“Earlier this year, the Samurai Mako discovered antithesis hiding below in the mantle. Soon, there were many powerful Samurai coordinating to fix things. No one was allowed near, as the known antithesis were going to be at least in the forties. Warspite’s ship was easy to spot in the area above the Mariana Trench. Many other ships were spotted, some Samurai, some reporters, and some… who knows. Several Samurai dove after Mako, leaving a silence before all hell broke loose. Before it was over, several reporters died because they got too close. Some by the plants, and at least one as collateral damage to a Samurai attack.”

  – World News Today, February 2058

  Arriving at the Fortress of Solitude, I was disappointed at the lack of snow. This was the north, and no snow. Climate change was to blame, of course. At least the crystalline appearance was perfect. Contacting the AI beacon, my ship was guided in. To enter, we pass through a giant door with an iconic “S” raised on its surface. Inside, however, was a wonderland. Overhead, we could see the sky through the crystalline roof. The hanger we parked in was multi-level, with crystal platforms ending at different heights.

  As we walked out, a hologram of Jor-El appears, and asks, “Welcome, how can I assist you?”

  I reply, “Please take us to my suite.”

  “Yes, mistress. I’ll summon transportation.”

  A few moments later, an automated hover-taxi arrives, and the doors open. We get in, and then it moves. We head out of the hanger area, and into a great hallway with a number of lesser hallways branching from it. A quarter mile later, the hallway ends in a grand gallery. In the center is a stature of Jor-El and Lana holding up a planet. We circle around this to the side, and into a small hallway that soon spiraled down beneath the gallery. It was clear that this was a hidden path, as several times we turned at a blind corner, and a hatch opened briefly for us.

  Eventually, we stop at a thin elevator. The door opens automatically, and when we get in, it automatically lifts us. Oddly, the elevator changes direction as it goes up. It only lasts a little bit, but shortly after, it opens. This appears like a business lobby, and a lighted path leads down a hallway. Before we go down the path, I head over to the windows on one side. Looking out, I realize that somehow, this space is actually the planet in the grand gallery.

  Staring out, I can see everything on this side. Moving to another window on the other side, I see more of the gallery. Then we follow the path. Again, there is a secret panel that opens for us, revealing another elevator. We head in, and watch as we go up three floors. There, as the doors open, the voice of Jor-El tells us this is our suite. In front of us is a luxurious apartment. A few minutes later, I learned the accommodations were very rich. There was also a home office, and a dedicated baby room.

  “Ysys, how come this place has a baby room?”

  This ship is yours. The AI, Jor-El, monitors your public persona, and maintains this suite based on your apparent needs and desires. While it cannot supply people for you to relax with, it does what it can to make the environment suitable for the well-being of people. You may have noticed the greenery in the grand gallery. That is one of the ways to give people a relaxing environment.

  “How much of the place is…”

  Less than half of the public space, and small amount of the private space. The entry hangers and the grand gallery are very much of the style, and accents or hints show up quite a number of places. There are also some of the iconic rooms. But there are two Halls of Heroes. The fictional one of the comics, and the real world one with assorted acclaimed Vanguard.

  “Am I…”

  Yes, you are one of the heroes. Some might say it’s hubris, but your roles in the Rock Springs evacuation, and in defense against Phobos have raised your comparative standing to your fellow vanguard sufficiently to be considered for entry.

  “My standing?”

  Yes. Humans will rank anything, including Vanguard. You aren’t that high on the world rankings, but in the North American rankings, you are notable. The fictional hall is full of North American heroes, so the real one is also.

  “That will take some getting used to. Moving on. Let’s get some detailed information about the area, especially near Reliance.”

  Then head downstairs to the situation room.

  When I arrived, numerous screens were on display, and Ysys walked me through what each one did. Azure and I took turns keeping Sherry entertained, and otherwise studied all the available information. Oddly enough, I was able to focus on two areas at once. I guess I was getting the hang of the two body thing. The first thing I learned was that the encounter was enough to set the hive on edge, and they had chosen to make a small hive on land near where they encountered the city drones. We would take it out first, to get used to doing things with Azure on the sharp end, and me in top cover.

