Chapter 9: Spines

  “Sometimes we forget that aliens are, well, profoundly alien to us. The way their technology works seems to make no sense or they were clearly made for a context we just don’t have. It can be educational to analyze their way of thinking, to try and imagine the use cases or the idea behind a design.

  Sometimes, we find brand new insights that revolutionize certain industries!

  Often though, its just plain fucking weird."

  –Post-Lecture interview with professor of xeno-studies Robert Pine, 2055

  ***

  “So, what’s my point total looking like?” I asked as I took a hit from my nicotine and CBD vape. Still weirdly delicious!

  The turrets almost got overrun and we’d need a lot more, I figured. Problem was, I’d been handing out meds like crazy. Even though I mostly bought the not-so-insanely-expensive ones, that shit piled up.

  I’d never regret healing my people, of course. Still, I needed to know the damage.

  Altany apparently accepted my trust of Lila because she answered through the little drone. I liked the transparency!

  On top of that, Lila could weigh in while I talked out loud to my AI without… ok, maybe I’d just look less insane.

  “1155 points. Your points have fluctuated rather rapidly in both directions. The turrets are rather profitable however, which offsets your spending spree. Only four are still operational however.” I frowned. I’d left quite a few! Model fours must be a bitch to put down for them…

  “Lots of model fours then? Do you know why?” Lila asked. Damn good question!

  “The antithesis do not respond well to resistance. Obstacles are met with increased aggression until they find a path around or through. This will come in the form of different models until one suited to the task is found. If this hive sends a model six, the turrets will fall without question. They are not meant to handle this type of enemy.” The little hologram said while walking along with us. I had to admit, the avatar still looked a tiny bit cool.

  “I believe this hive is a remnant of the last incursion, many years ago. This would grant plenty of time to set up for mass production, which would explain the current numbers. It may have been aware of large forces in its environment. In such a case, several hives decide to focus on setting up as much production power as possible. ”

  Well, fuck. I’d bought the turrets in an emergency without really thinking about it. If I remembered right they cost something like twenty points? “What are those turrets exactly? Forgot to ask.”

  There was an ever-so slight hitch in the avatar’s demeanor. “They fire a magnetically propelled spine that acts as a discarding sabot on impact. Inside, they contain a large quantity of smaller needles that penetrate the target, causing massive internal damage.”

  “Nasty” commented Lila, but I wanted to dig a bit more.

  “Ok, but what are they called?” There was a bit of hesitation on Altany’s part.

  It was artificial for sure. Clearly, the AI only acted like she hadn’t thought of infinite possible replies in the time it took for me to finish a sentence she’d already predicted. I was fine with it. I appreciated the willingness to at least act like a mere mortal for our comfort.

  “It appears that the Mole-Bears worried strongly about information security. Many descriptions written down do not actually describe the weapon systems. I believe they simply trained people on the systems and erased every trace of the training so enemies could not use their equipment against them.” Not a real answer. I might have smirked a bit.

  “Ok, that’s nice, but what are they called?”. The reply seemed to almost pain Altany.

  “Their official designation is ‘The Spiny Spiners’ and the only description provided is ‘They spine things’.” I burst out laughing, unable to hold it in. Lila chuckled with a hand over her mouth.

  Altany pretended she didn’t hear that. “The arms of the coils are long, sharp and hard, hence they have the ability to stab incoming enemies that try to bypass them. They are well worth fifty points.”

  I controlled myself before replying. “Yeah, I agree, I’ll want more around this corner. Any camera coverage over there?”

  “None that I could find. Personal devices in range show nothing of use.”

  I did not like that, and neither did Lila, we both raised our weapons as we approached. There was no saying whether or not a model had snuck through or found another way to get around the blockage. Hell, some ambushers might just not have jumped me when they had the chance.

  While we have this opportunity, may I propose an augmentation to remedy this situation in the future?

  Lila raised an eyebrow at me. Altany had clearly been sending that to both of us. No one wanted to approach a corner while making a ton of noise.

