Zack rounded up the other cores under his protection in a single room. Iris, Glitch, and Enza were all placed carefully atop a pedestal that was designed to help feed them aether and, especially in the armament core's case, protect them from Zack's influence.
"We have a lot to talk about," Zack started. His own core was in the center of the room, far larger than all the others. The only one that came anywhere close was Iris, and she had to be a quarter, maybe a fifth of Zack's overall size. In order to accomodate his growth, Zack had taken to creating a much larger core room, where his crystal was free to expand without obstruction.
"I agree," Iris concurred.
"We-we-we-we also agree," Glitch said, their two voices stuttering over each other.
Enza was silent, though Zack could practically feel the hatred radiating off of her. Zack didn't blame her. He had, after all, killed her husband.
"The death of an archmage is going to have a ripple effect. It's going to draw a lot of attention, not only to the dungeon, but to cores in general," Zack explained. "It's not going to stay a secret for long what Snow was after, nor what happened to him. I stole more than just his wife, after all."
Again, Enza silently fumed.
"Not to mention that dunce, Matthew, that Snow was overseeing," Iris concurred. "He's a dungeon core, like you. Without Snow, it may be possible for him to finally achieve the same breakthroughs you have."
Zack worried about much the same, his core dimming and glowing as he considered it. "I think it's time to consider how we announce our sapience to people."
"They-they-they w-w-w-won't care," Glitch protested.
"We'll make them care. We have to," Zack insisted. "It's not just about me, or about us. It's about the fate of all cores. We don't know how many of us are still out there, but one thing is abundantly clear: people don't care what happens to us. They grind us up, they break us and weaponize us. They use us for experiments to progress their knowledge of magic, all without considering what we can teach them if left alone. Let's not forget the natural function we perform, one that is sorely lacking from the world without our presence."
Iris's core shuddered. "Aetheric build-up. Without cores to filter aether back into mana, it builds up and manifests as monsters. And that's just the stuff on the surface and in the air. It speaks nothing of the aether underground."
Zack's core flashed in agreement. "Underground aether is the most dangerous stuff of all. Gravity is squeezing it tighter and tighter, the pressure building like the insides of a volcano. Without cores to filter it, we're looking at another Aetheric Boom—bigger than the last, and more violent too. There's more magic users now than ever before, and therefore more aether being flung about that isn't turning back into mana. This is a problem we'll need to solve."
Glitch made a horrible buzzing noise, which Zack took to be agreement. The only core to not voice their opinion was Enza, who still sat silently on her pedestal.
"Surely you must want to stop whatever is coming," Iris finally said. "Enza, you cannot possibly think ignoring the obvious is a good idea."
"Frankly, I don't care," Enza said, her first words since one of Zack's kobolds placed her upon this pedestal. "You took Cornelius from me. You can all turn to dust for all I care."
"Enza…" Zack sighed. "Fine. Whatever. I wanted to be nice and include you, but if you're not interested in helping us, I'm not going to force you."
"Nice? YOU KILLED MY—" Enza was abruptly rendered silent as Zack collapsed his influence down upon her. He could feel her vibrating furiously, but given she was unable to create an influence of her own, her words couldn't leave her crystal.
"There is-is-is one problem with your-your-your p-plan," Glitch said. "We cannt speak for all-all-all cores."
"Glitch is right," Iris agreed. "We are but three of us. We don't know the true scope of cores in the world, how many are active or not. Is it really our place to speak for all of our kind?"
Zack considered that quietly. "I'm not so sure we have a choice. The universities are performing experiments on us even as we speak. We need people to realize that we're not simple things, but living entities. It's not going to be easy to effect this kind of change, either. It's going to take a lot of work."
The other two cores quietly considered that for a long moment. Glitch was the first to speak up again.
"We stand with you," they said, their two voices speaking in perfect harmony.
"If this is the best path forward, and I think it just might be, then I will also stand with you. I am a library core, so I am not sure how much help I can truly be, but I will do everything I can."
"Thank you, both of you," Zack said, earnestly meaning it. "Truth be told, I'm not sure how exactly to go about this. But I'm glad we're on the same side. In the meantime, I have ideas for how I could integrate both of you into my dungeon. If you want to be a part of it, of course."
"We are… interested," Glitch said, with a moment of hesitation before the final word.
"I am also intrigued. Seeing how your dungeon reacted to Snow's incursion, I can't help but wonder what I might learn while working alongside you," Iris said.
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Zack smiled internally. He was a little bummed that Enza wanted nothing to do with them, and he wasn't keen on keeping her against her will, but she was just an armament core. It was too dangerous out in the world without an influence to protect her.
"Thank you, both of you. Let's get started. Dungeon Inc two point oh is a go!"
***
Alex stared at his new ID card as Salazar drove the card. Their first stop since leaving the dungeon was to government service office, so Alex could get his information properly updated. It was quite a display when they entered, with people extremely confused about a kobold in their midst. Thankfully Salazar was there to explain everything.
Well, not everything. They didn't bother explaining how Alex became a kobold, only that he used to be human. Since his old ID was destroyed in the explosion, he didn't have it on hand anymore. Thankfully, there were a ton of questions the goblin behind the counter was able to ask him to prove he was who he said he was.
