“Ummmm… I dunno what to do about this,” Bob announced awkwardly as he stared down at the tiny girl clamped to his middle.

  As soon as we arrived back at the Kodiak, Amy squealed like a little kid, and started running around to my bears, delivering the biggest hugs I’d ever seen. And I’d seen Issi on a hugging spree.

  “I’ve never seen anyone so excited to meet my bears before,” I said as I slammed the button to close the rear hatch. “Most people give them a wide berth.”

  “Are you kidding? I’ve been a major fan of yours for a long time, ever since I saw the bears take over city hall last year. I have the official Teddy’s Bears for every one of your squad members back home, even the six foot Bob replica!” Amy gushed.

  “I didn’t think people really bought those,” I mumbled.

  “You didn’t think anyone bought the stuffed animals based upon your bears? Despite the fact that they’re one of the biggest sellers to come out of the undercity, and you had to clamp down on counterfeits multiple times?” Nora asked, looking at me in disbelief.

  “Do you know how common counterfeits are in the undercity? I kind of assumed they were a problem everywhere, and just cracked down on the worst offenders… The ones that were trying to cause serious harm to the startups,” I replied.

  “Small operations might be common in the undercity, but do you know how successful a product needs to be for corporations to form entire divisions to counterfeit a product?”

  “I don’t know… I figured they’d do it for every niche novelty they came across? It’s not like most of those corps have any morals anyways,” I said with a shrug.

  “Niche novelty? Teddy’s Bears is a household name! They’re so popular that the seamstress groups were able to buy that block of abandoned factories and convert them into a combination workspace and training center. They don’t have enough hands to keep up with demand!” Nora explained.

  “Well, good for them. I’m glad someone is benefiting from the infrastructure I put into place.”

  Nora sighed. “You really need to get out more and see how the world works outside of your little corner of the undercity.”

  “I don’t have time for that!” I grumbled, before wandering up towards the front of the vehicle and mentally prompting Dusty to take off.

  “That’s just an excuse so you can avoid going topside, and you know it,” Nora mumbled. “Whatever,. We don’t have the time to get into this right now. We still have to deal with the situation at hand.”

  “What is the situation?” Amy asked since she’d finished her hugging tour. “I thought it was just an incursion, but I’m starting to get the feeling there’s more to it than that.”

  “There is… A number of hives popped up all around the city when the incursion hit, sending out antithesis into the surrounding area,” I told her.

  “And we’re getting reports that several other cities got hit by incursions at the same time Calgary did,” Nora added. “So we really need to get control of the situation as quickly as possible.”

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  “Really? That’s crazy! What do you think caused it?” Amy asked excitedly.

  “We have no clue, and it’s not like we’ve had the time to investigate. That’s something we can do once we get everything under control,” I grumbled. “Did you have enough points for a ranged weapon, and some armor? Nora and I are heading directly into the heart of the nearest drop zone, and if you want to follow us I want to make sure you have at least the basics.”

  “Why? I managed just fine without them, when I was at the theatre,” Amy huffed.

  “You fought a couple dozen antithesis, we’re going to be wading into hundreds, maybe even thousands of them at once. Even if we managed to kill them all before they got into range, all it would take is a single rogue spine from a Model Five to take you out,” I growled. “Look, I know you’re a samurai now, and I can’t force you to do anything, but we’re not taking you into the most dangerous part of the entire incursion if you’re not willing to invest in your own survival.”

  “That’s pretty harsh, considering it took you getting knocked through a wall before you invested in decent armor,” Nyx’s avatar reminded me.

  “It wasn’t a wall, it was the side of a bus,” I growled as both Nora and Amy turned to look at me. “And I’m doing this because I don’t want Amy to have to learn the hard way, like I did.”

  “Fine… I’ll get some stuff, but I doubt I have enough for both,” Amy relented. “I spent most of my points on those turrets.”

  “Nyx,” I sighed, “Coordinate with Amy’s AI and get a set of armor for her from my catalogs. I should have more than enough spare points right now.”

  “Really? Thanks!” Amy chirped.

  “It’s fine,” I grumbled. “Just make sure you take the time to discuss what type of ranged weapon might work best for you with your AI.”

  While Amy spoke with her AI, I pulled up a map of the combat area in my augs. Bandit had slowly shrunk the perimeter, which had freed up a couple of units to help clear the streets. Two were headed our way to act as backup, while the other dozen or so formed sweep teams focused around the other lures. I didn’t want to send those groups to engage the seed pods. Losing one of the lures would be a major setback at this point.tInstead, they could safely go around and clean up the sites Nora and I had already dealt with.

  “Approaching the next landing zone,” I announced. “We’ll land a couple blocks short, and go in on foot. I’ll use the lure during our approach this time, so keep your eyes open, the antithesis could come from anywhere!”

  “You don’t expect them to rush out and greet us like last time?” Nora asked with a smirk.

  “There are probably as many antithesis in the area as last time, but now that they’ve had time to disperse into the surrounding area I doubt we’ll face such a cohesive force,” I said.

  Amy, who was in the midst of pulling on her new armor, paused. “So the full extent of your plan is to call every antithesis in the area down on our heads while we slowly advance towards the drop zone?”

  “We can easily handle it. But I have two more squads coming to support us if things go sideways,” I said.

  “I’m not complaining, just checking,” the girl replied with a smile before pulling her new helmet on.

  Her new armor was similar to mine, lightweight scout armor, but where mine was green, and relatively simple, hers was… not. The black base was covered in what appeared to be neon pink, purple, and orange graffiti-like patches. The shoulders, boots, and gloves had metal spikes. The helmet had a sharp metal crest which looked vaguely like a mohawk.

  Hanging across her chest were a pair of submachine guns. They bore a striking resemblence to the dated MP5s that Dante and his gang used way back when I first awakened, but more streamlined and modern.

  She kinda looked like what I’d expect a wasteland wandering gang boss would look like. Except shorter, and less menacing. Although that may have been because she was bouncing from foot to foot like an excited child.

  “Looking good,” Nora grunted.

  “Thanks!” Amy chirped. “I guess I’m ready whenever you two are.”

  I nodded and mentally prompted Dusty to land the Kodiak. As soon as we hit the ground, I hit the button to open the back hatch. “Everyone out! Heavy, I want you out front; everyone else, position yourselves around the Kodiak. We have no idea what direction the enemy might come from, so eyes open.”

  “Us too?” Amy asked.

  I nodded, “You too. I’ll be out as soon as I set up the lure.”

  The girl bounced out the back, followed by Nora, who glanced at me hesitantly for a second.

  “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s probably better that we’re around to dampen her enthusiasm than letting her run around alone. I doubt she’s so gungho to run off and do something stupid, but I’d still like to keep an eye on her until she finds her footing,” I said.

  “And I agree with that, it’s just I’ve never seen a samurai with such… child-like enthusiasm,” Nora mumbled. “I’m a little worried she might go too far.”

  “That’s not true, we know Magpie and Dreamer,” I countered. “She might be a little odd, but Amy’ll be fine once she settles in.”

  I adjusted the settings on the lure to reach out around a block. It wasn’t enough to reach the seed pod, but more than enough to bring everything in the surrounding buildings running, and hit the button.

  “Come on,” I said as I grabbed my rifle and jogged out the back, “Let’s see how she does while under pressure.”

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