NOVEL NEXT Chapter Four: Don’t Poke The Bubble
“What did you just say?” the woman says, while giving me a confused look.
“Uhm, that you are cute?” I say, a bit unsure as to what to do in this instant.
Suddenly her expression turns dark and she glares at me “And why are you trying to hack my augs”.
“Oops, sorry, force of habit was seeing if you were a threat,” I say sheepishly, not the best first impression.
She lowers her bubbler?” I see. Well, don’t do it again, and I won’t become one. I am Liquet catalyst. It's a pleasure to meet you.”
“Wait, that name is too long and uncute for you, I will just call you Bubbles instead,” I say, while checking the security cameras around us looking for any potential dangers.
“What! you can’t just do that, what is your name, anyway?” she asked, while stomping her feet on the ground rather cutely.
“Don’t have one, anyway there are some people up there that could use some help,” I say, while pointing to the building in question.
“They what?” she says while giving me an aghast look
I turn around slightly “Well, they could probably use your help more than mine but who is counting?” I say, luckily, she decides to follow me and we make it inside. As we make it up the stairs, she speaks again.
“So how long have you been a samurai? I don’t recognize you,” Bubbles asks.
“Uhm I am not sure, spent the first bit of it under a building, Lyssa you know how long it has been” I say.
It took you more than 5 hours to crawl out of the building remains, then you ran around and killed the model 3s, so 6 hours would be the closest approximation.
“Right, so Lyssa says I have been one for 6 hours,” I say.
“Ooh that is not long. You talk to your AI out loud?” Bubbles asks.
“Wait you mean I don’t have to?” I say trying not to sound like a complete idiot
“Yes.”
Correct you can subvocalize your request to Lyssa.
“Okay, so how do I go about doing that?”
Try talking without pushing air through. That should do it.
‘okay like this’
yes now we can communicate without you making a fool out of yourself
As I spent some time stewing on the fact that I forgot to grill my AI for all the info. We make it across the third floor, whoever thought not stacking stairs on top of each was a good design philosophy needs to be shot. Anyway, we come across a couple of model 3s, on which I can release my newfound frustration. I charge at them brandishing my sword I manage to decapitate the first two before the group can even react.
“Whoo I am speed, I am death… wahahaha” I shout out in the carnage.
I perform one of those sideways slashes I had seen in games on the next one. When I turn around, I am just in time to see a bubble collide with one of the model 3 and pop, throwing some kind of acid all over It, making it rapidly melt away.
‘Lyssa, remind me never to pop her bubbles.’
After that, it only takes us a few moments to prune the rest of the garden. When it's all over I take some time to really look at these bastards. There are mostly just muscles or what constitute muscles in a plant. nasty mouth with more than one jaw full of teeth.
“What are you doing?” Bubbles asks.
“Uhm just examining them. I have seen a lot of posts online calling these creatures cute, but you know the three sets of jaws are not really doing it for me. How about you?” I ask while still looking at the corpse, compost?
“What? Of course not, they are awful monsters that see humans as just food,” she says, disgust evident.
“Right, I am not sure they actually eat.”
“Yeah, well, it does not matter. There are people to save. How can you even tell where they are?”
“Uhm, I work in security and have to use cameras and other systems often, so I kind of naturally broke into most of those around us. It's kind of sad to see how easy it is.”
“Ooh, you're one of those people sitting in front of a bunch of screens watching stuff happen.”
“You know what, sure, let's go with that, what about you?”
“I am still in school, I am going to study chemistry when I finish.”
“Ahh that explains the doom bubbles”
“They're not doom bubbles, there are highly compressed chemicals encased in a liquid aerosol mix for easy application in combat.”
I just roll my eyes and continue on. As we make our way up to the seventh floor we come across a couple more model 3s. That we dispatch handily.
“I thought there should be more of the green buggers running around by now; it feels rather lackluster if you ask me,” I say as I wipe my sword clean on a nearby couch.
“we are only at the edge of the incursion, and this is still central Europe. There are a lot of samurai here so usually it’s a challenge to get points instead”
“That so, I never realized”
“There are a lot of cities here that are close together, which corresponds with more samurai’s in a closer packed area”
“I see so if we want to make points we better hurry”
“You are right, but they have a program where new samurais work together in a group led by an older samurai so they can get points safer”
“So samurai have a kids program now,” I ask not trying to hide the incredulity in my voice
“I mean with the general age people become samurais is it all that weird?”
“you are right but I am a bit too old to go on a field trip”
“I see maybe we can …”
At that moment, we hear gunshots up ahead, so we hasten our step a bit more. As we cross a corner, I get hit with a mess of tentacles that send me flying into the opposite wall. My ears are ringing and there is blood coming through my clothes.
You are not in a good state Lyssa recommends immediate purchases of medical supplies.
‘whatever I can afford, give me it.’