  It was late in the day, so after a light meal, and some practice using Azure’s faster body, I called it a night. In the morning, we headed out with the ship loaded with assorted spiders and locusts. When we neared, I was keeping overwatch with my augs, focused on Azure, and played with Sherry. Azure stepped out, using her wings to get to the ground, and when she neared, I switched her to skypath. She went to the nearest pack of model threes and started slaughtering them. The hive responded.

  Even as she fought with the new weapons, she released the spider crew to map the place out. While we had scans of the place, the detail was lacking near the hive, and these spiders gave me a far more detailed look inside. I sent Azure in to the heart of the hive using their data. Somehow, the hive had accelerated its growth, and was no longer a small hive. But even numerous models in the twenties did not really slow Azure.

  As I planned to send supplies to Azure throughout the fighting, this was good practice. I’d already printed a large amount of flesh melters and other consumables to send. This hive was great for learning to fight with the underwater weapons. Sure, I could have cleared it faster with my usual ones, but that wouldn’t help with getting used to the Ympaler and Dimensional Daggers.

  Once the hive was defeated, I briefly sent the ship low so that I could offload a bunch of attack spiders, spider crew, and locusts to clean up the area. I also sent a few construction spiders to print more spiders and locusts by consuming dead antithesis and local debris. I brought Azure back at this time so we could leave the cleanup to them. Returning to the fortress, Azure cleaned up, and we ate and went to bed, letting the drones finish the cleanup. In the morning, we learned the cleanup had completed, and the spider crews were patrolling.

  After breakfast, we headed back, and Azure went into the water. The spider crews had advanced a fair amount along the lake bed, with the overnight production. However, they were not able to swim, so didn’t have as good a map of the upper waters. Even so, I figured the antithesis would come to Azure. It didn’t take long to advance far enough to encounter model ones, which alerted the underwater hive to danger. We hadn’t located it yet, as the spider crews mapping the bed took a while to go a large distance. Azure could only follow where the greatest resistance came from.

  While the fours couldn’t damage Azure, they could tangle her up, hampering her fighting of the larger models. The ranged attacks they had weren’t as bad, but they could now come at Azure from all directions, and they didn’t care if the spines went through a model four. The model nines were mostly visible to Azure, and she could spot model twenty-ones a short distance away. But I tried to keep her near the bottom to limit how many could attack.

  It went well for an hour or so, but then some models in the thirties started showing up. Azure took out the first few, but soon the spider crews reported a large number arriving. Azure had already taken some damage from them, so I decided to pull her out. Using the path I could see from the spider crews, I pushed her Dutchman as best as I could so she could retreat. They got a few more licks in before Azure escaped. Tilting up, Azure left the water at speed, and then shifted from the Dutchman to normal flying up to the ship. Most of the antithesis were unable to follow, and the few that did were easily dispatched.

  Once she entered, I had the ship head back to the fortress while I treated her injuries. Somewhat difficult to do, as I fed Sherry, but I can’t control when she gets hungry. At least in the water, fighting didn’t leave much gore on Azure. Sherry was actually dirtier than Azure, somehow.

  We had just left the ship when I got a call from another Samurai.

  “Hello, This is Calamity. Who’s calling?”

  “I’m Mako. We heard you were going to be taking on an underwater hive that has been alone for a while.”

  “Yeah. Just came from back from our first foray. Why?”

  “Well, Clear Eyes and I specialize in underwater hives, and I heard you were looking for help?”

  “I’d love for some, but how come the Family didn’t say anything?”

  “Well, we’re not exactly with the Family. More Cascadia and our own personal faction. And….”

  Another voice came on the line, “We’ve been working on a project to reintroduce biodiversity to the ocean and improve wildlife resistance to Antithesis for a while, and just finished a major stretch of it.”

  “As Clear Eyes so eloquently said, we’ve been offline for a bit. But your excursion north made the gossip columns, so we decided to check it out. You want company?”

