Chapter Nine – Eyy

Chapter Nine – Eyy

“There is rich, there is wealthy, there is classy. They are not mutually exclusive. To be a good wife, you must embody all three in due moderation.”

–A Future Wife’s Guide to Presentation and Poise, 2045

***

River Heights was a nice place. The road had a thing in the middle with little trees in it. The sidewalks were wide. Every house I walked past was either an older home made of glass and stainless or a newer mansion made of reinforced concrete and sharp angles. They almost all had a gate, but the fences were a few steps back, leaving enough room for some grass to grow.

I bet they had some sort of home-owner’s association kind of thing.

I bet they actually owned their homes too.

“Myalis, do you have any idea where what’s his name is?”

The nearest Vanguard? He is three hundred metres to your north-east.

I pointed.

A bit more to the right, around the intersection.

I headed that way, only pausing to take in a yard where all the hedges had recently been trimmed to look like animals. This place was rich. It was a different sort of wealth than I’d occasionally seen from far below in New Montreal. This wasn’t supercars and designer brands rich. It felt more understated than that.

I guess it was a class thing, but I wasn’t in any position to make much commentary about that.

In the end, I was here for a purpose. Save the city. That meant saving the city’s people. It included the people in these little mansions as much as the folk living Downtown.

Fuck me if I wasn’t conflicted. These rich fucks here had done the right thing. They’d prepared to face an invasion. I walked by a checkpoint in the middle of the road. It was a small fixed base, with enough room under it for a car to drive while militiamen sat above manning stationary guns. The checkpoint was fixed to the ground by cement bases that were clearly already sunk into the earth long ago.

They’d prepared for this, or for something like it. It was almost unfair to ask that they relocate to Downtown.

At the same time, Downtown was more important. There were more people there. The sheer human value made it a clear choice.

“Hey, Myalis, have the people living here been doing anything skeevy? Like, I don’t know, keeping kids in their basements, eating people, that kind of stuff?”

A cursory scan suggests nothing of the sort, no. Though there are plenty of suggestions of white-collar crime and possibly business fraud.

“Darn. it would make it a lot easier to burn this entire place down if the locals were dickbags.”

You’re in a difficult position then. Did you want to talk it out? I’m a surprisingly good listener. I am also smarter than you.

I laughed. “No doubt. Yeah. Look, I’m responsible for this shithole. That means I need to keep as many people safe as possible using what I have on hand. So, that means making sure the aliens don’t hit us too hard and then arranging things so that we can hit back.”

I understand.

“Now, these fucks have got it all figured out. They basically don’t need me here, which is fine. Downtown’s messy though. The defences there look like crap, the people don’t look prepared, and I imagine they’re not in the best of moods.”

There is certainly a growing morale issue.

“Right. Now… if River Heights is calling the shots for Downtown and prioritising their own safety, then that’ll make my work harder, yeah?”

Yes.

I stopped walking. “So I’ll tell them to fuck off.” I nodded to myself. “They’ve done well for themselves, so they can keep handling themselves. We’ll stop supplying them with any more than they need while focusing on keeping Downtown safe. Once we start hunting down the local hives, that’ll help everyone everywhere.”

That seems like a perfectly workable solution.

“Thanks,” I said as I started walking again.

You’re welcome.

“You… didn’t actually say anything helpful there, you know. Don’t need to sound so smug.”

Ah, but I correctly predicted that you would eventually draw a reasonable and workable plan if you only spent some time thinking about it, without needing additional input on my part.

I scowled. “And that makes you feel all smug inside?”