~~Cyan~~

Magenta steps in just as I’m putting the final touches on the security-laser Spiderweb room, and I give her a tidy grin as she surveys it. “Pretty cool, eh?”

I’ve basically made a security laser grid. Spiderwebs criss-cross the room at all angles. Some can be crawled under, some jumped over, and there are some areas where our visitors will have to get pretty creative. “The fly nodes are over there,” I point up to the corners, “Thanks for the tip, by the way. Also, I managed to find a way to influence it based on the size of the Adventurer. So like… we get a Goliath,” I raise my hand and all the webs raise, the gaps between them growing slightly. “Or we get a Gnome,” I lower my hand, and the gaps shrink in response, the spiderwebs sagging until even a 3-foot tall gnome can manage the jumps. “Cool, huh? I also made it so if they come in from the exit, all the webs are on the ground, for an easy exit. Although, if someone new comes in from the entrance, the webs will return to their default state.”

“Very. What is your failure state? How do you communicate that failure has been reached?”

“First couple web breaks are free. Then they get really sticky and stick to your equipment and body. If you break enough to be considered a failure, uh… Shelob comes in,” I explain, directing the room to demonstrate. The webs fall to the ground. From the ceiling, a loud chittering is heard, and a Spider the size of a pig lowers itself slowly, spinning as she looks for her prey.

“She’s more aggressive if they burn things or attack the webs. If they’re just clumsy, she’ll pick them up and drop them off at the entrance to her room, wrapped in web. Might steal a trinket, might not. I’ll fine-tune the difficulty as we go, I think.”

Magenta considers it for a long moment before nodding. “I discovered something,” she moves to the exit of the Spiderweb room and concentrates, and I watch as a bright ball of light forms above the exit. From the ball of light, roots grow down and around the opening to form a proper doorway of woven roots. Arched and all. The ball of light nestles between the roots at the top, peeking out just the right amount.

I hadn’t noticed how dark it was. I guess we have some kind of advanced darkvision. Neato. Magenta quickly explains and demonstrates the light-changing mechanic she designed, and I feel confident in my ability to replicate it later.

“It’s basically a traffic light. Green, yellow, red. Neat! So… do you have a name for the Ant… thing?” I ask while I examine the traffic light.

“A name?”

“Yeah, like Shelob. I’m thinking… AntZord…. Antzilla, VoltrAnt? TitAnt?”

“Definitely not that last one.” She was quiet for a moment. “I think Antzilla. It rolls off the tongue the best.”

“But the other ones were fun references!”

“That I’m quite certain no one other than you will understand.”

“Inside jokes are great. I love them.”

Magenta shrugs. “I designed the Antzilla, so it is my choice what to name it.”

I nod, turning thoughtfully towards the exit again and gazing at the tunnel beyond. “So… tightrope and climbing wall next, right?”

“Yes. I see one issue with the tightrope… we do not have rope.”

“We have spider silk.”

Magenta is silent for a few moments before smiling. “We do have spider silk.”

“If we ever get another material, we can add it to the spider silk, if we need it. I dunno if it’ll make… great rope.”

Magenta considers it. “Another slight issue occurs to me. The climbing wall. We have pebbles. However, in pursuit of keeping the theming consistent, it may work to make the wall packed earth with roots sticking out of it.”

“Yeah, and we can make some of them weak, so if someone grabs onto a weak root, it pulls out!”

We continue discussing plans for the next two challenge rooms, while also working on the next section of maze with our quickly dwindling mana supplies. We manage to extend the corridors so that there are two more rooms, their entrances linked by an H-shaped corridor to the exits of both the Anthill and Spiderwebs. Their exits are then linked by another Y-shaped corridor to yet another new Core Room. After a little experimenting, Magenta figures out that we can give the Mouse Base multiple entrances, so we add one near the Dungeon entrance and another one at the entrance to each challenge room. I call the entrances Mouse holes, and the Base itself I call the Den. By the time we’ve managed that, our Mana reserves are basically empty. It sure would be nice to have a more reliable source of the stuff.

“When’s Kas gonna be back…?” I mutter aloud, annoyed that, until he comes back, we just have to wait around and do nothing.

Maggie shrugs. “He’ll return when he finds the resources he is trying to find for us.”

