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  What was supposed to be a hopefully easy mission had gone tits up pretty fast.

  “Jenkins!” Adams roared as his second in command dropped with a bevy of M-5 quills buried in his torso. The rest of us were pressed against the wall of the second floor hallway, waiting to clear the last apartment on this floor.

  The body of Jenkins landed with a dull, meaty thud as more quills embedded themselves in the wall opposite the open door.

  I was making gay little krispie treats this morning. If I focused, I could still catch a faint scent of caramelized sugars… Or at least I could imagine it.

  Now there was a dead man at my feet, and he did not smell of crystalized sugar.. I know I should feel something… right? Regardless of my feelings or lack thereof, we still needed to clear this apartment.

  I needed to come up with something. What could a Samurai do that a normal soldier couldn’t? I mean, there was an all powerful AI in my… That gave me an idea. Probably a terrible one, but it would still be better than nothing.

  “Wing, if I take a peek in the room, can you tell me what we’re facing?” I asked, edging closer to the open door.

  Possibly. While your augs are decent, they aren’t the greatest and your software suites aren’t meant for this. Might I suggest new eyes when you get a chance?

  I didn’t need a sales pitch right now. “I’ll take ‘possibly’ if it gives us an edge,” I said, tension tightening my voice.

  I slid into position beside the doorway, stepping into Jenkins’ place. A breath in. Slow out. I leaned over just enough to look.

  Quills hissed past my face.

  I jerked back behind cover, heart slamming against my ribs , and waited.

  I detected two Model 5s and at least two Model 3s. Beyond that, I can’t tell.

  Well… shit. It was better than nothing.

  I glanced at Adams and relayed what Wing had seen. “I’ll take the M-5s first. My armor can eat a few hits if it has to.”

  Adams nodded once before waiting for me to proceed. A couple of deep breaths later, I brought the Piping Tip up as I swung it around the corner of the door frame.

  Sight in. Exhale half way. Squeeze.

  The pistol barked twice as the rounds found their mark. Shifting back to cover, I heard the sound of quills zip through the space I had just occupied.

  One down.

  Another moment and the second M-5 went down. The ranged option had been put down. Sadly, while I had been focused on those, I had neglected the close range attack dogs… attack plant? Plant dogs?

  The bitey fuckers.

  This was brought to my attention as Adams’ rifle spit out a three round burst into one of the M-3s before it lunged. The weight of thousands of angry roses slammed into me and threatened to knock me over. Before I could recover, teeth clamped down on my right arm.

  The hexweave on the jacket flared to life, preventing the bitey fucker from actually breaking skin. It hurt like a bitch, but I was able to work through the pain. I grabbed one of my knives with my left hand and drove it through into what passed for the xeno’s brain.

  The pressure eased as the creature went limp, dropping off of my arm and landing with a satisfying splat on the floor.

  Breathing hard, I barely had time to register the relief before gunfire erupted again.

  McCallister had moved up, joined by Adams as they shredded the remaining M-3 into mulch.

  “Clear!” McCallister called after a final sweep of the room.

  The rest of the squad moved up and began the process of clearing the rest of the apartment.

  “Fuck.” Adams said with a heavy sigh as he looked down at Jenkins’ body. “I’ll radio base and let them know what happened. They’ll send a recovery team to collect the body.”

  All I could do was nod. I hadn’t known Jenkins, but the loss of a squadmate always hurt. I turned to my tried-and-true method of dealing with grief. I ignored it.

  I took the liberty of pulling the public records of the building. I’ll overlay the blueprints onto your augs.

  Well, at least one of us was being productive.

  “Thanks Wing,” I said. While I waited for everything to finish happening around me, I gave Wing’s earlier sales pitch some thought. He was right. I did need better gear.

  “I think it’s time to at least upgrade my Augs. We can’t afford to be surprised like that again. And I should also get some software that will help us identify what creepy crawlies we're facing."

  Are you wanting to just replace the augs or are you looking for something a bit more… adaptable?

  I’m not sure I liked the coy tone in his voice as he asked me that. “What do you mean more adaptable?”

  Considering some of what you’re planning, have you considered replacing your eyes altogether? Not only would it have augs built in, you can get ones that change color. If you’re still thinking about disguising your samurai self.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  And we were back to this. Though… an eyepatch *might* look kinda cool…

  You wouldn’t need an eyepatch.

  Nevermind then. “Okay, but how would that work? Wouldn’t we need like, a field hospital or something? “

  Not really. For 200 points you can get a small device that will install everything for you. Or if you have access to a full medical facility, you can save those points.

  That was both interesting and terrifying!

  As I was thinking it over, Adams came up to let me know that the apartment, and subsequently the whole floor now, was clear. With a nod, I turned to follow him and the rest of the squad up the stairs.

  We were feeling the loss of Jenkins. Being down a member left everyone on edge.

  We secured the landing on the next floor, and began our sweep once more. Like the previous two floors, the hall appeared empty, but I had a strong suspicion that there was some aggressive shrubbery lurking in the apartment.

  Thankfully there was nothing too serious on this floor. A handful of angry shrubs, a couple mini Cthulhus, and an occasional spike thrower. Even though it might have been a bit easier than the other floors, it was becoming apparent that I needed to upgrade.

  Wing, of course, had been doing his best to sell me on the wonders of new eyes. Some of his persuasive tactics worked better than others.

  They’re called….

  “I’m not sure I want to know.”

