Very rarely do you not find a Samurai with a theme. To a Samurai, it is an expression of who they are and how much they can fuck you up if you mess with them - A Deep dive into Samurai by Karl Blakefield

I gasped for air, my throat raw, my lungs burning as I tried to breathe in. The taste of blood lingered in my mouth. I groaned, my hand weakly moving to my cheek. I could feel the smooth skin of a freshly healed scar. Amanyta’s voice broke the silence, calm but tinged with relief.

You're awake, which is good. For a few seconds, I was worried that I had not administered the nanites in time.

“How long was I out?” my voice came out quiet and husky, which surprised me and made me trace the scar along my neck.

Three minutes and thirty-seven seconds, I administered a delayed combat stim along with the nanites to get you back on your feet as soon as possible.. However, in twenty-three hours and fifty-six minutes, the stim will run out, leading to a period of exhaustion.

“So basically a super shot of coffee.” I pulled myself to my feet using one of the benches. Other than a tight feeling around my neck, I felt fine.

Looking over at the thing that had attacked me, I saw that it lay in a heap, a mass of vine-like tentacles, each tipped with a scythe-like blade. It had two thick back legs and what looked like two large tentacles for the front legs, although it was hard to tell with the number of holes in it. It was clearly an antithesis, but what model, I wasn't sure.

It's a Model Four, although it is a new variant. The normal Model Four, while still an ambush attacker, has spines instead of scythes tipping its tentacles.

Amanyta must have guessed what I was going to ask, and if what she said was true, then this wasn’t the norm. I tried taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, but it caused me to have a coughing fit.

I am sorry to say the damage was extensive. To make sure you survived, I had to use a faster Nano-regeneration suite. While still part of the Class, I catalogue it is more used as an emergency life-saving measure, which has led to a lot of scaring to not just your face but also your neck and your trachea. There are ways to fix the scarring, but they are expensive and require a different catalogue.

I had been hurt l, hurt badly. The most I'd ever hurt myself was breaking a knuckle when I was a kid, but this was different; it wasn't youthful mischief that had gotten him hurt, it was a lapse in attention. He had let himself get distracted instead of checking the room for antithesis.

The damage is going to affect your breathing and your ability to fight the antithesis if we do nothing about it. There are a few catalogues that can help with your breathing. Would you like to hear your options?

“Yeah, sure,” I said. I needed to get stronger. I couldn't just keep being helpless. I was a Samurai now, not just Gideon Mori, the biologist.

Whilst there are thousands of catalogues that could help you, I have three that would be best for you right now. Firstly is Class I Cybernetics, which will be the most expensive and intrusive as you will need to purchase a new trachea and lungs that would be teleported into your body to replace your biological ones.

That just sounded horrifying and was immediately off the list, the thought alone of suddenly not having lungs sent shivers down my spine

I can see that you don’t like that one, so the second option would be Class I Bio Sculpting. A few possibilities within the Catalogue can fix the damage and the scaring, but they are time-consuming and require you to find somewhere safe to hold up.

From my understanding of the Antithesis Incursion, the longer they went on, the stronger the antithesis got. Spending too much time would lead to higher-numbered models appearing or another Samurai clearing out the antithesis, leaving me without any points to upgrade.

Lastly, the cheapest option would be Class I Modular Equipment. While it may seem strange, it has a wide range of relatively inexpensive equipment to help your breathing. I would recommend the Class I Corvax Rebreather out of the list as it is the most efficient for its price range.

The Class I Modular Equipment catalogue is the best option right now. I could get the most use out of it and also buy armour and other equipment with it. “Let's go with the Class I Modular Equipment. What is the Corvax rebreather?”

The Corvax are a bipedal bird-like alien species that, before the Protectors found them, destroyed 43% of their planet with biological, chemical and nuclear weapons just trying to slow the tide of antithesis. They need to wear rebreathers almost constantly as the air on their planet is so contaminated. The Class I Corvax Rebreather takes in air and filters it, taking in oxygen and CO2, where it splits the carbon from the oxygen, allowing for an increased amount of oxygen to be breathed in.

It sounded perfect for what he needed right now “Buy the mask, Amanyta.”

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Right, with the amount of Model Threes along with the Model Four variant you killed, you are currently sitting at 425 points

Class 1 Modular Equipment - 100 points

Class 1 Corvax Corvax Rebreather - 50 points

Total Left 275 points

A box appeared at my feet. Crouching down and flipping the lid, I was met with a bone-white skeletal bird mask. The eyes were a dark grey metal with green lenses. Two large canisters sat on either side at the base of the beak.

