“Now what are Samurai?

I’m not talking about the old Japanese warriors but the new wave of heroes that are taking the world by storm!

One of them said they were basically part of a warrior class with a code of honor. Someone called them a Samurai and the name stuck.

Calling them knights also works but isn’t as catchy in the eyes of the media so we are left with laser sword wielding Samurai determined to save the human race!

2020 was awful and I worried about my prospects as I could watch the world dying around me but with the Samurai entering our lives I believe we will see a brighter future for humanity and the planet!”

* Tumblr Post by User LaughableMuffin, May 2025

***

The world was full of water and pressure.

Everything in the room met me as I was pulled around by the current. Small pieces of debris and dead Antithesis careened by in the turbulent water.

I fought to keep my eyes open, the stinging in my eyes was painful but I could still breath and that alone was what kept me going in that moment.

I scrutinized the maelstrom of my own making and found the bulky form of the murderous Samurai.

I cut in that direction and I watched him thrash about looking for the surface. He needed air. I didn’t.

I could watch him drown but I feared that may doom Myte so I needed to finish this quickly.

Pushing through the floating counters and control modules, I closed on Amadeus. I was battered by a flailing limb and I realized that his mechanized strength wasn’t lost underwater.

I pulled the Huron’s Claw out from my vest, flipped up and around, and cut into the outstretched arm.

The blade pierced the thick metal and dark blood trailed the wound. I was kicked by a massive metal boot and flung against a wall.

I wasn’t prepared to fight underwater and I hoped that he was also as naive as I in this setting. Fighting fair is for sport, I was out for blood.

Pressing my legs against the wall I sprung forward and torpedoed the larger figure in the back. His flailing was causing him to spin, making it harder to predict his weaknesses. While this was difficult I could see bubbles rising from his helmet when I struck. He didn’t have long. Maybe another minute.

I rebounded off his form and set a timer on the tablet and then swam into the melee. I wish the Hammerhead worked underwater. I mean it did, technically. Most of the guns did as long as I had a specialized ammo time. Or at least most guns of the aquatic variety.

Flipping and twisting I made shallow cuts in Amadeus.

He caught me in one pass. His crushing strength almost broke my arm but my knife switched hands and I made him let go involuntarily.

Swimming back after the close encounter I could see a stream of dark liquid dispersing from Amadeus by the half dozen cuts. His movements were less vigorous and I didn’t see any more bubbles rising. My alarm beeped and I swam away.

I needed to open the main passage and let the water out to the apartments. The Sapphire Plains could use watering.

I reached the door and found something very annoying. When the water filled the room, it triggered a fail safe of some sort that prevented the door from being unlocked from the inside. If this was a normal emergency then everyone inside would die.

I should’ve known. Everything else that is controlled by corporations seemed to make it clear that they didn’t believe that employees were worth being saved in cases of disaster.

I made a mental note to ruin RuCorp.

I tried to open the lock’s panel to try to manually open it.

I used the Huron’s Claw to cut through the screws.

I dub thee an honorary screwdriver.

Reaching inside, I was still sorting through the wires when the door alarm flared and started opening.

Fuck!

It's what I wanted but I wasn’t ready!

I instead took the knife and punched it into the opening and held fast as the rush of water poured through the opening door.

As the door raised the hundreds of galleons poured through and I could watch as debris and dead bodies flew past as I clung with muscles burning with the strain.

Amadeus was clotheslined by the door as it raised and was sent tumbling away.

That’s my cue!

I wiggled the blade and once it was free I was swept away into the blue abyss after Amadeus.

I was careful of the other things in the water, using the knife or other arm to push them away as I careened and flipped down the passage.

We ended in the courtyard, the water no longer filling the space completely and I slid across the floor.

I stumbled to my feet and scanned the open area.

There!

I moved closer.

Amadeus ended up face up near the fountain in the middle of the room, water flowing around him but without the force required to move the metal giant.

It was clear he was still alive from the movement on his chest. But he seemed peaceful, almost relaxed if you could ignore the blood pooling around him in the water and his shattered helmet.

I pulled the container out and opened it. I needed to get Myte in here. “You ready?” I asked the open air.

“Yes. And if it doesn’t work. Thank you for trying.” The feminine voice replied.

I reached Amadeus and readied my knife. I ignored the pain in my other arm because I only had this one chance.

Amadeus groaned as he stared upward, I was unsure how to go about this but just then boxes of all kinds fell around him, all appearing from nowhere.

Fuck!

“Goodbye Samurai.” I said and buried Sky’s knife into his neck.

I left the blade there as I pulled his helmet off and began my second surgery of the day.

I had a vague idea where the microchip was and had to break through the skull to find it.

It was messy but as I dug through the mess I could still talk with Myte.

