System Initialized!

Congratulations. Through your actions you have proven yourself worthy of becoming one of the Vanguard, a defender of humanity. I am Sandymoleno. I will assist you to uplift humanity so that you may defend your homeworld from the Antithesis threat!

Rise, Morigana Luxanna, and become a protector of the weak!

Hello Morigana, it appears you are in dire need of medical attention. Would you like to purchase “Class I Medical Utilities” for Fifty points? You currently have One Hundred and Seventy points. One Hundred from Initializing, and Seventy from the slain model Threes that are no longer rushing your position.

I hear, or not really hear but it’s in my head like another voice. A very soft voice, almost just above a whisper in a library. Yet firm and hard to miss, like my favorite professor from college.

Thank the stars, I’ve been picked to be a Vanguard! I may not need to bleed out after all, let’s just hope I can find the energy to move and not make my internals any worse.

You have less than three minutes before you will lose consciousness and then bleed out into the water. Your significant wounds are, one your brachial artery has been nicked and it is squirting out, two a punctured lung, and third severe lacerations to your legs.

“Yes Sandymoleno, please do and then a class one woundstop, a Class One Nano-Regenerative Suite, and a hemo-Restore please” I manage to mumble out somehow. I have done a significant amount of research regarding the lives of Samurai, and this seems to be what most need right away.

Class I Medical Utilities unlocked!

Points reduced to: 120

Good choices, I recommend dosing most of the Woundstop into the brachial bleed, and the rest into the collapsed lung. Then inject yourself with the Hemo-Restore, and finally breath in the Nanos. This will be the optimal emergency treatment. You appear to not be in imminent danger from Antithesis, so do not panic, as it can cause fumbling.

New Purchase: Class One Woundstop:

Points reduced to: 115

New Purchase: Class I Nano-Regenerative Suite:

Points reduced to: 95

New Purchase: Class I Hemo-Restore:

Points reduced to: 90

In front of me three packages drop into the water, as if by magic.

I reach for the Woundstop first, I open the package and inside is a tube big around as a water bottle with a tip like a chemistry baster at the end. I grab it and depress the button into my arm. It feels like sand pouring into my body, rather unpleasant but less unpleasant than being dead.

I then switch to the hole in my chest where now that I’m kind of paying attention I notice breathing is incredibly painful and I’m wheezing badly. I press in the rest of it and begin coughing, flecks of blood fly from my mouth.

Next up I grab out the Hemo-Restore from its box.

Inside there is a tube with crimson red liquid within, with a sort of plastic stopper at one end. A yellow arrow pointed towards a stopper. I press it against my upper leg and press the button.

The syringe injects a series of tubes into my skin that connects with the nearest vein or artery and dumps the Hemo-Restore directly into my system.

The next box I pick up holds a small device that looks like an asthma inhaler crossed with a rebreather. I press it to my face and take a deep breath. It feels like breathing a lungful of electric fire, tingles clawing their way down my throat, then through my lungs.

I lean back against the railing of the stairs, taking deep breaths, as my internals reach a more natural state of existing. My mind slowly starts clearing, and my vision returns to normal.

I can see now the doorway is full of debris, Antithesis guts and gore, and that Sandymoleno is correct, and I seem to be safe for the moment.

“Sandymoleno, thank you for your timely rescue. I really appreciate it. I owe you my life.”

Think nothing of it Morigana, by showing your willingness to sacrifice yourself in-spite of your overwhelming instincts of self-preservation, and real desire to forward humanity’s goals of improvement it was determined you qualify as a Vanguard. So really, thank you for stepping up!

“I…really don’t feel like I deserve it. So many of the other Samurai seem to have done more initially than I have.”

Do not sell yourself short Morigana, the algorithm that we use to determine fitness for duty is rather robust. We almost never make a mistake.

“Almost never? Have there been mistakes before?” I ask.

There have been several instances in the beginning of the Uplift initiative. However so far, we consider the selection of Humans to have been 100% successful.

“That is somehow not reassuring, Humans are rather finicky beings. We don’t exactly have the greatest track record for being… Humane.”

This is true; however, we see a lot of potential within the human race. Do not despair, there is hope.

