《A Spark of Sylvan Flame》 Chapter 1: Breakfast of Champions "In the beninging there was nothing. Then, Spark was unloading a truck" -Spark¡¯s Rise to Power: A Fan Rendition by Samurai Phoenix 2057 If you ever want to know what bliss is, it¡¯s a nice bed with a multitude of pillows. Rough, smooth, squishy, or hard, they all feel great. Unfortunately for me, bliss is ever-fleeting. ¡°Spark! Get yer rear in gear! You¡¯re burnin¡¯ daylight!¡± With an exhausted groan, I peeled myself away from pillow heaven and put on my glasses. Blearily I looked up at Aunt Nyra, who was trying and failing to hide her chuckles. Mumbling vows of revenge, I stood up and trudged to the bathroom. A quick face washing while avoiding the mirror''s gaze later, and I was back in my room, changing into a pair of brown cargo shorts and a plain t-shirt. A bothersome knock is soon followed by a teasing voice, ¡°Spark, Mom says that you need to hurry up otherwise Benny gets your food.¡± I opened the door to find my cousin Evie impatiently standing in the hallway. ¡°Yeah yeah, I¡¯m ready,¡± I grumble, shutting the door behind me as I step out around her, ¡°I swear y¡¯all act like I can¡¯t handle myself at all.¡± ¡°Nah we just like keepin¡¯ ya on your toes,¡± She said with a scoff, ¡°Now hurry up! I want to get the gardening done and over with so we can be done with working in the damned sun!¡± ¡°Honestly,¡± I mutter, looking at a trail of sun flowing in through a window, ¡°Fair.¡± We both entered the dining room and sat down. A plate of scrambled eggs and bacon then plonked onto the table in front of me courtesy of Uncle Wyatt. Not even two seconds later, a grubby little hand grabbed for my bacon. ¡°Oi!¡± I slap the hand, getting a little grunt of displeasure, ¡°Hands off my plate, you lil¡¯ thief!¡± The hand soon retreated, only to be replaced by a mop of dark red hair, ¡°But Aunt Nyra said I get your food!¡± ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯m right here!¡± Pulling my plate away, I stuck a piece of bacon in my mouth. ¡°So hands off my food!¡± Before Benny could retort, Nana swatted at him. ¡°Cool it bucko, sit down and eat. If you keep bothering em¡¯, I¡¯ll make you do the dishes first. " ¡°But Nana, you said-,¡± Benny cried, but Nana didn¡¯t let him finish. ¡°Now listen here, kiddo,-¡± Tuning out the scolding he was getting, I dug into my fluffy pancakes with relish, only coming up for air when Uncle Cyril began discussing the itinerary for the day in that rough and loud voice of his. ¡°Alright, today should be the last day of shelling corn! After that it¡¯s just dryer management, post harvest tillage, then hauling out the lagoon and the pits.¡± Having run out of fingers on his hand, Uncle Cyril turned to me with a grin. ¡°No nothin¡¯ for any Antithesis forecasts at the fields we have left, so Spark, you¡¯re on dryer duty today. No need for an extra gun to hang around, and you can help in the garden. Everyone else is doing regular spots today,¡± He then turned and half-shouted into the kitchen, ¡°Nyra! Is the drill ready to go?¡± ¡°No yeah, for sure!¡± Aunt Nyra shouted back, to which Uncle Cy responded, ¡°Then go ahead and start sowin¡¯ down at Benson¡¯s! Prob best if ya take a lunchbox too so you don¡¯t hafta worry ¡®bout stoppin. I¡¯ll send Spark and Wyatt down to bring extra seed before we get started!¡± Aunt Nyra¡¯s hand appeared in the doorway making a thumbs up, disappearing before the clatter of her lunch prep emanated from the kitchen. With a nod, Uncle Cy went right back into assigning tasks, ¡°Darrel, Xavier, Randi, before we head out, go ahead and take care of feeding. I¡¯ll get the combine, cart, and trucks warmed up and ready to move by the time y¡¯all are done.¡± *** Noise levels on a farm are extremely variable, you have a few incredibly loud points like a silo blower (thank everything that is holy that we got the air system installed two years back), or relatively quiet things like an idling combine. An active skid-steer is neither of those, instead it nestles itself right in the middle. Loud enough to be very noticeable when you are near enough to get run over by it, but not so loud it makes you want to bury your head in the dirt. The source of my sound based introspection creeped forward, a pallet loaded down with seedbags on its fork. I, on the other hand, was giving hand signals to prevent Wyatt from punching a hole in the truck bed. As much as I love fixing things and giving them a bit of flair to be even better than when they came into my workshop, mending holes in sheet metal sucks. I¡¯ll take drywall fuckery over that any day. Satisfied with where the pallet will end up, I waved him off and vaulted the sidewall as Wyatt sets the pallet down. Before he had a chance to drive off, I shouted at him over the skidsteer¡¯s engine. ¡°How many?¡± After Wyatt thinks for a bit, he pantomimes a pistol before holding up two fingers, then mimics a shotgun followed by one finger. I nodded before I rushed off to the ¡®armory¡¯, for lack of a better term. It¡¯s a small building that''s filled to the brim with all our military gear. Rifles, light armor, shotguns, sidearms, miscellaneous gear, and the ammunition to back it all up. I grabbed the requested weapons off their racks, gave them a quick spot check to make sure my hands wouldn¡¯t get blown up by poor maintenance, then shoved them into one of the many duffel bags kept by the door. Additionally, I grab a corresponding ammo box for each weapon, as well as 3 mags each for the pistols. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. My eyes flit over the room to make sure I didn¡¯t forget anything this time, when they snap to my current pride and joy. A reinforced baseball bat that I modified to deliver electric shocks to whatever it hits, a tried and tested weapon of the ages! Except, I only finished it last week, so the only thing it¡¯d zapped was our antithesis dummy target. ¡®It really walloped that thing though¡­¡¯ Anyways. I grabbed the bat on my way out and rushed over to the truck. The gun bag got placed in the back seat, where it would be easy for either of us to reach back to grab it. I then hopped into the seat up front and started fiddling with my bat. ¡®I can already see a few things that could be improved, more robust wiring here and here would increase the power output- ¡® My musing got cut off by Wyatt, who got into the driver''s seat with a grunt, ¡°Spark, if you shock me, I swear to fuck I will kick you out of the truck while we¡¯re moving.¡± ¡°Oh hush, this baby won¡¯t have any power moving through the circuits unless I need to test it,¡± I said with a roll of my eyes, ¡°¡¯Sides, I know better than to turn on a weapon in a tight space like this without proper reason.¡± Wyatt only responded with a grunt, but I caught a poorly hidden smile as he began driving out of Homeplace and towards Benson¡¯s, where Aunt Nyra was getting ready to start sowing wheat. The familiar roadsides began to blur into lumps of unhealthy yellows where field stubble didn¡¯t paint in various shades of brown or tan. Out here in the county wastes, (as the saps in the cities would call it), there were two main types of land. Really unhealthy looking forests were the first, and the second was the arable ground that we and a few other families worked to produce the food a lot of one-percenters go out of their way to buy. Frankly, it looked ugly as sin. All the plants were suffering, even including the crops that had been genetically modified to hell and back just to survive out here. The worldwide pollution was just that bad these days. ¡°You ok, Spark?¡± Wyatt looked at me with a bit of concern, gripping the steering wheel tight. ¡°You¡¯re glaring at the trees again.¡± ¡°Huh?, oh it''s the same ol¡¯ tired thing. The state of the environment out here pisses me off.¡± I sighed before continuing, ¡°The old pictures Great-Grampa had of the land here is just¡­¡± ¡°Night and day?¡± Wyatt sighs and shakes his head, looking out at the road in front of him. ¡°Yeah, like their corn didn¡¯t curl year round like ours does now! And everything in July was such a healthy deep green!¡± I slammed a fist onto my armrest, ¡°The only time their crops went yellow was when there was legitimate issues like a long drought, or on the other hand, they could even have TOO much water in the spring, drowning out the crops!¡± ¡°Yeah, It¡¯s definitely something to get angry about,¡±Wyatt chuckled, ¡°I was only your age when the weather got so bad, Nonsanto had to push out ¡®Pollution Ready Corn¡¯, the greedy bastards.I honestly have no idea how Nyra and Cy kept us from getting bought out by those fucks. Great Grampa was rolling in his grave when all that went down, for sure.¡± He paused for a few seconds before continuing, having gotten a bit into it, ¡°This crap we grow now? Shit ain¡¯t good for the soil either. It drains the soil beyond belief, way back when we¡¯d only run a single round of anhydrous for corn. Now we apply it three times! It just makes it all slightly worse so we have to keep ramping application rates up!¡± ¡°We¡¯re honestly incredibly lucky,¡± I said, ¡°Ran into the Flints at the elevator last week, did you know their bean quotas went up again?¡± I grimaced, squeezing my armrests a bit harder than I probably should have, ¡°They were already struggling last year to meet it and now? They might not have enough surplus to sell directly this year.¡± ¡°That¡¯s only half of it from what I hear, they have to use whatever varieties those damn corpos want,¡± Wyatt lightly hit the steering wheel, scowling out at the fields we were quickly passing. ¡°Funny, how those always end up being the damn expensive ones that require all of their own ¡®Antithesis proof¡¯ chemicals. The mention of the antithesis brought the conversation to a screeching halt. We both knew what the fuckers could do; Plenty of biomass and fertilizer spread out in easy to collect rows meant the xenos could eat a 40 acre field, then use all of that to demolish all of an operation¡¯s ground for the year. If you got lucky, the samurai would intervene early, and maybe even give the affected farmers an infusion of cash to pay off company contract failure fees so that they could feed themselves. What most people ended up with when they showed up was destroyed fields that got polluted beyond use by their esoteric weaponry. All that, by a fucker who just casually dropped in, killed the xenos, and then left without a care about what they left behind. And those farmers were the lucky ones. Chapter 2: Contact Most farming families and communities out in the wastes tend to keep all their infrastructure in one place which prevents raids from people and antithesis from going unnoticed. A few families, however, never gave up their other properties, for reasons ranging from impracticality to requiring the extra space. Each of these ¡°outpost farms¡± are almost always in various states of disrepair due to the resource requirements of running the primary operation. Those farm operations that manage to make it work are rewarded with extra profits from having a secondary location to expand from. -A Grade 10 essay titled ¡°Why the Hicks Might Have Had the Right Idea all Along.¡± 2043 The gravel crackled beneath the truck¡¯s tires as we pulled into Benson¡¯s, the place about as mildly off as ever. Not much was here, except for the few nurseries and finishing barns left over from the turn of the century. They still worked well enough to operate and the distance was too far to have the risk of replacing them with something more modern be worth a potential antithesis raid. Personally, I believed that Uncle Cy didn¡¯t want to deal with a second manure lagoon. The only thing here other than the barns and a few derelict machine sheds that had gone unused for decades was the presence of the tractor and drill. And Aunt Nyra of course. She looked up from one of the markers, then waved as we pulled up next to her. ¡°Fancy meeting y¡¯all out here!¡± Chortling, Nyra lovingly slapped the machine she was working on. ¡°Just an issue with the marker, and she¡¯ll be ready to go!¡± A small grin appeared on my face as I responded with thinly veiled sarcasm, ¡°Why¡¯d ya break it anyways? I worked hard on that!¡± I got a stuck out tongue in response as Wyatt chuckled, ¡°Both of you act like children, I swear! It¡¯s like watching-,¡± he trailed off as if remembering something painful, ¡°Nevermind. Spark, go over and help her fix the dang thing. I¡¯ll get the hoppers filled.¡± ¡°Sure thing, can¡¯t let her have all the fun after all.¡± My feet landed in the gravel with a crunch, and after slipping into my familiar role of family mechanic, I gave the busted equipment a once over. ¡°Before ya ask, yes, I checked all the bolts on it,¡± Nyra chimes in from above my shoulder, ¡°It¡¯s something with the hydraulics, dang thing wouldn¡¯t unfold when I was testing everything a few minutes ago. It¡¯s not the tractor either, cause everything else worked just fine.¡± With a nod of assent, I crouched down to see if a line had been cut somewhere. Seeing no puddles of oil anywhere, I looked along the lines, just to find the issue practically immediately. ¡°Auntiiiiiiieeeee, can you go drop the row units for me?¡± I remove the old strap, grabbing for a replacement from the drill¡¯s mounted toolbox only to find it empty. ¡°You have a pinched hydraulic line, and this toolbox is empty again! Fucking piece of garbage!¡± She gave a noise of confusion before she crouched down next to me. ¡°How in the fuck did I miss that?¡± Wyatt shouted from the back of the truck, ¡°Cause you hardly ever notice small stuff like that if you aren¡¯t specifically searching for it!¡± Nyra pinched the bridge of her nose, ¡°Shut up Wyatt!¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you get over here and make me?¡± Wyatt peeks out from the back of the truck, only to have Aunty throw a wrench at him. Rolling my eyes, I walked over to the tractor and turned it on myself. The sound of the engine roaring to life immediately drowned out the sibling banter, and thankfully got Aunt Nyra to move out of the way before she got hurt by the machinery I was about to move. Once the lines were no longer pinched, and the tractor was shut off again, I pulled the line free and checked it for any lasting damage. Finding none, I walked over to the truck¡¯s tool box and pulled out a few zip-ties. Not a good permanent fix, but good enough ¡®til tomorrow when I would be free to come out and replace them with something stronger. Lines bound and (despite the bickering) hopper filled, Wyatt and I had finished our work here. ¡°Nyra! we¡¯re gonna take your truck back to Homeplace!¡± My uncle sits half out the window, then throws his thumb at me. ¡°If you need more seed just give Spark a call!¡± Aunt Nyra faced him from inside the tractor¡¯s cab and shouted back, ¡°Got it! I¡¯ll pester you for more seed later!¡± Before Wyatt could even react in mock outrage, she had turned the key with a shit eating grin plastered on her face, the noise washing out anything he could¡¯ve retorted with. Well, anything except for the gesture he flashed her, which was also ineffective, as it caused her to almost double over in laughter. She eventually closed the cab door and gave us both a wave before putting the tractor in gear and driving off towards the field just to the north of us. ¡°Come on Uncle Wyatt, you¡¯ll roast her next time,¡± I said with a grin of my own. The only response was a drawn out sigh and a muttered, ¡°Everyone in this family is off their rocker.¡± *** By the time we had checked over the automatic feeding system for the pig barns at Benson¡¯s and driven back, the rest of the family had already set out to the fields to start shelling corn. Wyatt went towards the only truck that had yet to be taken out there, while I went towards the dryer. The machine wasn¡¯t too deep into the complex that we all called home, you just had to weave between a few buildings so that you could dump the grain you were hauling in from the field. Stolen novel; please report. Wyatt shut the pickup off after moving it next to the toolshed, before he walked off towards the armory to get weapons better suited to shooting from a semi than what I had picked out. I, on the other hand, walked towards the grain bins with the gun bag thrown over my shoulder. Wyatt would be grabbing a new set of weapons anyways, it¡¯s just common sense to keep some amount of firepower on me at all times. So why not hold onto what I had already prepped? Across the gravel drive from the grain bins and dryer was the garden. Which was, at the moment, currently full of laughing voices as my cousins gathered up all the food we¡¯d be eating for the next year. Sadly, I had other work to take care of before I could go over there and join in what sounded like a garden hosted version of ¡°So You Want to be a Samurai¡±, which mostly consisted of Evie roasting various Samurai, (at the younger kid¡¯s request), that deigned to look upon our home from their cloud based thrones. Instead, I wandered towards the dryer, a large hollow cylinder of metal connected to a gas furnace and a massive fuck off air blower. First things first, warming your hands on the surface of the tower. Easily one of the nicest feelings during harvest. Next the actual important work, manually checking the moisture content of the output and adjusting the burner temp to make it a nice and dry 14% moisture content. After a few other basic daily checks to make sure nothing would explode, I went over to the garden to find something to occupy my time while waiting for the first trucks to come rolling in. ¡°Spark!¡± Two gremlins come running up to me, ¡°Can you help us lift these baskets into the gator?¡± The ¡®us¡¯ in question being the twins, a pair of two 10 year old redheads who were near inseparable. ¡°I¡¯ll be right there Autumn! Go ahead and start filling up another!¡± She sent two thumbs up in response, picked up one of the empty baskets, then dragged away a, no doubt complaining, Summer who probably wanted to load the baskets herself. ¡°Summer, I¡¯ll let you and your sister help me unload them later if you fill another basket with tomatoes!¡± Now that got a spring in her step as the roles practically reversed. Summer went right from digging her heels in to practically dragging Autumn towards the few rows of tomato cages. I, on the other hand, had the absolutely fun task known as heavy lifting. Which sucks. A lot. Luckily, there were only a few baskets already filled and the sound of a semi pulling in graced myself with its wondrous presence. I absconded from the garden and went back to the dryer, this time passing it and walking to the good ol¡¯ loader tractor hitched to the wet tank auger, getting started with practiced efficiency. A quick turn of the key, followed by firing up the PTO, and finally, lining up the bottom of the semi-hopper with the pit. One small adjustment later to empty the second hopper, and the first truck of the day was emptied. Xavier pulled away with a wave, and I went back to the garden to see what else was needed. I arrived to find Summer had made good on her side of the deal, having loaded up another whole basket of tomatoes and she even almost finished a second one. I let them finish filling it up as I lifted the rest of the filled baskets onto the gator. ¡°Alright Summer, you earned it,¡± I say with a grin, ¡°Get over here, before you have to walk to the house!¡± Summer practically bolted towards the gator and jumped into the back, Autumn walked at a more relaxed pace and hopped into the passenger seat instead. ¡°Spark,¡± Autumn asked while looking at me with puppy dog eyes, ¡°Do I have to help lift those baskets too?¡± Naturally, I folded before she even finished asking her question, ¡°You won¡¯t have to help lift them, but can you stand in the back and push them towards the edge so your sister and I have an easier time?¡± She thought for a few moments before looking back at me with a small smile, ¡°Okay! I can do that!¡± ¡°Come ON, you can wheel and deal with us later!¡± Summer was basically vibrating with anticipation, ¡°I wanna go fast!¡± I immediately acquiesced to the daring twin, putting my foot hard on the gas as I drove us over to the basement entrance of the house. Thanks to some extra reinforcements the family made a few decades ago, it even acted as a small emergency shelter in the case of tornadoes or a raid by antithesis or bandits. ¡°Ok, Summer, remember that we won¡¯t rush these baskets down the stairs,¡± I lectured, a small smile on my face. ¡°No reason to cause a fall and break your ankle.¡± My cousin tilted her head at me, then asked, ¡°Why would it be my ankle and not yours?¡± I snorted, ¡°Because I¡¯m built different.¡± In the end, the twins practically fused themselves to the task of ¡°Helping Spark unload the gator,¡± and I continued to flip back and forth between the garden and the dryer throughout the morning. At around twelve, Nana was picked up by Wyatt after he was finished emptying his truck. She had a picnic basket with the field crew¡¯s lunch with her, and promised to come back to give us all some lunch after. They only had a few acres left to harvest, so it was decided they¡¯d just let us get more of the garden done while they ate. Afterwards, they¡¯d finish up and come back down, then take over while we ate our lunch. Unfortunately, our gardening was cut short when I was taking a short break to drink some water. All the way out in the distance, I paled as I saw something that I¡¯d always wished I¡¯d never have to see. Namely, a huge swarm of at least 50 Model Threes running towards the complex. ¡°Fuck. FUCK!¡± I turn to the group, my heart slamming hard in my chest.¡°RAID! Get to the shelter NOW!¡± I don¡¯t know if it is something to be proud of, or concerned about, but none of us even hesitated or made a joke. The antithesis were just that much of a threat out here. And a pack like that could only mean that a hive got pissed off somewhere. As the three kids rushed up to me so that Evie and I could both lead them to shelter, I grabbed the gun bag I had brought with me. ¡°Evie take these!¡± Handing her the shotgun and one of the pistols, I grabbed my bat and the other sidearm. It wasn¡¯t much, but it would have to be enough to get us all the way there. Chapter 3: Combat Range ¡°Huh? The civvies? Yeah it¡¯s always a bit bittersweet whenever I come across them fighting on their own without Protector gear. On the one hand, I applaud their bravery, and if they¡¯re the right fit they might even initialize,¡± The samurai grimaces, sighing as she rubs her forehead, ¡°The other side of it that you¡¯ll see is that most of the time, it¡¯s just one lone person with a pistol, standing up to a pack of Threes or something worse. Seeing that always makes me sad, because it¡¯s a story that¡¯s countlessly repeated worldwide.¡± Looking directly into the camera, the Samurai¡¯s eyes are almost hollow, their face frigid, ¡°They often don¡¯t get bailed out by a new friend in their head at the end of things.¡± -Informal interview with Shadowtag, 2056 Common practice for antithesis raids in our family is very simple. Adults split between the front and rear, teens behind or infront of them, kids in the center. Evie was up in the front, leading us towards the shelter, shotgun at the ready. The three kids were in the middle, nervously looking around. Benny had even held onto his pitchfork he was using to dig up potatoes. I was bringing up the rear with my baseball bat in one hand and a pistol in the other. Every few seconds I would turn to get a look at the gap in the buildings to see if any antithesis were running directly towards us. Instead, I saw a few groups of xenos that were definitely not Threes. Ones, Fours, Fives, a few Eights and probably a few cloaked Nines were all rushing towards the finishing barns. No doubt wanting to butcher the livestock in those buildings a bit early. More importantly, it was a force that was FAR too large for us to handle alone. ¡°Autumn, call your parents. Tell them what happened and get the rest of the family back here now,¡± I order, watching carefully to make sure none get too close, ¡°Summer you call Aunt Nyra. We need all hands on deck for this.¡± The twins instantly dialed up on their augs, and thankfully Summer¡¯s call went through instantly. ¡°Aunt Nyra? Spark said to call you and get you to come back,¡± The girl nervously states, ¡°There¡¯s a monster attack here and we need help!¡± She listened to the response before turning to me and whispering, her voice trembling just a bit, ¡°She¡¯s on her way, but it will be a while. She said she had moved to a field further away from her truck and was in a back corner when I called.¡± Autumn¡¯s call, however, still hadn¡¯t gone through, and she was shaking with fear. ¡°S-Spark? I can¡¯t get an answer. W-what if something happened I- we need the help, and if it¡¯s just us for a while I-¡° I quickly pulled her in for a hug, ¡°Don¡¯t think about that, Autumn, I¡¯ll kill all of them myself before they even look at you, and I have a secret weapon.¡± She sniffled, ¡°What secret weapon?¡± I look my cousin in the eyes, and grin. ¡°I have Evie here to scare the xenos away with her ugly face.¡± That got a few quiet giggles from all of the kids, and a pair of narrowed eyes with a promise of revenge from Evie herself. That glare quickly morphed to fear as she pointed behind me. Turning I saw the worst case scenario, a small pack of Threes had split off and were beelining right towards us. ¡°My workshop!¡± I push the kids forward as best I can, ¡°Now!¡± We all began running towards the closest building, a space that was definitively mine. My workshop was the place where I worked on any small scale project that wasn¡¯t tuning up equipment. It was my space to go to unwind and bash things together until they worked. Now it would be our lifeline. Evie got to the door first and flung it open, ¡°Everyone inside!¡± As the kids filed in, I turned to see that the Threes would definitely try and follow us through the door if they weren¡¯t killed first, and I knew that if they were killed, the noise and smell would only attract more. My decision on what I would do was already made. I turned, seeing Evie had been staring at me this entire time. She looked at me with a bitter smile. ¡°You¡¯re staying out here, aren¡¯t you?¡± I nodded adamantly, tapping my bat on the ground. ¡°Fine, you better give them hell.¡± She stepped back and shut the door between us. Knowing that Evie would keep them as safe as possible, I turned to face our pursuers which were about twenty-five meters away. Gripping the pistol hard in my hand, I raised the gun, causing the familiar reticle overlay to appear on my AR-glasses. The instant I had the leader sighted, I fired. The sound reverberated off the metal wall next to me, fleeing deeper into the complex as the Three¡¯s head jerked back before it tripped over its own feet. Thankfully, that also tripped up the three xenos behind it, while two others wove around the pile to either side. Another shot had the left one sprawled in the gravel, and a swing of the bat caved the right one¡¯s skull in, electricity discharging into it, causing all its muscles to seize up. The last few Threes had detangled themselves from each other, only to find a bullet each in two of their heads. The last one charged again, and rather than waste a bullet on a single fucker, I quickly sidestepped and swung right into the sliding Model¡¯s hip. As the crack of bone sounded out, the alien dog managed to graze me with its claws before it fell into the gravel, sending it everywhere. I wasn¡¯t able to truly celebrate though. Before the bat struck the dog, it had managed to land a few shallow cuts in my side, and they stung. With a deep breath in an attempt to shove the pain down I placed the tip of the bat on its head and let the electricity cook it from the inside. This whole thing would be fun, if it wasn¡¯t for the spiking worry in the back of my head. This was easy-cheesy now, and might stay that way for the next few moments, but the amount of Models I got a glimpse of would easily end up overrunning me. The unknown status of the rest of the family weighed heavily on my mind as well. The only main upside to this, was that the sight of the electricity working through the floral bodies was almost downright satisfying. Something about it was missing though¡­ This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Shit! Focus you ding dong, you¡¯re in the middle of a raid for fucks sake! I only got a reprieve of about a second before the first One showed up, having heard me shoot its brethren. Determined to put a few lumps in that flat face it had, I choked up on the bat and slammed it right across the pigeons¡¯ maw, sending it spinning off into the gravel. More were on the way for certain so I quickly went over what I had left. Three extra mags, combined with everything else would come out to forty-four rounds. Quickly inputting the info of my bullet count into my glasses, I considered my situation. I had a decent-ish amount of stopping power against a small group of antithesis, but this wasn¡¯t just a small group. My only hope for survival was if Aunt Nyra got here and bailed me out, and that would only happen if I was able to stall for around twenty-five more minutes. Not good odds, but at least the others would make it. Which was more than enough for me. Shaking myself out of those thoughts, I spotted my next opponents, a tight grouping of Ones. I dropped the bat to steady my pistol before I emptied it into the writhing mass. Antithesis bodies rained down, leaving only two pigeons in the air, both of which were way too close for me to reload in time. Deftly, I crouched down while holstering the gun, then grabbed my bat before popping up to swing wildly in the air at the looming threats. To my honest surprise, I somehow managed to hit one dead center, before I dragged it along midair to slam into the other, sending both sprawling across the ground. Before I could finish them off, the sound of multiple sets of claws scrabbling through gravel alerted me to the other half of this group, the Threes. Pinching the bat under my upper arm,I reloaded the pistol while I backpedaled from the whirlwind of claws tearing their way towards me. Release the empty mag, replace it with another; Easy cheesy. I then hastily fired at the group, tagging one in the head, another in the leg, and riddling the other two with bullets until they weren¡¯t moving anymore. One last bullet in the head of the Three with a broken leg followed by another hit from my baseball bat to the surviving One, which had ended up with a broken wing from when I had rammed its friend into it, left me surrounded by still corpses all over again. I stumbled over to the nearby wall and leaned against it. That was already way too close. The small flock of Ones drained the clip, and I was lucky with how accurate my shots were so far. All the noise I was making was only sure to draw more attention, as was just proven. Eventually a Three would sneak up on me or something, and that would be it. I needed to buy more time than this! Interrupting my worsening spiral, the sound of rumbling earth had my attention glued to a nearby corner. As if on cue, two more Threes slid around the corner, followed by a mass of writhing tentacles on four legs. Before they could even start moving towards me, I fired the last four bullets in the mag at the Model Four. It took a few more steps forward before shuddering and collapsing. The Threes were soon cut down after I replaced the clip again, bringing me down to twenty-four bullets. Obviously upset that their casualty count was as high as it was, two Ones flew up and over a barn to my left to get close to me. Not wanting to give them the satisfaction of making me waste bullets, I picked up and threw a rock at one of the pigeon fuckers to slow it down a tad, before slamming my bat into the side of the other. It went off to join its recently deceased siblings to the left, while the other opened its beak to try and take a chunk of my neck. It got a cylinder of metal and wood caving in the top of its skull instead. Before I could even so much as celebrate, a noise behind me caused me to turn around and barely raise my bat, before a mass of antithesis flesh slammed into me and took me to the ground. The Three was a squirmy fucker, and as we flailed along the ground, it¡¯s razor sharp claws dug out my flesh at random, sending searing pain up through my spine each time it did. The only thing saving me from those tri-hinged jaws was my bat, which was shoved into its mouth. The electricity coursing from the modifications I made was clearly wreaking havoc on the xeno¡¯s everything. Finally, after what felt like eons, the Three slumped over, pressing my back even further into the sharp gravel. I released a hiss of pain, and then the gashes made themselves known, causing me to suck in air through my teeth. Before I could even think about shoving the damned thing off, I heard the door behind me open. ¡°Shitbiscuits.¡± A pair of footsteps crunched through the gravel until they were right next to my side, ¡°At least you did what I said for once.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re just going to stand out here like that,¡± I managed to force out of my heaving chest, ¡°The least you could do is get this damned thing off me, for goddess¡¯ sake!¡± Evie only responded with a scoff before she shoved the body off of me. Unfortunately that only revealed what had to be the closest impression of ground pork my body could manage. My cousin was deathly quiet as she grabbed my shoulders and dragged me towards the open door. As my boots cleared the doorway with a clunk, I felt something jabbing its way into my head, and before I could even think about swallowing a scream it receded. System startup sequence initiated¡­ Loading backup systems¡­ Calculating Atmospheric Conditions. Part-Finder System Engaged. Class XII Vanguard Communication Implant installed. Connection to Class XII Vanguard Personal Assistant AI established. Unit designation: ¦Æ-523281-165004-203368 PYRIDAE User designation: Spark Graham Finalizing system connection¡­ Connection integrity confirmed. System active. System initialized! Hello, little Spark. Your recent actions protecting the embers of the future have relit a soon to be extinguished hope, rekindling a small light for humanity. Your shine can illuminate the path that leads your fellows into a bright new future. My name is Pyridae; I shall be your guide and personal assistant in your long journey. Rise Spark Graham, and take your place as an electrifying catalyst for hope, so you can rain the bolts of your anger upon those that would threaten your world and those that would inhabit it. Chapter 4: Applesauce ¡°I will never forget the day I was asked to go to a hospital to treat a patient. I was bored out of my skull so I figured ¡®why not?¡¯¡± ¡°I came to regret that decision when I found out my presence was requested because a tik-tokker decided to use a WoundStop to spackle his asshole shut.¡± -Conversation between Shadowtag and a journalist, 2049 ¡°Wh-Wha, h-hold on here. Is this for fucking real?¡± Evie¡¯s trademark snark was laced with worry, ¡°Yes Spark, unfortunately you did actually get yourself ripped to shreds.¡± Yes it is, also for your initial efforts¡­ Targets Eliminated! Model One x11 Reward¡­ 11 Points Model Three x13 Reward¡­ 130 Points Model Four x1 Reward¡­ 15 Points Total¡­ 156 Points Those numbers typed themselves out in an anomalously opened notes app on my glasses as the voice continued. Including your Initialization Bonus of 100 points you now have 256. I advise you use the funds to first heal yourself, and then purchase more appropriate weaponry for facing down a fully fledged raid alone. Knowing that I was now either completely off my rocker or incredibly lucky, I decided to indulge the voice in my head. ¡°Fine, what do I need then?¡± Evie¡¯s eyes shine with worry as she looks down at me, ¡°You need a goddess damned body transplant, you idiot!¡± You are currently suffering from multiple series of gashes made by the Model Three. This is a simple issue that the Class I Medical Utilities Catalog can easily fix! From said catalog a Class I Woundstop and Class I Nano-Regenerative Suite would be quick to halt further damage and bleeding and heal the worst of the injuries. Finally a Class I Hemo-Restore would replace any of the blood you lost over the next few hours. The total would be 80 points. The situation had settled enough in my head that the full force of the pain was starting to really hit me. Letting out a pained whimper as Evie finally laid me down in the center of my workshop. As Evie rushed to quietly shut the door,I could see the thick trail of blood I had left behind. Before addressing the still not yet confirmed to be fake AI in my head, I looked to my left to see the faces of the kids staring at my sorry state with pale faces, and tears in their eyes. ¡°Welp Pyridae," I wheezed out through gritted teeth, ¡°Hit me already.