You went swimming? Where? Why?!? You only find pools in elite health clubs, and the homes of the super rich these days, there’s just not enough room. It’s not like swimming is a useful skill anyways, if you’re near open water you’re already outside the defensive walls anyways. No one’s stupid enough to do that.

  -Random Elevator Discussion

  —

  The mobile targets were much more difficult than I expected. Not only did they move fairly quickly, but they were coordinated, attacking from multiple angles at once. I took several rubbery blows to the head and back until I figured out that I needed to roll constantly so I could keep track of the targets coming at me from different angles. The spin also gave me a good way to strike at enemies on my other side, without having to swap hands and risk having the blade ripped from my grip again.

  After taking care of a couple waves of Model One-Os flawlessly, Ghost moved on to a combination of Model Three-Os and Four-Os. Although these were much bigger and somewhat slower than the One-Os, they presented their own challenges. The Threes were able to turn extremely quickly, biting at me if I failed to take them out in a single strike. The Fours were worse; their tentacles extended way longer than I expected and entangled me if I got anywhere close to them.

  The skirmish lasted far longer than I liked, as both dummies were extremely adept at working together.

  “W-What do you think about your progress so far?” Ghost asked when it was finally done.

  “I think I lack the reach to deal with these models consistently,” I admitted gloomily. “I’m not sure how helpful I’m actually going to be if we get swarmed.”

  “M-Maybe,” Ghost replied, nodding emphatically. I turned and stared at her, eyes narrowed, which made her jump. “B-But that’s to be expected! D-Down here close-range fighters are at an inherent disadvantage. Y-You always work with Skyler, don’t you? Y-You should concentrate on intercepting the antithesis that sneak through her bombardment.”

  “Fine, I guess that makes sense,” I admitted. “I really don’t want anything to happen to her.”

  Ghost blushed slightly but still nodded. “W-We should probably try and meet up with her so I can show you both the ocean barrier before the antithesis arrive.”

  “Arty?” I whispered.

  Skyler has already located the ocean barrier. I’ll send directions directly to your augs.

  “Skyler is already at the barrier, we can meet her there,” I reported to Ghost. “Follow me.”

  I dove down, just deep enough to see the bottom of the harbor and headed north towards the mouth. The rocky ocean floor appeared to be completely devoid of life. No fish, no coral, nothing but large rocks and silt. “Why is it so dead here? Did the antithesis get into the harbor already?”

  “N-No, it’s actually barren here because the government regularly sterilizes the harbor floor. N-No biomass, less antithesis. S-Some might consider it overkill, but…” Ghost tilted her head to the side for a moment, then murmured, “I-I think it’s prudent. A-A little biomass goes a long way for them.”.

  “I had no idea the government was doing anything like that,” I admitted.

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  “A-After the Seattle incident, the Cascadian government has become incredibly proactive when it comes to offshore anti-antithesis measures. E-Even a month after it happened, the aftermath was still horrific to witness. I-I don’t really blame them.”

  Out of the murky gloom a titanic structure emerged. The bottom was a solid concrete wall, at least twenty feet tall. Embedded into the top of the wall was a curtain of foot long chain links. The entire thing stretched as far as I could see, it must have been miles long and hundreds of feet tall to cover the entire mouth of the harbor.

  I found Skyler slowly swimming back and forth, inspecting the construction. As soon as she saw us, she waved. “Can you believe this? I had no idea there was such a monolithic construct sitting in the harbor.”

  “The concrete barrier is there to slow down the gargantuan antithesis bound to the sea floor. There aren’t that many in the tens to twenties, but in the thirties and higher, there are some extremely tanky crab-based models. The chain curtain is actually connected to a complicated pulley system so the entire thing can be raised and lowered based upon how active the antithesis are,” Nyvi explained as Ghost swam up next to Skyler. “The other side contains a minefield and several dozen automated sonic turrets.”

