Do you have any idea how much time I put into these blueprints? How much effort? And you have the audacity to ask to remove the no change clause in the contract! Just for that, the proce rose by twenty percent.

  -Vanguard Bub the Worker to the mayor when discussing the contract for the new city hall.

  Synaptic opened a new app on my augs. It opened to a very boring corporate made homepage with a graphic on top saying ‘The Family Store!’. In comic sans.

  Below, a small list of links was shown. One was building materials, one was training, another was labeled hunting party, and the last one was labeled information. There was a grayed out option with the typical age rating symbol of the number eighteen plus crossed out.

  I clicked the building material one and the page went from dull whites and black to something that looked like an old kids show.

  The background was light green with a series of construction vehicles, backhoes, bulldozers, dumptruck and many more with tools sprinkled between them.

  Instead of a search bar, an old pick up truck rolled onto the screen, and from the driver's seat came out a blue meeple in a hard hat.

  “Whacha looking for, War Games?” it asked me with a thick southern accent. I was caught off guard by the fact that it called me by my name, but then I realized that I was networked, so I should not be supprised.

  “I need a bunch of metals in order to upgrade my swarms,” I respond hesitantly. I flick over a list of Class I and Class II metals. In total, it was a few hundred pounds of various metals.

  “That's all, kid? Not a lot, is it.” the meeple responded. My face scrunched up in confusion. It sighs, “How you looking to pay, points, credits, or service?”

  “Uh, credits, for now.”

  The meeple writes on a clipboard and then a purchase confirmation screen pops up.

  “Five thousand credits? For Class II materials?” I ask, the surprise in my voice very noticeable.

  “Kid, Bud the Worker deals in tones mostly, huge batches of materials for megastructures and projects. Plus, we rip off corporations when we do so. But you, might I remind you, are a Samurai, one affiliated with The Family at that. The credits are basically a formality at this point, especially for such a small order.”

  “Oh. Right. Yeah that makes sense.” I stutter out. I accept the transaction.

  “Great! We'll send a delivery drone to your location that will deliver the mats in,” he pauses as he looks at a nonexistent watch on his wrist, “Four minutes and fifty two seconds. Thanks for stopping by, kid.” He then hopped back into his truck and drove off screen.

  I closed the app, feeling as though that was a bit fun. The meeple was interesting to talk to, not to mention very helpful. He apparently worked for Bud the Worker, and that was a Samurai I knew of, and not just because he was sort of connected to the megabuilding hive.

  A champion of infrastructure, the master architect who revolutionized the New Phoenix skyline, and the one responsible for the huge wall that defended the city. Years ago, he was the one who detected the failing power grid as well as the severely contaminated water system. He rebuilt both from the ground up, then forced the few dozen corporations who were responsible for them to actually maintain them. Almost a third of the city was built of spires of silver and purple that he designed, which were all much more pleasing to the eyes than the massive steel and concrete bricks that most corporations build.

  Then his biggest project, the mile high wall that surrounded the city, once filled to the brim with weapons and defensive structures, and on treads which could allow the city to expand within the walls.

  His public rating in the city was far higher than our mayor’s, let alone the other Samurai. I was actually a bit surprised that Doma was the head of the Family here and not him, but I suppose it made sense when I put some thought into it. Doma just fit at the head of the table. I couldn't imagine her being lower. Well, not that I have many to compare her to.

  As I finished the latest plate of egg rolls, these filled with pasta and a cream sauce which was a strange experience but it tasted good so whatever, a door bell rang. Getting up to open it, a green meeple with a ball cap awaited me at the door.

  “Good day, War Games. I have here your delivery of metals. Please verify the manifest,” he said in a northern accent, turning a tablet my way. I read over it and confirm that it was indeed everything. I scribble a line over the signature space, then a floating pallet piled with metals floated into the room.

  “Do you have a place you would prefer?” He asks.

  “Uhh, yeah, sure. Just over there,” I point to an open space behind the couch. The pallet floated over, then I stared as each ingot floated off the pallet and into new, neat piles. Once they were all unloaded, the pallet floated back out.

  “Thank you for buying from Bud! I hope you have a wonderful evening, War Games.” He says, tipping his hat at me, then he waddled down the hall.

  Closing the door, I move back to the couch and just stare at the few hundred ingots of rare metals.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Okay. First things first.” I mutter. I set a queue for the Fabricator and Recombinant swarms. First, to upgrade the Collector Swarm to Class II, as well as to obtain the blueprints upgrade. Second, to make one more of each Fabricator and Recombinant swarm. They alone would take two and a half hours. I then set the Collector Swarm's queue for after its upgrade.

  Generate blueprints for each of the metals I bought, twenty minutes total. Devour an Assault Swarm and the upgraded Defence Swarm. Two hours total for two new blueprints.

  Then, shifting back to the fabricators, I had them set to upgrade the remaining Swarms to Class II, six Scout Swarm and the Builder swarm, plus giving the last Defence swarm the EMC blocker upgrade, which will take another four hours with the two sets of fabricators. Finally, I had the Collector swarm devour the Upgraded Scout Swarm for its blueprint, one hour. Checking my augs, with the destruction on those three swarms, I will be at a capacity of fourth eight out of fifty for swarm control, so if I wanted more, I would need to upgrade my Neural Translation interface, or purchase the Hive Mind Catalog and upgrade.

  All in all, it would take a full six hours and fifty minutes to undergo this round of upgrades.