¡± Understood! Class I Medical Utilities unlocked! Points reduced to¡­ 206 New Purchase: Class I Woundstop Points Reduced to¡­ 201 New Purchase: Class I Nano-Regenerative Suite Points Reduced to¡­ 181 New Purchase: Class I Hemo-Restore Points reduced to¡­ 176 Three dark cyan boxes then plopped onto the loose gravel next to me. I could no longer deny that this wasn''t all in my head, especially after not only the sound of four separate gasps filled the air, but I had reached out and brushed my hand against the first box and actually felt the damned thing. Whether I should be thankful or curse my new life I didn¡¯t know, so I did the only thing I could do; open the box. ¡°Pyridae,¡± I mutter, holding my purchase in my trembling hand, ¡°why is it that you sold me a tube of caulk?¡± I ignored the choked laughs and did my best to look stern at the actually real computer in my head. That is in fact your Woundstop. To use it, press the button down and fill the gashes in with the material. I do advise to be quick but careful, considering that there is still an antithesis presence in the area and you have established yourself as a threat to them. You could also ask for help from your cousins, as your motor functions are significantly impaired currently. Eyes widening with realization I turned to Evie, ¡°Can you play amateur doctor for me?¡± Before I could even blink, the tube was ripped from my hands and my blood soaked shirt was torn open the rest of the way. While I cringed at the fact that I was now topless in front of all of them, (I was never comfortable going without a shirt in front of anyone), I could only barely prevent myself from hurling when I saw the utter carnage that had been hidden beneath the torn fabric. Multiple wide gashes were torn down my front, staining my skin with my own crimson blood. Feeling myself get all fuzzy, I relayed the instructions to Evie, then watched as she held the tube and got to work. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°This feels like you¡¯re putting applesauce in my body,¡± I stated incredulously, ¡°What the actual fucking shit.¡± Once she finished filling the first gash with medicinal fruit paste, I could feel the pain from that area of my chest lessen. My gasp of relief had Evie pausing to look at me, her face far more pale than normal. With a pained breath I nodded to her, and she moved onto the next gash and started filling it in as well. Next largest box, the suite is dispensed via inhaler. ¡°Evie, the second largest box.¡± Before she could do anything, Summer had the box open and the inhaler in her hands. ¡°You¡¯ll be ok, right Spark?¡± Taking a deep breath after her anxious words, Summer gives me a reassured, but weak smile., ¡°You have to be ok, because you¡¯re built different.¡± As she brought the inhaler to my mouth, a bit of anxiety flashed through my head. ¡®You see Benny use one all the time, how hard can it be?¡¯ The answer to that question was not something I enjoyed. Inhaling nanites is something that I quickly found was extremely unpleasant. It felt like inhaling wriggling sand and then being unable to cough the stuff back out despite my best efforts. Once my lungs were properly hacked up, and the others seemed to be certain the inhaler hadn¡¯t killed me, I eyeballed the final box with trepidation. ¡°Pyridae, please tell me that thing isn¡¯t an inhaler.¡± It is not an inhaler. ¡°Good! Summer, can you do the last box please?¡± with that Summer opened the damned thing up and paled. She pulled out what was absolutely not an inhaler, but instead a syringe¡¯s fucked up cousin, that got loaded with goopy kool-aid and then got body modded to hell. It is a specialized injection that delivers the compound right to your bloodstream. Tell Summer to inject it into the outside of your thigh. ¡°Fan fucking-tastic. Outside of my left thigh, Summer.¡± The girl pushed up the leg of my shorts and pushed it into my skin. Thankfully, the liquid fruit punch drained into me with barely even a pinch. Excellent! As long as you don¡¯t stress your wounds too much, you should be completely back to health in a few hours! A few hours for gashes that serious was something that made me do a mental double take. If this is basic gear, imagine what high end stuff looks like! The thought was sobering, knowing the sheer medicinal capability I now had at my fingertips. Just imagining the firepower I would eventually have was equally terrifying, but yet also, it had me chomping at the bit to go out and shoot something to get closer to that point. Not to mention the possible things I could do with food production in the Wastes¡­ Evie pulls me out of my musing, ¡°Spark, before your head goes up into the clouds, we need a plan. There¡¯s far too much blood,¡± she chokes on her words, ¡°They¡¯ll smell it soon and then beat down the door. Please tell me you have something in this place that can get us to the actual shelter.¡± ¡°I-,¡° I look around the shop as Evie helps me to my feet, ¡°I don¡¯t have anything in here like that assembled, maybe if I had an hour to cobble something together, but there¡¯s a reason I don¡¯t have any sort of explosives at hand.¡± I can actually help you with that. ¡°You can?¡± I mutter, looking up a bit as if I could see the AI, ¡°How?¡± Spark dear, how did you receive medical attention? My face heats up as I look down at my boots. ¡°In my defense, it¡¯s been a long fifteen-ish minutes,¡± I mumble. Before anyone could continue the blood drained from my face, as a wave of discomfort washed over me. ¡°Fucking¡­ eurgh!¡± I grimace, doing my best to push down the sludge filling my heart, ¡°Where¡¯s my PPE drawer?¡± I turn my head on a swivel as I pull the location from my memory. As I go to hobble towards the drawer, I notice one important thing. I¡¯m not in pain. Well, nothing worse than feeling a bit sore anyways. ¡°Fuck, that¡¯s trippy.¡± I mutter, finally reaching the drawer I yank it open and dig past the safety goggles, gloves, and assorted pads until my hands latch onto the treasure I was searching for. A nice mostly clean t-shirt. As I pulled it on with a sigh of relief, Pyridae chimes in. Now that you are comfortably clothed, I was specifically thinking about the slightly modified pressure washer kitty-corner to you. With the Vulgoran Electrical Utilities Catalogue, you will be able to purchase a few attachments that can attach to the washer that will for one, give you a large enough supply of water to get your family to proper shelter, two, heat and pressurize the water to the point it will cut into low tier antithesis flesh. Finally, we¡¯ll electrify it, to not only make it carry a decent enough charge to do significant damage to their nervous systems, but also increase the stream¡¯s range to around 20 meters before dispersal. ¡°That''s fine. Evie, can you grab the pressure washer in the corner for me please?¡± Evie gives me a look as she walks over to grab it, ¡°Okaaaaay? Didn¡¯t you say this thing was only good for washing the outsides of buildings?¡± ¡°The overlord in my head says she can make it stronger.¡± She scoffs, ¡°If the overlord says so.¡± As she brings it over, I realize something, ¡°Pyridae, what about Ones? Twenty meters is a lot for Threes, but the chickens can close the gap a bit better. Is there anything extra for them?¡± For the record, I am not an evil overlord. As for the impromptu weapon, the dispersed mist will be hot enough to scald any Model Ones should they fly through it. ¡°Good enough, go ahead and buy the stuff.¡± Gladly! Class I Vulgoran Electrical Utilities Points Reduced to¡­ 26 Vulgoran Hydroelectric Injector Points Reduced to¡­ 10 Class 0 High Velocity Nozzle Points Reduced to¡­ 9 Pressurized Water Tank (Modified) x1 Points Reduced to¡­ 4 Specialized Protective Gloves Points Reduced to¡­ 3 A set of five plastic boxes appeared on my workbench at nearly the same time Evie set the washer down onto it. Opening up the first box had me looking down at a pressure wand and hose. It was a sleek storm cloud gray with light cyan highlights. Right above the trigger there was a glowing cylinder with rapidly spinning components arcing electricity between them. I could feel a smile stretch across my face. ¡°Oh, now this is going to be fun!¡± Chapter 5: Washin Most Samurai won¡¯t so much as look at a tool box when it comes to maintaining their various forms of weaponry. Instead they either just buy new gear, or buy a drone to do it for them. A few Samurai diverge from this trend, and consistently maintain their equipment themselves with, or without drone help. Finally a small fraction of Samurai will actively try to build their own equipment. This has led to incredibly dangerous Samurai grade equipment failing in ways that have widespread consequences. (See Champaign, Illinois Tragedy of 2039) It is advised that when operating in proximity to one of them, to be very wary of anything damaging their equipment, and put an immediate stop to anyone from interacting with that equipment who is not authorized by the Samurai themselves. -Excerpt from Cleanze PMC Group Samurai Field Guide As a warning, please be careful with these components. They can reach temperatures hot enough to leave 3rd degree burns on contact. My hand and the wrench it was operating froze. ¡°That is a hell of a warning to give me when my hand is gripping the parts tightly Pyridae!¡± Autumn spoke from the side of the table, ¡°What¡¯d she say?¡± ¡°I think she¡¯s screwing with me,¡± I finished tightening the valve connecting the backpack unit to the wand hose, ¡°but I can¡¯t tell.¡± I am giving you important information while also messing with you. It is quite enjoyable. Rest assured that I will not risk actual harm to you or anyone else when something you are working on has actual dangerous components in that moment. I do, however, advise double checking the power is turned off for most components I sell you. Safety First! ¡°She¡¯s being a little shit like Evie,¡± I mutter with a small grin. Before Evie could swear revenge ¡®upon my entire lineage¡¯, the door we had entered from rattled. Time is up, and not a moment too soon. Your new weapon is complete. Sitting on the bench in front of me was two small tanks of water strapped to each other with a hose extending out from its left side. The hose ended with a fancy new spray wand that was swiftly becoming illuminated in a dull orange glow. Turn on the heating element and the built-in motor, then open the valve connecting the primary and secondary tanks and it will be ready to fire uninterrupted for twenty minutes. As the door cracked, barely staying in its frame, I quickly flipped up the orange valve lever and slipped the backpack on. After several quick adjustments to the straps later, I was ready. ¡°Away from the door now!¡± I command, raising the spray wand. With one final smash the door toppled inward, the Three responsible awkwardly crashing down on top of it. It looked up, just to see me pointing the wand right at it. With a squeeze of the trigger, a pressurized jet of electrified water shot through the air towards the thing¡¯s eyes with a dull thrum. The eye I hit practically boiled away under the heat and pressure, the electricity cooking it from the inside out. It didn¡¯t take long for the plant dog to fall onto the ground dead with a face half melted off. Stepping over it with a renewed fire in my chest and a satisfied smirk on my face, I began hosing down the rest of the Models that were outside my workshop. The washer practically melted through whatever it hit, each Model only took about a split second before collapsing from the electrical overload to their nervous system or the downright nasty burns it was inflicting on them. Even a glancing hit locked their muscles up with electricity, peeled away a layer of whatever kind of skin they had, and then scalded the living daylights of anything beneath. Unfortunately the weapon did have some drawbacks. While I was focusing on hosing down a few Threes rushing up from the left of the door, a duo of the same Model closed in from the right. Unable to quickly finish off the group, I was about to ask for an emergency grenade or something, when Evie jumped out of the doorway and practically blew both their heads off with her shotgun. ¡°I thought I told you that you weren¡¯t allowed to get mauled again.¡± Evie pumps her shotgun, raising it up to take another shot. After finally finishing off the first group, I aimed skyward to cut off the small flock of Ones that were preparing to swoop down on us. The flock didn¡¯t last long with the steam boiling away their skin and feathers while scalding everything underneath. Using this thing on antithesis was as easy as hosing down a cement pad. ¡°You never said that Evie,¡± I whine before my voice took on a fake somber tone, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you don¡¯t like me anymore!¡± The unmistakable ker-chunk of the shotgun¡¯s pump action rang out, followed instantly by the bang of a shell spent. ¡°Oh screw off,¡± she responded as she loaded a slug, ¡°it shouldn¡¯t need to be said in the first place!¡± The roaring buzz of my wand cut off as I released the trigger, having seemed to have cleared the last of the antithesis from the area. I motioned behind me to get the kids out the door and heading towards the house, and more importantly into the basement shelter, when heavy crunching footsteps sounded out from across the small lot we were in. Turning, I squinted as I locked- well I couldn¡¯t exactly see their eyes to match them, but two more Fours had decided to make an appearance. My wand was already moving to meet their approach with a jet of scalding water. Instead of quick results like I had found with the Ones and Threes, the tentacled creeps were able to ¡®cushion¡¯ their bodies from the jet by blocking with their tendrils. By the time I had rendered one unusable, another would take its place. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Backing up while keeping the heat on the pair I called out, ¡°Evie! A little assistance here would be nice!¡± ¡°On it!¡± Her shotgun barks right after she does. While I wasn¡¯t able to cut through the tentacles and hose the fuckers down, I was able to soften up, or cut away a majority of them.The first shell ripped through the left Four¡¯s tentacles and head with a squelch, a quick pump and squeeze of the trigger by Evie dropped the right one just as quickly. ¡°That may be one hell of a new toy you have there,¡± Evie nervously chuckled, ¡°but I think we should get to the shelter sooner rather than later.¡± I gave a nod in return, ¡°Same formation as always, but I¡¯ll swap with you to take them head on.¡± If I may cut in.
Targets Eliminated!
Model One x9 9
Model Three x14 140
Model Four x2 30
Total 182
¡°Uhhhh thanks? Why the swap to a table?¡± You¡¯re very welcome! And I decided condensing the information would be better for readability. "Fair enough." ¡°Spark! That was so cool!¡± Benny rushed up and hugged my leg sending a flare of pain from the still healing gashes, ¡°What¡¯s it¡¯s name? You told me that the Number Four Rule of Inventing is that all inventions need a cool name!¡± That was actually a good point, thinking about what I could name it also brought a few potential growing pains with the weapon up as well. Motioning the group to start moving I spoke up, ¡°It¡¯s called The Powered Washer.¡± Naturally, I paused for dramatic effect while ignoring Evie¡¯s groan at my showboating, ¡°And I have a few improvements I want to make.¡± I cut myself off as I realized that the other four couldn¡¯t hear Pyridae, ¡°Before that however, Pyri can you talk out loud for us?¡± I can talk to them through their augs, except for Benny who doesn¡¯t have any. ¡°Can you just buy a small speaker instead? Excluding him would be rude.¡± Certainly!
New Purchase!
Class 0 Communication Unit 3
Points Reduced To: 179
A small plastic box dropped into my hands. Opening it, I found what looked like an old-school smart phone, and I passed it to Autumn. ¡°Anyways, first off I need actual protective equipment with this so I don¡¯t burn, or shock myself. Next up, I want something to give this weapon more options. Something more suited for groups, and something with more punch.¡± [I do believe there is a solution to this. The Class 0 Multi-Beam Opti-Nozzel will give your jury-rigged weapon those options while remaining cheap. It has a ¡®Flat¡¯ mode which will allow the water to connect with multiple units more easily at the cost of reduced range, and a ¡®Steel Cutter¡¯ mode which will release a stream that can cut through all low tier antithesis flesh with ease.] ¡°Get it, and some proper gloves. I¡¯d rather not scald myself while replacing the thing.¡± As I looked around, I saw all the half bodies we had left behind and grimaced. ¡°Do you have anything for corpse removal? Might as well get rid of them while we¡¯re still here.¡± [Class I Esoteric Single-Use Explosive Devices contains a few options. A common choice for newer Vanguard is the Mark I Flesh Melter. It carries a nanite payload that seeks out and destroys biomass. It will cost twenty-seven points to cover all the bodies at three points a piece, after fifty points for the catalogue.] ¡°All of it please.¡± I mutter, trying not to gag at the smell.
New Purchase!
Class 0 Multi-Beam Opti-Nozzel 4
Class 0 Insulated Rubber Gloves 1
Class I Esoteric Single-Use Explosive Devices 50
Mark I Flesh Melter x9 27
Total: 82
Points Reduced To: 96
Two plastic boxes plopped onto the ground in front of me, the first one being white topped with the images of gloves, and a garden hose nozzle on it. The second is a sleek black with a stylized red Model One with x¡¯ed out eyes appearing to melt into the ground. I crouched down and placed my wand to the side before handing the box of grenades to Evie, ¡°I¡¯d do it myself, but I¡¯ve got a weapon to modify. I think Pyri can tell you where to put them?¡± [I certainly can.] Evie didn¡¯t say anything as she grabbed the box with a grimace, and rushed off to plant them among the bodies. Opening the first box I was met with a slightly bulkier version of my current nozzle, and a pair of dark purple gloves with lighting arc motifs running over where the seams would be. I snort as I begin to pull them on. ¡°Cute.¡± The gloves slipped on easier than I¡¯d expect for gloves this snug, and they practically felt like they didn¡¯t exist on my fingers! Hooray for precision friendly gloves! I reached for my wrench to find it missing from my toolbelt, and looking down I then realized my toolbelt was missing in its entirety. A curse half slipped out of my mouth before a small finger tapped on my shoulder. Turning, I found Autumn standing there with a wide smile, and also my missing toolbelt. ¡°I noticed that it fell off after you got put back together, so I grabbed it when you and Evie were fighting the monsters.¡± The girl held it up with both hands, one of the clips clinking against another with the movement. I ruffled her hair and pulled the wrench out its spot, and with a flick of a switch on the washer¡¯s pistol to kill the electricity and heat, I got to work on the now outclassed nozzle. A few sharp tugs on the wrench to pull the nut loose, along with a few quick twists of the nozzle had it falling off and a bunch of steaming water draining from the barrel. A repeat of the process in the reverse had the new part secured and the powered elements powering back up. Before I could ask Pyri how the mode swapping would work, my glasses gained a new symbol of the washer strapped to my back with a line, a triangle, and a line going through a wall appearing next to it. The controls act as either a toggle or a fine select. As a note, I do recommend better ocular equipment as a later purchase as well. Before I could respond, Evie returned with an empty box she tossed into the gravel next to the part box. ¡°While planting grenades is incredibly fun, I¡¯d rather do it from the other side of a grenade launcher. Evie nervously looked behind her, a bit of an uncharacteristic jerkiness in her movements. ¡°Let¡¯s get to the house now please.¡± Chapter 6: Hunker Down Shelters and bunkers are both two very different things Shelters are for the most part, safe against most of the lowest tier of Models, but need to be evacuated quickly once the incursion starts ramping up into whatever specialization it decides on. As long as a corp didn¡¯t skimp somewhere, you¡¯ll be fine for a few hours Bunkers on the other hand are wildly different, it can range from a concrete box underground with 1 foot thick walls, which a single Model Three can breach in a matter of minutes, to a reinforced set of rooms underground that are hardened against tunneling antithesis to the point they can hold for hours. They aren¡¯t necessarily the best consistent option, but sometimes you just don¡¯t have a choice. -Excerpt from a forum discussion post about incursion safety ¡°Uhhhh, Evie?¡± I fidget, Evie¡¯s glare piercing into me. ¡°Yeah Spark?¡± Evie stands beside me, her arms crossed. I tap my foot on the ground, unsure. ¡°Why do you look like you¡¯ve seen a ghost?¡± Evie glared back at me, ¡°Cause you sent me off to nuke some bodies alone while you slapped a new part on your wand!¡± She turned back with a huff, a dissatisfied look on her face ¡°The least you could¡¯ve done is actually come with me in case I was attacked!¡± She is correct about this, corpse disposal is not a current priority for you currently. The best course of action is to get your family to safety and then remove the threats from the complex. After that is when I would advise proper corpse removal. I hung my head, ¡°You¡¯re both right. Sorry for sending you out there alone Evie. That was a pretty shitty move on my part.¡± ¡°Just, don¡¯t do it again okay?¡± She let out a breath, her demeanor softening. ¡°If you pull something like that again I can and will give you a snake bite.¡± That warning more than anything motivated me to not make dingy decisions anymore. Evie¡¯s snakebites hurt. ¡°I uhhh, I¡¯ll do my best ma¡¯am!¡± The kids between us were snickering away at our antics when a loud sound came from around the corner. Quickly rushing to the front, I peek around the edge of the barn we were walking alongside, finding a Four trying to break open a window as the pigs inside were squealing up a storm. A grin plastered itself on my face as I swapped my new toy to its cutter mode to blast the overgrown shrub. The Four almost looked startled by the high-pitched whine of the wand, just before the beam tore into its side, wreaking all kinds of havoc on the surrounding tissue and its nervous system. Any tentacles that wriggled in the way of the beam were sheared off instantly, and fell to the ground still twitching. The actual body of the Four soon followed with a crash.
Targets Eliminated!
Model Four x1 15
Total: 111
The pigs continued to scream bloody murder, which most likely sealed their fate as fuel for the antithesis war machine. People came before the pigs in an incursion scenario. Turning to the rest of them, I motioned towards the house that was now only twenty meters away. ¡°Now that the distraction has been dealt with, let''s get you all inside.¡± Evie looked like she wanted to argue about what my wording implied, but I cut her off with a look. We had already wasted enough time to make it to the house and back to my workshop already. Of course even thinking that had a perverse effect on the universe, and it had to throw one more wrench into everything. Aunt Nyra¡¯s truck practically screamed into the driveway, as she skidded to a stop next to us, she looked over us all from the cab and shouted through the open window, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you all in the shelter?¡± Before Evie or I could respond she coughed once, and her hand came away red. In fact there was a lot of red where there shouldn¡¯t be, and the window wasn¡¯t open, but shattered. I cursed as I rushed to the door and opened it; There was blood everywhere, and lying in the passenger seat was a dead Model One. ¡°J-just barely was able to kill it before it tore into my throat,¡± Nyra wheezed out, ¡°Not much that can be done for me anyway, just make sure you all are safe.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not dying today Auntie,¡± I mutter, my heart slamming in my chest, ¡°Pyri, get me what I need.¡± Nyra seemed to pale once she heard what I said. Understood.
New Purchase!
Class I Nano-Regenerative Suite 20
Electroactive Polymer Bandage 1
Hemo-Restore 5
Total: 26
Points Reduced To: 85
I felt a small pressure against my right palm, and as I looked down at it, another nanite injector fell into it. Not wasting any more time I injected it into her leg. I then repeated the palm thing, and got a nanite inhaler which I pressed to her face, then after confirming she knew what to do, administered it. After that I pulled her out of the truck onto the gravel, where a package containing a bandage had appeared. Nyra only seemed to be getting worse, as she was as white as a sheet and was starting to shake. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°No¡­¡± My Aunt grabbed my arm, her grip disconcertingly weak,¡°Not you too¡­¡± I didn¡¯t really understand what that was about, so I ignored it to focus on applying the bandage. Evie was understandably, slightly distraught over her mother¡¯s state, and was sobbing quietly as she hugged the kids. I advise you work quickly. The antithesis will be attracted to this location by the noise, and Evelin is clearly distraught to the point her fighting capabilities are impacted. ¡°I know, I know, just give me a second.¡± I forgoed truly cleaning the multitude of gashes around her arm and just slapped the bandage over where Pyri had highlighted. After that I picked her up into a princess carry with a heave, ¡°Evie I know this is hard, but you¡¯re our only defense right now. Grab the wand, and cover us please.¡± Thankfully, she was cognizant enough to drop her shotgun to swap to the wand like I asked. I quickly set it back to the regular firing mode, then swiftly began walking towards the house. Just a few more meters and we would soon be safe. We only had one last encounter before we made it, a flock of Ones that were easily dispatched by Evie that brought me up to 102 points. Reaching the thankfully already open doors I stepped inside. Summer was quick to flick on the light switch lighting up the staircase. ¡°Pyri, do you see any signs of any xenos getting in here before us?¡± My eyes scanned the corners, keeping watch for anything moving as my AI responded verbally through the phone. [Not unless a Model One flew in, which is doubtful. I advise caution regardless.] ¡°Alright then, kids stay up here with us, Evie can you...¡± Before I could finish she had already softly closed the door. ¡°Ok, Evie you need to go first, you heard her.¡±¡± She nodded resolutely, bravely leading the group down into the bunker proper. It doubled as food storage for the family with an entrance into the kitchen, Shelves and cots lined the walls and there was a small nook that had some basic cooking appliances in it. Autumn typed in the sealing code into the keypad once we were all inside, causing the entrance we came in from, and the interior stairwell to be sealed with a soft thump. [You are all safe, there is no antithesis presence in this bunker.] With a collective sigh of relief, I rushed Aunt Nyra to a cot and laid her down on it. Evie instantly was at her mother¡¯s side holding her hand. ¡°It¡¯s going to be okay Mom! We¡¯re in the bunker now, Spark got you all fixed up,¡± My cousin whispered, before she turned to the phone to ask, ¡°Pyri, her wounds not being cleaned is fine, right?¡± [The bandage itself is meant to prevent infection, the only thing she needs right now is rest.] ¡°Oh thank goodness,¡± Evie muttered as she put her mother¡¯s hand to her forehead. As she did, my aunt spoke in a hushed tone, her blood loss making her voice weaker than I had ever heard it. ¡°I''ll protect her," she murmured ever so quietly, tears beginning to form in her eyes, "I''ll protect your daughter, Lily." My eyes shot to my aunt, my body awkwardly moving away from her like an ancient robot as my mind replayed her words like a broken record. Lily? Isn''t that... My mom? Do... I have a sister? But they always told me I was her only child? Wha- I don''t... Reeling, I stumbled over to the corner of the room, away from the rest of my family. I unstrapped the washer from my back in a haze, too out of it to notice that I neglected to turn any of it off. Spa...re y.. kay? I practically fell into another nearby cot, a deep chill emanating from deep within my bones. My breathing growing shallower by the second, I clutched the freezing metal bars in my hands as a tiny, yet indescribably sharp pain began to throb in the lower back of my head. ¡­rk! Li¡­n to me! Coming upon me like a tidal wave, memories I had long thought drowned soon swept me out to the recesses of my own mind. - I was in a large unfamiliar room, the walls surrounding me were covered in lavender wallpaper and posters featuring real life superheroes. The downright massive bed in the corner looked incredibly soft and inviting with its big fluffy pillows, giant plushies, and flowery duvet cover. Looking down I saw myself in a cute green shoulder strap dress, with a white t-shirt underneath. A warm fluttery feeling welled up in my chest, making me feel almost like I could soar in the skies. Momma was so nice helping me find clothes that let me feel this pretty. Momma... The word sent a lance of grief through my heart. Where is she? She said she was going out on an errand, but she hadn¡¯t come back yet. ¡°Umm excuse me Miss Day?¡± I peek out the window, but Momma isn¡¯t anywhere in sight. ¡°Do you know where Momma is?¡± The question was directed to a small speaker in the corner of my room. Miss Day was a helpful robot Momma got that would help me with my numbers and my block puzzles! [I¡¯m sorry Spark, Ms. Graham will not be able to come home today, I informed your Aunt Nyra of the situation and she is on her way and will be here shortly.] ¡°Oh, Ok!¡± I cheerfully trot over, plopping down on my fluffy bed.¡°Can you tell Momma I love her and miss her?¡± [I will do so soon, little Spark.] When Aunt Nyra opened the door a few minutes later, my world fell apart. - ¡°Spark! Are you ok?!¡± I jolted from my position on my bed to find the kids looking down at me with tears in their eyes. ¡°Uwah?¡± I sputter out, ¡°Wha happen?¡± I was quickly buried by multiple hugs as Evie explained from across the room, ¡°Pyri said you had a panic attack followed by a traumatic flashback.¡± She exchanged a look with her mom, an emotion I can¡¯t read on her face. ¡°You were also muttering something under your breath. We weren¡¯t able to hear it.¡± She looked at the floor in shame as she quietly asked, ¡°Are you ok?¡± That deep chill was still flowing through my veins, that flashback still looping in my head. I didn¡¯t remember much before I moved in with the rest of my family, and Nyra was always tight-lipped about my past. Clearly, I was missing some pieces, but now? I had an advanced AI in the back of my head that could help. Peeling the admittedly very worried kids off of me, I sent them off to go play, or take a nap in Benny¡¯s case, while I went to the nook to make us all lunch. I hope you aren¡¯t attempting to run from anything. ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± I whispered as quietly as I could, ¡°is there a way for me to speak to you inaudibly?¡± I can parse your vocalizations, just mime the action of talking without opening your mouth or creating sound. ¡®Ah, okay. Like this?¡¯ Exactly! What did you want to speak privately about? I thought about what to say as I got out a pot and a packet of noodles. ¡®I had a flashback of my childhood. I was five years old, and I¡¯m assuming at my mom¡¯s place. There was a lot there that I don¡¯t remember happening, but I know it did. But the main thing I¡¯m confused about was¡­¡¯ I trailed off as a faint echo of that comforting fuzziness came back to collide with the feeling of cold dread that had been building up since I had awoken. Was what? ¡®I was wearing a dress. It made me¡­ feel¡­ myself, in a way I can¡¯t ignore..¡¯ Chapter 7: Will A large percentage of Samurai also belong to the Queer community. I don¡¯t know why, but it¡¯s a noticeable trend in who is selected. Hell I¡¯m a part of that group myself! My partner Asuriel was as well, at least until she laid down her life in the Detroit incursion of 2041. Goddess, I miss her so much. -Excerpt from Samulife interview with Shadowtag, July 2052 Pyri¡¯s response was downright eager. In what way did wearing the dress feel good? ¡®Uh,¡¯ I was caught a bit off guard by the shift of what felt like her full attention, ¡®Well, the best way I can describe it was like my chest feeling lighter and unburdened. Like if I wanted to, I could just leap up and well, soar without a care. In fact it almost felt like that¡¯s what I wanted to do.¡¯ Interesting. Spark I will be asking you a few questions. Please answer them truthfully, and if you get too uncomfortable to continue, be sure to let me know and we can continue this discussion another time. She sounded like I was incredibly fragile at that moment, and to be fair, I probably was. Pyri felt like an older sister I never had. Always kind and gentle, yet not afraid to tease me in a way that felt fundamentally different to the bickering the rest of the family partook in. ¡®I need answers Pyri,¡¯ I grit my teeth, ¡®whatever memory I saw, it was important. This was the only part that doesn¡¯t directly hurt to think about right now.¡¯ Water was now properly boiling, time to add in the pasta and set an egg timer for three minutes. Very well. First, describe your mental state as you progressed through your early teenage years. ¡®Unease.¡¯ That answer came scarily quickly. ¡®It just felt like something was always wrong in a way I can¡¯t describe.¡¯ Where was this feeling centered? ¡®I only just barely stopped myself from looking down at my body, the gangly limbs that despite having the hand eye coordination I had, always felt too long. The torso that felt too large, the shoulders that felt far too square, the face¡­¡¯ I visibly shuddered as I stirred the noodles. Round and round they go, when they¡¯ll stop, nobody knows. Are you able to continue? Steeling myself, I nodded. What about your reflection? The chill from my bones practically doubled as I froze. Remember if you can¡¯t continue we can always continue at a later time or day. ¡®N-no Pyri, I¡¯m fine, mostly.¡¯ I swallowed- This specific thing was something I had never told anyone about. The only reason I was even able to respond was, I knew she would see the way my eyes always shied away from mirrors. ¡®My reflection is¡­ wrong. I don¡¯t know how or why, but it just¡­ It never felt like I was actually looking at myself. Just a random person staring back that copied my movements.¡¯ I was trembling now, the truth now shared between us freezing that connection I felt with Pyri to the point I was worried that a single crack would destroy it forever. Spark you need to relax, I would never use your personal information to harm you, and if I am correct, the condition that ails you is¡­ Vicious. The chill slightly receded as I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡®Thank you Pyri, I¡¯ve never talked about this stuff with anyone so-¡® - ¡°Momma I wanna be a girl just like you!¡± I declared, clutching my Momma¡¯s skirt in my hands. A warm hug enveloped me, ¡°Of course my little fox. Shall we go get you some nice new clothes?¡± - The handle of the spoon I was holding nearly snaps under the pressure I was applying to it. Spark are you ok? Your brain activity spiked for a few seconds. I shuddered and let out a breath. ¡®I¡¯m fine.¡¯ I sat there for a moment, then realized it was pointless. ¡®I uh, might have lied about that last bit. I remembered telling my Mom about this stuff. I¡­ I wanted to be a girl..¡¯ Has this desire changed? After pulling the ramen off the stove top and serving it to the kids and Evie, I took the time to actually think about what Pyri was asking. If my childhood wish to become a girl had carried over throughout my entire life, buried beneath¡­ something, what happened to repress that? The lingering presence of that deep desire was practically obvious when I began to think about it. The longing looks Evie received from me whenever she got new clothes while we were younger. The sheer nameless envy that I had felt when Aunt Nyra taught Evie and the twins how to apply makeup.The blanket dislike for my bodies¡¯ masculine traits. The seeming lack of any emotion that reached to my core other than anger, which left me feeling even worse after it ran its course. The way my voice sounded, the facial hair¡­ That thing between my legs. My thoughts seemingly caught up to my awareness as something shattered in my mind. Everything even marginally negative feeling about my body quintupled in an instant. It. Fucking. HURT. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. My arms wrapped around my chest as a wave of disgust and nausea flooded my everything. H-how have I always lived like this? My tear ducts practically ached with the need to release the tears I desperately wanted to fall. Desperation that proved ineffective. I rushed to the small bathroom ignoring the concerned voices behind me, clumsily locking the door behind me. ¡®Pyri what''s wrong with me?