"The Wisconsin Wasteland, or Plant war Hell as its colloquially known, comprises the majority of the non urban areas of Wisconsin in the modern day. Filled with deviant hives - Antithesis Swarms that have diverged from the main controlling intelligence, its a constant conflict zone of antithesis and anything else living that happens to get stuck in there. Why has it not been cleansed? Simple, its not enough of an immediate issue for anyone to give a shit."

  — Global Threat Analyst Cassandra Vimes, 2054 meeting with Cascadia Defense Committee

  The three samurai walked down the road, approaching the slightly crouched form of Cassie 2.0 in her resting state.

  "So." Elliot began. "Where we headed, and how?"

  Quinn took the time to walk around Cassie 2.0 while she thought, partially inspecting for damage and partially just to admire.

  "I think I need a transport of some description, right? Preferably something that can fit Cassie and some passengers. Flying is also probably best.. if I can afford it."

  She paused, remembering Elliot's earlier suggestion. "I should probably message Maia and Jing Qi, give me a moment?"

  Aisha curled up a corner of her mouth, while Elliot just nodded. Quinn quickly typed up an email - Jing Qi had never joined a group chat.

  "To: Maia Casapao, Li Jing Qi

  Subject: Heads up on leadership fuckery

  Hey you two. I guess Maia knows but Jing Qi - I actually got made a Samurai yesterday. The higher ups at Amazon are trying to force me into a shitty contract and I'm going to tell them to stuff it, but I'm a little worried they might try to take it out on you two for some reason. Elliot (also a sam btw) recommended you two consider quitting and leaving for downtown - sorry about having to deal with my shit, I'll make it up to you."

  Quinn paused before remembering why Jing Qi was even here.

  "I'm heading out to kill some more antithesis in like ten minutes, though I'll be dropping a friend off at the university first if you want to get a ride. I don't think you ever believed me when I said I'd get you out of that fucking contract Jing Qi, but I'm a fucking samurai now, if anyone can its me.

  Quinn."

  She popped the message off, then froze for a moment before remembering the other person she needed to contact. She sent a brief message to Blade Dancer, inviting them to join Elliot and Her in stomping the countryside antithesis. It didn't take more than a second to get a return message with a yes and a pickup location. Quinn noted the suspiciously fast decision making and typing for a human, but decided not to think too hard about it right now.

  Quinn turned her attention back to Cassie and her distinct lack of flight. "So, Irys. What are my options?"

  "Well, you are sitting on a not insignificant amount of funds, but frankly not enough to purchase anything truly outlandish. You're functionally looking at some sort of hover-truck, with some variation in possible levels of armor, armament, speed and other factors. "

  Quinn nodded along with the explanation before asking.

  "Okay, so what does the maximum of each look like."

  Irys didn't answer, but a moment later a three way triangular slider popped up on Quinn's augs. One axis was speed, a second armor, and the third guns. A visual of a truck sat to the right, currently displaying what looked like a standard hover-truck with turrets on the top and bottom. She shifted it all the way to armor, and was presented with a vehicle that looked more like a gold plated brick than a truck. Going to weapons resulted in a cannon with some engines and a few seats. Pure speed got her a truck that looked like someone had turned a Ferrari into a flatbed.

  She played around with it a little more before having a thought.She adjusted it to the edge between speed and armor, adjusting it a little more towards armor than speed.

  "Hey Irys, I had a thought. You know how when I was dangling from the other transport we practiced shooting Cassie's guns? What if I got something that could hold Cassie underneath and use her as a turret if needed?"

  There was bemusement in Irys' voice when she responded.

  "That would technically work, and is a creative way of solving the armaments problem. Did you have any requests for aesthetics, and how adaptable do you want the crane to be?"

  Quinn chewed on her lip as she came up with an answer.

  "Could you make it look kind of like a real drop-ship? I'm assuming I'll upgrade before I get Cassie 3.0, so maybe just have the crane handle her in various configurations?"

  "That can be provided, Darling. How does this look?"

  Her augs now displayed a vehicle that looked something like a large, thick aircraft, 40 feet long and maybe 15 feet wide at its longest. A pointed front widened out sharply until it hit a rectangular back end, with antigrav engines positioned in the middle and back corners of the triangle, and the back corners of the rectangle. A pair of engine like protrusions stuck out on either side in about the middle. It wasn't her 'standard' purple, black and white colour scheme, but was instead various shades of purple instead.

  A large airlock like door with a lightning bolt shaped opening sat below the rectangular portion. As she watched, it slid open to reveal Cassie 2.0's back. A digital silhouette that looked like herself stepped out from a door in the front right side, then clambered up and slipped into Cassie's cockpit before it closed. The entire thing then swung down, dangling Cassie from below before rotating to face her forwards.

  "This what you were about looking for?"

  Quinn beamed and looked over the model again. "Yes! How much for it?"

