I’m sure you’ve all experienced that crotchety old person complaining about how ‘back in the day’ everything was much cheaper. Well, it’s true, but not for the reason you think. After the antithesis arrived and governments started collapsing we went from using regional currencies, to credits. One dollar turned into a hundred creds, and people nearly rioted about the hyperinflation. It didn’t matter that their pay, raised by the same amount as the cost of items, people just liked to complain.

-Modern Economic Systems, 5th Ed

—

As the stupid plush mascot fell to the ground I quickly glanced around the area. I’m sure the park had been designed to be as welcoming as possible with colorful, cartoony facades on all the buildings, but without any illumination they just looked twisted. Wrong. Worst of all there were androids everywhere. There were a dozen food stalls with androids behind them, a line of old school physical games, the rollercoaster and merry-go-round ticket takers, and an android pushing a balloon cart around. Every single android had its eyes locked upon me, but only the balloon seller trudged in my direction. “Vandalism is a punishable offence, you must accompany me to the nearest security office,” the awkward plastic clown stated, as it waddled my way.

I flinched as its head exploded, destroyed by a well aimed shot from Skyler’s rifle. “Let’s try to avoid getting bogged down by the locals,” she declared, “We’re here for the shelters, remember?”

“Are you sure that was smart?” I muttered quietly as I scanned the other androids in the area. “There are androids everywhere, and if we fight through them all, won’t Nimbletainment come after us for damages?”

Skyler snorted. “First of all, the ones in the booths can’t come after us,” she said, sauntering over to the nearest gaudy food stall and beckoning me over. I slowly followed her, one hand on my sword, until I got close enough to see inside the small colorful shack. Although the android looked normal from a distance, once I got close enough I realized it was just sitting on a sculpted pedestal, and didn’t have any legs. “I remember asking my dad why they were like that when I was little,” she explained. “He told me it was because they wanted to be the best vendors ever! I guess it was better than saying it was probably cost reduction measures. The only ones that are mobile are the entertainers.”

“Nimbletainment reserves the right to refuse service to vandals,” the android droned.

“Quiet you,” Skyler hissed at the droid before turning back towards me. “As for the damages… we're samurai, and have a certain level of immunity from lawsuits, and liabilities, as long as the damage is done in the line of duty.”

“Which means we need to rely upon you two if something goes south,” Emily said nervously. “Because even though PMCs enjoy some of the same immunities, a multinational like Nimbletainment can absolutely find ways to bypass those protections in court. We touch any of those androids, and the entire company would be bankrupt the instant they retrieved the surveillance footage.”

“So how many mascots are wandering around?” I asked nervously.

“Around two dozen,” Bulldog reported. Skyler raised an eyebrow in his direction, and the big man shrugged. “I bring my daughter here occasionally.”

“That’s not so bad,” I mumbled. “But where exactly are they? Shouldn’t there be more of them in this main square?” Everyone glanced around. The main plaza, where we were standing, was huge and contained not only the entire food court, but the souvenir shop and the lines for all the biggest rides. It seemed odd that there was only a single mascot patrolling the area.

“It just makes our job easier. The less bots we have to decommission, the less Nimbletainment is going to care,” Skyler announced. “Let’s check the shelters as quickly as possible then move on.”

I nodded, and pulled up a map of the area in my augs. We’d already identified the location of all the shelters earlier back in the APC, so I overlaid the two. “The first seems to be hidden behind the roller coaster, along the wall,” I said quietly.

“Then lead the way,” Emily replied softly.

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I slowly made my way around the rollercoaster until I found a small stylish brick path which had an antique street sign which labeled it as ‘Nyble Lane’. The path hugged the perimeter wall, and it looked like it had either flowers, or shrubs bordering them at one point, but it looked like the greenery had been violently ripped up, and quite recently too. Everyone knew what that meant, so I just silently pointed at the disturbed garden as I passed.

