“Earlier today, the Samurai Rush games were devastated when the antithesis decided to play with the contestants. Numerous players, who pretend to be Samurai, died. But some instead became real Samurai.”
– Anton Sokolov, Announcer of the games
I was surprised to see Liberace that evening. “I thought you were leaving.”
“I am, but I want to do an interview with you first. Are you willing?”
“Why not. Let’s get comfortable, with some drinks. I think I saw someplace outside that would be nice.”
“Sure. Let’s go.”
We stopped on the way to get a couple of beers, before heading out back. Choosing a nice place to sit, we relaxed and Liberace activated some camera drones.
“Hello darlings, Liberace here. As you know, I just finished cleaning up a megahive with a bunch of other Samurai. Here beside me is Calamity Jane. You saw her along with me. You saw a lot of her, in fact. Tell me, Calamity, how long have you been a Samurai?”
When she mentioned seeing a lot of me, I blushed. However, by the time she asked me to talk, I had gotten myself under control.
“Only a few months.”
“How did it happen?”
“I was with a guy at a factory he owned outside the city. Then an incursion happened, and suddenly, I’m a Samurai.”
“What about the guy?”
“He’s not important. Haven’t heard of him since.”
“Why not? Doesn’t he mean something to you?”
“Not really. You see, I was there as his paid escort. We had a pleasant night on the town, and had it not been for the incursion, I would have been home the next day. Instead, I wound up involved in helping to deal with the incursion.”
“And your name? What does it mean?”
“In some of the earliest encounters I had with the antithesis, I somehow was responsible for some major explosions that killed a lot of them. I didn’t mean for the explosions to happen but they did. Since my town is the home of my namesake, a Samurai suggested that name. It also fit that I was using a rifle to hit the plants at range.”
“Calamity Jane, the historical figure, looks much different than you. Is there a reason?”
“While I do like shooting rifles, she was not an inspiration for my fighting career. That I get from the VR game Safari Hunter. I now look rather like my favorite character, Sheena.”
“I’ll say, I’ve seen the game played, and you look amazingly like her, but with a difference. There’s no way anyone would think you were her. But you could be her sister. Were you aware she was designed as fan service?”
“Yes. And I am a fan. I felt she looked really hot, and I wanted to be hot as well. Being a Samurai let me do so, and you can see the results.”
“I’ll say. You even have the perfect match for her outfit. On to other things, what are your plans?”
“My city is a small one, and we barely get by. I am working on a plan to grow the city by supplying more shelters and real estate so that more people can live there. The points I earned here have given me enough to get the tools I need to set the full plan in motion. I’ll be staying here a bit longer as part of the cleanup crew, but when I go back home, I’ll have a lot more stuff and abilities than when I came.”
“Do you plan to go into business or politics?”
“I am already in business, but have no political plans. And before you ask, I sell protector meds and contract for shelter construction and site cleanup.”
“I understand the first two help out others, but how does the third fit in?”
“Easy. Recycling. What I clean up goes to fuel construction.”
“Oh! That’s great. We need to save the planet at some point. Looks like you are getting a head start. What else do you do?”
“I get paid to go to clubs. Seems the public likes to hobnob with Samurai. I get a lot of autograph and selfie requests.”
“Is that all the requests you get?”
“No. But the more adult requests I usually shut down. Not that I’m without interest, but rather accepting makes too much drama.”
“Well fans, that’s today’s guest, Calamity Jane, and her five minute interview. I expect we’ll hear, and see, more of her later. Liberace signing off.”
She waits a moment, then says, “Camera’s off. That was fun. The ratings will be good today.”
“I though you were going to ask more about the outfit.”
“I almost did, but decided to let the tease last a while longer. Those questions will be in my next interview. Now I need to see if I can catch another Samurai for an interview.”
A few moments later, I was alone out back. When I finished my beer, I went back in. Several people were by a large screen watching another football game of all things. Still, it went well last time, so I stayed and talked with them a while. When the game ended, everyone dispersed, so I headed to my room. I found Cowboy Bob waiting at my door.
“Hi there. What’s up?”
“Remember us mentioning it was a bad time for anacondas to play?”
“Yeah…”
“Time’s better now. You interested?”
I felt my body respond before I was able to make a coherent statement, so I just nodded and waved him inside.
As we were going to sleep, I quietly asked, “Hey, Ysys. Do you think we were too noisy?”
Not really. It does not matter, though. The bedrooms are soundproofed, with monitors for emergencies. While the monitors heard you, they ignored you since you weren’t signaling an emergency. Folks may wonder where you two are, but they won’t have heard anything.
