Chương 98: Book 2 - Chapter 20 - Dark Days Ahead

Since the Family couldn't help me, and all the affiliated Samurai were suddenly occupied trying to track down the unknown interloper, Sharron and I just showed ourselves out. Once we were back in the truck, she turned towards me, a serious look on her face.

"What do you plan to do now?"

"I donno," I replied with a shrug, "go back and check how the bear production is going I guess."

"Not go on a vendetta, try and find the Guiding Light, and beat the crap out of their pet Samurai?" Sharron asked, eyes narrowed slightly.

"You were pretty pissed off earlier, I honestly thought you were going to throttle someone."

"Well… the Family compound makes me feel uncomfortable, far too corporate for my tastes, and I had to keep repeating myself." I sighed, and lay back in my seat, and closed my eyes as I kicked off the autopilot and directed the truck homeward.

"You get shot and see how long your patience lasts in that kind of situation."

"Fair. So no hunting these Guiding Light goons across the undercity?"

"I didn't say that. Why do you think I've been flooding the undercity with squirrels?"

"I thought that was for security, and to locate antithesis. You're telling me it's all because of these jokers?" I could hear the confusion in her voice, "Why?"

"Because they're a massive threat to everyone and everything below!" I replied angrily. Sharron jumped back slightly, startled by my sudden outburst, so I took a moment to calm down before continuing.

"You want to know what they did? Six years ago they encouraged the people of the undercity to rise up against the gangs, take the power away from their oppressors, and a lot of people did. There was fighting in the streets for days. The problem was, after the initial violence there were still a ton of lower level gangers, who thought it was suddenly THEIR time to shine. They tried to establish new gangs, established new territories, and fought with their rivals.

This resurgence was MUCH worse than the previous fight, because these new groups were a lot less organized, and didn't care about collateral damage. Things just spiraled out of control. A lot of bystanders died in the conflict, and in the end it took military intervention to end the fighting." I punched the dash, which was a lot harder than it looked.

"Jane, Alan and I lost our caregivers during that conflict, and now those assholes are back preaching the same shit as last time."

"Shit…" Sharron looked like she didn't know what to say, so I just continued.

"They're bad news, which is why I've been looking for them. I didn't expect to have so many problems finding them," I said, laying my forehead against the steering wheel.

"I guess if they have a samurai it explains why I've had so many issues. Well, that and all the busted up infrastructure."

"And you decided to deal with this yourself, and not ask for help?" Sharron asked. I could hear how annoyed she was, but refused to lift my head.

"It's not your problem," I replied sullenly.

"It's an undercity issue."

"Bullshit. If that many people died before, and you're afraid of it happening again you should tell people, get help."

"No-one cared last time. At least, not until it threatened the safety, and profit margins, of those living above. Most people prefer to ignore the undercity."

"Not everyone. You're a samurai now, people will listen to you." She paused, and cocked her head to the side, "Well, I'm sure some will, if they know what's good for them."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, finally turning to look at her. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. She smirked, "No offense, but unless you're talking to your family members, or one of your close friends, you're about as cuddly as a hedgehog with a chainsaw. It doesn't help that you usually walk around with a heavily-armed private militia, as cuddly as they may seem."

"I'm not that bad," I replied, with a frown.

"Tell that to the agent you almost made crap his pants." I winced, "It wasn't intentional."

"But my point stands. I'm sure you can find someone to intimidate into helping with the situation," Sharron said, poking me in the side. I groaned, she wasn't wrong… I really didn't want to deal with some backstabbing bureaucrat, politician, or corporate shill, but if it saved lives…

"I'll think about it," I said, after a long moment.

"I doubt I'll be able to find anyone that'll help, at least, not without providing them with some serious incentives."

"Never hurts to ask. I'll help, and I bet Angeline will too, if you ask."

"I said I'll think about it." Even as I grumbled, and leaned back in my seat again, I could see her smiling, even through my half closed eye-lids.

When we pulled back into the shelter several minutes later, I immediately jumped out of the cab and went to unload the bears. They were in pretty good shape, still a little soggy, but completely functional. As they organized themselves, I picked up one of the B3s, and checked the clip.

"Nyx, any way I could get alternate ammo for the B3s? Something non-lethal?" I asked as I reloaded the rifle. Absolutely. Thousands of different options, care to be more specific? I thought for a minute, "Something that's effective against humans, bonus points if it's effective through Class I armor." Easy enough. I assume you'll want to limit the effect to the target?

"Of course, I'd hate to accidentally hit bystanders with splash effects," I replied, inspecting the rifle further. Once I'd finished I handed it back to the bear I took it from, who was still patiently standing behind me, waiting on the weapon. Your best Class I option would be condensed gel rounds with knockout formula. It wouldn't pierce armor, but precise shots to exposed body parts would still be effective. Alternatively, you could invest one of your tokens into opening a catalog with more penetration.

"Naw, not worth the cost. If it's a matter of accuracy, I'd rather roll out the B3-DMRs to the foxes. Assuming the ammo works for both models." It does. I assume you want a full blueprint for both?

"Yes. Might as well do it, while I have the points. I'm assuming it's not going to cost twenty-five grand?" You're correct, five hundred for the DMRs, and seventy-five for the ammo. That'll leave you with 25063 points.

"Can you adjust the weapon print cycles to include a DMR, and a couple clips of the non-lethal rounds please? I want to start rolling them out to all the squads." I assume you want all the patrols armed with them by default?

"Yes… it'll be safer for peacekeeping, but I also want Spooky to keep them loaded at all times going forward. The bears are set to not fire on humans, unless ordered otherwise, and I paid for it today," I said, rubbing my side.

"Next time I run into those Guiding Light assholes I want someone able to catch them, or at least able to fight back." Understandable. Your squad will have the new weapons and ammo in a couple hours.

"Good, I want to be prepared for my next encounter. Did the squirrels find anything else while we were gone?" Nothing. They scoured the area, and didn't find any sign of the Guiding Light followers after they retreated. My best guess is they either had a safehouse in the area, or were using tech which made them invisible to the squirrels' sensors. Either way, they evaded detection.

"Wonderful," I sighed.

"If I keep pushing out squirrels I'm sure they'll locate something, eventually. Let's just hope it happens before they make their next big move."