Hopping back into my car, I continue on to Hank’s and use my augs to make a quick call to my favorite Family member.

I don’t place the call through the dash screen this time, I’m in no mood to mess with Adam. After a few rings, he picks up.

“Hello Mori, w-what can I do for y-you?” He asks, I hear a lot of fear and uncertainty in his voice.

“I stopped a protection racket down here in Chinatown and I need someone who can take out the gang or protect the restaurant from further harassment. Address and info coming from Merlin.”

“This is s-something The Family can look into for sure, I will u-update you when I have something.”

“Thanks, I’ve got something to take care of.” I say, then hang up on him.

The rest of the trip over to Hank’s is uneventful, just me gazing out at the city lights. Vegas really is a beautiful city if you don’t look to closely at the underbelly.

Which I just happened to stick my nose into. What was I supposed to do though, sit back, and watch a man get stabbed?

Ugh, I’m going to miss my boring old life of teaching and inventing. Though I don’t want to give up either one.

We are arriving at Hank’s.

I check outside, we are in the very south-west area of Vegas in the Summerlin area but just outside of it in the desert, looks like Hank likes his privacy.

His house is less house and more of a giant ranch, there are huge grass fields filled with horses, cows, and animals I’ve only seen in textbooks. Around the entire perimeter is a huge wall, maybe fifteen feet tall, with barbed wire, massive spotlights, and evenly spaced around it are pillars with automated weapon emplacements of some kind.

I would hate to have to invade this place, glad I’ve been invited over.

I’m receiving landing instructions from the compound's AI; Hank must be doing well for himself to have such a place. Perhaps it would be wise to find out his method for point gaining.

Of course, Morigana, I’m just curious is all, perhaps it would be beneficial to take Major Devoy out on his first Samurai mission. That way you can get some solid points, have support, and spend time with your crush.

Your heart rate, hormones, and other reactions say otherwise.

Stupid AI, stupid body betraying me.

We landed in a driveway in front of the ranch/house/mansion thing. Before stepping out I convert my armor over to casual wear, but I keep my hat, I’m growing fond of it and the sensory data it provides. The staff I leave on my back though in a holster looped over my shoulders like a backpack, and my wand on my hip. Maybe I’m paranoid, but I like knowing I have my gear with me.

Approaching the entrance, which has giant double doors simple in design but beautiful in their own majesty. I go to knock, and they open of their own accord, waiting for me is none other than Hank, in what I’m starting to think is his every day white shirt, jeans, hat, boots, and giant belt buckle.

“Welcome to my humble abode Mori, I see you brought some food too, great! It’s always a good time to eat, your friend woke up just a few minutes ago. After his healing I recken he’s hungry. Nothing gets to a man’s heart faster than his stomach.” He says with a chuckle.

I drop my head down to hide my face as I feel the blush coming on.

“It’s just some Korean BBQ from Juhnes, love their stuff.” I say quickly shoving the bags into Hank’s normal hands. Looks like those gauntlets he had were just that, gauntlets and not his real hands.

“Nice, I love Korean too! But let’s get in to see Kevin, come along!” He beckons with his head, his hands being full of food.

Inside, it is astounding, like what you would expect if you gave a country bumpkin limitless money and no restrictions. Everything inside was done in a wooden finish, and decorated with stuffed animals, guns, pictures of hunting, fishing, and other activities.

What an amazing house, truly just breathtaking. I thought I was wealthy but the opulence presented here is just wow.

“I had him moved into a guest room so he can recover more comfortably, come.” He says pulling me out of my gawking.

He led me through more of his huge house passing room by room. He gently knocked on a door and waits.

A muffled “Come in.” comes from the other side of the door.

Hank pushed on in, and I followed in after. The room is decorated much the same, except it has some fancy medical equipment on the far side of the bed. A bed filled with one very tired looking Major Devoy.

He has a blue hospital type gown on, and a thick comforter covering him from the waist down. Which I am glad for, I’m very conscious of the fact that it’s entirely my fault that he is in this situation to begin with.

I look away as the feeling of guilt buries into my heart, I try not to cry but I can’t help it I feel the tears welling up.

