“The rise of the modern megastructure is one recorded in great detail- the descriptions reguarding the production of the modern city block, with it’s baseptes, support structures, tunnels, and more to keep the demands of the modern defensive city well accounted for in modern literature. I will however point out most historical recordings in this come from the East Coast, West Coast, and the greater reaches of what once was Canada.
There is little to no study made of the defensive megastructures of the West- the dry and desert states had, of course, different priorities. When a water war can start any month of the year over control for the resources from the Colorado River… no company wants their designs widely avaible, nor do they want anyone knowing the location of the waterline working the superstructure.
It’s a bitch to repair though.”
—High Priest Aaron Brinkerhoff of the Church of Ascended Saints, minister of Water Supply
“Run me through it again.” I snapped as I shed out with the strangely durable metal cws that now extended from my right hand, driving them into the fucking messed up triangur head of the alien hound that leaped at me over the rubble.
You have been chosen as a vanguard! A defender of humanity and bane of the Antithesis!
“Yeah, great-“ I smmed a bionic foot out into the spine of another alien dog-thing-with too many joints in it’s three-way jaw, apparently called model threes. “And we’re fighting them because?”
As I expined previously, they seek to consume all life within the universe. Quite the problem.
“Uh huh- and-“ a massive tentacled monstrosity lobbed a chunk of stone at me, and I locked the synthetic muscles in my legs as I brought my arms up to intercept. The reinforced titanium pting on the underside of my forearms caught the brunt of the impact, but the vibration still jarred the teeth in my head. “You are the AI inserted into my cerebral cortex in order to allow me to fight these things, and to do so you teleport useful junk into my vicinity?”
The model three began raking its cws against me, and I growled at the interruption. I pointed my fist in the alien’s direction, a missile rocketing out of the small uncher that snapped from a hollow space in the arm to sm into the creature, sinking into it before detonating in a spray of alien goop.
Your left arm has sustained significant damage and will require repcing- I also highly recommend the neural reconfiguration suite which I have mentioned repeatedly to repair the brain damage you incurred shortly before becoming a vanguard. Your current point total is 275.
I grunted.
“Fine. New arm. No brain shit.” I was forced to dodge a bite from the three-jawed hound creature. “Focused on not dying.”
I grabbed the creatures jaws, and with a snarl of my own I ripped it’s head in half. “How much will a jump pack cost me?”
For full flight capabilities, or for short bursts?
“Either. Surprise me. Actually- don’t- shit’s expensive. Simple vertical lift, short burst.”
With the number of adjustments you make to your body, may I recomend a modur spinal mounting system first? A jumpPack will still cost more than 100 points, and one that cheap would need to be disposable, not viable in the conditions you find yourself. The neural interface I have in mind will allow for a great deal of future versatility. It will allow you to connect various potential upgrades to your physicality with less need for you to repce rge chunks of your body.
“Fine.” I gnced around a corner, groaning as I spotted a small wave of antithesis charging down a narrow hallway. I gnced one more time at the next wave of monsters coming my way, and I rushed forward with a snarl, leaping into the air as I drove the metallic cws of my right hand through body after body, throwing a couple monsters into the mass to send others flying back, the points total slowly ticking up.
“Do it.”
Accepted- new point total is 47. Do you have opinions as to the selection of your repcement limb? I assume not judging from the immediate annoyance at that question.
I winced at the cost, barricading the door with a mangled metal table for a moment, then flicked my left arm to trigger the release mechanism in the elbow, synthetic muscles pulling away and disconnecting as the mangled forearm dropped to the ground. A small crate appeared next to me, and I crouched to pull out it’s repcement, jamming the synthetic bones into pce with a wince before flexing the mechanical muscles and tendons of my new hand.
I nodded, satisfied, and dug the metallic cws into the pavement for a moment as I took a deep breath, gncing out through one of the windows of the infested megastructure I was currently inside. Pce was huge. Could barely wrap my mind around it. Looking out the window didn’t help either- just more city as far as I could see, impossible buildings far above me. The structural scans the AI in my head had made informed me I was in a hab-block- a single building fifty stories high, with each fooor essentially having to run itself as a small town or city would. It was also infested with these aliens at the moment, which was- apparently- the reason I was there. Part of me wondered if my brain had been cut out and inserted into a simution.
