[Player Log Start!]

[Log Holder: Jared Caliber]

[Level: 2]

Jared stared at Lucky, her arm still outstretched and demanding.

“What?” He asked, as if he might have misheard her in some way.

“I believe you heard me just right the first time.” She snapped, “I refuse to spend my time rubbing shoulders with a person who might be Compelling me at any moment. Not after Burks. Not after what you have done to me. I have not forgotten that.”

“But Jared would never do that now!” Michael told her, looking between them worriedly, “He didn’t know you back then, so it’s easy to see why you think that now, but it’s really not like that.”

But he had done that. Continued to, really. But only when it was necessary for the wellbeing of the mission, he told himself with every tug of the web, every syrupy sweet suggestion. Ideological differences aside, he was not much different than Burks, except in the ways that he surpassed the man in his own game. Only Lucky Paine, the outsider, could see how much of a danger he truly was.

But if he handed the card over, he would be handicapping himself. Removing the only thing he was good at out of his arsenal. Jared hovered between decisions, hand resting over the pocket he had hidden the card of compulsion inside.

“Alright.” He agreed, as the tension in the room finally came to a head, “Here you go.”

He deposited the sliver of card into her hand, and she gratefully put it in one of her numerous storage areas. Immediately, the change was marked, the prickly defensiveness that had only faded some when meeting with Ben and Tench died immediately, and a stilted smile unfurled across her face.

[Compulsion Card Deactivated!]

[Compulsion Ability has been decreased to Compulsion Lv. 2!]

[-10 to Charisma]

“Well then, Jared Caliber, I look forward to getting to know you on our own terms.”

“Technically, not our own terms, because we’re still very much playing the Game.” He corrected, a kneejerk reaction he deeply regretted almost as soon as he said it.

“You may have a point there.” Lucky agreed, “What are the terms for this Level? I understand that there is some sort of interspecies war going on, but not much else. Where are the people? How are we meant to fix this?”

“Yeah, about that…” Michael winced, “We’ll fill you in on the people part after. The terms, though, will be easier to figure out.”

Tench pulled out the Console from where he had it in his bag, and opened the top. Lucky looked at it curiously, holding up her own sleek, tablet Console in comparison. A blue box appeared in front of them, bright and illuminating every surface.

[Starting Level Two…]

[Level Two Objective: End the Cycle of Violence]

[Difficulty: A]

[Details: With humanity dead, two of the strongest sentient species in this world are now battling to be the dominant rulers, mirroring actions of the past. Establish safe areas for the birds, and remove sunken trash from squid territory, fostering connections on both sides until a peace is brought about.]

“Why’re we always playing the peacemakers and the safe zone makers?” Verity grumbled, “Isn’t it enough to go and punch something until it dies?”

“Not really, no. That just leaves a hole in the world that other forces will try to fill. We need to properly address the reasons for violence and build methods that will channel that stress into more productive things.” Terry spoke up, his words half-mumbled, but intelligible enough.

Verity sighed, clearly not pleased, but unwilling to argue about it, “So, what do we do first? The birds probably hate us right now, but I don’t suppose that any of us can breathe underwater.” There was silence as she contemplated the impossible things they could all do, “Wait, can we? I think I might be able to, with how much I’ve been working on my Resource Conservation…”

“I think I could swing it with Sorcery? We’ll have to test it.” Michael offered.

“Rebreathers can be modified to work underwater. Much more reliable.” Lucky said. Everyone nodded in agreement, “A workshop with a fire source, however, will be needed.” She added, looking apologetic.

That… might be a problem in such a cramped environment.

The raven warbled its mocking laughter, “You will never be able to beat the mighty corvid armies if you remain beholden to fire of all things.” As if fire was dated technology. Or perhaps to it, it was. Something to delve into now that the raven was at their mercy.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“So you have something worse than fire?” He asked, putting on the voice he always used to wring truths out from people. Except it had no power behind it.

The raven simply laughed again, “As if I will ever tell you about the wonders we have in the skies. It is not meant for your ears.”

He really, really wanted his Compulsion card back.

“It’s just being a shit, Jared.” Verity told him, fixing the thing with a glare, “Don’t listen. Let’s focus on the real problems. Like putting together a plan of action.”

“And getting a proper map of the place.” Tench added.

“Additionally, materials need to be gathered to make fuel and adjustments to my things.” Lucky said, fidgeting with her chair, “I have been thinking of transitioning back to a wheeled chair, with motor capabilities, but there is a dearth of things we can repurpose here.”

“That’ll be our first priority, then.” Ben decided.

“I don’t think it’s smart to be letting the crow listen in on all of this plotting.” Jared interjected, still not trusting the beady look in its eye, “Anyone got a rag to throw over the cage? Maybe it’ll go to sleep.”

“I am not a canary, you uncultured parrot!” It screeched in disgust. Jared tossed his jacket over the cage, successfully muting any protest that the raven had.

“Right. So. We’ve figured it out? Help Lucky set up her workshop, and then split up?” Michael asked, “We’ll need to figure out which members go with who.”

