“Chaos ruled. The antithesis could appear at any time, and at any place. Governments fractured, and most failed. The land became a land of city states, independent of one another. Democracy was claimed, yet corporations ruled. Votes were still had, but they didn’t matter. Either the outcome was rigged, or it didn’t matter. It might have slid into complete autocracy, but there was an element the corporations could not control. Samurai. Not only could they not control them, but they had a tendency to take out corporations that annoyed them. Samurai believed in democracy, and so the corporations had to provide more than a semblance of it.”

  – The new world order, by Jacob Carpenter, 2034

  Returning home, I asked, “Ysys, if Azure uses the clone chamber, can her leg be regenerated any faster? Can the field medical system help?”

  Not by much. She would also be required to be effectively in a coma to ensure her body doesn’t move. The Field Medical System could assist by preparing the wound for the clone chamber, but that is about all.

  “That reminds me. I got that a long time ago, back when I was limited to class one items. Is there some kind of upgrade I can get that will be far more comprehensive, and can also diagnose and treat any illness or injury?”

  Nothing we have will treat everything. Just various levels of ‘more than before’. Might I suggest the Auto Doc 17A for twenty three thousand points. This unit appears appears like a raised bed, and uses nanotech and hard light to provide the needed manipulation. It has an integrated Class III medical scanner and a micro printer to fabricate needed medicines and tissues.

  “It can fabricate tissues? Could it generate Azure’s missing leg with everything needed? How fast?”

  It would only take a few sessions of a few minutes each to regenerate most of her leg.

  “How come it is so much faster than the clone chamber?”

  Part is the higher price. Part is the fact that it only handles organ sized replacements. And part is the fact that the replacements need time to settle before they function properly. Azure would need to allow several hours between sessions for the newly created flesh to integrate into her body. While she waits, if she avoids stressing the new flesh, she can do most anything.

  “Lets set up a medical bay then. Get the blueprints and print one. Oh, and also blueprints for the scanner by itself.”

  Blueprints for Auto Doc 17A and Class III Handheld Medical Scanner – 235000 points

  New Total – 1,136,683 points, 7 tokens

  Once I decided where to put it, construction drones brought it over and installed it. As soon as the initialization sequence finished, I had Azure lay down on the table. Almost immediately, a light tube appeared, and blurred out most of her body. A band appeared across it, with the word “Scanning” on it. The band swept down her body, and it left behind an outline of her body.

  When it reached the end of her missing leg, the outline of the limb extended with a dotted line, indicating where it should be. The panel to the side indicated significant trauma, but no infection or poison. Then the dotted outline started to shade at the top, and the shading went for six inches. The panel indicated nanite preparation and tissue fabrication commencing. I focused on Azure, and I could feel a liquid rise up over the stump, and as the time passed, I noticed feeling in more of my leg. Finally, after fifteen minutes of treatment, Azure felt the liquid lower, leaving the stump lengthened and dry.

  The blurred tube briefly said “Scanning” again, but only near the stump. Then the tube retreated, and the panel stated, “Missing leg 16% repaired. Wait 4 hours before returning.” Azure got up, read the panel, and nodded. Then she went off to get some food. I followed, as I was also hungry. She managed to get a second treatment before we went to bed. She went to her room, and I to mine.

  The next day, I decided to have the Fortress add an autodoc to it's major trauma centers. I also set up one in my old place and one in the PMC compound. I was even able to fit one in both of my ships. I also started printing a bunch of the new med scanners to place in all those places. I added the new scanner to the list of items I sold, like the other med scanner I sold.

  While deciding how to spend my day, I had the idea to write up my insights for underwater fighting. Not just mine, but also those I learned from Mako and Clear Eyes. I also wrote about the drones I used to scan and clean up the lake. I also highlighted the combat multiplier that printing was. When I finished that evening, I sent it to the family, and to the Samurai of the alliance.

  The next day, I decided I needed to check in with the various Samurai I was supposed to oversee. Just making a simple meeting did not appeal to me. I wanted it to be more of a low key get to know one another kind of meeting. To that effect, I planned to steal a page from Hank’s playbook, and invite them to a bar-b-que. However, I also decided to cheat a little, by getting a social network program to see what the public perception of each was, so I could have something to talk about. Now, what would I need?

