Your big conspiracy theory is that the Cascadian government does favors for the samurai? Of course they fucking do. I doubt they’ll bend over backwards for any of them, but performing little favors keeps the samurai happy, and protecting our cities instead of fucking off for better places? I’m honestly more surprised that more megacities don’t do more.

- Colonel Reginald Anderson, during troop training.

—

As we stepped into the mobile headquarters Skyler paused for a second and looked around. I’d nearly forgotten she’d been stuck inside the incursion zone ever since awakening, and hadn’t been here before.

I gently nudged her forward and approached the central planning table. Both the military attache and Family coordinator had stepped away, leaving the Cascadian military commander at the table. “I see you made it back in one piece, and you even managed to pull our other new samurai out of the fire. Well done,” Adriana said as we stepped forward. “I’m Adriana Howard, Cascadian command, and you are?” she asked my partner.

“Skyler Madison,” Skyler replied, throwing out a hand. “No samurai name yet.”

The older woman took her hand and gave it a firm handshake before straightening up. “I’ve been getting your reports. Very thorough, as I’ve come to expect from a samurai. I’d love to go through them with you, but unfortunately I don’t have a ton of time. The situation is significantly worse than we first thought.”

Skyler and I exchanged a quick glance.

{Rei: I didn’t write any reports, did you?}

{Sky: Did you see me pull out a tablet at any point back there? I didn’t have the time either.}

{Athy: That was me. I spent a few microseconds summarizing each of your encounters. I like doing paperwork, it helps me keep the memory banks organized.}

“We will probably need your help in the next few days,” Adriana said, causing me to focus on her instead of our own little conversation, “so please leave your contact information with Corporal Adams before leaving.” She paused after a moment and looked at Skyler and me, “Was there anything else?”

I shifted my weight, suddenly uncomfortable with the attention. I really didn’t want to have this discussion, but it was now or never. “I do have something to discuss, but it’s a little sensitive. Could we go somewhere a little more private?”

Adriana raised an eyebrow, then gestured to a set of stairs at the back. “There’s a conference room upstairs.”

I nodded, and headed up the narrow metal stairs. The door at the top slid open revealing a modest metal conference room, a set of chairs, and someone I really wasn’t expecting. “Howdy kid, fancy meeting you here,” Grey said from across the room. She had her feet up on the table, and was half way through what looked like a bucket of chicken. Instead of the skintight nanite bodysuit I saw her in before, she appeared to be wearing a casual light blue jogging suit.

“Ummm… hi?” I replied blankly. “What are you doing here?”

“Taking a break,” Grey replied before taking a quick bite of chicken. “I’d been fighting for hours and when Vulkyn, my AI, informed me of the situation I decided I should have a quick discussion with Adriana before I grabbed food.”

“What situation?” Skyler asked.

Grey glanced at her for a moment, then shrugged. “This incursion isn’t limited to Vancouver, it seems to have hit most major cities, simultaneously.” Skyler paled slightly, but Grey just kept talking. “We’re also seeing movement outside the city. Possible rogue antithesis, but since everyone’s been focused on the incursion we don’t have confirmation. It’s a real shitshow.” Grey took another bite of chicken. “We’ll probably need both of you to chip in the next few days.” She sighed, put down her chicken, then sat up, “Now, what can I do for you?”

“I actually had something to discuss with Adriana,” I admitted. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“Grey is one of the most senior samurai in the city, and considering you were so new, I figured you might want her experience,” Adriana said as she stepped past me and took a seat at the table.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“It’s not really a samurai issue though,” I said quietly.

“That’s fine, I don’t mind,” Grey replied. “What’s the problem?”

Skyler gently guided me to the front of the table then took the seat next to me. I took a deep breath, and told them. “As you probably know we were asked to investigate a couple shelters that lost power during the incursion, and which might have been compromised. One of those locations was a Tanaka Industries building.”

“And the shelters there were compromised?” Grey asked.

I shook my head, “They were all fine, but on the top floor we found an illegal cybernetics clinic.”

“I don’t find that surprising. I’ve read a couple reports about Tanaka performing suspicious activities over the last month, I don’t see why you’d want to discuss this with me in private,” Adriana said.