“Thanks…” Then I fell asleep next to Bob.
Bob stayed for breakfast, which got us both some looks, but otherwise the morning was peaceful. After he left, Hank worked up another bar-b-queue, and we spent a relaxing day getting to know each other some more. Several people mentioned being interviewed by Liberace, and apparently another streamer that helped out on one of the other teams.
Recovering from lunch, I decided to walk about the ranch. I wanted to see Hank’s idea of paradise. After a while, I realized that I had sufficient points to make my newly constructed areas into a similar paradise.
“Hey Ysys. This is a nice place to live. When I build new safe territory about the city, I want it to have areas like this. In fact, I want to do more than just build walls and shelters. I also want to build infrastructure and farms and such. Do you have something like that in your catalogs?”
Actually, I do. I recommend the Class I City Building for Humanoids catalog for forty points. It has a number of courses on how to build a viable city, as well as plans for actual cities. There are two items I recommend. The first is Rescuing a Failing City for 20 points, the next is the City Builder 700 for 300 points. The first is a step by step guide on building and making a city more robust and livable. It provides software to analyze a city and determine what steps to take and in what order, in order to upgrade the city. It would optimize your plan to do the minimum needed to expand your city’s capability, while at the same time maximize the results.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
The latter is an AI system designed to manage the tools needed for creating a city from scratch. It will take the analysis and generate a plan to take the city from its current state to the state you want it to be. It will take a lot of input to make everything work, but human technology is up to the job. The best part is that the AI is designed to work with external systems that control existing systems.
“Is there any hardware in the catalog?”
Plenty. Often times it is difficult to do a proper survey, so there are a number of sensor drones designed for determining the existing setup, and later, there are a lot of items used for infrastructure. You already expressed interest in power generation. Well you can get reactors for large manufacturing all the way of through a regional grid. Likewise, communication infrastructure, water supply, you name it. If some city needs it available city wide, there are things in the catalog for it.
“Why is it such a cheap catalog?”
In all the time there have been Vanguards on Earth, you are the first to express this desire. Catalogs that interest no one tend to be cheaper in the hopes of generating interest.
“So there’s everything I need to set up a city?”
Yes and no. It has the knowledge needed, and many of the tools to make things work, but they need something to work on. For that, you have existing human tech, and for points, protector tech.
“Just how powerful a city can this make?”
You can make a space station or colonize another planet. But both of those options need a significant boost of protector technology. On the other hand, if humans are running things, I wouldn’t expect any city over half a billion to be viable.
“What about the threat of antithesis?”
It depends on the materials and technology used. If you’re willing to open the needed catalogs, I expect you could make a grand city capable of handling a direct attack of anything below the thirties without difficulty. With more powerful antithesis, there would be some damage.
“That’s a lot to take in. Remind me to get that when we get back home. In the meantime, what can we do to speed up and improve the clean up process for the caverns?”
The biggest thing is to ensure you get everything. For that, you need to examine every inch of those caverns. You need better sensors for that. You also need saturation of the site. You also need a method of cleansing the soil from antithesis material.
“What would you recommend?”
I’d start with opening the Class II Advanced Sensor Technologies catalog for 600 points and a 1 token. Then I would get the blueprint for the Advanced Proximity Detector for 500 points. As the sensor is too large for your spider swarm, it would need a larger swarm drone unit to house it. The Class I Drones catalog for 50 points has some nice models, but if you go for the Class II Drones catalog for 350 points and a token, the drones will be tougher and able to pack more into each drone, giving extended operation and finer controls. The swarm I recommend is the Class II Locust Penetrator for fifty points provides a swarm of five hundred miniature drones disguised as locusts, and with the class two sensors, can clear an area far faster and far more effectively than your existing systems.
“I see. Given how extensive the cavern system is, how many swarms would be needed to clear it in say, a week?”
More than enough to make the blueprints worth it.
“Blueprints it is. Can I upgrade the sensors on the HT while I’m at it?”
Yes. You can use the same blueprints. That will get the same definition, but no increase in range.
“That won’t do. Let’s get something that greatly extends the range, and also can spot those pesky invisible antithesis. I want blueprints for that also, so I can put it in other things.”