  “Ysys, I need a fancy car.”

  Sure thing. What does it need to have?

  “It needs to be at least as fancy as what rich folk have. Classy, but suitable for my Sheena character. I plan to go touring the Samurai I am overseeing, so I need it to be fast also. Fast enough to get across that range in an hour or less.”

  That will need a new catalog to be opened. Perhaps the Class I catalog for Luxury Vehicles for fifty points.

  “Not quite. I can also see being caught in an incursion, so it needs to be armored, but not appear to be armored. Likewise, it needs to be able to clear the rabble in such an incursion so I could focus on the big stuff. Lastly, I want it to have a dimensional storage capacity to store a complete bar-b-que setup, and also a construction spider. Additionally, the regular storage should support refrigerated and frozen food supplies, so that I could serve up to twenty from the car’s regular storage.”

  Oh! Sneaky. Have you seen the latest update of Safari Hunter?

  “No… Why?”

  Then you haven’t seen the vehicles available for the characters. Let me show you.

  Several vehicles were shown in my HUD, with the various characters shown standing next to them. I spent a few minutes looking at each of them, and imagining myself in them. I think Dr. Livingston’s was the best, but Sheena’s open land cruiser was nearly as good.

  “These aren’t luxury cars. But they do look good.”

  There is luxury, and there is luxury. I noticed you spent a lot of time examining Sheena’s car. Allow me to now show you a Samurai version of it.

  The HUD cleared all the other cars, and slid Sheena’s to the left. On the right appeared a new car. It had subtle lighting, and a slightly altered shape, but when I really looked at it, it seemed much more aggressive. There were hints of assorted animals in the lines of the vehicle.

  “I do like it, but will it sell the ‘luxury’ concept?”

  It will. As for impressions, it will resonate with your ‘character’, and thus will be perceived as ‘cool’. Samurai with transportation that matches their character are generally perceived as cooler than those that don’t match. With some added stealth features, people won’t hear the car when it arrives, and you can even go invisible, to avoid paparazzi. While it seems open, without doors or windows, it actually has hard light barriers while in motion, to keep everyone secure, and to keep the wind out. You would still need the Luxury Vehicles catalog, but you can get the car in Class I, II, or III, as you have Class III Armored Assault Vehicles. The higher the class, the faster the car, as well as the more protected and stronger suppressive fire.

  “‘Cool’ huh? … Yeah, I can see that. Let’s go with the class three version. Don’t forget to have good security on it. Get the blueprints. I’ll probably get Azure one for herself, and might want more later.”

  Blueprints for Sheena’s Fancy Ride – 150000 points

  New Total – 986,683 points, 7 tokens

  “Next thing. While I can deal with people well, I don’t really know them. Nor do I want to spend a lot of time to learn about them. I need to open a social catalog and get some software to clue me in. It needs to scan their public activities to get an understanding of them.”

  Well, that sounds like you want the Class I Media Relations catalog for fifty points, and the Profile Master 2000 for 15 points. This will let you get a good idea of their public persona, along with some of their more private profile. It also can aid you in shaping your profile to be closer to what you want it to be.

  “You want me to look myself up, don’t you? Maybe I will. Let’s get it.

  Opened Class I Media Relations catalog – 50 points

  Purchased Profile Master 2000 – 15 points

  New Total – 986,618 points, 7 tokens

  “Next, I need cooking lessons. I want to cook all kinds of bar-b-que and other regional foods of the area. Additionally, I want to open a food catalog that has good food to bar-b-que and good food and drink to compliment it. Actually, I might be receiving guests from anywhere, so lets make that regional food from the whole world. I’m not aiming for fancy, but rather delicious and remembered. What to you have?”

  That sounds like you want the Class I Local Food of Earth catalog for fifty points, the Class I Tasty Foods for Humanoids catalog for fifty points, and Down Home Cooking for twenty points.

  “Given my other learning purchases, why is this one so much?”

  Your race likes variety. A lot of variety. This is not a single lesson, but a series of lessons each centered on different cultures. Did you know that some races go much farther? Some races will more than double that cost. On the other hand, some races have almost no variety, and are cheaper than your other lessons.

  “Wow. Well, lets get those three.”