  “Sure. How soon will you get to the area?”

  “We’re already here. That’s some snazzy building you pulled into.”

  “Oh? You’re that close? Well, it’s called the Fortress of Solitude.”

  “Oh? Looking forward to checking it out.”

  “In that case, I’ll wait for you to arrive.”

  “Okay. Be there in a flash.”

  Soon, the outer door opened, and seemingly as a courtesy, Mako waited for the doors to finish opening before teleporting in. Arriving right next to my ship, the shark woman popped in, cybernetics settling as she just stood there, waiting for me to come over. As I got closer, another figure stepped out from a door in space, clad in a form-fitting suit that looked like it was made of galaxies.

  The lady introduced herself. “I’m Mako, you can call me Macy if you’d like. This is Clear Eyes, call him Nate if you want to bug him.” Mako snickers.

  “I’m Calamity Jane, please call me Jane. This is Azure, my alternate body, so to speak. And this little bundle of cuteness is my daughter, Sherry. She’s a bit young to be social.”

  “Well, glad to see that she’s willing to come meet us. Can definitely relate to the lack of social battery. That said, Protector-grade therapy did wonders for me on that front.”

  “Damn right, it did,” Nate rolled his eyes. “You were hopeless before.”

  “Hey, just because you’re right, doesn’t mean you have to say it,” Mako argued in mock-annoyance.

  “Please, let me take you to my place here. It’s only a few minutes away, and the cab is already here.”

  They nodded, and the five of us entered the larger cab I had requested. As we went through the grand gallery, they ogled the place worse than I did, I think. Of course, I played it cool, as if this was ordinary. The elevator was close, but there was enough room for us all. Nate quickly noted the view from the main lobby, but after the next elevator trip, they saw my place and quickly settled in.

  I sent Azure off to clean up, and I brought out some of Sherry’s things, and put her and them on the floor.

  “So. Tell me about yourselves. How does one get good at underwater fighting?”

  “Well, I initialized in Seattle along with this guy,” Mako side-hugs Nate, “And things moved from there. Still spending time with people around there in Cascadia, still learning every day. As for underwater fighting…well, it was definitely a lot of trial by fire and a lot of water for me, much to the chagrin of Clear Eyes here.”

  “At the beginning, I was so worried about her, and her AI’s retelling of the situations she went through before she met me confirmed my suspicions. Do as she says, not as she does.”

  Mako laughs, “Well, I’ve gotten a lot better about keeping myself together, or at least survival. I can do the Wolverine thing and come back from a single cell now. But, I’m getting off track. Underwater fighting is about three-dimensional space. Awareness around you is incredibly important.”

  “Gotcha. I was planning on going over today’s activities to see how I could improve, and I plan on sending Azure out again tomorrow. I would love your insights. But before that, are either of you hungry?”

  They were, so I asked Ysys if a grill was available. It was, so I made bar-b-que for everyone. I even made Sherry some bar-b-que vegetables that were nice and soft. Azure prepared the table, and handed out drinks. She even placed a high chair between our seats so we could both feed Sherry.

  Soon the discussion turned to the food, and later how I learned to cook such wonderful food. It was unlike anything they ever had. So I told them the tale of Handy Hank and his efforts to teach me, and my decision to take up cooking. Afterward, we settled back in the main room, and discussed their combat experience in general, then we delved into a recording of Azure’s combat. One of the features of the Mesh Superaugs is the ability to make recordings of sensory input, and I used it to make the recording.

  “You’ve had a lot more experience underwater. I plan on having Azure in the lead, so I can learn. With you close behind, you can cover if needed.”

  Mako said, “Azure sure was effective even at higher models. But she needs to use more effective ammo. I recommend explosives, as they can really do a number on antithesis. Even a miss can be effective since the pressure wave is rather devastating to anything close by. That said, I do not recommend being too close to targets of explosive ammunition, cause there’s hell to pay with backlash.”

  “I take it that’s from personal experience?”

