“[Sounds of shuffling paper. Anika Lynne turns to the camera.] “So, Dys. In your opinion, which of the antithesis are the most dangerous for normal people?“

  [Cut to image of model Three’s taken during an incursion. AI Dys speaks over the image] “All antithesis are dangerous to normal people. But, to answer the question you really meant to ask, among the models any average human will encounter, the model Three is decidedly the most dangerous. For a variety of reasons.”

  [Cut back to Annika Lynne sitting in the studio. She smiles softly.] “What sort of household items could our viewers use to defend themselves against Model Threes then, if they need to? I’d think kitchen knives would be useful, maybe a chair as well?”

  [Cut to another image of model Three’s. This one shows them being torn apart by the valiant efforts of the Kamikatze International Security Service Private Military Corporation.] “I highly doubt that your average kitchen knife would be useful against a model Three. Instead, I would highly suggest purchasing a firearm. If such is not a possibility, a subpar alternative would be keeping a sturdy metal rod of at least a meter in length close by.”

  [Cut back to Annika Lynne. She nods in understanding.] “A very good point. In this case, perhaps our viewers would like to get into contact with ShootEmUp Inc., your one-stop-shop for firearms and personal protection. Don’t wait for the next incursion to hit your home city, go to their website now and choose your next weapon to defend yourself with. With the code GoodMorningNorth5 you can get 5% off on all hand held firearms. Only ‘til next Tuesday, so you better hurry!”

  Interview between Good Morning North America Host Anika Lynne and Dys, an unknown Samurai’s AI, 2049

  My best bet would be to jump whatever came through the underbrush. With my knives at the ready, one held straight, the other in a backhand grip, I quickly walked towards the edge of the bushes. My steps were quiet, precise, doing my best to keep my weight off of my feet.

  Even with my sharp eyes, I wasn’t able to see past the dense foliage. All I could rely on was my sense of smell and my hearing. Readying myself, I waited, one knife ready to strike, the other held in preparation to defend. Neither weapon was enough for me to be comfortable, but it was all I had. Banishing those thoughts, I immersed myself in my breathing.

  Zuri and the older man had just started to get everyone moving, when the strange face of a model Three pierced through the greenery. Without any hesitation I struck, aiming for its eyes. My knife found its target, burying itself deep. Alien goo gushed out of the wound, the scent of freshly cut grass overpowering everything else. I didn’t linger, pulling the bde out again, aiming for the second one before the alien had any time to react.

  Once more I struck true, the familiarity of the motion helping me keep calm. Even with both its eyes now useless, it wasn’t dead yet. I hadn’t been able to get my bdes deep enough to pierce its brain. Without hesitation, I pounced the thing, pushing it to the ground. If I couldn’t reach the brain, I had to try a more old-fashioned trick. Antithesis didn’t have quite the same circutory systems humans had, but they too could bleed out. It took a bit longer, but it was a possibility.

  With one swift motion, my bde snaked its way under the Threes writhing head. The cut wasn’t perfect, sadly, there was too much movement. Even weakened like this, antithesis were strong, basically all muscle. That said, I did manage to wound it, and that gave me the opening I needed to try again.

  Again my knife cut into its flesh, the bde sinking deep into the side of the M3's neck. I pulled for all I was worth, trying to overcome the thick skin and strong muscles. The model Three was thrashing, trying to get free, but I didn’t stop. After a moment, my efforts paid off. Something gave way, and the side of its neck was forced open. More alien goo spttered to the ground, gushing like a fountain. Just to be sure, I pulled the knife out again, plunging it into the topmost eye once more. This time it sunk in deeper.

  Frantic throes became desperate shudders. It wasn’t quite dead yet, but it wouldn’t get up again, I was certain of that. Leaving the alien be, I got back to my feet again, already looking for more threats.

  There had to be a second one, at least, probably more. The sounds of rustling made that very clear. Taking one step to the left, I prepared myself to strike again. A moment ter another alien face broke through the foliage, alerted by the death of its brethren. It was only half a pace off from my estimate and I didn’t waste any time. My bde struck true, and this time I was lucky. It dug deep, killing the thing almost instantly.

  Sparing only a moment, I checked if there were more about to jump me. From the sound of things, this was the st one on this side of the pza. I could hear more coming already, but they were on the opposite side of the open area. Gncing at the others, I found the group was rushing away, Zuri trailing after them, eyes locked onto me.

