------------- Dungeon Storage Room -------------

"Everyone ready to move on?" Branch was already halfway through the doorway, looking back behind himself to the corner of the floor, watching for the others to come.

The first to come around was Pale. "I am. I've been wondering what's in here for way too long now!"

"That's the spirit, kid", the rogue replied.

The older members of the party didn't take the younger scout seriously, but did consider the rogue to be worth following in such an unknown place.

Branch's torch illuminated the mud just behind the small dry dirt ledge, and the dirt walls looked mostly flat, but did still cast small shadows on itself. He didn't see anything there, but let the over-excited youth go first. "Pale, you want to lead us? Watch for traps."

The scout went through the doorway instead of crowding it, and took a single step past the sidestepping rogue. And immediately fell.

The party attempted to reach him and grab him, but he got up quickly enough. "I'm okay! I'm okay. I'm standing up." Pale tried to alleviate everyone's concerns. "It isn't as hard as it looks."

Lawg laughed nervously, watching. "What isn't as hard as it looks? The mud or standing up?" He got a couple chuckles.

Pale smiled, turned around, and started to move. From under the mud, something moved in the firelight. "There's something in the mud. Not sure what it is. Something moved."

"We're all armed. Just keep going, we're right behind you", Captain Sylde reminded him.

The party made their way, very messily, through the mud, and climbed up the other ledge and went into the next room. Pale, being the one in front, waited for the rest of the party to get to and enter the room before moving any further.

"What is all this? Broken furniture and trash?" Caelum looked around at the piles of ruined wood with flaking paint, or at least the piles he could see with his torch along the pathway that snaked its way through the debris. "If I thought the dungeon could make anything valuable, I'd look through this. Looks like a good place to hide loot."

The captain's eyebrow raised. "Maybe, but that's not what we're here for today. Fan out as best you all can, and watch for traps and monsters."

Climbing on top of the wooden pile nearest them, the younger scout almost ignited the very flammable boards and the heat from the torch's fire was hardening the mud he was caked with. Though, he didn't see much more than he already did, so he got back down onto the path that was there beforehand.

The rest of the exterminators found very quickly that the path was the safest way to go, going a single winding direction, but it didn't lead anywhere. Standing around the end of the path, the men gathered one by one, except for Caelum who followed Lawg since he no longer had a torch of his own.

Captain Sylde took a breath. "It looks like the dungeon is either trying to go this way, or it's a fake-out and dead-end. Either way, there's nothing else to see that we can get to. We'll all write reports about what we experienced here when we get back to the outpost. Everyone, move out!"

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------------- Dungeon Termite Room -------------

People walking around while he was trying to work, especially the people that just killed his most useful monster, was distracting to say the least. He wanted to attack them, but there was nothing he could use. He couldn't continue digging out the Rat Nest Room, instead getting up and following the adventurers.

'You didn't do anything to my core when you saw it, but you kill my zombie the second you see it? I don't get you', he said, though no one heard him. Seeing them start to backtrack to leave, he followed and watched, taking mental notes. Going through the muddy Frog Room, he noticed the frogs all swam through the mud to get away, showing fear of the party. Normal frog behavior, he figured, and there was so far only one small mosquito that landed on one of the dirt walls.

'Try to make the frogs useful. Try to make more mosquitoes. Maybe put in some torches. Give the frogs something to sit on. Make the frogs bug everyone. Yeah, this room could use some upgrades.'

Going through the Storage Room, the party left more than a fair share of mud as it was sloshing off of their boots and clothing. Just as the thwomp was commanded, it raised as the gelflings approached, allowing them to leave. The dungeon watched. 'Okay I'm going to turn this room into a shop or something and put the storage somewhere else. If these guys want to kill stuff and take my things, then do it here before bothering me. That's fair, right? Hear that, System? This is a Shop Room now!'

The dungeon's self-image didn't follow the group after they went through the doorway, able to track them with discomfort. He looked around, tagging a few things to place them into his research queue. 'System, I don't care how long things take to research anymore. Just let me add stuff, yeah? I'm too busy for any of this tedious shit anymore.'

The system didn't respond.

He walked up to the thwomp he had placed in the Storage Room blocking access to the Research Room, and it raised itself as he continued walking in. He looked at the secret entrance to the Core Room / Secret Research Room, and looked at the nearly barren aisle shelves against the wall. 'Maybe I'll feel better if this is more organized?'

He started to pick things up from the floor and place them onto the two shelves he had, and felt the men leave the dungeon entirely. 'Finally', he said out loud to himself. What he imagined was out loud, at least. 'Fuck! That's what I should be doing. Where's my phone? It's music time finally!'

He found his cell phone sitting on the floor near the forge, but it wasn't on. He touched it, but only got the gump for moving the item. 'No, I wanna turn it on', he pointlessly said to the message. He took a deep breath, and coughed before he got much farther than halfway. Imagining a grumble, he breathed out anyway, and a new zombie stood just in front of him. 'Zombie, pick up my phone and press the button to turn it on.'

The gelfling zombie picked the phone up, and pressed the button on the bottom. Watching, the dungeon didn't see anything happen. 'Actually, let me try to make another one.' He breathed out, coughing and feeling somewhat lightheaded. But, as he wanted, a copy of his phone appeared on the ground. 'Okay zombie, pick that phone up. Leave my other one alone.'

The zombie placed the phone in its hands on the ground and picked up the other one already sitting there. 'Okay, open the back. Let me check the battery.' The zombie slid the battery cover off, and the battery was where it was supposed to be.

'Okay I don't know what I thought I'd see. Disconnect the battery from the thingy, and take it out.' The zombie did as it was told, removing the battery from the phone in the exact way that the dungeon would have if it was capable of interacting with objects physically in the same way.

'You know, let's go in the other room. I don't feel great.' The zombie and the dungeon went into the Storage / Store Room. Seeing the "Broken Stool", the dungeon added it to its research queue, then spoke. 'Oh I don't like this feeling. I'm all cramped and dizzy.' He lied down, but it didn't help. 'Just throw the battery somewhere. I'll-'

He was about to say his usual, "I'll deal with it later", but the zombie already obeyed its command.

'Whatever. Show me the battery.' The zombie held the flat rectangle to the dungeon's face. 'Shit. I don't know what I'm doing. Just put it down, I guess.' It did so.

'Add it to research queue', the dungeon said, but didn't touch it since he was too busy laying in a fetal position.