“What exactly constitutes a failed selection?” I ask, shifting my position on the floor to get more comfortable. I am feeling much better and could probably walk, but I need just a bit more rest.

There was a race of beings in our first selection that had an individual destroying their eco-system on accident through a massive deployment of orbital strikes. They blotted out their sun and entered an extended ice age, in hopes of freezing out the Antithesis. Needless to say, we have learned much in our selections.

“Did they survive?”

They did indeed! However, they are now on a new planet after we had to do an emergency mass relocation.

“Again, not filling me with confidence, on a side note please do not let me do that.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I will advise you should an action place you in that position, do not fret.

Enough loafing around, I feel good enough to get up and see if I can make it the bunker. I check the Network and see the Bunker is still indicating that it is open.

That is not a good sign, I also verify that all my students are in it, and they are. So why is it still open?

“Sandymoleno, can you see why the bunker doors are not closed and secure?”

Of course, a moment please Morigana. It appears that the electronics for the closing mechanism are shorted. The doors need to be closed manually and they are too heavy for the present persons within the bunker to close, and more than likely would require being pushed from the outside.

“Fan fricken-tastic, then let’s get down there and see if we can help. Also, Sandymoleno, I’m just going to call you Sandy for short. No wait, better yet can I change your name completely?”

You may call me whatever you wish, I am here to serve you in safeguarding humanity. My name was randomized upon selection for interfacing with you.

“Great, then from now on your name will be Merlin. It fits with my name better I think.”

Clever, my new designation is now Merlin. It is an honor and privilege to be named.

Getting up I limp downstairs, everything still hurts. Most of my wounds seemed to have at least closed off and stopped bleeding.

“Merlin, I realize I’m lacking a weapon now that I am a Samurai, and self-protection. It would be irresponsible of me to die being a protector of humanity now.”

This is true, and I believe your death would be a loss for humanity as a whole, not just because you are a Vanguard.

“That’s touching thank you Merlin.”

Now for weapons, what did you have in mind?

“I’m not sure really, I’ve never used a gun in an instance of violence and I don’t really like them. I have helped modify Earth tech and seen Vanguard-tech enough to know that I’m not really the type to shoot things.”

Well, there are some more creative methods for fighting Antithesis. Some Vanguard prefer grenades, lasers, swords, or even plants. We can look towards your namesake in old lore, and your recent actions for killing Antithesis.

“What do you mean?”

I reach the bottom of the stairs and enter the hallway that leads to the bunker.

In lore Morigana is a sorceress that uses magic, you used raw elements to create a crude explosion…or a fireball. That idea could be expanded upon. You would need to combine two catalogs to achieve a more reliable, and lethal system. Class I Esoteric Single-use explosive Devices for delivery methods, and Class I refined elements for the core of the weapon.

“That does sound like something I would like. Would I be able to control the strength of explosions by adjusting the ratio of combined elements and volume?”

You would indeed, I would create for you a delivery system for the “ammo”, so you do not need to throw them. I would also link your augs to the system so you can manually adjust payload for effect. The delivery system would then fire the ammo, and it would explode at a signal from your augs or a pre-determined criteria that you set prior to launch.

“I love it already, and how much would the categories and system cost, and how much per shot?”

The two categories would cost sixty points together. The weapon system itself would cost twenty points, and the elements I have in mind would cost ten points. It would fill your weapon system like a magazine and allow for several uses of the system depending on the size of round you intend to fire. Using the smallest practical setting you could fire the system ten times.

“What element is used to provide the effect, what are its characteristics, and can you provide me with its energy output per setting. That way I can tune my augs with settings and understand its lethality range.”

Of course, Morigana, the element is not one your race has discovered yet. It is called Villifinunium and was created by the creators long before humans even existed. It flash boils in the range of most Earth temperatures and when it does it reacts to any Oxygen present in the area resulting in a massive fireball. One gram of Villifinunium is enough to cause roughly a twenty-foot sphere of fire at approximately three thousand degrees. Needless to say, it is volatile and will do exceedingly well at destroying Antithesis. It would also provide you with a built-in system to cleanse Antithesis spores and biomaterial at the same time as they would simply turn to ash.

