B3-15 - Should’ve Bought a Sullivan (Patreon)

It was an invasion of alien creatures and robotic monstrosities. The survivors of Ko Sumai stood watching as a giant spider like creature marched down the main street of the settlement. It was a metallic purple color and upon it sat another being of metal.

Roci Sullivan tossed a handful of single credit discs to the crowds that watched the procession of machinery and tools and ant drones. The assault craft hovered above the crowd, the engines a low rumble and kicking up a slight breeze as Veskari slowly maneuvered heavy materials out of the Cage. Tender rode on the back of a large cargo drone, a thick limbed creature that carried the massive marsani block that was the former unshielded core of the Hanganathorie.

“Today is the beginning of a new day.” Maria Valdez stood upon a podium of strange metal and flashing viewscreens. Lights played across the podium and a hologram of Maria towered over the crowd, her voice clearly audible as nearly the entire population of the settlement gathered.

The lights and holograms produced nearly the same sense of awe and wonder as the robotic machines walking through the settlement. It had been nearly three weeks since anyone had seen anything powered by electricity or in this case, mana. They stared at the lights, something they had taken for granted in the world before, but now power was back. It was different, yes, but it showed that they weren’t just surviving any longer.

They had a chance to regain the island, to rebuild, and to live, not just survive. They cheered as the greatest warrior in the settlement, Jacob Patel, walked with the machines; two hulking bear like robots walked beside him. Behind him followed the fifty men and women, heavily armed and armored, who made up the defense force of the settlement. The cheers grew louder as Vale and Solada Viddayakorn carried tools and were followed by more drones bringing along building materials.

“Looks weird,” Maya said watching the parade and crowds. “Like those tinpot dictators setting up military parades to wow the peeps.”

“The only reason they do that is because it’s effective,” George said. “Never underestimate the need to see big guns and spit shined boots by the common folk.”

“Common folk?” Maya snorted. “Station Lord George the First deigns to look upon the masses.”

Hanna chuckled at her side. “Get a little title and he gains a big head.”

George glowered. “You know what I mean.”

“Sure thing, Station Lord,” Hanna said.

With the setting up of the Satellite Command, the building of Big Sig, and the tiny docking port for Maya’s personal shuttle and the assault craft, the 4S had finally reached a stage where it gained the ability to be labeled as a territory of the Sullivan Survival Society.

Planets, asteroids, and other celestial bodies could all be claimed; purchased from the System and settled. But actual space, as in the big empty bit of space, could not be owned by anyone. But once a structure checked all the marks on a list that the System only knew, the station would because a settlement without having to pay the pesky settlement deed cost.

With the International Space Station all but abandoned and the Sullivan Space Station Supreme being used as the main work area, docks, and cargo storage, the System proclaimed that the settlement of 4S had been created. And as with all settlements, there needed to be a ruler installed, even if Maya and the Sullivan Survival Society owned it.

Therefore, George had agreed to become the Chosen Representative of the 4S. With the establishing of the 4S, Maya had edited the title of the person in charge to be Station Lord. The System accepted it and it had caused George to gain the title Station Lord, which was a title given to military commanders of fortified space stations (according to Yosi and Veskari).

He had gained new occupational abilities and even a Skill from it.

“Did you prepare your speech?” George asked.

“Totally. Got it all recorded and ready to play once Maria hits the play button,” Maya replied. “It’s full of cliched phrases and sprinkled liberally with Sullivan Value Crate commercials.”

“Sullivan Value Crate, I thought we decided on SullVend?” Hanna said.

“Gross. No,” Maya responded.

“Isn’t it Sullivan Boxes?” George asked.

“We’re still workshopping names,” Maya replied.

“I once dated a man who was in advertising,” Hanna said.

“So?”

Hanna shrugged. “Just bragging.”

The two laughed as George groaned.

“Why use Yosi as the spokeswoman?” George asked. “I thought this was your business?”

“Oh, it is. It’s also a House Sullivan enterprise and Yosi is totally Sullivan though and through. Plus, she’s a cutie. You see the animations we made? Everybody has been swooning over the gal, crowds are gathering at the Boxes.”

“I think they’re gathering because they can buy high quality items at low, low prices,” Yosi said entering the room. The dinosaur woman beamed as the three looked at her. “We are indeed making, as you’ve said before, hella profits.”

