I quickly gathered Wild and Mud before I accepted CBeRN’s call in the back of my Kodiak.

  “Bern! Thanks for calling. Did you get my message earlier?” I asked eagerly.

  “I did…” the mousy, spectacled man in the hologram replied. “You mentioned that the Antithesis are using a variant of the acid you encountered in Jasper, is that correct?”

  “Fucking yes! They’re melting the outer covering off all my bears,” I grumbled. Wild and Mud both slowly turned and stared at me. “Oh, and it’s strong enough to melt through the seals on our armor.”

  “That’s concerning,” CBeRN muttered. “I studied the molecular makeup of the original acid after that original battle, and although the acid was exceptionally potent, it didn’t have any special properties. It sounds like whatever you’re encountering has been heavily modified from the original. Can you send me a sample?”

  “I would…” I grumbled, “But it keeps melting the seals on the sample containers.”

  “That makes things a little more difficult,” Bern agreed. He sighed, took off his glasses, cleaned them, and put them back on. “Is there someone there with you? I’m using an old Holo console, so it’s a little blurry.”

  “Oh, yeah, sorry,” I muttered apologetically. “Bern, meet Wildwalker and Mudflap. They’re local Grand Falls samurai. Mud, Wild, meet Bern, Calgary’s resident science expert.”

  “Although I’m honored you think of me that way, it’s not entirely true. I’m the resident expert in chemical, biological, and nuclear science,” Bern clarified. “There are other samurai who are far better in both material and computer science.”

  I turned and looked at his hologram in confusion. “We do?”

  Bern’s hologram turned towards me and gave me a disappointed look. “Barricade and Zetta.”

  “Oh, right… I guess I should have thought of that,” I muttered. “I’ve just been so distracted by the situation that my brain isn’t working properly.”

  “Are things really that bad over there?” Bern asked.

  “The town probably would have fallen already if it weren’t for Teddy’s bears. Nothing organic can survive on the front line right now,” Mud grumbled. “That damned acid is ripping through everything.”

  “And that’s despite the fact that I’ve been setting down firewalls to prevent the Antithesis fungus from advancing, and both a squad of SPGs and Bear Force One firing upon the Antithesis lines constantly,” I added.

  Bern cocked his head to the side. “Fungus?”

  “The Antithesis have this fast-growing, ground-covering organism that absorbs all non-Antithesis biomass that it touches, along with all dead Antithesis,” Wild explained. “Thankfully Teddy’s been keeping it at bay, but if it ever got loose…”

  “That could become a serious problem,” Bern finished. “Allowing the Antithesis to infinitely recur, along with their regular collection efforts, means that Hive could experience explosive growth.”

  “It doesn’t need to experience explosive growth; it landed nearly intact, pumping out bullshit from the get-go,” Mud growled.

  “Can you get me a sample of the fungus?” Bern asked excitedly. “I may be able to develop a counteragent to help fight it back.”

  When I heard that, I stood up a little straighter. “You can do that? I thought the Antithesis adapted too quickly for us to develop effective counteragents.”

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  “That’s true against the models--the Antithesis would just pump out thousands of models an hour and force accelerated evolution, making more and more resilient models until they developed complete immunity,” Bern explained. “However, the hives themselves can be vulnerable to targeted attacks. They try to purge foreign matter, but they don’t evolve anywhere near as quickly as the models. The problem is there’s no ‘one size fits all’ for the hives; they’re all so unique that I have to develop completely different compounds for each.”

  “So if we deliver a sample of this fungus, can you develop a pesticide?” Wild asked.

  “I could, but if you’re managing to keep it at bay with fire, then creating a specialized chemical concoction would probably only be slightly more effective. We’d still need to spray every part of the fungus to kill it off,” Bern explained. “No, what I want to do is create a stable bacterial or viral infector that only targets that specific Antithesis strain and kills it off.”