With nothing else to talk about and no Mana to spend, I wander off, letting my attention drift all around the maze. Well… not really a maze yet, since the corridors are so simple, but it’ll be a maze eventually. I wander for a while. I’m not sure whether it’s a few minutes or an hour, but I just… daydream for a while. It’s kinda nice, not thinking about anything in particular. My thoughts mostly focus on the potential of our future, although a small part of it is faced backwards, thinking about all the things I’m gonna miss. I’ll never get to see Dr Who get good again, for one. I’ll never finish watching Babylon 5! I was so close to finishing, just another 5 episodes.

I was planning to watch them during my surgery recovery.

My musings are interrupted by a familiar shudder of dread. I pop to attention, flying through the walls at breakneck speed to reach the entrance.

Just as my instincts had warned me, we have another visitor. Or rather, three visitors. It’s the same kind of Centipede as the first attack, but there are three this time. They rush in, mostly ignoring the earthworms aside from a few idle snaps.

“Spring! Bruce!” I shout, hoping the mice warriors are nearby. I don’t need to worry too much. Spring is first, shooting out of the mouse hole and assessing the situation with a critical eye. Bruce follows not long after, rushing into the fray.

Spring seems to have a strap wrapped around her body, and my eyes open wide in surprise as I realise that she’s wearing Kas’s dagger belt. Three of his daggers are attached to the belt, and Spring hucks them at two of the centipedes, successfully hitting both. The daggers pierce right through the centipedes’ carapaces, and the invaders turn in anger, ready to go after Spring.

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Bruce jumps in before they can think too much about that plan of action, jumping into the air and landing on top of the third centipede. Bruce’s claws dig into the centipede for a moment before it is able to throw him off.

One centipede decides to go after Spring, mandibles chittering as it attempts to bite her, while the other two target the more obvious threat. Bruce’s thick skin does the job it’s meant to do, preventing the sharp mandibles from getting through to his organs.

Spring lets out a screech of pain as her foe bites down on her arm, but she manages to get it off her, retrieving one of her thrown daggers in the process. She begins to lead the thing down the corridor, letting it chase her but keeping it at a safe distance. I’m not sure what she’s planning, but I trust our little assassin.

Bruce, meanwhile, is locked in combat with the two centipedes. They attack together, each stabbing into Bruce with their mandibles. Bruce doesn’t seem too bothered by the attack, merely stabbbing his huge claws into their carapaces. The weight of his blows dents the exoskeleton of one of the centipedes, and its movements stiffen. Bruce pounces once again onto his foe, crushing its head. The other centipede rises up like a cobra about to strike, but Bruce slams into it, using his claws to rip it apart before turning to chase after Spring.

Meanwhile, Spring has been locked in mortal combat with her centipede. It finally caught up to her, stabbing deeply into her stomach. She leaps away from her foe and throws another dagger, piercing the centipede right next to its jaw. But it’s too little, too late. The centipede catches up with Spring again and… and… well, she doesn’t survive the encounter. Bruce gets to the scene a moment too late and tears Spring’s killer in half.

I sit with the moment, shock running through my body. One of our monsters is dead. Dead. Part of me knew this could happen, but I wasn’t… I wasn’t ready for it.

Bruce wipes off some of the centipede goo that’s caking his fur. His posture is stiff as he looks down at Spring’s body. I can see the tears leaking from his eyes. I… wish I could help somehow, but I can’t do anything. It’s horrible.

“Hey… you okay?” I ask quietly, kneeling to get a little closer to Bruce.

Bruce’s attention snaps up to glare at me, his eyes reddened from his tears. Am I alright? What do you think? My sister just died.

I don’t know how to respond to that. I scuff my foot on the ground, glancing away for a moment.

“I’m sorry. I wish you didn’t have to throw yourself into danger like that. It’s not fair that I can’t do anything to protect you. We shaped you and made you what you are, but now we just have to let you kill yourselves in our defense. I… I can’t stand it.”

Bruce looks up at me, then down to Spring’s body. I… understand your words. You have given us a wonderful gift, while also giving us a terrible purpose. The gift of intelligence and power, and the purpose of fighting to the death to protect our home. I know that Spring is not gone forever, and although that doesn’t make this hurt any less, it does help me look to the future.

“Thank you Bruce… I think we need to make y’all bigger,” I say softly. The mice are larger than they’d be naturally, but they’re still tiny. Small enough that the Centipedes were able to overwhelm them by sheer size.

Do what you wish, Capo. I will retreat to the den, I need to recuperate somewhat.

