Chapter Ten - More Questions than Answers

    Chapter Ten - More Questions than Answers

    By 2020, China was well on its way to becoming the worlds second superpower.

    By 2025, the country was in turmoil, plagued by economic instability (much of it caused by a global recession where many countries simply stopped importing goods), social unrest, and a growing feud between the ruling party and the few Samurai in the country.

    Most major shifts in global affairs past 2020 can be linked in one way or another to a Samurai, or a group of them, but Chinas near-collapse is the most obvious of these.

    In 2022, an incursion appeared over Fujian. The reaction of the government was, surprisingly, positive. By then many other global powers had their own Samurai, and China was looking forward to obtaining its own.

    The incursion went poorly, with the first mass appearance of Model Sevens. Someone, and it is still unknown who was responsible, authorized the use of low-yield nuclear weapons over the province.

    It secured a victory, but at the cost of nearly all local Samurai.

    In the following year, another pair of incursions appeared over the area: in Taiwan, and near Hong Kong. The Samurai born from these did not share an enthusiastic relationship with the Chinese government. By 2030, the area was governed by three countries, two of which were, and still are, under the protection of local Samurai warlords. The Democratic Republic of Hong Kong, the Independent Republic of Taiwan, and the Peoples Republic of China.

    --A History After the Drop, Online Lecture by Professor Sterne

    ***

    I grinned at all the workers. Wheres your manager? I asked.

    It took all of a minute for some sweaty middle-aged woman to jog over to meet me in the same corridor Id almost been shot in. H-hello, she said as she caught her breath. How can I help?

    Well, first, you can explain whats going on here, I said with a gesture to the workers behind her. Theyd stopped breaking into apartments and emptying them to stare at our little spectacle.

    Were checking the area for xenos, maam, the manager said.

    I stared at her, then at the cart laden with computers and televisions and tablets. Have the aliens been disguising themselves as PCs while I wasnt paying attention? I asked.

    The woman straightened. Its within our charter to recover any valuables left in the area.

    Uh-huh, I said. Youre not even tagging them or anything. Theres no way that someone that lives here will be able to tell their stuff apart from anyone elses.

    There are ways to recoup any lost belongings, the woman said. She didnt look comfortable saying it, and it only took a second of meeting her eyes to communicate that we both knew how full of shit she was.

    You guys can leave the rest of the stuff where it is, I said. And leave the cart too.

    She hesitated. I could almost see the math working itself out behind her eyes. She was no doubt going to be losing a lot of credit with this, but I found myself with few fucks to give. I, of course, well clear out right away.

    Good. Now, Im looking for someone. Myalis, can you send her a photo?

    Of course. Consider it sent.

    The manager shook her head. Never seen her. One moment. She had me nervous for a moment as she reached into a big pocket, but it was only to retrieve a tablet. Soon she was clicking through images. Faces, some bloody, others not. Most with their eyes closed, and all obviously dead.

    Whats that? I asked.

    One of our duties here is clearing out the dead. There arent usually that many, but some xenos did make it over here.

    I nodded. Id seen as much with what little footage of Katallina Id seen. You keep a catalogue of the dead? I asked.

    She nodded absently while still scrolling past pictures. The dead, and their IDs if we can find them. I cant find anyone fitting the bill. The only person that looks about the right age is this boy.

    I found myself before a shitty old desk with a pair of dusty screens before it. There was a minifridge in the corner, and an ashtray overflowing with used filters.

    Sitting down, I turned to the screens, then, realizing I knew nothing about what had to be done, turned to the fridge instead. There was a small bounty of energy drinks in there.

    Youre really working hard on this mission, arent you?

    I kicked back, legs crossing atop the desk as I examined two cans. One was Hyper Sucrose Extreme!, a special edition can with some anime figure on it. It had to be an import because the can didnt have any nutritional information other than fuckloads of sugah! written in small text at the bottom.

    The other choice was some Boomerade. It had some silver-haired Samurai on its side giving me a thumbs up and occasionally winking.

    I stuck to the can with the anime girl on it. She was less creepy. A sip and a full-body shiver later, and I gestured to the screens. Have you found anything? I asked.

    Myalis response was a long suffering sigh.

    The screens came on, and I got to see the same video of Katallina running, though now from two angles.

    Do we have anything earlier? I asked.

    All the cameras in the other areas of the building are defective and have been for some time. Maintenance logs claim that they were taken care of, but the evidence suggests otherwise. Theres more.

    The footage sped ahead, changing angles every so often as Myalis changed cameras. I got to see the girl running, tears streaming from her eyes. The gun she had was definitely high-tech, more so than the raggedy clothes she had on.

    Her dog barked on camera, and jumped at a Model Three that was charging at her.

    I was nervous for a bit, until she gunned the alien down and called her dog back to her side.

    She seemed to be making good time across the building, no doubt racking up a few points as she went down one staircase, then another, meeting more aliens as she went.

    No stopping for new gear, not even when she paused to replace the magazine in her gun with one from a back pocket.

    Too nervous? In too much of a hurry? Maybe the adrenaline was in the way.

    This one is from this floor.

    The next bit was very familiar. Katallina running with her dog at her heels, Model Threes coming out behind her in chase.

    And then she ran into a group of three men in black uniforms. Full-face masks, armored padding, all in pitch black.

    They gunned the aliens down, then moved up to Kattallina who looked surprised for a moment. I couldnt blame her.

    She smiled, hope breaking through the tears at last, and pointed to something behind her.

    Then one of the men grabbed her and tossed her to the floor.

    The dog was kicked aside. Something was sprayed in her face, and she fought for a bit before going limp.

    They tied her up, then did the same to her dog, knocking it out and tying its paws together with straps.

    My feet dropped from the desk. What the fuck, I said.

    That is certainly the right question to ask.

    ***