I can't do it anymore. I've tried hundreds of ingredients, thousands of recipes, dozens of cooking styles and tools. I will never be able to replicate that juice. I'm retiring today.

  -Resignation letter of Head chef Rordan Gamsey, after his latest failure to replicate the nutri-juice a Samurai once gave him.

  I awoke, laying in bed, staring at the Aurora on the ceiling. Rolling out of bed, I shuffle off to the shower, enjoying the heat and running water.

  Once I finished, I wandered out into the kitchen, wearing a new casual outfit Synaptic made me design. It was a simple t-shirt with a hexagonal grid pattern, jeans, and grey running shoes. I had a few other new presets, one of which being a simple suit for the event next week. It helped kill an hour before Synaptic finally convinced me to just sleep. She would wake me before the others so that I could refresh myself. She also decided to make some food, as she said everyone would be very hungry.

  The island was covered in various dishes. A roast, two chickens, four different baked fish, four different potato dishes, three different pastas, four rice based dishes, and various steamed, cooked, and grilled vegetables. The smell was heavenly, drawing me in. And I wasn't the only one. Jill was the first to stumble out of her room, and she looked so very different. Gone were her angular, high cheekbones, sharp brow and pointed jawline. Instead, her features were soft, hinted at under a smooth soft looking skin. Her hair style was also different, with the right side shaved and the rest styled like a wave flowing to her left, down to her shoulders.

  The second thing I noticed were her new limbs. No longer were they attempting to emulate normal limbs, covered in obvious fake skin. These were obviously weapons. The exposed innards were covered by a layer of some shimmering clear substance, showing blades on top of her forearms, a few small missiles on her left, and what looked like a chain gun in her right. Her legs were covered in the same clear material, showing large hydraulic pistons that shifted with every step. Finally, her torso was no longer unnaturally thin, with her bust enlarged. Now, she looked healthy, thin yet sleek, with her bust hinted at under her baggy shirt instead of threatening to break through. Her eyes were no longer the piercing icy blue that her old mechanical eyes were, and now a much more interesting shade of pink.

  She walked over to me, slightly unsteady on her new legs, and slung an arm over my shoulder, leaning on me. She had a cat-like lazy grin on her face. “Morning, Victor. What a spread. You make this yourself, or did Synaptic do it since you burn water?”

  I lean into her, giving her an awkward side hug, “Synaptic, of course. I could have bought some cooking software, sure, but then what would poor Buddy do?” I joked.

  I didn't freeze this time when she said my name. Synaptic explained the behavioral chip she had to me before my nap, and how Jill requested it to be changed in some way instead of removing it. She also stressed that I should not ask about it, ever. She had left similar explanations with the others for when they woke up.

  I seriously contemplated the viable options I had to hunt down every person related to our old employer and doing terrible things to them. But I figured Jill would do that later, so I let it go.

  I led her over to the island and we made our plates. As we dug in, the others exited their rooms at more or less the same time. They were mostly unchanged in appearance, maybe a bit more muscle, clearer skin, smoother hair, but the major details were still there.

  Roger had his tiny mole next to his eye, Cody kept his bangs long over his eyes, and Buddy’s hands still had his calluses and scars from combat training and cooking.

  “How dare you both get started without us!” Roger said in mock outrage, taking a seat next to Jill and reaching to snatch something from her plate.

  Jill casually stated his hand away, glaring at him, "Plenty of food here, Roger, get your own.”

  Buddy hands him a plate as he takes a seat as well. “It is good to see you have taken care of yourself over these last two days. I see Synaptic didn't let you starve. So what have you been up to while we were asleep?”

  “Doesn't look like much, since the room isn't covered in those swarm cubes and the console is plugged in. Did you just stay here the entire time gaming?” Cody said, trying to goad me.

  I smirked. “Nah, I've been extremely busy recently, only just having the time to take a nap. In fact, before I begin telling you just how busy I have been, let me introduce you to my new friends.”

  The walls shifted as five streams of nanites flowed from them, forming into five Hero Units. Morrigan had researched a simple color-pattern camouflage tech and applied it to everyone while I napped, all for this little spectacle.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Seeing the shock on Cody's face was worth having them hide like that. Seeing Roger's face go from shocked to fox-like was less amusing as he turned his gaze to me. “Sooo! You go kill some plants and the first thing you do is design some cute girls? Damn, Vic! I underestimated you!” He stood up and walked over to me, throwing his arm over my shoulder and giving my ribs some light, playful jabs.

  Baba Yaga took that moment to laugh, “Heh, funny child. Calling an old woman like me cute. Now, sit back down and eat. You're too skinny, I can hear your stomach complain from here.” She said as they all joined us at the island.

  Roger chuckled, “Of course, granny.” He said as he sat down. Baba Yaga glared at him. “You refer to me by either my name or Babushka, not granny, boy.” Roger shirked under her gaze. That was a first. He never cowed under other adults.

