Chapter 88: Aftermath I

Sunday, April 30th, 10:30 PM (Mountain Time)

Yellowstone Dungeon

“Peterson!” Colonel Hart’s voice roused Joy from the shock of her experience.

“Uhm—yes, sir?” Joy shook her head and blinked as her vision cleared and she beheld Hart.

“I asked if you’re okay?” The colonel had his eyebrows raised.

Joy replied, “Yes, sir. I’ve conquered the Dungeon, sir.”

“You what?” Hart and Joe asked in unison.

Siobhán moved closer to peer at Joy with a quizzical expression and the exhausted Dragon Flies still resting on her forearms.

“This gem,” said Joy, pointing to the massive garnet-like stone embedded in the stalagmite, “is the Dungeon’s core. I touched it because it caught my eye, and I was forced to fight a strange mental battle against whatever lives inside it.”

“You’re serious?” Hart raised one eyebrow and pointed at other identical-looking gemstones set into numerous stalagmites and stalactites around them.

“Yes, sir. When I won, I gained control over this place. I’m not exactly sure how it all works, but…” Joy looked at a nearby stalagmite, and it bent as she intended, into a question-mark shape. “Like that, I suppose?”

“Well, butter my backside,” Hart whispered as he grinned at Joy. “Anything else I should know?”

“It automatically removed the previous residents. According to The Voice, I have complete control over this Dungeon’s minions. I—”

A strange feeling from the stone floor just one meter ahead of where Joe stood made Joy stare.

“There’s something there. It feels dangerous. Gunny Schimpf, you should avoid walking there.” Joy pointed.

“What is it?” Joe asked as he and the dogs backed away from the spot.

“I’m not sure. Maybe a trap? I should probably consult the menu, like The Voice said—”

The massive scale of the entire Dungeon was made clear to Joy’s eyes and she flinched when her perception moved as she focused on one particular floor above that teemed with hundreds of armed humans.

“Peterson?” Joe waved a hand in front of Joy.

“Uh, right.” She saw where Joe was pointing. “Yeah, that’s a spike trap. I can see all thirty of the traps in this Dungeon.”

“That’ll be handy. You said the residents of this place are no longer residents?” Hart asked.

Joy nodded. “That’s correct, sir.”

Hart smiled. “Let’s head back up and have you open those rooms.”

“Aye, sir,” Joy replied.

As they walked, Joy spotted the Dungeon Master’s quarters above. Nearby were the rooms sealed away by the goblins. Two of those smaller rooms were occupied by men who struggled angrily against Nita’s strong silk.

“Colonel, sir,” Joy began, “two former residents are caught in Nita’s webs inside those rooms.” Joy noticed dark liquid pooling on the floor of each room and she grimaced. “They’re bleeding profusely.”

Colonel Hart said, “After Schimpf’s experience against those men, I see no reason to rush to their aid.” He looked pointedly at Joy.

Despite the gruesome nature of what was happening and the terrible idea that people were being left to bleed out, Joy couldn’t find a logical reason to argue. But she did have words regarding what those men had done, and the decision to leave it alone was made easier by everything she’d witnessed and been through since the bombs fell. “Aye, sir. They’re enemy combatants who murdered people in Santa Cruz.”

“Good answer, Peterson. It’s a hard lesson—learning to allow an enemy to die when you could save their life. But sometimes it’s necessary.”

“Yeah. I won’t lie, sir—I don’t like it. But I know those men left us no choice because they’ll kill innocent people again if they’re allowed to live, so it’s better to leave them to their fate.”

Hart replied, “Exactly right. That’s the correct attitude, Peterson. Marines exist to kill our country’s enemies, and there are times when we have orders to make that happen. But it doesn’t mean we should become mindless killing machines.”

Siobhán interjected with a chuckle, “I used to think the military was unnecessary—that the world would get along better without armies, navies, warplanes and marines.” She shook her head. “I wish I’d been right.”

Joe replied, “I wish that every damn day, but—”

“That perspective is naïve.” Siobhán finished for him.

“Unfortunately, yeah.” Joe sighed.

“Most people aren’t bad,” said Hart. “But there are enough nasty people to spoil the whole damn pot if they aren’t kept in check to a reasonable degree. That’s why the Marine Corps is necessary.”

Siobhán looked down. “I never would’ve said this before the war, but…” After trailing off for a couple of seconds, she searched the eyes of Joe, Hart, and Joy. “I’m thankful for our military.” She grabbed Joe’s hand. “Without you and everything that helped you to become the man you are, me and Joy wouldn’t have survived.”

Joy smiled. “Yeah. That’s why I want to become someone who can do the same for others.”

“You’re on the right track, Peterson,” said Hart.

Joy’s cheeks grew hot at the colonel’s praise. “Thank you, sir.”

“We’re lucky to have the help of our fellow creatures as well.” Hart scritched Nino behind her ears.

Joy bent to pat Bella and Duke on their shoulders. “Without them, this world would be a lesser place.”

From Hart’s shoulder, Nino chimed in with a slow-blink at Joy, [Sometimes… humans are smart.]

