I awoke to someone yelling my name repeatedly, shortly followed by a tidal wave of pain.
Garrett! Garrett, wake up! WAKE UP!
I groaned and blearily opened my eyes, finding myself in the trashed backseat of my car. It was dark, but moonlight streamed in through the windows. I was confused for a second before recent events came flooding back in. I remembered being almost killed by Antithesis, hearing a voice in my head, then just flashes. “What happened?” I was talking to myself and was surprised when I got an answer, given by a female voice speaking in my head.
You sustained fairly grave injuries and fell unconscious. The other people who were in the clearing finished off the Antithesis in the area, bound your wounds, poorly, I might add, and left you here. Then, they departed. If you had slept for much longer, I would have given up and written you off as dead.
The Antithesis will be recovering the biomass from their fallen models, but it won’t be too much longer until they find you. I suggest taking action, beginning with seeing to your own health.
I blinked, then took stock of myself. My left arm was completely absent any feeling except the overwhelming pain, and I could feel cuts and bruises all over my body. My head throbbed, indicating I had hit it at some point. My body seemed completely sapped of strength, and I could hardly even think of moving. But I knew that the voice was correct, and I had to do something.
“Hey, uh, voice in my head. Is there anything you can do to help me?”
As I said before, my name is Cyara. I am here to assist you in defending your world from the Antithesis. In that capacity, I can help you spend the points you earn by killing Antithesis to purchase technology and other resources from The Protectorate.
“So I’m a Samurai.”
That is the colloquial term for the Vanguard on earth, yes.
I couldn’t help the small smile that came to my face. I had always dreamed of becoming a Samurai, like most children since the Protectorate made contact. I had even come up with a plan for if I ever became one. But I didn’t expect it to actually happen.
I suggest you purchase the Class I Medical Utilities catalog in order to deal with your injuries. It costs fifty points.
“How many points do I have?”
You currently possess one hundred and eighty points; the one hundred granted you as a new vanguard, and the rest from killing Antithesis.
“There are medical nanites in that catalog, right?” When I was a kid, I was visiting family when an incursion happened. A Samurai had rescued us, and gave some of the people who were injured worst what he said were medical nanites that could fix up most injuries that weren’t immediately life threatening. That stuck with me, fueling my imagination for years afterwards. Cyara’s reply cut off my train of thought.
Affirmative.
“Could I get those from an all nanite catalog? On my profile you should find what I’m going for.” I was gritting my teeth against the pain and didn’t want to say more than I had to.
When I was in my teens, I had investigated what Samurai seemed to be capable of, and came up with a detailed plan of what I would do if I were a Samurai. One of the nastier kids at the school I went to somehow got ahold of it, and published it all over his social media, and it was eventually connected to my government profile, which hopefully Cyara had access to.
Yes, you can purchase a Class I Nano-Regenerative Suite from the Class I Applied Nanites catalog, which is one hundred points. And I do believe your ideas have merit. It would require a substantial investment up front, as well as whenever you move to a higher class, but I believe it would be worth it.
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
“Okay, let’s do that.”
Class I Applied Nanites Unlocked!
Points remaining: 80
New purchase: Nano-Regenerative Suite
Points remaining: 60
A rebreather-like mouthpiece appeared in my mouth, connected to a small tube. I started, and was about to spit it out, when I heard Cyara’s voice again.
Inhale as deeply as you can, the nanites are delivered in an aerosol form.
I took a deep breath in, taking in the contents of the tube. It was like I had just breathed in a lightning storm, tingles spreading through my body, congregating where I felt the most pain. After a few moments, though, the pain began to diminish. When it reached manageable levels, I sat up and looked around. I had some torn up clothing wrapped around my left arm and various other places where my injuries had been deepest. The windows were shattered, making it easy to see outside, so I tried to make out the surroundings.
The nearly full moon provided enough light to see by, and I could identify a few model threes moving around, along with a giant worm-like creature, which was scooping up dead model threes by the handful.
That’s a model eight. Their primary function is collecting and transporting biomass back to the hive. It poses little threat by itself. They are generally not considered worth the trouble of killing, as they are notoriously resilient.
“Good to know.” But my attention had turned elsewhere. A little ways off to the side, I saw light glinting off a piece of metal that looked suspiciously like my bat, complete with dead alien beneath it.
“Cyara, do I have enough points to buy anything else helpful right now?”
There are a number of options available within your budget, but considering your plans and the current threat level, I deem it more prudent to save the points you have for a Class I Mobile Nanite Replication Factory, which can turn scrap metal into basic nanites. It costs another one hundred points.
“Okay, just gotta kill a couple more of those guys. No biggie.” Moving as quietly as I could, I crawled out the hole where the driver’s door used to be, and started making my way over to where my bat lay. About halfway there my foot slipped on some loose gravel, and two model threes turned my way.
Without waiting to see their reaction, I took off as fast as I could move, leaned down, and scooped up my bat. As soon as it was in my hands, I planted one foot, turning my forward momentum into a spin, swinging my bat simultaneously.
As I turned, I caught sight of the pair of aliens coming at me, and grinned as my bat took the lead one right in the face, practically turning it into mincemeat. Or minceveggie I guess, since Antithesis were technically plants. Not pausing, I swung my bat up to preserve momentum, then smashed it down onto the second model three.
Targets Eliminated!
Points awarded… 20
I moved around the large form of the model eight, finding another four model threes in the midst of a meal. Hefting my bat, I was on them before they could react. I smashed the first two aliens’ heads with one full power swing, and though they tried to fight back, the other two soon followed.
Targets Eliminated!
Points awarded… 40
New point total: 140
“Cyara, do you know if there are any other Antithesis around?”
I only have access to your own sensory augmentations, but it seems like there are no more model threes in the immediate vicinity.
I nodded. “Okay, get me the nanite factory. I want to get the ball rolling on this as quickly as possible.” I had gotten my idea a couple years back from a streamer Samurai who did cosplay, and seemed to be able to change out his equipment at will. I figured if I was a Samurai, I could probably do something similar with nanotech.
A plastic bin appeared in front of me, and opening it, I found a boxy piece of machinery with some straps attached, making it look a bit like a backpack.
If you leave that near metal, it will repurpose it into nanites over time using its own specially designed nanites. Your destroyed vehicle should be able to provide enough for what you’re planning, though it will take a few hours. In the meantime, there are a couple other catalogs you will need to program your nanites to do what you have planned, so I would recommend earning points to pay for them.
I considered it for a moment, then nodded. I was a Samurai, and wouldn’t likely need a car pretty soon anyway. “Sounds good. Let’s go hunting.”