¡¯ You are currently experiencing a dysphoria attack. Take deep breaths. In¡­ three four five, and out¡­ three four five. That cycle repeated a few more times, at least until I was somewhat more stable. I believe that the discomfort you are experiencing is acute gender dysphoria, I apologize for what you just went through, realization tends to make it worse afterwards. ¡®G-gender dysphoria? What causes that?¡¯ Pyri¡¯s response was like she was talking to a wounded animal, her voice soft and tender. The primary cause is incongruence to your assigned gender at birth, this is commonly known as being transgender, or nonbinary depending on the person. I remained silent as all this new info swirled in my head. Transgender? Me? It might explain the mirror, the discomfort, the emotional turmoil I just felt from thinking about- bad brain, that thing will go under the knife later- Huh. When had I decided to get rid of that thing? It suddenly just¡­ felt like an absolute given for me. Also, thinking about having the other set felt¡­ nice? Like a phantom sensation of being at ease, mixed with a basic desire like hunger or thirst. Taking the thought process further I imagined other things. Longer hair, breasts, hips, dresses, even the occasional bit of makeup! Everything I could think of left that lingering want. I wanted to have these things. A fleeting memory, one of a time where I had been experimenting with Momma surfaced for just a moment. I took a shaky breath, the knowledge that even if some of it didn¡¯t end up feeling right, the sheer act of trying back then was almost intoxicating. Would a ¡®not trans guy¡¯- No, that sounds weird and bad. I immediately set off on my small tangent, and after taking a few moments to search for the proper word on my glasses, I quickly found it. Would a cisgender guy feel like this? Feel the need to get rid of the things that made him a guy? A small part of my brain insisted that all guys felt this way. The rest of my brain, and a quick bit of research, came back with a resounding ¡°NO¡±. I- I¡¯m a girl aren¡¯t I? That admission was what finally cracked the dam, bringing forward a single, lonely tear. I¡¯m¡­ a girl? I let the tear trickle down my face as the words echoed in my ears. This one was too important to just wipe away. A tear shed from the feeling of the newly mentally labeled ¡°Gender Euphoria¡± swirling around in my head. A tear shed for the years I had lost. A tear shed for my Momma, who would never get to see my true self fully actualized as a young woman. I¡¯m a girl. A light giggle burst from my lips, admitting the truth felt like I was pulling myself out of the ground and getting kissed by the early morning sunshine. My heart fluttered like it was laughing, the sheer power of the realization shattering the shackles surrounding it. I am a girl! I couldn¡¯t help but release another giddy giggle at the thought, but then I froze. But¡­ what now? That brought me up short, the first thing would be to ask Pyri for help with getting a new body that actually fit me. And the answer to that would be killing more antithesis, which meant leaving this bunker to reclaim our home. I don¡¯t know how many minutes I ended up sitting there thinking about the future both in terms of gender and in terms of military matters. Occasional dips back into the article I found to give certain things proper terms in my mind, or to make sense of other confusing thoughts swirling in my head. The thing that eventually roused myself was the feeling of my own unconscious subvocalization. ¡®Transfemme huh?¡¯ I felt another small smile form, ¡®figures that I¡¯d end up tinkering with my own body doesn¡¯t it?¡¯ It is quite poetic. How are you feeling? Pyri¡¯s tone was still soft, but also hopeful. I stretched my arms out above me, unable, no unwilling to banish the smile from my lips. ¡®Like my entire concept of myself got ran through a blender, but I¡¯ll manage.¡¯ As I lowered my arms though, my psyche twinged with the aftershocks of everything..Doing my best to take deep breaths, I slowly slid down the wall until I was sitting, hugging myself to not cry. I sat there trembling for an uncomfortable period of time, until Pyri chimed in to break the silence. Little Spark. Would you like to hear about Vulgora? My face twisted up as I tried to place the word, but it did eventually click. ¡®The place my electrical utility catalogue came from?¡¯ Indeed, I find the planet and its inhabitants very interesting. ¡®Um¡­ I guess so. Go for it then, their stuff has worked nice so far.¡¯ A video appeared on my glasses, what I saw was a planet with splotches of dark brown, and tan. The planet had clouds like earth as well, but these were all thunderheads, bright blue flashes lit up the dark clouds. And presumably the ground below them. In contrast giant grey clouds also littered the area, however they mostly stuck to the lighter patches on the surface. Vulgora is a desert planet with an atmosphere that is heavily polarized with the ground. Nearly every weather event on the planet is a sandstorm, and most end up becoming a thunderstorm as well. The view zoomed in, and I was now looking at a view of the planet¡¯s horizon with the camera right at the edge of a cliff. The sky was a slightly paler blue than Earth¡¯s, and the ground was the same browns visible from space. In the distance, I could see many plateaus and even a thunderhead pounding the ground below it with lightning. In between the cliffs, all I saw was a giant pit of sand that seemed like it was full of some dark liquid. The surface is composed of different arid biomes on the various plateaus, which are separated by an ocean, though not one similar to the ones you know. Rather than water they are full of oily quicksand for which there are many uses. The Vulgorans used to use this ocean as a nearly infinite fuel source, that is, until they learned to harness the power of the planet¡¯s thunderstorms. The camera turned and what I saw was incredible. An entire city of squat rounded structures which were seemingly specially built to hold up against sandstorms sat beneath glimmering metal towers that seemed to be begging for a bolt of lightning to hit them. Inhabiting the city was a race of breathtaking fox-like people, their short fine brown fur covering their entire body along with their downright massive tails and ears. Their form practically called to me. The Vulgorans were originally native to another planet that was almost entirely overrun by antithesis within a few earthen years, primarily due to their leadership refusing to properly form a response. The Protectors moved them here due to the similar environments, leaving them with the technology and resources to rebuild their lives. Now they are a thriving civilization, weathering the desert storms of the planet using the electrical equipment they developed to turn a terrifying force of nature into something that can be used for the good of their society. The scene shifted again to a large building deep in the city, a myriad of electrical lines running to and from it. This is the city''s primary power plant. It houses an incredibly robust generator that is self-sustaining due to the unique materials used. Smaller versions of the generator exist that can be equipped to a person for mobile applications, with the downside of not generating nearly as much energy as well of having a limited capacity it can handle before they need to be allowed to purge their energy and go through a lengthy kick-starting process. ¡®What are these mobile applications?¡¯ I am very glad you asked. Eventually, the antithesis found Vulgora, and landed their first incursion here. The antithesis were not prepared for the natural weather conditions frying their air units or striking any tall Model or Hive structure they made. Most importantly, they weren¡¯t prepared for a race that knew they were coming, and had technical knowledge on how to fight back. A Vulgoran appeared in front of me, tcovered in brown colored body armor and a downright menacing looking rifle held in their clawed hands. Strapped to their back was a cylinder containing a flickering blue light and multiple spinning parts., As well as a cable stretching from the backpack into their handheld weapon. They would use these generators and special emitters to effectively create their own lightning. This is a regular footsoldier. They could handle most Models within the first two tiers of antithesis. Electrically resistant Models or Models in the Twenties and up are handled by Vanguard. They are one of the few races that have managed to completely hold back the antithesis threat, and are completely thriving as a result. They have even made many advancements in genetics, medical science and- A knock on the door practically made me jump out of my skin. ¡°Spark?¡± Summer¡¯s muffled voice comes from the other side. ¡°Are you okay? You¡¯ve been in there for a long time and your ramen is getting cold.¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m fine Summer!¡± I stutter out, forcing myself to my feet. ¡°I¡¯ll be out in a few moments!¡± As I began to leave the restroom, a barebones structure of a personal doctrine inspired by the information Pyri gave me cemented itself into my being. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but this entire situation, all of today, dragged what I truly am out into the open. I am an engineer. I am a Samurai. I am a girl. Yet in the end I am still just... myself. For I am Spark. Chapter 8: Ramen Ruminations One important thing to remember as a Samurai is to keep your loved ones close. They¡¯re one of the single best ways to keep yourself grounded in the here and now. Not to mention, helping them out of the pit this fucked up world threw them into is one of the most viscerally satisfying things I¡¯ve ever experienced. -Speaker at a Family get-together, 2048 Identity changing revelations aside, I had a job to do! First things first I- Before I could even think about figuring out a plan, my stomach made its presence known, and I was soon beset upon by the twins while Benny rushed into the restroom behind me. ¡°Spark,¡± Autumn says as she poked me in the belly, ¡°Evie said that if you didn¡¯t eat, she¡¯d put the ramen in your pillowcase later.¡± I looked down at Autumn, then back up at Evie as my face twisted in horror, ¡°Evie! That¡¯s beyond disgusting!¡± Her terrifying answer was to look incredibly smug, ¡°Like I said this morning, we gotta keep you on your toes. Can¡¯t let you get too complacent. Now go feed yourself!¡± Hanging my head, I walked over to fix myself a bowl only to find it already prepared. ¡°We both made you some, so you wouldn¡¯t have to!¡± Summer stated, a gigantic grin on her face. The pair both instantly hugged me from either side, ¡°You¡¯re okay right?¡± Autumn sniffled, ¡°you got all scared and then ran into the bathroom. No more cuts or bites?¡± I ruffled her hair, ¡°I¡¯ll be ok, just a few things I needed to figure out alone. Thank you both for worrying.¡± Once I was able to extricate myself from the hug, after sending the twins off to comfort Evie, I sat down with my pre-made bowl, and began to think. I needed more points, badly. I didn¡¯t know how much I would need to get the body I wanted, but it had to be expensive. ¡®Pyri, can you split my point total?¡¯ I can, but I need to know in what way. I assume this is a transition fund? ¡®It is, I figured you would have a better idea for what I should bank, and how much I should save up.¡¯ I pulled up the Vulgora video Pyri was showing me and rewound it to show a Vulgoran woman. ¡®Something about the Vulgorans calls to me. I can¡¯t describe it, It just feels right.¡¯ I see, what exactly would you want with regards to improvements? Assuming you want to remain flesh and blood, you can genetically enhance yourself to the point of dissolving your current body and rebuilding a new one. Additionally, bionics and cybernetics are also avenues you can take. I ate a bite while thinking; while it was kind of¡­ well, gross, the complete rebuild option sounded like the best one. Just be one and done, with all sorts of other goodies baked in. ¡®What kinds of enhancements?¡¯ You could be capable of matching world class athletes in speed, strength, and dexterity without tiring. Arguably more important are the potential improvements to your resilience, you could be much more difficult to hurt with the proper upgrades. Particularly of note is the use of a bioenhanced trait that Vulgorans developed that makes them heavily resistant to electricity, enough so that electrocution is no longer a threat. Bionics would improve all of these even further, cybernetics rounding out anything else, and where possible, they¡¯d be able to be combined with the bionics so that any potential damage you receive could be healed easily. ¡®The fox-like bits?¡¯ I was about to get to that. Assuming you go with enhancements styled after the Vulgorans, you could acquire a tail that is proportionally as long as the distance between your waist and your calves. Your ears could be moved higher up your head and replaced with ears similar to those of a fennec fox, which are incredibly adept at venting excess body heat. Depending on your choice, you could also get a light dusting of fur, and perhaps even claws if you so wished. Finally, your eyes could be made aug compatible, and your regular vision corrected. That last bit felt off for some reason, so I mentally filed it away for later, but we both had gotten distracted from the main question. ¡®But how much would this cost ballpark wise? And how do you recommend I save for it?¡¯ At the bare minimum, I would advise setting aside twenty-five-thousand points for this. As for saving as part of your doctrine in general, Instead of over-engineering a system, I recommend setting aside an emergency fund for medical utilities or weaponry. You will accrue the points naturally, especially if you use weaponry with a relatively high entry cost but incredibly low upkeep. I chewed on that for a few moments, only to jump out of my skin when a finger poked me in the side. I turned and then blinked up at Evie, who was holding her own bowl of rameny goodness. ¡°Have room for another? My Mom is asleep, and I figured I might as well eat something myself.¡± I coughed in surprise and nodded, a swirl of anxiety making itself known right next to my heart. How would she react when I came out? I could rip the band-aid off right now, but that would require a lot of strength I just didn¡¯t have at the moment. ¡°Spark, you¡¯re thinking too hard about stuff.¡± I looked up to find Evie looking at me with an arched eyebrow. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Oh! I, uhh, I was talking to Pyri about point applications, and we were about to talk about weapons.¡¯ The lie came far too easily to me, and judging by the way her eyebrow only went higher, Evie didn¡¯t entirely buy it either. ¡°Spark, you have an overclocked power washer.¡± She pinched the bridge of her nose. ¡°Why not just use that?¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. My eyes moved to said washer, the tool in question laying in a heap next to the cot I had my flashback in, ¡°I mean, it¡¯s nice now, but it still would have issues once I get to tougher xenos, or a swarm.¡± I grimaced as a thought stopped front and center in my head. ¡°Also, I probably shouldn¡¯t have gone for building a weapon rather than ordering up something ready made.¡± Evie nodded, ¡°It definitely might have been the smarter option, but it wouldn¡¯t be the you option. I say do what makes you happy! Design your own weapons!¡± Her voice quieted as Aunt Nyra stirred in her sleep. ¡°Well, that, or upgrade what you buy from Pyri yourself. I doubt the Protectors are hardliners against the right to repair stuff, like certain equipment companies we know of.¡± Before either of us could say anything else, Benny came running up to the table we were eating at, and put the phone-thing on the table. ¡°Pyri said I should give this back, and that I should take a nap. Good nite!¡± He then gave us both a quick hug, and ran off to a cot to lie down. [If I may interject, I believe Spark should choose the latter of your suggestions. It would also be quite cost-effective to be able to upscale your gear yourself with just a few parts, rather than spend money on an entirely new weapon. In addition, any modifications you make, I can copy to make future iterations better in the case a replacement is needed.] I sigh, letting my fork rest on the side of my bowl, ¡°So, what do you think I should get to start myself off then?¡± [Due to your positive responses to fighting with weapons that electrocute your adversaries as well as your interest in Vulgoran technology, I would highly recommend purchasing the Class I Vulgoran Combat Technologies Catalogue, and getting a weapon from that.] Pre-empting the question I knew was coming, I explained, ¡°Electrical weaponry.¡± As I continued, I could feel my lips turning up into a smile. ¡°Basically I¡¯d shoot bolts of lightning at stuff.¡± Evie giggled, ¡°You¡¯re completely sold on that already, aren¡¯t you Spark?.¡± My cousin rolled her eyes, then playfully pushed my shoulder. ¡°Just be careful, I doubt you would expect shocking everything around you just cause it was raining.¡± My eyes nearly bulged out of my head, the image of me electrocuting myself by standing on top of some sheet metal or some standing water running through my mind. ¡°Uhhhhhh, yeah, how about we start with something¡­ that won¡¯t do that.¡± I shake my head, trying to think of options. ¡°Preferably, a weapon that will work in close corners, and won¡¯t cause too much collateral damage.¡± [There is indeed an option that can act like that. Unfortunately. you do not have the points for it. I recommend using the ¡®Powered Washer¡¯ to gain more points first, so that you can unlock proper weapon Catalogues to have more choices.] I frowned, poking at the phone Pyri was talking through. ¡°There isn¡¯t anything in the Utility Catalogue that could be modified to meet those standards?¡± [Fortunately, for your own safety, there aren¡¯t any shortcuts you can take.] Evie thumped me on the head and fixed me with a stern glare. ¡°Spark, quit trying to nuke yourself!¡± I pouted right back at her, ¡°There ain¡¯t no reason to be hitting me like that! It¡¯s not my fault that taking a more,¡± a feral grin spread across my face, ¡°shock and awe approach to combat sounds so appealing to me!¡± Evie¡¯s glare turned murderous at the pun. ¡°Ya know what? Instead of sitting here doing nothing, why not consider an option you haven''t looked at yet.¡± I tilted my head to the side, ¡°And that would be what, o¡¯ wise and revered leader of our humble abode?¡± ¡°Armor, you ding dong.¡± ¡°I- You- I don¡¯t-¡± I spluttered in a failed attempt to defend myself, while Pyri responded, [Unfortunately, Spark does not currently have any armor or defensive catalogues at the moment. However, for one-hundred points, you can buy an insulated suit designed for use in factories on Vulgora. It is tear and puncture resistant, and notably is shock-proof.] ¡°Fine, go ahead and buy it!¡± I grumbled. Evie was right in the end, but the principle of the matter demanded I be a bit of a little shit about it.
New Purchase
Class I Vulgoran Electrician Suit 100
Points Reduced To: 11
A flat box plopped onto the table next to the phone, as something about the chart on my glasses befuddled me. ¡°Uhhh Pyri?¡± I point up to my glasses. ¡°Why are the numbers-¡± [You gained five additional points once the others were deemed safe. I decided not to inform you of this because of your panic attack.] My lips pressed into a line, ¡°I can¡¯t really argue with that, can you just put a point tracker on my glasses somewhere?¡± I had barely finished my sentence before a trio of zeroes appeared on the top left of my vision, the rightmost one ticking up to a seven. ¡°Thank you, now for the real fun part.¡± With that done, I opened up the box to find myself looking down and a shiny navy blue suit. Taking it out to investigate further showed it would be skintight and had multiple padded surfaces that were slightly darker. The arms and legs all had vibrant cyan lightning bolts running down the sides. To round out the aesthetic, there was a large purple bolt of electricity on the back. It was also very soft. I made sure to add padding in a few places to hopefully decrease potential dysphoria. For the intended purpose, baggy clothing could cause issues later. A small smile comes onto my face. ¡®Thank you, Pyri, that actually means a lot.¡¯ ¡°Well? Don¡¯t keep me waiting in suspense!¡± Evie pops up and pushes on my back. ¡°Go put it on!¡± She practically corralled me into the restroom like an unruly pig, shutting the door as soon as I was inside. Sighing in defeat, I kneeled down to untie my boots. ¡°Hey Pyri, are my boots safe? We never got those replaced.¡± Your boots are surprisingly robust, and should be able to stand up to any electrical attacks you can currently dish out. If that changes I will warn you ahead of time. Also you will not need to remove your undergarments. A sigh of relief passed my lips as I gave a nod in response and began stripping. After a minute or so of deliberately not looking down as I shuffled around, I started pulling the suit on. Despite being snug, it easily slid over my skin and practically latched on when it was pulled on all the way. Soon, I was zipping up the clearly tailored suit up the front, before pulling the protective flap closed. Turning to the mirror I was able to experience the feeling of actually not hating what I saw for once. It didn¡¯t do anything too obvious, but it clearly did some padding tricks to make my hips just a bit wider, flatten the cursed thing down below, and just highlight a few spots here and there. Sub-vocalizing a thank you to Pyri, I practically burst out of the bathroom with a wide smile on my face as I fought the urge to skip over to my washer. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say it doesn¡¯t look good on you.¡± Evie¡¯s voice called out while the twins gasps of amazement ran in the background. She tilted her head as she studied the suit, ¡°You look different in it too, but I can''t put my finger on it.¡± My eyes found the floor as I fidgeted with my hands, ¡°Um, thanks?¡± Evie shook her head as she turned to look at Aunt Nyra, ¡°Just be careful okay? You won¡¯t have backup this time. The washer is cool, but don¡¯t over use it. You saw how long it took to kill some of those things.¡± I huff, lightly stomping my foot in indignation. ¡°I-I won¡¯t, I¡¯ll stay safe this time, I promise!¡± With that, I quickly donned the backpack washer, pulled my gloves on, and made my way back out of the bunker. A small ember of anger had made itself known in my heart. Those overblown brush piles would regret setting foot on my home turf very soon. Chapter 9: Do the Worm One thing that always sucks when dealing with antithesis attacks on livestock farms is quite literally, the shit. That stuff needs to basically be deleted off the face of the earth, because even if you know no living Models are in there, it will definitely have seeds or spores laced into it. And manure removal always involves some sort of tech that while cheap; is slow, annoying to deal with, and just downright disgusting. -Excerpt from an interview with the late Samurai Asuriel, 2039 I had barely taken four steps from the shelter doors before I had to defend myself. A group of walking bushes had come over to investigate the house and had seen me emerge from the bunker. I quickly swapped my washer to flat and began hosing down the group. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it put down the horde much faster than the tighter sprays would. It even made dealing with the single One in the group easier, just had to wave the wand in its general direction and it fell to the ground twitching before my boot crushed its torso. Very nicely executed! I do believe you should begin moving quickly, the antithesis likely has more than enough biomass and fertilizers to start a new hive. ¡°Well let¡¯s go throw them a housewarming party then,¡± I say with a wide grin, ¡°After all you can¡¯t just forget to properly power a house, and it¡¯d be a shame if I didn¡¯t help the new neighbors with their wiring.¡± Agreed. Also, have your point summary.
Targets Eliminated!
Model One x1 1
Model Three x6 60
Model Four x2 30
Reward: 91
Total: 98
As I began walking towards the now suspiciously quiet barn I caught the Four trying to break into earlier I realized something. I was just one person, and this was a farm complex that covered several acres. ¡°Pyri?¡± Yes Spark? I swept my free hand across the buildings in the distance ¡°How am I supposed to clear this whole area?¡± I thought you would never ask! If you would like, I can tap into the various security cameras and provide your hud with a map and mark occupied buildings. Another way to multiply your forces is to purchase drones. These are currently out of your budget, but I do advise getting at least one to help you mop up remaining Antithesis once you have decimated their forces here. I had barely told Pyri to do it when a transparent circular map fizzled into existence in the lower left of my glasses. Focusing on it expanded it to cover my vision. Most of the livestock buildings, including the one I was walking towards, were highlighted red and gently pulsing as numerous red dots moved across the exterior areas. In certain areas that I assumed had no video coverage, there was nothing but a light layer of static. Of particular note was the lagoon, lit up like a christmas tree with easily half the map¡¯s dots covering it and the surrounding dirt. Far too much for my measly little Powered Washer. Take note that this map is not all encompassing. Units that are tunneling with no discernible signs on the surface, or those that are flying above the collective camera field of vision are not included. This is what the current security system sees. If you enter- Pyri was cut off by the map flashing red with a proximity warning and it dropping back to its corner. The cause of said warning was ambling around the corner, a massive lumbering thing with fine quills covering its back coming into view. Take cover NOW! I practically dove for the nearby remnants of an old concrete wall from the seventies as a chorus of whistling needles flew through the air, embedding themselves in the ground behind where I just was. That is a Model Five, it can fire neuro-toxin covered quills at targets with lethal precision. ¡°I can SEE that Pyri!¡± I peeked over the top of the wall and sprayed out towards the bear-like thing only for the realization that it was still set to flat and only succeeded in flooding the air between us with steam. ¡°For fucks sake!¡± I swapped it back to good ol¡¯ spray and pray, ¡°Piece of goddess damned,¡± the wand roared as water rushed towards the Five, ¡°GARBAGE!¡± The xeno barely got off another volley, (which thankfully missed due to the steam obstructing its view of me,) before the jet struck it in the face and dropped it after a few seconds of salad boiling. Spark, I advise caution. Your external storage tank has been struck, and is leaking. This will impact your ammunition reserves.
Target Eliminated!
Model Five 20
Total: 118
I barely had a chance to process the points I gained before I heard shuffling coming from the other side of the corner the Five came from. Peeking around the corner I see a sight that has me quickly looking around and above me. Rather than a pile of pig corpses, I see a line of very mobile swine walking towards the finishing barns and lagoon. Strangely, none of them are seemingly bothered by the antithesis whatsoever. They also have ugly white worms coming out of their mouths. ¡®Pyri I¡¯m gonna need some sort of anti-zombie something or other right now.¡¯ Agreed, A package of Model Seven Proofing Pills will only cost you one point for a pack of ten. ¡®Should I go back to leave the rest for the others?¡¯ That would probably be advisable, at least after you clear some of the antithesis first. I am tapped into the bunker¡¯s security system, if there is a problem I will alert you. ¡®Fair enough, drop them for me please.¡¯
New Purchase!
Model Seven Proofing Pills 1
Points Reduced To: 117
A small sheet of foil with ten pill bubbles plopped into my outstretched hand. I quickly plopped one into my mouth and swallowed. As I fiddled around to put the rest away for later, Pyri put a helpful twelve hour timer with a crossed out worm symbol under my point counter. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Twelve hours is the lowest amount of effectiveness the pills offer. Please do not take another pill until that timer runs out and an additional two hours pass afterwards. ¡®Fourteen hours, or I¡¯ll have to pump my own stomach, got it.¡¯ You would actually have to take a Cleanse to rid yourself of the drug and purchase a utility that protects your grey matter from atomization. Rather than truly address that frankly horrifying implication, I decided to do something about the procession of pig zombies headed for¡­ whatever it is Sevens actually do with the bodies they snatch. Raising the wand I sighted the nearest zombie¡¯s head and flash cooked it before anything else spotted me. Several of the zombies immediately turned around to face me. ¡°Shit, Pyri I have grenades right?¡± I anxiously gripped the power washer as I watched them slowly begin to approach my position. Yes. I open my palm towards that air as I say, ¡°Give me something that will take these things out without sending gore everywhere please.¡± Press the button before you throw it. I felt the pressure against my right hand again and upon summoning it, I threw the shiny purple orb with tesla coils sticking out and the charging horde. Before it had even reached them arcs or blue energy snapped from the ball to random spots on the pigs with a cacophony of loud snaps. By the time its energy was spent, I had also hosed down two more zombie pigs and a trio of Model Threes.
Combat Report!
Model Three x3 30
Model Seven x16 80
Jacob''s Ladder Ball x1 -5
Reward: 105
Total: 222
I held my hand out for another which Pyri obliged, and this time I actually looked at the grenade closely. Not only did it have the button to arm it, but it also had a small dial next to it withhad options for timed fuses, proximity, and remote detonation. Looking at the barn¡¯s blown out door, I got an idea. ¡°Pyri can you set these so that only one will trigger if their proximity sensors trip?¡± For what I think you are planning no; however, you can set them to remotely detonate. ¡°In that case can you order me up, like, a box of them?¡± I ask, before explaining, ¡°I want to ensure I¡¯m not going to be surprised in there.¡±
New Purchase!
Jacob''s Ladder Ball x8 40
Points Reduced To: 182
Another case similar to what had the flesh melters dropped into my hands. It was a nice dark blue with white highlights. They are preset to remote detonation, I suggest you clear the immediate interior first and then place them. ¡°Pyri, I think I know how trapping the door behind me works. I don''t need to be instructed on everything,¡± I groan as I open the box. Then why did you keep walking forward when studying your map? That brought me up short. ¡°I¡­ have no excuses to be perfectly honest.¡± Exactly. Please do be careful, I would rather not have to explain to your family that you died by walking into a Model Ten while reading a map. I grumbled a light, ¡®okay,¡¯ to my AI as I pulled one of my grenades out of the case, then after setting it to a timed fuse, I threw it in. Oncethe snapping died down within the building, I walked in with my washer raised and found something flat out horrifying, beyond the corpses of pig zombies, and two Model Threes, I saw what remained of a breeding barn¡¯s occupants. Normally this place would have two rows of pig crates facing each other with a nice wide walkway in between. Now, it was nothing but a lot of twisted metal and twitching livestock all over. In the center of the room, there was even a hole in the concrete bridging over the barn¡¯s manure pit. A giant fucking multi-segment worm was occupying it. At least I had something to use another grenade on. I quickly pulled out five more grenades and armed them as proximity mines before moving into the barn. There were a few blood trails leading to the Eight, which were probably pigs that pissed the Threes off enough to be considered enough of a threat to them. As for the Eight, I didn¡¯t want to think about the fact that it was a biomass transport Model burrowed into what was basically a giant vat of manure slurry. Clearing the slightly concerning thoughts, with a shake of my head I walked up to the worm, tossed an armed grenade in its mouth, then watched it die from the flood of electricity coursing into it. As it began wildly wiggling around in its death throes, I studied my map, which had transformed from a circle to an outline of the barn with each pig and the worm getting their own red dot with a few other slow moving indicators scattered throughout. Wanting to make sure there weren¡¯t any Sevens in the pit alongside their much larger cousin, I tossed another grenade down into the manure after the Eight had sunk into the mire, then backed off from the hole. As the orb of electrocution was doing its work, I turned to notice a white worm with long hairs on either end slithering on the concrete towards me. With a roll of my eyes, I shot the thing with my washer, which also threw up an error about its worsening water supply. ¡°Okay Pyri, surely I have enough now.¡± I roll my shoulder, then loosen the strap of the washer. ¡°Can I have that Vulgoran weapon catalogue and a basic gun now?¡± Absolutely! I will include it and a low level weapon in your combat report!
Combat Log!
Model Three x2 20
Model Seven x25 125
Model Eight x1 5
Class I Vulgoran Military Technologies -100
Amp-Thrower Hand Cannon x1 -18
Reward: 32
Total: 214
A box plopped onto the ground in front of me, and not wasting any time as I saw a freshly zombified pig start to twitch as if attempting to stand, I opened the box to find that Pyri sure knew how to buy a girl all the coolest toys. The large pistol was covered in glossy dark purple safety shields giving it a boxy look. Looking like a large plug tine that was pushed apart, its muzzle had a glow emanating from within. The Amp-Thrower fires electrical blasts that have the punching power to electrocute most of the first tier of Models. The electricity doesn¡¯t go too far before it fizzles however, so its range is limited. Of particular note is its particular niche of easily frying Model Sevens, even while inside their hosts. With regards to ammunition, it has a small built-in battery with a Vulgoran generator attached to it. The generator isn¡¯t large enough to output the energy required to fire non-stop, but it will easily outlast the Powered Washer. I do advise not to continuously fire for more than ten seconds due to the gun¡¯s potential for overheating. I quickly pulled off the washer, and let it fall to the floor in a heap as I pulled the gun out of its box casing. Flipping the safety off had it glowing just a bit brighter as a quiet hum emanated from it. The grin from earlier was back, stronger than ever. Oh Pyri, you spoil me far too much.¡± I do aim to please, however I think that Seven host needs to be dealt with rather quickly. Turning, I saw the pig from before fully rise to its hooves, it¡¯s breathing coming out ragged as if whatever was working the poor animal¡¯s lungs didn¡¯t have the basics of it down yet. Further behind it, even more of the pigs were beginning to spasm, trying to stand as even more hostless worms slithered out of the woodwork towards me. ¡°I guess they really wanted me to power wash the place huh.¡± As if agreeing with me, the freshly raised zombie pig lunged forward. Chapter 10: Thundershock ¡°Prism, do you even understand how annoying contacts are?¡± Emmelyn sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. ¡°They don¡¯t even make me look prettier, I don¡¯t get the appeal. Plus, you don¡¯t get to take them off seductively when you have a cute girl in your-¡± Emmelyn giggles as she ducks under a playful swing of a harpoon, sticking out her tongue at her beet-red partner as she mirthfully dances away. -Emmelyn ¡®Limelight¡¯ Seras, October 2056, one hour before the destruction of New Houston The zombie awkwardly lunged at me on unsteady legs, far too unsteady in its footing for it to actually achieve anything worthwhile, before my Amp-Thrower unleashed a flood of electricity that forked into the dead pig. It fell to the floor convulsing before it finally went still. Noticing the rest of the pigs were starting to pull themselves up, I began electrocuting them one by one as I stomped on any wayward worms, splattering their guts all over the floor. Off in the background, I heard a second mine detonate; The antithesis definitely knew I was here now, best to hurry things up in here. I spent the next few minutes finishing off the zombies and squishing more bugs. By the time I had finished, the third and fourth mines had also detonated. Rushing up to the door, I found a pile of bodies just outside as the final mine killed off a group of Threes. I grimace as I step over the corpses, scanning the horizon for any other Models. ¡°Pyri, how many of these things did I even end up killing?¡± The short answer is twenty-six units, not including the Sevens you were killing off inside.
