Chương 106: Book 2 - Chapter 26 - Population Density

"So what gave me away?" Helen asked as we slipped into a side room. She'd dropped the uptight, assistant persona and slid into an easychair with a smirk.

"It was the eyeroll, wasn't it. I knew it was too much, but I couldn't help it."

"Actually, it was the aura. Some sort of charisma-boosting catalog?" I replied as I carefully lowered myself down onto the couch across from her.

"Well spotted. I needed it to give Mathias a boost. The man is passionate about the cause and optimistic to a fault, but he needed some extra help to get this operation going. I just picked up some choice tech from the catalog afterwards."

"Why support them at all? You don't seem to be a believer," I said.

"You're right, I'm not. Mathias is charismatic but a bit of an idiot. He still doesn't know that I'm a samurai even though I've provided tech to the Guiding Light, and weapons to my direct subordinates."

"So why are you here? The only thing the Guiding Light is good for is agitating the gangs, and causing trouble." I frowned as I watched Helen's grin grow wider.

"Exactly so," the blond replied.

"It may seem messed up, but that's exactly what I'm using them for."

"Why?" I asked, bewildered.

"Because it's necessary," Helen sighed. She relaxed her neck, let her head fall back, and stared at the ceiling. There was a moment of silence before she started talking again.

"I awakened about six years ago, just two weeks after the government cracked down on the chaos down here. The antithesis weren't from an incursion, don't know where they came from, but they burst from the sewers and just started ravaging the area. Took me five days to clean them up." She paused, "You know what my AI Sisyphus told me when everything was done? We were lucky the fighting cleared out some of the population.

Without proper shelters to protect them, the people were easy pickings for the antithesis, and if the population density had been a little higher, the antithesis probably would have had access to enough biomass to overwhelm me."

"That's sad, but what the fuck does that have to do with what you're doing now?" I asked.

"I'm getting to that," Helen snapped, sitting up straight again.

"Sisyphus likes numbers, so we had a ton of conversations on what'll happen if the antithesis hit the undercity. It's not good. If you hadn't awakened during that last incursion, the antithesis probably would have completely overrun the surrounding nine sectors before the other samurai shut them down. Casualties in the hundreds of thousands. I actually consider that a fairly good outcome." A bottle appeared on the table between us, and Helen took a moment to open it and take a long swig before continuing.

"I wasn't convinced at first, but after seeing hundreds of Sisyphus's simulations I realized the truth; if the population of the undercity isn't kept under control it'll become a breeding pit for the antithesis. One that'll cascade out of control before the other samurai can react. The Guiding Light is something I can manipulate to cause these large scale conflicts I need to keep things under control.

""That's… insane. You're creating another purge to keep the population under this imaginary breakpoint?" I asked, flabbergasted. Helen nodded.

"Sacrifice a few to save the many. Even between the two of us, we can't cover the entire undercity, and if an incursion is left unopposed for even an hour, it can spiral out of control, I just want to give us a fighting chance. Ask your AI, it'll tell you I'm right."

"That's bullshit, right, Nyx?" The population of the undercity, and lack of reliable protection, does create a possible weakness that the antithesis could exploit to overwhelm the city. Having both you and Helen in the area does make the situation safer, but if either of you were away, or unaware of a situation, it could quickly get out of hand. Many Protectorate races do believe the good of the many outweighs the good of the few, and are willing to purge entire areas to stop incursions.

I didn't bring this up before, because humanity, or at least the humans in this area of the planet, do not believe in sacrificing others.

"Fuck me," I muttered.

"Told you," Helen retorted.

"It's not exactly the best way to fight the antithesis, but it's better than losing the city." She took another long swig, before leaning back and sinking into her chair.

"You could use your points to build shelters, or early warning systems, instead of planning genocides," I said angrily.

"I have been," Helen replied with a shrug, "I've put sensors around the surrounding sectors, but there's only so much I can do on five incursions worth of points, plus my daily stipend. My coverage is still limited. As for shelters, even if I sunk all fifty thousand points into building secure sites I'd be able to protect, what? Two sectors? I'd rather supply a couple reliable allies with weapons, and give the entire city a better chance."

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"Allies, like the ones that shot me in the sewer?" I asked.

