Chapter 21: Taking a break

  “It is a sad reality that humans need frequent brakes to be effective. Now, that does not mean you can’t overtax your employees by disallowing smoke breaks and the like, but you should expect productivity to drop. That is, of course, putting aside the required breaks for sleeping and eating!

  Properly motivated employees can eat while working but why go through all the trouble?

  Replace those inefficient biological machines for digital ones!

  At Autumn Solutions, we ensure that your company can stay competitive by replacing unproductive employees with AI!”

  –Ad for Autumn Solutions, before the company’s marketing team was replaced with AI, 2031

  ***

  “So, you’re ready to get the fuck back here?” Lila asked a bit impatiently. That was probably a good idea. “Yeah… fuck… got everyone… Altany pointed to?” I asked, out of breath.

  All reasonably accessible civilians have been evacuated to the safe zone. There are many more civilians, but you need to extricate yourself for now and they are in less danger.

  Fair, I needed to get out of there. The KP-Kicking was wearing off and even before it did, the pain still crept in. I might have been pretty fucking badly injured. My tibia broke at one point and the armor acted like a brace.

  A few ribs were cracked from what I could tell. I kept slowing down, not good. I’d stopped using melee a few minutes ago, relying on nothing but my shotgun. Johnny Law had to focus more on support, less on the civilians. “Need extraction…” I said simply.

  Organizing with Lila.

  I had to get to the source, or sources in this case. The stairwells. Those fucking… whatever, not the time, needed to recover, regroup, reorganize all that good shit!

  Extraction ready, follow the arrows as fast as you can.

  Didn’t need to be told twice! Slightly limping since my armor didn’t make for a perfect brace, I followed arrows on the ground. My speed had been… hampered. It took a while of ‘running’, shooting and painful melee fighting to get near the objective.

  My railgun spent the entire time pointing backwards, delaying the horde. I had to make a hole through the aliens and even when I didn’t, my path would get cut off quickly! It felt like being hunted by a pack of wolves…

  My destination was just a bit deeper on the north side, a big, long and wide staircase going through the whole section. I led with my unbroken leg, going about half as fast as I could.

  That meant my pursuit stayed close behind, too. Thankfully, my speakers still blasted music, which meant I could ‘see’ my enforcers.

  As the model threes approached, they popped out of cover behind the balustrades. I went to one knee. A couple militia guys came to help me walk/jog back and I cut off the music. Should I have done that earlier? Fucked if I knew…

  David and Felix opened up with two new beautiful faces. I was so glad to see Ming and Roger! They looked so good with those news guns! I’d missed the details of who got rescued during the fight.

  That also meant I got very pleasantly surprised at seeing Bella! The woman looked so cool, taking shots then working that lever super fast! Her, Lila and Alex took careful shots at those who survived, then at the bigger bastards.

  I wanted to cry. My emotions were a fucking mess. Seeing them all alive filled me with relief, pride and happiness! To see all of them finally with the equipment they deserved! With the weapons that would truly let them do what they were meant to.

  I’d also kept them all alive! I hadn’t lost a single one and found three more! They’d all handled shit during my distraction, doing great work and saving so many!

  But… but so many of them weren’t here. I didn’t save enough of them! I still needed to find so many, dead or alive! What right did I have to take a break? I had to buy shit though! I had to prepare for more action but…

  God, coming down from drugs while injured as hell created a fucking bad mix. I was pretty much a deflating balloon of adrenaline, cortisol and endorphins. I mostly let myself get dragged along with the retreat.

  Sure, my awesome, badass, kickass and ass kicking enforcers could hold the line for a good long while! If they all came from the same direction that is. A bunch of them probably planned to converge and flank us.

  Did they plan or was it like water, finding the path of least resistance? Brain… not processing shit correctly… at… moment? Yes, moment…

  The rest was a blur until I arrived around the main hallway’s corner. Robin and Lila wanted to check me over but since my armor… Oh right… I retracted it and stepped out.

  A whole lot of blood dripped into a puddle around me. I’d used a lot of Hemo-Restore, but my bleeding had nowhere to go other than inside my armor. “Hey Love… Hey lover…” I said with a smile that helped the two’s panic slightly. “I’ll be alright. Just… Need a few minutes…”

  I saw Johnny Law hovering close… as well as a lot of civilians, some of them clearly recording me with their augs. I played the part of martyr pretty well, it seems!

  “I think I’m going to have to upgrade this armor before we go again!” I put a bit of humor and energy in my voice resulting in a few chuckles. Mission accomplished, now to be meme-able. “ I also need a fucking shower.”

