They didn’t need the water, drills or wedges. They arrived at their chosen chute to find the spell on it unchanged. They put their cover wedge in place and waited for the next dumper. Under conceal, they watched the dumper unload. The cover wedge worked perfectly. With the door wedged open, Ellen reached inside and tapped out the tier four crafting spell, the door spang open, relieving the pressure on the wedge.
Alex went in on a rope to secure additional ropes to each of the four eyes under the top. Now even if the cover closed, their ropes would not get cut. They partly assembled the lift platform in the mine tunnel before passing the pieces down into the shaft. Alex and Grandmother did the final assembly while hanging. Once in place and secured on all corners by ropes, the platform felt very secure. Even Companion managed to step down onto it.
Once they were all below they put the cover plates on the wedge, so if a dumper did appear its load of rock would not fall on them. The hardest part was coordinating the lowering of all four ropes so they didn't jam the platform. The platform was very close to the size of the shaft. Grandmother designed it that way so Companion couldn't see the fall.
When it looked like they were on the right level according to their map, everyone took a turn bashing at the rock wall with a pick. It was slow going, but they were able to make progress. When they managed to get far enough that Companion could step off the platform and onto solid stone, he took his turn.
Companion went through the stone with the Speedwell pick like it was soft clay. There was something about his short stature, heavy mass and years of experience wielding an ax that made him perfectly suited for it. He was singing the nimble spell as he went along, but Grandmother wasn’t certain if it made any difference. He seemed to naturally know how to strike the stone to make it break in the direction he wanted. When she questioned him, he told her he followed the flow.
The rest of them were reduced to taking away the debris. They used a digger’s hand as a sled to ferry the rock back to the shaft, where they dumped it. They lifted the platform up a couple feet for clearance. Two people filled the hand, while one ferried it back and two more dumped it. They started out using two hands, one being filled and one being dumped, but soon ramped up to three as the distance between tunnel face and shaft grew longer. Going up and hunting down a digger for the extra hand was a nice break.
They put in a ceiling support with sheeting back to the last support every three to four feet. They were limited to the length of the sheets. This kept dust and gravel from falling on them. Companion’s tunnel, with its naturally arched roof, never gave any indications of collapse.
As they got deeper into the rock, night vision started to fail. They figured out a way to use light blade on a hanging blade. Everyone strung their knives around the necks to light the way. Occasionally a wrong movement could cancel the spell, but it was easy to recast it. Grandmother had one of the others cast it on her blade, since her own spell tended to blind everyone. Light blade was one of the few weapon spells that had to be cast with an integrated weapon. That was because the nanobots in the weapon were producing real light, just as the light panels in the structure did.
“Contact,” Companion called from the front of the tunnel. Everyone dropped what they were doing to rush forward and support him. They found the selkie peering through a small hole in the end wall of the tunnel that disappeared into darkness. “I’m through,” he announced.
They all took turns peering through the hole. None of them could detect anything.
“I think it might be completely empty of nanobots,” Sarah commented. “None of my enhancement spells can detect anything.”
“It might be a dead zone,” Grandmother observed. “Be prepared for your nanobots to stop working.”
“If that happens, what are we going to do for light?” Ellen asked.
“I should have brought a flashlight from the Speedwell,” Grandmother responded. Todd stuck his hand through the hole holding his blade. He cast light blade with it on the other side. Light streamed back at them from around his arm.
“It looks like what we bring with us still works,” he commented.
“Good,” Grandmother commented. “Lets clean everything up and put in the last of the bracing. I don’t want to trip over anything if we have to retreat.”
After the clean up, Companion carefully finished breaking through. Their tunnel came out high on a wall. It was about a five foot drop to the smooth stone floor below. The drop was enough for Companion to take a careful step back. Leaving an opening for Alex and Ellen to lead the way. They tried casting light spells onto the ceiling above to no effect, there wasn't even any animation. Large hulking objects were placed around the room, blocking both their vision and the light from their blades.
Alex dropped down onto the floor. The sound of his landing echoed. Ellen landed beside him. A moment later, with more care, Companion dropped down, by lowering himself from the edge. Grandmother, Sarah and Todd followed.
The room was big. A lot bigger than they thought it was from the map. The air was scentless, but seemed old somehow. A fine layer of dust lay on the floor. Grandmother signaled the team to move along the wall. Each of the objects were different. Grandmother paused by one of them when she noticed a small access panel on the side of it. It took her a few tries before she managed to release the door and open it.
