As the fire department got to work on the burning buildings we picked our way back across the battlefield, returning to the hotel by a different route. That let us harvest a few more bodies along the way, and pad out our already substantial rewards.
By the time we got back to the hotel some of the other guests had emerged from their rooms, and there were several armed groups nosing around the parking lot. Some seemed to be looking for monsters to harvest, while others were securing the area or just checking their vehicles for damage. The front doors were still blocked by the hell cow that had tried to break in, so we re-entered through the back.
Beth intercepted us at the elevators. “Tom! Jenny! You made it back. How bad is it out there?”
“Pretty bad,” I said. “The monsters killed a lot of people, and there’s a whole cluster of stores and restaurants that are going to end up gutted by the fires. But it looks like they’re getting things under control. The police showed up with a bunch of deputies and militiamen, and wiped out the ones we didn’t get.”
“That’s good,” she said, sounding relieved. “I’m so glad I was able to organize that defense force you suggested. I don’t know what we would have done if it was only a couple of deputies on duty down here.”
“So it’s working out?”
“Yes, we’ve got thirty volunteers working in shifts to keep watch. I set aside room 517 as a break room for them, and we’re keeping two people there and two more down here with the deputies at all times.”
“Sounds like a good start,” I said. “Did anything ever attack us during the night?”
She shook her head. “Not a thing, before the cows. It seems that between my guards and your defenses the building is relatively safe.”
“Unless the next monster can fly, or turn invisible, or just set fire to the building,” Jenny said. “We’re lucky the lobby area is all glass and steel, or that hell cow might have done us in.”
Beth sighed. “What do you want me to do, Jenny? I can send someone to get fire extinguishers. Is there anything else we can do? I don’t think anywhere else in this town is going to be any better.”
“No, this is about the best we can hope for at the moment,” I agreed. “The building is pretty solid for modern construction, and the brick façade should resist fire and acid pretty well. Just don’t let people get complacent. That won’t be the last attack on the town.”
“Maybe I should put you in charge of our defenses,” Beth said, putting her hand on my arm. “You seem to be good at that kind of thing.”
“Eager to have me working under you?” I asked.
“Would that be so bad?” She purred.
“I think we’d butt heads a lot,” I replied. “I’m not the type to take orders from just anyone.”
“Clearly not. I suppose we’ll all have to settle the leadership question at some point, but perhaps now is not the time.”
“Uh oh, dom war,” Jenny laughed. “You sure you’d end up on top, Beth? Tom’s getting really powerful.”
Beth’s eyes flashed. “Hush, pet. The adults are talking.”
Jenny made an adorable little squeak, and stopped talking.
I chuckled, and put my hand on Jenny’s shoulder. “As fun as it might be to continue this, I’ve got work to do. You’ll have to keep one of your minions in charge of security, Beth. Unless you want Earl to do it. Where is he, anyway?”
“Ugh! That man is impossible,” Beth said with a pout. “He doesn’t listen to a word I say, and he’s too busy building his little harem to help out. Can you believe I saw Amanda talking with his girls while you were out? I thought she was smarter than that.”
“Amanda? Smart? She’s a rich, pampered daddy’s girl with no life experience. The only way she’s going to survive the next month is if the rest of us look out for her, and I think deep down she knows it. Plus, she did tell us she’s a switch. It wouldn’t surprise me if she started shopping for a protector.”
“Perhaps. I have a bad feeling about it, but he isn’t going to give me honest answers and I don’t know that I can trust hers. Just promise me I don’t have to worry about this sort of thing from you as well?”
“Jenny is worth ten of Sara,” I said. “I don’t know why Earl thinks collecting a harem is a good idea, but he’s being an idiot. My priority is not getting eaten by monsters in the next few days.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Well, I need to get things organized. You’ll be in your room?”
“Yeah, I’m going to work on making some armor. Oh, but I did have a thought. It might be a good idea to make friends with a trucker who has a big rig handy, just in case things get out of hand here. There’s not much that could stop an eighteen wheeler with a cattle guard welded to the front.”
Jenny raised her hand.
“Yes, Jenny?” Beth said, sounding amused.
“A greyhound bus might work too. You know, one of those big inter-city ones with a bathroom in the back? And holy crap that was hot. How did you do that? You didn’t even hypnotize me.”
“Silly girl. I don’t need to do a whole scene with you to remind you of your place. Girls like you are always eager for direction. Tom, that’s a good idea. I’ll have someone look into it. Oh, and could you take a look at the doors in a bit? I’m going to organize a group to drag that body away, but we’ll need your skills to repair the entrance.”
