"A samurai can turn anything into a weapon if they want to. Bullets and Lasers? Kids stuff. You ever seen someone kill the antithesis with a tree? Beat them to death with a dildo? Evaporate a horde with a cow launched at near the speed of light? Or clawed to death by a weaponized raccoon? Because I have."
-Deirdre ‘Hel’ Myers
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“How did I make so many points at the pet shop anyways?” I asked as I pulled on my new ‘greeves’. They just looked like a regular pair of leather knee high boots, but molded to my leg like a second skin. I kicked a support beam and felt the boots harden around the point of impact, I didn’t feel anything. I turned to find Emily giving me the evil eye. “Sorry,” I mumbled. “I won't use your APC to test any more of my equipment.”
Ratchet snorted from her position, laying flat on her back on Howie, trying to get the regular ammunition reset now that we were no longer sitting under the never ending cloud of Ones. “Don’t worry about it. As long as you don’t do anything to twist everything into an unrecognizable shape, I can fix it.” She slammed the ammo feed closed then slid off the top of the bot before snatching up her half finished sandwich. I nodded towards her before turning back towards the front and addressing Artymis.
[So, how did I make so many points?] I asked again.
The Elevens are worth a decent amount, a hundred points each, but the reward was split three ways. Your biggest payout came from the Sevens. There were a significant amount of the creatures still hiding in the seedpod, which gave you a significant bump in points.
[Wait… how do you know that? You told me that I’d be lucky to pay off the catalyst with the number of worms in the basement.]
That was true, based upon the information you had at the time. Since you didn’t use your glasses to look at the seedpod you had no way of knowing there were more Sevens. I’m able to scan the entire planet down to the molecular level, but cannot provide you with that information unless you unlock the relevant catalogs. It would be cheating to give you access to that much information for free.
[It would be extremely helpful to Skyler and I] I pouted
The Protectors sent us here to help you learn, and uplift your race over time. How would you learn, and grow, if you relied upon us to do everything?
[Fine, I see your point. I guess Skyler and I are just going to have to invest in more sensor techs in the future, so you can provide us with that information.]
That’s the spirit. Now ready for that sword?
I bounced on the balls of my feet for another few seconds, trying to get used to the feeling of my new boots, before finally nodding. [Give it to me.]
Instead of a plastic box, the weapon appeared on the bench next to me, sitting on a plastic display stand. The sheath was a dark crimson color, and appeared to be covered in an ornate black and gold inlay pattern. As soon as I picked up the sheath I could feel how well balanced the weapon was, without even having to pull it.
The ‘Rending Wind’ Monomolecular Disintegrator Blade. While your previous blade was extremely sharp, it still relied on the physical blade to do damage. This blade has a built in field emitter that coats the cutting edge with an energy which disintegrates matter at a molecular level. Watch your fingers with that. The field can even be extended, to deal with larger targets, by pressing that button at the top of the hilt. I recommend you use this ability sparingly, as it drains the emitter’s power quite quickly.
As I drew the sword the back of the APC was filled with a quiet hum. The blade was engraved with some symbols that I didn’t recognize, and the cutting edge glowed with a faint purple color. It was mesmerizing.
I would not recommend swinging that in here. I know you don’t actually care for the numbers, but the Class II Blades in the Dark catalog cost three hundred points, and a token. The blade cost you two hundred fifty, and the boots fifty.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
I carefully eased the sword back into its sheath. [Six hundred? That’s it?]
That’s more than three times what you paid for the original catalog, and more than twice what you paid for the first sword. You only have twenty six points left.
[I’ll make do] I replied as I slowly detached my first blade, securing it in a corner of the APC, before attaching my new weapon.
“Alright, now we’ve eaten,” Emily started as she stood up and brushed the crumbs off her mouth, “and you’ve finished your shopping spree, we should probably discuss where to go next.”
“I vote we skip the next location!” Skyler said as she jumped to her feet, before shifting over towards the display.
“Why? What’s the next location?” I asked suspiciously.
“It’ll only make you mad…” Skyler warned, but I still reached over and changed the display to show our objective locations. I quickly located the closest location to us.
“You have to be fucking with me,” I muttered.
“What? Is there a problem with the next location?” Emily asked, confused.
“Not the location, just the owner,” I growled. “It’s the Tanaka Industries sales office. Why am I not surprised that the slimeball cut corners instead of installing proper shelters in his buildings?” Emily eyed me up. I could see was dying to ask me more, but she was too polite to do so. “Hwan Tanaka is my father, and a real bastard,” I said, somehow managing to keep the vitriol I felt out of my voice. Emily’s eyebrows rose a couple inches at my explanation. “That being said, his employees don’t deserve to be abandoned just because the one they’re working for is the world’s biggest asshole!” the longer I talked the more my voice raised, until I shouted the last part.
Skyler pulled me into a hug, slowly stroking my hair while I tried to calm down. “That asshole really pushed your buttons today, didn’t he? I thought you brushed off the meeting a little too fast earlier.” It took me a minute to get myself under control, and when I did Skyler put her head against mine. “Are you sure you want to go to the office? No one would blame you if you wanted to skip it.”
I nodded slightly. “I meant what I said earlier. I can’t blame those people for working for a shitty boss, they deserve to be protected just like everyone else,” I told her quietly.
“Alright,” she pulled me in for a long hug then stepped back. “Next stop, the Tanaka Industries sales office,” she announced loudly.
Emily nodded slowly, eyeing me up for a second before leaning down to let Jockey know.
We made the rest of the trip in relative silence. I spent that time trying to center myself, and separate my feelings for my father from those people inside, while Skyler gently rested her head on my shoulder, just supporting me with her presence.
The APC came to a slow stop. The cannon barked a couple times, but didn’t need to fire consistently like the previous locations.
“Don’t forget to take off Lala. I know you want to protect her, but she’ll be safer in the APC than in that building,” I told Skyler. I caught her pouting out of the corner of my eye as I stepped away, but she still put the kitty down.
I quickly made my way to the back of the vehicle, then jumped out before the ramp fully lowered. The area was completely dark. The sun had fallen behind the surrounding buildings, and the power was still out, so I had to flick my glasses to night vision mode. The surrounding area was clear of antithesis, but I could see signs of their presence everywhere. Broken windows and dug up greenery, but I didn’t see more than a few antithesis bodies around the area.
“Maybe they already moved to another location?” Skyler suggested as she slipped down the ramp to join me. Her mask glowed slightly, probably with its own little vision mode.
“Do they do that?” I asked.
“There are only two reasons for the antithesis to leave an area, either they’ve consumed all the biomass in the area, or a hive has developed nearby and they’re delivering biomass to it,” Bulldog declared as he sauntered down the ramp.
I noticed the entire team had both shoulder mounted, and gun mounted flashlights to light up their way. Practical. “Let’s hope there’s a third option you haven’t witnessed before,” I replied before I finally turned to face the Tanaka Industries building. It was a fairly large office building, about nine or ten stories tall and absolutely covered in glass windows. Nearly half of the ground floor windows were shattered. “What floor is this shelter located on?” I asked.
“There’s one in the basement, a second on the third floor, and a third on the ninth,” Emily reported. “According to the file all three lacked a generator the last time they were inspected, but were supposed to have them installed at a later date.”
“Yeah, well, I doubt that actually happened,” I muttered to myself. I took a deep breath to steady myself, then took a couple steps forward. “Let's see how bad the damage is,” I said.