Targets Eliminated!
Model One x2 2
Model Three x17 170
Model Four x5 75
Model Five x1 20
Model Seven x71 355
Model Nine x1 25
Reward: 647
Total: 861
I had to pick my jaw up off the floor as I saw my point count nearly quadruple. ¡°There surely weren¡¯t that many Sevens in there right?¡± There were indeed that many. You caught the antithesis moving their corpses fairly early, so most of the remaining livestock still had a unit inside them. Not to mention the ones you flattened. Pyri¡¯s explanation made sense, after a while going from corpse to corpse was getting a bit stale, so I had started paying more attention to the worms that were trying to infect me directly instead. Giving the list another glance I groaned at the last entry. ¡°Oh great.¡± I assume you¡¯re referring to the presence of a stealth unit on this list? ¡°Yes Pyri, that is in fact what I¡¯m talking about,¡± I moved slightly back inside the doorway to force a bottleneck against an advancing swarm of Ones I had spotted while preparing my final grenade. ¡±Is there anything I could get to see through their stealth?¡± You do have a few options with the influx of points you have acquired. For one-hundred points, you can unlock Class I Cyber Warfare Utilities, which in turn makes the Mk IV Shift-focals available to you for seventy-five points. They are unique in that they are not only better than your current vision aid at doing their intended job, but also utilize modular technology to shift their form to better match the shape of your skull. I threw the grenade right into the flock as they swooped down to pass through the door. As they all fell to the electricity piercing into their flesh, I asked: ¡°And the anti-stealth part?¡± I looked down at the gun in my hand, ¡°Also how do I know when this thing is empty?¡± The Shift-focals are merely a piece of equipment we will use as the base. For an additional twenty-five points you can buy a Perception Lens. This will slot in over one of the lenses, melding into it seamlessly.. They assist in clarity in a few different ways, but most important is their ability to allow for you to more easily distinguish Model Nines through their spore screen. ¡°Buy ¡®em then,¡± I said as I poked my head out the doorway to check for any more antithesis, ¡°Also can you get me a new box of those ¡®nades? They¡¯re too nice to not always have some on me.¡±
Combat Log
Model One x29 29
Class I Cyber Warfare Utilities -100
MK IV Shift-Focals -75
Perception Lens -25
Jacob''s Ladder Ball x8 -40
Reward: -211
Total: 650
Another pair of boxes dropped down onto the floor in front of me. The first had my grenades, the second held my new pair of glasses. They were almost identical to my current set with their partial framed rectangular lenses. The only difference being that these were white rimmed and very slightly heavier. Sitting in the box next to the frames was a light orange lens.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Just place the filter over the matching side, and the glasses will do the rest of the work. I followed Pyri¡¯s instructions, and as the filter was being placed, the glasses seemed to grab it from me and fuse it to the¡­ glass? I think it was glass anyway, sorta hard to tell. . Go ahead and put them on, time¡¯s still moving, and considering the presence of so many Models, it would be wise to cleanse this place as soon as possible. ¡°I know, I know, gimme five moments.¡± Swapping my glasses out, I found half my vision was disorientingly covered in a dull orange hue. Copying over all your previous settings and info now. My HUD flickered on around my vision a bit quicker than normal, and the sheer difference with my vision was astounding. I could see much further, and in far greater detail than with my old pair. I could practically see that far off Model Three¡¯s pupil from fifty meters out! Oh, right, I was still fighting antithesis. Peeking out around the outside of the door again to make sure I wasn¡¯t about to get ambushed, I rushed out of the building and fired at the Three. The curtain of blue lightning lashed out towards the dog thing, blanketing it in fiercely hissing energy that immediately dropped it to the floor.
Target Eliminated
Model Three x1 10
Total: 660
Checking my map I found most of the nearby area clear of visible Models, the closest dot of red was in¡­ the garden actually. My face twisted into a glare. Those leeches were stealing our food! Keeping an eye out for Ones and Nines, I ran towards where this whole thing started. The gravel crunching underneath my boots would surely let them know I was coming, but I didn¡¯t care. Even if I could just order food through Pyri, this was our garden, the fruits of our labor. Not theirs. Hell considering the fruits of their labor was more murderous plants their fruits could go screw themselves. I might have been feeling a bit vindictive at this point. Readying my Amp-Thrower, I rounded the corner to find next to nothing, except for a few torn up plants and turned over baskets with the remains of the vegetables strewn around them. If I wasn¡¯t dealing with a group of Nines, then this was the most passive flock of Ones I¡¯d ever heard of. I swept my eyes over the carnage, silently begging my new glasses to show me something. After a few moments I froze. I could see an alien face staring right back at me. It was disguised as one of the baskets, and as soon as I saw the face, I started picking out more details that were off. There were subtle lines running in ways that our gardening baskets just wouldn¡¯t have alongside just not looking like they would hold anything to begin with. The metal bands were formed from what looked like flattened out fern stalks. In short; the whole thing was a caricature. One that fell apart the moment the filter literally exposed its face to me. Not wanting to waste anymore time, I quickly brought the gun up and zapped the thing. The flash of the lightning actually pointed out 3 others nearby disguised as uprooted plants and one just lying flat in the dirt. Their deaths were swift as well. As if they realized that I could see through all of their disguises, another three of them launched themselves at me, little tornadoes of blurred colors, claws, and teeth. None of them got dangerously close, if anything they made it easier for me to hold the trigger down to bathe them all in electricity.
Targets Eliminated
Model Nine x7 175
Total: 835
¡°Was that all of them?¡± I asked as my eyes shifted over the trashed garden. Yes, that was all of them. I will say that your initial response time being so late is quite worrisome. If you were closer that Model Nine would have jumped you. In fact, it was shifting into a better position to leap at you. I turned towards the still roaring dryer. ¡°Yeah, yeah I getcha¡¯ Pyri. I just wanted to see the antithesis camouflage in a bit better detail. I know it¡¯s probably not something I could train, but being able to pick a stealthed Nine out of a scene without prompting would be nice.¡± I can get you equipment for that later on, rather than you risking your life over a skill that is already becoming unnecessary due to your current equipment. In other words, please be safer. I could feel my face heating up, so I quickened my pace towards the dryer. It was still running so the fan and heat weren¡¯t damaged, but the scent of fresh biomass getting blown all over the place by all the various fans in not only the dryer, but all the other grain bins as well would be like a magnet to the antithesis. Peeking around the dryer building I found nothing, although the dryer¡¯s walls had scratches all over it. Next to the unloading pit however, a few Model Ones were hopping around and pecking at the ground like overgrown chickens. Pulling a grenade out of the box I had tucked under my right arm, after setting it to proximity in case I mistimed the fuse, I wound back and threw it with a heave towards the birds. ¡­And it fucking fell short, landing in the grass a few meters away from them. I rolled my eyes, and put my fingers in my mouth to whistle. The shrill note seemed to startle the birds out of their lunchtime. Predictably they flew right at me. Which had their flightpath going right over the armed grenade. While clever, I do think you should have better accuracy with your throws. Or maybe buy a longer ranged option.
Targets Eliminated
Model One x6 6
Total: 841
¡°Maybe later,¡± I turned to look out over the bin complex. ¡°I do have to ask. Why aren¡¯t they all over these bins? It¡¯s quite literally free biomass!¡± Limited numbers of Model Eights are the probable cause. Most of the combat Models are occupied with securing the barns and killing off the livestock within. Any remaining Eights are probably assisting with that effort. Not to mention, if they aren¡¯t already, they will be searching for you. I paled at the unshakable conviction in Pyri¡¯s voice. ¡°Me? Why me?¡± Antithesis are quite predictable when not being controlled by a Model that is smarter than the base level intelligence of a Model Three. They react to the injuring of their brethren by attacking the threat that caused it. The scent of antithesis death however, tends to make them go wild. They will chase down anyone who has the scent of dead antithesis on them to put an end to the threat. As Pyri was speaking, I had moved to the nearby livestock barn which was a second breeding barn. And that threat in this instance is you, and you¡¯ve killed quite a few of them already. Opening the door, I flicked the light switch upwards, only for the lights to refuse to turn on. And none of them will give up until the active threat has passed. Whether it¡¯s you who succeeds, or them. Chapter 11: South Barn ¡°Anything caught your fancy?¡± ¡°Yeah, just got a distress call from out in the wastes, says they saw some Threes running around.¡± ¡°We gonna head out and blow em to kingdom come? Or leave em to build something up first?¡± ¡°First one, go get Inque. I¡¯m bored and the area is too populated, and too distant for my artillery strikes.¡± -Discussion between CryoFlare and SkyFire six hours after Spark Initialized My weapon was up before Pyri¡¯s dire warning was finished, the inky darkness ahead of me far too quiet for the pigs that were there just a few hours ago to still be alive. The small amount of light shined through the doorway, revealing more twisted metal and blood painting the concrete scarlet. Spark, your new glasses have night vision. Pyri flickered a switch in my hud that was a minimalist picture of a crescent moon with sparkles on it. Hitting it brought sight back into the world, and revealed way too many tentacles. Electricity began lashing out at the Fours as they began writhing around in unison trying to close the gap between me and them. Most of them were hidden among the destroyed pig crates, but a few had also attached themselves to the lower ceiling. Those were moving faster than their floor bound cousins, so taking a risk, I aimed into the ceiling itself and fired into it. All of them began spasming as their feet locked them into the ceiling due to the current, keeping them from advancing any further. After a few seconds of frying them, I pulled the warming pistol back down towards their floor bound friends, and fired into anything that moved. The junk strewn throughout the room did provide some cover, but most of the time it just coursed through and hit them at a different point of contact, or it hit a completely different Model. Most of the time it hit both. After the fifth kill, the bodies latched to the ceiling began to fall, sowing even more chaos in the little tussle we were having. It interfered with both sides, the impacts sending metal snapping up to find purchase inside of living antithesis bodies, the shifting metal also unfortunately able to catch my electricity, conducting it away from the living ivy. ¡°Nade!¡± I held my hand out, and after I felt the weight of it settling into it, I threw it towards the back. After it was done expelling energy, I crept forward with my pistol at the ready. It¡¯s over, there are no living Models capable of harming you in this room. ¡®Sevens?¡¯ While you are most likely never going to have to deal with a Model Seven killing you by taking you over, they can still wreck your internals. My analysis included them as well. And finally.
Combat Log!
Model Four x29 435
Jacob''s Ladder Ball x1 -5
Reward: 430
Total: 1271
Breathing a sigh of relief, I started picking my way through the crumpled mess of thick wires and bands. ¡°You know, I almost prefer this to breeding pigs. I don¡¯t have to deal with those damn semen bottles and insemination rods.¡± Shaking my head I sighed. ¡°Nothing but a pain in the ass.¡± In that case, you will be happy to know that it is impossible to artificially inseminate livestock once the antithesis have harvested it for biomass, or taken it over via Model Seven. I chuckled to myself as I finally made it to the other side of the barn where the door had been ripped off its hinges. ¡®Why didn¡¯t they move on? This set of buildings we¡¯re in would be the first one hit based on where I saw the antithesis raid flooding in. Doesn¡¯t seem like much use leaving behind so many Fours just for an ambush.¡¯ That is correct. I have a few suspicions as to why, but nothing conclusive enough yet. I mulled over that a bit. ¡®Well on the brightside, this was the only other breeding barn we had.¡¯ I tapped a wayward wire with my foot. ¡®So no more dealing with such a large amount of fucked up metal.¡¯ I was practically instantly proven wrong when I emerged into what used to be the feed mixing room. The fate of the full grain bins outside was not shared by the feed bins; Dust was practically everywhere, and shredded sheet metal was strewn all over the floor. The mixer had multiple dents in it, as if a Model Four went to town on the thing only to give up. ¡®What the actual fuck.¡¯If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. As a word of warning, be careful with your weaponry. Its discharges are more than hot enough to ignite the dust. I shivered as a memory of the very same kind of dust coating the floor being lit up by an idling semi went through my head. Being in the middle of a fireball like that in an enclosed space did not sound like fun whatsoever. ¡®Noted, let''s move on to the gestation barn then.¡¯ I walked to the slightly ajar wooden door across from the breeding half of the building as Pyri piped back up. Judging by the language you¡¯ve used this is the only gestation barn here, while there are also only two breeding barns. I assume that you have further buildings elsewhere meant to make up for the lack of those facilities here? My mind practically latched onto the question, ¡®Yeah, Benson¡¯s down south. It has most of the gestation pens we use, alongside a majority of the farrowing, and all the nursery barns. It''s a pain in the ass when the pigs need moved, but that¡¯s how stuff has been as long as I can remember. It-¡® I pouted at nothing in particular, ¡®Wouldn¡¯t you know about that already? What with being a Protector AI and all.¡¯ Yes, but it¡¯s refreshing to get a human take on the reasoning. You all sometimes make the most illogical decisions, yet many still bear fruit. For example; this building has three purposes based on what part of it you¡¯re in. The north side is breeding and the south side is gestation, which makes sense to have near each other as one will feed into the other. Feed mixing in the dead center however? That is truly interesting. I acquiesced to Pyri¡¯s musings and took a few steps backward and pointed my right hand to the west. ¡®That right there is the reason why.¡¯ I was pointing at the side of a large dark blue cylinder that took up the entire west wall. ¡®That is a harvestore, it¡¯s meant to hold all the corn we set aside for feed. It was put there due to being easier for wagons to empty into it back in the day, so the mixing room was put right next to it.¡¯ That is a perfect example of what I¡¯m talking about. Your family came up with a solution to space and convenience concerns by making a decision that isn¡¯t logical at a glance without a bit of background knowledge, but has meaning and shows how it is a proper decision when examined in depth. I felt a small swelling of pride at her words, ¡®It¡¯s not much to be fair. If anything the system is-was-a bit outdated and easily could benefit from some protector tech.¡¯ Melancholy smothered that pride like a bucket of water getting dumped on a candle. ¡®Not that there is really any use for it now.¡¯ I disagree, even if it¡¯s not salvageable for its initial purpose, the material can still be repurposed for equipment and armaments that you can use. There are creation engines and printers you can purchase alongside blueprints that can break down and rebuild things on an atomic level. In fact, your transition may likely happen in one of them. Before I could follow that specific teaser, I heard the sound of claws scrabbling over concrete past the wooden door I was about to go past. Rushing up to the door I kicked it open and leaped away from the dust covered floors and into the slightly mucky concrete, and fired my Amp-Thrower at the source of the sound I heard. A singular Model Three fell to the floor convulsing as its nervous system was overloaded. Standing up and swiveling all over, I found¡­ nothing? ¡®Pyri¡­?¡¯ There aren¡¯t really any Models here other than some Sevens in the manure below. ¡®Give me some nades then, and maybe a pouch to hold all this stuff in? A holster that can resist the heat the gun is giving off too please.¡¯ I will need to purchase a catalogue for those requests, Class I Auxiliary Weapon Utilities for fifty points to be precise. As for the bag and holster, those will both cost fifteen points each, and will have features meant for ease of use mid combat. I will also be able to load fresh grenade orders directly into the pouch. With a nod the table I was quickly growing familiar with popped onto my glasses and a box was placed on a nearby dividing wall to keep it away from the muck.
Combat Log!
Model Three x1 10
Jacob''s Ladder Ball x8 40
Class I Auxiliary Weapon Utilities 50
MK II Grenade Bag x1 15
MK III Specialty Holster x1 15
Reward: -110
Total: 1161
Opening the box I found a black boxy looking holster and a loaded bag attached to each other by a belt strap. Just put the belt around your waist, and I¡¯ll adjust them as needed. Following Pyri¡¯s instructions once again, I put the new piece of gear on and adjusted it so it wouldn¡¯t mess with my toolbelt at all. The holster definitely didn¡¯t look like it¡¯d be holding the boxy hand cannon I left sitting on top of the box it came in though. Before you ask, the holster and bag are both made of nanite plates. They can adjust to hold whatever you want within reason. With doubt still clear on my face, I pulled a grenade out of the pouch, and sent it down through the small hatch in the corner meant for helping with cleaning the barn out. As the pit was electrified, I felt the bag shift and looked down expecting to need to swat off a Seven. Instead, I saw the pouch shifting to be just a bit smaller. The pouch will specifically shrink to keep grenades up near the top where they are easily grabbed. As for the holster, I¡¯ll let it do the talking for me. As for your points¡­
Targets Eliminated!
Model Seven x9 45
Total: 1206
As the table flickered off, I pulled the hand cannon off the wall and went through the motions of holstering it. To my shock, it practically expanded around the muzzle allowing it to slide right in. ¡®Pyri this is so COOL!¡¯ I could practically feel the smugness in her response. I take it you¡¯re satisfied with the design? ¡®Yeah yeah I get it, I am sorry I ever doubted you.¡¯ Good. I stretched a bit, and then opened and closed my hands to work the soreness from my fingers. ¡®I need a break, and time to plan. So tell me Pyri. What were you saying earlier about my transition?¡¯ Chapter 12: The Girl in my Dreams Bodymods are typically somewhat inexpensive for a Samurai just starting on their journey. But for those of us where the ability to change your form into something different is like the coolest water in the desert sun. They¡¯re the most expensive and important purchase we tend to make before getting to Class III catalogues. -Excerpt from an interview with the late Samurai Asuriel, 2039 Yes, we do seem to be consistently getting interrupted when this discussion comes to the forefront. I glanced around with a scowl on my face, daring the universe to interrupt a third time. Once I was sure there was nothing in sight, I began moving down the blood soaked walkway to make sure nothing else needed messing with. Vulgoran body modding technology utilizes specific equipment that transmutes matter into any desired energy and shape including living tissue without harming the patient. This process is incredibly quick with the human body when no body mods are included. For your example, it would be around ninety minutes to two and a half hours to bring your body in line with a cisgender human female while bringing its health and physical fitness and ability to the level of Olympic athletes. I nodded, ¡°Makes sense, less stuff to worry about other than just flipping one switch basically.¡± Indeed, human biology is remarkably simple considering all the quirks it has. As for the transition into a Vulgoran body, and other various bodymods I recommend for future proofing, the process slows down drastically while becoming much more expensive. I noticed a worm crawling over to investigate my footsteps, so I reached a foot out and squished it. As my counter ticked up Pyri continued: At minimum the primary machine needed will cost around fifteen-thousand points. You will need some form of dream learning to make sure you don¡¯t need to relearn how to walk upon completion with the base process costing one-hundred-fifty points, and various modules clocking a minimum of one-thousand-two-hundred-fifty. As for body mods, you will need the Vulgoran Body Template for four-hundred-seventy-five points, various bioenhancement seeds to further improve your physical form from the template for forty-five-hundred points, various elements will be needed for the creation of cybernetics and augments to your form for around seventy-five more points. Finally reaching the end of the walkway and finding nothing else, well, other than the gigantic hole in the wall, I turned around and began walking back. ¡°Okay this all sounds relatively cheap and all, what are the last bits?¡± I advise acquiring a specific organ for two-hundred-fifty points that generates electricity that can be distributed to the retractable claws at the end of all Vulgoran digits allowing you some way of defending yourself even without a proper weapon in reach. This organ would also be able to power any and all future cybernetic implants. I raised an eyebrow as I asked, ¡°What if I somehow exceed that power production?¡± If you somehow can outpace that organ and not be mostly metal by that point, we will most likely add a second organ, then replace the first with one that is more robust. I snorted and shook my head, ¡°Yeah I see your point, at that point I¡¯d be better off going full brain in a jar or something.¡± Indeed. Now, the final thing is arguably the most important part. Power. You will need to buy and connect multiple Vulgoran batteries and/or generators to power the machine as it is far too energy intensive for your local grid to handle. The cheapest option would be four generators at five-hundred a piece, and six batteries at one-seventy-five each. I came to a stop as the true costs of everything sunk in, ¡°That¡¯s like¡­¡± Around twenty-five-thousand for everything, if you also include new equipment sized to your new form and the catalogues I did not list. This is the cheapest selection with what you have currently unlocked. Class II technology would be even better but that requires tokens and are much more expensive. I do not find those options reasonably feasible for a quick time frame right now. I covered my mouth with my palm as I thought. It was incredibly daunting to have the raw numbers laid out in front of me. Sure, I had all these aliens and their points to myself, but twenty-five grand was still an extreme amount of points right now. It might as well have been across the ocean for me. ¡°Pyri, instead of worrying about costs right now, can we design my new body now?¡± That would require the template, and Class I Vulgoran Biological Sciences for a combined seven-hundred-seventy-five points. I gave a weak smile, ¡®Might as well get them now then, since I¡¯ll have to buy them anyways.¡± Understood.
New Purchases!
Class I Vulgoran Biological Sciences 300
Vulgoran Biological Template 475
Points Reduced To: 436
Rather than a box or anything, my glasses flickered a message to find somewhere comfortable to sit. I walked back into the feed mixing room and flipped the bucket we used to measure mineral additives for the feed upside down and sat on it. I practically felt like a kid again.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Opening the message brought up a nondescript image of a Vulgoran woman. Who was, uhhhh, not wearing anything. They had some similarities to humans with their bipedal nature, but in addition to the ears and tail, their legs were digitigrade, and had pads on the bottom of their feet. They also had a light dusting of short brown fur over most of their body (except for the insides of their hands) which got darker the closer it got to their hands and feet. This is the basic female template, they are modeled to be in peak physical condition without any sort of body modding whatsoever. Their legs flickered. Unless you truly want to have your body match, I advise a mix of human and Vulgoran starting with the legs. Vulgora and their native planet both have weaker gravity than Earth so the specie¡¯s legs are built for bounding quickly over the landscape. While this is still applicable to Earth, I believe using a more human template for the legs would be more reasonable. You will however, retain their sharp, retractable, and conductive claws. With a nod from me she continued. Likewise you will retain more human-like arms and hands with those same claws for sake of convenience. These are the two primary changes I would make, alongside the removal of the body hair due to your dysphoria and a few other changes to make the shape more human in nature. Are there any other changes you would like to make? My hand returned to covering my mouth as I thought. The Vulgoran had changed to look more like a stereotypical foxgirl, but with a floofier tail and those fennec reminiscent ears. After a few minutes I had a small grocery list of changes. ¡°Ok so big thing here, can you tweak her height down to five-four? I want to be slightly small. For the hair and fur can we go with like an icy blue and white color scheme, and have the hair reach my shoulders in its natural state if grown out?¡± As I spoke the changes flowed over her, and I could feel a sense of longing pulling at my core. One last thing was also gnawing at me, it- oh! The question about my eyesight from earlier! My eyesight being as bad as a bat¡¯s was always a point of contention in my past. It wasn¡¯t truly debilitating, but going without my glasses pretty much destroyed any complex work I planned to do until I put them back on. That didn¡¯t even include the last part- I couldn¡¯t have augs installed whatsoever. As far as I knew, it was caused by my eyes rejecting them, and if they tried to force the issue it could lead to a reaction that would cost me my eyes altogether. Hence my AR Glasses. Nana wouldn¡¯t let me get surgery to fix them on account of some sort of ¡®family spirit¡¯. Now, I had the chance to circumvent her demand for me to keep my ¡®special eyes¡¯. I wouldn¡¯t need to wear glasses anymore! But as annoying as they were sometimes, my self image practically required them. They felt right. ¡°Hey uhh Pyri?¡¯ I bit my lip nervously, ¡®What if I don¡¯t want my eyes necessarily fixed? Like removing the aug sickness is a given, and improving my eyesight so losing my glasses wouldn¡¯t be a direct impact to my combat capabilities, but like¡­ do we have to fix them all the way?¡± Spark¡­ you do realize that you could just wear your current pair and subsequent glasses regardless? I suddenly became very interested with the way my boots made tracks in the dust as my face began burning. ¡°I ummm, may or may not have forgotten that option.¡± Pyri spoke in a voice thick with barely controlled laughter. Well luckily for you I won¡¯t! Now let me adjust a few things a bit further to match your genotype. She shifted one last time and I gasped. It- It was her. I would look like her. And she would be me. I was only barely able to stop myself from jumping up and dancing around in the dust. But I damn well wouldn¡¯t stop the plethora of thank yous directed at my AI partner. You¡¯re very welcome Spark, but I do believe you should be a bit more quiet. You are still in an active antithesis raid after all. Metaphorical tail between my legs, I got myself under control, and began shifting the dust around with my boot. Dust that was explosive and coating everywhere in the room. ¡°Pyri, it feels like a waste to let all this explosive material the antithesis left us go to waste.¡± Spark dear, you are quite literally playing with fire. Are you sure you want to burn this building down? The methane inside will easily catch. ¡°Oh I¡¯m sure. The harvestore is close to empty, because we were going to bring up some of the grain stored at Benson¡¯s to fill it anyway. Besides, I¡¯m sure my explosives catalogue has a substance that can put out fires?¡± It does, however if you are doing this, I recommend preventing the spread outright rather than mitigating it later. ¡°And how do I do that, oh wise Pyridae?¡± You prevent it with C-Foam you dork. Snickering, I motioned for her to continue. C-Foam is a specialty substance that has a wide variety of uses. It is primarily used as a reinforcement agent or as an adhesive against antithesis. It works by having nanites dispersed through it which will spread the foam and then harden it once in position. It is also fireproof. ¡°Ok now what do I do with it?¡± You¡¯ll need to coat the north and south walls with two grenades each, then use one each on the harvestore, and the propane tank just to the south of it, and after laying the trap hitting the propane tank next to the dryer. I also recommend laying a C-Foam remote mine at the two entrances to keep antithesis from fleeing the inferno. ¡°Sounds like a plan to me. Add an airhorn to it and buy em!¡±
New Purchases!
C-Foam Grenade x7 21
C-Foam Mine x2 8
Class 0 Airhorn 30
Points Reduced To: 406
A box teleported onto the floor without kicking up too much dust. Opening it I found the grenades which were tubes with a squarish hand guard over top the hand trigger. Next to them was a pair of hexagonal mines and an aerosol canister with a sound funnel on it. At Pyri¡¯s instruction I began reinforcing the walls. The grenades practically burst with the rapidly expanding stuff in a shotgun blast. Painting the walls with several yellowish blobs that spread out and covered the wall with web like tendrils over any weakness or crack in them. The propane tank looked a bit more bulbous than anything, and seeing it covered reminded me of one fairly important detail. ¡°Pyri, how do I wash this stuff off?¡± Hydrogen peroxide. I was only a little bit stunned at the mundane answer. ¡°I thought I would have to, like, use some sort of specific chemical mixture to get rid of it.¡± That is indeed a chemical compound, but I will admit that it is quite a mundane solution, and one the antithesis don¡¯t have access to unless they mutate a Model into producing it. Any model that could produce it would already be strong enough to just brute force through it. Now I must ask, what are you doing? She asked that of me as I was laying a small string I scavenged from the mixing room out the door, naturally after tying it to a spark lighter I frankly shouldn¡¯t have had in this tool belt. Disorganization saving my ass once again. ¡°Oh this?¡± I said as the lighter was pushed into the gooey wall so the sparks would shower the dust. ¡°No reason to spend points if I don¡¯t need to.¡± With that I pulled the air horn out and blared it out the door towards the finishing barns. ¡°Now come and get some barbecue, you overgrown weeds!¡± Chapter 13: Thunderbolt It is my firm belief that wide scale implementation of food forests while using samurai sourced drones for harvest and protection could work to curb climate change, while also providing a source of nutritious food for more people. It could also be used to grow plants tailor made to poison antithesis swarms that try to invade with proper samurai backing! -Rejected Nonsanto College of Agriscience and Engineering Application Letter written by one Spark Graham, 2054 ¡®Come onnnn. Come onnnnnn.¡¯ Shall I purchase anything for when you grow too impatient, or if the antithesis eat your munitions? Snorting, I gave Pyri a middle finger as I watched the antithesis file into the mixing room to investigate the sound I created. They sniffed at the C-Foam and left it alone only to then start licking up the feed dust left everywhere. It was just a bunch of Threes and a few Nines that blended into the wreckage of a few different machines. The only reason I could see them was the fact that Pyri was highlighting them through my glasses as I watched a security camera feed. Realizing Pyri was right, I looped my pull string around my hand and prepared to cook myself some charbroiled antithesis With a single yank, I knocked down a prepared bucket of dust, (I was practically covered in the stuff now,) Sending a giant cloud of the dust into the air. The second yank had the lighter sparking into a cloud of the most common explosive substance you can find on an arable farm. Grain dust. The entire room ignited, the dust letting the fire wash over the room in an instant. Not enough to kill the antithesis outright, but more than enough to set their entire bodies aflame. The massive fireball blew out through the exterior doors ¡­knocking away the C-Foam mines I had planted. Shit. Some of the antithesis charged back outside through the door they entered from in a panic only to feed the fire more air, and cook faster as their carapaces dried out into high quality kindling. The models that stayed inside weren¡¯t much better off as they had a more pressing concern than the fire consuming their bodies. That concern was me running in with electricity arcing through the air now that the munitions were burnt away. The Nines were my first target as I ran through the door and crushed a Model Three¡¯s cooking head beneath my boot. Lightning lancing out from the emitter of my gun, it coursed through the walking thorn bushes. The rest of the Threes were dispatched with ease as they couldn¡¯t react fast enough due to the extensive burns the fire caused. Walking out the opposite door, I found the rest of the Threes that ran away had cooked themselves by running around in a panic while on fire. The mine that had gotten knocked loose was laying in the dirt. ¡°Pyri, do I have to worry about anything else catching fire with this?¡± I asked as i picked the mine up and put it in my toolbelt for later. No, but I do question your use of fire as a killing method when you didn¡¯t know the full breadth of what could happen in the aftermath. Fire does spread after all.
Targets Eliminated!
Model Three x7 70
Model Nine x2 50
Reward: 120
Total: 526
¡°I didn¡¯t really have any other options at my immediate disposal!¡± I exclaimed, ¡°and the idea entered my head so I was legally obligated to follow through.¡± That is a poor excuse and you know it. ¡°At least it''s better than the local Samurai,¡± I said with a growing scowl, ¡°SkyFire would¡¯ve bombed us to smithereens before leaving without a word. The other two would come in and fight without any care for further collateral, while lacing the ground with chemicals. And THEN they would leave without cleaning anything up.¡± While fair, you did just torch a building on a whim. Pyri sounded apologetic as she spoke, knowing that the continued lack of military support from anyone was one of the main things I despised about the local Samurai. I began walking towards the next building that needed clearing; the farrowing house. ¡°I know, but it was also pretty much trashed anyway. In fact, even if we all survived this, without my initialization we¡¯d have to sell out to Nonsanto regardless. Everything here other than maybe the grain we have stored is a loss. The pigs and manure will need to be gotten rid of, most of the livestock related buildings are trashed.¡± I let out a long sigh, ¡°everything went to shit so quickly Pyri, and I don¡¯t know how to fix it.¡± While I am not able to just make everything better at a snap of your fingers yet. There are still other ways this farm can operate. Although it would be massively different. ¡°Like how?¡± Ecological Agricultural Systems is a catalogue line that prioritizes both the production of healthy food, and environmentally beneficial selection and distribution of flora and fauna. As Pyri was speaking, I came ¡®round a grain bin to find a group of Threes and pig zombies. Unlike before Pyri continued to speak as I fought. Effectively you could eventually create fully sustainable food forests that will help the environment, while producing large quantities of nutritious food.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The fighting attracted a passing flock of Ones, which swooped down to help, only to find themselves getting wiped out with a few blasts of electricity. ¡°But what about the antithesis?¡± A thrown grenade electrocuted not only a couple more Threes, but a Nine disguised as a bag of feed laying in the grass. ¡°A single hive starts in one and I just gave them millions of pounds of high-quality biomass.¡± That¡¯s quite simple, the Class I catalogue includes plants and animals that rebuff antithesis probing on their own via poisons, or consuming them instead. It wouldn¡¯t handle an incursion without higher Classes, but even a raid of this size would be equivalent to a natural forest fire pruning back a forest and encouraging new growth. As Pyri talked about it, I realized what she was explaining went beyond my wildest dreams. I tried to get into college with a paper about these sorts of farming practices- Where a willing Samurai would help with getting everything properly started, and farmers could swap to producing fully beneficial foods. Well, now I was that Samurai, and the idea of developing this and making it available for those who needed it first rather than the elite¡­ ¡°Pyri once, I''m established with regards to combat capabilities and my body, I want to revisit this.¡± Understood, I have created a floating reminder in your itinerary. That brought me up short, ¡°I have an itinerary?¡± Yes, I made you twelve of them depending on the outcomes of today. The sheer confusion I was feeling must have been obvious, because she continued. Making them is quite fun, if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that I am holding myself back from excess, you would have millions of them. ¡°Pyri?¡± Yes? ¡°You¡¯re an absolute dork.¡± I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about. Have some points as a distraction.