“Sure, I can do that. I’ve got a few things to take care of upstairs, then I’ll come back down and take a look at it.”
“Thank you, Tom. I’ll be in the office if you need me.”
She made a production out of turning and swaying away on her high heels. It was a sight well worth watching. Had she gotten better looking overnight?
“What an ass,” Jenny breathed. “Are you sure you don’t want her, Tom? She’s practically begging you to dom her and make her like it.”
“Uh huh. Are you sure you aren’t just scheming to get both of us working you over?” I said skeptically.
Jenny squirmed. “Maybe. You have to admit, that would be really hot. You could order her to train me for you, and do all kinds of long, involved scenes you don’t have time for.”
I groaned. Sometimes I really think I’d be better off teaming up with people who aren’t so into hypnotic mind games. Maybe they’d be more focused on actually surviving this mess.
Nah. They’d just put the same amount of energy into normal relationship drama. If I’m going to be surrounded by distractions, they might as well be fun ones.
We made it back to our room without any problems, and Jenny immediately switched herself back to normal mode and started to undress.
“So much for aura keeping me clean. It didn’t do a thing about the smoke and ash, or stuff I touched on purpose. I’m going to take a shower, and try to figure out how to get blood out of my clothes before I end up with nothing to wear. The internet is still up, right? I remember there was a trick for that, but not what it was.”
“Go ahead.”
Some bit of paranoia led me to check the window and glance into each room of the little suite before putting my gun down. But no, everything seemed to be fine here.
I let the girls shower first, since I hadn’t gotten nearly as dirty as they did. When I was finished I came out to find Jenny in the kitchen area, soaking her blue jeans in the sink while Shasa watched curiously.
“Before you get too involved in other things, I think we need to do some strategizing on our builds. We just picked up around thirty points each. There’s bound to be something important we could do with them.”
“Probably,” Jenny agreed. “I think our party roles are pretty well established, but I worry about what happens if we run into something we can’t beat. So far most of the monsters could outrun us.”
“Movement buffs are a definite possibility. Better stealth would be good, too. Or maybe sensory enhancements. It would be really nice if we could spot monsters from a distance, and shoot them instead of having to go hand to hand.”
“Yeah, but we can’t count on spotting everything,” Jenny pointed out. “My map says the area around the town is level four today, and I see some places up in the hills that are six or seven. I’m not sure how bad that is, but I bet we’d need a lot more firepower to kill it than we have now.”
I pulled up my status screen, and studied the numbers. “Yeah, and we’ve got other distractions too. I’m worried about Earl and Beth. I need to put another point or two into resistance to mind control, but I’m worried about that turning into an arms race.”
Jenny sighed. “I’m not thrilled about it either. I mean, yeah, it would be super hot if you three got into some kind of mind control war, and I got seduced and corrupted and passed back and forth until the best dom inevitably wins. Only I don’t know that I can trust those two to keep things in good fun, and I’m definitely afraid that if you all get that distracted we’ll end up as monster chow.”
“Not to mention the ethical issues,” I pointed out.
“Not my problem,” she replied with a grin. “You wanted to be a dom, that means you get to worry about all the thorny mind control morality issues. Me, I’m just a helpless victim who can’t be held responsible for anything.”
“Impossible wench,” I grumbled. “Well, we can’t just leave. We need better transportation, and three people isn’t a big enough group to be viable anyway. So we’re going to have to deal with them for at least a few more days. I’ll just have to handle them carefully until we can either recruit more people or join a better group.”
“Beth can’t be getting many points,” Jenny observed. “I think dinner was the only time she’s left the building since she got here. If we keep farming XP we’ll leave her so far behind she won’t be a threat anymore. Earl is another story, though. I bet he’s been harvesting dead people, plus whatever monsters he ran into working with the ambulances. So I guess the question is, can we work with him, or is he inevitably going to betray you and try to add me and Shasa to his harem?”
I considered what I knew about Earl.
“I have the impression he’s one of those guys who thinks women are all waiting for some dominant alpha male to make them submit, and he’s doing them a favor by turning them into his harem girls.”
“It’s not rape if they get hearts in their eyes,” Jenny joked. “Yeah, that seems about right. He was really macho before things went crazy, and now he’s going around killing monsters and melting panties. So what, you think you’re safe because you’re a guy?”