Opening Class II Advanced Sensor Technologies catalog – 600 points, 1 token
Opening Class I Drones catalog – 50 points
Opening Class II Drones catalog – 350 points, 1 token
Blueprints for Advanced Proximity Detector – 500 points
Blueprints for Class II Locust Penetrator – 500 points
Blueprints for Class II Hunting Sensor Package – 4000 points
New Total – 1275402 points, 9 tokens
“Oh yeah. I just thought of it. Better sensors on the HT is wonderful, but what if I am not near it? Can you upgrade my sensing ability?”
The simplest is with some cybernetic upgrades. But there are also genetic and synthetic options. However, if you go too far, you will overload your brain, so you might want to upgrade that as well. Now, do you want just the standard human senses upgraded, or did you want to add some additional senses?
“Additional? What do you mean?”
Increasing the frequency range of a sense like sight or hearing is not an additional sense. But being able to sense magnetism, electricity, and some other more alien senses are available.
“What can I get in my existing catalogs? I don’t want to alter my appearance, and I don’t want to affect my children with a problem, although some enhancement would be acceptable, as long as they wouldn’t stand out too much.”
First up is the All Around Sensory Enhancement for 300 points from your Super Soldier Body catalog. It is a genetic upgrade to your body that will triple what a normal human has. You are already above average, so you will only get about twice. The down side is that you will have to get used to it, which will take most of a week to handle. Next up, compatible with the first, is the Synthetic Senses Package for 250 points. These are synthetic replacements for your existing senses. They tend to expand the frequency range for sight and sound, and increase the sensitivity of touch, taste. and smell. The reason for the compatibility is that the synthetic replacements only replace the sensors and not the associated complex of structures that gather and analyze the data before sending it into the nervous system.
Then there is the Power Sensor Package for 500 points. This is a cybernetic implant that can detect electricity, magnetism, and even radiation. Pretty much all non-exotic forms of energy production. It allows you to trace wires within buildings and find sensors just by their power usage. At class two levels, you should be able to spot everything at class one levels. Last, we have the alien senses. While many are rather specific to a species, a number are usable beyond species. The most popular of these is the Cuckoo’s Empathy for 400 points. This is a synthetic implant, like the cyber one, that allows one to sense what others are feeling. It is not mind reading, but body reading. The implant allows you to feel what another body feels, allowing you insight into the other’s state. With additional practice, this can cross species lines.
“They all sound useful. How difficult would it be to get them all?”
The first would be as simple as getting a shot. The implants would be brief but intense pain as they are inserted into you. The synthetic replacement is not field installable, but your Field Medical System would be able to take care of it. However, doing all four at once is not recommended. Nor is having more than one without a corresponding brain processing upgrade. Don’t forget. There is some time needed to get used to things, and the more you do, the longer it will take.
“Oh. What kind of brain upgrades can I get?”
While an auxiliary brain is great for handling external information overload, they don’t do well with internal overload. Likewise, better augs would suffer the same fate. You could get a gene therapy item that would allow increased processing, but not to the level needed to handle more that two of these upgrades. To get the needed processing power, I would recommend the Mesh Supercharger Mk 33 for 800 points. This uses a combination of superconducting filaments threaded throughout the brain, and a field effect that increases the speed of the brain’s internal communication. It also requires enhanced augs in order to handle the disparity in communications speeds. Your current augs are barely sufficient, but you can replace them with the Mesh Superaug for 75 points. These augs would also allow you to increase the number of drones you can control by nearly double.
“I see. Well, I want them all, but now is not the time. Let’s put them on hold until I get back home and have some downtime.”
I’ll remind you then.
Not long after dark, Ysys contacted me.
Jane, the Mass Matter Reconfiguration Machine is complete. As soon as the drones start feeding the hopper, the Zin Construction Spider will be started. Meanwhile the Mark I Industrial Creation Engine will start making the Zin Spider Crew drones. Since there is room on each run, it will also print up Locust Penetrator swarms. By the morning, you should have ten crew, and forty swarms.
I slept alone tonight, and woke up before breakfast. I dressed, and headed to see about breakfast, and found Charlie Horse already set up with some coffee. I headed over, and got some myself. Shortly, Hank arrived and started breakfast. He sure likes making food. Just as he was serving, the others doing cleanup arrived.
Rather than move into the conference room, Hank gave his talk at the breakfast table. He warned us that antithesis were still around. Soon, we moved out. I decided to give my printers a rest.
Once there, I headed to my assigned area and deployed my spider crew and my locusts. I let the crew handle the small groups of threes and fours. Anything more and I rushed to take care of business. The locusts swarmed over every surface and sought out antithesis biomass. While they could not exactly destroy it, they could dig it up and leave it in a convenient pile. When the pile was large enough, or when an area was otherwise cleared, one of the spider crew would come by and handle it. My spider swarms spread out more to ensure I could see all antithesis activity.
