I moved in the direction Alyrix had indicated, making my way to the edge of the field, towards the club house. The Cricket Field itself wasn't within the School’s boundary, but was instead separated by a perimeter wall that bristled with guns. The gate that had let the kids stream back into safety had closed behind Michael and Stacy, leaving me alone and exposed while the sky rained aliens. Canberra wasn't like those traditional mega-cities. Unlike Sydney or those North American behemoths, Canberra enjoyed two benefits as it grew. Careful planning and endless space. The result was a series of interconnected hubs that had sprawled out to engulf the surrounding cities, now forming a huge triangle with Yass, Goulburn and Tuggeranong forming the points.

  When aliens began to fall from the sky and the trees started eating people, each of the dozens of urban centres were fortified. I was currently right on the edge of Gundaroo. I could see the walls of the strongpoint, the massive guns on top blazing away. I could also see Bywong in the distance doing the same. They would be safe, people gathering within for protection. The suburbs in between however, were steadily filling with aliens. Which meant the Samurai were going to have to root them out. I was in one of the suburbs, and I was also apparently a Samurai now.

  Which meant that rather than going to safety and getting my ribs fixed, I was hunting for aliens. Because I’m an idiot.

  I crept along in a half crouch, doing my best to ignore the pain. The sneaking did nothing. Even if I wasn't in the middle of a field, the grass was so dry and crunchy that my footsteps could be heard up in Darwin. But there were an unknown number of aliens running around who desperately wanted a Lena sandwich and sneaking made me feel better. So, I snuck.

  I got to the clubhouse. Which, really, was more of a brick box on top of a concrete slab. A store room, some bathrooms, and a little canteen for food on game days. Most places would use vending machines, but Cricket was all about tradition.

  I was much quieter now that I was on the cement and not the grass, and I tread carefully, rounding the corner, bat raised.

  I came face to face with a Model Three who seemed to be almost as surprised as I was. We both jumped, having thoroughly scared the shit out of each other. It lunged. I screamed and swung my bat. There was an immensely satisfying crunch as it connected with the Model Three’s face. I was knocked to the ground, the alien bouncing off me, causing me to scream again as a spike of pain came from my cracked ribs. I heard it shuffling behind me, so I gritted my teeth and rolled to my feet as it staggered upright. There was a dent in its head and it swayed slightly. I gripped my bat and bashed it again. It fell.

  I doubled over, gasping, eyes filling with tears. It hurt so bad.

  Nice work. Now take care of the other two.

  Other two?

  Shit.

  I looked up to see two more Model Threes bounding towards me from the empty parking lot. They were close.

  “Rock!” I shouted at Alyrix.

  It's not a rock it’s…

  “ROCK!”

  Fine.

  A Hand Propelled Kinetic Accelerator Mark 1 fell into my hand. I threw it at the closer of the two aliens. It was a bad throw, but the round object still smashed into the Antithesis’ legs. They buckled and it crashed to the ground, scraping along the asphalt.

  I pulled another death rock out of my pocket, having remembered the two I stashed before. This time my aim was better. It took the second Model Three in the face as it got to within leaping distance of me. It punched right through its open mouth and into a tree on the other side of the lot. The alien died, twitching. Chest heaving, I hobbled over to the injured one. It was still attempting to rise and bite. I bashed its head in.

  Panting, I moved over to the shade, slumping against the wall of the clubhouse. Killing aliens was hard work.

  Well done. That's another 30 points. Two more Model Three kills and we can fix those ribs.

  I just grunted in response.

  I would have expected a little more enthusiasm.

  “Too hot for that,” I panted in response.

  It really was. A quick check of my augs told me that it was currently 36°C. Ridiculous.

  Indeed. Dehydration is a concern. I suggest drinking something.

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

  “I left all my stuff at school. Like my bottle,” I mumbled.

  Would you like to purchase a refreshing beverage then?

  I blinked.

  “You have those?”

  I have every beverage recorded from every sentient species. Several of which are not immediately lethal to you.

  “Right. What can I afford?”

  A simple electrolyte drink will cost you merely one point.

  I frowned. “One point? I can buy a murder rock for that.”

  You could. But a Hand Propelled Kinetic Accelerator Mark 1 is not going to solve your dehydration.

  Alyrix paused.

  Or, I suppose it could, but suicide for the sake of avoiding thirst is not recommended.

  I chuckled.

  Besides, one point is the lowest I can charge. And I promise you that it will be delicious.

  “Fine, buy me a drink.”

  What flavour would you like?

  “What flavours are there?” I asked.

  Approximately six point three million.

  I blinked.

  “That's a lot.”

