Ah, the supermarket.

Most months, I don't make enough by myself to afford to come here. Back when I was a kid, I didn't really appreciate how much money food cost my parents. It's not exactly easy to come by, after all, and I have to take what I can get with my ration tickets from my job. With the holidays coming up, I've gotten a bonus from my job training the current defense forces, giving me enough to not only get my kids something nice each but also buy enough for a good meal.

Having Holly inside my head is really useful too, an instant price calculator so I know exactly what I can afford and even where everything is.

"Are you sure you want to spend most of the budget on this?" Holly asks.

I lift the ham up. "Yeah. I bet the kids would love to have all this to eat."

"Are you sure you're not just putting your own desires onto them?"

"Maybe." I grin. "But hey, it's something nice I can do for them, right?"

"It is." Holly's avatar looks to the side, and I follow her gaze, but there's nothing but more shelves in the direction.

"What's up?"

"I'm detecting odd… Nevermind. It's likely an erroneous sensor read."

I look over my shoulder once more. "Hmm. Well, let me know if you notice anything else odd."

She tilts her head. "Buying two smaller boxes of cake mix is more cost effective than buying a large box. This breaks normal economy of scale rules, and as such must be a manipulation tactic."

I look down at the large box of cake mix in the cart. "...That would have been nice to have known while we were choosing the cake mixes."

"I assumed you had a reason for picking the larger box."

"Nope." I turn around, the ham now taking up a good portion of my shopping basket. "So, I know I ask this every year-"

"I do not require any gifts."

"I know you don't need any, but I still want to get you something." I sigh. "I'd like to give you a reward for helping me for so long."

"...Doll frames are much too expensive, and moving my neural cloud to another location would put your life at risk. Anything I need digitally can easily be acquired. Access to large computer banks are also expensive, or decidedly hazardous."

"Hazardous?"

"Most remaining Paradeus cells have dedicated research stations that would be adequate for the task I have in mind, however, acquiring one usually involves neutralizing the owners."

"Hah, yeah… Nytos are hard to deal with."

"Fortunately, it seems like Paradeus' remaining members have thinned out to the point that they're no longer capable of major influence campaigns. None of the typical markers of an infiltration force have been documented in the past nineteen months."

"Which means either they gave up… or they got smarter."

"Yes. However, with the loss in manpower and funding, it's unlikely Paradeus would be able to raise a full cell to infiltrate, much less direct them inside with new infiltration techniques."

"I suppose you're right." I swap out the cake mix box for the two smaller ones. Huh, the big box is more than twice the price, for exactly double the mix. "You know, Ollie and Farah were talking about me when they thought I wasn't listening."

Holly doesn't respond. She doesn't need to, and opts to listen to my entire thought process before responding.

"Ever since Noelle visited… apparently I've been hyperfixating on the problem."

"You have indeed spent approximately four hours on average per twenty-four hour period mentally simulating different scenarios."

"...That much?"

"The actual number is four hours, twenty-eight minutes, and thirty-one seconds. I truncated the result for convenience."

"Thanks." I shake my head. "I guess I really need to rel-"

I sense a presence behind me, and I turn around to see who it is-

A large straw hat shades her face from the lights, but a rictus grin that belongs on a corpse is drawn across her face. Deep inside the shadow of the hat, two red pinpricks shine out. The black dress she wears seems to eat the light, starkly contrasting her pale skin.

She's standing over a dozen meters away, but my skin crawls like she's standing next to me.

"Holly?" I ask.

"EM interference has spiked. Unsure if it's originating from the target."

"Target, huh." I lick my lips. She hasn't moved a millimeter, her burning red eyes unblinking. Okay, let's see… "Excuse me?" I call out to the woman. "Can I help you?"

She suddenly snaps to life, the grin disappearing into a much calmer, more normal smile, and she tilts her head back so the hat isn't shadowing her face quite so… dramatically. As she gets to within four meters of me, she starts to talk. "Ah, it's the man I met at the park. How are you today?"

The hairs on the back of my neck are still standing on end. I've met many, many crazy people in the past decade. Mad scientists, both friendly and not. Ego-maniacs that want to rule the world, or resurrect their sister, or… well, both. I even dealt with a doll that successfully became a human.

This lady, though…

I slap a customer service smile onto my face. "I'm doing fine, thank you. How are you today?"