The A.I. wasn’t happy about the prospect but gave tips and did confirm that a bit of water wouldn’t damage the super constructed hyper-dense carbon wafer.

I found it with my hands, it was a lot easier to do because I could feel something pulling electricity in from the brain around it.

As I pulled it out Myte went silent and as my heart pounded I gave the gem-like receiver a quick wash before putting it in the chip container.

Once it was inserted the container blinked and ran through a small start up before displaying a battery life.

According to this the battery would die in…5 years. Interesting.

“Can you still hear me?” Myte said in desperation.

I sucked in a deep breath and cried.

“Yeah…I can hear you.”

I then collapsed into the water in relief and pain.

“I can hear you.” I muttered as I ached.

My vision darkened as I sucked in heavy breaths.

That’s strange…oh.

I guess being crushed and slammed a couple times my bones didn’t survive as I thought they did.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

At least Myte is safe.

“Hey”

She has five years. That’s enough time to find someone to help her.

“Hey!”

I felt my body start to shut down, I must have internal bleeding or something as I was failing fast.

“ENGINEER!” Myte screamed. I blinked rapidly to try to clear my vision.

“Y-yes?” I said through the pain, trying to listen to her voice.

“The smallest box near you, open it and apply it immediately. Its a Class I Nano-Regenerative Suite. I let Amadeus’ purchases go through at the last moment to give you these.”

Sneaky. I liked that.

I flailed my hand about until I found the box, bringing it back. It was the infamous Samurai tech box that was just cheap plastic but was iconic to their look.

Another rebreather was positioned in a plastic casing with two canisters on either side cutting upward.

I pulled my rebreather off, sucking in fresh-ish air for a moment before placing the Nano suite to my mouth.

The canisters hissed as I breathed in as I felt something akin to electric fire. A tingling sensation clawed down my throat and into my lungs. I was in pain but I continued to breathe it in and the sensation started moving throughout my body and the burning pains started to grow silent.

The feeling of numb spread and I could breathe normally again and my vision cleared.

I didn’t remove the mask across my face.

“Your chances of survival have increased but to be safe I recommend taking a Hemo-Restore.” Myte said, her voice a lot less frantic but still sounded nervous. “It's one of the smaller boxes near his feet.”

I got to my feet, or tried. The numbness took a minute to wear away but once I could feel my extremities I stood up. I moved to the boxes, man were there tons of the plastic boxes surrounding the two of us.

Some were huge, whatever enclosed would be very important. There were a few small boxes near the body’s feet and I opened them up until I found a red tube-like syringe with a plastic stopper at one end.

“Press the Hemo-Restore against your skin. You need to restore any lost blood, humans die blood loss all the time.” Myte said sagely.

“You don’t say,” I said as I watched the red liquid pour into my body where the alien medicine touched skin.

Ah…I guess that’s done.

As the numbness faded I felt sore and I realized how terrifyingly close I was to dying. Whatever the Nano-Regen Suite did shifted things in my chest and I didn’t hurt breathing but my body felt the aches of use all the same.

I walked away from the body and all the prizes to find a semi-dry bench to sit on.

“Are you alright? I have no diagnostic equipment but I can make assumptions based on your movements and posture.” Myte was still metaphorically hovering over me.

“I’m just tired.” I said offhandedly. As I sat down I felt waves of relief from my tired body. I killed a man. I had never done such a thing before and it wasn’t that hard.

I knew logically it was very simple in killing but somehow my emotions fought against my senses again. I felt awful. Not because I killed him. But because I wasn’t feeling guilty about it.

I was brooding over that when I realized something far more important than myself. Myte just watched me kill her Samurai.

Fuck.

I made her assist in ripping him apart to save her. She must feel awful. I made the choice.

Fuck.

I placed my head in my hands and sucked in a shaky breath. “I…forgot to consult you about the rescue and killing of Amadeus. I am so sorry.” I said.

“Why? You did something that benefitted both of us, although risky, you did as much as you could to rig the fight in your favor. The water tanks were ingenious but you could’ve waited for him to drown instead of risk the knife fight.”

I shrugged. “I felt that you would be in danger if he drowned. I didn’t know if your receiver would survive if it was without electricity in the brain.”

“You felt?” Myte said with obvious confusion.

“Yes.”

There was a long pause before Myte started talking again.

“There one thing I can’t predict is how your human emotions change you. I can understand a couple, yes. But Amadeus was amazing, the perfect Vanguard.” Myte said, a little hesitation mixed an alternating wistful and regretful undertones.

“A little arrogant but he was smart…brave. Kind. Thoughtful. He would light up a room when he entered. He was everything I could’ve wanted in a Vanguard.”

I remained silent, hearing the story unsaid.

After a moment she continued. “Then came Jerico, a partner to share in everything. Together they were the happy couple. Everything was going to plan. I had no reason to worry about his psyche then.”

