Nathan tapped into his blessing, gathering as much power as he possibly could. Impulse popped and sparked around the room, a fireworks display performing solely for Nathan. He gathered everything and dropped to his knees. Mr. Copper looked to check on Nathan but the paladin waved them off.

He clasped his hands together and performed an action he hadn't ever done as a paladin, Nathan prayed. Pellere, I think I need a bit of your help right now.

Nathan felt his god reach down to him, giving him eyes to see what he needed. A new world opened itself to Nathan, one of numbers and dog treats. He shook his head, but the dog treats stayed. "What?" He muttered.

A dog biscuit appeared over one of the running machines and Rover eagerly dove for the treat. He grabbed at it with a hand and stuffed it in his mouth. Another appeared a distance away after a few seconds, numbers ticking up and then popping into existence with an "Mmmm!" noise.

Nathan took a breath and shook his head. He couldn't afford to question why this world looked like this. But he could influence it. He split his blessing, using one part to increase the speed of Rover in quick bursts. The other he used on the numbers, making them jump in speed and form more treats. Sounds of "Mmmm!" Assaulted his ears and Rover hopped around in a mad frenzy biting into every treat he could.

The sounds of machinery spinning soon overtook the "Mmm!" in Nathan's ears. The engines chugged away, connected through Rover's mysterious dungeon powers and running at full capacity. Three Cities lurched forward, jerking everyone around as it raced along.

Nathan felt someone land on his back, sending him to the ground and breaking his focus. Groaning, he stood. Rover was sitting in front of him, panting. "Play more!" The dog-boy barked.

"We're losing speed again!" Mr. Copper yelled from a control panel. "Whatever you did before, you need to do it again!"

Grunting an answer, Nathan pulled at his blessing. He filled the room with it, making Rover twitch in excitement. Treats filled the room, but Rover sat in front of Nathan, twitching his leg. A ball appeared in between the two. "Play!" Rover yipped.

Nathan realized Rover wasn't going to move unless he got the playtime he wanted.

"Alright. You wanna play Rover? Let's play!" Nathan called.

What followed was the most taxing exercise Nathan had ever experienced. He would grab the ball and throw it, only to have Rover jump and grab it right as it left his hand. Nathan's blessing was increasing the reaction time of the excited dog-boy and Nathan had to try more and more difficult throws to keep Rover running around.

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When Rover did catch the ball and bring it back, Nathan would tell him to grab all the treats for being such a good boy. Absolutely giddy, Rover would chase after each treat with the same fervor he used chasing the ball. Bone-shaped biscuit after bone-shaped biscuit were gobbled by the AI.

"Keep it up, Nathan!" Mr. Copper called. "I'm using my drones to monitor the outside and we're actually starting to lose those bombers!"

Nathan gasped, his chest was heaving. Even the most intense cardio routines weren't like this. He felt his lungs burn, that same feeling he got back at the beginning of the apocalypse. It was that pain you got in your lungs when you hadn't exercised in a while. He pushed through the pain, ricocheting the ball off his foot to create an irregular bounce so rover had to chase it.

He noticed he was losing some focus. Rover's twitches of reaction were slowing down despite the dog's increased excitement. "I need," He gasped. "Someone to help." He pointed at one of the others standing. "You. Help."

The bystander went over to Nathan, who shoved the returned ball into his hands. "Throw it for a bit. I need to breathe."

The bystander, some young man from what Nathan could see. Stood for a second before saying, "I can't throw." He looked confused about what to do.

"Then kick the damn thing!" Nathan burst. The man jumped a bit at the outburst. Nodding, he set the ball down and kicked at it with all his might. It launched over to the kludge of machinery and engines, sailing over Rover's head. The dog-boy eagerly chased after it, jumping up to try and grab it with his mouth as it flew by.

Rover missed and the ball bounced off one of the engines. Rover chased it and followed suit. Luckily the incorporeal body of the Ai meant that no damage was done to the actual engines. The ball rolled to a stop a few feet away and Rover snatched it up.

Nathan took deep breaths and regained his stamina. Now that he wasn't solely focusing on keeping Rover moving he could get a better look at everything going down. He walked over to Mr. Copper. "How are we doing?"

"Amazingly, all things considered." Mr. Copper answered. "This defies all the physics I know. If someone told me that I'd be in a floating domed city that was running from fighter jets using cobbled together engines from various different power sources. And somehow we were outpacing the enemy? And that all of it was controlled by an AI who acted like a golden retriever puppy? Well, I'd wonder if I stumbled into a mental facility."

Nathan chuckled. "You got that right."

He turned back to Rover to see how things were going. The dog was still playing around with the bystander he roped into helping.

"So," He asked Mr. Copper. "Do you know how this is all working?"

"Some things," Mr. Copper said as he watched the screen. Currently, the city seemed to be crossing the great plains and heading towards a mountain range in the distance. "Mind you, most of this is theory. Nothing solid. From our quick study of the dungeon essence, using it creates a sort of field around the object. From there, the essence merges and creates a core. For example, we used a battery for our first test. From there, the core starts to "claim" areas around it. Anything non-living in the area becomes part of the core's body."

"I think of it similar to a human body." Mr. Copper continued. "The area claimed is blood and other vital organs. The monsters inside are antibodies that kick out or kill invaders. I still haven't figured out what the dungeon eats though…"

"Wait," Nathan interrupted. "Then why isn't Rover attacking us?"

"Hmm? Oh, simple. Rover's territory isn't the city." Mr. Copper said.

"Well then where is it?"

"Lincoln didn't say because 'You'd try to dissect my baby.'" Mr. Copper scoffed. "Hobbyists."