"I am… ecstatic." Her eyes start to burn with the crazy intensity from before. "When I met you before, I wasn't sure… but now I am."

"Caution." Holly intones. "Target is exhibiting signs of hostility."

"Yeah, I got that." Out loud, "Have I met you before? Before the park, I mean."

She stops two meters away, just far enough that she might be able to lunge at me with a knife, or fire a small firearm even if she's a doll without a fire control core installed and never fired it before. A distance that I've had one too many tense conversations before.

…Actually, now that I think about it, half of those conversations resulted in me getting a new girlfriend. There's the one with Em, Holly's old body, Rose, more than I can count with Hannah-

"No, that was the first day you knew me." She raises her arms up, flicking her arms to free them of the long sleeves of the dress. "But I've been looking for you for a long time. A decade, even."

My free hand involuntarily goes to my handgun at my back. "Let me guess. Kruševac?"

"No. Much later than that. Do you recall Father's Castle?"

A memory of a mission to a fortress almost suspended in the sky inside a black zone flashes through my mind. A gruesome, horrifying, stupidly pointless mission. "Ah. Nyto."

The horrifyingly wide grin returns, and I involuntarily take a step back. "My name is Protea. I will avenge my sister." Her hands split in two, skin shredding to reveal slick white metal as her arms split into multiple separate appendages, all of them tipped with what appear to be mini laser cannons.

"Savor your last few moments, human."

Suddenly, the lights in the store cut out, sparks coming from many of the electronics. My own internals feel the EMP, and for a second the pump that drives my heart ceases to function.

Thankfully, my neural cloud isn't subject to EMPs. Not since Sop got her claws into me. Holly is already rebooting everything as the two points of red light are joined by eight more, two one either side of her in the darkness, a sure sign of Paradeus laser tech being ready to fire.

My legs kick on just into time to let me leap down the aisle, eight red beams searing through the baking section of the supermarket.

Screaming starts as people freak out due to the lack of light. The emergency lighting doesn't kick on, and I can only guess that the EMP took those out too.

Holly loads my built in night vision next, and I watch as the Protea rounds the end of the aisle, each individual limb moving and adjusting to try to track me. She's walking calmly in my direction, though her expression is anything but calm.

I turn around and sprint in the opposite direction, skidding to a stop at the far end of the aisle.

A store employee has climbed onto one of the registers, using his phone like a flashlight. "Everyone, stay calm! The emergency lighting will come on-"

"EVERYONE DOWN!" I roar. "HOSTILE! GET DOWN!"

Panic sets in, but I don't have time to elaborate or help them organize before the next set of beams comes.

Holly traces their paths a split second before they fire, and I'm able to dodge them all by stepping to the side where they converge.

Several more screams clutter the soundscape as people's vision is seared with the beams of light- a fate I've suffered many times in the past, before my eyes were replaced. They won't be able to see for a few seconds-

The Nyto charges forward suddenly, arms snapping back together to two limbs once more. For a moment I wonder why this could be, but she proceeds to jam her fingers into a heavy metal shelf and lift it into the air.

My arms finally properly respond to my commands and I'm able to retrieve my handgun, drawing a bead on her forehead.

She tosses the heavy shelf before I can pull the trigger, Newton's third law propelling herself back just far enough that my bullet passes by her face.

The screaming is now deafening, but I filter it out almost by force of habit. I've had to fight too close to civilians too many times to count.

I duck the metal shelf, letting the cardboard boxes rain down around me without minding them. In fact, one of them hits my arm, knocking my aim off just enough that my second round also misses, and she leaps onto the next shelf, arms splitting into four each once more.

"She's constructing a cage." Holly informs me, once more visualizing where the beams are pointing. This time, there's one pointing right at me and the others fan out to make sure no matter where I dodge, I'll get hit.

Not this time, bitch. My third round smashes right through one of the finger lasers on her left side, and I use that gap to twist my body through the gap to my right.

The beams cut through the air, and a new, higher scream of pain sounds out.

My eyes track back, an instant stretching to eternity as I see a civilian, a random shopper, with a fresh hole in their leg. The flesh is seared shut from the heat of the beam, but she's already going down to the ground.

"YOU BITCH!" I scream, and I unlock my limiters.

