Chapter Sixty-Five – Politics According to Cat
byChapter Sixty-Five – Politics According to Cat
“In 2022 a bill was brought up for consideration by members of the then-Republican and Democratic parties, in a bipartisan gesture. The bill would, in essence, restrict the ability of a samurai to participate in the open market. They would not be allowed to purchase or own stocks or shares in a company, they would not be allowed to own or operate their own business, and in theory, would need to be affiliated with a company in good-standing in order to file their taxes.
In 2023 a samurai named Blitzo accidentally detonated a chemical laser weapon above Washington, D.C. The beams projected by this device, all of them with temperatures of several thousands of degrees, and no wider than a hair, were fired across the city at entirely random angles.
Of the seventy-two casualties from this accident, seventy-two were politicians or lobbyists.
By sheer, scientifically-proven coincidence, these were all lobbyists and politicians in favour of the bill.
The bill did not pass.
Blitzo was charged, tried and acquitted of all charges. His defence, that the bomb was set off accidentally by a faulty fuse, and that the lasers could have gone in literally any direction, was impossible to disprove, regardless of how unlikely the results happened to be.
Judge Van Maners, who presided over Blitzo’s trial, was quoted as saying, ‘Fuck all of that.’”
–Excerpt from Samurai and Politics, a Simple Guide, 2039
***
“Ah,” Lorenz began with all the grace of a new manager meeting his first Karen. “We… you see… um.”
“Um?” I repeated.
“Cat,” Gomorrah said. There was a bit of a warning tone to it. “I think what Lorenz was trying to say there was that he’s very, very sorry that he almost blew you up, and that he will make sure that the Family takes full responsibility for the damages caused here.”
“I don’t know if I can… I mean, yes. Yes, that’s what I meant,” Lorenz said in a hurry.
I snorted, but… yeah, I was basically bullying the idiot at this point. An idiot with an orbital gun, but an idiot still. “How many people are working with you, Lorenz?”
“We’re a team of forty,” he said. “For the NA-near-orbit zone.”
So, he wasn’t some guy in a basement pressing on big red buttons for fun. The background in his image kind of hinted at him being somewhere important. Lots of books and little photos on a shelf behind him, as well as awards and some knick-knacks. Office shit, basically.
“And who’s… Zeus?”
“That’s the samurai that set up the orbital drop system,” Lorenz said. “He’s a member of the Family.”
“Right,” I said. So Zeus wasn’t the one pulling the trigger? “Tell him that he needs to give his toys to more responsible people.”
“I… will pass that along?”
I wanted to rub at my forehead. Instead, I settled for starting to walk in circles around the arena parking lot. “How long until the army comes in?”
“They’re waiting for the debris to clear. They should be there in under half an hour. Though, I’m not the one in charge of that side of things.”
“Then who is?” Gomorrah asked.
Lorenz swallowed. “That would be the NA Coordination group?”
“How big is the Family?” I asked.
Lorenz blinked. “It’s the biggest samurai-affiliated and run organization in North America?”
So a corp, but one run by samurai? “Damnit,” I muttered.
“They’re not that bad,” Gomorrah said, likely reading my mind. “Lorenz, you’ve done an awful job of… a lot of things. Maybe you can redeem yourself by telling us about the mines?”
“Yes, yes, I can do that. I’m sending you the geological readings. The map might not be entirely accurate, but it should be close. It’s based on the tremors caused by our orbital impacts. Each impact is offset by a few seconds, and based on the vibrations across the region, we can extrapolate… ah, nevermind. We have maps.”
“Yeah,” I said. “And the Antithesis are in those caves?”
“Mineshafts,” Lorenz corrected. “And it’s very likely. The hive was difficult to see from orbit. Stealth hives tend to create a lot of ‘chaff’ that spreads quickly and makes scans difficult to run. It’s also very easy to overlook the sort of static they create.”
“Not here for a lesson,” I said.
“Right, right. Um, yes. The hive was originally concentrated over a random part of the forest, but it then started spreading. That spread’s speed slowed down considerably just as the hive reached a position above one shaft that happened to be relatively close to the surface.”
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I stopped pacing. “They slowed down because… well, they weren’t slowing down, they were just growing down instead of out?”
“That’s what we suspect, yes.”
I chewed on my lips.
“It’s a very small hive. The Family will be sending some of its best samurai to eradicate it tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” I asked.
“In the early morning,” Lorenz confirmed.
“The incursion here was only two days old and it was already threatening Black Bear. Give it a dozen hours and it might be able to start producing more models that will be a threat,” Gomorrah said. “I don’t doubt the family can get on top of it, but why not act sooner?”
“That’s what the second set of impacts are for. To weaken the Antithesis’ position.”
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