I returned to the secure section, a little worse for wear. It took a few minutes to figure out how to carry the railgun, in the end I just lashed it to the back of Spooky with a bunch of cords I found on one of the market stalls. He looked a little wonky with the barrel extending a full two feet beyond his head, but he seemed stable.

  I, on the other hand, looked like a total fucking lunatic. It turns out, one of the side effects of firing a military grade, anti tank railgun, was static electricity. My short brown hair refused to cooperate, it looked like a slightly puffy afro instead of the curly mass I was used to.

  I tried for about a minute to get it under control, shocking myself about half a dozen times before I thought ‘Screw it’, and shoved the entire mass up under my hood. It wasn’t like I took massive pride in my appearance most of the time, and we were in the middle of an alien invasion. I’d just deal with the mess later.

  I stepped up to the door, and reached out to knock, but before I could Jessup’s voice echoed out from the other side “It’s done?”

  “I left a fucking mess in the front of one of your stores,” I said, "and everyone needs to take pills to ward off the zombie worms, but yeah, I got it done.”

  There was a heavy thump from the far side of the door, followed by a grinding noise as the door was slowly pushed open. The man behind it was huge, at least seven feet tall, dark black eyes, immaculate goatee and suit. Not the kind of person I was used to dealing with. He looked me up and down then scoffed. “Nice hair, kid.”

  My eyes narrowed. I didn’t appreciate someone laughing at me after everything I’d been through today.

  “Thanks, I got it by putting a round through an Antithesis that had more armor than a tank,” I replied casually. His smirk fell a little. “It’s still laying over in your fashion store if you want to take a look."

  He coughed. “You said everyone needed pills?”

  “Yeah, just a precaution in case more of those zombie worms are around,” I said. “Make sure your guys sweep the entire place when you’re out. How many people are down there?”

  “About a hundred and eighty,” he replied.

  I had to pause, “Pardon?”

  His smirk returned, stronger than ever. “You think I’d leave people up here to die? As soon as the first Antithesis appeared I ordered the security shutters closed, while my boys held them off. When it was apparent that the doors weren’t going to close we moved everyone we could into the warehouse,” Jessup explained. “It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but I wasn’t going to let people die on my watch.”

  “Then what about the people outside?” I asked suspiciously

  “If I had to guess, they came from the Stacks out back,” Jessup said. “We saw them pile in on the security cameras once we’d already locked up.”

  I looked him up and down. “Well I’m glad you were well prepared,” I remarked.

  “It’s been my experience that someone in my position can either prepare for the worst, or experience it,” Jessup told me. “I prefer planning.”

  I laughed, despite myself. “Makes sense.” Convinced I had what I needed from Mr Jessup I held up an empty hand. “Nyx, Pills please.” An instant later a small stack vacuum-packed pill boxes appeared. “Remember, one each before they’re let out,” I told the man as I handed him the boxes.

  He nodded and started walking back, but paused for a moment before looking back. “Can you move your bots away from the door please? We have kids down here, those things will give them nightmares,” Jessup remarked before disappearing back inside.

  I turned and looked at my bots, who were lined up behind me. I’d started to get used to their look after Spooky saved my life the first half dozen times. I guess people would find them shocking the first time the bots for the first time.

  “Nyx,” I started.

  Already on it. That last purchase tanked your points, thankfully you killed that model twelve and secured the area for these people. Congratulations, you now have four hundred and nine points and one token. Now if you want some clothing for our friends, I would recommend the robotics facade catalog, which you can use to purchase various outer coverings for between three and ten points a piece. I WOULD show you some options through your augs, but what you have is so old they don’t even support streaming. We will have to fix that.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Fuck,” I sighed, ”I know, but I wouldn’t exactly consider that a priority right now. Start a list of necessary upgrades, and add that to the top. How many options do I have for these facades?”

  Billions. Do you trust me to make some choices for you?

  I snorted. “No, but if I don’t like it I’ll change it later. Show me your worst!”

  Purchased - Robot Facade Catalog purchased - 50 Points

  Purchased - Robot Facade 5x5 points - 25 points.

  Points remaining - 334

  There was just a tiny pause, then an outer skin appeared on all the bots. Each was slighty different, but there was a definite theme. I felt my eye twitch.

