Anya had been worried the next meeting with MacDougal about their points would turn into some bureaucratic nightmare. She saw herself having to justify and re-explain every point allocation to a panel of aging government employees who had no idea what was going on. Not even Felix would be able to make a presentation good enough to put up with that nonsense.

Instead she just walked into MacDougal’s office to find the director behind her desk, organizing some papers.

“Director?” Anya asked.

“Come in, Nowicki,” she said. “All right, what’s your deal?”

“Well I thought about specializing in my advanced class, and mainly focusing on what I had so far instead of spreading myself out any further. As much as the other dominions would be cool, I don’t——”

“So more fire,” MacDougal said.

“That’s a little simplistic, but yes. More of the same,” Anya said.

“What about your RAC? That store currency? How much do you have?”

“Felix?” Anya asked and her AI appeared, their head in full bloom.

“Anya currently has 12,528,045 RAC,” Felix said.

“You saving up for something?” MacDougal asked.

“Yes. A spaceship,” Anya said.

“I thought your Cosmic Warden class gave you a free one.”

“Only up to a comparatively small amount. And given what’s going on, I think I’ll need the best ship I can afford.”

“Uh-huh. All right. You’re approved. Have any purchases decided upon by this time tomorrow. If it’s tech, run it by Hendricks and see if he’ll be able to do anything with it. If it’s that aether stuff or some other mumbo jumbo, run it by Captain Upadhyay, then bring it to me,” MacDougal said. “Dismissed.”

“That’s it?” Anya asked and MacDougal finally looked up from her papers.

“The President gave you and I an order. I’ve followed it. I have neither the time nor the inclination to micromanage you and your menus, and trust at this point that you will do what needs to be done and won’t frivolously spend your points on nonsense like that first host you met. What was that idiot’s name?”

“Carl,” Anya replied.

“Right. The man who saw aliens coming for his hide and decided to be an actor. Christ,” MacDougal said shook her head. “I still have to decide how to not only break the news of a giant asteroid coming for Earth to the public, but coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security and the National Guard for the expected panic that will follow. And I also have to keep in touch with every other government agency across the planet to release the news at a similar time so we’re all on the same page. You’ve demonstrated that you want to kill aliens, I want you to kill aliens, so pick some stuff that’ll help you kill aliens and we can both do our jobs.”

“Uh, yeah. Gotcha,” Anya said.

“Good luck with all that Director!” Felix said and waved at MacDougal.

“I do have one question for you while I’m on my lunch break,” MacDougal said as she took out a cigarette. Anya pointed at it and lit the tip and MacDougal nodded at her in thanks. “Why the hell is that thing’s head a flower? And all the other ones I’ve seen. They all have plant heads. Upadhyay’s is a weeping willow. Hendricks’s is a Protea. Pan’s is a buttercup.”

“I don’t really know!” Felix said. “I didn’t choose it.”

“Huh,” MacDougal said, then took a long drag on her cigarette. “All right, lunch is over. Go on, Nowicki. Send Pan in on your way out.”

“Director,” Anya said with a nod and then left. Samaira had already bee inside and had left before Anya could talk to her. Pan sat in a metal chair next to the secretary’s desk, his menu open to display a variety of ants which the secretary was looking at.

“And this is a leaf-cutter ant. They’re like little farmers! They’ve got a peppery taste to them, so I like to put a few in my bag to spice things up,” Pan said to the secretary.

“Uh-huh,” the secretary said.

“Pan, he has his own work to do,” Anya said as she closed the door behind her.

“Actually the director is really self-sufficient,” the secretary said.

“Well, he has to go in for menu approval anyway,” Anya added.

“Is it gonna be scary?” Pan asked. “I’ve never been alone with MacDougal.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I’ll wait out here for you,” Anya said.

“Okay! Bye Mr. Secretary!” Pan said, rolled out of his chair, and waddled into MacDougal’s office. “Hi MacDougal. Pan here!”

