There is a reason every few months every corporate board sends down the same memo to every employee they have with the same one line, but new case images attached. 'Don't fuck with Samurai' is a phrase we all hear and chuckle at.

  So when Starfall descended from her space station and froze a square mile of the gulf, or when Splithair froze Lake Michigan to take out one hive, plunging North America into the worst winter we have had in decades, and an all out war happened in Indy? The memo went out early. With a live stream link instead of a picture.

  -Pirate radio DJ NotaCorp, recapping the events of the fall of New Houston, and the death of Deamond "Steel Hound" Montero.

  I turn to Senestera. “Thank you.” I say. She snorts a laugh again, then waives me off. I head downstairs and enter the room marked on my augs as mine. The inside was slightly better than the tent I was in not even three hours ago. It had an actual bed.

  I lay down on it, not feeling tired, but needing to rest anyways. It wasn't a lot of effort, even the mental effort was mitigated due to all the augs in my brain. But I felt it. The weight of what I could become. The destruction I could easily unleash upon the world with just a little bit of thought. I adjust my perception to the max.

  

  While I appreciate your attempt at being coy, one of my jobs is your mental wellbeing and guidance.

  I chuckle. I let silence linger at the speed of thought, this second stretched out to infinity, or close to it.

  

  For the first time, Synaptic doesn't respond immediately, yet I know for a fact the pause is intentional. Her grasp on human psychology is probably calculated to the nearest thousandth of a percent. But that's okay. She's an alien AI, not a human one.

  There are many answers I could give, but I think the line you are looking for is what prevents Vanguard from destroying the world. And again, there are plenty of answers I could give. The easy answer is we have spent millennia perfecting our algorithms for choosing candidates, that our rule making process has taken us longer to decide upon than your entire planet has existed. The more human answer, which is still related to the first, is that those chosen, not just considered, but actually chosen, have proven that they will use whatever power they have to do what is right in the most dangerous situation possible. So, we provide the tools to fight your extinction, we offer support to you because your sense of right and wrong is heavily weighted to the betterment of those at the bottom, and we guarantee that with our presence, you will never be alone.

  I lay in the silence after she finished digesting her answer. It might have been a script, something designed a thousand thousand years ago to placate lower species like me. So instead of spiraling, I look back on every conversation we have had, every interaction, and build my own model of her. It would be laughable to her, like a child showing their first drawing to that guy who made that really old portrait of the kinda smiling woman. But it was a tool for me, so that's fine.

  The first real interaction was her teasing me and my friends, then quickly getting me to safety. She suppressed, no, directed my adrenaline fueled anxious mind to safety. Then, she entered a saleswoman mode. Praising me for knowing what I wanted, and directing me towards, arguably, the most expensive point sink Catalog I have heard of. But it was exactly what I wanted. She guided me to define that want, listing the exact benefits and results I could expect, and let me make the choice. She explained the immediate limitations and how to surpass them in ways that would only end in my benefit. I mean, I was having this thought in the space between seconds, which was pretty neat.

  She always included my family in everything, offering them the same security she offered me. She made jokes with them, assuaging their fears and giving them opportunities to grow as well.

  And she always answered my question directly and promptly. No attempt to obfuscate, or delay, she gave me as much information as I needed to make a proper informed opinion. Just like she is doing now.

  And she always prioritized my growth and safety in equal measures. No frivolous purchases, instead each sales pitch was exactly what I needed to make sure I could survive whatever situation I found myself in at that moment and help me plan for the future.

  All in all, I reached the simple answer, the answer that I already knew but wanted to verify. Synaptic was my partner in life now, more specifically, she was as close to a mom as I could have, I think. I don't remember my real mother, but based on the old media I have watched, I think she fits the mold.

  

  Of course. The event you just went through would be traumatizing for seventy three percent of other humans, so questions are inevitable.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  

  Of course! Six percent are Vanguard who are too far gone for self introspection, four percent are people who are sociopaths who would never be considered for Awakening. And the other eighteen percent are people who are just broken, either because they have seen too much or because they refuse to see anything at all.

   I sigh? Well, not physically, but the mental exertion is similar.