  “Nyx, what the hell?” I groaned.

  Standing in front of me were a series of teddy bears. Spooky was a dark gray, the other two combat models were a standard brown, the detector was a red fox. All four of them were wearing combat helmets and bulletproof vests, the same color as my hoodie.

  I think it’s fitting

  “I think you’re insane,” I yelled just as the door behind me opened again.

  I jumped, turning just in time to see Jessup leading a group of guards. The squad did a really quick sweep, before returning to the warehouse and releasing the civilans.

  “Evelyn!”

  One girl, black hair pulled back into a neat ponytail, dressed in a worn leather jacket, threadbare backpack and torn jeans, swooped down and pulled me into a tight hug. Unfortunately, due to the differences in our height my head was mashed into her cleavage.

  “Jane, it’s nice to see you again, but could you maybe not hug me so tight?” I asked.

  “Evelyn I just spent the last hour slowly suffocating in a room that was so tightly packed that I couldn’t even sit down. Can you please let me show you my appreciation for once in your life?” Jane asked.

  I squirmed “Can’t breathe.”

  “Fine,” Jane said, releasing me and taking a step back so she could look me up and down. “How did this happen then? Not that I’m complaining about the save.”

  “I was at the Shelter with Dante when everything went down. Dragged his butt to Leah’s place, heard a voice in my head. You know, the usual.” I tried to play it cool, but then I realized something. “Oh shit, I promised to update Leah. What time is it?”

  Jane bonked me on the head, “Don’t ignore the people that care about you, you gonk, even if you’re busy saving people.”

  “What are you doing here anyways? I thought you were staying home with Alan and the kids today,” I asked.

  She grimaced, “It’s like I told you before, since you’ve been having trouble finding decent salvage lately I thought I’d pick up a couple quick courier jobs. I was waiting for my contact here when everything went to shit, a bunch of those dog things burst in, security started shooting, then everyone was ushered into that warehouse,” she explained. “You know the rest.”

  I nodded, “Well, I’m glad you’re ok,” I told her. “I’d escort you home, but I doubt that’s a good idea, it’s probably better for you to wait here until the situation clears up.”

  Jane stared at me for several seconds. “Are you really going back out there?” she asked quietly.

  I paused, for just a moment. “I am,” I admitted. “I never thought of myself as a hero. Fuck, you know I did everything in my power to avoid fights, but we both know the police and gangs aren’t going to do shit. They’ll sit in their strongholds and try to wait out the Antithesis, while most of the population gets hunted down. I may be the only one in the entire undercity capable of dealing with this situation.”

  Jane sighed. “As much as I want to deny that, I can’t. We’ve all heard the stories of what samurai are capable of, but… you better being fucking careful, and come home when this is all finished. Got it!”

  “Yes ma’am” I answered seriously, but adding a mock salute to soften it up.

  I gave her one last hug before wandering off to find Mr. Jessup, to let him know I was leaving. I found the man in ‘Low Fashion’, talking to a couple other people and surveying the remains of the Twelve I’d left there.

  “Sorry, I don’t do cleanup,” I said as I entered the store.

  Jessup turned, one eyebrow shot up when he saw my bots. “Hey killer, thanks for clearing the area for us.” He paused, looking me over. “I’m guessing you don’t want to stick around.”

  I shook my head, “Things are bad out there right now, and I may be the only one capable of dealing with it,” I told him. “Even if I can’t clear out the Antithesis, I feel like I should at least check the other secure locations around the district, and make sure they’re ok.”

  “Got any idea where you’ll head first?” Jessup asked.

  I thought for a minute, “Probably the precinct,” I said. “It would be the next largest shelter in the entire district, assuming the cops actually let anyone in.”

  He scoffed. “Big if.” I watched as his eyes went blank for a moment, probably calling someone upstairs, and after a few seconds the door rolled open, just wide enough for me to squeeze out. He offered his hand, and I took it. “See you around kid. Don’t get killed,” he said as we shook.

  I smiled softly, as I let go of his hand. “Stay safe, big guy,” I muttered softly before I turned and jogged towards the door, my little posse behind me.

  It was time to get back to work.

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