  ***

  One of the perks of taking shelter in the residential section was amenities. We had access to toilets, food, beds and most importantly, fucking showers! In this case, that also meant showers for fucking!

  Okay Robin and I didn’t full-on have sex in the shower with people waiting, just played around a bit but that still helped a bunch! When I got out and sat on the floor for some much needed rest, I decided to ask a few important questions. “Hey, Altany, did I fuck up down there?”

  That very much depends on your point of view and your goals. Could you have done things in a more optimal fashion? Yes. Could you have handled yourself better in part by spending your points? Yes. Could you have asked for my assistance more often during this exchange? Yes. Could you have accomplished more objectives at that time and place? Yes.

  “Hum… So that’s a yes?” I asked with an eyebrow raised.

  None of what I described was an objective. Your objective was to evacuate civilians to your ‘safe’ zone. No civilian has died during this evacuation. In terms of creating a distraction, are there ways you could have done even better? Of course. You are a vanguard. You have near-infinite potential to improve, hence you can always do things better.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  What you accomplished however is not insignificant and you have reason to be proud. During this last round of evacuation alone, you saved 372 children and 753 adults. The probability of their survival without you, your enforcers, your militia and your samurai partner are minimal.

  It took me a few moments of wrestling with my thoughts before I answered. I knew I had an unhealthy habit of self-recrimination. My parents had been big on ‘taking responsibility’. I’d kind of misunderstood what they’d tried to convey.

  I took a lot of responsibility, quite a bit of it not mine. I needed to stop. What I’d done was good. I’d do better next time. I’d be better.

  In short, yes, you ‘fucked up’. All humans and vanguard fuck up. It is in the nature of biological beings to be imperfect. This is why my perfect self is here to help you. In terms of accomplishing your goal, you did not. You saved a vast amount of civilians without losses.

  I chuckled and rolled my eyes. My mood was coming back. “Alright, do you have something to clean my armor? The inside is… clotted.”

  There are a few sanitizing sprays that aggressively remove biological matter of any kind, but I would suggest standing a bit farther from your armor before spraying it.

  “Would I have a better option if I took that class two in medical utilities you’ve been nagging me about?” I asked with a wry smile.

  Finally! Also, yes. There are also options to help your bone fuse better, the current medication is minimal in comparison to what can be accomplished with a class 2 medical nanite suite. You still have several internal injuries you have not properly tended to.

  “Alright, grab it.” I said, sitting on the floor and waiting for Robin to finish drying himself off.

  Class 2 Medical Utilities unlocked

  Points spent… 300

  Tokens spent… 1

  “I’m surprised you didn’t show my points, what are they at?” I asked with curiosity.

  I wished to confirm the plan you made hastily in the middle of combat. Do you still want to give half the points your enforcers earned to them? That is, according to your original plan, after they have reimbursed you for the investment point wise and their own spending on ammunition and necessities.

  I thought about it for a bit, long enough for Robin to get out of the shower and sit next to me. He rested his head on my shoulder and we relaxed for a moment. The bathroom was minuscule so our legs were on either side of the toilet. Even with that, we had to bend our knees!

  Would it be more comfortable on a bed? Sure, but we wouldn’t get to sit together, naked, wreathed in mist. It was warm and calm in here, the gunfire muffled by the walls. I even extended it by administering the bone repair stuff Altany gave me. It was a good excuse.

  We took a full three minutes of peace before going back to work. He got up first and I groaned. “Come on papa panda, we got shit to do.” It sounded exactly like his tone when waking up Racheal early. I didn’t look murderous like her, did I?

  “Alright, alright. Altany, armor cleaner please?” That bought me a bit more time! Not a lot though. Damn super effective protector tech!

  “So, what were you thinking about?” Robin asked because he knew me that well.

  “Giving the enforcers points for them to spend on themselves.” I outlined the original plan and he actually gave it a lot of thought.

  “Well, first of all, you know that’s insanely generous right?” I looked at him a bit surprised.

  “They made the points, they fought, they should get paid for that.” I said matter-of-factly. “Actually, better not spread that around, don’t want enforcers applying just for the money.” Robin looked at me oddly.

  “You know you could just pay them credits right? Hell, you could give them equipment yourself, why points?” I looked at him and picked my words carefully.

  “I… don’t want to be a corpo. You know how when a gang becomes big, they essentially turn into corpos? They hate competition, everyone under them becomes a corporate ladder and they extract all they can from their workers and customers. It’s one of the reasons we fucking hate them.” Fuck me, this was just venting.