A second crate nded next to me, and I opened it to reveal a shiny chrome disk and some kind of ergonomic mount that clearly was meant to wire into my spinal column.
I lifted the pte and slung it over my shoulder, where it met the metallic spine that shone from the base of my skull down to my hips. It was some kind of armor interface- I hadn’t been able to listen too closely, but I felt the moment the backpte attached. My brain itched for a solid minute, as the sound of cws, guns, and explosions sounded elsewhere in the building- or perhaps the city outside. It was as if something lit up in my mind, like a limb I hadn’t quite woken up from falling asleep.
“Feels like it’s missing something.”
The G-9 neurospinal interface requires additional components for full functionality- none of which you can currently afford, given the points you have spent to make yourself as durable as you are. Later purchases of equipment, weapons, and limbs will be able to connect to your neural network through that interface, and will be controlled by your mind reflexively with practice.
“Hm. Understood. Where are we again?”
Humanity has designated this urban environment as “Salt City”, likely due to the numerous salt fts which border and lie beneath it’s superstructure. It is one of very few settled areas remaining within the Rocky Mountains.
Words- yes- I knew all those words. Wish I knew what those words in that order actually meant.
“Hm. Ok.”
Please reconsider the neural reconstruction suite- while it may not return all of your memories, there is nevertheless the chance that some of them will still be recovered - at least enough to comprehend the geography of this location as well as any pertinent information about yourself.
“Seems low on the priorities list.” I stated ftly as I pulled my makeshift barricade away and smmed an armored foot into a psteel door, buckling it away from it’s seal. I heard the scrabbling of cws on the other side, as well as constant gunfire from somewhere else in the city- sounded like AA cannons. Something smmed into the door from the other direction, and I grinned. I bared my teeth as I kicked the door again, finally ripping it from it’s moorings to fall to the ground as I extended the talons attached to the top of my fingers to drive them through the head of the two model threes that charged me. I saw another four of the tentacle creatures, and I ripped a chunk of metal out of the ground, whipping it like a death frisbee into the closest one. The sheet of metal sank into the bulbous monster with a wet squelch, and it’s tentacles filed wildly. It stopped it’s advance for the moment though, so I shifted my attention to the second “model four”, marching forward to grab an exposed chunk of rebar and hurling it through its body like a javelin. A tentacle snapped out at me, and I grabbed it, before a bde made of some strange alloy snapped out of my new left forearm and I sheared the offending alien limb off, marching across the room as the other two died. Hm. I had the gut feeling something was about to go wrong.
They started pumping chemicals into the air, and I promptly ignored them. Lungs were already repced- surely this wouldn’t be too bad. I leapt up, rolling over a desk that had been shoved into the office space, and I sank my forearm bdes into the bastards, ughing as I ripped and tore into the weirdly tough flesh of the alien bodies.
They fell to crumpled into a mess of pnt goop a short while after, and I ran a hand through my hair. What was left of it, anyway. AI told me that it had been burned off. I believed it.
New point total- 127. Please note the root structure to your left.
I gnced to my left, and sure enough, there were strange roots clinging to the wall.
This indicates the antithesis in this structure have begun to establish a forward assault hive- elimination of this hive is essential, or the entire building will be lost, as well as any other potential survivors within.
I nodded. Well, if the hive these thugs spawned from grew roots, then if I followed the roots back, I should find the hive with retive ease.
I began to march forward, sheathing and unsheathing each of the bdes my new body possessed as I marched through the space.
“Are the other antithesis aware of me yet?”
Almost certainly. Expect these already cramped hallways to become quite occupied. I do have to inform you you are perhaps the second least stealthy Samurai I have ever had to help survive this early stage as a Vanguard.
I grinned. “Good. More shit to kill. More points for me.”
I rest my case. With 100 more points, a retively simple flight system could be acquired, although utility within the megastructure will likely be limited.
“How many things can be attached to that G-9 spinal interface?”