  I didn’t have any time to wait. With the direction the wind was blowing, the newcomers would definitely smell the rge group. I had to do something to make sure that that didn’t happen.

  “Don’t wait for me!” I yelled after the group, mostly to Zuri.

  There was no way they would be able to outrun the man-eating monsters. These things were fast, much faster than your average human. I had to distract them. And there was only one way I could think of that would accomplish that definitively.

  Turning away from the group, I brought my still clean bde towards my upper arm, slicing through my shirt and my flesh. Kitchen knives weren’t meant to stab, they were meant to cut, and these things weren’t of low quality. I almost didn’t feel it.

  Utilising my training, I made the cut shallow, but wide, encouraging blood flow without wounding myself too much. Hopefully the strong scent of blood and the lingering smell of the dead antithesis would overshadow Zuri and the others. I knew that antithesis had a strong sense of smell, and I gambled on the fact that they would focus on that more than hearing or eyesight.

  Close by, something broke out of the underbrush. Two model Threes made their way out of the greenery, quickly followed by another one. Before I could even react to their arrival, another trio joined them. Six antithesis were five more than I was comfortable with, but I didn’t have much of a choice here. Without any other option, I started to run towards the building and away from the group.

  Despite the situation, I allowed myself a st gnce in Zuri’s direction. They were just vanishing around the bend leading towards the shelter, my sister still trailing after the rest of the group. Leah and Nia were dragging her away and even from here I could see the tears in her eyes.

  A knot formed in my stomach. I knew that my chances of getting out of here were slim. I would very likely die. Even with all my training, I was out of weapons and had to deal with more antithesis than I’d be comfortable with when fully geared up. But I’d be damned if I didn’t make it as hard as possible for those overgrown weeds.

  Banishing all my thoughts and worries, I focused entirely on the flow of combat, immersing myself in it. Everything else just didn’t matter anymore. With the group of aliens on my tail, I quickly ran towards the opposite side of the building, right into the outside seating area.

  The system by which it was built was meant to ensure that nothing was in the way. Tables, chairs, and flower pots pced with just enough distance to enable anyone to comfortably walk through it all. But, as was the case with a lot of things, if you did something wrong enough, the design often worked against the original purpose.

  Rushing past the first couple tables, I knocked over a few of the chairs. Of course, it wouldn’t make for a perfect barrier, but just making it hard for the aliens to keep up was enough for my purposes. And it worked. The first M3 rushed head first into the chaos, quickly vanishing under a cacophony of furniture, getting buried in the chaos. It wouldn’t kill the thing, but it was a distraction. And I could use every st advantage I could get.

  Another one was right behind me, and I could hear the scratching of its cws on the ground the moment it jumped for me, just as I was running past a rge table. Without stopping I let myself drop, going into a sideways roll, pulling my arms close, bdes held to the outside. The alien nded where I would have been two steps ter, while I rolled under the table, bunching my muscles and jumping back to my feet. With a solid kick, I sent it crashing into the M3. To my surprise it was actually quite solid.

  Close behind it, a third joined the fight, jumping onto the table that I just used to bludgeon its brethren, and crushing the alien beneath. It wasn’t enough to kill it, but it would certainly be wounded. I took a step to the side, evading the lunge, using the momentum of the rotation to cut along the aliens side. My goal had been to cut the muscles along its shoulders, and while it wasn’t perfect, I did manage to hit something important. Alien goo spttered onto the ground, and I had to take yet another step to avoid slipping.

  The two antithesis were disoriented for just a moment, the second one obviously having trouble moving as quickly as it could before. I abused that immediately, of course. Stabbing it again as I walked past, I left a deep cut on the back of its neck. Not enough to kill, but to wound and further confuse. And it did the trick.

  Now with a bit of headroom, I left the M3s behind, dashing over to the corner of the building just in front of me. I couldn’t afford to run away yet, we were still too close to the others, but I could break the line of sight to give myself another advantage. Holding out one hand, I took the corner far sharper than I would normally be able to, which was a bit awkward while holding a knife.

  Before I had even rounded it fully, I jumped, estimating to find another table there if they kept to the system. And my guess was proven to be correct, even if I’d been off by roughly half a meter. No matter, I still managed to slide off the edge of the table without stumbling or having to slow down. Landing on the ground once more, I used the momentum to kick back slightly, sending the table slowly tumbling over.

  A crash rang out from behind me, letting me know that my pursuers had also come around the corner. They had been less prepared for the furniture waiting for them, though. I couldn’t stop to check, so all I could do was hope that my pn had worked and the leading xeno found itself underneath the table I had sent in their direction.

