Chapter Thirty-Eight – Altruism Everywhere

Chapter Thirty-Eight – Altruism Everywhere

“And this award, the New Montreal Award for Excellence in Volunteering… goes to John Nimble, of Nimbletainment!”

–2038 Volunteer Award Ceremony

***

I left Nya at home before heading out to pick up Lucy. She was her own woman, she could handle a few hours unsupervised, and besides, she seemed happy to be silly around the kids and playfully hissing after Catkiller. The poor mutt did not understand what was going on, but that was alright, he was doing a fine job as long as he was distracting Nya.

Nose seemed strangely fascinated with Nya’s tail, which was… yeah, whatever. I left her to the tender care of the kittens, who I put even odds of being able to defeat Nya, samurai or no. I was pretty sure half of them were packing something they could use to shank a fool if it came to it.

Jumping in the Bastion I took off towards Cial, and discovered Lucy waiting not too far from my usual parking area. She was talking to a small group, maybe ten, twelve students in all. I recognized that guy Nya and I had bullied just that morning in the group, looking a bit awkward.

A second, larger group was lingering nearby, some of them split into their own cliques, and a fair number of them just awkwardly standing around.

The wind of the Bastion dropping down kicked up a few skirts, and some students screamed while others laughed.

I brought the ship down just a few metres behind Lucy, who never stopped talking, even as her audience was split between looking at her and the very large ship behind her.

Such a little show-off. I was grinning as I unbuckled myself and stomped through the back of the ship. I was out before the ramp had fully lowered.

It had only been a few days, but it still felt off somehow to be here without wearing the uniform, even if my normal day clothes were way more comfortable.

“Yo,” I said as I came up behind Lucy.

“Cat!” she said before turning my way. She smiled at me, all pretty-like, but her eyes told me an entire story about how much mischief she was up to. “I was just telling people about our plans for the city.”

“Oh?” I asked. “What plans are those?”

“Well, I heard from a particularly squeaky mouse that you were going to be poking at the gangs.”

“A mouse told you that?” I asked. “Well, the mouse was only partially correct. It’s more that the gangs are barking and basically begging to be poked. And if they’re asking so loud, then who am I to say no?”

I wasn’t blind to the fact that at least three of the nearest students were recording on their augs. This was probably not going to end up on the evening news, but it might end up somewhere.

“Did you know that the gangs do these weird conclave things?” I asked.

“Like a big meetup?” Lucy asked. She was turned towards me, but by the set of her shoulders, I knew that she was also speaking so that the others could hear. I wasn’t sure what she was up to, but I wasn’t one to shove a stick in her wheels.

“Something like that. We might do the same. Last thing New Montreal needs is a gang war, or worse, a corpo-gang war. Those always get messy and I’ve invested too much trying to fix the damned place to let some fuckwits blow it all up.”

Lucy nodded. “I’m sure we can help. I was just talking to Brenda and Mathew and John over here about the good work the Kittens have been up to, helping the community and all that. They’re also the sort of people who volunteer.”

“Oh?” I asked. A glance over the crowd and… which one was Brenda? Or Mathew and John? What kind of old-ass names were those anyway? A lot of the students were a bit older, I noted. Upper years? Were any of the people here in Lucy’s cooking class, even? “What kind of volunteer work?”

“Oh, this and that,” Lucy said with a dismissive wave. “They have all the awards and certificates to prove it.”

“You get certificates for volunteering?” I asked.

“If you do the right sort, sure,” she replied with a grin. “Anyway! I’ll see what I can do, everyone, but I need to head back home! Bye bye!”

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Lucy waved her goodbyes, but had to shake a few hands, say a few last words, and give out a few quick hugs anyway. I stood by, trying to look properly intimidating and spooky, and I think it worked once I just stared down the first guy who came over and tried to shake my hand. He had some boring line about being impressed by my arm and how his daddy was the CFO of some company that made something similar.

“Oh, thank fuck,” Lucy said the moment the Bastion’s door shut behind her.

“Rough day?” I asked.

“Class was nice, but… Cat, I think I’m turning into an introvert.” She stumbled forwards and fell against my chest, her forehead pressing against my collar. “I did too much talking.”