Aliapanacea
When the Family came to New Houston, seeing opportunity, savvy entrepreneurs and corporate overlords alike bought up all the other useless rigs, verting them before dragging them over to serve in the quickly growing flotil. They were ected mostly with duct tape and hope, a gigantic rusty old car for them to fix with their kids. The Ameri dream reborn!
It wasn’t that easy for those on the rapidly desding subnautic floors.
From the dotary, ‘The hidden ins of New Houston.’***
Me? A samurai?
This is surreal.
I check my impnts ahat they are still off, and I momentarily wonder if Jysli is somehow pying a prank on me, before the beautiful voice chimes up again.
Now, let’s mht along, honey. You have a Model-Seven digging its way through your body to get to your brain, and if you’re not careful you might get some perma damage to your foot from the gss embedded within.
I pale, the nightmare of losing trol of my body to the alien ly reassuring. Shaking myself out of the daze, I scoot back away from the gss, smearing my blood across the floor. The sharp pain in my chest had migrated to near my heart, and an anxious touch tells me it is still climbing.
“W-What… What should I do?” I ch my fists, a small flicker of determination rising in my heart.
Shopping, of course!
I’m almost certain you know how this works already, but to beat a dead horse- Kill Antithesis, earn points, buy tools to make the whole process easier.
Taking a quice at my right foot, I wi the grisly wounds I had inflicted upon myself. Some of the rger shards had mao get nearly halfway in during my little rampage, and I felt my stomach do a little flip at the sight of all the blood.
“H-How I heal myself, a-and not die to the seven?” I put my hand on my stomach, trying not to gag.
For the former, I would highly reend the rather ubiquitous Css I Medical Utilities catalog, which tains many high quality restoratives and drugs to keep you going as much as possible. A Css I Naneive suite will heal your internal damage and a Css I Hemo-Restore swiftly restore all of your lost blood. As for the tter, yoing to want to purchase a pack of proofing pills to prevent the worm from zombifying you. Does that sound okay, honey?
I give a shaky thumbs up, the smasbord of words oip of my to the moment failing to emerge.
First Point Update!
Initialization Bonus!
Reward: 100 Points
Enemies Eliminated!
Model 7-T: 5 Models
Reward: 25 Points
Starting Total: 125 Points
Catalog Unlocked!
Css I Medical Utilities
Cost: 50 Points
New Purchases!
1x Model-Seven Proofing Pill, Pack of Ten
Cost: 1 Point
1x Css-I Naneive Suite
Cost: 20 Points
1x Css-I Hemo-restore
Cost: 5 Points
Total Price of Items: 76 Points
Final Point Total: 49 Points
Whehree small boxes appear at my feet, I stare fbbergasted for a fra of a moment. I’d still half believed that everything I was hearing was a halluatio my brain could no longer deny that which was real.
I’m truly a samurai.
You should just take one of those pills, save the rest for future use. The red tube is the Hemo-restore, and all you o do is press it up to your skin, preferably ter of mass. The Naneive Suite is an inhaler, all you o do is press it up to your mouth and breathe in.
Within the first box I open, I find a tube with a yellow arrow printed on it taining red liquid. Following the incredibly simple instrus and pressing it to my ter chest, the tube lets out a small puff of air as the liquid flows into me. I pce the tube bato its box, and push it to the side. were the off-green proofing pills, which I don’t hesitate to dry swallow despite my gag reflexing trying to stop me. Finally, I pce the ky inhaler holding the Naneive up against my lips and inhale. A fuzzy feeling falls over my body, probably some side-effect of the drugs I had taken, but I wasn’t going to pin if I could survive.
I have good news and bad news.
The good news is that you have a cheap, easy solution for the gss shards stu your foot, specifically a Css-I Nanite-infused Gel Sock, which costs five points. The bad news is that, unfortunately, at Css-I the gel wouldn’t be able to fully remove three of the rger shards. Yoing to o pull them out yourself before you put the so.
I grimace at the idea, but somehow, betweerange fuzz that had enveloped my body and the pulsing agony wrag me head to toe every few seds, I’m strangely okay with the idea of potentially making it far worse. I figure I may be in shock.
“O-okay, gimme the sock.” I mutter, mentally preparing myself for what I know I o do.
New Purchase!
