The hallmark of a great Samurai is their ability to think outside the box. The hallmark of an effective Samurai is figuring out how to destroy that box.

  -Vanguard Laser Lasso at her first and last public speaking event, 2051

  I stand up and look around the floor once more. Then, I flick open the team's comms.”Hey, guys. How are you holding up?”

  “We're still alive and safe up here, Ant,” Jill says. “In fact, we were just discussing maybe stepping out and trying to fight a few plants that made their way up to the floors above sixty.”

  “They are thinking of going to play with the new toys. I am perfectly fine staying in the giant metal cube,” Cody chimes in.

  I paused at the stairwell entrance, brain processing in over drive. “You don't have a whole lot of Ammo between you, as I only gave you enough for some emergency self defence.”

  “It's fine. We have been talking to Synaptic. With your permission, since we are in the same building, she can spend your points to get us some more Ammo if we need it. Plus, since we are in gear you bought, you will earn some residual points from us doing some gardening,” Roger explained.

  “They are getting stir crazy, watching you pulp the plants while also having Samurai grade gear.” Buddy filled in.

  I sighed heavily, yet quietly, my thoughts racing for a bit. “Fine. Keep each other safe, stay in the higher floors away from this hive. I will authorize the purchasing of ammo and medical supplies as needed. You're just out of range of my swarms, so I won't be able to back you up. Keep your positions updated with Cody, and Synaptic, could you let Laser Lasso know what's going on so that, when she does arrive, she can get to them in a timely manner. Watch out for hidden assholes and be very careful of the poison that these guys use.”

  Update sent and permissions granted.

  “And I'll stay near the van. Once you get to the security station, open the door and I'll drive out and wait for you guys near the edge of the Incursion.” Cody said.

  “Stay safe, guys. And happy hunting,” I chuckled.

  The thought of those guys going out of their way to hunt and kill antithesis when our normal MO was to book it the moment we were about to be discovered amused me, but also worried me.

  Jill was always a bit aggressive, but she was forced to hold it in for years. Buddy would always protect her, and Roger was probably just bored. That said, I trusted that they would take care of each other.

  I refocused my attention on my mission. The security station was located on the thirty second floor, taking up three fourths of it. Based on what Synaptic said about just the exterior of the building, it was a safe guess to assume that the floor was encased in Class II materials, with further security near the main control room. The only way into the floor was the elevator shaft that connected it to the thirty third floor, and the thirty first floor. That left me with three floors full of plants that I now knew they knew I was here. So I had to change up my approach.

  I condensed my Assault swarms around me, making a dense ball of death swirl around me, then send it forward through the wall of the stairwell as fast as it could go.

  The wall was shredded like wet paper before the swarm. They burst through it going over sixty miles an hour into the room, then exploded into a wave of red and black, engulfing anything within four hundred feet of the door. The residential complex that took up this floor was not spared, and over the course of five minutes, the area was cleared, with a solid inch of materials gone from the ceiling and floor, and everything between as well.

  That's when the antithesis did something I found strange. A number of Fourteens ripped through the floor and the walls and then promptly pulled back as every other antithesis on the floor ran with them.

  I was stunned, then I grew cautious. Antithesis don't run without reason, without a Commander, which confirmed for me that there was something controlling this hive now. Probably a Seventeen if the RTS was accurate.

  “Synaptic, can I buy a Catalog with general information on the antithesis?”

  You may, though the information Catalogs are varied. At this time, the Class I antithesis Models Catalogs should be sufficient. It has access to information on all models One through Nineteen as well as all observed variants. It will be fifty points, and I will link it to your Scout Swarm.

  “Please and thank you,”

  Unlocked: Class I Antithesis Models Catalog

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  Points reduced to 1293

  I pulled up a new file on my augs, checking through the information on the Seventeens.

  Commander types, utilizing parasitic Model Sevens connected through wires with an average maximum of fifty units that can be directly controlled. They prefer to use Model Sixes or other command types, but can also command other, much higher numbers. They are proficient in trap making, ambush tactics, and delay tactics when near their hive, but are also proficient field commanders when on the offensive.

  Since we were stuck in this building together, I assume it will stick with the ambush and trap tactics. Walking through the floor, I was having my Assault Swarms clear the rest of the structures on it, finding a few Model Nine variants in the process. Seeing just how rapidly they worked on the normal, mundane materials, a new idea formed.

  “Synaptic, I need my range to cover the entire floor, how much?”

  Your current Class II Assault Swarms will only need the Class I range upgrade to be able to extend far enough from you to cover the entirely of this floor.