“Part of the clinic was dedicated to mental manipulation, and puppet implants,” I finished.

The room went quiet. After a few seconds Adriana leaned forward, her previously loose hands balled into fists. “That’s a pretty huge accusation, and a massive issue if true. The Cascadian government does not look kindly on slavery of any kind. Why would you want to keep this under wraps?”

“I don’t, that’s why I’m reporting this. All I’m asking is you try and keep the investigation quiet. I don’t give a shit if you arrest my father, and force the shitstain to spend the rest of his life in prison, but I’m worried about how it’ll look. My grandfather built that company from the ground up, and my father ruined it. If it’s announced that Tanaka Industries was dealing in slave implants, people will inevitably ask how long they’d been getting away with it. If they dealt in that shit while my grandfather was alive,” I took a deep breath to center myself. I didn’t want to cry here. “I know my grandfather would never have allowed this, and I don’t want his name dragged through the mud for it.”

Adriana stared at me for a minute then let out a long breath. “I make no promises, but I’ll pass your request up the line. The government likes to try and stay on the good side of the local samurai, and if your father is as corrupt as you say I’m sure they can find something to pin on him personally, instead of taking down the company. That being said, there’s no way they’ll let this go unpunished, so be prepared.”

I nodded slightly, and Adriana stood up. She glanced around the table at everyone, then saluted. “If you’ll excuse me, I have even more phone calls to make.” As she made her way out of the room I heard her mutter, “It’s nothing but bad news today.”

I pulled out the chair at the head of the table and slumped into it. Even though I was a practiced public speaker, deep down I’d been terrified that Adriana might have reacted badly to my request. That actually went better than I was expecting.

“You really care about your grandfather, huh?” Grey asked.

I struggled to sit up straight, I’d forgotten the woman was there for a minute.

“He was a good man,” I said solemnly. “He always lived with a personal code of honor. Respect everyone, protect the less fortunate, and share what you can.” I laughed lightly. “He always said my father was his greatest disappointment.”

“He created a ton of scholarships, and social funds, which is where Tanaka built up all its government credit. It’s how I managed to become a lawyer. All that’s history now,” Skyler added.

Grey looked between us. “Did you two know each other before tonight? You seem close.”

“Reina’s my girlfriend!” Skyler declared without an ounce of shame as she reached over and pulled me into an embrace.

“And proud of it,” I added, despite blushing heavily.

Grey just raised an eyebrow. “Huh,” was all she said.

She grabbed her chicken with one hand, while pulling out her chair with the other. “I’ve already had Vulkyn update the system with your contact info, so expect someone to visit you tomorrow. Like I said we’ll probably need your help, but considering this is your first day, and you’ve been out all day already, you should probably rest.” She made it most of the way around the room before pausing, and smacking herself in the forehead. “The rite of passage! I need to give you nicknames!” she declared.

“That’s actually a thing?” Skyler asked.

“Yup, and I’d hate to leave it, and give Collateral a chance to name you,” Grey said. “The man’s super effective in combat, but has the naming sense of a rock.”

She stared at me for a moment, “I’ll call you… Meiyo Aru Kaze. That’s Honorable Wind in Japanese.”

“Why?” was all I could think of saying.

“Because family honor seems to be a big deal to you, and you always see those anime where the martial artists harness the elements. I would have given you the English version, but there are already three other Honorable Winds in the database, all self named. Two of which are dead.” Grey sighed, “Third doesn’t know the meaning of honor either.”

While I was trying to figure out how to take that she turned to Skyler. “And you can be… Cleansing Rain. I’ve pulled up a little bit of your footage, and you like to rain shells down upon your enemy, simple enough.”

“It seems like you put a lot more thought into Reina’s name than mine,” Skyler pouted.

“Well, that’s true, but I met her earlier and just met you a couple minutes ago. Besides, that Japanese name was Vulkyn’s idea,” Grey replied before dropping the rest of her chicken in a nearby garbage can. “Have a good night kiddies, I’ll talk to you later, alright?” she declared as she stepped outside, leaving Skyler and I alone.

“Meiyo Aru Kaze…” I muttered, letting the name roll around in my mouth. “It’s kind of a mouthful, but I like it.”