  In that case, there are a few options you may partake in the immediate future. You have just received a massive influx of points and Tokens, so we can go over what new options are available for you, including the Class III swarms and upgrades. Then, there is of course figuring out some new outfits using your armor. You only have two settings, default Commander and sleep wear. You have been invited to a party, after all. No better excuse to “shop” for clothes. Finally, you need some new vehicles and your Fabrication AI seed has currently generated several thousand designs, which has been curated down to a few hundred by Rogal, then down to a few dozen by me.

  

  I turn towards the Fabrication AI, and see its avatar is starting to form, vaguely humanoid is all I can make out, but that's alright. I feel joy radiate from it as I “approach” in the network. It sends me dozens of blueprints, vehicles, weapons, forts and fortifications. I was shocked at how well designed these were, then I remembered that these were the ones that passed screening from two AI.

  I call Rogal over and pass him the fort and fortification blueprints.

  “Extremly. Deployable landmines of various effects, acid sprayers, rudimentary mounted railguns and laser fences, which if I am not mistaken, you do not have Catalogs for. The fort designed is perfect for a small defensive position with a few hundred combat swarms. With the appropriate upgrades on the Fortification swarms, these could all be built in minutes”

   I say to the Fabrication AI.

  I then switch to the weapon selection, and this one was sorted into a few categories. Infantry, mounted, fixed, and experimental, they were then subdivided between Kinetic and Plasma. I was drawn to the plasma weapons, seeing that they required little materials for ammunition and were very effective against plant based enemies.

  The experimental section was filled with, once more, rudimentary rail guns, coil guns, laser weaponry, and explosives. There was one other weapon type there that interested me far more, something called The Portal Collection.

  From opening portals below an advancing swarm to have them drop from low earth orbit, to summoning projectiles from space to slam into targets, to cutting the enemy to pieces using atom thin portals leading to random spots in space. One project was labeled as heavily theoretical, which was opening a micro portal connected to the sun to fire a beam of pure, well, sunlight through whatever it was pointed towards.

   I ask.

  Two items appeared on a list. Material science Class II and physics Class II.

   I raise an eyebrow at it.

  It nods its head vigorously, joy still radiating off it.

  

  Unlocked Class II Material Science

  Unlocked Class II Physics

  Points reduced to 65720

  Tokens reduced to 12

  

  The Dream Learning Module is already installed in it. The download will happen each time you unlock a new Catalog, no extra charge.

   I go to look at the vehicle blueprints next, but they are being adjusted in real time. I see a number of large sports car types, a few vans, a trailer truck, a horse drawn carriage. Then I see the vehicle I want next. Large, bulky, and from the same universe and that model Synaptic showed me earlier. An Imperial landing shuttle. Room for six in the cabin, with a spatially expanded storage able to hold three hundred dice. Plus heavily armored with a twin rotary cannon mounted to its underside and two missile racks able to hold twelve missiles each. It was pretty fast, too, with a top speed of Mach 2.

  

  It looks over the blueprints, then a timer appears above it. Eight hours forty minutes. It also shows that I would need a decent chunk of materials.

  Disappointed, yet understanding, I pick a different vehicle, a van type. Room for four, space for what swarms I have now. One and a half hours and far fewer materials required.

  I pull away as Rogal salutes.

  

  Four thousand points, not including the ammunition. However, doing so would stunt the growth of the AI seed.

  

  I resume normal time as I look at the ceiling. I wasn't hungry, nor was I tired. And while I knew I could go over blueprints with Synaptic, I didn't want to work right now. So, I did what any normal person would do to pass the time. I opened some news apps and started scrolling.

  I skimmed dozens of story articles, celebrity news, election mud slinging, which Samurai is dating who, and new fashion trends from New Montreal. Nothing stood out as interesting, then Synaptic silently opened The Family Store and opened its news link.

  There, I saw more interesting articles. Rising star Samurai of Arizona, featuring Magical Girl Chocolate Thunder. Featured events for Samurai, a report on why the Delete button was fired. I opened that one to see how divergent the reporter could be.

  Shockingly, it was very faithful to the truth of the situation, even listing a complete count of antithesis that was in the cavern, with the only speculation being which Forty was gestation in the pods in the form of a pole. Model Forty three was the most popular guess, with over two hundred votes. Were their two hundred Samurai in Arizona?

  No, Victor. Those are votes from across North American Family Branches.

  

  No, you didn't. But your face says it for you. By the way, if you call me mom I will never let you live it down.