Undercity, in theory, was not that bad of an idea: a place underneath the city where all the city production needs could occur, out of sight, out of mind and all that. Sadly, with the increased capitalistic values and wealth gap, the poorest part of the population would soon make their home between the different factories.

The general pollution and living quality in this area were so bad that people here did not tend to live for long, and with the increasing insistence of the rich complaining about security risks getting in and out of the undercity, it only became more challenging to separate the two groups of the population even further.

-- A student on the different parts of a city and their workings provided by the purple truth.

I am roughly awakened and dragged out of bed in my bleary state. I try to fight off my attackers, but it is no use. They are so much bigger than me. Suddenly the lights turn on, and I find myself in the living room, my dad talking to a man in a well-dressed suit.

“Daddy, what is going on?” I ask in confusion.

“Oh, your dad is in a lot of debt, so he is giving you away to us to pay it off.” the man in the suit next to my dad says.

I look at him in surprise, then back at my dad. “Daddy, is this true?”

Dad does not answer me, does not even look at me for that matter. “Daddy, answer me. What is going on? Daddy?”

“Take her away.” the man in the suit says. “She is making too much noise.”

I feel someone pick me up and drag me out of the room. I try to break free, kick, scream, and punch, but whatever I do, it is futile.

I wake up sweating and panting. I fucking hate that dream, and if I ever find that man that dared to call himself my dad, I'll make sure he dies painfully. I quickly get out of bed, still in a foul mood, and put on some of my daily wear. Luckily, today is my day off, so I can relax at least a bit.

Good morning, Katelyn. Did you sleep well?

“What do you think, Freayer?” I bite out at my AI. trying my best to calm down my breathing.

Same nightmare?

I scowl. “Yeah, I wish I would be over it by now,” I say, still feeling the rage bubble up inside me.

Trauma takes a while to heal. Both the twins and I will support you in the healing process.

“Thank you, you’re a good friend,” I say, with a smile, pushing down the residual rage.

I strive to do my utmost. So, what are you going to do today?

“Not sure yet. Explore the town, probably find a nice bar and drink the day away.” I say with a shrug, before heading out.

Our headquarters are in the middle of town, and the large building allows a nice view of the city, which also means I get to see all the happy lights from all the bars that still dare to open. As I leave, I make sure that my hood covers my face completely. I don’t want people to recognise me. I stroll through the streets for a while, observing the people. Spirits seem somewhat high, at least compared to last week.

We are slowly making this place safer. The more antithesis get killed, the more points we get to buy arms for the defence forces. And with that awful PMC ,wanting to make up for past mistakes, by going out and getting resources, we actually have gathered a decent amount of points to buy upgrades with, or even something to break down the force field and get out of here.

I smile at the thought of getting out of here. I am no longer a random street whore. No, I am a bonafide Samurai now. I can make my own choices now, and others would have to bow to me. My mood quickly sours as I spot a group of four kids, three girls and one guy, being followed by some gangsters. Which is annoying enough, even if it is not for the fact that they are carrying guns. My guns. The guns I gave them to protect people, not hurt them.

I frown. Why could it never go smoothly? Sadly, the options for willing recruits are rather low, so we have to rely on the old gangs to keep the people safe. And let's say that most of them do not enjoy taking orders from us. Taking out everyone that misbehaves is a pain and a strain on resources we don’t have. That does not mean I won’t do anything.

The group of kids suddenly slows down, probably having noticed their tail. At least they are somewhat clever, but it is too late. They are already surrounded. I see several other armed men walk out of the alleyways surrounding the kids. I am about to step in, when who I assume is the leader of the gang talks.

“Hey there, girlies, what brings you all here? Are you lost? Do you need me to show you the way to the nearest whore house?” he says in a happy tone.

“And who are you supposed to be, Arnold’s malformed younger brother?” a girl with green hair says, and I need to do my best not to burst out laughing.

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Wow, that kid has guts, and she is, like, hot, too. She would be the perfect package if she was not this stupid. Who provokes several armed men?

“I am going to have fun playing with you.” the man says, sending a shiver down my spine. I am going to have fun beating the shit out of you, is all I can think.

The green-haired girl walks away from her friends, taking off her jacket and throwing it to her friends. Wow, she has some nice muscles. No, focus. What does she think she is doing? Suddenly, her left arm opens up, revealing a pink blade that jumps out between the panels. Wow, that is new. I don’t think there was any mention of anyone having that type of weapon. Then again, we did ban all weapons not used by the people protecting us, so she might have kept it quiet because of that.

“Good, I was thinking the exact same thing. Now let's play.” the girl says, before she jumps forward.

Oh wow, she is fast. She almost makes it to the main guy, but two of his goons interpose themselves between her. They are brandishing their machetes and slash at her. She dodges one and blocks the other, making her body twist at an unnatural angle as she crouches low and to the side.

