Chương 284: Book 5 - Chapter 9 - Family Matters

"Why aren't there any frogs here?" I heard Issi ask as we finally made our way back to the family.

"Miss Isabelle, I believe I taught you that frogs were primarily found around freshwater ponds and streams. They didn't live under the ocean," her frog-bot of a teacher explained.

"Well, they should have. Frogs make everything better," Issi mumbled in reply before smushing her face back against a particularly large tank. From what I could tell, the tank only really held a half dozen different types of coral and a handful of different types of kelp. They were artfully arranged but wouldn't have been all that impressive to look at alone. The holograms really made the exhibit pop.

Hundreds of tiny fish darted between strands of kelp, desperately trying to avoid the massive predator, which casually circled the small forest. Down at ground level there were numerous smaller groups of fish frolicking through the coral, along with a number of different mollusks and crustaceans. Including one particularly unsavory specimen, which I still saw in my dreams.

"What are you staring at?" Issi asked after she pushed off the window and saw me.

"A monster in the making," I grumbled. The girl glanced at the tank, then back towards me, a confused look on her face.

"The guide says it's a mantis shrimp."

"Exactly. It may look cute and relatively harmless now, but it's a real killer." Layla snickered.

"Oh yeah, really scary." I turned and shot her a dirty look, causing her to throw up her hands.

"Hey, I've heard stories about what happened in Seattle and some of the insane things encountered down there, but you should realize that was early in your career. It probably wouldn't be more than a minor speedbump to your forces these days."

"Probably true," I admitted.

"Scary in a siege, but it's nowhere near as fast or tough as some of the things I've faced since then." Issi glanced between Layla and me, a befuddled look on her face.

"It's colorful!" she finally announced.

"It is that," I snorted, patting the girl on the head.

"Have you finished checking out all the exhibits?"

"Nope! I was watching the shork!" she exclaimed, pointing at the massive predator.

"He looked hungry!"

"That he does," I agreed.

"Make sure you check out the other exhibits. We're not going to be here all day, and you don't want to miss any of the other interesting fish, do you?"

"Nooooo," the girl admitted.

"You can always come back here and watch more if you get through the other exhibits," Layla said, causing the girl to perk up.

"That's right!" Issi declared.

"Come on, Sir Froggington, we have tanks to see!" The frog, which I noticed was back in his tophat, bowed slightly to Layla and myself before running after the energetic little girl.

"You know, when we first met in those tunnels under Jasper, I never would have guessed you had a family. Didn't seem like the type," Layla said as we watched the pair disappear around the corner.

"Too young?" I asked.

"No, I know some young parents. It was more your foul mouth and lack of self-preservation skills," she snorted. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Hey! I survived just fine!" I exclaimed.

"You got hit by a car in the middle of an antithesis hive. If you had died, it probably would have topped the 'top 10 stupid ways samurai have died' lists," Layla chuckled.

"I survived just fine," I grumbled.

"You did," Layla replied quietly.

"And it's a good thing. We probably wouldn't have finished that monster if it wasn't for you and your bots." I glanced over at my friend, who had gone quiet. Her face was a lot more solemn.

"I don't think I said thank you at the time, but… thanks for that."

"I was just doing my job," I muttered. I'm sure if either of us had been the emotional type, there would have been a massive hug right there. Instead, the two of us just stood there, chuckling awkwardly. After a couple seconds, Layla stood up straight.

"As much as I'd love to stick around and chat some more, I still have a ton of other appointments this afternoon. We still have a bunch of active hives up in the northern Coast Mountains and coming in from the Central Interior Plateau. Vancouver's the overseer for all the way from here to the northern border, and as one of the most senior samurai in the city, it falls upon me to supervise," she sighed.

"I really shouldn't have volunteered to keep an eye on the city while everyone else went to Mars. I never thought I'd have to deal with this shit."

"Let that be a lesson for you: never volunteer for a position of power," I chirped.

"Says the girl who took over a city for several months," Layla countered.

"That's right, I heard about your escapades. Every samurai on the west coast knows."

"I didn't volunteer. I was forced into it," I pouted.

"Plus, I gave up the position as soon as I could."

"Don't worry, I'm not judging, and it sounded like that lot deserved it," she sighed.

"Anyways… If you need anything while you're in town, you have my contact info. You mentioned that you were looking for tech to help identify and monitor antithesis hives before they became an issue, right? I may have a lead on that, I just need to get permission to share it. Expect to hear something about that tomorrow."

"I appreciate it," I said.

"If you do find yourself with some free time later this week, let me know. I'll invite you over to dinner and show you my new toy. I'd like to spend more than half an hour with you."

"I'll see what I can do," she promised before sticking out her hand.

"Take care of yourself, Teddy."

"You too, Grey," I replied with a firm handshake. As Layla turned, she flicked her wrist, seemingly summoning a pair of sunglasses out of thin air. After putting the glasses on, she strutted away, like some model on a runway, casually waving good-bye over her shoulder.

"Well, she knows how to make an exit, I'll give her that," I muttered, before turning around and heading further into the building, searching for the kids. It didn't take long to find everyone. They were all gathered around a titanic circular tank located in a rear hall. The tank had a huge variety of different corals, all arranged in an artistic way. It would have been pretty enough by itself, but it seemed whoever had designed this particular display had outdone themselves.

Instead of being isolated to a single tank, the 'fish' in this room darted between displays. It wasn't like the lobby, with a constant colorful display swimming around outside the tank. Instead, small schools of fish would casually migrate from the central tank over to one of the displays around the perimeter of the room and back again. These migrations happened every minute or so, often enough to catch your eye, but not often enough to be distracting.

It helped draw the viewer's eye from one display to the next, drawing them around the room at a decent pace.

"What happened to your friend?" Jane asked when I approached her. I frowned, unsure how she'd even known I was there, until I saw the reflections in the glass.

"She had work to do. The situation around here might be stable, but they're still dealing with some of the hives that popped up," I explained as I stepped up next to her.

"Still? Don't hives get stronger the longer they're left alone? Shouldn't they be spitting out some real monstrosities right now?" Alan asked from Jane's other side. He was fidgeting heavily, and the longer he talked, the louder he got. Although the place was fairly empty, there were enough other people around to attract a couple looks.

"Shhhh… Calm down. Yes, hives can evolve and pump out stronger units, but it depends on where they're located and what state they're in. If these hives were any sort of threat, Layla wouldn't have come today. Cascadia's very focused on keeping the land clear—it's one of the few areas with working forests out in the wild. I'm sure they have to work hard to keep all that area clear. She mentioned it's mostly from outside the country or in hard-to-reach areas.

They've probably been harassed to keep them pumping out low-level units or been established by rogue units while the samurai were dealing with higher-priority targets," I explained.

"Nothing to worry about." Even though Alan nodded, he didn't quite look convinced.

"You know, it's a little strange," Jane mused.

"A couple weeks after the attack, and your friend is still extremely busy, while you're taking a vacation. At least one of you has your priorities straight."

"Yeah, me!" I laughed.

"I had the good sense to avoid taking a position of authority in Calgary. I already had enough on my plate with my own projects. Besides, Charlotte pretty much threw me out of the city so the new blood could get some experience."

"Right…" Jane replied with an amused tone and a smile on her face.

"Does that mean you're done working for the day?"

"Completely. I may have something to do before we leave, but otherwise I'm completely free," I promised.

"Good, because we have a couple more places to go today, and I'd like to do it as a family," Jane said, glancing across the room. Jeniffer, Eddie, and Issi were clustered at the same tank, pointing at the various virtual fish and wildlife and laughing. I grinned.

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be."