“Not necessarily. But I don’t think he’s going to be reckless about burning bridges. He knows he needs someone to watch his back, and I can’t see him trusting his girls to do that. So he needs to form alliances with some guys who won’t object to him having a harem, and that only works if you’re not fighting each other over women. I bet that’s why he called dibs on Beth and Amanda so fast.”
“Uh huh. Want me to find out how he’s treating his girls? He’s bound to go out today, and I could visit Sara while he’s gone.”
“I was planning to spend a few hours trying to figure out how to make a decent suit of armor,” I told her. “So that should work out. But I want you to have better mental defenses if you’re going to try that.”
“No way! What if I end up making myself immune to hypnotism? We’ve barely even had a chance to play with things. I’m not giving it up so fast.”
“What if he does something to you?” I objected. “Depending on how fast his power works, you might not be able to stop him.”
“You mean, what if the badass redneck melts my brain with sexy one-word commands, and turns me into a submissive sex toy? I don’t know, Tom. I guess you’d just have to take me back, and make me remember who I belong to. Sounds like fun, hmm?”
Jesus fuck, this girl was killing me.
“But Jenny, what if you get eaten by an evil bush?” Shasa put in. “Playing with boys is one thing, but I don’t want you to die.”
Jenny looked conflicted at that. “I guess you have a point. But what if there are tentacle monsters out there? Think of all the amazing experiences I could miss out on! Besides, I have so many things to spend my points on. I need way better physical stats, and I wanted to try to get an invisibility power.”
“Look, we’re not asking you to blow all your points on it,” I said. “Just put a point or two into something like willpower or mental resistance. There may even be a way to designate what it works on, if you really want to leave holes in your defenses.”
“A woman who can’t be seduced is in for a lonely life,” Jenny said. “Alright, but if I’m going to do that then you’d better invest a point or two in stepping up your game. I’m going to be really disappointed if it ever gets to where you have trouble hypnotizing me.”
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“Deal,” I agreed.
Of course, that was just the beginning. We had an extended discussion about how to spend the rest of our points, with a lot of questions to the System about how to do various things. Jenny was convinced that we needed to focus on maximum combat power, so we could stay ahead of the zone’s leveling curve and keep hunting monsters for more points. Which made sense, but I was skeptical about our odds of getting another massive payday like the hell cows. It took a big group effort to kill that many monsters, and usually there would be more people competing to harvest the bodies afterwards.
Which meant we were probably in for a long grind against monsters that were substantially tougher than us. To survive that we needed to be able to control the action, picking our battles and evading encounters we couldn’t win. Yes, firepower was important, but so were mobility, situational awareness and support abilities like healing and fast mana recovery.
Fortunately we had enough points to try for a balanced build. We all put a few points into physical fitness, running speed, stealth and alertness, bringing the whole team up to a solid level of competence at playing ranger in the woods. We all bought up our defense auras a few points, and took that aura control skill Jenny had found. At Shasa’s suggestion we all invested a point in heat resistance, to make running around outside in heavy armor a bit more practical. After some research I also had everyone take a version of improved night vision that didn’t seem to have any drawbacks.
Beyond that there was more specialization.
As our party tank Shasa dumped a lot of her points into strength and toughness. At our suggestion she used the mental points she’d gotten from dead humans to buy some basic skills with her shield and mace, while using some of the magic to turn her growl into an attack that would intimidate weak foes and draw the attention of stronger ones.
Actual invisibility turned out to be impractical, but Jenny enhanced her stealth skill into something almost as good. She also bought magic-enhanced jumping and climbing abilities, to help with avoiding enemies and getting into position for sneak attacks, and improved her weapon skills with the mental points she’d collected. Her physical enhancements were focused more on speed and endurance than strength, but she’d gotten so many points from the hell cows that she was getting well into superhuman territory.
As for me, I was pretty happy with the performance of my current combat spells. I spent a point each on a bigger mana pool and faster recovery so I’d be able to spam more spells, and left my last two magic points unspent in case I needed to pick up a new spell in the future. My last mental point upgraded my marksmanship to a more expert level, which seemed important since I was relying almost entirely on ranged attacks.
That left me with fourteen physical points I wasn’t sure what to do with, along with six universal points still left over from the demon centipede. I put two into strength, just to make sure Jenny didn’t get ahead of me there, and discovered an interesting tradeoff. I had the option to get stronger by having bigger muscles, which was cheap and would eventually turn me into a hulking muscle man like Bob. Or I could make the strength boost magical, which was a bit more expensive but wouldn’t affect my appearance at all. Jenny was clearly going that route, since she’d mentioned she had four points in strength now but she looked more like a fitness model than a weightlifter.
