Chapter Fifty-Four - Slapping Some Sense
Chapter Fifty-Four - Slapping Some Sense
"A good firm slap to the face, delivered with an open palm, is a fantastic way to wake someone up. Aim for the cheek, and make sure that your blow is mostly making contact with the ends of your fingers. The strike should sting more than punch. The shock, delivered to the face so close to multiple sensory organs, acts as a method of 'snapping' a subject out of a fugue state in a rapid and safe manner."
--Medic's Field Guide, 42nd Edition, 2054
***
"Out here, or somewhere more private?" Libre asked.
I kinda wanted to get this over with, but I wasn't so stupid as to think that keeping things private was a bad move. "Yeah, somewhere private would do," I said.
Libre glanced between Crisis and me. There was something in his eyes, a weird emotion that I couldn't read. "Follow me," he said instead of addressing whatever that was.
He led us to the back of the floor, where there was a sliding door that opened into an office with a decent view of Quebec at that back. Next to the office was another room, one that looked like a combination kitchen living room, and I suspected that past that was a bedroom. Was this his home?
I supposed it made sense. If he was going to be working here all day and night, he'd want a place to rest that wasn't far. Libre turned and focused on the windows for a moment, then a set of automatic shutters came on, and started to lower over the glass front between us and the main floor.
"It's not the ideal place, but it's secure enough," Libre said. "I have sniffers for listening devices, though I haven't gotten around to installing jammers yet."
"Yeah, good enough," I said. I glanced at Crisis Mode, but she didn't seem ready to take the lead, so I returned my attention to Libre while crossing my arms. "I'm on a wild goose chase. Kind of a waste of time, but it's also important."
"Go on," he said when I paused.
I gestured vaguely with my hand. "I wasn't listening too hard when Gom explained it, but basically, we're running out of munitions on the front. Our boys out there are having to ration their ammo already. I think more is coming in, but it's not quite as fast as we'd like, you know?"
"But you are receiving enough not to be overwhelmed," he said.
I shifted my weight from one leg to the other. "Yeah. That's exactly right."
"Do you know anything about that?" Crisis Mode asked.
"Of course. I tried to suggest a slow-down of ammo expenditure on the front lines, but the commander, that Juno fellow, said that we had plenty. He wasn't wrong of course, we do have decent stockpiles, but the reasoning had nothing to do with our ammunition supplies and everything to do with the rate of kills."
I closed my eyes for a moment, processing. "So, you're the one responsible?"
"We don't want to kill the enemy too quickly. We need to give them time to ada--"
Crisis Mode slapped him across the face so hard that when he stumbled back, I was worried he might have broken his neck.
"Tabarnak," she said. It wasn't even directed at him, in particular.
"Ah! You hit me!" Libre said.
"Looks like it," I replied. "Surprised she didn't shoot you, honestly."
"What? Why?" He asked.
"Are you... serious?" I asked in return.
Libre rubbed at his face. There was already a redness to his cheek, and I suspected that it was gonna swell right up in an hour or two. He worked his jaw, then stepped back and grabbed a tissue from a box on his desk. He spat blood into it.
"I... I can see that you're upset," he said.
"You think?" Crisis Mode asked. "What the fuck, Libre? We need that ammo! And it's not even just bullets! We're missing medical supplies! Food!"
"It's not gone," he said. "I didn't toss it into an incinerator. It's simply redirected."
"To fucking where?" Crisis Mode asked.
"To other places along the front? If we hold out as I planned, we're going to have to field additional forces at other points on the wall. I can make all of this available to you. I've never hidden my tactical and strategic goals."
"Dude," I said. "We need that ammo now. If we need more later, then sure, I can see why you'd want to start parcelling it out, but we're not dying yet. The front is holding. It won't be if we don't get ammo. I mean..."
This tale has been pilfered from NovelPhoenix. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
It probably would hold, no matter if there was ammo or not. There were four samurai at the wall right now. One higher-tier samurai would be enough. Four newer ones probably added up to enough. Gomorrah could probably just bulk buy some ammo. She'd probably get everyone some sort of incendiary rounds or something, knowing her, but it would do.
That didn't excuse whatever the fuck Libre was doing.
"Yes, I know," he said. "I've tried convincing people before, but the average soldier to too concerned with immediate survival, not the long term repercussions of their liv--"
Crisis punched him.
I winced in sympathy as Libre stumbled back, crashed into his desk, and sent paperwork and desktop doohickies flying everywhere.
"Calise," Crisis added. "You... do you have any idea what it's like out there? Merde! Of course not. You've been spending too much time in this stupid tower, Libre. I don't care how right you are. I don't care if sacrificing ten men now will save a hundred tomorrow. I want to save both, god dammit! What's the point of being a samurai if you can't at least try?"
"She's right," I said with a shrug. I let my arms fall, then resisted the urge to step up and help him to his feet. I think that Crisis pulled her blow, because while he looked dazed and winded, he wasn't dead and his jaw was still attached correctly. She was wearing power armour. She had made the choice not to kill him, which was very big and grown up and mature of her, and all that. "We're here to win this, Libre. I don't know if what happened to your girl scared you that bad, or what, but playing a number's game like this ain't it."
Libre worked his jaw, then let a line of drool and blood run out of his mouth and onto the floor. Guy was going to want to wear a mask to cover up his face for the next few weeks. "I... I am not your enemy."
"That only makes it all the more galling," Crisis Mode snapped. "If you were, then at least it'd make sense."
It took a moment for the words to register, then I saw real pain on Libre's face. I think that stung more than the punch had.
"Alright," I said, stepping in. "This is enough. Let's not kill him, yeah?" I touched Crisis Mode on the elbow.
I was all for a bit of murder once in a while. It did a girl good to put someone down. But I was pretty sure that killing a samurai was a bit different than shooting a corpo rat. Myalis and the other Protector AI had done an alright job picking people so far. At least, I thought so. The samurai I met were all, to a man, cool people. Weird, sure, but cool. Libre seemed determined to be the exception.
The criteria for being a Vanguard or whatever wasn't something I was super knowledgeable about, but it was probably complicated, and there were probably safeguards against picking an asshole.
Or maybe I was both giving the AI and Libre too much credit.
"If we... I'm sorry," Libre said, cutting himself off. "I made a mistake."
"More than one," Crisis Mode said. I think the lack of anger on his part was deflating her a little. "Now what? You've fucked us over with your grand plan."
Libre swallowed, frowned, then shook his head. "No. Not really. I was operating with a plan meant to extend out for the next three decades. Slowly guiding local Antithesis towards adapting to be... it doesn't matter. If you want to change to a more normal modus operandi, then you should have time to do so. The push against the north eastern wall is still relatively weak. We have the approximate location of the hives that the Antithesis are coming from. But the larger hives aren't currently active."
"Not currently active?" I asked.
"In that they're not sending what they have," he explained. "If you push out and come closer, then there's a ninety-plus percent chance that they'll retaliate. The Antithesis are relatively predictable. It's why I haven't suggested a push. If we do attack, we need to be ready to face all of them, not just one front."
I shrugged. "Fuck it," I said. "Well, since you're not taking charge anymore, and no one else is stepping up, I guess I'll just do it myself."
"Do what?" Crisis asked.
"Tell everyone to get the shit together. Quebec will be safest once the local aliens are all dead and gone. If we stay here and sit on our thumbs, nothing will get done. So we're going out there and blowing them the fuck up. Let's see how they adapt to that, yeah?"
***