“I’ll leave you two here a minute while I get the food dished up.” Hank says before vanishing with a gentle pop.

I need to unlock some teleporting tech, and not just because I’m lazy.

The silence lasts for what seems like eons, I’m not sure what to say, how do you apologize for blowing up someone’s legs?

“Hey now little witch, I’m doing great. Your little teleport trick saved my life. I am very grateful.” He says in a soft calm voice.

I simply nod my head, not trusting my voice to say anything.

“Really, this is a good thing, I’m a Samurai now. I will recover from this and come back even stronger. Thanks to you I can help protect even more people, this one mishap will lead to something good.” He says his voice like warm honey.

I vigorously nod my head again, this time I can’t stop it and I let out a sob. I wipe my eyes of tears.

“Yeah, you’re right this is good, but I’m still so sorry. I’ve vowed never to use a weapon like that again. I’m going to make sure I can account for all the collateral damage I can. What’s a Samurai that causes more harm than good?” I say between sniffles.

“There are always accidents out in the field, and no amount of preparation or planning will account for everything. Pull over that chair and take a seat.” He gestures at a wooden chair with thick cushioning.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I grab it and drag it over to his bedside; I remove my staff and lean it up against the wall before sitting down.

“So, your Merlin tells me that you want to take me out on my first Samurai Mission.”

Traitorous AI!

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I was going to ask Hank for suggestions, he mentioned that Vegas is a good place to farm points. From my day job I hear a lot about them hunting out in the northern part of Nevada since it’s mostly open desert.” I say to him, my eyes are finally clearing up, I wonder if I can remove my tear ducts so I don’t cry anymore.

“Yeah, that’s about right. We often get tasked to go out with a Samurai and clear nests in the area. Honestly, we are trained in adapting to the eccentric tools and gadgets the various Samurai use. That’s one reason why we were given a shield generator like the one you saw.”

“So.” I hesitate.

“You’re not upset?” I ask timidly, with a shaky voice.

“Not at all, in a way I should thank you for making a circumstance where I became a Samurai. I figure with my firsthand experience on the front lines, and your book smarts we will make a well rounded team.” He says smiling.

Wait, how does he know so about my book smarts? Did they get like a brief from the Family when they sent them out to help me?

He reaches a hand out and places it on top of mine.

My heart lurches to a stop, then speeds up to a million beats a second.

I told you, crush! Your heart is about to explode so maybe try and calm down.

I think Devoy takes my silence as a bad thing, because he withdraws his hand and says.

“Sorry, you don’t have to go out with me, I just thought it would be beneficial. You know?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s an excellent idea I just, uh...got a lot on my plate. I’m still new to this too. I have to deal with my normal job and a gang in Chinatown, I want to teach my classes at school still, and now I have to save the world.” I said in one breath.

He chuckles. “I hear you Little Witch, it’s overwhelming isn’t it. But you don’t have to do it all alone, The Family helps, friends help, and that can make all the difference.”

I nod along with him, “I just need time to wrap my head around it, make a routine.” I said.

“Routine helps, it helped me get through training too, procedure, familiarity, and good people at your back. So, let’s team up, we can bring my PMC squad with us for support and we can do some solid good.”

“You’re going to keep being part of the PMC?” I asked.

“Yea, I like my job too, and they actually have policy and procedure for members who get picked. Nice boost in pay, or freedom to leave.” He said smugly.

“I’m guessing you’re going to stay?” I said.

He shifts in the bed to get more comfortable.

“Sure am, I’m not going to abandon my troops, they have been with me through thick and thin, saved my ass many times.” He said smiling.

Just then knock on the door. “Foods here young’uns!” Hank says busting in the door like some sort of food Santa.

He pulls in the food on a trolly, he yanks food trays out from under it, placing them on our laps, and dumping bowls of Korean bulgogi on them. He also mixes in his own beans, pork, and giant glasses of sweet tea onto the tray.

He then leaves as quickly as he entered.

I swear I’m going to get fat if I hang out here too long.

All conversation stops as we dig into the food. Evidently, we both were starving because it only takes maybe ten minutes to consume all the food.

There are indeed. However, your caloric intake is actually too low, I encourage you to consume more. In fact, I may need to suggest a supplemental injection of sorts to help you.