After some thought I decided to split the difference for now. Being visibly buff has some advantages for a man, but taking it too far would start to cause issues.
As for the rest? I dropped another four points into defense aura, because being a tanky mage is more survivable than being a squishy one. The rest I decided to hold in reserve until this evening, in case I ran into a problem I could solve by buying something.
The whole process took quite a while, so when I finally made it back downstairs Beth’s work party had long since dragged the dead cow out of the doorway. I found Earl butchering the carcass, dropping hefty cuts of beef into an ice chest as he worked.
“That looks like a fun job,” I commented.
“Be a shame to let all this food go to waste. Besides, if we make a habit of eating our kills it will make our civilians easy to protect.”
“Fair point. Is Beth in on this?”
He nodded. “Her boys just hauled off the first load. She had them buy a couple of big freezers yesterday, and set them up in a spare room in the back. So they can store a fair bit, and they’ll go room to room handing out the rest. I hear you’re fixing the doors?”
“If I can. Damn, that thing really made a mess of them, didn’t it?”
One door had been wrenched completely off its hinges, while the other was crumpled like a car had hit it. All the glass was broken, of course, and the whole frame was warped. Fortunately that part was metal, so my shaping spell would work on it, but I might just have to buy an upgrade to deal with this.
“Be glad it was a steer, and not a hog,” Earl said. “Feral ones are bad enough when they’re just animals. A monster version would have killed the guards and torn through half the downstairs before it realized it was dead.”
“Yeah, we need better defenses or this place isn’t going to last long. The System map says this area is threat level four, and if that’s what the hell cows qualify as then a level ten attack would eat half the town.”
“You’re assuming the whole herd of cows counts as a rank four threat,” Earl said. “I’m not so sure the System regulates things that tightly. I think the threat level just tells you how tough the average monster is, and they can group up however they want.”
“You think a bunch of cows planned out an organized attack on the town?”
“Hah. No, these things are as dumb as they look. But there’s something intelligent out there, directing the monsters. Maybe it’s the System, or maybe there are boss monsters. However it works, the attacks yesterday were getting more organized as the day went on. There were a lot of random attacks in the morning, but later on they concentrated more and more on vulnerable targets. Farms that had trouble beating off an attack would get hit again and again, until they either gave up or died. Towards the end of the day the monsters were attacking in bigger groups, and there were a couple of tries at ambushing the ambulances.”
I thought of that bird that had been with the hell cows. Had it been giving them orders? Or perhaps relaying instructions from somewhere else? I’d only caught a brief glimpse of how the monsters interacted, but it certainly seemed that way.
“The more we know, the worse things look,” I grumbled. “But at least the situation is taking time to develop. I figured I’d see if the town does something intelligent about the security situation today, and react accordingly. Although we should probably be getting ready to move on, just in case.”
“We’re on the same wavelength there, buddy. The girls are already trying to put down roots and convince themselves they’re safe here, but that’s just women being women. I figure we need to get a plan ready today, because odds are it’s all going to go to hell. My next stop is going to be the marina down on the river. I hear there’s a lot of fancy boats there, thanks to the summer crowd.”
“They get vacationers up here? I was wondering why a town this size had so many hotels. You know, I’m not sure if a boat is a great idea or a terrible one. Avoiding all the land-bound monsters would be nice, but I don’t think any of us have skills for fighting water monsters.”
“I’m thinking a barge or tugboat with a nice steel hull, instead of that flimsy fiberglass they use for fishing boats. Make them come out of the water to get at us, and we can handle them. So, I’m sure you’ve noticed what Beth is up to. What’s your take?”
“You mean, the way she’s hypnotized all the staff? I’m not thrilled about it, but as long as she’s just trying to make everyone work together I’m not going to make an issue of it.”
Earl chuckled. “You’re not thinking like a woman, buddy. Once she gets this militia firmly under her thumb, how long do you think it’ll before she gets a crew together to come after us? Probably try to take us off guard, one at a time.”
I frowned at him. “Why would she do that?”
“A woman like that doesn’t stop pushing until someone stops her,” he replied. “She can’t help but challenge every man she meets, hoping she’ll find one that can handle her.”
I snorted. Yeah, Earl was definitely one of those guys. They talk about how women are all solipsists, then turn around and assume everything any woman ever does is ultimately about finding a man.
Still, he might just be right about where Beth’s need for control might lead her.
“I don’t think I know Beth well enough to say if she’d try something like that,” I admitted. “She’s got that weird mix of ego and insecurity that can really make people crazy. Trouble is, what do we do about it? It’s already kind of late to interfere with the organization building, assuming we could even afford to do that.”