Targets Eliminated!
Model One x12 12
Model Three x8 80
Model Seven x4 20
Model Nine x1 25
Reward: 137
Total: 663
With that important issue taken care of, I continued towards the farrowing house, and got a good look of what the antithesis were doing near the finishing barns. ¡®Pyri, I need a gun that¡¯s a bit stronger if I want to handle that.¡¯ May I recommend the Foxes¡¯ Trill MK II for one-hundred-fifty points? It is a rifle that fires singular bolts of electricity and can maintain an arc if the trigger is held down. It sports higher range, a basic targeting system designed to cause bolts to consistently hit distant targets without veering into obstacles, and more power to the point weaker Tier One Models that aren¡¯t resistant to electrocution will perish within a split second of contact with the bolts, more durable Models will take a second or two longer. I stared down the gravel drive that connected all the finishing barns together. There was a massive pile of pig corpses surrounded by zombified pigs doing milling around, various antithesis, and a squat crab-spider looking thing feasting on a body. ¡®And the energy to power it?¡¯ Currently you would need to supply it with energy from Vulgoran energy canisters, Which are basically rechargeable batteries. Five points each for around three minutes of continuous fire. ¡®Get the rifle, three spare batteries and a bandolier for me please?¡¯ A pleasure doing business with you.
New Purchases!
Foxes¡¯ Trill MK II Rifle 150
Vulgoran Energy Canister x3 15
Combat Bandolier 2
Final Cost: 167
Points Reduced To: 496
Two boxes plopped into the grass in front of me; I quickly holstered my hand cannon, and opened up the smaller one first. In it was a basic looking bandolier strap beside three cylinders that looked like glorified soda cans that had boxy looking things where the tab should be. I quickly put the strap on and buckled it into my holster belt, before attaching the canister''s boxy side up. The larger box opened up to reveal a rifle painted in dark purple with glowing cyan lights. Rather than a regular gun barrel, it had a small cylinder with a glowing lighting bolt on the sides, with a thin metal rod extending from it. As I picked it up the gun gave off a light hum as the glow intensified slightly. It was almost as if it was saying hello. Looking over to the door leading right to the farrowing house, I smiled. ¡®Let¡¯s field test this new toy.¡¯ As I turned to enter the building I was next to, I noticed that the crab-spider had stopped its feast and was staring right at me. ¡®Pyri what the hell is that thing?¡¯ Get inside, that is a Model Seventeen. It¡¯s both a breeder for Model Sevens and is a battlefield commanding unit that uses Sevens connected to wires to control other Models. It is the most likely candidate for the mastermind of this assault. Kill it and any other units that can command antithesis and this raid will become phenomenally easier. As I backed into the building I saw a lumbering Model Six come around a corner, where it stared me down before emanating a low whistle. Multiple Threes and pigs took off running towards me. With widened eyes, I immediately began dropping all my grenades at my feet in remote detonation mode, and requested the bag refilled. With that, I rushed through the door as I slammed it shut. I loudly cursed. Unlike the rest of the barns, the farrowing house used metal grates as flooring instead of concrete. ¡°Pyri you said my boots would be able to insulate against my electricity, does that still apply with the rifle?¡± No, but I can supply you with outer wear for your- The grenades I had dropped began detonating with far too little of a delay between each for comfort, ¡°No time! Just get me something!¡±
New Purchase!
Insulation Sleeves 15
Point Reduced To: 481
Two large slipper things appeared on the ground in front of me and I wasted no time sliding them on as the detonations abruptly ceased. Backing away from the door, I brought the rifle up and made sure only the bottoms of my feet were touching anything. The door in-front of me and the one on the opposite end both burst open at the same time, revealing the last thing I needed to see. Several Model Fives had been sent to join in on the fun, and they boxed me in. ¡°I fucking hate Seventeens!¡± Chapter 14: Boxed In You¡¯ll never see me go into a building with confirmed antithesis inside. I¡¯ll just bomb the place and let InqueAbyss handle anything left. -SkyFire in a Samulyfe interview 2056 I could hear the sound of the Fives stomping into the barn from both ends as a small swarm of Threes squeezed in past them. All of them wanted a piece of me, which I understandably did not want to give them in any form other than my boot caving in their skulls. A quick peek over the plastic wall had me ducking back down to dodge even more quills. I needed to clear a path, otherwise I would have a swarm of Threes jumping into the same farrowing crate as me, which would most likely end with my demise. Looking down at the metal grate made me pause. With my boots insulated, the only part of me open for electrocution was my head. Meaning, I could do something truly dangerous. I shifted my new gun so the anode was touching the metal grate I was laying on. ¡°Will this work?¡± Yes. With a squeeze of the trigger the Trill¡¯s hum grew louder as an arc leapt from the tip and into the grate. Suddenly the entire barn was lit up with the light from the electricity treating the metal as one giant jungle gym. After a few seconds of continued firing, I peeked back over to find the Fives dead, then quickly got up and out of the pen. The interior wiring was almost certainly toast considering the sparks showering from the now shattered light fixtures. Turning on my night vision and looking down at the concrete pathway I was on had me grimacing. I was incredibly lucky there weren¡¯t any Threes who took the side path without scraping against the metal doors of the crates. Shoving that what-if from my head, I quickly glanced at the two doors. Seeing nothing, I silently cheered for myself, at least until I heard a low warbling sound followed by the sounds of more charging. Raising the gun towards the entrance I came through I was met with another Model Five. I didn¡¯t even hesitate before firing on it. Rather than a small flood of electrical arcs washing over it, the Trill fired one massive bolt with a snap. It slammed into the Five¡¯s head, and it instantly dropped like a puppet whose strings had been cut. I quickly glanced behind me to find more thorn bushes coming in that door as well. Spinning the gun around, I squeezed the trigger a few more times, only to get pelted in the back by needles. They may not have penetrated my armor, but they still stung something awful. ¡°Pyri! I need a way to even this out!¡± A C-Foam Launcher would be able to seal the door you went through shut. It- ¡°Just get it once I can use it!¡± I spun back around, slapped down the two Fives that had made it inside. ¡°I¡¯ll go over the price later!¡± Grimacing, I pulled a nade from the pouch, and threw it towards the door they had already tore down. Spinning back around, I repeatedly pulled the trigger as fast as I could. I was incredibly lucky my night vision acted as welding goggles as well, preventing the bolts of electricity from blinding me. I began pushing up towards the door, occasionally throwing a new grenade back whenever Pyri warned me that the previous one was about to run out of energy. Finally reaching the door, I found it blocked off by a massive pile of bodies with another Five trying to muscle through it. Another bolt slapped it upside the head, dropping it in the doorway. I flinched at the mistake I just made. ¡°Pyri, I need something to move these bodies quickly!¡± I turned to fire at the other door, ¡°Preferably without launching pollen or whatever into the air!¡± Put this where you need corpses removed. I felt the pressure against my hand again, and what looked like a giant knot of hair inside a glass ball dropped into it. Following Pyri¡¯s directions, I tossed it at the doorway, where it shattered against the doorframe. It looked like an untamed weed-eater with strings lashing all over the place. I could barely even blink before it then burst with a whump pushing anything left in the doorway out. Quickly, move the door into position, and make sure both of your hands are free. I flung another grenade down the central walkway, and another through the door to buy me some time, then rushed over and lifted the scratched to hell door into an approximation of shut inside the frame, damaged from all the Models forcing their way through. Stepping back, I laid the Trill against the wall, and positioned my hands in the way Pyri highlighted on my augs. What dropped into my hands was a heavy collection of pipes and tanks mounted together inside a basic frame. A group of four canisters were held together in the back, which led into a large chamber that was spinning, before ending in a long pipe acting as the barrel. To the side was a screen telling me all sorts of important info. Which I ignored in favor of shooting several lumps of goo at the door. Upon landing, the foam quickly wrapped around the damaged door, filling in any scratches that were through and through, while expanding between the door and frame. With the door sealed I placed the launcher on the wall, and picked my rifle back up.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Now what?¡± Now you either let the horde push up the pressure on you, or you force them back. You are now committed to this due to the Seventeen spotting you. Be wary of them looking for other ways to force entry to the building. Like- Oh, speak of the devil. Turning to my left, I saw something that made chills go up my spine. A couple of Fours had reached into the now immobile pit fans in the wall to begin tearing them out of the building. Firing wildly in a vain attempt to hit a tentacle I shouted, ¡°Pyri, I need a little help here!¡± Backpack gun controlled by me? ¡°YES!¡± A boxy looking thing dropped onto the floor in front of me. It had the same color scheme as my rifle, had straps on one side, some sort of boxy frame that wrapped around the other three sides, and on the top it had a currently unfolding arm with some sort of dish on the end. Once it reached its full height, it snapped to one of the fans and shot out a bolt of electricity, striking one of the tentacles I was aiming for. It continued down the wall, hitting another as the third Four was able to rip its fan out. I will lay down cover fire, mount the C-Foam launcher and put the backpack on. I rushed to the wall as I heard the sound of the backpack firing at the antithesis. Grabbing the launcher while ignoring the dull scratching on the other side of the sealed door. I rushed it back and kneeled down to attach it, only for a set of arms to reach out and pull it to the right side of the backpack. With the launcher mounted, I heaved the pack off the ground, and looped the straps over my shoulders. ¡°Fuck, this thing is heavy!¡± I muttered as I picked up the rifle. Standing back up I began shooting at the far doorway again. ¡°Lets get the fuck out of here. I¡¯m not staying in this deathtrap anymore.¡± I began walking up the center hallway, killing off anything that came through the door while Pyri shot anything coming from the new hole in the wall. The Fives had stopped showing up (hopefully as a sign of their dwindling numbers) so all I was left with was Threes and the occasional Nine sneaking in disguised as lumps of moving grass. It wasn¡¯t long before I realized I had a slight problem. That problem¡¯s name was bodies. ¡°Shit, Pyri, are the hall doors clear?¡± Interior yes, exterior no, you will need to throw a few grenades first. ¡°Good enough.¡± With that I crossed to the right wall through a blood soaked crate. Vaulting over the other side, I sent another few shots towards the door before sprinting for the door in the far corner. The backpack thing fired very rapidly when I was crossing opposite of it. ¡°What am I looking at on the other side of my exit?¡± Lots of Model Ones, Threes and pigs controlled by Sevens. I do believe they want you dead quite badly. Throwing a nade at the door opening to the outside to buy some extra time, I made it through the doorway, and slammed it shut before I dropped my rifle and pulled the launcher up over my shoulder and covered it and the final door going outside in C-Foam. ¡°Ok Pyri, lay it on me.¡± I took a moment to breathe a bit heavily, while taking out the last grenade. ¡°Also can I have a nade refill and some sort of fatigue relief?¡± Check the counter next to the sink.
Combat Log!
Model One x7 7
Model Three x96 960
Model Four x8 120
Model Five x17 340
Model Seven x30 150
Model Nine x6 150
Class I Non-Explosive Launchers 85
C-Foam Launcher 65
Garrote Wind-Burst Corpse Clearer 10
Jacob''s Ladder Ball x16 80
MK I Vulgoran Auto-Zapper Equipment Pack 200
Nutri Pack 1
Reward: 1286
Total: 1767
My eyes were flooded with a downright massive chart, and got as big as dinner plates when I saw the total at the bottom. ¡°W- Seventeen-HUNDRED? Pyri I know you¡¯re a better shot, but how did we kill this many?¡± The grenades you left outside killed off a large portion of the Threes and a few Fives, and it was a protracted battle. One we are technically still in. Drink your juice. I glanced over to the counter and saw a small juice box with a straw poked through the top. Placing the launcher down, I trudged over and took a sip that practically made me recoil with how GOOD it tasted. ¡°Pyri, it is outright unfair how yummy this is.¡± I will give your compliments to the chef. ¡°And who is that?¡± Me. I appreciate the compliment! I snickered a bit, ¡°Fair enough.¡± I quickly checked the door at the end of the small storage hallway we were in to find it thankfully empty. No pigs were in there today to begin with so it probably ended up ignored. Closing the door I looked at the exit. ¡°Pyri, are they grouping around the door?¡± No, they actually aren¡¯t. They might not have heard the door being sealed. I took another sip of juice. ¡°Considering the ambush, it¡¯s nice to get a little bit lucky.¡± As I said that my back flared up in pain causing me to hiss through my teeth. ¡°Fuck that stings!¡± You got lucky with that as well, a few inches higher and your neck would¡¯ve been full of needles. I can give you a fast acting pain killer for it if you want. ¡°Do it, and while we¡¯re at it can I get a bit of armor plating and a helmet?¡± Why, certainly! However, I advise you put it on quickly, as I do believe we have been detected. The door leading to the graveyard I just created shuddered. Chapter 15: Spark Can Have Juice, as a Treat. Rule two of defending a position from the antithesis: Don¡¯t box yourself in unless an AI was involved with building the box itself. -Shadowtag to an unknown Samurai, 2048 ¡°Pyri, I glued both doors shut! How am I supposed to get out?¡± I hissed through my teeth. Simple. You splash the door with hydrogen peroxide, then send a grenade out first. ¡°Fine, just give me the stuff I wanted so I can get out of this death trap!¡±
New Purchases!
Hydrogen Peroxide Container 1
Painkillers 5
Vulgoran Armor Plating-S 125
Insulated Nanite Helmet 55
Final Cost: 186
Points Reduced To: 1581
A single box dropped onto the floor in front of me; Inside was a helmet, pill bottle and several flat metal tiles. Take one pill now. It will last for the next three hours. I quickly opened the bottle and tipped out a single orange circular pill about a quarter inch across. Not wasting anymore time, I dry-swallowed it, then coughed a bit to clear the discomfort from my throat. ¡°Pyri what the fuck are these?¡± I could already feel the pain fading away. ¡°I know you said plating, but these won''t sit on my body!¡± Place them against your suit. I quickly grabbed one of the purple dinner plate sized things, and held it to my stomach. It quickly deformed and reshaped itself into a perfectly fitted plate covering the lower half of the front of my waist. Getting the memo, I began tapping the plates onto different parts of my jumpsuit. The ¡®S¡¯ at the end stands for shifting. These plates are meant as a quick option for non-combatants to armor up in emergencies on Vulgora. They are fast acting and scan the wearer to create comfortable yet effective armor fully capable of stopping Model Five needle fire. By the time Pyri had finished, I had finished putting on the armor which was still slightly shifting around my body, and had the helmet in my hands. It looked like a basic motorcycle helmet with the front shield pried off. The plates will adapt to how you personally move and will adapt based on that as well. They will finish in about ten minutes. The helmet will form a shield around your face once it is adorned, and you have put your glasses back on. You should be safe against anything on the other side of that door. My eyes flicked up to the door in question, and back at the helmet. With a shrug I took off the glasses, slid the helmet on, and then put my glasses back on. As I muttered about how annoying that would get, the helmet sealed itself up. Going back to the crate yielded the one thing I had missed. A water balloon with H2O2 written on it with a black marker. Taking the hint I grabbed the balloon and threw it at the door. The C-Foam practically dissolved before my eyes, and also left an absolute mess on the floor. ¡°That¡¯s future Spark¡¯s problem.¡± Of course dear. After placing the C-Foam Launcher back onto my backpack and pulling out the Trill, I crouched down to pick up the grenade I had left there. Looking at the door with trepidation, I slowly put my hand on the knob, and let out a slow breath. ¡°Here goes nothing.¡± I quickly yanked the door open and shoved the grenade through, where it practically exploded with electricity, frying a lot of Models around it. I wasn¡¯t far behind it, Walking into the arcing lightning as if it was a gentle rain, feeling nothing other than some slight fuzziness from static. The arm on my backpack made its presence known alongside my rifle as the cracks of lightning echoed around me. I was honestly quite happy with the purchase considering what lay in front of me. The yard was practically flooded with Threes, all of which were either starting to rush at me, or were staring right at me. A massive flock of Ones was also in the air. ¡°Why in the FUCK are there so many Threes here?¡± I shouted while throwing three grenades into the crowd. ¡°Surely they didn¡¯t bring this many?¡± Some of those Threes are far too new to be a part of the initial force. They were created here. I barely kept myself from freezing up. ¡°A hive here? Already!?¡± Model Sevens are primarily a utility Model that takes large portions of infected populations and can make hives out of them. It appears that there were enough pigs to create a hive with the potential to birth Models quickly. Also given the smaller size, these Threes and some of the Ones were birthed early. You must have exhausted their populations of Fours and Fives and forced them to adapt. If smaller numbers of powerful units didn¡¯t work to rid them of you, then burying you in sheer numbers might.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. It was starting to look like that might was turning into a will. I was being pushed back to the wall, and the swarm was thinning, but due to the Threes unwillingness to clump together and risk greater collateral damage. ¡°Pyri! I need actual defenses, or something explosive to truly thin this swarm out!¡± The universe decided now was a perfect time to kick me in the teeth as the Ones flying above began swooping down towards me right as my rifle threw a low energy warning. I quickly pulled out my hand cannon and fired wildly into the swarm. The flood of electricity proving far more effective at clearing the smaller Models as the bolts arced from bird to bird. Throw your last few grenades when you¡¯re able to. I sidestepped a One that had made it through my wild firing, and holstered my pistol. Swapping the Trill back into my left hand, I pulled out a grenade and threw it up into the swarm, lighting it up like some twisted Christmas tree. The last two grenades went into the swarm, and right at my feet to force them to give me some kind of space. In my now reinflating pouch I found a few canisters of¡­ something. Cryo-grenades. Throw them where I indicate. I did my best to land them in the circles Pyri highlighted with decent success, each one instantly bursting with a wave of ice freezing over all the nearby antithesis. A balmy seventy-four Fahrenheit dropped down to a comparatively frigid fifty-three in a split second as I yanked out the drained battery and slammed a fresh one in its place. Brandishing the now joyously humming gun, I scanned over what was left of the swarm and found that Pyri had used the zapper strapped to my back to finish them off. The now silent barnyard felt like it was holding its breath for something. As if the fighting would reignite at any moment. I cautiously advanced to the far corner of the building, doing a quick check of the interior of the farrowing house while passing by, and upon rounding the corner I locked eyes with the fucker behind this pincer attack. It was a large hulking thing that almost looked like a mix between a bear and a tiger that was as large as a small van. I quickly back pedaled around the corner as it lunged forward at me with its teeth coming together around nothing with a loud clack. As it rounded the corner, I shot at it with the Trill only for it to shrug the bolt off, the only evidence of it getting hit being a small charred spot on its shoulder. You need to hit it for longer. It will only take damage from the heat otherwise. The Six seemed to understand it couldn¡¯t withstand sustained fire so it opted to charge directly at me instead. I threw myself to the side in a heap to dodge, only for it to turn right around and charge me again. I pushed up and ran to the side only to get sent flying as it passed me. My hip flared in pain as I landed in a heap. Not wanting this to go on much longer, I pulled out the C-Foam Launcher and sent a volley of foam blorbs right into its face which quickly encased it in a grayish yellow shell. Pulling myself to my feet, I limped over to the thing to see Pyri had left me a spot open to kill it. Placing the anode right onto it I pulled the trigger; The Six convulsed within the tomb I set around it, before it went slack and died right there. Letting the rifle fall to the ground with me sitting gingerly alongside it, I let out a sigh of relief. Spark your hip is injured. Also you are sitting on the fried corpse of a pig zombie. I sucked air in through my teeth. ¡°Get what you need for the hip. I don¡¯t care about the pig. It''s a seat cushion now.¡±
Combat Log!
Model One x53 53
Model Three x86 860
Model Six 30
Model Seven x32 160
Cryo-Grenade x3 30
Nano Regenerative Suite 20
Reward: 1053
Total: 2634
I pulled off my helmet, and opened the small box that dropped next to me. After another dose of sand was pushed into my lungs I realized something. ¡°Pyri, why wasn¡¯t my backpack gun firing?¡± The arm twisted around and put itself in my line of sight. ¡°Oh.¡± The dish and the anode inside of it were both starting to warp from the heat of over use. ¡°Can I fix it?¡± Actually yes, I had this part mounted with Earth based materials specifically for that purpose. I slipped the zapper off my back and down in front of me. ¡°Go ahead and buy what I need, but can you modify it to handle swarms better? My rifle can handle the big stuff right now.¡± A sound decision!
New Purchase!
MK II Fork Emitter 20
Points Reduced To: 2614
A small flat box appeared next to me on my seat cushion. Opening it I found another dish, but this time it was smaller and the anode had a few branches near the top. Pulling out an adjustable wrench, I began detaching the mount from the weapon¡¯s arm. ¡°How is the rest of the farm doing?¡± As in their levels of antithesis presence? ¡°Yeah.¡± Currently all the Models seem to have been pulled back to the offensive against you, or to the hive to protect it. Other than a basic sensor sweep for Sevens, I would say the hive is the last big target for you. The warped piece of equipment finally came loose, and I carefully put it on the ground. ¡°That¡¯s not too bad.¡± I pulled the new dish out of the box along with a few bolts, and attached it together. ¡°It makes things a bit easier for me later, but would it be fine to get a few drones or something to sweep the farm and protect it?¡± The catalogues necessary would come out to one-hundred-fifty points and each subsequent drone with proper equipment would run up around two-hundred-fifty each for the drone itself, proper scanning equipment, and a weapon. I finished tightening down the nut keeping the power cable attached to the dish, and the whole thing moved around as if testing its stability before folding back up with a chime. I stood up and slipped on the zapper before walking over and grabbing the launcher I had left lying in the grass. ¡°Get two of them. I¡¯m still saving for transition, and I need backup for the hive and that goddess damned Seventeen.¡± Chapter 16: Just Like Spies! Sounds of a stealth hovercar¡¯s doors slamming shut. ¡°Is it done?¡± ¡°The enhanced subject has been released near the target alongside proper material to carry the rest of the mission out.¡± ¡°Good work. Be on standby for your next mission.¡± -Recovered Contingent Unit audio recording, 2056 In accordance with the purposes you want these drones for I made sure they were small, yet robust.
New Purchases!