After reaching the Dungeon Master’s quarters and clearing away the stone that blocked the doorway to the small resident rooms, the potent stench of human waste billowed out to assault them.

Joy covered her nose. “Ugh. I wish this Dungeon worked properly, but I’m not sure how to make it behave like the Professor’s.”

Hart replied, “You’ll get a chance to ask her soon enough, but the President will want to see you as soon as we arrive.”

“Yes, sir.” Joy looked down. “I’ve been anticipating that since the moment I woke up from my fight with the core. I didn’t intend to take the Dungeon for myself… I just didn’t know what else to do when it attacked my mind.”

“Our Commander-in-Chief trusts you, Peterson. That’s good enough for me,” said Colonel Hart. “Our mission was a success, and that’s what matters. The long-term fate of this place is above our pay grade.”

Joy nodded. Yeah. I wasn’t planning on this. I just want to do my part.

Inside their respective rooms, Roy and Kevin had already bled out via the deep lacerations they’d suffered from struggling against Nita’s webs. Joy was grateful that Joe was the one who checked them after Nita cut her webbing away.

“Let’s head up the long way,” said the colonel. “We need to collect Siobhán’s bear and her cubs.”

“Thanks, Colonel.” Siobhán smiled at Hart, then hugged Joe’s arm as he returned from checking Roy’s corpse.

Something nudged intrusively against Joy’s perception in some far-away portion of the Dungeon and she stopped walking. Every hair on her body stood tall as Joy stared at the distant disturbance.

Siobhán paused beside her and asked, “Uh, Joy? Are you—”

[‘Beans, can you hear me?]

Ciara’s voice had somehow reached them inside this Dungeon.

[Mommy!] the Labs wagged their tails vigorously, smacking them against Joe and Siobhán’s legs.

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[Girls! You can hear me?]

[We can,] Sunny and Sandy replied with tongues lolling from their huge doggy-smiles.

“ProfCon?” Siobhán asked as she looked around in wonder.

[Soybean, how did things go?]

Before Siobhán could reply, Hart asked, “Ciara, how are you talking to us in here?”

[You must have taken over that Dungeon, because the mana changed. Sven suggested that since we’re allied, you should be able to respond if I speak into that Dungeon while I’m touching it.]

Joy said, “It’s good to hear your voice, Professor. This place won’t clean itself like your Dungeon. It’s really gross, and I can’t figure out how to fix that.”

[Joybean, you’re the new Dungeon Master?]

A rush of heat flushed Joy’s cheeks as she answered, “I am.”

A brief moment passed before Ciara replied, [President Thomas says he’d like to speak with you. But first—and I know this may be a lot to ask since you’re new to controlling a Dungeon— he says you must imprison anyone who’s part of the One World Order, so the military can deal with them when they arrive.]

“Uh… how should I do that?” Joy looked down.

[Just send your perception around to listen in on anyone who’s inside your Dungeon, then seal the bad ones off in stone chambers. Make sure there are air vents so they won’t suffocate.]

“Okay.” Joy paused as her gaze pierced stone and she followed the President’s orders.

It took a few minutes longer than she’d anticipated, because Joy learned the hard way that she could not affect the stone whenever humans who weren’t allied with her were near the place she tried to shape. But the passages leading to the enemy barracks were long enough that it wasn’t difficult for her to seal them off after she located spots with no interference.

Close to a thousand armed men and women were soon trapped by more than twenty meters of solid stone, and Joy created a few dozen air ducts around ten centimeters in diameter to replace the foot passages.

[Well done, Joybean.]

Joy grimaced. “Professor…”

[Yes, ‘bean?]

“I killed two people.”

Siobhán shook her head and stared at her feet. “No, Joy. Nita did that…”

Hart rested his hand on Siobhán’s shoulder. “All you and Nita did was follow my orders—like you promised. It’s true that Nita’s webs took human lives, but those men took part in an attack that killed dozens of people in cold blood outside Ciara’s Dungeon.”

“I know. I don’t like it, but I get it.” Siobhán met the colonel’s gaze and blew out a sigh.

Joe glanced between Siobhán and Joy, then added, “I’m impressed with how well you two are handling everything.”

Siobhán shrugged. “None of us have much choice.”

“Yeah. You’re not wrong.” Joy stared up through the Dungeon, into the crude subterranean barracks where the humans had started to panic. She gritted her teeth as she wondered what would happen to them. “So, what about everyone I’ve imprisoned?”

[Humans are growing scarce. The President wants to check for himself if any of them are only following the One World Order under duress.]

“So, it’s about saving lives, if possible?” A glimmer of hope rose in Joy’s heart.

[That’s right. But… wait. Something’s trying to—] Ciara’s voice cut off abruptly.

“Professor?” Joy’s asked as they neared the flooded area they’d been forced to swim through.

[Mommy?] Sunny’s tail stopped wagging.

[Where is Mommy?] Sandy locked eyes with her sister.

“Ciara?” Colonel Hart’s voice echoed in the hallway, but there was no reply.

Hart’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t like it.”