Four items at a time of differing varieties may be affixed to the G-9 neural Interface, including mechanical limbs, flight systems, back-mounted weaponry, assorted missile packs, and a number of other items and operating systems.
Seven chicken like monsters flew at me, and I growled as I snatched one from the air and crushed it, backhanding a second as the third swooped down and stabbed a talon into my eye. I roared in pain, blood flowing down my face as I jumped, punching it into the short ceiling.
Point total: 130.
“God-Damnit!” I howled, covering my bleeding face with a synthetic palm. “Murder-chickens are shit for points... New eye, AI of mine. Full spectrum preferred if I have to repce the damn thing anyway. Cost for rapid fire ser weaponry of some kind to deal with flying Beasties? Or- actually- scratch that. Seeking misiles. Four hundred tiny little self propelled rockets- kind of like the Whistling birds from that old Star Wars show- with the bounty hunter.”
The fact that you can remember media from your world which is nearly forty years old, and yet cannot remember your own name, nationality, or history, will remain distressing to me. Such a back mounted missile system will cost 100 points for a simple version, 10 points for the first 400 rounds.
Right- kill a model three to resupply. Doable.
“Auto firing when flying threats detected?”
115 points to automatically detect and target flying enemies- judicious application of force will ensure each round hits or will hit before firing additional “whistling birds”.
“Accepted.”
Eye first, or rocket system?
I growled again. Shit. I needed my depth perception to fight.
“Eye.”
An eye capable of seeing full spectrum will cost approximately 50 points at recommended value- some additional features.
“Do it.”
A cybernetic eye dropped into my palm, as well as a spray.
Given that your head is rgely unmodifed and rgely unaugmented, spray your eyesocket with this- it will clear out unneeded organic material and will ensure proper connection to your neurons to the repcement eye.
I didn’t bother speaking, I just sprayed my gouged out eye, and lifted the new one up to the socket, inserting it. My vision HURT for a while as my brain tried to understand the mess of signals, before I figured out how to toggle between the different vision modes. I decided to keep it on infrared for now, it would let me see survivors easier.
I blinked, and another dozen chicken things flew down the hallway. I growled, ripped the top off of a desk, and hurled it at them, spttering the mess against the wall.
Point total: 92 points avaible.
I charged forward, and skidded to a stop upon seeing one of the armored worm things, four model threes dragging bodies into it’s waiting mouth.
“Hey… AI Buddy… what am I looking at.”
The model Eight is the main supply unit during early stages of an Antithesis incursion. While the single digit models range out, eliminate threats, and secure locations, they also return biomass to the Model eight for transport to the hive. The hive then uses this material to strengthen itself, and produce additional models to press further ahead.
The model threes kept dragging bodies, house pnts, and dead Antithesis to the worm. I watched for a while, trying to understand how to take it down or get past it.
I saw the body of a child.
My heart began to pound in my chest, the veins in my neck throbbing and pulsing as rage filled my body. I felt my blood racing- felt my vision blur as I screamed and surged forward, a bestial roar bellowing from my lips. I leapt through the air and smmed my talons into the body of the first model four, forearm bdes removing the head from the second silent monster that leapt at me, as I whipped an armored foot around in a wheel kick that pulverized the third. The st one tried to take a bite out of my leg, but the reinforced fibers prevented that, and I activated the magnetic locks in my feet, anchoring me to the brushed steel floor before I smmed a hand down through it’s woody skull, ripping it’s brain out.
I turned to the worm thing- model 8, apparently, and I charged it, leaping onto it’s back and tearing into it with my reinforced talons, carving through it’s armor pting as I dug down. Vaguely, I was aware that I was still screaming in rage.
The AI in my brain showed me where each neuron cluster of this monster was, and I removed them one by one untill the worm stopped moving. It was FAR from surgical.
45 points gained- new total- 135.
“Ugly worm only worth five?” I panted as I slowly calmed down.
They cannot fight or resist- sitting target. Reward is for depriving the hive of additional biomass.
I shook my head. “I need something to burn the bodies.”
Understood.
A small box appeared, with a liquid marked as “fmmable”.
I poured it over the mess of bodies, and ignited it before turning away.
