“I’m not sure how you got those two assholes to cooperate, but they were a lot more receptive today than they were on Wednesday,” Nora said as she stretched out.

  “They weren’t that much better,” I grumbled. “We spent most of the day arguing about semantics, but at least we didn’t spend it talking about the best way to split the seats again.”

  The two of us had just finished another day in the council room, trying to iron out a few policies to make the changeover as smooth as possible. Rather than having everyone in the room at the same time, we’d started taking shifts over the last couple of days. It prevented everyone from getting burned out and, more importantly, let Angeline spend more time with her daughter.

  The meetings were boring, and even though I knew they were important. I often felt completely out of my depth. I had absolutely no frame of reference for most of these issues and didn’t have a clue how to solve them, but I helped where I could.

  “Hopefully Squiddy and the backstabber can finish ironing out the ideas tomorrow.”

  “Evelyn, I know you and Hel aren’t on the best terms right now, but could you maybe hold back on the insults, just a little?” Nora asked awkwardly.

  “Nope, I have exactly two ways of getting my frustration with someone out of my system: verbal violence or physical. She’s lucky I’m restricting myself to insults,” I explained.

  “Right. Lucky,” Nora scoffed. “Well, I hope you do get it out of your system, and you make up, before she leaves.”

  “We’ll see,” I grumbled. “What that woman did crossed the line. I know I was a little worked up, but sticking a needle into my neck and pumping me full of drugs? Even if I didn’t have problems with drugs, that still would have been unacceptable.”

  Nora winced at my mini tirade, so I took a deep breath to calm down and changed the subject. “Hopefully we’ll finish our plans for the government changeover in the next few days, but that still leave us with one major loose end.”

  Nora scrunched up her nose. “What?”

  “The Denver military. Their entire military, including half a dozen superheavies, is just sitting there on the east side,” I explained.

  “That’s a lot of hardware… Why are they still here?” Nora asked.

  “Probably because they spent a lot of time and money to start this war and they don’t have anything to show for it,” I muttered. “I’ve threatened to come down on them if they start wrecking the city again, so they’re probably trying to figure out how to proceed.”

  “Can’t you just threaten them until they leave?”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I feel kind of awkward doing that,” I admitted. “I didn’t want to get involved in the conflict, but did because the council decided to be assholes, and now I’ve kind of fucked up their plans. I don’t actually have any issues with them taking their anger out on the big five, just as long as they keep the rest of the city out of it.”

  “Well, if you want advice on corporate-related matters, you can always call Charlotte,” Nora suggested.

  “Maybe I will,” I muttered, before glancing at the other girl. “Do you need a ride home today?”

  “Nope, I’m doing an exhibition today at one of the nearby convention centers! Gonna show them what my legs can do!” Nora exclaimed. She began to bounce up and down on her cybernetic legs; even this small motion sent her a couple feet into the air.

  “Why didn’t you tell me? Or any of the others? I’m sure the kids would have loved to come and watch you,” I pouted.

  “This is just the first exhibition, a test if you will. I wanted to make sure everything went smoothly before I invited everyone,” Nora explained.

  “Fine, but you better invite us to the next one. Issi would never forgive you if she missed it.”

  “Way to guilt-trip me. Fine, I promise.” Nora muttered before twirling in place and jogging off down the street. “Later!”

  “So long,” I replied with a wave. When she was out of sight, I quickly descended the stairs at the front of the building and headed towards the waiting Kodiak. I’d been working long hours the last few days, so I was eager to get home, but the trip back did give me time to do one last thing.

  “Time to call Charlotte,” I muttered as the hatch closed behind me and the Kodiak took off.

  My augs hummed for a few seconds while I waited for the connection to be made. When it did happen, it wasn’t Charlotte on the other end.

  [Evelyn, what a surprise. What can I do for you today?] Mirage asked jovially.

  [I called Charlotte, why did you intercept my call?] I growled.

  [I didn’t. Charlotte has important business to handle today, so her AI is redirecting all samurai related business to me,] he said. [Now, what can I do for you today?]

  [I wanted some advice from Charlotte, but as much as I hate to admit it, you’ll do in this case,] I begrudgingly admitted. [The Denver invasion force is still sitting on the East side of the city, and I wanted to know the best way to get rid of them.]

  [That might be a little difficult,] Mirage muttered. [You see, the problem is that according to corporate law, companies can only declare war on other companies, never a third-party entity. That’s why Advanced System Dynamics declared war on the big five instead of Calgary itself. Now, the goal of a corporate invasion is to either capture the CEOs of the target company or get them to capitulate. They can’t do that now that you’ve thrown the entire council in jail. The big five could elect new CEOs but won’t do that while ASD and their allies are in the city; it’s kind of a loop hole in the rules.]

  [So there’s no way to get rid of them? Wonderful,] I grumbled.

  [I didn’t say that, I said there was no way for them to win the war. They can always be bargained with, bought off, or threatened. At the end of the day this is all about corporate interests.]

  [Well, I don’t know and don’t care about their interests. I just want them gone. My friends and I have far too much on our plate right now to worry about Denver’s military fucking something up.]

  Mirage sighed. [I could talk to them if you’d like. This is a corporate related issue, and as the corporate representative of the Family, it is technically my responsibility.]

  [You think you can convince them to leave?]

  [Probably not, but I can at least discover what they’re after. Once we know that, we can discuss if that’s something we can actually give up, or if there’s an acceptable alternative,] Mirage confidently explained.

  [Do you honestly think we’ll have anything they’d actually want?]

  [You’d be surprised how far some people would go to get a hold of samurai tech,] Mirage grumbled. [Let me talk to them first, find out what’s going on, and I’ll get back to you.]

  [Alright… thanks, I guess,] I mumbled.

  [No problem, I’ll talk to you later.]

  When he hung up, I just stared blankly at the back of the Kodiak. Did I just had a civil conversation with Mirage? I never thought I’d live to see the day.

  As the Kodiak descended into the undercity, I prayed that things would settle down over the next few days. Between the refugee camps and the council issues, I was starting to feel stretched thin. I missed the days when I could solve all my problems by blowing them up.

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