Chương 437: Book 7 - Chapter 33 - Home Call

As the heavy lifter turned, carrying the heavy cannon back out above the waves, I slowly wandered back towards the edge of the hangar. Although it probably wouldn't take long to deploy the defenses, especially if the turrets could pretty much deploy themselves, I still wanted to take my responsibilities seriously. At least, that was the plan. As I stepped out of the hangar and into Bear Force One's inner corridors, my augs beeped, informing me of a call.

My eyes flicked to the HUD sitting in the corner of my vision as I pulled up the call information, and when I saw who it was, I paused. Even with all my mental augmentations, increasing my processing speed and capacity, it still took me a moment to figure out what to do. After a second, I turned, heading towards the residential area instead of the bridge, and picked up the call. [Hi Jane, how are things going?] I asked cheerfully, knowing that I'd probably catch shit for the tone. [Don't "Hi Jane" me!] Jane growled. [You told everyone that you were going out to deal with a minor Antithesis incursion a week ago, something that should only take a couple of hours, and instead spent days on the front line of a major engagement down in Montana!] [Wait… how do you know that?] I asked. [Evelyn, you're not exactly the most subtle samurai, believe it or not. People were uploading videos of you and your bears within minutes of your arrival in Great Falls. Although the authorities tried to keep things quiet, they couldn't hide the fact that dozens of samurai were pouring into the area, evacuating everyone in a wide area,] Jane explained. [There wasn't much information after that first day, but the few scraps of media that people managed to smuggle out made it clear that things were bad.] [Very bad,] I muttered. [We figured that most of the Antithesis would have died when Phobos broke up, and we'd only need to perform some minor cleanup. We didn't expect a mostly intact and fully active hive from Mars. It took everything we had just to keep the Antithesis from overwhelming the town during those first days.] [It's alright; I understand. I figured you were busy, and that's why I kept the kids from trying to bother you over the last few days,] Jane said. [However, that does not explain why you haven't called once things started to calm down. I know the samurai have managed to get the situation under control; they let a couple of news crews in to document the devastation, but we never heard a peep from you. What gives?] I reached up and ruffled my hair. [Something came up, a threat even more dangerous than that hive we shut down in Montana, and I got distracted. Focused on the problem at hand,] I said. [I know that's no excuse, and I really should have called once things calmed down. That's my bad.] [At least you admit you made a mistake,] Jane huffed, before lowering her voice. [Are you okay? Did you and the bears manage to get through the fight okay?] [Yeah, we're all good. It was a little touch-and-go for a while, but somehow, everyone who was helping to defend the town managed to make it through. Deadbeat, Bandit, and Bob are actually still there. It'll probably take quite a while to finish the clean-up operation,] I said. [I'm glad to hear that,] Jane said, before pausing for a moment.

[So if you're not in Montana, where are you? If I may ask.] [Just off the west coast, a little south of Seattle,] I replied. [When we started closing in on the hive, something extremely dangerous fled the area and met up with another Antithesis on the coast. I called in some reinforcements, and we're trying to track it down now.] This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. [Alright… I have no idea what could be so dangerous or important that you needed to not only chase it yourself, but call in reinforcements to do so, but I doubt you'd go that far without a good reason. Just be careful, okay?] [I will,] I promised. [Well, alright then,] Jane muttered. [Did I catch you at a bad time? Do you have a minute?] [Isn't it already a little too late to ask that?] I asked with a smirk.

[Well, I wasn't going to hang up without checking on you, but if you have a couple minutes, I'm sure that Alan and the kids would want to speak to you,] Jane explained. [Sure… I'm in the middle of setting something up, but I can talk and keep an eye on it at the same time,] I agreed. [In that case, give me a second to set up the projector…] Jane muttered, and even before she finished her thought, there was another excited voice. [Evie! Hi, hey, hello, how are you?] Issi blurted out the instant the group call connected. [Hey Issi, hey everyone, I've been busy, but I'm doing okay. How are things back there?] I asked. [Things are pretty quiet around here. The bears are keeping order like usual,] Jennifer reported. [I've started outfitting the workshop you established for me before you left, but it'll probably take another couple of weeks before it's ready to bring in employees and begin producing my engine.] [Make sure you take your time; it's best to do things properly,] I replied. [How is everyone else doing? Alan? Eddie?] [I'm fine, nothing interesting's happened,] Eddie muttered. [Nothing? What about when Alan showed off his art to everyone, and you reci… recite… told everyone one of your poems,] Issi asked. [Please don't mention that, it's embarrassing,] Eddie muttered. [Why not? I liked it,] the little girl mumbled. [You two held an art exhibition? What brought that on?] I asked. [I dunno… The people around here have come a long way over the last year, and I thought some of them might appreciate a little culture,] Alan replied awkwardly. [Most people didn't even look twice, but a couple people stopped by and complimented my work.] [You decided to go display your art on your own?] I asked incredulously. [I may have encouraged him a little,] Jane said. [If I hadn't, he would have just hoarded all those paintings in his room, and never shared them.] [I'm sure I would have showed them to someone… eventually…] Alan muttered. [When? When we ran out of storage space and you didn't have any other choice?] Jane scoffed. [Just admit it, you enjoyed yourself.] [Alright, maybe I did. It felt nice to have my work appreciated,] Alan said. [It was still terrifying to put myself out there like that, and I'm going to need some time to recover before I do it again.] [But you do plan on doing it again,] I prompted. Alan didn't respond, but from what I knew about the boy, that silence was pretty much a confirmation.

Since Alan didn't want to talk, I turned my attention to our last little family member. [And Issi, did you do anything interesting?] [I went and visited Lulu at her house! It's a big place, and you can see the entire city from the windows! Her mom made a huge meal, it was delicious!] the little girl blurted. [I'm glad you two are getting along,] I said. [mhmmmm, it was fun!] the little girl chirped, before pausing. [When are you coming back?] [I don't know, I'm still busy here, but I'll come back as soon as I'm done,] I promised. [Awwww… but I want to see you again,] Issi whined. [I know, but I need to finish up here. It's important,] I replied quietly. [Okay, I'll see you soon!] Issi chirped. [Count on it,] I said. [Alright you lot, I'm sure Evelyn has a lot to do still, so say your goodbyes. I'm sure it won't be another week before we talk to her again,] Jane said. [Right?] [Absolutely,] I promised. [I'll be more aware going forward. I'll talk to you in a few days, promise.] [Good,] Jane said. [Take care of yourself Evelyn.] [Yeah, we need you in one piece so we can hear about all the cool stuff you did!] Eddie exclaimed. [Take care of yourself,] Alan added. [Bye Evie,] Jennifer added, before the line went dead. I shook my head and looked around. I'd been so absorbed with the discussion that I'd wandered into a section of the ship I hadn't meant to. After taking a moment to gather myself, I turned and headed back to the bridge.

"I need to get back to work," I muttered.

"The sooner I finish up here, the sooner I can get back to everyone, and that's what's really important. There's only one thing in my way… time to figure out how to accelerate the schedule."