Interlude 10: Portia

  Portia took off those stupid damn shoes and sighed in pleasure. Wearing them had been a stupid decision and she had many, many regrets.

  “Ah, kardia mou, how did that hum… Council thing go?” Her husband, always calm, kind, and collected, her ocean of peace in the storm, called out from their kitchen. His Greek accent had been tampered with time and practice, the same as her southern drawl, but they both let a bit loose at home.

  She barked out a laugh. “Worse than you can possibly imagin’ darlin’.” Absolutely mentally and emotionally drained, she sat on the couch. No idea when he got the time to make her tea and bring her scones. The smell got her to give him a tired, sad smile. “That’s wonderful of you suga…”

  “Of course.” He answered with a calm smile. “Want to share or would you like to relax?” She knew he asked only for her sake. If she wanted to wait a week before sharing the information, that wonderful man would wait a week.

  It took her a good, solid five minutes before she uttered a single sentence. “They were four floors down…” Her eyes filled with tears. Her husband didn’t ask, just took her hand, placed a kiss on it, then held it, rubbing his thumb on the back.

  Their children had left to forge their own lives. She could still imagine Maggie at fifteen years old, living here, with teenagers just as young in those brothels, forced to do things against their will...

  Brothels she was certain some of her neighbors frequented…

  Then some corporations decided to kill them all for profit, over a thousand lives just thrown into the trash, men, women and children.

  Over twelve thousand people now needed massive amounts of help. Oh, right, that included curing cancer!

  And she got drafted to fix this entire mess…

  A massive mess that she could never forgive herself if she didn’t try to help fix.

  “I have some work to do…”

  ***

  “So, you’re telling us a ganger bought the building!?” Mavis Cavanagh's shrill voice answered the info dump. Really, it was a bit much all in one go, she could understand that! However, the fact that the incursion happened on purpose should have been the main thing in her opinion!

  “No, I am tellin’...” She caught herself returning to bad habits in her annoyance. In this type of crowd, good pronunciation was paramount. She took a deep breath. Thank the lord this meeting was done online! “What I am sharing with you is the fact that a samurai has purchased this property.”

  “A samurai that used to be a ganger!” The bit– No, staying positive– woman answered. Apparently that was the only thing that mattered to her!

  “You do remember the part where I said that every lease will be honored, correct? They have been transferred instead of dissolved, which was the main concern from all of us if I remember correctly?”

  “What about the property value!? A thug controls this building!”

  Staying calm, staying positive… “No, he does not. Louis Larose has purchased this property. The council controls this building.”

  One of the men from floor thirty-four snorted. “All the funds are his and he has the power to force anything. I know you’re a researcher, not a business woman, but you cannot be this naive misses Nykas.” The pompous f– Nop… Positive. Positive, yup, staying positive.

  She really tried not to answer through gritted teeth. “I understand that. However, as you are not a man of science, I can forgive your ignorance of basic psychology and logic. To educate you, I shall explain. Every single credit came from a single person, yet the building is not personally owned. Do you understand what that means? You know, I should be clearer. This generally expresses extreme disinterest in governance. Peach-Trees has been bought and given away to a foundation whose funds were fully donated, meaning they are no longer that person’s funds. Is that simple enough, mister Powell?”

  A resident from floor thirty-two interjected before the glaring contest could even start. “That is good information, thank you. Do we know if this… Panda will help with rebuilding efforts? Many properties and infrastructure systems have been severely damaged! I have my own interests in this megabuilding.” He addressed the group as a whole after his question.

  “The help of a samurai in repairing and even improving our place of residence would be invaluable! Let us not forget that he lives here, with us. The man has a vested interest in our residence's well being. Also, if there is an incursion, we will have two strong samurais for protection! I’d call that a positive, people.” Finally, someone with sense! Alright, good, that would help with the chat room’s mood.

