Stray Cat Strut Chapter Six - Pill Pusher

Chapter Six - Pill Pusher

They give you toys. Yeah, I know what youre thinking. Jackal, you have a handcannon that can disintegrate tanks. Thats not a toy! And youre right. It isnt. But thats not how it feels. You do a thing, you get a reward, you get a bigger toy. Its a cycle, and your little AI buddy doesnt even hide it.

Damned useful though. And we do get to play with the best toys.

-- Interview with Marie The Jackal Hunt. April 2051

***

My world was still spinning a little. It made walking quietly hard. It was still worth the effort to try, even after all the noise I made earlier. So miracle had prevented the other aliens, the Model Threes, from coming around to have so Cat for lunch, but I didnt want to push my luck.

My luck was... I didnt know. I was a Samurai. It was enough that I wanted to laugh. I had laughed at the idea, way back when and Lucy were younger and still had so optimism left in us. We had talked about what it would be like to be one of the elite, to fly around and kill aliens by the thousands.

And she...

I need to get to the others, I whispered. How long had I been back there bleeding out? Id lost track of ti at so point. My HUDs clock gave the hour, but I hadnt been paying attention before. Fuck, I need to move, I said.

You lost a sowhat substantial amount of blood. I advise caution before entering another fight.

Fuck caution, the kittens, they... I need to help them.

An admirable sentint! In your current condition you would successfully distract a Model Three for approximately twelve to thirty seconds.

I stumbled to a stop. It was right. I wasnt in any condition to fight. But, but still. I started stumbling ahead again. Then fix , I growled.

You could purchase so tools to alleviate that with Class I dical Utilities. Two solutions seem prominent. A Class I Nano-Regenerative Suite. At fifteen points this utility would allow you to begin restoring so of your damaged internals. Hemo-Restore is a five point liquid utility that you consu orally. It replenishes up to a quart of blood naturally in the space of approximately two hours.

Thats how it works, huh? I asked. Id heard so things about how Samurai got their aweso powers, their incredible weapons and tools. Everyone had. Still, I trusted the information Id skimd off the net about as much as I trusted my own ability to run a marathon just then.

Essentially, yes. Upon unlocking a Class Catalogue you can purchase any of the items available in that speciality. Prices are constantly adjusted.

Yeah, cool, I said. I stopped by a cent pillar and just leaned against it for a mont to catch my breath. I wasnt hurting, in fact, my body felt like it should have been light. The reality was that every motion took so effort, just like moving underwater the few tis the orphanage had brought us to places with swimming pools. I need sothing thatll let , uh, fight.

Fighting wasnt sothing I was used to, not at the best of tis. It was frowned upon at the orphanage, for obvious reasons, and it just wasnt sothing I liked. Not that I hadnt been in a scrap or two, but being the one-eyed one-ard girl usually ant that any fight ended in soone elses favour.

I can suggest a panoply of weapons and tools that you could use to defend yourself. Unfortunately, at your current point disposition, most of the better solutions are outside of your reach.

Story of my life, I said.

There is one solution. You have sixty-five points remaining. Using fifty you can unlock a Class I tech tree that will provide you with the ability to purchase a Class I weapon. I suggest Kinetic Handguns or Simple lee. That will leave you with fifteen points. Spending ten of these would provide you with a very basic weapon. Your final points can be spent on a combat stim.

I licked dried lips and shoved off the pillar Id been using as a crutch. Whats a combat stim? No, dont answer that. Im not an idiot. I an... what sort?

Based on your current situation... Mind Krank Ultra. A highly addictive, habit forming, lightly poisonous drug available for five points.

I paused in my slow shuffling walk. Youre not making that sound appealing.

For five points you could also later purchase Cleanse. A nanite-infused neuro cleaning agent that would remove any damages caused by the previous drug.

Right, I said. Whats that... Mind Krank shit do?

It will make you feel invincible, heighten your senses, improve your perception of ti, vastly enhance your reflexes, and will increase your pain and fatigue tolerance. Humans who used this drug have gone on to fight for upwards of thirty-two hours without pause, or until their cardiac system gives out.

Are you bugging ? That shit sounds dangerous.

You have lost contact with the Model Threes in the surroundings. The likelihood that they have reached the people you wish to protect increases every passing mont.

I worked my jaw. The damned thing was right. How long had it been since Id seen the others? Two minutes? No, longer. Ten? They could all be long dead. Maybe they were lucky, there were only four of the monsters, and a lot of kids.

Those were shit odds.

I heard a faint, distant scream that was barely an echo across the open museum floor. It was a scream that had to compete with the wind humming past the new hole in the ceiling and the half dozen displays that had little repeating voice-overs. Still, I heard it.

I felt a chill run down my spine. Damn it, I swore. Do it, give ... give whatever.

As you wish. Do you have any preferences in terms of weaponry?

Did I want to be up close to the aliens or did I want to shoot them from afar? Stupid question. Guns, give a gun.

Id never shot a gun, but we had toys, and Id played a sim or two in my ti. Point towards baddie, pull trigger. Easy.

Then I suggest Kinetic Handguns Class I.

Sure! I said in a hurry. The need to do sothing, to move, was growing, gnawing at .

Class I Kinetic Handguns unlocked!

Points reduced to... 15

Well done. Now... as for a weapon.

Just anything! I said.

As you wish. I will pick sothing best suited to your situation from the current catalogue. There are only eight hundred weapons available at your current price point. This is a Hummingbird Mark I-D.

I felt sothing pushing at my hand. When I raised it palm-up a gun dropped from out of thin air. Not a proper gun. This looked more like a toy. The barrel was a large square with three dozen needles poking out of the end. The handle was barely curved back at all, and the trigger was more of a squared button than anything. The case looked like brushed aluminium, which didnt fit with the heft of the thing at all.

New Purchase:Hummingbird Mark I-D

Points reduced to... 5

How do I-- I began, only for my vision to go wild for a mont as my eyegear refreshed. I soon had a large circle floating off to the side. It didnt take much experintation to see that it followed wherever I was pointing the gun.

Aim at a target, wait for the reticule to go red, pull the trigger. So simple a child could use it. The Hummingbirds target lock will do most of the work.

Right, I said. The... the drug?

Arriving. Please look down.

New Purchase: Mind Krank Ultra

Points reduced to... 0

A box appeared by my feet. No bigger than a matchbox, square, made of so cheap plastic. I bent down, almost lost my balance as my head swam, but managed to open it.

A single bright red pill sat on a gauze cushion.

Damn, I muttered.

I placed the Hummingbird down, took the pill and just stared at it for a mont.

Another scream ca from the distance.

I tossed the pill back.

The world burst into clarity.