Today was the day that my brothers and I would be assigned our jobs. We started our day by making ourselves a mishmash of a breakfast meal while hurrying to get out the door, since it wasn’t explicitly mentioned until today that the lesser elder running the device would only be there for an hour or so. They sent us a courier kobold to relay the message, which meant that they had run from the bottom floor up to ours, which is almost 140 floors up. I swear, if this is another plot by Chalk Eater, I’m going to chuck him from the top floor. As our little pack barged through the doorway and past the exhausted messenger as we made a mad dash for the cargo lift. Luckily, it was already loaded up for a trip to the bottom with just enough room for us and the kobolds running the lift. If Juaki wasn’t back on guard duty and Yabtin hadn’t already gone haggling in the market, we probably wouldn’t have enough room on the lift.

As we rode the lift down, a decent sized kobold with brown scales and turquoise eyes eyed us curiously.

“Ah, young ones. Bahruk, they yours? Oh, is job day today, forgot again, been in mines long time, forget things. Me Thokyuk, plant snipper and tunnel maker.”

Mibata took the extended hand and shook it firmly.

“Mibata, Bahruk spawn. Today learn job, start work. Nice meeting.”

The smaller kobold smiled and swished their tail from side to side. I still didn’t quite know how to distinguish the boys and the girls, though by mom’s account it’s all in the shape of the hips and their scent. I don’t like staring where I don't have any business looking, so I prefer to just go by nose or ask if that fails. Sometimes you can tell by the voice, but not often. In this situation I could do neither, since our fellow passenger smelled like coal dust and lumber.

A gruff voice from beyond the cargo added to the conversation, though I couldn’t see the source aside from a hand waving from behind the crates.

“Pimbip here also, Bahruk. Beams, posts, lamps and such here. New tunnel, East side. You help today?”

Bahruk silently mouthed something to Thokyuk, who only shrugged.

“Later, take pups to job checker first. Meet tunnel nine.”

Our lift finally touched the ground floor, where a crew of kobolds were waiting with carts to unload the supplies. We had to make our way through them, during which I noticed some odd behavior from my brothers. Mibata was especially nervous, refusing to make eye contact with anyone or return their hasty greetings in favor of keeping his eyes forward. Humey smiled and gave some a friendly wave, but tensed when he saw a black and blue kobold his size glaring daggers at him as he passed. Tokols was being very friendly, and even shooting some of the workers a wink. I merely greeted those who paid us attention with a subtle nod or a single wave. Eventually we were past the workers and crossing the expanse of the bottom floor, each of us glancing up at the looming altar and the fear-inducing statue perched atop it.

Once we were out of earshot of any others, Bahruk turned to look at Mibata.

“Good job back there. Smart idea to play dumb, keeps you from standing out. Humey, Tokols, you try and do the same. The door is just up ahead, and look, there’s still a line. Take care kids, go get in there.”

Carved into the stone wall was a doorway trimmed with metal plates, from which was a line of nine kobolds that were bunched up into small groups. The largest gathering of kobolds were easily recognizable, and seeing them caused a stab of pain to go through my heart. They were the clutch that went before us during the ritual. The one who lost a brother to the mirror. I could see the pain they were hiding in their eyes, and the weariness that hung from their shoulders.

The thought of losing one of my brothers in such a way had eaten at me during my recovery. Pain, sorrow, and loss greater than anything I had ever felt would have eaten me alive. I looked again into those downcast eyes, and something in me ached for them. It whispered to me, “guide them” it said, and that felt right. I discreetly used my slate to write a hidden message to Humey.

“Can you do me a favor? Ask those guys in front of us if they’re alright. They’re the ones who lost someone into the altar, and I think they need a hand. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

He looked at the message and nodded resolutely. He shuffled over and got close to them, and I stuck close by his side to listen in. Tok and Bata were close by and looking over as well.

“Hey, uh, You guys alright? My sister worries for you, wants see if you okay.”

They all stared at us in disbelief, sharing glances of confusion between themselves. Eventually one of them stepped close, a medium sized yellow one with a long head and worried eyes. By the scent I got from them, they were a she, and they reeked of sadness.

“We know you. Cursed clutch. S-sorry, bad name, mean… no, trying again. We grieve our Freloe. Brother… taken away. Hurts very bad, we manage. Thank your concerning. Your sister, she lack spoken?”

Humey nodded solemnly.

“She Kayrux. Lose voice young. Kind person, want help you. Always worry things, maybe want hug.”

The yellow kobold had a bit of trepidation as she formed her response.

“I… Raevu. Name Raevu, nice meeting Kayrux. I, uh, like hugs.”

That’s all I needed to hear. I threw my arms wide, welcoming her to return the gesture. She was a bit shorter than me, leaving me resting my chin atop her head. That strange feeling returned, the one that crept into my mind whenever I saw the paths or those invisible threads, but this time it felt more like a lock had been sprung with no visual representation. The sensation was unusual, but it felt as though I had done something positive, an action that put something in place.