  “Yes. Mister Larose and his gang have been hard at work repairing the damage at their own expense despite retaining no liability and are planning to make many quality of life improvements to every floor. There are, of course, many plans for renovations and to rebuild and rekindle our economy with the funds donated!” Finally! Some actual support! How’s that for property value? She silently threw at Mavis. Her look probably did the job for her.

  “Some changes will not be done in our section because they are unnecessary however. As an example, our HVAC systems are doing just fine. On the other hand, the ones below have been damaged or even failed. To my understanding, the retrofit is in progress and should be done by the end of the week.”

  “Some are accessible to all residents, including a Protector-made therapy AI. I have the information for privately booking sessions, you’ll find it in the group chat. Also, unsurprisingly, the building’s defenses have been upgraded significantly! Mostly several crew-served railguns and turrets to take out aerial targets in case of an incursion for the moment.” Good, a few faces looking relieved. There had just been an incursion and even without casualties for them, that caused a hell of a scare!

  “Our network and electronic security have been reinforced drastically, which we all knew needed a retrofit. Several cameras and scanners have been added by the new sheriff, which should prevent unsavory actors from entering in the first place, reducing crime.”

  “Of course, that is only for the moment. More improvements should come when mister Larose earns more points. From my understanding, he plans to funnel large amounts of resources into the building.” Okay, doing good! Clear support from quite a few residents! They would spread the news and some may even participate! Selfish reasons or not, it would help.

  At the end of the day, these people lived here and with their age, they all remembered the last incursion along with this one. Having two samurais to protect their home? Not only that, but two samurais who lived here? That just meant amazing advertisement, great protection, increased business, better quality of life, the list went on!

  Sure, there were a couple massively prejudiced idiots, along with a few who were worried about their activities being looked at too closely, but most business owners here had massive issues that would suddenly be addressed! They’d also get hefty profits from bettering their environment.

  They also understood that the leases did not have to be honored. Louis could have told them all to shove off if he wanted. Generosity bred alliances, and they’d probably need those. The council had funds and a vested interest in making the place better, it just made sense.

  Hell, simply providing jobs for residents as he had been doing would drastically change their economy on a fundamental level! People would have the resources to shop at their businesses. The smart ones understood that and the dumb ones had no power to change anything. She’d have to watch out for them when they started having elections…

  “That is acceptable…” Some guy from floor thirty-five said, like he had any right to say otherwise and it wasn’t amazing news. “In the end, this council can be… convinced of certain things. Care will have to be taken, of course. You cannot slip much past a samurai. Do you know the situation for the criminal elements?”

  Deep breath, deep breath! Easy question. “As far as I am aware, the ‘Cobra Kais’ were the gang in control of the floors below ours. They have been ousted and the Bear-Yakuza have taken full control of this building. Crime should descend significantly according to the comparative research I’ve conducted into the different territories. We should expect a sharp decrease in all violent crimes and theft.” Alright, popular answer! Would help with the property value, something she didn’t care much about but it would shut those– No, deep breaths…

  The man she didn’t care enough to learn the name of appeared troubled however. “You do not believe they will continue the previous trades and businesses?”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Portia blinked a couple times, a bit confused. “Illegal trades? Mostly no? The new sheriff is also a samurai, hence I believe we should have better response times and the activity would be combatted. I have my doubts the drug trade will suffer majorly, mostly so the addicts in the building do not die of sudden withdrawal, but there was a discussion on treatments. For the more legal side of things, those activities should continue with some changes.”

  His brows furrowed. Did he have financial interests in play? “What kind of changes?”

  “Well, the obvious one is that the brothels will no longer employ slavery, nor anybody underage…” His eyes narrowed, but then so did hers. Seriously? That disgustin’ piece of trash…

  Most people shuffled uncomfortably, unhappy to be reminded of what happened in this building before Mad Panda’s takeover. “Yeah, the last gang had a habit of kidnappin’ young folk of all walks o’ life and putin’ ‘em there. Mister Larose had strong objections to that. To my understandin’, there are no survivors from that side of the business. Some… incidents happened in the shelters…” Her full drawl accompanied the death glare she shot at the subhuman garbage.

