Maniac’s Mayhem: A guide to being a corporate slave

I wake up in the nice soft bed of my hotel room. I decided to stay the night here, because Jason and Magenta Explosion had wanted to talk to all the Samurai in this area for a while already, and since we were all here, now was the perfect time. We primarily discussed plans for the base and the future. We all decide to loosely work together and help new Samurai that pop up in this region. Other than that, we plan to build a training room and shooting range in the building. We also cleared some room for some kind of creation engine and chemical synthesizer. I personally don’t see the use, besides printing out a shit ton of turrets to defend the place, but the others think it is useful, so whatever. I personally plan to get a weapon maintenance station at some point when I get the points.

I get out of bed and walk to the living room. It is just a big open area, with couches and tables and other seating, right next to the cafeteria. I sit there for a bit, browsing the internet for problems. Luckily, everything is still going according to plan.

Yun Min comes up to me with two plates. She gives me one and sits down across from me.

“So, boss, how are you doing?” She says. She still has a bit of an accent, but we can communicate now. Samurai tech is impressive.

“Uhm, fine. I guess. Why are you calling me boss, though?”

“Because you are the boss, right? You own this floor, right?”

“No, technically, I don’t.”

“Then who owns this place?”

“Well, technically, you own the floor. It is in your name.”

She stops eating her breakfast to stare at me.

“Why would you do that?”

“Well, because of my circumstances, I can’t own property, so I thought since you are the one living here, I would just put it in your name.”

“Thank you, I guess. Sounds like you have it tough as well.”

“You don’t even know the half of it. Maybe I should convince my girlfriend to take me on a trip or something, so I can relax for a while.”

“Ooh, you have a partner. That is good. It is so rare nowadays to find someone. It must be so nice.”

“It is sometimes. It also comes with a lot of trouble.”

“Yeah, but isn’t love full of compromise?”

“I guess you are right. It’s just hard. You know her family abused me for so long, but at the same time, she has been my oldest friend, so I don’t know what is the right thing to do.”

“Uhm, why would you care what is right? You’re a Samurai, no one can tell you what to do. So, just do what makes you happy.”

“Ahh, I guess you're right.”

It is quiet after that. Both of us have our own thoughts to get through. After finishing off my breakfast, I leave the hotel. I take a snaking path back home. Once home, I try to put my stuff away, but there is a new door installed that I don’t have the keys to. It takes me a few minutes to track down maintenance and sign some documentation, where I agree to put the cost of installing a new door on my already enormous debt. Well, it's a good thing I never planned to pay this off.

After that hassle, I get inside my room. I can already spot that some of the more expensive jewellery and clothing that Cierra gave me is missing. The worst offender is the fact that my computer is missing. I really liked the thing. Sure, it was old, but Cierra got me an extra hard drive with some games on it.

I don’t have time to mourn the loss for long. I need to get back to the issue of today, so I change into some more comfy clothing, some beat-up jeans and a t-shirt, then I head back out again. Usually, I would wear a mask, but the air filter has really been putting in work, so I feel like it is unnecessary. I descend all the way down the mega structure, and walk a few streets until I find an abandoned alleyway on the lower levels. I spot a half-destroyed wall that seems clean enough and sit down.

“Now we wait.”

Do you want Lyssa to play some elevator music?

“Fuck no, anything but that.”

Lyssa understand. Then Lyssa will now play Never Going to Give You Up by Rick Astley.

“How about I turn you into a bowling ball to kill some time instead.”

That would be a rather big waste of points. Lyssa will do better according to your music taste. I would recommend Kill and Buy by Koroi.

“Ooh, that is not bad.”

I kill some time listening to Lyssa's playlist while watching the office. It is relatively calm. Most of the advertising has been taken down or is overshadowed by a certain Samurai throwing someone off a building. Welp, guess I should have seen that coming. Luckily, I have Sam, and she already has some fail safes in place. She is back in the office getting things ready while I am here. I am kind of skipping work at the moment. Going by the amount of emails, texts, and missed calls, some people have noticed. But I ignore it for now. If I succeed today, they have bigger things to worry about than my insubordination.

At around 1 o'clock in the afternoon, Le Mond leaves in his car. I guess he wants an early weekend. I wait a bit before I tell the bot to put the car into riot mode. I am so happy that he bought a car that was made like a fortress. Shutters go down over his window, protecting him from anything that can be thrown at it. I also activate its internal jammer system. Then, I take control of steering. I make the hovercar descend into the city and maneuver its way to me, making sure to stay out of sight of as many cameras as possible.

