Chapter Thirty-Three - Minor Improvements

Chapter Thirty-Three - Minor Improvements

Chapter Thirty-Three - Minor Improvements

User Milesglorius: People have tried all sorts of things to kill them already

User Adfligo: Yeah, so?

User Milesglorius: wtf, you think your ideas better?

User CuteGirlsRCute: Maybe? Not like every ideas been tried and anyway I think that it's okay to try new things. ATs have only been invading for like 20 years. Gotta try stuff yeah?

Systema IRC, 2043

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This was shit sprinkles on the turd cake. I didnt have time to deal with zombies on top of all the rest. Myalis, what are the chances that this is a small, one-off offshoot of the antithesis that we wont have to worry about? I asked.

Its unlikely. Though I havent noticed any parts of the hive specifically growing model sevens. That isnt entirely unusual. Model sevens are small and quick to grow to their full maturity. Hives will often have other models grow them wherever they find a sufficient number of corpses or usable bodies. Remember that more than a weapon, a model seven is a means of transporting biomass back to the hive.

Right, the zombies were basically the antithesis way of co-opting a persons body to walk it back to the hive for digestion. The fact that it was a psychological weapon probably didnt factor in. The antithesis were scary, but it was never purposeful terror that they sowed.

I jumped when a call came in, the alert not loud or anything, but I was a little on edge and the sound poked at my nerves. Intel-chan was calling.

Hey, I said.

Hey, Intel-chan replied. Were getting everyone to take their anti-zombie pills, just in case. We dont have much manpower to check on people, but your girlfriends working on sending people to every housing complex on the edges of Downtown, just to make sure that everyone is still entirely human.

I nodded. Thats good. Will we have enough meds to go around?

No, Intel-chan said. Not nearly. But we can give some to every militia person, and most if not all of our volunteers. The pills are only meant to be good for a day or so before you need to take another dose though.

Well buy more if it comes to it. I looked around the office space again. Earlier it had been a big, worrisome place because it might hide a few lower-tier models. Now it was worrisome for entirely different reasons. If the zombies are here inside the barricades, then... shit, how likely is it that theyd just spread out from here?

Model sevens are notoriously stealthy. They arent fast-moving, but they can reproduce within a captured body, and there are many tales of model sevens taking over a body, then walking past defences to reproduce next to heavily populated areas.

Right, I said. Intel, can you add a pin to Gomorrahs agenda?

I can, Intel-chan said. What do you need her for?

Burn this entire building down. In a way that doesnt spread to the rest of the city. Im sure she can accommodate that much. I dont know how heat-resistant model sevens are, but Im sure they wont survive the kind of shit Gomorrah can unleash when she has permission.

Understood. Sending a message now, Intel-chan said.

On the way back up, he said.

What was your plan, exactly?

He shrugged, a little sheepish. Get to the entrance, plant these down. Theyre all hyper-invasive and can grow quickly.

Like, quickly for a plant, or actually quickly? I asked.

They mostly take a few hours to grow. The thorn thistle would be large enough to block a doorway in under six hours.

And that would stop the antithesis from breaking in here? I asked.

He squirmed a little. It would make it harder for them. None of my plants break down into usable biofuel for the antithesis. Some are the opposite, even, with chemical packs hidden within them that can destroy the digestion baths the antithesis uses to dissolve organic matter into the nutrient slurry they use.

That seems decent for area denial, I guess. Fuck with their food supply, make the area inhospitable to them. But, ah, Im not sure if its ideal for plugging a passage.

They dug the passage, I figured it wouldnt matter if I plug it since they could just dig out another. And... well, you sent me here, and this is the best I could do. He gestured futilely at the pile of discarded plants on the floor.

Kinda felt bad for the guy.

Shit, I said. Look, this is my bad. I should have figured out what youre good for before sending you over here. Could have used your area denial stuff around River Heights, or on the borders.

Ive planted some things there, he said. A lot of my plants are good for blocking alleys, and some I got to plant outside of the walls. Hopefully theyll bring those back to their hives. Ah, some plants have trackers in them too, and pheromones that make them really attractive to the Antithesis. Or some of them. Most dont have... noses.

Do you make any points with that kind of thing? I asked.

He glanced away. I havent figured out that part yet. I do make some but my AI explained that since its at such a remove I dont make many. But a lot of my plants can multiply. So once I get a proper set up going, Itll basically be free to keep going. I... my goal is to create some semi-invasive species, or buy them at least, and then plant them around areas with Antithesis hives to kill them off without ever putting someone at risk.

Didnt they do that in Australia?

Yes, he said. And they made it worse. But I think... I think I can do it better.

I gave him a pat on the shoulder. Guy was aiming a lot higher than I was. Had to respect that.

He was still useless in a fight though, which became obvious when a model three scrambled up the stairs and Sprout stumbled backwards and out of the stairwell.

I rolled my eyes, then shot the alien. Then shot a second time to actually hit it.

We all had something to work on, it seemed, and I couldnt fling stones from my glass house just yet.

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