“Raya, what’s our best option for getting the hell out of dodge?”

Lissa pauses, nods a few times, then sighs.

“Mini-sub it is.”

“We’re just going to leave? Shouldn’t we wait for your sister?”

“Pop, you should know better than that, she’s probably riding the tide better then we are.”

* Conversation between the Seras family, a few minutes after Lissa’s Initialization.

***

It’s deafeningly silent as the airlock into the tenth floor opens, revealing a sight I honestly didn’t ever want to see. Originally, the floor was supposed to serve a similar purpose to the twelfth, a tightly regulated series of factories where the workers would be forced to work harder than they really should. That all changed less than a year after the floor was opened, when some idiot ended up letting spores from their pet project spread around. Now the entire floor is a diverse, colorful forest of fungus, their mycelium magnificence dominating anywhere you look.

I frown as I step out, the mildew covering the rusted steel floors squishing under my boot. An earthy scent enters my nostrils, yet it doesn’t do anything to help me relax. A place like this was ripe to be overrun in an instant if the antithesis got their vines into it. Far too much biomass.

I peek at the videofeed on my glasses, finding Nyvi watching Prism very closely as the Mermaid quietly examines the plants swarming over the ruins below her. I peek up for a moment to glare at a group of survivors hunkered down just outside of the stairlock, who all nervously step away from me. Seems my little performance left a mark.

Hopefully one that won’t scar.

[“O-Okay.”] I glance over to see Prism smack herself on the cheeks three times before she asks, [“What’s the plan, everyone?”]

Achys is the one to respond, the Jay on my shoulder taking off to flutter in the air above me. “First of all, the points update for what just occurred.”

Points Update!

Prism

Emmelyn

Starting Total:

10 (23+17-30) Points

202(185+17) Points, 1 Token

Enemies Eliminated!

Minor Horde Killed!

Total Gained:

(55% Split)

2000 Points

2000 Points

Final Total:

2010 Points

2202 Points, 1 Token

I blink twice then blurt, “I’m sorry, two THOUSAND points?”

Nyvi chuckles at my reaction as she says, [“It’s a somewhat harsh estimation of the total that Prism killed. It’s too hard to know for certain how many died, so we improvised a bit.”]

My immediate response is:

“I want a dog-” I pause, then grin. “No, I want three dogs.”

All three of my companions go quiet, until Prism murmurs, [“...Huh? Wait, why a dog and why three?”]

Counting off on my fingers, I respond, “They’re good at hunting down hiding things, they’re cute, and three is better than one.”

Achys huffs on my shoulder, “Birds do the same, and they aren’t restricted to moving just on the ground…”

I look up at my partner with a grin, as I retort, “You’re biased now, hm?”

Nyvi snorts over the link at that, which leaves Achys coughing her response into her wing. “W-Well, they’d also be better for combat, definitely, since they have more weight. To be honest though, if you want more effective drones, I recommend getting a dedicated catalog for them.”

I tap my chin as I deliberate what exactly I even want. “Options?”

Achys puts up a chart onto my glasses, displaying a couple of interesting options.

“You already have the class-I Robotics Sensor catalog, so you could choose the Class-I Modular Combat Robotics which it is supposed to be an addendum to. The Class-I Basic Combat Androids catalog is a bit more expensive in both initial purchase and individual items as well as being less customizable after being bought, but the items within are basically individually complete already anyways. The Class-I Basic Combat Clones Catalog fits your theme quite well, but could suffer from environmental issues more.”

I raise an eyebrow as I ask, “Can the androids be modified by the stuff I already have access to?”

Achy nods, pulling up a second table displaying the options I would have. “It actually makes more sense in your context to get the androids in my opinion, mainly because of this. You won’t be able to modify them with electronic parts after the initial purchase, but that isn’t really an issue because of the viral modules, since they can be forcibly adapted to suit your needs.”

I grin, then declare, “Okay, let’s do that. The three androids should be based on different individual canines each, with sensor upgrades, a full round of stat boosts, and the capability to work in the water. I’m not going to wait around for them to go to the next floor, so we might as well make them useful to Prism.”