  As my swarms buzzed into action, I turned to the massive TV set across from the couch. “Six hours and change. Plenty of time to game.” I say to myself. I grab the console Cody grabbed and connected it to the TV, getting cozy for a long gaming session.

  **************************

  Once everything was finished, and I found a nice stopping point, it was little after three in the morning. The pile of metals was gone, perfectly calculated for my needs.

  “Okay. So we still have more than a day. Should be enough time to go hunt a hive for points.” I mutter aloud.

  I open The Family Store app and open a link called “Antithesis Sigtings map of Arizona”. Opening it, I was greeted with a satellite view of New Phoenix and the miles of surrounding desert. Dozens of red dots scattered accross the region, with the closest to the city being a few miles to the north east, near a town called Globe.

  Pulling up a new tab, I search Globe and get back that it is a company town dedicated to the mining of gold. It was owned by a local Corp, Golden Veins, LLC. It had a PMC force, the Fox Eyes, and a population of ten thousand.

  It seems the antithesis are approaching from the north, the Tonto State Forest Preserve. It was a known Samurai training ground, where new Samurai would go to test their chops and earn “easy” points. Considering I needed so many points, I turned my attention to the north.

  A different town, Payson, another mining town, this time for iron, and also smack in the middle of the Preserve. There was basically a constant stream of antithesis from the east and north, and the PMC presence was stronger with two companies, Iron Lungs and Fire Bugs. The town had a population of fifteen thousand, as well as a local Samurai.

  Senestera, from The Family, a defensive encampment specialist. She was sent to the town not just to defend it, but also to act as a type of overseer for the hunting grounds. This seemed like the ideal location, and it was only twenty minutes away in the van.

  On The Family Store app, I was able to find Senestera's contact information and give her a call.

  Good evening, Vanguard War Games. This is Tyrt, Vanguard Senestera's AI. She is currently asleep right now. To what do we owe the pleasure of this late night call?

  “Good evening, Tyrt. I was planning on heading over to Payson to hunt, and I felt it only courteous to let you know.”

  Ah! A young man with manners! How exceedingly rare in this day and age. Do you know for how long you plan to hunt, and roughly when you will be arriving?

  “Ah, yeah. I should be there around four, and I am only planning on stating for a day or so. I have a meeting with Doma on Saturday, and I don't want to be late.”

  “No. No you do not.” The tone was flatter than before, but before I could think on it, he continued.” Your vehicle will be flagged as friendly once you arrive. You will recieve a message from Captain Carls to direct you to a parking space, then he will provide you with any information you may need for this hunt. Before you leave, Senestera will want to meet with you, but that will be for later. I hope you have a pleasant hunt.” Then the call ends.

  I gather up my swarms and head to the van, once more pushing through seven journos this time.

  “Synaptic, could you please leave a strongly worded message with the hotel management saying something along the lines of if I have to walk through another crowd of journalists, I will not only remove their limbs in a very messy matter, but also fine their personal accounts for each person I have to deal with.” I say as I step into the van.

  Message sent.

  I set the van on a course for Payson and relax. The journey did indeed take only twenty minutes, however one of the hover engines was giving off a warning light.

  “The next purchase will need to be a vehicle catalog. As much as I love this van, and I don't, Roger is right. I can afford some luxury.”

  I will remind you once your hunting trip is over.

  Flying over the desert at night was very relaxing, yet oddly unnerving. I could see the stars above, yet nothing below, even with the headlights on.

  Soon enough, I got close to Payson airspace and recieved a flight plan. Following it, I arrived at a brightly lit town surrounded by a thick wall, which had the occational flash of gunshot lighing up regularly. I could see a massive digging machine in the distance, widening an already massive hole in the ground. It looked like a crane arm with a ferris wheel on the end, where each basket was instead a massive clawed bucket. It was not active at this time, but I could imagine the devastation it could wrought to the landscape once active.

  The van touched down on the inside of the wall, near a thick steel gate inside of the PMC's camp. Stepping out, I am met with the visage of a middle aged man in full armor with a heavy Assault Rifle slung off his shoulder.

  “Good to meet you, Samurai War Games,” he says nodding to me. “Tyrt explained your here to hunt, and I will always welcome anybody who will reduce pressure on my boys.”

  As he talks, he turns and waves me to follow him towards a large tent. I follow closely with my swarms, and upon entering the tent, see that the only thing inside are a few chairs and a large table with a holographic map of the area.

  “Over the last couple of days,” he begins waving his hand over the map, “pressure has increased from the north by north east direction,” the map lights up a few steady streams of red dots. “The last sweep from a Samurai was a week ago, so your timing is on the edge of where Senestera would take action herself. Majority of the enemy types are Ones, Threes, Fours, Fives, and Sixes. Occasionally, double digits Assault the camp, but we are heavily armed. Nothing short of a Twenty Eight has threatened us, and even that was repelled. Any questions?”

  I look over the map, reading the topography and trying to guess where the hives should be. There are a few locations marked as where previous hives were found, which helps. “Only one. If I need to, is the ability to call in artillery support available?”

  He guffaws a hearty laugh, “Most Samurai don't ever ask. Their here for points, after all. But yeah, so long as you provide the coordinates, our guys can plant warheads on foreheads within a foot of the mark within five seconds.” He sends me a data packet that explaines how and where to send the targeting data to.

  I nod,”In that case, no. I'll head out right away.”