Chapter Seventy-Two – Behold My Catlike Grace

Chapter Seventy-Two – Behold My Catlike Grace

“Grace isn’t just about looking good while doing the impossible. It’s about making sure everyone else knows you’re better at it than they are—and maybe stepping on a few necks along the way. Figuratively. Mostly.”

–Attributed to Emosycthe Mordeath Noir, early 2050s

***

The next twenty minutes were kind of boring. Even the constant drumming and thumps of multiple AA guns turning the sky into pin-cushion land was something I could get used to.

And then, on the twenty-first minute, things stopped being boring, but in the bad way.

I got a call. It was flagged as urgent, and it was coming from Grasshopper.

“Where’s the fire?” I asked as soon as I answered.

“Hello, Catherine,” Grasshopper said. “Are you busy right now?”

I stared ahead, where I was moving my mech so that I could line its railgun up with a target some two klicks above and away. “No?” I said.

“Oh, fantastic, because I have a bit of a disaster that I’d appreciate your help with,” she said.

I took the shot, then stepped back, allowing the railgun to cool off while I gave Grasshopper my full attention. “Alright, what’s the disaster?”

“I’ve made a lot of friends in the wider Samurai community, as you may be aware, and I always keep an eye out on new up-and-comers, just in case they need a helping hand!”

“Uh-huh,” I said. Gosh, I loved Grasshopper, she was a sweetheart, but holy crap was she ever bad at getting to the point.

“In this case, a whole lot of samurai have answered the call. There are vanguard peppered all across the country working real hard to keep people safe and destroy as many enemies as possible. A lot of these are newer, however, and I’ve been keeping an eye on them, just in case.”

“I’m following so far,” I said. “Is one of them in trouble?”

“Just so!” she said. “I’d give you a gold star, but we are in a bit of a hurry, I think. They’re a… rather reserved samurai who has been a vanguard for some time, but they usually keep to themselves. I only met them a couple of times, and I always had the impression that while they were competent, they would really rather keep to themselves. I named them, you know!”

“You want me to pop over and check on them?” I asked.

“Yes please! I’d appreciate it. They’re closer to you than I am, and I’m currently watching over a small group of new friends who could really use the help. Her name is Shy, by the way. I’ll have Bybyt send her coordinates over!”

“Bybyt?” I asked. Didn’t that mean ‘bug’ in French?

“My AI friend! Did I never introduce you? Oh, you’ll love them, they’re quite friendly! Anywho, toodles! Thank you for trying to save my friend’s life!”

Grasshopper cut off the call and left me stranded there with a heap of confusion. I shook my head when I received a ping. Coordinates, from Bybyt the AI. As well as a small introductory digital postcard, because of course Grasshopper’s AI would be just as extra as Grasshopper herself.

“Myalis, can you make sense of these numbers? And… if it’s far enough, I’m going to need a carrier to get my mech from here to there.”

Certainly. These are standard coordinates. Vanguard Shy is some seventy-nine kilometres northwest of your current position. As for carriers, I have some options.

“Nothing that’s shaped like a cat carrier,” I said.

I have fewer options, but some remain. You could purchase a small transport vehicle for approximately nine hundred points. It will be capable of lifting your Nyanzerfaust and moving it. It has no defensive capabilities, but the mech’s own weaponry should suffice against lighter opponents.

“As long as it can go seventy-ish kilometres quickly and then survive the trip back, I’ll be happy. Get me something that’s not too loud, too. I don’t need to alert the entire area that I’m around.”