Chapter Twenty-Two - Jolly Old Day Job

Chapter Twenty-Two - Jolly Old Day Job

Chapter Twenty-Two - Jolly Old Day Job

A lot of people, when they talk about the ideal samurai load-out or specialisation, tend to suggest mass automation. Things like drone armies or reproducible nanoweapons.

Its strange that despite the number of samurai that do have some automated drones at their disposal, very few actually focus on using those.

--Spacefight Versus Forums, 2041

***

One of the first things I did on waking up was check the interactive map.

The antithesis hadnt been sleeping much, it seemed. The orange blobs representing their positions had grown to cover almost twice the space they had the night before, and now there were a few red dots here and there.

If it doubled again, it was possible that theyd manage to encircle the entire city. As it was, the blobs were spread out into long tendrils, often poking out from one big area and reaching out in a dozen directions. I could almost see a pattern there.

Then, of course, I squeezed in closer to Lucy and opened a few media apps to doomscroll the nights news.

A few cities had been hit already. Some had had terrible problems with evacuations. Washington was taken over by protesters from some anti-doomsday cult who were chanting that the antithesis were all made up. The forests around Los Angeles were on fire, because why not, and Mexico Citys arcology had shattered.

Shit was hitting the fan all over.

I sighed.

And it was my job to stop that.

I got up, figured that Id showered once in the last twelve hours and didnt need a second even if Id been rather active last night, got my clothes on, then stepped into my armour.

Lucy was laying down on a heap of blankets, one bare leg uncovered while the rest of her hugged the spot Id been on a moment before.

I took a picture before sneaking my way out of the room.

A few of the kittens were up and about downstairs, but they were mostly preoccupied with making a mess of the place. I told them off, maybe tossed a few threats around, then headed outside.

It was, of course, raining. Because we couldnt have a nice day of sunshine to go with the invasion. I called over my hoverbike while adjusting my coat against the constant weak drizzle. I bet a bunch of corporations were having a field day pumping the production on their factories while inspectors and the like were too busy preparing for the invasion.

I revved up my bike and leaned down lower, cutting the wind resistance and darting across the city a bit faster.

The moment I was out of the crowded skies of New Montreal I pushed the bike ever harder. Wind and rain whipped at me, but I couldn't feel either within my armour. Dropping lower, I skimmed over the ground until I neared the outskirts of the satellite city and started to circle around it.

I knew that the family was working to build some sort of reinforcements around the main city, but it looked like this place had its own version of that.

Like the cheap credit-or-less version of a wall. Second-hand fencing and cement barriers cut across one of the bigger highways that went around the edge of the city. It made sense that theyd put up their wall there. The highway was a wide stretch of flat asphalt. The militia defending the city could place their old tanks and gun-nests right on the inner side of the road without issue, and any antithesis crossing over to them wouldnt benefit from any cover.

The houses and businesses on the other side of that highway were shit out of luck though. It looked like a lot of the homes on that side had their lights off. People had evacuated already, or they were too stubborn to leave their cookie-cutter for the safety of the city proper. Either way, it didnt look like anyone gave much of a shit about them.

Jolly Monarch is at that major intersection.

Myalis highlighted a part of the highway where two eightlane roads met.

The intersection was busy, with a police officer directing traffic holding a pair of batons, and a roadblock set up on either side of the intersection, ready to close at a moments notice.

Volunteers, onlookers, and a lot of local militia sorts were milling around behind the blockade while the last few cars drove back to the safety of the city.

One section of the road was closed off, and thats where I found Jolly Monarch.

The older samurai was parked next to what looked like the cross between a cartoonishly over the top throne, and a parade float. He was standing next to the throne while drones moved all around him.

I brought my bike down nearby, put it in park, then swung off the back of it. I could feel all the eyes turning my way as I walked over to Jolly Monarch and his army of black and white drones.

He seemed to have a few models around him, most of them about the size of an adult. They looked like giant floating trashcans. Very postmodern trashcans. With little barrels sticking out of their sides.

Hey, I said.

Ah-hah! Stray Cat, here to save the day! Jolly Monarch said. Its good to see you.

Yeah, you too, I said. So, what the hell is going on around here? And what are those? I asked while pointing at the nearest drone.

These are my pawns, and unfortunately, they wont be enough to keep us safe today.

***