New Purchase: Nano-Regenerative injector
Points reduced to... 110
New Purchase: Hemo-Restoreration Injector
Points reduced to... 105
New Purchase: Nutrient Solution
Points reduced to... 108
As the injectors appear in their little boxes I am fumbling with the first one when Bubbles rips it out of my hand and jams it into my shoulder. She proceeds to open the other two boxes as well.
As she steps back, she asks ” Are you okay? That looked like it hurt”
“I think so, but the painkillers are still working, so the pain is a non-issue”
“Can I ask why you are using injectors instead of pills?”
‘Lyssa what is she on about?’
Most vanguards have a more general medical catalog. Yours is more combat focused, more expensive, but faster acting and easy application.
‘why did you decide on that option? I did not think we needed fast acting at the time’
Because of your internal cybernetic enhancement catalog, it contains an internal injector with a quantum locked tracers. This would allow you to directly purchase combat stimulants and inject them into your body without your intervention.
“So it's because I can add them to some cybernetics later,” I say out loud
“Ahh, I see, so it is for future upgrades,” she nodes. “That is smart, I have some of those as well.”
‘Lyssa, how expensive is the injector upgrade?’
It depends. The most basic model is only 30 points, but Lyssa would recommend the Spring Tail G3 Umbra for 50 points instead. It has the same subsystems as your spine, so communication between the 2 can be improved, and the spine can hold reserves for a nanite swarm.
‘Right, and I have 100 something points, So should I buy it?’
Lyssa would recommend buying Armor upgrades instead to increase the chances of survival. The Andron Mechanised Antrica System for the fools mask is recommended it increases its potential allowing it to blunt the hits with the electro light fields. Only negative is that the battery will drain faster. It will cost 60 points.
‘Sure let's go with that option then’
New Purchase: the Andron Mechanised Antrica System
Points reduced to... 48
A tinny white box appears the size of a matchbox. Inside are 3 small chips with small connectors. I look up to see Bubbles looking at me with curiosity.
“Do you mind going ahead I will catch up when I am better”
She nods and turns around and starts making her way forward. I make one quick sweep to make sure there are no cameras here and take off the mask. As it comes off the clothes that were projected disappear and I shiver a bit, I guess since the clothes are an illusion they did not save the suit I was wearing underneath. It's sporting some new holes and my skin in those places is not a healthy color.
‘Lyssa please tell me that is not permanent’
Lyssa regrets to inform you that the holes in your clothing are there permanently
‘I meant my skin! In what world would I care about my clothes?’
Data shows that you tend to put a high value on having good clothes, and the swelling will go down in a day or so.
‘That is for work I am not working now am I, anyway how do I install these?’
You just have to put them in the required bays Lyssa will highlight them on your augs.
After a bit of messing around with the connectors, I get all 3 chips installed in the correct spots. I realign my mask and put it on. Then I give the “Fake” clothing a few tugs.
‘Lyssa I do not feel any different.’
Lyssa would question your humanity if you could feel the difference between different types of electro light fields.
‘So that means it's working then’ I subvocalize, while trying to stand up.
I slowly make my way towards where Bubbles went, I make it there without further intervention from Japanese foliage, and find her talking to a group of well-armed people. The leader of this armed forces seems to be a lady in her 30s tall with blond hair and blue eyes, meaning that she probably used to be Dutch. But with the entirety of the Netherlands getting swallowed by the rising tides where she is from now is unclear. I walk towards them.
“Hey Bubbles who are these people? you called backup? ” I ask as I stand next to her.
“Uhm no Arabella and her team are hired security for this office” she answers while indicating the mountain of a women.
“Arabella is such a cute name, I like it. So what is the current plan? ” I ask while trying to make a friendly gesture.
“*tsk* So you are the one that can find a safe passageway towards the evacuation zone? I hope you are as useful as your friend suggests you are” the guard woman answers.
“Ooh yeah, sure, I can do that. Give me a bit to get all the current camera data off the streets we are supposed to take. You guys can discuss formations or something while I do this,” I say while walking into the actual office.
Inside there are about 5 guys in what I would call Friday suits. Like no jacket or tie just a dress shirt and some jeans. The guys themselves are rather unassuming just your average group of 20 years old in their first official job. The lack of a supervisor is weird. That is not the only thing that is off. Why do you need a group of 4 security guards for 5 people? I guess some of the workers could have died but still.
‘Lyssa, I am getting a bad feeling about this place. Is there a way we can gain access to their computers?’
Well their public-facing interface says that they are an employment agency.
‘What about their non-public-facing stuff?’
Lyssa thinks it better you look over those yourself.
As she says that a data packet with multiple files appears in my vision. As I open them and quickly make my way to the payments, business contacts and the profile of several people, I come to a rather grim conclusion, and I feel my blood turn to ice. I make my way back to the front, where the guards are still talking to Bubbles about sightlines. I position myself behind them. As they notice me and start to turn around, I make a quick slash, going from right to left with the sword.