"One victim of Samurai that people rarely consider are physicists and especially physics teachers. Now, I am aware I too am guilty of this, but how do you expect to be taken seriously when you're explaining the laws of physics and there's some kid running around in the middle of nowhere who can turn off gravity?"

  Uniprof. Habil. Dr. Luna "Foxfire" Sol Doppler, MEd

  Irys' holographic form sat with both legs together and tucked up to her, one hand on the opposite armrest, the other holding her chin and cheek with the elbow on her thigh.

  "So, Darling. The way I see it you have three priorities to be concerned about with your points. Firstly, improving your mechanized combat capabilities. Second, improving your physical form. And Third, establishing the manufacturing capabilities necessary to fund your somewhat ambitious agenda."

  Quinn curled up on herself a little. "Is it too ambitious?"

  Irys just chuckled, kind mirth in her eyes. "Not at all, I'm not really in the habit of choosing Vanguard who dream small."

  Quinn relaxed a little. "Thanks for the vote of confidence"

  "You're welcome, Darling."

  "Okay." Quinn replied, refocusing on the topic at hand. "So, what am I working with?"

  "You have 4347 points, and two tokens to spend."

  Quinn nodded. "And I need the tokens to unlock tier two catalogs."

  "Correct."

  "And remind me, which tier two catalogs do I have already, and what do they contain?"

  "You have two, the Bipedal Armored Vehicle Chassis Catalog mostly contains humanoid mechs, but does not contain much else. The Yrassian Conclave Mechanized Warfare Support Catalog is much more broad, however, and covers a wide variety of items from repair drones to parts to power generators."

  Hmm.

  "Could I use things from the Support Catalog to upgrade Cassie, then spend tokens on manufacturing and wings?"

  Irys nodded. "You can indeed, however I'll note that you've lamented your ability to take part in more enclosed spaces, so using a token to solve that issue is likely wise."

  Quinn grimaced. She wanted wings dammit! But fine, she would be responsible. Next token was going to wings though. She glanced enviously at Irys' avatar's wings.

  "Okay. So lets start with manufacturing. I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to jump start a company with a token and some points, but I'm all ears."

  "Well, not Just points, but it will be the core of what you're leaning on."

  Irys shifted, leaning forward.

  "Here is my initial suggestion. For 1 token and 500 points you'll be able to purchase a tritanium forge. Tritanium is quite the material, made by forging an alloy of a number of metals and them compressing it with a micro-singularity, on the Mohs scale it would sit at a 12."

  "Singularity like a black hole, and whats the Mohs scale?" Quinn interjected.

  "Correct, and the Mohs scale is a measure humans use for relative hardness of a material, its a flawed scale, but I used it as an example in case you were familiar with it. For reference, before the advent of the Antithesis and thus Us, the hardest known material on Earth was the Diamond, at a Mohs scale rating of 10."

  "So its... quite hard."

  "Indeed, but also quite flexible. Essentially my suggestion here is to manufacture tritanium - the forge will be able to create quite large amounts from materials relatively common on Earth, then use it to create products unmatched by any Earth corporation."

  Quinn snapped her fingers repeatedly as an idea began to form.

  "Tank parts. We can make tank and armoured vehicle parts. I know they're a massive expense for any military using them because they wear out super quickly, right?"

  "Correct, that would likely be a market you could corner quite effectively, even with limited supply."

  "I assume I can buy more forges later if needed?"

  "Of course. You will also need to buy specialty blades and bits for shaping the tritanium per machine doing so, but those will be relatively cheap in comparison."

  Quinn nodded excitedly and sat up a little further. "Okay, could I also make parts for Cassie out of this tritanium?"

  Irys inclined her head. "Yes, though I would recommend alternative options for armor. Tritanium is a wondrous material, but pales in comparison to the options you have available to you. It just so happens that it can be manufactured without a industrial chain that Earth just is not advanced enough to possess yet."

  "Okay, that makes sense. So uh, what else do I need for that? I have no idea how to create or run a company."

  "Well, that doesn't need to be a problem you solve on your own."

  Quinn pondered. "Right, you mentioned that there were companies that do merchandising. I can maybe get some contracted help with all those details from them."

  "Exactly."

  Quinn felt restless, so she shuffled to the edge of the bed and got up, pacing back and forth.

  "Okay, that's a plan. But who do we reach out to?"

  Irys waved her hand in a circular motion, and a image of pink cat ear headphones crowning a green dial icon appeared, captioned with 'Synapse'.