His new ID listed his race as kobold, and that he was formerly human. It was even one of the new magical cards, the kind capable of scanning the owner's magic to display their current level. It used the same magical technology as a status tattoo, though in far less detail. It didn't show his mana or health values, but it did have the flame icon to denote his elemental affinity.
"A pure and proper pyromancer is always in high demand," Salazar explained, as he turned a corner. "You'd be surprised by how many wild monsters are plant-based. Wild aether likes to sink into whatever it can find, and plants are often sponges for the stuff."
Alex snickered, remembering his encounter with the carnage carnation that first day Zack woke up. It was barely a month ago, and yet it felt like a lifetime. He quietly lamented that he would never get his human body back, but he was more than happy to trade it for the future that now awaited him.
He was going to be an adventurer!
"We're here," Salazar said, pulling the car into a parking spot labeled with his number. "Welcome to the Toronto Guildhall. Or as we like to call it, the Raptor's Nest."
"Named after the basketball team?" Alex asked, frowning. Toronto's local teams were a subject of great pride for the city, from the baseball Blue Jays and basketball Raptors, to the world-famous hockey team, the Maple Leaf's.
"Yup. Our founder was a huge basketball fan," Salazar chuckled. "Our guild's official title is the Toronto Deinonychuses, even. It's too much of a mouthful, though, so most of us out in the field just call it the Toronto Guild."
"I can't imagine why that might be hard to say," Alex grinned. "Welp, we're not going to get very far by sitting out here, are we?"
"No, I suppose we're not," Salazar agreed. He killed the engine on the car and threw open his door. "Let's get you registered."
***
The Waterloo Aetherology board of directors sat around a large table, staring at the empty seat at one corner of the table. They all knew that Cornelius Snow would not be returning any time soon. They had contacted some of his students, many of whom had research-oriented powers that confirmed his death.
"We need to fill that seat soon," one of them said, an older woman with electric blue hair. She sat with her legs crossed, her elbow resting on the table. "The sponsors are not going to be happy if it stays vacant for long."
"It will be hard to find another archmage to fill it," a man replied. He was the youngest member of the board, dressed in a sharp suit and tie. The glasses crowning his face glowed with a mixture of lights that hovered all around him. He casually swiped through the air, as though interacting with a menu that none of the others could see. "Snow didn't just command respect, he was powerful."
"Who was his vice-dean?" The third member, a middle-aged man with a clean face, asked. "Are they powerful enough to take his place?"
"Unlikely," the young man snickered. "The vice-dean is nearly as old as Snow, but only a fraction of his level. We need someone powerful and young, if you ask me."
"The folly of youth," the young woman sighed.
"Folly nothing. The problem with the old guard is that they're too stuck in their ways. They struggle to make breakthroughs while the younger burn through them faster than ever," the young man retorted, the hovering lights around his face stopping. "That Snow reached as high a level as he did was due only to his elemental affinity. It granted him a deeper understanding, which in turn allowed him to shoot up in levels faster than anyone could imagine. He was one in a million."
"The sponsors will not like that," the middle-aged man growled. "They want someone easy to control in charge of things."
"To hell with the sponsors, too," the young man rolled his eyes behind his glasses. The swirling lights changed colours, and he grabbed one out of thin air before typing on an invisible keyboard. "Maybe it's high time we do away with them."
"Need I remind you, the sponsors are the only reason we have jobs," the old woman pointed out.
"And look at how that ended for Snow," the young man reminded her. "Dead in a ditch somewhere. If you ask me, we've been doing things the way the sponsors want for far too long. It's time to take matters into our own hands, cast a wider net. The world is changing too fast, and if the sponsors can't keep up…"
A loud gunshot rang out through the room, and the young man slumped over in his seat. The old woman closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose, while the middle-aged man covered his mouth with a hand.
"He should have watched what he said," the old woman grumbled, shaking her head as she finally opened her eyes. The young man's body was already dissolving, turning to dust as it rapidly dried out. "The sponsors are always watching, always listening."
The middle-aged man let out a long, drawn out sigh. "That's two seats we need to fill now: a tech CEO and a dean. One of those will at least be easy, there is no shortage of smart people willing to run a large corporation. The dean, though, will be much harder."
No sooner had he finished saying it did the phone in his jacket pocket begin ringing. He pulled it out and unlocked it, holding the device up to his ear.
"We will handle the dean," a robotic voice said on the other end. "You will receive Snow's replacement soon, along with new orders regarding how to announce his demise to the public."
The middle-aged man nodded and conveyed as much to his colleague. She nodded in turn, and checked her watch. "I have to go. There will be a hearing soon about the bombing in Toronto. No doubt that's what led to Snow's death, but we won't know for certain until we send adventurers to investigate."
"Then I bid you good day, Councilwoman Sinclaire," the middle-aged man said, nodding to her.
"And you, Mister LeVeque." Councilwoman Sinclaire rose to her feet and nodded politely, grabbing her cane from where it rested off the side of the large wooden table. As she left, the middle-aged man drummed his fingers on the table, then a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
"A challenger to my throne appears at last" he muttered, letting his human disguise finally fall. As it turned to dust, all that was left in its wake was a single wisp, a purple so dark it was nearly black. "I can't wait to see what you can do, little brother."