“People think that the lower the number, the lower the threat. That is until a lower end model catches you unawares and you have to fight for your life because of it.”
Spiralite, 2054
I moved back over to the stairs and opened up my box to reveal a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (or at least what looked like a close estimate) and a juice box.
“Kyos, why do I have a kindergartener’s lunch in front of me?”
No reason. Also, that’s making judgments before you try it.
“Yeah, that’s fair.” I picked up half of the sandwich and bit into it.
Oh my god, that was the best thing ever. I felt bad for people with nut allergies, cause that? That was just heaven.
“How is it this good?!” I happily cheered to myself, which earned a small giggle from Kyos.
I scarfed down the rest of the sandwich with much gusto, making sure I got every bite, and then looked over to the juice box. If the sandwich was this good, imagine what the juicebox would taste like. I popped the tab with the straw attached and was about to drink when I heard the ship shake a little with a bit of movement, as a lumbering figure rounded the corner of the hall that the corpses were in with a few other smaller figures.
A Model Six and three Model Threes.
“Come ooonnnnnn…” I shook my head, majorly peeved as I saw them, and picked up my harpoon, setting the juice box back into the box. I’d be back for that later. It was time to protect that juice from these interlopers.
“You come to me…” I said as I readied myself at the end of the hallway, the Threes beginning to charge at me.
“On my initialization day….” I rushed forward, plunging my harpoon deep into one Model Three, before pulling my weapon out and throwing it into another one of them. I raced forward to grab my harpoon from the body of the Three before I turned around, and nearly fell over, barely avoiding being chomped on by the last one by pressing the shaft of the harpoon into its mouth. I then pulled my combat knife out of its sheath on my hip with my off hand and stabbed into the Model Three’s head multiple times and then pushed it off me. I then activated the multi-stab on my new weapon and made sure to double, triple, and quadruple tap that one.
“AND YOU INTERRUPT MY JUICE BOX TIME?!” I was, in a word, Furious. The food was already good. Didn’t even have time to wash it down with whatever ambrosia the Protectors had cooked up. The other two Model Threes began to rally weakly, but I knew my target.
I charged at the Model Six, who was deforming the interior of the ship as it squeezed through the hallway. I moved on the balls of my feet, like swimming through air, and dodged to the side of a heavy stomp that would have probably pulped me if I wasn’t ready for it. I heard a ding ring through the hall.
Harpoon is cooled off. You may strike at will.
“Wonderful.” And I did just that, striking into the beast in multiple locations and striking deep to make sure I could make it past the hide of the creature before jumping back to avoid a kick from one of the middle legs of the Six. It wasn’t going down that simply, but I wasn’t going to stop. I dodged around it again, and it moved closer to the wall, a fact I utilized almost immediately. I jumped on top of the Six and activated the multi-stab of the Piston Harpoon.
“You!” Stab. “Do not!” Stab. “Get!” Stab. “To!” Stab. “Interrupt!” Stab.”MY JUICE TIME.” Stab stab stab. I felt gravity begin to take its hold as the creature fell to the ground, the relentless assault having taken its toll. My ribs be damned, that was cathartic as hell.
I slid off of the Six, and landed on the ground and breathed deeply. Definitely took it out of me. But it was worth it.
Targets Eliminated!
Model Three x 3
Reward…30 points
Model Six x 1
Reward…30 points
New Total: 126 points
The amount of regular land based models on this ship suggests a concerning fact. A Model Twelve may be lurking within, possibly something greater or something modified. Be careful.
“Greaaat. Juice box time first, though.” I shuffled back to the stairs and found the juice box relative not out of position and, thankfully, not knocked over.
You are awfully protective of that Nutri-Pack.
I took a sip of it. Exactly as I thought, like ambrosia from Greek legend.
“Because it was worth it,” I said around the straw, and gave another big slurp of the juice until it was gone and I was making obnoxious noises at a voice in my head.