  “More than you know. I’ve had to learn the hard way how to make the most of explosions in the water. Physics dream learning classes come highly recommended from me.”

  “Ysys, how effective would our hard light armor be?”

  It would depend on what you use.

  I sensed Ysys sent that to all of us, as Mako said, “Kyos, please send Ysys the specs of the Stalhas catalog guns. That and the emplacements that Warspite and I concocted.”

  The shells they use would not cause issues unless you were very close. However, I would recommend hearing protection as there is both explosive ordinance and sonic ordinance within the information sent.

  “I guess I can do explosive rounds. Ysys, if you would come up with something stronger for the Ympaler? Go ahead and get blueprints and print a bunch of ammo. Hearing protection also.”

  Mako asked, “What do you mean print ammo?”

  “Once you have protector 3D printers, you can print anything within limits if you have the blueprints and mass. Blueprints cost the same as ten items, so if you use at least that many, you save points. I have blueprints for my ship, and this fortress. Only have one each, for now, but if I need another, I don’t need to spend points. I’m a sharpshooter, normally, and I go through lots of specialty ammo. I rarely need to buy ammo, since I print a lot of it.”

  “We’ll have to look into that.”

  We spoke for a bit more before they decided to return to where they came from. I offered to go with them, but they said they had some stuff to think about. So they left, Clear Eyes messaging me through a channel I had given them during dinner earlier, letting me know that they would meet us in the morning at the loading bay. We got up early, and ate breakfast, and headed to the bay. At the appointed time, we arrived.

  I messaged Mako and Clear Eyes. “Ahoy, I’m here. Mako?”

  This got their attention. Mako appeared as quickly as she left before.

  “Not quite as savvy for the sailor talk as Warspite or Nemo, but I can appreciate it. I was in the quarters back at my base in Seattle. Already put down a fixed teleport point here, so you can certainly expect me if you call,” she gives a sharky grin.

  “How do you want to attack them?”

  “Azure in the front, as she is technically expendable. I don’t want to lose her, but if someone must be lost…”

  “That’s kind of harsh. Not quite what I had in mind, considering I have a lot of alternatives to placing a living person into immediate harm’s way, especially one so green in terms of underwater experience.”

  “Yes, yet it is why I chose to go the clone body route. To be safe while also able to fight. I have Sherry to look after. I will stay on my ship to support Azure. Given what you’ve said about what you have faced, she will take on the largest threats, if only to help teach us the ropes. If you can cover her as she does so, I would appreciate that. Nate can join me on the ship while you two work together. Sound good?”

  They looked at each other, and without saying a word, came to an agreement. Mako said, “Yes. But what we saw yesterday shows Azure doesn’t have a lot of stopping power. That and movement is crucial under the water, and not being fast enough is even more detrimental with water resistance. Especially if you’re not ready for it.”

  “Based on your assessment last night, I upgraded her ammo. She now has explosives and some other things. Mako, how fast are you in the water? That is, how well can you out swim the antithesis?”

  “I’m not the one that needs to run, but let’s call it… Mach one without factoring in teleportation shenanigans. Besides, my sharks have my back in the water.”

  “Sharks?”

  “Jeff II, Bruce II, and Blahaj. They’ll be around.”

  “We can go in my ship if you want. I can deploy your sharks easily. I have a bunch of drones I will be using as well.”

  “Let’s do it.”

  We spent a few minutes transferring my drones. Then I asked, “Would you like a quick tour of my ship?”

  Mako said, “We’d love a tour.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  I led the way, and as I showed them the various rooms. A few minutes later, we were at the lake. I had briefly stopped a few miles away to drop off more spiders and locusts. Soon we were hovering over the lake and Mako and Azure departed. Appearing just above the water and dipping in, Jeff II, Bruce II, and Blahaj, incredibly sleek and powerful looking shark-like drones, began to swim within the waters.

  I asked Ysys to open a chat room so we could communicate and plan.

  “Hello everyone. Don’t worry about including Azure, as I am here. I am essentially piloting that body, so what you say to me, or her, I will hear and take the appropriate action.”

