The good life:

  The nuclear family is simple. There is the husband, who rules the home, the wife who runs it, two kids who attend school when they are old enough, and the family dog. This ideal family will be found in the suburb, in a house with a white picket fence adjacent to many such houses with similar families. The GI bill supports many fathers, by giving them a chance to earn a degree after they have served their country.

  – Family Life magazine, 1957

  Now that I was finally relaxing after Rock Springs was evacuated, and taking some down time to relax, I checked on the status of my genetic sampler. Wow, there were three entries listed at ninety nine percent with a second lesser number parenthetically next to it. The lesser number was seventy or more on each.

  “Ysys, if I were to trigger the sampler, and get pregnant, what would my child look like? Assuming I pick one of the top three?”

  Suddenly, three nude babies appeared on my HUD.

  Here is what they would look like when born. However, they would all need gene therapy to reach ninety nine percent. Without therapy, you would see the lesser parenthetical number.

  After I nodded, they started to grow and age, stopping when adult.

  As they grow, this is how they would appear as an adult.

  After the shock of seeing them as adults without clothing, I calmed down and realized that while I could see Calamity in them, their other halves were quite different.

  “Ysys, please add clothing. Why do they look so different? I would have thought the gene fixing and upgrading would make them look quite alike.”

  They are alike in many ways, but the genes affecting appearance were repaired and upgraded in ways that preserved the original appearance as much as possible, same as we did for you.

  “But I don’t look anything like I did before I reshaped my body.”

  Your current genes are aligned with your current appearance. Those are the genes I was referring to.

  “Oh… That’s good. I’ll think some more on it.”

  Three days later, I pulled the trigger for a random one of the three. Ysys confirmed my success in getting pregnant less than an hour later, explaining she waited until the fertilized egg was attached properly.

  Wow. I am pregnant.

  I am pregnant.

  I think I was stunned for half an hour with the thought. Guess I need to prepare my home for a baby. Guess I’ll rearrange things so that the room next to mine will be the baby’s room, and I move stuff in my room to make room for a crib. I can hold off getting that until later.

  A few weeks later, Whiplash called to let me know they were fighting a large hive, and might want my help to fight. So I alerted my PMC, and put them on standby.

  Later, Double Fist called and said, “Calamity, Whiplash has been hurt. We succeeded in clearing the hive, but he took a late hit from a model twenty-one.”

  “Does he need any medical help?”

  “Naw, he had plenty of points from the hive kill. He just has to recuperate for a few weeks while his arm regrows.”

  “That’s a rather significant hit.”

  “True, but we Samurai are tough, and have access to the best medicine.”

  “I’ll bring a ‘get well’ gift over. Later today good?”

  “Make it dinner. There’s still a lot of detail work to hand off to the cleanup crew.”

  “Okay. See you at six.”

  I spent the next hour combining the blueprint for my general servant android with a high end sound system. Then I printed it and loaded it into my HT.

  Double Fist opened the door when I arrived. “Hello, Calamity. Alfred? You brought him for us?”

  “Sort of. This isn’t Alfred, but the same model, almost. Let’s go in to where Whiplash is, so I don’t have to explain twice.”

  “Sure.” He led me into the other room. Whiplash was laying down on a couch, and I saw the stump of his arm in some kind of medical contraption.

  “Double Fist said it was a tough fight. Glad to see you survived.”

  He wiggled his stump, and said, “Yeah, I did. But with a new problem.”

  “Maybe I can help.” I waved the android over. “This is Alfred’s twin. I figure he can do all sorts of cleanup here, like Alfred does for me. Additionally, I put in a high end sound system, so you could be kept entertained during your recovery.”

  “Did Double Fist tell you I’ll only be down a few weeks?”

  “Yes. But I had the blueprints, and wanted to give you a ‘get well’ gift. So, get well.” I sent over the control codes so Whiplash would have control.

  “Thanks… I don’t know what to say.”

  “No need to say anything.” I headed for an open seat, and asked, “Please, tell me about your latest adventure.” Double Fist also sat, and we proceeded to go over what happened to them in their last adventure.