“How are the plushies selling?” Maya asked grinning.

Yosi frowned. “You can’t call it selling when you’re giving them away for free with every purchase,” she said.

Maya brought up a different camera feed, this one showing armed soldiers standing before the entrance of a Sullivan Box, only letting one person at a time within. They were dressed in the modified armor that had been purchased off of Asoltolia. The name of the city was displayed below: Chicago, USA.

Another view screen displayed a similar scene, but instead of soldiers, there were rough looking men and women who were camped out before the Box, eating ration bars with a group of children running around with the multicolored plush dolls of Yosi. The displayed name was Egypt, as Maya and George didn’t really know where in Egypt it was.

The third view screen showed scores of men and women lined up, organized and preparing for what looked like battle. The skyline showed collapsed skyscrapers and smoke obscuring the horizon. Maya saw the occasional flash of light from particle cannons as they were fired against something lurking in the smoke. The city was Tokyo, Japan.

“I still say supporting the well established enclaves would do the most good,” George said. “These small groups would benefit from a humanitarian aid container, rather than a full on Sullivan Box. The resources needed to make each box is fairly hefty and larger population should be given first consideration.”

“Yeah, probably,” Maya muttered watching the people from Egypt all stand up, eyes scanning the ruins around them. They clutched their swords, guns, and pulled their children back toward the center of the group. “But it’s the small groups, those that are barely hanging on that need it more. A box of food and duracloth isn’t going to cut it. They need a bigger logistic network, whereas the more established enclaves already have that up and running by now. A few days won’t make any difference to their situation, but these guys will be dead in a few days if no one helps.”

George watched the Egyptians and merely nodded. It had been a slight argument, for every city and organized human enclave, Maya would send a Box to some random group that was struggling hard in the world. The prices were also severely reduced to allow them to buy everything they would need.

Three Boxes and three places across the globe. Maya was proud of the achievement. Sales were slowly ramping up, as the local governments released their strangle hold on who could enter the Boxes and buy items. It was a concern, that those in power would just seize the Boxes and not share it with the people.

There had been a bit of a scuffle in Chicago as the apparent mayor of the city arrived and tried to move the Box to a more secured location for their own uses. By then a large amount of people had seen what the Box contained and had practically fought the military forces for control over it.

Maya had to intervene, with a dancing and singing Yosi animation telling them to work together and everyone was welcomed to use the Box. Hanna had written the song for Yosi to sing, a cartoony song about sharing and caring.

Afterward Maya has sent the ‘First Contact’ gift box; a message from George to the people of Earth and wherever, a comm array that was powered by a mana battery, information, and access to the communications network that was being built. Then the humanitarian aid packages were sent, once everything was established; tons of food, clean water, tents and fabric, medicine, and Maya’s addition of Sullivan Coffee and Chocolates.

“Will everything be Sullivan this and that?” Hanna had asked.

“Damn straight. Every other word dripped from mankind’s mouth will be Sullivan,” Maya declared.

“Narcissistic much?” Hanna asked.

“Totally.”

Maya switched the channel and spied on Yuri as he walked the desolated streets of Moscow with his trusty mechanical bear sidekick. That would make an awesome story, Maya pondered. Yuri had been walking among the ruins and over the course of nearly a day had gathered a small troop of armed men and women, tough looking people, in is search for Russian government officials.

“It just feels like we’re a bunch of peeping toms,” Hanna said, watching as the people of Tokyo began marching off to battle. She switched the camera view and got an overhead shot from the satellites in orbit. They didn’t show much, but with a bit of adjusting Hanna managed to remove the smoke and dust obscuring the image.

A massive tree had blossomed in the center of the city, towering over even the remaining skyscrapers. Hanna panned the image around, showing the pink flowers that were blooming upon branches that were hundreds of meters long and thicker than a subway train. Thick roots tore down buildings and clawed their way toward the ocean; already scores of thick roots were sucking up the salt water and pumping it into the tree itself.

What looked like pink petals were falling from the massive tree, but instead of flower petals, they were a leathery thin creature that enveloped prey, suffocating and killing them. Even as their prey struggled and fought back, the petals rocketed back up to the tree, where they consumed their prey in comfort.

“How long?” George asked Maya.

“I sent the schematics to Scotty, he says he can build it and it’ll take another three hours,” Maya replied watching the massive tree and its death petals.