The conversation goes quiet, which leaves me a bit confused, at least until Prism speaks up:

[“U-Um, Emme, are you just assuming we’re going to lose this floor too?”]

I bite my lip, then mutter, “Yeah, unfortunately. I mean, we do have a lot of points to work with for the moment, so we could probably try to save everyone here, but this floor in particular is a pretty glaring example of a place we can’t let them get into. I mean… look at it.”

As I gesture towards the mushroom forest around me, Prism awkwardly explains, [“U-Um, I don’t exactly have augs… so I can’t exactly… look. I do know what you’re talking about though.”]

I lightly slap my forehead, then apologetically say, “My bad, forgot. Let's get the androids going real fast though, then we can talk about this a bit more.”

Achys hums a chipper note, then puts up a total that makes my eyes bulge a bit. “It’ll be about sixty percent of your points, are you sure you wanna-”

I reach up to shut the jay’s beak with my fingers, giving a nod in affirmation. The AI tilts its head, then sighs.

Okay, purchase complete. You’re quite impulsive at times, Emme.

Catalog Unlocked!

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Class-I Basic Combat Androids: 200 Points

New Purchase!

Custom HUND Config (x3): 450 Points

V-AI Module and Upgrades (x3): 300 Points

Sensor Upgrade (x3): 150 Points

Total Cost:

1100 Points

Final Total:

1102 Points, 1 Token

For a half second, I don’t know where the dogs are, until I suddenly am knocked down to the ground with a thud as three very large canines drop down on top of me. My first instinct is to scream at Achys for the prank, but I can’t help but start giggling as the three vicious hounds start to lick at my face ferociously.

“W-Wait!” One of the dogs sticks its nose into my armpit, which tickles super hard. “Ahaha! Achys! Stooop!”

The Jay sits upon one of the dogs head, and I swear I can see a smug grin on its beak. “I dunnoooo… Should I let her free, Nyvi, Prism?”

Nyvi snorts again over the comms as Prism anxiously asks, [“W-What? What’s going on?”]

Now apparently all done with kisses, the dogs shift to sniffing me all over. I (embarrassingly) gasp as one of the dogs, a big heckin white fluffer, steps on my boob as it shifts around, which has Achys giggle at my little noise. Thankfully, she waves our new ones off as they move to sit obediently at attention off to the side after that.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s over now.” I murmur out as I wipe my face, grimacing a bit at my now wet sleeve, before I look down at my new companions, “Okay, well. I probably should have seen that coming. Achys, I know these are dogs, but what breeds are they?”

Achys shifts back to my shoulder, then points down at the dogs. “In order, the blond one is a Golden Retriever, the black and reddish-brown one is a German Shepard, and finally the white one is a Samoyed.”

I think for a moment, then smile as I pat each on the head in the same order. “Your names are now Angela, Pamela, and Sandra. You three are to be my eyes and ears, so I trust you to do your best to hunt down the enemies, got it?”

All three dogs do a little salute with their paws, and I can’t help but smile at the sight. “Okay you three, go hunt down any aliens that managed to get onto this floor! Whoever gets the most will, uh… Get scritches?”

All three canine’s tails go ballistic, and after a moment of them not really doing anything, I snap and point, which has them running off. I sigh as I watch them run off, then tap my glasses. “Map please, I need to know where the next stairlock is.”

On cue, my navigator arrow appears, leading off into a dark tunnel and I start off, resting my hammer on my shoulder. “Okay, that’s done. Should we talk about what we actually need to do about this place now?”

Prism is surprisingly the first to respond this time, her voice a bit deflated in comparison to normal. [“I-I thought about it, and I think that you’re probably right about this floor needing to be destroyed, but we probably should take action to eliminate the biomass that is there beforehand.”]

I frown as a small spike of guilt stabs into me. “Let me take care of this floor, Prism. You took responsibility for the eleventh, so I’ll do the tenth.”

