"Y'know, I was just asking on a lark- but my AI actually answered! Gave me a whole heap of research the Protectors did to find out if a god really existed. I haven't had time to look at it, but- what, you wanna see it? Sure, I don't see why not."
-Knuckle Duster, now believed to be the biggest cause of Mormons defecting to Samurai-worshipping sects
----------------------------------------
The next few buildings passed uneventfully…at least, by the standards of today. I ran into few enough Antithesis at a time to barely be worth mentioning, but I still netted a couple hundred points in the process. It sounded like a lot to me, still, but twenty Model Threes and Fours over the course of several encounters still only added up to one to three of them at a time, and my submachine gun held more than enough ammunition to deal with each encounter handily.
Each building, though, showed progressively more signs of battle. The first few I passed through had only little things- old bullet casings, holes in the walls, and the occasional broken window. As I got closer to the true town, however, I was seeing signs that were clearly more recent. Still-hot embers. Fresh bullet casings, with no signs of dust. Even a few corpses the Antithesis had yet to reclaim.
Things weren’t all good, though. The buildings weren’t just battle damaged- they were falling apart in some cases. Eventually I came across a building where the stairs had partially collapsed, leaving everything below the fifteenth floor inaccessible. Fortunately I entered on the sixteenth and needed to go higher still, but I had to worry that the next building may be in an even worse state.
My first indication that something was wrong was innocuous enough- encouraging, even, as it was the roar of a gunship passing by overhead just as I was approaching one of the last few skybridges I needed to traverse before reaching safety. It was a good sign that the defenders were fighting back still- attacking, for that matter. Air support was a good sign.
When I was just steps away from the next bridge, though, I found out what the gunship had been doing above me when a black-green blur smashed into the bridge like a meteorite, glass shards and bits of concrete erupting from the point of impact. I barely raised my arm in time to protect my face, and when I lowered it, the bridge was simply gone. Nothing but bent rebar and shattered concrete remained of it, and even as I watched, another section slowly broke off and plummeted to the earth below. I stared at the open space for a moment, processing the fact that my path forward was obliterated- and that I had been mere meters away from sharing its fate.
“Juny, I am increasingly convinced that God is real, and that it hates me.”
“Don’t worry! The Protectors have scientifically proven that God does not exist!” I couldn’t fathom how that was even possible, but I didn’t bother to ask. I really doubted I was going to understand the answer anyway, given that I was no scientist and the Protectors were clearly so much more advanced than us that they may as well be gods themselves.
“Comforting. What’s my new route?” The map in my peripheral vision changed, with a truly disturbing number of skybridges highlighted. It seemed that losing this one bridge would cost me quite a detour. “Why is it so long? There’s not a single shorter route?”
“Public satellite data shows that most of the bridges close to the inner town have been destroyed, either today or during the previous incursion event.”
“Oh, good, and here I was starting to think god’s nonexistence meant my luck would improve. Hm…this town is something like a precursor to modern megacity designs, right? Any chance it has something similar to the sub-foundation layer?”
“Basements levels are not included in public records, but for just 170 points, you can unlock Class I Basic Cyberwarfare Utilities, a Mark II Cyberwarfare Augmentation, and the Mark I Decryption Protocol so that I can find out! This set is the second most popular purchase among all Vanguards!”
“You’re starting to sound like an infomercial. And wait, aren’t you like, a hyper advanced AI? Why do you even need that last one? Also, what’s the most popular?” Sure, I got that she was operating through my equipment, so the augmentation probably provided a level of functionality my civilian model lacked, but our technology was supposedly Stone Age by comparison. Hacking it should be a breeze, right?
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“Technically, I don’t. But the Protectors have guidelines for how much a Vanguard AI is allowed to assist, and buying certain technologies is like unlocking access to restricted functionality. Over time you can gain full access to the power of a Class XII AI!” She paused for a moment. “And to answer your last question, the most popular is Class I Medical Utilities.” Yeah, that tracks.
“So even samurai are victim to microtransactions…” Sighing, I made the only choice I could. “Fine, I’ll take it. I need to know what’s down there, because the alternative is probably staying the night in an Antithesis infested ghost town.”
Class I Basic Cyberwarfare Utilities unlocked!
