Chapter Twenty-Seven – A Good Job

Chapter Twenty-Seven – A Good Job

“Fashion, the ever-changing monster. Trends come and go all the time, but there’s no doubt that the current meta involves integrating the tech necessary to living into your apparel. Accessories are the name of the game now.

Nothing encapsulates that more than the samurai, who by necessity, tend to be normal people under all the gear. So, of course, we emulate and copy that very same equipment, that aesthetic. “

–Coco Model, Memoires on The Changes, a 2045 autobiography.

***

“Gomorrah, I think I might need a distraction on the far end of this place,” I said.

The map with the path Gomorrah had given me was relatively simple. I had to take these people out of this place and to one of the rooms just down the corridor leading here. That would mean that for a good stretch of the way, anyone on the floor above would be able to see the kidnapped people, not to mention anyone on the bottom-most floor.

Then I had to blow apart a wall once inside that room, which would likely wake anyone who wasn’t already up. The noise of dozens of people moving by wouldn’t help.

While I considered my options, I moved over to the nearest door and looked at the padlock keeping it shut. It was a big thing, all heavy steel with a metal loop as thick as my thumb. I’d need something to blow it up.

“That guy has the keys,” Shaun said. He was pointing to one of the Sewer Dragons who was busy twitching on the ground behind me.

“Oh, that’s nice,” I said. I scooped the keys out of the guy’s jacket pocket, and then fiddled with the lock. “Alright, Shaun, I need you to keep an eye on everyone here. You’re going to stay in this room for the next five minutes or so. If any of you know how to handle a weapon, then there’s two shit guns on the floor there. A bit dirty but I’m sure they work.”

“Where will you be?” Shaun asked.

“Me? I’m going to be just down the corridor doing a bit of remodelling. If you hear gunshots and explosions, that’s because it’s working.”

“Alright?” Shaun said. He didn’t sound entirely onboard with everything. He was probably a bit too normal to be used to the speed at which samurai worked.

The lock came apart with a satisfying clunk and I tossed it to the side before walking over to the other side. The women were climbing to their feet, some of them helping the others. There was an air of cautious optimism. “We’re saved, oh thank the saints we’re saved,” one woman was muttering to herself while worrying her hands together.

I undid the last padlock and let it fall. “Okay. Everyone, follow Shaun over there. My partner and I, another samurai, will be making a lot of noise. When I come and get you, move fast, and keep your heads low.”

I moved into that little room at the entrance of the enclosures while turning on my invisibility. I caught a few gasps as I disappeared, then the sound of the gates opening and people shuffling out, slow and cautious.

“Gomorrah?” I asked as I headed over to the bulkhead. The two who entered had closed it behind them.

“I’m standing by the entrance,” Gomorrah said. “I’ve glued down your chronic masturbator friend. He decided to return to his post.”

“He’s not my friend,” I said. “Just someone I met one morning, you know how it is.”

Gomorrah snorted. “Sure. I’m ready to make a scene.”

I shoved my Trench Maker away. “Alright. Let’s see what kind of trouble we can cause.”

I pulled the door aside and stepped into the corridor, my Icarus rising as I pulled it out from under my jacket.

John was standing nearby, staring at a tablet next to some other Sewer Dragon.

They got to see my gun for all of a second before I lined it up with John’s head and fired. The canister sailed through the air and smashed the Sewer Dragon in the nose before bursting apart and sending a cascade of foam across his front. The second canister I fired burst apart against the other Sewer Dragon’s chest.

“Two down,” I said.

Someone screamed from above, and I heard a powerful whooshing sound. A bit of pure-white foam spilled down through the catwalks above. “That’s one here,” Gomorrah said.

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The screaming started about then, which did wonders to wake up the Sewer Dragons that were still asleep. I nailed one of them while he was only halfway out of his bed, gluing him there for a bit while I moved deeper into the corridor.

“Feds! It’s the feds!” someone screamed.