  It stands for Polychromatic Enhanced…

  “Stop. I regret everything.”

  Even though some of his attempts flopped, all it took to convince me was that it would help us better identify any hidden xenos and any potential survivors or stragglers that didn’t make it to the shelter.

  I signaled for a pause before we proceeded to the next floor. A few steps sent me back down the hall to pace a bit as I talked to Wing.

  “Okay. Before I agree, what is this going to cost?”

  Would you like the breakdown cost or the aggregate?

  This was going to hurt. “Just give me the total, please,” I said as I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I’ll overthink if I get the breakdown.”

  700 Points. That’ll get you new augs, new eyes, and a clearer vision for the future!

  Ouch. That would put me dangerously low on points, but the worry that brought was soothed with the knowledge that we were in a target rich environment. With a bit of luck, I would be swimming in more points before I knew it.

  I had reached the end of the hall and started heading back towards the squad.

  “How long will this take?” I asked as I tried to calculate how long this whole thing would take. “I don’t want to be down for more than 30 minutes.”

  Adams heard this part of the one-sided conversation and gave me a worried look. “Samurai, what’s going on? Are you going to be out of commission?”

  I held up a finger as Wing quickly said It will be about five minutes for each eye and another five minutes for calibration. No more than 15 minutes total, barring any unexpected problems.

  “My AI is telling me that it should take about 15 minutes,” I relayed as I turned to face Adams. “We’re looking to upgrade my eyes to allow me to better see the Anthesis hiding in the apartments or civvies that might be trying to shelter in place.”

  He paused for a moment to think things over before he nodded. “If you think it’s worth it, then we’ll wait. I won’t lie, clearing buildings carries a large risk with the amount of hiding places that we’ve found the xenos in. You’ll have your 15 minutes.”

  He turned back to the squad and ordered a short break. Everyone spread out to check their gear, hit the head, and give their Samurai time to upgrade herself.

  “Okay Wing. Let’s do this.” I figured I should at least find somewhere that wasn’t a hallway full of soldiers. Thankfully there was a conveniently cleared apartment right behind me.

  I made my way into the small living space, and took a seat on the couch. Three boxes appeared on the small coffee table in front of me.

  You’ll want to open the largest box first. That contains the Biological Lens Integration Neurosurgical Kit. Place that on the coffee table.

  It took me a moment to process what was said as I started to unbox the largeish device. “Did… Did you name this device the B.L.I.N.K.?” A hint of mirth slipped into my voice as Wing gave me a small chuckle.

  Blink rolls off the tongue better than OPIC-T4/Interface Unit Mk 17 Mod 6 ever will.

  A fair point. At least he was enjoying himself. “Do I even want to know what OPIC-T4 stands for?”

  Not really. Now, the medium box contains your new eyes. Please place them in the grooves in the front of the machine and it will handle the rest.

  I did as I was told. If someone told me that one day I’d be holding my future vision like a set of dice, I would’ve laughed. It didn’t seem as funny now.

  They felt like marbles. Wet, squishy marbles. I had to resist the temptation to rotate them in my palm.

  Gently I slotted them into the waiting spaces. As they sat there, the B.L.I.N.K. made a few noises before it pulled the eyes into itself.

  I watched as the pupils on the eyes adjusted like a camera’s aperture before they vanished. I would have just stared at the things but thankfully Wing kept me on track.

  The final box has a small syringe with a nanite colony to assist with the procedure. You might want to get Private Morgan’s help injecting it. It needs to go into your neck.

  I stood and moved back to the apartment’s door and peaked out into the hall. When I found Morgan, I motioned for the squad’s medic to join me. When I was situated again, I handed him the syringe and told him that I needed him to inject it into my neck. I also told him that I would very much appreciate it if he didn’t kill me in the process.

  Feeling the nanites be injected was a wholly unique experience. First, there was a strange pressure and warmth that I didn’t expect. I could feel it begin to spread along the side of my neck before the feelings dissipated and my neck felt like it normally did.

  With that bit of unpleasantness behind me, I moved back to the machine before I paused. I needed to ask a question that had been bothering me since Wing brought up the eyes.

  “Wing,” my voice came out a hoarse whisper. “If things go the way I think they might, will I still be a human at the end?”

  There was a lingering silence before my AI answered, his tone unexpectedly serious.

  That is entirely up to you. There are many among the Vanguard that feel like they have transcended or surpassed their humanity. Others also limit their upgrades to weapons and light modifications to keep their own sense of humanity intact.

  Another pause, heavy with question.

  I would say that it’s up to you to define what humanity is to you and if it’s something you want to hold on to.

  Great. More existential dread. Just what I needed right now.

  I will say that a single organ replacement is nothing to worry about.

  “Thanks. It’ll give me something to think about at least.”

  Good. Now, are you ready?

  I nodded, grateful that Wing wasn’t flippant with my worries.

  Now for the hard part. I need you to get comfortable on the floor and rest your head on the padded chin rest and lean into the small curve.

  I slipped off of the couch and settled into position before the machine. My body leaned forward, ever so slightly, and my head came to rest where Wing indicated. It was strange, feeling the machine mold itself to my face. Things became a little unnerving when it wrapped itself around the back of my head as it rendered me immobile.

  You’re going to feel a brief puff of cool air and your vision will go black. Please don’t panic. The nanites you injected will be severing your optical nerves!

  “Wait, what?!”

  Everything went black.

  Discord for that!