“You don’t start with a snake’s tail, Tom. One of us is going to have to man up and give her what she needs, before she takes things too far. Or gets caught, which also worries me. At the rate she’s going it won’t be long before she has all her minions calling her Mistress or Goddess or something, and she won’t be satisfied until she’s got the whole town under her thumb. How long will it be before she gets caught?”
“Not long,” I conceded. “There are monsters that use mental attacks, so some people are going to buy resistance. Not to mention that she’s not dumb, but she’s not a professional spy. All it takes is one mistake.”
“Exactly.”
I sighed. “So you’re planning to make a move on her today?”
“Hah. She won’t even be in a room with me unless there’s a whole crowd of people around. You’re the one she’s making eyes at, buddy.”
I opened my mouth to deny it. Then I thought about our interactions over the last day, and groaned instead.
“Fuck.”
Earl laughed. “Better you than me.”
“Wait, I thought you were interested?”
“That was before I realized how cheap it is for the girls to buy better looks. They’re all going to look like supermodels soon, so I figured I ought to focus on personality instead.”
“Yeah, that’s true enough. I suppose Sara’s more your type?”
“Meek and appreciative is good. Tough and feisty can be good, too. But not brittle, insecure and controlling. I’ll leave that ball in your court.”
“I do not want to be stuck dealing with that woman’s relationship drama,” I declared.
Earl shrugged. “Well, maybe your sophisticated modern psychology theories can come up with some solution a knuckle-dragging throwback like me wouldn’t think of. But you’d better get it right, or one of these day’s you’ll wake up with a pack of militiamen holding you down so she can melt your brain with her hypnotic eyes.”
“I’m already immune to that. The System makes mental defenses a lot cheaper than attacks, and I’ve had more points to spend than she has. But I’m sure that would only make things worse. I’ll have to think about this.”
Wonderful. As if just staying alive for another day wasn’t complicated enough, now I had to juggle group politics too. Did Earl actually have a point, or was he just projecting? How would I even find out? What would I do about it if he was right? Where would I even find the time to do anything about any of this, in between fortifying the hotel, preparing a bugout option and hunting enough points to stay on top of the leveling curve?
I was still mulling that over twenty minutes later, as I finished up the repair job on the doors. By then Earl had handed off his cleaver to some cook Beth recruited, and Shasa had come downstairs to join me. I’d originally called her to bring me some supplies I needed to finish the repairs, but once she got a look at what I was doing she insisted on staying to watch my back.
“Something might sneak up on you while you’re distracted,” she said, waving a hand at the overgrown field beyond the parking lot. “Anything could be hiding out there.”
She had a point. Yesterday the hotel had been surrounded by a small shopping district on one side and an open field on the other. Now half the shopping district was a smoking ruin, and the field was overgrown with bushes and small trees. Give it another day and it would look like a tropical jungle out there. Should we get some men out to cut the underbrush back, and maybe start working on a barricade around the parking lot?
“Tom!”
A sudden shout distracted me from my thoughts. I turned just in time to get a face full of something soft and furry.
“Hi, Tom! What are you doing here? We’re here with mommy. Oh, mommy, this is Tom. He’s one of the people who saved you!”
The girl in my arms let go, dropping lightly back to the floor so she could turn to look through the doors I’d just fixed. With my face no longer covered in boobs I saw that it was Bitsy, one of the catgirls we’d run into yesterday. Behind her was Mitsi, looking on with the tolerant amusement of an older sibling. A middle-aged woman was with them, and now she gave me a friendly smile.
“Oh, my. This is quite a coincidence. I can’t thank you enough, young man. I don’t know if I would have made it without your help. Oh, but where are my manners? I’m Pamela Green.”
“Tom Wilson,” I replied, taking her hand. “This is Shasa.”
She gave Shasa a speculative look. “I see. Were you a dog before yesterday, young lady?”
“I’m still a dog,” Shasa insisted. “I just have hands now. Which is great, because I can bash things and keep people safe. Hey, guys! Want to be friends?”
Mitsi and Bitsy took a step back at Shasa’s approach, and cautiously started to circle her.
“Who wants to be friends with a noisy, smelly dog?” Bitsy sniffed.
“The monsters would attack her first,” Mitsi pointed out.
“That’s right! I growl and smack them with my mace, and then Jenny sneaks around behind them and gets them while they’re distracted.”
Mitsi frowned. “Shouldn’t you be all chewed up?”
