After we finish what is probably the greatest al I have ever had, we head out. I am leading the front of the group since I have the map, and Bubbles is all the way in the back. The girls that know how to use a gun are put in the middle, so we have so coverage. It still amazes that 3 of them knew how to use guns. It’s also a bit scary. I also made the best discovery ever: due to how my mask functions, it can also create temporary scabbards for my sword. So the small blue sword is on my hip with my large claymore on my back. Let tell you, not having to carry them around by hand is a life changer.
We are currently making our way from building to building towards one of the checkpoints that have been created. As we were walking, my curiosity gets the better of , and I decided to grill my AI on my latest purchases.
‘So Lyssa, what is up with the new sword? I feel like it keeps making noises.’
You would be correct the sword was originally designed on the planet of Avicorus. The native people of that planet would hunt these big birds called Ragosa. They are roughly the size of two vans with two sets of wings. The sword was used for the initial attack. With every hit, it released a low-voltage shock that paralyzed the muscles in the local area, making it harder for the bird to fly away. If one of the hunters got lucky and managed to stab the sword in deep enough they could release the barbs to disable the bird permanently.
‘So what you're saying is that this is a taser sword. How useful is that exactly?’
For smaller models, it is not that effective, but your sword has been optimized for antithesis muscle and should work well in disabling the bigger models. Do you have any further questions?
‘Yes, how do the barbs work?’
Usually, you would have to trigger a release chanism manually, but Lyssa took the liberty of creating a release system that can be activated with your augs. Lyssa will give you access to it now.
With that, a little icon appears in my vision. I take out the short sword and look at it. Then, I activate the application, and small thorns pop out all over the flat side of the blade. And this thing instantly looks ten tis more scary. I can even confirm it since the closest girl suddenly moved further away. That totally does not hurt my feelings or anything.
After we make it to the second building with one of the many sky bridges, I tense up a bit; from all the areas for our route, this part I like the least. There are barely any caras placed here, leaving with a lot of blind spots. We make it past two hallways when I hear sothing: a crushing sound. It's not very loud, but it still makes my spine shiver. I stop, trying to locate the source of the noise. After waiting a bit and nothing happening Bubbles walks her way towards .
“Sothing wrong?” she asks.” Why have we stopped?”
“I heard sothing,” I say. “You stay here, and I'll go check it out.”
“Okay, you be safe.”
“I am always safe.”
She gives a weird look, but I have no ti to dwell on that as I slowly creep ahead. After getting a few ters away I hear the sound again and hone in on it. As I go through so side passages, I open the door to what appears to have been a canteen at so point. Tables with attached benches placed at certain intervals, one of those canteen bar thingies. Everything seems to be covered in a smattering of rust. Ooh, and blood; there are three dead bodies here from what appears to be dock workers and a smattering of model 3 and 4s. But that is not what concerns at the mont; no, my problem is with the big fucker in the middle of them. It’s the sa type as the one that chased around on the lower floors of the now-collapsed building.
‘Ooh, co on, how is that even fair? How the fuck did you even get up here? You are too fat for the stairs.’
It's because humans decided to make ga buildings that fit in stores, apartnts, and offices all into the sa building. This did facilitate the need for wider corridors, allowing Model 6 to move around freely.
‘Really, now you tell , so does the sword work on that thing?’
It should slow it down by a significant margin.
‘All or nothing, huh’
I take out the stinger and run inside, stabbing the closest model 4. Its ss of tentacles stop wiggling around instantly, but I still dig the sword in deeper. You can never be too sure. My next target is a model 3. It strikes at , flying past as I manage to sidestep it. I try decapitating it when it cos by, but I am a bit too slow, and instead of its neck, I carve into its back and exit through its belly. I then jump up on one of the tables, run across its entire length, and jump towards the big model 6.
Having actually learned from my last jumping attempt, I hit the side of the plant and, stab the raven in, and activate the barbs. I let go of the sword, landing back on the ground, and take out my claymore. I manage to slice up two model 3 before I fuck up. From my blind spot a pointed tentacle from a model 4 hits in the side. The shield is probably doing its job, but I am still sent several ters away. But I am not incapacitated, and I quickly get up again. Only a few beasties left. I sprint towards the model 4 but the tentacles sprouting out of its face are doing a good job at protecting it. The process of cutting the tentacles down ans that I have slowed down enough to be surrounded by three more model 3 as well as an additional model 4. Lucky for , the Model 6 has beco a twitchy ss, and can’t participate in this fight.
I back off from the model 4 and focus my attention instead on the model 3s. The longer I wait, the more of an advantage they have, so I run at one of them. As I co within range, I make an upward motion with my sword. Its face, if you can call it that, splits vertically in two. Sadly the rest has not been idle as I feel a collection of pinpricks in my left leg. Painkillers are the best is the first thought that crosses my mind when I see that one of the model 3s has claped its jaw on my leg. I stab it a few tis, trying to kill it, but even in death, the fucker does not let go. The other 3 is now closing in, and I decided to just ignore the ankle biter. I hold a ready stance and wait. The last model 3 is the first to act, jumping at . I intercept it with my sword, then push it through, handily bisecting it. The next part of the fight turns into a slog trying to cut down tentacle after tentacle to get closer to the model 4. But I get there in the end, and that ans the only one remaining is the model 6. It is trying to make its way towards , but with every step, he seems to spasm and end up falling. So, I spent a bit of ti unhinging the jaw around my leg first before I began chopping. The fight with the model 6 is much less a fight than it is an execution.
Targets Eliminated
Reward... 125 Points
After I finished my mission of extre weed control, I sent Bubbles a ssage telling her it was all clear. While waiting for the rest of the group to arrive, I took a look at my leg. It only has so minor damage, so I should be safe for now. I retrieve the stinger and start cleaning my swords and storing them in the proper holsters. It does not take long for my break to end.