Prism’s voice wavers at that. [“I-I don’t… I really do think I should be the one to take care of it. My family are the ones-”]

I snap my fingers three times as I interrupt her to say:

“Miss Prism, none of that now. You yourself said they weren’t really ever your family.” I put my hand on my hip and humph. “Taking on their sins alone isn’t something I can allow you to do, especially since I worked for them myself.”

[“S-Still, I think, maybe…”] Prism goes quiet for a moment, then mutters, [“Ah! Let's do what Achys mentioned earlier! We can both detonate the, uh, stuff at the same time!”]

I chuckle, turning a corner only half paying attention as I follow the arrow. “We should probably figure that out. I mean, what can I- BWuh!?”

I abruptly bonk into a wall of fungus, sending spores falling down upon me. The viral module steps in, preventing them from entering my lungs, but that doesn’t stop me from flailing backwards a bit as I try to figure out what the fuck just happened. To my dismay, it wasn’t just me being a dumbass; My navigation arrow seemingly went straight into a wall of mycelium.

“Well, that’s unusual.” Achys flies up, pecking at the fungal mass, which actually seemingly quivers in response. “This is probably a bad sign, our maps are seemingly wrong.”

I run my hand down my face as I groan. “A maze. Fuuuck.”

[“Maze’s aren’t hard.”] Prism blurts out, then after a moment of nobody speaking hastily adds, [“I-I mean, why not make a new map starting where you are, utilizing the ‘go right’ method to find the easiest route to the closest stairlock?”]

I bite my tongue to avoid my urge to call her an adorable nerd as Achys responds:

“It’s possible, but if this is unnatural it might end up leading us into a trap.”

I blink, then raise my hammer. “One way to check.”

To her credit, Achys does manage to spout, “Wait Emme-!” before I hit the mushroom wall, which to my surprise doesn’t just outright crumple away. Instead, I squish it down about halfway, revealing- Well, not much, beyond a huge extensive web of stems stretching down a tunnel that I am definitely not going to go into. Stepping out of the rather dense cloud of spores that had formed, I shrug at my AI’s incredulous look.

“No aliens behind the stuff, I don’t see the point in not following her suggestion now.” I grin as my bird friend sighs, then flutters back onto my shoulder.

“Doing something like that when we have better options is going to come back to bite you in ass in the future,” Achys chides as she pecks me a few times on the head playfully, “I’ll keep a new map going, just be cautious for Antithesis using the mushrooms as natural camouflage.”

I wish I had a non-mushroom covered wall to slam my head into. Unfortunately, that is not the situation I am currently in, so I instead bonk myself lightly with my hammer’s handle twice. My AI looks at me like I’m crazy, but it’s not like Prism can see me so it’s fine. Totally.

Err.

In hindsight, I got distracted again, huh?

“Okay, biomass problem. How fix?” I anxiously blurt, hoping that Prism didn’t think I was a total scatterbrain.

[“Well, Miss Emmelyn, while you were dealing with your little fungus problem, I looked into it a bit.”] Fuck, is Nyvi teasing me? [“You’ll likely need a catalog for clearing out heavy amounts of biomass at once, and I have shared a few that I found with Achys. I recommend the ‘Class-I Biomass Cleaning catalog.”]

Hmm… Hard to tell if she actually intended for that to-

[“There is a tool within it called the Molp-Nir, which serves as both a hammer and a mop that might fit your theme. Ooh, or perhaps the Spuds-Mace!”]

I can’t help but blurt, “Wait, isn’t that a dog?”

[“I do not know what you are referring to, Miss Emmelyn. The Spuds-Mace is a highly respectable cleaning weapon that utilizes the world’s best soap to wipe away plant stains from the world.”]

I actually stop my movement, looking at Achys who is obviously trying not to crack up. “A-Are you trying to gaslight me about that reference?”

[“If you were curious, the Molp-Nir utilizes the special soapy water it produces to conduct copious amounts of electricity into its foes. It also gets off the toughest stains before you can even blink.”]