Bruce carefully closes Spring’s eyes, then leaves. I look down at the body with a feeling of loss. I’m at a loss for words. Magenta clears her throat. Oh, when did she get here? I can’t even muster up the energy to be startled by her presence.

We watch together as all four bodies seem to dissolve into the earthen floor, each leaving behind a little orb. The three from the centipedes are much like the last one, blue and black and raging like a storm. Spring’s core is different. It’s about the same size, but instead its colour is a pale silver, with flecks of gold floating within and seeming to shine.

I pick them up and tuck them into my pocket along with the other core, then think better of it and separate Spring’s core into a different pocket. “Spring died.” Magenta states, as though I didn’t already know.

“She’ll be back,” I reply. We quickly turn our attention to the Mouse Base. I’m getting more and more accustomed to the almost out-of-body experience of looking into the little pocket dimension. I’m not sure where my physical body is when I’m looking in there. Then again, I’m not sure the body I experience the world through is a physical body. It might just be an illusion this world gave me in order to help me maintain my sanity.

It helps, having Maggie here. I sense her presence beside me as we look into the Den, and it seems Six Whiskers can sense us too, as she looks in our direction, whiskers twitching in greeting. A new surprise greets us as she moves a paw, revealing a tiny little mouse pup.

Bruce sits nearby but not infringing on his mother’s space, quietly grooming his fur.

Bruce explained what happened. She leans down to lick the top of the mouse pup’s head, and it, or rather she, looks up at Magenta and I with a fierce expression.

“Spring?” I can hardly breathe. I don’t breathe, because I don’t have lungs, but I still feel a tightness in my imaginary chest from the emotions.

I was sleeping when I felt a small warm body touch my foreleg, and here was my little one.

“Odd that she has to grow up again, start at the beginning all over,” I comment, still feeling torn up about the entire situation, but still unable to really verbalise my emotions. It’s easier to think about other things.

“The Map screen is displaying a little respawn timer,” Magenta says. “I would guess that this situation is akin to a visualisation of the respawn. Spring is not an active combatant, that is represented by the fact that she is a mouse pup.”

Knowing that I and my pups are able to come back to life after death is one thing. Seeing it happen is different. I do not think I fully understood the reality of my choice when I agreed to become a resident of First Light.

“Do you… regret it?” I ask, panicking. “If you want to leave, I’m sure we can find a way to–”

No, Capo. Be calm. I do not regret my choice. It was a life-changing experience. I was doomed for a short life as a simple mouse. With your guardianship, I will live for as long as you do, and return to life should I ever lose it in defense of you. No, this will become easier with time. We have lived through Spring’s death and return. Next time it will not sting so much, I think.

“It wouldn’t have happened if those invaders hadn’t been so much stronger than the mice,” I turn my attention towards Magenta, then look back to Six Whiskers. “We have some things to discuss, but we’ll come back here and let you know before we make any changes.” Sting already seems stronger than before. The little mouse looks up at me with determination in her gaze, and somehow I know… everything will be alright.

Magenta and I find ourselves in the little chamber ‘inside’ our Core, and I lean back against the wall, my brow furrowed. “I think we should evolve the Mice again.”

Maggie nods thoughtfully. “A smart idea. Were you thinking of a particular effect?”

“Big. Make em big. Right now they’re small. A little bigger than a common mouse, but still smaller than a rat. I say we make them as big as a Smurf.”

“... Three apples?” Magenta asks after a moment of hesitation. I’m glad she understands my reference, and I nod.

“Three apples tall.”

“Do you want to make the changes now?”

“No, we have to wait for Kas to get back so we can grow all three at once. In the meantime, I think we should put a pause on the spending spree that is building out the maze. We focus in on defense against those centipedes and anything like them that wants to consume us, and we can get back to building once we actually have adventurous visitors who are here for the training and challenges. We still don’t even know what the locals look like or what skills they have. We’ve just been working off gut instinct and our experience playing TTRPGs so far.”

“I have been having similar thoughts. I believe the Spiders and Ants may be useful in this regard. They have a capability to attack our unwelcome intruders. I believe that is what Spring was intending when she led that centipede away from Bruce. She was taking it towards the ants, likely with the hope that their sharp mandibles would make quick work of the invader.”

“Oh… I was wondering what she was up to. That makes a lot of sense. Clever girl!”

With a newfound confidence in our plans, I move my consciousness to the entrance and wait for Kassimir to return.