Stray Cat Strut

Chapter Fifteen - Passionate

“I have a hard time looking down on them. You know, the people who tried really, really hard to find some good in the aliens.

Poor, kind souls.”

—Garen Dispry, Secretary of Defence, 2028

***

Antithesis were quiet. It was one of those things that made them extra-fucky. Normal animals were supposed to make noise, right? I hadn’t seen too many, other than the occasional rat, but the videos and such of dogs always showed them moving and breathing and generally making a lot of noise.

The antithesis in the second tower didn’t make a noise as they melted. It was really disappointing.

“Gom? I think I’m done clearing this area. How are things going on your end?”

“I have an entire tower that looks like a pyre. It’s beautiful. I can’t tell if the crackle I hear is the building melting or the aliens, but I’m pleased either way.”

“Uh,” I said. “Right, that’s... real nice Gomorrah. Should we meet up by the third break in the fence? Myalis, spot any more aliens sneaking in?”

No, none so far. A small group of model threes escorted a model eight and tried to leave the area, but Gomorrah’s vehicle anihilated the group.

“That’s... not many aliens around here,” I said. “We’re talking what? A hundred?”

So far we have confirmed fifty-two kills in and around this facility.

Gomorrah hummed. “That’s really not a lot. Barely a scouting force, especially not as spread out as they are. Did security really not see any others?”

We could trace back the approximate direction this group came from.

“That’s an idea,” I said. I started walking towards Gomorrah’s position. It wasn’t hard to notice, what with the pillar of smoke in the sky. “We might be able to take out a small nest.”

“I think the Family might want to target those from orbit again.”

“And destroy this whole facility while they’re at it?” I asked. “I care for corpo property about as much as the next punk, but this place is making food. I like food. We could clear out the hive on our own, I’m sure.”

“We’ll see,” Gomorrah said. “This early on, it’s possible that the hive’s barely worthy of notice. I’m not saying we ignore it though, that would be irresponsible. Let’s see if we can’t destroy it in one go or at least prune it down then mark its location for check-up later.”

I nodded as I continued to walk along. A glance at the Family’s map showed a few more growing spots of yellow, and even a couple of minuscule orange streaks. No red though, and there was a growing green spot spreading out around the city. Secured locations? Placing being patrolled? Areas that they could confirm had no aliens?

I’d have to play with the map some more later. In the meantime I found a filter option and toggled it open to select Hive Locations. A few dots appeared on the map. Exactly five of them, all close to orange splotches. Three of the five had pins with the names of samurai attached to them.

“Looks like hives are getting a lot of focused attention.”

More points to be earned for the moment, and since antithesis hive growth is exponential, destroying one before it can grow large enough to defend itself is simply a wise course of action. There will be a couple of hives scattered around that remain undetected for each that are obvious.

“That’s plainly terrifying,” I muttered.

I paused a few minutes later as I found the last section where the antithesis had broken through the gate. It was hard to miss, what with the injured model three slumping its way across the ground, its rearmost legs very clearly broken, and a trail of whatever passed as blood following it across the cement ground.

I looked around to make sure there weren’t any others around, then stepped closer to the alien. “Is this the only one alive out here?” I asked.

It seems to be. One of the towers was pillaged recently. The models tried to leave the area, those were the ones that Gomorrah’s vehicle ambushed.

“And this little guy?” I asked with a gesture at the model three.

Perhaps a survivor. The Fury used explosives to eliminate the group, it’s entirely possible that a model as light as this was tossed back some distance.

I walked around the little alien so that I was at its front. It was rather pitiful, dragging itself across the ground, breaths coming in deep chuffs and limbs trembling. “I feel kind of bad about shooting this guy,” I said.

Technically its genderless. Also, it is entirely incapable of seeing anything that isn’t an antithesis as anything but a threat. You won’t find any compassion given reciprocated.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said. I squatted down in front of it, still keeping a couple of metres between us. “Still, it doesn’t look like it's doing so good, you know? This is like shooting a lame dog.”

Perhaps toggle off your invisibility?

I raised an eyebrow at the suggestion, but there didn’t seem to be any danger. I was fully-armoured and the model three looked like it was on its last legs, pun somewhat intended. I flicked off my invisibility, then stepped back as the model three immediately lunged towards me.

Its jaws snapped at the air, the only sound it made other than its laboured breathing as it tried to cut the distance between us.

“Mean little fuck, aren’t you?” I asked as I stepped back, then carefully drew my sword. “Well, fuck you too.”

I stepped forwards while keeping myself low. My blade hissed as air slipping into the portal that formed its edge. The sound shifted a little as Void Terminus cut right through the middle of the model three and came out the other side without any effort.

Standing up, I held the sword to the side and checked the body to make sure it was properly dead. I guess cutting the alien in half vertically was enough, because it wasn’t moving anymore.

“Having fun?”

I glanced back to see Gomorrah coming over, her flamethrower hanging at her hip by a strap. She seemed to exude some sort of... pleased energy. Some real weird post-coital bliss going on.

“Yeah, I guess,” I said. I flicked the sword off, then flipped it around before resheathing it.

She looked at the body, then back at me. One of her shoulder-mounted flamethrowers slipped out from beneath her habit and spat a line of fire at the corpse. “I was considering what to do next. I think we should torch the building the antithesis visited here, then try to spot the hive. With the two of us together we should be able to bomb it from a distance without putting ourselves at any risk.”

“That sounds fair, if a bit boring.”

“I’m sure we’ll have plenty of opportunities for close-quarters, high-risk combat in the next couple of days. Let’s take the easy path on one of the few occasions where it’s available.”

I snorted. “Alright, alright, that’s fair enough. Want to torch the place, or should I?”

“Oh, I would be honoured,” she almost purred.

“Are you sure you’re not a pyromaniac?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I was never diagnosed with anything.”

“Did you burn the therapists?”

“Oh, shut up,” Gomorrah said.

I laughed at my own joke as I followed her to the tower. Gomorrah was surprisingly gentle about setting the whole thing on fire. She went around, making sure the area was cleared, then bought a sort of canister with little holes all around it which she placed in the central elevator in the middle of the tower.

We both stood back and watched as the elevator--hacked by Atycus--rode up and down at downright unsafe speeds as her little device poured fire across every floor.

“With the windows more or less intact the only place for the superheated air to go will be out through the ventilation,” Gomorrah said. “It should burn out any spores or residue.”

“Nice and easy, huh,” I said.

“Exactly. Fire’s simple that way.” Gomorrah turned just as the familiar hum of her Fury sounded out. The car came in for a smooth landing between the pillars.

I got in after her and made myself comfortable. “I’m going to text Jake, and I guess Crop Corp in general. They’ll want to know that we’re done here.”

“We can swing back once we’ve found and destroyed the hive. It’s possible there are more antithesis already on their way. They could hit the place while we’re out.”

I nodded. “Myalis, can you keep an ear open in case they spot any?”

Certainly.

“Alright then, let’s go fuck up that hive, shall we?”

***