Chapter Thirty-Eight – Flesh Melter

Chapter Thirty-Eight – Flesh Melter

“Are you a true blue American?

If you want to help real Americans, then buy Samurai Bonds today! A certain percentage of every bond purchased will go directly into the pockets of America’s heroes!”

–Propaganda from the United States of Kentucky, Texas and Oklahoma, Late 2035

***

I pulled out my Trench Maker, just in case.

It wasn’t needed in the end.

The two guns hovering close to my head both twitched, each picking out a target at the far end of the flock of black-green birds. Two flechettes flew out of the guns with shots that sounded more like a pneumatic hose being disconnected than an actual gunshot.

The birds exploded in a mess of feathers and gore.

Just as the Model Ones started to react, the guns twitched, picked out new targets and fired again. There was nearly half a second between picking out a new target and firing. It wasn’t a big enough delay for the Model Ones to do anything.

I watched the pile of black bodies on the ground, some of the smoking where the explosive flechettes had burned fist-sized holes into their little bodies.

“Damn,” I said.

I trust the display is satisfactory enough?

“Best hundred-odd points I’ve ever spent,” I said. And it was. If that was the kind of firepower I could get for just shy of a hundred points, I couldn’t imagine what kind of stuff old Samurai got to play with after a year or two.

Targets Eliminated!
Reward… 14 Points!

I shrugged. It was something. I wouldn’t refuse them. “Myalis, I need something to burn those bodies with,” I said.

It’s a fairly common practice with higher-tier Vanguard to attempt to starve out a fledgling hive. There are a few items in your Esoteric Single-Use Explosive Devices catalogue that would do the job. I would suggest a Mark I Flesh Melter. They cost three points. Very slow-acting, and more of a utility than a proper weapon.

“Sure, why not.”

New Purchase: Mark I Flesh Melter
Points reduced to… 103

The Flesh Melter Mark I looked like a soda can. It had a pop tab at the top and the name and model number on the side in etched numbers. I popped the top and tossed it into the room, then ducked to the side where a wall would cover me.

A lot of nothing happened.

“Um?”

The Flesh Melter Mark I releases short-lived nanites that find any organic materials and break them apart. I would advise not stepping within ten meters of the deployment range of the grenade.

I shuddered and thanked the stars that I had ducked to the side I had to walk down and not the other, otherwise I would have had to cross the opening. “Myalis?”