Swarm Ascendant

After the rapid contraction of the worlds population into cities and the resultant abandoning of the countryside, space became a even more of a premium commodity and thus efficiency became the paramount concern of growing food. So, the world became effectively vegan almost overnight in the largest and swiftest shift of our diet, possibly ever. One popular campaign to get people to adjust was "Animals Vs Plants: Choose a Side", which...

--"Food, then and now", 2044

***

"And then that Four struck you right in the head, and you were all I'm going to get you for that, only you..." Sarah was exclaiming excitedly. It was a good thing the truck had autopilot, I thought glumly, or we'd be swerving all over the sky the way Sarah was gesticulating as she went on and on about my excursion into the forest yesterday.

It turned out that that snake Red Knight had not only been filming most of it, he'd also uploaded clips to various Valkyrie fan sites. The clip of me walking into a tree had 23 million views already. I cannot believe that was the first impression I had made as a new Valkyrie. I was going to throttle that man when I saw him next. Or stab him. With something sharp. In the kidney. Repeatedly.

I squirmed in my seat as Sarah found yet another episode to talk about, and fervently hoped my red face didn't show up through the mask. Would she never run out of clips to discuss?

Eventually she did, much to my relief. At this point we had been flying for half an hour, currently over the ocean, and Scania was coming into view on the horizon. First the kelp and algae farms in the sea surrounding it, then the skyline of skyscrapers and megabuildings came into view, then the walls standing atop the rocky northern cliff face of the island of Bornholm itself. And finally, above it all, flying in that absurd ways buildings absolutely shouldn't, the Valkyrie base and fortress, protecting Scania from incursions. It had an actual name, but everyone just called it Valhalla.

Megacity Scania. Home, to me and some 15 million others.

"So, where should we set you off? We aren't allowed in the inner city, not with a truck this size, but we can get you to one of the outer transit stations, unless you have something else in mind? I don't imagine you'll want to go with us to the loading dock." Anya said.

"Yeah, any of the transit stations is good." I replied, not exactly relishing the thought of using public transit in my Valkyrie getup. At least it might mean I wouldn't be bothered? Oh, who was I kidding, I'd be asked for autographs all the way home, probably.

Eyon, is there a way for me to turn invisible?

[There is. Purchasing it would however cut into your drone fund. Do you wish for me to list some possibilities?

I sighed.

No, just day dreaming for now. I'll survive.

Eventually I was set off in an open space a short ways in from the walls at the edge of town, in the shadow of a short 45 storey megabuilding, one which housed an end-station of a skyrail line. I said my farewells to Anya and Sarah, had my two camera drones hover over my shoulder back to back, and put my Wasp in my pocket. No need to scare the civilians, after all. I then headed in and towards the elevators to go up to the station.

I checked a transit map in my augs, to see how to get home most efficiently. I'd have to change lines twice, but it should only take half an hour or so.

As I stepped out of the elevator and onto a food court and followed my aug-guidance over to the skyrail, many people stopped and stared at me. Some obviously took photos, with that glassy-eyed stare. I guess it wasn't every day someone in Valkyrie armour walked through. I squared my shoulders, gritted my teeth and moved forward.

There wasn't a crowd, per say, nor was anyone getting in my way, but I still felt a bit crowded. Some enterprising people tried to set up shots with them walking next to me as their friends took photos, and I was unsure if I should let them or scare them away. In the end, I ignored them. It felt like the safer option.

Finally I made it to the platform, where luckily a train was pulling in as I arrived. I got on and found a seat. The train was spacious, clean and in good repair. It was fairly empty this far out, but quickly filled up to half capacity as we approached the centre of the city. I got off at another megabuilding station, and had to wait a few minutes for the next train to arrive. A kid was very excitedly talking and pointing in my direction while their father was shooting me worried glances and trying to get them to settle down and not bother the scary Valkyrie. I nodded in their direction and gave a little wave, to the obvious delight of the kid and relief of the father. He looked harried enough without me adding to it.

I got on the next train without any issues, then the next, and then finally I was in the megabuilding next to the skyscraper I lived in. I crossed the skybridge to it, and made my way to the elevator banks to go up.

I still lived with my parents, not seeing a reason to move out of the fairly luxurious class 3 residence we lived in when I still hadn't really settled on a career or a more permanent place of work. Or well, I guess I had a career now. Funny how that happens.

Anyway, I had received a message from dad, letting me know he'd be home but that Mother would probably be busy working. This wasn't new, Mother was a Vice-Administrator for one of the city's 14 districts, and would often be working late. Dad, on the other hand, was a poet, and had a more relaxed schedule, although that didn't mean disturbing him when he was in one of his writing moods was a good idea.

