Normally, one of the hardest parts of becoming a Samurai is branding, namely figuring out your gimmick and sticking to it. Our AIs are pretty good at that, but a fair number of Samurai in their early months have no strong concept of what they want to do, bouncing between ideas and gear before finally settling on what our AI already knew would feel right for us. Best advice for newbies? If you don't have a strong idea or are one of those rare ones who build-craft that actually awaken, just listen to the chip. They know us better than we do, but are more subtle about how much they know.
-Interview of Samurai Laser Lasso on advice for New Samurai, 2052
“Victor? Are you good? I am not seeing any red on you, why are you screaming?” Cody asks in a rapid fire manner?
That reaction would probably be because of me and his Awakening. I hear the voice, Synaptic, respond over our comms. Her voice is soft, but firm.
There was a brief pause, then a sudden burst of sound as everyone on the call reacted and tried to get a word in edgewise. The sound is then muted.
Now now, children. Questions are for later. Victor, you should get to a less open space so that the questions can commence. The College over there seems to have a few offices near its entrance that you can hide in for now.
Still in a bit of shock, I make my way towards the college entrance, pausing before the gates. “These will go off if I enter.”
Before I could say more, Synaptic responded
They will ignore you for now.
Her tone broaches no arguments, so I move through them. The scanners do, indeed, not react to my movement and entry. I quickly shuffle over to the nearest office, which seems to be a security booth. The door is unlocked and slightly ajar. The room is decently spaced, ten by eight feet with a surprisingly comfortable office chair.
Taking a seat, I land my drone next to an outlet to allow it to charge. While it was not active long, I always have this fear of the things I use running out of power.
I sigh, “Okay, shit. I'm a Samurai now?” I ask the air around me.
Indeed, Vanguard Victor. Due to your selfless dedication to immediately jump into the frey to save your loved ones, you have been selected to safeguard mankind against the antithesis threat.
The comms must have been unmuted, cause I hear a snicker coming from Jill, probably at the loved ones comment. If my adrenaline wasn't still pumping, I might have blushed. Or maybe I was and just felt too warm to tell the difference.
“Okay. I've spent enough time reading online forums, company internal docs, and playing Samurai games to know some of the basics. I start with one hundred points and got thirty for killing those Model Threes outside. I need to rescue Jill and Buddy, so I need a weapon. I'm sure you saw how… inefficient I am with melee, and my arms are feeling pretty weak right now. I have drone control augs now, so let's go down that path for now.”
How wonderful that you already have a developmental direction in mind. There are many Class I drone type Catalogs available to you for now. Do you have a more specific request to narrow this selection down?
The first thing that came to mind was the RTS game Cody and I play. It was a prototype this company was developing, and it was in the same office we were grabbing accounting docs from, so we swiped it. It turns out it was based on Samurai fighting antithesis. With a team of three players being the Samurai and one being the antithesis. There were a lot of samurai preloaded with a huge variety of playstyles, and 25 different antithesis creatures. We got a copy that didn't have any bloatware or microtransactions, so we played it a lot.
Problem is, I really enjoyed playing the antithesis, especially once we cracked the code base to allow us to add our own Models. The resource management, the varied unit types, the terrain manipulation and research trees. While the Models themselves were ugly as sin, their overwhelming numbers and proper planning was always something that attracted me.
“Is there something like the antithesis. Nano drones that specialize in resource collection and management, where I can build what I want and adapt and grow?”
There was silence for a few seconds, then Synaptic responded.
There are indeed a few self growing swarm type Catalogs. They are a general branch of technology that many civilizations eventually grow into, yet I believe something tells me you are looking for something more unique. There is one Catalog branch I think you will want. The civilization is one of the front line forces in our war against the antithesis, they are called the War Command Swarm. They dominate multiple fronts and deny the antithesis much biomass, while also utilizing molecular recombinant swarms to terraform many planets in order to revitalize them or make them capable of supporting life. To unlock the first Catalog, Class I War Swarm, it will be fifty points, this will give you access to a number of swarms, such as Assault, Defence, Scout, Collection, Electronic Manipulation, and Builder. They are semi self replicating in order to replenish their numbers, however the base swarms will take one minute per percent the swarm has lost in order to replenish itself, with a hard cap for the size of the swarm. Each swarm will cost you seventy points, while the first will cost you ten more in order to install the appropriate knowledge. With your current augs, you will only be able to control one swarm at a time with limited range, about one hundred feet from you. Class I Neural Enhancement Catalog will be another seventy points, with the augments being one hundred.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“Will I still be able to control my normal drone with this swarm?”
No. Your augs, while better than most for a human, will be at full capacity with just one swarm active. That said, you can place a swarm in standby in order to free up processing power to utilize other drones or swarms.
I licked my lips. That was a lot of information, but it was exactly what I wanted. Full command over swarms of nano machines with different specializations, fully customizable and upgradable. I chuckled to myself. “Please unlock the War Swarm Catalog and an Assault Swarm. Cody can control the Quad drone and act as a scout for me.”
