Chapter Seventy-Two – Forms, Fans, and Functionaries

Chapter Seventy-Two – Forms, Fans, and Functionaries

“At some point, reality becomes this… thing, that’s not as real as you’d think. Sure, you may have witnessed something, but that’s memory, and its failable. Sure, you might have video and pictures of a thing, but those are fakable. Sure, there might be records, but records can be corrupted and falsified.

You can believe in the nice, cold taste of Montana Mountain Fresh. The sweetest thing to touch your tongue since the cold truth.”

–Montana Mountain Fresh ad, 2029

***

The media was handled… for a certain very poor definition of handled, I decided to focus on the next thing on the list. Only the next thing was taking care of Lucy’s little army of volunteers, and I didn’t have the energy to do that. So I skipped right past to the last thing on the list.

Letting the Family know about the event.

They probably knew already. They had to.

If not, I could always text… shit, I kept forgetting his name. That reedy little guy that worked for the Family. Eric? Was that it?

Anyway, I was sure he was in my contacts. I could send him a polite little text. ‘Yo, it’s Cat. Gonna invite a bunch of gangs for a chat this weekend, don’t be worried about it. K thx bye.’

Yeah, that’d work, but it would also sour things a bit. The Family, like any other corp, liked things done in a certain way. A text to a mid-level manager sort wasn’t it.

Sighing, I got on my bike and looked over the city, feeling and hearing the tapping of rain on my helmet as I scanned over the skyline. Ah, there it was. The Family HQ building was only a few blocks over. One of the only positives of having so much of downtown squeezed in tight.

I took off, rising into the sky below the hovercraft traffic, then dove down and past a few brilliantly bright billboards. I tried to focus on the skies ahead instead of on the buff ladies, hentai, and ultra-violence on high-def display. Whatever they were selling, I didn’t need it.

Coming in for a landing, I took up one of the Samurai-only spots on the roof. My bike was the only one there, the rest of the VIP spaces were filled, with sleek little hovercars squeezed in tight. It made the Samurai parking spot stand out as strangely empty.

Well, if there was ever a place where our sort would stand out as treated better, this was it. I tried not to let it get to my head as I climbed off the bike and shut it off with my augs. I removed my helmet as I stepped in.

I was greeted by a young woman by the entrance. She bowed slightly and smiled. “Hello, Samurai Stray Cat,” she said.

It felt… earnest? I don’t know why, but I immediately flagged her as a fan. Not of me, in particular, but of like Samurai in general. Which made sense. If someone was enamoured with the idea of the vanguard, then there probably wasn’t a better place to find work than for the Family. At least here they’d be working for and maybe with them.

“Hey,” I said. “I’m looking for Eric. He sometimes acts as my liaison?”

“Ah, one moment?” she asked. Her eyes twitched wildly for a moment, both irises glowing faintly. “I’ve found him and sent an emergency schedule clear his way. Would you allow me to escort you to his office.”

“Sure,” I said. “But only if you let me ask you a few questions on the way.”

“Of course!” she said, obviously happy to help.

Creepy. I mean, it didn’t feel dishonest, so at least there was that, but it still felt a little weird to me. I don’t think I could get used to it, and I was pretty sure I didn’t want to get used to it to begin with.

“Have you been paying attention to the situation overall? I’ve been busy these last couple of days, so I’m not sure what the news is saying.”

“About you?” she asked. At my nod, she continued. “Your ratings at the moment have been on a steady increase, though it’s not much compared to the jump you made earlier.”

“No, I don’t care about ratings,” I said. “I mean more… like, what’s the Family think about what’s going on. Other corps?”

“Oh! I see. Forgive me for not understanding.” She reached to the side and touched a panel next to the elevator, then gestured me in when the door opened. “I can’t speak for other organizations directly. We have a team that specializes in that, but I’m not part of it. Ah, as for the Family. I think it’s overall very positive? There have been a lot of positive-leaning memes shared recently about your girl trip.”

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“My what?” I asked.

She blanched. “Ah, you hadn’t seen those?”