A Perfectly Logical Guide to a Superhuman Apocalypse: 34

A Perfectly Logical Guide to a Superhuman Apocalypse: 34

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Wordcount: 2500

Commissioned by Arksoul

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There’s a certain overlap when it comes to Japanese media enthusiasts and doomsday preppers. Now, I’m not saying that every prepper has a room solely dedicated to lewd figurines, but I know more than a few with hard-drives filled with backups of certain sites, their favorite ‘media,’ and RPGmaker games.

That’s their prerogative, naturally.

It’s also a lot easier to prep for one person instead of two and a chance for a third.

I’ve also dabbled in the content provided by the Japanese myself, but variety is the spice of life, so I didn’t dedicate myself entirely to the cause.

But I’m digressing.

The point is that I knew quite a few people who liked Japan a lot, enough that I gave their cuisine a try and got hooked enough to spend my money on certain restaurants there when I had the cash to spare. I overheard enough in the chat rooms to get the general gist about the place before everything went to shit, too.

Nationalism had been on the rise.

The population was mostly old and gray with a very limited pool of younger workers.

Automation was going into overdrive with them going out of their way to hire any superhuman genius with an iota of mechanical know-how to fuel their development.

In other words, the country had been betting hard on developing a massive, AI workforce that would largely answer to a human-based management system. The drones and AI produced and manufactured, taking laborious jobs, while humans were left to rule and deal with complicated problems. From my more perverse acquaintances, I heard rumors about the AI being subservient and… capable of carrying pregnancies as a design feature.

I didn’t know if they were joking and I hadn’t cared enough to ask.

Anyway, if Japan survived, I expected to find it to be some sort of strange, otherworldly place filled with fetishized human robots, ideals regarding expansion across the world, and ruled by old people. Instead, apparently, they regressed into feudalism, breeding camps, and ideals of world conquest through superhuman armies.

In my opinion, their previous path had been too overt and desperate, but this one was just worse.

And, things only got worse when I got my boots on the ground and started looking through the place myself.

“Are you seeing this shit, Parvati?”

“This unit is equipped with eyes, so yes, I can.” Parvati’s gynoid accompanying me was as stealthy as the AI was willing to make it. Dressed in camouflage, the slender figure belied the ability of the synthetic creature to bench press a tank with ease. Since I didn’t allow any energy cannons, the AI packed a different set of cannons. So, a super-strong, black-haired, and dark-skinned tomboy. Someone’s fetish, most likely, but all the AI’s fleshy bodies were like that. “It does appear that one of the most advanced countries of this world has regressed immensely.”

We were looking at Tokyo. A metropolis of millions of people that was the center of a massive metro infrastructure and a beating heart of commerce in the world. A symbol of prosperity and industry and money all across the world. A neat, tidy, and clean jewel of civilization amidst a dark world… or that was what I had hoped to find.

“It’s all gone, dammit! It’s ruined! Ruined!” Parvati’s forked gynoid rolled its eyes, while I lamented. “RUINED!”

The remains of many steel and concrete structures were present, but everywhere food could be grown, food was grown. Large sections of street and parks were lush with vegetation with asphalt pulled out. Windowsills were filled with hanging gardens. There wasn’t a car in sight, they were replaced by carts pulled by people or trolleys on rails. Most people wore traditional Japanese clothes, while some of the affluent few wore regular clothes with a few patches here and there, while guarded by honest-to-god, power-armored Samurai.

“What exactly is ruined? Many would say that these people have adapted well to the times. They retained much of the infrastructure that they require, while adopting everything else.” The AI cast its gaze across the land. While I had to use binoculars, the AI didn’t have to do the same. With arms crossed and camouflaged, it gathered information with a stoic stillness, while I writhed in my own, hidden location. “Why are you so distressed?”

