At first glance the wetsuit looked like a typical jet-black neoprene diving suit. The only real difference was this one had a tougher, rubbery outer coating. I quickly stripped down to my under armour, folded the rest of my gear, and slipped it on. It was tighter than the wetsuits I had worn before, hugging my curves almost uncomfortably close.

  I carefully strapped on my shield generator, which was apparently waterproof, before slipping my jacket on. For modesty purposes. After piling most of my gear into one of the larger boxes, I carefully slipped a pair of injectors into my jacket pocket before stepping back into the bedroom

  Skyler was strutting around in a charcoal grey wetsuit that was just as tight as mine was. As soon as I stepped out, she looked up expectantly before shooting me a disappointed look. “Why do you have your jacket on? It’s only the two of us?”

  “Because it won’t just be the two of us soon. We still have to drive down to the harbor and meet up with these other samurai. I don’t want to be showing off in front of everyone,” I grumbled halfheartedly.

  “Awww… You’re so cute when you blush,” Skyler giggled, before gathering all her gear together and throwing her own coat on.

  I quickly glanced around the room. It didn’t look like much had changed since I went into the bathroom. “What did you buy? I expected to see new drones.”

  “I didn’t need to. I just upgraded these boys,” Skyler patted one of her mortar drones. “Now they have aquatic propulsion and the ability to fire torpedoes in addition to mortar rounds. The cannons won’t be able to fire, but I haven’t really used them that much anyways.”

  She looked me up and down suspiciously. “I don’t see you sporting any new weapons either.”

  Digging through my box for a moment, I retrieved the wrist-mounted dart launcher. Skyler just gave me a look that told me she wasn’t impressed.

  “It’s to replace my bow, so I can launch payloads underwater. Artymis told me my sword would be sufficient for most fighting. Plus I have these,” I said, digging the injectors out of my pocket.

  Skyler raised an eyebrow and stared at me for a moment before she sighed. “Reina, honey, I know whatever you’re holding is probably something impressive, but they just look like vials to me.”

  “Right, sorry,” I mumbled, flushing in embarrassment. “They’re the Class II versions of the genetic muscle and reaction speed enhancements I’ve been using. Arty pretty much insisted I take them right away. Since we’re unlikely to have any time off in the next few days, they’re designed to slowly integrate over a week or so. I can also take a serum to accelerate the process, but it’d knock me out for a day or two.”

  “Are you sure you want to take them?” Skyler asked. “What if they’re dangerous?”

  “I have no doubt that the Class I versions saved my life multiple times over the last few days. They let me analyse the situation and react to attacks much more quickly than I could have before. I honestly think they’ll be more than worth it, but if you don’t want me to take them, I won't,” I told her seriously.

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  Skyler let out a long, low breath. “No. It’s fine. Some part of me worries that going through genetic enhancements will change you. That you’ll treat me differently afterwards,” she said quietly, but then she straightened up and spoke louder. ”But I also trust that Arty and Athyna wouldn’t offer you anything like that. As far as I’m concerned, anything that keeps you alive and coming home with me is a good thing. Give them to me.”

  She gently took the pair of injectors and held them in her hand for several seconds, as if she was weighing them. “Artymis, does it matter where Reina injects these?”

  {Arty: The ideal place would be in the side of the neck, allowing the serums to quickly travel to both the nervous and muscular systems.}

  “What are you planning to do?” I asked.

  “Showing how much I trust you. Now sit,” Skyler declared, patting the bed next to her.

  I quickly slipped into position at her side. Skyler slowly brushed my hair to one side and lifted the first injector. “I hope this doesn’t hurt, brace yourself.”

  As she pressed the device against my neck, I didn’t feel any pain, just a slight dizziness as the fluid entered my system. Glancing over at Skyler, who was watching nervously. “No problem, no pain at all,” I assured her.

  “Good, then prepare for injection two,” she replied quietly. The second injection was as painless as the first. This time, instead of feeling dizzy, I felt my muscles tremble slightly as the serum passed through my body.

  “Thank you for trusting me,” I told my partner as she stepped over to the other side of the room to deposit the empty injectors in the trash.

  “It’s no big deal,” she replied with a fake indifferent tone.

  I slipped off the bed, came up behind her, and spun her around once she’d finished with the injectors. “No, seriously, thank you,” I repeated before I leaned in for a kiss.

  The two of us stayed intertwined for several seconds, trying our best to pull each other into a deeper embrace, before Skyler finally pulled away. “Don’t take this as permission to take dangerous upgrades in the future,” she pouted. “From now on we will discuss that sort of thing before purchasing them. Deal?”

  “Deal,” I agreed, with a sly smile before letting her go.

  Skyler glanced at the wall clock and pouted. “Although I’d love to sit you down and ‘discuss’ this further, we should probably get going. If we delay too long, you’re not going to have time for any lessons, and I really want you to have time to practice before we actually engage the antithesis.”

  “You’re probably right,” I replied, sighing deeply. After we split apart, grabbed our gear, and silently headed towards the front door. The cats were waiting for us in the front room. Cleo and Leah stared at us with suspicion, while Lala attacked my feet in joy.

  “Sorry babies, I know we haven’t been around much the last few days, but we’ll make it up to you, I promise,” Skyler said, as she leaned down to pet the two adult cats. They tried to pretend to be aloof, but within seconds the pair were like a purring puddle in Skylers hands.

  Lala, deciding that she wanted scratches too, launched herself on the two adult cats before rolling onto her back and mewing. Surprisingly, neither of the older cats complained, and the three of them shared the scritches for another minute or two.

  When Skyler was done, I nodded towards my sword. “I don’t think we need your gun or my bow, but can you grab Rending Wave for me?”

  She nodded and gently removed my blade from the display. As we entered the garage, Skyler turned to me. “Do you know who it is we’re supposed to be meeting?”

  I paused for a second. “I honestly didn’t think to ask. The AIs just said they’d arranged training with another samurai, but I never followed up.”

  {Athy: You’ll be training with the crew of the Starchaser, the samurai warship in the harbor. Ghost-Light, one of three samurai on board, is a specialist of underwater close combat.}

  “I hope they’re a good teacher,” I said as I waited for Skyler to open the passenger side door. There wasn’t much room in her car, so I had to unpack our boxes and stash the individual items behind the seats. It barely fit. It wasn’t like we had a ton of gear, but we had to work with what we had. I would have stowed it in the trunk, but Skyler was busy trying to make sure all her drones fit, so I made due.

  Once the two of us finally had everything packed, we slipped into the car. “Arty, can you let the Starchaser know we’re on our way? Can you also ask them where the best place to meet up would be, please?” I asked quietly while fastening my belt.

  {Athy: We already have that information. If you go to the samurai pier, where you boarded the Redemption, they’ll meet you there.}

  “We can do that,” Skyler replied quietly as she started the car. It only took a couple of seconds for her to maneuver the car around and get aligned with the door. As soon as the massive armored hatch opened we shot out over the city again, heading towards the harbor.

  Skyler smiled. “Time to go meet our new samurai friends.”

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