Triple Chance Dog Tag has activated automatically. Remaining uses = 0. This ability will reset at midnight.
You have defeated user: Crunch (Advanced) — Level 8
100 XP awarded.
Note: Due to the defeat of another user by your hands, you have been awarded their CGI-generated possessions. Please see the ‘user box’ available in your inventory.
Warning: Cainox Global Industries would like to remind users that per their signed Interface Liability Agreement, CGI is not responsible for any negative experiences that users may encounter while utilizing our systems, except in cases of gross negligence or total system collapse. All adventures, both those sanctioned by CGI and created by third parties, carry an inherent element of risk, including but not limited to: INJURY, DISMEMBERMENT, and DEATH.
I groaned and heaved myself to my feet. The messages floating in front of me swirled about for a moment before settling back into place. Giving them a cursory glance, I dismissed them. It was nothing I hadn’t already suspected, but it was good to know.
A short distance away from me lay the slumped form of another dog. Apparently even the fall hadn’t been enough to completely break Crunch’s body, but his spine still bent at a weird angle thanks to the rock he had landed on, and his face was half smashed in. Only the half with the ruined milky eye was still identifiable. It stared up at the sky, unseeing in more ways than one now.
I followed its gaze, and saw the sun was directly overhead. Had my fight with Crunch taken that long, or had my collar taken longer than normal to restore me from that fall?
Crunch... I glanced again at the broken dog beside me. There was so much that I’d wondered about him, that he’d hinted at during our talks. And now I would never know the answers. It was obvious he’d had a hard life, but I couldn’t help but wonder what steps had led him down the path where killing and eating humans seemed like a reasonable response.
As I stood there, lost in my own thoughts, a message appeared in my vision. It wasn’t as large as the usual boxes, so it took me a moment before I noticed it.
But I with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.> The box disappeared again before I had time to fully read it. Interesting. I’d never seen anything like that before. A tribute from the system to the fallen? And why was it in the annotated text? More mysteries I was unlikely to solve, at least so long as I remained down here. I glanced about, taking in my surroundings for the first time. Loose dirt and pieces of broken stone lined the floor of the rift. A few burnt and broken cars as well. I was guessing most of this had fallen in as the rift tore itself open, though it was interesting the entire bottom wasn’t under at least a few inches of water by now. The seam ran through at least several city blocks, which I would have thought would include a few pipes. Though perhaps the water had turned off along with the electricity in most places. A view upward didn’t tell me much. I could see the sky, but not tell how high up it was to the top of the rift. I suppose I’d know after I climbed it. Fortunately for me, the ledges that Zapper and I had used in our battle with the golem guardian still lined either sides. Other than the potential for some lingering lightfall plants to still be in the area—which I thought was minimal, given how they’d disappeared after the fight—it should be relatively easy for me to climb to the top. So I set out, casting a spray of small pebbles down into the rift with every leap. Time passed slowly as I worked my way up. Leap. Scan for threats. Leap. The sun slowly moved out of sight, leaving me in semi-shadow as I made my way upward. At some point, I glanced down and realized I could no longer see the bottom. I’m not normally one to be afraid of heights, but it occurred to me as I peered downward that if one of these ledges gave, that’d be the end of me. My tag wouldn’t reset until midnight tonight, much too far away to be of any use. I was a little more careful with my jumps after that. Even so, my mind wandered, as the journey lengthened along with the shadows. I kept returning to that name that had flashed into my head. The name that had led me to challenge Crunch’s authority in what I realized in hindsight had been a suicidal endeavor from the start. Luckily, a death or two was no longer the end of the road for me. Right, where was I? Oh yeah. Annie. Who was she? At least, I assumed it was a she, and the little snippets I kept getting from my system-enhanced mind seemed to agree. Had she been my owner, before? Or their child, given the fact that the little girl had set off a reaction in me I hadn’t been able to predict? Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Perhaps it didn’t matter, being in my long-forgotten past, but if my reaction with Crunch were to ever happen again, I’d prefer to know if I should expect it beforehand. So I wracked my brain, trying to remember any shred of details. But whenever I felt close, they simply slipped away. My system enhancements could recall a million details about the world that no longer mattered, but it seemed it couldn’t aid me even a little in remembering my own past. As a result, I was exhausted both physically and mentally by the time I finally struggled my way out of the rift. One moment I was leaping from another ledge, and the next my feet landed unsteadily on torn pavement. I glanced about, confused about what was going on. Seeing the surface again felt like waking from a dream. Then the last of the dream dissolved, and I recognized the street corner where my fight with Crunch had taken place. Over there was where I had tricked him into the rift, and further beyond was where Benjamin had summoned the blindness sphere for me. And then, to the right was where the human had... where the human... You know what? Enough reminiscing. I needed sleep. Stumbling forward, it was all I could do to put one paw in front of the other. Now that I had actually made it back to solid ground, whatever energy that had been driving me appeared to dissipate. At this point, I had been up for nearly 36 hours solid, and felt every moment of it. Still, I eked out a little more strength to carry me forward. The taco shop lay ahead, and unless something catastrophic had happened, my safe zone should still be active. I could rest there without worry. The shop appeared in front of me, wavering in