Raevu pushed free from the embrace, her face now looking more weary but somewhat relieved as well. She thanked me for my kindness, then made some small talk with my brothers, from which I learned their names, where they lived, what jobs their mother held, and what jobs they were hoping to get. Raevu’s siblings also joined in the talks, as did my brothers. We even drew in the other groups ahead of us, making it a bit of a headache to keep track of names and faces. It was nice to see how sociable people were, even to some weirdos like us.

All conversation ceased with the sudden and abrupt opening of the door, from which crept a bleary eyed pink kobold with dark circles under their eyes. I could smell him from here, and he stank of electrical burns. He* let out a tired groan after* counted our numbers.

“Ugh, big group… hate big groups. Come in, no metal things, no use magic, no food, blah blah blah.”

I was impressed with just how unenthusiastic he was as they led us inside. Within the room, which was about as big as our den, sat a massive machine made from an assortment of different parts and metals. A single tube-like chamber was connected by pulleys, tubes and wires to a giant crystal with spikes stabbed through it, which was then attached by more conduits to a wooden box with an array of glass tubes protruding from the top and sides. By the wooden box was a single chair, where our pink guide had already placed themself.

“One a time, enter machine. Touch red gem, answer questions, step out here. I tell you jobs, you leave. No asking new jobs, not my purpose. You, go first.”

The closest kobold stepped into the large metal cylinder, and the doors behind them slid closed. A moment passed, then a flash of red light from within slipped through the seams of the device. The connected crystal swirled with glyphs and markings that I couldn’t understand for a moment, then turned a muted white as the glass tubes on the wooden box lit up with a rainbow of colors. The first one to enter now stumbled out with a hand on their head, obviously dizzy, and into the arms of their sibling. The whole room reeked of magic, even after the machine was still.

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“Yir’thog, first job smith apprentice, second job rune maker. yipee.”

And so this process was repeated. A dozen jobs were tossed out from the apathetic lips of our tester, who sometimes would smack the device and grumble in irritation as it spat a metal card out at him, which he would replace with a new one from a box at his feet. Sometimes he would get shocked, which was seemingly not an issue for him. Sometimes he would push some kind of button a few times until whatever readouts he was reading were to his liking. I felt sorry for this guy, since this was obviously not what his skills were made for.

The number of those ahead of us was dwindling quickly, and eventually all of Raevu’s kin had gone into the machine. She herself stepped from the machine and was made a mushroom harvester and scribe. All of her siblings had the same primary job of fungal collector, possibly a willing choice on their part, but had wildly different secondary duties. Finally it was time for our pack, and the first of us to enter was Tokols.

“Tokols, first job healer, second job scout.”

That’s a surprise, I was sure that he would have taken up some kind of merchant job with how often he was looking into Yabtin’s stuff and asking how much it traded for. Maybe taking such a grisly head wound realigned his priorities, or grandma had left a strong impression on him. Scout also made sense, since he had natural camouflage and silence in his toolbelt. I can only hope he’s more cautious doing whatever scouting entails than his usual recklessness allows.

Next into the chamber was Humey.

“Humey, first job… ugh, damn machine… explorer, second job cart puller. Psh, ‘course.”

With a curiosity as deep as his, it’s a given that he would take an explorer role. Perhaps he and Tokols’ jobs had some level of overlap and would see them working alongside one another. I can only hope that’s the case, as it would put my worries regarding their safety to rest. On the contrary, cart puller sounds quite mundane but physically taxing. Just how big of a cart were they going to have him pull?”

Mibata stepped in front of me, possibly due to eagerness.

“Mibata, first job seeker, second job mushroom harvester. Ugh, ‘nother one.”

Mushroom harvester was good, as it meant that he and the Raevu siblings would be working together. Since they’ve all been introduced there won’t be any awkward introductions, so maybe they’ll get to know him and be his friends. I have high hopes for you, brother. Seeker was unknown to me. What would Mibata want to do, but would also work as a job? Perhaps seeker was the term for a noir-esque private eye or detective, the kind that goes off in secret to uncover the truth surrounding crimes and mysteries. Yeah, I could definitely see him being a man of mystery, trench coat and cigarette on a rainy night, it would fit him.

Finally it was my turn to step into the chamber. The doors slid closed behind me, leaving me in total darkness for a time, until the gentle glow of a smooth round stone pulsed with red light. I recognized the magic that swirled within it. The same enchantment that had granted me the ability to comprehend the spoken language of my kind, once used to to invade my consciousness for the sake of interrogation. I braced myself as my finger made contact with the stone.

Invisible hands shot out from the stone and began to poke at my mind, though none did so as invasively as the elder or mirror dragon. This was more as though they were blind grabs made in an effort to find some purchase on my will. One of the probing entities stopped, causing all others to pull away. It was asking me if I would consent to a scan, though it felt more like the thought was just written in a quick-fading ink rather than etched in stone. Oh, well, if you’re going to be so polite about it, I suppose I can agree.

