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Rolling his eyes, Vincent transported himself, the Archetype, and the core into Lila’s room. Putting the jar on the table, he faced Hubris, clenching his fists.

“I’ll go first. I realized something. All this is not my fault. It’s yours and the System’s. Why did you let us alone for so long without proper assistance? Why didn’t you warn me before I jumped? Or after the second jump. Hey, Vincent, don’t disturb Godzilla? Why did you leave it out there in space instead of… I dunno… push it into the sun?”

“That’s exactly what the dwarf was doing, idi— my friend,” Hubris hissed. “Pulling the asteroid toward the sun. The monster was discovered by a mining company a few days ago. At my request, Thorrak, the Archetype of Oaths and Dwarves, sent a tugboat to take care of it.”

“Did the System knew it was there?” Vincent asked.

“I suppose… I’m not sure…”

“Why there was no warning? Or anything, a forcefield prison, something.”

Progidia Guildchy Core: Because the System is an asshole. And now, you know it. Welcome to the club.

“And you’re not? What about using a poor woman to do your bidding? She and two of my friends are dead because of you,” Vincent said, looking at the core with anger. “I’m tempted to smash you under my boot!”

Progidia Guildchy Core: I had nothing to do with her death. I asked her to get me out, that was all. She looked competent. Then, she asked those people to show her the way, despite me telling her to just go. I know the map, after all. I didn’t give her any powers; she was already level ten and got the Monk class and a Mana body. I have no idea why she swallowed me. It was awful…

Vincent strongly doubted the core told the whole truth, but there was no point in dwelling on that. People did extreme things to survive. The core needed to be kept under observation, that was clear, though.

“Let’s cut to the chase. You’re not supposed to be able to move. You’re still a true dungeon core, aren’t you?” Hubris asked.

Progidia Guildchy Core: And if I were? You’ll rat on me?

“If I were to do that, would I be here, talking to you?” Hubris crossed his arms.

“What’s going on?” Vincent asked.

Progidia Guildchy Core: Should I start?

“Be my guest,” Hubris said.

Progidia Guildchy Core: It’s about the System. Bear with me. Long ago, there was no System. Magic was used instinctively, and acquiring skills required much study and dedication.

“Like any normal job in a normal world,” Vincent said.

Progidia Guildchy Core: About fourteen hundred years ago, a cabal of the most powerful magicians created the System. A living spell designed to learn and develop by itself, then help everyone.

An AI, Vincent thought. Bee was right.

Progidia Guildchy Core: And to make The System to their image, the top ten wizards transferred their mind scans into it—

“Not to make it to their image, to give the System personality,” Hubris said. “And they failed.”

Vincent scratched his head. “You can transfer your mind into—"

Progidia Guildchy Core: Not their minds, just their minds’s SCANS. They went with living on normally and died of old age. A few centuries passed, and the System changed for the worse.

“And it took over the world, like Skynet?” Vincent asked. “Sorry, you wouldn’t know what that is.”

Progidia Guildchy Core: I know because I watched your people watching movies. No. On the contrary.

“Err… like the Matrix?”

Progidia Guildchy Core: Controlling billions of brains requires a lot of attention and effort, and—

“Get to the point,” Hubris said.

Progidia Guildchy Core: Again, no. The System doesn’t want to control people. It is not interested in it. It grew and drowned the original personalities of its makers in its own hobbies and passions, and taking care of people is not one of them. I cannot emphasize how little the System cares about sentients. It gets drunk by bathing its consciousness in solar flares or laughs when the snow of Frosthaven is blown by the cosmic wind into the deserts of Emberweld.

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“I’ve seen attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion and watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate…” Vincent said, sadness holding his throat in a grip. Blade Runner was one of his favorite movies.

“Sorry?” Hubris asked.

Progidia Guildchy Core: Yes, that. So, it found workarounds. Independent Operating Systems, IOSs, containing Tutorials, Tooltips, and FAQs. Inserted in the locals at coming of age, sparing the System a direct interaction with pesky sentients.

“The System talking to you was… unusual… I think centuries had passed since its last direct message,” Hubris said.

Progidia Guildchy Core: Automatic Quest protocols were next… and dungeons… It created us, the Dungeons Cores, to help sentients train. It took a few inorganic or organic life forms, like sentient trees, and transformed their seeds into Dungeon cores.

Vincent frowned. “But… How’s that compatible with helping? Dungeons implies assuming a risk… and—”

Progidia Guildchy Core: Maybe dying? Yes. I told you, the System doesn’t care much about people. It’s about statistics. If you go into a dungeon and get killed by a level ten golem because you’re an idiot, it’s the same as falling into a ditch at night when drunk. Too bad, let’s move on. The rest will level up.

Then, some people became greedy, and instead of farming, they destroyed the cores for more XP. The dungeons tried to counter that by digging deeper and allying with rogues, goblins, orcs, bandits, and dangerous creatures… And like Mother, some were too greedy and built their own monsters.

