“Renia, I know what’s best for everyone, you better start listening to me or…” The human slimeball following me around just didn’t know when to stop, so I just did my best to tune him out. For some reason he’d followed me out of the main building of the penthouse estate, and towards my grandfather's shrine, located in a small outbuilding on the far side of the roof. As we passed through the elaborate gardens that separated the two buildings, the plants flickered, revealing the holo emitters and bare concrete underneath. It was all style, no substance, just like everything else here.

Since my jackass of a father wouldn’t stop ranting, I stepped into the building, and sealed the door behind me. That instantly cut off both access from the outside, and my father’s hypocritical rambling.

My grandfather was super traditional, and had a core set of values which he lived for. Family. Honor. Integrity. Respect. He was a good man. My father, on the other hand, was a flaming pile of garbage that preached the same values to the public, while pissing on them in private. He leveled the family estate as soon as grandfather died, built a gaudy replica at the top of a megabuilding, changed the family company to be extremely cutthroat, and all but kicked my mother and I out.

I was surprised when he invited me back to the house, so I could pay my respects to my grandfather on the fifth anniversary of his death and, to be honest, I should have realized he had ulterior motives at that time.

The instant I arrived at the house he started spouting off about the importance of family, and how vital it was that I joined the company. When I refused, he went into a rage, threatening to destroy my grandfather's shrine if I didn’t cooperate. It was only then that I realized the the fucking worthless asshole probably did all this as part of some fucked up plan to use me improve his public image, or get his hands on the shares I inherited.

That's why I stormed out of the main house.

Just thinking about it was making my blood boil, so I leaned back against the door, closed my eyes, took a deep breath in, and slowly let it out. This was not the place to have a meltdown.

Once I was a little calmer, I stepped towards the front of the shrine. It was basic, grandfather wouldn’t have wanted anything extravagant, and father wouldn’t have paid for anything nicer. The building was done in the traditional japanese style, and although it was built out of fake wood and polymers, it was still tasteful. At the far end of the room lay my grandfather’s ashes, a tasteful photo, a few momentos, and his katana.

I knelt down, and laid out the offerings I’d brought to pay my respects. I’d just started my prayers, when something struck the door, causing it to shake violently. I turned towards the door, and watched it deform under the next blow. It wouldn’t last long.

“Sorry grandfather, I’ll make it up to you,” I whispered to the old man’s picture, before carefully placing his ashes, photo and various nicknacks into the messenger bag at my side. The katana wouldn’t fit, so I strapped it to my side. Once everything was packed away I stepped up to the entrance of the shrine pausing momentarily as another impact shook the door, then pulled it open.

Outside, my father was doing a great impression of a bright red toad. He was surrounded by half a dozen highly augmented goons, the kind of assholes you’d expect to see standing next to a gangster, rather than the CEO of a mega corporation.

“Renia, explain yourself!” the pile of garbage demanded.

“Since you threatened to destroy grandfather’s shrine, just to get me to work with you,” I said, striding past the first set of goons, “I’ve decided to take him with me. At least my mother and I will give him the respect he deserves.” I did my best to maintain my pace, heading towards the lift out of here. Maybe, with a little luck I’d manage to get out before the moron did something stupid.

“STOP HER!” came the rage-filled call from behind me.

I knew this would happen, I was never that lucky.

The nearest gorilla reached out to grab me, moving much faster than any normal human, and I simply reacted. With a single movement I drew my grandfather’s katana, severed the mechanical limb, then swept around, coming to a stop a few inches from my father’s throat. I’m not sure who was more surprised, me, the goon, or my father. At least I managed to keep the surprise off my face.

“Ummm… Renia?”

“Shut up,” I snarled. “You lure me over by pretending to respect my grandfather, then threaten me as soon as I get here? You make me sick.” He started to say something, so I just pressed the katana a little closer, and he stopped. “I don’t know what you’re really after, and honestly, I don't fucking care. You approach me or my mother again, and I’ll sell all my shares off to your biggest competitor. Fuck. Off.”

To his credit the oaf managed to nod, despite the blade at his throat. I left it there for a few more seconds, seriously considering if murdering him would be worth it, before sheathing the blade and stomping off to the lift. I managed to keep up my tough facade right up until the door closed, then collapsed on the floor hugging my satchel. “I’ve never been so glad you made me take martial arts, Grandpa,” I whispered into the side of the bag, “but fuck… I had no idea your blade was so good. I’m sorry I had to soil it on one of that asshole’s goons.”