As much as I wish I could still claim to be a young man, my body has been through so much abuse that it's no longer fully functional. To extend the service life of my mechanical parts, I had Holly install limiters so I couldn't accidentally strain myself and snap something impossible to fix and kill myself.

If people are being killed, though-

My hand reaches out toward the checkout counter, and I rip the heavy register off the desk and whip it at the Nyto. The register is a good twenty kilos, used to deter theft. As such, it's not something you can calmly brush aside.

Protea elects to dodge the projectile, leaping up again, her arms still working on acquiring a firing solution to cut me to pieces.

I don't let her scrambling up on top of the nearest counter and leaping to the next, hands already reaching for the next register. As a side benefit, none of the lasers are now aimed low enough to hit the civilians.

The next time they fire, they sweep around, and I'm forced to stumble rather than continue leaping forward to avoid the beams. My stumble sends me crashing back down to the floor, and a terrified man curls into a ball next to my feet as I almost land on top of him.

Shit.

I decide to stay down, scrambling over the man on all fours, trying to get around out of the Nyto's line of sight.

"Come out, bug!" She cries. "I must eradicate you like a roach!"

Her voice pinpoints her location, and I pop up just long enough to squeeze off two shots, both of which soar right past her.

"There you are!"

Another wave of laser beams cut through my cover, cutting into the floor around me and singing my pants as one of the beams comes just a little too close for comfort.

I roll out of the way, lying prone to steady my shots.

She leaps away, but I manage to land one final shot on her leg, a glancing hit that probably did little to slow her down.

Meanwhile, I'm out of ammo. I don't make it a habit to carry more than a single magazine on my person…

Sirens sound from outside the store. "THIS IS THE POLICE! EVERYONE INSIDE THE BUILDING, GET ON THE GROUND!"

"Ah… time's up." Protea lands and lets her arms merge back together, fake skin dangling from the ripped sleeves of the dress. She points her finger at the wall pointing out toward the street. "Well, it was fun."

"Oh, no you don't!" I put as much power into my legs as possible, leaping at her at speeds only a doll could realistically match.

Still, I'm too late.

My hand yanks on her arm just in time to redirect the beam, going from punching through the wall of the supermarket… to punching right through the cashier that had been trying to calm everyone down.

"NO!" I leap away from the Nyto, hand outstretched to reach for the collapsing man.

Holly informs me that Protea is fading back into the depths of the darkness of the supermarket, but I hardly have time to think about that.

It looks like the beam punched right though his side, right below his ribcage. It's bleeding, a sure sign that he was only hit for the briefest of moments before Protea cut off her beam. If it had cauterized, then this wouldn't be immediately life threatening-

"Holly, active protocol eighteen."

"Hadwin-"

"DO IT!"

Holly complies, waking the dormant nanites living as part of me. They swarm out and into the wound, Holly's processor running so hard my neck starts to overheat as she tries to decode his genetic sequence to synthesize flesh to repair the man.

It takes all of my concentration, and all of hers.

The small bits of mental power I have left to use worries about the certain danger of the Nyto stalking around behind me, but I'm not willing to let this person die.

The emergency lights finally kick on, and police storm the building, rifles sweeping around.

As soon as my task is finished, I stand up, handgun dangling from my pinky with my hands raised.

"HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!" The closest officer shouts. "TOSS THE GUN!"

I comply. "Sir, there's a hostile in the back of the store. Use extreme caution."

The officer pauses. "Hadwin? Shit." He keys his radio. "All units, One of the belligerents is Galanis. He says there's a hostile target in the back of the store."

"All units, report contact immediately. Lethal force authorized."

The officer who had recognized me scans around me. "Dead?"

"None that I'm aware of, but two wounds."

He nods and reports this.

I wait, every muscle natural or artificial yelling at me to head after the Nyto. Still, I don't want to be seen as the enemy, so I'm going to stay here until contact is made, at which point I might need to save some of the police from Protea-

"Sweep complete. Nobody's back here."

"No rear exits either. Has anyone left the scene?"

"Negative."

I blink. What…?

Everyone is carefully ushered outside, police warily watching everyone and keeping everyone under watchful eyes.

I patiently stay with the civilians being rounded up, silently hoping that the Nyto doesn't go on a killing spree.

One of the officers walks up, taking off his helmet and crouching down to my level.

"...Hey, Rakim." I glance at the door to the building.

"Hadwin, bro." He puts an arm on my shoulder. "You sure you saw someone inside?"