  We talked nearly an hour before eating. Afterwards, I left, parting with, “Now someone else can do the dishes.”

  They smiled, and Whiplash said, “Jeeves can handle that.”

  When I got back home, I decided I needed to spends points on myself, to become more effective and invulnerable as a Samurai. I didn’t want to have trouble like Whiplash is dealing with. “Ysys, it’s time to upgrade. Offense and defense. Let’s start on the defensive side. I’ve already pushed to the edge with human genetics. What synthetic stuff can I add from my super-soldier catalog? I want to be resistant to their attacks, but I don’t want my appearance or feel to change. What do you have?”

  There are several kinds of synthetic skin, hair, muscles, and bone upgrades you can get. In addition to resistance, there is repair.

  “I thought I already upgraded my bones. Also what kind of repair?”

  You replaced your bones with a class one option. Now, you have class two options. For repair, you already know about the regenerative nano suite. One repair option is to maintain a supply of them in your body at all times.

  “You’re right. They are class one. Given what kinds of antithesis that have been reported within, say, a thousand miles, I would like to be able to resist whatever they send my way. Yet I want to appear as human as an ordinary person. No tells like a stiffness to the skin, or anything like that. Oh, and it would be nice if I could have low maintenance hair and skin. What do you suggest for skin, hair, muscles, and bone?”

  I would recommend the FlexiSkin ABCP for three hundred points. It resists acid, burns, cuts, and piercing. Yet if still feels like normal skin. It is synthetic, but is installed with nanites rather than surgery. I would recommend the Silk 4 for one hundred fifty points. It is designed to be indistinguishable from real hair to taste, touch, and sight. It also has subdermal accelerators that are controllable with your augs. It is designed to break under unusual stress, yet be easy to cut. The growth feature is to handle damage by growing it out quickly. I would recommend the T-800 Muscle System for four hundred points. From resting to maximum human levels, it appears just as human muscles. From there, to the maximum capacity of near ten times human strength, they are more noticeable, yet do not deform your body significantly. They require reinforced bones stronger than what you currently have. Good thing you want new bones. I would recommend the T-800 Endoskeleton for four hundred fifty points. It is designed to support the T-800 Muscle System. It is a heavily reinforced organic class two material, and incorporates some of your own bone to handle blood generation.

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  “That’s a lot to take in. But I like it so far. Put them on my list. Now tell me about repair.”

  I would recommend the Nanite Regenerative Organ for two hundred points. This implant is a cybernetic implant that generates the same nanites in the medical regenerative suite. It will keep your body in top shape, although it can take some time if the damage is extensive. If you choose to open the Class II Medical Utilities catalog for five hundred points and a token, it has both replacement organ upgrades, organ backups, and higher tier nanites. Of these, I recommend the Nanite Regenerative System for eighteen hundred points, and the Redundant Heart for seven hundred points. The former repairs more kinds of damage and does so in less time. The latter is a secondary organic heart, but with cybernetic enhancements to allow seamless takeover for a failing heart.

  “I will open that catalog, and get the better organs. Put them on my list. What are your recommendations for offense? Where do you see I’m lacking?”

  The dragonfly can take out pods. That’s the worst thing happening within a thousand miles. But you are weak when it comes to wide scale killing of antithesis. You have mostly covered it with the Scattershot, and the weaponry on the Hunter-Tracker. However, you are not making good use of your Command and Control augs update. Right now, you use it to direct your spider swarms for sensing. You could be using it to direct your attack spiders. Doing so will have two benefits. First, is fighting smarter. This means teamwork, placement, and tactics. The second is points. By having a more direct control over their actions, this reduces the point penalty applied. You can go either a distributed command route or an increased mental burden route. The latter gets more points, but would greatly benefit from a brain upgrade. Finally, there is raw speed. You have used machines for long distance travel, so I don’t expect you want to run faster exactly, but being able to fire your weapons faster means you can go through antithesis faster, with less chance of surprise or injury.

