Chương 39: Chapter 37 - Before the Storm

I thought I'd gotten used to travelling by truck, seeing the depressing grid of rundown brown and gray buildings. It turned out things could be much worse. Travelling topside for the first time was a terrifying experience. Everything was shiny and clean, it looked brand new. Worst of all, it was all open. I'd lived in the undercity my entire life, I was used to having a roof over my head, so having clear skies over my head was almost too much.

I pulled my hood down further and concentrated on breathing, it was not the time to have a panic attack. I stayed that way until the truck drove into some sort of parking structure and up to a set of heavy metal doors. Maria was standing there, wearing a tidy blouse and dress pants. As I cautiously pushed open the door she smiled, "Welcome Evelyn, I hope you had a pleasant trip." I shrugged, "It was an experience." Bob silently exited the vehicle and came to stand beside me.

With him at my back I felt a little more confident. I stood a little straighter.

"Jacob mentioned there was some sort of emergency, I didn't expect you to come out to meet me," I said.

"I wanted to make sure there was someone familiar around to greet you." She smiled, "Unfortunately, that's a relatively short list, Jacob is occupied, and Humboldt isn't an official member of the Family, so the responsibility fell to me." As she approached the doors they opened automatically. They were thick, nearly six inches, but they slid open like they weighed nothing. Inside was an immaculate white hallway.

"We're headed to the main conference room. You're not the last one to arrive, but most people have arrived," she said. I noticed she was keeping a slower pace, probably for my benefit.

"How many are attending?" I asked.

"Nine, including yourself. Some are connecting remotely." I found it hard to keep track of our path through the building, everything looked the same. Occasionally we'd pass an offshoot corridor, or a frosted glass door, but I couldn't see any way to differentiate them. When we passed people in suits, they always snapped to attention. I raised an eye at that but didn't comment.

"So, what's this about? Jacob didn't give me any details, but I got the feeling it was bad." Maria came to a non-descript door, then paused.

"It's about as bad as it gets." She held the door open for me, then followed me in. The room was mostly full, and as we walked in everyone turned to stare at me. Their eyes went from me, to Bob, back to me, then everyone turned back to whatever they were doing before. Tiny girl with giant teddy bear, not a big deal around here. I made my way across the room to where Sharron was sitting. I didn't feel like introducing myself to everyone, so I settled in the corner to watch. The group was eclectic, to say the least.

A couple were nondescript, but a couple stood out. There was a massive man, more cybernetics than flesh, a beautiful young woman absolutely stuffing her face with chips, and a man with slicked back hair in a suit that probably cost more credits than I've made in my entire lifetime. I guess it takes all types. I was just starting to get antsy when a young woman walked in with a giant bird on her shoulder. As soon as she arrived Maria stood up and walked to the head of the table.

"Thank you all for coming. I'm sorry we didn't provide you with much information before now, and I ask that you don't spread this information once you leave, whether you decide to work with us or not." She took a deep breath, "The day before yesterday we received this message." You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. A screen behind her blinked to life, showing a huge eye.

"Hello? Hello, Hi. Is anyone there?" The eye pulled back revealing a woman wearing black armor standing in an absolute disaster of a room. I thought she might have been in a slum or something, but all the stuff on the floor looked high-tech, perhaps even Samurai level tech.

"I'm Maggie Artell, also known as Magpie, from Seattle, the twins left me this communicator when they left in case something happened." She paused, "Well something happened. The Antithesis came out of the ocean yesterday and overran the defensive line. Sonic Storm and his boys tried to stop them and, well… I found a pair of Model Threes trying to pull his body into the ocean half an hour ago. I haven't seen Xeno or the rest of the squad since this morning.

Everything's fucked, the Antithesis have taken over the streets, so I'd appreciate if someone could come help. Alright? Thanks!!" The woman waved at the camera animatedly, she certainly didn't look like someone who was watching her city get overrun by Aliens. The screen cut out.

"The Family confirmed the situation yesterday. A massive hive developed off the coast, and wasn't taken care of before it sent an overwhelming number of Antithesis at the city. We've been working with the Cascadian government to put together a response. They've already sent several armored columns, but they'll require samurai backup to help push into the city. Which is why we've asked you all here.

We need to put together a sufficient response to evacuate the Seattle shelters, without compromising the defenses of any other city." The room went silent for a moment, then an older, balding gentleman stood up.

"How did this happen?" Maria sighed, "I could give you a dozen PC answers, but it really comes down to the fact that there was a jurisdictional pissing match. There was a group of locals that joined the Family, and another group led by the aforementioned 'Sonic Storm' which believed they should have complete operational control over the city. It got so bad that our people left the city.

Unfortunately two of the people that left, the twins Atlantica and Celestia, were the ones that checked the local waters and swept for post Incursion leftovers. Sonic and his boys never bothered to replace them." She paused, "Even without replacements they should have been able to hold against a wave like that until reinforcements arrived. We don't know how they fell so quickly." The older man sat down, obviously a little overwhelmed by the answer.

I'd been a Samurai for just over a week and I already understood how important those jobs were, this Sonic guy sounded like an idiot.

"Why us?" asked Sharron.

"Because we need to act as soon as possible, and we need some specialists. You're well suited for underwater combat, even if that wasn't your initial intention. Teddy and Whisperer," she pointed at me and the woman with the bird, "while less experienced, can sweep and clear areas, Bright-Eyes," gesturing to the woman with chips, "can take control of surveillance and direct evacuations. The rest of you have the skills and firepower to deal with all the models reported so far, from the low teens to high twenties."

She paused, "We're leaving at the end of the day, most shelters are supposed to have enough supplies for seven days, but we all know how people cut corners." I caught her briefly glancing in my direction.

"The army has pulled together a significant force, including three super heavy tanks. Even though that'll give them a limited ability to engage the twenties, we all know it won't be enough to stop them from getting overwhelmed without help. Any other questions?" The room was silent.

"I know this is a lot to take in, but we're on the clock. If you're coming please let me know ASAP." She started stepping away, then stopped, turning back to the room, "One last thing, please don't spread this information outside. People would panic if they knew a city was overrun. Thank you." The room immediately erupted into conversation. Sharron immediately leaned over to me, "Can you believe this?"

"Fuck no. They don't even do shit like that in horror movies. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going. Maria's right, I didn't originally open the 'Deep Dweller' catalog for underwater operations, but I'm uniquely suited to it. You?"

"A week ago all I had to worry about was my little slice of the underground, now I'm being asked to help save an entire city. I can't let innocent people pay the price for someone else's screw up." I sighed, "I'm more worried about what I'm going to tell the kids." I once again took in all the faces in the room, everyone was on edge. We had a veritable army of Samurai here, I just hoped it would be enough.