Chapter Nineteen – Want To See My Fanart Collection?

“To ‘go viral’ means that a video, image, or piece of information is circulated rapidly online from user to user and platform to platform. But as the modern internet grew and became more segregated, a piece of media that went viral might fail to reach some corners of the internet.

Going ‘super viral’ means that the meme or piece of information transcends these borders. It is so sharable and so memeable, that it breaks past any artificial delineations designed to keep things apart.”

-On Super Memes, 2049

***

Eric stared at me for a moment, then started walking again. I hoped to catch up to him. It seemed like he was just giving me a tour of the floor, really. Though he might also have been parading me in front of all his coworkers.

I didn’t have a great impression of how the Family’s internal shit worked, but I did have the impression that anyone that worked closely with one or more samurai would quickly climb the corporate totem pole.

“Your showing online, just before the Phobos Incident became international news… actually, your warning and call to action is what made it international news. Since then, pundits have been arguing about samurai access to weapons of mass destruction, again, and your video appears in several clips.”

“So a lot of folks saw that? So what?” I asked.

“Well, it was big news in several ways. It went super-viral. A samurai cutting into media feeds is noteworthy in the tech sector, the announcement fit into general news well, the end-of-the-world potential was a hit amongst the religious and the fear-mongering algorithms, and there were several other samurai in the clip, just hanging out in the background, including some unknowns.”

“Right, I guess that was Gros Baton’s big debut.”

“His name is still hotly debated online,” he said. “Since there’s no primary source confirming it. It’s made him very popular with certain groups.”

“Certain groups?” I asked. I didn’t want to know, but I had to ask.

“There’s a lot of fanart,” Eric admitted.

I shook my head. I was right, I didn’t want to know. “Okay, so I popped up and that went viral. Shit like that happens all the time. I remember seeing samurai show up on my feeds pretty often growing up if they did something big.”

“Yes, but this is different,” Eric said. “You executed a moderately high-ranking political official on live television. Then there’s your speech at the funeral service for those who passed during the incident. It was heavily televised. Live viewership was in the tens of millions. And your speech, following after Miss Emoscythe Mordeath Noir’s, was spoken in a way that encouraged… dissidents to pick up arms.”

“Oops,” I said.

“You’re giving us a lot of work,” Eric said. “The Family, most corporations, and the government, work very hard to reduce anti-establishment sentiments and to fold individualism within a certain range of acceptable deviations. You… kicked that out of position, and now there’s a large effort to course-correct, and that effort is being pushed against. This isn’t all on you. There has been a resurgence in anti-government and anti-corporate sentiment that has been growing in the last ten or so years. It’s just that right now, a lot of those sentiments are coming to a head, a boiling point.”

I rubbed at my face. “Okay. And what do I do about it?”

Eric shrugged. “The higher ups won’t give you orders. But if you could avoid making any media appearances, that would be nice.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said.

“Thank you. Try to especially avoid starting any rebellions?”

I snorted, then jumped when I noticed the time on my augs. “Ah, fuck. I’ve got to go. Can’t stick around here for too much longer. Need to pick up my girl in under an hour.”

“Of course,” Eric said. “Let me guide you to the roof. Next time you come over, feel free to send me a message first? Or to Piper, she’s the other agent currently on file, and I don’t mind working with her.”

“But not others?” I asked.

Eric shifted a bit, and some of that awkwardness I’d first noticed in him was back. “Miss Piper is… friendly and capable of sharing. It isn’t everyone who has that same attitude here.”

Aww, poor moron had a crush.

He led me to an elevator then up to the roof-lobby floor where I shook his hand and said goodbye. It had been… productive enough, actually. I’d gotten up to date on what shit was going down. It didn’t look like I was urgently needed either.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I got on my bike, noted that one samurai car had left, only to be replaced by a sleek little Japanese-looking hover bike that probably belonged to another samurai I didn’t know. Well, whatever. I kicked the bike into gear and sped off to race back home.

I got back just as the Bastion was starting itself up, ready to drive itself over to the CIAL campus to pick Lucy up. I paused, opened one of the bay doors on the side, then parked my bike in the back where a few universal clamps came up to hold it in place.

The Bastion was moving as I made my way to the cockpit, a hand on the wall to keep myself steady as the ship shook through the air. I sat down in the cockpit, but didn’t bother touching the controls, the autopilot was running already, and I trusted it not to crash me into a building. And if it did, chances were we’d just go through. The Bastion was pretty well armoured.

It wasn’t too long before the school came into view up ahead. As the ship circled the large Samurai-Only landing spot, I noticed a small group of people standing not too far off to one side. One of them had a distinctive poof of dark brown hair that I’d recognize anywhere.

The Bastion landed with a hiss, and I saw Lucy wave goodbye to the group she’d been chatting with before she ran over.

When she came in, I surprised her by wrapping my arms around her shoulders and pulling her in for a kiss. She squeaked in surprise, then melted into my arms. “You scared me!” she said once the kiss ended.

“Oops,” I deadpanned.

Lucy jabbed a finger into my ribs, which really didn’t do much when I was still armoured from my visit to the Family. “I didn’t think you’d come to pick me up yourself,” she said.

“I found the time,” I said with a casual shrug and with no mention of the speed I’d flown earlier or the traffic laws I’d ignored to get here on time. “So, made some friends?”

“Yup!” Lucy said, all chipper and happy. “Most of them are from my cooking class, but there’s a couple that I’d met that are from other classes. I need to start prepping for another event like that cookies-and-cupcakes thing I did the other day. People are starting to recognize each other, but we need to push that a lot more.”

“Uh-huh,” I said. I hadn’t let go of the hug yet, and Lucy didn’t seem to mind. “And what’s the end-goal? I mean, you’re socializing, making friends, setting up a big rep, but where are you going with it?”

“Oh, that’s an easy one,” Lucy said. She leaned up a little and gave my cheek a peck. “When there’s an inevitable uprising, I want to be on the winning side, and that means being just one step removed from the people running it.”

“Huh… you know, I think I had someone tell me today, very explicitly, not to start an uprising.”

Lucy shrugged. “So? You’re not doing anything, just being a good samurai and going to school and being all sexy and tough.”

“I feel like I’m going to get painted by association,” I said.

“I’ll try to be a bit more subtle, then,” Lucy said.

“Did anyone ever tell you that you’re really hot?” I asked.

Lucy grinned. “You know, I was thinking something real similar. There’s something about a girl in power armour that’s real delicious.”

I laughed, then scooped Lucy up into a princess carry. She wriggled in my grasp as I brought her to the cockpit by the front. “You are so lucky I have a few last things to take care of,” I said. “Or else I’d be having a lot of fun with you right now.”

“Aww, too busy for little old me?” Lucy asked.

“Eh… maybe I can make some time,” I said. “I’m good about finding that recently.”

I soon discovered that the little living quarters tucked into the Bastion had a rather awful fold-out bed. It wasn’t that terrible, but the whole thing bounced uncomfortably as the ship flew, and the mattress was on the thinner side.

I didn’t spend too much time concerning myself over that, though.

Catherine, as much as I loathe interrupting your… fun, I do have to remind you that you have one final meeting this evening.

I groaned. Wasn’t that the meeting with Deus Ex? She’d understand if I put it off a little, right?

***

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