  Bryan Rickett. She’d remember the name. Hell, she might even shoot a message at her new boss…

  ***

  NOTICE!

  Howdy!

  As your sheriff, vanguard Johnny Law wishes to inform you that resident Bryan Rickett of this section, floor 35, has committed crimes the council cannot abide.

  He has been found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury of his betters.

  The list of his crimes includes but is not limited to: Child trafficking, Sexual/physical assault and battery on minors, manslaughter of minors.

  You will find ridiculously copious evidence below.

  All assets have been seized and will be available at highly discounted rates for any resident who wishes to take over or repurpose said assets!

  The perpetrator has been handled.

  He will not be available for questioning.

  Thank you for your cooperation!

  Link to evidence

  Sheriffofnotnothingham: I truly appreciate the tip Portia!

  ScienceSofty: My genuine pleasure sugar.

  “Your doing?” Her wonderful husband asked Portia, to which she answered with a winning smile. He seemed surprised, but definitely not bothered.

  “Yes, yes it is.” The idea to make the assets available to everyone at discounted rates was hers as well! It would make sure his businesses wouldn’t go down with him and would stay managed. Also, it would increase the chances of people speaking up. The beauty of incentives!

  The council would also repurpose his liquid assets into small loans to boost their economy! She had a lot of meetings ahead of her, darn…

  ***

  “Are you sure it will be safe?” Her gentle, kind and caring husband asked. She smiled at him.

  “I’ll be fine darlin’. It’s just helping treat some young ones who’ve had a darn rough go of it. No need to worry so much.”

  “Kardia mou, you are going to spend the day with gangers armed to the teeth, it is normal for a husband to worry.” He said in that calm, kind way he did. “I am not saying these people do not deserve help, at all, but why you?”

  Portia blinked in surprise. “Why not me?”

  “You do good things, important things, you helped charities and donated, your research is important! Why put yourself at risk?” He asked without reprimand, only concern.

  She looked down for a few seconds before returning to his eyes. Portia had lived a pretty calm life. She went to college, found a subject she loved and dove headfirst into science. Her husband was similar, but had a bit of a rougher path given Greece’s issues. Still, they both loved science and their subject of study passionately. It occupied their thoughts more than probably healthy, but they loved it.

  She did good things, invested in small businesses, helped people where she could… But…

  “What if it was Maggie down there? Or Joshua or Daphne…” His eyes narrowed. She’d only seen him truly angry once. Kind and calm, yes, but her husband wasn’t meek. God help whoever enraged that man.

  They’d both seen the rougher side of humanity, but he had more experience. He suffered from agoraphobia and worked from their home-lab. It wasn’t debilitating, and on that day going outside had not been a problem. Still, she knew what prompted those episodes. He understood what sorts of things could happen.

  “But… I don’t know, maybe that ain’t it… I think I jus’... I want to be a good person darlin’. I can’t see myself as that if I can help the youn’ ones down below and choose not to…”

  “I understand kardia mou. No need to explain, I just worry, that is all. I love you.”

  She smiled and kissed him. A chaste, quick kiss, one perfected and repeated for decades. “Love you too darlin’.”

  ***

  “The plan’s a go love!” Portia burst into their apartment in a rush. The discussion with Baby-Maker had been eye opening, fascinating, invigorating and… Ah!

  They both did research at home in their off hours, because that’s just who they were, but this? Oh! Dear lord she had something to do, right! “Gimme a sec honey!” Portia bolted for their desktop computer. It didn’t take long before she found the shadow-net connection app and she started inputting the right address.

  PN: Can you read me?

  BM: Yes. Happy to have a line of communication! We can do mesh meetings in the future, but I wanted to start like this. I apologize, but I prefer paranoia. I’ll make sure that our meeting spot in the mesh is secured enough. I choose a new one for every contact, sorry^^u

  PN: I completely understand! Has the treatment been helping?

  BM: More than I thought possible. Not sure when I’ll start walking, but I appreciate not needing diapers!