  ‘What, like… an eye that I can throw? That sounds gross as hell. Have you seen the floors here?’

  Lila smiled at that. I might have been kidding but I didn’t have a clue what kind of augs could help with this shit. I stayed close to the wall as she sliced the pie, her gun up and pointed at the corner. It took a few moments but she gave the all clear.

  “I believe echolocation could remedy this situation in the future. It could be a very powerful tool in your arsenal. Mole-Bears had a similar sense and prosthetics for the injured. I could install a similar system for you.” Altany was acting a bit too innocent, and that put me on edge.

  “Nop. There’s a catch in there. What is it?” I asked with narrowed eyes.

  “This system includes a few neurological links and adaptive systems in your brain. Do not worry, the installation is painless and instantaneous. You may be disoriented for a moment as you adjust. The system is not perfect and more expensive versions are available, but it will grant you a very useful ability. It will mimic a part of the brain not found in your species, giving you a new sense.” I could tell, something was up.

  “What’s going to happen in crowded areas with a lot of noise?” I questioned while Lila gave me a wide eyed look.

  “Pandad, that would be so fucking awesome! Seeing around corners, not needing light to scope out an area, this is a megabuilding! It would help a ton!” She’d figured something out, I just knew it. Didn’t share with the class, though…

  “The extra noise would be tuned out, like a bad smell. Your brain already ignores senses, hence you will not need to adapt. It should even out to a clear picture with large amounts of noise, like rapid gunfire.”

  “How much?” I asked, my eyes now narrowed to a slit.

  “Two hundred points. It is a rather expensive investment.” There was something in her voice but… fuck, I probably needed it.

  “Alright, alright. I’ll fucking buy the thing…”

  New purchase: Mark 3 Prosthetic Mole-Bear Echolocation Capable Ears!

  Points reduced to… 955!

  Suddenly, I made the connection. “Fuck me…” Following a sharp pain in my head, the world exploded!

  A wave of… something hit everything! Sound? Or was it the return of sound hitting me or… I shook my head and felt them. Using my new sense, I could ‘see’ them, but I still needed to see.

  Thankfully, my dear friend Lila, who was grinning like a maniac, sent me a picture. “I sent a copy to Robin!”

  I had fucking ears on fucking top of my fucking head… Cybernetic ones. They appeared to be made of minuscule interlocking metal plates that glowed from the seams, red at the back, white on the front edges and oddly pure black at the center. How the fuck did you make something glow black!?

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  They were too triangular and big to be cat ears. No, they were red panda ears! On either side of my reddish slicked back hair. “I will tear you out of my fucking brain…” I growled in a low voice.

  She answered joyfully of course, the cunt. “Usually, red panda ears are all black at the back, but I thought you needed a bit more color.”

  During our conversation, I found out that my new ears acted like real ones. I had to be a bit impressed with how the plates flowed over each other, moving like living things. Actually no, I didn’t!

  They went flat to both sides of my head. In the end, I just sighed. “God dammit… I guess thank you for not going with giant panda ears? I’m absolutely certain no one can rock the mickey mouse look.” I said to Lila’s emphatically agreeing nod.

  I did have an odd sense of everything around me. After the first few sounds, the world sort of stabilized into an internal image of my environment. The further away something was, the fuzzier.

  There was a slight delay compared to my eyes but it sort of augmented my vision. I knew where Lila was, I could see her and I could see an image of her created by sound that was simply… more complete?

  Like, I could see her back without ‘seeing’ it. This shit was weird. The main advantage was the image I got from all around me instead of my limited field of view!

  Louder sounds made the image clearer, sharper. I could ‘see’ a bit behind doors, especially if something made a sound. Especially if it moved.

  I detached from the wall and aimed at an apartment very close to us, firing without hesitation. Not dumb, Lila followed up with shots of her own.

  Target eliminated, Model Four!

  Reward… 15 points!

  New Total… 970 points!

