6)

You guessed it. Under a fridge. Mood-. Eager.

So now I had a reach of six inches, which let me not only collect material within my reach. But to also see everywhere within my reach. Regardless of what was between me and what I wanted to look at.

I could also see past six inches. But only with my line of sight, and I was as dependent as when I was alive on lighting outside of my reach. Within my reach, I could sort of see in a colorless sort of way.

At three inches of reach, I had peered below the flooring underneath me but had only seen a gap between the support boards, some more cobwebs, and dust. Everything below had been blocked by a rough brown surface covered in dust.

Now I could just see down past it to a large dark room that seem to take up the entire bottom of what now appeared to be a fairly large house.

Perhaps my host is a woman of wealth despite her poor living conditions.

Does she have no family or friends to look in on her? She seems nice. What is her situation?

The lower floor is filled with devices unfamiliar to me. But it also has some things I do recognize. A padded couch covered in patterned cloth. A matching chair. A table with a white surface and a metal rim surrounded by three matching chairs that seem strangely thin. Possibly due to being made largely of metal.

Boxes made of a light brown material stand stacked against one wall near a door leading to a room with another pattern of squares on it's floor which is visible through the open door.

The rest of the floor of the room is made of a curiously flat gray stone, with many carpets covering it as well.

I can’t make out much of the room due to the dim lighting coming from some high up short windows and my vision being generally poor beyond my reach, but there is a hint of neglect down there.

Above me is more interesting.

The bottom of the fridge contained a complex machine that was powered by lightning that somehow keep the interior cold. And it was just full of materials.

[ You have found a sample of Electricity. You may research its use with an Alchemy room.]

[ You have discovered water. You may add water as a dungeon resource.]

[ You have discovered an unknown gas. Add an Alchemy room to identify it. ]

[You have discovered an unknown metal. Add an Alchemy room to identify it. ]

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

[4 more unknown materials have been added to your Alchemy interface ]

Looks like an Alchemy room will be a good investment. Can’t wait to find out when I can build one.

The wall behind me might give me a view of what’s behind it, but I would have to waste time building a new core room right up against it that I could transfer myself to. For the moment I’m not that interested, from here I can see a lot of the room the fridge is in and keep a better eye on Buttercup.

Besides a few more levels will increase my reach. It can wait.

A grill of some sort in the back of the fridge gives my gatherers access to the interior of the fridge that I can see. Not that there is much for them to gather in there. Mostly some material clogging up what looks to be some sort of filter. They clean it up fairly quickly.

Regular reports come in about killing ants that I pretty much dismissed as fast as I got them. Until.

[Quest: 10 ant, 10 ant. Completed. Reward 1 BP]

[ You are now level 3]

[You have acquired an ability. See ability list.]

[You have acquired a spell. See spell list]

Sweet. My reach is now one foot. Which lets me get a look inside the Fridge.

...Eww.

I think the old woman may be overestimating how keeping food in a sealed cold chamber can preserve it.

I can only see the inside of the fridge within a dome about eighteen inches tall. But one of the two chambers above the device that created the cold that had been out of my sight is filled with dry and withered vegetables.

The other compartment holds withered potatoes all sprouted with roots. Above them are packages of paper and some fragile material containing dried-up or moldy foods I don’t recognize.

A flurry of messages flash past me. Some identifying materials I can recreate. The fruits, vegetables, paper, and bread. Others need an alchemy room to allow me to use them.

I take what I can with my reach, which causes other things to tumble down to where I can get them, other things are large enough to stay partially outside of my reach.

So I summon ten new roach gatherers to begin munching down on everything else that had to go. Tearing things apart with their mandibles when they can, and licking up the residue left behind.

This refrigerator will be spotless by the time I'm done. It's the least I can do.

Once the mess is cleared up, I will have more than enough material and familiarity with some of it to create some decent food for the old woman. At least such things as the plants, baked goods, and cheeses.

The waxed paper in some of the things around the rotting food will serve to wrap around it to keep things clean and organized.

Some fresh food should help.