Shasa grinned. “Tom made me a shield! It’s people magic that keeps monsters from biting me.”
She held up her shield, and smacked it with her free hand by way of demonstration.
The catgirls glanced at each other.
“Useful?” Bitsy asked.
“Useful,” Mitsi agreed.
Bitsy sidled closer to Shasa, and sniffed her. “Then I suppose we might keep you around, as long as you aren’t too annoying.”
“Yay! Friends!” Shasa exuberantly picked Bitsy up, and touched noses with her.
Bitsy’s composure broke. She giggled, and tried to wiggle free. “Hey! Put me down, you big goof!”
“Nope! Got to learn your scent first. Wow, you’ve been someplace really weird. What are all those spiky smells?”
“The hospital,” Mitsi explained. “Mommy just got out.”
“It’s terrible how many people are getting hurt,” Pamela said. “Normally they would have kept me another day for observation, but they just don’t have the space. I suppose I’ll be fine now anyway.”
“Mommy used her magic to get healthy,” Bitsy exclaimed. “Now she’ll be able to play with us!”
“Wait, you just got out of the hospital? Did you have any trouble with the monsters? They were all over the highway earlier,” I said.
“It’ll take more than a few cows in the road to stop me, young man. I just drove around them. But I understand it’s not safe to go back to the house, so we’re going to find a room until things settle down. Then I can take the girls over to Walmart for necessities.”
The little catgirls were still barefoot and wearing the shirts I’d loaned them, so it was pretty obvious what she meant. Although they might be harder to shop for than Shasa, considering their size and nonhuman features. They don’t make children’s clothes for people with tails and fur.
“Good luck with that,” I said. “I’m sure some of the stores will be open. Although I’m not sure if the hotel has any rooms left.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Pamela said, and headed for the front desk.
Shasa put Bitsy down, and turned to Mitsi. The older catgirl popped a set of lethal-looking claws, and glared up at her. “Don’t you dare try to pick me up, you clumsy giant. Bend over if you want to say hi.”
Shasa pouted, but complied. The tall dog girl and tiny catgirl sniffed each other’s hair and neck a few times, just like a couple of house pets saying hello. I suppose I should be glad they didn’t sniff each other’s butts.
“You’re pretty strong,” Mitsi observed.
“You’re kind of scary,” Shasa replied. “Friends?”
Mitsi glanced at Pamela, and then me. “Sure.”
They touched noses, and smiled at each other. Then Shasa got distracted by a noise from the parking lot, and turned to watch a group of men carrying sacks of vegetables in from a pickup truck. Mitsi observed the proceedings for a moment before sidling up to me.
“So, Tom, could you make one of those shield things for me?”
“I could, but I don’t think it would suit you. You don’t fight things by running up and bashing them in the face, do you?”
“Of course not! I’m the silent killer. I sneak up behind things, and pounce on them!”
“It’s hard to sneak with a shield,” I told her. “They’re big and kind of heavy. You have to use one hand to hold it, so it’s hard to climb, and it bumps into things and makes noise.”
Her ears drooped. “That doesn’t sound good. But not getting bitten is really important.”
“There are other ways to do that. If you’re going to fight, what you really need is armor. Like this,” I said, tapping my bracer.
She stepped closer, brushing against me as she sniffed at it. She tapped it experimentally with her claws, and then drew one point across the surface. I was a bit disturbed to see that her claw made a scratch on the steel.
“Huh. This stuff is really tough. But it’s only protecting part of your arm. If I was fighting something I’d really want it to cover my front.”
I chuckled. “You’re smarter than Shasa. She doesn’t quite get the concept of vital points.”
“Mitsi is a very smart cat,” she said proudly. “But that’s not exactly a big mystery. Everyone knows not to let enemies claw your belly, and these silly things are really easy to hurt.”
She groped her own breast by way of illustration, and went on. “I wouldn’t want to get smacked here, either. What are these things for, anyway?”
“They’re called breasts, and for humans they’re a mating display,” I said. “If a woman has big, round breasts that don’t sag much, that means she’s young and healthy and can have lots of children. If you show them off human men will think you’re looking for a mate.”
She let go of her boob like it was on fire. “Ew! No smelly human is getting me pregnant. I’d get slow and fat, and something would eat me.”
“Probably. Anyway, I’m working on a way to make armor that protects the whole body, but it’s tricky. I know how to work metal, but I don’t have a lot of experience making clothes. That stuff gets complicated.”
“Really? Mommy knows all about making clothes. Maybe she could help?”