"You best be believing in cyberpunk dystopias, dumbass. You're in one"

  — Anonymous forum user, circa 2045

  In the end the deviants won, finishing off the last of the True Antithesis before starting to round up what bodies remained. Watching antithesis cleanup from a distance was a fascinating spectacle when they weren't working with human remains. The smaller models ran around grabbing smaller bodies or chunks, while the remaining Model-11s settled in to take the bigger stuff back in pieces, mostly by eating it. A few of the heavily damaged small models also submitted themselves, clearly worth more as biomass than attempting to make it home and heal. Quinn had never been especially squeamish, but at that point she had to bow out and close the feed.

  "So." Hayden asked as they trudged away. "How exactly do deviant hives work? I didn't think the antithesis weren't smart enough to rebel."

  Athena stepped in to answer him, sounding like a kind but stern schoolteacher."You would be mistaken. Many higher tier models are significantly more capable in various mental aspects than you are currently, though that can be addressed with time. To answer your question, however, the Antithesis are constantly evolving, and rarely a command model will evolve to no longer see the greater Antithesis host as part of it, forming a Deviant. If it manages to escape, it will usually usurp control of a few lesser models and attempt to create its own hive. Usually the Antithesis are quick to exterminate deviants, but they have left the deviants in this area of Earth alone."

  Hayden digested this answer while Elliot piped up with a follow up. "Why are there so many different deviant hives, if its rare?"

  "We've observed that deviant hives spawn deviants of their own at a much higher rate, thus the first deviant here likely spawned several others, and it would have spread from there. "

  "Huh, Neat." was Elliot's response.

  They continued walking a little ways on before Irys told them it was safe to call in the Skyhook, which still really needed a better name.

  "What about the Bastion?" Elliot suggested.

  "No, I feel like there's some famous Canadian samurai that has a Bastion." Quinn replied, lazing in her digital chair.

  "Vengeance?"

  "Too Edgy."

  Elliot huffed and shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno then, never been good at naming stuff."

  They walked in silence for another two minutes, until Hayden piped up out of the blue. "What about Iron Swan?"

  "Uh, it sounds kinda neat, but is it a reference or something?" Quinn asked, scrunching her brow slightly.

  "Yeah." Hayden tilted his head as he walked to look at her. "Swans are kind of associated with Maidens, and naming ships metal birds isn't uncommon."

  "I'm not a…" Quinn paused, while Elliot stifled a giggle. "Right, my Samurai name. Sure, Iron Swan it is."

  Within not too long the newly named Iron Swan swooped into view, and after a brief stop to pick up the ground bound pair, Quinn watched from her chair as Cassie was grabbed and levered into position.

  Irys spoke as Quinn was clambering out of the mech. "Quinn, darling, could I inquire as to whether you plan to fight any more today?"

  Quinn shuffled around the side of the mech. "Is there there more Antithesis to fight? What about the university?"

  "The University Campus is cleared, and while there are a few small pockets still remaining, for the most part the incursion is over. To be frank, I ask because I think you should heavily consider retiring from the fight for now."

  Quinn frowned as she shuffled through the backseat area and into the front. She found Elliot spinning around in the pilot's chair, Hayden watching him in bemusement, and Maia asleep in her bean bag.

  Elliot stopped to give her puppy eyes as she entered. "Can I drive? Pleaaaaase."

  "Sure, yeah." she took a seat in the side chair, before returning to her sub vocal conversation with Irys. "Why, I can still fight, I'm not injured."

  "Not in body, no. But you've pushed through a severe trauma response, and resting before you potentially cause more serious harm to your psyche is wise. Additionally, the drug you were given has rather deleterious effects if allowed to act for too long, so I wish to see it purged from your system sooner rather than later."

  Quinn scowled. "You didn't mention that before."

  Elliot gave her a worried look, head cocked slightly to the side. "You okay?"

  She waved his worry away. "I'm fine, Irys just didn't mention the combat drugs had side effects after a while."

