Despite finding a solution very quickly, Bernard and I spent hours discussing the logistics, examining the matter disassemblers, and doing the math to figure out how many months it would take to clean up the mess. Well, Bernard did.

  I brought down two trucks and half of my gathering crews to start the cleanup. It was going to be slow progress, but I was starting to run low on points, so I didn’t want to invest in something bigger right now. The disassemblers worked, that’s all we cared about right now.

  By the time we finished, I was completely exhausted. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go straight home. I had to stop halfway back, in one of the canals, and have the bears completely decontaminate everything.

  Washing down my armor when I’d been out in gas for several seconds was easy. Washing down an entire armored vehicle, inside and out, and a squad of bears that had been sitting in that shit for several hours? Slightly harder.

  I purchased the bears a bunch of pressure washers and some toxin-neutralizing agents to make the process as quick as possible. It still took close to an hour.

  Once I finally got home, I shucked my armor, leaving it on the floor of the Kodiak, and stumbled into the residence like a zombie. Even though Jane was at the table, I shambled right past her and collapsed on the couch.

  “What happened to you?” Jane asked hesitantly.

  “Advanced lessons in applied math and chemistry,” I muttered as I buried my head into the pillows.

  “What?”

  “I went to the lake to help another samurai clear all those toxins. He was quite enthusiastic and tried to explain how dangerous everything was and how long the cleanup would take, but I didn’t absorb any of it.”

  Jane slowly rounded the couch and sat in the easy chair across from me. “Didn’t you just go out to investigate some suspect evictions? How did you end up working on cleaning up the water?”

  “CBeRN just got back in town, and I thought it would be a good time to go see him,” I replied. I probably should have turned to face her, to be polite, but I was just too tired to move.

  “You couldn’t wait until tomorrow to do that?”

  “I donno, he was there today. Why would I wait?”

  “Because it was already early evening, and he wasn’t going anywhere?” Jane huffed. “Why do you keep pushing yourself so hard? I keep telling you to relax. Your projects will survive a couple hours without you.”

  “Do we have to discuss this now?” I moaned.

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  “Yes, we do. If I don’t pin you down while you’re exhausted, you’ll just run off and find something to obsess over. You haven’t had to deal with any samurai emergencies ever since dealing with the council, but you still work like everyone’s lives depend on it. Can’t you just take it easy for a while?”

  “I don’t know how!” I admitted, leveraging myself up just long enough to turn my head towards Jane before collapsing back onto the couch. “Before I became a samurai, I had to push myself twenty-four seven just to keep the kids alive. We couldn’t afford luxuries, clothes, or even to feed them every day, and I pushed myself as hard as to keep that bit of food in their mouths. Even though we live in a secure place, where the kids have everything they need, I still feel that urgency. It’s hard to suppress nearly seventeen years of survival instincts.”

  “Well… learn! At least try. Alan and I both felt lost when you became a samurai, and we didn’t have anything to do, but we found ways to relax. Pace ourselves. You can do it too. Just pick up a hobby. Reading, painting, video games, chessers, something other than working!”

  “There’s too much to do!” I whined.

  “You’re only working on projects that you started. They’re important, and I’m proud of you for improving the living conditions of the people around here, but the undercity isn’t going to catch fire if you take an afternoon off!”

  “You don’t know that!”

  Jane’s eyes narrowed. “Really, Evelyn? You’re not even going to try? In that case I’ll have to appeal to a higher power.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, frowning.

  Jane stood up and stepped towards the far side of the room. I couldn’t see where she went, but I could hear her. “Nyx, we need to put restrictions on Evelyn’s projects going forward.”

  “Nyx, don’t you dare! You’re my AI!” I shouted as I pushed off the couch in an attempt to run over. All I managed to do was get one of my feet tangled in the cushions and send myself tumbling across the living room floor.

  “I may be your AI, but that doesn’t mean I have to follow your orders. I’m here as an assistant and friend, and I agree with Jane. You’ve been spending far too much time on your projects. Do you realize how difficult it is for you to exhaust yourself with all your enhancements? You’ve been pulling twenty-hour days regularly,” the security bear in the corner of the room explained in Nyx’s voice.

  I stared at the bear in confusion. “That can’t be right. I take breaks and come home when I’m tired.”

  “You should be doing more than taking the occasional break!” Jane snapped. “Spending half an hour with the kids, then working for another ten hours is unacceptable. Nyx, I suggest that Evelyn gets locked out of the garage outside of working hours, except for emergencies. She should also be blocked from buying any samurai foods, unless she’s eating with the family. Maybe she’ll be more inclined to come take breaks if she needs to attend meals in order to get fed.”

  “I can survive without food,” I grumbled.

  “That’s not what you should take out of that statement,” Jane replied. “We’re doing this so you build some healthy habits, instead of working yourself to death.”

  “It’s for your own good,” Nyx added. “Spend some time with the family, go for a walk around the neighbourhood, watch some TV, anything besides working. If you refuse to take things easier, I’ll lock down the Kodiaks too.”

  “You can’t do that!” I growled.

  “I absolutely can. Like it or not, I’m the one in charge of the cybersecurity catalogs. I can disable all the vehicles if I want,” Nyx replied.

  “Fine, I’ll take it easy for a while. I can do that. Just watch me!” I declared as I just flopped down on the floor where I’d been sitting.

  “You can get back on the couch, you know,” Jane said with a sigh. “You spend so much time running around taking care of people. I forget how much of a child you can be when someone tries to make you do something you don’t want to.”

  “I’m tired,” I moaned.

  “We know. That’s the reason for the intervention,” Jane muttered. “You really need to learn how to take care of yourself.”

  “The floor is cold.”

  Jane scoffed, but she still came over and hoisted me onto the couch a foot away. “You know, when you act like this, you remind me of when we were young. You were such a brat.”

  “That was a long time ago. I grew up,” I mumbled into my pillow.

  “No, you just became responsible long before you were ready too. You still have to grow up,” Jane whispered.

  “I don wanna.”

  “I hadn’t noticed,” she grunted as she pulled the blanket off the back of the couch, and gently laid it over me. “We’ll talk about this more tomorrow. Have a good sleep, you little overzealous gremlin.”

  I snored in response.

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