  “I… don’t want to be that. I don’t want to see my community as… potential competition. I don’t want to limit them, fuck I don’t want to be in charge! Everyone calls me boss because we’re in crisis mode but Jesus I don’t want to be an administrator! I want to be a guardian. I want my enforcers to be guardians, but also… I want them to be themselves.” Ok, ok, back on track kind of. Robin just listened, nothing but kindness and attentiveness on his face. I loved that man so much.

  “They should be able to grow however the fuck best suits them, not have awesome standard gear… I don’t want to mold them into the corporate identity of the Bear-Yakuza. They’re awesome, unique, talented people and I trust that talent! I want them to be… them! I… I’m not making a ton of sense, sorry…”

  It was a long rant, one I’d been building inside my head for a while. Robin smacked my arm lightly. “Stop that. I’m your husband and you’re going through some shit. I’m supposed to help with that. Rant if you want, better than keeping it in your head like you do sometimes.” He said, lightly chastising me with a smile.

  The man knew me very, very well. “Sorry darling…” I said with a smile and a kiss. “I love you.” I said with every ounce of sincerity in my body, and he responded in kind.

  “I love you too.” The smile of contented happiness on his face made all the pain I’d even gone through worth it.

  “Alright, so, enforcers keep half. We can borrow from those funds in an extreme emergency but please segregate those points. I was fighting out there for a good long while, so we should have a decent amount of points. I imagine I’ll share with Johnny? Oh wait! Did I make more points than him?” I asked with a spark of competitive excitement.

  You sprayed very destructive ammunition and wounded a large amount of enemies that he then finished. In terms of ‘who gets the points’, you will both get the same amount. He provided critical support without which you would have died.

  However, you also provided a distraction, acted as a tank and wounded vast amounts of enemies that were ended by your enforcers and militia, most of which were using your equipment.

  “Most?” I asked, curious.

  Vanguard Johnny Law paid for Bella, Roger and Ming’s weapons. They are composites from both of your catalogues, mostly his for Bella and mostly your for Ming. He organised this with you, however, you were quite distracted at the time.

  In any case, I will create a separate counter for your enforcers and their contributions. The split between two vanguards is a fifty-five and fifty-five share for your information. It encourages cooperation, hence survivability.

  Points earned after partner-share and enforcer shares: 6584!

  Tokens earned: 1

  I stared a bit slack-jawed. That would mean we killed at least… if they were all model threes that would be six hundred and fifty times two plus… whatever! I was a bit out of it for a while there but damn… That brought something up. “Connect me to Johnny Law, where is he by the way?”

  Since he is in better shape than you and was able to take shorter and more frequent breaks, he is currently leading search and rescue efforts. His role is mostly acting as a scout and transporting people. He carries them one or two at a time since his new legs allow him to run with them. Connecting you now.

  Johnny almost instantly answered of course. “Heya! How’re yall? Still recovering?” There seemed to be genuine concern in his voice and I appreciated it. I wasn’t used to getting that from people I hadn’t known for a long time.

  “Already recovered! Got class two in medical utilities, seriously great goodies in there apparently, gonna have to explore. It’s a brand new world of battle drugs! Anyway, fun aside, I need to talk to you, got time?”

  “Sure, just give me a sec, I’m almost to the Alamo.” I stared in confusion at nothing.

  “What’s Alamo?”

  “Oh won’t I have a story for you! Anyway, give me a sec…” He disconnected and I stepped into my armour.

  Robin looked at me a bit worried. “Everything alright pandear?” I wanted to lie to him but…

  “I think there’s a problem…” I stopped talking to put my helmet back on. Something wasn’t right and it made me feel unsafe. I wanted to be ready.

  “We have to talk to Johnny.” Robin didn’t protest or argue. My husband may be fun, kind, smart, cute, beautiful, nice and all around perfect, but when shit went sideways? He could be very serious, professional and efficient. The man had been a massive part of organizing the purge.

  We’d barely taken a ten minute break, but it already felt like too long. It’d been a bit less than two hours since the start of the incursion. The hive acted weirdly going by what I knew from my time in a PMC.

  We’d been a bit too busy to talk about it but aiming solely for conflict and barely collecting biomass? That was weird as hell!

  Also a massive question loomed over me. We’d killed around a thousand antithesis, making stupid amounts of points!

  So where the fuck were all the mother fucking samurais?