Chương 683: Chapter Fifty-Eight - End Program To You Too

"One of the events precipitating the fall of several western nations was the rise of censorship. At some point, several governmental entities believed that more robust laws and regulations around the censoring of information were in order, to keep people in line. This had the adverse effect, driving those who would be censored deeper into their own hidden corners. It's no wonder, then, that these people came out of these spaces as extremists, seeing their own governments as enemies and adversaries.

As it turns out, one cannot censor someone from shooting them in their own home." --On the Rise of the Black Curtain, 2035 The next couple of days were surprisingly quiet. I went to school, cuddled with Lucy, ate lots of good food, chatted with Nya and Gomorrah and stood next to Shy while she refilled her social batteries. It was nice, but there was still the looming threat of something awful on the horizon. Not the conference. That was taking care of itself.

And by that I meant that there were enough people invested in it now that while things weren't exactly smooth sailing, there were various groups that wanted this to work out, and more who just wanted some fingers in the pie. Gomorrah was having fun with it, I could tell. She was the sort of woman that liked organizing this kind of thing. Lucy was in on it as well. She had her small army of volunteers laying out the groundwork. They were visiting the casino on the regular.

From what I could tell, the casino was not happy with the whole ordeal, but it was also making them very popular. I wasn't sure if that was good for their pocketbooks, but it sure was good for the place's rep. Half of Lucy's crew's work was setting up a watch and barricades to keep people out, and we were a week and a half away from the big event. Gomorrah was already weeding through applications, refusing medias, paparazzi and b-list celebs who just wanted to be there.

We were going to have to set up some massive anti-surveillance net over the whole thing. Well, Shy was going to. I was providing my illustrious self to the event, which I thought was more than enough. Or it would have been, right up until Gomorrah dumped a mountain of responsibility on me the moment she saw I was just relaxing and not worrying. Not that I was just chilling and not worrying. In fact, I had something to do today that was unchill and very worrisome. I had to go check up on Princess and Knight.

I really didn't wanna do it. The girl gave me the creeps sometimes. But... yeah, I could be the bigger woman, pop over and see if she was handling the samurai life alright. The others had all turned out to be doing okay. Gros Baton and Hedgehog hadn't killed themselves clearing out that old megabuilding, Tankette was being quiet and homely, Shy was... slightly less shy. My cohort of newbies was fine, except I'd never looked into how Princess was doing. So I got ready to head out and find out.

Only I wasn't so stupid as to not bring backup, which is how I ended up at Shy's door, tapping a 'shave and a haircut' beat and waiting. And waiting some more... I was starting to wonder if she wasn't home at all when the door slid open and I found myself looking at a frazzled Shy. She looked a bit wide-eyed, and her pajamas were all tussled up.

"Uh, hey," I said. Shy stared at me, then around and past me.

"End program," she muttered. Was she running something in the background? Well, whatever.

"End program to you too," I said.

"Sorry to barge over, but you didn't answer my texts, and it's not like you live that far away. Figured I could pop over and see if everything's alright."

"Oh." Shy blinked a few times. Then she rubbed at her face.

"It is... noon."

"Uh-huh," I confirmed.

"Sorry," she said. Then she slid the door closed in front of me. I was about to feel a little insulted when her AI spoke up.

"Please forgive Lady Shy, she's had a long and arduous night. She requires a few minutes to shower and prepare herself. If you're willing to wait, she may be willing to assist you."

"Yeah, I can chill for a few," I said. I sniffed at the air. Was it me or... meh, nah, it was probably just the fact this was a basement. Those tended to smell a bit musky. It took Shy a solid fifteen to open the door again, and when she did it came with a strong whiff of canned fresh air. Still, she was dressed all samurai-like, her hair still a bit wet, and she looked wide awake. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Hey," I said.

"Long night?" Shy froze, then nodded. Weird, but like, not that weird considering that this was Shy.

"So, I'm heading out to meet Princess and Knight. One's a newbie samurai. Didn't wanna go at it alone, and she could use some more friends. Figured you might be cool with that too." Shy considered it, then nodded slowly.

"Okay," she said.

"Nice," I replied.

"It's not that far. Princess and Knight live in the middle of the city, so it's like, a ten minute flight from here, fifteen tops. More if we stop to grab a bite. You hungry?" She shook her head, then slipped out of her apartment. I took that as my cue to get going, so I started to head out with Shy hustling to keep up.

"Um. Is Princess nice?"

"She's fine," I said.

"She's... very high-energy. A bit too much for me, honestly. I mentioned our sort-of history?" She nodded, so I continued.

"It makes things hella awkward." I'd bring Nya along as well, because more people would mean more layers between myself and Princess, but she was inexplicably occupied with something. I figured that an unattended, unwatched Nya was a big problem, but it was probably a problem for someone else. Shy and I got to the Bastion and I took off, inputting Princess' address in. We flew across the city, then over a section that I'd never really had any business being near.

It was one of the few parts of inner New Montreal not slapped atop a megacity plate. Instead, the area was more natural, though it was surrounded by tall walls all the same. There was a dip as the city made room for what was obviously one of the wealthiest and oldest districts. I wasn't even sure if calling this part of 'New' Montreal made sense. The homes here were, in some cases, ancient. Built in the early 1900s, or earlier. They were brick and mortar, with tiny yards. Some spaces had larger estates.

And I used that word literally. Like, big yards and bigger homes, with fences, gates, and private security. A few historical buildings sat here and there, built along the sides of a rising cliff that might have been a mountain if I squinted. This wasn't the space for normal folk to live. It was for the one-percent of the one-percent whose parents had also been at the top and whose grandparents were doing alright for themselves as well. The newer rich liked their penthouses and spots atop the world.

The old rich already owned property here and didn't need to buy a skyscraper to live in. Princess was, as far as I could tell, not old rich, but her daddy was, and I suspected that Knight had chosen to share her inheritance. Their house wasn't the biggest in the area, but it wasn't small either. A nice three story home, made of actual stone, with a little driveway, a fenced-in yard at the back, and a two-door garage that was stuck to the side of the house.

I brought the Bastion down for a slow, careful landing out front, then sat in my seat for a few long seconds.

"You ever feel like you're going to step into a social situation that you'd really rather avoid at all costs?" Shy stared at me.

"Yeah, nevermind, stupid question," I said before getting up off my ass. No point in putting it off. The longer I delayed the longer it would be before I could make some excuse and head back home. Stepping out of the Bastion I shielded my eyes and squinted up at the house. It looked bigger from up close. I noticed some cameras here and there, and what looked like the hatch for a deployable turret out by the front. Not samurai tech, just standard protective systems.

It had been the mayor's house, so it tracked that the place would have halfway decent security. Maybe if the mayor had stayed in his nice home and minded his business, things would be a little different. Sighing, I walked up to the front entrance and pressed a thumb into an old-fashioned doorbell. There was a loud, pretty-sounding chime from inside, then nothing for a while.

"They might not be home, maybe we can..." I started. Shy shook her head slowly. Then there was the sound of footsteps approaching and the door was ripped open. In it was a familiar girl, with blonde hair pulled up into twintails and a rather poofy dress on. She was wearing slippers though, and a T-shirt. A T-shirt with my logo on the front. Princess gasped. This was a mistake.