  “Yeah, the dragonfly was designed as a pod killer. How many attack spiders do I have anyway? How many could I control without upgrading?”

  You currently own one hundred twenty. Twelve are assigned to each of cities involved with the Rock Springs evacuation, and the extra are in the enclave. You would have to test your control, as every mind is different. Given the twenty four spiders here, that’s likely just under double your limit, but no guarantees.

  “Sounds like it’s time to experiment. Can you set up some tests with the ones stored on site tomorrow?”

  Yes.

  In the morning, after clearing up my morning schedule’s paperwork, I went out back, and Ysys and I proceeded to test out my limits of control. She took control of some construction drones and ‘attacked’ while I returned the favor with the attack spiders. It took nearly an hour to get used to multiple viewpoints, but once I did, I quickly scaled up the number I could control. I could handle five with ease. At six, it was becoming stressful. Seven was a headache, and I bailed on eight quickly. I relaxed in a bath for an hour afterwards before I felt well enough to deal with everything.

  After a light lunch, I said, “Ysys, I want the mental upgrade. In fact, can I get both? Then I could stage the spiders and fight the ones most directly in combat.”

  That’s not the usual choice. Most go for one or the other. But you have seen that they are not exclusive. Given all the upgrades on your list, it will take some time to get all of them. Time is needed because of the induced stress too many changes can cause. As I was monitoring the test, I noticed something I didn’t expect. You were able to leverage your superaug’s increased speed to handle one more spider than I expected, but at the price of reducing your awareness of your own environment. Looking at the class two superaug, you might add a second or even a third beyond normal for the same price.

  “So what are the options, assuming a brain upgrade?”

  For the varied control, you would need to open the Class II Command and Control catalog for eight hundred points and a token. To increase your mental power would need a Secondary Brain for one thousand points. It would need to be enhanced like your original brain with a Mesh Supercharger Mk 33 for eight hundred points, and then connected into a seamless whole with the Mesh Supercharger Mk 43 upgrade for three hundred points. Then your augs would need to be upgraded with the Class II Mesh Superaug upgrade for seven hundred fifty points. As for the drones, you need to open the Class I Combat AI catalog for one hundred points, and get the Squad Leader AI package for two hundred fifty points to upgrade each drone you want to take local command.

  “Sounds good. More for the list. Since there is an AI for combat, is there a learning module for drone combat, or actually all the kinds of combat I use? And you mentioned reflexes. Can you detail that?”

  There are a number of ways to gain knowledge. The cheapest is going to a class for some subject. It only needs time and credits, not points. Next is Virtual Learning. Your VISOR will work quite well with this method. Next is Dream Learning. This requires a small implant, but allows you to learn as you sleep. And last is Knowledge Download. This is a direct dump to your mind, and is designed for mid combat usage to gain a needed skill instantly. However, there are downsides in the stickiness of the knowledge, and you may forget what you learned if you don’t use it right away. The modules are a pittance, but the delivery method costs are the lion’s share of the point cost. The reflexes upgrade you want is the Least Scalosian Hypernerves for six hundred points. These nerves seem almost like superconductors, in that the nerve pulses fly through them nearly twenty times as fast as normal nerves. The faster versions of these nerves require class three biology to handle.

  “Can you show the list? I’ll use the VISOR for the learning. If I’m having downtime, learning sounds like a good way to pass the time usefully.”

  FlexiSkin ABCP – 300 points

  Silk 4 – 150 points

  T-800 Muscle System – 400 points

  T-800 Endoskeleton – 450 points

  Class II Medical Utilities catalog – 500 points, 1 token

  Nanite Regenerative System – 1800 points

  Redundant Heart – 700 points

  Class II Command and Control catalog – 800 points, 1 token

  Secondary Brain – 1000 points

  Mesh Supercharger Mk 33 – 800 points

  Mesh Supercharger Mk 43 upgrade – 300 points

  Class II Mesh Superaug upgrade – 750 points

  Class I Combat AI catalog – 100 points

  Squad Leader AI package – 250 points per unit

  Assorted learning modules, VISOR style – 57 points

  Least Scalosian Hypernerves – 600 points

  Total of 8957 points and 2 tokens

  “Can I get the Squad Leader AI as a blueprint?”

