Chapter Sixty-Eight - Xenocide Act V; The Bitch Lives In My Head

"The difference between being dependent on others, and merely being socially motivated by others, is probably hidden in the question of 'Do you know what you want for yourself?'"

– Smartass Author

 

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"Okay. So I could've been more inventive with what I had. Sure, I'll try to remember that when it matters again. Still, what other designs would you suggest?"

The first that come to mind are an incendiary one that would give you lasting area denial. Sticky flames. A line of missiles with this payload would allow you to erect barriers of fire. Very cheap, too.

The other is rather more unusual—garrote missiles. Two missiles are launched in tandem, each of which unspools a special conductive wire. The missiles rotate in such a manner that the strings make contact, and a current is run through them to meld them into one continuous piece. If the current is maintained, this string becomes soft and pliable, a non-lethal way to capture a target—though they may still hurt themselves if they struggle too much. If the current is removed, the string remains fairly stiff and razorsharp. It can cut into soft organic matter on contact, a little like a heated wire can cut through certain polymers. This blueprint costs a little more, as do the missiles themselves, since they are considerably more complex.

Non-lethal options? Uh…didn't really need those right now. The wire might be interesting as a way to cut off trails remotely, to create traps, but in combat? I'd have to kill at least two Antithesis with each launch, before they were efficient enough to bother.

"Those wires, how quickly do they go through a Three or Four, and how long do they last?"

They are particularly adept at shearing off a model Four's tentacles. They'll slow considerably against the resistance of solid bodies, however. But each pair has the fuel to kill half a dozen Fours, or around eight Threes.

So, they weren't exactly useless in combat. But it still felt like I'd be either doubling up on my silk spinning, with which I could now craft monofilament graphene wire traps, or on my ability to just murder masses of aliens with high-explosive missiles, or even on the ranged area denial those napalm rockets promised…

Yeah. I'd take another look at them after we returned to civilization and non-lethal at range was something I might want to invest in. Or the ability to foul up turbines or whatever with the strings.

So…what did I actually need? Hmm. I had the ability to kill quick and much, already. Even, apparently, against massive Antithesis, if I just used my stuff properly.

So…utility? The wire missiles fell under that, but didn't offer interesting utility. Or even basic utility… Light! Missiles that I could use to plant flares or something.

Missiles that I could use… Oh. Maybe some kind of cargo missile? Could ferry tiny drones over long distances very quickly, or those flares, or anything else I could fit into them.

That was an option, and probably one I'd take. But what else?

Defensive stuff. If I could launch a missile that would put up temporary barriers capable of withstanding a hit or two, I could stagger them and create something almost impenetrable. Although, it'd take a second or three to set up… Worth considering anyway. Very worth.

Cameras. I did have those camera bullets, but they were too small to be too useful. A two by twenty missile could fit a lot more. Should be possible to gain more dynamic data streams—and it'd still be much faster than any drone I was currently using. Tynea would probably be able to get one of those past the defenses of that underground nest.

Underground… Signal repeaters or boosters! And opposite of those, counter-measures. Hmm. More a thing for civilization, again. But the repeaters could be needed for that camera missile.

More delivery systems for chemicals. There was the napalm of course, but I could imagine a variety of other uses. Acids. Pheromones!

Ah, yeah. Okay.

"Tynea, I like the sticky fire missile, but I'd also like two more blueprints. One that can spray those pheromones the lure is using, maybe with a similar audio component, too. And I'd like some sort of mine missile. Set up a trap with multiple mines, and use the pheromone missile to attract the Antithesis. What do you think?"

If you add a station-keeping missile as the eye to handle visual tracking, to optimize detonation timing, then I believe that setup could prove very useful.

"Then let's get those four designs. Napalm, mines, lure, bird's eye. Do we also have defensive missiles? Maybe something like our active defenses, or like the forcefield Leah gave me?"