  Irys' tone took on an aspect Quinn hadn't heard before, defensive. "You were not in a state to have a complex conversation about it at the time, and I was fully in the belief we would be able to purge it before any side effects could set in."

  Quinn took a deep breath, in and out. She was upset, but wasn't sure if she could trust her emotions right now. Put the feelings aside, she would re-examine them later when she was more sure of herself.

  She spoke out loud, for both Irys and Elliot's sake. "Its fine, just get me what I need to get rid of it then."

  "Of course, Darling. I hope you know I'm only doing my best to care for your well being."

  Quinn's anger mellowed a bit. "I understand." She smiled. "Other than sending me to fight hungry aliens of course."

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  "Well, technically if I ensure you succeed you'll live substantially longer than others of your species. But yes, other than sending you to fight hungry aliens." She paused briefly. "Though technically, there are plenty of Vanguard careers that don't involve heavy combat."

  Quinn shrugged. "I've kind of decided I'm going the combat route, at least for now. I can always change my mind later, right?"

  "Of course."

  New Purchase: "At Ease" Combat Drug Detoxifier

  Cost: 2. Points reduced to... 4358

  A quick burst of an inhaler later and she was already feeling a little bit of the anxiety creep back in. Which was good, because it meant the drug's effects were wearing off, but also bad, because Anxiety.

  She slumped in her chair, idly watching Elliot as he piloted the Iron Swan back towards civilization. Today had been a long fucking day, again, but there were still a couple of things she needed to do before it was over.

  "Can we swing by Prosperity again?" Quinn mumbled in Elliot's direction.

  He glanced over to her. "Sorry, didn't catch that, could you say it again?"

  She sighed, and pushed herself into something resembling an upright position.

  "Can we swing by Prosperity on the way back?"

  He nodded. "Uh, sure."

  Hayden made a face. "Why, I don't want to talk to those jackwads again any time soon."

  "I don't either." Quinn replied. "But I feel like I need to make it clear to the suits that pulling the shit they did again will have consequences."

  Elliot frowned. "Are you sure that's a good idea? We can always just send a threatening email."

  She shook her head. "I think trotting out Cassie briefly will have more of an impact, and I should be okay. I'm usually better at recognizing my triggers, and I don't think just talking while in Cassie will cause an issue."

  He nodded and returned his focus to the air. "Okay, I trust you." He paused, choosing his next words. "Have you even seen a therapist for this stuff? I can recommend someone if you want, and we have the money."

  Quinn gave him a slight smile, though he couldn't see it. "Yeah, I saw a therapist before, though that ended when I moved out to here. And Irys booked me with a Samurai therapist already."

  Hayden was looking at her. "Wait, how did you afford a therapist on warehouse worker salary? I looked into it once and I couldn't even really afford it."

  She took a breath in and out. "I uh, used to be rich. Sort of. My parents were rich."

  "Damn, and you left that? Who are your parents… if you don't mind sharing."

  She shook her head. "Its fine. My mom is… well she's a politician in Cascadia. My dad uh, owns Takimura Car Company, well partly owns it. He has a brother and a sister who own part as well."

  Hayden's eyes boggled slightly. "Wait, like the high class cars people Takimura?"

  "Yup, that's them. My Grandfather founded it."

  Elliot glanced over briefly. "I feel like I've heard of them before, maybe?"

  "They aren't a household name, yeah, but they are famous in the luxury car world." Hayden chimed in.

  "But wait, why are you working at Amazon if your dad owns a third of a successful car company." Elliot asked, some amount of anger creeping into his voice.

  Quinn sighed. She'd not told many people this story, but it was probably time she told it again. "They basically disowned me."

  "For being Trans?" Elliot's voice grew a significant edge of menace.

  Quinn let out a mirthless bark of laughter. "Actually no, they had no issues with that. Something about being anti queer being for the hicks. I got pretty well taken care of in that regard. No, they all but demanded I go into either business - specifically Takimura Cars, or politics, and when I expressed a lack of interest in either dad nearly had a fucking stroke. "

  She inhaled before continuing. "I eventually managed to convince them being a lawyer was respectable enough that they caved, but then when my anxiety hit hard enough that I failed pretty much my entire first year, their old demands came back as real demands. Switch majors to either business or political science or they would cut me off till I saw sense. I was already kind of realising how awful they were in a number of ways, so I took what savings I owned myself, booked a shuttle to somewhere else and left."