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  Mako replied, “Not the first time I’ve dealt with a multi-bodied person. I’ll have to take pictures to send to Geryon.”

  “Go ahead and refer to her as Azure or as Jane. If it is about my overwatch position, or a personal question, I’ll know it’s for me, and otherwise I will assume it is about her body.”

  Finally, Clear Eyes said, “We’re ready.”

  “In that case, follow Azure. We’re heading for the densest concentration.”

  Azure moved at a good clip, but nowhere near as fast as possible. They followed in line, with the sharks flanking. As we were about to engage antithesis, Azure shot out an Ympaler explosive bolt into a further gathering of antithesis. I figured a large bang would get their attention. I was right.

  Azure maintained her speed, and took out everything that came at her. The smaller ones fell to the dimensional daggers, and the larger ones to the Ympalers. Not many went past Azure, and Mako was on those. A bit further in, and sufficient were going wide of Azure and Mako that her sharks had some action. I was seeing some in the twenties start to show up.

  When there was a change in behavior, Mako called out, “There must be a twenty-seven around here somewhere.”

  “What’s that like?”

  “It’s a stealthy one specializing in communication. It’s organizing them.”

  “I’ll keep an eye out for something sneaking around.”

  Soon, the press of attacking antithesis was getting thicker, that I had to let the lesser ones past so I could take out the greater ones. Mako’s sharks were apparently clearing out lesser ones before they got too close. Mako took some of the larger ones, but most of them were after Azure. Twenty minutes later, a thirty-three showed up. I knew something had, when the spider network started to fail.

  I leaned into Azure’s senses, and while the cuckoo sense wasn’t very directional, it did give an idea about direction and distance. With that lead, Azure’s other senses were able to refine that into something better. A few seconds focusing in that direction, and I spotted signs of it’s presence. I shot a half dozen Ympaler shots in the area, and it quickly became an exploding hell there.

  Even though I didn’t get a direct hit, I did knock it out of stealth. I immediately shot an explosive bolt followed by a flesh melter bolt. While it survived the explosion in its head, the melter that followed started eating away at its brain, and it quickly died. The spider sensors came back when it died. Meanwhile, I went after a pair of twenty-twos, some twenty-threes, and a twenty-eight.

  Less than two minutes later, I started seeing thirty fives. Having explosive phasing rounds made them go down much easier than the last time I tangled with them underwater. Even as I was dealing with them, the spider sensors went down again.

  This time, however, I was unable to find it before it attacked Azure. While it tried to chomp her in half, I was able to make Azure squirm and fold enough that she only lost half a leg. At the same time, she also fired several times into its head, blowing it apart.

  Mako screamed “Azure!”, then followed up with, “How did you move so fast?”

  “Class III body. Might take a while to regenerate the leg, but we can deal with it later. There’s another still around, so watch out.” Azure then went after another thirty-five, even as I was trying to pinpoint the next twenty-seven.

  Back on the ship, I asked, “Ysys, Can I get a better sensor to find those pesky thirty threes? Something Azure can equip? Also, can the spider crews get better ECM so that they don’t get jammed?”

  You will need to open Class III Sensor Technologies for eight thousand points and three tokens. I recommend the Fish Finder Pro 3000 for six hundred points. It can attach to the belt, and get power from it, while also connecting to her augs to give her a better view of what’s in the water. For ECM, I recommend getting the Class II ECM hardening Module for nine thousand points. It can replace the existing ECM module in your spiders.

  “Okay. I want blueprints for both, and start printing a hoard of spider crews on board and on shore. Also give me a Fish Finder so I can send it to Azure.”

  Opened Class III Sensor Technologies – 8000 points, 3 tokens

  Fish Finder Pro 3000 – 600 points

  Blueprints for Fish Finder Pro 3000 – 6000 points

  Blueprints for Class II ECM hardening Module – 90000 points

  New Total – 1,126,493 points, 5 tokens

  A box appeared beside me, and I grabbed it. Waiting for a slight pause in the fighting, I used the teleport to send it to her ready hand. All that practice paid off as she grabbed it and hooked it to her belt in moments. There was an immediate clarity, and I saw where it was stalking me from the side. As soon as I saw it, I shot it three times. I think it died on the second shot, but I wanted to be sure.