There are a very large variety of defensive measures, including either of the two you describe. Some of these require rather expensive materials, however, and an upgrade to the Myriad's crafting facilities. I would recommend dense fogs of chaff instead, or irritants, delivered in a standardized carrier missile blueprint. These are very easy to produce and cheaper than even the high-explosive missiles.

And I could probably combine those with properly deadly chemicals. That would create disorienting fogs that dissolved any aliens caught within… And if I prepared that with a lure…and maybe some mines around it.

…

Was I evil? Had I been a hero for too long? Should I have put down the cape and tights before it came to this?

Nyeeeh. Fucking kill 'em all.

"So, those four, then something with a horrendously disorienting chaff, another that dispenses some kind of acid or base that melts the Antithesis, and…the materials for those."

May I recommend unlocking something a little better than the plug-tanks you've been using? Class I Basic Dimensional Shunting will allow you to double the compression rate of those plug-tanks.

Uh…

"Would the Myriad benefit from that, too? Since it uses shunting to store finished parts, right?"

Not without upgrades. It's just a catalog, after all.

Right. I'd have to buy the actual items, whether they be bigger plug-tanks, or upgrades to the Myriad. Didn't see any reason for the latter specifically. Not yet, at least. Better save the points for Leah's stompy tank.

"Okay, sure. Let's get those bigger canisters. Could you list everything now, please?"

Certainly.

 

Cost	Tkn	Unlock
100		Class I Basic Dimensional Shunting
100		Total
5674		Combined Remaining Points

 

Cost	x	Item
25	1	Blueprint: 'Carrier' Carrier Missile, 20x200mm
20	1	Blueprint: 'Napalm-B' Polystyrene/Gasoline/Benzene Mix, payload for Carrier 20x200mm
30	1	Blueprint: Audio/Scent Lure, payload for Carrier 20x200mm
40	1	Blueprint: 'Standoff' Self-deploying Mine, 20x200mm
60	1	Blueprint: 'Raptor's Gaze' jet-powered UAV, 20x250mm
20	1	Blueprint: 'Whereami Whoami' Audio-visual Chaff, payload for Carrier 20x200mm
20	1	Blueprint: 'The Third Degree' Fulminic Acid Inflammatory, payload for Carrier 20x200mm
40	2	Malleable Alloy, liquid, heated, 100 L plug-tank
10	2	High-Explosive, paste, 100 L plug-tank
10	5	Hardened Alloy Mix, powdered and sinter-ready, 100 L plug-tank
10	3	Kerosene, 100 L plug-tank
100	1	Suprapulse Rocket Propellant, 100 L plug-tank
10	3	Gasoline, 100 L plug-tank
10	2	Benzene, 100 L plug-tank
10	4	Polystyrene, 100 L plug-tank
30	1	Magnesium/Foil/Mercury(II)/Thiocyanate Chaff Mix, 100 L plug-tank
80	1	Oxidoazaniumylidynefuckmethane, 100 L plug-tank
10	1	Silicates, powdered, 100 L plug-tank
705		Total
4969		Combined Remaining Points

 

That would be the purchase. Is it acceptable?

Oh wow, that's several hundred points more expensive than I was expecting… And a lot of materials, it looked like.

I considered that a little. They'd let me build multiple thousands of missiles. I was going to need that today. And I probably didn't need to buy much more, either, not before we left the crater. 

Some stuff for the facility, maybe a weapon to replace the rifle if that thing finally gave up…

Something more permanent than the spray for my antennae.

I wanted a harness somewhat similar to Leah's, I guessed. Properly armored, though, so I didn't have to rely entirely on my battle skin.

And wings.

And…maybe I wasn't so cheap after all, I thought with a chuckle.

Well, I guessed I could get all of that, but later. When we'd figured out a proper big vehicle.

After a look around myself and into the nearby forest to find us still undisturbed, I said, "Alright, Tynea. Let's buy the entire list."