  Opened Class I Local Food of Earth catalog – 50 points

  Opened Class I Tasty Foods for Humanoids catalog – 50 points

  Purchased Down Home Cooking – 20 points

  New Total – 986,488 points, 7 tokens

  With everything purchased, it was time to plan my route. First would be the three new Samurai of this city, then the Samurai of Gillette. I sent the list to my new social program, and also to the Metropolis AI, so that I could get a handle on everyone, as well as a plan for the route. I figure I could do the same bar-b-que for the three new Samurai as I did for Flamer and Soundbite. So I invited them tomorrow, for a mid-afternoon get together with dinner and drinks. I invited the Gillette Samurai the day after to one of my places there that had space for a bar-b-que.

  Now, it was time to up my cooking game. First was the basics of cooking. I knew enough to get by, but I wanted to handle all sorts of foods. So I selected the first cooking lesson, and spent most of the day learning everything about cooking. Well, the beginnings of it, anyway. I broke a bit before dinner so I could make dinner for Azure and myself. I wanted something other than bar-b-que. When it was ready, we both ate. I noted her leg was fully healed, and she was no longer floating everywhere.

  That evening, I went over the public life of our three new Samurai. While I didn’t know them, their interests were reasonable for this city. In the morning, as I was getting dressed, I realized I didn’t have suitable casual wear for my cooking. So I splurged and got twenty points of casual outfits, including three aprons. I also realized I would need a travel kit to keep my clothes clean and in repair, so I bought something for another ten points. It would wash, dry, iron, fold, and even do minor repairs.

  The time came, and I was dressed casually. I welcomed them in, and we walked out back where my bar-b-que was set up. I headed out to the bar, and they followed. We spoke of nothing in particular as we went until we got there. There was also assorted munchies on the bar.

  “I have assorted local beers, wine, juices, and if you want something fancy, I’ll spend a couple of points. What would you all like?”

  After serving everyone, I walked out and sat down at a table, next to where Sherry’s drone floated. She was sleeping. The others followed me and sat around the table.

  “I asked you all here so that we could get to know each other. My name is Jane Anderson. I am known as Calamity Jane. While I am not the senior Samurai in town, I have managed to leap out in front in terms of capability. Before I was given a Samurai name, I was ultimately responsible for some rather large explosions that took out a lot of antithesis. That, and my sharpshooting, earned me my name. Seems the original was from this town, and the Samurai who named me, knew it.

  “I’d like to get to get to know each of you, and for you to get to know me. Why not go around the table and tell me a bit about how you each became named. When we have gone around once, I’ll start the bar-b-que. I have real food, and fresh too. So, how about you beginning?” I nod to the Samurai to my right.

  I did my best to pay attention to each story, subtly guiding the conversation so each would get their own turn. By the time everyone had spoke, I got up and served everyone another round. Then I donned an apron, and invited everyone to gather around the grill. It was close by, and I started putting assorted meat on to cook. And as I cooked, I threw out questions to each Samurai by name. Asking minor things, that were in already answered in last night’s report. In return, I mentioned similar things about myself.

  Despite there being only four of us, five if you count Sherry, I loaded food on the grill. In addition to meat, I added vegetables, and added spices and rubs on the food. Since the grill was already hot, it didn’t take long to cook everything, and soon I was piling food on a few dishes. Easily three times what we were likely to eat. I left some food on the side of the grill to keep warm, and brought the rest to the table.

  I waved everyone over, and started serving, asking what each person wanted. As I passed out plates, we sat again. I served myself, and then we fell to eating. Talk turned to food, and how this was so different to what they were used to having as regular people, before becoming Samurai. I asked who had eaten Samurai food, and only one had.

  “Ysys? Please get everyone a side that compliments their food.”

  Four boxes suddenly appeared, one by each of us.

  “Protector food is truly great. But one can get spoiled.”

  As everyone had been polite, their plates started to empty. So I invited everyone to help themselves to seconds, even as I did myself. We all slowed down eating, as we enjoyed the meal. At one point, I got up and got everyone more drinks.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Eventually, everyone had had enough food, and we settled in to full stomachs. With the good feelings all around, I asked how each was doing, and if they were any questions I might be able to help out with, since I likely had already faced something similar. As I didn’t insist, they each warmed up to the idea, and they started to talk about their lives as Samurai, and their trials and tribulations. When I answered questions, I tried to give an anecdote from my own experience. I think taking some time out to feed and change Sherry really helped with the ‘informal’ setting.

