Chapter Fifty-Seven - Greedy Bits


    Chapter Fifty-Seven - Greedy Bits


    Sometimes, the greediest thing you can do, is to give unto others.


    --Riches to Rags, a guide on Corporate Living


    ***


    Minion Captain, I began. Why is this taking so long?


    Initially, things had moved pretty quickly. People had started to rush about, the cops barking orders that were repeated by others. There seemed to be a local fire-brigade out and about, some twenty volunteers who were helping to organize things, and some others were assisting them too.


    I supposed that moments like these were make-or-break for a lot of people.


    I had stepped out, and with Myalis help, bought three cat mecha.


    They were useful, mobile, and able to attack and defend fairly well as far as I could tell. That, and we could use them to corral people. They could even speak in that they had speakers built in that I could shout at people with.


    I had considered turrets, but turrets could have been made by just about any corp out there. They didnt serve to remind people that there was a samurai on the scene, it just said hey, the cops have even more guns than usual, and that was the opposite of reassuring. They also werent mobile, and while they had more firepower-per-point, I figured being able to move was more important.


    New Purchase: P.U.S.S. Model Y - Security Mechs - Combat Models - Three


    Points reduced to... 35


    Wed just need to stay mum about the name.


    So, things had started off well. The cat-bots were suitably impressive, there werent any aliens coming around to chow on the civvies, and things were moving.


    Well? I asked my newly appointed minion.


    The police woman hesitated. Were nearly done. We were going to just move everyone as one big group, but, ah, we ran into issues?


    Issues? I repeated.


    She shrugged. People want to arrive at the headquarters in order of seniority. Others want to make sure the children are safest. Theres some fighting upstairs.


    I wanted to pinch my brow. Everyone knows that if we dont get moving soon, everyone here will become alien chow, right?


    She took a moment before nodding.


    It was an entirely meaningless shape, surrounded by architecture that was just as useless.


    The rest of the building was good old brutalist. Square and plain. I much preferred that kind of look. You could always trust a square.


    The fence around the building was decorated to look a bit less like a fence, with curvy bits of metal on the outside and spiked bars above instead of barbed wire. The gate though, was just a massive slab of steel, one that was slowly opening as we approached.


    There were weapon emplacements all along the fenceline. Mostly sonic-weapons. There were more conventional kinetic weapons within.


    A glance inside revealed quaint little statuettes at even intervals along the inside. They had benches next to them, and little water fountains for drinking. Id bet a couple of credits that those were to hide the guns theyd use on anyone dumb enough to riot.


    A man ran out of the compound in full gear. Armoured chestpiece and hard-plastic plates over his arms and thighs. He even had a half-visored helmet on. Hello, he said as he came closer. Are you the samurai?


    Im one of them, I said. There should be three of us here. Gomorrahs in the muscle car. No clue where the third one is.


    And you want to bring all of these employees into the headquarters? he asked. His jaw set.


    I sighed. There was the trouble I was expecting. Yeah. Looks a whole hell of a lot safer in here.


    The corpo cop paused. Very well. We have authority from the higher-ups to allow any citizen of Black Bear into the headquarters. As long as they stay out of certain areas and remain calm, there shouldnt be an issue.


    Stay out of what areas? I asked.


    Research and Development, on floor three, the server rooms in the basement, and the NeoPinkerton armoury on the first floor. Were collapsing cubicles on most of the office floors to make more room already.


    Oh, I said. That sounded... reasonable. Well, okay then. Ill be leaving three of my mecha cats with you guys. They should help if any aliens break past the walls, which they might.


    The man nodded. Thank you. We could use more AA support. The best we have are a few anti-drone countermeasures on the roof, but thats the best weve got against flying targets.


    Uh, Ill talk to Gomorrah, then.


    You seem confused.


    I nodded to the cops, then tapped the side of my head in the universal Im on a call sign before backing away. The civvies were already filing in, escorted by a few more guards in armour who ran out to funnel them into the headquarters.


    I was expecting... corpo fuckery, I said.


    Humans can be vindictive, needlessly cruel and can lack empathy at the worst times. But they are generally quite good when it comes to doing what they think is in their best interest. Sometimes that math works out to meaning that the best thing to do in any given moment, is to help those they can as best they can. In this case, some of the administrators of this company judged that assisting their workers would mean that those same workers would be able to return to work sooner, and with less ill-will against the corporation as a whole.


    Thanks, I said. It really helps when you point out where the greedy bits are in all of this.


    Youre welcome!