  Wild flinched. “Isn’t that dangerous? I’ve heard stories about viruses mutating, attacking something other than the original target, and making the situation worse. That’s why biowarfare is frowned upon.”

  “Oh, I’m aware of the risks,” Bern replied. “However, most of those risks are based upon human tech and modifying existing biological organisms. That’s not what I’ll be doing. I’ll be creating a biomechanical phage from the ground up with not just a stable genome, but an immutable one. Impossible for human technology, but quite possible for advanced protector tech. I can create something that can only feed upon that fungus and die off once it’s completely destroyed.”

  “Unless it adapts before your microbe can finish the job,” Mud pointed out.

  Bern’s hologram nodded. “That’s true, but if that happens, I can update the genome and release another strain. I know it might sound dangerous, but if this fungus is as aggressive as you say, it provides some serious advantages over traditional extermination methods. We won’t have to worry about missing a small bit of the fungus in a crevice or under a rock somewhere and having it develop into a new hive. The infection vector would eliminate the need to spend months hunting down every patch of the fungus over hundreds of square miles.”

  “Let’s face it, even if your infection is one hundred percent effective, someone will still have to spend months combing the area to ensure your bioweapon was one hundred percent effective,” I said. I moved to the side of the Kodiak and sank upon one of the hard metal benches welded to the side of the hull. “If we do manage to get you a sample of this stuff, how long will it take you to whip this thing up?”

  “A couple of days, at minimum, probably closer to a week,” Bern replied.

  “What? At the rate this shit is growing, it could be halfway to Calgary by that time,” I exclaimed.

  “Possible, but I don’t dare rush the process. If I make any mistakes, the infection vector might mutate or target something other than the fungus. Besides, once it’s introduced, the virus will work quickly, killing off the fungus in a fraction of the time it took to expand,” Bern replied seriously.

  “Fine. We’ll get you your sample,” Mud growled. “Is there any chance it’ll be able to spread to the main hive structure?”

  “I doubt it,” Bern replied, shaking his head. “From the pictures I’ve seen, the hive structure is closer to muscle tissue than fungal growth, and the two are probably just symbiotic, then truly linked. Besides, we shouldn’t have to worry about the hive for much longer.”

  I looked up at the hologram, confused. “We shouldn’t? Why not?”

  “Haven’t you heard?” Bern asked, straightening his glasses, “The Family is extremely concerned about how resilient the hive is, and we’ve had to dedicate a large number of samurai to keeping it contained, so they’ve decided to go all in.”

  “What exactly does that mean?” Wild asked worriedly.

  Full-blown orbital strike,” Bern replied.

  “I hate to tell you this, Bern, but apparently you’re a little behind the times,” I snorted. “They already tried to perform orbital strikes on the hive, but they didn’t work.”

  Bern shook his head. “Oh, I’ve heard about how ineffective the first stage was. That’s why the bigwigs have decided to take off the kid gloves. Orbital mass drivers, Fusion burst systems, the works.”

  “What the fuck is a fusion burst system?” I asked.

  “It’s a process that opens a portal to the surface of the sun for a quarter of a second, which is more than enough to cause the surrounding rock to not just liquefy but evaporate. It’s one of the most powerful and dangerous weapons the Family has at their disposal. It’s a last resort weapon, only fired once before,” Bern said.

  “Does something like that really exist?” Wild exclaimed.

  “Of course, it’s something that was left behind when our stronger members went to Mars. In case of emergencies,” Bern explained.

  “And now they see this as an emergency,” Mud scoffed. “Not when this thing landed.”

  “They thought we’d be able to take care of this through more traditional means,” Bern said, with a little shrug. “Now that the situation is spiraling out of control, they’re resorting to the big guns.”

  “Wonderful,” I muttered.

  “Yeah, I’m not convinced it’s the best option, but I’ve been overruled at this point. It’s scheduled to come by tomorrow,” Bern said. “Hope you have some sunscreen, because it’s going to get warm down there. Good luck.”

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