  Again I tried to break the immediate line of sight, jumping over one of the bushes that were decorating the pce, a few flowers artfully pced within. Rolling myself off, it wasn’t much time the aliens couldn’t see me, but it would add up. I could still hear the cws on the ground, making their way closer, but between all the obstacles, and my best attempts to confuse them, they were not as close as they had been before.

  Rushing over to the door, I kept an eye on events from the corner of my vision. At the st second before I arrived at the entrance, I suddenly stopped, taking a quick step to the left. The alien that had tried to jump me flew past, right into the corner of the wall. The thump was very satisfying, and it seemed out of it for a moment. A moment too long. With a quick and well trained motion, I buried my knife in its eye twice, the second thrust killing it instantly.

  The only downside was that the second thrust had broken the knife, over three quarters of the bde stuck in the skull, with the handle now broken off. That wasn’t good. Hopefully I could find something else to use for a weapon.

  Dropping the handle, I stepped into the building, immediately keeping to the right to break line of sight yet again. It allowed me a moment’s respite.

  The inside of the building was surprisingly clean and orderly, despite the earlier panic. Generally that was great, but right now I needed some obstacles. One after the other I began to topple tables as I made my way past them, not quite barricading the back entrance but making it harder to get through.

  Might suck if I needed to get out there in a hurry, but I didn’t exactly have a slew of options at the moment. And my pn did work, the next M3 that ran inside managed to entangle itself between a couple chairs and a desk, making quite the noise. The one after had more luck, sadly.

  I was prepared for the lunge, stepping to the side, trying to slice open its neck as it flew past, but my pn didn’t work perfectly. It nded, turning before I had time to pounce it myself, and jumped me again. My stance hadn’t fully recovered yet, which made evading a suboptimal choice, and so I punched it, aiming for its throat.

  The hit wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to allow me to take a step back. And while the M3 wasn’t really hurt, it was disoriented. I capitalised on that by kicking it in the face as hard as I could. The thump was satisfying, but again, it didn’t really wound the alien much. Switching my knife hand, I pounced, just as it was about to turn back to me again.

  My knife found its eye and sunk in. Then I was the one surprised when it more or less ignored the attack, jumping me. In a desperate attempt to shield myself, I left the bde where it was, holding out my arms in front of me. I would’ve screamed in pain if the air wasn’t pushed out of my lungs, its cws leaving painful gashes in my flesh.

  Knowing that trying to resist the fall would be worse than to take it, I let it push me over, rolling myself off my back, and kicking my legs out. I didn’t quite hit the angle I was going for, but it was enough, the momentum carrying through my outstretched legs and sending the M3 backwards and over itself. Those fucks were damn heavy!

  It stumbled and I barely managed to roll to the side when it finally crashed to the ground, but I wasn’t without injury. Even if I might have destabilised the aliens’ pounce, it had sharp fangs and some had managed to get into my arms. I wasn’t out of the fight yet, but it hurt like a motherfucker and would certainly not help much either.

  We were both scrambling to get back on our feet, but I was faster. Grabbing the knife still stuck in its eye, I pulled it back and plunged it back in, first once, then twice, then one final time, before the damn thing finally died.

  The sounds of something crashing into more furniture alerted me to a third M3 running into the building, and the first was nearly done untangling itself from the mess on the ground. I tried getting the knife back out, but something was stuck, and when I pulled harder the second bde also broke.

  Fuck!

  With no weapon remaining, my best bet was the counter. Not wasting a moment, I made my way over, eyes scanning for anything useful. The only thing in my immediate reach was an old school cast iron frying pan, more decoration than anything from the looks of things. But it seemed sturdy enough and that was all that mattered.

  Behind me I could hear the ccking of cws, and I turned, pan already swinging. It hit the first Three that had come through, now finally untangled from the table, and smashed its face in full force.

  A loud crunching sound resonated through the room, and something inside its skull gave way. There was no doubt about its death, it simply slumped, stopping nearly dead. Three out of six, far better than I would’ve thought. No time to dilly dally, though.

  I got some brief respite, only a few seconds, but it was enough for me to turn and grab a big lid to use as a shield. Not something I used a lot before, but I was trained in it, and right now some defence was sorely missed.

  Gncing towards the front windows, the only thing I could think about was Zuri. Hopefully she’d be able to manage to get out. That was all that I really cared about right now.

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