"That wasn't supposed to happen!" Helen assured me, "Those men were only supposed to be doing recon, searching for the antithesis presence so I could go in and take it out. I've already disciplined that man and removed him from my personal operations team. The last thing I want is to start a war with another samurai. I have enough to worry about." I stared at her for a moment. She seemed to be sincere, and after everything else she told me, I didn't think she'd lie about that.

It still didn't make me happy about the encounter. We stared at each other for several seconds.

"So, why didn't you contact the other samurai and ask for help?" I asked quietly.

"And say what?

'Hey, I'm a new samurai in the undercity. The situation down here is fucked, and may result in the city being overrun. You mind hanging around the areas I can't monitor? If not, I feel I may have to purge some of the population to prevent the city from falling.' I imagine that I'd either end up dead, or under surveillance for the rest of my life. They aren't worth dealing with," she spat back.

"You talked to me," I retorted.

"Only because you came looking for me," she replied angrily, "and you live down here, so I figured if anyone understood my point of view, it would be you. I can see now that's not the case." The two of us stared daggers at each other across the table. The situation was infuriating, I had a feeling we weren't ever going to see eye to eye on this, but neither of us wanted a samurai vs samurai war. I stood up, and stared at the other woman.

"I don't agree with what you're doing, even if you have a reason for it, but I'm not going to fight you over it. If we're going to try and co-exist, I want you to agree to three things before I leave." Helen raised an eyebrow, "Shoot."

"First, gimme your contact information so I can pass it on to the other samurai. I don't fucking know what their stance will be on your little crusade, but they sure as hell don't like you giving out guns." She frowned.

"Fuck no. I can't really stop you from telling them about me, but I don't want to talk to some high and mighty asshole that's never set foot in the undercity." I felt my eye twitch, "Fine, but you're keeping your crusade out of the north. I have enough recon to detect incursions, or hidden hives, and even if I'm not around, I'm confident my troops can delay any antithesis long enough for reinforcements to arrive. I'm not willing to sacrifice people unnecessarily, even if the city is safer for it."

Helen nodded, "And the last?" she asked.

"If I ever produce enough troops to protect the undercity from an incursion, you abandon your plans. Permanently." Helen stared at me for a long moment, before nodding again.

"Fine, I'll agree to that, but in exchange you don't interfere in any of my plans in the south, until you're prepared to take over."

"As much as I hate that, I guess it's fair." I turned towards the door, "Then I don't think we have anything else to talk about.

"Do you want me to pretend I don't know where we are, and take one of your cars out of here, or should I call for pickup?" I asked as the two of us walked towards the exit. As soon as we entered the hallway, Helen put her fake smile back on.

"Can you call for a pickup? I have Class I communication jammers throughout the compound, to prevent people from leaking information," Helen hissed.

"My augs are permanently connected to most of my troops. If things went south, I would have had an eight foot tall teddy bear jump from a transport and break through the roof to protect me."

"That's a joke, right?" I didn't answer or even look at her, so her fake smile fell a little.

"Right?"

"Bob gets a little testy when he has to make high altitude drops," I replied, opening the door back to the courtyard, a tiny smile on my face.

"Fuck me. I'm glad our talk went as well as it did." As Helen glanced up I had the IFVs flash their exterior lights. She paled.

"Please take the car. I'm not sure the boys will be able to take it if an armored column landed within the compound."

"Understandable." I walked over to the car, and turned back towards Helen before getting in.

"It was nice to meet you, even if I don't totally agree with your methods. I hope, with time, you'll figure out a better way." She did a half wave in return.

"It's definitely been interesting. I'll see you around." I took one last look around the compound, then slid into the back of the car. As soon as I put my belt on the windows went opaque again, and the car began to drive away. I slumped a little. Was letting Helen carry on her war the right thing to do? Fuck if I know. I'd done a lot of things other people would consider questionable, not to the level that Helen was willing to go to, but still not the norm. Maybe I was wrong? No, fuck that.

If I kept building up my forces, maybe I could add enough coverage that Helen would abandon her crusade.

"Nyx, please forward Helen's information to the Family, along with a transcript of our talk," I said, wearily. Do you think that's wise? They may take action against her.

"If they do, that's their prerogative. Maybe include a note that I do not plan to take any action. Helen and I have come to an agreement, and I'll abide by it. If they have a problem with that, they can send me a formal complaint, or whatever corporate garbage they do in that sort of situation." I let my head roll back, eyes defocusing, as I stared at the roof. I really wished I was fighting antithesis, it was a lot easier than dealing with people.