“The convenience stores, the restaurants, and the neon… it’s all gone, dammit! That’s what made Tokyo special! All the stores are practically gone, too!” I could respect the adaptation to the apocalypse. Hell, the prepper in me wanted to applaud the turning of a concrete jungle into a pseudo-breadbasket and conservation of electricity. However, I couldn’t forgive the lack of mercantilism in the slightest. “Look! It’s turned into some sort of communist hellscape! Tokyo!”

“Oh, I see. You are correct. There are nearly no stores in existence.” The AI’s forked mind reeled back and analyzed the situation more carefully. It felt like it was computing the situation more fiercely. If you have a supercomputer for a brain, please use it. I might cry, if my own, stupid brain can do more than yours. “Could be a factor of the adaptations? Rationing and conservation of resources would be required after the loss to the global market. This land lacks the arable regions to support millions, especially without fossil fuel inputs.”

I grunted at the perfectly reasonable explanation and stuck to my guns with my perfectly unreasonable expectations.

“They could’ve saved everyone without getting rid of frigging everything.” I grumbled. Looking at the whole city made my heart hurt. A place that I remembered you could buy everything you wanted, the most expensive and best meat and fruit. A place where literal artists made food with dedication to their craft and respect of tradition. A place where cheap beer and cheap food were both still good. It was gone. “Dammit.”

“Designation: Egress, these people would’ve had to starve if they didn’t dedicate themselves to strict rationing. Admittedly, though, that shouldn’t have forestalled the other markets. It does appear that some things that could be sold aren’t. The control of the governing body is extreme.” The gynoid pointed in one direction and I directed my gaze its way. A crackdown was being carried out by power-armored soldiers. Their armor was vaguely stylized with demonic visages in grimaces, but they wielded assault rifles and electrified staffs while storming a remade office building. “Resistance is being mounted from within—wait, a helicopter is approaching.”

I turned my gaze again and found myself looking a twin-engine VTOL. One of the ones developed by the US before everything went to shit. It was an old bird, mostly grew and using turboprop of all things, but it reached the site and switched to hover in a heartbeat while opening its back hatch high above the building.

A classic case of superhuman death from above.

A whole team in matching gear wasn’t what I expected, though.

“Who’d a thunk that Japan of all places would be the ones mass-producing and militarizing superhumans first? I bet on China.” The team seemed solid, as their arrival was met with gunfire from hidden alcoves. Three of them charged at their opponents and blocked their line of sight, but didn’t take any damage doing so. The other two were focused on offense and sent out shock waves that sent people flying like rag dolls. Distract people with the invulnerable titan, then hit them with something big. Typical tactic. “Any luck with China, by the way?”

“Still mostly composed of warring states with warlords. Largely unconcerned with the outside world. Japan, however, cannot survive on its own without massive numbers of their population dying off. They will most likely attempt to conquer surrounding nations once they are able.” Parvati’s current iteration gave her logical deductions on the matter, while looking at the ongoing battle. The team entered the building while the ones on the ground charged in to. It was a two-pronged attack. Classic. “They did militarize their superhumans. However, power grabs, loss of stability, and civil discontent broke apart the country. Their policies were incapable of handling the fact that ten percent of their population were now armed and eager to resist. Here, the population was smaller, but they had a similar belief in standardization amongst their people.”

They were sticklers to rules here, and punished people who didn’t go along with society, but Japan was good enough to its citizens that a massive uprising didn’t suddenly arise. Prosperity kept everyone docile enough for people to be willing to work with the government and keep things stable… and so they had standardized teams of superhumans available for law-enforcement. Even the remains of the US Navy in Hawaii were using superhumans as military elites, not as law enforcement.

Parvati and I kept watch on things, until the building was flushed and the perpetrators were captured and shuttled off.

“Damn, they’re better trained here.” There weren’t any broken buildings. No neighborhoods rendered uninhabitable. The coordination of military, police, and superhuman assets were topnotch as well. Overall, this was the best I’d seen superhumans being integrated into civilization. They otherwise made their own nations as rulers, worked in practical anarchy, or were purely military assets. “This is going to be an issue.”

