(Claire)

“Claire, wake up. Class is over.” Someone whispers in my ear while shaking me about violently.

“Yes, yes, I am up. Where are we supposed to go next?” I ask my friend.

"Lunch,” Lucy says, giving me an unimpressed look. “You slept through all the morning classes. I wonder why you even bothered to come to school,” she continues to grumble.

“I was busy, you know, last night. I made a breakthrough with my herbicide chemicals,” I say as I wipe the sleep from my eyes.

“And doing that over going to school is smart because?” Lucy asks in a scolding tone.

I frown. “Because if I get it to work, it can easily kill thousands of Xenos without bringing any harm to humans. Universities will be begging to take me in.”

Lucy gives me a thoroughly unimpressed look. “And how close are you to getting it right then?”

“Uhm, well, there is still the issue of the chemicals denaturing rather quickly, so not that close,” I admit.

“So it is a waste of time then.” Lucy concludes. “Having it would be nice, but if you fail school because of it, you won’t help anyone.”

“Hey can’t you have a little bit of faith in me that I might actually succeed?” I say, frowning even more, crossing my arms.

Lucy sighs, “Sure, I guess somewhere in fantasyland you will succeed, but here in the real world I am hungry, so I am going for lunch. Follow me once you get your head out of your ass.”

Without any further words, Lucy turns around and heads off leaving me to stew in my own anger. Sure, I have not succeeded yet, but it could work. And if it does, it can save so many lives, so who cares if I miss some class? Math, physics and literature never seem to help people much, anyway. And I am not totally illiterate on the stuff; some of it can be useful for chemistry.

Instead of heading to the canteen like I should, I decide to head to the chemistry lab instead to both cool my head and run some extra experiments. Who needs food if you can mess around with chemicals?

I will admit that I might have got too engrossed in my little experiment, meaning that I am completely taken by surprise when the bell suddenly rings. I frown as some of the compounds require a bit more time in the centrifuge, and I am still not done with the titration.

I quickly turn my AUGs back on; the things being too distracting while I work. Turns out I am right; it is still early. I technically should still have fifteen more minutes until lunchtime is over. Though that is of lesser concern right now. No, what takes precedence is the big flashing sign in my face saying ‘incursion detected’.

Fuck, what to do. I can run and try making it to the shelter, but it is all the way on the other side of the campus. Or I can stay here and lock the door. The chemistry lab does have reinforced walls and doors after a series of break-ins.

I decide it is best to stay here. Sure the shelter would be safer, but I have no idea where the aliens are so remaining at an already safe location is tactically the smarter play. Just in case however, I start grabbing the big jars of various acids and start filling all the erlenmeyers and beakers I could find. Sure, there might not be any extremely strong acids here, it is still a school after all, but with some basic reactions I can up the potency on several of them.

While I am preparing my glass grenades, however, I am reminded of one unfortunate fact. The room might be reinforced, but the window very much isn’t. A fact that the big alien bird could not wait to point out. As soon as its massive body slams into the window, it's like a wave of static is released, sending my AUGs on the fritz.

I waste only a few seconds being shocked before I start trowing the glassware at the antithesis. Every splash of the acid burns into the plant. Sadly, however, these compounds were not my personal patent pending design, meaning that every splash of acid is giving me nasty chemical burns on my hands.

Luckily for me, however, the strength of the acid and the fact that the lab tables are in the middle of the room and made out of reinforced metal gives me enough room to continually run around the monster staying out of its range while I pelt it with glass. It's like this, with me continually running around the table, sometimes ducking under or over, that I slowly kill the bird.

Each time it slams into a table, more of its green plant like flesh scraps off until eventually there is not enough left to support its weight. I slowly move closer to the bird, dumping an extra good dose on its head just for good measure.

Then, I rush to the sink and start washing my hands, trying my best to get as much of the chemicals off as I can. My skin had started turning red in some areas. And even though the beast is dead, this place is no longer safe as the pheromones would attract other beasts to my location and I am not really sure if I have enough acid for those too.

“What should I do next?” I wonder out loud.

System Initialized!

Congratulations. Through your actions, you have proven yourself worthy of becoming one of the Vanguard and a defender of humanity. I am Trymegistus. I will assist you to uplift humanity so that you may defend your homeworld from the Antithesis threat!

Rise, Claire Uraine, and become a protector of the weak!

“Well, that is an option for sure,“ I say out loud as I move away from the washing basin to look out of the hole where the window used to be. Down on the streets below there is an absolute mass of aliens just walking the streets.

“Trymeg… can I just call you Try? Would it be possible to, like, drop a bunch of acidic chemicals on the plants below that, you know, don’t wreck the streets too badly?” I ask.

Try is totally fine. As for the chemicals, it is possible, but seeing as you currently only have two hundred points, the method of delivery will be slightly less elegant, meaning that a lot of the chemicals would be wasted. The excitable voice informs me.