  “So, why are we in here, instead of out there?” I asked.

  “Because you do not want to be anywhere near a sonic weapon while underwater. They’ll literally liquify you.” Nyvi explained as Ghost shuddered. “And despite the terrible damage, the antithesis will attempt to push through with absolutely no regard for personal safety. Based upon the numbers coming, Nyvi estimates the antithesis will breach the wall in more than a dozen places, and when they do, we need to be there to eliminate them before they get to the shore.”

  “How… many antithesis are we expecting to make it this far?” Skyler asked hesitantly.

  “A-A hundred thousand, give or take,” Ghost replied casually. “M-Maybe one in a hundred will get to the wall.”

  “That’s still a lot,” I mumbled.

  “I-It should be manageable, between the three of us,” Ghost exclaimed.

  I narrowed my eyes. “What about Limelight, Phantasmagoria, and the Starchaser?”

  “They’ll be hovering over the wall, dealing with the really big antithesis before they get close. Trust me, it’s much better to have them dealing with the Thirties than mopping up the small stuff.”

  Skyler and I were quiet for a moment as we absorbed that information. Skyler managed to shake off her unease first. “So, have you two finished practicing yet? We should probably plan our strategy.”

  “O-Oh, that’s easy. Y-You two work together to defend the western section of the wall, and I’ll cover the east,” Ghost said.

  “Is that really wise? I know you’re more experienced than us, but isn’t it dangerous to go it alone?” Skyler asked.

  “I-I’m not worried, Emme and Lissa won’t let anything happen to me…” the girl paused sheepishly, then added, "A-Also, on the off chance something does happen, it’s better to not have people around. I-I, um, do not react well to getting injured…”

  “What, exactly, does that mean?” I asked.

  “I-I sort of go berserk when I see my own blood? L-Let’s just say that if you see me while I’m fighting, it’s probably best to stay away. Or if you need to, call Limelight, she’s the only one who can get me out of that headstate… ,” the girl admitted.

  Skyler looked at her aghast. “Is that safe?”

  “I-I’ll probably be fine? I-I’ve sort of attained a reliable level of durability. B-But for anything else around me? T-There’s a reason I’m warning you about this..” Ghost replied sheepishly.

  “If you say so,” I mumbled.

  Suddenly, a high-pitched whine echoed through the water. It caused the water to vibrate, and made me feel ill. Ghost perked up immediately. “B-Bwuh?!” she shouted, “We were supposed to have more time!”

  “Those are the sonic defenses? I can feel them all the way over here,” I groaned.

  “Y-Yeah, hope you two are ready. T-Them being here early isn’t a good sign.”

  “So what do we do?” Skyler asked, tightening her grip on the aquatic weapon she’d purchased for herself.

  “W-What you do best! P-Protect your partner!” she yelled as she turned in place. With a few shakes of her long tail she shot off at incredible speed, disappearing from sight in seconds.

  “Guess we’re on our own,” Skyler muttered.

  “Yeah, but we can handle it,” I announced confidently. “We may not have experience fighting underwater, but we’ve faced the antithesis before. We stick to our established strategies, and we’ll be fine.”

  “Our strategies involve me blowing up everything in range while you stab things. I wouldn’t exactly call them complex,” Skyler snorted.

  “And they haven’t let us down before,” I replied with a smirk. “You heard what Ghost said, we just need to kill everything that gets to the wall. Do you have any torpedoes that would kill the antithesis without damaging the wall? If we kill the antithesis before they penetrate the wall, it would make both our jobs easier.”

  “I can check with Athyna, maybe invest in something. What about you?” Skyler asked.

  “If I try to stab them with Rending Wave, it may sever the links, plus I’ll be in the way of your explosives. I’ll patrol up and down the wall, looking for major targets, and keep you informed through our link. Once the antithesis break through, I’ll double back and protect you while you torpedo the area.”

  Skyler nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Let’s hope it works.”

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