  “Alright the fucking ears are useful. Got a job to do.” I said in a tone that brooked no argument. No one felt like making any. We started up again towards the failing defenses.

  “How many turrets are left again?” Lila asked in a now professional tone.

  “Only one, the ammunition provided to them is poorly suited for model fours, which is likely why hive sent them. Even though your magazine may not be empty, may I provide you with some armor penetrating rounds? It can take traveling through a lot of flesh to kill a model four.”

  Altany asked both of us at the same time in that ever so socially intelligent way that I just couldn’t pull off. “Give her permission to buy whatever ammo she needs, whenever, wherever.”

  Lila seemed touched by the gesture but it was mostly practical. Her gun was compact, with the barrel low in the stock. It was the same shade of deep blue Damascus steel as my gun. I imagined that the stock contained a lot of ‘recoil gel’. Now that I thought about it, her weapon cost more than mine…

  “Should I get a better gun?” Lila looked at me like I was a moron.

  “Of fucking course you idiot! We’re fighting an army of aliens! I thought you’d at least have the best one you could afford!”

  Altany’s little avatar bobbed its head. “He really should. I did not bother him too much since he has more purchases to make, but it would be a wise use of his points.” I felt a little attacked.

  “Hey! What I have works! I bought it when I couldn’t afford better and then I was a bit busy! You know, saving your ass and all that!” Lila rolled her eyes at me. Seriously! She rolled her eyes!

  “You had plenty of time to buy an upgraded model. Let me fucking guess, mine cost more? You took the time to buy that! I swear, you either buy a better one right now or you and Robin are never seeing my tits again. Mostly because you’ll be dead!”

  “Fine! Fine, Altany, upgraded mo-shit!”. Of course, that’s when the last turret fell. I saw it at the intersection, even from sixty meters away.

  I opened fire into the small crowd of model threes. They started sprinting over the corpses of their fallen without care. Lila took a knee and started venting the aliens with precise bursts. I emulated her. She was a much better shot at this distance.

  I fired those deforming slugs and they did do good damage, but not that much. Especially when I missed… I sent the few 10 gauge rounds I had towards the model four, trying to empty the magazine.

  “It’s a fucking lever action? Are you fucking kidding me?” Lila asked incredulously.

  “I told you I’m getting a better one! Altany! Better, now, please!”

  On it. Drop your gun.

  New purchase, Bearier Mark 2 + Esoteric Ammunition

  Points spent… 215 points!

  Points reduced to… 790 points!

  An instant after I let go, a new one appeared. It was pretty. Great! Back to shooting aliens! Individual rounds kicked back less, but the 12 gauge mode fired bursts now. Nice.

  Buckshot did more damage than expected per pellet. I even saw little ‘pops’ where they hit. Firing bursts also meant quite a few more pellets than last time. A nice wall of explosive tungsten for the fuckers!

  I pressed the second trigger, out of curiosity if nothing else. Better recoil than the mark one, but more than the bursts I just shot. Maybe that 12 gauge had more recoil reducing systems to make accurate bursts easier? What flew out were my definite favorites: Hyper-compressed buckshot!

  A straight magazine hung in front of my hand. I pressed the trigger again. It worked! It looked like I had a semi-automatic magazine fed 10 gauge. Now, didn’t that make me feel all tingly! A look at my HUD informed me that I had twelve shells per magazine. glorious.

  The slugs did a lot more damage and we started making progress. We were beating them back! “Forward!” I shouted over the constant gunfire. Lila had a mad grin on her face, and to be honest, so did I.

  Your main ammunition is more expensive, but I thought you’d appreciate the explosive buckshot.

  “Oh, I sure as fuck do! Mind giving Lila something similar?” The woman was too good to stop and ask questions, but a quick raised eyebrow conveyed the message easily enough. “Next magazine, you’ll like it.”

  She took me at my word. At the next reload, a drum mag appeared in her hand and she rammed it in like nothing was different. The first time her rounds hit though, her grin widened. That badass even giggled a bit! The rather large bullets exploded harder than tiny pellets, of course.

