Chapter Fifty-Seven - The Okay Before the Oof


    Chapter Fifty-Seven - The Okay Before the OofWhen samurai work together, itll either lead to greater success, or a lot more chaos. The personalities of various samurai tend to be quite different, and they also tend to share some commonalities. Those commonalities often include a distrust of others and of authority, and that makes it complicated for them to work together if theres a direct and clear hierarchy in place.


    Not that it hasnt happened and wont happen again. Were just stubborn sometimes.Chee?ck out latest novels at novelhall.com


    --Laserjack, on samurai-samurai relations, 2054


    ***


    Things were going... alright. I was a little tired after running around all over the place putting out fires, but it seemed that, at least for now, the city would hold up.


    And just as I was thinking that, I got a call from Gomorrah.


    Hey, I said as I answered. I was still at the mall, having just finished up a... I supposed it was a presentation, with Lucy. I didnt have concrete plans on where to go next.


    Hello, Gomorrah said. Im on the lake-side of the city, by the walls. Things are getting a little... uncomfortable over here. I think we could use your help.


    I nodded. Sure, Im on my way. Just send me your coords and Ill be there in ten, faster if you think its an emergency.


    We can afford to wait ten minutes, Gomorrah said. Things arent that dire yet. But yes, Id appreciate having you here.


    I nodded, cut the call, then sent a text to Jessica. The sexbot had become Lucys secretary of sorts. At least as an android she was quick to reply to texts and such, much faster than a person, even if she lacked some social graces sometimes. She replied instantly to my request and said that a car would be waiting for me outside.


    Pretty handy, that.


    I checked my gear as I headed out. I had my armour on, and it was reading all green on my HUD. Its batteries were down to 89% but I figured that was a non-issue for now. My railguns were down a few rounds, so I got Myalis to top them up, just in case. Then I checked on my laser pointer. It was currently full of... flechette rounds. Yeah, that would work for now.


    I had a couple of grenades on my belt. Resonators, garrots, one of those black hole bombs for a tight situation. My handgun was strapped to my thigh and full of ammo, and I had my coat on top of everything.


    I checked that my helmet was on correctly as I walked out of the mall, then found the car that was going to bring me out to the front.


    It was one of those econocars, a tiny little electric thing that ran off of a lawnmower engine and that had a top speed that was in the double digits. The inside had room for two if they were willing to get comfy with each other.


    I wanted to complain, but then that would waste time, and then Id need to find another way over and... Hey, didnt I order my bike down to here? I asked.


    Some time ago, yes.


    I used the time we were spending on the introductions to check out the overall situation. The walls had been tested all along their length through the night and early morning. Just probing attacks from the aliens. Nothing too hard to push back. That started to change over the last half hour or so. The aliens had started to concentrate their pushes along two spots.


    Okay, I said. Looks like theyre getting serious.


    More serious, yes, Gomorrah said. Im getting a lot more activity from the lake too. The temperature rose three degrees overnight. Which isnt normal in the least, and its only been rising faster since. Theres some activity on the shore. Smaller models coming out of the water and running towards the city, but I think most of the movement is underground right now.


    Fuck, I said with feeling. What about the other hives?


    Nothing from them, Gomorrah said. Atyacus gives us a seventy-percent chance of having cleared them with our nanomachine attacks and that last big fire. We havent seen anything from them, so Im going to assume we dont need to dedicate too much to worrying about them.


    I nodded along. That was good. So our worry was now entirely about the underlake hive, which was basically sending more and more aliens our way.


    Do you have a plan already, or should we just dry the lake up and boil the fuckers? I asked.


    Thats plan B, Gomorrah said. Its... somewhat extreme. I got some climate prediction software after what we did in New Montreal. If we burn off the entire lakes water supply, itll... be pretty bad for the environment.


    God, I cant imagine, Sprout said. Boiling the entire lake would just destroy any bit of its ecosystem left intact. There would be no saving it once the antithesis are removed.


    Okay, so thats plan B, fine, I said. Whats plan A?


    I noticed that a lot of people around us were starting to move differently, and the frequent retort of gunfire from around the wall picked up. It sounded like the aliens were testing us again.


    Plan A is to hold out until an expert arrives, Gomorrah said. But that doesnt mean that we cant do something at the same time. I think we should create a firewall.


    Like on a computer? I asked. Did you pick the term because it has fire in it?


    I was being a little more literal, Gomorrah said. I have some explosives that can spray liquid fire around an area for an extended period of time. I want to create a wall between the antithesis and the city.


    Thats a stalling action, I said. The aliens on the other side would just have more time to group up and grow stronger.


    Theres more, Sprout said. I have some new seeds I want to spread. Theyll need some time to grow, but once they do, they can turn the lost part of the city into a deathtrap for the antithesis.


    Alright, I said. Sounds easy enough. Gom, you need help with those bombs? Ive got a few that might help with that wall of yours.


    ***