novelzi Chapter 5 – Idiocy of stupid people
Chapter 5 – Idiocy of stupid people
Chapter 5 – Idiocy of stupid people
“You would expect that people would listen to someone who can literally materialise nuclear bombs out of thin air. Sadly the average person is too stupid to even understand that.”
- Bunker Buster’s Lawyer during his trial after blowing up a shelter full of Idiots.
The shelter was... not very impressive, although nothing in the redlight district really was. Unless of course you found it impressive that more than half the buildings still stood. The shelter looked a bit more intact than the other buildings, but I think that was mainly because the thing was just built a bit more sturdy. Not that that meant much, considering the cardboard walls the rest of the buildings had, but it was our best shot at safety.
While we came closer, still looking out for any more xenos, the group eyed us cautiously. When we got into earshot one of them stepped forward.
“Halt! Identify yourself! This shelter is under the protection of the Red Crows, only Red Crows members are allowed in!”
The man looked vaguely familiar, I’ve seen him about the district before. If I remembered correctly he was Andrew, one of the more well known Red Crows enforcers.
Chloe looked at him in utter disbelief, probably questioning his intelligence. Which, I totally understood, the man most certainly wasn’t the brightest around. I just rolled my eyes and stepped forward, “Blade.”
With the blade in front of my hand I raised it at Andrew and gave him my best smile, “I’d suggest you step the fuck aside, Andrew, if you don’t want me to tear you limb from limb and leave you out for the xenos to snack on.”
Andrew stared at me with a mix between fear and disbelief. Then he looked me up and down, his leery gaze lingering on my chest. Normally I didn’t mind leers, I loved them even, but he was entirely too disgusting for that kind of shit to be enjoyable.
“Wait... Aren’t you one of the whores from Victor’s place?” he asked, sneering at me with disdain.
“So what?” I asked, raising an eyebrow in challenge.
Not even a couple hours ago that sneer would have sent me running, begging him to leave me alone, but I was no longer some helpless harlet. I was a Samurai now, although it looked like Andrew hadn’t quite gotten the message.
“Why the fuck do you have Samurai Tech? Give it here, no whore should be running around with that,” he said, and held out his hand.
I blinked at him, he couldn’t actually be that stupid, could he? I didn’t get a chance to do anything about it though, because Chloe stepped forward and held her giant, definitely Samurai grade pistol right in front of his face.
“Look here, asshole,” she said in a tone that could freeze over the ocean, “I don’t know who the fuck you are, but if you don’t drop your weapons and piss off right this fucking second I’m going to help my new Samurai friend here with dismembering you one by one until nothing is left. We have civilians here that need saving and I don’t care how, but they will enter that shelter. The only question is if you’ll be alive to witness it or not.”
She seemed... Angry, very angry. From the side glance she gave me she seemed more angry with his treatment of me, which was... criminally adorable and my heart started beating faster at the thought.
“And who the fuck do you think you are?” One of Andrew’s men tried, although he didn’t quite manage to get the panic out of his tone.
Chloe smiled wide, “Well, some folk who’ve seen me in action call me the Explosives Bitch. Three fucking guesses how I got that name,” she said with a sugary sweet tone while pulling out a very mean looking grenade out of one of her armor pockets, finger in the pin loop and ready to arm the thing at any moment.
“What the shit is going on out there?!” A voice boomed, interrupting our little standoff before anyone else had the chance to act.
The voice was followed by an older man, probably around fifty or so. He was big, very big, bigger even than Chloe and maybe even Sarah, and he was built. Arms thicker than my thighs, and I was proud of my squishy thighs, with a look that could skin a cat alive. I knew the man, of course, everyone around these parts knew the leader of the Red Crows. Castas was one of the oldest gang leaders, somehow having managed to stick around for two decades.
The moment he stepped out Andrew snapped to what he probably assumed was attention, but in truth it just made him look like he really, desperately needed to take a shit.
“Boss, these people tried to enter without identifying themselves! Also, this here whore of Victor’s refuses to hand over her Samurai Tech!”
Castas looked at him, then at Chloe, then at me, paying careful attention to both of us. Once he was satisfied with what he saw he nodded, then turned to Andrew. “Okay, smartass, and why do you think a whore would have Samurai Tech on her, hm?”
Andrew looked a bit confused, “Uh... I don’t know? She probably stole it or something.”
“Stole it, hm? From a Samurai?”
“Yes boss. You know how close they get to their clients, might have slipped it out of a pocket or something. I mean, I’ve heard they ca-”
Andrew didn’t get to finish his sentence. Before anyone had any time to react Castas punched Andrew straight in the face, sending the man sprawling.
“YOU FUCKING IDIOT! You can’t just steal from a fucking Samurai and expect to live through the attempt! The reason she got fucking Samurai Tech is most likely because she’s a fucking Samurai! This shit is the reason why you are still given the shit jobs, Andrew, if you would stop snorting smack like you drink beer you wouldn’t have killed all your fucking braincells yet!”
“But...” Andrew croaked, trying to sit up. His nose was shattered and bleeding profusely, “But, she’s a whore!”
“It doesn’t fucking matter, Andrew! Fucking janitors and beggers have become Samurai! Hell, fucking accountants get the honour, so why not a fucking whore! Now get the fuck out of their way and make damn sure that everyone that wants in, gets fucking in, or I will personally rip the last rotten remains of your fucking grey matter out of your useless fucking skull!”
He took a long deep breath, then straightened himself, turning to us.
“Sorry for that. Blunt tool’s only good for a blunt job, but I guess this one is too chipped to even manage that much. Bring these guys inside, we’ll make sure they’re looked after.”
Chloe blinked at him, then let her weapon drop. “Thanks?”