As I signed off on an area, I was assigned another nearby area. While we stopped at the end of the day, my drones continued to clear areas. It took nearly a week to clear out the entire area. On the last day, I heard about a large incursion at Salt Lake City. Rifts occurred, and pods dropped, just like the incursion where I became a Samurai. We were too far away to do anything, but I was worried since there was a dearth of powerful Samurai in this part of the country. Hank did leave us for a bit, but he didn’t say what he was doing.
By the end of the day, when we packed up, I got another token. Returning to Hank’s place, we had a final recap, and another bar-b-queue. Hank sure puts on a great spread. As we were doing this, all my drones were returning back to me. I wound up collecting the swarms into several pocket dimensions to make travel easier. However, the Zin Construction Spider wouldn’t fit in the HT, and there were too many Zin Spider Crew to fit in the HT with me. I needed transport.
“Ysys, I need something to get all my stuff back home. But I also want it fast and dangerous. The HT could take hours to get to where yesterday’s incursion happened. Given how thin we are in this region, I would like to be able to get there in a reasonable time. If I can get there before the pods release everything, I need a gun to take out an entire pod. If I don’t, then having sufficient firepower to thin the ranks of all the higher models. Maybe even bring some support with me.”
The Class I Armored Assault Vehicles only gets you halfway there. Sufficient cargo capacity for your HT, and drones, can easily be found. Even some that are hypersonic. Likewise, there are ones that have sufficient punch. But getting both in the same package pushes it into Class II.
“What does Class II get me?”
With the improved materials, and technology, you can combine the speed and power you want. Additionally, the onboard AI is better able to handle the changing environment. When you are going after pods, you need control systems capable of handling the ECM and static the rifts generate.
“Hm… I have plenty of tokens. What would you recommend in the Class II catalog?”
You would need the Class II Armored Assault Vehicles catalog for 5000 points and one token. Combining your other catalogs, I would recommend the Dragonfly Enforcer for 28500 points. This would include a sensor package comparable to what you have now, but with a five mile range. While it can see beyond the horizon, it doesn’t have full fidelity beyond five miles. The primary weaponry is capable of destroying an average sized pod before it lands. The weaponry is capable of taking down an established hive, although limiting the collateral damage may be difficult.
In addition to the hypersonic flight, it can hover and dance on the battlefield. As for cargo, it has a rear hatch that can release craft in low speed flight, as well as handle regular cargo operations. It is capable of transporting a PMC to support you as well as your HT and drones with room left over. It can serve as a command post for the PMC, both en route, and once on site.
“Oh… I like. I need to think about it.”
I spend a little time relaxing with another beer, then I sought out Hank. I spoke to him about my idea, and if it was reasonable. He said it was my choice, but if I did go this route, I would be expected to respond to incursions further away. I would likely also have to up my game, as I would also be called in as emergency backup for Samurai in trouble.
After thanking him, I headed to my HT, and thought about it for a while. Eventually, I said, “Ysys. Hank is right. Get me the dragonfly. Time to take more responsibility for protecting people.”
Very well, here’s your new jet.
Even as she told me, I saw the air in front of me waver briefly, and suddenly it was here.
Opened Class II Armored Assault Vehicles catalog – 5000 points and one token
Dragonfly Enforcer – 28500 points
New Total – 1243637 points, 9 tokens
I loaded everything into the dragonfly, and then headed home.
Stray Cat Strut [Stubbing Never - lol]
In the year 2057, the world has become a corporate-run utopia for the super-rich, and a hellhole for all the rest.
Catherine 'Cat' Leblanc is an orphan that is about as far from super-rich as one can be. When the Incursion alarms start blaring and the sky starts raining hungry xenos, it's just another blemish on an already piss-poor afternoon.
A cyberpunk magical-girl alien-invasion LitRPG.
It’s exactly as wild as it sounds.
Teddy Bears on Brigade
Evelyn "Teddy" Claire is a street kid just trying to make ends meet. That's hard to do when you live in the undercity, a near slum found underneath the foundations of the megacity of Calgary.
Usually, her only concerns are finding a good meal, and avoiding taking a bullet in a gang fight, but that all changes when an Antithesis incursion manages to find its way below.
Empowered by a benevolent alien race, she becomes a Samurai, one of the protectors of humanity. Now, she must work to exterminate the Antithesis stuck below ground. Before the Antithesis exterminate her and everyone else.
