You're moving too slow," said Fry to Barnaby.

"Keep your eye on that tunnel! I swear I heard something a minute ago," screamed Barnaby as he set up the drilling equipment.

Barnaby moved faster but dropped a wrench, "oh shit!" He bent down to grab the wrench and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Fry's ears perked up, "Quiet! Quiet! I heard something!"

"I just dropped my wrench!" responded Barnaby.

"This was after the wrench!" slightly panicked Fry.

The sound was thousands of little clicks and clacks hitting the rocks. The noise got louder and louder. Barnaby stopped what he was doing and placed the wrench he had just picked up back on the top of the drilling platform. In anticipation he readied his carbine and switched the fire mode from safe to automatic.

Then as the noise got louder, the pace of the clicks and clacks also quickened. The noise came around the corner. Barnaby and Fry froze for a moment.

"Spiderlings! What do you do?!" screamed the drill instructor.

"Spiderlings!" screamed Fry.

"Oh no! Spiderlings," Barnaby said sarcastically letting out an audible sigh.

"Barnaby, I heard that sigh! Stow it. With the right amount of numbers even spiderlings can kill you," said the drill sergeant.

Fry, who was providing cover for Barnaby as he worked on the mining platform, opened fire on the spiderlings. Barnaby reluctantly picked up his carbine and started to fire on the hundreds of spiderlings running into their cavern at full speed.

Barnaby, Fry and the rest of the team started to slowly fall back as more waves entered the area. The spiderlings started to crawl over and under the mining equipment. The princes had to take careful and precise aim. The mining equipment wasn't easy to replace and they couldn't afford to put bullet holes in the drill system.

This was a graded test towards graduation.

Just as their stress began to increase the waves of spider babies needlessly throwing their lives away dwindled to nothing. Fry wiped sweat off his forehead as Barnaby went back to the mining equipment.

"A round struck the drill system. It's going to be inoperable for a while. I'm fairly sure I can repair it in the tech shop," said Barnaby.

"Well I hope the two of you learned a lesson about being more precise with your weapons fire. If this was a real mission it would be cancelled and all the effort flying you there would be lost," said the instructor.

"Roger, Sergeant. It was my fault. I was just worried about my brother so much in the firefight and lost my concentration," said Fry.

Barnaby raised his eyebrows. He pondered if Fry really meant it. Fry and Barnaby have always been close since childhood. However, he's never known his brother to blame himself for anything. The past couple years have only brought them closer, and Fry has only changed for the better.

"Your love for your brother is commendable. We always place the mission first, but never needlessly before the life of a dwarf. That is a motto to live by in the Marine Corps," said the instructor.

Barnaby felt his heart warm. His brother, the Marine corps, his friends and the mission. It was like his life had a new purpose.

"Did we get all of that?" asked Fry.

"Huzzah! Prince! We got it all!" said Dorn.

"The fewer things we have to stage and write the better. The action and the drama and dialogue all worked for the next episode of the reality show," said Frackleberry.

Yes, of course, the reality show thought Barnaby. He has almost forgotten about the camera. Frackleberry and Dorn were so constant in the past couple of years of his life that he usually doesn't even see the camera in Dorn's hands anymore.

Then he thought about whether his brother said those things just for television or if he really meant it. In his heart he knew but he was always a skeptic.

Everyone walked away to further discuss the episode. Except for the instructor and Barnaby.

"You've both come a long way since coming here. You're both the top of the class. You're impressive, but sometimes I feel like you just don't care," said the instructor.

Barnaby started to walk past the instructor and moved towards the mining equipment, "it's not that I don't care. I'm just bored. The spiderlings don't seem much of a challenge."

"I can see that! Most impressive. Even with all the training you all receive prior to graduation. I've never seen anyone this confident and fearless without decades of combat experience facing full grown arachnids," said the instructor as he walked away in deep thought calculating their score.

Barnaby smiled and walked over the dead corpses to start assessing the damage on the mining rig. He heard a slight noise and movement near the drill bit.

It was a spiderling! Still alive but injured. All of this training and he's never seen one survive before. It doesn't appear to be in a condition that it's of any threat.

Barnaby took a closer look at the spiderling. Everyone always thought the arachnids as evil disgusting creatures but with a closer inspection, he thought it actually quite cute. Its eyes were almost cartoonishly adorable.

He must study it, he thought. First he must save its life! He grabbed a sack out of his pouch and carefully placed the spiderling into it.

The others were still discussing the next episode as Barnaby ran by.

"Where are you off too?" asked Fry.