Class I Modular Combat Robotics 100
Class I Robotic Sensor Modules 50
MKII Combat Assistant Drone (Modified) x2 500
Total Cost: 650
Points Reduced To: 1964
Two decent sized boxes dropped on the ground and opened themselves up revealing two unfolding robots that, uhhhhh. An uncultured swine would say they¡¯re ugly. Endoskeletons, meatless bones of metal stood before me. No shielding or shell to pretty them up, but that wasn''t their fault. But outside of that they kind of looked like foxes with their big ¡®ears¡¯ and long tails with electrical bands. ¡°Okay what can they do?¡± Both drones come equipped with claws and tails capable of conducting lethal amounts of electricity into various weaker Models. For ranged options. Both drones popped a turret out of a hatch in their backs. These turrets are effectively the equivalent to your Amp-Thrower. They are well equipped alongside your Auto-Zapper to provide chaff cleanup while you handle larger threats. Nodding, I motioned towards the finishing barns. ¡°Let''s finish this then.¡± With that I took off at a decently fast pace (considering all the stuff on my back) with the drones following behind me. I didn¡¯t spot anything on the way there so I quickly pulled up the map I had been ignoring for a while. The barns were all various shades of red with the central outside areas being flooded with the red dots I had learned to hate. Turning to the pair of fox-bots behind me I began to give them orders. ¡°Okay so¡­¡± I crouched down and scrawled an R on one and an M on the other with a marker from my toolbelt, ¡°You¡¯re Robin, and you¡¯re Marian. I want you both to stay as close as reasonably possible. Robin, you take out stuff further away, and Marian you deal with the closer stuff. Pyri can you make sure the Auto-Zapper doesn¡¯t killsteal or vice-versa?¡± Yes, and those names are quite adorable. I turned to hide my blush, realized that with my helmet on it didn¡¯t matter anyway, and made my way towards the driveway that I got spotted on earlier. Only to hear my ringtone in my helmet. Who is calling me now? I crouched down, and opened the call with a frown. ¡°Spaaaaaark are you ok?¡± Blinking, I facepalmed, only for my hand to slap my smooth helmet instead. ¡°Summer!¡± I loudly whispered, ¡°Why are you calling me?¡± I could hear her pout through the call, ¡°Well because you haven¡¯t sent anything to us for a while and I wanted to make sure you were ok!¡± Your helmet is muffling the sound of you talking, so be as loud as you want. I began to actually creep forward, focusing on not getting ambushed again when I heard her shout to the bunker, ¡°He¡¯s ok! And kinda grumpy!¡± ¡°She, actually.¡± Not noticing what I actually said, I continued forward. Spark dear, I think you broke Summer. ¡°Huh? What do you mean? Summer¡¯s fine. Right Summer?¡± A few seconds of silence passed before Summer responded in a conspiratorial whisper, ¡°What do you mean she?¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. I froze and pulled up the transcript of the call only to facepalm fail again. Why did I say thaaaaaaat? Thinking quickly I said something that would guarantee Summer would keep things quiet for me. ¡°Ok Summer if I tell you, you have to keep it a secret alright? Like a spy!¡± ¡°I will protect the secret with my life! No evildoer will make me talk! She very loudly whispered into the phone. ¡°Um, can I tell Autumn though? She will want to play spy too!¡± I ignored Pyri¡¯s amused chuckles as I acquiesced to Summer¡¯s request and told her to call over her sister. ¡°Autumn!¡± she shouted, ¡°Spark wants to talk to both of us!!!¡± I quickly looked all around me to make sure I wasn¡¯t going to be ambushed again, before crouching behind one of the ripped off pitfans. Pyri was full on laughing at my predicament by the time Autumn¡¯s subdued voice came through. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Hey Autumn, Summer asked me to include you in this, but basically, I¡¯m using she and her pronouns now because I learnt some things about myself earlier.¡± I was only slightly stressed about their response. ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re trans?¡± A record squealed to a grinding halt in my head. ¡°Huh? Yes? How do you know about that?¡± She seemed to get a bit quieter, ¡°Dad was saying angry things about it, so I looked up what ¡®trans¡¯ was, and did research.¡± She paused for a moment, ¡°Dad said some really mean things about them, but don¡¯t worry! I¡¯ll fight him for you!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll help fight him too!¡± Summer interjected, ¡°Being mean is bad and I¡¯ll give him a karate chop if he is mean to you!¡± I could just about cry from these two absolute beans for what they were willing to do for me at the drop of a hat. ¡°So are you a girl then Spark?¡± Autumn softly asked. ¡°I uhhh, yes, yes I am Autumn.¡± I stammered out. In a tone that could only be described as pure glee from the soft spoken girl she smugly responded, ¡°Then we get to teach you makeup.¡± I snorted at her priorities, when Pyri made herself known in the call. [Thank you both for your words of support. They mean more than you realize. Spark has to focus on beating up the bad guys now though, so we need to cut this short ok?] ¡°Ok Miss Pyridae!¡± Summer replied, ¡°Bye Spark! Have fun beating up the bad guys!¡± ¡°Be careful,¡± Autumn added, ¡°We won¡¯t tell anyone.¡± ¡°Like spies!¡± ¡°Summer spies don¡¯t shout that they¡¯re spies!-¡° The line cut off from the other end as I shook my head in amusement. As downright heartwarming it was to listen to that, I do suggest you continue forward before a wayward Model spots you dear. I sighed, ¡°I know. Right now I¡¯m mainly just shocked that conversation went so well.¡± Without any more interruptions, I finally reached the nearest finishing barn. After ordering Robin and Marian to guard the entrance, I snuck through a hole torn in the wall finding this particular room empty. The barn was trashed with gates torn off their hinges and blood everywhere. Even a few of the concrete half-walls for the pens were shattered as if something large and heavy was thrown through them. Just your everyday level of destruction when the antithesis are around. I quickly forced the thoughts away with a shake of my head and crept to the other side to get a look at the carnage I was about to face. The way the finishing barns were set up was a set of two on the north side, and a set of three on the south side. Both sets had one small room for loading and unloading pigs on the north east and south west corners respectively. Finally on the far sides of the center driveway were long hallways for moving pigs to those rooms creating a giant upside down ¡®U¡¯ on the north end, and a sideways ¡®E¡¯ on the south end. To the west was the manure lagoon, which wasn¡¯t visible to me at the moment. What was visible to me though was the wide open space between all the barns which had been turned into a massive processing center for the antithesis. Fresh Ones and Threes were hatching from gelatinous sacs as monkey things rushed about the network of vines, and flowers. The same corpse pile in the direct center of the place I saw earlier was still being picked over by the Seventeen, and behind it was a field of pigs laying in the dirt convulsing as the Model Sevens inside them finished taking over their brains. Multiple vines snaked back towards the lagoon, and were most likely draining the nitrogen rich slurry right now. ¡°Pyri, what the fuck am I looking at?¡± This is the start of a hive, growing under the direction of a Model Seventeen that is fully aware of how much biomass is nearby. If you fail at destroying it yourself, they will most likely level the entire farm before being firebombed into dust by the local Samurai. ¡°Any suggestions for making them regret ever setting foot here?¡± I advise against any explosives due to the high likelihood of pollinated dust being sent into the air. The Seventeen and the Sixes are the current greatest threat due to their ability to direct the swarm. ¡°Ok so no explosives and focus the leaders down, how should I remove the hive itself?¡± There are specific Vulgoran weapons designed to specifically deal with hive tissue by sending a lower voltage and current throughout the structure which will not only damage the plant over time, but will chemically affect the liquids inside of them. Of particular note is the separation of water into hydrogen and oxygen. I felt my eye twitch, ¡°Pyri won¡¯t that cause a massive explosion the second an electrical arc lights those gases up? No, but it will light them on fire. I thought for a few moments, ¡°How long will they take?¡± You can have multiple disposable emitters working at once which will drop the time down to around fifteen minutes. Each one will cost you ten points. ¡°We¡¯ll deal with it after I¡¯m done clearing everything else then.¡± I crept back away from my vantage point. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of this death trap and give them a really nice surprise.¡± A quick rendezvous with my foxbots later I was creeping towards the end of the barn, where I would have the quickest and cleanest shot at the Seventeen possible. Rounding the corner, I brought the Trill up, and sighted the Seventeen. With a feral grin, I fired a beautiful cyan bolt of energy towards the offending crab thing. A flower of hissing electricity sprouted from the impact point zapping a few nearby Model Threes. After around ten seconds of continuous fire, I took my finger off the trigger expecting a twitching corpse. Only to find it did¡­ nothing? The only evidence I had even struck it was the blood covering it, which had been charred into soot. ¡°Uh, Pyri, why isn¡¯t it dead?¡± That should¡¯ve killed it. Something is wrong. Pyri¡¯s shock unnerved me. The only explanation is either a Variant-Vulgora Seventeen appeared out of nowhere and somehow didn¡¯t influence the local antithesis to produce some electrical resistance into the population. ¡°Orrrr,¡± I prompted. This antithesis has been artificially hardened, judging by its somewhat larger carapace. The latter is most likely. I didn¡¯t have the time to process the implications of that judgment as I now had the eyes of the entire hive staring right at me. I sighed, ¡°So much for an ambush¡­¡± Chapter 17: Slug-fest One thing I learned over the years is that - unless you''re as ridiculous as me - whenever you go to kill a hive, there''s going to be some kind of boss-fight. Hell, even I have some of those from time to time. The actual boss fight itself can look very different depending on the hive and the Samurai. For example, a boss-fight for me would be a model in the 40s or 50s in a stealth hive that''s been cooking up these monsters for a long time. For a new Samurai, a similar challenge could be their first six or their first teen. A more experienced Samurai might face off against a couple of twenty-ones. At my level most boss-fights other Samurai struggle with are trivial. But I believe they are very good opportunities for learning and adapting. That''s actually part of why I won''t intervene, if I see some other Samurai struggle, unless they''re about to die. Doing so would stunt their growth. -Samurai Foxfire talking about clearing out hives on a podcast, 2049 I instantly leapt into action, forgoing attacking the Seventeen again, and attacking one of the nearby Model Sixes instead. My backpack zapper as well as Robin and Marian lit up the closest swarms of Ones and Threes while the Six I singled out began feeling the effects of my electricity¡­ and also the Seventeen? ¡°Pyri?¡± The Model Seventeen¡¯s control wires conduct your electricity, and since they are directly linked to its nervous system, it¡¯s delivering a current right into the most sensitive part of their biology. Unfortunately rather than sitting there and taking the attack, the crab visibly yanked something out of the Six and scurried off while I was still cooking it. Unfortunately, it can still reel back its wires in emergencies. You need to hit a target it¡¯s connected to for this method to electrocute it. Seeing the now retreating Sixes that were warbling orders to the chaff, I cursed under my breath. ¡°So this turned from a slug-fest into a game of cat and mouse?¡± Unfortunately, yes. The upside is that they will not abandon the hive. Especially once you start damaging it. ¡°Oh really then?¡± I shot at a Model Three trying to rush at me alone. ¡°They don¡¯t like me destroying their new place do they?¡± I aimed at a nearby vine. ¡°Well fuck their new place then!¡± Spark wait- The bolt hit the vine, leaving a nasty scorch mark. I was about to fire again when the forces attacking us went wild. They were throwing themselves into attacking us before, now they seemed almost rabid with how much more determined they were. Two bundles of electricity repeatedly shot up into the roiling flock of Model Ones as a third fired into the Threes below alongside my singular bolts. In the back, the monkey things began messing with the birth sacs, causing them to begin opening to reveal malformed Model Threes and Ones that couldn¡¯t possibly get airborne. The hive is now pulling out all stops to defend itself. An all-out brawl is inevitable now, but the Sixes will stay out of sight as much as possible while still giving orders. Cursing again, I looked behind me to check on the pigs still being zombified only to see them all trying to reach me with various means of flopping and limping, which disconcertingly also seemed to be quickly becoming a sprint. I swung my rifle around to face that way and began firing into the horde, flash cooking the water inside the zombies. Each bolt luckily was able to leap from one body to the next, but with less power behind it unlike the more consistent helpers I had with me. Thanking the stars for having brought proper swarm killing weapons with me, I pushed towards the horde, but paused when I saw a flicker of movement behind the corpse pile. ¡°Pyri, give me some sort of corpse melter.¡± Throw this into it, your suit can block the sound to keep it from harming you, it is harmonically tuned for it. I threw the boxy looking thing right into the pile, and it screamed. The damned thing was some kind of sonic grenade that made my bones rattle inside my body. The dead pigs, however, began melting off of their skeletons, quickly revealing the Model Six behind it. ¡°Pyri! I need another two drones! Same as the last two, and have them fight the Seven zombies!¡± I didn¡¯t pay attention to the completely unfolded drones dropping down in front of me, as I focused single mindedly on lighting up the now exposed Model Six. After it dropped into the dirt dead, I scanned the surroundings as fast as I could and found what I was looking for. A pair of Sixes had crammed themselves inside one of the southern barns and were no doubt giving orders to the rest of the swarm.Not wasting time, I began pushing even further towards the zombie horde. Most of them were long dead now, but a few of the ones deep inside the ¡®E¡¯ were just¡­ standing there for some reason. ¡°Pyri those things in the far back,¡± I paused to take a pot shot at a Model Five that had been born early. ¡°Why aren¡¯t they attacking?¡± Those are probably in the process of, or are already reshaped by the Seven¡¯s in their system to create biofactories for producing Model Sevens. I grimace, clenching my teeth at the thought of more of that nonsense. ¡°Oh, joy.¡± Once we finally broke through the horde, I rushed into the center barn, chasing the retreating Model Sixes.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Robin, Marian! You two are defending my front! The rest defend the rear!¡± The fox-bots leapt into their positions with grace. Quite literally in fact, as they all jumped up onto the concrete walls, balancing upon them for a better angle. It was honestly quite cute. I pushed on through the building, clearing room after room, and even fired off warning shots through the now destroyed bird nets if the Sixes looked like they were going to try to flee the barn. Right as I was about to begin cooking one of them, I was knocked over by one of my drones tackling me to the ground. I didn''t even have the chance to scream before the air around me was hosed down with electricity. ¡°W-what h-¡° You were almost pounced on by a Model Nine disguised as a ceiling fan. I slowly pulled myself up with a groan after Marian got off of me. I saw that not all of us had made it out of the ambush ok however. Robin had apparently leapt into the air in the way of the Nine and had lost a leg as a result. I anxiously knelt down, fussing a bit over the damaged robot while the others defended us from the swarm doing its damndest to reach us. ¡°Pyri can he walk?¡± He can, but at a much reduced speed. He will be able to mostly keep up at the pace you¡¯ve been going- Spark your 5 o¡¯ clock! I snapped around as I shuffled away, firing my rifle blindly, luckily hitting the Six attempting to use the distraction as an oppurtunity to escape. ¡°Is the other one still here?¡± I growled, cautiously glancing around. Yes, the remaining security camera in this barn still has eyes on it. It¡¯s gearing up for a last stand. Most of the remaining Seven-pigs that aren¡¯t acting as biofactories are with it. I bared my teeth at the challenge, ¡°Bring it on.¡± With the third Six now dead, I rushed for the fourth, and found myself beset on all sides by Model Ones, the damned pigeons wouldn¡¯t let up with their seemingly endless numbers trickling in through the windows. Robin had moved to the center aisle with me, targeting our pursuers as he limped along. Marian and my two currently unnamed bots kept sweeping the room to eliminate as many Ones as possible, which kept the space clear enough for me to take pot shots at the now visible horde of pigs trickling through the rooms the barn was separated into.The Six had forced itself through each doorway, doing quite shabby remodel work on our doorways the entire way down. Hopefully they wouldn¡¯t compromise the ceiling with me still inside. I began picking my way over the dead pigs, seeing and the Six which seemingly somehow had a smug look on its face, when I realized that I had grenades. A few lobbed balls of electrocuting death later, and only the Six was left to oppose me.. Before I could act, a worm was yanked out of the thing¡¯s back disappearing through the door behind it. The Six wasted no time in trying to charge me, only to be met with a bolt of electricity dropping it to the ground nearly instantly. I start forward, muttering, ¡°Pyri, how many of these things are left?¡± One active unit left, it is in the barn to your right. I didn¡¯t even hesitate before charging around the Six and down the enclosed hallway. Only a few Threes were in my way, but my backpack zapper cleared them off to allow me to exchange the drained battery on my rifle as I moved.I slowed down as I neared the doorway and readied another grenade; I refused to be ambushed in these barns again. With the pair of Threes waiting on either side of the door now dead, I was able to rush into the barn to find the Model Six out in the ¡®E¡¯ ordering a bunch of Threes to muster in front of it. I rolled my eyes and just shot at it over the pack it assembled.It quickly joined the rest of its kin in the dirt, and I was back at square one. ¡°I¡¯m assuming I haven¡¯t killed the Seventeen yet?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but sigh as my bots began wiping the Threes from existence. Unfortunately no, the current best option is to flush it out with sheer attrition. Eventually, it will be forced to adhere to direct defense of the hive. I knocked a One out of the sky with a shot from my hand cannon. ¡°Would starting the hive destruction also flush it out?¡± That is also an option, yes. ¡°Then tell me where to start putting these things. It¡¯s time to fucking end this.¡± Pyri didn¡¯t waste time with the locations whatsoever. Fifteen blue dots appeared on my map and in my vision. Each was placed on the largest vines the fledgling hive had, a majority of which were on vines leading towards the lagoon. They are organized in a way that allows you to place them without doubling back. Seeing an opening in the swarms, I made a break for the nearest node. ¡°Just give ¡®em to me as I need ¡®em! No point in lugging things around! Spark, why would I make you carry equipment you only need for a moment? I reached the first node, where after opening my palm, what looked like the bottom half of an egg with a screw and a lot of needles coming out of the flat end dropped into my hands. I placed it over the projected dot, and as it began drilling into the plant flesh I answered: ¡°I don¡¯t know, conversation? My brain being weird and running my mouth on autopilot again? Many things are possible in the wonderful world of Spark, Pyri.¡± I see. We can discuss it over food later. Pyri¡¯s tone left no room for argument, so I vaulted the knee high vine instead and threw another grenade forward into a group of malformed Model Fours.Things continued on in silence for the next five roots, which is when the flood of alien dogs and birds felt like it was thinning out a bit. ¡°Are they running out of Models?¡± No, they shouldn¡¯t be running out by this point. Be prepared. I reached the eighth root when the Seventeen made their move. A large wave of antithesis burst out of the north finishing barns. Noticeably adult antithesis. So I have good news and bad news. I picked up my Trill from its position where I had left it on the ground. The good news is you won¡¯t have to worry about wayward units in the complex other than small pockets of Sevens. ¡°And the bad?¡± I said through clenched teeth as I focused on trying to clear as many xenos as possible. Every single one of those Models is making up this wave. Luckily you went through the other buildings first before coming here or this last stand of theirs would be a lot bigger. As Pyri gave me the bad news I noticed what she meant. The wave had startled me and bolstered their numbers for a bit, but they still fell incredibly quickly. It wasn¡¯t really a heroic last stand, it was more like a last gasping breath. Before long, the alien of the hour made itself known. Skittering forward while kicking up gravel in the driveway. It made it within ten meters of me before I tossed the salvaged mine at it, like a frisbee. It landed right dead center in front of it and instantly burst. Trapping the damned thing in C-Foam. ¡°Pyri, are that thing¡¯s internals immune to electricity as well?¡± Not likely, no. ¡°Good.¡± The horde had thinned to the point where even the monkey things were rushing to try and stop us only to be cut down by my automatic fire. I calmly strode forward to the struggling crab spider and crouched down in front of it. ¡°So you¡¯re the piece of shit that attacked my home.¡± I toyed with the rifle in my hands. ¡°While I can¡¯t argue with the fact that without you I¡¯d be stuck in a dysphoric haze with no knowledge about my past, or the fact that I¡¯m a girl.¡± I paused for a moment as my chest decided to release its population of butterflies into my heart again. The Seventeen was currently snapping at me. ¡°But you also destroyed my home, and considering the lack of response from anyone else for hours.¡± A wave of emotional turmoil passed over me with the admission. ¡°You likely killed half of my family as well.¡± I shoved my rifle forward into the thing¡¯s maw. ¡°So you get to experience the wonders of electricity up close and personal.¡± With a trigger-pull, it was done. The antithesis raid on Homeplace was truly finally over. Chapter 18: Just a Little Arson Remember, whenever you¡¯re out harvestin wheat, soybeans during a heat wave, or just any sort of anything when your combine will get hot. You have a tractor with any sort of tillage implement nearby. Shit saved more lives worldwide than I''d care to admit. -Uncle Cy to Spark, 2048 Once the Seventeen was dead, everything pretty much sorted itself out from there. All of the remaining Models bull-rushed my position in a complete lack of strategy and were quickly cut down.After that I finished setting up the bores with only the interference from the occasional Model birthed far too early to do anything. Pyri also took the time to go over my points with me. My funds were sitting just under twelve thousand now, from the sheer volume of zombified pigs they had pulled from the finishing barns and kept from merging into hive materials since I was still around. On top of that, I had received what Pyri called a token for defeating the Seventeen and the rest of forces defending the hive on my own. At my confusion, she had explained they were basically spendable medals. Gained from various achievements based on her discretion, and then spent to make my catalogues stronger. Which meant I could zap stuff better soon! I wasn¡¯t even finished either. After the confirmation from Pyri that all combat units on the farm were eliminated, as far as she was aware, Marian and the unnamed Fox-bots had been sent out on search and destroy orders for Model Sevens. Robin was stationed at the hive to kill off any newly born antithesis. Pyri had then been asked to leave their kills out of any logs she made, the constant blips would get annoying. What awaited me was the last place antithesis were likely to have a presence that we didn¡¯t have under control. The manure lagoon was starting to bubble up noxious gas due to the aerating liquids inside the hive structure escaping into it. The Model Eights currently¡­ interacting with the sludge weren¡¯t perturbed hardly at all by the carnage happening nearby. If anything, they were gorging themselves as fast as possible; Most likely to try and escape. What was even worse about the disgusting sight in general, was the ripples in the lagoon that weren¡¯t caused by the Eights. I wrinkled my nose, very happy at that moment about the filters the helmet had come with. ¡°Pyri, how many Sevens are in this thing?¡± A general scan by your drones puts the number for the lagoon, and the barn pits in the hundreds. The Seventeen must have been stuffing itself while commanding the forces around it. ¡°How many of those grenades will it take to kill them all?¡± Eight of them spread out in the pool, followed by one in each barn pit should be enough for the whole entire swarm. Be advised that this will ignite both the gasses in the slurry and those that are being created by the bores. ¡°Just give me a set of eight remote ones then, might as well blow both targets up at once.¡± I sighed, then paused as a potential worst case popped up in my mind. ¡°I won¡¯t blow myself up as well, right?¡± Yes, the concentration in the air is not high enough for that currently. Pyri paused before her tone turned a bit teasing.. Unless you miss and hit the slurry directly that is. Snorting, I walked over towards the worms that looked like they were about to burst, and pulled my Amp-Cannon out of its holster. Finding the gaps in the light armor the worms had wasn¡¯t that hard, and a point blank shot into each was enough to fry their several brains and leave five twitching corpses behind.
Combat Log!
Model Eight x5 25
Jacob''s Ladder Ball x8 40
Total: -15
Points Reduced to: 11,824
The point tally being so high gave me a slightly fluttery feeling. I wasn¡¯t that far from being able to buy the equipment needed to fix my¡­ everything with regards to my body. The only thing dampening my mood was the fact that I was only halfway there.Of course, I still had more points to gain from this giant bomb I was creating, and the Sevens left everywhere else still needed to be hunted down. But a gap of almost ten-thousand points was still a large gap, even with all the points I had made here. And even then the fact that I wasn¡¯t able to fix myself right now, was like a lump of ice weighing down my stomach. A lump I wanted, needed gone now. I threw the third bomb into the muck and watched it sink before continuing to the next. ¡°There isn¡¯t any way for you to give me a point loan, is there?¡± Unfortunately there is not. I assume this is about you coming up short for your transition? ¡°Yeah, I just want out of this¡­ This thing as fast as possible. The discomfort has been in the background constantly, but it was ignorable with the constant fighting. Now it¡¯s coming back and hurting even more.¡± There is another option. I perked up as another bomb sank down into the lagoon. If you purchase the machine, two generators, a single battery, dream learning and the basis for controlling your new body. You can use a ¡®stepping stone¡¯ to your end goal. It will only be a human form that is equal in capability to what Olympic athletes can accomplish, which isn¡¯t much in the long run, but will still be a large improvement. I bit my lip, ¡°And the cost for all of it?¡± Currently it is at sixteen-thousand-five-hundred-forty-five. Which is more within reach than you believe. While it isn¡¯t everything you want, it is much more achievable short term than the full thing later, and it will decrease what you need to save up later. I looked down in thought, ¡°A stepping stone huh?¡± I ruminated on what Pyri had told me while I quickly went into each barn to drop grenades into each separate pit to ensure everywhere would be hit. The thought of my goal suddenly being right in front of me was both baffling and exhilarating, to the point that time just flew by as I worked. Once I was done, I only had a short wait left for the bores to finish their job. The Fox-bots had also been doing their work; My point counter had been occasionally ticking up with the sound of electrical blasts close by from Robin or from Marian and her compatriots in the distance. I now had a bit over twelve-thousand points, and I was getting just a bit more hopeful that ignition would rocket me just high enough to reach that magic number Pyri had given me. Spark? It¡¯s time dear.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. I blinked, ¡°Time for what?¡± To light the hive on fire. ¡°Oh yeah.¡± I then realized what our big plan actually was. ¡°Wait! Pyri, I¡¯m not gonna flatten the entire farm, right?¡± Calm down, the most that will happen is you lighting the surroundings on fire. All of the gasses that would ignite burn fast and hot so you won¡¯t have to worry about them. And the bores will be destroyed by the ignition by design so you don¡¯t have to worry about new flammable gasses while performing fire suppression. I put my hands on my hips, and was about to ask her how on the goddess¡¯ green earth I would do that, when abruptly, my glasses began to ring with an old song that Evie set her call id to trigger as a joke. Too bad for her since I didn''t mind the song whatsoever. ¡°Heya, this is your friendly farming-hood Sparkinator. How may I help you?¡± The line was filled with Evie¡¯s groan. ¡°Spark I can and will make you regret that horrible joke.¡± She sighed, ¡°Listen, Pyri said it had to be run by you first, but Mom is getting fitfull in her sleep and she needs to be sedated. Pyri said she had a solution if you approved of it.¡± ¡°Go for it. I don¡¯t mind.¡±
New Purchase!
Sedative Injector 3
Points Reduced To: 12,513
Sedative Injector 3 12513 After a moment of neither of us saying anything, I mutter: ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t suppose-¡° ¡°No, this doesn¡¯t excuse you from the regret you will soon feel.¡± I slumped, ¡°Dangit.¡± Remembering that I was in the middle of discussing something with Pyri, I quickly gave Evie a warning: ¡°Hey by the way, don¡¯t worry if you feel a big boom or something in the very near future. Just, er, running some tests on the local fauna out here.¡± ¡°Spark?! What the hell does that even MEAN?! Are you going to murder squirrels?! You know we need them for pest control right?!¡± I had to fight from busting out laughing, ¡°They¡¯re very dangerous squirrels though. Seriously though, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be home soonish! Okaybyeeee!¡± ¡°Spark you little shit! I swear I-¡° I cut Evie off with a click, and after a moment, doubled over laughing. As humorous as it is to watch the two of you bicker, I do believe you have a hive to destroy, as well as a question to ask me? Bringing myself back under control, I asked through snickers. ¡°You said I would be acting as fire suppression. I don¡¯t have gear for that other than the C-Foam launcher, and using that seems like a waste.¡± It is, which is why I believe a simple firebreak would work best. Most of the area here needs to be deep cleaned regardless, and these buildings in particular need to be condemned now, so burning them down will only mean the wreckage needs to be cleared instead of fully disassembling five entire barns. I deflated at the news, the last thing I wanted to do was inflict this level of destruction on my home. I¡¯m sorry Spark, but this one of the things all Vanguard must learn to accept. Even the local Vanguard of your area deal with this. I hissed as I inhaled deeply through my teeth, only to be interrupted before I could even start my rant. Now, hold on before you speak, dear. Vanguard, like SkyFire for example, deal with this particular situation a lot, especially out here. While yes it is arguable she should help with replacement, the sites where she has bombed have a near zero rate of antithesis regrowth from left behind material because she bombs them so thoroughly. She has been very public about how she doesn¡¯t truly want to destroy the needed infrastructure of a populace already suffering, but when she and her teammates arrive on scene it¡¯s almost always far too late for her to do anything except for dropping ordinance. Infact, going over your browsing history, most of the stories you¡¯ve read online are false stories made by a smear campaign against her and her teammates. The only true stories are from instances where the homesteaders were already killed. If anything, the local Vanguard in this area are short-handed. Without any full scale incursions in the area, the Vanguard population has suffered here. Other means to support them are absent as well. The Family doesn¡¯t have an Indianapolis branch, only Shadowtag is a member, and a low level one at that. I stood there stunned, Pyri seemed oddly passionate about the subject and dropped a full infodump on me then and there. The information within it however was something I would be chewing on for a while. ¡°Why haven¡¯t they shut down the campaign?¡± Most likely they are unaware. It isn¡¯t hard to keep what¡¯s happening out here quiet for the most part. Combined with their relative experience as Vanguard, and how often antithesis raids out here end in complete death meaning a lack of people to come forward. There isn¡¯t much a malicious party needs to do to entrench this kind of sentiment. I snorted, ¡°Except for when one of the people out here becomes a Samurai themselves.¡± Exactly. Breathing out, I forced myself back on task. ¡°So what should I get to create this firebrea- Waitaminute! Pyri, how long do I have until the gas dissipates?¡± You have plenty of time provided you ignite it within the next few hours. ¡°That¡¯s more than long enough!¡± I quickly rushed towards the rest of the complex, stripping off my backpack and leaning it against the farrowing house as I passed it so I could run faster. This idea I already knew would work so long as nothing went over my firebreak. I do think it is a poor idea to disarm, even if you¡¯ve mostly cleared Homeplace of direct combat units. ¡°I¡¯ll pick it back up later!¡± I took a moment to breathe. ¡°Besides, making the firebreak will take a while, so getting the equipment quickly is important.¡± Yes but assuming my prediction is correct that''s a matter of minutes, when you have hours. ¡°Going fast is fun, Pyri!¡± I can not argue with that. ¡°Exactly!¡± I slowed down to a walk as I got to my destination. The shop. ¡°Now cross your fingers that they didn¡¯t cut the power while messing everything else up.¡± Opening the door, my hand instantly went to the wall and slapped the door controls, followed by the light switch. To my relief, the door began climbing upwards while the overhead lights flickered on, and revealed my fire break maker. I was looking at one of the articulated tractors we owned, which was attached to a nine shank ripper. It was ready for fall tillage, but I had a more pressing use for it. Creating my firebreak. Climbing up the entrance ladder, I leaned over to get a look at the back of the tractor to see if the hydraulics were attached. Everything looked ok, so I got in the cab and turned the key. The wondrous song of the engine roaring to life washed over me, and I cheered a bit. I was the last person to mess with it, and had spent far too long dealing with spark plug issues last night. I carefully drove out of the shop, and navigated towards the finishing barns while avoiding the antithesis corpses scattered here and there. A quick stop to grab my backpack was made, and before I pushed on, I had one important request to make. ¡°Pyri, do you know where the firebreak should be?¡± While you were placing the bores, I had one of your drones scan the perimeter to detect how far the roots had spread underground. This is the optimal spot for it. A transparent orange track flickered into existence on my glasses, and I found myself humming in consideration. Two passes around the set of barns wouldn¡¯t take too long, but I also wanted to watch the fireworks as soon as possible. I can see the look on your face, and unfortunately no Spark, the hive can not be lit on fire after you have made one pass. Rather than respond vocally, I put the tractor into drive and lowered the shanks the second I was over the path. They cut into the dirt easily, the soft ground parting between the various parts of the implement. I felt a smile pull itself onto my face before I had even made it ten meters forward. *** By the time I had made the first pass around, I was fidgeting in my seat. I was absolutely ready for the fireworks to begin, even at the cost of these barns. By the time the second was finished I was ready to go over and ignite it manually. Robin had already hobbled out and away from the hive, and after I had driven a safe distance away to watch. I then, after a moment of tense preparation, detonated the bombs. The two sets of barns were enveloped in a bright orange fireball accompanying a loud ¡®whoosh¡¯ for a few moments before giving way to¡­ nothing? Try the ultraviolet settings on your glasses. What they revealed was downright beautiful. Purple flames were consuming everything flammable in a bewitching display of power. My power. ¡°Woah.¡± Don¡¯t get too comfortable just watching the fire dear. You have a log to peruse.
Targets Eliminated!
Model Seven x879 4395
Small Hive Destruction 500, 1 Token
Reward: 4895
Total: 17,554, 2 Tokens
Despite the roar of flames being deafening even through the cab¡¯s windows, I couldn¡¯t hear them over the sound of my cheering. Chapter 19: Taking a Breather ¡°Inque is getting ready, xey said five minutes max.¡± ¡°Good, ¡®cause scans show we¡¯ve got a new sibling, massive energy reading that doesn¡¯t belong anywhere on a farm.¡± ¡°Wonder if they¡¯ll wanna join up, god knows we need the manpower.¡± ¡°Who knows, every time someone in the wastes initializes they either go hermit with their family, or uproot and leave the city.¡± -Overheard conversation between CyroFlare, and SkyFire 2056 The fire quickly burnt down the hive and the finishing barns along with them. Rather than continue to sit there and watch the fire myself, I called the foxbots back after they had finished off the last remaining Sevens in the area. I had a family to reunite with, and a giant middle finger to the concept of my current body to buy. The house had been torn up a lot more than I had last seen it. Siding had been torn to bits in places, a few windows were smashed, and the bunker hatch was scratched to hell but still shut tight. Opening it up, I entered the building only to be nearly bowled over by a trio of little gremlins. ¡°Spark you¡¯re back!¡± Cried Summer, before she exclaimed, ¡°We heard a big woosh!¡± ¡°Pyri said you were okay,¡± Autumn continued, ¡°But Evie was still super worried about what you managed to burn down.¡± Benny was babbling about anything going through his mind. ¡°What¡¯s all the new stuff you got? Did ya get me anything? Oh! Did you get me an ice cream!?¡± I gave them all a biggo hug right back. ¡°Well to answer everything. Yes I¡¯m back! The woosh was me, I¡¯m mostly unhurt, I burned down the finishing barns, I got armor weapons and foxbots, annnd I did get you all something!¡± I raised my hand in the air and Pyri wordlessly teleported a box right into it. Five points for five strawberry sundaes. I passed the box into Autumn¡¯s arms, ¡°Go on! Eat up! Evie, I got one for you as well!¡± I turned to see Evie standing there with a smile. ¡°So it¡¯s over then?¡± She asked with a whisper. ¡°Here. Yeah, the place that sent them all? No.¡± I whispered back, ¡°After I take care of some body upgrades I¡¯ll be heading out to destroy that one too.¡± We paused to let Autumn bring us over our ice cream. Once she had sat down with the other two I asked the most important question, "Did you get word from anyone else?¡± Her eyes said everything, ¡°No. Spark, at this point by now they''re most likely all dead. They should¡¯ve gotten back hours ago, and the swarm came from the same direction as the field they were working on today.¡± I felt weak in the knees. In a single afternoon, I had lost half my family. ¡°Evie¡­ You know how the forecast was clear of antithesis today?¡± She nodded. ¡°Well while I was out there I fought a Model Seventeen. Pyri said it was likely the thing was artificially enhanced. Unless a corpo let a science project randomly escape¡­¡± I scowled. ¡°Someone sent it here intentionally.¡± A matching glare slid onto Evie¡¯s face. ¡°Exactly. And even with me being a Samurai, the farm is lost. Anything I didn¡¯t destroy, the antithesis hit themselves other than the grain bins. All the pigs here are gone, I don¡¯t know about any of the machinery still in the sheds. Even with my best efforts, the area needs to be deep cleaned to prevent new hive growth. It¡¯s all fucked.¡± She sighed, ¡°Well¡­ I guess you better get started on your upgrades then.¡± She gave me a sad smile. ¡°We¡¯ll hold down the fort here while you go out there and kick more alien ass!¡± I chuckled, ¡°Sure, but ice cream first. I¡¯m a bit wore out.¡± *** After the once again criminally tasty ice cream provided by Pyri was completely eaten, we all exited the bunker to find Robin standing guard outside the hatch. ¡°Hey there Robin,¡± I rubbed between his ears, ¡°You chomp on anything recently?¡± The bot tilted its head and then shook it no. ¡°Okay then, Go downstairs and monitor Aunt Nyra. If something happens, contact Evie.¡± Robin got up and walked down into the bunker with his tail swaying side to side behind him. Shutting the door Evie gave me an odd look. ¡°You got a robot that somewhat looks like a fox and named it Robin?¡± She scrunched her nose, ¡°Also, you weren¡¯t lying when you said you lit the finishing barns on fire. It reeks out here.¡± ¡°Yes? I needed the extra firepower for it. There are three others out patrolling everything else.¡± Evie glanced around nervously, ¡°And there isn¡¯t anything else here?¡± I began walking towards the shop, ¡°Nothing from the original raid, or something it produced. Anything they find will have arrived very recently.¡± I paused to think, ¡°I still think y¡¯all should stay in the bunker while I¡¯m gone though.¡± Summer ran in front of me and gave us the biggest pair of puppy dog eyes, ¡°Can we see your stuff working before then at least?¡± We both caved pretty quickly to the cheers of all three of them. Only ending once we got to the shop. Evie had a confused look on her face, ¡°What are we doing here? Why not your workshop?¡± ¡°There¡¯s more room in here with the tractor and ripper pulled out, and well, uhhhh, my blood is all over the floor in there.¡± She paled, ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± I took a deep breath in and let it out, ¡°Okay. Pyri what all do I need for the basic stuff?¡± Firstly from your Vulgoran Biological Sciences Catalogue you will need the MK III BioShifter for fifteen-thousand points. However, with the addition of a token you could also upgrade the catalogue to Class II for five-hundred points, and then buy the MK IV for an additional five-hundred. ¡°What¡¯s the difference between the two?¡± While it¡¯s a thousand points more expensive, the MK IV is faster which will help for the first use, and additionally the catalogue will have more options for your second time through it, and anytime someone else goes through it. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it, that¡¯s the only thing I might upgrade right now though. Better to save the second token for something else.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Understandable dear. As for the rest of the required purchases for the operation specifically, you will need two MK I Industrial Xenon Generators for a combined one thousand, one Industrial Vulgoran Battery for one-hundred-seventy-five, and the basic human template for one-hundred. Only one thing jumped out to me, ¡°Why generators and a battery? Seems a bit redundant.¡± Why does a human internal combustion engine need a battery? ¡°To power the spark plug for igniting the fuel. Hybrid engines draw from it even more so they reduce fuel consumption.¡± Exactly. Not only do these generators need a kickstart to operate, the BioShifter series of matter reconfigurers require a large power draw to the point that it would burn out the generators. The batteries offer solutions to both roles. For the intensity and length of time needed for this session you just need these power sources. My curiosity sated I agreed, ¡°Okay, anything else?¡± Unless you wish to relearn how to move your hands, I advise unlocking Class I Dream Learning and purchasing an addon that will attach to the BioShifter so you don¡¯t need an implant. If you do get an implant in the future, the two can interface and increase your dream learning rate. Finally, Lesson: Basic Human Movement will allow you to have the foundations of controlling your new body already mastered. ¡°Nothing advanced?¡± Advanced combat lessons take longer to teach, and are much more expensive. Also nothing you¡¯ve demonstrated during our time together would fall under it, other than maybe precision aiming and grenade throwing. ¡°My aim wasn¡¯t that bad was it?¡± For a civilian, your aim was higher than average. For military personnel you were decidedly lacking with accuracy. I blushed, happy that this was all taking place inside my head rather than over the phone Autumn was now holding. ¡°I can¡¯t really argue with that can I?¡± No, you can not, nor do itineraries one, five, and seven allot time for it. I groaned, ¡°Fine, just buy it all then.¡± Pyri sounded very smug about the whole thing.
New Purchases!