  It was well into the evening when we decided to call it a night. I offered everyone a take home package of the food I had made, and saw them on their way. I spent a few minutes turning the occasional notes I took mentally into a quick report for the Family. Then I ordered my new car filled with fresh food for the next meet and greet and went to bed. In the morning, I headed over to Gillette, took another lesson in cooking, ate lunch, and reviewed the report on the Gillette Samurai before everyone was due to arrive.

  Today I had seven guests, two of which I knew already. In my introductions, I mentioned the first time I worked with them. Double Fist and Whiplash took turns introducing each of the new Samurai, but otherwise it was very similar to yesterday’s meeting, albeit with twice the food cooked. Sherry took center stage for a time right after I changed her. I let the others hold her and play with her a bit. That’s when I learned she was a great icebreaker.

  It was much later in the evening when everyone left, so I decided to make the gatherings smaller, and across two days rather than one. My next stop was Sturgis, where there were six Samurai, so I said I would have two bar-b-ques, and asked them to spread out which they chose to attend. I left tomorrow free, so I could be a tourist there, and the next two days would be the cookouts.

  I did ask the Mistress of Mayhem, my Samurai contact, for a good place to set up that I could rent, and instead they offered their place. This afforded me additional time with her, so I used some of it to ask about the settlement of the Rock Springs evacuees.

  “Mistress, it’s been a few months now since the evacuation. How has the integration of the transplants gone? I have some tools that might help reduce tensions.”

  “Well, it was quite rough at first, getting all the logistics sorted out. Your construction drones were miraculous in creating space for everyone. And since the hexes came with their own infrastructure, we had food and shelter within days for everyone. Even so, a number are still bouncing about homeless, or using up hotel space. We’re doing the best we can, but the government is stressed with handling everything.”

  “Are things showing steady improvement?”

  “Yeah, but it is slowing down. Looks like it’s heading to a new equilibrium. But too many are falling into the cracks.”

  “What kind of cracks are we talking about?”

  “There’s too much paperwork, and two few people to do it. That is causing endless delays. The delays are causing tension, which makes everything else worse. Then there is the problem of who runs things. We were caught flat-footed when it happened, and our politicians weren’t as accommodating as yours were. Those are just two of the bigger problems I can think of.”

  “Hm… I have some catalogs that might help. Ysys? I want to share my city catalogs with Mistress. Also my class one catalogs.”

  “What do they have?”

  “All sorts of stuff about running cities. I already got some stuff that I put in place along with the hexes. I’ll let you have access to them, and you and your AI can go over my catalogs to see if there is something that can help bring the tensions down, and to help solve the problems. I’ll also give you a budget of ten thousand points for stuff to help your city, even if not in those catalogs.”

  “Ten thousand? That’s a lot of points.”

  “Yeah, but one of the side effects of becoming as potent as I am is that I have killed a lot of antithesis. A lot. So I have points to burn. If I can make things better here, then they are points well spent. But I won’t be point here, you will. That’s why I want you to choose, not me.”

  “Wow. Ysys just sent Pyxie the info on your city builder and economic advisor programs. How the hell did you find this catalog?”

  “Rock Springs had just been in the second incursion, with rumblings about ending the city. Our council had rumblings about what could happen to us, and I managed to hear. It got me to thinking, then to asking Ysys for a way to fix it. Both Sheridan and Gillette are now out of the troubled category into the survive for centuries category. Of course, that assumes we don’t screw up or otherwise decide to close shop on the cities.”

  “Why put stuff here in my city?”

  “All these cities used to be part of a nation that was an economic and technological powerhouse. The antithesis took that away. I want it back. My alliance is part of that, aligning our city-states into a political union, and the advisor helps align our economies. You’ve heard of Samurai Supply?”

  “Yes. We have a branch here, why?”

