Chapter 3-9: An Average Family Dinner, Part 2

Sorry for the exposition dump, but I felt it was necessary, especially considering he fact that I have never addressed this before, and I ,myself, was still hazy on the distinctions.

Taxes are a system that was grandfathered in from the old world, as were city and “state” governments, or local governments. The local governments were allowed to stay in part due to the sectors they were allowed to regulate, as well as to give the illusion of checks and balances for the regular civilians and a way for corporations to gain some form of legitimacy to punish other corporations. If the corporate world really wanted to, then they could have done away with local governments a long time ago, especially in the couple of decades after the antithesis arrived, before the Samurai came to become an actual balancing force.

-Excerpt from a lecture on the History of Corporatization, 2052

I was a bit surprised that Gimbal, of all people, had a question she wanted to ask the family, especially considering that she could ask anyone anything at any time due to being Outsider’s paramour. That title alone gave her enough credibility among my siblings to trust her fully, so when Roger made her a shareholder of Real Dreams Limited, none of us thought to challenge him on it. She had free rein of the Tower and any of our properties and held the same authority Roger did over any of our employees, not to mention that Synaptic would answer her if she asked.

And yet, what she said next did surprise me a little, even if I understood why she asked it.

“So, I actually have two questions, but the second will probably change based on the first. What is the difference between tier and class? I keep hearing and reading those terms in regards to Samurai, but I don’t know what they mean.”

Her gaze was one of pure curiosity, and her tone conveyed no hint of shame or embarrassment, which once more reinforced my impression of her. She was strong in mind and willing to learn, not to mention the fact that she picked a good time to ask, considering the amount of non-Samurai at the table.

Roger chuckled as he flicked his ears in embarrassment. “I'm not going to lie, I also don’t really know the nuance between the two, either.” That drew more looks of confusion and incredulity than Gimbal’s question did, yet he just shrugged and raised his palms. “I, too, have heard the term bandied about, and I have read them quite a lot in the info we received from Besté’s old servers, yet the exact definitions were not written down. I know that the higher the number, the stronger the thing, but that’s about it for me.”

Gimbal nodded as she swallowed a bite of curry. “Exactly. The info labeled a majority of the sewer diver types as Tier Two, even if the majority of their tech was Class One. Then there were the profiles of the powerhouses on Earth being labeled as possible Tier Four or Five and the amount of tech they had as theoretically Class Four, and I just don’t understand it. Shit, Vickie was labeled as potentially Tier Three, and the amount of shit I have seen in Blue’s Lab terrifies me.”

Aunt Cass and Damian chuckled as the youngest members of the table nodded in agreement while I ignored the fact that she used the nickname Jill used for me. Well, the one that all the girls in the puddle used as well, really, but I really didn’t mind it.

Aunt Cass’s massive red panda tail wiggled a bit as she sat up a bit straighter. “Well, I suppose I can answer that, as I have hosted plenty of Family seminars for newer Samurai. But don’t worry, Damian, I have no intention of hogging the spotlight.”

The look of relief that almost settled on Damian’s face shifted to one of resignation as Aunt Cass pulled out a pair of slim glasses from her tail. Huh. Neat to know that her tail held a spatially compressed storage space. “Now, the first thing I will go over is the difference between Class and Tiers before we dive into the nuance of them. Class refers to the level of technology that an item, knowledge system, or concept originates from from zero and up. For example,” a hologram of Earth appeared in front of her, yet it was one from before the antithesis arrived, on of a lovely green and blue marble. “At this point in time, barely weeks before first contact, Class Zero technology was smart phones and combustion engines and some basic chemical synthesis, which was both widespread and easy to produce in massive batches. Any person could, theoretically, purchase a factory with every piece of machinery to make cheese, concrete, and computers, and barring a systemic supply failure, could continue to do so forever.”

The hologram of Earth then changed to the sphere we were more familiar with, one of browns and a darker shade of blue in the oceans, as well as the cities that could be seen from space. “Now, Class One is the first dividing point for humanity, as they are things that are achievable in a realistic human career. If humanity were sufficiently motivated and given anywhere from five to twenty years, they could develop those things. Hover technology, condensed lithium batteries, and augments all fell under this Class thirty years ago, and through widespread efforts from various Samurai and corporations, they are as easy to replicate as the things from twenty twenty, and have thus been downgraded to Class zero.”

Aunt Cass tossed the hologram Earth towards Damien, catching him by surprise, yet he caught it with ease. He shot her a dirty look before taking over from where she left off. “Class One is still filled with technologies that are just within reach of humanity, and is more often than not what many R and D companies are fighting to make a breakthrough first to capitilize from, with the obvious line being augments and material sciences, as well as more efficient, more accurate manufacturing methods. A good example that I am aware of is the micronization of nuclear reactors being worked on in Nevada, as it is a relatively safe place to experiment with such materials. The smallest reactor in the world is still too large to fit inside a mega-building, yet most high end mech designs require better power storage or ways to maintain their own generation.”

Damian waved his hand through the holo-Earth and caused it to change into that of a large tree, one that was sitting within a model of the Rocky Mountain range. “If we were to visualize it, it would be a tree that is massive for Earth, yet one that fits within our understanding of how big trees could get. Class Two, thankfully, is a direct upgrade from there.” The tree suddenly grew from a hundred or so feet tall to nearly a mile in height, with its canopy covering a large swath of a mountain. “This is the theoretical maximum a tree could grow if it were supplied with all the nutrients and water if could need and never got sick or injured in the process. For humanity, that would equate to about thirty to sixty years of straight effort, research and development, and an unlimited supply of materials and power.”

