily replied
“Thanks, I heard that you were the one to grab me. Thank you for keeping me alive, though not quite how I wanted your first impression of me in person to go.”
Helena eyes bright with mischief responded
“Well I couldn’t let you miss our dinner”
This caught my attention as earlier when Mia had said that Helena had mentioned the reward before that the offer still stood but hearing that made me very happy, but to confirm I asked
“So the offer still stands?”
Helena respond “yes” and then in more teasing tone continued “I mean assuming you still want to”
I responded almost before Helena had finished talking “Yes! I mean I still definitely want to.”
Helena chuckled then asked
“In that case, are you free tomorrow night?”
To which frey emphatically replied
“yes”
Helena smiled and said “you are staying with Stitch right?”
It always felt odd hearing people call mia by her samurai name, but I responded
“Yep we thought it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for me to stay at my apartment.”
Helena made a slight face and asked
“Has there anything going on between you two ever or…”
I interrupted her saying
“Nope never and even if she did not struggle with the truly horrible thing known as being straight, she is in no way my type so I have never been attracted to her at all so you don’t need to worry about anything there. I love her as a best friend but that is all there is and will ever be.”
Helena laughed in response and said
“Well you probably have been asked that a few to many times.”
To which I nodded enthusiastically in response, then Helena said
“Then how about I come by and pick you up at six tomorrow”
To which I happily replied
“That sounds great.”
They continued to talk for another half hour before finally telling each other goodbye.
While I waited for Mia to come back I looked into what kind of learning architectures learning architectures. I spent 80,000 to bring all 40 of my current learning architectures from advanced to expert because if I am already crazy I might as well get what I can out of it. I also, for 14,100 bought a catalog called High Performance Hoverbikes which I made class three and an expert learning architecture called High Performance Hover Bike Piloting which left me at 1,907,649 points. But I didn’t buy a bike as I would wait till I needed one.
After I was done I talked with Titania to keep my mind off the Antithesis lurking all around me all the while wishing I could be fighting something, killing something. I had a thought random thought, I had spent a lot of points making myself better but what about Titania?
“Hey Titania, is there anything I could buy that could help you?”
While there is nothing you could buy to improve me, my sincerest apologies if this comes across as arrogant but I have several times more computing power than your entire world, enough to seize control of nearly every electronic device on this planet. However I am limited in the ways I can interact with the world around me, so it is possible with a catalog such as the cyber warfare catalog I may be able to assist you to a much greater degree especially in terms of information gathering. Another route if you would like more direct control could be the computer engineering catalog would allow me to give you the tools to do much of the same things yourself. Either would be very valuable in your dealings with humans. I assure you I would take no offense in either case it is simply a matter of your preference Miss Freya.
I didn’t want to have to focus on anything more especially if I needed to access some system while fighting. Also, despite not knowing her for long I instinctively trusted Titania which made her one of only two beings that I actually trusted, the other being Mia. So it was a pretty easy choice
“In that case let’s go with the cyber warfare class and upgrade it to class four.”
Very well Miss Freya
Cyber Warfare catalog class 1 through 4 unlocked
Cost… 111,100 points
Points remaining… 1,796,549 points
“Ok what goodies do you think we should get?”
My recommendation would be a improved aug, as not only do you have access to a far greater point pool even if you spent the same amount of points as you did on last one just that this one is coming from a catalog that specializes in the relevant technology and a class four catalog at that the new one would be vastly superior. The reason I recommend the aug is that your aug serves as the platform I interact with the outside world from>
“Ok in that case do you think that 300,000 points would be enough? If not I am absolutely fine with spending a million on it because we spent a million on my body so it is only fair.”
300,000 thousand is more than enough at that price point only other vanguard’s equipment would prove to be beyond my ability to infiltrate and of vanguard equipment it would still take equipment of at least class four or a device from a lower class vanguard that specializes in technology. However that is irrelevant as I would strongly prefer we not disrupt another vanguard’s equipment without their permission.
“Ok in that case let's get one for 300,000.”
Very well Miss Freya
Purchased- Bio-nanite Augmented Reality Kit (B.A.R.K.)
Cost… 300,000
Remaining points… 1,496,549
This made me remember the new name my swords had gotten but as I went to ask Titania about the names Titania spoke up.
This aug has same properties as you body and is made of the same nanites so it can be repaired in the same way too so you will not have to worry about replacing it should it sustain damage
Finally Mia walked back in, now with a slight red highlight, but that was hardly necessary, because she already seemed to have a soft warm glow to her that made me feel safe and comfy like I was wrapped in a blanket sitting next to a fire on a cozy afternoon. As she plopped next to me on the coach that glow seemed to wash away the Antithesis causing them to fade away, leaving us alone in the room.
I chimed up and said
“So guess who has got a date tomorrow.”
To which mia said in a flat tone
“I wonder if by any chance it was the same person singing about it earlier.”
To which I nodded enthusiastically Mia sighed at me then said
“I have never really had much of a conversation with Kitsune before. All I know is that she is class five and uses illusions, traps, and poison. Also, I know that she has got a bit of a reputation as a businesswoman, and a lot of big corpos are terrified of her. She also has a giant information network. Beyond that, I don't really know anything about her. By the way, what class are you?”
I responded
“I got one catalog to class 5 and could get a second to class five but Titania told me that might not be a good idea as there is probably a lot of stuff I am going to find myself needing, so I am saving points for that stuff.”
Mia stared open-mouthed at me not even trying to hide her shock at my amazingness.