“I will take one please! It sounds like the system will contain about ten grams of the stuff?”

That is correct Morigana, unlocking the categories and purchasing your weapon system now.

Class I Refined Elements unlocked!

Points reduced to: 80

Class I Esoteric Single-Use Explosive Devices unlocked!

Points reduced to: 30

New Purchase: Wand of Fireballs!

Points reduced to: 0

Right as I reach the bunker doors a small container roughly the size of a shoe box teleports in-front of me on the ground.

I open the box and inside is a wand about an inch thick, and eighteen inches long. On one end has an opening big enough for a marble to fit through. The business end glows a fiery red from the inside, and transitions to a dark black where it is held.

Morigana, your augs have been synced with the wand and you are now able to access the wand’s function menu.

“Awesome thank you Merlin. For the time being can you please set it to lowest yield. We need to deal with this bunker.”

Of course, Morigana, the wand is set to one gram. In regard to the bunker there are no handholds on the interior of the doors, so it must be pushed closed, and I do not believe you are capable of closing the doors on your own.

Fudge, he is right and looking into the bunker it’s not just my class of students, half the school appears to be in here as well. I would feel insulted for being called weak but I’m not going to lie to myself, I’m all of five foot four inches, and maybe a hundred and five pounds, and most of that is in my breasts and bum.

Looking into the bunker I see a scattered bunch of teachers and faculty all trying to keep the horde of children under control. You would think everyone would be panicking, but I’m guessing the reality of the situation has not quiet hit home yet. Denial or disbelief that the Antithesis will get here.

“Merlin without any points to spend, I think the only thing I can do is stop any Antithesis from reaching here.”

The bunker is set at the end of the hallway and only has one entrance, but the hallway looks like it splits in a “T” maybe sixty feet before the entrance to the bunker. Not a very big buffer between the entrance and where the Antithesis will pour out from should they make it down this far.

I agree with your assessment Morigana, either stand at the T-section and fire down the hallways, this is less efficient use of the wand’s charges but safer. Alternatively stand in front of the bunker and shoot at them. This is riskier being less time to react and you are closer to the weapon's area of effect.

I begin moving towards the T-section of the hallway, passing doors as I go.

“I think standing here is best, keeping the children and staff safer.” I say.

I adopt a light crouch and hold my wand at the ready.

“Merlin, can you check the school feeds for me, and see if you can locate any threats. I do not want to get caught off guard.”

You are tied into the schools net already, of course I can. I will create a mini-map on your augs and set red dots and their model type on it. I will of course notify you if I see them moving towards you as well.

“That is very helpful, thank you.”

Looking down each hallway they have several doors on either side, empty classrooms. Both hallways are about forty feet long and end at stairwells.

I open the wand's menu and look at the settings. Merlin was underselling the options a bit I think, there were tons. Blast radius, temperature, launch range, proximity detonation range, impact detonation, time delay, specific range detonation, fire color, launch sound, verbal command cues, somatic commands, and on and on.

I set detonation setting to proximity detonation of one foot or impact, and an arm distance of twenty-five feet, silent launch, a verbal/mental command, and activated a launch overlay on my augs to depict the current trajectory and impact radius.

Morigana, while you were fiddling with your wand a group of seven model Threes has begun descending the stairwells. They will arrive from the left hallway in about three minutes.

“Much appreciated Merlin.”

I take aim down the left hallway and take a shaky breath out. My injuries have for the most part calmed down enough including my lung. At this points my nerves are getting the better of me. Even though I blew up the first set, it was because I had no time to think about it. This time I have a relative lifetime to overthink this, possibly the rest of it.

I hear the Antithesis before I see them, growling, and the clacking of claws on cheap flooring.

I see movement through the window of the door.

I take aim and set the overlay in my vision with the wand.

As soon as the first model three clears the door I trigger the wand.

“I CAST FIREBALL!” I shouted.

A slightly larger than pea sized object rockets out of the wand, faster than I can track it. The bead misses the model three by more than a foot, looks like I need some practice. However, it reaches the range trigger and detonates.