Chapter 60: The box

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  –Mesh ad for ‘Samurealtors’, 2052.

  ***

  We were fucking done! Thank all the lords of hell…

  The enforcer neighborhood was finished. We’d blocked off a section of nice apartments on floors twenty-eight to thirty then cut a hole through the middle. Not only that, said apartments got extended and renovated! Every one of them was large enough to accommodate a family and we had three times more unused apartments than used. Hey, we had to plan for the future! Not only for new enforcers, but for their families.

  In fact, more than half of them were used by the families of deceased friends… For some, their families didn’t survive, but I’d lost a lot of them during the purge, then half of the remaining ones during the incursion. It made me… I had no idea, some kind of mix of sad that they were gone, but happy that their families would be safe and taken great care of. We’d always lived near each other, safety in numbers and all that.

  Now, we’d share this neighborhood that Robin organized for maximum community fluff stuff. We even had a central concourse of our very own! Not a large one, just a row of peach trees along the middle, but still!

  There’d been a long, long discussion on having school inside the protected section, but in the end, I didn’t want elitist brats and it just encouraged us to put more defenses around the school. I pity the idiots that would try and go for that place. No one would be able to identify their bodies.

  However, we’d made sure the defenses around our section were even more paranoid! Every way in and out was covered in scanners surrounding a hidden Mole-Bear alloy bulkhead that, yes, would protect from a god damn nuke! Unless we were litteraly inside the original plasma ball, this section would survive the city being nuked! There were even inertia dampening system if the whole thing got yeeted out of the building.

  Like I said, paranoid as fucking hell! I didn’t have the points for all of it, but every enforcer had participated, even the newbies! I believe it helped ease their minds on multiple fronts. Bella, for example, didn’t have family in there, but it showed solidarity when she bought scanning tech and hidden turrets. It also made her feel better to take care of her dead friends’ families. No matter how calm and cool she was, Bella had friends, a lot of them dead.

  It was moving day and the chaos of moving everybody to the right apartment, wrangling all the kids and not mixing people’s stuff was alleviated by an atmosphere of optimism and excitement! Everyone lived in fucking minuscule closets with entire families before, but now would enjoy water showers, TVs, full pantries and fridges, individual bedrooms, the works!

  I’d made sure the section had isolated water and air filtration and recycling systems. Again, nuke proof. The armored shell could tank a fucking mach 20 missile! That is if the automated auto-cannons didn’t destroy it first and the reactive armor had been spent.

  I was glad to do this move before we got Lila’s son back. I wanted him and her in a safe, comfortable and enjoyable apartment when they finally got the chance to meet back after so many years apart.

  Lila had been getting… nervous as the date came closer and closer. From what Robin told me, she felt a mix of guilt, shame, eagerness, resolution, happiness and a whole bunch of other stuff. It showed.

  She never shirked her duties, always did her job, but yeah, poor girl got very drunk from time to time. She didn’t have a drinking problem before, but she still enjoyed a few glasses with dinner often. Now? Well, she never got drunk before or during work, but I’d found her crying and sloshed a few times.

  It’d get better. We’d get her son back! Speaking of which, I found her helping to carry our very few possessions along with Rachael and Alice. “Hey, what’s up girl?”

  She stopped in her tracks and stared at me, the other two continuing towards our place. “You alright, Louis? That was… more awkward than usual.”

  Even I feel concerned.

  “What? No, I… Wait, than usual?”

  “Oh, honey…”

  I may have some bad new…

  “Fuck the both of you…”

  “Hey, speaking of, hum… There’s something I want to talk to you about.” Wow, now she looked even more awkward than me!

  “What’s up?” I asked with a bit of concern.

  “Well… You see…” She looked everywhere but into my eyes before she blurted it out. “I don’t think I should have sex with you guys after the thing we planned and it’s not you it’s just that well I might be a bit into Jackal and I don’t think she’d feel great about it.”

  I blinked a few times, then moved forward in a blur to hug her tight! Even my tail hugged her midriff at the same time! “You got a girlfriend!”

  “What!?” She croaked while trying hard to take air in. “We’re not there yet! Just kind of started considering dating and could you let me fucking breath!?”

  “Alright…” I grumped while loosening the hug. I didn’t let her go though, and neither did my tail! “I’m so fucking happy for you sis!”