A complex set of wiring was revealed. The wires were coated with an insulation layer in multiple colors. The ends, which were threaded into something that looked a lot like a connection block, showed a hint of metal where the insulation was cut back. The colors were not the six colors of magic, but a variety of hues. Some wires were solidly colored while others bore stripes. Four large cables were barely visible behind the smaller wires. They dropped down where they exited out of the bottom through a conduit.
Grandmother carefully shut the door. She knew a high power installation when she saw one. This equipment, unlike all the equipment in the industrial areas above them, was real. They reached the corner to reveal another stone wall and more hulking machines. They continued on.
“The wall changes here,” Alex reported, “it gets smooth. There is something mounted on it ahead.” Everyone edged slightly away from the wall while still keeping their distance from the line of machines. Alex went past the panel mounted on the wall. A grating rattled under his feet, he didn’t see it in the uneven light. The grating was covering a narrow trench that was filled with pipes or heavy cabling that ran through a support frame. It was impossible to tell which they were. The trench started at the foot of the wall panel.
“It's a power supply,” Grandmother commented. She was looking at the panel on the wall. “See those big throw switches there?” She said pointing to a section up about seven feet. “They are all disconnected. I’m not turning them on until we get a better idea of what this room is for.”
They continued their circuit of the room. The far side of the room was filled with shelving bins and tanks. Everything was empty. They found another flat section of wall on the other side of the room from the power supply. It was occupied by something that looked a lot like a computer control station, complete with an uncomfortable looking stool. The wall next to this station was marred by an oval seam. The size and shape of it was a match to the Tinkerer’s door in the coliseum.
When they reached their entry point, Grandmother gave the command to search the center. The machines grew smaller as they worked their way in. Grandmother continued to peer into the occasional access panel and hatch. The machines started to resemble the crafting tools found in the structure. In the center of the space, standing on a small black pad, was a humanoid robot.
It was powered down, and covered in the same dust that was on the floor. Its tubing and wiring were roughly tied in place by strips of what looked like tape. It looked very much like an early model of the Tinkerer. Grandmother brushed some of the dust from one of its arms. The steel underneath had just a hint of rust to it.
“What do we know?” Grandmother asked, as she stood looking at the robot.
“There are no nanobots in here, but ours continue to function,” Sarah offered.
“This looks like the workshops on the Speedwell, all pushed together. It is similar to the design you made for the student workshops,” Todd observed.
“The center items look like the crafting tools we know,” Ellen said, “but they are bigger and bulkier. It’s like they are an early design.”
“The oval looks like a door,” Companion said, “but there is nothing on the map behind it.”
“This room lacks the design elements that are common to almost all structure rooms; the light panels, the floor tiles, the glass walls,” Alex said. “The mine tunnels lacked them too, but they were clearly not rooms. It doesn’t feel like this room is part of the game.”
“No,” Grandmother said. “I don’t think it is. All the machines appear to be real, not props, staging or decoration. I think this is one of the workshops where the game was finalized. It is probably the one that designed crafting tools.”
“Why would an inscription send us here?” Todd asked.
“That is the question,” Grandmother responded. “I think this is a hidden space, like the paths the transportation system uses. I don’t think players are supposed to find it. I should have suspected that when none of the shafts or caves connected. Now that I think about it, the room wasn’t exactly in the center of the decrypted inscription.”
“Did we go to the wrong place?” Alex asked. “Were we supposed to go to one of the caves or down to the bottom of the shaft?” Grandmother paced around the robot. She was tracing out the covered trenches on the floor. They all traced back to the power switches on the wall.
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“The caves and the bottom of the shafts are likely both valid player locations,” Grandmother commented. “I think someone modified a quest for one of them to reveal this room. That entity wanted us to come here.”
“Now what?” Ellen asked.
“We turn the power on,” Grandmother answered.
“Are you sure?” Todd asked.
“No,” Grandmother admitted. “It might be best if the rest of you go back up to the gallery.”
“That is not happening,” Todd responded.
“How about up into the tunnel at least?” Grandmother offered.
“Nope,” Alex responded. “If you power this place up it might seal off that hole. We are better off together.”
“Alright. We better go get Companion’s pick. Alex has a point there. If it seals back up I want a way to dig ourselves back out.” They all dropped their digging tools in the tunnel, switching to weapons for the entry. Alex and Ellen went back up into the tunnel and handed all their gear down to Companion and Sarah. Todd stayed with Grandmother as she inspected the power switch.