“Brylit, Jericho’s A.I. warned about the unnecessary risks. Amadeus, as his name was coined, was loved by god, or in this case the god of luck. And while Jericho was formidable, even the formidable walls of the ancient city crumbled.”

“When Jerico died, everything changed. Brylit, who gave advice, was gone. I could barely get through to Amadeus and I couldn’t read him at all.”

I spoke up, asking a question I believed I knew Myte was asking herself. It was something I asked myself about the Ascendency. “If you had warned us sooner, would others still be alive?”

“Maybe, and I’ll have to live with that mistake for the rest of time.”

Fuck. That’s the guilt, shame, and regret I carried with me since the Ascendency. If I had only checked for hackers one more time or increased security just a bit more. The ‘if onlys’ were cancerous, eating at your heart and mind.

It was strange to put in words what I felt…I knew this whole time but couldn’t latch on until I needed to help Myte deal with the issues I have…

I need to do something. Make the problem go away. Go away…

“Do you?”

“What?” Myte said a little confused.

“Do you have to live with the guilt? Better yet, did it ever happen?”

“What do you mean? You had to kill Amadeus, he was a danger to everyone in the arcology. He killed Vanguard Sky-Blue Wire”

“If we delete some video footage then Amadeus died a hero. So did Sky. And if you won’t do it for yourself, do it for them.”

I was sure that it wasn’t so simple but if I could erase the pain or at least make it harder to find out. The video footage was probably saved on a few servers that needed to be broken into but all the same, I could use the time online running about rather than physically running. I was…tired.

“You humans and your need for a legacy… You would remove your deeds for my sake? Your glory of defeating the rogue Samurai?” Myte was sounding only slightly emotional. Like it was buried under her synthetic voice.

“That would be a side benefit” I said barking out a short laugh, “I would love to remove that glory. But what I know is that you tried, and I am still alive because you tried, even before he acted completely hostile to others you saved me. Magnella is alive and others are alive because of your efforts. Thank you.”

“You’re…welcome, Engineer.” Myte said with a strange tone, her haunting voice was faltering at times.

“I can…I can help remove the video.” I was trying to force some feeling into my body. I felt so cold. Wait…

I stood up, wobbled for a second, then moved toward the apartments. “I need a shower.”

“But…the scene?” As Myte spoke I glanced over the wreckage.

“I’ll work on that after I clean up.” and as I spoke my vision wavered. Not the worst condition I’ve operated in.

I never took a sick day before, even when I really should’ve and now I was feeling something akin to the dull pain I would work through back then.

Walking at a sedate pace, I entered the lobby I'd sprinted through just before the fight and then found myself a closed apartment. Physical locks were far superior in preventing breaches. And yet…I popped the electronic lock open and walked in.

The apartment was neat with holographic landscapes along the walls and furniture full of small pillows. Heading to the bathroom, I found a smaller space than the hotel but still much bigger than my apartment’s.

I pulled everything off and walked into the embrace of warm water. Muttering into the water as I ran my mind to figure out how to feel. I killed a man. I just felt exhausted. My energy drained out as I soaked in the steaming water.

Running my hand through my hair I saw it come back with a mess of blood. I started shaking. I scrambled for something to wash it away and found nothing.

Stepping out of the shower I rummaged through my toolbelt until I found the sugar pleasure adventure shampoo. As I scrubbed away the gore and refuse that was in the water, I felt slightly more human.

I hated that as much as it relieved me.

I had to be strong. For Myte. But once I was done I needed to retire back to my apartment. The image of the tiny space, my mesh suit, and my bed that consisted of lab coats and hoodies was the keystone in my vision.

I place where I can hide.

Sucking in a breath I coughed as water entered as well.

Fuck, ah that was stupid.

I spat to the side and stepped out into a towel.

I wasn’t feeling better but at least I was warmer.

I didn’t need anything big. I left the bloody clothes in a heap and moved to find something in a dresser.

It took a while to find an outfit that fit. First problem was the dresser was disguised as a mountain range that blended into the holographic landscape and then I needed something that wasn’t corporate chic or stripperpunk. Stepping back into the bathroom I dug through my clothes pile until I had the tool belt, tablet, pistol, and everything else that wasn’t outside in the courtyard.

I had to put on wet boots but there was standing water outside so they would get soaked either way.

I did place the Nano Regenerative Suite back over my face, it was empty but it made me feel better.

Leaving the apartment, I had the courtesy to lock it behind me so scavengers or Antithesis don’t walk in.

In the courtyard I saw the mass of boxes near the towering metal form. Sighing I moved toward them.

“What’s the plan?” I asked.