Anya chuckled as she sat down and brought up her menu. She wasn’t going to level-up in the waiting area. She didn’t want the pain to knock her on her ass outside of a bed, but she double-checked her allocations.

ANYA NOWICKI LEVEL 87

CLASS 1: (Phoenix Knight Level 2) +3-7 to all Marked Stats // +5-12 to all Marked Skills

CLASS 2: +3-7 to all Marked Stats // +5-12 to all Marked Skills

ADVANCED CLASS LEVEL 2: [Cosmic Warden]+20 Stat Points +100 Skill Points (Any category)

NOTE: Advanced classes come with unique bonuses. Inquire with menu AI or access Advanced Class sub-menu

STATISTICS

Brawn: 74

Intelligence: 16

Awareness: 41

Dexterity: 39

Fortitude: 74

Charm: 6

Speed: 19

Fortune: 14

PHYSICAL SKILLS

Xhama Thul: 59

Heavy Plate Armor (Enchanted): 41

Xhama Rahn: 53

Combat Conditioning: 38

MENTAL SKILLS

Combat Analysis: 28

Battlefield Strategy: 23

Cognition Acceleration: 27

Psychic Defense: 20

Dominion Discipline: 38

OTHER SKILLS

Flame Dominion: 87

Gravity Dominion: 56

Light Dominion: 59

Regeneration: 63

Kinetic Absorption: 31

Battle Aura: 5

ADVANCED CLASS BONUSES: (These can only be upgraded by taking this class again at level 75+)

Defender’s Boon- Any defensive equipment, items, or companions purchased from the store will be 50% less and receive +5 upgrade levels. +10 to all defensive skills.

Jurisdiction of the Cosmos- Temporary +10 to all skills and +5 to all stats when fighting off-world/in outer space. Baseline survival in a vacuum is now inherent.

Fist of the Divine- +10 to all divine/light-related and unarmed combat skills.

“Felix, you got all this saved, right?” Anya asked.

“Sure do! You gonna confirm the changes now?” he asked.

“Hell no. I don’t need to pass out in the USAIF offices, especially not in front of MacDougal’s office. We’ll do it when I’m at the dorms near the old containment facility.”

Anya sat in the chair Pan had occupied and waited until the pangolin waddled back out of the office with Bee-Eff floating beside him.

“She said everything looks okay!” Pan said. “I’m still not sure on a few things but she made some suggestions. I’m gonna talk about it with Bee-Eff and you and Gary before I change anything though.”

“We can talk about it on our way to the Mojave,” Anya said and she and Pan left for the V-200 parked on the roof.

————————————————————————

Pan went to go see Gary in the main containment area that he had converted into a temporary Ready Room while he oversaw construction on the new factory. Anya followed the pangolin into the cavernous space and saw the old man standing in the center of dozens of floating holographic displays while he issued commands to his construction drones and excavators. A floating map showed a blueprint laid over a topographical display of somewhere in Antarctica. There were other holographic screens, but these only showed darkness.

“Gary!” Pan said and waddled forward, stubby arms wide.

“Hey Roly Poly,” Gary looked away from his displays as down at Pan as the pangolin hugged his leg. Gary grinned and patted him on his hard-scaled back, then looked up at Anya. “Heya kid. How was the meeting? They tell you to sink all your points into voting manipulation or how to take bribes or something?”

Anya chuckled. “No, MacDougal just waved me through. Sam and Pan too.”

“MacDougal is surprisingly competent,” Gary said. “Y’know, for a bureaucrat.”

“She’s okay.”

“You level up yet?”

“No, I was gonna do that in my room, for the pain.”

“It’s still pretty bad,” Gary nodded. “Gonna check on Doc and Chell?”

“Yeah, no change?”

“Doc stirred a while ago, but nothing major,” Gary said and glanced up at one of the screens that displayed an empty blackness.

“What’re those?” Anya asked and pointed at the black screen.

