Chapter Six -

***

I stepped out of the washroom, then eyed the area for a bit. No aliens. Good, that was good. Lowering the shotgun from my shoulder, I brought a hand down and squeezed some of the material of my pants.

I wore my Sunday best today. Nice slacks, a clean t-shirt under a button-up that my mom had picked out for me. It was probably a little dated, fashion-wise, and I found that it made me look like an off-work accountant, but it was a respectable enough look.

My Sunday best was not meant to be soaked through like this. “Fuck, it’s getting cold,” I muttered.

‘I could get you a coat. You’d need another catalogue for that, however.’

“No thanks,” I muttered. I squeezed my sleeves, a few more drops of water coming out of them, then passed a hand through my hair to swipe away more. I didn’t want water getting in my eyes if I had to shoot. “Okay... okay. What’s next?”

‘That’s rather up to you.’

“I know, yeah,” I said. “I guess back to the elevator. Can you see if there’s anything incoming?”

‘Technically, I can do whatever I please. Also technically, I can’t spy for you unless you unlock and purchase the right software for it.’

I hesitated for a bit, then started making my way back down the corridor towards the elevator I’d gotten off of earlier. I wasn'twans’t moving fast. Well, my legs weren’t, my mind was running at a million miles an hour.

Holy shit, I was a samurai.

I’d dreamed about it, obviously. There wasn’t a single kid out there who hadn’t. Hell, some people got themselves killed trying to get into the kind of mess that might turn them into one. I’d given up on that dream a while ago. My goals had changed as I got older. I wanted to be a world-famous comedian, do big shows, get on those TV specials.

I supposed that dream wasn’t quite over yet. Hell, if anything this was a big step up. I chuckled darkly, then shook my head. It wouldn’t be worth jack shit if I couldn’t get out of here alive.

“Okay. Okay, I’ve had a moment to think,” I said.

‘Go on.’

“Right. I guess my job now is to save the city? Make sure people get to shelters, kill aliens, look good while doing it, right?”

‘Essentially. However I should note that the nature of the alien threat you are in is unusual.’

I did not like the sound of that. “Unusual how?” I asked.

‘This is not an incursion.’

I swallowed. Not an incursion. So no giant portals opening up in the sky to vomit aliens all over. Which meant... how the fuck did the aliens even end up here, then? I’d heard of nests and shit. Sometimes one would grow in the sewers, or underground, and thenm pop out of nowhere. There were some in the countryside sometimes. But that kind of thing wouldn’t hit the Pyramid, would it? That didn’t make sense.

“What’s the news saying outside of the pyramid?”

‘I am unable to help you with that currently. The pyramid itself has signal blockers which are active on all bands. Outside communication has been cut off.’

“Then what the fuck is going on?” I asked. “Are we locked in here with the aliens?”

‘It does seem that way. I could tell you more... with the right catalogues.’

This AI was more persistent about those damned catalogues than some salespeople I’d bumped into. “Fine. What are you thinking about, catalogue-wise?” I asked.

‘How keen are you on the idea of being a capable meshrunner?’

I frowned. I’d considered it before. I wasn’t entirely stupid, or tech-illiterate. I could download programs others made off the net and use them here and there. I’d stolen subscription shows and pirated a few games in my day. But that was about as far as I ever went with that kind of thing. I wasn’t super keen on being a big fancy hacker sort. Not with the amount of time and dedication that kind of thing would require of me.

“Can’t say I’m sold on the idea,” I said.

‘That’s fine. Then I’d suggest something like a Modern Personal Augmentation catalogue. This one would give you access to a wide range of personal-use implantable systems to replace the janky, dinosaur of a system you’re using and which I’m currently stuck piggybacking off of. It’s better in literally every way. And I’ll finally be able to assist you some more. It’s not as solid as something tuned for intrusions and data beaching, or a full security-suite, but it’s better than what you have now, and better than what most of humanity has access to.’

“And how much would this cost me?” I asked.

‘The catalogue? Forty points. The augs themselves... assuming you don’t want something absolutely bare bones--which you don’t--then at least another thirty points.’

Which would leave me with with a bit more than fuck all points. Still, I could see the use. A samurai with gear that any old aug-jockey could break into was a joke.

“Fine,” I said. “But don’t be so pushy about things. You can explain to me why I should getgt something, but just... nagging me about it? You remind me too much of my mom.”

‘Duly noted!’

Unlocked: Modern Personal Augmentation Catalogue

Points Reduced to: 43

New Purchase

1x Trickster Package Ocular Augmentation

Points Reduced to: 13

A box appeared and I almost fumbled the catch. It was long and slim, kind of like those cases glasses came in.

‘You’ll want somewhere private to insert those. They go in your eyes. Are you unnerved by that?’

“I wear contacts,” I admitted. “I can handle touching my own eyes.” I glanced around, then noticed a small bathroom not too far off. I got to it and... couldn’t get in, because there was a lock keyed to bracelets that weren’t as cheap as mine.

‘I’ve got it.’

The door unlocked, and I slipped into a men’s bathroom. A shiver ran down my spine, and for a moment I was expecting to see a corpse on the ground, water and blood mixing, an alien ready to eat me... but it was just a normal bathroom, and I survived entering it with no more than a slight bump in my heartrate to show for it.

The case was filled with hard plastic that had two nubs sticking out of it. No text, no explanations, but they were exactly spaced for my eyes, and there was a slot for my nose. “So do I...” I gestured.

‘You got it. Take out your contacts first. You won’t be needing them.’

“Really?” I asked.

‘These will burn through the back of your eyes in any case, so we might as well have them fix your eyesight at the same time. Consider it a bonus!’

I removed my contacts after fishing out the little case I had for them still tucked away in a pocket. Squinting at the nubs, I carefully liftedapproached  the entire thing to my face, then gasped as it shot out into my eyes

Everything went dark for a long moment, then there was a slight sizzling. A warm flush spread from my eyes to the back of my eye sockets. I blinked a few times, only then realising that I’d thrown the entire device away.

‘It’s fine. It was a single-use one anyway. And the augs have installed  correctly. Taa-daa!’

“Whoa,” I breathed out as colours and shapes began to reassert themselves with startling clarity. It wasn’t painful, thank fuck, just kind of intense.

I blinked quicklyquick, then looked around. I could make out the tiny print on a soap dispenser across the room.

And then the augs came on properly. These were a lot more minimalist than my old ones. A digital clock in the corner of my vision, a small menu that when I focused on it sprang up--temperature, humidity, a small compass, even a wireframe map of the pyramid and the floor I was on.

‘Your files and records have been backed up locally,’ Smyles added. ‘Here, this might be helpful.’

A small tally appeared in the corner of my vision. A side-image of the riot shotgun and a list of rounds beneath.

“Nice,” I said. “Okay... this is an upgrade. Can you get anything from the outside world now?”

‘Easily! And it seems as though the pseudo-incursion is limited to the inside of the pyramid only. The pyramid is claiming that there is an ongoing test of its security system.’

“That sounds... purposefully malicious,” I said. Someone was doing something fucky over here, and I happened to be caught in the middle of it. “Let’s... let’s keep moving. I don’t know if it’s my job to get to the bottom of that mess, but I don’t want to stay in one place either.”

***