  After a bit of half-hearted grumbling, she hugged me back. “So… You don’t mind?”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? I mean, yeah, the sex was great but I’d rather have you happy with someone you’re into! Plus, hey, you can feel her out for a foursome if you miss us that– ow!” I yelped as she pinched my ear. “Just a suggestion! I’m happy with Robin doing what we do!”

  “Dumbass.” She replied with fondness. “Hey, also, it’ll make calling me sister a thousand times less awkward!”

  “I know right? Now, come on, we got a lot of… Actually we barely have anything to move, but we still have to move it!” She laughed and we went about our tasks.

  ***

  “You know, I’m curious, were Mole-Bears blind?” I asked, bored as fuck. I was just guarding my people as they moved their stuff out of their old places. Didn’t need to concentrate much.

  No, but they had an incredible ability to see in extremely low light environments. It is similar to your ‘nightvision’, but severely more powerful.

  “Wait, but how would they evolve like that? Lots of bio-fluorescent shit?”

  Yes. Many species of fungus, predators that wished to attract prey, prey that wished to announce how poisonous they were, cave mushrooms and mold, the list goes on. Their original sources of light were usually magma vents and underwater volcanoes going from their archival research, although there is debate.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Huh… but if they were tunnel dwellers, digging a new tunnel, they wouldn’t have any light, right?”

  They would. They engaged in a mutually beneficial semi-symbiotic relationship with a bio-fluorescent species of fungus. By letting it grow on their fur, they could bring very small amounts of light wherever they went. It is the source of their advanced natural night vision.

  “Wait… wouldn’t glowing in the dark make them horrible predators? Like, super easy to spot?”

  They contained the fungus within an area on their abdomen, meaning that crawling would hide it perfectly. Over time, culture evolved and they kept the obsolete light-generation. It could be compared to the practice of beard-keeping. They shaped the area, some ensured the shapes would glow brightly by using certain beauty products.

  The shapes themselves were an expression of personality, similar to a human’s facial hair in that sense.

  I froze. It took me almost twenty seconds to ask the question. The question that would change everything! “Altany…” I took a couple deep breaths then made sure my mics were off, that my voice wouldn’t carry outside my helmet and that no one had some remote listening thing pointed at me. I didn’t want to know, but I needed to anyway…

  “...Did you model my entire kit after fucking Care-Bears!?”

  ***

  “Where d’you put it?” Robin asked me as we were moving our stuff.

  The move was going well, so far, but Robin seemed agitated. “What’s wrong?”

  “Where. Did. You. Put. It.” He asked again, clearly peeved. Did I do something wrong?

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about, love.” Hopefully, my confusion came across clearly.

  Robin gave me an assessing look, then invoked the sacred word. “Sunstone. Where is it?”

  The use of our safeword gave me a good idea as to exactly which box went missing. I wanted to laugh but held back. “I did not hide the box. I imagine you’re talking about the… tension release one?”

  He glared, which looked amazingly cute. “Yes. That one.”

  “If I remember right, you’re not supposed to use it.” His glare intensified, but I plowed on. “You know, you can throw in the towel. I can unlock it at any time.”

  “No! I didn’t say that, but… Fuck, alright, if you find it just… argh!” He said, throwing his hands into the air in exasperation. “When are you free? Tonight?” He asked, hopeful.

  “Well, I mean, I have patrol tonight. Tomorrow?” I tapped my chin in consideration. The hopeful look he gave me made my insides squirm a little. “No, Jean-Pierre’s busy tomorrow, he can’t babysit, but I could get someone el– Oh, shit, right, I got that hive Tomorrow! Have to make more points before the big day.”

  My darling’s face fell. He was already getting twitchy! “Come on! There’s no need to torture me!”

  I smiled. “Of course there is. You can throw in the towel whenever you want. Got the key with me.” Robin squirmed a bit on the spot. “Was the one I bought for you in that box? Thought you were wearing it right now.”

  “I am…” He said, teeth clenched.

  “Well, what’s wrong with it?”

  “You fucking know what’s wrong with it!” He almost hissed at me. He got close, but there were still a few people nearby.

  “Oh? You don’t like it?”

  “Fuck you, you didn’t tell me it wouldn’t let me fucking finish! The fucking thing even goes almost liquid when… argh!”

  I’d bought a little tool for points which he was currently wearing. Perfect for teasing without any release. He kept it in because I’d asked and because it logically should help, but I had a remote and knew exactly when to turn it up and down, plus an automatic system connected to his vital to prevent release. Cruel? Yes.

