With the end of the only war to ever reach mainland Australia I found myself living out of a small room in an old military compound that had been handed over to the jurisdiction of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The end of the war, unfortunately, didn't mean the end of hostilities. The terrorism trend that had started back in the early 2000's with the attack on the world trade center over in America, had spread to just about every country on the face of the planet. Over time the constant threat from various groups meant the civilian police force was quickly undermanned, under equipped, and overwhelmed. They were simply unable to respond to the daily threats in any reasonable time frame, and in many situations lacked the both the skills and equipment required to deal with the threats to put them down in a 'safe' and expedient manner.

Veterans of the war that were being reintegrated into society however, were just about everywhere, all the time. We have the training and the skills required to deal with just about any threat you care to mention, all we needed was access to the equipment to do so.

In a world first, under the new Veterans program, the Australian government had taken the rather controversial step of allowing specifically selected veterans to go armed in public. Sure, with Australian weapons laws being very, very strict there were a number of hurdles to get over first, but that's where the selection part comes in. Tangentially that's actually how I met Brianna, my current partner.

We work as ringers in Victory City, I thought being thrown into imptomtu combat operations and risking my life on a daily basis for barely livable wages was excitement enough. Then I met her... it... I don't know. An AI unlike anything else out there has wedged itself into my life and decided it needs to... look after me. What could possibly go wrong?

****

This is the first book I have released, and my first entry into a cyberpunk universe.

There is minimal drug use, a fair amount of sex, a bit of gory violence, and a sultry AI that has decided the main character needs a harem.