We continued on like this for a while, just enjoying each other’s company. Of course, we did make sure to keep an eye out for xenos. The longer we walked though, and the more we strained our senses, the more I realised something.
“Something smells,” I muttered.
“Maybe it’s the alien goo on your... blouse?” She asked with a smile and a blush when she looked down at me.
I giggled, “Yeah, I should probably get rid of that, shouldn’t I? Anyway, that wasn’t what I meant. Something isn’t right here, too few xenos around. Everytime I heard about alien incursions it was always depicted like floods of xenos coming down in waves to eat you, and not in the fun way. Here though?” I motioned around, not missing the sudden fierce blush she had at my innuendo. “Nothing, nada. It’s like all the xenos just vanished. And I mean, I don’t want to complain too much, but if they aren’t here that means they are elsewhere.”
She nodded, looking around again, “True. We should probably hurry, get the food, then get back to the shelter. Incursions grow quick, normally the area should already be teeming. Don’t wanna be caught outside without underwear on.”
I was a bit surprised by statement, she didn’t strike me as the kind to joke about... Oh. Oh! She’d noticed me going commando! I winked at her, but nodded. It was hard to resist from teasing her, she was just so cute, so adorable, so... ugh, I needed to focus. This was a disaster.
“Do you have anything to search for xenos?” She asked, a bit more seriously, “Recon and shit doesn’t really fit me that well, I’m more about shooting shit and blowing stuff up.”
I looked at her, it fit her personality quite well. “That the theme you are going for?”
She shrugged, “I don’t think I have a theme yet. Nor a name, really. I get what I need to do the job I have to do. Simple as that.”
“That’s fair, I suppose. I think Kaysa has already decided on my theme for me,” I said with a giggle, “Aren’t you supposed to pick your own? Not that I mind too much, it is fitting.”
She shrugged again, “Generally, yeah. I’ve heard of a couple cases where the AI just takes over, mainly because their Samurai doesn’t care much or finds it funny. In the incursion I became a Samurai in I met a guy, Gloomstalker was his name, who was all doom and gloom and fucked up weaponry. The kind of shit you’d find at an emo party. Talked a bit, not much. He really wasn’t a gloomy guy, like, at all. His AI really loved the idea though and he agreed because it meant people didn’t bother him.”
If it is so important to pick your own theme, you are of course more than welcome to disregard my suggestions. I apologise if I have overstepped my boundaries.
“Nah, don’t worry,” I said, holding up a hand to let Chloe know I wasn’t talking to her, “It’s alright. Truth be told, I do like it. From what I know about the Kitsune it is quite fitting, and if it allows me to get really cute and sexy clothes I won’t say no. I need to show off, hm?”
I said that more for Chloe’s benefit, who couldn’t stop herself from admiring me one more time. Not that I minded. I wanted her to look at me more.
“I think I’m more confused about what else it can do. I don’t know Kitsune well, so I’m not really sure what to expect.”
When she realised what she was doing, Chloe cleared her throat then pointedly looked away.
“Well, normally Kitsune are a magical race, at least in the fictions I’ve seen them in. They are all about misdirection, body doubles, shapeshifting, seduction, then feasting on their prey’s soul. From what I’ve seen your Hard-Light stuff do, it does seem to fit well with the usual depictions of modern Kitsune magic. They are often depicted as mischievous and teasing, quite a lot like you, actually.”
I gave her a side glance, before bumping into her side lightly, “You seem to know a lot about that, don’t you?” There was a hint of a tease in my voice.
She blushed again, which just... I could spend days watching her blush.
“Well... I do like to read and fantasy is my favourite genre. And, I have to admit, I have a bit of a guilty pleasure for reading fantasy erotica.”
That had me raise my eyebrows and I adjusted my impression of her a bit. Inexperienced, but deeply curious. Knowing that made me even more excited for what the future might hold in store for us.
“Anyways,” she said, changing the topic again, “Does your Kitsune catalogue have anything?”
I blinked, “Oh, sorry, got distracted again. Kaysa?”
It is quite amusing to watch you stumble over your emotions like that. Should I give the two of you some room?
This time it was my turn to blush, “Kaysa!” I hissed, not wanting to head there with my thoughts right about now, since I wasn’t sure I could keep myself from trying. Chloe definitely had a tight hold over me, but right now wasn’t the time to get distracted, AGAIN!
Very well. The Class I Mythical Kitsune Catalogue would have something fitting for that purpose, although with your current point total of 227 points it would not be overly impressive. The Catalogue alone costs 150 points, mainly thanks to the wide selection of options it has available. The more useful options would all either be much more costly or would require gene editing, which just is not an option for the short term. There are some cheaper options that you could go with, but those options run the risk of quickly becoming obsolete.
“Couldn’t I give my old gear to Chloe?” I asked.
If you plan to work together with Vanguard Chloe for the time being, you could potentially hand down gear to her. In this case I would recommend the Mark II Advanced Listening System from the Class I Mythical Kitsune Catalogue. The cost would be 210 points total, 150 points for the catalogue and 60 points for the item in question.
It is a cybernetic enhancement that interfaces with your normal hearing in a non-intrusive manner and enhances your hearing quite greatly. It also features a rudimentary version of echolocation.
“I mean, it doesn’t sound bad, but I’m not sure it would be worth nearly bankrupting myself for something so... underwhelming.” I frowned.
Chloe looked down at me with a smile, rubbing my shoulder, “It’s okay, it would be helpful, but I think it’s also good that you keep some points in case of emergency.”
I nodded up at her, answering her smile with my own, “Yeah... I think it’s best we figure out what is waiting for us there, before I make any decisions on that thing.”
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