  “That’s one method I have of stabilizing the economy. By relieving shortages somewhat, the economy doesn’t go as wild, and with a smoother economy, business thrives. It never eliminates the shortage, but reduces its impact. It also means that companies can’t gouge the people for scarce items, since Samurai Supply prices prevent them from going too high.”

  “How can you make so many different things?”

  “I buy lots of blueprints, as do my partner Samurai. The advisors determine what needs to be made, and in what quantities, and I have a budget for blueprints. They don’t do food, but that is handled by all the hex farms. Since each hex can produce more than is needed, that means there is food to export from the hex. For now, the rest of the city is benefiting from this, but it time, it won’t be needed.”

  “I need to discuss with Pyxie about what you’ve done. Somewhat presumptuous, but I don’t think anyone really noticed.”

  “That is on purpose. Forcing people’s choices doesn’t work very well, but offering smart and cheap options does. It’s why my reports to the city leaders details problems, and potential solutions, without recommending any particular one. Your leaders choose to follow or not, and which path they follow. I just supply good tools to estimate the impact of the decision. They choose the path. Kind of like I’m doing with you and my points.”

  “That’s a lot to think about. I’ll need to talk to some folks in the government about it.”

  “I don’t mind you letting them know you now have access to tools to help, but I’d rather you not mention that I put them there, or that I’m working on a long term plan of restoring the nations might. Their egos might not like that. Perhaps you could downplay the tools, and instead focus on what you buy instead. Anything you can do to help, will likely be looked well upon.”

  “I can see that.”

  “Go ahead and make your calls. I have plenty to oversee with my own financial empire. Getting rich makes some problems easier to handle.”

  “I’ve noticed. Thanks.”

  Over the next two days, I met the others. The Mistress and I had some more discussions about my long term plans, and she wanted in. We also discussed what to spend the points on. For the next two weeks, I was making the rounds, getting to know everyone.

  I was in Cheyenne, visiting Cowboy Bob, when they got an incursion. He had been showing me the rodeo he had created. He had spent a lot of points to create a fifty square mile prairie, protected from antithesis by constant surveillance. He had catalogs so he could replant what was there before, but modified to be resistant to antithesis. When that was going well, he started repopulating the animals as well. Now he had a working ranch, with cattle, horses, sheep, and other animals, along with fields for them to graze on.

  It began with the city sending out the alert. Bob’s ranch rebroadcast it, since we weren’t in the city.

  Bob said, “Damn. We were having fun. I got work to do.”

  “Want a lift?”

  “Don’t think a horse will fit in your car.”

  “Your horse is a drone, right? I have dimensional storage it can use.”

  “Okay. How…?”

  “Just have it stay still for a bit, and you can put it in.” I sent the access codes needed.

  Bob climbed in, and his horse disappeared into storage. I was already in, and when Bob was seated, I zoomed to the center of the incursion. Stopping, I popped his horse out, and we got out, leaving Sherry in the back. Getting out my Cobra Assault Cannon, I started it up and put it on.

  “Go do what you need. I’ll start taking out some pods.”

  “Right. The city defenses are pretty good, so there might not be a lot to do. But I’ll head out to help where needed. What about you two?” Bob got on his horse.

  “The car’s armored, so we’ll meet you after it’s over. Now go. Call if you need help. I’ll just do the pods.”

  “Right.” He rode off rather quickly. Far faster than a normal horse could go, and faster than most PMC scout vehicles.

  By now, the weapon was ready, so I started shooting at pods. I aimed for the higher pods, as I figured the city defenses didn’t have the effective range I had. In a minute and a half, I had cleared most of the high pods.

  “Ysys, would sending an antimatter round at the rift be a good idea?”

  Not really. The rift is energy, not matter, so it would not react directly to the round. If you got lucky and hit a pod halfway through, it might destabilize it, but that might not make it fail, and the likelihood of hitting is extremely small. Good thinking, though.

  At first, I just thought nothing about that, and continued shooting pods. Then I wondered why she said it was good thinking. Did that mean there was a way?

  “Ysys, if the rift is energy, is there some kind of energy round I can send? Like some sort of anti-plasma?”

  Funny you should ask that. Turns out the Dimensional Weaponry catalog has Entropy Bullets for three hundred fifty points. But like the antimatter bullets, they need Class V catalogs to make.

