Scania is governed by the Communist Peoples Party of Scania, who have ruled since 2031 without holding general elections. Instead, the party claims it polls the population regularly and shifts its governance accordingly. The current leader of the party since 2046, Lisa Thornstrup, has overseen a number of public works, including...

--"Scania, wikipedia article", current

***

I was floundering a bit as the tour continued. Turns out my careful preparations were for nought. Valerie continued the tour, leading me up into an operations room, and showing me the private wings where the Valkyries had their rooms. Finally, we ended the tour in a cosy library and games room, where Valerie suggested we sit down in a pair of plush reading chairs in front of a fireplace.

"So. Laura said you had some questions for me, Sylvi." Valerie began.

"Oh. Oh yes. I'm a bit torn on how to spend my points."

"And Eyon has been unable to help?" She asked with a frown.

"Well, it's more that I am unsure about how to prioritize my own needs against... It's Mother, you see, she's been saying I should be spending my points helping her career, and I am unsure how to weigh that against, well, being a Valkyrie and everything."

Valerie's face took on a hard expression.

"I see." She said.

"It's not that I don't want to, or that I don't have the points, it's just that, well, I had a bit of a rough time last time I went on a mission, Rash and Grim almost got killed before I switched up my tactics, and I'm concerned if I don't prioritize improving myself next time I won't be as lucky and someone is going to end up dead because of it." I was squirming in my seat, looking down at my hands as I finished. They were blurry, I realized. I rubbed my eyes clear of tears.

"Sylvi. Hey, Sylvi, look at me."

I did so. Her eyes were a wonderful green flecked with gold.

"No one can demand you spend your points on them. No one. Not even your mother. You give to others as a gift, and a gift not given freely is no gift at all, it is payment. Tribute. You owe no one tribute, Sylvi."

I nodded weakly, still a bit lost in her eyes.

"Do you understand me? You buy what you need for yourself, you set aside an emergency fund, and only then do you consider giving gifts, reasonable gifts given freely. Your survival comes first, always."

I took a shaky breath, then nodded again, more firmly this time.

"We're in a terrible line of work, with a horrible casualty rate." She continued. "We need all of the edges we can get, fighting the Antithesis. Please tell me you will spend your points giving yourself those edges, Sylvi."

I sniffled. "Y-yes. Okay. Can you help me decide how?" I asked in a small voice.

She got up and enveloped me in a crushing hug, my head to her chest. I enjoyed the sensation for very conflicting reasons.

"Of course, dear. Of course I can help you. I would like nothing more."

She sat down next to me on the large reading chair, smushing our thighs together.

"Now, why don't you tell Aunt Val what you've been thinking of buying?"

I did so, hesitantly at first, but soon finding some confidence with the somewhat familiar topic, meanwhile being painfully aware of how close we were.

I laid out my ideas, how I fought the Antithesis, and the plans I'd laid for improvements with Eyon, how I was reaching the limits of my control with the swarm and the options I had for improving it. My troubles with the Model Twelve, my ideas for the future, establishing some drone construction facilities and on and on.

All the while, Valerie just encouraged me on with the occasional word or prompt.

When I felt like I was starting to go in circles, I stopped.

"So, what do you think?" I asked a bit timidly.

"I think you have a good head on your shoulders and some perfectly solid plans for the future. I think you should just go ahead and implement them." She answered and squeezed me in a quick sideways hug.

"Oh... Well."

"But first, I think we should get some lunch, what do you say?"

She got up, leaving a distinct lack of Valerie next to me.

"That sounds good." I looked at the time. 14:32. "Oh! It's this late already? No wonder I'm so hungry."

She chuckled. "Come, I'll buy us something nice. We can cook next time."

I felt a bit of regret at that, then cheered up. Next time. There would be a next time?! Feeling much better, I cheerily followed Valerie back down to the dining area, where she fetched a pair of plates, two glasses, some chopsticks and a large serving spoon, setting two places at the corner of the large table. Then a big box of fried noodles appeared, and a large carton of juice.

"Come, sit down and have some food." She pulled out a chair for me, then seated herself.

She poured juice for the both of us, while I busied myself with scooping noodles onto my plate. They smelled divine. They tasted even better.

"So, Sylvi." She began once we had sated our most urgent hunger, and were eating at a more leisurely rate. "You talked about wanting a drone production facility, and it sounded like you didn't have the space."

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I looked at her, noodles hanging out of my mouth.

"We have plenty of space, like I said, and even some rooms left empty, if you want to move in yourself."

I started frantically chewing.

"Now, it's obviously not to everyone's taste, living so close to others in a shared space like this, but..."

I swallowed the last noodle.

"Yes!" I burst out. "I'd love to live here. That sounds amazing."

She smiled brilliantly.

I felt a great, big smile creeping up on my face.

"Excellent. I'll have a room set aside for you, then. I believe the one next to mine is empty."

My smile got even bigger.

We finished off the rest of the noodles, then cleaned up and ended up on a couch in the living room. Sadly it was a pretty big one.

"Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?" Valerie asked.

"No, not really." I replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm bored out of my mind, frankly. I'm on vacation since I just came off of a major cleaning sweep, which mostly means I get to sit around and do nothing for a bit. It's good for me, to not be fighting all the time, but it's just so boooring. So, I was hoping you would keep me company, maybe watch a movie or something."

"I'd love to!" I said, perhaps a bit too quickly. "Did you have anything in particular in mind?"

"Nah, I usually just pick whatever strikes my fancy. You can choose if you want. I'll go make some popcorn."

I picked an inoffensive comedy and put it on the big screen. There was also the option of watching it fully in aug-space, but then it'd be harder to talk while watching and I didn't want that.