"Yes. It was a N- an enhanced human." I switch my language at the last second. "She's pale, has bright glowing red eyes, a black dress with torn sleeves, and had a hat on her head last I saw."

Rakim stands up and starts to report this back, and I wait some more.

And some more.

And even more.

Eventually, the rest of the police file out, and there's no Nyto among them.

"Hadwin," Rakim walks back up to me. "Come with me a second."

He directs me to stand with the police guarding the civilians. I note that both the man I had tried to save and the woman whose leg was pierced are being treated in ambulances a bit away.

Doesn't look like there's many other injuries. Good.

"Can you see the woman you're describing in the crowd?" Rakim asks in a whisper. "We found nobody, so unless she snuck out with the rest of you…"

I scan the crowd. "No. She's not…" I turn my voice inward. "Holly, please tell me that wasn't me imagining things."

"Those two civilians are certainly injured. All of your senses indicate what you believe happened is what actually happened."

"She must have stealth capabilities." I muse aloud, and Rakim's gaze lowers.

"Hadwin, this isn't one of your old crusades. Nobody has cloaking technology, there's nobody out to get you."

I bite my lip. "I… can I give you my statement?"

I proceeded to talk to a few cops I already knew from the past working security for Sector 3, describing the event to the best of my ability. They remain skeptical of what I say, but thankfully all of the other people in the shop were able to corroborate the presence of the hostile woman. The fact that nobody else saw her leave either…

I close my eyes and try to get my thoughts moving, hoping to poke something to try to figure out what could have happened.

Of course, thinking isn't my strong suit. My head starts to drift back toward my abandoned shopping basket. I really, really hope they still let me buy the food. After tonight, I owe my kids more of an apology than usual.

Ugh. Farah's gonna chew me out for being reckless again. A small smile crosses my face. She got that from her mother, that's for sure. She'll be almost as frightening as Aleah was someday too-

"Don't move."

A cold voice hisses, and a hand with a single glowing finger comes into sight before being placed on my neck.

"Seems like today's game has ended. I could kill you now… but I realize that realizing my vengeance after only a day is boring. From now on, you'll have no more peace. No more down time. I'll strike when you least expect it, tearing your life down. You ruined mine, you have no right to complain."

I say nothing, highly aware of the several lasers digging into my throat.

"For now though, I need to retreat, so I'll give you a present as a farewell gift."

Holly's eyes blink. "Override code detect-"

"Heya Haddy!"

I stop in my tracks, turning to the grinning girl in front of me. Two tufts of hair plled up high almost like animal ears, and an infectious grin.

"...P90?"

No… please no… not again!

My please go unheeded.


"Sorry I'm late." I trudge into the apartment, the groceries that I had been able to retrieve dangling from my arm. "Got held up."

Gerty runs up to me, wrapping me in a hug and pulling it as tight as she can. Farah joins a moment after, and I habitually pat their heads. "What's wrong?"

"Dad, it was on the news." Ollie points at the TV. "You got caught in a fight again."

"...Yes." I set my mouth into a line. "Seems like someone from my past decided to take revenge."

"Will you be okay?" Gerty looks up at me, tears in the corner of her eyes. "You're not gonna die, are you?"

"Of course not." I crouch down to her level. "I'm practically invincible. And, with you three behind me, I'm gonna be able to take on anything regardless. So, don't worry about it."

"Did you catch the bad guy?" Farah asks.

"No, but the police have her details and will keep a lookout for her."

Not that they believed me too much. Frankly, I'm doubting my own eyes a bit since she was able to sneak out and grab me before forcing the nightmare. She might even be the cause of the nightmares. It's pretty suspicious how she showed up at the drop location twice in a row, but I still don't know how that is possible…

It's probably not worth thinking about right now. Nytos tend to sport pretty advanced tech inside their bodies, and it's possible she's got some crazy teleport tech or… something. I'll have to see if I can get the drop on her and figure out her gimmick before confronting her.

"Dad?"

Ah, lost in my thoughts again. "Sorry Ollie. Let's get the kitchen ready for dinner, I'm sure you're hungry, and I got some really nice food!"

"Really?" Gerty peers into the bag. "HAM!"

"Ham?" Farah repeats, also looking in. "Daddy, isn't it weird to serve ham during Hanukkah?"

"...Oops."