“It is highly likely that they have specialized superhumans for every occasion. That explains their defenses. They’ve essentially allowed the superhumans entry to the civilian market, innovations and protocols emerged, and despite the lack of global trade Japan has continued to grow and advance.”

“I guess, but I’m not seeing much benefit if this is forced on everyone else.” By ‘this,’ I meant the veritable police state that we were looking at. It was only all possible because of the overwhelming power of the state, which used superhumans as an army and a police. If you squinted, then this place was nothing more than a benevolent dictatorship. Anderson was a lunatic, but she worked alongside regular people for her massive, agricultural commune. Meanwhile, Walker’s job was a deterrent, and she had every intention of reforging the US. “This whole place is just a few steps short of being a post-warlord society. It’s regression, but with some glitter on it.”

My gut told me to relocate, and so I did after putting a hand on Parvati’s current form.

We appeared in a clearing, the exact locations given to me by the AI for my first return, in the middle of the Sahara. It was sunset at the location, but even then I had no problems seeing. Parvati went out of its way to prepare the location. Its combat-focused forms were present, as were towers with energy weapons, and the whole location was well-lit… solely for my sake since the AI’s various forms could most certainly see in the dark.

There was a brief shiver over the form that was accompanying me, while it rejoined the network, and it soon marched off to join its fellows.

The more familiar, and less creepy, quadrotor drone speaker came forth.

“I have reviewed the information provided. I suggest altering our current plants. Extensively.”

“Yeah, I know.” I’d gone in there expecting some sort of vaguely medieval place with outcropping of technology here and there, which was ruled by a despot with a fucked up breeding program. Instead, we looked at a society brought back by a few decades, but it was modern in more than a few ways and had advances we’d never seen before. “Would you mind telling Walker?”

“I recommend gathering more information. Preferably information that will keep her from going over there and solving everything with sheer power.”

“Sometimes, sheer power is what the situation needs.”

“Not if we wish to save millions of people from dying from starvation.”

“Damn.” I had to concede on that point. We found the place with far more people than we expected. Even if most of them were lean and bordering on unhealthy, they were alive, they had kids, and lived generally normal lives, even with strict rationing. Disrupting a modern society had ramifications that could easily lead to the deaths of tens of thousands, if they suddenly couldn’t ship food from one place or another or a civil conflict disrupted logistics. The current Japanese society was already on a tight-rope with how lean its citizenry were, therefore calling in Maelstrom was a bad idea. “It looks like working with the resistance is the best choice, huh?”

“Indeed. A swift coup is the best course of action, then we’ll forestall their need for expansion by connecting them with the reformed agricultural zones in America.” Between Walker and Anderson, the grain belt and California’s orchards were rapidly being brought back online. They weren’t hesitant about turning superhuman scientists and powers onto agriculture, which had been forestalled by a lot of corporations when they still existed to protect their markets. With them gone, a new agricultural revolution was trailing across America. “There will be more than enough food for everyone in the world being produced there, especially with my transportation assistance.”

“But that won’t matter if things go badly. Regime changes are rarely smooth.” I spoke from experience and followed the Drone to a sand dune. At my approach, there was a rumbling sound, and I entered a small room with a bed inside, along with a computer. Behind another door was a shower. Electricity and running water, as well as a massive security force, in the middle of the Sahara. Parvati was very casual about showing off its manufacturing and logistics. “We need to find a rival who’s already got everything set up and just needs a push, after getting some assurances. Oh, and who’s smart enough to want things to stay the same and better.”

“That will most likely anger our potential allies in the Resistance. Installing a dictator will also make Kaede furious.”

I grimaced at the words.

More the latter than the former.

But I couldn’t see another way forward that didn’t set Japan on fire, and would lead to a sudden bout of starvation that would kill a lot of people.

I’d seen it before, caused a few things to happen by getting rid of dictators, and I wasn’t keen on letting it happen again.

Sure, I was installing a tyrant, but that was better than hundreds of thousands dying of starvation.