Don't fuck with Samurai.

  -Email sent to all Murdock Mining and Excavation employees after an interaction with Samurai Death Punch, 2054

  “So what's the plan here, fellas?” I looked back and forth between the man behind and the four ahead, who just so happened to be wearing the same uniform. “Don't think this is gonna convince me to sleep with you.”

  One of his posse stepped forward, pulling out a baton. “Naw, we're just gonna make an example outta ya.”

  “Beat ya bloody,” another said.

  “Call it resisting an officer,” yet another added.

  “Like I said,” the voice now coming from the one behind me, sporting just the most malicious grin. “Orson's got a crime problem, one that we take very seriously.”

  A disappointed sigh left my lips. “Well, at least I can claim self-defense after.” I dropped into a firmer stance, beckoning each side with my hands. “Let's dance, piggies.”

  Activating Sagesight.

  Several things happened at once. Barely visible lines in my vision stretched out endlessly into a grid covering every surface, even other people. One of the men, the one with the baton, fell for my provocation and started to move towards me, from which a bundle of red lines emerged and highlighted the most likely course of action: A diagonal strike downwards with the baton in his right hand.

  Like clockwork he went for a diagonal strike downwards with the baton, but I had long since sidestepped out of the way of the blow. He overextended, so with a trip of the foot and a neck chop he face planted into the dirt, out like a light long before he hit the ground.

  All of us, myself included, stood flabbergasted at the course of events. Them, likely because some scrawny girl just manhandled one of their guys with only the tiniest of effort. Me, because those new augs were way more effective than I thought. In hordes I could see it becoming too much, but how clearly it predicted the movements felt kind of unfair when up against a bunch of bumbling mooks.

  One of the guys finally snapped out of their stupor, and his face morphed into one of righteous anger. “Get her!”

  All of the others charged on me. I had to back away from the diner and into the street just to make sure I didn't lose sight of them all, as that was a great way to get dogpiled, but I had plenty of space to dodge by the time the first of them threw a swing my way. Letting them be the ones to throw the attacks, I quite casually bobbed and weaved through each attack before finally taking my opportunity to strike each one.

  For the first of the three, a quick punch to the gut left him gasping for air before collapsing to the ground.

  For the second, a whiffed punch turned into his face being smashed into my knee, keeling back unconscious with a very bloodied nose.

  For the third, a strike to the arm removed his baton, which I quickly repossessed and smacked him with to knock him out.

  I was left standing quite dominantly over the bodies littered all across the ground, and the final officer, the one who had pulled up to me in the diner in the first place, was the only one who remained. He had circled behind in the midst of the chaos, a deep scowl now on his face. We stood for a moment in silence, but my eyes went wide when I saw him reaching for the weapon dangling from his hip.

  Before I could close the distance the gun slid into his hand. The barrel rose to meet me, and the red line of the trajectory appeared in my vision moments before he fired. I shifted right and heard both the bang of the firearm and the bullet it launched whizzing past my ear, only an inch or two from hitting skin. A second later, the sound of shattering glass from behind me hit my ears, the bullet having struck the diner’s window.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Wasting no time, I twisted the gun from his grip and squeezed it as hard as I could, literally feeling the metal buckle and warp within my grip. As soon as I eased up, the sight of a barrel bent beyond repair was what lay in my hand.

  My sight first went back to the diner and its now completely ruined window. Luckily no one had been in the corresponding booth when the bullet was fired, but what diners remained in there were now staring in shock at the scene of the accident. Actually, numerous onlookers from outside the diner had also started to gather, likely drawn here by the sound of the gun going off.

  Then I returned to the man before me, eyes practically bulging out of his head at the sight of me deforming his weapon into a piece of scrap metal. The longer my eyes lingered on his form, the angrier I felt myself get. Soon my hands were around his collar and he was forced into the air by my grip. “You…”

  “Fucking idiot!” I flung him towards the diner, watching him careen into the ground and slide far enough as to bonk his head against the metal siding of the building. His time spent reeling from the hit was short-lived with how fast I stormed over to him. “Did you actually just fire on a building which you knew had people in it?!”

  He looked up at me, still woozy but now sporting a small trickle of blood coming from his head. “I didn’t hit anybody.”

  “Alright, good night.” A right hook to the face later and he slumped over unconscious. So badly did I want to rip his tongue out at that moment for such flagrant stupidity, but restraint is a must as a Samurai.

  Several deep breaths had to be taken. Several irate, fuming deep breaths. Calm down. Calm. There’s the entire rest of this situation to deal with.

  I looked up at the remains of the window, glass now scattered directly onto the booth seats, table, and floor inside, before finally giving Cal a shout in my augs. [How much would replacing this window cost?]

  Less than you would think, but more than you would hope. Still a pittance compared to the credits we reallocated.

  [Alright, then go ahead and forward the required amount to the diner for the replacement fee. I’d be a bad customer for not cleaning up after my messes.] My eyes fell on the waitress inside, still clearly shaken but the look of exhaustion and defeat on her face had only deepened. [Actually, send that miss over there the same amount, if you could. She’s probably in for a long night.]

  Will do.

  The audience I had inadvertently amassed gave a wide berth from me, but a steady string of murmurs began to whisper into the air, all of them watching with slightly fearful eyes. I just couldn't be bothered at this point, so I once again started moving towards the motel, letting the sea of people part in my presence.

  Once I had gotten out of earshot of people, I let out a pent up sigh of exhaustion. “Remind me to get a light hoodie next time I come into a town, just so I can hide my face.”

  If you are worried about receiving a visit from the authorities, there were several cameras in the area that would have captured the footage and pointed towards you fighting in self-defense. If they decide to push forward in spite of this, I would directly intervene. Regardless, I will make a note of your request.

  “Thanks.”

  Related to the events that just transpired, I would like to note how well you adapted to the use of Sagesight. While I would still recommend adding an option for enhancing brain capacity, few people would have been able to use the application so proficiently against several targets like you did today.

  “Not sure it counts if what I'm fighting is half a dozen goons more prone to flexing their positions than flexing their fists. Could’ve beat those pests even without my fancy toys. Except maybe for that gunshot.”

  Correct, the security officers were far from sufficient in hand-to-hand combat, but the point of that particular activation was to get you accustomed to it once you are facing Antithesis again. Consider it a form of easing into the function.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Isn't most of this stuff meant to be ready to go right out the box?”

  The Protectors do work to ensure that equipment available for purchase is as battle ready as possible, but the simple fact is that using Sagesight is a learned skill, and learned skills require time. There are several catalogs that could assist with learning the skill, but they are hardly instant.

  “Good to know.” Stretching my arms in the air, I let out a tired sigh.

  “Let's put a pin in the shop talk for now. All I want right now is to take a shower.”