“Too bad we can’t just beam it into the Cage or into space,” Hanna said.

“Yeah, too big, the power requirements would suck every tesseract we have dry. Plus Bell says such megafauna can be harvested for rare minerals. It seems the bigger they are, the higher tier the materials are needed to keep it from just falling over and dying from sheer mass.”

“A giant mine of a tree, if we can kill it,” Hanna said. “Will the Sullivans declare they are the ones to destroy the World Tree?”

“Oh, god, no. We’re just gonna burn off the petals and allow the others to chop it down. We’ve sent the info on what to do to injure it and how to harvest it, we’ll not be taking responsibility for the destruction of rare and exotic murderous trees. If the goods that can be obtained from it are any good, we’ll probably head over there eventually.”

The three watched the Japanese preparing for their fight and then switched back to Maria making her speech.

“I’m to meet with the Mayor of Chicago and the military leaders via satellite in a few minutes,” George said. “I’m not looking forward to this.”

“Sell them on the settlement deed ideas and tug on their freedom loving feels,” Maya said. “There’s a lot of hearsay that the dude’s a prick and the leaders there are ass kissers. I’ll be counting on your gut feelings, pal. Don’t let American and me down.”

George frowned at the words. “I don’t like all this spying on my own countrymen,” he said. “All of those Yosi plushies are being used to eavesdrop on conversations. It goes against everything we have established about privacy.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. But I’m not going to be throwing my weight behind someone who’s a proto-Samanco or wannabe warlord,” Maya said. “Learn some decent human manners and we’ll all be cool.”

“Oh, look. You’re on,” Yosi said, pointing to a screen. Maria had stepped aside and the massive display behind her shifted to a deep purple color.

“Plus those bugs have a twenty four hour life span. In a day they’ll all stop transmitting and recording,” Maya said.

“That’s not the point,” George said.

The deep purple of the view screen shifts, to a view of Earth from space. It is a simulated pre-Integration image, human satellites blinking and the dark side of the planet awash with lights from major cities.

22 Days Ago

A flash of white fills the screen and the image changes, this time it’s a satellite view of Earth’s major cities and countries.

Now.

Scenes play across the screen.

The iconic image of the Statue of Libery, half melted and covered in spiked purple veins that emitted a yellowish gas.

The Taj Mahal, prestine white and clean, a mirror like finish upon every surface. Then those surfaces bubble as monsters begin to climb out of seemingly thin air; dozens and then scores.

The Eiffel Tower, bent, broken, and with a giant winged creature sitting upon it. It is oaring into the heavens as scores of other giant winged creatures flap about it.

The Great Wall of China, swarming with rat like creatures with wings and long tails that crackle with electricity. They hurl themselves off the walls, then flap off into the sky, their screeching filling the air.

Then the image of Maya Sullivan, walking toward the camera, dressed in a practical ship suit, with an axe at her side. The crowds watching stir, as this is the first image they’ve seen of their benefactor, of the woman that Maria has been telling them so much about.

“Twenty two days ago,” Maya begins. “Twenty two days ago Integration arrive to our universe. Every planet, every solar system, and every galaxy across this entire universe was Integrated and changed.

“Our science and technology became useless within a single minute. Our entire world was changed, every planet, animal, and insect was warped by the mana that was dumped into every living cell on this planet.

“The old world is gone now. Billions dead. Entire nations have collapsed and every man, woman, and child is fighting for survival.”

Maya is replaced with more satellite images.

Beirut, Lebanon: Anisa in the ruins of Beirut, swords flashing as she and her Defenders take down a giant armored squid. She’s covered from head to toe in blood and viscera, her blades held high as the giant squid falls to their blows.

Johannesburg, South Africa: A young man and a boy shoulder rifles and scurry through the ruins of the city. A mutated dog, three heads and thick tentacles writhing from their mouths, appears. They draw their weapons and begin firing, ridding the creature with bullets. Soon more armed people join them and the image pans out to show hundreds of men and women and children fighting small battles across the city.

Lagos, Nigeria: Ezra Adenekan and five others rush forward from cover, scores of twenty meter high creatures that looked like walking seaweed towered over them. From their leafy limbs a black haze begins swirling. Ezra flickers out of sight, the light bending around his body, and then lightning begans falling around the creatures. The five others began tossing fireballs, ice bolts, and strange energies at the creatures as regular soldiers and militia people came up from behind and fire at the monsters with weapons purchased from Maya. A Sullivan branded railgun is shown prominently as a soldier fires it.