Naturally, later.

After we finish eating, I lean back content, they only thing that could make this better would be a cozy bed and a nice book to read.

I look over at Devoy, he is laying back in the bed with his eyes closed.

“I think I ate too much.” He grumbles holding his belly with his hands.

“Thank you, for the food and company, Morigana. Nothing sucks more than being in the hospital and no one visits you.” He said.

“I guess I wouldn’t know, I’ve never really been injured before. Well before being a Vanguard, since then I’ve had a punctured lung, brachial artery bleed, heavy lacerations on my legs, and multiple quills pierce into me by a model Fifteen.” I reply with a nervous laugh.

“And that is just within the past two days!” I said.

He chuckles. “That’s nothing, my first week with the Foxes I had a model Nine’s scythe arm go through my kidney! Thankfully we had a Samurai with us and he was able to patch me up quickly. Two days later a model Three takes the tip of my fingers on my left hand, the company paid to regrow those.” He said wiggling is fingers at me.

“Well now that you’re a big fancy Samurai, what do you plan on spending your points on? I convinced Merlin to send you a portion of my points from the hive kill.” I tell him.

“Thanks for that by the way, it’s nice to get a jump start on points and gear. I’ve been talking with my AI, Pyllonia. I decided that I want to focus on defense and close combat.” He said.

“That could make a nice combo for us, you block’em, I knock’em!” I said with a grin.

“Exactly right. I’ve been working with Pyllonia to decide what catalogs to open, what gear to select, and what to do with my body to take more abuse. There are too many options really.” He says letting out a frustrated sigh.

“Don’t worry, you will figure it out, and you have Hank here too, for help. He seems to know a lot about stuff.” I said to him.

“Yeah, I’m not too worried, with your support, and the PMC squad I’m sure we can handle just about anything. I think once I recover, we should see if there are any hive sightings so we can get some more tokens.”

*****

I must have dozed off sometime during the conversation because the next thing I’m aware of is someone shaking me awake.

“Wake up missy, it’s time for some breakfast.” A voice says with a calm southern drawl.

“Wha...who? Why?” I said groggily.

The strong smell of bacon, eggs, muffins, and baked beans wafts up into my nose.

I open my eyes, and the world comes slowly into focus. Hank is standing over me with a tray full of amazing smells and foods.

I push the blanket off me, that someone must have draped over me while I slept. I also somehow am in pajamas.

No one, I adjusted your armor to something more comfortable while you slept.

You’re welcome.

“Thank you, Hank, I’m going to get fat staying here, even if Merlin says I need to eat more.” I said, moving the offered tray to my lap.

I look over and see that Devoy is already awake and eating his fill.

“Any time, I love to feed people, no one appreciates just how much joy and happiness food brings to people. It’s such an easy thing and yet people are content to sticking garbage in their mouths.” He said.

“I guess that’s how I feel about education, so many kids grow up being ignored by the system, to grow up being ground up by the system in low paying jobs or living on the street just because they couldn’t get an education.” I said back to him.

Devoy is just sitting there looking back and forth between us.

Hank nods his head. “Aye that’s the rub of it for sure, and while I am only one man I try and find ways to get good food out into the community, I run every food shelter in the city, and for most of the schools too.” He said.

Must not be my school then because I’ve seen the lunches…and it’s definitely one of the lowest tier schools in the city, one reason why I volunteer there, sad how they would rather budget for a nice sports team and field instead of teachers and good food.

“The school I’ve been teaching at lately could use some help, I may have destroyed the cafeteria, and besides that the food was awful!” I said to Hank.

He rubs his chin with his hand in thought. “Well, send over the school info and I’ll see what I can do. It really chaps my ass that the city cares so much about the tourism, military, and not much else. Thanks for letting me know.”

“I appreciate it, Hank, really. There was another thing too, I’m not sure how to ask this really, so I guess I’ll just spit it out.” I said nervously.

“You said that Vegas was a good place to farm points? Would you mind sharing how or where? Devoy and I talked about heading out together to get points and tokens.”

Hank looks between us with a knowing grin.

“Course I do, would be my pleasure.”