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  The outside of the tower looked no different, of course. Well, except for the new raised section on the north half of the building's roof. Based on the blueprints, that should be the top of the hangar bay for the Cruiser class ship. Morrigan had insisted on the ship being a surprise, and I didn't push her after learning just how fucked we might be.

  The top floor south wall had a new hangar shutter that opened as we approached, sliding open to the sides, wrapping around the building as it did. Interestingly, there was just void behind the new shutters.

  “Uh, Vic. Is it supposed to look like that?” Roger asked.

  The radio cracked to life, then Morrigan's voice sounded over it. “Hello hello, everyone! Please drive into the portal opening! There is nothing to be concerned about, and it is perfectly safe!”

  We all exchanged a look, then Roger drove straight into the void opening, slowly. Once we passed through the void, the garage structure opened to us. It was bare bones recently, but it was huge. There were a few Collection vans currently being unloaded on the far side of the garage next to a large industrial elevator. Roger parked next to the entrance to the living area, and we all exited the van.

  “Damn, Vic. And this is just your personal garage? The hell are you going to store here?”

  I shrugged, “A few Shuttles, those imperial ones I showed you, your guys' vehicles once you decide what you want, my own personal town car, and then the rest is room for guests that we will inevitably have.”

  “Huh, I was joking. Also, the hell do you mean our own vehicles?”

  They all shifted to me, eyes full of confusion and hope.

  “Yeah? Did I not mention it to you? Morrigan can make pretty much any car you could think of, so it would be a dick move if I didn't let you guys have access to your own cars. Each parking spot will have a vehicle bay installed, so you could work on the car if you want, or just let the machines do the maintenance work for you.”

  Jill punched my shoulder, glaring at me, “Ow! What the fuck, Jill?” I exclaimed.

  “I could have had my own car at this point instead of taking this fucking van everywhere? Damnit, Victor!” She fumed. The others were confused with the outburst, but then Buddy nodded.

  “It's the last tie we have with our old life.” He says. We all understood, and my face fell. Of course. Sands I'm an idiot. “Shit. Sorry, Jill, guys. Shit.”

  Before we could mope any further, Baba Yaga clapped her hands loudly, the sound echoing through the garage, causing us to jump. “No pity parties today, children. We will burn the van later tonight with dinner, yes? You are at the entrance to your new home. Go, go! Explore, be merry! If you take any longer, I will make large stick and hit you until you move!”

  We burst out laughing at her threat. She was right, there was no room for this right now. I turned to the entrance and stepped forward. The door was a huge double sliding door, easily fifteen feet high and twelve feet wide. As it slid open, I could hear the others gasp.

  The space opens into a huge lobby area filled with tables, couches, screens, trees and bushes. On the left most wall, I could see a massive kitchen, like something out of a commercial restaurant, through the far wall ahead, I could see the pool area, and to the right led two hallways that I assumed lead to the living quarters.

  “Fucking hell this place is huge.” Roger said, stepping into the space.

  Buddy immediately turned left to go inspect the kitchen, while Cody, Roger, Jill and I walked through the garden that was our common room. There were twelve separate areas divided by trees and bushes, each set up with various chairs, couches and tables. Cody found a control panel on one of the trees in a living room and found that he could cause the bushes to grow upward, creating an enclosed room. The entrance to the area was lightly obscured by drooping vines that, somehow, blocked all sounds passing through them.

  He then found a setting to combine different sections, expanding them to allow for more people to relax in the space, or to access VR and AR games, or to combine them all to form a banquet hall. We then walked over to the pool, which if I'm going to be honest, I was the least excited about. None of us knew how to swim, and the few jobs we pulled in places with pools gave us the impression of noxious chemical smells.

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  However, stepping into the area we were shocked to not smell chemicals, but just water. There was a waterfall on the far end filling the area with these soothing sounds of running water, and a number of smaller pools set along the edge of it. Not very deep, in fact more of a sitting area. All the walls and ceilings were screens showing the outside.

  “I could imagine relaxing here, at least,” Roger said.

  “Not sure myself. It may be nice to dip my feet in every now and then.” Cody said.

  Jill just looked at her arms and legs, which were exposed since she preferred short shirts and no sleeved shirts. “I could use it for underwater combat training, not much else.”

  “What do you mean not much else!” Morrigan appeared next to us, yelling in frustration. Thankfully, none of us were too close to an edge.

  “Imagine having a moonlight rendezvous with a lover, taking a dip in the water, huddling for warmth. Or after a long training session, taking a dip in the heated or chilled water with a nice drink, looking over the Arizona desert at sunset. Sands, you lot are so boring!”

  She spins away, then disappears. Hologram? Had to be, she was registered as on a lower level on my network.