  Quinn sighed "Do I have to, I don't wanna talk to people."

  "Darling, you have expressed a desire to found a not insignificant corporate endeavor. Regardless of your actual involvement you will be seen as the figurehead and expected to talk to people. This is good practice."

  Grumbling, she waved dismissively in the direction of the icon, which Irys took as acceptance.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  True to his habit, Synapse picked up within less than a second, still lounging in his gamer chair. Irys projected his image a short distance away from her own, giving the vibe of an in person conversation despite only one of the participants being physically present.

  "Hey, my favorite Mechaboo! What's up?"

  Quinn shot him a brief scowl "I don't know what that is to even know if you know more than one."

  He cackled, before standing up and strolling about the room, sizing it up. "Nice digs, better than your previous place. Still kinda mid though, you want somewhere better?"

  She shook her head. "I'm good, it was free, which is nice given current circumstances. And its close to friends."

  She wasn't sure if Elliot and Aisha counted as friends or boyfriend/girlfriend at this point, but friend seemed to work either way.

  "Fair nuff then. We should fix your money issues though."

  Quinn sat back down on the bed. "Actually, that was what I was calling about."

  "Tight." He grinned. "So how can I help?"

  She fidgeted slightly, feeling slightly awkward asking for help now he was in front of her.

  "I uh, need two things. I was hoping you might know of a reputable corp that would do a merch deal with me, get some money from that. Then I was hoping to also find someone who can help me start a manufacturing company."

  He raised an eyebrow. "Damn girl, two days a sam and already itching to join the capitalist class. Yeah I can hook you up with both."

  He paused, before waving the back of his hand at her, sending something at her at speed. She flinched and held her hands up to her face before remembering he was a hologram, before noticing the contact card that was now hovering in her vision.

  'Abigail Black, Family Vanguard Liaison'

  "The Family was originally a group of Samurai, but they've branched into a Samurai support corp at this point. Generally decent lot, but some bad eggs like any hierarchy. We don't have a branch here in Madison, but I've worked with the Indy branch and they're chill. Abigail there is my main contact, she can hook you up with a merch deal."

  He flicked another contact card at her.

  'Cierra Vance, Psy Co CEO'

  Quinn whistled. "You have a CEO on speed dial? That's also a hell of a name for a corporation"

  One side of his lips curled up in a grin. "You don't? But nah, Psy Co are pretty based. They actually offer the exact service you're looking for - helping enterprising young sams get babies first business venture off the ground. You'll likely go through her secretary, but give Cierra a call and she'll hook you up."

  Quinn nodded, glancing aside to check both sets of contacts were present in her augs. "Thanks, I appreciate it. "

  He gave her a thumbs up in return. "No problemo little sis." He paused briefly before his face lit up. "Oh, right. Since we got a whole bunch of newbies, us vets were planning a little do to introduce ourselves. We don't have a huge amount of Sam here in Madtown, but we try to keep friendly."

  She tried to remember which Samurai lived in Madison, but her brain refused to cooperate

  "Sure, just let me know and I'll try to be there."

  "Tight, well if you don't have anything else, Imma bounce?"

  Quinn shook her head "Nope, you've got me covered."

  "Alright then." he raised a hand in a farewell wave. "Catch you on the flip side."

  When the call ended Quinn flopped down onto the bed, groaning.

  "Urgh, talking to him is haard."

  Irys gave her a slightly bemused look. "Why? He is perfectly genial."

  Quinn grabbed a pillow and pressed it into her face briefly, before tossing it aside. "Yeah, but he's fucking confusing. I don't know what half of the words he uses mean and have to figure it out by context."

  Irys chuckled and bobbed her head twice. "I suppose his vernacular is rather… outdated. You don't seem to have trouble with mine, however."

  "Yeah, that's because they talked like you in pre-law." Quinn replied.

  Irys raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure if I should take offense to being compared to human lawyers. But given you're an aspirant lawyer, I'll take it as a compliment."

  She sat up from the chair, walking to sit near directly in front of Quinn. A luxurious armchair materialized into being, and she sat down in front of Quinn.

  "So. I'll allow you to put off further calls until tomorrow, but I will pester you then. In the meanwhile, we had a second topic of discussion. Is your brain still functioning at a level you feel comfortable discussing upgrades, or has being forced to make a short phone call fried your cognition too much."