Class II Vulgoran Biological Sciences 500 + 1 Token
Class I Dream Learning 100
MK IV BioShifter 15,500
MK I Industrial Xenon Generators x2 1000
Industrial Vulgoran Battery 175
Human Biological Template 100
MK I Dream Learning Tie-in 150
Lesson: Basic Human Movement 20
Total: 17,545
Points Reduced To: 281
Seeing all those points evaporate into nothing brought mixed feelings, only for it to turn to excitement when a box appeared at my feet alongside a large crate, two cylindrical towers, and a MASSIVE machine that was easily ten meters tall and five meters wide. Each machine also had cables coiled up and placed on hooks. The good thing about Vulgoran technology is that even when not using their wireless energy transmission, they kept improving their wired technology; simple, easy to use and implement. All of these cables are compatible with any combination, but I advise you don¡¯t swap them around from where I have them placed. ¡°Uhh, Spark?¡± I turned to find Evie currently backing the excited kids away from the machinery that had appeared. ¡°When you said body upgrades, I didn¡¯t expect you to go all mad scientist about it.¡± I raised my eyebrow, which was also joined by a trio of skeptical looks from the kids. ¡°I probably should¡¯ve expected it though.¡± She said with a sigh. ¡°What¡¯s it meant to do Pyri?¡± ¡°W-Why would you ask her? I¡¯m right here! I can explain-¡± [For this particular use, it will only slightly gelatinize Spark¡¯s body using a specific method of converting matter into energy and modify it from there. After the modifications are complete it will then resolidify the body and Spark will be at the physical equivalent of a top human athlete.] Evie facepalmed, ¡°Only you would microwave yourself to get more muscles I swear.¡± Benny and Summer began their microwave impersonations while Autumn squinted at me. ¡°In my defense, this isn¡¯t the first time I¡¯m using it.¡± I retorted. She gave me a look, ¡°Spark that doesn¡¯t help your case whatsoever.¡± She brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. ¡°Do you need us here for anything other than defending you?¡± I shrugged, ¡°Other than you helping me plug stuff in, not really. I¡¯d imagine I could give you an escort to look at the place I guess.¡± She waved me off, ¡°No, we¡¯ll all stay here. No point in going out when it can wait for you to be finished with your growing laundry list.¡± With our future plans out of the way, we got to work hooking up all the cables. The four pieces of equipment were organized in a square formation with the generators opposite each other. The battery was no larger than a decent sized box you¡¯d put a mini-fridge in. It was a vibrant blue with three lights lined up diagonally across the top. One side had several analog dials and buttons with a lever that looked all kinds of promising. The other sides all had various couplings for power, two specifically meant for direct distribution to the generators, and a third meant for power draw to the BioShifter. The generators were both six meter tall cylindrical towers that got thinner the further up you went. Once they were hooked up to the battery, they began glowing a bright blue in the center, illuminating a multitude of vertical metal plates set into spinning rings. The cables slotted in down at the bottom on either side of the control panel. Finally the Bioshifter. It had all its connections at the ends of the four support beams it had at each ¡®corner¡¯ of its rounded frame. It had a large person sized chamber wrapped in several copper bands in the center with a ramp leading up to it. Surrounding that chamber were a pair of large vertical arms with anodes on the interior that matched up with the copper bands on the chamber. The walkway was designed to fold up to allow the arms to rotate around the chamber. Finally it had a digital control panel next to the foot of the walkway just beside an emergency shutoff lever. ¡°Pyri, would throwing the shutoff lever kill the person inside the thing?¡± No, the lever is meant for if there is an active problem with setup. If pulled, the machine stops instantly and puts the patient in complete stasis until the problem is fixed, or the chamber is transferred to a new machine. Also, the dream learning tie-in slots into the opposite side of the control panel. Looking at the other side, I saw a jack flanked on both sides with anchors for the tie-in¡¯s frame. ¡°Autumn, you know the box I gave you? Can you-¡° I was interrupted by a tapping at my side, and looked down to find Autumn holding the box up to me. Thanking her I opened it up, and pulled out what looked like an old school tractor monitor from the turn of the century. A quick insertion with a pair of clicks coming from the anchor points, and the monitor lit up and automatically pulled up the only lesson it had. The BioShifter is properly powered, programmed, and is ready for use. All you need to do is take off your equipment, sans your jumpsuit, enter the capsule, and undress. I will handle the rest Spark dear. ¡°Welp, she¡¯s ready to go,¡± I said as I walked out of the square and began stripping off the armor plates and put them next to my backpack, belts, and C-Foam Launcher. Evie had both my rifle and pistol with her incase we were attacked before I was out and had my bearings. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll see y¡¯all on the other side.¡± Autumn and Evie joined the other two in the ¡®viewing chairs¡¯ they had set up next to Marian, who I had come over at Summer¡¯s request for extra protection while she went into the house ¡®to get something¡¯. ¡°Tell the dream gods they owe me another frosted donut Spark!¡± Evie shouted, ¡°The stingy f- buttheads stiffed me last week!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do!¡± With that last important thing said, I walked up the ramp as the chamber door slid open with a hiss. ¡®Here goes, you sure this thing will make things work, Pyri?¡¯ Yes, if something goes wrong, it won¡¯t be from the equipment you purchased or the assembly, and I know these units are functionally perfect otherwise. The door sealed itself shut behind me as I entered, and I stripped off the jumpsuit and glasses that had saved my life more than once today. ¡°I guess that works, where do I put this stuff by the way?¡± There is a hatch opposite the door. Once it is shut and you are in the center, you will be put to sleep via electromagnetic pulses, and the process will begin. Following Pyri¡¯s directions I heard the machine whir to life, as I suddenly felt incredibly fatigued. Sweet dreams dear. I¡¯ll make sure everything goes right out here. I soon fell asleep, and visions of doing basic stretches began playing through my dreamscape. Chapter 20: Euphoria Imagine a person who was born in a cave, who spent their entire life living underground, with their only source of illumination being candles and oil lamps. Imagine they¡¯ve never been above ground; they don¡¯t even know the surface exists. Then, one day, a cave-in happens in a side tunnel, and reveals an opening to the surface. Sunlight pours into the opening, and at first it is blinding and the person runs away in fear. Later, they return to the opening, and, as the person¡¯s eyes adjust, they look out through the hole and see a bright and brilliant world full of colors they didn¡¯t even know existed. That world is scary, huge, and full of unknowns, so they crawl back into the cave for safety, but that hole is still there, and they see the light every time they pass it. Gradually, they peek out more and more frequently, and further and further from the opening. They start to want that light; they find reasons to visit it more often. Eventually they realize that they don¡¯t want to go back into the hole any more. They have to go back, because that is where their family and friends are, but this place is so much better, and they want to stay here. Going back into the hole feels wrong; it starts to hurt to be in the dark so much. -Excerpt from the Euphoria section of The Gender Dysphoria Bible, 2024 The quartet looked on from their chairs as the machine Spark bought whirred, and snapped with electricity. Evie was primarily concerned with just how much Spark wanted to change his form. She looked at the news and most of the time Samurai just bought something and injected it into their bodies or something. This was well beyond that, and the best way she had to find out more, simply was to ask the supplier. ¡°Pyri, why did Spark need such a big machine for this?¡± [While I can not divulge much, this was the best way to achieve what their long term goals are. This accounts for price, duration of the sessions, and ease of use.] Even more questions for only a pittance of actual answers. ¡°Are you sure this is safe and healthy for him?¡± [Evelin,] Pyri spoke in a slightly chastising tone. [While I understand your concern. Please bear in mind that I would never put Spark at risk. This operation is not only to ensure their continued physical health, but improve their mental health as well. The full rationale for this operation is sensitive, and Spark has not given consent for me to share it.] Evie glared down at the phone, thinking about AI overlords a bit more seriously than the jokes she traded with Spark earlier, when Autumn poked her in the side. ¡°Evie, Spark wouldn¡¯t do something like this without a reason. We should trust Pyri.¡± Evie raised an eyebrow as she squinted down at the auburn haired girl. Autumndefinitely knew more, but she was pretty much a lock box tossed into a lake when it came to secrets. There was no use attempting to pry it from her. Summer, on the other hand¡­ The girl in question was fidgeting with a bag holding something she had run into the house to get while the robot Spark had named Marian, like the dork he was, escorted her. She nervously looked up at Evie, who squinted at her menacingly, until Summer cracked, blurting out: ¡°Nope! Not telling! We¡¯re spies!¡± ¡°Summer!¡± her twin groaned, ¡°Good spies don¡¯t say their spies!¡± Benny took this moment to jump in, ¡°I wanna be a spy! Do they get food?¡± Summer rolled her eyes, ¡°Our info is top secret! No telling anyone else! And you always want food!¡± ¡°So?¡± Benny crossed his arms indignantly, ¡±Food is tasty.¡± Stopping the argument before it could start, Evie decided to give the kids a game to play. ¡°Alright!¡± Evie clapped her hands together, ¡°Why don¡¯t we talk about what kind of Samurai we would be!¡± Getting nods from the others she continued, ¡°For me I¡¯d go with something where I could just punch the aliens really hard. Maybe I¡¯d get a really cool baseball bat like what Spark made? I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Ooh! Me next Me next!¡± Benny shouted with his hand waving in the air, ¡°I want to be like a chef Samurai! So I can make people food so they won¡¯t be hungry!¡± Summer snorted and while Autumn was listening she was also whispering something into the Samurai phone. ¡°Is that an actual thing that can be done?¡± Evie wondered aloud. [That is actually a possibility, not all Vanguard have to be good fighters, some specialize more in infrastructure, medical applications, and a few even cook meals for their fellow Vanguard. These meals can improve their healing rate, give them a large boost of energy, and many other helpful effects.] Benny pumped his fist in the air. ¡°I¡¯ll be the best chef Samurai the world has ever seen! I¡¯ll make food so good, whoever eats it will become a Samurai too!¡± Evie giggled, ¡°I don¡¯t think it works like that Benny but ok.¡± She looked at Autumn to pick her next, only to find the girl still whispering into the phone. ¡°Summer you¡¯re next.¡± ¡°I wanna go fast!¡± Evie looked at her quizzically, ¡°That¡¯s it? You just want to go fast?¡± Summer nodded, ¡°Yep! Just think about it! When you wanna hit something hard, you move faster! So I wanna move really fast so when I hit something it goes s-pewwwwww!!!¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Summer further accentuated her point with explosion sound effects and waving her hands around. Evie looked down at the phone and raised an eyebrow. [While based on a very rudimentary grasp of physics, what Summer wants to do is possible with a great deal of body mods and equipment.] Evie accepted that with a shrug, ¡°So my punches, Benny¡¯s world class cooking, and Summer¡¯s very fast punches. What about you Autumn?¡± The girl thought for a few moments, ¡°I want to be like Shadowtag. Just being able to sneak around and kill the big monsters really fast before they know she¡¯s there! Her shadow powers are cool, she tries to help others all the time. Also, she seems nice.¡± The girl glanced at the phone, ¡°What do you think, Pyri?¡± [Your¡¯s is obviously achievable. While I can¡¯t divulge information about Shadowtag without her consent, I will say that while yours is the most complex, it does have the most potential.] ¡°What about my big punches?¡± Evie demanded playfully. Pyri¡¯s tone turned teasing, [Evelin, I could achieve what you want by replacing your arms with heavy duty hydraulic pistons.The others at least offered somewhat of a challenge.] Evie opened her mouth to protest, only to get interrupted by Summer. ¡°Ooooooo you could be like, part transformer! We¡¯d be related to Evelin Prime!¡± The conversation only derailed further from there after Evie demanded a better transformer name. *** I was dreaming about sprinting around a running track when I floated up and away. My surroundings bled away into watercolors and gravity completely ceased to have meaning. ¡®I swear to fuck, this better not mean I¡¯m dying or I¡¯ll be really pissed.¡¯ You¡¯re not dying. Just waking up. The watercolors soon faded into darkness as my eyes flitted open. I was slowly being set back onto the floor of the chamber. ¡®Was I floating?¡¯ The Bioshifter line of machines makes use of a small antigravity field generator to ensure the patient¡¯s body does not collapse during the operation. I giggled, ¡°Sure, guess you can¡¯t have a blob of Spark pudding after¡­¡± I trailed off. My voice¡­ It felt¡­ Good? ¡°Pyri, my voice is different!!!¡± It had a light quality to it, as if my voice was made of nothing but air- Wait. Aren¡¯t all voices technically made of air? Nevermind, not important. Frowning I also realized something else, it felt slightly off. Like I wasn¡¯t using it right. ¡°Pyri, is my voice busted?¡± No. You are just using masculine speaking patterns with it. This can be fixed with either manual voice training, or with another Dream Learning Lesson. ¡°Hmmm, maybe during the foxification. I have things to do right now,¡± I crouched down and retrieved my glasses which shifted into a better shape to match my face. Then I looked down and saw myself in my full naked glory. I had boobs. The dysphoria noodle was gone. Most of my body hair was gone. Light cyan hair fell past my eyes. IT WORKED!!!! The chamber was filled with the sounds of my glee. I was a girl! All of me! Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy! It was like years of weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Breathing was easier, my jumps were lighter and went higher, and I just felt so much more energized! Some of it probably had to do with the fact that I now had abs and other various muscles, but I didn¡¯t care! I felt free after so long! The nightmare was finally over. Finally settling down, I leaned against the side of the chamber, ¡°Pyri I need new clothes.¡± Indeed. ¡°What should I get?¡± Autumn has requested I buy you something in particular without letting you know. It is not humiliating though, and she will understand if you decline. I grinned, and actually felt the smile reach my eyes, ¡°Sure! I¡¯ll wear it! It¡¯s not too difficult to get into though is it?¡± I made sure she kept it simple dear.
New Purchase!
Simple Garment and Underwear Set 2
Points Reduced To: 279
A small flat box plopped onto the floor next to me. Opening it had my eyes watering with tears. It was a powder blue dress with a lot of frills. She wanted to make sure your first steps outside of the BioShifter were as a princess like the rest of them are. ¡°That was so thoughtful of her!¡± I said through my now crying eyes. ¡°She deserves a hug. Pyri, how do I put this thing on?¡± This dress is able to be slipped on over your head. It will stretch to make things easier as well. True to her word, the dress slipped right over my shoulders, and settled nicely. It was sinfully comfortable, and fit perfectly. The skirt of the dress was ruffled and went down to my knees. The sleeves were short, and the shoulders slightly poofy. Wanting to try something I saw on the website I had viewed only a few hours ago, I did a quick spin in place. Oh. My. Goddess. Pure bliss. I might have then proceeded to make myself dizzy enough to fall over while giggling¡­ once or twice. Not to interrupt your self exploration Spark, but Evie is getting worried. Smoothing out my dress I realized something, ¡°Pyri, my boots won¡¯t fit me.¡± Indeed. Would you like boots that will be future proofed for when you use the BioShifter again? I nodded, ¡°Yes please! Nothing too expensive! I still need to buy a new jumpsuit and helmet right?¡± Yes for both. I breathed out to calm down slightly, ¡°Okay, boots first, jumpsuit and helmet later.¡±
New Purchase!
Vulgoran Open-Claw Combat Boots 35
Points Reduced To: 244
Another box dropped down in front of me. Opening it revealed a pair of black mid-calf boots with metal plating all over it. The front end was the same color, but was much more gelatinous feeling. Your future claws will pierce through the gel and close when retracted with ease. They are also designed to be nearly as resistant to outside forces as the rest of your boot. I still don¡¯t advise trying to shove a Model Five quill through it. Putting them on was a bit more of a hassle due the awkwardness of not knowing how I should sit while putting boots on. The awkwardness was worth it once I felt how comfortable these boots were. Standing up and testing the toes of the boots to find them just as durable as Pyri said confirmed it for me. Pyri made for an amazing personal tailor. The raw excitement and gender euphoria was quickly replaced by nerves as I stood in front of the hatch. Would Evie and Benny accept me? Would they make fun of me, or worse say that Pyri was lying to me about the trans stuff?¡± Spark you need to calm down. Even if they don¡¯t accept you, the twins still do, and you have more than the ability to convince them otherwise, even if it takes time. Believe in your family, Spark. I breathed slowly and let the anxiety die down to a muffled roar. ¡°I¡¯m ready Pyri. Open the door.¡± You¡¯ll do great, dear. The door hissed open and I stepped out to find a relieved looking Evie, a pair of twins grinning ear to ear, and a blur of child running up to me. Benny impacted me and instantly wrapped his arms around my legs in a hug, ¡°Spark you¡¯re done microwaving!¡± He looked up at me, ¡°And you¡¯re wearing a dress?¡± My face seemed to register to him at that moment. ¡°And you¡¯re a girl?!¡± Chapter 21: Princess Coming out can be super difficult, even if you¡¯ve got a protector AI chip in your head. Please be kind and gentle with someone who comes out to you. The sheer amount of trust they''re putting in you, alongside the pain they risk when doing so tends to make them incredibly fragile in the moment. -Shadowtag, on an forum AMA 2043 I returned Benny¡¯s hug while taking in my cousin¡¯s various reactions. Benny was frankly a bit confused, the twins were both clearly happy about things; Summer practically attempting to sand down the floor she was standing on, and Autumn jumping up and down while clapping her hands. Both had wide smiles. Something Evie didn¡¯t share. She was currently too busy trying to pick her jaw up off the floor Giving Benny a pat so he¡¯d let go of me, I grabbed his hand and walked us the rest of the way towards the twins and Evie. ¡°H-hey Evie¡­¡± ¡°EHHHH?¡± ¡°Ugh! This is taking too long!¡± Summer shouted, ¡°Put this on now so Autumn can take pictures!¡± She held up the object she had rushed off for earlier to reveal a silver tiara with a sapphire gem in it. I felt tears rushing to my eyes as I kneeled down in front of her slowly to not dirty my new dress, and bowed my head. As Summer placed the tiara on top of my scalp, Autumn spoke up with a regal voice. ¡°It is my great pleasure to christen Spark as the new princess of the storms! With her special lightning guns she shall protect us for years to come! Now rise Princess Graham, and show those nasty monsters what for!¡± ¡®Pyri did you help her with that speech?¡¯ Only a little, the entire thing was her idea and was entirely too cute to not help with. I had rivers of tears running down my face as I stood back up and rushed the pair of twins, wrapping them up in a hug. ¡°You both are amazing, you know that?¡± They both nodded emphatically. ¡°We just wanted to make you feel like a pretty princess!¡± Autumn declared, ¡°Cause you are one!¡± ¡°Yep! A princess that¡¯s really strong!¡± Summer said with a grunt. ¡°And gives really tight hugs too!¡± I blushed and rubbed the back of my head, ¡°Oh, right. Uhhhh, Pyri made me a lot stronger than I used to be.¡± I grinned, ¡°Now I¡¯m literally built different!¡± The pair giggled as Evie cleared her throat behind me. I turned around with the pair still held in my arms, (a bit looser though), and found Evie looking at me with an arched eyebrow. ¡°That still you in there Spark?¡± A slight chill ran up my spine as I realized Evie and Benny had no idea what was going on. Not an inkling between the two why I wasn¡¯t just a lot buffer, or something. ¡°I uhhhh yeah Evie, it¡¯s me, no one else.¡± She walked up to me a bit hesitantly, a small bit of fear in her eyes as well which had that chill coming back even stronger. ¡°Prove it,¡± she placed her hands on her hips. ¡°What¡¯s the one thing you created that nearly blew the both of us up?¡± I started for a moment, ¡°Evie! First off you swore not to tell anyone! Second off you need to narrow it down!¡± The three kids all were looking back and forth between us, curiosity of getting some info about my more secret projects painted all over their faces. ¡°The one from when you were nine.¡± I grimaced, ¡°It was a homemade potato cannon made from the old water heater.¡± Not satisfied. she motioned for me to continue. Sighing with defeat I acquiesced, ¡°It may or may not have blown a hole through the wall when the hot water tank exploded. And is the reason the south wall of my workshop has a different colored panel right in the middle.¡± Evie snorted, seemingly convinced that I was actually me. ¡°You forgot to mention the part where I was standing two feet below where that lump of metal went through the wall.¡± I stood up and pointed at her. ¡°You weren¡¯t supposed to be standing there and you knew it!¡± She only grinned, ¡°I know you could probably flatten me now, but you lost your intimidation factor with your height. You¡¯ll need to work on that.¡± I pouted, which unfortunately made her laugh. ¡°Honestly the new look suits you.¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. She looked a bit sad, ¡°I wish you would¡¯ve told me-wait no that''s not fair.¡± She breathed in and out, ¡°I wish I had been outwardly safe enough for you to talk to me about this. How long have you known?¡± Flinching, I sat down in a nearby chair, ¡°That depends on your definition of ¡®knowing¡¯.¡± I looked at the twins and Benny who was very patiently sitting on a question. ¡°What¡¯s your question Benny?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re a girl does this mean you get to learn how to make pancakes so we get them more often?¡± I blinked as Evie giggled, ¡°He¡¯s got ya there Spark!¡± ¡°Bu-But I already know how to make them!¡± The kid in question pouted at me, ¡°Then you owe me pancakes!¡± ¡°Sure sure.¡± I ruffled his hair, ¡°Why don¡¯t you and the twins go over and sit in the office while Evie and I talk about something real quick.¡± Evie¡¯s eyebrows went up, ¡°Boring adult stuff.¡± Benny gave me a salute, ¡°Yes s-ma¡¯am!¡± and quickly dragged the twins to the small room in the corner. Once the door was closed I turned back to find Evie had dragged a chair over, and sat down in front of me. ¡°How bad?¡± ¡°I found out right after we got to the bunker, Pyri helped me sort stuff out, but¡­¡± ¡°Spark what¡¯s wrong?¡± she prodded. ¡°Well you know how when I passed out right when we got there Pyri said I was having a flashback?¡± She nodded. ¡°Well,¡± I breathed out, ¡°It was from when I was five.¡± Evie gasped, knowing full well what that meant. I felt a lump grow in my throat, and my voice trembled as I said: ¡°I was with my Momma, and I was wearing a dress.¡± I looked up at Evie with more tears in my eyes, ¡°Evie, I knew before I came here! Something happened to me, something bad enough to make me suppress my gender identity to the point I forgot about it.¡± She reached out and took my hands, ¡°Spark. I don¡¯t like saying this but, is it possible you were abused for being trans?¡± I shook my head emphatically, my insides churning up in anger, ¡°By my Momma? Absolutely not! She wou-¡° ¡°No no! Not your mom, by someone here.¡± She looked down at the floor, ¡°The first few years I remember, you were always really quiet around Nana and Popo. Deathly quiet to the point you were like a ghost.¡± She looked up at me with anguish written on her face, ¡°Only after Popo died when I was six did you start truly coming out of your shell.¡± I was stunned, ¡°I-I don¡¯t know. Everything from before I was eight is super fuzzy.¡± [If I may,] Pyri spoke through the phone left on one of the chairs. [The nano-regenerative suite you used right after becoming a Vanguard. Its logs show a few healed fractures you sustained as a small child.] Her voice took on a very somber tone. [The injuries would''ve been near the date of your mother¡¯s death.] ¡°Wha- I- I don¡¯t understand I-¡° Evie squeezed my hand, ¡°Spark you¡¯re ok, you¡¯re right here!¡± I fought to speak through the tears, ¡°But. I¡¯m not okay! I knew something bad had to ¡®ve happened, but this means my life was stolen from me!¡± Arms wrapped around me as I broke down and sobbed into my hands. ¡°I know, and we¡¯ll just have to live twice as much so you can make up for lost time. You¡¯re a Samurai now! I¡¯m sure you could find out more about what happened with Pyri¡¯s help! And even then I¡¯ll help too! Once you¡¯re ready for it I¡¯ll ask mom,¡± her voice got angry, ¡°and if she had anything to do with it she can screw off! No one hurts my best friend like that!¡± *** After I had finished crying while Evie hugged me, she helped me wash up with the tub sink. Wasting no time, I practically tackled her with a hug. ¡°Easy there Spark!¡± She said with a grunt, ¡°You¡¯re a lot stronger now.¡± Seeing the thumbs up I gave in response, she continued. ¡°Might as well call the kids back in and let the princess gush about how good it feels to be a girl now!¡± She thought for a few moments, ¡°And get you in front of a full length mirror.¡± I froze at the mention of my eternal enemy. ¡°D-do I have to?¡± Evie looked down at me in pity, ¡°I won¡¯t force you to, but we all get to see how pretty you¡¯ve become. Why not you?¡± I could only stammer out the first half of a poor excuse before she shut me down with a look. ¡°F-fine, I¡¯ll do it. B-but only a small peek!¡± ¡°Alright, now let''s go get the kids, and find you a mirror. Unless Pyri has something that will work?¡± I can get you a proper mirror for one point. ¡°She says can,¡± I sighed, ¡°Get the others in here, Autumn might tear me a new one if she missed this.¡± Evie giggled, ¡°She saw right through you didn¡¯t she?¡± I blushed, ¡°No actually. I uhhhh, accidentally¡­ corrected Summer on my pronouns, and she said Autumn had to know about the secret.¡± I smiled, ¡°Then Autumn saw right through me, and proceeded to say she¡¯ll fight anyone who is mean to me about it.¡± Evie nodded as we reached the door to the office, ¡°That kid¡¯s going places.¡± With a quick peek inside and a few words spoken was all it took for the three to burst out of the office and rush for the chairs left in front of the BioShifter dragging the two of us with them. Autumn was the most visibly excited of the group, and only had a knowing smirk when told about my hesitance. The other two were just at their regular level of excitement. Facing the group of expectant family members, I took a few deep breaths, ¡°Okay Pyri. Buy the mirror please.¡± It would be my pleasure dear.
New Purchase!
