Chapter 7: Screw the points!

  “On several occasions, people have tried to endanger a samurai’s loved ones for one reason or another. The results have been… Destructive.”

  – General Jeffrey Fauler, New-United-States’ army, arguing with the president during the brief for operation ‘Backlash’, 2036.

  ***

  The emergency installation was, in fact, very painful.

  After placing an ‘overly cautious’ amount of disposable turrets, Altany gave me something that looked like a VR headset. It latched on hard. Even with the local anesthetic the damn thing ripped out my fucking eyeballs! Of course it would fucking hurt!

  “Fuck me sideways with a baseball bat!” I shouted while waiting for the pig cock sucking little shit box to finish its mother fucking job! I tried ripping it off. It didn’t budge an inch.

  You said you didn’t care about the pain. This is the fastest quality installation we can do.

  “I’m a cum filled gaping asshole then!” I’m pretty sure I would’ve cried if I could, but the damn little nanites were working hard at my fucking skull! Was that the fucking shit I avoided with the other installations? I was a goat fucking idiot!

  The installation is almost over, this is, by far, the most efficient way of doing this. Replacing your eyes in full will make for a better, more easily upgradable…

  “Suck a dog dick Altany!” I might have meant it or not, the haze of pain made me loopy. Pretty sure the nanites were fucking with my brain too! It was… disconcerting, to say the fucking least.

  Altany stayed quiet until we were done. It took less than thirty seconds. It was somehow worse than being crushed by a model six. Maybe the lack of drugs? I missed drugs…

  The box detached itself and I woke up panting on my knees behind the turrets. I needed a minute. After some deep breaths, I was ready to talk again. “Altany, I would like to apologize for my conduct. Also, let’s never do that again.”

  Your blood pressure, heart rate, and brain activity were rather concerning. I agree with your assessment. Also, I forgive you. Thank you for apologizing.

  “Can you get access to the cameras?” I asked out loud. I decided talking out loud was better. I liked it a lot more than subvocalizing, that’s for sure! If people had a problem with that I would refer them to the Bearier. It just felt a shitload more natural. It wasn’t like the plant fuckers would listen in!

  I finally opened my eyes and the difference was stark. It was like… wearing glasses for the first time. Everything was extremely clearer to the point where I didn’t think eyes were meant to see all those details!

  Like I’d been using 1080p eyes and switched to 16k! Also felt like I doubled my framerate, which was probably part of why those little assholes fucked with my brain.

  Some. Sadly, it appears that many cameras were stolen, broken, unmaintained or they belong to corporations that keep their data in exterior servers that I cannot access without a cyberwarfare suite and a net connection. Would you like to buy the cyberwarfare catalogue?

  I thought about it a moment, then grinned. “Yes please! Buy a good one! I’d love to fuck with the corpos that have been ruining this building! What kind of price can I expect?”

  The cyberwarfare catalogue has many tools of varying prices. For 120 points, I could empty the bank accounts of CEOs, break through most security with ease with direct access from the net.

  For 300 points, I could create semi-intelligent daemons that would infiltrate said CEO’s augs, stay hidden and take control of their offshore bank accounts when they access them. At higher tiers I could even create compressed hidden AIs to infiltrate and manage hostile networks without ever being detected.

  It may not be a wise use of resources to spend the majority of your points on this at the moment. However, it could be invaluable in the future.

  Finally having tools to mess with them would be indispensable. Every so often, they came around and just… took people. For parts or research, who knew?

  Plenty of normal people ended up down here because of some corporation born fuckery. My mom may have signed a non-disclosure agreement, but I knew her well enough.

  “Alright, get as much as you can for… 400 points. It’s a bit much but it’ll be extremely fucking useful later.” My mom…

  New purchase, anti-corporation tailored cyber-warfare suite!

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  Points spent… 400!

  Points remaining… 895!

  Suddenly, my eyes widened. “Altany can you…” But I stopped myself, not the time. Eyes on the prize. My parents were dead, they could wait.

  I looked at the notification Altany made since we weren’t in the middle of combat. Probably so I’d notice my point total. I’d been spending a lot. Being close to a thousand after all I’d bought was a testament to my rampage.

  “So, got those cameras?” I asked with some trepidation.

  A few, the coverage is patchy at best. You should be clear to turn the corner. Since the pitiful net connection has failed, I am using your augmentation’s wireless antenna to connect to what is in range.

  At her words I bolted upright and ran. I had to get to them. I’d waited for the cameras because if I didn’t have them, I’d need to be cautious around everything, just in case. Now I could just bolt. It was worth the minute of waiting.

