A VISIT FROM THE BARON

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"Hey Toni."

The labrador turned towards Victoria. "Yeah. What's up?"

"It's almost lunch time. You coming?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a bit. I need to check on an injured bull?"

"Whoa. What did you do?"

"Pfft, wasn't me man. They were fighting. I'm AI, not a sex maniac."

Victoria laughed. "Okay, but hurry up."

"Just start without me. I don't need to eat."

"Not in the real maybe. Here, we eat as a family. That clear?"

Toni stood like a good labrador and bark. "Yes ma'am."

"Good boy."

Thankfully, the bull did not had any serious injuries. Just some scratches and some flesh wound. Toni's labradroid patched things up, and headed back to the home.

Inside, his three new friends were already waiting. He took a seat at the table.

"Finally," Noit exclaimed, "What took you so long?"

"Hey, I don't want to hear it from the one person that just got up."

"I worked nights man. Fixing things is hard work. When else am I supposed to sleep."

"Man, this crazy schedule of yours. That's probably why you thought I was a MiMe huh."

"Shut up. Just eat your virtual dog food Ton."

They all laughed at Noit. Even Noit smiled. He didn't took it to heart. They were just jokes. Plus, he was super relieved that nothing happened. He was sure that Toni was a human, a MiMe. Turns out, he was an AI that was super convincingly human like.

They were eating peacefully for a while when the alarm went off. The security live footage of the location popped up in their screen, and Toni's feed.

The alarm was the one set the furthest from their farm. But the object that set it off was constantly decreasing its distance from the farmhouse at an alarming rate. Even more alarming, was that they knew what it was.

"Oh shit," Eleonore said, "the Baron's here."

"What's the Baron." Toni asked.

"Not what, who." Noit went to prepare the weapon system, and the frequency barrier.

Toni turned to Victoria, asking for clarification.

"The Baron, was a part of the Peerage. A country collective set beyond the hill. The Baron had been wanting to expand his domain. Now he's coming for our farm. And it looked like he brought company."

"But why here? It's beyond the Peerage." Toni asked again.

"A well producing farm was always sought after. Nobody would care, as long as they're the one that owned it."

"Oh." Toni got the full picture now. "So, what do we do now?"

Noit finished uploading the defense system into the farmhouse mainframe. He confirmed the command, and the farmhouse area immediately turned into a fort.

"Now, we fight."

###

Baron Delby Davaros was sitting on the back of the Minotaur. An armour vehicle whose design was inspired by the Torsus. Inside, his men were getting ready. They were told not to fight neighbouring land, but why should they listen to anybody else.

It's the law of the jungle. Only two rules are applied. First come first serve, and the strong shall rule over the weak. And they are intent to show the rest of the Peerage, who's the strongest.

All three Minotaurs blocked the front path of the farmhouse. The intercom buzzed in.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Lord Delby sir. It appears that the farmhouse was equipped with frequency shield."

"Very well. We'll stepped outside."

"Roger, my Lord."

Frequency shield was always a bummer. Nothing you shoot would pass through it. You could use a disruptor, but it would take a long time. Plus, it's also very boring to wait. Scaring the folks into submission was more fun.