  Yes.

  “Then change that, and get the list.”

  Opened Class II Medical Utilities catalog

  Opened Class II Command and Control catalog

  Opened Class I Combat AI catalog

  Blueprint for Squad Leader AI package

  Assorted upgrades

  New Total – 652978 points, 8 tokens

  I decided to have the offensive side handled first, and when I recovered from that to handle the defensive side. While I waited, I would spend time most days learning in VR. I took time off to keep my social presence out there. As to running the cities, that was mostly done by augs, and usually in the mornings. Ysys scheduled the more disruptive down times for the weekend after returning from my Friday night raves.

  The first thing Ysys did was implant the second brain. It already had the supercharger installed, and the update half installed. After that procedure, the other half was installed. Ysys told me how it would work.

  The second brain is not a backup brain, although it can significantly help in restoration of damaged brain tissue. This is because your brains are holographic in nature, spreading facts across a large number of cells. There is sufficient connection between the two, that the holographic process will spread to include it. The new brain starts out blank, but even now, it is learning fast to be just like your original brain. While it will have trouble duplicating old memories, new ones being made will be made in both. Likewise, as you access memories in either, both will know, and respond.

  Within a month, it will have a rudimentary version of you. In six, it will be you, but without most of your past. In a few years it may finally achieve duplication. It will have a notable difference. Since you are feeding it a huge amount of sensory data, it will go even further into handling such data more efficiently. Essentially, your senses will improve.

  Ysys told me I would need to wait a week or so before I should go for the next upgrade on the schedule.

  I did not get that week.

  INCURSION DETECTED

  This was Sheridan’s city wide antithesis alert. My break was over. The Family had sent email yesterday that there might be some incursions today, but they didn’t have specific details. First thing I did was to see where in the city it was reported. Even as I found out, Flamer called.

  “Hey Flamer.”

  “Calamity, we got this. We are almost directly on top of it. Don’t know how we’re in the middle of it. Our local PMC is backing us up.”

  “Call if you need help.”

  I just got settled when another city wide alert happened.

  INCURSION DETECTED

  This time it was far from both of us. I called Flamer and Soundbyte, and let them know I would handle it. I brought in the Desert Dogs to back me up. Halfway there, it happened again.

  INCURSION DETECTED

  How does the Family get some kind of warning, but fail to indicate the magnitude? This time the incursion was near my original base. Before I could contact them, Flamer called.

  “What are we going to do now?”

  “I’m going to handle that one as well.”

  “How?”

  “I upgraded my augs, and can now directly control several attack spiders. I’m already sending them over, as well as some support drones. I’m also sending one of the new PMCs to back the spiders up.”

  “I hope we don’t have any more incursions.”

  “Me either, but at least we have a lot more secured shelters.”

  “There is that. Okay, talk later.”

  “Bye.”

  To help orchestrate things, I also sent up several godseyes to get a good tactical feel for what’s happening. What surprised me was how spread out the antithesis were. It was as if they had surrounded the town. Almost immediately after landing and sending out the PMC troops, Ysys said we had more trouble.

  INCURSION DETECTED

  I just triggered the alert. Rifts have appeared above the city.

  “Shit. Connect me to the Major Bryce.”

  After a brief moment, I heard, “Bryce. What can I do for you, Calamity?”

  “We have rifts above the city. The dragonfly needs to fly. Can you handle your troops remotely, and also get a pilot and gunner for the dragonfly?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll unlock the main guns. Hurry up. The sooner we kill the pods, the less the town has to deal with. I’ll handle the stuff down here.”

  I shut the call off, then said, “Ysys, send out a message to the other PMCs to mobilize and coordinate with the city council. Then send them a message telling them they are in charge of the city while we fight the current incursions. They need to get everyone in shelters, and handle the loose antithesis that get through until we can deal with them.”

  Messages sent.

  “Good. Now let’s take these plants down.” My secondary brain was going to get a workout today.