Chương 412: Book 7 - Chapter 8 - Non-Social Call

Once I'd set a mixed group of Bears, Dogs, Chameleons, and Frogs to analyzing the footage and sensor data from the Marsupial, I flicked the holo projector off and started moving towards the exit, but I paused before I got to the door. Even though I'd been the first one to engage the Gene Tender, and I'd chased it to the coast, it had been Alise and Claire who had not only answered my call to arms but organized the locals while I'd been doing my own thing.

The only thing they'd asked me to do, at least this far, was to attend a meeting of all the samurai that wanted to be involved, and I'd shown up swearing, hadn't explained my plans, and left the meeting early without explaining myself. I had to admit, I felt a little guilty. With a sigh, I returned to my seat at the conference table, connected my augs to the holo projector, and called my friends. The projector pulsed every time the call rang, and after a second Alise popped up on the display.

"Oh, Evelyn! To what do I owe the honor of this call?" she asked.

"I'm calling to apologize for my behaviour earlier. I dropped into the call late, came in swearing, and left without really explaining myself," I said.

"It wasn't very professional."

"Yeah, no shit," Alise snorted. It looked like I'd caught the woman in the middle of changing because she had her armor on, but no helmet. She padded to the back of the well-appointed, wood-panelled bedroom she'd been standing in and dropped into a particularly plush-looking chair.

"Honestly, though? You're fine. My sister and I spend the majority of our time dealing with other samurai, so we're used to dealing with the different quirks and attitudes that samurai have, and let me tell you, you're a saint compared to some of the assholes around here." She sighed.

"We know you're super busy right now, and we appreciate that you took some time out of your schedule to actually drop in and let the newbies know what you were doing, even if you had to leave early," Alise said, leaning back and sinking further into the chair.

"Did you manage to solve your problem?"

"Yeah… I had a problem with a horde of small flying Antithesis trying to intercept my Ursas on the way to their drop zones, and when we shot them, they exploded into a viscous fluid that caused the engines to stall," I explained. Alise raised an eyebrow.

"I've seen the little ones explode before, but not into any sort of goo. That's new."

"I think it was an alteration the Gene Tender cooked up to try and deal with my aircraft back in Great Falls, but it didn't have a chance to implement it before we finally pushed into the hive and engaged it," I said.

"That's why I didn't immediately return to the meeting after making adjustments to the flight paths in order to mitigate the issue. I thought there could be a very minor chance that the attacks could be coming directly from the Gene Tender's location, so I sent some troops to investigate."

"I take it you didn't find anything," Alise muttered.

"Well, I found something, just not what I expected to. The attacks were coming from a hive in the shape of a crab, hiding in a hole in the ocean floor, several dozen kilometers from our flight paths," I said.

"I don't know if it had been adjusted by the Gene Tender or not, but I have a group investigating the area, looking for clues."

"Oh, you ran into one of the crustacean hives? Yeah… I wouldn't exactly say they're common around here, but we've encountered a couple before," Alise said before frowning and looking towards me.

"Wait… You dealt with it yourself? I didn't think you had any aquatic combat troops."

"And I still don't," I replied.

"I modified the Marsupial, my oversized drop ship, so that it could fight both in the air and underwater. I kind of used this as a field test for the modifications, and it seemed to work pretty well against the oversized crab. Well, as long as I didn't shoot the cargo ship, it was using as a shell anyway. I still need to develop aquatic troops, but since I don't have that much experience fighting underwater, I don't want to make any rash decisions.

I was hoping that you and your sister would be able to give me some advice." The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Sure, we could sit down and make some suggestions, but the best thing you could do is review the common aquatic Antithesis around here and maybe do some simulations to experience aquatic combat for yourself. It's something you need to experience yourself to understand," Alise said.

"That is something I could do, but since I've never been swimming before and I have absolutely no interest in starting now, I figured I'd ask you," I said. Alise raised an eyebrow.

"My dear Evelyn, are you afraid of the water?"

"The water? No? What could be in the water? Absolutely," I replied.

"Back home, in Calgary, the only standing water in the area was so toxic that it made the surrounding neighborhoods unlivable. Whenever it rained, the canals filled up with water so toxic that it completely dissolved Antithesis within seconds. If you saw shit like that, you'd hesitate to step anywhere near open water too."

"Out of everyone I know, you were the last one that I thought would be afraid of the water," Alise laughed.

"Again, not afraid of the water, just what's in it," I muttered before taking a deep breath and looking at my friend again.

"Anyways, the reason I called, besides to apologize for my actions during the conference call, was to check if you made any plans and if you need any help with them?"

"Well… we still don't have enough ships to create a full cordon yet; that'll have to wait for our reinforcements from Vancouver, but those of us in the area have started searching. I really doubt we'll find anything, but it's worth a try," Alise said.

"Personally, I'd rather set up a loose cordon in case the Gene Tender is able to travel faster than we expect, but many of our newer members like to be a little more proactive." She sighed, "Actually, if I'm honest, it can be a little difficult to get Mako and the others to sit still. If there's something to do, they want to be on the front line doing it."

"Sounds like youthful enthusiasm," I chuckled.

"I just wish Oggy was here. That would make things much easier," Alise continued.

"Oggy?" I asked.

"A samurai that turned themselves into a sentient nanite swarm," Alise said.

"They're extremely effective at both locating and eliminating Antithesis. Unfortunately, they left for Montana to help deal with both the mold and the Antithesis flora sprouting up because of that spore-spreading abomination you fought. On the one hand, they're absolutely the best person to find and break down every last spore that the Antithesis spread in the area, but on the other, they're one of the few people that Mako respects and listens to."

"And this Mako?" I asked.

"Is a girl who awoke during The Siege of Seattle who used extensive bionic alteration to become shark-like," Alise explained.

"Although she's not actively trying to create her own faction, she's made friends with a lot of samurai around the city. A lot of people like how she's not afraid of speaking her mind or acting on her beliefs, so she's made friends with several other samurai around the city."

"She sounds like a useful ally," I said.

"So why do you sound so tired while talking about her?"

"Because she's extremely headstrong," Alise explained.

"She'll work with others if she agrees with their goals, but she prefers to do things her own way."

"Isn't that every samurai?" I smirked.

"To some point, she's just… more so," Alise said, gesturing vaguely with her hand.

"I can't wait to meet her," I said.

"That's good, because I have no doubt you two will come face to face before long," Alise said.

"I have no doubt she'll want to come and size you up. It's just the way she is."

"Well, I'll look forward to it," I said. Alise pushed herself out of her chair and jumped to her feet.

"I'm sorry to cut our discussion short, but you did interrupt me on my way to join my sister and a couple of others in a patrol. They're probably waiting for me."

"Sorry about that; I didn't realize," I said, but before I could even finish, she waved her hand.

"It's fine, I wanted to catch up with you anyway. I'll talk with the others and see if there's anything they might need and then send you a copy of our plans when I get back, is that okay?" she asked.

"Absolutely, sorry for keeping you," I said.

"It's no problem. I'll talk to you later," she declared before cutting the line. I leaned back and stared at the blank space above the table and sighed.

"When did everything get so complicated?"