The catalog and blueprints are now unlocked. Please grab the plug-tanks. I'll highlight where they go, again.

As I'd mostly gotten used to, I reached out into thin air, and closed my hand around the item I wanted.

A plug-tank with some kind of metallic chemical composition denoted on it.

A new wireframe of myself popped up, with a spot on my butt blinking. I stood up and twisted around to see a cover plunk open, revealing the familiar socket inside. The tank seated itself with a satisfying hiss, and a ping against some or another version of inner me informed me that the Myriad had accepted it.

Speaking of which…that was a topic that needed clarification.

I continued grabbing and installing the cylindrical plug-tanks, and asked Tynea, "Say. In that last battle, my cerebral augment seemed to have…evolved. Using it still feels natural, but honestly, it's hella weird to suddenly be more than one person after some strange manner. What happened? What is that about? And did you know that was going to happen?"

Yes. The quasi-selves borne by the Quanta augment is an intentional product and is the most advanced helper-support function it offers. That capability is why the installation cost you 1350 points, despite it being an organic augment which, as you know, tend to be cheaper. I did know it was going to happen.

My hands paused, and I sat down sideways on the seat of my ATV, before I continued the conversation. I needed the time to order the storm of implications and issues born from Tynea's words.

Finally, with a deep breath, I asked.

"Why did you not inform me before my purchase? I recognize that the thing isn't evil, because it's me. It's my brain. I can tell what that part of me is doing, thinking, tracking, even deciding, at all times. But what the fuck, Tynea? Do you claim that you were not aware that I would've preferred to make the buy decision properly informed?"

I cannot claim that, no.

The primary reason is a clear misjudgment in hindsight, but I did not operate then with the knowledge that I possess of you now.

I scrunched my brows.

"What exactly does that mean? Why would the necessity of asking for my input on this level of change, ever be in question?"

Please understand that my profile of your person was entirely focused around your suitability as a Vanguard. So I knew that you wouldn't likely cause great damage to your society after being empowered.

That knowledge was derived from a mixture of your current social media presence, your daily activities as witnessed and tracked by a variety of sources, and a cross-referencing of average behavior.

I did not, and still do not, have access to any data of your life before your fifteenth birthday. The earliest piece lets me know that you traveled from Europe to Canada, and that's it.

That means that most of my earliest decisions were based only partially on intimate knowledge of your preferences. I relied mostly on a standardized logic tree roughly customized for your entire species. I did not know that you would react logically to the capabilities of the Quanta.

That pissed me off, and I got a little loud.

"So what? Saying no is my fucking prerogative, Tynea! Logical or not!"

Leah looked up at me, eyebrows raised.

What do you understand of my nature, Tinea?

I exhaled hard.

As non-sequitur as that question seemed, I didn't figure that it was a distraction.

"You're a super-smart artificial AI. You're some sort of carbon wafer in the back of my head, and your job is to sort through a billion billion options to pick out the perfect one, based on too many variables to count."

That is a very rough overview, but fair enough. What am I not?

I threw my hands up, "How the fuck am I supposed to answer that? There are too many fucking things you aren't!"

Hard but warm hands softly alighted on my shoulders and kneaded my nape gently, but I was too busy being pissed off to really appreciate it.

I am not human. I am not part of your society.

Part of me wanted to explode at Tynea for wasting my time with non-answers, but I knew it wasn't that simple.

I ground my teeth, working to let the anger flow away, to really give her words a think.

I let my head fall back a little and bump against Leah's chest, trying to relax and let myself focus on the girl who was making me happy, rather than the one who wasn't.

Fuck I was angry.

Leah hugged me from behind and laid her chin on my head, tucking me in.

"What's up, Tinea?"

I sighed. "Well, a certain AI rather broke my trust. Not sure what to do about it, either." My fists clenched. I couldn't even remove myself from the situation, the way I used to deal with this kind of bullshit.

No, of course not. The bitch had to live in my head.

 

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