My thermal vision picked up a shape through the smoke, and I froze in pce. If some took King-Kong, shrink it down to JUST barely fit inside an 8-9 foot ceiling, and then mutated it with some horrifying flesh creature covered in iridescent quills, that was a pretty good description of the nightmare I was looking at.
“Identification please.”
Model Five- warrior unit, biohazard, very strong. Caution advised.
I nodded… and promptly threw cation to the wind, driving synthetic muscles down into the floor to unch me forward, clearly faster than the alien had expected, as it’s ugly jaws closed in the space I had been standing. I dropped to one knee and spun, using my forearm bdes to remove the creature’s feet, before I leapt up o to it’s back and drove a taloned hand through it’s skull. To my shock, the thing simply brought up one of it’s massive fists, the quills on its back bristling as it tried to crush me against the ceiling. The only reason I didn’t fall off was due to the fact I had a bde-arm embedded in it’s skull, and I gritted my teeth as simuted neurons signaled damage to my legs as the quills stabbed through the thin armor pting into the sinthetic muscles.
I flicked open the missile uncher in my right arm, pressed it to the side of the beast’s head, and fired off a shot. Pain fred as the detonation mangled my wrist from the explosion, but the quill-monster slumped to the ground all the same.
Well done- more enemies approaching. Point total 155. Purchase of “whistling birds” competed, please mount whistling birds module to the G-9 neural interface.
I opened the box that popped into existence next to me, and lifted the device. It was the same color as the metallic pte on my back, and I attached it, a single phantom limb coming into focus. I rolled my shoulders to get used to the extra weight.
“New hand. Right hand. Reload uncher.”
A few more bck crates appeared next to me. I removed my right wrist, snapped the repcement hand into pce, and noticed it was MUCH better armored than it’s predecessor. I nodded. Points would hurt for a bit.
Point total now 24
I winced.
I didn’t hesitate to break back into a run, following the fleshy roots along the wall. He said more were coming, I’d much rather meet them on my terms.
“How big is the hive I’m targeting?”
It should be young. According to satelite observations, this incursion is only about 6 hours old- other Vanguard such as yourself are occupied in securing the rest of the city- you will not recognize any of their names. I checked.
“You can read my mind? How would you know if I would recognize them if we don’t know who I am?”
More model threes. They died in quick succession.
Not exactly- although I can examine your neural pathways in a way which is… essentially the same thing. Interestingly, I have detected an aptitude and perhaps even the capability to speak Spanish. You should confirm this once this incursion has been subdued.
“Hm. Weird. I need a rundown on all models I can expect as I approach this hive. What will I deal with?”
Expect all models you have already seen- models 1-10 are common. Expect the presence of model 13s- they are the natural guardians for hives. I do not anticipate the spawning of models nine or eleven in this space- to your benefit. Even as sturdy as you are, either of those models would definitely kill you. You will also need some combustible or other destructive weapon to destroy the hive in it’s entirety, your bdes will not be sufficient to destroy the superstructure.
I grumbled. The AI had made me purchase catalogues to access specific kinds of weaponry. Most of what I was using now came from a category 1 bionics catalogue. Just barley more advanced than designs currently being used by Salt Cit’s military. The Neurological interface had apparently come from a catelogue my AI had chosen in a panic. Apparently, I had been selected, and then suffered significant brain damage and lost most of my limbs before the chip was inserted into my brain. So, quick patch job to the brain done, I had been woken up in a pile of rubble, had been informed that I had detonated a support column in the megastructure, bringing down a significant portion of the Hab-Block on top of a small swarm of antithesis. I had had to spend almost all the points from that detonation repcing almost all of my body.
None of those catalogues seemed to be the kind of thing that would carry massive explosions or incindiary weapons big enough to do what I needed.
The detonation did sound pretty cool. I made a note to get a hacking package in order to see if I could get the footage, could go a long way to figuring out who I was, aside from also being an awesome moment I would really like to have back.
I grinned.
“Well, let’s go destroy this Hive then, shall we?”
Then will you finally consider that neural reconstruction package? It’s expensive, but the longer you wait the less likely it becomes that you will experience a full recovery of your memory.
“Maybe.”
Somehow, the AI inside my head sighed.