  The spider sensors came back on, and we resumed our march to the hive. We were now close enough that the sensor net had reached the hive. But we still had to get there. I noticed that there weren’t any models in the thirties heading our way, so as soon as the current batch died, we could make more headway to the hive. It took almost fifteen minutes to get the last thirty-something.

  “Hey Ysys, how effective are those sharks?”

  They are obliterating well into the teens, but the higher models are resistant. This makes them great at handling large hive mobs, but the more powerful models can shrug it off. Considering that Mako is a higher tier Samurai…she may be using lesser models to improve point efficiency.

  In the chat, I asked, “Hey, your sharks look to be quite effective. Would you be willing to share the catalogs needed for me to get them?”

  Mako replied, “Sure. Actually, you can share all my class one and two catalogs.”

  “You can share my class one and two catalogs.”

  “Thanks.”

  Separate from the chat, I asked, “Ysys, please get the blueprints for the sharks and their ammo.”

  Blueprints for Stalhas Heavy Attack Robot - Model K = 1500 points

  Blueprints for Enhanced Depth Charge Torpedoes = 150 points

  Blueprints for Black Hole Torpedoes = 2000 points

  Blueprints for Mark II Shark – 5000 points

  New Total – 1,128,258 points, 5 tokens

  “Can you print some dimensional magazines for my sharks?”

  Yes. The design is modular and can take a number of different shells. There will be a need to replace the loading chamber with the magazine, but that can be easily done.

  “Please print one of each shark, with dimensional magazines full of ammo like Mako has been using, then teleport them to Azure. I want to see what I can do with them.”

  The Class I shark is small enough, but the Class II shark is too large to teleport.

  “Is there some way to finesse it? Maybe it can curl up?”

  The smaller one is already curled up. But there is a way the larger one can be sent. I just have to adjust the magazine to also be able to hold the large shark. Then it can spit out the large shark first, then the shark can load the magazine. To make it all work underwater, including the assembly, we need an adaption kit for one hundred points.

  “Get the blueprints, then print and send.”

  Blueprints for Shark Autoloader Adaption Kit – 1000 points

  New Total – 1,127,624 points, 5 tokens

  I was about to speak when Sherry decided she needed food. So I bared a breast and made her happy as she started to suckle.

  A few minutes later, Ysys informed me the sharks were in the water. I linked them to Azure’s control.

  Mako asked, “What happened? There are some more sharks here. They yours?”

  “Yes, I wanted to test out my sharks, so I printed and teleported them there.”

  “Printed?”

  “Cheaper in the long run. But there is an initial delay.”

  “Oh.”

  Since no one said anything, I said, “Ysys, move the ship ahead over the hive’s entrance, and start sending the new spiders out. I expect the fall won’t damage them?”

  I felt the ship briefly accelerate and decelerate.

  Once over the hive entrance, forty-two spider crews headed down. Once they hit the water, the swarms spread out a bit, and when they got near the entrance, the swarms broke into the component spiders.

  Mako asked, “Huh? We’re getting sensor data from above the hive?”

  “Yeah, I printed some new spiders with better ECM. They will augment the existing spiders to ensure better reliability. They don’t swim, so they will fall on the hive entrance and go in from there.”

  “Reliability is good.”

  “Hehe.”

  I decided I should send some to Azure’s location in case more ECM models showed up. Azure didn’t need to do anything, as the default targeting was in front of her, and the swarm immediately dispersed as it fell.

  Soon we were at the entrance. Mako indicated the sharks could not follow, but would instead keep this entrance area free of antithesis.