  “Please apply the upgrade to all ten.”

  Purchased Class I War Swarm Operational Range Extention 10x

  Points reduced to 873

  That math didn't add up, then I remembered that Jill and the others were also killing antithesis above me. They were doing good work, it seemed.

  With my new range, I had my swarm clean up the rest of the floor as I made my way to the central pillar. Then I spread my swarm evenly across the entire floor, having my Defense Swarm creating a platform beneath my feet, and ordered them all to dig straight down to the thirty second floor.

  The results were instant and devastating. Clouds of dust kicked into the air as the swarms pulverized the floor, then they hit the root structures, and greet blood misted through the dust. I saw the building rumble a bit.

  Then the swarms broke through to the thirty fourth floor, moving at a rapid pace, and yet through the Scout Swarms I saw no antithesis other than the Model Nines that were shredded, but there were some holes in the walls. The swarms moved through to the thirty third floor, and the same situation repeated. No plants but the stealthy ones. Then, the swarm dug through the concrete of the floor, shredding it, then the roots, then stopping entirely on the energy shielding that covered the thirty second floor.

  I floated down to it, curious to see if I could break through it. Focusing on one section of it, I could see my nanites trying to cut through it, but it acted like a membrane of taffy, not a solid construct. I gave up on trying to pierce it and floated over to the elevator.

  A slight issue, Victor. While you can call the elevator to this floor, it will only allow you to move between here and the thirty first floor. If you wish to have it enter the thirty second floor, it will require a stronger cyberwarefare suite, as it seems the security is Vanguard in nature. It will be five hundred points.

  My finger hovered over the call button, brow furrowed. “Now, I know there is a bunch of Class II materials used on this building, and now this energy shielding. I could logic a way that the owner may have just bought a bunch or raw materials from a Samurai. But the security coding as well? Synaptic, could you figure out who all this came from and if it was just piecemeal bought from a bunch of places, or is there one Samurai who is the supplier?”

  For the raw materials, it is nearly impossible to figure out anything about those as they are just materials. The shielding generator should have a barcode that can identify which Vanguard it was purchased from, and the security coding will have an ID as well. However, due to confidentiality rules, I would be unable to tell you who those Vanguard are unless there is definitive proof of their direct involvement in the tragedy that is this building.

  I narrowed my eyes, “Explain,” I muttered.

  It may be that all these Class II items and materials were simply purchased from different Vanguard to be used at the will of the company who bought them. It may be that a Vanguard worked with a company to build this tower with the intent of experimenting with how safe such a building may be against an Incursion. Worst case scenario, a Vanguard worked with a company to build this tower fully aware of the Hive being used in its construction. That said, even that may not be the worst case scenario depending on what counter measures thay had in place to contain or eliminate the hive.

  I scrunched my face in annoyance, “So if the guy in question actively, maliciously, and stupidly build this place as a damn lab experiment, that would be enough to break confidentiality?”

  Oh, no. If it was discovered that they had a direct hand in building this place, regardless of his knowledge of the hive, I would tell you. The actual worse case scenario would be grounds to remove them as a Vanguard.

  “I see. Very well. Is this elevator protected by the energy shield?”

  No, the shaft and elevator in question are normal, Earthly make.

  That took me by surprise. “So they cheated out on the elevator of all things?” I shook my head, “People are so stupid.”

  I ordered my swarm to eat the elevator shaft and door to the thirty second floor.

  Once the cable was cut, I heard the elevator shift and fall a bit, then a fireball shot through the shaft as it exploded. Thankfully, I was out of the blast radius, but my swarm, for the first time, was damaged. An indicator showed that one of my Assault Swarms had lost approximately thirty seven percent of its mass from that blast.

  I set them to repair mode, and they shot back towards the empty room filled of dust and materials and began the slow process of self repair.

  “Is there there a repair swarm? What am I asking, of course there is. How much would one cost?”

  A repair swarm is just the Builder swarm with the blueprints of the relevant swarm loaded into it. The cost of the Class II Assault Swarm Bluprint is ten thousand points. Not to mention that you would also need to purchase the blueprints for the upgrades that they have already if you wish the repaired nanites to function the same.

  “Plans for later, then.” Glancing at the repair timer, it was set to over three hour, which made sense. If a Class I swarm could repair itself using mundane materials at a rate of one percent a minute, a Class II swarm using mundane materials would take so much longer. And that was with the Class I Builder and Collection swarms actively attempting to help.

  I canceled the repair. That was too long.

  “Let's see the secrets of this building, shall we?”