Stray Cat Strut

Chapter Fifty-One - Adamantium Toenails

"Sassy? No, my AI is nice and polite? He's like an old-timey butler.

What? No, my AI is like a little sister I've never had.

What do you mean a butler and little sister? Mine gives me shit all the time!"

--Overheard conversation between three Samurai, 2025

***

I woke up to a kick.

It was weird, because I'd once been pretty used to waking up to kicks, but I hadn't felt one in a while. Lucy's deteriorating condition often led to weird twitches. She said they hurt when she was awake but she didn't feel them while sleeping.

Instead, I was the one to feel them as she rammed her sharp little toe-nails into my shins and calves.