  I pulled out the magazine, and said, “Ysys, I’d like a magazine of them, and make them proximity or timed, whatever is best for taking out the rift.”

  Entropy Bullets, Magazine of 10 – 3500 points.

  New Total – 948,913 points, 7 tokens

  Suddenly, a magazine appeared in my hand, and I quickly loaded it. I then aimed for the rift. “Ysys, please mark the best aim points.”

  She marked most of the rifts at the center, but some were a bit to one side or other. As they appeared, I shot them. When the rift was hit, it popped out of existence. More rifts were still appearing, so I got another magazine. By the time I had used them all, no more rifts were appearing, but three were left. So I had her get me a partially filled magazine to get the last ones.

  By this time, nearly all the pods had fallen, and I no longer had a clear shot. I sent a text to Cowboy Bob saying that I would wait back at the rodeo. By the time I was packed up, he replied that he would meet me there when they were done.

  Rather than park where I previously parked, I patrolled the location for stray antithesis. I pulled out a construction spider to make a few dozen godseyes before returning it to storage. Then I relaxed in my car with Sherry while waiting for the incursion to be over. It was evening when that happened, and I got a notification.

  Pod X 50 – 25000 points, 2 tokens

  Rifts X 23 – 23000 points, 2 tokens

  Assorted antithesis – 274 points

  New Total – 980,922 points, 11 tokens

  Bob didn’t show for another hour. “Sorry, Calamity. I had to organize some cleanup, and get some other details handled.”

  “Not an issue. I figure I saved everyone a few hours with the pods I took out. That means people are less stressed than they could have been. It also means tomorrow’s cookout is still on. Do you need any help with the cleanup?”

  “Need, no, but it might impact how long they can attend.”

  “Would it be better to delay things a day? I’m in no hurry.”

  “Yeah, I think it would. That won’t be enough to wait out the cleanup, but at least all the bigger stuff should be handled, and the PMCs can handle the small stuff. That’ll let the newer Samurai take a few hours off for a relaxed meal.”

  “It’s late, and tomorrow is free, so why not finish the rodeo tour tomorrow?”

  “Sure. I just need to check the perimeter.”

  “I’ve already done that, and currently have a godseye network watching. The place is clean for now. Only a couple of low numbered models even showed up. I can transfer control to you, if you want.”

  “Sure. Thanks.”

  “In fact, you can keep the drones. I just printed them a few hours ago. Let’s head back and head to bed.”

  We did, and as we were saying goodnight, he said, “That bed is comfortable, but if you want to join me, we don’t have to go to sleep right away.”

  I gave him a critical look, and checked my Cuckoo reception and learned he wanted me, but wouldn’t press it. then I thought about my own recent activities, and realized I had been too busy recently, so, just as he was about to turn away, I said, “Sure. Show me your private ranch.” He laughed at that description, then led me there.

  After he fell asleep, I was thinking that it would seem odd to enjoy someone so much larger than myself. Yet his manner clearly showed he saw me as a person, not a body. He also took care to lessen the impact of his size. I don’t think he realized I could probably handle whatever he has, unless he also used class three body modifications. After that, my thoughts slowed down, and I finally slept.

  Oh! Joy! He’s an early riser. I should have remembered. At least he left the covers on me. I got out of bed and headed to the shower. He must have other partners, as there were two sets of stuff. One clearly his manly scented products, and the other scentless, which I used and carefully returned. After drying off, I got dressed and wandered around with Sherry suckling until I found him in a dining room.

  “Sleep well?” Bob asked.

  “Yeah. I only had to get up once in the night to change her. Soon, she’ll be sleeping through the night.”

  “What’s it like, having a child?”

  “Beyond the expected sleepless nights, the baby bag, and the constant feeding and changing, it’s wonderful. And all that other stuff you quickly get used to. My Samurai senses let me really feel her needs, so I’m not thinking it is a changing cry as opposed to an attention cry and the like. Then there is the sense that ‘I have a child’. It’s a wonderful feeling, but also sobering. That’s why I went for the clone option. Azure, is somewhat independent, but I can fully control that body. She is clearly aware of herself, and also Sherry, yet I don’t feel that spark that separates mere existence from actually living.”

  “Aren’t you worried about her being a person?”