He suddenly smirked as he tossed the hologram to me, catching me way off guard, yet I still caught it with my scout swarm. I raised my eyebrow at him, which caused him to chuckle. “Pop quiz, kid. What is the difference from Class Two to Three?”

I rolled my eyes at his antics, yet I didn’t throw it back at him. After all, I knew the answer. Cody and I had played far too much Samurai Rush to not know it. “Class Three and up is where humanities knowledge of things starts to get hazy at best, or fully breaks down at worst. It is full of things that technically fall within the known bounds of how the universe works, yet are also full of things that current theories cannot really explain. It would take humanity, at minimum, one hundred years to attain a general understanding of, and a few dozen more to make with any degree of reliability. My Swarms are a good example of that, as the atoms within them are smaller than the surrounding ones, yet they do not exert any additional gravity, nor do they threaten to suddenly decompress and grow bigger. I am still working on studying the theory behind how this is possible, but the gist is something about quantum compression. From there, we hit Class Four, which is basically magic for all I know-”

Synaptic tapped the back of my head with one of her tentacles, not enough to hurt, but with enough force to move my head forwards. “It is not magic, as that does not exist in this universe. And I take exception to such allusions.”

I shook my head as I tossed the hologram of a tree that now encompassed the Sol System towards Aunt Cass, who was not even trying to hide her laughter at my scolding. “Heh, yeah, don’t call their tech magic unless you are one of the few with enough cheek to get away with it. But yeah, Class Four would take millennia to get to, while Class Five would take tens of millennia to touch. Anything higher is not realistic to worry about. Now, as for Tiers, that is far easier to understand, as it is a human categorization and not a Protectorate one, yet it follows the same numbering system.”

The hologram of the tree faded away to show a single human silhouette. “Tier zero is akin to the average human, one that was not malnourished or sickly, that is. Tier one would be a person that, either on their own or through their tech, would be as threatening as a properly trained soldier. Strong, fast, yet well within the bounds of what humanity could achieve with minimal effort.”

The hologram gained muscle definition and specialized tactical gear before Aunt Cass continued. “Tier Two would be the equivalent of someone stronger than a spec-ops soldier, one who has undergone genetic editing from birth, specialized training, and is equipped with humanities best equipment. They are within the bounds of humanity, but only just, as they would be stronger than ninety-nine percent of it. Now, that does still mean that they are killable using conventional weaponry and being overwhelmed, but it does mean that, in most fights, they will come out on top, even if they leave it injured. Tier Three, however, is when a Samurai’s threat level changes from an individual to a unit.”

The hologram split to form a squad of spec-op goons of about twenty members. “The destructive force goes from what one person could achieve to what a highly trained and heavily armed squad of humanities best could do. From destabilizing a megabuilding to threatening the populace of a small to medium-sized town, they are no longer something that a casual effort by governments or PMCs could handle and require a massive, full-scale deployment of super heavy tanks and a company of soldiers to handle if they became a threat.”

The mood at the table fell from one of joviality to one of somber understanding, as even Alice’s younger siblings were affected by the mood. “From there,” Aunt Cass continued, her tone not changing from the teaching one she had used the entire time, “Tier Four would be equivalent to said deployment and could threaten a Megacity with not a single Samurai present, albeit with difficulty due to the size of it. Short of a WMD, very few terrestrial forces could deal with a Tier Four Samurai if they decided to make themselves a threat, and save for a full-scale deployment of a Multi-national corporation and their entire arsenal.”

The hologram faded away as Aunt Cass took off her glasses and leaned back in her chair, taking a sip from her mixed drink. “Tier Five is where the scale breaks, as they are the equivalent to a WMD themselves and are thus monitored by every organization on the planet to make sure that they can both keep them in check as well as stay out of their way if they decide to move. The Family is lucky enough to have three Tier Fives in our leadership, being Starfall, Zealot, and Illuminati, as even if they have to monitor the entirety of North America, their firepower is more than enough to do so. The seven others known to the world keep to their corner of it, protecting their people and their territory while not interfering too much, as humanity could not handle it.”

Cody spoke up from there, trying to lighten the mood. “Well, except for Foxfire, right?”

That got a chuckle from some of us and a groan of frustration from Aunt Cass and Damian. “Yeah, except for the science fox. She is about as active in humanity as it gets,” Damian complained, “And I am just happy that she is content to be the scientist that she is.”

Aunt Cass raised her glass in a mock toast to his statement before adding, “This system only counts on the Samurai themselves, not whatever organization they have, only their direct combat power. Otherwise, there would be a lot more Tier Fours in the world, like Mad Panda in New Montreal or the Indy Magical Girls.”

I looked to Gimbal and saw her contemplating something, her head tilted down and her arms crossed against her chest, when I addressed her. “So, did that help?”

After a few more moments, she nodded slightly before looking up. “Yeah, that does help. Crazy to think that you can buy shit that would melt a scientist’s brain if you showed it to them a few decades ago, but that has little bearing on my next question. If I understand things, you are solidly in the Tier Three space, if not about to hit Tier Four, right?” I nodded, understanding that while I could create WMDs with Morrigan’s help, I, myself, was not one. “Then if that’s the case, why do you listen to the laws of New Phoenix?”