"Going to my lab! I thought up an innovative way to repair the drill much faster, but I need to fabricate a whole new mechanism that currently does not exist," said Barnaby. He was lying through his beard.

The tech lab and Barnaby's lab were about a 15 minute run through the caverns from the training range where they were practicing their mining and combat skills.

The Marine corps allowed Barnaby to build a laboratory adjacent to the tech shop. While he usually worked on fringe theories and devices, his interests shifted to things that could be useful for military service as of late. He also has an experimental LED he was working on. The normal ones have too many safeguards. If he only had a standard LED, saving the spiderlings life might not have been possible. It would have taken too much time to bypass the safety restrictions.

It was going to take him longer than usual to run back. He didn't want to injure the spiderling further. On the run he started to talk to the spiderling. He thought maybe a calm reassuring voice would have a positive effect on the baby. In reality, it might have been more about reassuring himself that this was the right thing to do.

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On his way back several draftee’s greeted him with the customary hail of “smooth digging and good fortunes” with the required doffing and flourish. Barnarby was overly distracted at the moment, each time he responded with a surprised, nervously executed half-hearted response, “and to you, strong steel and great gains.” Being in such a hurry he butchered the doffing and flourish and basically just lifted his hand into the air as if he had just picked up a satchel of dung.

While not surprised by Barnaby’s lack of customary social conduct, nonetheless everyone was put off by his half-hearted recognition of their brotherhood.

He ran into his lab, hit six power switches into the on position, and then turned on the computer connected to the experimental life-extending device.

He placed his satchel on a table and peered into the bag very carefully. Barnaby didn’t want to lose an eye, if the spiderling had regained some vitality and took ill-will towards him. While he could just regrow his eye in the LED he didn't want to lose his eye, even temporarily.

The spiderling was still in poor condition and barely moving. This was a dangerous thing he was doing. He thought this wounded animal isn't intelligent enough to recognize when it's being helped. Of course, he was directly involved in its near death experience. It would be justified in cutting him up into little pieces all over the floor of the lab.

The system was warmed up. He keyed the command to open the doors to the LED. Barnaby thought a moment about the differences in the production model of the LED, and this new prototype he built to continue experimenting on his new technology.

The doors as they begin to operate, produce a steady whirring noise accompanied by the occasional hiss of hydraulic fluid moving through the valves. As it lifts, there’s a deep, throaty groan from the strain. The entire process is underscored by a consistent hydraulic churning.

The production models feature a door that opens vertically, splitting smoothly down the middle with a quiet, hissing sound as it separates. The edges of the door are lined with soft, blue bioluminescent lights that illuminate the opening mechanism, casting a gentle glow over the area.

The surface of the production models are smooth, metallic silver, reflective and cool to the touch, with seamless joints that highlight its advanced engineering.

If we were to look inside a production model the inside would reveal a sophisticated interior outfitted with an array of sensors and medical apparatuses, all integrated into a cushioned, ergonomic bed designed to cradle the occupant comfortably.

The interior is dominated by a calming color scheme of soft whites and blues, designed to soothe and relax. Above, a transparent, curved display is built directly into the door, ready to provide the patient with information or entertainment prior to their rejuvenation session. The device operates quietly, emphasizing a peaceful environment, while its systems work to repair bodily damage, regenerate tissues, and extend the life of its user.

This model was nothing like that. This iteration lacks the sleek aesthetics of the original; instead, it features a more rugged, industrial look with visible weld marks and mismatched panels of steel and aluminum. The whole system essentially looks like a hot water heater turned sideways with the side cut off and a heavy slab slapped on the side. The door, a heavy, makeshift slab of reinforced metal, swings outward on robust, hydraulic hinges that groan slightly under its weight, equipped with manual latches and bolts instead of automated seals.

Inside, the interior is stark and utilitarian, with exposed wiring and ducts running along the sides. The bed, while still ergonomic, is less refined, composed of a firmer, more durable material suited for tough conditions. Advanced experimental features are evident: there are additional modules and attachments, such as an array of untested diagnostic sensors and prototype healing tools that should provide rapid cellular regeneration once he gets the math right. This version also has a much more advanced disease combat capability. These tools are jury-rigged into place, showcasing blinking industrial lights of different colors and which occasional spark as the whole machine calibrates.

Despite its less polished appearance, this version of the device has a completely new system that Barnaby was working on back at his lab in the capital when he got drafted. For which he was nearly ready to reveal to the public. Once he finished resolving the last few bugs and verified his work with a proper test.

