It turns out I didn’t even have to go out to find Angeline the next day. Since it was a school day, she was already planning on dropping by to drop her daughter off at school.

  I watched through the school window as Angeline casually parked her car on the street outside before rounding the car and letting her daughter out. The pair was wearing matching outfits, jeans and pink cotton candy-colored sweaters with some sort of cartoon chick character I didn’t recognize. Despite being completely out of place, the locals still waved cheerfully as the pair walked by, heading towards the school’s access lift.

  Even though the streets were much safer these days, very few people were willing to come down and leave their vehicles unattended. Angeline was an exception. As soon as she left the car, a handful of squirrels climbed out of the backseat and started clambering over the vehicle. In an area protected by mechanical plush bears, having a handful of plush animals of any kind was an excellent deterrent.

  When the lift finally reached my level and cracked open, it was Lucille, Angeline’s daughter, whostepped out first. Her curly auburn hair bounced as the tot sprinted down the hallway, eager to get to class.

  “Lulu there’s plenty of time left until class, be careful!” Angeline yelled after her daughter, but the little girl just continued sprinting forward, giggling the entire time.

  “It’s hard to believe that’s the same little girl you first introduced me to six months ago,” I chuckled. “When you introduced her, she hid behind your pant leg the entire time you were here.”

  “I have Isabelle and her little friends to thank for that,” Angeline replied. “That little girl dragged Lulu everywhere, constantly introduced her to new things, and stood up for her when she needed it, so she slowly built up her confidence. She’s so excited to go to school these days.”

  “Well, I know Issi loves having your daughter around. I’m glad you didn’t let me talk you into just accepting a teaching bot and having her learn from home.”

  “Kids need to learn to socialize,” Angeline explained. “Lulu didn’t really have friends since no one wanted to risk insulting her and earning my wrath in her old school, so I figured she might have better luck in a school run by another samurai.”

  “Well… not exactly run. Sponsored maybe,” I muttered.

  “Whatever you call it, I still appreciate it,” Angeline said as she walked over and leaned against the window. “Now, what is it that you needed my help for? Your message mentioned something about hunting antithesis, but I feel like I’m missing some context. Aren’t you already hunting the antithesis in like a dozen different towns right now?”

  “I am. Or at least, I was…” I grumbled. “For the last few days I haven’t been able to find a single antithesis. Anywhere.”

  “Isn’t that a good thing?” Angeline asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Technically… yes… But it’s been too quiet the last few days. Normally the antithesis can’t go a single day without poking their noses up somewhere, but it’s been over a week without any sightings,” I explained.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Angeline sighed. “Did you ever consider that you might have already wiped out all the hives in the area? Or at least all the loose models?”

  “The bears haven’t located a new hive in weeks, but the Kodiaks still spot the occasional loose antithesis, so I think there’s still some hives out there.”

  “I think you’re really overthinking it,” Angeline muttered.

  “Maybe…” I admitted. “But I have a bad feeling. It’s just like when we were in the tunnels, and the antithesis started sealing tunnels just to slow us down. The antithesis don’t change their behavior without a reason.”

  Angeline stared at me for a moment, then let out a long breath. “Okay, true. I still think you’re probably overreacting, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. What do you need from me?”

  “Since I’ve pretty much transferred control of all my squirrels to you, I’d like your help scouring the area outside the city for any sign of recent activity,” I said.

  “I guess I could do that…” Angeline hesitantly agreed. “Although I’m still unsure why you transferred so many of your squirrels to me, you could probably do this yourself if you’d held onto them.”

  “Although I can control a decent number of units, I still can’t monitor them all simultaneously. The best I can do is put them on alert. You’re much better at actually monitoring dozens of different views at the same time, so I figured you’d make better use of them than I would. I still have a couple, just not enough to do a proper search,” I explained. “Plus, you’re the one the message boards call ‘the Squirrel Samurai,’ not me.”

  “You’ve been browsing the samurai fan forums? Really?” Angeline asked, eyebrow raised.

  “No… But Jennifer and Eddie do, and they’re constantly updating me on how we all have fan communities online, despite not having any online or media presence. They keep asking me to do an interview, or AMA, whatever that is, but it seems like such a hassle,” I grumbled.

  “Please let me know if you ever do accept an interview request,” Angeline said, barely keeping a straight face. “Because that’s a disaster waiting to happen, and I absolutely want to be there when it happens.”

  “I’m not that bad,” I said.

  “You absolutely are! The minute someone rubs you the wrong way, you sick Bob on them. Just last month you had Bob ‘attend’ the board meeting of that company that was trying to buy all the undercity goods, then sell them at a huge markup.”

  “They had it coming,” I grumbled. “Besides, I didn’t have him kill anyone…”

  “Just hang the CEO out the window by the ankles until he agrees to stop. I know. That picture was on the front of all the news feeds for days,” Angeline smirked.

  She pushed away from the windows and pulled off the small purple backpack she was wearing. I’d seen it earlier and assumed it was something she was carrying around for her daughter but had forgotten about until now. Angeline reached into the tiny bag and pulled out a pair of goggles and a pair of gloves. I just stared at her, eyebrows raised.

  “You said you wanted help, and I didn’t want to bring all my gear, so I just brought my monitoring goggles and control interface,” Angeline explained as she pulled the accessories on. As the goggles slid into place, they began to glow a soft yellow color. She brought her hand to the back of her left arm, and when she touched the glove, it projected some sort of holographic control panel. Her fingers flew through the air, toggling the light-based controls almost too fast for me to follow.

  This went on for several seconds, and when she was done, she lifted her goggles again. “I’ve sent the majority of my squirrels to the area just outside the city. What do you want me to look for anyways? Just any sign of the antithesis?”

  “Anything you can find,” I confirmed. “I admit, there might be nothing going on, and I’m just being paranoid, but I just want to be sure.”

  “I’ve known you long enough to realize you wouldn’t ask me this if it wasn’t important,” Angeline replied as she stripped off her gear and stowed it back in the little bag. “It’ll take a little time for the squirrels to get into position, and it’s kind of awkward to control the squirrels while I’m standing around, so do you mind if I do the survey at home and give you a call with the results?”

  “Absolutely, and feel free to take as much time as you need,” I agreed. “If you just need a quiet place to work, you can always borrow my room if you want to. The kids would love to see you before school, and you’ll be right here for when Lulu finishes.”

  Angeline shot me a small smile. “I appreciate the offer, but I have a couple other errands I need to run later today.”

  “Alright, then I’ll talk to you later,” I said with a smile of my own.

  I waited until Angeline left the building, collected her squirrels, and drove away before I left my perch. I felt much better now that Angeline had agreed to help. I could finally put my concerns to rest.

  Yup, things were finally starting to look up.

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