  The list is reasonably extensive, yes. Would you like me to begin listing the options?

  I shook my head.

  “No, just give me… grape.”

  Grape is not one of the flavour options.

  I froze. How in the fuck?

  “You're telling me that you have six million flavours and Grape isn't one of them?”

  Correct.

  I really wished I could glare at her. She had to be fucking with me.

  “Fine, just give me something at random.”

  Certainly.

  New purchase: Electrolyte beverage, Dominga Flavoured.

  Points reduced to: 52.

  A pleasantly chilled bottle appeared before me. I picked it up, curious. It was featureless, just a plastic cylinder with a straw on the top.

  “What sort of flavour is Dominga?” I asked.

  It's a type of grape.

  I froze.

  “Alyrix, I have a question.” I said, voice low.

  Yes, Lena?

  “Fuck you.”

  That was not a question.

  “No. No it was not.”

  I drank my, admittedly delicious, grape flavoured drink in the shade. I felt my headache fade a little, and the heat became just a little more bearable. Well worth the excruciating pain that was swallowing.

  While I drank I searched the local net on my augs, trying to find some information on what the situation was. Or at least, I intended to. All I got back was static and errors. No reception, of course. Fucking Telstra.

  “Alyrix, any idea what’s going on?” I asked.

  You are currently rehydrating in the shade

  I really needed to find a way to slap her.

  “I meant in terms of the city.”

  Oh, in that case, I have very little information. The local net is down.

  I sighed. I then immediately regretted that action as the pain in my ribs spiked. I really needed to fix that. Which meant killing more aliens.

  “Alright,” I said, climbing up to my feet, “Back to work.”

  I looked around for a bit to find a place to toss my bottle. I could have just left it I suppose, but littering was the dumbest crime. Not seeing anything I decided to move towards the houses. It was also a crime to use someone's bin, but I figured I could probably get away with that, being a Samurai and all.

  I picked up a few bits of loose rubbish while I was at it, and moved into the row of houses that backed on the field. This was quite a nice area, and the houses were spacious, tidy and large. They also had bins out the front. I dumped the rubbish and dusted my hands, satisfied. There.

  Your dedication to your community is admirable.

  “I hate litter, okay?” I replied defensively.

  That compliment was genuine. Not many Samurai would even notice such a thing.

  “I… I just think that respecting your surroundings is important.” I mumbled.

  An admirable trait. If you are done collecting rubbish, you have another, far more pressing civic duty to attend to.

  I nodded. Right. Killing aliens. She was right, that was probably more important right now.

  “Alright. Any idea where to look?”

  Up.

  “Up?” I repeated dumbly, before craning my neck to look into the sky. I was just in time to see a pod zip overhead to crash into someone's rather nice birdbath. A cloud of dust and debris filled the air.

  “Umm, should I run?” I asked Alyrix.

  No. That is a pod of Model Threes. Your Death Rocks have the penetrative power to hit the Antithesis inside before they have a chance to disembark.

  A long, slow smirk formed on my face.

  “You're saying that I should throw a bunch of Death Rocks at defenceless aliens?”

  Precisely.

  “Well then, Alyrix, would you kindly give me a rock?” I asked in my sweetest, most polite voice.

  Certainly.

  A familiar weight dropped into my palm. I lined myself up, took careful aim, and threw.

  The first Antithesis was just struggling free when the orb connected with its chest. It punched right through, the Model Three going limp.

  My smirk became a full on smile.

  “You wanna know something, Alyrix?” I said, holding out my hand for another projectile.

  What's that?

  She took the hint, and dropped another rock into my palm.

  “Cricket might not be so bad after all.”

  There turned out to be eight aliens in the pod. Another couple of throws, and a little bit of cricket bat action, and eight aliens became eight corpses. I gave a long sigh of satisfaction. Oh sweet cathasis. There was a certain pleasure that one only got when mercilessly caving in the skull of a helpless alien dickhead. That said, I had worked up quite the sweat in the process, and I would love to get out of the sun for a bit. Plus I had a nice little haul of points to spend.

  I looked around for somewhere vaguely safe to take a break. Someone left the door of one of the houses open. I thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. What's a little trespass for a Samurai? Besides, we were in a war zone. I’d leave them an apology note or something. Decision made, I headed towards the house.

  I made my way from the summer heat and into sweet, sweet air-conditioned comfort. Holy fuck that felt good. I left my shoes at the door, it was only polite, and shut the door behind me.

  “Hello?” I called out, just in case anyone was home. I got no response. So I moved into the very nice open plan kitchen area and took a seat on one of the stools at the island. I had points to spend.