  Because the spiders were well into the hive now, we knew where the main chamber was and headed directly there. The antithesis tried to ambush us a number of times, but the new sensor suite also penetrated the hive walls far enough to see them within the walls. Otherwise, the tunnels just restricted their paths to us. We used that to make things easier for us.

  While Azure was in the lead, Mako was close behind, and would often rush forward to help Azure when she needed it. Mako let Azure take the big ones down, but I asked her to teach me their patterns. At last, we came to the hive.

  Mako said, “Azure, let’s let them come to us while we can. We want to clear the significant antithesis before taking it down. Plus, letting them come to us means that I can get a banquet on our terms rather than theirs.” She grinned sharply.

  I quickly agreed, and we parked at the tunnel entrance. It took almost three hours to clear everything from the teens and up. We knew only single digits were left, because the spiders had managed to map the entire hive. There were probably others out in the lake, but they were not here. We then started exploding the main branches of the hive structure to kill it. Finally, we got the notification that it was destroyed.

  From one of Azure’s belt pouches, I started pulling out packs of flesh melters. “Mako, let's spread these around the hive. Don’t want it growing back.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got my own tools of the trade.” She started brushing her hand along the walls of the hive, and nanites began to eat away at the structure.

  I watched in quiet awe of the Class IV samurai. She was… not really anywhere close to human anymore, was she?

  Once the place was melted, I had Azure pull an attack spider and a construction spider from another pocket. Then from a third, she pulled out many spider crew and locust swarms. They started their cleanup, and the construction spider started using antithesis mass to make several attack spiders and hoards of spider crew and locusts. They weren’t at their best underwater, but I had already waterproofed them. We left them and headed back to the ship.

  Once all were back on the ship, it headed back to the forest. Mako fussed over Azure’s injury.

  “Mako, she doesn’t need special medical attention. The limb is already regrowing. All she requires is food and time. And a new shoe.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  She waited a moment, obviously thinking, then said, “Then let’s eat.”

  “Didn’t you ‘eat’ back in the hive?” I asked.

  “Well, yeah, but food is good, and matter fuels the increasingly complex fuckery that is my entire body.”

  “You know, … fair enough.”

  Mako looked off into the distance as if considering something, before boxes dropped on the table in front of us. “Let’s start with ice cream.” She then opened the boxes and pulled out bowls of ice cream, each with a spoon.

  Clear Eyes rolled his eyes and grabbed a bowl. Azure grabbed her bowl, as did I. Then we were quiet while enjoying the treat. I even let Sherry have a taste.

  I had Azure say, “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

  I said, “Thanks.”

  “Are you in pain?” Mako asked with slight concern.

  “Some, but I can ignore it, knowing my leg is regenerating.”

  We arrived and parked in the fortress.

  Mako asked, “Hey, join us for dinner. We can teleport in a moment.”

  I hesitated. “Is it safe for a baby?”

  Over the chatroom, Kyos said, “Safe, yes, but being teleported tends to induce nausea until you build up a resistance.”

  “In that case, I’ll leave Sherry with Azure. They’ll be fine while we are gone. I assume you can return me later tonight?”

  “Sure. Get ready.”

  I handed Sherry off to Azure while giving her instructions to care for her here until I returned or gave another command. Then I nodded to Mako and… whoa. It took a few seconds for the disorientation to recede, but at least I didn’t spew.

  Mako said, “It only gets easier.”

  She waited until I looked steady, then gave me a small tour, just like I gave them. We ended in a dining room, where she then ordered food for us. After a few comments about what was in front of us, we settled into silence to eat. After the meal was finished, Mako ordered drinks, and glasses appeared in front of us.

  After a sip, I said, “Folks, your help has been greatly appreciated. I learned a lot from you. Without you, I’m unsure if Azure could have survived. If you’ll allow me, I’d like to give you a gift. But not here. Best place would be with your shark storage.”

  Mako asked, “Why’s that?”

  “I want to give you a printer so you can print more of your own sharks.”

  “Won’t that be a lot of points. Are you sure this is okay?” Clear Eyes asked.

  “Actually, zero points. Where do you want it? It needs a bit of room.”