  "815 points. You're getting it for quite the steal, as the supporting catalogs you own let me design it significantly more optimally. I could also suggest a 20 point AI to drive it automatically"

  "Uh sure. Wait, you designed this yourself? When?"

  "About 3 picoseconds after you asked for it. I am a class XII AI Darling."

  Right, she forgot about that sometimes.

  "Sure, can you get it for me?"

  "Of course Quinn."

  New Purchase: 'Skyhook' Custom Mecha Transport Craft

  Cost: 815. Points reduced to... 3809

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  New Purchase: Transport Craft Autonomous Operations AI

  Cost: 20. Points reduced to... 3789

  Then the truck was there in the street, little landing gear legs extended, taking up a good portion of the width. A new set of controls bloomed into her awareness through her cerebral link. She didn't feel the ability to dive fully into it, but she definitely felt the ability to operate various functions, as well as sending simple mental commands.

  Elliot whistled loudly in that pitch descending "Wow" tone.

  "Damn, that's a truck?"

  "I obliged Quinn's desire for a more aircraft styled aesthetic, but it is closer to a truck in performance and internals."

  Aisha hopped up on top and began inspecting it from the roof. Glancing back she caught Quinn's gaze and grinned. "Don't worry, I won't scuff the paint."

  Quinn snickered back before a ding alerted her to an incoming message. She pulled it up.

  From: Maia Casapao

  Subject: Re: Heads up on leadership fuckery

  Fair nuff, gimmi 30 minutes to pack and I'll be down.

  Oh right, she had… stuff here that she should probably pack up as well. She glanced up at the other two and grimaced.

  "I should probably go get packed to leave, I think quitting and going downtown is probably the best option."

  Elliot nodded "Fair, I'll grab my go bag and hang out here."

  Quinn headed back into the building and took the lift back up to her room for probably the last time. She opened the door into her room to find Maia shoving clothes and toiletries into a plastic bag. Maia glanced up.

  "Heya, guessing you didn't see my email? Gimmi 30 to finish and I'll be down."

  Quinn shook her head.

  "Nah, I needed to pack too. Though speaking of, Irys could I get a couple of suitcases?"

  "How extravagant do you want them." Irys responded at about the same time as Maia cooed "Aww, my first Sugar Baby Samurai present!"

  Quinn paused. "How extravagant do they get?"

  "Well, an autonomous storage unit that self packs, hovers and goes where directed, and has a shunted interior for additional storage would be 15 points."

  She was a little ashamed to admit she actually considered it for a moment.

  "Uhh… and how much for just a plain suitcase?"

  "One point"

  "That seems like a lot for a basic suitcase."

  Irys' tone was bemused. "Unfortunately for logistical reasons every purchase is minimum one point. if its any consolation I can provide a semi autonomous legged version for the same cost."

  Quinn nodded "Sure, get me two?"

  New Purchase: 'The Ultimate Luggage' Suitcase x2

  Cost: 2. Points reduced to... 3817

  A pair of sleek hard shell suitcases, one light pink and the other a deep blue, landed on the floor. With a click they both opened to reveal a simple cloth interior. Maia shot an appreciative glance at Quinn before beginning to move her stuff into the new suitcase, while Quinn started on her own belongings. She didn't own much, after she'd failed out of school and fled to Madison she'd had just her augs and the clothes on her back, so it was mostly clothing and her estrogen pills.

  "So." Maia's voice piped up from across the room. "Aisha seems nice. And a hot samurai to boot."

  Quinn nodded. "I don't disagree with you on any of those, and she uh… seems interested in me."

  Maia snorted. "Her ability to be forward and respectful at the same time is a fucking art, I should see if she takes students. But yeah, I also know you and Elliot had been kind of dancing around things for a while. If only I had two cute sams into me instead of just one, I'd be set for life twice over."

  Quinn glanced up "Who…" only to find Maia smirking at her. Oh, right.

  "I'm honestly surprised you haven't gone for either of them yet, or both if you're into that."

  Quinn grimaced as she dropped a shirt, picking it up and making a halfhearted attempt to fold it before stuffing it into the suitcase. "I'm not entirely sure Elliot likes me like that, and with Aisha. I don't know, everything's just so fucking much I can't think about it right now."

  She was on the verge of tears again. Fuck, could she not be a useless mess and pull it together for a fucking hour?

  "Hey, hey." Maia was there, arms around Quinn's shoulders. "You don't have to figure it out right now. Your life just got turned on its fucking head, you can take the time to figure that out before you think about dating. " She paused for a moment before adding "But Girl, I know you're a useless ass bisexual but Elliot is Definitely in to you. Trust me."

  Quinn's voice was quiet. "Okay, I believe you."