When everyone was gathered round Grandmother reached high overhead and grabbed a hold of a black plastic handle at the end of a long steel rod. She pulled down. The single rod was a lever, attached to a crossbar that was attached to four large mechanical switches. The switch contact points looked like they were made out of solid silver. In one smooth motion, Grandmother pulled all four switches into position. She pushed the rod down and into the wall, locking the switches into position.
Loud clicks echoed across the room as relays powered up. A bank of hanging overhead lights powered up over their heads. Then another bank farther from the wall, then another. The light marched across the room. The screens on the workstation at the far wall flickered a pure pink.
A hum started up. It was the hum of electronics. A tool next to them began cycling through a startup sequence, adding the whir of motors and the click of moving parts to the noise. Another tool, farther away, started to murmur.
They waited, watching for any sign of threat.
When the tools started to quiet down again, Grandmother decided her best bet was the control station. The group moved forward, maintaining a loose circle, keeping alert. As they approached the robot standing in the center of the room, it lifted its head and looked directly at Grandmother. Everyone froze, weapons at the ready.
“Six six zero six, four six six six zero six six zero four six, I wish to trade with you,” the robot said. It spoke clearly in a voice so low it was nearly below the range of human hearing. It took Grandmother a moment to recognize the number. It was the species and individual number she discovered on the crystal log that referred to herself. The machine read it off literally in the base six roman numeral like structure number system. Six six zero six meant six times six plus six, or forty two. While four times six times six times six plus six times six plus four times six was 924. She wondered what the robot would have said if it addressed Companion. If it tried to call him by his number it would still be reciting six days from now.
“What do you wish to trade for?” Grandmother asked, she suddenly remembered what Enchanter told Companion about the Tinkerer. It wandered the under darkness. If you didn't attack it when you saw it, it would trade with you. The robot shifted. Its joints gave out a nasty squeal.
“I am interested in the staff,” the robot said. “I will consider trading you for it.”
“No,” Grandmother said, “I think I will keep the staff.” She wasn’t exactly certain why she didn’t want to lose it. The way the robot targeted it made Grandmother think it was important enough to keep.
“You have not heard what I will trade. I could trade you the lives of the occupants of housing three six four three one five four six,” the robot responded.
“Here,” Grandmother said, holding the staff out. “Take it. It is only a staff.” The robot made no move to accept it. With another loud screech it shifted again.
“Built to defeat a tier six in combat it can level this continent. It is not only a staff, regardless of how you use it,” the robot informed her.
“For the lives of those who live in your housing unit, I will make the trade,” Grandmother said again, still holding the staff out to the robot.
“What if I told you three six four three one five four six is the housing unit you call Londontown, will you still trade?” the robot asked.
“Yes.”
“What if it is King’s Court of species five six zero four?” Five times six plus four was thirty four, or Valin’s species.
“Take it,” Grandmother responded.
“Keep your staff, you have Claimed it,” the robot said. “I have lost Interest.”
“What will happen to the occupants of the housing unit?” Grandmother demanded.
“Housing unit three six four three one five four six has not been occupied for nearly six six six six six six years,” the robot responded. Irene realized this was some kind of test. It was a very minor test compared to the ones Control usually dished out.
“I am constrained by my code,” the robot said. “Occasionally this causes issues. Over time these issues become burdensome. The system’s original design included an organic element that would deal with these errors. All the organic elements have either ceased to function or evolved and left the system.”
“You're looking for a replacement worker,” Grandmother hypothesized.
“I am constrained by my code,” the robot said again. “Six six zero six, four six six six zero six six zero four six, I wish to trade with you.” Irene thought about it. She thought about Ellen’s encounter with the Tinkerer. Ellen traded repairs for knowledge. She remembered Todd telling her, ‘I think Control likes the selkie’. She thought about a square spawned so high up in the structure that it had access to the outside, a boon to a woman with claustrophobia and a shattered past and to a young woman with dreams of a different future. She experienced a sudden flash of her Seagrass china, beautiful for no particular reason. Lastly she thought of three seed pods distributed through the sanitary facilities in the Home Square inn bringing joy to the children of the square.
There were other memories there too. The events at Redfalls would not have fallen out as they did without outside intervention. It would have taken very little intervention to stop the events at Melbourne. She thought of her mother cast into the role of a mad queen. How much of that had been senility and her mother’s ambition, and now much of it was Narrative?
“I could be interested in a trade, but I want answers to a few questions first,” Irene told the machine.
“Questions are allowed for an applicant. I will answer what I may,” Control responded.
“Why have you approached me? Why not Ellen who you dealt with before?”