The excess carbon from the mask is stored within the canisters. Each canister must be changed every seven days, but they will last longer as you don’t have to wear the mask all the time. Canister replacements cost 5 points per canister.

“How do I put it on?” the mask had no way to hold it to my face.

Place the mask on your face, and the nanites within will cover your head and neck. They usually connect to your armour, creating a hermetic seal, but as you are wearing regular clothes, they won't work.

Looking down at my clothes, I see the state they are in: my jeans are ripped, my shirt caked in both my own and antithesis's blood and my lab coat is similarly cake in blood but with a shredded. “I should probably get some new clothes, ones that would work with the mask, although not too expensive I was hoping to look into getting a new catalogue for weapons.”

I was wondering when you would notice that state you were in any preference on what you are looking for? You have the Class I Modular Equipment, so choosing something that would work with your mask is easy but if I make a suggestion, depending on what sort of catalogue you want to purchase for weaponry there are better options within that catalogue.

I could hear the mirth in her voice about my state of dress. “What do you mean?

For example, The Class I Conventional Explosives have armours that are highly resistant to explosions. What sort of weaponry were you looking to get?

I had thought about it a lot since becoming a Samurai. I wanted something subtler, something I knew well. “What have you got on Biological Warfare?”

Whilst an unorthodox choice, there are many catalogues on Biological Warfare; some are restricted or modified for the obvious reason of how dangerous they could be to humanity or the environment if you lost control of them. But I would suggest the Class I Biological Warfare catalogue as a base to build off of as it has access to a lot of different specialities and you can pick up specialised catalogues as you need them.

I had expected there to be restrictions on what I could use, but the protectors trusted their vanguards to be smart enough not to release a plague that wiped out their race or their AI had ways to prevent a situation. “What would you suggest then for armour and a weapon then?”

Armour-wise, I suggest the Mark I HVAC Armored Bodysuit Pattern U; whilst a mouthful, it provides the best armour for its price and allows for modular upgrades and working with your mask. I would also suggest getting the Verxxian Leather Overcoat for added protection and style. The Verexxian are a bovine-like creature whose leather is used to create armoured clothes. The leather is highly Peirce and slash-resistant, and I can’t have my Samurai looking underdressed. Weapon-wise, there are many options. What are you looking for?

Whilst I could think of quite a few ways I could use Biology to affect the Antithesis, I needed something I could use whilst in the building: “A gun, specifically a pistol it’s too close quarters right now to implement some of my ideas.”

That whittles down the options, but the Self Propelled Auto-Injector Mini seems perfect, it is a handgun that fires miniature rockets that are tipped with needles whilst it doesn’t have the trajectory guidance like the Hummingbird you’ve been using the pack a punch and the injections can be changed out for a variety of choices including options from the Class I Medical Utilities.

“Perfect, buy the lot.”

Current Points 275

Class I Biological Warfare - 100 points

Mark I HVAC Armored Bodysuit Pattern U - 50 points

Verxxian Leather Overcoat - 25 points

Self-Propelled Auto-Injector Mini - 50 points

Class 0 Bandolier belt and hip holster set - 2 points

2 x Blightmare canisters magazine - 10 points

Total left 38 points

A series of three boxes appeared around me, each numbered in the order of opening them. Opening the first, it was the body suit. It was black with dark green in the cracks between the armoured panelling. Whilst it was skin tight, the light armour stopped it from leaving nothing to the imagination. Quickly taking of my soiled clothes, I put it on. It was light and left a lot of movement, and for being an HVAC suit, it wasn’t suffocating to wear.

The second Box contained the overcoat, and I could tell the quality of the leather. It was soft to the touch. The coat was dyed a dark grey and putting it on I felt how heavy it was, not uncomfortable but it still had weight to it.

The last box contained the Auto-Injector, and whilst the gun was bulky, it had smooth angles and a comfortable grip. The gun connected to my augs showed me where the bullet would hit—putting on the rest of the items in the box, I finally felt like a Samurai, not just some scared biologist.

The Final piece was putting on the mask. As I placed it on my face, the nanites quickly encompassed my head and neck, creating a seal with my suit. Breathing in was still difficult, but I no longer felt out of breath constantly. The only issue was that my breathing became quite audible.

You can manually decrease its sound, or I could do it.

“No, at least not when it's not needed. It adds to the look.” walking to the door, feeling confident for the first time in a long time, “It’s time to hunt.”