1x Css-I Nanite-infused Gel Sock
Cost: 5 Points
Remaining Total: 44 Points
A little clear box appears o me, and I pick it up to look inside. ed in what I assume is aper of some sort, a rather thick but seemingly excessively small sock made of a slightly translut blue gel sits, waiting for use. I remove the tents, pg it beside me.
Now, yoing to want to start with the rgest shard first, which is embedded into your heel. Now, take a deep-
Before Nyvi finish, I yank the gss out carelessly. A spurt of blood and pain quickly follows up, and I have to bite my too not scream. The gash stains my skin, a puddle of my life poolih me.
Well, okay then. The wo shards are lodged close to each other in the ball of your foot.
Beginning to hyperve takes me a sed or two to work through the pain and find the little shits, but I manage eventually, brushing my fingers against their surface. My head begins t incessantly, and while I hear Nyvi speak, her words melt into inprehensible nothingness. I get the feeling she's trying to calm me dardless, and I take a deep breath before pulling both shards out at once.
My vision distorts for a sed, my sciousness almost failing me, and I then pull the tiny so with trembling hands. As the sock begins to cover my foot, the gel stretches and thiually ending at my ah around half the inal thiess. Swiftly, the pain in my foot shifts into a dull throb, and I take a mueeded sigh of relief.
You did well, honey.
A rather unfamiliar warmth rises in my cheeks, and I groan as I attempt to rise to my feet, pig up the empty boxes and the remaining pills as I do. The sock feels immensely strange, as if my foot is uer no matter where I move it. A bit of ressure on it is even weirder, sidering that I barely even noticed any ge, well, other than the small but momentary pang of pain that I feel once I fully stand up.
“T-thanks… D-do you know what's happening?” Stumbling into my bedroom, I plop down in my squishy chair. “W-Why are there model sevens ier? W-Where are the incursion warnings?”
It’s hard to say at the moment. I ot access and provide information from most private systems that you do not already have access to or without you first purchasing an upgrade that allows for it. Additionally there doesn’t seem to be anything about an iion on anywhere upon the New Houston intra. I could request information from yrandfather’s AI, if you want. He wouldn’t reveal you to yrandfather, as it is against our rules.
I bite my lip, a stone of ay pressing onto my chest.
“I-I don’t trust Jysli all that much, but if he ’t reveal me I think it’s fine.” I bite my thumb, looking at my bedroom door, expeg it to swing open at any time. “I-If my grandfather knew I was a samurai, he’d never let me go. I-I would rather live on my own than under his t-thumb any longer.”
Very well, I will initiate tact with a request for secrecy.
Nary a few moments pass before Nyvi chimes up once again.
Unfortunately, it seems that the extent of information that Jysli was willing to give up is nearly the same as I was able to find myself. That AI is an… iing character, to be sure.
Feeling a bit woozy, I roll towards my desk and proceed to dump my duffel bag onto the floor. Notig my favorite hoodie in the pile, I pull it on and pop the hood. Then I run to the bathroom, grab the loose boxes I had summoned and the extra pills, making absolutely sure I don’t leave a sign. Finally, I hastily knock a few tainers from my shelves into my bag, hoisting the now somewhat annoyingly heavy duffel over my left shoulder afterwards.
Just so that you know, I provide most anything you need immediately at a higher quality than you would be able to buy almost anywhere oh.
I pause, pting my AI’s words, but I ’t help but ugh to myself when it clicks. Despite the dire situation, I shake my head with a smile on my face thanks to my new friend’s btant envy. It was kind of cute, to be ho.
I limp to my bed, cmbering up to check the window that sits above it. To my initial dismay, I don’t immediately find how to open it manually, but after a little searg I find a small switch embedded into the window sill. Otle push ter, and my room fills with the cool o breeze. I take a quick look back at my room iation, but quickly resolve myself as I shimmy my way through the window.
One ve factor of my family owning aire floor of New Houston is that the building taking up its majority is only oory, the ck of drop out of my window a godsend. Carefully skimming around the edge of the building, I move towards the front, then peek around and freeze when I see two figures standing guard right outside of the main lift.
“S-shit, Nyvi, are there any other exits on the floor?” Sliding back behind the wall, I desperately hope they didn’t spot me.
Acc to the blueprints, there is a dder located directly at the opposite side of the floor as the lift and it shouldn’t take you long to get there.