When the car finally pulls up to my alley, I tilt the car slightly. Unfortunately, the car's engines are not made in a way that would allow me to flip the car sideways. I unlock the door and seatbelts, and Le Mond falls out of the car and lands hard on the pavement.

I sent Sam a quick message, telling her that she can start the strategic investment assignment; Le Mond, in the meantime, seems really out of it. He is looking around in confusion. I make the car drive off towards its next destination. He just looks after it, not doing anything, just sitting there. I decide it is my time to shine literally. I turn on my eye flashlight and put them on low setting, making my eyes glow yellow. I personally think it's cool, but most people just say it's creepy. He jumps up and looks at me.

“Fuck, Evelin, you scared me.” he says.

“Well, that was kind of the point,” I say in my sweetest voice possible.

I jumped off the wall and slowly closed in on him. He actually takes a few steps back.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I thought it would be fitting for you to be scared in your final moments, since that is how you made me feel for most of my life.”

“Huh, wait, what? You here to kill me?”

“Yes, good job figuring it out. This time, it was all you, and you did not even have to take the credit from someone else. I am so proud of you.”

“You can’t kill me.”

“I think that you will find that I am rather capable of it.”

“People are going to ask where I have gone. You won’t get away with this.” He says, a slight tremor creeping into his voice.

“Hmm, that's so. Well, let me put your worries to rest then. Your car is currently driving to an abandoned airstrip where some smugglers are loading up a plane heading for America. Your bank account and several company accounts are being drained and put into offshore accounts I set up in your name, so to everyone else, it will just look like you took the money and ran.”

“You were always clever, okay, you win. How much do I need to pay you? Let's say a million, and we can both go on our way?”

“Are you deaf? I said that I drained your accounts. You have nothing to give to me.”

He gives a victorious smile. “Are you sure? I am the one that set you up with Cierra. Without me her parents will probably cancel the arrangement, and then what will happen to you?“

“Nothing, that is what will happen to me. We have basically broken up at this point already. And before you say it, no, the police are also not going to show up. You have no service here. The person you are texting is me. Also, calling me a psychotic joytoy is kind of rude.”

He pales a lot more at that. Then he stands up straight and charges me. He is clumsy, and I was prepared for it anyway, drugs already pumping through my veins. I kick at him, sending him flying against the wall. Then I activate my left arm. It splits open on the side, and the blade, made out of purplish crystal, comes out and slides forward. I love this thing. It was so worth it to share a catalog with the streamer, to make it crystal instead of steel. When it hits the light of my eyes, it bathes the entire alleyway in a deep red.

As I walk up to his slumped form, he tries to get up and puts up his hands in a meagre attempt at defense. So I decided to do him a favour and cut his hands off.

“Ahh, fuck you, bitch!” he curses at me.

“Now, where did all this false bravado go?”

“You will pay for this.”

“I will? Bastard, I already have. You took six years of my life. I am just taking what I am owed.”

I stab him in his leg. He screams, so I put my free hand over his mouth.

“And you will not take another year from me.”

I stab his other leg, just to make sure the point gets across.

“I am not some tool you can use and abuse. I am a person, not a slave, and I will never be brought to kneel again. I will tear New Hope to pieces brick by brick. And you, you are so insignificant that it is not even worth it to leave you alive to see it all fall down. Your life means nothing to me, and after today, it will mean nothing to the rest of the world as well. Good fucking bye!”

I stab him in his chest, And again and again; this goes on for a while until I am covered in blood and Le Mond has expired. I take a few steps back, then take off my shirt, and clean my face with it as best I can. I throw the disgusting piece of cloth on the corpse. I take out the vial that Bubbles has given me, open it up, and dump the contents all over the body. The smell of acid hitting flesh is disgusting, and I need to take a few steps back.

‘Lyssa, I need a new shirt’

You also need a new boss, but Lyssa is afraid you don’t have a catalog for that.

New Purchase: Urban Survival shirt

Points reduced to... 58

I take my new shirt out of the box and throw the box on the puddle of acid as well. I disengage my blade, letting it disappear back into my arm. I throw on my shirt and walk away, a new type of skip in my step. I sent Sam a quick text saying that I finished my assignment. As I walk home, I start humming a happy tune.

Lyssa would like to congratulate you on your achievements, one down, eight more to go.

‘That’s a sickening thought’

Do you regret killing?

‘Ooh, no, the thing that makes me sick is that there are still eight of these assholes left. It is strange; they say revenge does not taste sweet, but I feel so much lighter now. It's like I am flying.’

Well, the death of an abuser will come as a relief or closure to most victims.

‘I guess, well, it does not matter much now. Let’s just go home.’