Then she jumps up using her right arm to punch one of the men. A deafening boom can be heard as the man is sent flying into a nearby building. She is strong, really strong. The other gang members now look at her, unsure, as a cackling fills the air.

With a smile, I realise that the girl is laughing. She is enjoying this somehow. She is definitely the craziest person I have ever seen, and that makes me both smile and wonder. There have been no reports of a girl like this. Where did she come from? I guess she looks quite young, and because of that, she could have avoided the fighting so far, but for someone this crazy, you would kind of expect them to jump at the chance to be on the wall.

“What are you all standing there gawking for? Get that bitch!” their leader says, being the first one to be broken out of the stun, and levelling his gun at her.

“Freayer, have you disabled the guns?” I ask my AI at the sight

I have. Yeah, they won’t be able to fire them anymore.

“Good”

The girl, uncaring, or not seeing it as a threat, just laughs louder as she jumps forward. I swear I can see an electrical spark in her right arm as she dives to the ground and launches herself forward. Okay, that is impressive. She is in range of the guy in a moment, doing a vertical twist and cutting both of the man's arms off.

The man screams a shrill sound, piercing the air. The woman twists her neck, looking back at the other gangsters. “Who is next?” she says, before giggling again.

The other gangsters stand there frozen and about to run, so I take this as my moment to jump in. “That is enough. Everyone drop your weapons and stand there with your hands up!” I shout out, as I lower my hood and walk into the street.

There is silence as I see panic form in the men. The children look relieved, and the green-haired maniac is just looking at me curiously, her head tilted slightly, making her look really cute and making me want to pinch her cheek.

“Madam Lameach.” their leader shouts at me. “This bitch attacked me! You have to seek justice for me.”

I smile, showing off my new fangs. “Don’t worry, I will bring justice to whoever deserves it. Now, drop your weapons.”

“Yeah, Miss Snake Eyes, that is not possible. Mine are kind of attached to me.” the green-haired girl says, giving me a wide smile, almost as if she is daring me to attack her. Oh fuck, I already like this girl.

“Just step away from the rest of them for a moment. Freayer, get some extra guards to my location.”

Already did so.

“Freayer, who is that?” the woman asks, looking at me, confused, as she takes a napkin out of her pocket and casually starts to wipe the blood off.

I frown. Does she not know who I am? I guess I am not in my mech, but I feel like I am still somewhat unique-looking, at least. I point to my head. “My AI, the one that bought these guys their fancy guns.”

The woman stares straight at me with her beautiful golden eyes. Wait, stop, Katelyn. Focus. Don’t get distracted by the crazy girl.

“So are you with these clowns then?” the girl asks me, staring more intently at me as I feel my face flush.

“Kind of, but not really. To protect the city, we handed out a lot of weapons to the populace.” I say, wanting to avoid any misunderstanding with the woman. Something about her is giving off danger signals, to the point that I do not like my odds if an actual fight breaks out.

Luckily for me, this is the moment that reinforcements arrive, and I breathe a sigh of relief. “Take these men into custody.” I say.

“What about the woman?” one of the soldiers asks.

“Not her. She was just protecting the kids.” I say as I point at the teens, who have somewhat calmed down.

I look back at the woman who is now looking at me with a smile that sends a shiver down my spine. “Go reassure your friends. After you have done that, I would like to have a word with you,” I tell her.

I watch as the girl skips towards her friends, and smile. What an interesting girl.

“What are you doing? Arrest her, not us? She is the one who attacked us. Look at my arms. We are the ones on the wall all day trying to protect the people.” their leader shouts, somehow still coherent, and not just writhing in pain.

I level a glare at him. “I don’t know what you are thinking, but to me, it looked like you threatened them first, and she retaliated against that. It is your own fault for being in this situation.” I say in a cold tone.

“Wow, Snake Eyes, you can be really mean.” the green-haired girl says, now standing right next to me, staring at me intensely with a wide smile.

I jump back. “I thought you were talking to your friends?” I ask, a bit surprised.

“I did. I sent them home and told them that I would finish shopping for them.” the girl says with a smile.

“That is nice of you,” I say, unsure how to deal with the girl.

“You wanted to talk to me.” the girl says, getting even closer. Fuck, why is she so pretty?

I blush, feeling my heart beat in my chest as I look at her. “Yeah, let's go somewhere a bit more private, okay? What is your name?”

The woman pauses, seemingly being deep in thought for a moment. “Melody.” she suddenly says with a nod.

I quirk an eyebrow. Well, that is obviously a fake name, but whatever. “I am Katelyn. There is a nice bar nearby. We can talk there.”

The woman nods, and I can hardly contain my smile, score.