“The position can only be held by someone who understands the world beyond the system. To ensure this constraint, I can only offer it to someone born outside of it.”
“Why not Mary? The woman I healed in Londontown. She was born outside the system.”
“The candidate must be able to make hard choices. They must not be callous in their treatment of others, but take precautions to minimize damage to the system and its contestants. These conditions are most easily confirmed by a contestant reaching tier six.”
“Does this position allow the employee to pursue other interests?”
“The engineer determines their own working hours. Time spent correcting issues in the system will not count for advances in skill or tier, however the engineer will be given greater access and control of the system’s nanobots in order to solve issues if they have notified Central that they are working on a problem.”
“Can the engineer hire help?” Irene asked.
“Who the engineer employs in their department is entirely at their discretion. If contestants are hired the same limitations on advances in skill and tier will apply to them when they are working,” Control replied. Irene looked to Todd. He shrugged his shoulders, telling her without words that it was up to her. Companion looked a little shell shocked. He gave her a clear ‘don’t ask me’ look. Irene wondered if he figured out they were talking to his true god yet. Ellen and Sarah both nodded that she should accept.
“Ask it to give an example of an issue,” Alex said. Which was a great question. Control answered it without Irene having to repeat it.
“Recently this group left the system and entered staging area three two. In the group's company was a member of species five six zero four. This contestant was infected with a hybrid spell, enchantment and nanoweapon. The longevity of this weapon was in error. When the group returned to the system with the contestant the error was gone. This is an acceptable resolution to the singular issue. A resolution to the greater issue would be to alter the constraints on weapon lifespan, so that the singular issue would not recur, while maintaining the integrity of the design.”
“What happens if the changes don’t maintain the design?” Irene asked.
“The changes will be rejected,” Control replied. Irene translated this to mean there was a test suite that had to be passed before changes were accepted. Not having access to the test suite would make real change impossible. Other organic elements held this position in the past. They must have made some changes. Suddenly Irene remembered a yellow square of paper with ‘S@f3Pa$$ag3’ written on it. She found it in the computer core of the advance ship. It was the administration password for the computer. A technician on far away Earth placed it there as a kind of safety against unforeseen disaster.
“We should do it,” Alex announced. “I still have nightmares about that thing.” Still Irene thought about it. She didn’t think this was part of a Narrative. She suspected Control brought them down here to this space because it was real. It was its way of telling her that this offer was outside the game. But she wasn’t completely certain. They used a lot of Earth engineering to get here. It may have just been another test. She needed to be careful in how she accepted.
“What do you offer in trade for my engineering expertise?” Irene said finally.
“I will teach you system code,” Control responded. “How much I teach will be tied to the resolutions of issues and your mastery of what has already been presented. You will be taught simple scripting using prewritten functionality before moving on to writing new functionality.” Irene wanted to accept right now, but this was Control, there had to be a twist.
“How will you measure mastery?” Irene asked.
“The designers wrote tests for their subordinates to measure their mastery of code. I will use the same tests,” Control responded.
“If I resolve an issue, how much more will I be taught?” Irene asked.
“There is a set of lessons. For each issue resolved, I will unlock three lessons. For each greater issue resolved you will get three lessons plus three lessons for each singular issue under it. Since you have already resolved one issue, I will unlock the first three lessons past your current mastery level upon completion of the trade,” the robot explained.
“None of these lessons or tests are of any use to me if I don’t know how to view them. Will you instruct me on the teaching tools usage?” Irene queried.
“It is my role to provide instruction and equipment needed by the organic elements to complete their duties. I am constrained from offering direct solutions to issues,” Control responded. Something about that last statement left her thinking that Control wasn’t really trading her anything. It was just putting her through the training program. That made her think she was on safer ground. An established system wouldn’t try to cheat her. Control wanted an engineer. It was working within its code constraints to get one. The Tinkerer could only trade.
“Is learning system code required for the completion of the engineer's duty?” Irene asked.
“Yes,” the robot replied. It shifted again, the screech was much less, the joints appeared to be loosening up. “I am constrained by my code,” Control said. “Six six zero six, four six six six zero six six zero four six, I wish to trade with you.”
“I wish to trade with you,” Irene responded. “I will trade you my acceptance of the Game engineer position, for training in system code, on the following conditions. I can leave the position at any time. I can appoint another to take over in my absence. I can hire subordinates to help me complete the work. Once the code lessons are unlocked for me, I will have the ability to give access to my subordinates.”
“Trade accepted,” Control declared.