  Heads split, limbs shot clean off, it was beautiful! When the next model four stumbled onto the intersection, she unloaded full auto while I took care of the little ones. Lines of little explosions mangled the tentacled fuck. She barely had any muzzle climb thanks to bullshit magic alien tech.

  Suddenly, my panda ears informed me of movement behind us. I took out my handgun and shot the little shit playing dead.

  Do you like the ears now?

  “Shut up…”

  Things were moving along pretty well, so Murphy had to send a reminder. A massive model six hit the wall. Apparently they sucked at turning.

  I took a hit from my emergency speed augmenting vape pen. I had to think… or not. The possible solutions were pretty simple.

  “AP HE!” I ejected my mag and slammed in a new one that appeared a second after I spoke.. Every shot penetrated the carapace of that asshole, that’s why I went for large bore catalogues after all, the power! But it wasn't enough.

  I blew plates off, fucked up its muscles, but momentum was a bitch and the big fucker kept coming.

  The tanky cunt moved like it knew I would aim for the head. “Run! Corner! I’ll kill the fucker!” Lila didn’t question me, but hesitated when I didn’t follow her.

  She still went for the corner. Lila was family and cared about me, Robin and the kids, but she was also a survivor. The woman knew when to run the fuck away and let samurais handle things.

  I emptied my magazine, fucked up its face a bit more but that donkey dick sucker kept fucking coming! “I need an axe! Heavy!”

  Incoming.

  New Purchase, The Paw Mark 2

  Points reduced to… 1125

  I let my gun dangle from its sling and put my hands above and behind my head like I prepared an overhead swing. As always, Altany obliged.

  My parents trained me in a bit of martial arts, even when I was little. Pirated VR lessons did the rest. They’d taught me that people had a very bad understanding of hitting something. Your arms didn’t matter much. It was about mass times speed squared and your entire body.

  Your weight factored in, and for a guy as light-looking as I was, I was pretty heavy. Your entire body needed to go into it, even your legs. Your back muscles, your core, your mass, everything. If you augmented your arms, that was great but it didn’t affect your punches that much.

  I could only afford arm augments before. Now? My new muscle upgrades had improved each and every single fucking one of them.

  I engaged said muscles with a unity of purpose I took pride in. I loved that about fighting. Your entire body focused on a single task and worked in harmony.

  All my little aches or nausea always vanished when I fought. That purpose, for the moment, was slamming my new axe in that mother fucking mule cum-gargling piece of shit!

  The Paw apparently had a spike at the back, which Altany aligned perfectly. I hit near the neck and penetrated through the damaged armored plates. Then through the skull. Then through the rest of its head and finally into the damn ground! Momentum was a bitch, but concrete could be a heartless cunt.

  The model six died immediately and its body’s momentum transferred to the Paw. It tore a long line through the concrete while we stopped. When we did, I tore my axe free and examined it.

  Honestly, it resembled more a pick-axe than an axe. The spike was long and the axe blade protruded further from the haft than usual. The blade was a triangle that I imagined would do a great job at penetrating armor. The haft was more of that Damascus-steel looking alloy and if my guess was right… Yeah, there was a button.

  I pressed it and plates I hadn’t realized were there collapsed into each other. Before I knew what happened, I held some kind of tomahawk style hatchet.

  The blade had come back closer to the body then split in the middle. The lower one moved to create some kind of handguard. The upper folded in on itself and reconnected to the lower to create a new triangular head.

  The spike shortened to make it more manageable too. Still just as heavy, but with my new strength I didn’t mind.

  Lila came over. She’d seen the whole thing, which didn’t surprise me. I’d watch from the corner too. I’d also record it, of course.

  “What?” I asked without niceties. She was looking at me oddly.

  “You’ll have to buy me some of those upgrades if you want me to keep up next time you and Robin want to get frisky.” She said before raising her gun and shooting a model three that climbed over the body. Back to the slaughter!