“We need to finish up in here.” Joe strode purposefully toward the water.

Joy said, “Wait, Gunny Schimpf.”

“Peterson?” Joe glanced back at her.

Joy pointed at a new tunnel she was making to bypass the water. “We won’t have to swim.”

“Ah, that’s convenient.” Joe led them through the new passage.

“We should focus on exiting as soon as possible. Can you take us directly to Ara and her cubs?” the colonel asked.

“I can try, sir.” Joy shaped a set of stairs that bypassed a few other floors and exited near the place where they’d left the bear and her offspring.

Ara and her cubs lay curled up in the same alcove. The mother bear lifted her head and glanced at their group. She stared for a moment at the Rock goblins, sniffed the air, then chuffed once. Appearing satisfied, Ara curled back around her cubs as the group approached.

“Ara, we need to go, love.” Siobhán scritched the bear’s neck, then backed away as Ara yawned and roused her offspring.

Joy allowed their group to bypass the Dungeon’s traps before closing her extra passages behind them.

As they neared the surface, Colonel Hart said, “We need to avoid a confrontation with the main population of this place. Peterson, take us out through a new exit in the forest—far enough from the Visitor Center that we can avoid being seen.”

“Aye, sir.” Joy did as instructed, extending a new tunnel in the rough direction of their forward operating base.

As her stoneshaping neared the surface, something else pressed against Joy’s perception in the same manner as Ciara had before. But she soon realized this time was different. The presence slithered and churned against Joy’s psyche, seeking a way inside.

When Joy pushed back against the invasive presence, it threw coils around her and squeezed. Her body erupted with pain and her vision darkened. She felt herself collapse against the stone stairs she’d crafted as another memory forced its way to the center of her thoughts.

This time, it was that creep and his goons who invaded Siobhán’s basement—the men Joe and Mike killed. Joy became furious when her past self lashed out wildly in terror and the slithering feeling grew palpable. The memory shattered two seconds after it began as she reasserted control and found the others staring at her where she lay. Joy’s fists were clenched so hard that it hurt.

“Peterson?” Hart met her gaze with raised eyebrows.

Through clenched teeth, Joy replied, “Something… Not sure what it was. Angry, sir. Sorry.”

“Magic?” Hart asked.

“Aye, sir. Bad magic. Bad memories.” Joy took a deep breath.

“Someone’s trying to take the Dungeon from you somehow?” Joe asked.

“I…” Joy turned around and looked back down at the core room. There was nobody inside that room, and the minions had started to respawn. “I don’t see anyone. But it felt like something was attacking me.”

“The enemy is trying to destroy this Dungeon. You need to watch out for—” Sven appeared near them, then winked out of existence.

Joy stared at her feet in frustration for a moment, until something brushed against the Dungeon she controlled.

[…you hear me? Joybean, you have to help or—]

Sending her perception to the spot where the disturbance occurred, Joy watched in wonder as stone churned across what seemed an invisible boundary that shifted ever downward, and it was already more than 500 meters below the surface.

One side of the odd battle inside the Earth felt orderly, healthy, and balanced. But the opposing force churned like a ball of venomous snakes and acidic amoebas wrought from death and pure chaos. The second feeling reminded her of how that last memory had slithered across her consciousness and she shuddered.

Joy explained what she was watching to the others.

Siobhán exclaimed, “Joy, you have to help ProfCon fight that thing! It might be one of the other enemy Dungeons trying to disrupt this place.”

That could be it, but if I touch that… Joy hesitated as she recalled how painful those forced memories had been. But if we lose the Professor, we lose everything.

With no reason to hold back, Joy threw herself awkwardly into the stoneshaping battle in an effort to push the invasive presence back. The instant her stoneshaping came into contact with that of the other two, Joy’s world became agony as her will was attacked and painful memories tried to resurface.

[Yesss, hideouss one. Yoou have always known in your heart that you are weak and… uselesss. Give your worthlesss sself to me, and know peace at lassst.] a voice—whose hissing, cough-like tone was wrought from pure phlegm and pestilence—desecrated Joy’s mind with cruel words. Simultaneously, she strained with all her might to contain her awful past—a continuous string of defeats where she’d stopped fighting in the hope that others would leave her be.

But it hadn’t worked that way. Each time Joy gave up, she lost everything related to whatever battle she’d avoided, and others ran roughshod over her.

She’d shied away from trying out for track and field because others made fun of her for being skinny.

Joy hated her height, her face, and her low speaking voice. She’d always fled from men who talked with her as a consequence of that insecurity.

Standing out in academics had brought cruel ridicule and even beatings from her envious classmates, so Joy learned to leave portions of tests blank to avoid that limelight.

It was better that way.

When Joy was unnoticed, no one attacked or belittled her.

In any conflict, she’d back away and let others handle things. That way, Joy could escape the pain of conflict and awkward situations.

The pestilent voice cackled with glee as Joy’s nagging self-doubt threatened to consume her.

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Floors: 9

Minions: 917/1260

Residents: 15/28

Denizens: 8.77M

Traps: 25/45