“So where are these assholes at?” Cierra grumbles out as we get into the car.

“According to the website, they're based in France.” I point out.

Cierra lets out a disgusted sigh. “Are they at least in the good part of France?”

“Uhm, I am not sure what the good part of France is, but they are in a place called… Nanite? Am I reading that right?” I ask in surprise.

Cierra gives me a weird look. "Do you mean Nantes?”

“Probably, yeah?” I say, looking at the weird handwriting.

Cierra looks up. “So how long does it take to get there?”

“You want to go there right now?” I ask in surprise.

She gives me a pleading look. “Yes, is that not okay?”

I look at Yun Min sitting in the back, and she just gives me a nod. “I guess we can, but it is a bit far, so we'll be gone for a while. Does anyone still need something, or can we go right now?”

Both girls shake their heads, so I set a course to France and surrender control to Lyssa since I am not willing to drive all the way there myself. I mean, with a flying car we are unlikely to run into anything.

“Why would someone buy eggs anyway?” Yun Min asks.

There are multiple options; the most basic one would be designer babies. Rich people who want their kids to look a certain way will combine all types of different DNA until they have the perfect baby. Another, more disturbing option is that this company has a machine like Magenta or Luna — one that allows for the alteration of DNA and the needed people to test it on.

“Which one is likelier?” Yun Min asks.

“That is probably more of a toss-up. but selective breeding is in general more common, but seeing what this company deals in, I am not so sure.” I admit.

“You think they have a lot of samurai tech?” Cierra asks.

“Probably not,” I venture, “but they would have most definitely kept some nice stuff for themselves. The only question is how nice it actually is.”

“So, we don’t know what we are walking into, should we ask for backup?” Yun Min asks.

“Maybe? I don’t know; let me go ask if there are any Samurai in France that might want to lend us a hand,” I suggest as I open up the PsyCo messages system and select the Samurai group chat.

[Maniac: So, we are going on a side quest to France, to a town called Nantes. Anyone know someone from that area we might want an extra guide/muscle]

[Bubbles3: No, but please bring me back a croissant.]

[Sparkling cunt: I interviewed someone in that area like 3 years ago but have not had much contact with them since.]

[Boss Lady: No, but can you move your chair forward a bit?]

[Mom: I have an acquaintance who is in that area. I will send you their contact information.]

[Maniac: Thank you.]

After receiving the contact information, I open a new text thread.

[Crowslinger31: Hello Foxfire gave me your contact details, saying you were around Nantes, do you mind helping us with an operation?]

[Dys: We might be interested, but what is this operation about?]

[Crowslinger31: Right, sorry, I am Foxfire's daughter, Maniac. We are going to a company to recover some eggs]

[Dys: Not to question your motive, but why go this far for some omelettes?]

[Crowslinger31: They’re human eggs. You are not supposed to eat those…]

[Crowslinger31: document.link]

[Dys: Right, I suppose that would be problematic.]

[Crowslinger31: Don’t worry, anyway you want to come along; we could use some extra muscle in case things go wrong.]

[Dys: I think so. Are you expecting a lot of trouble?]

[Crowslinger31: I mean, they deal with Samurai tech, technically they don’t sell it, but if I were them, I would keep some of the things that hurt just in case]

[Dys: Makes sense, we’ll be there when you arrive.]

[Crowslinger31:thank you, at our current rate in about six-ish hours]

With that settled, I close the messaging app and slide my seat forward a bit. “So, it will take us a while to get there, does anyone have any suggestions of what we should do in the meantime?”

Yun Min looks at Cierra. “Do you have any weapons, and do you know how to use them?”

“I have a small pistol, and decent aim.” Cierra answers.

Yun Min nods. "Maybe do some training with it then.”

“Do you think we need it?” Cierra asks.

Yun Min just gives a flat look. “You should always be prepared.”

I smile. "Talking of being prepared, Lyssa, can you get them kitted out for war?”

Are there any limits Lyssa should consider?

I look at Cierra for a bit. “Maybe save some points for emergencies, but spend the rest.”

