For the sed time today I found myself buying a set of entreng tools for the bears and digging through an Antithesis tunnel. I’ve never hated them more than I do now. It only took a few mio get through, but I was not in the best shape, or mood, by the time it was done.

  Humboldt, after passing through the newly opened passage, looked down at me with a look of . “You okay?”

  “No. The Antithesis are assholes, they won’t let me rest,” I said, ying ft on my ba the middle of the tunnel.

  She stepped arouo look at the age I’d left iunnel behind me. “Well, we’re almost done, just o find the hive itself and we’re done here.”

  I stuck a single arm into the air and started waving my hand around “Hooray”

  A burst of gunfire echoed dowunnel, I checked my Augs. Spooky had killed a couple of Model Threes, nothing like we’d been dealing with retly.

  Sitting up I gnced dowunnel, “I think killing that model Twenty Six really fucked their ability to setup a cohesive defence. Score one for the Samurai. Woo!”

  You know, I provide you with a stimunt to keep you going until this is all over.

  “Ns, fuck that. I’ve seen enough people suffer due to that shit.”

  These are Samurai grade…

  “No. Fug. Drugs,” I growled.

  Got it. Perhaps we’ll discuss alternative ways to improve your stamina when you’re ier shape.

  I dragged myself to my feet, and shouldered the CAR. Looking back I could see Humboldt was looking over the Twenty Six down at the end of the tunnel. “Let’s get going. The sooner we finish this the better”

  *************************

  “I was expeg more,” I said, looking down at the small pack of Threes we’d just sughtered.

  Spooky walked up and poked one of the corpses, “The hive hasn’t had time to fully develop, oure it could pump out hundreds of Model Threes in an hour. This one, maybe several dozen.”

  “A few dozen is still enough to do some serious damage to civilians,” Humboldt grumbled.

  I agreed, silently. “We have to be close now,” I said, stepping over the corpses, “any further south and we’ll be hitting the als”

  I sent the bears forward, I’d already proved that I was a threat to myself and others while walking at the front. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

  We walked iive silence for a few minutes, before Deadbeat pinged me. I pulled up his optics. “I think we found it, a couple hundred feet ahead.”

  “What’s it look like,” Humboldt asked.

  I focused on the image, trying to determihe best way to respond. “Like a misshapen, oversized carrot?”

  She shot me a dirty look.

  “What? That’s what it looks like. You’ll see in a few seds.”

  Rounding the er I got my first real look at the hive within. Okay, it didn’t quite look like an oversized ore like someone poured out a terrarium full of exotits and fungi all over the floors and walls, then stuck a carrot in it. The ground was coated iation, none of which looked terrestrial.

  The Antithesis in the room had almost been subdued by the time we arrived. It seemed like most had already bee out to slow us down, so there were only a couple dozen at the most. The most impressive was a Model Twelve, which had apparently charged Bob before being flipped onto its bad eviscerated, if the cut marks on its side were anything to go on.

  The hive WAS doing its best to fight back. Across the top of the chamber were a series of vines, and hanging from those were what looked like strange seed clusters, sacs. A series of small, six limbed, headless monkeys were rushing bad forth, cutting loose whichever seed was eveely ripe. As soon as they hit the floor the pods burst open, revealing emaciated model threes or fours, which were immediately gunned down by one of the bears. It looked like they had everything in hand already.

  “See those?” Humboldt poi the bottom of the main structure where a series e bulbous flower-like pnt structures sat. “I’m pretty sure those are filled with acid to dissolve and absorb the biomass. I saw something simir at the st hive, but they weren’t in the main chamber, and much bigger.”

  I hen poi the mohings. “And those?”

  “Model Tens,” Nyx said from a few feet away. “Hive tenders, and the closest Antithesis to their inal forms”

  I let that information soak in, then turowards Spooky, “Where did all the other models e from then?”

  “Other species which have been devoured. Little bits of their DNA are absorbed by the Antithesis and then incorporated. They replicate so quickly that rapid mutation occur, worthwhile ges are re-incorporated into the genome, useless ges are discarded. Effit.”

  “It’s disgusting,” I growled. “That means there could be humanoid Antithesis in a few years.”

  Unlikely, humanity rose to dominan your p due to your intelligenot your physical prowess.

  “I’m not sure if I should be relieved, or insulted,” I sighed, “How do we destroy this thing?”

  Sharron stepped forward, her sers cutting up the growth. “We either cut it up, or we could use some of those grenades you have”

  “Nyx, what’s the most effit way to clear this mess?”

  There are more effective catalogs for clearing hives, but in your case the flesh melters from your biomass denial catalog would be suffit, just not super effit.

  “Fine, get the bears to up the Model Tens then start distributing the grenades, I want out of here as soon as possible”

  *********************************

  It turned out ‘As soon as possible’ meant another half an hour of stuffing grenades into every ceivable location to prevent the hive from re-establishing itself. When we left there was nothing but a thick disgusting slurry. I holy wish I had bought boots earlier, it was disgusting.

  Humboldt patted me on the back as we exited the burrow, “I’m guessing yoing to rest nht?”

  I groaned, “There’s so much to do… I’m just too tired to do it now.”

  “Well, there’s always tomorrow. I o che with the people up above, but I’ll have Aeonys send you my taformation.” She smiled a tired smile, “I’m sure someone will tact you about joining up with the other local Samurai soon”

  “Awesome. More work. Woo!”

  “Worry about it ter, I’ll che on you in a few days. Stay safe alright.”

  “Alright”, as her suit stomped away I waved. I hadn’t expected to get any help from above when the day began, but I was gd I did. Humboldt was a good person.

  I raised my CAR and stared into the perpetual gloom above as I set off toward home, tomorrow would bring a whole new set of problems.