  Quinn enjoyed the hug for a few moments more before reluctantly pulling back and returning to packing, giving Maia a soft look. She'd met Maia a couple of weeks into working at Amazon, when they approached her while she was having a breakdown in the toilets during a shift. They'd helped her get over it in time to get back before she ran through too many of her monthly bathroom minutes, and struck up a friendship soon after. They'd been her rock since then and vice versa, even if it did feel like feel like Quinn was never doing enough considering Maia's relative stability.

  Maia started the conversation again hesitantly. "Hey so I don't want to stress you, but uh what's the plan for when we get downtown?"

  Quinn resisted the urge to curl back in on herself when she realized she didn't have a plan. "Uh… Aisha is going to go clear the University, which is apparently still Antithesisy. Elliot and I were going to pick up another Samurai and go fight some Antithesis outside the city. We uh, can probably find somewhere to hang in the safe areas downtown somewhere?"

  Maia hummed noncommittally. "How are you getting downtown?"

  "I bought a truck, drop-ship thing that can carry Cassie."

  "Oh, I could just chill in the truck then. No need to find me special accommodations."

  Quinn frowned "I uh.. is that going to be safe?"

  "The Skyhook can always take off and circle while you are in combat. It's powered by a Schrodinger's reactor, so it would be able to stay aloft for roughly 142 years before needing to be replaced."

  "Huh. What is a Schrodinger's reactor? And why is it named after someone from Earth?"

  "Its not, Schrodinger was just the earth scientist who discovered the most congruent principle for your species. In short, the reactor does and doesn't produce a large amount of power, and we simply use the does."

  Yeah, she should have known better than to ask.

  They finished packing in companionable silence, significantly ahead of the thirty minute Maia had originally asked for, Quinn noticed with amusement. As they stood up, the suitcases sprouted four little claw like legs and scuttled over the pair, causing Maia to giggle at the little feet skittering towards them. They left their shared, cramped room for what was probably the last time. Quinn half expected to be more melancholic, but honestly the only thing she was feeling at the thought of leaving forever was relief.

  The two emerged back into the sunlight, finding Elliot standing with a duffel bag slung over his back, talking conspiratorially with Aisha. A shiver went down Quinn's spine as they turned towards her, an evil looking grin on Aisha's face. Quinn wasn't sure she wanted to know. Maia immediately rushed over to Cassie 2.0 and began to goggle the mech and her armaments.

  She mentally poked the button to open the truck up, and a door on the side slid open before sliding a set of stairs down. Elliot made an "After You" gesture, and she took the stairs up to get a look at the interior of her new toy. It was taller than she expected, with room for her to stand. A corridor of sorts lead from the door to the other side, separating a single seat and a couch like triple seat as it turned left into the door to the mini-hanger. In the middle of the right side, a door presumably leading to the cockpit sat. She caught sight of what looked like a fridge just to the left of the cockpit door, sunk into the floor. A decently sized window ran most of the length of the way, showing the cockpits interior where three seats sat within close distance in a triangle pattern. Next to the large window in the front of the cockpit, a few weapon racks were situated on the right side.

  "Irys, why does the cockpit have three seats?"

  Irys kept her voice entirely deadpan as she responded. "In case you wanted your…coworkers seated close.

  She sighed and stepped in heading for the cockpit. The door opened as soon as she intended to enter, and she walked over to the lead chair to find a relatively standard hover-car type controls. She could hear in surprising clarity as the other three clambered into the vehicle, and Maia's "Boooo", probably upon seeing there was only three seats in the front, was as clear as if they were in the same room.

  She heard two of them enter the cockpit behind her as she studied the controls, hearing a whuff of something soft hitting the floor before Elliot flopped into the chair to her left, catching him grinning at her out of the corner of her eye. She glanced to her right to see Aisha sitting in the seat with her back on one arm rest and her feet over the other, watching Quinn with an amused expression.

  Quinn turned back to the controls, trying to ignore the blush coming from the two people watching her intently.

  "So how do we get Cassie loaded?"

  "I would recommend just commanding them to do so, Cassie's AI and the ships can coordinate between them."

  She nodded, then sent the command. The ship's antigrav engines hummed to life, before they were suddenly airborne. She noticed all of a sudden that there was a screen in the floor that showed the ground. She watched as Cassie stood, picked up her sword and held it point downwards before striding over to underneath the ship. After a few moments of the telltale sound of grating machinery, the gantry swung down and extended until it nearly touched the ground. Cassie stepped up onto it, the ship not even dipping from fuck knows how many tons of mech. The gantry contracted and locked Cassie in, then spun around 180 degrees and folded her up into the hangar.

  "Damn, that's cool as fuck." Aisha commented from to her right, which caused Maia to pipe up with a mock annoyed "Oh that's bullshit, what am I missing?"

  With Cassie secured, she briefly checked her message to confirm that no, Jing Qi hadn't responded yet. Hopefully she would in her own time. Shifting to focus on the task ahead, Quinn pushed the up throttle and the ship soared into the sky, heading downtown.

  SCS EU Discord