The path led around to the far side of the rollercoaster, and into another decent sized plaza. This one was dominated by a fairly massive arcade, and had a handful of booths with the older, analog carnival games. I slowly scanned the area before I stepped inside. I'd expected at least one or two mascots wandering around the area, but it was completely abandoned. Even though I’d been fighting in abandoned and overrun buildings all day, I found the complete silence unnerving. Having dozens of androids constantly following my every movement with their oversized eyes didn’t help much.

I skulked across the plaza, heading for the back of the arcade where the shelter was located, when something caught my eye. Blotches of dark color splattered across the concrete. “Is that blood?” someone behind me asked.

“It’s green,” I replied as I slipped closer. “Antithesis?”

“If that’s true, what killed them? And where are the bodies?” Skyler asked. I could see her eye darting around the plaza, looking for hidden threats. “I thought there wasn’t any security here.”

“That’s what the Cascadia shelter database said,” Emily said quietly, “but who knows what Nibletainment left out of their submission.”

“If you see an armed security bot you don’t hesitate, open fire immediately. If the unarmed mascots are willing to use violence, I don’t want to take any chances with armed ones,” I told the team. “Skyler and I will deal with the fallout.”

“No arguments from me,” grunted Steve as he hefted his rifle.

“We need to keep moving,” Skyler muttered. “If there are antithesis around we need to check on those shelters ASAP. Plus, I don’t really feel safe standing out in the open anymore. It’s a good tactic against the antithesis, but if there’s a shooter....”

“Right, everyone into the arcade,” Emily ordered. I took the lead, sprinting most of the way, then slowing to a light jog and drawing my blade before ducking inside. The area was completely filled with a mixture of old arcade cabinets, and virtual reality booths. It was probably normally a riot of light, and noise, but during the blackout it was quiet. The isles were fairly wide, and the sight lines were fairly clear, so by the time I made it to the center of the complex I could tell it was clear.

“More antithesis blood,” Bulldog pointed out from another aisle. “Looks like something smashed the antithesis against this cabinet.”

“Where the fuck is everything?” I hissed. “I would have expected to run into something by now. Android or antithesis, but everywhere we go is abandoned.”

“You know, I’ve seen a movie about an abandoned amusement park before,” Skyler said quietly. “I thought it was stupid at the time, but now that we’re here…”

I shivered, and turned towards my girlfriend. “Why did you have to bring that up now? I hated that movie!” I growled.

“Not the time for this!” Emily barked. “We still don’t know what killed the antithesis, so we need to stay focused!” She glanced around then pointed at an unmarked door at the back of the arcade. “The shelter should be through that door, just behind the arcade.”

“Right, sorry,” I mumbled before pulling myself together. “I’ll take point again.” I slowly slunk my way through the rows of machines, spotting a couple more blood stains as I made my way to the back door. When I was a couple feet away from the door I paused. “I can hear something,” whispered back to the team. “It sounds like… fire?”

“That better not be the shelter,” Skyler hissed.

“I think I can hear movement too,” I said as I put my ear close to the door. “Something’s out there.”

“Right, weapons loose,” Emily muttered. “It might be civilians, but we don’t want to take any chances.” She moved closer and put one hand on my back. “Whenever you’re ready.”

I took a deep breath, stepped back, then kicked the door open. I was nearly blinded by the acrid smoke that filled the small lot, and I blinked repeatedly not only to clear the tears out of my eyes, but because I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was a huge pile of burning antithesis on one side of the lot, a small pile of destroyed mascots on the other. All around the fire were about a dozen mascots, but unlike the previous one these were heavily damaged. Their plastic faces were cracked or smashed, chest plates broken or missing, and some were even missing limbs.

The closest one, which appeared to be wearing something similar to a magical girl costume turned to me. The lower part of her face was missing, displaying an unnerving metal jaw.

“Hi! I’m Samurai girl. You don’t appear to be on the guest registry, can you please show me your ticket?” the thing hissed in a metallic voice.

As it moved towards me I just caught Skyler mumble, “Straight out of a horror movie.”