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As I sat on the floor of the lift, I stared out the massive glass window on the side of the elevator, as the lights of the other mega buildings whizzed by. It was quiet, calming, and by the time I’d reached the upper parking level I finally managed to pull myself back together again.

The doors cracked open, revealing another one of my father’s enforcers, standing at attention. The two of us stared at each other for several long seconds. “Are we going to have issues?” I asked.

“No ma’am,” he replied, stepping to the side.

“Good.” I gave him a wide berth as I stepped into the garage and headed towards my vehicle. It was quiet, which wasn’t surprising; Most people in a high class building like this had private parking attached to their residences, and the parking garage was only for guests.

As soon as I saw my car I sent the unlock code through my augs, expecting the lights to flash like usual, but nothing happened. I frowned, and slowly made my way closer to the vehicle. I was only a few steps away when I finally noticed the damage around the hood, like it had been forced open. My heart sank as I popped it open, only to find the battery had been ripped out, and the engine trashed.

“MOTHERFUCKER, I knew he let me go too easily!” I yelled, kicking the bumper. The old man probably ordered it earlier, to keep me around longer, so he could try and convince me he was right. What kind of asshole would sabotage his own daughter’s car?

I stared at the mess for a long moment, before closing the hood again. If he thought I’d stick around for car problems, he had another thing coming. I’d take public transit if I had to, anything was better than staying here.

As I jogged towards the public elevator I did my best to avoid my father’s monkey. With any luck he was assigned exclusively to protect the private lift and wouldn’t come looking for me. As I said before, my luck never was any good. The goon came walking around the corner just as I stepped onto the lift.

“Miss, stop!” he cried, as his augmented legs propelled him toward me.

“Fuck no,” I replied, as I hammered the close-door button, cutting him off before he reached me. The old man probably had more men on the ground floor, fortunately I knew he still cared about his public image, so I could probably just make a fuss and they’d let me go. Unfortunately I didn’t get that far, as the elevator suddenly stopped and kicked me out on a random floor. I was confused for a moment, but then the cause flashed across my augs.

Incursion Detected

Remain Calm, Proceed to the nearest shelter.

“Of course there’s an incursion. Wonderful end to the night,” I snapped. It probably wasn’t the right attitude to have when alien plants were invading, but I didn’t care. My day had already been shit, and I was feeling fucking snarky. At least It was better than the mix of fear and panic I should have been feeling.

With a thought I brought up the emergency plan for the area. I was stuck on the third floor, and from what I could tell the nearest shelter was across the street. All the apartments in this building were hardened, and had emergency evacuation plans, so apparently that meant no need for a shelter.

It also meant someone outside one of them, like myself, was fucked.

“Ok, take it one step at a time. Get to ground level, cross the street, get into the shelter before it closes. No problem,” I whispered as I patted the bag at my side, “sorry for getting you into this, Gramps.” He didn’t reply, of course, but it made me feel better.

I sprinted down the hallway, remembering to stop and peek around the corners at intersections for possible danger. The stairs weren’t far away, but I didn’t want to take any chances and end up as plant chow. The floor was clear, so I made it to the stairs without issue, smashed the door open, and sprinted downwards, descending three steps at a time.

I’d just about made it to the ground floor when the gunfire started. I briefly considered heading back up to the second floor, but before I could, the door to the lobby burst open. One of the building security officers slid through the door, followed a moment later by a gruesome dog-shaped creature, which clamped its jaws around his neck and shook. There was a sharp crack, then the guard lay still.

The creature made no noise, it just left the guard on the ground and turned towards me. I stared at it for a moment, frozen in shock, before the creature pounced. I shrieked, dived to the side and pulled the katana once more. Even though I swung wildly, the blade still struck one of the creature’s front legs. There was a sound of snapping wood as it was severed from the body, sending the creature tumbling past me. It skidded across the mid floor landing, scrambled about on three legs, trying to recover, while I pulled myself to my feet and rushed forward to meet it.

As the creature snapped, struggling forward to bite me, I thrust the katana forward, using the superior range to impale the dog through the left eye. It shuddered and thrashed about, while I used all my strength to keep the blade embedded in the beast. After several long moments it finally lay still. I slumped down on the landing, exhausted. “Fuck me,” I whispered to myself.

There was a small tingle, followed by a beep, somewhere in my brain.

System Initialized.

Congratulations. Through your actions you have proven yourself worthy of becoming one of the Vanguard, a defender of humanity. I am Artemys. I will assist you to uplift humanity so that you may defend your homeworld from the Antithesis threat. Rise Renia Tanaka, and become a protector of the weak!

“Fuck me!” I exclaimed again.

Now, now, no time for that, you have work to do.