my vision a moment before stabilizing. I shook my head, drew in a deep breath, then pushed on. Step. Step. Step. A few seconds later I crossed the threshold. There was still a waning amount of sunlight in the distance, so that the interior of the place was visible to me even without my Night Vision. Which is why the sight of the little human girl curled up asleep in one of the dog beds did little more than elicit a tired eyebrow raise from me. [Hey, other dog!] Zapper appeared as if from nowhere, his tail wagging at Mach three. [You’re back! I was worried when I saw you go over the edge, but I told myself, ‘Zapper, don’t you worry, Captain Boss and other dog know what they’re doing and—‘] [Is that your handiwork?] I asked, nodding in the girl’s direction. Zapper’s tail wagged harder. [Yep! I brought her back here and kept an eye on her. She wouldn’t stop crying at first, but eventually fell asleep. I tried to give her some of the crunchy kibbles, but she didn’t like them for some reason so I—] [Okay, good dog,] I said, cutting him off. [We can talk more in the morning.] And with that, I flopped into a bed next to the girl and fell instantly asleep. ---------------------------------------- I awoke the next day to a butt in my face. Correction. A butthole in my face. I was so taken off-guard by the sight that at first, all I could do was lie there frozen in shock. Then the butthole wriggled, awakening me from my stupor. With an angry snarl, I thrashed free, practically leaping to my feet. The butthole, and the dog attached to it, let out a surprised yelp. It took another moment of the fog of sleep leaving my head before I recognized the tiny mass of fur as belonging to Zapper. [What the—Zapper, what were you doing?] I asked. The whole time I’d been with the pack, none of them had slept anywhere near me. Not that it was cold enough in Oakland warrant it anyway. [Oh, sorry, other dog! I usually sleep with Captain Boss, but since he’s dead now, I just...] The dog trailed off, and his tail drooped. I’d never seen him look so downtrodden before. Then he perked up, his tail starting to twitch. [So I thought, hey, other dog is the boss now, I should sleep with him! Oooh, should I call you other dog boss???] [No, you definitely shouldn’t—wait, how did you know Crunch is dead?] Zapper just tilted his head at me curiously. A moment later, I realized the answer was obvious: the dog had probably gotten a notification about the party disbanding upon Crunch’s death. I glanced about the taco shop, but besides Zapper and myself, the only other occupant was the human girl, Riley, still asleep next to me. [Where are Benjamin and Leeli?] Again, Zapper’s tail slowed to a halt. [They... Leeli told me she and Ben were going far away. Even after I told them Captain Boss was dead. I... I don’t know where they are now.] Huh. So the pack really had broken up. I felt kind of bad about that, but only a little. The dynamic with everyone had never really felt right. Most of that was Crunch, of course, but Leeli and Ben had always been a bit standoffish, until the end. I realized Zapper was looking at me. [What?] [Are you going to make a new pack, other boss? Huh? Can I join?] [No, I’m not—] I paused, then gave the idea a bit more consideration. Was there any reason to refuse Zapper’s companionship? He clearly thrived on community, and we had gotten along fairly well while exploring the golem tunnels. I gazed at him long and hard before answering. [That depends. You going to knock it off with this ‘other dog’ business?] [Sure, Boss!] The dog let out a little bark of happiness. [I can do that!] Well, Boss was a step up from ‘other dog’. I’d just have to take it. A few flicks through my interface later, and Zapper was a member of my party. It was a decision I could only hope I wouldn’t regret later. A moment later, the girl next to us began to stir. The sight of her opening her eyes and looking around brought up a whole new concern. [You aren’t planning to try and kill her, are you?] I asked Zapper. [Of course not, Boss! I don’t hurt humans!] [Zapper, I literally watched you eating a human yesterday.] [Yep, because he was already dead!] the dog explained happily, like this made any sense whatsoever. Letting out a sigh, I put the matter aside and turned to the more immediate one. [What are we to do about her?] I asked, more to myself than my companion. Zapper just tilted his head and looked at me. The girl Riley finished rubbing the sleep from her eyes and finally seemed to notice me. She drew in a quick breath and scooted to the very back of her bed. “Nice doggy... good doggy... No bite...” What the... was she worried about me? But I was the one who saved her yesterday! I almost could have lolled my tongue at the ridiculousness of it all, if it wasn’t also rather frustrating. Instead, I opened my inventory, activated one of my MREs, and summoned it in front of me. A steaming bowl of stew that smelled strongly of beef appeared between us, along with what I thought might be a PB&J sandwich and a packet of pretzels. The girl’s eyes widened at the sight. “Is... that for me, doggy?” Cautiously, she crept forward. Without taking her eyes off me, she reached down, picked up the bowl of soup, and brought it to her lips. A second later she was slurping it down at a pace I thought rather unwise, given the obvious temperature. Still, I didn’t stop her, but sat back on my haunches to watch. Zapper stepped forward and sniffed at the sandwich. He slowly started to open his mouth, but snapped it shut at a growl from me. The girl paused eating her soup for a moment, watching me, then resumed just as fast. [So what’s the plan now, Boss?] Zapper asked, casting a longing look at the sandwich. I didn’t answer at first, just kept watching the girl. She finished the soup, then started in on the pretzels. The crunching sound filled the little taco shop. [I’m not sure yet,] I said finally. [But we can’t leave this girl on her own. We need to find more humans. Trustworthy ones.] Because after what had happened with Crunch, I was never going to take trustworthiness at face value again. [Good idea, Boss! But... where do we do that?] For the first time in a week, I closed my eyes, and let the feeling inside of me rise to the surface. The call, which I had forced myself to ignore ever since leaving downtown, had grown to a weak tug, barely noticeable. But it was there, nonetheless. [I think I have an idea.]