Chapter Forty-Two – Invasive

Chapter Forty-Two – Invasive

“If you’re going to kill a samurai, make sure to double tap.”

–Anonymous

***

I reluctantly got off the bed and walked around the five large cat mecha sitting in a row. The holograms flickered whenever I walked between them and the Dumbass Myalis was using to project them, but I still had a good idea of what the machines looked like.

“These are pretty intimidating,” I said.

They were. With scowling eyes and a build that made them look like one of those cloned tigers the super-rich had in their mansions. No stripes, but the way their armour was jointed hinted at something similar.

The holograms flickered, and suddenly the mecha were bristling with weapons.

“Every unit has a pair of basic firearms. Belt fed, five point six millimeter machine guns mounted in the ribs. The combat units have larger guns. These are rail-fired magnetically propelled grenade launchers. With customizable payloads.”

The railguns twitched this way and that.

“The face of most units can open up, and the jaws are strong enough to break bone. The claws all have arc-jets in them. Effectively electrical welders to soften nearby targets. The heavier model has a hellfire, belt-fed missile launcher instead of the railgun, and the electronic countermeasure unit, I’m afraid, focuses mostly on E-war applications, and therefore lacks the room for deployable weapons.”

“Is this what shopping is like for you all the time?” Lucy asked. “Because I’m a bit jealous.”

“The non-lethal version,” Myalis continued. One of the mechs started to spin slowly. “Is equipped with tasers, gas deployment systems, and guns that can spray an irritating adhesive. Contact from the latter to a human’s skin should cause them debilitating pain.”

“That doesn’t sound very nonlethal,” Lucy said.

“While they may wish for death, they won’t be dead,” Myalis said.

I nodded. “How much for the five?” I asked.

Myalis was quick to answer. “Four hundred and ninety five points. Just shy of your five hundred point budget.”

I looked at Lucy, and she nodded.

It was a big purchase, but it was meant to keep the kittens, and Lucy, safe. When put in that light, it really wasn’t much.

“Let’s do it, then,” I said.

New Purchase: P.U.S.S Model Y – Security Mechs (Various) – Five Models
Points reduced to… 7015

Five boxes appeared across the floor, all in a neat row.

“Oh! Like Christmas!” Lucy said as she catapulted herself off the bed. She landed with a stumble, legs wobbling a bit, so I caught her in a quick hug to keep her steady. “Can I open them?” she asked as she assaulted me with big wet eyes.

“Yeah, sure,” I said.

The boxes were the same cheap-looking plastic that all of my stuff came in. Lucy had to scramble with the sides of the first a bit before she found the edge and tore it off.

Inside, tucked in nice and neatly, was a folded up mecha cat. Its eyes sparked and glowed, and it stretched itself out of the box while Lucy cooed at it.

I was kinda impressed that it had fit in there, but then, cats were mostly liquid, and it looked like a cat.

Lucy patted it, then moved on to the next box until we had five mecha roaming around the room. They were deathly quiet, and scanned everything as if it would jump out and try to eat them without a moment’s notice.

“I’m going to go tell the kittens not to be afraid,” Lucy said. She pat her hip and whistled, as if the cats were dogs, and they immediately formed up and followed after her.

“Should I be disturbed that she knows how to control them so easily?” I muttered.

Does that same trick work on you? It might just be an ingrained habit.

I wanted to be angry, but Myalis was probably at least a little bit right.

“What’re we looking into next?”

I have received a reply from the realtor currently in charge of the museum. They’re a rather luxurious company, in charge of selling and buying high-end properties across the east coast of the continent. They wish to set up a meeting with you, on-site, at your earliest convenience.

“Huh. Do you know when the incursion zone will be cleared for civilians?”

Myalis was quiet for a moment.

Reconstruction is slated to begin tomorrow morning, with heightened security until the end of the week.

“Fast,” I said. “Ask them if they want to show up tomorrow morning… no, tomorrow afternoon.”

Message sent.