  They looked at each other, then Clear Eyes said, “This way.”

  Soon, we were in a warehouse like area and I saw a number of sharks ready to go. Nate pointed out a nice spot to one side. “Here okay?”

  From my own belt, I pulled out a construction spider, and had it go in the spot and start printing a Class II printer, but with the Reconfigurator upgrade to let it print Class III material.

  We watched as it printed, and halfway through, Clear Eyes handed me another drink. Looking at them, I saw they both had refills as well.

  Finally, it finished. Then it ran through it’s initialization sequence and reported it was ready to use.

  “A Class II Mass Matter Reconfiguration Machine, so you can print whatever you want. Just feed it, and you can make as much as you want.”

  “Well damn. Now Macy won’t have to keep buying torpedoes as needed.” Clear Eyes snarked.

  “You’ll never let my initialization logistical nightmare go, will you?”

  “No. No, I won’t. You could have bought the blueprint for the torpedoes hours into your time as a Samurai.”

  “Note that Day One Macy was not the picture of grace under fire. Day Three Macy wasn’t much better…I know what you were going to say, Nate, don’t lecture me.” She laughed and then looked back to me. “How can we ever thank you for the gracious gift? I know you said that you were doing it out of kindness for us helping, but you scratch our backs, we give you nukes. Samurai way, isn’t it?”

  “It really is, and your help is already thanks enough. While I spent a few points on the blueprints for the shells, printing all this costs me nothing. Remember when I said I go through a lot of ammo? So do you, even if it is a lot larger than my usual ammo. Printing makes a lot of sense. Speaking of, I have a standard deal for Samurai I give these printers to. I sell numerous items these gift printers make, but I sell them for a large discount, and for credits, not points. As Samurai, you can easily make credits by selling blueprints, selling points, selling your imprimatur, or producing and selling goods. I’ve got a financial empire, so I don’t have to worry about credits ever again. That said, I’ll consider the offer. Maybe a favor for later.” Mako nodded at the idea, giving me a thumbs up.

  Clear Eyes asked, “Can we print more sharks?”

  “Since I bought the blueprints for the sharks and ammo from your catalog, I loaded them into this printer. It has a bunch of other blueprints also. I have a deal with Samurai I give these printers to. Basically, print from any of a fair number of blueprints for credits. I have a similar deal with the Family ones, but it does not have as good a discount. Your sharks and ammo would be free, since I’m sharing those blueprints.”

  “Let me share the blueprint costs. I lost two sharks to this hive. Just replacing them will be a large chunk of the blueprint cost. I’ll probably need to replace at least seven more within a few months. Kyos, please give Calamity half the blueprint costs and print some replacement sharks.”

  Kyos’s voice replied from the printer, “Done.” The printer started at the same time.

  Ysys informed me of the gift of points.

  “Hey, you didn’t have to.”

  “You saved me a lot of points. I’ll recoup them within the year in just replacement sharks.”

  Silence fell as we watched a pair of sharks get printed. I returned my spider to my belt. When the sharks were finished, we looked at each other.

  “I guess it’s time to get back to Sherry. She’s probably hungry again. Do stop by tomorrow, so we can monitor the situation. You can also stay awhile and explore the fortress and the myths it embodied.”

  “Of course. I’ll take care of it.” Then Mako returned me to the dock, right where I left.

  I had Ysys get us the learning modules Mako recommended, but for my Visor system. Azure and I would use it the next day.

  Two days later, we got notified the cleanup of the hive was complete. I did notice Mako chewing on something as I passed her in the hall one day, so she probably decided to get involved in the cleanup herself as well. They left the third day. I took an additional day to update what drones I was printing, and to get the lake included in the area the fortress cleared. Additionally, I decided to add to my menagerie with some shark drones, and some flying fish with my best ECM and sensor packages. They would replace the spider crews for open water.

  Blueprints for School (swarm) of Flying Fish – 3100 points

  New Total – 1,371,683 points, 7 tokens

  Deep Cleaning the Deep Sea by :