Chapter Fifty-Six - Small and in Charge

“There are all sorts of reactions to someone seeing a Samurai show up, and generally, these reactions will depend on circumstance.

Fear and terror are common among those doing things that are morally dubious. Seeing a samurai show up at an underground human auction is never going to please the organizers.

Awe and worship for those who encounter a samurai on the streets. It’s a privileged encounter

with a celebrity for most.

And finally, relief, most often felt by those fearing for their lives when a samurai appears and decides that whatever is currently a threat needs to be removed.”

--Except from a sociological study on the predictable responses to a samurai’s appearance, 2028

***

I took a deep breath and tried to look confident. Then I recalled that the folk I was dealing with were little better than corporate goons. Worse, they were corporate cops. That was like dealing with a toddler that had taken one or two concussions too many and who’s only skill was to figure out exactly how much of a minority someone was or how poor they were before shooting them. I didn’t need confidence to deal with these dipshits, I needed a bigger gun.

Walking over to the barricade they’d made with their cars, I stepped onto a bumper, then the hood before jumping over to the other side. There were eight of them, a couple more than I’d counted at first. Mostly men, with navy blue uniforms and bulletproof vests and tacticool handguns and a shotgun or three.

“Which one of you’s the asshole in charge?” I asked.

“I am,” One of them said. He had a little logo on his shoulder that the others didn’t. The police station’s symbol, then the logo of the local mining company, then some badge.

“Wrong, I am the asshole in charge now,” I said. “How many cops do we have, minion?”

Alright, so it was rude and stupid, but the look on the guy’s face was worth it, and I needed to cut past the bullshittery as soon as I could.

“Um,” the captain--I assumed that was his rank--said. “We have twenty-four officers in this town, ma’am. Seventeen of them are here. We have a squad-car down the road with two more on their way in, and four others are at the clinic.”

I nodded. “Myalis, I need a map of this place, please.”

“I like the location label,” I deadpanned. The huge yellow ‘You Are Here’ was a bit much. Still, that gave me an idea of what the town looked like. It had a decent footprint, but most of the buildings were on the smaller side.

“Ma’am?” the captain asked.

“Right. The highschool’s the new rally point. Is there enough room here for every civilian in town?”

“The building capacity is just under two-thousand,” he said.

“Fuck capacity, I mean how many folk can we cram in here so that they’re not in our way while we’re trying to save them all?”

One of the officers, a younger woman, cleared her throat. “I think we could maybe move three-quarters of the town in here, but it’ll be really tight. Some of the classrooms have locked themselves, that would give us more room.”

“Alright. You.” I pointed to one of the cops. “Find the principal, or whoever's in charge of the school. Tell them to unlock everything. I’ll be moving all the cars outside around and forming a wall with them.” I had the idea from their little barrier. “I’ll be giving you guys some turrets too. Find roof access and place them up there, they should auto-target the nearest Antithesis. Do not try to steal my shit, or we’ll be having words.”

The man nodded and shot off, the others seemed to untense a little. Good for them, I supposed. Having someone show up and start cracking the metaphorical whip must have been some sort of comfort.

The captain’s mic crackled and he pressed a hand to his ear for a moment. I’d need to tap into that later, but I had other things to do first.

“Myalis, I need good turrets. Won’t be able to reload them.” I eyed the map, then looked up at the school. Two floors, made of reddish brick and with some smaller windows on the second floor. The roof looked to be flat above. “Maybe three of them? We can cover this side of the building ourselves.”

That sounds reasonable. I suppose you need turrets that are somewhat mobile and easy to set up?

“Yeah, can’t have anything too hard to move.”

“Ma’am?” the captain said. “Uh, corporate just gave us orders.”

“Orders?” I asked. “And they are?”

“We’re to move some VIPs from here to headquarters, then deploy along the walls to protect the building.”

I blinked, then eyed the map again. “Is headquarters the one with the walls?” I asked.

“They’re anti-rioting walls,” the female cop said. “With sonic and water-based weapons. There’s a safehouse in it.”

“A shelter?” I asked. “Myalis, you said there weren’t any shelters in this town?”

The safehouse she’s alluding to is an underground location meant to house approximately twenty people in relative comfort. I do not consider that an appropriate shelter.

“How many people could fit in the headquarters?” I asked.

I glanced across the parking lot and the little sports field on the other side of that. There were some homes in the way, but I could still make out the corporate headquarters. The building was maybe five stories tall, with a wall all around it.

“What do you think, Myalis, is that place safer than this school?”

It is, though not by a huge margin. The defences around the headquarters are mostly to prevent and subdue riots. While that would theoretically work on a smaller Antithesis model, it wouldn’t be effective. The walls might slow an adversary down though, and funnel them to the main entrance. There is a bit more room across all the floors for more people as well. Fewer supplies though.

I nodded. “Okay! That’s the new plan. Captain minion, tell your company big-wigs that a Samurai or three are heading over to the headquarters to protect them.”

“Really?” he asked.

“Yeah. You, and you, and you. Run inside, get us some volunteers. We’re taking all the food we can get from this place. There’s a cafeteria, right? A nurses’ station? Yeah, we’re taking everything with us. We’ll walk over.”

“Just us?” the female cop asked.

“Huh? Nah, everyone. Those who can’t walk we’ll carry. It’s like.. What, about a kilometer?”

It’s less than half of that.

“Half that,” I corrected. “Pretty sure even a fatass could run that if you scare them enough. I need... six cops to help me....” I counted those that were left. There were three. Had one of them that I didn’t point to run off? Well, whatever. “Okay, we’ll need volunteers.”

“Only certified personnel can ride in our vehicles,” Captain minion said.

“What? Says who?” I asked.

“Company policy.”

I stared at him. “Minion, did you miss the part where I’m the asshole in charge now?” I pointed to the female cop. “You seem less stupid, I’m promoting you. You’re now Minion Captain.”

“Uh, yes ma’am?!” the officer said before snapping a quick salute.

My decision had nothing to do with me liking the look of a girl in uniform.

I nodded and stepped aside, then flicked through my augs until I found Gomorrah’s contact info. It didn’t even ring once before she answered. “Got everything under control?” she asked.

“Probably,” I said. “I’m moving all these people from the school to the corporate headquarters. They have walls and defences in place already. I’m sticking some turrets onto these cop cars too to keep people safe while we move. How’re things on your end?”

“Fine. Haven’t made that many more points. One moment.”

I heard a distant explosion.

“Still making enough to justify the cost of these rockets. You said there was another samurai in town?”

“Yeah, any sight of them?”

“Not yet. I’ll fly over your group once you get them moving. Try not to get people killed.”

“Hey now, only people I want to kill tend to die when I try to... I’m not actually sure where I was going with that one. Anyway, see you in a bit, just keep the skies clear for us.”

I hung up and finally walked into the school, my new minion captain on my heels. The inside looked... like a school in one of those shows. A big open hall with a trophy cabinet on one side, and what was obviously student-made art on the walls. There were pictures of graduates and a few banners hanging from the ceiling.

I could almost imagine all the cookie-cutter characters gossiping and doing rural high school shit. Instead, there were dozens of people, some of them looking terrified, others trying to smile and laugh despite it all, and more of them fiddling with their phones or augs to keep distracted. A group of small kids were playing together to one side, making plenty of noise.

“Crap,” I said as I took in the number of people I’d actually be responsible for.

Nothing was ever simple.

***