I legitimately have no response I can give to that but a slightly amused chuckle. For what it’s worth though, the sight of Prism hiding her mouth as she giggles makes my mood soar. Just a second of seeing her so unabashedly amused at my expense is enough to immediately convince me I should play into this.

“I already have a hammer that works, anything else you can provide, Miss Nyvi?”

[“Certainly! Perhaps you would be interested in Excalibroom? After a moment of charging, it can literally sweep away swaths of the competition!”]

I tilt my head as I ask, “Is it a sword or a broom?”

[“Yes.”]

“Wouldn't that just be, like, a spear?”

“No. If you want something like that, I do have a ‘Rhongomyn-Aid’, a broom-lance that is designed to assist in wiping out large areas of biomass in an instant.”

I actually pause my movement at that, legitimately intrigued at these two items. “Wait, how do they even actually work?”

[“They utilize a burst of incredibly intense dose of easily controllable energy that can burn away only biomass you wish to destroy.”]

“W-wait, that actually sounds really useful. Could I-”

Achy jumps in, interrupting me. “Emme, not to rain on your parade or anything, but you did just spend eleven hundred points on three dogs. It would simply be most efficient to purchase a bomb or something similar that can do the work for you automatically once we safely get to the next floor.”

“Tch, fine, but I’m going to remember that on the ninth floor.”

[“I am overjoyed you liked my suggestions so much, Miss Emmelyn.”]

I awkwardly cough before I murmur, “Emme is fine, Nyvi. You seem nice, so it’s, uh, okay for you to call me that.”

[“If that is what you wish.”]

I inwardly huff, but grunt in affirmation. I can’t read that AI at all.

As we move through the fungal forest, the average state of our surroundings change a few times, usually just a shift in colors, sometimes to quite an exotic color. None of them stand out more than one particular corner however, whereupon turning around it, I have to freeze in horror just to take in the absurd sight in front of me.

“Uhhhhh… What the actual fuck is this.”

There are rows and rows of corpses as far as I can see, obviously intentionally carefully laid out to allow for room between each to allow for someone to walk through. Each and every single one has weirdly cloud-like mushrooms covering them from head to toe, which occasionally compress and release a puff of disconcertingly blue spores into the air around them. The ground is absolutely covered in piles of the stuff, which doesn’t exactly make me anymore enthusiastic about stepping anywhere near the dead people.

Nyvi doesn’t even seem fazed as she nonchalantly explains, [“Ah, the corpse plantation. Unfortunate you ran into it.”]

I take a step back, but then shake off my disgust to take another three steps forward. “Why… does this even exist?”

[“The fungal growth you can see upon the bodies naturally produces a substance extremely similar to lapis lazuli over time.”]

“Isn’t that just a dye? Can’t we just get it through other means?”

Prism sighs as she mutters, [“Yes, and the stuff we get from that is essentially the exact same color, but they can advertise this one as being more high-class, since it’s all natural and poetically tragic or some nonsense.”]

I puff my cheeks, then walk forward and kick a pile of blue snow, sending a burst of it into the air. “No offense Prism, but Corpos are fucking dumb sometimes.”

The girl on the other end chuckles at that. [“Sometimes? More like always. Did you ever clean the ‘lobby’ of the manor while you worked there?”]

“Ugh, don’t remind me. The two times I got yelled at while working there were because of that place. The madam-”

I blink, then grin. “Wait, I don’t have to be all nice about her anymore! That bitch chewed me out for a problem she caused! TWICE! Thank goodness I got banned from cleaning that room by Marianne, well, after she made me polish the floors three more times before I was allowed to leave that day…”

[“I legitimately don’t know why someone as awesome as you worked at our house.”]

My face heats up at the compliment, but I brush it off by coughing out, “U-Uh, it’s a long story, but I can share, if you want.”

[“Please, I’ve honestly been dying of curiosity about it.”]

I sheepishly grin, then tap my hammer on the floor twice, a puff of lapis floating up with each impact. I clear my throat, then flamboyantly start:

“Come one, come all, gather round to hear the grand story of how the mighty Emmelyn Seras came to be but a simple maid!”