“We are not giving up. On every continent, on every island, everywhere humanity remains, we are fighting back. We are taking back this planet through blood, toil, and cooperation.”

The images of battle change. Ko Sumai island, but not the island that it currently is or had been. Instead it is a city ripped form the pages of science fiction; lines of robots carrying cargo, shuttles launching from pads and heading toward the mainland, ships of alien design and armament moving in the surrounding seas.

Where there had once been luxury hotels and spas ,there were factories. Not the smoke churning, industrial buildings of practicality and pragmatism, but beautiful structures that were made of glass and steel. Ration bars were being produced, duracloth, and system tech components were being manufactured; crafters were at work, hammering, sewing, and tooling weapons in vast crafting areas and workshops.

It was a city of industry and manufacturing. Great weapons to fight the monsters of the world were being forged. The wall of the Emporium opens up and men and women entered and leave the Cage, carrying supplies, tools, or selling those same things.

“On this island the future will begin. Here we shall begin making the tools, the weapons, and the supplies that will be sent across the world. Sent to those beleaguered peoples who are fighting for every breath, every minute of every day. Here on Ko Sumai, we shall begin building the Foundation for the future of humanity.”

As the message echoed for a moment, a great blue light suffused the air. People muttered and looked around, a moment later there is a loud crack. The gathered people stare as five massive towering mechanical creatures appear outside of the settlement’s walls. They glam of metal and weapons, the aura of deadliness surround them, but they do not move. They stand there waiting for someone.

Jacob Patel marches forward, the fifty soldiers, and the two Battle Buddies following. The five robotic creatures salute Patel and then march beside him as they head into the monster infested interior of Ko Sumai.

“You need to work on your speechifying,” Hanna said.

“What are those?” George asked, gesturing to the big robots.

“Rogue AI Murder bots,” Maya said, then grinned. “They are rogue AIs, but they’ve got limited intelligence and work on a sort of mini hive mind that Tender is totally in charge of. It’s something he came up with to expand the amount drones he could command. It’s also the genesis of the Battle Buddies, a bunch of code that won’t go against human kind, but will kill anything trying to kill human kind.”

“Seems like a very bad idea,” George said.

“Oh, it probably is. I’ve seen all the crazy science fiction movies about technology going bad. Tender has the killswitches for them and if it comes down to it, we can just beam them back up and pull the plug.”

George rubbed his face. “You should discuss some of these robotic creatures you’re building. We need to know their limits and the potential danger they represent.”

“Didn’t you say you needed to go to a meeting?” Maya asked.

“Oh, shit!” George cursed and rushed out of the room.

“Do I get paid more for the use of my likeness on these advertisement and Sullivan Boxes?” Yosi asked.

“Sure, sure,” Maya said.

The three turned to watch the commercial that was being played after Maya’s speech.

A young man staggers through desert. He turns a corner and sees a rickety cart with a man beckoning to him. The words “Trader’ are scribbled on the side of the cart.

“Hey, boyo. You need weapons? Gear? It’s a hard world out there.”

“Yes, please,” the young man cried.

“How much coin do you have?”

The image cuts to the young man in rusty armor and a chipped sword, facing off against a giant bear rat. It roars at him and charges. The boy is thrown back and the sword snaps against a stone. The bear rat roars again readying for the final strike.

An armored boot collides with the bear rat and it is punted off screen. The camera pulls back to show a heavily armored figure carrying a railgun. The face plate of the armored suit slides back to reveal a woman’s face.

“That your sword?” she askes, gesturing to the broken blade.

“Yeah…”

“Should’ve bought a Sullivan,” she says. “Maya’s Emporium sells Sullivan branded weapons and armor. They’ve got a ninety day return policy and the Sullivan Guarantee that your weapon will survive an encounter with an equally graded mana mutation.”

The young man looks down at the broken sword.

“I should’ve bought a Sullivan.”

“Buy all Sullivan branded products at your nearest Sullivan Box or at the Emporium if we show up in your neck of the woods!” Yosi’s animated figure cheerfully states as she dances across the screen.

“What the shit was that?” Hanna demanded.

“What’s wrong with it?” Maya asked.