With a nod, I turn away, doing my best to stay low and silent as I rush towards the back of the building. By the time I reach the opposite er of where I was, I am panting for air and feeling the exhaustion in my knees. My socked foot twinges, stinging more than before with every step, and I sort retted not putting shoes on before I left. When I peek around the er while catg my breath, I catch sight of the dder, but unfortunately with an armed guard included as well.
“N-Nyvi,” I quietly hiss, unsure of exactly what to do, “Are there any catalogs that will be useful ter that I purchase with my point total?”
There are a few, but the two most only bought are Css-I Basibat Garments and Css-I General Ready-meals, both of whie in at 20 points a piece. What exactly are you looking for?
I sider for a bit, and soon find a mischievous grin slowly creeping ay face as I mutter:
“D-Does the basibat garments catalog have any clothes that have abnormally stroics?”
… I think I see where yoing with this, ahere are a few things that would suit your purposes. For five points, you could get a General Utility Hyperestic Belt, which although small at first, is desigo fit every size and easily carry several dozen pounds of tools within its pockets with no risk of breaking.
“P-Perfect." I check my surroundings and spy a security camera. Thinking quickly, I turn away again and ask, " I get it in my bag without a box?”
Easily.
Catalog Unlocked!
Css-I Basibat Garments
Cost: 20 Points
New Purchase!
1x: General Utility Hyperestic Belt
Cost: 5 Points
Remaining Total: 19 Points
Kneeling down, I unzip my duffel to see my prize, extrag the belt and, after rummaging to see what I had actually knocked in earlier, a rather small tungsten cube I had picked up from some ruined b iampa Ruins years ago. After making sure that the belt’s e is secure, I pe end on the ground and pce my foot on the inside of the loop, while pulling up and doing my best to hold the other end perpendicur. Then with my free hand, I pull the cube back, the sheer tension of my muscles causing my arm to shake.
I have calcuted your makeshift slingshot’s trajectory and force; I will dispy it onto your optical augs.
A simple targetiicule emerges in my vision, which allows me to see that I was going to overshoot my target by… Well, a lot, so I release some of the tension. The reticule lowers to where it should be, and after adjusting the force to a hal level, I let it fly. In a split sey makeshift projectile flies across the baly, and I wince as I see the guard crumple when the cube sms into the ter of his helmet.
Taking my ce, I throw the belt around my right shoulder then rush towards the dder, doing my best to work through the pain. Grabbing onto the cube which had falleo the guard’s body, I stuff it into my bag before I quietly pat the puy on the head.
I hope he’ll be okay.
The few minutes are a mind wrengly repetitive series of dders as I desd a few levels, hoping I wasn’t followed the entire way. Since I have to take every other step more carefully, my progress is rather sluggish, which is holy a bit of a relief. I am already exhausted, and I knorobably not even close to being dooday. While I’m about halfway down one of the dders, Nyvi suddenly chimes in, making me almost slip.
Perhaps you should take a short break on this floor. It’s private property, but in our case, we don’t really o care.
I squint, looking down at the grouh me. “H-How does that work exactly?”
You’re a member of the Vanguard, honey.
I blink, then do my best to ighe heat in my face. “A-Ah, right. I guess I am.”
As I reach the bottom of the dder and step off of it onto the dder’s metal grate, I stumble a few feet onto the floor’s crete baly. With a groan, I fall to my butt against a safety rail, then pull my socked foot up and grimace at the dirt and blood that seem to have collected on its bottom.
“W-When I remove this?” I mutter, shaking my head as I deliberately look away from the gory sight, “I-It sort of seems unsanitary.”
It should be fio remove it in around ten minutes, but you don’t have to worry about the blood and dirt, they’re isoted separately from your wounds by the gel.
I open my mouth to speak, but before I , a rather rge seagull sticks its face right o me from the railing behind me. My heart leaps out of my chest, and with a little yelp and desperate shuffle ter, I am holding my hand to my heart, back against the crete wall opposite of the drop.
“H-holy… N-Nyvi, I think I was caught up in the moment earlier so it didn’t occur to me,” I whisper, my heart beating twice as fast as normal, “But it retty foolish of me to gh that whole escape without my ear impnts on, huh?”
It was not an issue. The ck of noise kept you focused, I would have alerted you if something nearby made noise and required your attention.