Understood

New Purchase: Queen Of Madness Care Package

Points reduced to... 531

A colourful box appears in Cierra’s lap, and her face immediately blossoms into a big smile. She opens the box, taking out a similar mask to mine, but hers has these sharp oval spots over her eyes in a striking blue colour and a black pattern on the right cheek.

She smiles and puts it on, a light blue hoodie appearing around her with white geometric lines all over it. Then she takes out the next item or, I guess, items. Several syringes of different colours, all with their own labels.

She reads their names quickly before stuffing the things in different pockets and takes out the next item, a square contraption with several legs.

“What is this?” Cierra asks, turning to me.

Those are autonomous attack drones. They attach to your back and strike out at anything coming up from behind. Lyssa informs her. Lyssa also included one for Miss Yun Min.

Cierra nods, taking out a second square and handing it off to Yun Min. The next thing she picks out is a fat single-edge blade with some kind of revolver attached to it instead of a normal pommel.

“Lyssa, what does this one do?” Cierra asks.

You stick the sharp part into the enemy to hurt, maim or kill them.

Cierra gives me a thoroughly unimpressed look. “And what about the gun part?”

If the enemy is too far away to stab directly, you can press the trigger to launch the blade instead.

Cierra frowns as she looks at the thing in her hand. “And that is safe?”

It’s a weapon; it is not supposed to be safe.

“Is she always like that?” Cierra asks.

“Just you wait until she starts spending your money just because you made a random comment.” I add.

“So, does this mean that it is now VR practice time? Or are there more surprises in that box?” Yun Min asks.

“Uhm, it has some like food bars and a cardboard crown in it.” Cierra answers.

“Okay, we can go in, then I'll show you the basics,” Yun Min says.

And with that settled, we leave the physical world and replace it with the virtual one.

To say Yun Min can be harsh is kind of an understatement; she can be a real drill sergeant when she puts her mind to it. Shouting at us and making us do all kinds of different drills until we are exhausted. I still count my lucky stars that I can’t actually sweat in the simulation.

Eventually however, we do reach our destination, and I take us out of the simulation. Looking around the city, it's very shiny, with lots of water features and a bunch of glass all around. We land in an abandoned toy factory, all the dead eyes of the dirty and discarded plush animals giving the whole place a creepy vibe.

I put on my mask and we get out of the hovercar to head further into the building. Inside of one of the big rooms we find someone, ahis metal machine, which looks more like a mining mech or labour mech than a fighting one. Its comically large arms drooping down making it look slightly derpy.

“Hey there,” I say with a wave. “I hope you weren’t waiting for long.”

We were monitoring your progress, so we knew at what time to head out here. An electronic voice says.

“Uhm, that is nice?” I say, “So want to go over the plan or do you have something to get off your chest first.”

According to my data, the chance of you having a plan is critically low. The armour says.

I frown. “First of all, where did you get that data from, because I want to seriously mess with that place, and second, I mean it's less a plan, plan, and more a plan of attack.”

And what is that?

“Go in, see if they are reasonable. If not, we fight and subdue them, but prioritise recovering everyone's eggs. After that, I don’t know. I guess we can store them in PsyCo while we try to figure out who they belong to. I believe we have some kind of freezer somewhere.” I turn to Yun Min and Cierra, both wearing their masks as well. "Am I forgetting anything?”

“We have not decided on a formation and general attack plan.” Yun Min asks. “Also, how are we going to find the eggs? Are we going to do a grid search?”

“Uhm, I was thinking of just hacking into their internal server base. If we are lucky, I can turn all their weapons against them. If we are unlucky, it will just tell me where everything is.”

Yun Min pauses. "That would work and the formation?”

I turn to the iron giant. “Bulwark do you prefer to be in the front or in the back?”

We prefer to be at the front.

I nod. “Yun Min, you be in the back, Cierra, in the middle, and I will be wherever I am needed.”

Everyone nods, and I smile. Hopefully, this is going to be an easy in and out situation. We'll be back on the road before evening, home before dawn.

“Okay, people, let's get ready to scare the soul out of some corpos,” I say with manic excitement.