  However, in a few days, he’d be begging. We’d talked about it and he liked being in that state of ‘dear god I need this so fucking bad!!!’. It just enhanced everything.

  Still, my cute prince walked off and suddenly stopped when I made an adjustment with my augs. I could even see a full body shiver before he leveled a glare at me and gave me the finger, but it just made me more excited for the night to come. I wondered how long he’d last with the cage on. “Hey, Altany, do you know where that box went?” Without any release, I might wake up to a needy Robin in a frenzy in the middle of the night.

  I believe Lila hid it.

  I barked out a laugh, then adjusted my little torture device again. I heard him whine from here! “I think we’ll need Lila to bring that new attachment of hers. It’ll be her last night with us, might as well make it special. She bought a few options, right?”

  She did. Some may have been excessive without the organ elasticity mods.

  A snort later, I decided to abuse my authority to cover a gap I hadn’t thought of. “Oh, Altany, my dear, I believe we should save up on points. Robin buying items just for sexual gratification would be a horrible waste, don’t you think?”

  I agree, and not only for your disgusting games. I believe you should keep your schedule as clear as possible however. I am not aware of many marital homicides among vanguards, but it has occurred in the past.

  It only took twenty minutes for Robin to shout “Oh come on!”.

  ***

  Returning from my last hive before the big day, I decided to address an issue that cropped up during the ambush. “Hey Altany? I hum… Do you have any options to prevent my neck snapping again? It… wasn’t very pleasant.” The feeling of… well losing all feelings below my neck still haunted me a bit. That lack of ability to do… anything, it just… brrrrrr.

  Interesting. I have countless thousands of options! There is one that fits within your catalogues, but could be upgraded with the help of another tier 2 catalogue. You should still have enough to reach tier 3 for your Mole-Bear Technologies catalogue after this one, but I believe it will be worth it in the long term.

  “Which?”

  Your internal augmentations catalogue. By using it and Mole-Bear class 2, I believe we can achieve a very satisfactory augmentation to protect your spine and upgrade another system at the same time.

  My eyes narrowed. “The tail. You want to make the tail permanent, don’t you?”

  Yes.

  “Seriously?”

  Isn’t it already?

  My teeth ground together. That little bitch… The fucking mental integration guaranteed it’d be permanent!

  The mental integration only made it feel like it was yours. Enjoying its lethality, combat application and everyday use only came from you.

  “Fuck you…” I said through clenched teeth. I didn’t want to admit she was right, but… God fucking damnit!

  It may help to know what augmentation I am proposing.

  The Tower of Steel, mark 44-2, a complete nanograin sheath over your spinal column. It will not affect your flexibility, but will prevent any neck twist or snap. Each of them will be shaped with a narrower base that fit with the upper lip of the previous one and extrusions fitting within indents that will prevent over-stretching in three dimensions. That is, again, without affecting your flexibility.

  This system is entirely mechanical in nature, requiring no power or energy to protect you. It should, of course, also protect you from regular damage. With how hard and tough these metals are, they will be more solidly locked than the bolt action on the 1918 Tank-Gewher created by the german armed forces.

  She showed me a mother fucking huge rifle! I could believe it was made to hurt tanks! “How are you going to install something like that!?”

  We will need the surgical suite, but you will be unconscious for the procedure. Since it will not affect your movements, with your nanites handling any damage and the immune-management mod handling any possible rejection, there should be no adaptation time. You should only notice a difference trying to feel your own back, which will still be minimal. A couple more bumps per vertebrae, and for each to become uniform.

  “Okay, then why the fuck does my tail have to factor into it?”

  Interesting, you said ‘my’ tail.

  “Go fuck yourself.”

  In any case, your tail will become connected, share materials and, most importantly, directly share your nerve signals, reducing the already minimal lag and adding itself to your neural framework along with your musculature and your healing-nanites’ blueprint. It will somewhat thicken, adding the same nano-grain alloy, as well as the memory-alloy your muscles use, making it vastly stronger and faster, proportional to you.

  … Okay, that might not have sounded the worst…

  “I… Okay, so it’ll be as strong as me and heal itself if damaged, right?”

  And become a lot more difficult to damage. That is, if you do not wish to add more options…?

  That little saleswoman bitch…