Chapter Fifty-Three - Palace

    Chapter Fifty-Three - Palace

    Samurai are incredible. But they are not infallible.

    -Two-Slices, June 2023

    ***

    Deus Ex somehow chose not to act like the little laser gremlin that she was, and waited outside for Lucy and I to come and greet her. Maybe it was a courtesy thing. Or maybe samurai didnt step into each others bases without permission because of... common sense or something.

    That might make sense, actually.

    I opened the front door and held it open behind me for Lucy and the Dumbass that Myalis was currently controlling. Across from me, on the wide surface of the landing area that took up a chunk of our floor, was Deus Ex, the girl sitting on one of her twin laser... hover... things.

    Yo! I said.

    Deus blinked. Oh, hey, she said. New place?

    Yup, bought it yesterday, I said.

    She nodded. Nice. I have work for you.

    I crossed my arms. You know, most people work up to their requests. Maybe a bit of small-talk? Some questions about the family? Polite shit.

    Do either of us care about that? she asked.

    Well, no, but itd be nice to pretend.

    Lucy waved. Hi Deus Ex!

    Hello, Deus Ex said. Fine, I guess we can do the small talk stuff. I need a bit of a breather. And I guess the works not until tonight anyway.

    What work? I asked.

    Lucy poked me. You literally just agreed to do small talk first. Come on Deus! We have vending machines left over. We can grab you something to drink. What do you like?

    Ah, um, anything, I guess? Deus Ex said.

    I eyed the girl for a moment. She wasnt being as rambunctious as usual. Then again, last time I saw her she didnt have bags under her eyes either. Have you been sleeping? I asked.

    Not since the New Montreal incursion started, no, she admitted. Im running on stims. Or I was, theyre wearing off. I took a cleansing solution to wash them out. I should be fine by tomorrow.

    You need sleep, I said.

    Deus Ex rolled her eyes as she picked out the drink with the most caffeine and sugar from the bunch and popped the tab. During the last incursion, the one that hit New Montreal, we had some difficulty tracking the landing area for most of the antithesis pods, she began.

    Dont samurai have great equipment for that? Lucy asked.

    We do, but its a bit scattered. It really depends on the city. New Montreal was last hit, uh, I don''t know, a decade ago? The system currently in place was built right after that. Its not as good as it could be.

    Alright, I said. So you dont know where every bit of alien goop landed.

    Not all of them, no. Those that fell from high-orbit are easy to track. We have overlapping scans of them coming down and can extrapolate from there. Then those in lower orbits were mostly visible from hover car dash-cams and street sonar. So we know where they went too. But it took a while for someone to decide to look into all the footage to make sure we werent missing anything.

    And you missed something? I asked.

    She nodded. There are samurai that dont like high-risk work. They tend to come in after an incursion to help with the clean-up stuff. It means killing a few aliens and clearing the sewers and the area around a hive, usually with drones and stuff. Theyre useful Vanguards, but they grow really slowly.

    But its safe, I guessed.

    Yeah, Deus Ex said. I dont like that kind of work. Its not rewarding enough. Maybe half the Vanguard out there become that sort. Anyway, one of them tracked a bit of antithesis debris to--actually, can I use your drone?

    Go ahead, I said.

    Myalis hopped onto the table with cat-like grace. What do you wish to display? she asked.

    Oh, its your AI. Nice. Ah, these maps, and this file, as well as this, Deus Ex said. Thank you.

    Shes more polite to Myalis than to you, Lucy mock-whispered.

    The AI deserves it, Deus Ex said. It stung all the more since she delivered it as a plain fact.

    Myalis projected a holographic image of the Earth, then moved in on North America and finally the area we were in. Little black dots hovered in the air, and I recognized antithesis pods. They were falling slowly towards the city below.

    Thats a reconstruction made from hundreds of recordings, Deus Ex said. Look at this piece.

    One pod burst apart when a line of AA fire moved past it. Not through it though. From the wreckage came something that looked fleshy and that sprouted wings, and that then turned blurry.

    Bad angle? I asked.

    No. Organic ECM. A stealth antithesis. Maybe a new model. Lower active combat threat rating, but in this scenario more of a long-term threat. It glided all the way over to... here.

    The map shifted, showing a red dotted trajectory that went north, shifting here and there so that it was never quite a straight line until, finally, it hit near a small town.

    Thats Black Bear. Its a mining town with a population of about three thousand in what used to be the Mastigouche nature reserve. And about three hours ago, all contact with the town was lost. We think theres a small stealth hive growing near there, and we need someone to go blow it up.

    ***