“H-How exactly does that work?” I peek down at the dark waters beh us as the gull flies away, slowly sug in a breath at the distance I still had to travel.
The manufacturer of your impnts included a rather devious method to gather information in their code, and I simply took trol of their backdoor. Listening through your impnts alone is against their own pany promises, let alone while they’re supposed to be off. You could likely rake their entire corporatiohe coals for it if you were on the mainnd, but it seems to be legal gray water since you live in New Houston. I could personally send them a message of grievance, if you would like.
As Nyvi’s words sink in, I ’t help but start to ruefully ugh, c my face with my hands. So, so much about the st few years of my life was beginning to clito pce just with that short expnation. Releasing my face, I feel the cold breeze against my skin and marvel slightly at the beauty of the moon above me.
“I really, really need a therapist,” I mutter, leaning my head against the metal.
Once we have gathered a suffit amount of points, that will not be an issue.
I breathe a chuckle, taking a moment to just… exist.
“You know, Nyvi,” I whisper, closing my eyes, “You might be the best thing to ever happen to me.”
Thank you for the pliment, honey. I expect it will be the first of many.
As much as I want to fight it, a grin slowly grows on my face as I open my eyes. With a huff, I rise to my feet and turn my impnts on after a moment of trepidation. A wave of eleioise resohrough my ears, and I soon find that despite my misgivings, the only sounds that greet me are the waves and the lightly creaking skeleton of the tral tower. I sort of expected to be able to hear the night market on this low floor, but it seems that I’m far enough away that the noise 't carry.
“N-Nyvi, what is on this particur floor, anyways?” I examihe featureless crete wall, seeing that it stretches quite far before it ends.
It’s just a warehouse taining artifacts of some sort, as far as I know. Now that we’ve rested a bit, I reend momentarily pausing our dest to gather information. You should be able to get into a good position for it by following the walls around.
I think for a moment, then nod. “M-Makes sense, I think. L-Lets go see what the tral ptform is like at the moment.”
I start limping across the catwalk, finding that my foot doesn’t really hurt all too muymore. My speed has increased dramatically, and it only takes a few seds to get around the er. I hear the gull from before, turning to watentarily as it begins to fly to the north. The longer we walk towards our destination, however, the more uled I get.
“T-This isn’t right,” I mutter, speeding up my steps a bit, “N-Nyvi, there’s nothing. W-Where is the noise?”
It’s ing. Be careful.
I grunt in agreement, but still do my best to speed up until I finally reach the edge. When I do, I grab the safety rail and look out at what should be the ter of the evacuation. What I see instead makes me pale and take a few steps back, doing my best not to hurl.
Where ohere stood a colorful, lively market, now stands a gigantic symbol of the Antithesis invasion. It was like a tornado ran through New Houston, every siall thrown about, ripped into pieces by some disgustingly powerful source. It’s obvious erformed the deed. Rising out from a gigantic hole bored into the ter of the floating ptform, a titanic, bloated pilr, almost looking like a chimera of a sea anemone and queee, looms above a veritable army of trolled corpses standing silently amongst a group of aliens.
The monster is seemingly made entirely of human bone and flesh.
Long, sientacles of muscle whip around it, and my eyes go wide when I see one around one of the bodies, lifting it up to the very top of the abomination. The flesh opens, revealing a long, bottomless maw of what almost seem like humah, yet my mind refuses to accept them as such. The body is haphazardly dropped, and I fail to hold back my stomach after the pilr’s insides spin like a blender, ripping the corpse into pieces.
Oh. This is bad.
I wipe my mouth, looking up to see a hole in the side of the pilr opening, spitting out a small, fged alien covered in a carapace of pearly white bohe newly birthed beast immediately rushes at one of the zombies. It tackles it to the ground, its mouth opening to reveal one simir to the monstrosity it was born from, swallowing the human whole. It begins to tremble as multiple holes open across its body, slowly releasing dozens, if not hundreds, of bloody Model Sevens onto the ground.
That’s a model Twenty Seven Variant, we o-
Before my AI finish, one of the tentacles s around another, coils like a spring, then shoots out at me. I scream, leaping to the side as a boipped spear stabs straight through where I had just been standing. I stumble backwards, paling as I see two of the bone covered monsters climb up onto the new bridge, skittering up towards me. Nyvi’s words match exactly what I immediately begin to do.
RUN!
Aliapanacea