  “So, you going to introduce us, Victor?” Jill asked while digging into a sweet potato.

  “Of course. In order of creation. First we have Rogal. He is based on a Defence Swarm and is, appropriately, very defence minded.” I say, waving towards the suit of golden power armor.

  “Holy shit, he really is the Primarch of the Imperial Fist! Did you seriously design these guys yourself?” Cody exploded in awe and amusement.

  “Ah, no. I didn't design any of them. Their appearances and personalities are things they decided themselves. Well, their personalities are, at least, based on their initial base swarm, but I didn't have a hand in anything else other than their names.”

  “Indeed. I based my form on the strongest association he had to the concepts of defence, protection, and stability, thus I gravitated towards this form. The General named me Rogal as he himself made the connection.”

  Jill snorted, “The General? Really? No, wait, I suppose you came up with that, Rogal. No way in hell Victor would ask to be called that willingly.”

  “You would be correct. My form is from a military world, as such, I felt it appropriate to designate him as such.” Rogal explained.

  “And since it stuck, they all call me that. Anyways, moving on. Next is Morrigan, the blue one. She is my R and D specialist, able to make pretty much anything so long as she has the materials.”

  “HI hi! Glad to meet you, everyone! It's a pleasure to finally see you outside of combat logs. I have plenty of personalized gear ideas, and I cannot wait to go over them with you all later!” She threw her hands in the air in excitement, then quickly lowered them down as she grabbed a chicken leg.

  “Oh yeah, he had no hand in making you. Way to active for him.” Roger ribbed me again.

  I decided against speaking my opinions on her for now. “Next is the babushka next to you, Roger. Her name is Baba Yaga, the collection and disassembly expert.”

  Cody and Buddy paused. They both knew of the legend behind that name from one of the books we pillaged from a job site. Roger, on the other hand, had no clue.

  “Next is Outsider.” I motion to her. “She is based on my Scout swarms and is working towards omniscience, per her own words.”

  “A pleasure to meet you all.” She said, bowing her head slightly in greeting.

  Jill eyed her up, then stared at her chest. “You sure you have no hand in shaping them? Cause if I were a betting woman, she would be closer to your type. No shade, little brother.”

  I felt a blush rush to my face. I reacted the same when she first entered the hotel room after their hunt. What she wore was a bit too revealing for me. After all, if someone was to show that much skin in public here in New Phoenix, they would soon be burned to the bone. Morrigan teased me mercilessly already, so I didn't melt into uselessness, just choughed and gestured to the last new member.

  They were in power armor similar to Rogal, but their armor was a deep blue, and he wore no helmet. His face was human, but he had elongated ears and fangs. He was currently eating a large cut of the roast. “And this is Leman, based on my Assault Swarms, making him a frontline specialist.”

  He grunted, nodding his head towards the group. “He doesn't talk much, but he's a big teddy wolf.” Morrigan said, bumping her elbow into his side. He just rolled his eyes.

  “And that's everyone I have awakened over the last two days. And Sands, it has been a long two days.” I say. I then proceed to take a bite of fish. It was… alright.

  “Don't leave us in suspense, Victor. Please, share just how much trouble you have gotten into for us,” Buddy said.

  Every one chuckled at that, with Baba Yaga adding, “Troubles right. You lot better make sure he rests properly every now and again, otherwise he will end up burned.”

  “Alright, alright. I guess I should start with the fact that I have joined The Family, officially, and that we have a meeting with them tomorrow at nine am.”

  “Wait, hold up. You set up a meeting with The Family? Man, I'm so proud. They grow up so fast, don't they Babushka?” Roger says, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.

  “Yes, well, when I met with Doma the other day, I explained our situation in full and asked for their backing. She was very accommodating and I could tell she got very upset once I shared with her the data from our old workplace and the tower.”

  Wait a minute, what do you mean you just told her everything?” Cody asked in disbelief. “You just met her, and yet you trusted her enough to just spill all our secrets with, what, a pretty smile and some sympathy?”

  “Not everything about us, of course. I told her about the company we worked for, not us. Plus, she had another Samurai dig deeper into them and she found that they had offices everywhere in North America. She got cold once she found out, promising to not just free the other kids, but to take them in and either rehabilitate them towards non-confruntational roles, or to allow them to continue working, but under The Family umbrella, like what we were planning on doing.”

  I could see Cody was not convinced, but he didn't say anything else. Buddy simply nodded in understanding, and Roger was thinking about something. And Jill simply smiled. “You did good, Victor. You said we have a meeting with them tomorrow, yeah? Will this Doma be there?”

  “Most likely, since she was the one who set it up, not her secretary or an auto-scheduler.”

  She nodded, “Good. So, what happened next?”