“Amadeus can be left as is. The gear that was teleported to your world shouldn’t be left to any random person to come by and use. I believe most will be beneficial for you to use if you choose to continue to assist me in ridding Macroon of Antithesis and saving civilians.”

I nodded without commitment. I didn’t have the energy to lie.

I opened the boxes to find a slew of gear from some armor and a new flamethrower to more medical items. I turned around and looked for a bag of some sort. If only I thought about it while I was still in a nice apartment.

I didn’t break into the same room, I wasn’t sure that they had practical bags. Most corporate costumes didn’t have a backpack or duffle bag. And the other option wasn’t known for any extra fabric.

I entered an apartment that the Antithesis were searching before I so rudely interrupted them. Longb’O’s sugary rings were strewn across the floor but at least there was no blood. I walked to what I believed was the closet and opened it. I could probably sleep in the closet without any trouble. It was the size of a twin mattress, easy.

I grabbed multiple bags, finding some already full of things including food.

My stomach growled.

Frick, why?

My internal monologue less tense as the normality of the situation hit. I still had to eat. I was wearing a t-shirt and some cargo pants. I wasn’t killing aliens or Samurai.

I was somewhat me again.

My usual struggles and uncomfortable skin.

Sighing I grabbed a large empty duffle bag with the name of some gym and set back out to the pile of plastic boxes.

It didn’t sound as cool as it was. I was loading up and walking away with Samurai tech, the stuff everyone dreams of. Well…everyone but me, I guess.

The technology was amazing but as much as the advanced weapons and armor were, I preferred something I could modify. I could customize. I needed to make things my own. A strange statement for someone who likes hiding in a crowd.

I placed all the small ones in the bag, and as the boxes disappeared to the bottom of the bag I inspected the two large containers.

The first was a massive weapon, probably a replacement for the flamethrower that was somewhere…I should find that too and make sure something doesn’t run off with it.

It was basically a barrel with a trigger, hoses ran from the side and back of the device to where the fuel was supposed to be. The scariest part was the front nozzle thing with a sharp bayonet and a tongue of flame perpetually burning.

That’s totally not going to be a safety issue.

I pulled the weapon out and tried to douse the flame in the standing water.

No such luck.

Whatever this thing was, it ignored physics and I shouldn’t play with things that ignored physics.

Setting it aside near nothing flammable, I opened the other large box. Calling it a box was technically correct, much like calling a shipping container a crate. This thing was massive with solid looking locks sealing whatever was inside.

The unstoppable flame didn’t even have a lock, what the fuck is this?

I tried opening it and to my surprise it gave. “Uh…Myte?” I said nervously as I looked inside to find stacks of metal plates. Not plates to eat off of but I was sure you could load spaghetti on these things no problem. But armor plates that looked to build a full suit like what Amadeus wore.

“Yes, Engineer?” Myte said, chiming in after a long time of silence.

“Why did the locked box open for me?” I said as I started looking for the flamethrower that almost barbequed me earlier.

“Oh. It didn’t. I opened it for you. I don’t have a lot of access to the world around us now that I don’t have access to any of Amadeus’ cybernetic augs but I still can reach out to the gear I teleported in.” Myte said matter of factly.

That makes sense. I moved to the end of the courtyard where the burnt and soaked Antithesis bodies were acting as a dam, preventing the standing water from draining. And in acting as a dam, I think, it had collected a lot of the debris in one area. Including the massive flamethrower!

Picking it up I found that yeah, it was heavy, and moved it to the duffle bag carefully.

After placing it inside I realized another problem. The armored plates were not going to fit in my bag and it would be way too heavy to carry even if they did.

I scratched my head for a moment and a wave of sweetness filled the air. Ehh!

“Can you reseal the armor plates?” I asked.

“Of course. You can also wheel it about if you want to use it as another place to put things.” Myte pointed.

Oh. "So I can" I said relief flood my voice. No need to carry or more likely drag the crate that's over half my height.

I moved the old flamethrower and the ever burning one in the armor crate and closed it. Or tried. It didn’t want to with the extra bulk and I had to hop on it and press down before I heard the click.

That wasn’t going to bite me later.

“So…I think I’ll go drop these off with another Samurai, you know, for safekeeping. The closest should be in Section 7 or 9. I am actually surprised they haven’t arrived already but I guess I could meet them at the door.” I said and heaved on the crate. It didn’t budge.

This is going to be a long day.

Then there was a beeping sound and a small vibration on the crate and the wheels started moving toward me.

It's motorized! This would be a lot easier now.

“Thanks Myte” I said and then as I moved toward the exit a thought came to me. “Why did you let me try to pull it if you could drive it?” I squinted at the tablet suspiciously.

“Because I thought it would be funny.” Myte said in an innocent tone. “I think that’s the right word for it.”

Shaking my head I made my way out of the Sapphire Plains.