I stepped through the communal living space without meeting anyone, and entered our family's private area. He didn't appear to be in one of those moods when he came out of our small study to meet me after I'd stepped inside. Instead he looked mildly apprehensive.

"Can I help you?" he asked me from the doorway.

"Oh, one moment!" I said, as I hurried to take off my helmet. "Hi dad, I'm back!"

His face relaxed in relief before lighting up in recognition.

"You gave me such a fright! Come here, sweet pea."

I stepped into his arms and gave him a hug.

"Sorry about that," I murmured. "Still not quite used to this Valkyrie thing."

"Yes, that whole debacle. Tell me, are you hurt? You didn't do anything dangerous, did you?"

I thought back to my time in that forest. "Nooo," I hedged. Wouldn't do to make him worried. "I was plenty careful the whole time. Those Antis didn't know what hit em!"

He looked at me with obvious scepticism. "If you say so. Please promise me not to do anything reckless?"

"I'll try my best." I said while crossing my fingers behind my back. I hit one of the arms holding my shoulder gun mount while back there, and poked it. It disengaged, and I grabbed the whole assembly, putting it down next to the shoe rack.

"Mmmhm..." Dad tutted disapprovingly. "Well, you'll have to tell me about how you ended up a Valkyrie. Oh, do you have one of those Protectors in your head now, too?" he said as he lead me back into the communal living room and towards the couch, where we sat down.

"Eyon, yes. She's been most helpful. Well, mostly helpful."

[Such ingratitude.]

I giggled.

"Well, I became a Valkyrie when..." and proceeded to give a highly sanitized version of events so far.

Dad was a great listener, and prodded me on with questions that had me revealing a bit more than I had originally intended.

"...and then that snake went and uploaded them to the internet. Can you believe it?!"

"He didn't!"

Dad went a bit unresponsive, then started laughing.

"Oh, but he really has some cinematic skills. The framing, the editing... These are quite well done!" He said once he'd calmed down a bit.

"Daaaad" I pouted, and slapped him on the arm.

"Of course what he did is entirely unforgivable and uncivilized." He smoothly transitioned. "Still, it is good to see that you have someone looking after you, when you're out here. I still cannot believe it, my little sweet pea, fighting aliens..."

"I'm not so little anymore." I mumbled, a bit flustered.

"You'll always be my little sweet pea, no matter how much armour you strap on. Oh, did you want to change? I've just had you sitting here in that thing with no thought for your comfort."

"It's actually quite comfortable. I tend to forget I'm even wearing it."

"Well... Did you have any plans for the day?"

"Not really. I have a contact Red Knight said I should look up, with the Military, but nothing really planned besides that. I guess I'm still a bit new to it all, not really sure where I fit in anymore."

"Why don't you set up a meeting with them, then? They might not have time for you right away, so best to set up something sooner rather than later."

"I guess..."

"You do that, and I'll see about some lunch, how's that sound?"

"Okay. Love you, dad."

"Love you too, sweet pea." he said and got up, leaned over to kiss me on the top of the head, then left for the communal kitchen.

I stared at nothing for a while, just letting the familiar surroundings wash over me, before pulling up the contact information Red Knight had given me. It was for one Laura Ancker, who was apparently a Lt. Colonel working in Valkyrie relations for the army. I figured that sounded about right, but wasn't quite sure how to approach the situation. Did I just call them, or...

After thinking about it for a bit, I decided to send them a message introducing myself and asking for a meeting whenever they had time. I then settled in to a bit of social networking to check if any of my friends might be available for hanging out and catching up, but I was interrupted before I could even really begin by a message. It was a reply from Laura, letting me know that I could drop by this afternoon, if it was convenient for me, and that they could send a hover car to pick me up if I liked.

That was unexpected. I had thought sometime next week, maybe, if I was lucky. And a hover car? It was only a 20 minute train ride away, and anyway hover cars were highly restricted in the inner city, being a terminal waste of space, and thus reserved almost exclusively for service vehicles and other priority transport. I decided to accept the offer, if nothing else, then for the novelty. And I figured they probably had their reasons for offering it. Perhaps they didn't like Valkyries walking around the city in all their gear? It did ask me to please show up armed, and if I had any special requirements for the transport.

I messaged back accepting the offer, letting them know a regular car should be fine and which building roof to pick me up from.

All the while dad had been puttering around, preparing a spread of open sandwiches on the dining table, and now he called me over. We talked about happenings in the family and nothing much of importance while eating rye bread with plant-based cheeses, pates and other toppings. It was nice to be back to something familiar like this.

Soon enough though, I found myself at the top of the building, once again wearing my full set of armour, helmet included, idly flying loops and flipping viewports with my drones to practice, waiting for a car of all things.

What a turn my life had taken.