“You had so fun, huh?” Bubbles says when she enters the room. “How much further until we make it to the safe zone?“
“Not far, just one more building, and we are at the border.” I say in reply.
“How safe is it?”
“Relatively safe, caras are working, and I see no antitheses around, and checking the past logs tells that there have not been any for the last couple of hours.”
“Good. We need to talk about the girls. What are we going to do with them once we reach safety?“ she asks, a bit of concern leaking into her voice.
“Have not given it much thought. I would love to give them a place to stay, but I have no mon...”
Lyssa would like to offer a solution. Lyssa has access to the accounts of the traffickers as well as several of their custors; we can drain those for the required funds.
“Never mind.” I say, cracking a grin. “Looks like we should have at least so money.”
‘Lyssa, can you look for accommodations for them with that money? If you have any money left over, just divide it between the girls, okay, but make sure they have a safe place first.’
Certainly, Lyssa found an open property close to Circle Corp's new distribution tower for 151 million credits, which can house all of them and a few more. This leaves about 67% of the funds still available.
My jaw hit the floor. I had never seen this much money in my life, and here it was. None of it is mine, but it's nice to see big numbers. Then I turn to Bubbles.
“I just bought a house and gave them so money, so they should be good for a while,” I say to her. “Sending you the address now.”
“Ooh, that is close to where I live!” she exclaid in excitent. “So I can help out as well.”
“Sure, I'll add you to the lock.” I say, “Now, the difficult part is going to be explaining everything to them.”
“Once we reach safety, I find soone who can translate for us, so it should be all right.” Bubbles say
Then we are silent for a bit before she speaks up again.
“What about you?” Bubbles ask. “Where will you go?”
“Well, after we drop them off sowhere safe, I would like to go back in there and try to get a few more points.” I say while pointing back in the direction we ca from.
“That is not what I ant, Maniac. I an, after the incursion, do you have anywhere to go?”
“Sure, anyway, do you still think Maniac is a good idea? Feel like I am going to make the worst first impressions with that kind of na.”
“It's fine. People should know where they are getting into. And don’t avoid the question like that.”
“What are you talking about? I am fine; I will just go ho.”
“Maniac, you wear your mask all the ti, even while eating. Sure, I can understand protective gear, but you are a new samurai. Usually, the first thing they buy is not a mask.” She says, “I am not stupid. Okay, sothing is going on, and I want to help.”
I look at her. Really, look at her. Seems my little travel companion is more observant than I would have thought. So I make a decision I am going to need allies soon, and having allies that can fuck shit up is always nice.
“You are right,” I say. “The whole story is long and complicated. Would you like to know it?”
“Yes, please; I would love to know more about you.”
I nod. “So where to start? When I was little, I used to live with my parents and my big brother. We were middle class but had enough money to be happy. My brother loved robotics, and he always said that when he finished his studies, he would open this cheap cybernetic shop for the poorer people out there. I always looked up to him for that, so I decided to learn how to code so I could help him when he opened the shop. He and I would always work on weird and crazy projects together. We were happy.”
I take a deep breath. Here cos the hard part. “My father’s work started downscaling at so point, and he lost his job. My mom's job was not enough to pay for both our food and my brother's education, so he had to quit. I did not like that, so I did sothing stupid. I started to ss around and writing hacks to penetrate the defences of the big companies. Until one day, I succeeded. I got the designs of a new graphical processor for so new aug models. After that, it was pretty easy to sell the blueprints to a different company. I still rember how smug I felt. I imdiately went to my brother and told him the good news. He was confused about how I got the money. And I just told him I sold so stuff using a code that I made. I should have told the truth. Maybe things would have been different,” I say, trying to wipe the tears from my eyes.
“You okay?” Bubbles asks
“I am fine.” I say, taking a deep breath. “Anyway, that night, I woke up to gunshots and screaming. I climbed out of bed and ran to the living room. There, I saw my mom and dad were both dead on the floor, a puddle of blood slowly expanding. And my brother was on his knees crying saying that he was the one who hacked the servers. They put him in handcuffs, and when they spotted , they arrested too. After that, everything is kind of a blur: going to jail, crying a lot, and then the courtroom. There, my brother confessed to everything, everything that I did. We received a huge fine and went into debt. Then our debt got bought up and we beca indentured servants or slaves would be the more accurate term. That was the last ti I saw him. Last year I received a letter. My brother had killed himself after finding out that since I was now 18, I was required to sell myself. That is my story.”
“I.. I. . am so sorry,” Bubbles gets out between sobs.
“Don’t worry, morbidly enough; the sex was the best part; not having to run around and just lay there is relaxing in its own way. Especially if you manage to snag a high-ranking mber who does not like sharing, so you only have to deal with the one person.”
Suddenly, I feel two arms around and hear Bubbles say, “You are safe now. I will protect you from now on.”
“That is sweet, but no, thank you. I won’t be happy until I have burnt that place to the ground from the inside out with my own hand. Since I am a samurai now I can go on a counter-offensive.”
“But you could stay at my place.” she says. “Nothing terrible will happen to you anymore.”
“Sorry, but I can’t. They put several remote charges in my body so I can’t run away with company secrets.”
That is incorrect; Lyssa has already disabled all harmful devices in your body. You have nothing to worry about.
‘Aah, thanks. Do they know about that?"
No, Lyssa has been sending a fake signal saying that the bombs are still ard.
After that, we talk about more light-hearted topics. Bubbles regals with several stories of her family and friends as well as her school life. And we make it to the checkpoint without any further incident.
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