“Space.I sent some probes out as soon as Gizmo got the data stream,” Gary said. Gizmo, Gary’s gray AI, had a habit of wanting Gary——and everybody else——to charge headlong into any sign of danger. “Asteroid’s little more than a speck in the distance there, but I was more focused on the drones’ speed than anything else. They’ve had a few days to get out there, so hopefully they’ll be within range in a little while. Good timing on your part, actually.”

“That soon?” Anya asked.

“Them and the asteroid been going toward each other. And like I said, pretty much built them all for speed. And data collection, but I just took some parts from scrapped DragonDrones. Not much use for them right now.”

“True enough,” Anya said and then waved. “All right, I’m gonna go check on Garreth and Chell. See you after I level up.”

“Hang in there, kid,” Gary said.

“Will you help me with my menu, Gary?” Pan asked.

“I’d be delighted. Just let Uncle Gary finish some stuff up here, okay?”

Anya left the two of them and entered the medical bay. Chell and Immonen both lay on beds attended by medical droids, and with numerous scanning devices pointed at them. IV tubes ran into their arms and the room was silent save for a steady, reassuring beeping of their hearts. Anya’s heat sense told her they were at a perfectly normal temperature, their heat beats were slow and steady as if they were merely sleepy. She stood by Chell’s bed first.

“You protected us, and I’m sorry I couldn’t do the same for you,” Anya said and put her hand over Chell’s. She gave it a pat, then turned to Immonen. A chair sat by his bed, slightly askew from when she had last sat in late last night before she went to bed. She sat in it again now and brushed some of the doctor’s long blond hair away from his face. His facial muscles twitched at her touch. It was more response than she’d seen since he first fell unconscious, and her heart leapt for a moment.

“Garreth?” Anya asked. She didn’t dare shake him or do anything more disruptive for fear of causing harm. Yai had already examined him, as had Gary’s droids and machines, and she knew he wasn’t physically fragile, but she would rather not risk anything. Immonen’s face twitched again, then relaxed. Anya repeated his name, but had no response. Her broad shoulders drooped.

“We really need you back, Garreth,” she said. “A lot of people are going to get hurt, and it’d be good to have the world’s best doctor on hand.”

Immonen remained still.

The intercom next to the medical bay door beeped and Anya jumped.

“Kid, you need to get out here,” Gary said.

“Is everything all right?” Anya asked.

“No, that’s why I’m telling you to get out here. You need to see this.”

“Coming,” Anya said and cast one last look at Immonen before she hurried out and ran back to the main chamber. “What is it?”

Gary had expanded one of the probe screens. It wasn’t black anymore.

“That,” Gary said and pointed at the screen. It showed a gray mass with dots flickering across it.

“Is that static?” Anya asked.

“Nope. Look closer,” Gary said and enlarged the screen further.

The gray mass was pitted and rough like stone. The asteroid itself. It filled the screen from end to end.

And the flickering dots weren’t dots at all, but Anya had suspected that.

They were aliens.

Tens of thousands of them. More.

“Jesus. How…how many?”

“Hard to tell them apart when they’re all jumbled up, but initial drone estimates are at about 125,000. For this area. About two percent of the asteroid’s total surface area.”

“Oh my god.”

The camera zoomed in further and Anya’s eyes widened as her mouth drew back and she bared her teeth in instinctive horror at the aliens.

They were not the same as the recon wave. Those aliens had made efforts to disguise themselves as objects from Earth, albeit twisted or wrong in some way. The aliens of the assault wave had made no such attempts. Anya thought it was like staring at a painting by Hieronymous Bosch brought to horrifying reality. Their shapes incorporated hints of humanity, but were otherwise purely foreign and nightmarish. Tentacles, pincers, crystalline skin, leathery wings, beaks, fangs, talons, melded with figures that ranged from serpentine to arachnid to utterly amorphous. It was a menagerie of nightmares, the asteroid a chunk of Hell itself hurtling through the void and straight at Earth.

And they only had less than a week to stop it.