  Quinn stuck out her tongue. "I'll be fine. So I'm spending one token on the forge, and how much for a decent set of starter machines?"

  "I'd recommend setting aside 950 points for the beginnings of production, that should cover the tritanium alloy plate forge and five flexible machinist fabricators with magnetized mono-molecular blades and bits. The rest we can use more immediately."

  Quinn nodded. "Okay, which leaves me with?"

  "3,397 points and one token. Now, what is your next priority?"

  Quinn pondered this. "I need to be able to fight targets in enclosed spaces Cassie can't get to. For a Samurai who isn't broken in the head like me they could just go on foot, but I'll need a more complicated solution I guess."

  She suddenly found Irys leaning forward, getting pretty in her face. "You are not broken, your mind has merely been injured, we will work to fix it. Understood?"

  Quinn nodded, and Irys leaned back to her previous sitting position. "But, to actually address your goals, there are two methods that are within easy reach for you. The first is remote drones, which will be cheaper initially, but do not share any capabilities with Cassie."

  She paused, steepling her hands together. "The easiest way to directly involve Cassie would simply be a combination of extremely high penetration weaponry and sensors or drone tech to scout. However, I have an alternative suggestion, if you would like to hear it?"

  Quinn nodded her head for Irys to continue. "You already have the basics of dimensional manipulation technology in your shunts, so we could take that a step further with two routes, either phasing, or skipping. Phasing would be using technology to shift rounds partially into another dimension, allowing them to move unimpeded through solid matter. This would allow you to fire from outside directly at antagonists your sensors can pinpoint in the enclosed space."

  Quinn nodded. "That sounds like it would allow skipping past the armor of antithesis too, right?"

  Irys shook her head. "Unfortunately not. The mechanism behind the phasing essentially slips the round through the gaps between atoms, so many materials, some very common within antithesis armor, rapidly deplete the ability for the rounds to remain phased. It would certainly increase armor penetration, but not entirely negate most antithesis armor."

  Dang, well at least it was something.

  "And the other one, skipping?"

  "Indeed. A somewhat similar concept, as it also relies on dimensional tech. Skipping essentially directly teleports fired ammunition before allowing it to continue its trajectory. It has similar limitations, the technology involved cannot lock onto space occupied by or shielded by dense enough materials."

  Quinn pondered the two. "So I'm guessing phasing still has more travel time, with skipping being instantaneous? What are the real advantages of one over the other?"

  "Phasing requires less power for longer distances. The difference is not in orders of magnitude, but will be noticeable. As you mention phasing projectiles still requires them to travel as if they would through air, though due to the removal of air resistance they will maintain velocity, and in fact due to the temporal situation in the specific dimension phasing uses it will be significantly faster while in said dimension, though it loses that speed as it returns to this one. Skipping projectiles do not have to emerge from a point directly along the trajectory they were originally fired, so you can fire at odd angles and simply skip it perpendicularly anyway."

  Irys crossed her legs. "Additionally, whichever you choose could allow for further purchases down the line in similar technology, to apply directly to Cassie say. Skipping would proceed to direct teleportation, while phasing would eventually allow phasing Cassie herself, which would combine nicely with your existing velocity drive."

  Quinn cocked her head. "You can phase people?"

  "Of course."

  "Is that safe? Also what does phasing do for me?"

  Irys waved a hand. "The vast majority of the time, and we'd have the technology to ensure that its not a problem regardless. For the second, you could use it in shorter burst, weaving in and out of solid cover, and giving yourself time to react when necessary."

  Quinn nodded, resting her cheek in her palm as she sat. "I see, and I'm guessing I'd need to swap out Cassie's weapons to do this, or can you phase or teleport a laser blast."

  "Correct, we would need to switch Cassie to projectile weaponry. I will however bring up at this point one of the selling points of Yrassian vehicles, their in combat modularity. With your repair drones and some additional shunts, you could actually store alternative weapons for each of your hard-points, then use drones to swap them out reasonably quickly on the fly."

  Quinn's eyes lit up. She liked Cassie's current guns, but being able to swap things out as needed scratched a gamer itch she didn't realize she had.

  "That sounds cool as fuck. Okay, so while I think about whether I want phasing or skipping, maybe we talk about new guns?"

  "And I would heavily encourage further body enhancements, even if we aren't getting the more significant modifications you may want just yet."

  Quinn nodded, then rubbed her hands together in glee. "Okay, lets talk guns."