"I better pull that out," Barnaby said to himself out loud. "I don't want the spider to destroy, the one thing, that I spent all this energy rebuilding."

Barnaby paused, took a deep breath, then as he thrusted his arms into the arm he screamed, "An entire life-extending device, from scratch, for a second time!"

He placed his hands over his forehead. When he looked back at the satchel the baby spider was staring intently at him. Almost concerned. For what he couldn't decipher.

It had struggled out of the bag.

Cautiously he picked up the spider with his hand and placed it quickly but gently into the chamber.

Worried it might jump out he quickly keyed the command to close the door. Again the doors whirl, hiss and groan.

The medical system was meant to repair dwarfs, so he had to make a couple scans and a few adjustments. He was fairly sure it would work. Prior to testing on dwarfs he had to test on creatures from the home planet. There were all sorts of trials on octopus, jellyfish, water bears, mantis shrimps, axolotls, goblin sharks, naked mole rats and blobfish.

He didn't know much about the anatomy of spiders and they didn't originate from the homeworld. For all he knew they could be so wildly different than anything that exists that their anatomy might react differently than intended. In a worse case scenario the healing emissions might cause the poor creature to explode into a messy goo. There was no way of knowing until he tried!

Barnaby thought, Dig deep and damn the cave-ins. Which was the dwarf equivalent of fuck around and find out. Scientific discovery, at any cost!

Barnaby for a second thought about how long he would have to clean the LED of the spider turned into a gooey substance.

The moment was over.

He hit the execution key, sat down into his thinking chair and pulled out his bin of the newest copies of scientific magazines and journals. There was Excavate & Explore, New Alchemist, Empirical, Interlinked, and The Modern Guild of Medicine Scriptures. He had already read these several times out of boredom. There was Skyguard, a military themed journal. He's had a little too much of that recently.

Oh. What's this? Someone must be playing a joke on him. He's found a copy of Deepmine, Firehouse and Hearthfire, magazines with salacious nudes of the most beautiful women on the planet!

He had some time to kill. He secured the door and sat down and opened Hearthfire wide, "Huzzah!"

Right then the side door opened. Barnaby had forgotten the door that led in from the techshop. Damn how embarrassing he thought.

It was Frackleberry, "Oh my Lord, did I catch you at a bad time."

"I think it might," responded Barnaby.

Frackleberry continued to enter the room despite Barnaby saying it wasn't the most appropriate time.

"I just wanted to let you know you both passed your test, you ran off in such a hurry," said Frackleberry.

She walked around his arm chair and picked up the other two magazines he was looking at, "Deepmine, Firehouse and Hearthfire. My lord, I didn't think you were into such proclivities."

Barnaby thought Frackleberry was acting weird. No one spoke this formally anymore, not to him and especially never from her.

"I wouldn't say, I'm opposed to such things. These aren't mine though, I just found them in my stash. I think someone is playing a joke on me," said Barnaby.

"I believe you, my lord," said Frackleberry as she touched Barnaby's ear softly as she stood behind him.

"Oh you do?" Barnaby said surprised.

"Because I put them there. I thought you might like it," said Frackleberry as she hopped into his lap.

Barnaby blushed and then they kissed slowly.

"Why is this coming out of nowhere?" said Barnaby, while he was enjoying this he was utterly clueless.

"It's not coming out of nowhere. I've been trying for months with you. I've always liked you my lord, you might not realize it, but you're very handsome and smart. Maybe, mostly because I've been here a long time without a good sack," said Frackleberry as she kissed his neck.

"Oh I see… why are you calling me, my lord"

"A little roleplay helps me. I want to be your chamber maiden. I haven't been performing my job very well. You've found your linens still dirty and you've given me the choice of either being flogged in the stockade or in your chamber," said Frackleberry.

"Which did you choose?" questioned Barnaby.

"Get into your role," said Frackleberry.

"Which did you choose? Mistress of the living quarters," said Barnaby.

Frackleberry reached into Barnaby's pants and squeezed. He looked delighted. He couldn't remember the last time, he's been just so busy for the last few decades.

"Mistress. You sure you don't want the stockade?" questioned Barnaby.

Shocked and aroused, Frackleberry slapped him across the face, "you brute."

"For that you've earned yourself many more floggings in this chamber," said Barnaby with a stern look.

"Huzzah, I could really use a few more floggings your princely lordship," said Frackleberry.

She let go of her grip inside of his pants, stood up and began to take off her clothes as she walked away and then bent over a table.

Barnaby, now clearly aroused, stood up and whispered, "Dig deep and damn the cave-ins."