Valerie came back and we got to watching. She kept a running commentary on the movie, discussing this and that, but I didn't mind both because she was funnier than the movie, and because the sound of her voice was so pleasant. It was a really enjoyable time.

The end came, though, and I felt like I should get going before I outstayed my welcome.

"This has been really nice, Valerie, but I think I should get back home."

"I told you my friends call me Val."

I blushed at that blunt declaration.

"Thank you, Val."

She nodded at that, then got up.

"Alright, and I suppose you'd like a lift back home?"

"Yes please, I haven't gotten around to buying any transport for myself. Not sure if I am going to just yet, either."

"That's fine. Eyon should be able to contact me, if you need a lift. I have something with a bit more space, too, if you need some help moving."

"Moving? Oh. Yes. Yes!" I had almost forgotten. "I don't really have anything, though, maybe aside from my bed."

"Oh no, you're getting a new bed. Trust me. You'll never want to go back once you've tried the Protector made stuff. We have fabricators in-house, we should be able to furnish your room to your liking."

"That sounds nice. Uhm, when can I move in?"

"Whenever you like. Is tomorrow too soon?"

"I'd love to, but I'll have to see what everyone else thinks of the idea. I'm sure it'll be fine, but it might take a bit longer to arrange everything."

"Okay, that's fine. It'll be good to have you around." She said with a smile.

"Is there anything in particular I need to bring?" I asked.

"A toothbrush? Honestly, aside from personal effects and mementos, we can fabricate pretty much everything here. Bring yourself and whatever you'd like to keep around, we'll sort out the rest."

"Awesome. Then I guess I'll be in touch?"

"I sure hope so."

I picked up my helmet, and she walked with me to the hangar, then gave me a hug.

"Thank you for today, Sylvi, it was really nice to meet you."

"Oh no, I should be thanking you! I don't even know how to begin repaying your kindness." I protested.

"I'll think of something." She smirked. "Now, off you go."

She shooed me towards one of the giant spiders mechs. I put on my helmet, then climbed aboard and settled in, as the walls and ceiling of the space turned into projections of the outside world.

Val was waving me off as the spider set off. I waved back, then immediately felt a bit foolish.

I heard a laugh all around me, Val's rich, wonderful laugh.

"Sorry, I just had to see if that worked. You're still adorable." She said from a speaker somewhere inside the spider.

I blushed and felt thankful for my helmet.

Five minutes later, I was standing on the same roof I'd set off from. The spider had turned invisible again after briefly appearing when it let me out. I wasn't quite sure if it was still here or not. Regardless, I looked up at Valhalla for a moment, then turned towards the staircase down. Things were moving rather fast, but I was pretty sure I liked where they were going.

I gathered a few Wasps around me for comfort, then proceeded down and across and up to our living space. I entered to find the place empty, headed for my room and took off my armour and put on some sweat pants and a t-shirt, then lounged in bed.

Eyon, it is time we finalized my plans for upgrades. I'm thinking tomorrow is when I splurge, and I'd like to sleep on it before making the final decision. Can you list me what we have so far and what everything would cost?

[Of course, Sylvi.]

Catalogue: Class II Command and Control Cybernetics - 400 points, 1 token

Catalogue: Class I Robotic Environmental Hardening - 50 points

Logos Mk7 Command Implant - 2500 points

Class I ECM Hardening Module x 35 - 700 points

Basic Muscle Adjustment Gene Treatment - 100 points

Class II Yellowjacket Mk 4 Warfare Drone x6 - 540 points

Total cost... 4290

Points remaining... 708

[I took the liberty of including the ECM hardening module in future purchases. There is a discount for buying them with it installed.]

Thank you.

[From here you have choices. You could get more drones, increase the size of your swarm. You could get a vehicle, to facilitate getting around. You could get a Matter Reconfiguration Engine and some blueprints and start producing drones yourself. You could upgrade your armour. You could unlock Stealth Technologies and incorporate them into your armour or your drones or both.]

Okay, I want more drones first, everything else comes after that. How many drones would I be able to control with that Command Implant, and what is the most cost-effective way of getting there?

[You should be able to control in the region of fifty drones with sensoral feedback, and up to twenty times that without.]

Wait, what? A thousand drones?!

[Indeed. The cheapest way to achieve such numbers is without a doubt a Matter Reconfiguration Engine, although do note that you do not have the spare token to unlock one of Class II, and as such cannot fabricate your Yellowjacket drones, since you won't be able to buy the relevant blueprint.]

Still, that is bonkers.

[It is the first step towards a true swarm. Note that with this, we will have reached the useful limit of your current wetware and will need upgrades to progress.]

Wetware, what do you... You're referring to my brain, aren't you?

[Yes. Either a qualitative or quantitative upgrade will be required.]

Okay, I get qualitative, although I'm not necessarily a fan. What do you mean by 'quantitative upgrade'?

[Simple. You acquire further bodies to which you offload the computational load.]

I... what? Never mind, this is a discussion we can have later.

[Agreed. The blueprint for the Class I drones would cost you 500 points, and you can buy the ECM module blueprint to manufacture those yourself instead of buying them outright for a small saving for 200 points. The Matter Reconfiguration Machine catalogue is 75 points, and the machine itself is 500 points. Total overall cost 4865, leaving 133.]

Let's call that a tentative plan. Actually, is there any reason to wait on the Gene Treatment? I'm guessing it'll take a while to fully kick in.

[Yes, about three weeks for the full results.]

Then let's get that started right away.

[As you say.]

New Purchase: Basic Muscle Adjustment Gene Treatment - 100 points

Points set to... 4898