As soon as I allowed it, the visitor delicately reached into my head and began poking at certain memories. Oh, it looks like its taken an interest in my former life as a mechanic. Do I want to do work like that again? If that’s an option, I’ll take it. Wait, you’d really give me a job like that right off the bat? I suppose that makes sense, since these are designs from another world. Alright, I’ll do that. No problem, thank you for being so polite with me.

My hands left the stone, and I was once again alone in my head. It never spoke to me, but it felt as though there was a mind within the device that was both polite and courteous towards me. The doors slid open, and I stepped before the pink kobold. As he discerned my work, I secretly reached over and adjusted one of the lines connecting to the wooden box, since the device had asked me to fix that in exchange for a promotion. The effect was noticeable, as the glow of the multi-colored lights shone a little brighter.

“Kayrux, first job… inventor, second job scribe.”

Thank you magical job machine. In addition to having access to the workshop, I would be given creative liberties that a lowly mechanic wouldn’t have available. As a bonus, I could use the tools there to make things from Earth and pass them off as my own designs. I know it's plagiarism, but if it doesn’t exist in this world then I technically become the first to make it, so it counts as my creation. Regardless, it was a part of the reborn shtick to change the world, as the great elven King Trevor did just that, and to do that I had to use what knowledge I had available.

The machine had warned me about the scribe job. Apparently it was written into the “program” it used for selecting the secondary career that I was supposed to become a scribe. This specific command was added by one of the elders not long ago, and I already had a feeling I knew which one. Despite the scanner wanting to give me a different job, it had no choice but to comply. Poor thing was duty-bound, and it felt so distraught over doing it.

The pink kobold had left his chair and had circled around the collected mass of newly-hired kobolds. Once by the door, and after stepping up onto a small ladder, he made an address in that same dreary voice.

“Listen now, this important. New jobs waiting for you, go to first job this week, second job next week. Explorers, rangers, scouts and hunters go to smith, get gear and go to merchant floor. Tunnel jobs like shroom pickers and pig keepers, go tunnel four. Guards go to training hall ten layers up. Everyone else just go where you belong. Get out of here.”

Everyone but him shuffled out into the main chasm, the door closing swiftly after the last tail had passed its threshold. The ordeal only lasted what felt like half an hour, which meant there was still a full day ahead of us. Most of the other kobolds were already shuffling off, including Raevu’s siblings. She lingered for a moment to once again thank me and my brothers for our kindness before running after her distant siblings. Now we just had to go to where we belonged. My slate had half of a question written down when Mibata somehow read my mind.

“It would be wise for all of us to make our way to the middle floors. Both the forge and the workshop have an entrance on the same floor, so we can share a ride up on a regular lift.”

To be honest, I didn’t know where anything was. My only point of reference was the cargo lift, since the highest it could go was the merchant floor, and had a platform on the same level as our home. Everything else was labyrinthian with the winding tunnels and scattered ramps or stairs, so even if I had to get home on my own I would be hopelessly lost. Fortunately it seemed that my brothers had done a little scouting of their own and pointed up to the entrance doors to the workshop, which guided us to the nearest platform for the regular lift.

The civilian elevators were not impressive. They were smaller, felt less secure, and moved slower than the cargo version. It also didn’t help that unlike the larger one, this design ran continuously and only stopped at a platform for a few seconds before resuming. I’m no safety inspector, but almost falling face first into the floor because the lift jerked upwards as I was stepping off made me want to see them all torn down.

So here we were before the sizable doors of the workshop. These heft gates were probably for moving large machines in and out, as evident by the track running from under the door over to the cargo platform, but they had a smaller door built in that was seeing some frequent traffic. My gaze traveled across the city, and into the matching doors of the forge. Glowing hot vats of molten metal and smiths hammering away with unfettered focus were visible from here, and the ringing of their hammers echoed across the chasm. I looked to my brothers and tilted my head that way, hoping they would get the gist and move along.

Mibata placed a firm hand on my shoulder, and the concerned look he wore mirrored the ones on Tokols and Humey.

“Take care of yourself, alright Kay? I know you must have done something to be given such a peculiar job, but don’t get yourself into any trouble. We’re going to be outfitted for an evaluation today, so we will probably be here to take you home before nightfall. Please stay within the workshop until we arrive. I… I’ve got a feeling that things will be getting complicated, and being separated from you is not ideal.”

This last sentence was a hushed whisper, but both of the others nodded in agreement. They’re afraid that we’re going to be split up again. They don’t want to leave me behind again. Nope, got to push those thoughts out of my head! My response is accompanied by a single nod.

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay safe. I promise. Get going, I’ll tell you about how it goes later.”

Seemingly satisfied with my answer, the three of them jogged their way over to the busy forge and into a crowd of assembling workers. I turned myself back towards the looming doors with a fire in my heart. Dad's talked pretty big about how advanced this place is, so let's test that assessment. One hand on the door, and a deep breath to calm the nerves, I began to push open the wooden barrier. Alright then, let’s see what this place has to offer!