  I look at Roger, “You planning to take a lover or two? Go for a moonlight dip?” I smirk smugly at him.

  He rolls his eyes at me, “Oh, so I can't tease you, but you can tease me? My brother, the Samurai, everybody! Fair and just and unbiased as can be!” He throws his hands up in mock outrage. “You're lucky none of us can swim, otherwise I would toss your ass in the water right now.”

  “THE FUCK YOU MEAN NONE OF YOU CAN SWIM!” Morrigan reappeared, screaming now.

  *********************************

  I walked through my new room, feeling the plush short fibered carpet beneath me. It was firm, but had a nice bouncyness to it. Apparently, carpets are supposed to have a layer of foam or gel beneath it to make it more comfortable to walk on, or stand on for long periods of time.

  The walls were screens, of course. I had gotten used to the idea from the hotel, and it just felt better than having a static wallpaper. The only pieces of furniture in my room were my huge bed, a nightstand on either side, and a couch facing one of the walls. If I wanted to lounge, I would go out to the common area. On the far wall was a hidden door that swung inwards to the bathroom. I took inspiration from the hotel, having a large bathtub and a huge full body standing shower. The toilet was, of course, in its own small closet thing. Bidet, of course. Toilet paper was disgusting, no matter how “comfortable” Morrigan tried to make it.

  I sat on the edge of the bed and let out a breath of satisfaction. The bed at the hotel was a foam polymer that, while satisfying to sleep on, had a bit of stiffness that felt off in some places. The sheets were perfect however, no notes. This bed was a gel nanaite composite that fully adjusted to my body, maintaining a comfortable body temperature and supporting every inch of my body at once. It was sinful. Morrigan was right in that, if I ever wanted to abandon everything, I would never want to leave this bed again.

  As I lay there in bed, I scrolled through The Family Store media feed. There was a bunch of interesting Samurai popping up around the place, a few corporations being assholes, and a few incursions that requested help from neighboring cities.

  There was also some information on Seattle that drew my eye. It nearly fell a few months ago, apparently. A combination of politics and a super shrimp? Yeah, fuck the ocean, I'll stay in my desert hellscape, thank you very much.

  They had a lot of sea based Samurai, though. Their ships were pretty cool looking, with massive cannons and all. There was a picture of a shark girl? That was pretty dope. And teddy bears? Army bears? I shrugged. There were all kinds.

  Seattle had recovered nicely, it seemed, but a lot of tension was happening as well. Something about…. Montero-Wistera. The fuck? I look closer at that info. Human-antithesis hybrids! A schism between western Samurai, and a witch hunt on other biotechnology companies.

  I closed the feed. Sands, what the fuck is going on in the world. Before I had awoken, the biggest worry was whether someone on a job site had a special weapon we missed in our initial sweep. Now? Now I knew just how broken everything was.

  Before I could fall into a spiral. Roger pinged me, letting me know everyone else was waiting on me.

  Walking out of the room, I saw that the door was a silver color with a purple hexagon pattern. The other doors in the hallway were decorated with various colors and patterns, indicating who the room belonged to at a glance, if you knew what they meant.

  Walking into the common room, I smelled a simple aroma of cooked chicken coming from a garden sector. Once there, I saw everyone tearing into a few chicken burgers, so I hurried to join them before they ate them all.

  “It's strange. It's been only a couple hours since we last ate, and that was a heavy breakfast, yet here we are, eating even more.” Cody remarked, going in for his second burger.

  That would be your new bodies at work. You need roughly six thousand calories a day now due to your enhanced structures.

  “Damn. That's so much food.” Roger said, polishing off his second burger.

  “Not an issue. A few adjustments to some of the hydroponics will supercharge the food we eat with more nutrients and calories,” Buddy responded, going in for his fourth burger.

  “So, there are a few hours remaining until nightfall when it would be more aesthetic to set fire to the van. Any plans?” Baba Yaga asked.

  “Well, if Morrigan is available and we have the leftover materials, we do need some new vehicles,” I start. “After that, I want to go see what Rogal and the others are doing. They should have been back by now if all they were doing was a simple hunt.”

  “They could simply be clearing out more surface hives to earn as many tokens as they can for you. And points since Morrigan is planning on three more Hero Units.” Jill offers. “Plus, if you go out to see them, chances are you will be dragged into something and miss the burning, so I will veto that plan.”

  “We could try a VR game. From what I've seen of the titles, Morrigan spent quite a bit of time remaking plenty of old titles into more immersive experiences.” Cody says.

  “Or, we could do a competitive game in VR,” Roger says. He pulls up a title we have never touched before, but we all agreed that, if we could play it in VR, there was no way were were going to pass it up.