Full Length Mirror 1
Points Reduced To: 243
A simple mirror set in a wooden frame popped into existence behind me. Taking one last deep breath I turned around with my eyes closed, and then finally ripping the band-aid off, I opened them. ¡°O-Oh!¡± I was¡­ transfixed. The girl in front of me was a bit short, but made up for it with how effortlessly pretty she looked! Wavy, silvery blue hair fell down to her shoulders framing her rounded face. Behind a pair of round white rimmed glasses were a pair of intense stormy gray eyes. Her skin had a slight tan from working outside in the sun so much. Her body, or at least the parts that weren¡¯t hidden beneath the dress, was¡­ toned yet soft? Like a coiled spring ready to lash out at those underestimating how dangerous they were. She was also crying with a desperate look on her face? And reaching out to the mirror? ¡°Is-is that?¡± Evie soon stood by the girl, ¡°Yes that¡¯s you.¡± The girl¡¯s-no my desperation melted away, revealing a mixture of relief, glee, and pure euphoria. ¡°Congratulations on becoming you,¡± Evie whispered. Sensing what was about to happen Evie stepped back. And after a few seconds, I listened to the desire within me. And began dancing around while shouting my glee to everyone and everything that would hear. The haze was gone. I was free. Chapter 22: Artifacts of Entertainment ¡°A big thing to remember about your personal transgirl is that she is most likely, a complete and total dork. I know from experience.¡± -Emmelyn ¡®Limelight¡¯ Seras, 2056 Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy! Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy! I was still dancing around and laughing as tears of joy streaked down my face when I suddenly realized I had an audience which led me to instantly blush and hide behind the mirror. ¡°I uhhh, like it?¡± Evie grabbed my arm and yanked me out back in front of the mirror as the three kids rushed up, and they all stood next to me. ¡°Spark, you¡¯re really pretty!¡± Summer declared. ¡°When do I get to use your person microwave?¡± I instantly started belly laughing while Evie¡¯s eyes bugged out of her head. ¡°Not for a long while! It¡¯s not safe for little girls to get transformed!¡± [Actually the MK IV BioShifter is completely safe for Summer to use. I would advise-] Evie face palmed, ¡°Pyri you aren¡¯t helping!¡± I only started laughing harder, so I walked over to the chairs to sit down Autumn and Benny in tow. Summer was standing next to Evie pleading her case ¡°I want to have colorful hair! Like¡­ all of the colors! Also I want muscles!¡± Evie looked down at her with an arched eyebrow, ¡°And that¡¯s all?¡± Summer looked down at the floor with her chin in her hand. ¡°I want my hair to be really long too!¡± Evie face palmed again and groaned, ¡°Pyri can you tell her why it would be unreasonable for her to use that thing for something as basic as a fancy salon visit, and skipping a gym membership please?¡± [It would be rather inefficient, Spark could purchase a few products that would give Summer a makeover into what she wants without use of the BioShifter.] Summer practically teleported in front of me and started begging while Evie muttered something about ¡®taking what she could get¡¯ under her breath. ¡°Spark, can you pretty please give me a makeover! I¡¯ll ummmm,¡± she paused as the wheels turned in her head, ¡°I¡¯ll make you a pie!¡± ¡°What kind?¡± ¡°Your choice!¡± I ¡®hmm¡¯d ¡® for an excessively long time while fighting to keep the smile off my face. ¡°Maybeeeeee, you have to be good though, ok?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be the bestest most goodest girl ever! Even better than Autumn!¡± I looked to Evie behind the squirming girl, all she had in response was a shrug and a mouthed, ¡°It¡¯s your stuff.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get something for you.¡± I had to quickly interrupt her cheers, ¡°After I get back from dealing with the monster nest later today!¡± She looked like she was about to protest, before stopping herself and nodding. ¡°Thank you very much Spark!¡± She gave me another hug and then skipped away, ¡°I gotta go to the bathroom okay byeeeeeeee!¡± With the bundle of energy rushing to the bathroom, Evie pointed at me. ¡°You gave her the ice cream so it¡¯s your fault she¡¯s so hyper.¡± I barely had the time to protest before Benny¡¯s hand shot up in the air. ¡°Spark what do your boobies feel like?¡± I blinked as Evie began snickering. ¡°Uhhhhhh.¡± I put my hands on my chest, the feeling like a nice balm on my raw soul. ¡°Soft and a bit squishy.¡± I looked up and saw Benny giving me a thumbs up while Evie was standing completely still while staring at me wide-eyed. ¡°What?¡± Evie began laughing so hard she basically fell onto the floor. Knowing I wouldn¡¯t get anything from her, I looked at Autumn who reached up to whisper to me. ¡°Girls don¡¯t really do that, because it¡¯s impolite.¡± It only took a few moments of thought before it clicked, and I put my head in my hands. I might have a multitude of lessons to learn about stuff. After Evie had laughed to the point her sides ached, and then subsequently calmed down with a few more giggles and bursts of laughter, she sat back up and gave me a ¡®I will teach you how not to make a fool of yourself¡¯ look.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Not even the Model Seventeen could replicate the feeling of doom I felt in that moment. Summer soon came skipping out of the bathroom, and because the situation couldn¡¯t get any more ludicrous she had to ask a question. ¡°What was so funny?¡± I could only put my head in my hands as Evie started giggling. Autumn, the lifesaver she was, got up and walked over to whisper in Summer¡¯s ear. She pretty much instantly gave Benny a look, ¡°Benny you don¡¯t ask girls stuff like that!¡± Once Evie had gotten herself back under control, and Benny had been gently admonished to not ask girls questions like that, we put the chairs to the side, and walked back to the house. They were all going back down into the bunker while I was digging out the hive the raid had come from. So Evie and I decided that the kids would get to bring down some stuff with them to keep themselves occupied. Entering the house, all of us except Summer who had been through earlier got to see what happened when a few Model Threes decided to jump through a bay window and eat the entire kitchen. There were shards of wood from the cabinets, and shattered ceramic and glass everywhere. The pantry had been practically ripped out, and there was antithesis blood on a lot of the glass from broken jars. The fridge was also busted up a bit with gashes torn into the door, and all the drawers yanked out. Thankful for my new boots, I walked through the place surveying the rest of the damage as debris crunched beneath my feet. ¡°How bad is it?¡± I turned to look at Evie, ¡°Kitchen¡¯s destroyed, but everything else is mostly okay. Looks like they got called back right after they broke in, cause the dining room is completely untouched. Should be safe to get through. Just watch the glass though, they cut themselves up on it and bled everywhere.¡± The sound of four more sets of footsteps began crunching through the kitchen, and joined me. Evie turned to the three and clapped to get their attention. ¡°Okay! We¡¯re gonna stop by everyone¡¯s room and you get to pack stuff into your bags to entertain yourselves til I get back! No one goes off alone, this will be in and out so don¡¯t dilly dally.¡± She turned to me, ¡°And that goes double for you missy!¡± Rolling my eyes I led everyone through the dining room and upstairs. ¡°First up! Summer and Autumn!¡± I called out. The twins dashed into their shared room and began shoving stuff into their backpacks. Autumn quickly grabbed books off of her small bookcase, and Summer threw a few video game consoles with accompanying software into hers. With the both of them ready, we all walked down the hallway until we reached a pair of doorways across from each other. ¡°Benny and Evie! Choose your preferred weapon against boredom wisely!¡± Evie, like Autumn, grabbed a few books and tucked them under her arm while Benny grabbed a few comic books, a handheld, and his Raggedy Andy doll. With them both giving me a mock salute when they came out. With the preferred weapons of stimulation gathered, we all walked out of the house and back down into the basement again. The kids all walked over to one of the tables, and pulled out their stuff while Evie looked at me. ¡°You gonna fight them in that dress of yours? Or does your stuff auto-adjust?¡± She squinted at me for a moment before slugging me in the shoulder. ¡°Where the fuck are your weapons?¡± She hissed, ¡°You should know better than to walk around without them!¡± I rubbed my shoulder, more muscle apparently did not mean less pain. ¡°Uhhhhh still back in the shop I think, I¡¯ll grab them before I leave.¡± Evie glowered down at me, ¡°You better! Or else I¡¯ll get triple revenge on you!¡± I shuddered, ¡°I promise that I will grab my weapons before leaving!¡± ¡°Good! Pyri make sure you remind her because I don¡¯t trust her short term memory.¡± [I have added it to her eighth itinerary.] Evie opened her mouth and then thought better about asking and shooed us off. ¡°Go do what you need to do, although I advise getting out of that nice dress. Doesn¡¯t look like it''s good for fighting in it.¡± I nodded, and dashed away to the bathroom. Once inside I wasted no time. ¡°Okay Pyri what all do I need to replace because of my new body?¡± You need a replacement helmet and jumpsuit, everything else is adjustable, or in the case of your boots, already replaced. ¡°Alright, start with the helmet, and try to future proof it for later!¡± For one-hundred points you can get a Vulgoran Combat Helmet, it offers most of the same protections and features as the previous helmet, it is still insulated before you ask, while containing a nanite gel over where your eventual Vulgoran ears will be located. The gel will not be noticeable to your sense of touch whatsoever, and when you gain your new set of ears, it will meld to them without limiting their motion, or inhibiting their various senses. I thought about it for a few seconds; so far I had been letting Pyri basically do all the shopping for me and just accepting the first thing she offered. While I trusted her to not give me garbage, that still felt¡­ unwise. ¡°Can you show me the helmet on my glasses?¡± Of course, dear. An image of a sleek dark purple helmet with two oval shaped blue sections on either side of my head where either of my ears would be. I¡­ honestly didn¡¯t notice anything wrong with it myself. The colors were fine, and nothing regarding the structure was wrong but¡­ something was still off. ¡°Pyri, something about the helmet is bothering me.¡± Can you explain further? ¡°Like something about the gel bothers me, is it possible for me to forgo armor over my ears? The idea of eventually having them wrapped in that stuff sounds¡­ gross.¡± There are other options for either tactile protections like armor plating, or various forms of shielding that won¡¯t interfere with your ears at all. I still advise some form of armor regardless, and there are technologies that could allow for quick equipping and unequipping of the armor. Do you still want the helmet future proofed, or do you want a more solid design? I thought for a few moments. ¡°Keep the gel, I don¡¯t know how many points I¡¯ll have after paying for the second half of my transition, no point in not having it, and having to go fighting without a helmet is a bit too risky even for me.¡± Understood, now for the jumpsuit, your previous one was bought on a tighter budget, and more importantly was meant for general industrial work, not live combat. For one-hundred-forty points you can purchase a Vulgoran Combat Jumpsuit. It will come future proofed for your tail while not exposing anything beforehand. You wouldn¡¯t be the first sapient being using one while not having a discernible tail. More importantly is that it is able to allow even more freedom of movement, and comes with slight exoskeleton frames within it that will ease physical exertion¡¯s toll on your body, artificially increasing your stamina while improving your physical capabilities further. Finally it is able to interface with your armor plating you left in the machine shop An image of me wearing the jumpsuit had popped up on my glasses while Pyri was talking. It looked similar to my current jumpsuit with the cyan lightning motifs and dark purple coloring, but it had further padding in places that covered my vitals. She ran through a few basic stretches and feats of acrobatics showing off just how freedom of movement I would truly have and uhhhh¡­ digital me was very flexible. Any questions for me about the armor? I smiled, ¡°Nope! None at all, go ahead and buy ¡®em both.¡± I cracked my knuckles, looking out the window behind me. ¡°I¡¯m late to the antithesis¡¯ housewarming party as is.¡± Chapter 23: Suiting Up While most civilians that have some relation to a newly initialized Vanguard tend to be somewhere between awestruck, and concerned for the Vanguard¡¯s wellbeing. Others tend to¡­ have a more negative reaction that causes them to lash out in some way. Most from a sense of fear which was particularly common in 2020s. Another chunk because of a sense of jealousy and/or denial. And a select few lash out due to blind anger against Vanguard as a whole. That last one is the one that can hurt a new Vanguard the most. It hurt Shadowtag pretty badly for sure. -An excerpt from an interview with Shadowtag¡¯s AI Spectyr, 2033 I winced at the sight of my point total, dropping from seventeen-thousand to three after only a few purchases hurt quite a bit. You¡¯ll be able to earn them back later, for now focus on your new clothing. Nodding in agreement I opened up the box that had dropped onto the sink counter and found myself giggling in anticipation. It might have been a bit stereotypical of me to be this excited for new clothes, but I could have a bit of giddy enjoyment of something I bought for myself without feeling guilty. I took the tiara off, then pulled the dress up and over my head¡­ and instantly got tangled up in an ocean of fabric. ¡°Pyri?¡± Yes Spark? ¡°How do I get out of this?¡± Pyri ended up laughing in my ear the entire time she played out directions on my glasses. Arms here, grab and pull there, a shimmy here. All until I was finally released, and now standing in my underwear with the dress wadded up in my arms. Now fold it up like the diagram shows, and hang it on the towel rack so it doesn¡¯t wrinkle. I hung the dress up only to hear more giggling from the tag-along inside my head. ¡°What now?¡± I¡¯m just wondering if you will eventually learn how to properly take off a dress. ¡°I could just learn how, and then refuse to do it properly anyways.¡± You and I both know you aren¡¯t contrary enough to do that dear. I rolled my eyes while I pried off my boots, ¡°Says you.¡± Not wanting to waste anymore time, I pulled the jumpsuit out of the box, it had some sort of strip of material instead of a zipper like my old one, and had a gel section just like the helmet. Probably for my eventual tail. ¡°Pyri, will this thing cover my tail in gel?¡± It can, but it won¡¯t by default. Vulgorans prefer their tails to be in open air. Nodding in response I pushed my dainty new feet down into the legs of the suit one after the other, eventually leading to the suit hugging the lower half of my body. It was incredibly comfortable, and Pyri had clearly used the measurements that she had of my body to tailor the clothing to the point of perfection. My arms soon were inside of their sleeves and the rest of the suit was either resting against my back, or hanging off my front. ¡°This feels like I¡¯m about to power wash in the winter,¡± I quietly muttered as I squished some of the fabric between my fingers. If you wish to further the experience, you could purchase further hydroelectric weaponry while summoning and detonating cryogenic grenades at your feet. I shook my head as I began pulling the ends of my suit together when the material began to just softly snap together like magnets. Noticing my surprise, Pyri explained before I could ask. Easier to protect against electric charges if the fastening method is embedded in something that can¡¯t conduct electricity to begin with. I shrugged, as long as it didn¡¯t pinch me, or get stuck in itself like a regular zipper I honestly didn¡¯t care what the thing was. Unless it was buttons. Those deserved to die alongside the antithesis. Pulling the helmet out of the box, and tucking it in my arm. I walked out of the bathroom and over to Evie who was sitting at a table reading with Autumn. She looked up at the sound of my boots clomping across the floor and gave a low whistle. ¡°Damn girl! Does Pyri take commissions? That looks stunning on you!¡± I blushed, ¡°I assume so? I think she was able to work so well with this, and the dress because she made the blueprints for this body?¡± [While true, I tailor your clothes to your current form to the best of my ability,] her voice took on a tone of pride, [which is far better than what a human could do without a prohibitive amount of equipment, training, and time.]Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Autumn looked up in curiosity, ¡°How big of a difference is it?¡± [What I did to create Spark¡¯s suit, from measurements to the final ¡®stitch¡¯, for lack of a better term, would take a human tailor with zero enhancements ten entire years.] The sound of someone walking up behind me interrupted us before Autumn could shake off her amazement and question Pyri further. ¡°Who in the ever-loving FUCK are you, and what are you doing in our house!?¡± Aunt Nyra was awake, and looked¡­ really, really angry. More furious than I had ever seen her, and the fact that she was directing that energy at me had me locking up in fear. Only one thought managed to surface through the murk. ¡®I am in danger.¡¯ ¡°Mom! That¡¯s-¡° ¡°Not now Evie!¡± she snapped. ¡°This Samurai is trespassing on our land!¡± Her voice was filled with enough venom, with particular emphasis on ¡®Samurai¡± it made me flinch slightly. ¡®I am in danger.¡¯ ¡°Aunt Nyra stop! You¡¯re-¡° ¡°What¡¯s wrong you trashy piece of filth?¡± She snarled while stomping up to me, ¡°Can¡¯t handle when one of us lowly commoners out in the wastes calls you out for acting like you own the place?¡± I was fighting to keep myself from breaking down into tears, I couldn¡¯t stop myself from trembling ¡®I am in danger.¡¯ ¡°Mom, that''s enough!¡± Spark, are you okay? She towered over me, ¡°Well? What do you have to say for yourself?¡± ¡®I- I- No I-¡® Aunt Nyra got a distant look in her eyes, after a second I saw her fists clench as Pyri urgently warned me. Spark, she¡¯s looking through Homeplace¡¯s security cameras! My eyes got as wide as dinner plates as my blood ran cold. ¡®I am in danger.¡¯ ¡°You come here, destroy our home, then chat up my DAUGHTER!?¡± Before I could process what she said, she lashed out with a fist and clocked me upside the head,almost sending me to the ground, only saved from hitting the floor by the exoskeleton locking up to prevent it . My helmet clattered to the ground next to me. ¡®DANGER!¡¯ ¡®RUN!¡¯ ¡®FLEE!¡¯ Without controlling them myself, my arms snapped out to grab the helmet and pushed it down over my head. I was too dazed to notice the material shifting out of the way to not catch itself on my glasses. I pulled myself to my feet as the yelling continued. ¡°Oh! So you can move! Get up, and get out before I put a bullet in your head!¡± [Miss Narcell.] Pyri¡¯s voice had a layer of palpable anger to it, [Do not harm my Vanguard again, or drastic measures will be taken.] All that did was make her angrier, ¡°Of course it¡¯s YOU! Get your fucking pet out of my house right now you conniving AI BITCH!¡± ¡®YELLING. BAD. RUN.¡¯ ¡°STOP IT!¡± Summer screamed, ¡°Stop being mean to Spark and Pyri!¡± ¡°Spark!? He¡¯s not even here?! I-¡° Nyra cut herself off as she realized what she was about to say. ¡°Yeah, Mom,¡± Evie snapped, her face distorted in frustration ¡°Spark ¡®isn¡¯t here¡¯ because you just slugged her upside the head!¡± Nyra turned to me with shock, muttering something I couldn¡¯t hear, before turning back to me. She took a step forward, arm outstretched. ¡®RUN!!!¡¯ I bolted. I got through the door and rushed up the stairs as fast as I could, the shouts of concern, and distress coming from behind me went completely ignored. Do you want me to order Marian to guard the BioShifter while you are gone? An attempt to state I could do that myself, had me realize in horror that I couldn¡¯t speak. A second attempt at communication unfortunately proved that subvocalization wasn¡¯t an option either. I gave another small nod, totally unsure if I could even do anything else. Before you panic about not being able to speak, you¡¯ve likely been pushed into a nonverbal state as a result of the panic attack you just endured. It is a temporary condition in which the person experiencing it is unable to speak in stressful situations, and thankfully shouldn¡¯t have lasting consequences. I thought to myself for a few moments as I listened to the sound of my boots pounding into the gravel. By the time I had reached the door to the shop, I had thought of something that might work. I made a quick typing motion with my fingers, to which Pyri ¡®projected¡¯ a keyboard underneath using a feature of my glasses. [thank you] You¡¯re very welcome Spark dear. As for my question, do you want Marian to guard the BioShifter while you are away? [yes pls] I will call her over now. Go ahead and start equipping yourself. The keyboard faded away as I opened the door. Sitting there in all its glory was the machine that gave me my new body, the body that my- that Nyra didn¡¯t recognize. My feelings about that were a bit conflicting. On the one hand, I was different enough from my old self that I wasn¡¯t immediately recognizable, on the other¡­ she had basically attacked me just for being there. Shaking my head from the errant thoughts, I walked over to the pile of equipment I had left next to the chairs. My toolbelt, bandolier and holster belt all were all draped atop my backpack zapper. Mounted on either side of it was my Trill rifle and C-Foam Launcher. Finally the armor plating was back in its inert form stacked up underneath my old helmet. The armor went on much faster thanks to being comparatively lighter than earlier, and the fact that I had a basic idea of what I was doing with them. The belts and pack all went on very easily with a bit of strap adjusting here and there. Another attempt to speak ended in failure and sagged shoulders when I looked at myself in the mirror by pure chance. I looked good. Like a high-tech knight in shining armor who would sweep the princess off her feet and carry her to safety, not allowing any harm to be done to her whatsoever. I just looked, strong. Like nothing could stop me, and seeing that and knowing that it was a girl underneath that armor had me feeling a certain type of way. [Pyri i think i might look good in this suit] My companion¡¯s response was to giggle. [time to go then?] Yes, there isn¡¯t anything else for you to do here. Now onward brave little Spark! There are monsters to slay, and your weapons thirst for chloroplast! [how will i track them?] I can highlight tracks they made in the field to help guide you, I do advise finding some form of transport though. [ill take the gator] [it is mine after all] [Nyra can get mad about it if she wants to but it won¡¯t change anything] Chapter 24: The Sound of Silence I remember back before we even knew the antithesis existed. The world wasn¡¯t nearly as much of a shit show as it is now, albeit we were getting to that point without any help from aliens good or bad. But the biggest difference is just how little wildlife there is these days. In the 2010s you could go into a forest and you¡¯d hear all kinds of wildlife! Now, the second the antithesis touches an unprotected woodland those woods might not ever have sound from native fauna ever again. It¡¯s downright terrifying. -Final post on a now defunct floridian birdwatching forum, 2055 The gator had luckily made it through the raid unscathed despite being right next to the garden. I quickly took off my pack and put it in the passenger seat, and sat down in the drivers side seat. A quick turn of the ignition, and I was off. Highlighting antithesis tracks for you now. A multitude of orange highlights and yellow arrows appeared on the ground, each highlight marking a place where the antithesis had left their mark on the soil while plundering my home. The arrows pointing opposite the direction they had been traveling. A call from Nyra suddenly popped up on my glasses and was just as quickly dismissed. I¡¯d deal with her once the words she ripped from me came back. With a roar, the gator tore out of the garden and into the field. It was slightly muddy thanks to being corn stubble that was harvested soon after a rain and the antithesis churning everything up didn¡¯t make things much better. Nothing so bad that the gator couldn¡¯t handle, but it sure was schloppy out here, as Uncle Cy would say. Chunks of sticky mud and pieces of corn stubble were getting kicked up by the wheels, and splattered all over the place. The only thing keeping me safe from a more ¡®earthy¡¯ paint job was the small cab the gator had. So naturally I was grinning like a mad woman. What kind of a farm girl would I be if I didn¡¯t enjoy playing in the mud a bit? If I didn¡¯t have equipment that I wanted to keep clean going into whatever hell I was throwing myself into, I¡¯d have put down the windows to let some fresh air into the cab. The tracks in front of me had all converged into one soupy mess of turned over soil and corn trash, frankly I didn¡¯t even need Pyri¡¯s help with how obvious the turned over soil was. ¡°¡­¡± I tried to ask Pyri about what I could expect, only for my voice to still fail¡­ and since I was driving I couldn¡¯t just type out a message to her either. I take it that since you went from that smile of yours to a scowl, something upset you? I nodded, pointed at my throat, and then tapped my wrist. You want to know how long it will be ¡®til your voice comes back? Another nod. I can¡¯t give you a proper time frame on that. The best I can give you is either your brain calms down enough to ¡®unlock¡¯ your words, or you purchase something to circumvent the issue. Unfortunately anything that has a high chance of working is outside your price range. I slumped in rejection, this fucking sucked! I had half a mind to just¡­ wait a minute, that¡¯s a great idea! I played a bit more one armed charades by pointing to my head and acting like my hand was a book after words. You¡¯re asking if there are ways for me to read your mind to circumvent the issue? I smiled and nodded. That would be a feasible option, but would require expensive scanning equipment to give me a proper idea of exactly how you think via a simulated copy, so I could compare against your actual brain. Privacy would also be a concern. However if you got the points for it, it would be doable. Before I could respond we reached the opposite end of the field and the treeline. Pulling to a stop, I noticed the brush that would¡¯ve stopped me cold had been trampled flat, or just plain eaten. I was really starting to wonder if having Pyri highlight the trail was truly necessary. But¡­ something was off about the woods, I couldn¡¯t put my finger on it. [Pyri do you see anything in the woods? They feel¡­ wrong somehow] Try activating your anti-stealth tech.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Blinking, I realized I had completely forgotten about that feature. Quickly turning it on, I scanned the treeline and even tried to look a bit deeper in, and didn¡¯t see anything that caught my eye. [Am I missing something? I don¡¯t see anything] I don¡¯t see anything either, is it possible you are picking up on the fact that the forest was picked clean of fauna? I stilled as I realized Pyri was right. I couldn¡¯t hear or see any animals in the trees. I shut the gator off, and opened the side window to try and hear better only for a deafening silence to take its place. [that is so creepy] [can you alert me if i miss anything?] I can and will. You aren¡¯t wrong about how unnerving this is. I restarted the engine and slowly drove forward into the trees. The ground was a bit softer off the field, but the plant material on the ground kept things stable. It would¡¯ve been relaxing if not for how off putting it all was, especially as I saw the evidence of antithesis sweeping through the forest; Claw and bite marks from Threes. Quills from Fives next to drag marks. The large compacted trail of a Model Eight that had been fed full to bursting. It made me downright angry how destructive the antithesis were here. They couldn¡¯t have been here for more than a few hours at most. For all I knew, the forest was meant for the hive at Homeplace rather than the one they originally came from. Regardless, they would probably come back sooner than later, and it would probably be a good thing because I would be able to prune some Models from the hive before I even got there. I don¡¯t know if it was a good thing or not that I was practically craving a fight with the antithesis now. By the time we were halfway through the forest, I was begging for something to happen. The tension in the air grew more and more with each passing moment, pressing down on me to the point my mind was telling me to fire just one bolt into the earth, just to break the silence. My hand was itching to pull my Amp-Thrower from its holster and give it what it wanted. *SNAP* Leaping from my seat I threw open the door and spun around wildly brandishing my handcannon to find¡­ nothing? I grunted. If anything the lack of any sort of attack made things worse. Spark, there¡¯s nothing there. It was most likely a branch falling off a tree because of all the damage done to the forest by the antithesis. Also try speaking again please? I tried once again to speak, for my new voice to come out a bit rough! After clearing my throat, it was back to its original level of softness. ¡°Thank the fucking goddess¡± I said, relieved at the fact I could talk again. ¡°How did you know Pyri?¡± You grunted after realizing the sound wasn¡¯t a call to action. Shaking my head I moved back to the gator. ¡°Thanks for picking up on that Pyri.¡± You¡¯re welcome, Spark dear. I turned to find the gator still creeping forward because I didn''t put it in park. So I quickly hopped in and took control back. Not wanting to wast too much time I continued forward through the anxiety inducing trees. It took another twenty minutes of looking over my shoulder and jumping at every snapped branch, and every sudden bounce of the tires before I finally found something to kill. A stray, unassuming piece of the environment. ¡°Fucking finally!¡± Do you wish to get an entire hive¡¯s worth of attention directed at you before you have your weapons equipped properly now? ¡®I don¡¯t know, maybe? Ask me after I kill this Nine.¡¯ The Nine in question was actually quite cleverly disguised as a small fallen log. The only issue with its doomed ambush was it didn¡¯t anticipate that I had an amazing partner who gave me super cool glasses. I yanked my rifle off my pack¡¯s storage frame, and opened the gator door. Intentionally not looking directly at the log which was starting to creep forward towards me. The Fox¡¯s Trill came alive with a hum in my hands, and the second I knew it was warmed up and ready, I snapped the anode to the log and squeezed the trigger. A bolt of electricity flashed to the xeno with a crack and electrocuted it before it even realized what had happened. The discharge echoed off the trees as I walked forward, scanning my surroundings for any further ambushes. I didn¡¯t want to find out how well my armor would stop a Nine pouncing on top of me just yet, so it was best to keep things properly safe for the moment.
Target Eliminated!
Model Nine 25
Reward: 28
Besides, the scent of fried bush, not to mention the sound of my gun, would pull in any surrounding kills soon enough. Reaching the corpse I looked it over, and found its claws stained with dried blood. It was probably scouring the forest clean when it heard the gator¡¯s engine. ¡°How close to the hive do you think I¡¯m at?¡± Most likely still a good distance from it, if you were nearby there would be far more than just a single ambush Model here. ¡°Would it be walkable?¡± I believe so, your transportation also isn¡¯t really suited to allow for easy use of your weaponry. I sighed as I placed my hand cannon back into its holster. ¡°Might as well shut it off and walk then, no point in giving them an advance notice with my engine either.¡± A sound decision. As I walked back to the idling machine, my foot crushed a few acorns dropped by the oak trees scattered throughout this part of the woods. They also made me realize something. ¡°Pyri, you said antithesis corpses would regrow right?¡± I did, yes. ¡°How long can I leave them without doing proper corpse disposal?¡± For any units you¡¯ve killed today, they would become a problem within twelve hours, with your robots patrolling your home, that timer could extend to fourteen. I do not advise relying on that however. I rubbed the front of my faceplate as I shut the ignition off, pulled my pack out of the cab then slung it over my shoulder. ¡°Before I enter the hive, can you remind me to buy some sort of drone that will go around, start properly getting rid of any corpses I¡¯ve left today?¡± I thought for a moment tapping my foot on the ground. ¡°Including getting rid of the contaminated pits left over? We can figure out what to use once we get there.¡± It¡¯s been marked in itinerary two. ¡°That low of a number, huh?¡± Corpse Disposal was the second category of scheduling I decided you needed help keeping track of. ¡°And the first?¡± Bodily Health. I giggled as I shifted in place. ¡°Whatever, can you also mark anywhere a corpse fell on a map that still needs¡­ Uh, what¡¯s a good word¡­¡± Sterilization? I nodded, ¡°Yeah, that works,just in case I need to check them out later for some reason.¡± Consider it done. I walked back past the Nine¡¯s corpse, when I heard the sounds of a lot of somethings charging through the forest. Looks like the sound finally pulled something in. Chapter 25: Those Arent MY Cartoon Animals! Corpse Disposal is just as if not more important than repelling the actual antithesis. Even a single Model One could create a new hive that takes multiple seasoned Samurai to get rid of. Why do you think my paints actively dissolve them to begin with? Saves us a heap of trouble at the end of it, that¡¯s for damn sure. -InqueAbyss to xeir stream chat, 2055 ¡°Pyri what direction are they coming from?¡± They are approaching from all directions except North. Scanning my surroundings, I did spot a very climbable tree. The only thing stopping me from taking my place among the canopy was the fact that I knew it was a horrible idea. The antithesis¡¯ sense of smell was far too powerful for a simple trick like that to fool them. Let alone the limited mobility and the fact that Model Ones existed. ¡°Any ideas?¡± Shoot them really good. I snorted, ¡°Other than that!¡± That is your best course of action. The terrain isn¡¯t easily manipulable here without more points. Not to mention what you were able to achieve earlier today. In other words; trust yourself. I couldn¡¯t respond to Pyri in that moment due to the small group of antithesis finally coming into view. The rifle in my hands instantly snapped up, taking potshots through the trees, either blasting chunks of wood and felling the tree that was hit, or tagging a Three and electrocuting it on the spot. The Zapper on top of my pack also made its presence known by firing off large forks of lighting hitting multiple xeno dogs at once. I pretty much spun around in circles slow enough to not make myself dizzy. Letting the Zapper clear out Models in the directions I was falling behind on. It was almost like a dance of electricity. I was also glad I had protection against bright flashes, because otherwise I wouldn¡¯t be able to see anything past the spots that would¡¯ve been left in my eyes. ¡°Pyri! You think I could start pushing towards the hive?¡± You could start moving in that general direction, yes. Be warned that as you fight your way towards the hive, you will attract much more attention as you encroach closer to their territory. ¡°That just means I¡¯ll be in a target rich environment!¡± I slowly started walking in the direction I had been going before the Nine had interrupted me. It was kinda easy in a way. Swing my gun in one direction, and pick off some Threes on the ground, and the occasional Four up in the trees while Pyri used the Zapper to sweep forward and clear space for me to keep walking. I¡¯d then swap to another direction so the Zapper could clean up what I had just missed. Slowly, we made it through the woods as their numbers began to dwindle. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was just a trick, or if I had just worked through all the antithesis in the area however. The trees were still too thick for me to be able to tell what was going on beyond my immediate vicinity. Eventually a low power warning blared in my HUD and ears while I was crossing over a small stream. Whether or not I almost fell into the water from getting frightened, I will not say. ¡°Fuck me!¡± I quickly muted the alarm as I crouched down, and began swapping another battery in the Trill¡¯s energy port. ¡°Pyri, what are my points looking like?¡±
Targets Eliminated!
Model Three x78 780
Model Four x13 195
Reward: 975
Total: 1003
¡°That¡¯s more like it!¡± Grinning, I finished my reload before I stood back up and started pushing forward again. ¡°Pyri what options do I have for corpse removal?¡± For the needs you outlined earlier, I would say an entry from your Vulgoran Biological Sciences catalogue would work nicely. It is a fluid full of bionites designed to break down antithesis matter while leaving anything else alone. Once applied to a corpse, they will slowly eat away at the flesh until there is no more food for them to consume where they will die out. In addition, if the antithesis recover the infected bodies and bring them back to the hive, those that came into contact with the body, and the hive itself will be infected as well.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. I stopped short, ¡°Pyri why am I pushing to the hive to rip it out by the roots if I could let an infection kill it off? Because that method of hive destruction would yield a much lower amount of points, and eventually the hive would purge its systems by birthing new Models marked to not be reclaimed, and sending them out to fight you as fodder. Also if the infection doesn¡¯t kill the hive off, it will mutate resistances to the bionites and pass those on to any Models born afterwards. This also goes for any method including or similar to poisons or infections, which is why you don¡¯t see many Vanguard focusing on those particular vectors of attack. I knocked another Four out of a tree with a bolt of lightning, ¡°So. it¡¯d act like if we hit every pest and weed possible with chemical treatment. We¡¯d just end up with resistant populations.¡± Exactly. That specific comparison also reminded me of one of the dangers of chemical treatment overuse. Runoff. ¡°What about environmental effects? You said they just die off once there isn¡¯t any more antithesis meat for them to consume, but how?¡± I turned to toss a primed grenade into the stream to block any would-be followers. ¡°Not to mention if they¡¯d leech chemicals into the soil.¡± The bionites aren¡¯t able to consume biological matter outside of antithesis flesh, and if they attempt to do so, a biological kill switch hard coded into their genetics will treat outside matter as a poison. As for run off, the liquid is primarily a nutrient slurry to help kickstart the bionites once applied to a corpse. Everything will break down into nutrients similar to what you would find in manure, or plant matter left behind after harvest. Those biological limits do end up giving them a weakness when disposing of large quantities of biomass that aren¡¯t dead antithesis, but there are more indiscriminate methods for getting rid of those like fire. ¡°Okay,¡± I watched as a quartet of Threes ran into the stream and instantly dropped dead into the water from the electrocution. ¡°How will I distribute it? Not to mention the cost.¡± Two new drones designed to protect themselves with electrical strikes while they work, and the various vials and tools to inject doses into corpses would cost you six-hundred-fifty points a-piece. Enough of the bio-agent itself would cost you around one-hundred points to fill their available storages. I shot another Three right in the head, knocking it end over end, and tripping up the Three right behind it which got its own dose of electricity to match. ¡°How much will one load do for me Pyri?¡± One load is enough to work on everything accessible to the drone in these woods, and at Homeplace. You would still need to find a way to dispose of the manure slurry however. ¡°Go ahead and get ¡®em then. Have them work their way backward from here and once they¡¯re done at Homeplace bring ¡®em back to me so I can refill their storage tanks.¡± Understood.
Combat Log!
Model Three x23 230
Model Four x4 60
MKII Combat Assistant Drone (Modified) x2 500
Liquid Injection Harness x2 150
MK III Antithesis Biomelter Vial x10 100
Total: -460
Points Reduced To: 543
Two more fox bots dropped onto the ground next to me and they quickly took off for the closest bodies. All the while, their back mounted guns swiveled around to take potshots at approaching antithesis.They both had a few pressurized tanks strapped to their sides with fluid lines connecting to some sort of injection pack on the underside of their ¡®rib cages¡¯. They barely took any time sticking the first bodies with the needles before rushing off to their next bodies. It was quite efficient and only slightly creepy. I shivered a bit and then turned back to the Southeast. The addition of the two drones had helped to clear a lot of extra space around me, and my time staring at them had put the way forward in full view of the Zapper. Pyri had taken full advantage of that, and had practically cleared the area out. ¡°What¡¯s stopping me from just getting a bunch of drones and sending them out to kill off stuff?¡± Nothing except for the inefficiency of point yield. Running forward with the help of my exoskeleton I pressed further. ¡°Inefficiency? I figured the fact that I would have an army would make things much easier?¡± In a purely combat sense yes, but that ignores the fact that unless the drones are directly controlled by you, a system I like to refer to as ¡®Point Falloff¡¯ occurs. You witnessed this earlier when your fox bots swept the farm for Model Sevens. For every degree of separation between you and antithesis kills made by anything bought by you, there is a penalty added to point rewards. Pyri paused for a moment as I sniped another Four out of the canopy, seriously did they expect me to not see giant writhing masses up in the leafless trees? Various factors that would lead to penalties include distance to the weapon making the kill, distance from the combat itself, whether another person was given a weapon by you. This is mainly to prevent Vanguard from ¡®cheesing¡¯ the system, as my previous Vanguard would call it. The Protectors want humanity as a whole to experiment, and find their own path to the destruction of the enemy. Which is also why they don¡¯t just drop a bunch of self replicating murder machines to do the work for you. I snorted, ¡°Trust me Pyri, if there is one thing y¡¯all did right it was giving us the guns to fight them ourselves. Any movie where two alien forces clash here ends with humans in power making the worst decisions possible.¡± I am pleased you agree with this decision dear. I fired off a few more shots, ¡°Well, I do aim to please.¡± Seeing nothing stealthed or otherwise, I started to run forward. I wanted to gain as much ground as possible, because letting them just take the space back would be a complete waste. I stopped running a few moments later, not because of some massive fuck off swarm, but because the edge of the forest was right there. I let out a whoop of delight and sprinted the last twenty yards as l emerged from the woods into a harvested bean field. The trail had pretty much gone cold by now, but at this point I didn¡¯t need it. Where else would the hive be, but other than around where the massive flocks of Ones were currently flying over? I looked down at my rifle, good for taking out targets one at a time. Just absolutely horrid at dealing with large numbers. I sighed. I needed a new weapon. Again.