Are Samurai callous to human life? It depends on the Samurai just as much as the human in question.

  For a majority of Samurai, no. We do our best to make sure to save as many Non-one percenters as possible. For fuckers like Steelheil? He only cares about his image. Bet the fucker sleeps with his sword cause too many servants tried to merc him in his sleep.

  -Samurai Laser Lasso answering chat while Red Menace is away, 2054

  By midnight, every intruder had perished, as not a single one was able to be captured, with those who made it up taking their lives shortly after seeing the huge guy's body.

  “Hey,” Jill began,”So, we know where the main base of these guys are, right?” Outsider nods. “Cool. Can we go capture them? Make them no longer a problem for us going forward?”

  Outsider shook her head. “No, unfortunately, the moment they sent the raiding party, they vacated their compound. I have checked the SUVs they took, yet there is no navigational data there, nor in the augs of the intruders. The watcher vehicle that stayed back left the moment Communications were lost. It left the city an hour ago, and I have no way of tracking them.”

  I shake my head, running my hand over Cari’s scales. “Shame. They obviously had Samurai grade equipment, and most of those guys had Class I augs and enhancements, the big guy had Class II, yet he was not a Sam.”

  Bo clicks her tongue, snapping a lobster in half as well. “Cowards. Shame I'm leaving soon, otherwise I would be more than happy to help you track them down.”

  Cassandra rolled her eyes, “Yes, tracking them down in Japan. Using my contacts, right? Don't worry, guys, I'll ask around and let you know once I learn something.”

  “Thank you, aunt Cass.” Cari says with a smile.

  “Of course, you dork.” Bo says, glaring slightly at Cari. “You're family, Cari. And while I get you're as stubborn as your mother, if you are ever in danger like this again, and you don't tell anyone, I will…. Love, help me think of a threat.”

  I snort. “I will make it so the floor temp is set at forty degrees and that your armor cannot warm you.” I say, actually glaring at Cari.

  She gasps, face aghast as she knows I'm serious. “You wouldn't dare!”

  “Cari, you have Family who care for you that is not related to you by blood. Your aunt in Texas would probably also help you. So if you try to manipulate someone else to help you because you wanted to solve your problem on your own, all of us will conspire to punish you using means most petty and foul.”

  I could see the message sink in as she sunk a bit into her coils. I hug her close. “I love you, Cari. And we will do anything to make sure you stay safe and happy.” I kiss her on the cheek, yet I feel as though I was struck by lightning as the action just felt nice. Cari nods quietly.

  The night passed quietly, with Bo and Cassandra taking a guest room and Cari sleeping in her room. We both agreed that anything more than what we had done tonight was a step we didn't want to take just yet.

  I did let Morrigan know to set up an assembly for non-combat minions for herself, Outsider, Baba Yaga, and Bahamut. I chose not to check on what those minions would look like, as I was growing used to surprises like that.

  I did purchase a dream learning implant with a Slitherian biology lesson, which Synaptic said that, due to my enhanced Neural pathways, I could learn everything by morning. It helped that this was only a Class I lesson about a relatively simple topic. If I wanted to do this with, say, my Class II Physics, it would take me three nights.

  And what I learned was enlightening. They are a race that developed in competition with a humanoid race on their planet, thus they developed an ability through a Crispr type Virus that allowed them to shift between their natural form and their humanoid form to infiltrate their society, acting as the lizardmen of the old conspiracy theories. The difference being that, instead of replacing their leaders and enslaving the humanoid rivals, they married, bread, and became one people.

  They do still possess a weakness to cold in their serpentine form, but they also gain increased mass and maneuverability to better aid in combat.

  They had optional venom glands that could actively mix different venoms depending on what they ate or drank, ranging from paralytic to lethal to more… recreational.

  The more I learned about this race, the more I both liked them, as well as grew confused by them. They were a proficient warrior race that had contained their antithesis threat, but also leaned heavily into debauchery and revelry using said warrior traits. That said, it was… good to know that we could have children, when we decided we wanted them. In order to conceive, they have to both mix and inject a special venom into both themselves and their mate, so that was… convenient.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  When I awoke the next morning, I did so with an elevated heart rate and increased heat, so I took a very cold shower. For a biology lesson, there was an awful lot of non-scientific examples of that biology.

  Going out into the common room, everyone but Bo was either at the table, or making their way to it. Cari was in her human form, wearing a nice ensemble of jeans and a blouse type shirt. Her hair was done in a cute braid and she was laughing with Jill and Morrigan about something.

  I sit down next to her and kiss her on the cheek, then dug into the breakfast sandwich Buddy made. Egg and shrimp? Huh. Pretty good.

  Morrigan grinned a very wide grin that was definitely wider than a normal human smile, but I ignored that part. “Yes, Morrigan? What can I do for you this wonderful morning.”