Points reduced to...586
New Purchase: Mark II Cyberwarfare Augmentation
Points reduced to... 536
New Purchase: Mark I Decryption Protocol
Points reduced to... 516
A tiny box appeared on the ground in front of me, making me question why she didn’t just place it in my hand as I bent down to pick it up. I found a pair of discs inside, each marked with a visual aid showing where to place them.
“So I just…stick them on, and boom, new augmentations?”
“Exactly! Your current augmentations are fairly good, so these will simply replace the necessary parts to add cyberwarefare functions to them. Mostly new access points and additional processing power, along with dedicated firewall and encryption/decryption suites.”
Amazing what advanced technology could do without surgery. I applied the patches, hissing as they apparently activated and gave me the worst brain freeze of my life for several seconds. It…wasn’t as bad as having several inches of metal extracted from my skull, but I think that particular sensation was going to skew my pain scale for quite a while. I screwed my eyes shut until the feeling faded, then opened my eyes to find everything looked the same.
“And, done! These buildings do indeed have a maintenance sublevel. The tunnels leading out of the abandoned sections have been blocked off according to Stalking Tiger PMC’s records, but we should be able to get to the edge of the no-man’s zone by going through the sub basements,” Juny explained before I could complain. I peeled off the discs and discarded them, my mind already moving on to the new information.
“Well, I’m not getting down there through the stairs in this building, so what’s the fastest way to the basement?”
“The fastest way would be to-“ Juny’s explanation cut off as a cracking sound came from outside. I moved to the window on that side of the building to find the bridge I came in through collapsing now as well, although I couldn’t see any visible reason for it. Then again, it was a miracle anything in this building was still intact. “…head over to the elevator and descend to the basement through the shaft!” Juny continued as if nothing had happened, despite clearly having paused to think up a new solution.
Well, if there was one thing this building had in spades, it was rubble. I grabbed a piece of rebar from the bridge on my current floor that was only barely hanging on and headed over to the elevator. It took more time than I’d like to admit, but I was able to pry the door open. I shined my flashlight into the shaft, but I quickly realized there was nothing there- no ladder, or even cables holding up the elevator.
“…well ain’t that a kick in the head,” I muttered dryly. Oh, I wonder if there was anything useful I could crib from Fallout…no, not the time. And most of that stuff was outdated by contemporary human standards anyway. “Don’t suppose you’ve got any other bright ideas?”
“A Featherfall Anti-Grav Parachute from Class I Auxiliary Armor Utilities would allow you to survive the fall. The catalog is fifty points, and the parachute is one hundred and fifty. And it’s reusable!” Because I totally wanted to be jumping off the 16th floor of buildings on a regular basis. Whatever. Better than climbing down by rope or something.
Class I Auxiliary Armor Utilities unlocked!
Points reduced to...466
New Purchase: Featherfall Anti-Grav Parachute
Points reduced to... 316
If only my new parachute could save my points from free fall…
The “parachute” was actually a belt, with four glowy bits equally spaced around it that I suspected were just for show. I had to admit, though, that they did do the job of making it look like a highly advanced piece of alien technology and not a normal belt that would leave me a stain on the floor below.
I snapped it on awkwardly over the costume belt I was already wearing and stepped up to the elevator, trying not to think about what I was about to do and failing. A spike of cold, raw terror was climbing up my back at the mere proximity to this deadly drop.
“Did I ever mention I’m scared of heights?” I asked Juny.
“There’s no need to worry, I would never recommend a piece of equipment that has a chance of failing!”
“That’s not what I mean. It’s just…I’ve always had a visceral reaction to being high up. Well, I suppose it’s more a fear of falling. Of having long moments where I can’t control what happens to me as I plummet to my death. It’s different when I’m in a hovercar, or behind a wall; I have a level of control there. But I’ve always hated being on the edge like this,” I said as I gathered my resolve. “But now? I’ve been scared out of my mind for the last several days, even if I’ve been trying to hide it. I’ve been so close to death. I had shrapnel in my head, I got my arm mauled by a Model Three- I dodged a spiked tentacle from a Model Four by inches. I’m still scared of heights. It doesn’t feel any less scary. But now…I think I can do this anyway.”
I stepped into the void.