  I’m seeing from a vending machine around the corner, however, I do not have eyes on the end of the corridor, you may meet resistance.

  “Got it!” As I closed in on the turn, I brought my Collapser up. “Altany, what do I have in the Bearier’s second mode?”

  You did not wish to reload it yet.

  “Give me… something that won’t kill civilians? Hell, now that I think about it, give me a drum of expanding slugs, something that’ll stay in something I shoot.” As I turned the corner, seeing no threat, I holstered my revolver and held my hand out for the new drum. It appeared almost instantly and I switched mags.

  Your Bearier’s under barrel is now equipped with deforming rounds coated in an anti-armor DLC coating. The coating sheds on impact, allowing more initial penetration. These are rather cheap but they are more likely to be non-lethal after killing an alien.

  Your 18mm drum is filled with ‘hex slugs’. They are mechanical slugs that flatten into the shape of a hexagon on impact, imparting as much energy as possible into the target.

  “Thanks…” I murmured as I got close to the next corner. There were definitely a lot of alien bodies. A worrying amount. I switched to my Bearier and scanned every corpse on my way, making sure none would leap at me. “Still no coverage beyond there?”

  I have observed living civilians from several desktop computers in the area. Many are injured.

  “Fuck…” Okay, I didn’t do a good enough job apparently. I stopped at the next corner, then had an idea. A stupid one but an idea nonetheless. I had just enough rounds for…

  The Collapser roared seven times, hitting already dead bodies. It made for a perfect ‘shave and a haircut’ rhythm. A fucking loud one too, which meant any battle deafened person would feel it in their fucking chest. A second later…

  “Boss?” I sagged in relief. Whatever Altany said, having first-hand confirmation of a living person relieved me like crazy. It meant I didn’t get myself half-killed for nothing.

  “Yeah that’s me! Don’t shoot my ass off or Robin will be pissed!” I answered with a smile.

  “Come quick, boss! Robin’s injured!”

  My smile vanished and I darted forward with all the strength in my augmented legs. “Where!?” I demanded from David as I turned the corner. I barely took the scene in and just went to the apartment he was pointing at.

  I saw him in an instant. Alice was by his side crying, Rachael holding her sister close and trying to keep her shit together. I knew that look on her face. There were massive gouges on his back leaking copious amounts of blood. My love held our youngest to his chest. He was turtling around him, refusing to let go for any reason, but barely breathing…

  “Altany gimme… whatever, fuck the points! Now!” I was barely aware as boxes appeared next to me and I followed instructions in a daze.

  “?a va aller mes belles… On va être correct… Tout va bien aller…/ It’s going to be okay sweethearts… We’re going to be alright… All will be well…” I muttered nice words to my kids as I worked. Both were dumbstruck, but I could see the flicker of hope in their eyes. I’d rather kill myself than extinguish it.

  I injected one thing after another. His lungs were so bad and filled with fluids he could barely breath in the nano-regenerative suite. Altany gave me a ton of things, I couldn’t keep track.

  Thoughts rushed in a jumble in my head. I have to save him he won’t die I can’t let that happen he has to live oh god Alice we’re it’s alright Rachael I can fix this fuck fuck no don’t you fucking dare I’m not doing this without you fuck’s sake come on please darling please don’t you…

  He is stable and recovering. You have saved him. He will live. You are done. Good job Louis.

  The words were gentle, meant for a frightened animal. I didn't mind. My breathing was erratic so I tried to calm down. My hands were shaking.

  He’d be okay. He wasn’t going to die. I’d done my job.

  I turned to my daughters, their eyes wide and wet. Rachael looked six years younger and unlike any teenager I’d ever seen. “Papa?”

  The words snapped me out of my daze even more. “Y va être correcte mes belles…/He’ll be alright sweethearts…” I hugged them tight, muttering reassurances, half of them lies.

  I reassured them, said I’d protect them, their brother, dad, friends and everyone else. I swore I’d kill all the aliens. I told them our home would be alright and we’d all end up happy.

  I’d make mother fucking sure they’d be alright if it was the last thing I did. I’d kill armies and destroy nations for them if I had to.

  Nothing else in the universe mattered but the shaking, shuttering bodies of my kids. They were so thin, so fragile. I wanted to give them all the warmth in my body. I wanted to make all their dreams and hopes a reality. I wanted to destroy everything that dared to scare them!

  Relief, rage, love, protectiveness and about a thousand other emotions rushed through me as I kept telling them everything I wanted them to believe, everything I wanted them to hope for…

  Hell, I was a fucking samurai now! I wasn’t just some destitute enforcer for a low-level gang. I had power, real power!

  The world would bend to the words I told my crying kids or I would fucking make it!