I nod, looking at the variable horde of plants. “That should be fine. With the amount of plants walking below, we should be able to still get enough points to buy some nice things after, right?” I ask. I am not an expert on being a Samurai and have barely processed becoming one myself, but watching a frankly crazy amount of Samurai streams while waiting for chemicals to finish their reaction has thought me one thing. The early days were the most dangerous, and gathering a lot of points to buy better gear quickly would greatly increase my chances for survival.

According to my calculations, the chance of making a profit is high indeed.

“Okay, in that case, dump everything we have.” With a wide grin.

Basic chemical compounds unlocked!

Points reduced to... 150

New Purchase: Hydrochloric acid 150 litres

Points reduced to... 0

A big glob of yellow greenish liquid forms in front of me before dropping down along the building and raining down on the plants. I smile slightly to myself. This is just taking acid rain to a whole new meaning. Sadly, it's too far away to hear any sizzling but I can just imagine that myself.

Targets Liquefied!

Reward... 457 points!

Current points: 457!

I smile brightly. Nice that little trick had almost doubled my points. “Okay, Try, any ideas where to go from here? What equipment should I get to improve?”

Since you already have a chemical catalog, something that would more efficiently deliver set chemicals to your enemies would be recommended.

I nod. “Any suggestions?”

A few, but if you want to focus on chemical warfare, I would recommend the Yogobu racial catalog. They specialise in chemical compounds. This results in their catalog being specialised in your preferred way of dealing damage.

“I see how much is it?” I ask.

The catalog itself would be 200 points, then outfitting fitting you with some basic equipment will cost you an additional 150 points.

I look at the spilled chemicals around the room. Is this really how I wanted to fight? Then I spot the melting corps of the Model 11. “Okay, let's do that.”

Yogobu Racial Catalogue unlocked!

Points reduced to... 257

New Purchase: Sophisticated Pipeline Logistics And Stabilised Hydraulics

Points reduced to... 107

A big box appears in front of me.

“The splash really?” I ask as I open the box, revealing a big metal backpack that seems to have come straight out of a steampunk movie.

I enjoy the sound.

“I see, so how does this entire contraption work then?” I say, pointing at the Gogo gadget bag.

There are several liquid chambers that all connect to each other, allowing you to mix fluids and gasses on the go. There are also a few mixing chambers at different temperatures for extra spice. Then there is the delivery nozzle that encapsulates the chemicals in a thin spherical film, allowing it to fly further.

I nod as I grab the bag and throw it over my shoulder. Tightening the straps, I try to position the big vacuum nozzle in its proper location. “Like this?” I ask Try.

Correct, you see the trigger mechanism that is for the delivery system?

I feel around around the nozzle for a while until I find the small mechanism. I aim the thing at the nearest wall and flip the switch. Bubbles start pouring out and hit the wall with a pop.

“Nothing is happening.” I point out.

That is because no chemicals are loaded. The different dials control the flow of liquids.

I pause, looking at the mess of dials. “Can I get, like, the dumbed down version of it for right now?”

You could, but I can also take over complete control over the flow for now while you get used to your other duties.

I let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks, that would be extremely helpful.”

Understood.

I do one last check, making sure the backpack is properly secure, and prepare to head out.

“Try, do you have any clue if Lucy made it to the shelter?”

There are some students that have not made it to the shelter, according to their pings. This includes Lucy.

I open the map, cursing that the school decided to not to put in any cameras for student privacy. I quickly scan the different people, noticing that Lucy is currently pinned down close to the biology labs, which, if I am being honest, is probably one of the worst places to be at.

Having made up my mind, I unlock the door and head out. The halls are surprisingly empty. So I decide to throw caution to the wind and start to run straight for my friend's location. The biology lab seems, well, it has seen better days. Most of the cabinets have been smashed, and there is red blood everywhere.

“Lucy, are you here!” I shout out, feeling the panic slowly rise in my throat.

The loud clattering of stuff falling over tells me that something at least heard me and is coming this way. By the lack of anyone's voice shouting out at me, I venture that whoever is coming is not at all friendly. I ready my chemical weapon and aim it at the noise, waiting to bubble whatever walks around the corner.

True to my thought, the first thing to round the corner is the ugly mug of a model 3. I quickly open the faucet; the bubbles spraying out in a somewhat concentrated beam right at the fucker's face. The bubbles individually don’t seem to do much damage but the sheer quantity of them means that the alien's head turns into nothing more than an acrid pit in only a few seconds.

That is a good thing too, as almost immediately after the first one falls down a second and third plant monster appear.  I keep shooting the bubbles, rapidly switching between the two plants as I take several steps backward. Luckily both plants die before they can get to me, but it does make me wonder.

“Try? Is there any way to make the spray of bubbles wider?”

There is just a twist at the end of the nozzle like a garden hose to switch between different modes.

I nod slowly as I grab the tip and start twisting; the apparatus turns quite easily switching to the next setting with a satisfying click. It's at this time I also notice the little icons at the tip of the nozzle. Instead of the single line it was before, the icon is now two lines spaced out like a cone.

