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TH - Book 2 - Chapter 1 - Sunday Driver
🕑 Added 2024-12-16 16:40:15 +0000 UTC“Do we have everything?” Skyler asked as we stepped into the garage.
“We have my weapons, your drones, armor and snacks,” I replied, holding up the small backpack full of food.
My girlfriend paused for a moment, placed her hands on her hips, then turned to face me. Her short blond hair perfectly framed her serious expression. “Reina we’re about to travel to the heart of an antithesis infested area, to defend a facility that’s not only one of your mother’s pet projects, but may hold the key to gaining a leg up on the antithesis in the future. Please take this seriously,” Skyler said.
“I’d like to,” I replied coolly, “but it’s a little hard when your drones are projecting holograms of our cats.” Earlier today she thought it’d be funny to add a holographic camera to our roombots, so everytime the cats rode them, that image would be transmitted to her drones.
Skyler glanced back at the three small drones following her around, then blushed. “I guess Lala and Cleo are up already,” she mumbled.
I stepped over to her and gently pushed her towards the car. “I know you’re worried, but you’re overthinking things. We only know the general situation at the site, so there’s no point in overplanning, and we’re both samurai so we can buy anything we need as soon as we arrive on site.”
Skyler took a deep breath, then nodded. “Right,” she said. She reached down and popped open the trunk on the front of the car, and carefully started loading her three drones while I slipped my backpack behind the seat. With that space filled, it meant that I had to travel with my sword, bow and quiver around the passenger’s seat. Skyler’s car was designed for speed and comfort, not cargo capacity. Considering we became samurai not even twenty four hours earlier, chances are we were going to have to investigate a new vehicle before long.
As soon as Skyler finished loading her drones she climbed into the driver’s seat, tucking the bottom of her long brown coat under her.
Neither of us really looked like samurai yet. She had a long brown duster, an armored face mask with improved visual sensors, armored pants, and a small chest mounted shield generator. She looked like some sort of future cowboy, or apocalypse reject.
I, on the other hand, had an armored undersuit which was way too tight and revealing to wear in public, so I had put on a pair of black synth leather pants and a matching synth leather jacket over top. It kind of made me look like I was going to a rave, or join a hover gang, but they matched my hair and didn’t disintegrate the instant I was thrown against the ground so, as far as I was concerned, they were good enough for now. I also had a chest mounted shield generator, but no helmet or face gear. I did have a pair of glasses with built in night vision, but I’d learned that it clashed with one of the other adaptations I’d picked up earlier; The ability to see different light wavelengths, and that had proven to be extremely useful, I’d be trying to go without the glasses for awhile.
Skyler revved the engine of her hover car a couple times, ensuring the engine was properly warmed up, before slowly raising the vehicle out of its parking spot and maneuvering out of the garage. Once we were clear, she gunned the engine.
Our house was near the top of one of the largest buildings in Vancouver, and above most of the legal vehicle lanes, but being samurai meant that we were allowed certain liberties, like not needing to follow the regular traffic laws.
I was pressed back into my seat as Skyler slowly turned the car towards the north, where our final destination awaited. Normally I would have admired the view of the megacity below, or made small talk with Skyler, but today my mind was preoccupied by something else. The sword in my lap.
“Credit for your thoughts?” Skyler said after a few minutes. “You’re usually quiet during a drive, but not this quiet.”
“I need a name for my sword,” I said, not taking my eyes off the blade. “We were really busy yesterday, so I didn’t really think about it, but if it’s going to be carrying it into battle for the foreseeable future, it deserves one.”
Skyler hmmm’d for a second. “You’re probably right. Too bad we’re both terrible at naming things.”
{Athy: How about ‘Rending Wave’? Or if you wanted to name it something that meshes with your samurai name, ‘Rending Wind’?}
“I’m not going to name it after myself,” I explained quietly. “Although I’m using it right now, the blade and I are separate entities, and someone else may brandish it in the future. Rending Wave though, I like that.”
Skyler nodded. “It definitely seems fitting, considering how easily it slices through the antithesis.”
As our car shot over the massive outer wall surrounding Vancouver, the sound of artillery and cannon fire filled the vehicle. I quickly glanced out the window, only to catch a quick glimpse of a column of tanks just outside the walls, firing into a rapidly approaching wave of small plant monsters.
“I thought the antithesis wouldn’t reach the city for at least another day or two,” I said quietly.
{Athy: The main antithesis force is still quite a ways off, but with so many hidden satellite hives coming on line, I expect the city will experience nearly constant harassment for the next couple weeks, if not months.}
{Arty: Who knows how long have been preparing to set up this global incursion. Years, maybe even decades, of setting up hidden strongholds all to set up for what happened yesterday.}
“Makes me wonder exactly what’s behind these attacks. We’ve faced smart antithesis before, but nothing capable of planning and control of this scale,” Skyler mused.
{Athy: Humanity has been lucky so far, encountering only probing attacks with some of the weakest antithesis models. Even your strongest defenders would not be able to stand up to the full strength of the antithesis swarm.}
“Then why haven’t they thrown something bigger at us? What’s stopping them?” I asked.
{Arty: The Protectors, the race that sent us here to help you, are stuck in a near stalemate with antithesis core worlds. Neither side can spare many resources for things outside the conflict, so the antithesis send incursions around the galaxy, trying to gain additional biomass to throw at the protectors, while the protectors send AIs to the locals, to uplift the races and give them the means to defend themselves. Both sides are playing an exceptionally long game, trying to find ways to break the stalemate.}
“So we’re collateral damage in a proxy war?” I asked.
{Athy: You’re not lost yet. As long as you fight, we will support you.}
“And we’re grateful for your support,” Skyler said politely. “It’s not like we would have survived this long without your help.”
As the car crested the next ridge we got our first sight of the complex. Dozens of layered farms, each at least ten floors each, laid out in a rough semi circle around some sort of central warehouse. On the other side of the complex was a massive shipping pier, which was currently empty. The entire compound was surrounded by a tall twelve foot wall, topped with razor wire and automatic guns.
“This place is a secret? It’s huge! How many people work here?” I asked aghast.
“Only a couple dozen according to the file. Most of the place is heavily automated, so they only need a handful of maintenance personnel, a small security team, and a supervisor,” Skyler replied. “I’ve called the facility supervisor, and he’ll be meeting us somewhere down by the docks.”
I pointed to a tiny figure standing at attention, “Looks like he’s already there.”
Skyler squinted into the distance, then glanced over at me. “You sure? We’re still a ways off, and we’re a little early.”
“If that’s our contact? No idea. He’s too far away to make out any details, but someone is there,” I told her.
We swooped lower, and as we approached the outer wall I slowly made out more and more details on the figure. It was a slightly overweight man in a sport coat and slacks, sweating profusely. As soon as he saw our car he began to wave excitedly.
“I’m guessing that’s our man,” I muttered.
“Indeed,” Skyler replied dryly as she found a place to park nearby. As soon as we touched down the man came running over, a massive smile on his face. To his credit he stayed back until we’d gathered all our stuff and stepped out of the car.
“Ladies,” he said with gravatas, “I’m Edward Turbull. Welcome to project ‘Safe Arbor’!”
Comments
Shannon Livingston
Definately
HikinBear
Yeah, the above ground farms make more sense. 👍