Very mature, Mako. Also, completely understandable. I put the empty juice box back into the box it came in and sighed.
“Well, if I have a boss battle coming up, I should probably have something fitting for it, shouldn’t I? Armor of some kind?”
That would be advisable. I can recommend a couple things within that vein. Since you are now at 126 points, may I recommend Class I Protective Clothing?
“That would be useful, let’s go for it.”
New Purchase: Class I Protective Clothing
Points reduced to…76
As for armor from said clothing, possibly something that may be amphibious would be useful considering future use to get off this ship? How about an armored wetsuit?
“Ooo…I’m a little sad I’d have to part from the suit I worked hard to get…but if it means that it’ll keep me safe, it’s probably worth it, right?”
Indeed. This should also be resistant to puncturing and impact damage as well, so it will also be useful against any Model Fives you come up against. It is going to be 50 points to get.
“Let’s do it.”
Understood.
New Purchase: Armored Pierce-Resistant Wetsuit
Points reduced to…26
A medium-sized box appeared next to me, which I opened to reveal a grey wetsuit that looked a bit like shark hide.
“You know, if you’re going to take my nickname seriously, we should probably set up something between us for the catalogs you’re giving me,” I said, with a shake of my head as I began to take off my old wetsuit.
What do you think the Stalhas catalog is, dear?
“Ah. That’d do it,” I laughed a bit, before quieting down as to not immediately attract more xenos to my location while I was disrobing and donning my new purchase. The new wetsuit was so, so much more comfy than my old wetsuit. It even came with a new mask, similar to the old mask, but fit much better to my measurements. A comfy Mako is a happy Mako.
“Hehe.” I grinned, and moved around a little bit to make sure everything worked well, which it did. Before, it took a bit of effort to move the fabric and hydrophobic material of the wetsuit to get the strikes I wanted. Still got the strikes in, but now…now it felt much better to move around to do what I needed to.
“Did you know that I did some martial arts when I was younger? Just to make sure I wasn’t bullied by other kids. I still exercise and do some practice from time to time, but my body being different than it was then definitely changed a lot.” I mused as I began to walk further into the ship.
I did know that. It was part of why I chose you, because you’ve worked hard even through significant changes in your life.
Well, that was a hell of a compliment and a half for me. I didn’t really know how to internalize that, so I gave an awkward grin and kept moving forward.
It is ok to be smug at being more adaptable than a majority of your species. It will serve you well.
That got a laugh out of me.
“Are you sure you should be shittalking humanity when you’re helping protect it?” I lobbed back at Kyos.
I am an AI meant to help you specifically. You may help humanity in whatever way you want. So, I have the right to, as you say, shittalk as much as I like.
That kept me laughing until I began to walk towards the path forward and realized very quickly that the path was blocked by the Six’s corpse.
Normally at this point, you would have ways to clean up the corpse and clear a path for yourself. Unfortunately, this is not the case. In other words, get to hacking away at it.
I grumbled incessantly as I took my knife out again and began to carve away at the Six until there was a Macy-sized hole that I could squeeze through barely. Thankfully, the pain from my internals being smashed was beginning to subside thanks to the inordinate amount of time it took to carve said Antithesis.
As I passed through the ship’s halls, drenched in Six blood and mildly pissed, I took out my frustrations by clearing a few more rooms of smaller Antithesis. This helped to improve my mood and boosted my confidence a bit as I traveled further into the depths of the ship. Before long, I reached the submarine section of the superyacht, which was apparently the sea-viewing room.
My augs began to go on the fritz, leaving me disconnected from the outside world, communications completely gone.
“Kyos? What’s going on?”
You are in severe danger. There is an ECM signal disrupting technology which can only mean a few things, and none of them good. Prepare yourself.
My completely natural vision, devoid of the attention-grabbing information of my augments, hit the clear walls of the viewing area, and I nearly threw up. All around, outside of the glass that separated me from the water, a sight shocked me to my very core.
Total: 40 points