I do I quick test fire, and the spray of bubbles is much wider, almost creating some kind of shield in frond of me. I click it to the next mode, this time displaying several lines next to each other. I fire again, this time drowning the entire bio lab in bubbles.

“Okay, this should work. Try can you tell me where Lucy last ping was exactly?”

It should be further in, lab 2.3

I sigh. The live specimen lab. That was never a good sign, was it? Though it is further into the building so the aliens might not have gotten there yet. Those hopes are quickly dashed, however, as I follow the path of destruction further in, making as much noise as I can, if there are still Xenos here, I wanted them to run to me and not to anyone that would still be hiding. If they were still alive, that is.

No, stop I can’t think like that.

This, however, does not seem to work as I start hearing a lot of crashing in front of me followed by some loud screaming. The next thing I know, the wall of the lab explodes, and one of the bigger models comes sailing through the wall, impaled by several pink crystals.

I blink in surprise and then look up back into the lab. Inside the hole stands a tall figure, pink battle armour plated all across her body as she holsters one of her guns and, using her now free hand, she presses a button on the side of her helmet, making it retract back into a sparkling tiara.

The face underneath is rather pretty; the slightly Asian features pair nicely with the rainbow eyes. She smiles softly at me.

“Are you okay? I did not know you were there. I did not hit you, right?” she asks, sounding a slight bit embraced.

“Yeah, I am fine,” I say a bit dumbly to the superstar. I mean, I was distracted most of the time, but that did not mean I did not know about one of the more famous European Samurai.

“That is good. I was about to bring these people to the shelter, and I could use the help”

I nod. “Yeah, of course... wait, I was looking for my friend. Is Lucy in there?” I ask walking forward towards the hole.

To my great relief, I find my friend is safe. Sure, she appears to have some scrapes, and her face is a bit tear stained, but she is alive.

“Claire, why are you caring around a boiler?” Lucy asks, sounding completely out of it.

—

I am shaken awake violently. I immediately sit up straight and look around in surprise. I am in a lecture hall? Right, I had uni today, and there seems to be some kind of break in the lecture seeing as most of the students are talking to each other. I look to the side where I find Lucy looking at me with an unamused look.

“You know that, as a Samurai, you don’t have to be here, right? You can find work regardless of what you do?” she asks.

“Yeah, I know, it was just that last night I kind of celebrated moving in with Magenta and everything, so it got quite late.” I say, trying my best to look ashamed.

“Lucy, don’t be mean, she is problem really busy doing Samurai stuff on top of her school work as well.” Skylar, one of the orphans Evelin found in the undercity, butts in.

“Yeah, but I have seen what kind of bullshit Samurai have. They can just order a cup of coffee that keeps them awake for days.

I chuckle at that. “We can, but it tastes like ass.”

“So sleeping through your lectures is the better option?” Lucy asks.

“No, you are right,” I admit. “Anyway, Skylar you have been around kids, right? What would be a good present to get them?”

Skylar pauses with a frown. “Well, it depends on the kid really and what they have already, but back at the orphanage, plush animals were really popular because they are nice and soft and give the children something to hug when they are scared.

I purse my lips in thought. "That is a good idea, but what animal should I pick?”

“Maybe ask the parents?” Skylar suggests.

I guess that makes sense. I quickly open my contacts and scroll to Evelin then think better of that and scroll back up to Cierra.

A moment later she picks up. “Hey, how is it going? How is school?”

“It’s alright, though I slept through most of it so far. How about you? How are the kids?” I ask, still feeling nervous.

A small pause hangs in the air before she answers. “Well, Evelin took Cali to the med bay and now Shinon is too scared to leave her room, so it’s not going great, but nobody lost any limbs yet, so it could be worse.”

“That is… do you need help? Should I come?”

“No, that’s fine, love,” Cierra reassures me. “Magenta is here now, and I don’t want to stress the kids out even more.”

“Right, I will stay here then.”

“Good, now, did you just want to know how it was going, or did you need something?” Cierra asks with a bit of a giggle.

“Yeah, I was wondering what kind of animals they would like since I want to buy them some plushies.” I say, feeling a bit awkward now.

“Ah, that is so sweet of you, but I honestly don’t know what they like, so I can’t help you. Just don’t get a hyena: don’t want Daisy getting jealous now.

I laugh. “Yeah, the big oof might also find it strange having so many new people around. But I’ll be off then, need to go back to class.”

“Okay, love you, bye, bye.”

With that, the connection gets cut off, and I am back to square one. “So that did not work.”

“How does a parent not know what kind of animal their kids like?” Lucy asks, a bit confused.

“The type of parent that has had their kid for less than a day.” I snap out with a bit more bite than intended.

“Okay, fair I guess you could go with the standards of like bunnies and bears.” Lucy says.

“There is a toy store a few floors down; we can look there for something proper during our lunch break.” Skylar suggests.

“Sure, that sounds great.” I say with a smile.