“I vote for the seas.” Verity said immediately. Everyone looked at her in confusion, and she defensively explained, “Eleanor said that calamari tastes good. I wanna try some.”

“The fungus won’t be as effective underwater.” Terry offered, “I’ll take the skies.”

“I’m going for the skies too.” Asadullah volunteered immediately. Because wasn’t that just typical? Jared was surprised that they hadn’t gotten their shit together in the quiet time between the boss battle and the end of Level 1, but no, they were still ducking around each other because the next thing Asadullah said was, “Claws don’t cut well in water. And the transformations are going to be incompatible with the underwater suits Lucky is making.”

“New rule, no justifications are needed to make your choice.” Tench interrupted, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I’ll take the squids, but Ben and Jared have to be in different groups.” Michael said, “We need Healers close at hand.”

The two ended up having to play rock-paper-scissors to pick who went where. Ben got the corvids, and Tench was sentenced to the watery depths. Which left… Jared and Lucky. The both of them looked at each other, nervous tension rising between them.

His legs were already sore at the idea of kicking and having to propel himself forward under their own power. He had long since accepted that they were not designed to do that. But Lucky wasn’t going to be much better, either, depending on why she was wheelchair bound.

One of them would have to bite the bullet.

“I’ll do it.” Jared stepped forward. The tension snapped like a rubber band, and everyone relaxed.

“Oh, uh…” Lucky looked at him in surprise, “Thanks.”

“Would be a shame to make a wheelchair only for it to go to waste like that.” He replied, picking at the skin on his wrist a little, “Just made sense.”

“Right then. Michael, get the lights ready for me to drill.” Lucky announced, her machines making a series of clicking noises as she backed away and readjusted the height of her chair. Michael followed suit, another dialog box popping up again as he activated his Sorcery and created a dim green glow that threw the slight cracks and thick algae into sharp contrast.

One of Lucky’s mechanical arms had unfolded to reveal a sharp, swiveling point, that was quickly gaining speed with every passing second, until it was just a blur. Her eyes fixed themselves on the wall, following the cracks as they congregated onto the ceiling, until they finally latched onto a specific spot. Without even looking, she reached her hand down and cranked the legs up, allowing her to rise and rise, until the rock was brushing over her head.

Another leg raised up to shield her eyes, and then the spinning drill bit jabbed into the wall, sending rock bits and soil and algae flying everywhere in a roar of fury and panic. Sound swelled up, bouncing off the walls and crashing down on their ears. Terry and Asadullah cringed, clapping their hands over their ears until the outrageous cacophony died.

“Sorry. I did not notice. Is the noise bothering you?” Lucky peered down at them, face radiating concern. Terry nodded, his jaw working silently as his hands crept up to tug on his hair. He’d clearly been jolted into a silent spell. Asadullah, while still shaky himself, transformed his arm into a tiger’s leg, which Terry hugged close to his chest, rocking back and forth.

“Let’s go outside.” Ben suggested, pulling out her headphones to give to Terry.

“Yep. You do that.” Lucky agreed, rooting about her own storage compartments to pull out proper goggles to guard her eyes, “But Michael stay. Need him for the light. Rest of you, stay out of sight from any potential birds.”

“What about the raven?” Jared asked, looking at the cage still bundled up in cloth.

“Leave it.” Lucky replied simply, a sharp smile traveling up her face, “Ravens have keener hearing than humans, right? Let us put that to the test.”

That was… a little scary. Jared could respect that. Verity respected it even more, it seemed, as she beamed and gave her a thumbs up, before descending back into the deep exit tunnel of the cave. Jared followed after her, making sure to keep a safe distance away in case she had to unexpectedly turn back or get held up in some way. An unnecessary precaution, as it turned out, but one that he did not regret making. It wasn’t a big deal, anyway, just some extra seconds of waiting time.

But when he breached the surface again, he still felt the urge to put more space between him and Verity, all of a sudden. As if he instinctively thought of her as a bomb, which was ridiculous, because Verity Monroe was nothing like a bomb. She was just angry and deadly and prone to massive explosions if not handled properly. Which were… unfortunate coincidences.

Besides, since when was he scared of Vera? The loss of a stupid card couldn’t have that much of an impact on how much he trusted her. It was just him losing an important form of security and reacting in stupid ways.

“You’re looking at me weird.” Verity announced, her eyes sharp and piercing. Stalking him like she had when they were kids. She’d never done that since… since the reprogramming Eleanor put her through. He still had to talk to her about that.

Perhaps maybe not now, though. She looked unsteady on her feet enough as it was. Shaking feverishly, even. Jared was shamed to say that he wasn’t even the one to bring attention to the problem. It was Terry, to mutely gestured Ben over to her.

“Uh, Vera…” The woman asked cautiously, “What’s wrong?”

The water was rippling in front of them, as if her restlessness was bringing it to a boil.

“The water.” Verity spat, “There’s something inside.”

And that was when the squid lunged out.

[Player Log End!]