  “A number of things, as a matter of fact!” She said. “There are a few things I would like to go over with you, as well as requesting a few catalogs. Then, I would like to end the morning with a show and tell of our newest minions!”

  I lean back as I look to Roger and the others. “Do you guys have anything to do this morning?” I ask.

  Roger nods. “Unfortunately, yes. Our training picks back up today for the next few weeks, as we don't know when Bestlé will invade, Hilda and the others want to go through as much as possible before they arrive.”

  Buddy smiles. “Abigail will be focusing on battlefield medicine for a while, then CQC.”

  Cody looks excited. “Icebreaker is taking me to the Mesh to train against various others in a black hat competition.”

  Jill just smiled wolfishly.

  “Have fun, then.” I say, turning to Cassandra. “And you?” I ask.

  She placed her third sandwich on her plate. “I am just waiting on some responses from friends in Japan, and then a few errands to run in the latter half of the day. If you will have me, I am curious about these minions.”

  “Of course you're welcome, Cassandra. Bo already claimed us as family last night, and Cari called you aunt last night. I just sent you the door code for the garage entrance, so feel free to stop by whenever.”

  We finished breakfast soon after with Jill and the others heading out. Morrigan rearranged the common room into something more akin to a runway for a fashion show with a large screen above it.

  Cari and I cuddled on the blue egg while Cass, as she has given me permission to call her, has her own nest chair. The Commanders all sat loosely around the stage as well, each of them either holding a bowl of popcorn or chips.

  As Morrigan took the stage, I raised my hand. “Hey, so, I have had this question on my mind for a while now, but I just never questioned because things kept happening. Why do you all eat?”

  Baba Yaga cackled loudly. “Because we want to, Victor! Food tastes good, and yes, we have the ability to taste things. One of those neat things Synaptic did for us. Makes us more human, easier to be comfortable around if we are doing things.”

  Bahamut swallowed his snack. “Indeed. I did mention it last night, but Synaptic did input a series of emotes and quirks into us. And the reason we know she did it is because we have all investigated every line and byte of us, and we found nothing to explain why we do certain things.”

  Morrigan cleared her throat. “Yes, yes. Very important things. Now, I have a presentation to do, ending with a very exciting event!”

  Cari giggled at her impatience. “Plesse, accept my humblest apologies on behalf if my fiance, Morrigan. Please continue.”

  Morrigan smiled, her ego stroked. “So! First order of business.” The screen behind her shows a wire frame model of New Phoenix from above. “Our information capacity is very limited. While the Class I Cyberwarefare Suite is helpful, allowing us to access sixty three percent of the city's camera network, the rest remain out of our reach. Not to mention that, according to Oustider's estimates, the entire camera network only covers seventy four percent of the city as a whole. Now, to be fair, fifteen percent of that is the sewers as cameras just don't survive down their for long, either due to corrosion or scavenging, but they still leaves eleven percent of the city unmonitored. The first proposal is as such.”

  “Utilising Class II Cyberwarefare, we connect to the remainder of the camera network in the city, and by unlocking Class I and II information processors, Outsider works with Black Log to monitor the network for antithesis mainly, and set up child AIs to monitor for major disturbances, such as sabatoge and terrorism.”

  “I have a question, Morrigan.” Cari raised her hand. “What's to stop us or The Family from abusing this Orwellian observation network against the civilians?”

  Morrigan tilted her head in confusion. “Because why would we? Victor helped adjust my core directive a few days ago, saying that he explicitly doesn't want to rule anyone, saying that my ambitions should be limited to an HOA president for this building here, which I will do. But that still doesn't excuse the slopy state of the security network here. Part of my directive is still his, and by extention, your safety against the antithesis threat. As such, this is the most basic requirement and first step to make sure of that.”

  Morrigan stops, looking at Cari. Cari, in return, looks even more confused. “Wait, thats it? Just, why would you?”

  I look at her, eyebrow raised. “Yes? Things only become abused by people who want to abuse them. By linking up with the Family, more specifically the net and Mesh based Samurai, they can lock down any access to make sure it isn't abused.”

  Cari leans back into the pillows on the blue egg, slightly dazed. “Is it really that simple?” she mutters.

  I scratch my head. “I mean, yes? I don't know about the rest of the Family Samurai accross North America, but they would have no reason to access the network here. No corporation or non-Samurai would have access to it, and any access would be logged. Maybe some emergency access could be granted in case of a massive Incursion, but it should be safe.

  “Cari, if we Samurai wanted to abuse our power, we would. Look at New Houston, or what Sam- Vanguard FoxFire discovered in Consolidated Virginia. And the best deterant to stop such abuse are the other Samurai.”

  Cari blinked, then sighed. “I will need to think on this some more. But I can do that later. Morrigan, please continue.”