Understood.
Class I Warm Swarm Catalog Unlocked
Points reduced to 80
New Purchase: Class I Assault War Swarm
Points reduced to 0
In the ground a box simply appeared. It looked like a shoe box with a black ribbon on top. Opening the box, there was a five inch cube of solid black material. Picking it up, I was shocked by the weight of it. I once picked up a medicine ball Buddy used to keep in shape, one that he could juggle with. That was ten pounds. This was a bit heavier.
Then a feeling of static rushed through me, emanating from my augs and rushing to the cube. Suddenly, it was weightless, dissolving into a cloud of particulates that floated around me. After a few seconds, I knew how to use the swarm like an extension of my body, how to cause them to attack, move, land.
Install of the control software and control knowledge has finished. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with your new functions before you move on to combat.
There were a few preset formations I could order. Swarm, which would latch onto a target and rip it to shreds, drill, which would form a conical formation and launch itself into a target, hopefully penetrating it and destroying the target from within, and slam, where the nanites would condense above a target and reform the heavy cube, dropping into the target and either crushing them with physics, or breaking through armor to allow for the nanites to penetrate into the target. It looks like the swarm command will cover a fifteen foot cube of space, and I can condense three spears for drill. Slam was the same, three cubes.
The swarm was kinda quick. It would keep up with me at a full sprint, but not Buddy. “Cody, I know you are not great at drone flying, but please keep the Quad ahead of me and warn me if you see any more antithesis. I'm moving towards Jill and Buddy now.”
I heard a groan turn into a sigh,”You know I get crazy vertigo controlling drone, Vic. But fine. This is an emergency.”
Before I could thank him, Roger popped on the line,”He, Vic. Once you reach them, do you think you will be able to finish our job?” My face scrunched in frustration,” I know, I know, but we have a rep to uphold. The little stealth orb is still in that lab, and no new antithesis have climbed out. In fact, the two you saw earlier are still just standing there. Literal sitting cans full of points for you, just pop by, melt the dogs, stick the chip in the computer I can see from the feed, and run back. We get paid and you get points.”
No one else said anything. He made sense, even though none of us liked it. I sighed, gave a thumbs up towards the Quad, and began to follow the path Cody highlighted for me in my augs towards Jill and Buddy.
Cody piloted the Quad about twenty feet from me with its high definition camera scanning each intersection. Or, rather, it would have if a pack of seven Model Threes didn't round the corner in front of me.
Just before they spotted me, I ordered the Assault Swarm to, well, swarm forward, blocking their advance with a dark cloud of death. As they began to sprint towards me, the swarm met them first. All seven of them were coated in a fine grey mist and began melting rapidly before my eyes. They took a few steps forward, then collapsed as their legs were devoid of flesh, followed by the rest of their bodies, then their bones were gone. The swarm, once finished deconstructing the Model Threes, flowed back to me and continued floating around me in a cloud.
“Damn.” I said. “Cody, do you see any other Models on the cameras?”
“Now that I am not focusing on the Quad, yes. The College is full of those dogs and tentacle bush things. Quick count is roughly fifty eight, but that's only in the student area. I can see a few holes in the wall where those roots are popping out from. The staff area only has about a dozen Model Threes, and the only two near Jill and Buddy are those two you froze.”
I nod. “Synaptic, please unlock the Neural Enhancement Catalog, and once I have enough points, please let me know so I can hide and order some new augs. While one swarm is, frankly, overpowered, I know the folly in being overconfident in getting one new toy.”
Of course.
Class I Neural Enhancements: Unlocked
Points reduced to 0
“Hey! Rude!” Cody shouts over the comms. That gets a chuckle out of the team. Early on, when Cody got his hands on some preem ICE Breakers, he tried to solo a rival corps entire security system. He made it pretty far, until a Rapid Response Squad was deployed directly at us. We made it out and we have never let him live it down.
I continued making my way to the security shutter, melting any antithesis that dared to cross my path. The Model Four I ran into, with all its tentacle, was a bit scary with its reach, but I made sure to keep enough distance from the swarm, about ten feet, in order to avoid the tentacles range.
By the time I reached the shutter, I had killed another dozen Model Threes and two Model Fours. The access switch was right next to the door, but before opening it, I had an idea. I used the nanites to drill a small hole into the shutter, then opened the gates.
It loudly started to raise, and once it was about two feet up, I rolled below it, taking the Quadcopter with me. Then I used the nanites to reactivate the shutters, causing them to slam shut. Then, I used the small hole I dug out earlier to recollect the swarm. Just in time, as the dozen or so antithesis slam into the gate. And on my side, ten Model Threes arrived. That is when I learned that my current Swarm can only handle ten Model Threes effectively.
Victor, you now have two hundred and fifty points. If you can make it to the staff lounge where your loved ones are, that will be a safe enough space for you to undergo your upgrade.