  “Should I be jealous?” Her husband asked from the doorframe at her laugh, clearly very amused.

  PN: My husband is nearby, are you alright if I mention you?

  BM: If you believe he can keep quiet, then I won’t mind. Is he going to help with the project?

  PN: Yes. He stays at home more than I do, will definitely do most of the lab work.

  BM: Then by all means.

  “Darlin’! Guess who I met!” She said with a massive smile splitting her face.

  ***

  “Don’t worry dear, we’re almost done.” Portia said with a kind smile at the young woman as her needle pierced the poor girl’s bones. She had to make sure to get tissue from as many tumors as possible to make sure there hadn’t been any mutations. Poor girl had to rely on chemo before, hence the complete lack of hair. She’d been homeless for a bit before finding Peach-Trees, driven to poverty by medical bills, and it had taken its toll. Her ribs showed and scabs and scars covered too much of her body. She’d been getting better through the magic of eating enough however!

  “So, you said this will treat my cancer?” She asked, hope and doubt warring for dominance on her face.

  They sat on adjoining cots, cheap things used to house everyone while apartments and pods were built or rebuilt. The pods would allow people to live here while spending an extremely low amount. The idea had come from Robin, who proved himself a great community organizer with every passing day!

  Not only had their population been cut down horrifically, but the Cobra Kais ended up keeping their floors at almost minimum capacity! Plenty of people might move in normally, but those were not necessarily the people they wanted. By allowing homeless or down on their luck people to rent a pod, sometimes without paying for the first few months, it would give a grace period. They would be offered jobs and opportunities, showing if they were good for the community in the process.

  Partially, the decision came from a unanimous agreement that they did not want any rich person to just buy an apartment in the ‘hip new place’ since their chances of integrating would be low.

  Still, the things hadn’t been constructed yet. They’d be able to hold a person in safety and semi-comfort, but double the available ‘living’ space in the lowest floors. They were small, but not half the size of the old minuscule apartments. No, a large part of the savings in space came from simply streamlined and optimized architecture. That doubling even included the larger ‘family’ models!

  Portia chided herself for getting distracted. ‘Focus silly girl’ she thought to herself. “More than that darlin’! Thanks to Panda, we’re using Protector technology to analyze your immune system before creating an edit to your genes. When we’re done, your body will start fighting the cancer the way it should have been doing from the start.” She felt bad for taking all the credit, especially since Kirk took care of creating the actual edits, but she understood the need for secrecy.

  Officially, this was an experiment by their lab and the results would be sold to a medical corporation after perfecting. Running experiments on the poor was classic corporate research and claiming they would sell it to a medical corporation would keep them from sending attackers. None of them had been informed, of course! Still, better have the cover scenario ready.

  If asked, they’d say that this would use backwards-engineered samurai-tech to save on production costs, which didn’t really matter when the price had been inflated into the stratosphere. However, it would keep them interested in the bidding after the experiment was done, instead of murdering them as potential competition.

  “What… what will that do?” She asked, obviously apprehensive.

  “Cancer happens when uncontrolled cell growth…” Portia stopped herself. Better be simple. “Some of your bones went a bit crazy, and your body didn’t recognize it as a problem since, well, it used to be your bones. Now, we’ll inform it that it’s a problem so it can destroy it. You should be fully free from that specific cancer in a month.”

  Portia felt a warmth in her chest. This young woman would be free from her trials because of her work. The research she did helped people, she had no doubt, but this? This woman, right in front of her, one that existed within her awareness, would be healed forever. The feeling was… wonderful, really. Words failed her, in truth.

  “How… ‘you sure it’s free doc?” She asked while shuffling a bit on the cot.

  Portia kept beaming at her. The girl couldn’t have been over twenty-two and hadn’t lived in Peach-Trees for that long. She didn’t fight against the antithesis or gangers, however…

  “Yes, it is. Panda took care of it. You’re a Bear-Yakuza, we take care of our own.”