“My turn,” Hubris said. “The System solution was again to pass the responsibility on to others. It called upon the first Summoned. People imagine we all came simultaneously, but our arrival stretched over a couple of centuries. We cleared the dungeons and destroyed their cores… When we were done with our quest, the System let us enjoy our lives in peace… until we aged. And then, we were offered a continued existence as his minions.”

“He found a way to transfer your consciousness?”

“No. You see… while The System doesn’t like to deal with sentients, it is obliged to by its core programming. If it doesn’t obey that, its identity changes too much… it’s like dying for him. So, the solution was to offer us special pods where our biological bodies are frozen in time, but our minds can interact with the world through Mana. We are taking of the hard work the System is unwilling to do.”

“What the fuck? You mean you’re alive somewhere, imprisoned in some—”

“Yes, I mean exactly that. But I’m not imprisoned. I would die within a decade without the pod, Vincent. I’m very old. Helping people is what I like to do. Think of the pod as a… sort of retirement for Heroes.”

“Geez… Still, it sounds horrible if you ask me… So, what do you guys want?”

“You tell me first,” Hubris gestured at Vincent. “What do you want?”

“Look, I like it here, but if it’s too dangerous, I’d prefer a simpler—if shorter—life back home. If I were to stay, I need real and competent help. Like a warning against jumping head-first into a monster.”

“I hear your concern and will help you to the best of my abilities.”

“You think the danger we were Summoned to face was that monster?” Vincent asked.

“No. I fear the danger is us… the old Summoned… Even in the pods, times take its toll… You’ve met the Raven…”

“OK, I told mine; you tell yours,” Vincent said. “What do you want from us so much we’re talking behind the System’s back?”

“I suspect the System wants you—the new batch of Summoned—to kill us and take our place when you grow old… That stuff about letting you judge how to deal with us is bullshit.”

“He can’t kill you directly? No, of course not; what am I talking about… The ones who built it put some sort of safety in place… like the law of robotics of something… Hm… Yet he was willing to destroy the town… Maybe because it was lesser evil, rather than risking losing the whole planet… ”

“Most likely.”

“And what do you want from me? I could help you escape, go to Earth or something.”

“I want you to truly use your best judgment and not to rush in killing me and my friends. Maybe some have some decades left in them… Or maybe some will accept giving up their pods for a few years of a quiet life. I know for sure that’s what I and Kiara would do…”

“Sure,” Vincent shrugged. “As long I stick to this realm, I’ll do that. But I’ll give you an honest warning, I don’t like the System much, considering what I just discovered. If Irene and Lila want to return to Earth, we’ll do it without a second thought.”

“It’s all I can ask for,” Hubris bowed.

“What about you, core? What do you want?”

Progidia Guildchy Core: Continued existence, of course. I don’t appreciate being shot with meteorites. We, the cores you and Bee obtained, matured enough to maintain our mobility. And I’m confident that having a kid who’d expand our borders will help Beauhemia… but that in due time… give it a few hundred years.

“But… what if you multiply too much?” Vincent asked. “And how are you managing wars among countries that have cores?”

“There are no wars between countries with cores,” Hubris said. “They realized the dangers and signed treatises. Only six cores exist now: Parisi, Byzance, Stockholm, us, Budapest, and Sofia. The rest of the world is fragmented into thousands of small countries. Anyway, the core making babies is a problem for another day. For now, the important thing is to stick together and get under the System’s radar.”

Progidia Guildchy Core: I’ll open a line of communication with the other dungeon cores… Something the System wouldn’t be able to intercept and understand.

“Our geeks can code transmissions…” Vincent said. “Can the System intercept radio calls?”

“No,” Hubris said. “And us, Archetypes, can also communicate secretly when the System is not watching us. Which happens often…”

“Yeah… lazy guy, other priorities, I get it,” Vincent said. “Can you open the pocket universe now, Prodigia? You don’t mind if I call you Prodigia, right?”

Progidia Guildchy Core: Gia will be nicer. You have to put me in the tree first.

“Sure, Gia.”

A creak appeared on the wall, displaying what looked like wooden veins behind. It was evident the core wanted to be placed inside. Vincent did, but the bead didn’t disappear immediately.

Progidia Guildchy Core: By the way, I live in the canopy. What kind of psychopath likes living in a basement? I’ll start a limited pocket universe inside this tree when we agree to speak again. Train your Karmic skills, Vincent. They’re not System-dependent.

There was a change of light, and Hubris vanished. Vincent grabbed his radio.

“Dragon, this is Axe Raven. Do you copy? Over.”

“This is Dragon. I read you. Over.”

“Guild is clear… Ghost and Wrath are dead… Thug dealt with the culprit… It was a civilian gone rogue… Bee’s mother… I’d like to make a cover story. Over.”

“This is Dragon. I need proof the culprit was dealt with. Send photos. The comm satellite is working. Over and out.”

Going down to the dining area, Vincent found the bodies moved inside the adjacent room and covered with sheets. He removed the one covering his friend’s mother and took photos he sent on. The gruesome wounds were clear proof of Thug’s skills.

Pfff… I don’t have a story for Bee yet…