  Hayden was watching her, enraptured by the tale. "Wait, did they not try to find you."

  "Nope. A week later they cut off my cards, and I've heard nothing from them since. I could be dead for all they care."

  Elliot almost snarled. "What sort of parent does that?"

  Quinn sighed. "One that sees their child as an extension of their legacy, not a person."

  Hayden seemed to catch up to the mood. "Fuck man I mean Quinn. That's pretty fucking awful, at least things are looking up for you now?"

  She shrugged "Yeah, they are. And don't worry about calling me dude or man, I don't really care. I wouldn't assume that of other trans people by default, though."

  He nodded, then scrunched up his nose. "Fuck, I'm hungry as hell. You got any food in here?"

  Elliot glanced over before replying. "Nope, we don't tend to carry any antithesis bodies around, sorry."

  "Hardy Har, I meant people food."

  "Hayden, you're a Vanguard. You can purchase food far better and more nutritious than any Earth meal." Athyna jumped in.

  "Oh." he replied. "Uh, how much?"

  "A point a meal. Would you like one?"

  "Fuck yes. whatcha got?"

  "We can provide something that essentially acts as any cuisine or dish you can think of, and many that you cannot. Do you have a request, or would you like me to select something for you."

  Irys took this moment to speak to Quinn as well. "I would also suggest you eat, can I purchase you a meal?"

  Quinn pondered before nodding, while Hayden exclaimed "Yeah, get me something fuckin weird."

  "Could I get something like Unadon?" Quinn asked after a short period thinking.

  "Of course, darling."

  New Purchase: "Unadon" Protector grade Meal

  Cost: 1. Points reduced to... 4357

  She had a white box on her lap, which she immediately cracked open. The smell was heavenly, sweet and smokey and just like some of her favorite childhood meals. She found the chopsticks and dug in. It tasted even better than it smelled, and might just have been the best thing she'd ever eaten. She might have to be careful to avoid spending points on every meal.

  Part way through she glanced over to the others. Hayden appeared to be eating some sort of breaded chicken dish, while Elliot was eating… a burger.

  He caught her eye and proffered it. "Want to try? Its really good."

  She nodded and reached out to take a bite. He was right, it was perfectly cooked and accented with raw onions and barbecue sauce to make an amazing sweet, salty, meaty and crunchy combination. She offered her bowl and chopsticks, he took a quick look before taking the utensils and deftly scooping up a mouthful.

  "Huh, what is that?" he said as he handed the chopsticks back.

  "Uh, Eel in a glazed sauce. It was one of my favorite dishes when I was younger."

  He nodded and smiled. "Its delicious, I'll have to try other things you get, that was a new one for me."

  She glanced over ot where Hayden was eating, finding him eating a bite of chicken and then swigging from a bottle ritualistically. Chicken, bottle, chicken, bottle. At that point she noticed she had a small juice box herself she'd failed to see before, and after inserting the straw took a sip.

  Paradise. Pure, sweet apple juice with just enough tartness to bring it all together. She closed her eyes and avoided letting out an unseemly noise before taking a break from the Ambrosia in a cardboard carton, instead turning her attention back to Hayden.

  "So, you asked for something weird. What did you get."

  He finished his rotation of chicken and drink before looking up and grinning. "Its seasoned with a poison that interacts funkily with my new biology. Combining it with the antidote in the drink gives this super weird full body taste, I have no idea how to describe it but its fucking cool and delicious."

  Yeah, she wasn't going to think too hard about that one. Apparently the smell of food managed to finally wake Maia up, as she was quickly awake and begging for a meal of her own. One box of a crispy pork belly dish Maia called Lechon (Which was also delicious when Quinn took her tax) later and they were all well satisfied.

  Well fed and in higher spirits, they swooped over a hill to find the city back in sight.