  “I was at first, but as I was initiating her mind, it was clearly empty, and only being fed by my own. I could also feel that lack of a spark, even at the very start. My AI also said so, but the evidence of my own senses convinced me. In fact, she recently lost most of a leg up north at an underwater hive. It’s been regenerated, and there is no mental fuss about it.”

  “Wait, she went after an underwater hive? Aren’t those very dangerous?”

  “They are, indeed. Didn’t you read my report?”

  “Um… no?”

  “Tsk, tsk. I made an experimental city way up north. I wanted to see how well I could automate clearing an area. It was going fine until it encountered the underwater hive. My weapons weren’t designed for underwater use, so I put out a request for help. But since there were no people to save, it didn’t really get interest. It wasn’t until I told the Family and others I had prepared for it and would shortly go deal with it, that I got a response.

  “A pair of Samurai showed up on day two, and we collaborated on taking it down. Not only did they teach me a lot, they probably saved Azure’s life. She was under attack by several model twenty-ones. The pair of Samurai managed to briefly stun one, thus preventing her death. She was still hurt, but was able to complete the mission.”

  “Wow. What weapons did you use?”

  “It’s all in the report, as well as the additional steps I took to clean up after, and the drones I added to my arsenal for working underwater.”

  “Guess I’ll have to read it now.”

  “Yep. Looks like Sherry is done. Time to burp her, then change her.” I proceeded to do just that, not caring that Bob was a few feet away, watching intently. I could also feel his arousal, and his efforts to hide it. When Sherry was taken care of, I put her in the drone, and headed to the kitchen where I scrounged for breakfast, even though it almost lunchtime.

  Afterwards, we went back to the rodeo where Cowboy Bob showed me his small stadium, that held maybe five thousand, and also the herds he had of cattle, horses, and so on. It turns out the rodeo used cattle shaped drones rather than real ones. I met some real ranch hands, although something told me they were all rather new to the job.

  As he showed me everything, I asked, “How did this ranch come about?”

  “You spent your points in construction. I spent mine for this. A fair chunk went to protecting the land. I outfitted a PMC and have them patrolling the outer perimeter to be sure the antithesis don’t enter. A thick outer wall also helps. It has all sorts of sensors in it. After I realized your success with printers, I bought an industrial one, once I had enough points. I don’t have many blueprints yet, but with yesterday’s activities, I’ll grab more.”

  “Do you have blueprints for a printer yet?”

  “Huh?”

  “Right now, your throughput is limited by the printers you have. My throughput is not, because I can increase it at any time by printing another printer. How do you think I built so much, so fast?”

  “… I knew printers let you print lots of other things. I never thought about them printing more printers.”

  “Trust me. The investment is worth it if you need a lot of something. Also grab blueprints for collection rigs, as they make supplying the printers so much easier. All my construction spiders have printers to print whatever they are making. By now, I have blueprints to manufacture every part of a city except the custom bits. That’s how I can deliver a free hex to each city that joins the alliance.”

  “… and here I was thinking I was making big plans.”

  “Don’t dismiss yourself so easily. Eventually, we need to restore the planet’s native life. Making, and sustaining a working ranch means you are generating a seed of that restoration, and the practical knowledge to nurture it. All I’m doing is providing space to live, and factory based food. Sure it will keep people alive, but the ecology? Nope. I haven’t done anything of note there. You have with this ranch.”

  “I guess I have, at that.”

  “Yes, this is something at least as worthy as what I am doing. After a few years, you can expand on this, and start to regrow the fertility of our world. It sucks that we still have to deal with antithesis, but we may not be free of them for centuries.”

  “Centuries?”

  “Yeah. Ysys said it takes a while to get a civilization uplifted enough to be able to handle the antithesis like ants at a picnic. Annoying, but easily demolished. Consider Mars. In just a few months, they eradicated them from that planet. Sure, it’s glassed now, but that can be fixed, and we can even terraform it if we want. We have the power, but not yet enough to do such casually. We’ll get there eventually, and when we do, your ranch will be needed.”

  We went back to talking about the rodeo, and the ranch. The next two days I met all the other Samurai in the area. Then it was time to rest back home, and set up the next set of cookouts. Two weeks later, I had finished my rounds.